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4 @settitle Pterodactyl Gnus 0.63 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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264 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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273 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
275 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
276 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
277 are preserved on all copies.
279 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
280 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
281 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
282 permission notice identical to this one.
284 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
285 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
294 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
296 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
299 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
300 are preserved on all copies.
303 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
304 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
305 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
306 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
309 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
310 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
311 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
312 permission notice identical to this one.
314 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
315 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
321 @title Pterodactyl Gnus 0.63 Manual
323 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
326 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
327 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
329 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
330 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
331 are preserved on all copies.
333 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
334 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
335 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
336 permission notice identical to this one.
338 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
339 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
348 @top The Gnus Newsreader
352 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
353 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
354 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
357 This manual corresponds to Pterodactyl Gnus 0.63.
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 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3256 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3257 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3258 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3259 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3260 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3261 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3262 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3263 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3264 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3268 @node Summary Buffer Format
3269 @section Summary Buffer Format
3270 @cindex summary buffer format
3274 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3275 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3276 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3282 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3283 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3284 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3285 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3288 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3289 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3290 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3291 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3292 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3293 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3294 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3295 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3296 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3297 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3298 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3301 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3302 'mail-extract-address-components)
3305 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3306 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3307 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3308 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3311 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3312 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3314 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3315 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3316 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3317 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3318 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3320 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3322 The following format specification characters are understood:
3330 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3331 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3332 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3334 Full @code{From} header.
3336 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3338 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3339 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3341 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3342 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3343 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3344 may be more thorough.
3346 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3349 Number of lines in the article.
3351 Number of characters in the article.
3353 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3355 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3356 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3358 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3359 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3361 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3362 for adopted articles.
3364 One space for each thread level.
3366 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3371 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3372 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3376 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3378 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3379 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3380 default level. If the difference between
3381 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3382 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3390 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3392 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3398 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3399 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3401 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3402 article has any children.
3408 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3409 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3410 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3411 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3412 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3413 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3416 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3417 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3418 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3419 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3420 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3421 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3423 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3424 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3426 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3429 @node To From Newsgroups
3430 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3434 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3435 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3436 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3437 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3438 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3442 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3443 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3444 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3448 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3449 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3452 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3453 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3456 @findex gnus-extra-header
3457 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3458 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3459 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3462 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3466 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3467 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3468 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3469 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3470 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3471 headers are used instead.
3475 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3476 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3477 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files.
3479 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3482 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3484 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3485 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3486 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3487 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3491 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
3492 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
3499 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
3500 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
3503 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3504 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3506 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3507 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3508 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3509 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3511 Here are the elements you can play with:
3517 Unprefixed group name.
3519 Current article number.
3521 Current article score.
3525 Number of unread articles in this group.
3527 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3530 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3531 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3532 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3533 and no unselected ones.
3535 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3536 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3538 Subject of the current article.
3540 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3542 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3544 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3546 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3548 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3550 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3554 @node Summary Highlighting
3555 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3559 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3560 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3561 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3562 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3563 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3565 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3566 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3567 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3568 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3570 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3571 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3572 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3573 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3575 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3576 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3577 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3578 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3579 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3580 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3582 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3583 ((> score default) . bold))
3585 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3586 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3590 @node Summary Maneuvering
3591 @section Summary Maneuvering
3592 @cindex summary movement
3594 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3595 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3597 None of these commands select articles.
3602 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3603 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3604 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3605 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3606 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3610 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3611 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3612 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3613 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3614 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3619 @kindex G j (Summary)
3620 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3621 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3622 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3625 @kindex G g (Summary)
3626 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3627 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3628 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3631 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3632 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3633 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3634 to the group buffer.
3636 Variables related to summary movement:
3640 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3641 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3642 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3643 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3644 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3645 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3646 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3647 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3648 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3649 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3650 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3651 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3652 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3653 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3655 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3656 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3657 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3658 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3659 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3660 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3661 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3663 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3665 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3666 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3667 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3668 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3669 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3671 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3672 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3673 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3674 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3675 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3676 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3677 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3678 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3681 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3682 the given number of lines from the top.
3687 @node Choosing Articles
3688 @section Choosing Articles
3689 @cindex selecting articles
3692 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3693 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3697 @node Choosing Commands
3698 @subsection Choosing Commands
3700 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3701 and they all select and display an article.
3705 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3706 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3707 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3708 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3713 @kindex G n (Summary)
3714 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3715 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3716 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3721 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3722 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3723 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3728 @kindex G N (Summary)
3729 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3730 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3735 @kindex G P (Summary)
3736 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3737 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3740 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3741 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3742 Go to the next article with the same subject
3743 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3746 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3747 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3748 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3749 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3753 @kindex G f (Summary)
3755 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3756 Go to the first unread article
3757 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3761 @kindex G b (Summary)
3763 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3764 Go to the article with the highest score
3765 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3770 @kindex G l (Summary)
3771 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3772 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3775 @kindex G o (Summary)
3776 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3778 @cindex article history
3779 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3780 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3781 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3782 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3783 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3784 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3788 @node Choosing Variables
3789 @subsection Choosing Variables
3791 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3794 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3795 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3796 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3797 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3798 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3799 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3801 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3802 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3803 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3804 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3806 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3807 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3808 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3809 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3810 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3811 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3812 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3813 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3814 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3815 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3816 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3817 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3818 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3819 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3824 @node Paging the Article
3825 @section Scrolling the Article
3826 @cindex article scrolling
3831 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3832 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3833 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3834 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3835 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3838 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3839 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3840 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3843 @kindex RET (Summary)
3844 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3845 Scroll the current article one line forward
3846 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3849 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3850 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3851 Scroll the current article one line backward
3852 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3856 @kindex A g (Summary)
3858 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3859 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3860 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3861 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3862 the way it came from the server.
3867 @kindex A < (Summary)
3868 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3869 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3870 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3875 @kindex A > (Summary)
3876 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3877 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3881 @kindex A s (Summary)
3883 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3884 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3885 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3889 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3890 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3895 @node Reply Followup and Post
3896 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3899 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3900 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3904 @node Summary Mail Commands
3905 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3907 @cindex composing mail
3909 Commands for composing a mail message:
3915 @kindex S r (Summary)
3917 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3918 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3919 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3920 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3921 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3926 @kindex S R (Summary)
3927 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3928 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3929 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3930 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3931 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3934 @kindex S w (Summary)
3935 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3936 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3937 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3938 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3939 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3942 @kindex S W (Summary)
3943 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3944 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3945 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3946 the process/prefix convention.
3949 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3950 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3951 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3952 Forward the current article to some other person
3953 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3954 headers of the forwarded article.
3959 @kindex S m (Summary)
3960 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3961 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3962 Send a mail to some other person
3963 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3966 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3967 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3968 @cindex bouncing mail
3969 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3970 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3971 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3972 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3973 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3974 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3975 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3976 very well fail, though.
3979 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3980 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3981 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3982 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3983 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3984 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3985 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3986 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3987 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3988 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3990 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3991 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3992 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3993 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3994 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
3996 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3997 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4000 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4001 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4002 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4003 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4004 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4007 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4008 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4009 @cindex crossposting
4010 @cindex excessive crossposting
4011 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4012 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4014 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4015 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4016 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4017 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4018 command understands the process/prefix convention
4019 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4023 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4026 @node Summary Post Commands
4027 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4029 @cindex composing news
4031 Commands for posting a news article:
4037 @kindex S p (Summary)
4038 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4039 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4040 Post an article to the current group
4041 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4046 @kindex S f (Summary)
4047 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4048 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4049 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4053 @kindex S F (Summary)
4055 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4056 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4057 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4058 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4059 process/prefix convention.
4062 @kindex S n (Summary)
4063 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4064 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4065 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4068 @kindex S N (Summary)
4069 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4070 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4071 message through mail and include the original message
4072 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4073 the process/prefix convention.
4076 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4077 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4078 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4079 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4080 headers of the forwarded article.
4083 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4084 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4086 @cindex making digests
4087 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4088 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4089 process/prefix convention.
4092 @kindex S u (Summary)
4093 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4094 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4095 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4096 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4099 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4102 @node Canceling and Superseding
4103 @section Canceling Articles
4104 @cindex canceling articles
4105 @cindex superseding articles
4107 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4108 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4110 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4112 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4114 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4115 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4116 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4117 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4118 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4119 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4121 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4122 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4125 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4126 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4127 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4129 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4130 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4131 your original article.
4133 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4135 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4136 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4137 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4140 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4141 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4142 have posted almost the same article twice.
4144 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4145 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4146 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4147 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4148 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4149 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4150 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4151 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4152 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4153 canceled/superseded.
4155 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4158 @node Marking Articles
4159 @section Marking Articles
4160 @cindex article marking
4161 @cindex article ticking
4164 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4166 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4167 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4168 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4170 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4173 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4174 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4175 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4179 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4183 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4184 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4188 @node Unread Articles
4189 @subsection Unread Articles
4191 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4196 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4197 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4199 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4200 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4201 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4202 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4203 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4207 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4208 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4210 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4211 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4212 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4215 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4216 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4218 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4223 @subsection Read Articles
4224 @cindex expirable mark
4226 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4231 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4232 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4233 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4236 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4237 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4240 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4241 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4242 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4245 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4246 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4249 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4250 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4253 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4254 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4257 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4258 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4261 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4262 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4265 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4266 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4269 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4270 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4274 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4275 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4276 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4280 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4281 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4283 One more special mark, though:
4287 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4288 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4290 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4291 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4292 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4293 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4299 @subsection Other Marks
4300 @cindex process mark
4303 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4309 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4310 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4311 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4312 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4313 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4316 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4317 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4318 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4319 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4322 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4323 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4324 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4327 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4328 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4329 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4330 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4333 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4334 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4335 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4336 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4337 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4340 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4341 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4342 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4343 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4344 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4345 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4349 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4350 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4351 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4353 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4354 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4355 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4359 @subsection Setting Marks
4360 @cindex setting marks
4362 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4367 @kindex M c (Summary)
4368 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4369 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4370 @cindex mark as unread
4371 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4372 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4378 @kindex M t (Summary)
4379 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4380 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4381 @xref{Article Caching}.
4386 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4387 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4388 Mark the current article as dormant
4389 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4393 @kindex M d (Summary)
4395 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4396 Mark the current article as read
4397 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4401 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4402 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4403 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4408 @kindex M k (Summary)
4409 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4410 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4411 and then select the next unread article
4412 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4416 @kindex M K (Summary)
4417 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4418 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4419 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4420 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4423 @kindex M C (Summary)
4424 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4425 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4426 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4429 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4430 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4431 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4432 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4435 @kindex M H (Summary)
4436 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4437 Catchup the current group to point
4438 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4441 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4442 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4443 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4444 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4447 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4448 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4449 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4450 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4454 @kindex M e (Summary)
4456 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4457 Mark the current article as expirable
4458 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4461 @kindex M b (Summary)
4462 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4463 Set a bookmark in the current article
4464 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4467 @kindex M B (Summary)
4468 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4469 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4470 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4473 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4474 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4475 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4476 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4479 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4480 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4481 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4482 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4485 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4486 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4487 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4488 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4489 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4492 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4493 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4494 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4495 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4496 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4497 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4498 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4499 The default is @code{t}.
4502 @node Setting Process Marks
4503 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4504 @cindex setting process marks
4511 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4512 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4513 Mark the current article with the process mark
4514 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4515 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4519 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4520 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4521 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4522 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4525 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4526 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4527 Remove the process mark from all articles
4528 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4531 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4532 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4533 Invert the list of process marked articles
4534 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4537 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4538 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4539 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4540 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4543 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4544 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4545 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4548 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4549 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4550 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4551 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4554 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4555 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4556 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4557 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4560 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4561 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4562 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4563 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4566 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4567 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4568 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4571 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4572 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4573 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4574 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4577 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4578 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4579 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4582 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4583 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4584 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4585 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4588 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4589 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4590 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4591 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4594 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4595 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4596 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4597 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4600 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4601 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4602 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4603 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4612 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4613 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4614 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4617 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4618 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4619 additional articles.
4625 @kindex / / (Summary)
4626 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4627 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4628 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4631 @kindex / a (Summary)
4632 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4633 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4634 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4638 @kindex / u (Summary)
4640 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4641 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4642 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4643 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4644 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4647 @kindex / m (Summary)
4648 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4649 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4650 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4653 @kindex / t (Summary)
4654 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4655 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4656 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4657 articles younger than that number of days.
4660 @kindex / n (Summary)
4661 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4662 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4663 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4664 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4667 @kindex / w (Summary)
4668 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4669 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4670 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4674 @kindex / v (Summary)
4675 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4676 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4677 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4681 @kindex M S (Summary)
4682 @kindex / E (Summary)
4683 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4684 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4685 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4688 @kindex / D (Summary)
4689 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4690 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4691 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4694 @kindex / * (Summary)
4695 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4696 Include all cached articles in the limit
4697 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4700 @kindex / d (Summary)
4701 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4702 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4703 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4706 @kindex / T (Summary)
4707 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4708 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4711 @kindex / c (Summary)
4712 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4713 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4714 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4717 @kindex / C (Summary)
4718 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4719 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4720 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4721 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4729 @cindex article threading
4731 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4732 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4733 hierarchical fashion.
4735 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4736 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4737 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4738 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4739 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4740 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4741 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4743 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4747 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4750 A tree-like article structure.
4753 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4756 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4757 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4758 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4759 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4760 called loose threads.
4762 @item thread gathering
4763 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4765 @item sparse threads
4766 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4767 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4773 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4774 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4778 @node Customizing Threading
4779 @subsection Customizing Threading
4780 @cindex customizing threading
4783 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4784 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4785 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4786 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4791 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4794 @cindex loose threads
4797 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4798 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4799 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4800 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4801 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4802 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4804 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4805 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4806 There are four possible values:
4810 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4811 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4812 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4813 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4814 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4819 @cindex adopting articles
4824 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4825 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4826 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4827 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4830 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4831 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4832 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4833 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4834 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4835 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4836 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4839 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4840 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4841 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4845 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4846 display them after one another.
4849 Don't gather loose threads.
4852 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4853 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4854 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4855 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4856 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4857 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4858 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4859 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4860 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4861 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4862 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4864 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4865 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4866 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4869 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4870 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4871 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4872 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4873 simplification is used.
4875 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4876 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4877 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4878 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4880 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4882 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4888 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4889 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4890 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4891 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4896 (mapconcat 'identity
4897 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4899 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4902 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4905 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4906 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4907 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4908 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4909 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4910 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4912 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4915 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4916 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4917 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4919 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4920 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4923 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4924 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4925 Remove excessive whitespace.
4928 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4931 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4932 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4933 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4934 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4935 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4936 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4937 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4938 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4940 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4941 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4942 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4943 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4944 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4945 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4946 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4947 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4948 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4952 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4953 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4954 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4955 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4957 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4958 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4959 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4962 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4966 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4967 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4973 @node Filling In Threads
4974 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4977 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4978 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4979 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4980 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
4981 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4982 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4983 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4984 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4985 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4986 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4987 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4988 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4990 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
4991 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
4992 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
4994 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4995 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4996 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4997 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4998 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4999 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5000 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5001 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5002 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5003 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5004 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5005 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5006 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5007 @code{nil} by default.
5012 @node More Threading
5013 @subsubsection More Threading
5016 @item gnus-show-threads
5017 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5018 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5019 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5020 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5021 slower and more awkward.
5023 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5024 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5025 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5028 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5029 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5030 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5031 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5032 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5033 threads are expunged.
5035 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5036 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5037 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5040 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5041 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5042 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5043 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5044 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5047 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5048 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5049 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5055 @node Low-Level Threading
5056 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5060 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5061 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5062 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5064 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5065 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5066 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5067 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5068 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5069 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5070 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5071 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5072 meaningful. Here's one example:
5075 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5077 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5078 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5080 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5082 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5089 @node Thread Commands
5090 @subsection Thread Commands
5091 @cindex thread commands
5097 @kindex T k (Summary)
5098 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5099 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5100 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5101 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5102 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5107 @kindex T l (Summary)
5108 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5109 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5110 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5111 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5114 @kindex T i (Summary)
5115 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5116 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5117 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5120 @kindex T # (Summary)
5121 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5122 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5123 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5126 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5127 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5128 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5129 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5132 @kindex T T (Summary)
5133 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5134 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5137 @kindex T s (Summary)
5138 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5139 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5140 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5143 @kindex T h (Summary)
5144 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5145 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5148 @kindex T S (Summary)
5149 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5150 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5153 @kindex T H (Summary)
5154 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5155 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5158 @kindex T t (Summary)
5159 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5160 Re-thread the current article's thread
5161 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5162 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5165 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5166 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5167 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5168 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5172 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5173 understand the numeric prefix.
5178 @kindex T n (Summary)
5179 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5180 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5183 @kindex T p (Summary)
5184 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5185 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5188 @kindex T d (Summary)
5189 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5190 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5193 @kindex T u (Summary)
5194 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5195 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5198 @kindex T o (Summary)
5199 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5200 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5203 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5204 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5205 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5206 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5207 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5208 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5209 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5210 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5211 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5212 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5213 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5214 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5221 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5222 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5223 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5224 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5225 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5226 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5227 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5228 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5229 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5230 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5231 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5233 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5234 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5235 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5236 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5237 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5239 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5240 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5241 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5243 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5244 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5245 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5246 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5247 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5248 ascending article order.
5250 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5251 by number, you could do something like:
5254 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5255 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5256 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5257 (reverse gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5260 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5261 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5262 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5263 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5264 which the articles arrived.
5266 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5270 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5272 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5273 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5276 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5277 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5278 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5279 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5282 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5283 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5284 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5285 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5286 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5287 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5288 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5289 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5290 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5291 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5292 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5293 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5294 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5296 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5300 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5301 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5302 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5307 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5308 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5309 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5310 @cindex article pre-fetch
5313 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5314 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5315 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5316 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5317 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5319 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5320 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5322 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5323 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5324 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5325 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5326 connection is blocked.
5328 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5329 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5330 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5331 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5333 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5334 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5335 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5336 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5339 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5342 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5343 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5344 happen automatically.
5346 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5347 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5348 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5349 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5350 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5351 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5352 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5354 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5355 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5356 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5357 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5358 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5359 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5360 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5361 data structure as the only parameter.
5363 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5366 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5367 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5368 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5369 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5372 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5375 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5376 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5377 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5379 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5380 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5381 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5382 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5386 Remove articles when they are read.
5389 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5392 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5394 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5395 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5396 @c from the next group.
5399 @node Article Caching
5400 @section Article Caching
5401 @cindex article caching
5404 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5405 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5406 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5407 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5408 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5410 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5412 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5413 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5414 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5415 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5416 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5417 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5418 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5419 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5421 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5422 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5423 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5424 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5425 as dormant, and don't worry.
5427 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5429 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5430 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5431 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5432 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5433 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5434 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5435 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5436 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5437 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5438 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5440 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5441 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5442 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5443 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5444 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5445 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5446 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5447 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5448 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5449 not then be downloaded by this command.
5451 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5452 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5453 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5454 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5455 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5456 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5458 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5459 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5460 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5461 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5462 variables, the group is not cached.
5464 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5465 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5466 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5467 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5468 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5469 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5470 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5471 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5472 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5476 @node Persistent Articles
5477 @section Persistent Articles
5478 @cindex persistent articles
5480 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5481 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5482 useful in my opinion.
5484 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5485 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5486 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5487 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5488 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5489 the expiry going on at the news server.
5491 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5492 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5493 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5499 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5500 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5503 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5504 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5505 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5506 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5510 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5512 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5513 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5514 interested in persistent articles:
5517 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5521 @node Article Backlog
5522 @section Article Backlog
5524 @cindex article backlog
5526 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5527 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5528 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5529 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5530 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5531 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5532 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5533 increase memory usage some.
5535 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5536 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5537 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5538 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5539 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5540 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5541 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5543 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5546 @node Saving Articles
5547 @section Saving Articles
5548 @cindex saving articles
5550 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5551 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5552 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5553 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5554 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5556 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5557 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5558 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5560 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5561 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5562 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5563 deleted before saving.
5569 @kindex O o (Summary)
5571 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5572 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5573 Save the current article using the default article saver
5574 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5577 @kindex O m (Summary)
5578 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5579 Save the current article in mail format
5580 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5583 @kindex O r (Summary)
5584 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5585 Save the current article in rmail format
5586 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5589 @kindex O f (Summary)
5590 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5591 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5592 Save the current article in plain file format
5593 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5596 @kindex O F (Summary)
5597 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5598 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5599 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5602 @kindex O b (Summary)
5603 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5604 Save the current article body in plain file format
5605 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5608 @kindex O h (Summary)
5609 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5610 Save the current article in mh folder format
5611 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5614 @kindex O v (Summary)
5615 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5616 Save the current article in a VM folder
5617 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5620 @kindex O p (Summary)
5621 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5622 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5623 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5626 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5627 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5628 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5629 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5630 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5631 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5632 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5633 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5634 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5635 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5636 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5637 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5641 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5642 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5643 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
5644 functions below, or you can create your own.
5648 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5649 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5650 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5651 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5652 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5653 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5654 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5656 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5657 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5658 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5659 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5660 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5661 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5663 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5664 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5665 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5666 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5667 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5668 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5669 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5671 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5672 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5673 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5674 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5675 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5677 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5678 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5679 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5680 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5681 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5684 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5685 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5686 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5687 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5688 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5690 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5691 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5692 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5693 reader to use this setting.
5696 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5697 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5698 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5699 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5702 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5703 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5704 available functions that generate names:
5708 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5709 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5710 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5712 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5713 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5714 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5716 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5717 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5718 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5720 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5721 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5722 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5725 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5726 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5727 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5728 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5729 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5733 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5734 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5735 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5736 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5739 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5740 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5741 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5742 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5743 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5744 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5745 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5746 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5747 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5749 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5750 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5751 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5752 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5754 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5755 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5756 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5759 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5760 lots of mail groups called things like
5761 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5762 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5763 following will do just that:
5766 (defun my-save-name (group)
5767 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5768 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5770 (setq gnus-split-methods
5771 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5776 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5777 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5778 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5779 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5780 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5781 all the files in the top level directory
5782 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5783 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5784 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5785 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5787 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5788 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5789 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5790 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5791 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5794 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5798 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5799 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5802 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5803 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5804 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5805 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5808 @node Decoding Articles
5809 @section Decoding Articles
5810 @cindex decoding articles
5812 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5813 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5816 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5817 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5818 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5819 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5820 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5821 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5825 @cindex article series
5826 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5827 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5828 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5829 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5830 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5832 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5833 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5834 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5836 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5837 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5838 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5840 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5841 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5842 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5845 @node Uuencoded Articles
5846 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5848 @cindex uuencoded articles
5853 @kindex X u (Summary)
5854 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5855 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5856 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5859 @kindex X U (Summary)
5860 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5861 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5862 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5865 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5866 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5867 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5870 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5871 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5872 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5873 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5877 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5878 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5879 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5880 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5881 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5883 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5884 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5885 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5886 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5889 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5890 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5891 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5892 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5893 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5894 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5898 @node Shell Archives
5899 @subsection Shell Archives
5901 @cindex shell archives
5902 @cindex shared articles
5904 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5905 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5906 some commands to deal with these:
5911 @kindex X s (Summary)
5912 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5913 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5916 @kindex X S (Summary)
5917 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5918 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5921 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5922 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5923 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5926 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5927 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5928 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5929 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5933 @node PostScript Files
5934 @subsection PostScript Files
5940 @kindex X p (Summary)
5941 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5942 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5945 @kindex X P (Summary)
5946 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5947 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5948 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5951 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5952 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5953 View the current PostScript series
5954 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5957 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5958 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5959 View and save the current PostScript series
5960 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5965 @subsection Other Files
5969 @kindex X o (Summary)
5970 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5971 Save the current series
5972 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5975 @kindex X b (Summary)
5976 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5977 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5978 doesn't really work yet.
5982 @node Decoding Variables
5983 @subsection Decoding Variables
5985 Adjective, not verb.
5988 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5989 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5990 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5994 @node Rule Variables
5995 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5996 @cindex rule variables
5998 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5999 variables are of the form
6002 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6009 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6010 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6012 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6013 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6016 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6017 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
6020 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6021 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6022 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6023 user and default view rules.
6025 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6026 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6027 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6032 @node Other Decode Variables
6033 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6036 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6038 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6039 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6040 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6041 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6042 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6046 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6047 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6050 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6051 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6052 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6055 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6056 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6057 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6058 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6059 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6062 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6063 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6064 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6066 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6067 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6068 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6069 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6070 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6073 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6074 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6075 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6077 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6078 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6079 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6080 looking for files to display.
6082 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6083 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6084 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6087 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6088 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6089 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6092 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6093 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6094 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6097 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6098 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6099 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6102 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6103 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6104 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6105 decoded articles as unread.
6107 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6108 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6109 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6110 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6112 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6113 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6114 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6116 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6117 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6119 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6120 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6121 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6122 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6124 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6125 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6126 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6127 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6128 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6129 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6130 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6131 simply dropped them.
6136 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6137 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6141 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6142 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6143 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6144 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6145 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6146 for you when you post the article.
6148 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6149 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6150 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6151 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6153 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6154 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6155 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6156 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6157 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6158 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6159 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6161 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6162 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6163 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6164 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6165 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6166 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6167 Default is @code{t}.
6173 @subsection Viewing Files
6174 @cindex viewing files
6175 @cindex pseudo-articles
6177 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6178 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6179 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6180 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6181 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6182 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6183 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6185 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6186 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6187 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6188 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6190 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6191 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6192 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6194 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6195 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6196 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6197 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6198 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6200 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6201 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6202 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6203 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6204 a list of parameters to that command.
6206 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6207 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6208 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6210 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6211 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6212 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6215 @node Article Treatment
6216 @section Article Treatment
6218 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6219 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6220 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6221 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6222 these articles easier.
6225 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6226 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6227 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6228 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6229 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6230 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6231 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6235 @node Article Highlighting
6236 @subsection Article Highlighting
6237 @cindex highlighting
6239 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6240 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6245 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6246 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6247 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6248 Do much highlighting of the current article
6249 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6250 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6252 Most users would prefer using @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} in
6253 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}) instead.
6254 This is a bit less agressive---it highlights only the headers, the
6255 signature and adds buttons.
6258 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6259 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6260 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6261 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6262 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6263 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6264 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6265 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6266 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6267 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6268 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6271 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6272 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6273 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6275 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6278 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6280 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6281 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6282 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6284 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6285 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6286 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6288 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6289 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6290 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6292 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6293 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6294 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6295 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6296 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6297 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6299 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6300 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6301 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6303 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6304 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6305 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6307 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6308 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6309 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6310 that it's a citation.
6312 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6313 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6314 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6316 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6317 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6318 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6320 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6321 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6322 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6323 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6329 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6330 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6331 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6332 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6333 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6334 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6335 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6336 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6341 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to highlight articles automatically.
6344 @node Article Fontisizing
6345 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6347 @cindex article emphasis
6349 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6350 @kindex W e (Summary)
6351 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6352 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6353 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6354 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6356 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6357 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6358 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6359 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6360 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6361 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6362 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6363 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6367 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6368 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6369 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6372 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6373 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6374 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6375 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6376 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6377 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6378 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6379 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6380 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6381 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6382 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6383 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6384 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6386 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6387 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6388 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6392 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6395 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to fontize articles automatically.
6398 @node Article Hiding
6399 @subsection Article Hiding
6400 @cindex article hiding
6402 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6403 too much cruft in most articles.
6408 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6409 @findex gnus-article-hide
6410 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6411 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6412 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6415 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6416 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6417 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6421 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6422 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6423 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6424 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6427 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6428 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6429 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6433 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6434 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6435 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6436 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6437 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6438 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6439 articles that have signatures in them do:
6441 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6443 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp)
6445 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6446 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6448 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6451 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6456 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6457 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6458 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6459 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6462 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6463 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6464 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6465 customizing the hiding:
6469 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6470 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6471 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6472 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6473 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6474 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6475 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6480 Starting point of the hidden text.
6482 Ending point of the hidden text.
6484 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6486 Number of lines of hidden text.
6489 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6490 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6491 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6496 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6497 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6499 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6500 following two variables:
6503 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6504 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6505 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6506 50), hide the cited text.
6508 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6509 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6510 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6515 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6516 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6517 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6518 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6519 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6520 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6524 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6525 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6526 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6528 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6529 citation customization.
6531 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to hide article elements
6535 @node Article Washing
6536 @subsection Article Washing
6538 @cindex article washing
6540 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6541 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6543 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6544 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6550 @kindex W l (Summary)
6551 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6552 Remove page breaks from the current article
6553 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article} for page
6557 @kindex W r (Summary)
6558 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6559 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6560 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6561 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6562 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6563 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6565 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6566 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6567 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6568 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6571 @kindex W t (Summary)
6572 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6573 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6574 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6577 @kindex W v (Summary)
6578 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6579 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6580 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6583 @kindex W m (Summary)
6584 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6585 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
6586 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6589 @kindex W o (Summary)
6590 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6591 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6594 @kindex W d (Summary)
6595 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6596 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6598 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6600 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6601 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6602 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}).
6605 @kindex W w (Summary)
6606 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6607 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6608 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6609 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6611 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6615 @kindex W c (Summary)
6616 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6617 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6618 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6619 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6620 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6623 @kindex W q (Summary)
6624 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6625 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6626 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6627 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6628 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6632 @kindex W f (Summary)
6634 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6635 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6636 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6637 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6643 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6644 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6645 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6646 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6647 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6648 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6649 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6650 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6651 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6652 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6653 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6654 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6655 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6656 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6660 @kindex W b (Summary)
6661 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6662 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6663 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6666 @kindex W B (Summary)
6667 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6668 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6669 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6672 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6673 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6674 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6675 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6678 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6679 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6680 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6681 lines with a single empty line.
6682 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6685 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6686 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6687 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6688 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6691 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6692 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6693 Do all the three commands above
6694 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6697 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6698 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6699 Remove all blank lines
6700 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6703 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6704 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6705 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6706 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6709 @kindex W E e (Summary)
6710 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
6711 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
6712 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
6716 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to wash articles automatically.
6719 @node Article Buttons
6720 @subsection Article Buttons
6723 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6724 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6725 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6726 button on these references.
6728 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6729 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6730 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6735 @item gnus-button-alist
6736 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6737 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6740 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6746 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6747 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6748 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6751 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6752 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6753 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6756 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6757 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6758 avoid false matches.
6761 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6764 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6765 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6769 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6772 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6775 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6776 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6777 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6778 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6779 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6782 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6785 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6787 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6788 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6789 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6790 default values of the variables above.
6792 @item gnus-article-button-face
6793 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6794 Face used on buttons.
6796 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6797 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6798 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6802 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6806 @subsection Article Date
6808 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6809 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6810 when the article was sent.
6815 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6816 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6817 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6818 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6821 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6822 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6824 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6825 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6828 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6829 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6830 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6833 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6834 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6835 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6836 @findex format-time-string
6837 Display the date using a user-defined format
6838 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6839 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6840 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6841 for a list of possible format specs.
6844 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6845 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6846 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6847 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6848 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6849 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6850 updated continually, you can put
6853 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6856 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6857 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6861 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6862 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6863 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6864 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6865 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6866 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6867 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6871 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to display the date in your
6872 preferred format automatically.
6875 @node Article Signature
6876 @subsection Article Signature
6878 @cindex article signature
6880 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6881 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6882 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6883 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6884 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6885 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6886 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6887 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6888 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6891 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6892 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6893 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6894 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6895 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6896 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6897 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6898 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6901 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6904 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6905 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6910 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6913 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6916 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6917 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6919 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6920 in question is not a signature.
6923 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6924 listed above. Here's an example:
6927 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6928 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6931 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6932 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6933 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6934 signature after all.
6938 @section MIME Commands
6939 @cindex MIME decoding
6943 @kindex M-t (Summary)
6944 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
6945 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
6946 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
6949 @kindex W M w (Summary)
6950 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
6951 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
6954 @kindex W M c (Summary)
6955 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
6956 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
6958 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
6959 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
6960 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
6961 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
6962 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
6963 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
6966 @kindex W M v (Summary)
6967 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
6968 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
6975 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
6976 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
6977 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
6978 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
6981 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
6984 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
6988 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
6989 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
6990 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
6991 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
6992 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
6994 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
6995 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
6996 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
6997 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
6998 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
6999 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7000 save all jpegs into some directory).
7002 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7005 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7006 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7008 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7009 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7010 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7011 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7012 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7018 @node Article Commands
7019 @section Article Commands
7026 @kindex A P (Summary)
7027 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7028 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7029 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7030 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7031 run just before printing the buffer.
7036 @node Summary Sorting
7037 @section Summary Sorting
7038 @cindex summary sorting
7040 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7041 can't really see why you'd want that.
7046 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7047 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7048 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7051 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7052 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7053 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7056 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7057 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7058 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7061 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7062 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7063 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7066 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7067 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7068 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7071 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7072 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7073 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7076 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7077 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7078 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7079 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7080 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7084 @node Finding the Parent
7085 @section Finding the Parent
7086 @cindex parent articles
7087 @cindex referring articles
7092 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7093 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7094 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7095 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7096 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7097 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7098 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7099 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7100 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7102 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7103 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7104 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
7105 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7106 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7110 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7111 @kindex A R (Summary)
7112 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7113 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7116 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7117 @kindex A T (Summary)
7118 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7119 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7120 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7121 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7122 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7123 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7124 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7126 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7127 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7128 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7129 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7130 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7131 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7134 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7135 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7137 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7138 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7139 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7140 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7141 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7142 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7143 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7146 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7147 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7148 by giving this command a prefix.
7150 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7151 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7152 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7153 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7154 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7155 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7158 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7159 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7160 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7161 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7162 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7163 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7166 @node Alternative Approaches
7167 @section Alternative Approaches
7169 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7170 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7173 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7174 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7179 @subsection Pick and Read
7180 @cindex pick and read
7182 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7183 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7184 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7185 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7187 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7188 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7189 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7190 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7191 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7192 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7194 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7199 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7200 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7201 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7202 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7203 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7204 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7205 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7206 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7209 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7210 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7211 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7212 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7216 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7217 Unpick the thread or article
7218 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7219 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7220 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7221 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7222 the thread or article at that line.
7226 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7227 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7228 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7229 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7230 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7231 will still be visible when you are reading.
7235 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7236 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7237 which is mapped to the same function
7238 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7240 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7243 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7246 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7247 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7249 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7250 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7251 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7253 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7254 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7255 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7256 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7257 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7258 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7259 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7263 @subsection Binary Groups
7264 @cindex binary groups
7266 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7267 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7268 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7269 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7270 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7271 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7272 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7275 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7276 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7277 command, when you have turned on this mode
7278 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7280 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7281 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7285 @section Tree Display
7288 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7289 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
7290 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7291 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7294 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7297 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7298 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7299 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7301 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7302 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7303 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7304 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7305 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7307 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7308 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7309 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7310 default is @code{modeline}.
7312 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7313 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7314 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7315 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7316 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7317 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7318 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7324 The name of the poster.
7326 The @code{From} header.
7328 The number of the article.
7330 The opening bracket.
7332 The closing bracket.
7337 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7339 Variables related to the display are:
7342 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7343 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7344 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7345 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7346 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7347 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7349 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7350 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7351 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7352 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7356 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7357 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7358 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7359 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7360 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7361 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7362 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7363 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7364 other windows displayed next to it.
7366 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7367 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7368 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7369 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7370 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7371 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7372 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7376 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7379 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7389 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7393 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7394 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7396 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7398 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7403 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7404 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7405 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7408 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7409 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7410 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7411 (gnus-add-configuration
7415 (summary 0.75 point)
7420 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7423 @node Mail Group Commands
7424 @section Mail Group Commands
7425 @cindex mail group commands
7427 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7428 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7430 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7431 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7436 @kindex B e (Summary)
7437 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7438 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7439 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7442 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7443 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7444 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7445 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7446 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7447 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7450 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7451 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7452 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7453 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7454 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7455 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7458 @kindex B m (Summary)
7460 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7461 Move the article from one mail group to another
7462 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7465 @kindex B c (Summary)
7467 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7468 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7469 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7470 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7473 @kindex B B (Summary)
7474 @cindex crosspost mail
7475 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7476 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7477 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7478 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7479 be properly updated.
7482 @kindex B i (Summary)
7483 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7484 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7485 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7486 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7489 @kindex B r (Summary)
7490 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7491 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7492 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7493 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7494 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7498 @kindex B w (Summary)
7500 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7501 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7502 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7503 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7504 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7505 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7508 @kindex B q (Summary)
7509 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7510 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7511 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7512 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7515 @kindex B t (Summary)
7516 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7517 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7518 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7521 @kindex B p (Summary)
7522 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7523 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7524 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7525 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7526 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7527 article from your news server (or rather, from
7528 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7529 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7530 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7531 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7532 just not have arrived yet.
7536 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7537 @cindex moving articles
7538 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7539 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7540 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7541 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7542 suggestions you find reasonable.
7545 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7546 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7547 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7548 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7552 @node Various Summary Stuff
7553 @section Various Summary Stuff
7556 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7557 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7558 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7559 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7563 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7564 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7565 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7567 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7568 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7569 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7570 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7571 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7572 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7575 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7576 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7577 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7578 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7579 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7581 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7582 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7583 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7586 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7587 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7588 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7589 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7590 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7591 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7592 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7593 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7594 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7595 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7600 @node Summary Group Information
7601 @subsection Summary Group Information
7606 @kindex H f (Summary)
7607 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7608 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7609 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7610 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7611 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7612 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7613 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7614 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7615 be used for fetching the file.
7618 @kindex H d (Summary)
7619 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7620 Give a brief description of the current group
7621 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7622 rereading the description from the server.
7625 @kindex H h (Summary)
7626 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7627 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7628 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7631 @kindex H i (Summary)
7632 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7633 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7637 @node Searching for Articles
7638 @subsection Searching for Articles
7643 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7644 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7645 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7646 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7649 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7650 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7651 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7652 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7656 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7657 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7658 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7659 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7663 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7664 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7665 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7666 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7669 @node Summary Generation Commands
7670 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7675 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7676 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7677 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7680 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7681 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7682 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7683 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7688 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7689 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7694 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7695 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7696 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7697 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7698 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7699 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7700 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7701 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7702 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7706 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7707 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7708 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7709 several documents into one biiig group
7710 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7711 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7712 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7713 command understands the process/prefix convention
7714 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7717 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7718 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7719 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7720 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7721 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7722 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7726 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7727 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7728 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7731 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7732 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7733 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7734 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7737 @kindex M-C-g (Summary)
7738 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
7739 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7740 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
7745 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7746 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7747 @cindex summary exit
7748 @cindex exiting groups
7750 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7751 group and return you to the group buffer.
7757 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7759 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7760 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7761 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7762 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7763 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7764 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7765 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7766 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7767 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7768 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7769 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7773 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7775 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7776 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7777 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7781 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7783 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7784 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7785 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7786 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7789 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7790 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7791 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7792 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7795 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7796 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7797 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7798 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7801 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7802 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7803 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7804 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7805 all articles, both read and unread.
7809 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7810 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7811 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7812 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7813 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7814 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7815 articles, both read and unread.
7818 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7819 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7820 Exit the group and go to the next group
7821 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7824 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7825 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7826 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7827 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7830 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7831 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7832 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7833 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7834 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7835 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7838 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7839 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7842 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7843 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7844 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7845 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7846 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7847 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7848 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7849 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7850 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7851 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7852 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7853 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7855 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7857 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7858 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7859 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7860 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7861 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7862 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7863 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7864 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7865 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7868 @node Crosspost Handling
7869 @section Crosspost Handling
7873 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7874 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7875 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7876 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7877 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7878 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7881 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7882 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7883 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7884 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7885 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7887 @cindex cross-posting
7890 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7891 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7892 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7893 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7894 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7895 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7896 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7897 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7898 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7899 the cross reference mechanism.
7901 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7902 @cindex overview.fmt
7903 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7904 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7905 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7906 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7907 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7908 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7911 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7912 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7913 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7918 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7921 @node Duplicate Suppression
7922 @section Duplicate Suppression
7924 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7925 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7926 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7927 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
7932 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7933 is evil and not very common.
7936 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7937 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7940 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7941 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7944 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7947 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7948 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7950 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7951 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7952 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7953 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7954 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7955 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7956 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7959 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7960 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7961 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7962 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7963 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7967 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7968 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7969 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7971 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7972 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7973 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7974 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7975 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
7976 session are suppressed.
7978 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7979 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7980 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7981 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7983 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7984 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7985 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7986 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7989 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
7990 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7991 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7992 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7993 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
7994 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7995 to you to figure out, I think.
7998 @node The Article Buffer
7999 @chapter The Article Buffer
8000 @cindex article buffer
8002 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8003 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8004 tell Gnus otherwise.
8007 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8008 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8009 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8010 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8011 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8015 @node Hiding Headers
8016 @section Hiding Headers
8017 @cindex hiding headers
8018 @cindex deleting headers
8020 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8021 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8023 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8024 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8025 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8026 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8027 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8028 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8029 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8030 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8031 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8033 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8037 @item gnus-visible-headers
8038 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8039 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8040 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8041 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8043 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8044 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8047 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8050 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8053 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8054 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8055 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8056 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8057 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8058 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8060 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
8061 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
8064 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8067 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8070 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8071 variable will have no effect.
8075 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8076 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8077 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8078 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8079 the headers are to be displayed.
8081 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8082 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8085 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8088 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8089 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8091 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8092 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8093 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8094 You can hide further boring headers by entering
8095 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
8096 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
8097 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
8098 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
8099 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
8101 These conditions are:
8104 Remove all empty headers.
8106 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8107 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8109 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8112 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8115 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8118 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8120 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8123 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8126 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8127 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8130 This is also the default value for this variable.
8134 @section Using @sc{mime}
8137 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8138 while people stand around yawning.
8140 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8141 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8143 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8144 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8145 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8147 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
8148 @findex gnus-display-mime
8149 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
8150 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
8151 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
8152 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
8154 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
8158 @findex gnus-article-press-button
8160 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
8161 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
8162 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
8164 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
8165 @item M-RET (Article)
8167 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
8168 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
8170 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
8172 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
8173 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
8175 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
8177 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
8178 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
8180 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
8182 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
8185 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
8186 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
8189 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
8190 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
8191 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
8192 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
8193 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
8194 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
8195 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
8196 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
8197 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
8199 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8202 @node Customizing Articles
8203 @section Customizing Articles
8204 @cindex article customization
8206 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8207 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
8208 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
8209 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
8211 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8212 @findex gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers
8213 By default this hook just contains
8214 @code{gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers},
8215 @code{gnus-hide-boring-headers}, @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike},
8216 and @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} (and under XEmacs,
8217 @code{gnus-article-display-x-face}), but there are thousands, nay
8218 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
8219 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
8220 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
8221 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
8222 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
8224 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
8225 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
8226 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
8227 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
8228 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
8231 @node Article Keymap
8232 @section Article Keymap
8234 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8235 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8236 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8237 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8240 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8245 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8246 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8247 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8250 @kindex DEL (Article)
8251 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8252 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8255 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8256 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8257 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8258 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8259 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8262 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8263 @findex gnus-article-mail
8264 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8265 given a prefix, include the mail.
8269 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8270 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8271 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8275 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8276 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8277 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8280 @kindex TAB (Article)
8281 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8282 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8283 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8286 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8287 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8288 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8294 @section Misc Article
8298 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8299 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8300 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8301 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8304 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8305 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8307 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8308 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8310 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8311 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8312 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8313 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8314 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8315 the contents of the article buffer.
8317 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8318 @item gnus-article-display-hook
8319 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
8320 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
8321 hiding headers, and the like.
8323 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8324 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8325 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8327 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8328 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8329 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8330 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8332 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8333 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8334 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8335 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8336 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8341 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8342 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8345 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
8348 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8350 @item gnus-break-pages
8351 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8352 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8353 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8354 paging will not be done.
8356 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8357 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8358 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8363 @node Composing Messages
8364 @chapter Composing Messages
8365 @cindex composing messages
8368 @cindex sending mail
8373 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8374 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8375 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8376 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8377 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8378 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8379 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8382 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8383 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8384 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8385 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8386 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8387 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8388 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8389 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8392 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8393 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8399 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8402 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8403 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8404 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8405 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8407 @item gnus-add-to-list
8408 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8409 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8410 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8418 Variables for composing news articles:
8421 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8422 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8423 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8424 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8425 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8426 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8427 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8428 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8429 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8432 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8433 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8434 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8435 file. It is 1000 by default.
8440 @node Posting Server
8441 @section Posting Server
8443 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8444 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8446 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8448 @vindex gnus-post-method
8450 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8451 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8452 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8453 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8454 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8457 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8460 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8461 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8462 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8463 the ``current'' server for posting.
8465 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8466 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8468 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8469 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8472 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8473 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8474 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8479 @section Mail and Post
8481 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8485 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8486 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8487 @cindex mailing lists
8489 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8490 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8491 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8492 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8493 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8494 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8495 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8496 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8497 still a pain, though.
8501 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8502 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8503 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8506 @findex ispell-message
8508 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8512 @node Archived Messages
8513 @section Archived Messages
8514 @cindex archived messages
8515 @cindex sent messages
8517 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8518 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8519 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8520 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8523 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8524 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8525 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8529 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8530 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8531 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8532 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8535 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8536 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8537 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8538 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8541 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8542 '(nnfolder "archive"
8543 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8544 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8545 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8548 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8550 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8551 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8552 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8554 This variable can be used to do the following:
8558 Messages will be saved in that group.
8559 @item a list of strings
8560 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8561 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8562 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8564 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8569 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8571 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8574 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8576 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8579 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8581 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8582 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8583 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8584 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8589 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8590 '((if (message-news-p)
8595 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8596 messages in one file per month:
8599 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8600 '((if (message-news-p)
8602 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8603 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8606 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8607 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8609 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8610 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8611 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8612 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8613 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8614 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8615 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8616 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8617 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8618 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8620 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8621 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8622 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8623 this will disable archiving.
8626 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8627 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8628 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8629 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8630 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8633 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8634 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8635 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8638 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8639 but the latter is the preferred method.
8643 @node Posting Styles
8644 @section Posting Styles
8645 @cindex posting styles
8648 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8650 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8651 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8652 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8655 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8656 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8657 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8658 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8659 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8664 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8665 (organization "What me?"))
8667 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8668 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8669 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8672 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8673 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8674 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8675 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8676 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8677 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8678 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8679 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8681 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8682 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8683 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8684 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8685 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8686 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8689 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8690 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8691 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8692 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
8693 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8694 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8697 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8698 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8699 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8701 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
8702 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
8703 of the two dynamically bound variables @code{message-this-is-news} and
8704 @code{message-this-is-mail}.
8706 @vindex message-this-is-mail
8707 @vindex message-this-is-news
8709 So here's a new example:
8712 (setq gnus-posting-styles
8714 (signature-file "~/.signature")
8716 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8717 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
8719 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8720 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8721 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
8722 (message-this-is-news
8723 (signature my-news-signature))
8724 (posting-from-work-p
8725 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
8726 (address "user@@bar.foo")
8727 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
8728 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
8730 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
8738 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8739 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8740 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8741 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8742 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8744 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8745 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8746 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8747 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8748 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8752 @vindex nndraft-directory
8753 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8754 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8755 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8756 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8757 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8758 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8760 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8761 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8764 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8765 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8766 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8767 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8768 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8769 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8770 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8771 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8772 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8773 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8774 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8775 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8776 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8777 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8779 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8780 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8781 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8783 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8785 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8786 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8787 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8789 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8792 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8793 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8794 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8795 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8796 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8797 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8798 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8801 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8802 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8803 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8806 @node Rejected Articles
8807 @section Rejected Articles
8808 @cindex rejected articles
8810 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8811 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8812 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8813 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8815 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
8816 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8817 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8818 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
8819 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8821 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8822 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8823 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8826 @node Select Methods
8827 @chapter Select Methods
8828 @cindex foreign groups
8829 @cindex select methods
8831 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8832 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8833 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8834 personal mail group.
8836 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8837 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8838 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8839 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8840 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8841 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8843 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8844 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8846 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8849 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8850 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8851 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8852 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8853 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8855 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8858 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8859 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8860 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8861 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8862 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8863 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8867 @node The Server Buffer
8868 @section The Server Buffer
8870 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8871 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8872 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8873 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8874 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8875 backend represents a virtual server.
8877 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8878 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8879 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8880 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8882 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8883 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8884 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8885 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8886 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8887 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8888 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8890 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8891 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8894 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8895 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8896 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8897 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8898 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8899 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8900 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8903 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8904 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8907 @node Server Buffer Format
8908 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8909 @cindex server buffer format
8911 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8912 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8913 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8914 variable, with some simple extensions:
8919 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8922 The name of this server.
8925 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8928 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8931 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8932 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8933 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
8934 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
8944 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8947 @node Server Commands
8948 @subsection Server Commands
8949 @cindex server commands
8955 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8956 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8960 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8961 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8964 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8965 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8966 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8970 @findex gnus-server-exit
8971 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8975 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8976 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8980 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8981 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8985 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8986 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8990 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8991 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8995 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8996 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8997 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9002 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
9003 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
9004 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
9005 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
9010 @node Example Methods
9011 @subsection Example Methods
9013 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9016 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9019 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9025 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9026 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9029 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9030 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
9032 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
9033 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
9037 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
9040 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
9041 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
9043 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
9044 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
9045 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
9049 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
9052 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
9055 Here's the method for a public spool:
9059 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
9060 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
9063 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
9064 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
9065 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
9066 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
9067 should probably look something like this:
9071 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
9072 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9073 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9074 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9075 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
9078 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
9079 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
9080 server that would look something like this:
9084 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
9085 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
9086 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9087 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9088 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9089 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9092 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9093 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9094 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9095 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9098 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9099 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9101 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9102 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9104 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9105 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9106 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9108 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9110 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9111 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9112 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9113 will contain the following:
9123 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9124 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9125 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9128 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9129 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9130 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9133 @node Server Variables
9134 @subsection Server Variables
9136 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9137 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9138 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9139 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9140 won't change the "derived" variables.
9142 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9143 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9144 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9145 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9146 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9147 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9148 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9149 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9150 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9154 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9155 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9156 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9160 @node Servers and Methods
9161 @subsection Servers and Methods
9163 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9164 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9165 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9166 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9170 @node Unavailable Servers
9171 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9173 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9174 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9175 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9176 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9177 actually the case or not.
9179 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9180 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9181 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9182 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9183 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9184 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9185 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9186 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9188 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9189 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9191 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9192 with the following commands:
9198 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9199 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9200 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9204 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9205 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9206 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9210 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9211 Mark the current server as unreachable
9212 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9215 @kindex M-o (Server)
9216 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9217 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9218 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9221 @kindex M-c (Server)
9222 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9223 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9224 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9228 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9229 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9230 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9236 @section Getting News
9237 @cindex reading news
9238 @cindex news backends
9240 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9241 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9242 or it can read from a local spool.
9245 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9246 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9251 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9254 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9255 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9256 server as the, uhm, address.
9258 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9259 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9260 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9261 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9263 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9264 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9265 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9267 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9272 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9273 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9274 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9276 @cindex authentification
9277 @cindex nntp authentification
9278 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9279 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9280 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9281 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9282 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9283 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9284 present in this hook.
9286 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9287 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9288 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9289 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9290 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9291 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9292 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9293 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9294 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9295 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9296 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9297 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9301 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9304 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9305 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9306 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9307 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9308 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9313 Here's an example file:
9316 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9317 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9320 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9321 have to be first, for instance.
9323 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9324 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9325 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9326 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9327 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9328 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9329 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9331 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9332 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9338 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9339 previously mentioned.
9341 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9343 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9344 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9345 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9346 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9347 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9350 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9354 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9356 The default value is
9359 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9360 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9363 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9364 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9366 @item nntp-maximum-request
9367 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9368 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9369 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9370 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9371 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9372 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9373 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9375 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9376 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9377 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9378 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9379 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9380 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9381 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9382 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9383 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9384 no timeouts are done.
9386 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9387 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9388 @c @cindex PPP connections
9389 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9390 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9391 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9392 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9393 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9394 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9395 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9396 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9397 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9398 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9400 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9401 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9402 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9403 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9406 @item nntp-server-hook
9407 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9408 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9411 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9412 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9413 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9414 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9415 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9416 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9417 functions are supplied:
9420 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9421 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9424 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9425 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9426 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9429 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9433 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9434 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9435 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9436 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9438 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9439 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9440 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9442 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9443 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9444 User name on the remote system.
9448 @item nntp-open-telnet
9449 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9450 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9452 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9455 @item nntp-telnet-command
9456 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9457 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9459 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9460 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9461 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9463 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9464 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9465 User name for log in on the remote system.
9467 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9468 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9469 Password to use when logging in.
9471 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9472 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9473 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9476 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9477 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9478 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9479 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9481 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9482 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9483 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9484 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9485 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9489 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9490 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9491 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9492 you must have SSLay installed
9493 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9494 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9495 define a server as follows:
9498 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9500 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9502 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9503 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9504 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9505 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9510 @item nntp-end-of-line
9511 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9512 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9513 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9514 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9516 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9517 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9518 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9522 @vindex nntp-address
9523 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9525 @item nntp-port-number
9526 @vindex nntp-port-number
9527 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9530 @item nntp-buggy-select
9531 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9532 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9534 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9535 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9536 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9537 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9540 @item nntp-xover-commands
9541 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9544 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9545 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9549 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9550 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9551 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9552 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9553 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9554 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9555 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9556 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9557 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9558 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9559 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9561 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9562 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9563 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9565 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9566 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9567 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9568 server closes connection.
9570 @item nntp-record-commands
9571 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9572 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9573 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9574 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9575 that doesn't seem to work.
9581 @subsection News Spool
9585 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9586 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9587 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9590 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9591 anything else) as the address.
9593 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9594 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9595 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9596 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9600 @item nnspool-inews-program
9601 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9602 Program used to post an article.
9604 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9605 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9606 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9608 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9609 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9610 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9611 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9613 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9614 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9615 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9616 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9618 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9619 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9620 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9622 @item nnspool-active-file
9623 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9624 The path to the active file.
9626 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9627 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9628 The path to the group descriptions file.
9630 @item nnspool-history-file
9631 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9632 The path to the news history file.
9634 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9635 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9636 The path to the active date file.
9638 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9639 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9640 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9643 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9644 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9646 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9647 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9648 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9654 @section Getting Mail
9655 @cindex reading mail
9658 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9662 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9663 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9664 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9665 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9666 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
9667 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9668 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9669 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9670 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9671 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9672 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9676 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9677 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9679 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9680 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9681 and things will happen automatically.
9683 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9684 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9687 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9688 '((nnml "private")))
9691 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9692 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9693 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9694 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9695 like any other group.
9697 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9700 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9701 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9702 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9706 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9707 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9708 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9711 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9712 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9713 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9716 @node Splitting Mail
9717 @subsection Splitting Mail
9718 @cindex splitting mail
9719 @cindex mail splitting
9721 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9722 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9723 to be split into groups.
9726 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9727 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9728 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9732 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9733 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9734 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9735 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9736 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9737 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9738 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9741 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9744 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9745 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9746 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9747 mail belongs in that group.
9749 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9750 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9751 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9752 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9753 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9754 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9756 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9757 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9758 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9759 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9760 thinks should carry this mail message.
9762 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9763 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9764 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9765 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9767 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9768 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9769 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9770 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9771 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9773 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9776 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9777 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9778 links. If that's the case for you, set
9779 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9780 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9782 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9783 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9784 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9785 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9787 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9788 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9789 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9790 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9791 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9792 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9793 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9794 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9798 @node Mail Backend Variables
9799 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9801 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9805 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9806 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9807 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9808 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9810 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9811 @item nnmail-spool-file
9815 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9816 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9817 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9818 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9819 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9820 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9821 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9822 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9823 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9824 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9825 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9826 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9827 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9828 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9829 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9831 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9833 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9834 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9837 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9838 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9839 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9840 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9841 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9842 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9844 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9845 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9846 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9847 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9848 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9849 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9850 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9853 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9854 @item nnmail-crash-box
9855 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9856 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9857 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9860 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9861 @item nnmail-split-hook
9862 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
9863 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9864 @findex RFC2047 decoding
9865 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9866 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9867 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9868 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9869 in the buffer will show up in any files.
9870 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
9873 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9874 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9875 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9876 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9877 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9878 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9879 starting to handle the new mail) and
9880 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9881 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9882 default file modes the new mail files get:
9885 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9886 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9888 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9889 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9892 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9893 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9894 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9895 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9896 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9897 it will be used instead.
9899 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9900 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9901 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9902 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9904 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9905 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9908 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9909 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9910 @cindex incoming mail files
9911 @cindex deleting incoming files
9912 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9913 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9916 @c This is @code{nil} by
9917 @c default for reasons of security.
9919 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9920 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9921 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9922 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9923 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9926 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9928 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9929 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9930 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9931 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9932 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9933 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9934 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9936 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9937 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9939 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9941 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9942 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9943 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9944 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9945 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9950 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9951 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9952 @cindex mail splitting
9953 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9955 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9956 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9957 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9958 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9959 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9960 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9962 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9965 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9966 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9967 ;; from real errors.
9968 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9970 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9971 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9972 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9973 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9974 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9975 ;; Other mailing lists...
9976 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9977 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9979 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9980 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9984 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9985 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9986 the five possible split syntaxes:
9991 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
9992 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
9996 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9997 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9998 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
10001 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10002 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
10003 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
10004 be stored in one or more groups.
10007 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10008 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
10011 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
10012 this message. Use with extreme caution.
10015 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
10016 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
10017 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
10021 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
10025 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
10026 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
10027 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
10028 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
10029 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
10031 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
10032 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
10033 are expanded as specified by the variable
10034 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
10035 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
10038 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
10039 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
10040 when all this splitting is performed.
10042 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
10043 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
10044 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
10047 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
10050 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
10051 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
10052 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
10053 groupings 1 through 9.
10056 @node Mail and Procmail
10057 @subsection Mail and Procmail
10062 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
10063 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
10064 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
10065 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
10066 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
10068 If you have a combined @code{procmail}/POP/mailbox setup, you can do
10069 something like the following:
10071 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
10073 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
10074 (setq nnmail-spool-file
10075 '("/usr/spool/mail/my-name" "po:my-name"))
10078 This also means that you probably don't want to set
10079 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
10082 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
10083 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
10084 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
10085 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
10086 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
10087 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
10089 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
10092 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
10094 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
10095 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
10097 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
10098 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
10099 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
10100 to include all your mail groups.
10102 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
10103 method will be created automatically.
10105 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
10106 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
10107 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
10108 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
10109 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
10110 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
10111 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
10112 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
10114 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
10115 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
10116 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
10117 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
10118 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
10120 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10121 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
10122 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
10123 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
10124 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
10125 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
10127 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
10128 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
10129 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
10130 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
10131 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
10134 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
10135 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
10136 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
10137 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
10138 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
10142 @node Incorporating Old Mail
10143 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
10145 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
10146 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
10147 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
10150 Doing so can be quite easy.
10152 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
10153 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
10154 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
10155 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
10156 your @code{nnml} groups.
10162 Go to the group buffer.
10165 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
10166 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10169 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
10172 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
10173 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
10176 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
10177 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
10180 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
10181 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
10182 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
10183 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
10184 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
10186 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
10187 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
10188 using the new mail backend.
10191 @node Expiring Mail
10192 @subsection Expiring Mail
10193 @cindex article expiry
10195 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
10196 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
10197 different approach to mail reading.
10199 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
10200 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
10201 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
10202 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
10203 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
10204 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
10207 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
10208 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
10209 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
10210 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
10211 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
10212 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
10213 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
10214 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
10216 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10217 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
10218 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
10219 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
10220 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
10221 column in the summary buffer.
10223 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
10224 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
10225 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
10226 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
10229 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
10231 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
10232 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
10233 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
10236 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
10237 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10238 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10239 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10240 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10242 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10243 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10246 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10247 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10250 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10251 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
10253 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
10254 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
10255 don't really mix very well.
10257 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
10258 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
10259 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
10260 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
10263 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
10264 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
10265 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
10266 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
10269 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10271 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10273 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
10275 ((string= group "mail.junk")
10277 ((string= group "important")
10283 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
10284 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
10286 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
10287 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
10288 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
10291 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
10292 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10294 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10295 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
10296 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
10297 easier for procmail users.
10299 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
10300 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
10301 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
10302 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
10303 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
10304 caution. Even more dangerous is the
10305 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
10306 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
10307 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
10308 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
10309 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
10310 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
10311 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
10314 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
10316 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
10317 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
10318 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
10319 auto-expire turned on.
10323 @subsection Washing Mail
10324 @cindex mail washing
10325 @cindex list server brain damage
10326 @cindex incoming mail treatment
10328 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
10329 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
10330 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
10331 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
10332 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
10333 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
10335 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
10336 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
10337 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
10340 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
10341 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
10342 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
10343 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
10346 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10347 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10348 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
10349 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
10350 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
10353 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10354 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10355 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
10356 Emacs running on MS machines.
10360 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10361 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10362 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
10363 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
10366 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10367 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10368 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
10369 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
10371 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10372 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10373 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10374 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10375 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10376 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10377 also be a list of regexp.
10379 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10380 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10383 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10384 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10387 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10388 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10389 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10393 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10394 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10395 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10399 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10400 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10401 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10408 @subsection Duplicates
10410 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10411 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10412 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10413 @cindex duplicate mails
10414 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10415 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10416 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10417 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10418 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10419 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10420 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10421 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10422 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10423 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10424 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10425 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10426 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10428 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10429 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10430 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10431 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10433 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10436 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10437 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10441 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10442 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10443 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10444 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10445 (any mail "mail.misc")
10452 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10453 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10458 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10459 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10460 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10461 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10462 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10465 @node Not Reading Mail
10466 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10468 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10469 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10470 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10472 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10473 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10475 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10476 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10477 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10478 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10479 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10480 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10481 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10482 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10483 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10484 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10485 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10487 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10488 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10492 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10493 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10495 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10496 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10497 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10500 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10501 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10502 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10503 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10504 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10508 @node Unix Mail Box
10509 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10511 @cindex unix mail box
10513 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10514 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10515 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10516 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10517 which group it belongs in.
10519 Virtual server settings:
10522 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10523 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10524 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10526 @item nnmbox-active-file
10527 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10528 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10530 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10531 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10532 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10538 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10542 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10543 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10544 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10545 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10546 article to say which group it belongs in.
10548 Virtual server settings:
10551 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10552 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10553 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10555 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10556 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10557 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10559 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10560 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10561 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10566 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10568 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10570 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10571 format. It should be used with some caution.
10573 @vindex nnml-directory
10574 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10575 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10576 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10577 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10579 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10582 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10583 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10584 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10585 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10586 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10587 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10588 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10589 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10591 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10592 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10593 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10594 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10596 Virtual server settings:
10599 @item nnml-directory
10600 @vindex nnml-directory
10601 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10603 @item nnml-active-file
10604 @vindex nnml-active-file
10605 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10607 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10608 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10609 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10612 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10613 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10614 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10616 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10617 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10618 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10620 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10621 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10622 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10624 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10625 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10626 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10630 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10631 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10632 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10633 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10634 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10635 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10636 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10641 @subsubsection MH Spool
10643 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10645 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10646 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10647 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10648 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10650 Virtual server settings:
10653 @item nnmh-directory
10654 @vindex nnmh-directory
10655 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10657 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10658 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10659 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10662 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10663 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10664 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10665 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10666 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10667 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10668 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10673 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10675 @cindex mbox folders
10676 @cindex mail folders
10678 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10679 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10680 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10683 Virtual server settings:
10686 @item nnfolder-directory
10687 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10688 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10690 @item nnfolder-active-file
10691 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10692 The name of the active file.
10694 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10695 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10696 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10698 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10699 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10700 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10702 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10703 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10704 @cindex backup files
10705 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
10706 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
10707 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
10708 your @file{.emacs} file:
10711 (defun turn-off-backup ()
10712 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
10714 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
10717 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10718 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10719 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
10720 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
10721 extract some information from it before removing it.
10726 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10727 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10728 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10729 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10730 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10731 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10734 @node Other Sources
10735 @section Other Sources
10737 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10738 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10742 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10743 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10744 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10745 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10746 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10747 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10751 @node Directory Groups
10752 @subsection Directory Groups
10754 @cindex directory groups
10756 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10757 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10760 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10761 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10762 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10763 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10765 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10766 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10767 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10768 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10769 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10771 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10773 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10774 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10775 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10776 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10779 @node Anything Groups
10780 @subsection Anything Groups
10783 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10784 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10785 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10788 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10789 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10790 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10791 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10792 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10793 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10794 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10795 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10796 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10797 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10800 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10801 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10802 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10803 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10805 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10806 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10807 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10808 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10810 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10811 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10812 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10813 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10814 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10815 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10816 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10817 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10822 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10823 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10824 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10825 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10827 @item nneething-exclude-files
10828 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10829 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10830 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10832 @item nneething-include-files
10833 @vindex nneething-include-files
10834 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
10835 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
10837 @item nneething-map-file
10838 @vindex nneething-map-file
10839 Name of the map files.
10843 @node Document Groups
10844 @subsection Document Groups
10846 @cindex documentation group
10849 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10850 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10857 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10862 The standard Unix mbox file.
10864 @cindex MMDF mail box
10866 The MMDF mail box format.
10869 Several news articles appended into a file.
10872 @cindex rnews batch files
10873 The rnews batch transport format.
10874 @cindex forwarded messages
10877 Forwarded articles.
10880 MIME multipart messages, besides digests.
10884 @cindex MIME digest
10885 @cindex 1153 digest
10886 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10887 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10888 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10890 @item standard-digest
10891 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10894 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10897 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10898 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10899 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10902 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10903 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10904 group. And that's it.
10906 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10907 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10908 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10909 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10910 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10911 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10912 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10913 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10914 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10915 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10917 Virtual server variables:
10920 @item nndoc-article-type
10921 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10922 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10923 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10924 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{mime-digest},
10925 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or
10928 @item nndoc-post-type
10929 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10930 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10931 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10936 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10940 @node Document Server Internals
10941 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10943 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10944 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10945 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10946 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10948 First, here's an example document type definition:
10952 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10953 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10956 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10957 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10958 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10959 types can be defined with very few settings:
10962 @item first-article
10963 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10964 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10967 @item article-begin
10968 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10969 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10971 @item head-begin-function
10972 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10975 @item nndoc-head-begin
10976 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10979 @item nndoc-head-end
10980 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10981 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10983 @item body-begin-function
10984 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10988 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10991 @item body-end-function
10992 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10996 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10999 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
11000 regexp will be totally ignored.
11004 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
11005 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
11006 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
11007 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
11008 something that's palatable for Gnus:
11011 @item prepare-body-function
11012 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
11013 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
11014 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
11016 @item article-transform-function
11017 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
11018 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
11019 body of the article.
11021 @item generate-head-function
11022 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
11023 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
11024 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
11025 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
11029 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
11034 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11035 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11036 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
11037 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
11038 (head-end . "^ ?$")
11039 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
11040 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
11041 (subtype digest guess))
11044 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
11045 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
11046 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
11047 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
11048 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
11050 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
11051 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
11052 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
11053 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
11054 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
11055 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
11056 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
11057 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
11058 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
11059 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
11067 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
11068 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
11069 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
11071 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
11072 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
11073 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
11076 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
11077 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
11078 that interested in doing things properly.
11080 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
11081 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
11084 First some terminology:
11089 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
11090 get news and/or mail from.
11093 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
11094 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
11097 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
11101 @item message packets
11102 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
11103 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
11104 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11106 @item response packets
11107 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
11108 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
11109 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11119 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
11120 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
11121 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
11122 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
11125 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
11128 You put the packet in your home directory.
11131 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
11132 the native or secondary server.
11135 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
11136 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
11139 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
11143 You transfer this packet to the server.
11146 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
11149 You then repeat until you die.
11153 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
11154 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
11157 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
11158 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
11159 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
11163 @node SOUP Commands
11164 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
11166 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
11170 @kindex G s b (Group)
11171 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
11172 Pack all unread articles in the current group
11173 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
11174 process/prefix convention.
11177 @kindex G s w (Group)
11178 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
11179 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
11182 @kindex G s s (Group)
11183 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
11184 Send all replies from the replies packet
11185 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
11188 @kindex G s p (Group)
11189 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
11190 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
11193 @kindex G s r (Group)
11194 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
11195 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
11198 @kindex O s (Summary)
11199 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
11200 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
11201 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
11202 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11207 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
11212 @item gnus-soup-directory
11213 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
11214 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
11215 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
11217 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
11218 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
11219 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
11220 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
11222 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
11223 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
11224 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
11225 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
11227 @item gnus-soup-packer
11228 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
11229 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11230 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
11232 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
11233 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
11234 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11235 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11237 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
11238 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
11239 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
11241 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11242 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11243 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
11244 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
11250 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
11253 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
11254 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
11255 you can read them at leisure.
11257 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
11261 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
11262 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
11263 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
11264 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
11266 @item nnsoup-directory
11267 @vindex nnsoup-directory
11268 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
11269 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
11271 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
11272 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
11273 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
11274 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
11276 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
11277 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
11278 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
11279 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
11280 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
11282 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
11283 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
11284 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
11285 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
11287 @item nnsoup-active-file
11288 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
11289 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
11290 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
11291 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
11292 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
11294 @item nnsoup-packer
11295 @vindex nnsoup-packer
11296 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
11297 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
11299 @item nnsoup-unpacker
11300 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
11301 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
11302 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11304 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
11305 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
11306 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
11309 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
11310 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
11311 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
11314 @item nnsoup-always-save
11315 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
11316 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
11322 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
11324 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
11325 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
11326 more for that to happen.
11328 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
11329 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
11330 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
11333 In specific, this is what it does:
11336 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
11337 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
11340 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
11341 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
11342 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
11346 @subsection Web Searches
11350 @cindex InReference
11351 @cindex Usenet searches
11352 @cindex searching the Usenet
11354 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11355 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11356 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11357 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11358 searches without having to use a browser.
11360 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11361 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11362 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11363 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11364 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11366 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11367 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11368 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11369 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11370 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11371 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11372 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11373 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11374 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11375 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11378 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11379 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11380 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
11381 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11382 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11383 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11385 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11386 to use @code{nnweb}.
11388 Virtual server variables:
11393 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11394 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11398 @vindex nnweb-search
11399 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11401 @item nnweb-max-hits
11402 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11403 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11406 @item nnweb-type-definition
11407 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11408 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11409 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11414 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11418 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11421 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11424 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11428 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11435 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11436 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11437 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11440 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11441 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11442 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11444 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11450 @item nngateway-address
11451 @vindex nngateway-address
11452 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11454 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11455 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11456 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11457 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11458 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11459 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11460 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11463 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11464 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11465 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11468 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11471 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11474 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11477 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11479 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11482 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11483 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11484 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11486 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11488 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11489 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11490 @code{nngateway-address}.
11495 (setq gnus-post-method
11496 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11497 (nngateway-header-transformation
11498 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11506 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11509 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11513 @node Combined Groups
11514 @section Combined Groups
11516 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11520 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11521 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11525 @node Virtual Groups
11526 @subsection Virtual Groups
11528 @cindex virtual groups
11529 @cindex merging groups
11531 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11534 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11535 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11536 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11538 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11539 regexp to match component groups.
11541 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11542 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11543 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11544 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11545 the virtual group.)
11547 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11548 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11551 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11554 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11555 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11557 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11558 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11559 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11560 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11563 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11566 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11567 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11568 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11570 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11571 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11572 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11573 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11574 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11576 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11577 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11578 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11580 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11581 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11582 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11583 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11584 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11585 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11586 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11587 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11588 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11589 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11590 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11592 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
11593 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
11594 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
11595 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
11596 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
11597 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
11598 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
11600 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
11601 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
11605 @node Kibozed Groups
11606 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11610 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11611 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11612 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11613 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11615 @kindex G k (Group)
11616 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11619 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11620 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11621 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11622 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11624 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11625 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11626 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11628 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11629 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11630 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11631 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11632 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11633 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11634 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11635 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11637 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11638 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11639 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11640 Stranger things have happened.
11642 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11643 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11645 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11646 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11647 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11648 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11649 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11650 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11652 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11653 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11656 @node Gnus Unplugged
11657 @section Gnus Unplugged
11662 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11664 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11665 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11666 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11667 read news. Believe it or not.
11669 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11670 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11671 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11672 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11673 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11675 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11676 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11677 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11678 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11679 reading news on a machine.
11681 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11685 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11686 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11690 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11691 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11698 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11700 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11703 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11704 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11705 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11706 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11707 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11708 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11709 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11710 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11711 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
11716 @subsection Agent Basics
11718 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11720 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11721 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11722 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11723 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11725 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11726 connected to the net continuously.
11728 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11729 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11731 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11736 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11737 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11738 already fetched while in this mode.
11741 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11742 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11743 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11746 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11747 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11748 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11749 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11752 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11753 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11754 then you read the news offline.
11757 And then you go to step 2.
11760 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11766 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11767 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11768 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11769 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11770 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11771 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11774 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
11781 @node Agent Categories
11782 @subsection Agent Categories
11784 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11785 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
11786 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
11787 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
11788 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
11789 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11790 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11792 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11793 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11794 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11797 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11798 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11799 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11803 @node Category Syntax
11804 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11806 A category consists of two things.
11810 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11811 are eligible for downloading; and
11814 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11815 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11816 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
11819 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
11820 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
11821 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
11822 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
11824 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
11825 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
11826 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
11828 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
11829 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
11830 operators sprinkled in between.
11832 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11834 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11835 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11841 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11842 short (for some value of ``short'').
11844 Here's a more complex predicate:
11853 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11854 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11857 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11858 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11859 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11861 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11862 you want to do, you can write your own.
11866 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11867 lines; default 100.
11870 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11871 lines; default 200.
11874 True iff the article has a download score less than
11875 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11878 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11879 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11882 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11883 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11884 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11893 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11894 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11895 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11898 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
11899 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
11900 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
11901 something along the lines of the following:
11904 (defun my-article-old-p ()
11905 "Say whether an article is old."
11906 (< (time-to-day (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
11907 (- (time-to-day (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
11910 with the predicate then defined as:
11913 (not my-article-old-p)
11916 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
11917 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
11918 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
11919 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
11922 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
11923 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
11924 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
11927 and simply specify your predicate as:
11933 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
11934 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
11935 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
11936 just don't give a damm.
11939 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
11940 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
11941 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
11942 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
11943 parameters like so:
11946 (agent-predicate . short)
11949 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
11950 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
11951 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
11954 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
11957 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
11960 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
11961 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
11962 predicate is assumed to be a list.
11965 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11966 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11967 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11968 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
11969 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
11970 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
11972 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
11973 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
11974 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
11975 if it's to be specific to that group.
11977 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
11984 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
11985 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
11991 Category specification
11995 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
12001 Group Parameter specification
12004 (agent-score ("from"
12005 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
12010 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
12016 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
12023 Category specification
12026 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
12032 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
12036 Group Parameter specification
12039 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
12042 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
12047 Use @code{normal} score files
12049 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
12050 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
12051 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
12052 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
12054 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
12055 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
12056 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
12057 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
12061 Category Specification
12068 Group Parameter specification
12071 (agent-score . file)
12076 @node The Category Buffer
12077 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
12079 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
12080 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
12081 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
12083 The following commands are available in this buffer:
12087 @kindex q (Category)
12088 @findex gnus-category-exit
12089 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
12092 @kindex k (Category)
12093 @findex gnus-category-kill
12094 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
12097 @kindex c (Category)
12098 @findex gnus-category-copy
12099 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
12102 @kindex a (Category)
12103 @findex gnus-category-add
12104 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
12107 @kindex p (Category)
12108 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
12109 Edit the predicate of the current category
12110 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
12113 @kindex g (Category)
12114 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
12115 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
12116 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
12119 @kindex s (Category)
12120 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
12121 Edit the download score rule of the current category
12122 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
12125 @kindex l (Category)
12126 @findex gnus-category-list
12127 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
12131 @node Category Variables
12132 @subsubsection Category Variables
12135 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
12136 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
12137 Hook run in category buffers.
12139 @item gnus-category-line-format
12140 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
12141 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
12142 Variables}). Valid elements are:
12146 The name of the category.
12149 The number of groups in the category.
12152 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
12153 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
12154 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
12156 @item gnus-agent-short-article
12157 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
12158 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
12160 @item gnus-agent-long-article
12161 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
12162 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
12164 @item gnus-agent-low-score
12165 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
12166 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
12169 @item gnus-agent-high-score
12170 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
12171 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
12177 @node Agent Commands
12178 @subsection Agent Commands
12180 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
12181 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
12182 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
12186 * Group Agent Commands::
12187 * Summary Agent Commands::
12188 * Server Agent Commands::
12191 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
12192 following incantation:
12194 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12196 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12201 @node Group Agent Commands
12202 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
12206 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
12207 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
12208 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
12209 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
12212 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
12213 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
12214 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
12217 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
12218 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
12219 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
12220 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
12223 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
12224 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
12225 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
12226 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}.
12229 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
12230 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
12231 Add the current group to an Agent category
12232 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
12237 @node Summary Agent Commands
12238 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
12242 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
12243 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
12244 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
12247 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
12248 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
12249 Remove the downloading mark from the article
12250 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
12253 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
12254 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
12255 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
12258 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
12259 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
12260 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
12265 @node Server Agent Commands
12266 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
12270 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
12271 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
12272 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
12273 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
12276 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
12277 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
12278 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
12279 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
12285 @subsection Agent Expiry
12287 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
12288 @findex gnus-agent-expire
12289 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
12290 @cindex Agent expiry
12291 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
12294 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
12295 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
12296 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
12297 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
12298 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
12299 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
12301 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
12302 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
12303 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
12304 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
12305 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
12308 @node Outgoing Messages
12309 @subsection Outgoing Messages
12311 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
12312 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
12313 after posting, and edit them at will.
12315 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
12316 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
12317 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
12318 messages in the draft group.
12322 @node Agent Variables
12323 @subsection Agent Variables
12326 @item gnus-agent-directory
12327 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
12328 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
12329 @file{~/News/agent/}.
12331 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
12332 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
12333 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
12334 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
12335 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
12338 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12339 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12340 Hook run when connecting to the network.
12342 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12343 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12344 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
12349 @node Example Setup
12350 @subsection Example Setup
12352 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
12353 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
12354 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
12357 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
12358 ;;; from your ISP's server.
12359 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
12361 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
12362 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
12363 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
12364 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
12366 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
12367 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12369 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
12373 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
12374 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
12377 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
12378 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
12379 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
12380 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
12381 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
12384 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
12385 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
12386 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
12387 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
12388 back all the killed groups.)
12390 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
12391 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
12392 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
12395 @node Batching Agents
12396 @subsection Batching Agents
12398 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
12399 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
12400 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
12404 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
12408 @node Agent Caveats
12409 @subsection Agent Caveats
12411 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
12412 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
12416 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
12421 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
12422 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
12428 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
12429 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
12436 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
12437 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
12438 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
12441 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
12442 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
12443 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
12444 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
12445 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
12447 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
12448 before generating the summary buffer.
12450 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
12451 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
12452 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
12454 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
12455 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
12456 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
12457 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
12460 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
12461 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
12462 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
12463 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
12464 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
12465 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
12466 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
12467 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
12468 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
12469 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
12470 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
12471 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
12472 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
12473 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
12474 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
12475 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
12479 @node Summary Score Commands
12480 @section Summary Score Commands
12481 @cindex score commands
12483 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
12484 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
12485 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
12486 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
12487 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
12489 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
12490 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
12491 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
12492 score file the current one.
12494 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
12499 @kindex V s (Summary)
12500 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
12501 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
12504 @kindex V S (Summary)
12505 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
12506 Display the score of the current article
12507 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
12510 @kindex V t (Summary)
12511 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
12512 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
12513 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
12516 @kindex V R (Summary)
12517 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
12518 Run the current summary through the scoring process
12519 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
12520 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
12521 effect you're having.
12524 @kindex V c (Summary)
12525 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
12526 Make a different score file the current
12527 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
12530 @kindex V e (Summary)
12531 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
12532 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
12533 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
12537 @kindex V f (Summary)
12538 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
12539 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
12540 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
12543 @kindex V F (Summary)
12544 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12545 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
12546 after editing score files.
12549 @kindex V C (Summary)
12550 @findex gnus-score-customize
12551 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
12552 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
12556 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
12561 @kindex V m (Summary)
12562 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
12563 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
12564 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
12567 @kindex V x (Summary)
12568 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
12569 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
12570 expunge all articles below this score
12571 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
12574 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
12575 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
12578 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
12579 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
12583 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
12584 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
12586 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
12587 keys are available:
12591 Score on the author name.
12594 Score on the subject line.
12597 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
12600 Score on the References line.
12606 Score on the number of lines.
12609 Score on the Message-ID.
12612 Score on followups.
12626 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
12627 what headers you are scoring on.
12639 Substring matching.
12642 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
12671 Greater than number.
12676 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
12677 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
12678 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
12682 Temporary score entry.
12685 Permanent score entry.
12688 Immediately scoring.
12693 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
12694 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
12695 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
12696 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
12698 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
12699 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
12700 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
12701 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
12702 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
12704 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
12705 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
12706 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
12707 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
12708 current score file.
12710 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12711 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12712 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12715 @node Group Score Commands
12716 @section Group Score Commands
12717 @cindex group score commands
12719 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12724 @kindex W f (Group)
12725 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12726 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12727 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12728 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12732 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12734 @findex gnus-batch-score
12735 @cindex batch scoring
12737 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
12741 @node Score Variables
12742 @section Score Variables
12743 @cindex score variables
12747 @item gnus-use-scoring
12748 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12749 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12750 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12752 @item gnus-kill-killed
12753 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12754 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12755 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12756 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12757 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12758 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12759 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12761 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12762 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12763 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12764 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12765 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12767 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12768 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12769 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12770 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12772 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12773 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12774 @cindex score cache
12775 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12776 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
12777 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
12778 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
12779 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
12780 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
12783 @item gnus-save-score
12784 @vindex gnus-save-score
12785 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
12786 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
12787 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
12789 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12790 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12791 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
12792 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
12793 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
12794 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
12795 manually entered data.
12797 @item gnus-summary-default-score
12798 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
12799 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
12801 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
12802 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
12803 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
12804 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
12805 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
12806 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
12808 @item gnus-score-over-mark
12809 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
12810 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
12811 default. Default is @samp{+}.
12813 @item gnus-score-below-mark
12814 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
12815 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
12816 default. Default is @samp{-}.
12818 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12819 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12820 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
12821 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
12823 Predefined functions available are:
12826 @item gnus-score-find-single
12827 @findex gnus-score-find-single
12828 Only apply the group's own score file.
12830 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
12831 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
12832 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
12833 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
12834 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
12835 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
12836 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
12837 then a regexp match is done.
12839 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
12840 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
12842 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
12843 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
12844 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
12845 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
12847 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12848 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12849 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
12850 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
12851 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
12854 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
12855 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
12856 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
12857 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
12858 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
12859 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
12862 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
12863 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
12864 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
12865 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
12866 are expired. It's 7 by default.
12868 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12869 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12870 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
12871 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
12872 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
12873 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
12874 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
12877 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12878 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12879 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
12881 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
12882 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
12883 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
12884 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
12885 threading---according to the current value of
12886 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
12887 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
12888 simplified in this manner.
12893 @node Score File Format
12894 @section Score File Format
12895 @cindex score file format
12897 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
12898 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
12899 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
12901 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
12905 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
12907 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
12909 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
12911 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
12916 (mark-and-expunge -10)
12920 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
12921 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
12922 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
12923 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
12927 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
12928 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
12930 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
12931 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
12932 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
12934 Six keys are supported by this alist:
12939 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
12940 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
12941 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
12942 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
12943 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
12944 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
12945 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
12946 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
12947 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
12948 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
12949 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
12950 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
12951 to articles that matches these score entries.
12953 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
12954 score entry has one to four elements.
12958 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
12959 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
12963 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
12964 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
12965 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
12966 is successful. If this element is not present, the
12967 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
12968 instead. This is 1000 by default.
12971 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
12972 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
12973 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
12974 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
12975 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
12978 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
12979 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
12980 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
12981 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
12984 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
12985 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
12986 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
12987 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
12988 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
12989 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
12990 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
12991 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
12992 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
12993 instead, if you feel like.
12996 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
12997 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
12999 These predicates are true if
13002 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
13005 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
13006 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
13013 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
13014 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
13015 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
13016 it's not. I think.)
13018 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
13019 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
13020 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
13021 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
13024 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
13025 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
13026 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
13027 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
13028 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
13029 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
13030 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
13034 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
13035 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
13036 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
13037 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
13038 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
13039 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
13040 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
13041 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
13044 @item Head, Body, All
13045 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
13049 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
13050 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
13051 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
13052 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
13053 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
13054 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
13055 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
13059 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
13060 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
13061 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
13062 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
13063 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
13064 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
13065 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
13066 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
13067 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
13068 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
13072 @cindex Score File Atoms
13074 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13075 lower than this number will be marked as read.
13078 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13079 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
13081 @item mark-and-expunge
13082 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13083 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
13086 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
13087 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
13088 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
13089 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
13090 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
13093 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
13094 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
13097 @item exclude-files
13098 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
13099 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
13103 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
13104 ignored when handling global score files.
13107 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
13108 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
13109 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
13110 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
13113 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
13114 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
13115 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
13116 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
13118 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
13122 (mark-and-expunge -100)
13125 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
13126 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
13127 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
13128 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
13129 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
13131 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
13132 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
13133 ordinary scoring rules.
13136 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
13137 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
13138 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
13139 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
13140 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
13141 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
13142 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13143 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
13144 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
13145 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
13146 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
13150 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
13151 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
13152 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
13153 file for a number of groups.
13156 @cindex local variables
13157 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
13158 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
13159 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
13160 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
13161 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
13165 @node Score File Editing
13166 @section Score File Editing
13168 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
13169 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
13170 with a mode for that.
13172 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
13173 additional commands:
13178 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
13179 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
13180 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
13181 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
13184 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
13185 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
13186 Insert the current date in numerical format
13187 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
13188 you were wondering.
13191 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
13192 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
13193 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
13194 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
13195 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
13200 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
13202 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
13203 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
13205 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
13206 e} to begin editing score files.
13209 @node Adaptive Scoring
13210 @section Adaptive Scoring
13211 @cindex adaptive scoring
13213 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
13214 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
13215 stupidity, to be precise.
13217 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
13218 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
13219 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
13220 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
13221 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13222 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
13223 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
13224 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
13225 variable to @code{(word line)}.
13227 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13228 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
13229 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
13230 might look something like this:
13233 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13234 '((gnus-unread-mark)
13235 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
13236 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
13237 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
13238 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
13239 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
13240 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
13241 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
13242 (gnus-ancient-mark)
13243 (gnus-low-score-mark)
13244 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
13247 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
13248 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
13249 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
13250 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
13251 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
13252 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
13255 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
13256 will be applied to each article.
13258 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
13259 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
13260 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
13261 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
13263 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
13264 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
13265 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
13266 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
13268 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
13269 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
13270 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
13271 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
13273 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
13274 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
13275 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
13276 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
13277 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
13278 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
13280 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
13281 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
13282 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
13283 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
13284 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
13285 aspirins afterwards.)
13287 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
13288 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
13289 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
13291 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
13292 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
13293 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
13295 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
13296 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
13297 let you use different rules in different groups.
13299 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
13300 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
13301 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
13304 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
13305 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
13306 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
13307 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
13308 the length of the match is less than
13309 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
13310 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
13313 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13314 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
13315 headers. If you adapt on words, the
13316 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
13317 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
13320 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13321 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
13322 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
13323 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
13324 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
13327 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
13328 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
13329 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
13330 score with 30 points.
13332 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
13333 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
13334 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
13335 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
13336 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
13338 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
13339 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
13340 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
13341 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
13343 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
13344 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
13345 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
13346 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
13348 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
13349 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
13350 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
13351 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
13352 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
13354 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
13355 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
13356 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
13358 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
13359 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
13360 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
13361 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
13364 @node Home Score File
13365 @section Home Score File
13367 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
13368 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
13369 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
13370 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
13372 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
13373 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
13374 could perhaps use the same home score file.
13376 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
13377 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
13382 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
13386 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
13387 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
13391 A list. The elements in this list can be:
13395 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
13396 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
13399 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
13400 the home score file.
13403 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
13406 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
13411 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
13414 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13415 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
13418 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
13419 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
13421 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
13423 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13424 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
13427 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
13428 Other functions include
13431 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
13432 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
13433 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
13434 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
13438 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
13439 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
13440 their own home score files:
13443 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13444 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
13445 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
13446 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
13447 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
13450 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
13451 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
13452 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
13453 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
13454 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
13456 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
13457 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
13458 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
13459 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
13460 precedence over this variable.
13463 @node Followups To Yourself
13464 @section Followups To Yourself
13466 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
13467 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
13468 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
13469 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
13470 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
13471 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
13475 @item gnus-score-followup-article
13476 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
13477 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
13480 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
13481 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
13482 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
13486 @vindex message-sent-hook
13487 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
13488 @code{message-sent-hook}.
13490 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
13491 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
13495 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13496 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13499 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
13500 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
13505 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
13509 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
13510 is system-dependent.
13514 @section Scoring Tips
13515 @cindex scoring tips
13521 @cindex scoring crossposts
13522 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
13523 the @code{Xref} header.
13525 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
13528 @item Multiple crossposts
13529 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
13530 more than, say, 3 groups:
13532 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
13535 @item Matching on the body
13536 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
13537 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
13538 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
13539 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
13540 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
13541 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
13542 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
13545 @item Marking as read
13546 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
13547 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
13548 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
13552 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
13554 @item Negated character classes
13555 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
13556 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
13557 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
13561 @node Reverse Scoring
13562 @section Reverse Scoring
13563 @cindex reverse scoring
13565 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
13566 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
13567 like this in your score file:
13571 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
13576 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
13577 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
13580 @node Global Score Files
13581 @section Global Score Files
13582 @cindex global score files
13584 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
13585 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
13586 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
13588 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
13589 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
13590 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
13592 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
13593 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
13594 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
13595 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
13596 files are applicable to which group.
13598 Say you want to use the score file
13599 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
13600 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
13603 (setq gnus-global-score-files
13604 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
13605 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
13608 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
13609 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
13610 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
13611 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
13612 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
13614 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
13615 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
13617 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
13618 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
13619 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
13620 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
13621 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
13622 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
13624 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
13630 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
13632 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
13634 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
13636 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
13637 lowered out of existence.
13639 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
13640 articles completely.
13643 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
13644 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
13645 old articles for a long time.
13648 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
13649 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
13650 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
13651 holding our breath yet?
13655 @section Kill Files
13658 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
13659 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
13660 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
13662 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
13663 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
13664 files into score files.
13666 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
13667 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
13668 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
13669 that isn't a very good idea.
13671 Normal kill files look like this:
13674 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13675 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
13679 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
13680 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
13682 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
13683 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
13686 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
13691 @kindex M-k (Summary)
13692 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
13693 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
13696 @kindex M-K (Summary)
13697 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
13698 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
13701 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
13706 @kindex M-k (Group)
13707 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
13708 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
13711 @kindex M-K (Group)
13712 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
13713 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
13716 Kill file variables:
13719 @item gnus-kill-file-name
13720 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
13721 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
13722 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
13723 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
13724 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
13725 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
13727 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13728 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13729 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
13730 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
13733 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
13734 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
13735 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
13736 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
13737 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
13738 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
13739 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
13740 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
13741 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
13743 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13744 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13745 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13750 @node Converting Kill Files
13751 @section Converting Kill Files
13753 @cindex converting kill files
13755 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13756 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13757 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13760 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13761 You can fetch it from
13762 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13764 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13765 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13766 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13774 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13775 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13776 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
13778 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
13779 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
13780 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
13781 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
13782 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
13783 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
13784 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
13785 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
13789 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
13790 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
13791 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
13792 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
13796 @node Using GroupLens
13797 @subsection Using GroupLens
13799 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
13801 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
13802 better bit in town at the moment.
13804 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
13808 @item gnus-use-grouplens
13809 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
13810 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
13811 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
13813 @item grouplens-pseudonym
13814 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
13815 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
13816 with the Better Bit Bureau.
13818 @item grouplens-newsgroups
13819 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
13820 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
13824 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
13825 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
13826 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
13827 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
13828 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
13829 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
13832 @node Rating Articles
13833 @subsection Rating Articles
13835 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
13836 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
13837 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
13838 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
13841 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
13846 @kindex r (GroupLens)
13847 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
13848 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
13851 @kindex k (GroupLens)
13852 @findex grouplens-score-thread
13853 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
13854 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
13855 threads in rec.humor.
13859 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
13860 the score of the article you're reading.
13865 @kindex n (GroupLens)
13866 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
13867 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
13870 @kindex , (GroupLens)
13871 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
13872 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
13876 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
13877 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
13880 @node Displaying Predictions
13881 @subsection Displaying Predictions
13883 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
13884 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
13885 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
13886 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
13887 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
13889 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
13890 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
13891 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
13892 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
13893 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
13894 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
13895 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
13896 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
13897 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
13898 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
13899 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
13900 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
13901 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
13903 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
13904 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
13905 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
13906 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
13908 The following are valid values for that variable.
13911 @item prediction-spot
13912 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
13915 @item confidence-interval
13916 A numeric confidence interval.
13918 @item prediction-bar
13919 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
13921 @item confidence-bar
13922 Numerical confidence.
13924 @item confidence-spot
13925 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
13927 @item prediction-num
13928 Plain-old numeric value.
13930 @item confidence-plus-minus
13931 Prediction +/- confidence.
13936 @node GroupLens Variables
13937 @subsection GroupLens Variables
13941 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
13942 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
13943 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
13944 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
13947 @item grouplens-bbb-host
13948 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
13951 @item grouplens-bbb-port
13952 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
13954 @item grouplens-score-offset
13955 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
13956 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
13959 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
13960 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
13961 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
13966 @node Advanced Scoring
13967 @section Advanced Scoring
13969 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
13970 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
13971 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
13972 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
13973 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
13975 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
13979 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
13980 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
13981 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
13985 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
13986 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
13988 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
13989 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
13990 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
13991 non-@code{nil} value.
13993 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
13994 operator, and various match operators.
14001 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
14002 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
14003 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
14008 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
14009 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
14010 then this operator will return @code{false}.
14015 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
14016 logical negation of the value of its argument.
14020 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
14021 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
14022 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
14023 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
14024 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
14025 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
14026 the ancestry you want to go.
14028 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
14029 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
14030 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
14031 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
14032 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
14035 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
14036 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
14038 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
14039 when he's talking about Gnus:
14043 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14044 ("subject" "Gnus"))
14050 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
14054 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14061 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
14062 really don't want to read what he's written:
14066 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14067 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
14071 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
14072 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
14073 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
14080 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
14081 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
14082 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
14083 ("body" "white.*socks"))
14087 The possibilities are endless.
14090 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
14091 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
14093 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
14094 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
14095 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
14096 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
14097 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
14098 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
14099 @samp{subject}) first.
14101 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
14102 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
14113 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
14114 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
14120 ("subject" "Gnus")))
14127 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
14128 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
14133 @section Score Decays
14134 @cindex score decays
14137 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
14138 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
14139 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
14140 use them in any sensible way.
14142 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
14143 @findex gnus-decay-score
14144 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
14145 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
14146 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
14147 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
14148 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
14149 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
14150 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
14151 definition of that function:
14154 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
14156 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
14157 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
14160 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
14162 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
14164 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
14167 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
14168 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
14169 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
14170 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
14174 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
14177 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
14180 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
14184 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
14185 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
14186 the new score, which should be an integer.
14188 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
14189 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
14196 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
14197 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
14198 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
14199 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
14200 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
14201 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
14202 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
14203 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
14204 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
14205 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
14206 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
14207 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
14208 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
14209 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
14210 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
14211 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
14212 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
14213 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
14217 @node Process/Prefix
14218 @section Process/Prefix
14219 @cindex process/prefix convention
14221 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
14222 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
14224 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
14225 command to be performed on.
14229 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
14230 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
14231 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
14232 with the current one.
14234 @vindex transient-mark-mode
14235 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
14236 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
14238 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
14239 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
14242 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
14243 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
14245 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
14248 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
14249 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
14250 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
14251 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14253 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
14254 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
14255 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
14256 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
14257 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
14258 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
14259 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
14260 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
14264 @section Interactive
14265 @cindex interaction
14269 @item gnus-novice-user
14270 @vindex gnus-novice-user
14271 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
14272 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
14273 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
14274 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
14277 @item gnus-expert-user
14278 @vindex gnus-expert-user
14279 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
14280 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
14281 matter how strange.
14283 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
14284 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
14285 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
14286 is @code{t} by default.
14288 @item gnus-interactive-exit
14289 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
14290 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
14295 @node Symbolic Prefixes
14296 @section Symbolic Prefixes
14297 @cindex symbolic prefixes
14299 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
14300 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
14301 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
14302 rule of 900 to the current article.
14304 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
14305 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
14306 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
14307 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
14308 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
14309 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
14310 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
14312 @kindex M-i (Summary)
14313 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
14314 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
14315 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
14316 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
14317 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
14318 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
14319 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
14320 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
14322 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
14323 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
14324 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
14326 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
14330 @node Formatting Variables
14331 @section Formatting Variables
14332 @cindex formatting variables
14334 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
14335 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
14336 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
14337 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
14338 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
14341 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
14342 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
14343 lots of percentages everywhere.
14346 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
14347 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
14348 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
14349 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
14350 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
14353 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
14354 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
14355 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
14356 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
14357 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
14358 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
14359 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
14360 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
14362 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
14363 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
14365 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
14366 @findex gnus-update-format
14367 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
14368 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
14369 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
14370 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
14374 @node Formatting Basics
14375 @subsection Formatting Basics
14377 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
14378 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
14379 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
14381 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
14382 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
14383 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
14384 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
14385 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
14388 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
14389 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
14390 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
14391 less than 4 characters wide.
14394 @node Mode Line Formatting
14395 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
14397 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
14398 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
14399 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
14400 with the following two differences:
14405 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
14408 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
14409 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
14410 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
14411 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
14412 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
14413 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
14414 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
14419 @node Advanced Formatting
14420 @subsection Advanced Formatting
14422 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
14423 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
14424 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
14425 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
14427 These are the valid modifiers:
14432 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
14436 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
14441 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
14444 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
14449 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
14452 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
14455 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
14458 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
14462 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
14463 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
14464 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
14465 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
14466 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
14467 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
14468 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
14470 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
14471 last operation, padding.
14473 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
14474 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
14475 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
14476 @xref{Compilation}.
14479 @node User-Defined Specs
14480 @subsection User-Defined Specs
14482 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
14483 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
14484 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
14485 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
14486 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
14487 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
14488 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
14489 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
14490 should protect against that.
14492 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
14493 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
14494 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
14495 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
14499 @node Formatting Fonts
14500 @subsection Formatting Fonts
14502 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
14503 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
14504 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
14505 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
14508 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
14509 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
14510 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
14511 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
14512 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
14513 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
14515 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
14516 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
14517 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
14518 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
14519 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
14520 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
14521 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
14522 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
14524 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
14527 ;; Create three face types.
14528 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
14529 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
14531 ;; We want the article count to be in
14532 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
14533 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
14534 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
14536 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
14537 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
14539 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
14540 (setq gnus-group-line-format
14541 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
14544 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
14545 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
14547 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
14548 mode-line variables.
14551 @node Windows Configuration
14552 @section Windows Configuration
14553 @cindex windows configuration
14555 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
14557 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
14558 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
14559 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
14560 @code{t} by default.
14562 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
14563 glitches. Use at your own peril.
14565 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
14566 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
14567 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
14570 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
14571 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
14572 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14576 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
14577 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
14578 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
14579 possible names is listed below.
14581 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
14582 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
14585 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14589 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
14590 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
14591 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
14592 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
14593 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
14594 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
14595 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
14596 size spec per split.
14598 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
14599 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
14600 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
14601 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
14602 present) gets focus.
14604 Here's a more complicated example:
14607 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
14608 (summary 0.25 point)
14609 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
14613 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
14614 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
14615 occupy, not a percentage.
14617 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
14618 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
14619 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
14620 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
14621 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
14624 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
14627 (article (horizontal 1.0
14632 (summary 0.25 point)
14637 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
14638 @code{horizontal} thingie?
14640 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
14641 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
14642 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
14643 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
14644 the screen is to be given to this strip.
14646 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
14647 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
14648 lines from the splits.
14650 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
14654 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
14655 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
14656 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
14657 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
14658 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
14659 size = number | frame-params
14660 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
14663 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
14664 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
14665 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
14666 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
14668 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
14669 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
14670 @cindex window height
14671 @cindex window width
14672 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
14673 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
14674 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
14675 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
14676 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
14677 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
14679 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
14680 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
14681 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
14682 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
14684 @findex gnus-configure-frame
14685 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
14686 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
14687 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
14688 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
14689 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
14690 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
14691 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
14692 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
14693 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
14694 configuration list.
14697 (gnus-configure-frame
14701 (article 0.3 point))
14709 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
14710 @code{frame} split:
14713 (gnus-configure-frame
14716 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
14718 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
14719 (user-position . t)
14720 (left . -1) (top . 1))
14725 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
14726 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
14727 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
14728 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
14729 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
14730 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
14731 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
14732 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
14735 Here's a list of all possible keys for
14736 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
14738 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
14739 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
14740 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
14741 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
14742 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
14743 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
14745 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
14746 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
14747 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
14751 (message (horizontal 1.0
14752 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
14754 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
14759 @findex gnus-add-configuration
14760 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
14761 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
14762 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
14763 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
14766 (gnus-add-configuration
14767 '(article (vertical 1.0
14769 (summary .25 point)
14773 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
14774 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
14775 Gnus has been loaded.
14777 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
14778 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
14779 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
14780 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
14781 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
14783 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
14784 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
14785 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
14789 @node Faces and Fonts
14790 @section Faces and Fonts
14795 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
14796 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
14797 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
14802 @section Compilation
14803 @cindex compilation
14804 @cindex byte-compilation
14806 @findex gnus-compile
14808 Remember all those line format specification variables?
14809 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
14810 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
14811 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
14812 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
14813 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
14816 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
14817 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
14818 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
14819 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
14820 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
14821 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
14822 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
14826 @section Mode Lines
14829 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
14830 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
14831 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
14832 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
14833 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
14834 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
14835 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
14838 @cindex display-time
14840 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
14841 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
14842 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
14843 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
14844 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
14845 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
14846 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
14847 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
14850 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
14852 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
14853 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
14855 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
14856 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
14857 (length display-time-string)))))
14860 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
14861 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
14862 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
14863 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
14864 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
14867 @node Highlighting and Menus
14868 @section Highlighting and Menus
14870 @cindex highlighting
14873 @vindex gnus-visual
14874 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
14875 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
14876 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
14879 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
14880 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
14883 @item group-highlight
14884 Do highlights in the group buffer.
14885 @item summary-highlight
14886 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
14887 @item article-highlight
14888 Do highlights according to @code{gnus-article-display-hook} in the
14891 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
14893 Create menus in the group buffer.
14895 Create menus in the summary buffers.
14897 Create menus in the article buffer.
14899 Create menus in the browse buffer.
14901 Create menus in the server buffer.
14903 Create menus in the score buffers.
14905 Create menus in all buffers.
14908 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
14909 buffers, you could say something like:
14912 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
14915 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
14918 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
14921 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
14922 in all Gnus buffers.
14924 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
14927 @item gnus-mouse-face
14928 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
14929 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
14930 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
14934 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
14938 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
14939 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
14940 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
14942 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
14943 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
14944 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
14946 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
14947 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
14948 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
14950 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
14951 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
14952 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
14954 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
14955 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
14956 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
14958 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
14959 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
14960 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
14971 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
14972 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
14973 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
14974 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
14975 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
14979 @vindex gnus-carpal
14980 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
14981 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
14982 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
14987 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14988 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14989 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
14991 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
14992 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
14993 Face used on buttons.
14995 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
14996 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
14997 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
14999 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
15000 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
15001 Buttons in the group buffer.
15003 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
15004 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
15005 Buttons in the summary buffer.
15007 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
15008 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
15009 Buttons in the server buffer.
15011 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
15012 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
15013 Buttons in the browse buffer.
15016 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
15017 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
15018 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
15026 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
15027 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
15028 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
15029 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
15030 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
15032 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
15033 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
15034 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
15036 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
15037 been idle for thirty minutes:
15040 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
15043 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
15047 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
15050 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
15051 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
15052 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15054 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
15055 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
15056 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
15057 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15059 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
15060 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
15061 @var{idle} minutes.
15063 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
15064 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
15067 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
15068 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
15069 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
15071 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
15072 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
15073 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
15074 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
15076 @vindex gnus-use-demon
15077 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
15078 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
15080 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
15081 your @file{.gnus} file:
15083 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
15085 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
15088 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
15089 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
15090 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
15091 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
15092 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
15093 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
15094 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
15095 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
15096 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
15097 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
15098 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
15100 @findex gnus-demon-init
15101 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
15102 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
15103 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
15104 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
15105 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
15107 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
15108 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
15109 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
15118 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
15119 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
15121 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
15122 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
15123 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
15124 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
15127 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
15128 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
15129 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
15130 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
15132 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
15133 this will make spam disappear.
15135 There are some variables to customize, of course:
15138 @item gnus-use-nocem
15139 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
15140 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
15143 @item gnus-nocem-groups
15144 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
15145 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
15146 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
15147 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
15149 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
15150 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
15151 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
15152 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
15153 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
15154 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
15155 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
15157 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
15160 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
15161 @cindex Chris Lewis
15162 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
15163 usenet abuse than anybody else.
15166 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
15167 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
15168 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
15170 @item jem@@xpat.com;
15172 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
15175 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
15176 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
15177 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
15180 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
15181 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
15182 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
15183 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
15184 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
15185 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
15186 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
15187 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
15188 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
15189 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
15191 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
15192 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
15195 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
15198 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
15199 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
15202 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
15205 The specs are applied left-to-right.
15208 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
15209 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
15211 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
15212 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
15213 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
15214 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
15216 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
15217 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
15220 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
15222 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
15230 This might be dangerous, though.
15232 @item gnus-nocem-directory
15233 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
15234 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
15235 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
15237 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15238 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15239 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
15240 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
15241 might then see old spam.
15245 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
15246 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
15247 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
15248 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
15255 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
15256 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
15257 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
15259 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
15260 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
15261 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
15262 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
15263 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
15264 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
15265 @code{undo} function.
15267 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
15268 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
15269 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
15270 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
15271 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
15272 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
15273 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
15274 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
15275 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
15276 never be totally undoable.
15278 @findex gnus-undo-mode
15279 @vindex gnus-use-undo
15281 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
15282 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
15283 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
15284 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
15289 @section Moderation
15292 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
15293 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
15294 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
15297 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
15301 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
15304 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
15306 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
15311 You split your incoming mail by matching on
15312 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
15313 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
15316 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
15317 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
15320 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
15321 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
15325 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
15328 (setq gnus-moderated-list
15329 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
15333 @node XEmacs Enhancements
15334 @section XEmacs Enhancements
15337 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
15341 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
15342 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
15343 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
15344 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
15357 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
15358 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
15359 over your shoulder as you read news.
15362 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
15363 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
15364 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
15365 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
15366 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
15371 @subsubsection Picon Basics
15373 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
15382 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
15383 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
15384 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
15385 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
15386 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
15387 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
15388 @code{GIF} formats.
15391 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15392 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
15393 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
15394 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
15395 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
15397 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15398 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
15399 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
15400 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
15401 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
15402 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15405 @node Picon Requirements
15406 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
15408 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
15409 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
15412 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
15413 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
15414 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
15416 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15417 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
15418 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
15419 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
15420 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
15424 @subsubsection Easy Picons
15426 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
15427 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
15430 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
15431 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15432 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15433 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15434 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
15437 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
15438 containing the Picons databases.
15440 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
15443 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15444 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
15449 @subsubsection Hard Picons
15457 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
15458 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
15459 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
15460 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
15461 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
15466 @item gnus-picons-database
15467 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15468 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
15469 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
15470 subdirectories. This is only useful if
15471 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
15472 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
15474 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15475 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15476 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
15477 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
15478 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
15479 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
15480 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15482 @item gnus-picons-display-where
15483 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15484 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
15485 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
15486 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
15487 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
15488 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
15489 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
15491 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15492 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15493 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
15498 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
15499 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
15501 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
15502 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
15505 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
15506 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15508 @item gnus-article-display-picons
15509 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15510 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
15511 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
15512 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15514 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
15515 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15516 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
15517 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15521 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
15522 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
15525 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15529 @node Picon Useless Configuration
15530 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
15538 The following variables offer further control over how things are
15539 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
15540 don't need to worry about.
15544 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
15545 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
15546 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15547 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
15549 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
15550 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
15551 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
15552 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
15554 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
15555 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
15556 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15557 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
15558 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
15560 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15561 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15562 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
15563 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
15564 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
15565 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
15566 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
15568 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15569 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15570 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
15571 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
15573 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15574 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15575 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
15576 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
15577 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
15578 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
15579 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
15581 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15582 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15583 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
15584 Defaults to @code{nil}.
15586 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
15587 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
15588 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
15589 Defaults to @code{t}.
15591 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15592 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15593 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
15594 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
15596 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15597 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15598 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
15599 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
15601 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
15602 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
15604 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15605 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15606 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
15607 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
15608 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
15609 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
15610 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
15611 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
15622 @subsection Smileys
15627 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
15632 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
15633 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
15635 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
15636 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15639 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
15642 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
15643 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
15644 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
15645 text and maps that to file names.
15647 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
15648 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
15649 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
15650 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
15651 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
15652 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
15654 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
15655 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
15657 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
15658 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
15659 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
15661 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
15662 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
15666 @item smiley-data-directory
15667 @vindex smiley-data-directory
15668 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
15670 @item smiley-flesh-color
15671 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
15672 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
15674 @item smiley-features-color
15675 @vindex smiley-features-color
15676 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15678 @item smiley-tongue-color
15679 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
15680 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
15682 @item smiley-circle-color
15683 @vindex smiley-circle-color
15684 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15686 @item smiley-mouse-face
15687 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
15688 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
15694 @subsection Toolbar
15704 @item gnus-use-toolbar
15705 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
15706 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
15707 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
15708 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
15710 @item gnus-group-toolbar
15711 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
15712 The toolbar in the group buffer.
15714 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
15715 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
15716 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
15718 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15719 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15720 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
15726 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
15729 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15730 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15731 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
15732 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
15733 unusual directory structure.
15735 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15736 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15737 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
15738 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
15740 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15741 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15742 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
15743 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
15744 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
15745 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
15747 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15748 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15749 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
15763 @node Fuzzy Matching
15764 @section Fuzzy Matching
15765 @cindex fuzzy matching
15767 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
15768 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
15770 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
15771 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
15772 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
15774 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
15775 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
15776 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
15777 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
15778 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
15781 @node Thwarting Email Spam
15782 @section Thwarting Email Spam
15786 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
15788 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
15789 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
15790 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
15791 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
15792 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
15793 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
15794 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
15795 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
15798 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
15799 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
15800 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
15801 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
15802 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
15803 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
15807 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
15808 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
15810 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
15811 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
15812 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
15813 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
15814 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
15815 part of the mail address.)
15818 (setq message-default-news-headers
15819 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
15822 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15823 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
15828 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
15829 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
15830 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
15836 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
15837 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
15838 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
15839 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
15841 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
15842 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
15843 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
15844 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
15845 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
15846 your fancy split rule in this way:
15851 (to "larsi" "misc")
15855 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
15856 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
15857 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
15858 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
15859 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
15861 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
15862 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
15863 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
15864 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
15865 cosmic balance somewhat.
15867 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
15868 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
15869 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
15870 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
15873 @node Various Various
15874 @section Various Various
15880 @item gnus-home-directory
15881 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
15882 defaults to @file{~/}.
15884 @item gnus-directory
15885 @vindex gnus-directory
15886 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
15887 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
15888 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
15890 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
15891 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
15892 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
15893 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
15895 @item gnus-default-directory
15896 @vindex gnus-default-directory
15897 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
15898 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
15899 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
15900 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15901 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
15902 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
15905 @vindex gnus-verbose
15906 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
15907 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
15908 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
15909 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
15910 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
15912 @item gnus-verbose-backends
15913 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
15914 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
15915 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
15917 @item nnheader-max-head-length
15918 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
15919 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
15920 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
15921 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
15922 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
15923 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
15924 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
15925 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
15926 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
15928 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
15929 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
15930 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
15931 read when doing the operation described above.
15933 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15934 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15936 @cindex invalid characters in file names
15937 @cindex characters in file names
15938 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
15939 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
15940 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
15943 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15947 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
15948 Windows (phooey) systems.
15950 @item gnus-hidden-properties
15951 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
15952 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
15953 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
15954 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
15956 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
15957 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
15958 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
15959 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
15960 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
15962 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
15963 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
15964 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
15973 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
15974 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
15976 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
15978 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
15984 Not because of victories @*
15987 but for the common sunshine,@*
15989 the largess of the spring.
15993 but for the day's work done@*
15994 as well as I was able;@*
15995 not for a seat upon the dais@*
15996 but at the common table.@*
16001 @chapter Appendices
16004 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
16005 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
16006 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
16007 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
16008 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
16009 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
16010 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
16018 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
16019 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
16021 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
16022 can point your (feh!) web browser to
16023 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
16024 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
16025 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
16027 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
16028 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
16029 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
16030 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
16031 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
16032 appropriate name, don't you think?)
16034 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
16035 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
16036 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
16037 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
16039 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
16040 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
16041 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
16043 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
16044 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
16046 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
16047 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
16049 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
16050 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
16052 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
16053 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
16054 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
16055 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
16056 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
16060 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
16061 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
16062 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
16063 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
16064 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
16065 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
16066 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
16073 What's the point of Gnus?
16075 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
16076 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
16077 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
16078 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
16079 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
16080 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
16081 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
16082 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
16083 keep track of millions of people who post?
16085 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
16086 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
16087 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
16088 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
16089 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
16090 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
16091 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
16092 every one of you to explore and invent.
16094 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
16095 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
16098 @node Compatibility
16099 @subsection Compatibility
16101 @cindex compatibility
16102 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
16103 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
16104 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
16109 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
16113 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
16116 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
16119 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
16120 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
16121 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
16122 important variables have their values copied into their global
16123 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
16124 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
16126 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
16127 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
16128 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
16129 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
16130 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
16134 @cindex highlighting
16135 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
16136 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
16137 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
16138 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
16139 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
16140 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
16143 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
16144 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
16145 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
16146 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
16148 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
16149 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
16150 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
16151 to stop doing it the old way.
16153 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
16155 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
16157 @cindex reporting bugs
16159 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
16160 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
16161 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
16163 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
16164 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
16165 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
16166 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
16171 @subsection Conformity
16173 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
16174 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
16181 There are no known breaches of this standard.
16185 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
16187 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
16188 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
16189 We do have some breaches to this one.
16194 Gnus does not yet fully handle MIME, and this standard-to-be seems to
16195 think that MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
16198 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
16199 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
16200 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
16201 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
16202 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
16207 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
16208 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
16209 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
16210 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
16214 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
16215 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
16220 @subsection Emacsen
16226 Gnus should work on :
16234 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
16238 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
16239 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
16242 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
16243 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
16244 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
16249 @subsection Contributors
16250 @cindex contributors
16252 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
16253 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
16254 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
16255 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
16256 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
16257 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
16258 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
16259 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
16260 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
16261 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
16263 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
16269 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
16272 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
16273 well as numerous other things).
16276 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
16279 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
16282 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el and many other things
16283 connected with @sc{mime} and other types of en/decoding.
16286 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
16287 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
16290 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
16293 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
16294 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16297 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
16300 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
16303 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
16306 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
16309 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
16310 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
16313 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
16316 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
16319 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
16322 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
16326 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
16329 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
16332 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
16335 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
16336 well as autoconf support.
16340 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
16341 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
16343 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
16352 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
16356 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
16378 Massimo Campostrini,
16386 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
16392 Michael Welsh Duggan,
16395 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
16399 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
16406 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
16408 Michelangelo Grigni,
16411 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
16413 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
16415 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
16420 François Felix Ingrand,
16421 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
16423 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
16432 Peter Skov Knudsen,
16433 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
16434 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
16435 Thor Kristoffersen,
16438 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
16455 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
16456 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
16463 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
16467 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
16470 John McClary Prevost,
16476 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
16481 Christian von Roques,
16483 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
16490 Philippe Schnoebelen,
16492 Randal L. Schwartz,
16522 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka.
16524 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
16525 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
16526 (550kB and counting).
16528 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
16531 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
16532 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
16536 @subsection New Features
16537 @cindex new features
16540 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
16541 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
16542 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
16543 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
16546 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
16547 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
16548 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
16552 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
16554 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
16559 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
16560 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
16563 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
16564 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
16567 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
16570 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
16571 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
16572 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
16575 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
16576 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
16577 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
16578 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16581 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
16582 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16585 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
16586 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
16587 (@pxref{The Active File}).
16590 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
16591 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
16594 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
16595 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
16596 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16599 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
16600 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
16601 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
16604 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
16605 the @file{.emacs} file.
16608 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
16609 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16612 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
16613 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
16616 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
16617 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16620 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
16621 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
16624 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
16625 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16628 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
16631 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
16632 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
16635 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
16636 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
16639 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
16640 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
16643 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
16646 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
16647 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16650 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
16654 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
16658 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
16659 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
16662 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
16668 @node September Gnus
16669 @subsubsection September Gnus
16673 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
16677 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
16682 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
16683 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
16687 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
16688 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
16692 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
16696 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
16697 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
16700 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
16704 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16707 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
16710 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
16713 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
16717 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
16718 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
16721 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
16725 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
16729 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
16733 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
16737 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
16740 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
16741 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
16744 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
16748 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
16749 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
16752 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
16755 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
16756 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
16757 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16760 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
16764 The Gnus cache is much faster.
16767 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
16771 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
16772 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16775 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
16776 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
16779 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
16780 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16783 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
16784 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
16785 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
16788 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
16789 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
16792 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
16795 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16798 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16799 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
16803 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
16806 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
16809 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
16810 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
16813 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
16817 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
16820 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
16825 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
16828 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
16832 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16835 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
16839 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
16842 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
16845 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
16846 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16849 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
16850 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
16854 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
16855 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
16858 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
16862 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
16863 buffer to allow easier treatment.
16866 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
16869 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
16873 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
16877 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
16878 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
16881 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
16885 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
16886 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16889 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
16890 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16893 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
16897 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16900 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16901 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
16905 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
16908 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
16914 @subsubsection Red Gnus
16916 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
16920 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
16927 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
16930 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
16931 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16934 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
16935 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
16939 Article washing status can be displayed in the
16940 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
16943 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
16946 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
16947 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
16950 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
16954 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
16955 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
16959 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
16960 Server Internals}).
16963 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
16967 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
16970 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
16971 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
16974 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
16975 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
16976 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
16979 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
16980 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16983 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
16984 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
16987 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
16991 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
16992 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16995 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
16996 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16999 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
17003 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
17006 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
17010 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
17011 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
17014 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
17015 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
17018 A new command for reading collections of documents
17019 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
17020 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
17023 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
17027 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
17028 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
17031 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
17032 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
17033 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
17036 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
17037 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
17041 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
17045 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
17049 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
17054 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
17058 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
17062 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
17063 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
17066 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
17069 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
17070 'gnus-article-emphasize)
17077 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
17079 New features in Gnus 5.6:
17084 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
17085 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
17086 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
17089 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
17090 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
17091 group, which is created automatically.
17094 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
17098 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
17101 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
17102 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
17105 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
17109 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
17112 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
17113 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
17116 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
17119 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
17120 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
17123 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
17124 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
17127 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
17128 control over simplification.
17131 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
17134 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
17138 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
17141 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
17144 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
17145 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
17146 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
17149 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
17150 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
17153 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
17157 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
17158 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
17161 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
17162 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
17165 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
17169 A history of where mails have been split is available.
17172 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
17175 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
17176 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
17179 A new function for citing in Message has been
17180 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
17183 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
17186 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
17190 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
17191 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
17194 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
17195 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
17198 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
17201 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
17206 @node Newest Features
17207 @subsection Newest Features
17210 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
17213 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
17215 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
17216 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
17219 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
17224 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
17227 Really do unbinhexing.
17230 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
17231 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
17234 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
17237 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
17240 facep is not declared.
17243 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
17244 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
17247 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
17252 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
17253 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
17254 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
17255 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
17256 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
17257 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
17258 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
17263 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
17266 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
17269 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
17271 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
17272 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
17274 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
17276 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
17278 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
17279 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
17281 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
17283 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
17284 be marked as unread.
17286 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
17288 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
17290 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
17291 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
17293 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
17295 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
17297 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
17298 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
17300 topics that contain just groups with ticked
17301 articles aren't displayed.
17303 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
17305 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
17306 make the mail groups killed.
17308 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
17310 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
17311 and articles have to be removed.
17313 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
17316 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
17318 finding short score file names takes forever.
17320 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17322 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
17324 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
17326 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
17328 nnweb doesn't work properly.
17330 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
17332 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
17333 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
17337 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
17339 really unbinhex binhex files.
17341 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
17342 bar and the Gnus bar.
17345 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
17346 `(canonize-message-id id)'
17347 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
17348 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
17349 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
17350 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
17355 nnml .overview directory with splits.
17359 postponed commands.
17361 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
17363 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
17366 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
17367 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
17369 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
17370 inherit copy prompts and save files.
17372 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
17374 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
17375 for backends that support that.
17377 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
17379 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
17380 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
17382 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
17383 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
17385 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
17387 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
17389 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
17391 server mode command: close/open all connections
17393 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
17394 has been changed before using it.
17396 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
17398 hide (sub)threads with low score.
17400 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
17402 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
17404 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
17405 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
17407 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
17408 contain groups that match a regexp.
17410 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
17413 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
17416 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
17417 from subject lines.
17419 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
17421 nntp-ping-before-connect
17423 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
17425 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
17426 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
17428 message annotations.
17430 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
17432 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
17433 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
17435 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
17440 support qmail maildir spools
17442 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
17444 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
17446 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
17448 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
17449 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
17451 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
17453 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
17455 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
17456 finds and generate proper active ranges.
17458 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
17459 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
17461 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
17463 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
17465 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
17466 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
17468 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
17470 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
17472 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
17473 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
17476 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
17478 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
17480 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
17481 `C-c C-c' when posting.
17483 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
17486 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
17487 should be marker as expirable.
17489 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
17491 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
17492 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
17494 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
17495 Also consult Date headers.
17497 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
17499 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
17501 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
17502 Message-ID, delete the "original".
17504 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
17505 into a See-Also header.
17507 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
17509 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
17511 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
17512 should be listed as such and not as "K".
17514 generate font names dynamically.
17516 score file mode auto-alist.
17518 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
17519 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
17521 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
17522 absolutely all headers there is.
17524 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
17525 and pipe them to the process.
17527 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
17528 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
17529 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
17531 function for starting to edit a file to put into
17532 the current mail group.
17534 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
17536 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
17537 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
17539 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
17540 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
17542 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
17544 when replying to several process-marked articles,
17545 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
17547 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
17548 groups it has been mailed to.
17550 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
17552 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
17554 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
17556 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
17557 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
17559 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
17560 newlines) should be ignored.
17562 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
17563 groups in subtopics as well.
17565 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
17567 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
17570 add edit and forward secondary marks.
17572 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
17574 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
17576 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
17578 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
17580 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
17582 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
17583 or the formatted article.
17585 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
17587 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
17588 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
17590 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
17592 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
17594 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
17596 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
17597 even unread articles.
17599 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
17601 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
17603 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
17605 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
17607 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17609 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
17612 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
17613 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
17615 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
17616 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
17618 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
17620 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
17622 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
17623 from a particular server? Hm.
17625 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
17626 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
17628 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
17630 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
17631 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
17633 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
17634 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
17636 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
17637 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
17638 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
17641 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
17642 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
17644 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
17646 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
17648 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
17650 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
17653 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
17656 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
17657 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
17659 command to show and edit group scores
17661 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
17664 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
17666 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
17668 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
17669 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
17672 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
17673 that are of that length.
17675 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
17677 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
17679 asynchronous posting under nntp.
17681 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
17683 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
17685 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
17687 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
17688 a score lower than this number.
17690 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
17692 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
17694 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
17695 so that each copy can be edited separately.
17697 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
17699 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
17700 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
17702 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
17705 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
17706 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
17707 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
17708 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
17710 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
17713 command to remove all topic stuff.
17715 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
17716 and splitting the resulting digests.
17718 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
17720 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
17722 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
17723 matches an alist -- before saving.
17725 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
17727 variable to activate each group before entering them
17728 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
17730 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
17731 starting Gnus first if necessary.
17733 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
17734 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
17736 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
17738 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
17739 of several groups at once.
17741 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
17742 matches some regexp(s).
17744 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
17746 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
17748 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
17750 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
17752 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
17754 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
17756 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
17758 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
17759 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
17760 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
17761 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
17763 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
17764 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
17766 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
17768 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
17769 recently cited text.
17771 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
17773 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
17776 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
17777 server and just read the articles in the server
17779 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
17780 value of nnoo variables.
17782 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
17784 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
17785 listed in each group info.
17787 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
17790 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
17791 should only be applied to some groups.
17793 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
17794 mail-copies-to: never.
17796 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
17797 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
17799 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
17801 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
17804 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
17807 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
17809 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
17812 group user-defined meta-parameters.
17816 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
17818 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
17819 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
17820 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
17821 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
17822 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
17824 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
17825 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
17832 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
17833 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
17835 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
17836 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
17838 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
17839 "Return the date the group was last read."
17840 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
17845 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
17846 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
17847 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
17848 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
17852 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
17853 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
17855 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
17858 They could be used like this:
17862 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
17863 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
17864 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
17866 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
17868 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
17871 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
17874 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
17875 affect the summary line format.
17879 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
17881 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
17882 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
17884 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
17887 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
17889 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
17891 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
17893 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
17895 - For other files, just find them normally.
17897 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
17898 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
17901 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
17902 tell him what you are doing.
17905 Currently, I get prompted:
17909 decend into sci.something ?
17913 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
17914 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
17915 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
17916 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
17919 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
17920 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
17921 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
17922 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
17925 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
17926 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
17932 more than n blank lines
17934 more than m identical lines
17935 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
17937 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
17941 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
17942 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
17943 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
17944 "same" subject for threading purposes.
17947 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
17948 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
17949 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
17950 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
17953 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
17956 soup - bowl of soup
17957 score below - dim light bulb
17958 score over - bright light bulb
17961 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
17966 show-list-of-articles-in-group
17967 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17968 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
17969 if (articles-selected)
17970 start-reading-selected-articles;
17971 junk-unread-articles;
17976 else if (key-pressed = '.')
17977 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
17978 select-thread-under-cursor;
17980 select-article-under-cursor;
17984 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17985 if (more-pages-in-article)
17987 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
17994 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
17995 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
17996 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
17999 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
18000 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
18001 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
18002 the wildcard expression).
18005 It would be nice if it also handled
18007 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
18009 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
18014 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
18015 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
18016 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
18017 article versions) variable.
18019 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
18021 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
18022 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
18026 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
18029 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
18030 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
18031 (message-sent-hook).
18033 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
18036 * Enhancements to Gnus:
18040 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
18041 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
18044 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
18045 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
18046 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
18049 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
18050 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
18054 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
18057 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
18061 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
18062 the nnmail duplicate checking.
18065 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
18066 value of the signature file.
18069 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
18070 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
18073 (setq message-tab-alist
18074 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
18075 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
18077 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
18081 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
18084 a command to import a buffer into a group.
18087 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
18090 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
18091 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
18094 a command to process mark all unread articles.
18097 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
18098 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
18099 do more gathering by subject.
18102 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
18103 article numerical order.
18106 (gnus-thread-total-score
18107 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
18111 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
18114 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
18115 in the summary buffer.
18118 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
18119 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
18122 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
18123 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
18124 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
18125 and/or newsgroup name.
18128 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
18131 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
18134 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
18137 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
18138 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
18139 will automatically get the process mark.
18142 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
18143 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
18144 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
18147 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
18151 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
18152 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
18155 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
18156 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
18160 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
18161 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
18164 be able to post via DejaNews.
18167 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
18170 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
18171 allow them to be displayed separately.
18174 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
18175 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
18178 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
18179 articles that match a certain From header.
18182 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
18183 saving living summary buffers.
18186 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
18187 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
18190 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
18191 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
18194 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
18195 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
18198 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
18199 (goto-char (point-min))
18200 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
18201 (replace-match "`" t t))
18202 (goto-char (point-min))
18203 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
18204 (replace-match "'" t t))
18205 (goto-char (point-min))
18206 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
18207 (replace-match "\"" t t))
18208 (goto-char (point-min))
18209 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
18210 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
18215 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
18217 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
18218 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
18219 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
18220 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
18224 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
18227 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
18228 numbers and match on the age of the article.
18232 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
18233 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
18234 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
18236 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
18237 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
18239 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
18240 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
18245 all commands that react to the process mark should push
18246 the current process mark set onto the stack.
18249 gnus-article-hide-pgp
18250 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
18252 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
18254 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
18255 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
18258 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
18259 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
18262 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
18266 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
18267 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
18270 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
18273 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
18276 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
18279 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
18283 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
18289 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
18292 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
18296 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
18297 X characters in the body.
18300 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
18303 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
18306 format spec to "tab" to a position.
18309 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
18312 command to display all dormant articles.
18315 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
18318 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
18319 to something someone else has said.
18322 Read Netscape discussion groups:
18323 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
18326 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
18327 the displayed version.
18330 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
18334 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
18337 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
18338 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
18339 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
18343 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
18344 in the head or body.
18347 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
18350 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
18353 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
18354 in a special, unique buffer.
18357 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
18360 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
18361 is less than a certain number of days old.
18364 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
18367 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
18370 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
18371 file, for instance.
18374 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
18375 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
18376 dummy root instead of the first article.
18379 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
18380 topics for displaying.
18383 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
18384 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
18387 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
18390 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
18391 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
18392 summary buffer for each article.
18395 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
18398 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
18402 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
18405 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
18409 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
18412 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
18415 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
18416 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
18419 `S D r' should allow expansion of aliases.
18422 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
18423 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
18426 The documentation should mention pop3.el, fetchmail, smtpmail and why
18427 po:username often fails.
18430 Fetch by Message-ID from dejanews.
18432 <URL:http://search.dejanews.com/msgid.xp?MID=%3C62h9l9$hm4@@basement.replay.com%3E&fmt=raw>
18435 Solve the halting problem.
18444 @section The Manual
18448 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
18449 either @code{texi2dvi}
18451 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
18452 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
18454 to get what you hold in your hands now.
18456 The following conventions have been used:
18461 This is a @samp{string}
18464 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
18467 This is a @file{file}
18470 This is a @code{symbol}
18474 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
18478 (setq flargnoze "yes")
18481 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
18484 (setq flumphel 'yes)
18487 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
18488 ever get them confused.
18492 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
18493 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
18494 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
18495 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
18496 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
18497 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
18498 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
18506 @section Terminology
18508 @cindex terminology
18513 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
18514 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
18515 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
18516 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
18517 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
18521 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
18522 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
18523 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
18524 not posting, and replying is not following up.
18528 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
18532 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
18537 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
18538 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
18539 is all done by the backends.
18543 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
18544 default, way of getting news.
18548 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
18549 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
18554 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
18555 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
18559 A message that has been posted as news.
18562 @cindex mail message
18563 A message that has been mailed.
18567 A mail message or news article
18571 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
18576 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
18581 A line from the head of an article.
18585 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
18586 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
18590 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
18591 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
18592 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
18593 normal @sc{head} format.
18597 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
18598 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
18599 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
18600 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
18601 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
18602 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
18604 @item killed groups
18605 @cindex killed groups
18606 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
18607 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
18609 @item zombie groups
18610 @cindex zombie groups
18611 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
18614 @cindex active file
18615 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
18616 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
18617 is rather large, as you might surmise.
18620 @cindex bogus groups
18621 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
18622 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
18623 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
18626 @cindex activating groups
18627 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
18628 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
18629 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
18633 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
18635 @item select method
18636 @cindex select method
18637 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
18640 @item virtual server
18641 @cindex virtual server
18642 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
18643 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
18644 whole is a virtual server.
18648 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
18649 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
18652 @item ephemeral groups
18653 @cindex ephemeral groups
18654 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
18655 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
18656 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
18659 @cindex solid groups
18660 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
18661 group buffer are solid groups.
18663 @item sparse articles
18664 @cindex sparse articles
18665 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
18666 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
18670 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
18671 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
18675 @cindex thread root
18676 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
18677 articles in the thread.
18681 An article that has responses.
18685 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
18689 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
18690 specified by RFC1153.
18696 @node Customization
18697 @section Customization
18698 @cindex general customization
18700 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
18701 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
18702 for some quite common situations.
18705 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
18706 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
18707 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
18708 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
18712 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
18713 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
18715 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
18716 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
18717 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
18721 @item gnus-read-active-file
18722 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
18723 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
18724 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18725 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
18726 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
18728 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
18729 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
18730 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
18731 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
18735 @node Slow Terminal Connection
18736 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
18738 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
18739 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
18740 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
18744 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
18745 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
18746 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
18747 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
18748 horizontal and vertical recentering.
18750 @item gnus-visible-headers
18751 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
18752 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
18753 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
18754 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
18756 @item gnus-article-display-hook
18757 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
18759 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
18760 '(gnus-article-hide-headers
18761 gnus-article-hide-signature
18762 gnus-article-hide-citation))
18765 @item gnus-use-full-window
18766 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
18767 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
18768 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
18769 want to read them anyway.
18771 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
18772 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
18775 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
18776 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
18777 lines, which might save some time.
18781 @node Little Disk Space
18782 @subsection Little Disk Space
18785 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
18786 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
18790 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
18791 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
18792 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
18793 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18796 @item gnus-save-killed-list
18797 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
18798 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
18799 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
18800 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
18806 @subsection Slow Machine
18807 @cindex slow machine
18809 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
18810 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
18812 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18813 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
18815 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
18816 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
18817 summary buffer faster.
18819 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
18820 processing a bit faster.
18824 @node Troubleshooting
18825 @section Troubleshooting
18826 @cindex troubleshooting
18828 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
18836 Make sure your computer is switched on.
18839 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
18840 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
18844 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
18845 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
18846 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
18847 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
18850 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
18854 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
18855 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
18856 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
18857 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
18858 something like that.
18861 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
18864 @cindex reporting bugs
18866 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18868 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
18869 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
18870 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
18871 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
18873 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
18874 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
18875 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
18876 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
18879 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
18880 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
18881 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
18882 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
18883 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
18884 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
18886 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
18887 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
18888 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
18891 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
18892 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
18894 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
18895 @cindex ding mailing list
18896 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
18897 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
18901 @node Gnus Reference Guide
18902 @section Gnus Reference Guide
18904 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
18905 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
18906 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
18907 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
18910 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
18911 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
18912 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
18913 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
18914 and general methods of operation.
18917 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
18918 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
18919 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
18920 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
18921 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
18922 * Group Info:: The group info format.
18923 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
18924 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
18925 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
18929 @node Gnus Utility Functions
18930 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
18931 @cindex Gnus utility functions
18932 @cindex utility functions
18934 @cindex internal variables
18936 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
18937 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
18938 Below is a list of the most common ones.
18942 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
18943 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
18944 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
18946 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
18947 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
18948 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
18950 @item gnus-group-real-name
18951 @findex gnus-group-real-name
18952 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
18955 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
18956 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
18957 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
18958 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
18960 @item gnus-get-info
18961 @findex gnus-get-info
18962 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
18964 @item gnus-group-unread
18965 @findex gnus-group-unread
18966 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
18970 @findex gnus-active
18971 The active entry for @var{group}.
18973 @item gnus-set-active
18974 @findex gnus-set-active
18975 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
18977 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18978 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18979 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
18982 @item gnus-continuum-version
18983 @findex gnus-continuum-version
18984 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
18985 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
18988 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
18989 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
18990 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
18992 @item gnus-news-group-p
18993 @findex gnus-news-group-p
18994 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
18996 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18997 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18998 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
19000 @item gnus-server-to-method
19001 @findex gnus-server-to-method
19002 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
19004 @item gnus-server-equal
19005 @findex gnus-server-equal
19006 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
19008 @item gnus-group-native-p
19009 @findex gnus-group-native-p
19010 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
19012 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
19013 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
19014 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
19016 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
19017 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
19018 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
19020 @item group-group-find-parameter
19021 @findex group-group-find-parameter
19022 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
19023 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
19025 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
19026 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
19027 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
19029 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
19030 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
19031 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
19033 @item gnus-check-backend-function
19034 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
19035 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
19036 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
19039 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
19043 @item gnus-read-method
19044 @findex gnus-read-method
19045 Prompts the user for a select method.
19050 @node Backend Interface
19051 @subsection Backend Interface
19053 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
19054 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
19055 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
19056 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
19057 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
19058 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
19060 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
19061 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
19062 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
19063 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
19064 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
19065 been opened, the function should fail.
19067 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
19068 name. Take this example:
19072 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
19073 (nntp-port-number 4324))
19076 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
19077 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
19079 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
19080 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
19081 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
19083 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
19084 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
19085 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
19087 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
19088 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
19089 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
19090 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
19091 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
19092 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
19095 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
19096 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
19097 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
19098 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
19101 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
19104 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
19107 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
19108 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
19109 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
19110 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
19111 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
19112 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
19116 @node Required Backend Functions
19117 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
19121 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
19123 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
19124 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
19125 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
19126 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
19128 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
19129 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
19130 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
19131 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
19133 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
19134 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
19135 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
19136 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
19137 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
19138 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
19139 number, do maximum fetches.
19141 Here's an example HEAD:
19144 221 1056 Article retrieved.
19145 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
19146 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
19147 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
19148 Subject: Re: Something very droll
19149 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
19150 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
19152 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
19153 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
19154 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
19158 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
19159 these in the data buffer.
19161 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
19165 head = error / valid-head
19166 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
19167 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
19168 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
19169 header = <text> eol
19172 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
19173 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
19177 nov-buffer = *nov-line
19178 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
19179 field = <text except TAB>
19182 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
19186 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
19188 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
19189 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
19191 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
19192 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
19193 server. In fact, it should do so.
19195 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
19196 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
19199 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
19201 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
19202 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
19205 There should be no data returned.
19208 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
19210 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
19211 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
19212 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
19213 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
19215 There should be no data returned.
19218 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
19220 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
19221 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
19222 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
19223 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
19225 There should be no data returned.
19228 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
19230 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
19232 There should be no data returned.
19235 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
19237 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
19238 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
19239 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
19240 it would be nice if that were possible.
19242 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
19243 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
19244 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
19245 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
19246 into its article buffer.
19248 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
19249 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
19250 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
19251 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
19252 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
19253 on successful article retrieval.
19256 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
19258 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
19259 making @var{group} the current group.
19261 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
19264 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
19267 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
19270 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
19271 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
19272 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
19273 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
19274 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
19275 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
19276 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
19277 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
19280 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
19281 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
19282 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
19286 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19288 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
19289 a no-op on most backends.
19291 There should be no data returned.
19294 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
19296 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
19299 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
19302 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
19303 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
19306 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
19307 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
19310 active-file = *active-line
19311 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
19313 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
19316 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
19317 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
19318 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
19321 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
19323 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
19324 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
19325 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
19326 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
19327 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
19328 clear if the posting could not be completed.
19330 There should be no result data from this function.
19335 @node Optional Backend Functions
19336 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
19340 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
19342 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
19343 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
19344 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
19346 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
19347 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
19348 former is in the same format as the data from
19349 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
19350 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
19353 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
19357 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
19359 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
19360 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
19361 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
19362 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
19363 should return the (altered) group info.
19365 There should be no result data from this function.
19368 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
19370 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
19371 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
19372 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
19373 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
19374 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
19375 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
19376 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
19377 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
19379 There should be no result data from this function.
19382 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
19384 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
19385 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
19386 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as IMAP) however carry all
19387 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
19388 the mark information to the server.
19390 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
19393 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
19396 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
19397 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
19398 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
19399 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
19400 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
19401 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
19402 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
19403 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
19404 not limit itself to theese.
19406 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
19407 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
19408 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
19409 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
19411 An example action list:
19414 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
19415 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
19416 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
19419 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
19420 mark on (currently not used for anything).
19422 There should be no result data from this function.
19424 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
19426 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
19427 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
19428 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
19429 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
19430 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
19432 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
19433 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
19434 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
19437 There should be no result data from this function.
19440 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
19442 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
19443 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
19444 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
19445 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
19446 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
19447 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
19448 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
19450 There should be no result data from this function.
19453 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
19455 The result data from this function should be a description of
19459 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
19461 description = <text>
19464 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
19466 The result data from this function should be the description of all
19467 groups available on the server.
19470 description-buffer = *description-line
19474 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
19476 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
19477 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
19478 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
19481 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19483 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
19485 There should be no return data.
19488 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
19490 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
19491 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
19492 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
19493 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
19494 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
19497 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
19500 There should be no result data returned.
19503 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
19506 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
19507 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
19509 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
19510 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
19511 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
19512 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
19513 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
19514 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
19516 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
19517 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
19520 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19521 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19523 There should be no data returned.
19526 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
19528 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
19529 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
19530 this function in short order.
19532 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19533 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19535 There should be no data returned.
19538 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
19540 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
19541 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
19543 There should be no data returned.
19546 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
19548 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
19549 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
19550 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
19552 There should be no data returned.
19555 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
19557 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
19558 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
19560 There should be no data returned.
19565 @node Error Messaging
19566 @subsubsection Error Messaging
19568 @findex nnheader-report
19569 @findex nnheader-get-report
19570 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
19571 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
19572 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
19573 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
19574 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
19575 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
19578 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
19580 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
19583 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
19584 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
19585 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
19586 takes one argument---the server symbol.
19588 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
19589 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
19590 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
19593 @node Writing New Backends
19594 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
19596 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
19597 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
19598 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
19599 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
19600 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
19603 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
19604 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
19605 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
19607 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
19608 package called @code{nnoo}.
19610 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
19611 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
19617 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
19618 parameters. For instance:
19621 (nnoo-declare nndir
19625 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
19626 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
19629 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
19630 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
19631 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
19633 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
19634 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
19635 a function in those backends.
19638 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19639 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19640 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19643 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
19644 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
19645 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
19647 @item nnoo-define-basics
19648 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
19652 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19656 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
19657 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
19658 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
19660 @item nnoo-map-functions
19661 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
19662 functions from the parent backends.
19665 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19666 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19667 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
19670 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
19671 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
19672 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
19673 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
19676 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
19677 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
19678 haven't already been defined.
19684 nnmh-request-newgroups)
19688 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
19689 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
19690 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
19695 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
19698 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
19699 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
19703 (require 'nnheader)
19707 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
19709 (nnoo-declare nndir
19712 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19713 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19714 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19716 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
19717 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
19720 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
19721 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
19722 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
19724 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
19725 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
19727 ;;; Interface functions.
19729 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19731 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
19732 (setq nndir-directory
19733 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
19735 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
19736 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
19737 (push `(nndir-current-group
19738 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19740 (push `(nndir-top-directory
19741 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19743 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
19745 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19746 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19747 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19748 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
19749 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
19753 nnmh-status-message
19755 nnmh-request-newgroups))
19761 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19762 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19764 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
19765 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
19766 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
19767 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
19769 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
19770 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
19775 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
19778 The abilities can be:
19782 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
19784 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
19786 This backend supports both mail and news.
19788 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
19791 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
19792 articles and groups.
19794 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
19795 true for almost all backends.
19796 @item prompt-address
19797 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
19798 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
19799 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
19803 @node Mail-like Backends
19804 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
19806 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
19807 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
19808 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
19809 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
19812 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
19813 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
19814 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
19817 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
19818 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
19821 This function takes four parameters.
19825 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
19828 @item exit-function
19829 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
19831 @item temp-directory
19832 Where the temporary files should be stored.
19835 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
19836 performed for one group only.
19839 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
19840 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
19841 find the article number assigned to this article.
19843 The function also uses the following variables:
19844 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
19845 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
19846 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
19847 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
19851 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
19852 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
19856 @node Score File Syntax
19857 @subsection Score File Syntax
19859 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
19860 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
19861 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
19863 Here's a typical score file:
19867 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
19874 BNF definition of a score file:
19877 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
19878 element = rule / atom
19879 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
19880 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
19881 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
19882 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
19884 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
19885 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
19886 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
19887 date-header = "date"
19888 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19889 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19890 score = "nil" / <integer>
19891 date = "nil" / <natural number>
19892 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
19893 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
19894 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
19895 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
19896 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19897 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19898 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
19899 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19900 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
19901 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
19902 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
19903 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
19904 exclude-files / read-only / touched
19905 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
19906 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
19907 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
19908 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
19909 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
19910 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
19911 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
19912 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
19913 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
19914 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
19915 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
19916 eval = "eval" space <form>
19917 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
19920 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
19923 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
19924 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
19925 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
19926 one looong line, then that's ok.
19928 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
19929 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19933 @subsection Headers
19935 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
19936 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
19937 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
19938 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
19940 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
19941 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
19942 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
19943 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
19944 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
19945 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
19946 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
19948 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
19949 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
19950 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
19951 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
19952 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
19954 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
19955 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
19961 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
19962 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
19964 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
19965 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
19966 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
19967 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
19969 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
19973 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
19976 is transformed into
19979 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
19982 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
19983 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
19986 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
19989 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
19990 is slightly tricky:
19993 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
19999 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
20002 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
20008 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
20015 and is equal to the previous range.
20017 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
20018 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
20019 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
20023 range = simple-range / normal-range
20024 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
20025 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
20026 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
20027 number *[ " " contents ]
20030 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
20031 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
20032 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
20033 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
20034 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
20039 @subsection Group Info
20041 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
20042 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
20043 describes the group.
20045 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
20046 second is a more complex one:
20049 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
20051 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
20052 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
20054 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
20057 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
20058 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
20059 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
20060 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
20061 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
20062 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
20063 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
20064 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
20065 this section is about.
20067 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
20068 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
20069 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
20071 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
20074 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
20075 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
20076 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20077 group = quote <string> quote
20078 ralevel = rank / level
20079 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20080 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
20081 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20083 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
20084 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
20085 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
20086 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
20089 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
20090 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
20093 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
20094 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
20097 @item gnus-info-group
20098 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
20099 @findex gnus-info-group
20100 @findex gnus-info-set-group
20101 Get/set the group name.
20103 @item gnus-info-rank
20104 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
20105 @findex gnus-info-rank
20106 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
20107 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
20109 @item gnus-info-level
20110 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
20111 @findex gnus-info-level
20112 @findex gnus-info-set-level
20113 Get/set the group level.
20115 @item gnus-info-score
20116 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
20117 @findex gnus-info-score
20118 @findex gnus-info-set-score
20119 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
20121 @item gnus-info-read
20122 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
20123 @findex gnus-info-read
20124 @findex gnus-info-set-read
20125 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
20127 @item gnus-info-marks
20128 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
20129 @findex gnus-info-marks
20130 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
20131 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
20133 @item gnus-info-method
20134 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
20135 @findex gnus-info-method
20136 @findex gnus-info-set-method
20137 Get/set the group select method.
20139 @item gnus-info-params
20140 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
20141 @findex gnus-info-params
20142 @findex gnus-info-set-params
20143 Get/set the group parameters.
20146 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
20147 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
20149 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
20150 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
20151 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
20152 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
20155 @node Extended Interactive
20156 @subsection Extended Interactive
20157 @cindex interactive
20158 @findex gnus-interactive
20160 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
20161 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
20162 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
20165 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
20166 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
20171 The best thing to do would have been to implement
20172 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
20173 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
20174 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
20175 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
20176 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
20177 @code{interactive}.
20179 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
20184 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
20185 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
20189 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
20190 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
20191 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
20194 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
20198 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
20202 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
20208 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
20209 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
20213 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
20214 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
20215 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
20217 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
20218 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
20219 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
20220 Gnus, that's very useful.
20222 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
20223 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
20224 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
20225 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
20226 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
20227 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
20228 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
20229 following function:
20232 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
20236 (,function ,@@args))
20240 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
20241 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
20242 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
20245 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
20246 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
20247 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
20249 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
20250 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
20251 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
20254 @node Various File Formats
20255 @subsection Various File Formats
20258 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
20259 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
20263 @node Active File Format
20264 @subsubsection Active File Format
20266 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
20267 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
20270 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
20273 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
20274 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
20275 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
20276 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
20277 no.general 1000 900 y
20280 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
20283 active = *group-line
20284 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
20285 group = <non-white-space string>
20287 high-number = <non-negative integer>
20288 low-number = <positive integer>
20289 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
20292 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
20293 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
20296 @node Newsgroups File Format
20297 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
20299 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
20300 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
20301 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
20304 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
20305 Here's the definition:
20309 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
20310 group = <non-white-space string>
20312 description = <string>
20317 @node Emacs for Heathens
20318 @section Emacs for Heathens
20320 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
20321 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
20322 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
20323 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
20324 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
20325 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
20326 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
20330 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
20331 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
20336 @subsection Keystrokes
20340 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
20343 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
20346 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
20347 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
20348 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
20349 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
20350 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
20351 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
20353 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
20354 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
20355 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
20356 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
20357 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
20358 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
20359 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
20361 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
20362 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
20363 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
20364 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
20365 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
20366 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
20367 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
20369 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
20370 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
20371 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
20372 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
20373 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
20379 @subsection Emacs Lisp
20381 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
20382 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
20383 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
20384 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
20386 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
20387 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
20388 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
20389 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
20390 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
20391 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
20392 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
20395 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
20396 write the following:
20399 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
20402 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
20403 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
20404 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
20407 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
20408 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
20409 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
20410 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
20411 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
20413 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
20414 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
20415 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
20419 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
20423 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
20426 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
20427 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
20430 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
20433 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
20434 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
20437 @include gnus-faq.texi