-\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
+\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- -*- coding: iso-latin-1 -*-
@setfilename gnus
-@settitle Pterodactyl Gnus 0.76 Manual
+@settitle Gnus Manual
@synindex fn cp
@synindex vr cp
@synindex pg cp
\newcommand{\gnussc}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
\newcommand{\gnustitle}[1]{{\huge\textbf{#1}}}
\newcommand{\gnusauthor}[1]{{\large\textbf{#1}}}
+\newcommand{\gnusresult}[1]{\gnustt{=> #1}}
\newcommand{\gnusbullet}{{${\bullet}$}}
\newcommand{\gnusdollar}{\$}
@tex
@titlepage
-@title Pterodactyl Gnus 0.76 Manual
+@title Gnus Manual
@author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
@page
spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
luck.
-This manual corresponds to Pterodactyl Gnus 0.76.
+This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.8.3.
@end ifinfo
Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
-you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
-even read news with it!
+you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
+can even read news with it!
Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
@code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
-alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
+alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
@samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
up. Or something like that.
@vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
Kill all new groups.
+@item gnus-subscribe-topics
+@vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
+Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
+parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
+topic parameter that looks like
+
+@example
+"nnslashdot"
+@end example
+
+will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
+that topic.
+
+If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
+top-level topic.
+
@end table
@vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
@vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
+@vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
@code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
-Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
+Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
+@code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
+@file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
+convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
@vindex gnus-save-killed-list
If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
+Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
+not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
+is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
+
If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
@sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
@code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
+If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
+different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
+
In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
successfully.
-@item gnus-started-hook
-@vindex gnus-started-hook
+@item gnus-setup-news-hook
+@vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
generating the group buffer.
Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
-@samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
+@samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
@item m
@vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
@vindex gnus-group-highlight
Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
@code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
-that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
+that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
background is dark:
@lisp
-(face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
- '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
-(face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
- '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
-(face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
- '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
-(face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
- '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
-(face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
- '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
+(cond (window-system
+ (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
+ (defface my-group-face-1
+ '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
+ (defface my-group-face-2
+ '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
+ (defface my-group-face-3
+ '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
+ (defface my-group-face-4
+ '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
+ (defface my-group-face-5
+ '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
(setq gnus-group-highlight
'(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
-negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
+negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
@item RET
@kindex RET (Group)
group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
reason?
-This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
-group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
-Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
-the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
-that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
-on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
-part and the score is the least significant part.))
+This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
+to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
+the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
+score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
+called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
+a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
+of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
+least significant part.))
@findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
@code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
-@code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
-this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file type.
-@xref{Document Groups}.
+@code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
+If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
+type. @xref{Document Groups}.
@item G u
@kindex G u (Group)
(@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
@end table
-@xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
+@xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
methods.
@vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
@item gcc-self
@cindex gcc-self
If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
-composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
+composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
@code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
@code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
-@item @var{(variable form)}
+@item (@var{variable} @var{form})
You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
@item posting-style
You can store additional posting style information for this group only
-here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
+here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
@code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
-the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
+the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
@end table
-All the commands below obeys the process/prefix convention
+All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
(@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
(@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
+@item T j
+@kindex T j (Topic)
+@findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
+Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
+
@item T c
@kindex T c (Topic)
@findex gnus-topic-copy-group
@end table
-@xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
+@xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
@node Topic Topology
ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
+In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
+parameters:
+
+@table @code
+@item subscribe
+When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
+@code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
+value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
+topic.
+
+@end table
+
Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
* Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
* Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
* Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
-* Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
* Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
* Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
* Threading:: How threads are made.
@item N
Article number.
@item S
-Subject string.
+Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
+@code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
@item s
Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
@item gnus-summary-highlight
@vindex gnus-summary-highlight
Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
-list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
-would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
-articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
+list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
+. @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
+italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
+to something like
@lisp
(((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
((> score default) . bold))
@end lisp
-As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
-@var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
+As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
+@var{face} will be applied to the line.
@end table
@kindex A g (Summary)
@kindex g (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-show-article
+@vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
(Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
the way it came from the server.
+If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
+@kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
+encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
+ '((1 . cn-gb-2312)
+ (2 . big5)))
+@end lisp
+
+then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
+
@item A <
@itemx <
@kindex < (Summary)
@section Reply, Followup and Post
@menu
-* Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
-* Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
+* Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
+* Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
+* Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
+* Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
@end menu
@findex gnus-uu-post-news
@c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
-(@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
+(@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
@end table
Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
+@node Summary Message Commands
+@subsection Summary Message Commands
+
+@table @kbd
+@item S y
+@kindex S y (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-yank-message
+Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
+buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
+what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
+process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
+
+@end table
+
+
@node Canceling and Superseding
-@section Canceling Articles
+@subsection Canceling Articles
@cindex canceling articles
@cindex superseding articles
@end ifinfo
@menu
-* Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
-* Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
+* Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
+* Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
+* Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
@end menu
@item F
@vindex gnus-souped-mark
-@sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
+@sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
@item Q
@vindex gnus-sparse-mark
The default is @code{t}.
+@node Generic Marking Commands
+@subsection Generic Marking Commands
+
+Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
+the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
+article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
+even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
+previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
+well.
+
+Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
+you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
+command should do.
+
+To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
+different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
+buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
+to list in this manual.
+
+While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
+altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
+@kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
+article, you could say something like:
+
+@lisp
+(add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
+(defun my-alter-summary-map ()
+ (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
+@end lisp
+
+or
+
+@lisp
+(defun my-alter-summary-map ()
+ (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
+@end lisp
+
+
@node Setting Process Marks
@subsection Setting Process Marks
@cindex setting process marks
Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
+@item M P G
+@kindex M P G (Summary)
+@findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
+Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
+expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
+
@item M P r
@kindex M P r (Summary)
@findex gnus-uu-mark-region
Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
+@item / x
+@kindex / x (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
+Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
+headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
+
@item / u
@itemx x
@kindex / u (Summary)
Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
(@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
+@item / M
+@kindex / M (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
+Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
+
@item / T
@kindex / T (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
The default is 4.
+@item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
+@vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
+Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
+arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
+arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
+using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
+up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
+Setting this variable to an alternate value
+(e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
+appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
+more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
+
@end table
(setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
'(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
- (reverse gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
+ (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
@end lisp
The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
@code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
-Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
+Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
variables, the group is not cached.
@findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
* Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
* Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
* Article Signature:: What is a signature?
+* Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
@end menu
@vindex gnus-header-face-alist
Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
-variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
-name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
+variable, which is a list where each element has the form
+@code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
+@var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
(@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
@end table
-@xref{Customizing Articles} for how to highlight articles automatically.
+@xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
@node Article Fontisizing
@findex gnus-article-emphasize
@kindex W e (Summary)
People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
-like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
-running the article through the @kbd{W e}
+like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
+this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
(@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
@vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
@end lisp
+@cindex slash
+@cindex asterisk
+@cindex underline
+@cindex /
+@cindex *
+
@vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
@vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
@vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
(copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
@end lisp
-@xref{Customizing Articles} for how to fontize articles automatically.
+@vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
+
+If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
+@code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
+syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
+parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
+
+@xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
@node Article Hiding
Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
Signature}.
+@item W W l
+@kindex W W l (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
+@vindex gnus-list-identifiers
+Hide list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
+are strings some list servers add to the beginning of all @code{Subject}
+headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}.
+
+@table @code
+
+@item gnus-list-identifiers
+@vindex gnus-list-identifiers
+A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
+subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
+
+@end table
+
@item W W p
@kindex W W p (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
@item W W B
@kindex W W B (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-strip-banner
+@cindex banner
+@cindex OneList
+@cindex stripping advertisments
+@cindex advertisments
Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
(@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
-which will be interpreted as a regulax expression matching text to be
+which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
signature should be removed.
@item gnus-cited-lines-visible
@vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
-The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
+The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
+shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
+and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
@end table
Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
citation customization.
-@xref{Customizing Articles} for how to hide article elements
+@xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
automatically.
@kindex W l (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
Remove page breaks from the current article
-(@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article} for page
+(@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
delimiters.
@item W r
You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
when filling.
-@item W q
-@kindex W q (Summary)
-@findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
+@item W Q
+@kindex W Q (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
@item W C
@kindex W C (Summary)
-@findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentencse
+@findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
Capitalize the first word in each sentence
(@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
Add clickable buttons to the article headers
(@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
+@item W W H
+@kindex W W H (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
+Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
+article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
+
@item W E l
@kindex W E l (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
@end table
-@xref{Customizing Articles} for how to wash articles automatically.
+@xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
@node Article Buttons
(HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
@end lisp
-@var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
+@var{header} is a regular expression.
@item gnus-button-url-regexp
@vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
@end table
-@xref{Customizing Articles} for how to buttonize articles automatically.
+@xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
@node Article Date
@findex gnus-start-date-timer
@findex gnus-stop-date-timer
Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
-(@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
-updated continually, you can put
+(@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
+
+@example
+X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
+@end example
+
+The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
+whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
+replace it.
+
+An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
+into wonderful absurdities.
+
+If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
@lisp
(gnus-start-date-timer)
@end table
-@xref{Customizing Articles} for how to display the date in your
+@xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
preferred format automatically.
@vindex gnus-signature-limit
@code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
-signature.
+signature when displaying articles.
@enumerate
@item
signature after all.
+@node Article Miscellania
+@subsection Article Miscellania
+
+@table @kbd
+@item A t
+@kindex A t (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-babel
+Translate the article from one language to another
+(@code{gnus-article-babel}).
+
+@end table
+
+
@node MIME Commands
-@section MIME Commands
+@section @sc{mime} Commands
@cindex MIME decoding
+The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
+instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
+
+@table @kbd
+@item b
+@itemx K v
+@kindex b (Summary)
+@kindex K v (Summary)
+View the @sc{mime} part.
+
+@item K o
+@kindex K o (Summary)
+Save the @sc{mime} part.
+
+@item K c
+@kindex K c (Summary)
+Copy the @sc{mime} part.
+
+@item K e
+@kindex K e (Summary)
+View the @sc{mime} part externally.
+
+@item K i
+@kindex K i (Summary)
+View the @sc{mime} part internally.
+
+@item K |
+@kindex K | (Summary)
+Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
+@end table
+
+The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
+the same manner:
+
@table @kbd
+@item K b
+@kindex K b (Summary)
+Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in from of them.
+
+@item K m
+@kindex K m (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
+Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
+This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
+be viewed in a more pleasant manner
+(@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
+
+@item X m
+@kindex X m (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-save-parts
+Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
+(@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
+convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
+
@item M-t
@kindex M-t (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
@end lisp
+@vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
+@item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
+Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
+
@end table
Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
something some agents insist on having in there.
+@cindex Russina
+@cindex koi8-r
+@cindex koi8-u
+@cindex iso-8859-5
+@cindex coding system aliases
+@cindex preferred charset
+
+Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
+
+If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
+charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
+
+@lisp
+(put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
+ 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
+@end lisp
+
+This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
+the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
+
+If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
+
+@lisp
+(define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
+@end lisp
+
+This will almost do the right thing.
+
+And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
+something like
+
+@lisp
+(codepage-setup 1251)
+(define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
+@end lisp
+
@node Article Commands
@section Article Commands
@findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
+@item C-c C-s C-c
+@kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
+Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
+
@item C-c C-s C-i
@kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
necessary.
+It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
+@code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
+is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
+match.
+
+Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
+then ask Deja if that fails:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-refer-article-method
+ '(current
+ (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
+@end lisp
+
Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
@code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
(@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
@code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
-it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
+it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
@item gnus-tree-brackets
@vindex gnus-tree-brackets
This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
-``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
-(sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
+``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
+(@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
@item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
@kindex B m (Summary)
@cindex move mail
@findex gnus-summary-move-article
+@vindex gnus-preserve-marks
Move the article from one mail group to another
-(@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
+(@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
+@var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
@item B c
@kindex B c (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-copy-article
@c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
-(@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
+(@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
+@var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
@item B B
@kindex B B (Summary)
@code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
+Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
+(which is the default).
@item B w
@itemx e
@table @kbd
-@item C-d
+@item A D
+@itemx C-d
@kindex C-d (Summary)
+@kindex A D (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
-@item M-C-g
-@kindex M-C-g (Summary)
+@item M-C-a
+@kindex M-C-a (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
@vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
@c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
Exit the current group and update all information on the group
-(@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
+(@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
@code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
(@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
+@findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
+@item t (Article)
+View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
+(@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
+
@findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
@item | (Article)
Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
+
+@findex gnus-mime-inline-part
+@item i (Article)
+Insert the raw contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
+(@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}).
+
@end table
Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
+Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
+
@node Customizing Articles
@section Customizing Articles
@code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
+Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
+for sensible values.
+
@enumerate
@item
@code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
than this number.
@item
-A list:
+A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
+articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
+regexps in the list.
+
+@item
+A list where the first element is not a string:
The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
-group.
+group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
+possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
@table @code
-@item gnus-treat-highlight-signature
-@item gnus-treat-buttonize
-@item gnus-treat-buttonize-head
-@item gnus-treat-emphasize
-@item gnus-treat-fill-article
-@item gnus-treat-strip-cr
-@item gnus-treat-hide-headers
-@item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
-@item gnus-treat-hide-signature
-@item gnus-treat-hide-citation
-@item gnus-treat-strip-pgp
-@item gnus-treat-strip-pem
-@item gnus-treat-highlight-headers
-@item gnus-treat-highlight-citation
-@item gnus-treat-highlight-signature
-@item gnus-treat-date-ut
-@item gnus-treat-date-local
-@item gnus-treat-date-lapsed
-@item gnus-treat-date-original
-@item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
-@item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
-@item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
-@item gnus-treat-strip-blank-lines
-@item gnus-treat-overstrike
-@item gnus-treat-display-xface
-@item gnus-treat-display-smileys
-@item gnus-treat-display-picons
+@item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
+@item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
+@item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
+@item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
+@item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
+@item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
+@item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
+@item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
+@item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
+@item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
+@item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
+@item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-play-sounds
+@item gnus-treat-translate
@end table
@vindex gnus-part-display-hook
@code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
-everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead make
-them invisible if you want to make them go away.
+everything.
@node Article Keymap
@item gnus-article-mode-line-format
This variable is a format string along the same lines as
@code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
-accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
-extension:
+accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
+extensions:
@table @samp
@item w
@kindex C-c C-c (Post)
All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
-where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
-by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
-Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
-article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
-to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
+where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
+article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
+Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
+on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
@menu
* Mail:: Mailing and replying.
(setq gnus-message-archive-group
'((if (message-news-p)
"misc-news"
- (concat "mail." (format-time-string
- "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
+ (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
@end lisp
(XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
-If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
-arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
+If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
+match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
+in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
+with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
to @dfn{match}.
Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
-attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
-can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
+attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
+attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
@code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
-article.
+article. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated,
+and the result is thrown away.
-The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
-return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
-list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
+The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
+zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
+will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
+will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
+message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
+are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
-of the two dynamically bound variables @code{message-this-is-news} and
-@code{message-this-is-mail}.
+of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
-@vindex message-this-is-mail
-@vindex message-this-is-news
+@findex message-mail-p
+@findex message-news-p
So here's a new example:
(signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
(signature my-quote-randomizer))
- (message-this-is-news
+ ((message-news-p)
(signature my-news-signature))
- (posting-from-work-p
+ ((header "From.*To" "larsi.*org")
+ (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
+ ((posting-from-work-p)
(signature-file "~/.work-signature")
(address "user@@bar.foo")
(body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
* The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
* Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
* Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
+* Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
* Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
* Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
* Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
will.
After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
-@var{(variable form)} pairs.
+@code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
course.
@menu
+* Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
* Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
* Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
* Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
* Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
* Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
+* Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
* Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
* Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
* Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
@end menu
+@node Mail in a Newsreader
+@subsection Mail in a Newsreader
+
+If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
+to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
+of a culture shock.
+
+Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
+it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
+
+Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
+approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
+messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
+you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
+
+In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
+
+Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
+deleted? How awful!
+
+But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
+scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
+the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
+you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
+Mail}.
+
+What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
+mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
+they want to treat a message.
+
+Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
+via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
+answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
+need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
+archived somewhere else.
+
+Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
+These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
+to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
+order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
+to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
+
+The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
+but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
+or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
+
+Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
+like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
+differently.
+
+Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
+that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
+to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
+not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
+instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
+
+I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
+may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
+you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
+guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
+Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
+Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
+You Do.)
+
+
@node Getting Started Reading Mail
@subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
@code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
-@findex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
-Header lines may be arbitrarily long. However, the longer a line is,
-the longer it takes to match them. Very long lines may lead to Gnus
-taking forever to split the mail, so Gnus excludes lines that are longer
-than @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} (which defaults to 1024).
-
@kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
@kindex nnmail-split-history
If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
@subsection Mail Sources
Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
-POP mail server, or from a procmail directory, for instance.
+POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
+instance.
@menu
* Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
@cindex mail spool
@cindex mail source
-You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by creating a @dfn{mail source
-specifier}.
+You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
+(@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
Here's an example:
(file)
@end lisp
+If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
+use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not you ange-ftp
+file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
+mail.
+
+If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
+
+@lisp
+(setq mail-sources
+ '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
+@end lisp
+
+The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
+
+@example
+#!/bin/sh
+# getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
+# flu@@iki.fi
+
+MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
+TMP=~/Mail/tmp
+rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
+@end example
+
+Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
+
+
@item directory
Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
predicate are considered.
+@item :prescript
+@itemx :postscript
+Script run before/after fetching mail.
+
@end table
An example directory mail source:
The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
corresponding keywords.
+@item :prescript
+A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
+the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
+
+@item :postscript
+A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
+the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
+
@item :function
The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
@lisp
-(pop :program "movemail"
- :args (format "po:%s %s %s" user mail-source-crash-box password))
+(pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
+@end lisp
+
+@item maildir
+Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
+at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
+contains exactly one mail.
+
+Keywords:
+
+@table @code
+@item :path
+The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
+@samp{~/Maildir/new}.
+
+If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
+them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
+@code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
+below.
+
+You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
+from locking problems).
+
+@end table
+
+Two example maildir mail sources:
+
+@lisp
+(maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
+@end lisp
+
+@lisp
+(maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/new")
+@end lisp
+
+@item imap
+Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap} as
+intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for some
+reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server and
+fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox.
+
+Keywords:
+
+@table @code
+@item :server
+The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
+@code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
+
+@item :port
+The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
+@samp{993} for SSL connections.
+
+@item :user
+The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
+name.
+
+@item :password
+The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
+prompted.
+
+@item :stream
+What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
+symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
+@samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
+
+@item :authenticator
+Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
+of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
+means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
+@samp{login}.
+
+@item :mailbox
+The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
+which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
+
+@item :predicate
+The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
+UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
+sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
+articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
+Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
+complete list of predicates, see RFC2060 §6.4.4.
+
+@item :fetchflag
+How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{Deleted}
+will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{Seen} which
+would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
+but more flags are defined in RFC2060 §2.3.2.
+
+@item :dontexpunge
+If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
+after finishing the fetch.
+
+@end table
+
+An example @sc{imap} mail source:
+
+@lisp
+(imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4)
@end lisp
+@item webmail
+Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
+mail.yahoo.com, www.netaddress.com and www.my-deja.com.
+
+NOTE: Webmail largely depends on w3 (url) package, whose version of "WWW
+4.0pre.46 1999/10/01" or previous ones may not work.
+
+WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
+
+Keywords:
+
+@table @code
+@item :subtype
+The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
+alternatives are @code{yahoo}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
+
+@item :user
+The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
+name.
+
+@item :password
+The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
+prompted.
+
+@item :dontexpunge
+If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
+folder after finishing the fetch.
+
+@end table
+
+An example webmail source:
+
+@lisp
+(webmail :subtype 'yahoo :user "user-name" :password "secret")
+@end lisp
@end table
+@table @dfn
+@item Common Keywords
+Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
+
+Keywords:
+
+@table @code
+@item :plugged
+If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged.
+
+@end table
+@end table
@node Mail Source Customization
@subsubsection Mail Source Customization
variables.
@table @code
-@item mail-source-movemail-program
-@vindex mail-source-movemail-program
-A command to be executed to move mail from the inbox. The default is
-@samp{movemail}.
-
-This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be
-called with two parameters -- the name of the INBOX file, and the file
-to be moved to.
-
-@item mail-source-movemail-args
-@vindex mail-source-movemail-args
-Extra arguments to give to the command described above.
-
@item mail-source-crash-box
@vindex mail-source-crash-box
File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
@node Fetching Mail
@subsubsection Fetching Mail
+@vindex mail-sources
+@vindex nnmail-spool-file
The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
-@code{nnmail-spool-file} to a list of mail source specifiers
+@code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
(@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
-If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to
-fetch mail by themselves.
+If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
+@code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
+themselves.
If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
mail server, you'd say something like:
@lisp
-(setq nnmail-spool-file
+(setq mail-sources
'((file)
(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
:password "secret")))
Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
@lisp
-(setq nnmail-spool-file
+(setq mail-sources
'((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
:user "user-name"
;; Other mailing lists...
(any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
(any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
+ ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
+ ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
+ ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
+ ;; message was really cross-posted.
+ (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
+ (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
;; People...
(any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
examples.
@item
-@var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
-which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
-header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
+@code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
+@code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
+first element of which is a string, then store the message as
+specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
+@var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
+matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
+matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
+@var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
@item
-@var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
-@code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
-matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
-be stored in one or more groups.
+@code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
+element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
+one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
+the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
@item
-@var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
-@code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
+@code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
+element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
@item
@code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
-this message. Use with extreme caution.
+this message. Use with extreme caution.
+
+@item
+@code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
+a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
+be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
+function should return a @var{split}.
@item
-@var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
-element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
-function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
-a SPLIT.
+@code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
+element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
+called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
+return a split.
@item
@code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
@end enumerate
-In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
-@var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
+In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
+@var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
-field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
+field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
@samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
@vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
-@var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
+@var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
are expanded as specified by the variable
@code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
(any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
@end example
+In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
+will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
+
If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
groupings 1 through 9.
+@node Group Mail Splitting
+@subsection Group Mail Splitting
+@cindex mail splitting
+@cindex group mail splitting
+
+@findex gnus-group-split
+If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
+maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
+You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
+parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
+@code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
+for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
+from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
+@var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
+
+Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
+splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
+parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
+rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
+
+All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
+@code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
+the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
+@var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
+matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
+group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
+@var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
+
+If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
+parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
+parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
+this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
+@code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
+@code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
+@code{gnus-group-split}.
+
+@vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
+@code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
+by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
+group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
+group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
+some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
+that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
+there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
+@code{&} split and the catch-all group.
+
+It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
+been defined:
+
+@example
+nnml:mail.bar:
+((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
+ (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
+nnml:mail.foo:
+((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
+ (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
+ (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
+ (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
+nnml:mail.others:
+((split-spec . catch-all))
+@end example
+
+Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
+behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
+@code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
+
+@lisp
+(| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
+ (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
+ - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
+ "mail.others")
+@end lisp
+
+@findex gnus-group-split-fancy
+If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
+may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
+splits like this:
+
+@lisp
+(: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
+@end lisp
+
+@var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
+parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
+@var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
+single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} may be the name
+of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
+@var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
+empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
+Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
+this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
+
+@findex gnus-group-split-setup
+Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
+slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
+But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
+used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
+sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
+@code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
+@code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
+scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
+
+@findex gnus-group-split-update
+However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
+@code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
+@code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
+automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
+you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
+
+@lisp
+(gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
+@end lisp
+
+If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
+will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
+have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
+don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional),
+@code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
+value.
+
+@vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
+Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
+by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
+@code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
+
@node Incorporating Old Mail
@subsection Incorporating Old Mail
'("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
@end lisp
+This can also be done non-destructively with
+@code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
+
@item nnmail-remove-tabs
@findex nnmail-remove-tabs
Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
@code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
-variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
+variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
@code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
-If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
-will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
+If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
+@code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
+mail, which should help.
@vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
@vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
+There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
+backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
+(because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
+(@pxref{Mail Spool}).
+
@menu
* Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
* Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
* Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
* MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
* Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
+* Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
@end menu
@vindex nnbabyl-active-file
@vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
-mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
-article to say which group it belongs in.
+mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
+mail article to say which group it belongs in.
Virtual server settings:
@code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
though.
+@node Comparing Mail Backends
+@subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
+
+First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
+low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
+is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
+and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
+mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
+
+The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
+typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
+in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
+articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
+access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
+area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
+@code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
+actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
+via NFS).
+
+The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
+simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
+format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
+future. Here are some high and low points on each:
-@node Other Sources
-@section Other Sources
+@table @code
+@item nnmbox
+
+UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
+defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
+they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
+@samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
+to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
+@samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
+historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
+mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
+this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
+area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
+(appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
+to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
+fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
+what's where.
+
+@item nnbabyl
+
+Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
+systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
+reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
+was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
+format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
+spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
+headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
+RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
+and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
+to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
+VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
+perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
+headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
+course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
+
+Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
+filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
+look at your mail.
+
+@item nnml
+
+@code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
+actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
+fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
+lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
+and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
+Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
+CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
+or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
+@dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
+@sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
+due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
+file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
+extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
+provided by the active file and overviews.
+
+@code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
+resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
+files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
+tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
+the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
+wins big.
+
+It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
+FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
+tiny files.
+
+@item nnmh
+
+The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
+long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
+individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
+is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
+active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
+one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
+slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
+
+@item nnfolder
+
+Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
+method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
+itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
+little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
+a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
+can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
+format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
+it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
+out how many messages there are in each separate group.
+
+If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
+messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
+only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
+friendly mail backend all over.
-Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
-below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
-newsgroups.
+@end table
-@menu
-* Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
-* Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
-* Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
-* SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
+
+@node Browsing the Web
+@section Browsing the Web
+@cindex web
+@cindex browsing the web
+@cindex www
+@cindex http
+
+Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
+subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
+eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
+is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
+and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
+go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
+even know what a news group is.
+
+The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
+being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
+they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
+not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
+you mad in the end.
+
+So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
+to do it instead?
+
+Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
+interfaces to these sources.
+
+@menu
* Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
+* Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
+* Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
+* Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
+@end menu
+
+The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
+work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
+is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
+will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
+though, you should be ok.
+
+One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
+are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
+cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
+Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
+leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
+
+
+@node Web Searches
+@subsection Web Searches
+@cindex nnweb
+@cindex DejaNews
+@cindex Alta Vista
+@cindex InReference
+@cindex Usenet searches
+@cindex searching the Usenet
+
+It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
+string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
+those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
+the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
+searches without having to use a browser.
+
+The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
+engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
+then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
+group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
+Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
+
+@code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
+groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
+each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
+pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
+manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
+Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
+@code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
+engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
+of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
+header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
+group as read.
+
+If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
+won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
+providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
+make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
+community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
+might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
+
+You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
+to use @code{nnweb}.
+
+Virtual server variables:
+
+@table @code
+@item nnweb-type
+@vindex nnweb-type
+What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
+are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
+@code{reference}.
+
+@item nnweb-search
+@vindex nnweb-search
+The search string to feed to the search engine.
+
+@item nnweb-max-hits
+@vindex nnweb-max-hits
+Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
+100.
+
+@item nnweb-type-definition
+@vindex nnweb-type-definition
+Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
+with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
+present:
+
+@table @code
+@item article
+Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
+understands.
+
+@item map
+Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
+
+@item search
+Function to send the search string to the search engine.
+
+@item address
+The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
+to.
+
+@item id
+Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
+@end table
+
+@end table
+
+
+@node Slashdot
+@subsection Slashdot
+@cindex Slashdot
+@cindex nnslashdot
+
+Slashdot (@file{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
+lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
+let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
+
+The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
+following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
+ '((nnslashdot "")))
+@end lisp
+
+This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
+and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
+a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
+groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
+groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
+Methods}).
+
+If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
+command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
+
+When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
+comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
+particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
+@code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
+the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
+directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
+@sc{html} forms.
+
+The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
+
+@table @code
+@item nnslashdot-threaded
+Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
+default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
+has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
+threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
+the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
+but much, much slower than untreaded.
+
+@item nnslashdot-login-name
+@vindex nnslashdot-login-name
+The login name to use when posting.
+
+@item nnslashdot-password
+@vindex nnslashdot-password
+The password to use when posting.
+
+@item nnslashdot-directory
+@vindex nnslashdot-directory
+Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
+@samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
+
+@item nnslashdot-active-url
+@vindex nnslashdot-active-url
+The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
+news articles and comments. The default is
+@samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
+
+@item nnslashdot-comments-url
+@vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
+The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
+default is
+@samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
+
+@item nnslashdot-article-url
+@vindex nnslashdot-article-url
+The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
+default is
+@samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
+
+@item nnslashdot-threshold
+@vindex nnslashdot-threshold
+The score threshold. The default is -1.
+
+@item nnslashdot-group-number
+@vindex nnslashdot-group-number
+The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
+updated. The default is 0.
+
+@end table
+
+
+
+@node Ultimate
+@subsection Ultimate
+@cindex nnultimate
+@cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
+
+The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@file{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
+probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
+quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
+information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
+
+The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
+something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
+http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
+(not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
+you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
+site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
+server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
+
+The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
+
+@table @code
+@item nnultimate-directory
+@vindex nnultimate-directory
+The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
+@samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
+@end table
+
+@node Web Archive
+@subsection Web Archive
+@cindex nnwarchive
+@cindex Web Archive
+
+Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
+@file{http://www.egroups.com/} and
+@file{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
+interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
+groups updated.
+
+The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
+something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
+gnus-group-make-nnwarchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
+www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
+@sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
+@sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
+backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
+
+The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
+
+@table @code
+@item nnwarchive-directory
+@vindex nnwarchive-directory
+The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
+@samp{~/News/warchive/}.
+
+@item nnwarchive-login
+@vindex nnwarchive-login
+The account name on the web server.
+
+@item nnwarchive-passwd
+@vindex nnwarchive-passwd
+The password for your account on the web server.
+@end table
+
+@node Other Sources
+@section Other Sources
+
+Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
+below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
+newsgroups.
+
+@menu
+* Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
+* Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
+* Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
+* SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
* Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
+* IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
@end menu
When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
-After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
-forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
-snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
-the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
-If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
-file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
-will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
+After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
+@code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
+file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
+few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
+just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
+@code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
+file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
elements.
All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
@item forward
Forwarded articles.
+@item nsmail
+Netscape mail boxes.
+
@item mime-parts
MIME multipart messages.
This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
@code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
@code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
-@code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or @code{guess}.
+@code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
@item nndoc-post-type
@vindex nndoc-post-type
transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
newsreaders.
-However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
+However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
that interested in doing things properly.
@item message packets
These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
-default, where @var{X} is a number.
+default, where @var{x} is a number.
@item response packets
These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
-default, where @var{X} is a number.
+default, where @var{x} is a number.
@end table
@sc{soup}ed you use the second.
-@node Web Searches
-@subsection Web Searches
-@cindex nnweb
-@cindex DejaNews
-@cindex Alta Vista
-@cindex InReference
-@cindex Usenet searches
-@cindex searching the Usenet
-
-It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
-string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
-those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
-the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
-searches without having to use a browser.
-
-The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
-engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
-then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
-group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
-Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
-
-@code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
-groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
-each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
-pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
-manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
-Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
-@code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
-engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
-of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
-header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
-group as read.
-
-If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
-won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
-providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
-make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
-community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
-might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
-
-You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
-to use @code{nnweb}.
-
-Virtual server variables:
-
-@table @code
-@item nnweb-type
-@vindex nnweb-type
-What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
-are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
-@code{reference}.
-
-@item nnweb-search
-@vindex nnweb-search
-The search string to feed to the search engine.
-
-@item nnweb-max-hits
-@vindex nnweb-max-hits
-Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
-100.
-
-@item nnweb-type-definition
-@vindex nnweb-type-definition
-Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
-with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
-present:
-
-@table @code
-@item article
-Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
-understands.
-
-@item map
-Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
-
-@item search
-Function to send the search string to the search engine.
-
-@item address
-The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
-to.
-
-@item id
-Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
-@end table
-
-@end table
-
-
-
@node Mail-To-News Gateways
@subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
@cindex mail-to-news gateways
@end lisp
+
+@node IMAP
+@subsection @sc{imap}
+@cindex nnimap
+@cindex @sc{imap}
+
+@sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
+think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap} server
+is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just specify the
+network address of the server.
+
+The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
+server:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item nnimap-address
+@vindex nnimap-address
+
+The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
+server name if not specified.
+
+@item nnimap-server-port
+@vindex nnimap-server-port
+Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
+
+@item nnimap-list-pattern
+@vindex nnimap-list-pattern
+String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
+This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
+interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
+@sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
+@file{~/Mail/*} then.
+
+The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
+REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
+Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
+mailbox.
+
+Example:
+
+@lisp
+("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
+@end lisp
+
+@item nnimap-stream
+@vindex nnimap-stream
+The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
+will use the most secure stream your server is capable of.
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+@dfn{kerberos4:} Uses the `imtest' program.
+@item
+@dfn{ssl:} Uses OpenSSL or SSLeay.
+@item
+@dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
+@end itemize
+
+@item nnimap-authenticator
+@vindex nnimap-authenticator
+
+The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
+will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+@dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication.
+@item
+@dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
+@item
+@dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
+@item
+@dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
+@end itemize
+
+@item nnimap-expunge-on-close
+@cindex Expunging
+@vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
+Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
+doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
+this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
+delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
+nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
+similair).
+
+Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
+@code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
+running in circles yet?
+
+Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
+when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
+variable.
+
+The possible options are:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item always
+The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
+closing a mailbox.
+@item never
+Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
+the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
+may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
+manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
+@item ask
+When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
+articles or not.
+@end table
+
+@end table
+
+@menu
+* Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
+* Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
+* Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
+@end menu
+
+
+
+@node Splitting in IMAP
+@subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
+@cindex splitting imap mail
+
+Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
+the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
+@sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
+seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
+support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
+
+And it does.
+
+Here are the variables of interest:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item nnimap-split-crosspost
+@cindex splitting, crosspost
+@cindex crosspost
+@vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
+
+If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
+nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
+
+Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
+
+@item nnimap-split-inbox
+@cindex splitting, inbox
+@cindex inbox
+@vindex nnimap-split-inbox
+
+A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
+mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
+disabled!
+
+@lisp
+(setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
+@end lisp
+
+No nnmail equivalent.
+
+@item nnimap-split-rule
+@cindex Splitting, rules
+@vindex nnimap-split-rule
+
+New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
+this variable.
+
+This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
+sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
+matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
+Neither did I, we need examples.
+
+@lisp
+(setq nnimap-split-rule
+ '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
+ ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
+ ("INBOX.private" "")))
+@end lisp
+
+This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
+INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
+into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
+
+The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
+replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
+instance:
+
+@lisp
+("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
+@end lisp
+
+The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
+called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
+containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
+if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
+
+Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
+match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
+nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
+of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
+unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
+them every time you fetch new mail.)
+
+These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
+end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
+crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
+
+This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
+be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
+thinks the article should be splitted to.
+
+The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
+
+Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
+
+@item nnimap-split-fancy
+@cindex splitting, fancy
+@findex nnimap-split-fancy
+@vindex nnimap-split-fancy
+
+It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
+@code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
+splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
+
+However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
+nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
+@code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
+rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
+
+Example:
+
+@lisp
+(setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
+ nnimap-split-fancy ...)
+@end lisp
+
+Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
+
+@end table
+
+@node Editing IMAP ACLs
+@subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
+@cindex editing imap acls
+@cindex Access Control Lists
+@cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
+@kindex G l
+@findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
+
+ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
+limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
+@sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
+doesn't.
+
+To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
+(@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
+editing window with detailed instructions.
+
+Some possible uses:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
+on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
+follow the list without subscribing to it.
+@item
+At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
+"anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
+mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
+INBOX.mailbox).
+@end itemize
+
+@node Expunging mailboxes
+@subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
+@cindex expunging
+
+@cindex Expunge
+@cindex Manual expunging
+@kindex G x
+@findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
+
+If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
+you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
+manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
+
+Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
+delete them.
+
+
+
@node Combined Groups
@section Combined Groups
The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
@dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
-Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
+Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
+@code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
+managing categories.
@menu
* Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
@end enumerate
A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
-@code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
-article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
+@code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
+article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
@lisp
(defun my-article-old-p ()
"Say whether an article is old."
- (< (time-to-day (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
- (- (time-to-day (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
+ (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
+ (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
@end lisp
with the predicate then defined as:
If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
-always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
+always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
just don't give a damm.
-
The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
-category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
+category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
parameters like so:
(agent-predicate . short)
@end lisp
-This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
-default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
-the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
-notation.
+This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
+Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
+@code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
(agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
@end lisp
-Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
-about parenthesis.
+Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
+about parenthesis?
@end itemize
@item
@kindex J S (Agent Group)
@findex gnus-group-send-drafts
Send all sendable messages in the draft group
-(@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}.
+(@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
@item J a
@kindex J a (Agent Group)
@file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
@lisp
-;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
+;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
;;; from your ISP's server.
-(setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
+(setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
;;; your ISP's POP server.
-(setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
-(setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
+(setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
(setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
Score on the head.
@item t
-Score on thead.
+Score on thread.
@end table
@vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
@cindex score cache
All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
-score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
+score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
@file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
@file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
+If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
+with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
+across group visits.
+
@item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
@vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
@item Thread
This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
-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
-@samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
-article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
-@samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
-articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
-entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
-complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
+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 @samp{thread}
+match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
+has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
+matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
+This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
+even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
+@code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
@end table
groups.
@item
-A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
+A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
parameter.
@enumerate
@item
-@var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
-the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
+@code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
+group name, the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
@item
-A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
+A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
the home score file.
@item
the matches.
@item Marking as read
-You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
+You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
@lisp
@vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
-regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
+regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
the separate scoring behavior you need to set
@code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
@samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
-@code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
-@samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
-@code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
-symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
+@code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
+say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
+@code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
+naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
-will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
+will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
@code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
@samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
-@var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
-either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
-or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
-regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
+@code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
+Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
+you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
+@var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
@samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
@file{.gnus.el} file:
@lisp
-(setq gnus-treat-display-smiley t)
+(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
@end lisp
Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
@menu
* History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
+* On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
* Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
* Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
* Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
@sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
'94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
-If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
-can point your (feh!) web browser to
-@file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
-distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
-as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
+If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
+you can point your (feh!) web browser to
+@file{http://quimby.gnus.org/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
+distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
+known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
+@menu
+* Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
+* Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
+* Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
+* Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
+* Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
+* Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
+* Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
+* Contributors:: Oodles of people.
+* New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
+* Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
+@end menu
+
+
+@node Gnus Versions
+@subsection Gnus Versions
+@cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
+@cindex ding Gnus
+@cindex September Gnus
+@cindex Quassia Gnus
+
The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
-On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
-releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
+On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
+If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
+
+Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
+``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
+1999.
If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
to that instead.
-@menu
-* Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
-* Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
-* Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
-* Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
-* Contributors:: Oodles of people.
-* New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
-* Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
-@end menu
+
+@node Other Gnus Versions
+@subsection Other Gnus Versions
+@cindex Semi-gnus
+
+In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
+coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
+Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
+@sc{mime} capabilities.
+
+These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
+Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
+called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
+@sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
+Japanese users.
@node Why?
everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
every one of you to explore and invent.
-May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
+May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
@kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
their names.
-The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
+The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
Articles}.
One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
Emacsen.
+@node Gnus Development
+@subsection Gnus Development
+
+Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
+discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
+propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
+phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
+phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
+circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
+unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
+have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
+
+After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
+@dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
+and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
+supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
+@samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
+
+@cindex Incoming*
+@vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
+Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
+In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
+alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
+lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
+
+The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
+newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
+having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
+can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
+importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
+introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
+introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
+either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
+usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
+can't be assumed to do so.
+
+
+
@node Contributors
@subsection Contributors
@cindex contributors
Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
@item
+Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
+nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
+other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
+functionality and stuff.
+
+@item
Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
well as numerous other things).
Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
@item
-Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
+Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
@item
-Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el and many other things
-connected with @sc{mime} and other types of en/decoding.
+Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
@item
Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
Matt Armstrong,
Marc Auslander,
Miles Bader,
+Alexei V. Barantsev,
Frank Bennett,
Robert Bihlmeyer,
Chris Bone,
Mark Borges,
Mark Boyns,
Lance A. Brown,
+Rob Browning,
Kees de Bruin,
Martin Buchholz,
Joe Buehler,
David Charlap,
Dan Christensen,
Kevin Christian,
+Jae-you Chung, @c ?
+James H. Cloos, Jr.,
+Laura Conrad,
Michael R. Cook,
Glenn Coombs,
+Andrew J. Cosgriff,
+Neil Crellin,
Frank D. Cringle,
Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
Andre Deparade,
Michael Welsh Duggan,
Dave Edmondson,
Paul Eggert,
+Mark W. Eichin,
Karl Eichwalder,
Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
Michael Ernst,
Sam Falkner,
Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
Sigbjorn Finne,
+Sven Fischer,
Paul Fisher,
Decklin Foster,
Gary D. Foster,
Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
P. E. Jareth Hein,
Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
+Scott Hofmann,
Marc Horowitz,
Gunnar Horrigmo,
Richard Hoskins,
Brad Howes,
+Miguel de Icaza,
François Felix Ingrand,
+Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
Lee Iverson,
Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
Rajappa Iyer,
Andreas Jaeger,
+Adam P. Jenkins,
Randell Jesup,
Fred Johansen,
Gareth Jones,
Simon Josefsson,
Greg Klanderman,
Karl Kleinpaste,
+Michael Klingbeil,
Peter Skov Knudsen,
Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
+Petr Konecny,
Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
Thor Kristoffersen,
Jens Lautenbacher,
Ken Olstad,
Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
Hideki Ono, @c Ono
+Ettore Perazzoli,
William Perry,
Stephen Peters,
Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
Philippe Schnoebelen,
Andreas Schwab,
Randal L. Schwartz,
-Justin Sheehy,
Danny Siu,
Matt Simmons,
Paul D. Smith,
Richard Stallman,
Greg Stark,
Sam Steingold,
+Paul Stevenson,
Jonas Steverud,
Paul Stodghill,
+Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
Kurt Swanson,
Samuel Tardieu,
Teddy,
Chuck Thompson,
+Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
Philippe Troin,
James Troup,
Trung Tran-Duc,
+Jack Twilley,
Aaron M. Ucko,
Aki Vehtari,
Didier Verna,
+Vladimir Volovich,
Jan Vroonhof,
Stefan Waldherr,
Pete Ware,
Marks}).
@item
-A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
+A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
@item
@item
AUTHINFO GENERIC
@item
- support qmail maildir spools
-@item
`run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
@item
stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
in the head or body.
@item
-Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
+Allow breaking lengthy @sc{nntp} commands.
@item
gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
@item
-`S D r' should allow expansion of aliases.
-
-@item
If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
@item
-The documentation should mention pop3.el, fetchmail, smtpmail and why
-po:username often fails.
+A spec for the group line format to display the number of
+agent-downloaded articles in the group.
@item
-Fetch by Message-ID from dejanews.
+Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
+timeout for all commands.
-<URL:http://search.dejanews.com/msgid.xp?MID=%3C62h9l9$hm4@@basement.replay.com%3E&fmt=raw>
+@item
+When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
+It should go somewhere else.
@item
-A spec for the group line format to display the number of
-agent-downloaded articles in the group.
+I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
+Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
+"microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
+access as
+"nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
+but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
+
+Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
+Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
@item
-Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
-timeout for all commands.
+
+When `#F', do:
+
+@example
+Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
+ --text follows this line--
+Sorry I killfiled you...
+
+Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
+> bar
+Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
+> bar 1
+@end example
+
+@item
+Allow "orphan" scores in the Agent scoring.
+
+@item
+@example
+ - Edit article's summary line.
+ - End edit
+ - Sort lines in buffer by subject
+
+ --> the old subject line appears in Summary buffer, not the one that was
+ just changed to.
+@end example
+
+
+@item
+Remove list identifiers from the subject in the summary when doing `^'
+and the like.
+
+@item
+Have the Agent write out articles, one by one, as it retrieves them,
+to avoid having to re-fetch them all if Emacs should crash while
+fetching.
+
+@item
+Be able to forward groups of messages as MIME digests.
+
+@item
+nnweb should include the "get whole article" article when getting articles.
+
+@item
+When I type W W c (gnus-article-hide-citation) in the summary
+buffer, the citations are revealed, but the [+] buttons don't turn
+into [-] buttons. (If I click on one of the [+] buttons, it does
+turn into a [-] button.)
@item
Solve the halting problem.
@end iftex
+@node On Writing Manuals
+@section On Writing Manuals
+
+I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
+that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
+implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
+straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
+functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
+implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
+hand in hand.
+
+This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
+documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
+looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
+started with Gnus.
+
+That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
+reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
+
+
@page
@node Terminology
@section Terminology
use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
default.
+@item gnus-read-newsrc-file
+If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
+only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
+use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
+default.
+
@item gnus-save-killed-list
If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
@kindex M-x gnus-bug
@findex gnus-bug
If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
-command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
+command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
making @var{group} the current group.
-If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
+If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
the current group.
Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
@item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
-Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
+Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
-@code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as IMAP) however carry all
-information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
-the mark information to the server.
+@code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
+all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
+propagate the mark information to the server.
ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
(RANGE ACTION MARK)
@end example
-Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
+Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
@code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
-mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
-symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
+mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
+Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
@code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
@code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
-not limit itself to theese.
+not limit itself to these.
Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
-effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
+effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
@code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
projects / elisp / gnus.git- / blobdiff