3 @include gnus-overrides.texi
5 @setfilename ../../info/gnus.info
13 Copyright @copyright{} 1995--2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
16 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
17 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
18 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
19 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being ``A GNU Manual'',
20 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
21 is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
23 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
24 modify this GNU manual.''
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307 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
314 \thispagestyle{empty}
322 @dircategory Emacs network features
324 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
333 @title Gnus Manual (DEVELOPMENT VERSION)
335 @ifclear WEBHACKDEVEL
339 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
341 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
349 @top The Gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
359 This manual corresponds to Gnus v5.13
374 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
375 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
377 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
378 being accused of plagiarism:
380 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
381 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
382 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
383 can even read news with it!
385 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
386 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
387 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
388 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
389 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
392 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
393 This manual corresponds to Gnus v5.13
395 @heading Other related manuals
397 @item Message manual: Composing messages
398 @item Emacs-MIME: Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
399 @item Sieve: Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
400 @item EasyPG: @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
401 @item SASL: @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
407 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
408 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
409 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
410 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
411 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
412 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
413 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
414 * Searching:: Mail and News search engines.
415 * Various:: General purpose settings.
416 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
417 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
418 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
419 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
420 * Key Index:: Key Index.
422 @c Doesn't work right in html.
423 @c FIXME Do this in a more standard way.
425 Other related manuals
427 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
428 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
429 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
430 * EasyPG:(epa). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
431 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
435 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
439 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
440 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
441 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
442 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
443 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
444 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
445 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
446 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
447 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
448 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
452 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
453 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
454 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
458 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
459 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
460 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
461 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
462 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
463 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
464 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
465 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
466 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
467 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
468 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
469 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
470 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
471 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
472 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
473 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
474 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
475 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
479 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
480 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
481 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
485 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
486 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
487 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
488 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
489 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
493 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
494 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
495 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
496 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
497 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
501 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
502 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
503 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
504 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
505 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
506 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
507 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
508 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
509 * Threading:: How threads are made.
510 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
511 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
512 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
513 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
514 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
515 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
516 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
517 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
518 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
519 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
520 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
521 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
522 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
523 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
524 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
525 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
526 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
527 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
528 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
529 or reselecting the current group.
530 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
531 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
532 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
533 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
535 Summary Buffer Format
537 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
538 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
539 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
540 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
544 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
545 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
547 Reply, Followup and Post
549 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
550 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
551 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
552 * Canceling and Superseding::
556 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
557 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
558 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
559 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
560 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
561 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
565 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
566 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
568 Customizing Threading
570 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
571 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
572 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
573 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
577 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
578 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
579 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
580 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
581 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
582 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
586 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
587 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
588 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
592 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
593 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
594 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
595 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
596 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
597 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
598 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
599 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
600 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys, Gravatars
601 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
602 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
604 Alternative Approaches
606 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
607 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
609 Various Summary Stuff
611 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
612 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
613 * Summary Generation Commands::
614 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
618 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
619 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
620 * HTML:: Reading @acronym{HTML} messages.
621 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
622 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
623 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
627 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
628 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
629 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
630 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
631 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
632 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
633 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
634 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
635 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
639 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
640 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
641 * Using IMAP:: Reading mail from @acronym{IMAP}.
642 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
643 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
644 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
645 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
646 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
647 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
651 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
652 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
653 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
654 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
655 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
656 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
657 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
661 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
662 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
666 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
667 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
668 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
672 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
673 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
674 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
675 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
676 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
677 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
678 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
679 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
680 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
681 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
682 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
683 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
684 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
688 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
689 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
690 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
692 Choosing a Mail Back End
694 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
695 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
696 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
697 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
698 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
699 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
700 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
705 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
706 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
710 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
711 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
712 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
713 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
714 * The Empty Backend:: The backend that never has any news.
718 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
722 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
726 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
727 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
728 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
732 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
733 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
734 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
736 The Gnus Diary Library
738 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
739 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
740 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
741 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
745 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
746 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
747 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
748 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
749 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
750 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
751 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
752 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
753 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
754 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
755 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
756 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
757 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
758 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
762 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
763 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
764 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
768 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
769 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
770 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
774 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
775 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
776 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
777 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
778 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
779 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
780 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
781 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
782 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
783 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
784 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
785 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
786 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
787 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
788 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
789 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
793 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
794 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
795 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
799 * nnir:: Searching with various engines.
800 * nnmairix:: Searching with Mairix.
804 * What is nnir?:: What does nnir do.
805 * Basic Usage:: How to perform simple searches.
806 * Setting up nnir:: How to set up nnir.
810 * Associating Engines:: How to associate engines.
814 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
815 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
816 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
817 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
818 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
819 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
820 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
821 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
822 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
823 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
824 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
825 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
826 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
827 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
828 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
829 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
830 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
831 * The Gnus Cloud:: A package for synchronizing Gnus marks.
832 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
833 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
837 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
838 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
839 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
840 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
841 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
842 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
843 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
844 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
848 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
849 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
850 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
852 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
853 * Gravatars:: Display the avatar of people you read.
854 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
858 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
859 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
860 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
861 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
865 * Spam Package Introduction::
866 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
867 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
868 * Spam and Ham Processors::
869 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
871 * Extending the Spam package::
872 * Spam Statistics Package::
874 Spam Statistics Package
876 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
877 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
878 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
882 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
883 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
884 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
885 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
886 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
887 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
888 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
889 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
890 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
894 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
895 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
896 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
897 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
898 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
899 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
900 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
901 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
905 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
906 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
907 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
908 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
909 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
910 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
911 * No Gnus:: Very punny. Gnus 5.12/5.13
912 * Ma Gnus:: Celebrating 25 years of Gnus.
916 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
917 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
918 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
919 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
923 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
924 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
925 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
926 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
927 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
928 * Group Info:: The group info format.
929 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
930 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
931 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
935 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
936 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
937 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
938 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
939 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
940 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
944 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
945 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
949 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
950 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
956 @chapter Starting Gnus
959 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
964 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
965 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
966 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
967 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
968 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
969 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
971 @findex gnus-other-frame
972 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
973 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
974 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
976 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
977 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
978 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
980 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
981 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
984 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
985 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
986 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
987 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
988 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
989 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
990 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
991 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
992 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
996 @node Finding the News
997 @section Finding the News
1000 First of all, you should know that there is a special buffer called
1001 @file{*Server*} that lists all the servers Gnus knows about. You can
1002 press @kbd{^} from the Group buffer to see it. In the Server buffer,
1003 you can press @kbd{RET} on a defined server to see all the groups it
1004 serves (subscribed or not!). You can also add or delete servers, edit
1005 a foreign server's definition, agentize or de-agentize a server, and
1006 do many other neat things. @xref{Server Buffer}.
1007 @xref{Foreign Groups}. @xref{Agent Basics}.
1009 @vindex gnus-select-method
1011 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1012 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1013 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1014 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1015 secondary or foreign groups.
1017 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1018 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1021 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1024 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1027 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1030 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1031 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1032 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1033 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1035 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1037 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1038 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1039 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1040 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1041 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1042 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1043 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1045 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1047 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1048 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1049 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1050 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1051 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1052 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1054 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1056 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1057 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1058 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1059 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1060 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1061 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1064 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1065 you would typically set this variable to
1068 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1073 @node The Server is Down
1074 @section The Server is Down
1075 @cindex server errors
1077 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1078 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1079 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1081 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1082 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1083 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1084 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1085 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1086 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1087 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1089 @findex gnus-no-server
1090 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1092 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1093 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1094 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1095 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1096 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1097 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1098 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1102 @section Slave Gnusae
1105 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1106 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1107 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1108 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1110 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1111 @file{.newsrc} file.
1113 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1114 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1115 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1116 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1117 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1118 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1119 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1122 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1123 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1124 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1125 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1126 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1127 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1128 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1129 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1131 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1132 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1134 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1135 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1136 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1137 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1138 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1145 @cindex subscription
1147 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1148 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1149 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1150 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1151 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1152 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1153 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1154 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1155 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1158 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1159 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1160 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1164 @node Checking New Groups
1165 @subsection Checking New Groups
1167 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing
1168 the list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of
1169 subscribed and dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method.
1170 If @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will
1171 ask the server for new groups since the last time. This is both
1172 faster and cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list
1173 of killed groups (@pxref{Group Levels}) altogether, so you may set
1174 @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to @code{nil}, which will save time both
1175 at startup, at exit, and all over. Saves disk space, too. Why isn't
1176 this the default, then? Unfortunately, not all servers support this
1179 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1180 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1181 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1182 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1183 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1184 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1185 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1186 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1187 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1188 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1189 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1191 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1192 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1193 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1194 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1195 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1196 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1199 @node Subscription Methods
1200 @subsection Subscription Methods
1202 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1203 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1204 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1206 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1207 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1209 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1213 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1214 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1215 Make all new groups zombies (@pxref{Group Levels}). This is the
1216 default. You can browse the zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either
1217 kill them all off properly (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them
1220 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1221 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1222 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1223 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1225 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1226 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1227 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1229 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1230 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1231 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1232 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1233 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1234 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1235 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1236 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1237 up. Or something like that.
1239 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1240 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1241 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1242 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1243 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1245 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1246 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1247 Kill all new groups.
1249 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1250 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1251 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1252 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1253 topic parameter that looks like
1259 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1262 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1267 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1268 A closely related variable is
1269 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1270 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1271 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1272 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1275 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1276 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1277 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1278 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1281 @node Filtering New Groups
1282 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1284 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1285 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1286 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1289 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1292 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1293 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1294 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1295 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1296 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1297 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1298 subscribing these groups.
1299 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1300 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1302 The ``options -n'' format is very simplistic. The syntax above is all
1303 that is supports: you can force-subscribe hierarchies, or you can
1304 deny hierarchies, and that's it.
1306 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1307 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1308 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1309 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1310 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1311 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1312 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1313 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1315 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1316 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1317 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1318 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1319 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1320 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1321 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1322 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1323 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, @code{nnimap}, and
1324 @code{nnmaildir}) subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this
1325 variable to @code{nil}.
1327 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-categories
1328 As if that wasn't enough, @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-categories} also
1329 allows you to specify that new groups should be subscribed based on the
1330 category their select methods belong to. The default is @samp{(mail
1331 post-mail)}, meaning that all new groups from mail-like backends
1332 should be subscribed automatically.
1334 New groups that match these variables are subscribed using
1335 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1338 @node Changing Servers
1339 @section Changing Servers
1340 @cindex changing servers
1342 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1343 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1344 very flaky and you want to use another.
1346 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1347 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1351 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1352 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1353 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1354 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1357 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1358 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1359 You can use the @kbd{M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups}
1360 command to clear out all data that you have on your native groups.
1363 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1364 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1365 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1366 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1368 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1369 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1370 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1371 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1372 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1373 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1374 cache for all groups).
1378 @section Startup Files
1379 @cindex startup files
1384 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1385 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1386 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1389 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1390 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1391 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1392 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1393 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1394 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1395 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1397 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1398 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1399 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1400 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1401 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1402 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1404 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1405 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1406 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1407 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1408 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1409 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1410 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1411 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1412 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1413 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1414 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1417 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1418 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1419 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1420 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1421 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1422 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1423 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1424 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1425 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1426 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1427 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1428 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1430 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1431 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1432 @vindex version-control
1433 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1434 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1435 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1436 If you want to keep multiple numbered backups of this file, set
1437 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1438 @code{version-control} variable.
1440 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1441 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1442 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1443 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1444 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1445 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1446 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1447 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1448 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1449 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1452 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1453 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1455 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1456 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1459 @vindex gnus-init-file
1460 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1461 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1462 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1463 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1464 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1465 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1466 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1467 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1468 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1469 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1470 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1471 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1472 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1477 @cindex dribble file
1480 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1481 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1482 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1483 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1484 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1487 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1488 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1491 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1492 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1493 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1495 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1496 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1497 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1498 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1499 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1500 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1502 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1503 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1504 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1507 @node The Active File
1508 @section The Active File
1510 @cindex ignored groups
1512 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1513 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1514 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1516 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1517 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1518 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1519 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1520 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1521 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1522 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1525 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1526 @c if you set it to anything else.
1528 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1530 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1531 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1532 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1534 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1535 you actually subscribe to.
1537 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1538 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1539 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1540 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1542 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1543 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1544 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1545 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1546 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1547 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1549 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1550 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1551 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1554 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1555 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1556 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1557 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1558 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1559 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1561 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1562 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1564 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1565 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1567 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1568 secondary select methods.
1571 @node Startup Variables
1572 @section Startup Variables
1576 @item gnus-load-hook
1577 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1578 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1579 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1580 times you start Gnus.
1582 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1583 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1584 A hook called as the first thing when Gnus is started.
1586 @item gnus-before-resume-hook
1587 @vindex gnus-before-resume-hook
1588 A hook called as the first thing when Gnus is resumed after a suspend.
1590 @item gnus-startup-hook
1591 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1592 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1594 @item gnus-started-hook
1595 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1596 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1599 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1600 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1601 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1602 generating the group buffer.
1604 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1605 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1606 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1607 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1608 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1609 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1610 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1611 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1613 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1614 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1615 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1616 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1617 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1618 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1620 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1621 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1622 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1624 @item gnus-use-backend-marks
1625 @vindex gnus-use-backend-marks
1626 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will store article marks both in the
1627 @file{.newsrc.eld} file and in the backends. This will slow down
1628 group operation some.
1634 @chapter Group Buffer
1635 @cindex group buffer
1637 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1639 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1640 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1641 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1642 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1643 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1644 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1645 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1646 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1647 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1648 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1649 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1650 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1651 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1652 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1653 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1654 @c human rights at 9...
1657 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1658 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1659 long as Gnus is active.
1663 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1664 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1665 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1666 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1667 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1668 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1669 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1670 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1676 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1677 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1678 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1679 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1680 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1681 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1682 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1683 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1684 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1685 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1686 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1687 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1688 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1689 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1690 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1691 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1692 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1693 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1697 @node Group Buffer Format
1698 @section Group Buffer Format
1701 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1702 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1703 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1706 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1707 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1710 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1711 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1712 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1713 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1716 @node Group Line Specification
1717 @subsection Group Line Specification
1718 @cindex group buffer format
1720 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1721 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1723 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1726 25: news.announce.newusers
1727 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1732 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1733 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1734 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1735 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1737 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1738 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1739 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1740 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1741 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C@.
1742 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1744 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1746 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1747 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1748 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1749 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1750 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1752 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1753 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1754 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1756 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1761 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1764 Whether the group is subscribed.
1767 Level of subscribedness.
1770 Number of unread articles.
1773 Number of dormant articles.
1776 Number of ticked articles.
1779 Number of read articles.
1782 Number of unseen articles.
1785 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1786 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1788 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1789 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1790 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1791 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1792 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1793 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1794 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job.
1796 The nnml backend (@pxref{Mail Spool}) has a feature called ``group
1797 compaction'' which circumvents this deficiency: the idea is to
1798 renumber all articles from 1, removing all gaps between numbers, hence
1799 getting a correct total count. Other backends may support this in the
1800 future. In order to keep your total article count relatively up to
1801 date, you might want to compact your groups (or even directly your
1802 server) from time to time. @xref{Misc Group Stuff}, @xref{Server Commands}.
1805 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1808 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1817 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1818 comment element in the group parameters.
1821 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1822 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1823 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1827 @samp{m} if moderated.
1830 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1836 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1842 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1846 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1849 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1850 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1851 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1852 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1853 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1856 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1858 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1862 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1865 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1869 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1870 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1871 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1872 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1875 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1876 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1877 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1878 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1879 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1880 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1885 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1886 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1887 group, or a bogus native group.
1890 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1891 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1892 @cindex group mode line
1894 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1895 The mode line can be changed by setting
1896 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1897 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1901 The native news server.
1903 The native select method.
1907 @node Group Highlighting
1908 @subsection Group Highlighting
1909 @cindex highlighting
1910 @cindex group highlighting
1912 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1913 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1914 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1915 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1916 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1918 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1922 (cond (window-system
1923 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1924 (defface my-group-face-1
1925 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1926 (defface my-group-face-2
1927 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1928 "Second group face")
1929 (defface my-group-face-3
1930 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1931 (defface my-group-face-4
1932 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1933 (defface my-group-face-5
1934 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1936 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1937 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1938 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1939 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1940 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1941 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1944 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1946 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1953 The number of unread articles in the group.
1957 Whether the group is a mail group.
1959 The level of the group.
1961 The score of the group.
1963 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1965 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1966 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1968 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1969 topic being inserted.
1972 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1973 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1974 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1976 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1977 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1978 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1979 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
1982 @node Group Maneuvering
1983 @section Group Maneuvering
1984 @cindex group movement
1986 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1987 expected, hopefully.
1993 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1994 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1995 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2001 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2002 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2003 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2007 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2008 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2012 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2013 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2017 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2018 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2019 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2023 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2024 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2025 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2028 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2034 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2035 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2036 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2041 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2042 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2043 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2047 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2048 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2049 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2052 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2053 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2054 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2055 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2058 @vindex gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit
2059 If @code{gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit} is @code{t}, when a summary is
2060 exited, the point in the group buffer is moved to the next unread group.
2061 Otherwise, the point is set to the group just exited. The default is
2064 @node Selecting a Group
2065 @section Selecting a Group
2066 @cindex group selection
2071 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2072 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2073 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2074 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2075 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2076 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2077 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2078 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2079 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2080 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2082 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2083 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2084 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2086 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2087 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2092 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2093 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2094 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2095 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2096 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2100 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2101 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2102 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2103 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2104 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2105 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2106 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2107 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2108 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2109 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2112 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2113 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2114 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2115 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2116 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2119 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2120 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2121 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2122 doing any processing of its contents
2123 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2124 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2125 manner will have no permanent effects.
2129 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2130 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2131 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2132 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2133 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2134 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2135 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2136 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2137 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2138 most recently will be fetched.
2140 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2141 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2142 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2145 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles
2146 In groups in some news servers, there might be a big gap between a few
2147 very old articles that will never be expired and the recent ones. In
2148 such a case, the server will return the data like @code{(1 . 30000000)}
2149 for the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, for example. Even if there
2150 are actually only the articles 1--10 and 29999900--30000000, Gnus doesn't
2151 know it at first and prepares for getting 30000000 articles. However,
2152 it will consume hundreds megabytes of memories and might make Emacs get
2153 stuck as the case may be. If you use such news servers, set the
2154 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} to a positive number.
2155 The value means that Gnus ignores articles other than this number of the
2156 latest ones in every group. For instance, the value 10000 makes Gnus
2157 get only the articles 29990001--30000000 (if the latest article number is
2158 30000000 in a group). Note that setting this variable to a number might
2159 prevent you from reading very old articles. The default value of the
2160 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} is @code{nil}, which
2161 means Gnus never ignores old articles.
2163 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2164 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2165 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2166 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2167 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2168 Which article this is controlled by the
2169 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2175 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2178 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2181 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2183 @item unseen-or-unread
2184 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2185 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2189 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2193 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2194 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2196 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2197 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2198 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2199 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2203 @node Subscription Commands
2204 @section Subscription Commands
2205 @cindex subscription
2207 The following commands allow for managing your subscriptions in the
2208 Group buffer. If you want to subscribe to many groups, it's probably
2209 more convenient to go to the @ref{Server Buffer}, and choose the
2210 server there using @kbd{RET} or @kbd{SPC}. Then you'll have the
2211 commands listed in @ref{Browse Foreign Server} at hand.
2219 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2220 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2221 Toggle subscription to the current group
2222 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2228 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2229 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2230 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2231 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2237 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2238 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2239 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2245 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2246 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2249 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2250 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2251 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2252 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2253 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2259 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2260 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2264 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2265 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2268 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2269 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2270 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2271 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2272 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2273 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2274 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2275 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2276 @file{.newsrc} file.
2280 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2290 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2291 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2292 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2293 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2294 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2295 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2300 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2301 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2302 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2306 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2307 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2308 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2310 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2311 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2312 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2313 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2314 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2315 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2322 @section Group Levels
2326 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2327 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2328 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2329 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2330 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2332 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2338 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2339 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2340 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2341 prompted for a level.
2344 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2345 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2346 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2347 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2348 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2349 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2350 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2351 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2352 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2353 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2354 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2355 same, but zombie and killed groups store no information on what articles
2356 you have read, etc. This distinction between dead and living
2357 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2358 reasons of efficiency.
2360 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2361 low levels (e.g., 1 or 2).
2363 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2364 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2365 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2366 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2367 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2368 groups are hidden, in a way.
2370 @cindex zombie groups
2371 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2372 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2373 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2374 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2375 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2376 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2378 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2379 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2380 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2381 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2382 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2383 list of killed groups.)
2385 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2386 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2387 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2389 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2390 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2391 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2392 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2393 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2394 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2395 relevant valid ranges.
2397 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2398 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2399 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2400 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2401 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2402 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2405 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2406 one with the best level.
2408 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2409 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2410 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2412 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2413 be called and the result will be used as value.
2416 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2417 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2418 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2419 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2422 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2423 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2424 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2425 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2427 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2428 Gnus will normally just activate (i.e., query the server about) groups
2429 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2430 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2431 to 5. The default is 6.
2435 @section Group Score
2440 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2441 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2442 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2445 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2446 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2447 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2448 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2449 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2450 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2451 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2452 least significant part.))
2454 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2455 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2456 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2457 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2458 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2459 action after each summary exit, you can add
2460 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2461 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2462 slow things down somewhat.
2465 @node Marking Groups
2466 @section Marking Groups
2467 @cindex marking groups
2469 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2470 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2471 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2472 bidding on those groups.
2474 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2475 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2476 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2484 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2485 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2491 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2492 Remove the mark from the current group
2493 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2497 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2498 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2502 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2503 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2507 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2508 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2512 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2513 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2514 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2517 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2519 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2520 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2521 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2522 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2523 the command to be executed.
2526 @node Foreign Groups
2527 @section Foreign Groups
2528 @cindex foreign groups
2530 If you recall how to subscribe to servers (@pxref{Finding the News})
2531 you will remember that @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} and
2532 @code{gnus-select-method} let you write a definition in Emacs Lisp of
2533 what servers you want to see when you start up. The alternate
2534 approach is to use foreign servers and groups. ``Foreign'' here means
2535 they are not coming from the select methods. All foreign server
2536 configuration and subscriptions are stored only in the
2537 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file.
2539 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2540 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2541 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2542 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2545 Changes from the group editing commands are stored in
2546 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} (@code{gnus-startup-file}). An alternative is the
2547 variable @code{gnus-parameters}, @xref{Group Parameters}.
2553 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2554 @cindex making groups
2555 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2556 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2557 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2561 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2562 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2563 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2567 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2568 @cindex renaming groups
2569 Rename the current group to something else
2570 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2571 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2577 @findex gnus-group-customize
2578 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2582 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2583 @cindex renaming groups
2584 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2585 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2589 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2590 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2591 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2595 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2596 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2597 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2601 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2603 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2604 for the directory's name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2609 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2610 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2614 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2616 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2617 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2618 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2622 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2623 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2625 Make a group based on some file or other
2626 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2627 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2628 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2629 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2630 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2631 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2632 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2633 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2634 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2638 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2639 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2640 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2641 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2645 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2649 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2650 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2651 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2652 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2653 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2654 @xref{Web Searches}.
2656 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2657 to a particular group by using a match string like
2658 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2662 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2663 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2664 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL@.
2668 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2669 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2670 This function will delete the current group
2671 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2672 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2673 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2674 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2675 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2679 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2680 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2681 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2685 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2686 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2687 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2690 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2693 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2694 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2695 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2696 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2697 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2698 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2702 The following commands create ephemeral groups. They can be called not
2703 only from the Group buffer, but in any Gnus buffer.
2706 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2707 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2708 @vindex gnus-gmane-group-download-format
2709 Read an ephemeral group on Gmane.org. The articles are downloaded via
2710 HTTP using the URL specified by @code{gnus-gmane-group-download-format}.
2711 Gnus will prompt you for a group name, the start article number and an
2714 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2715 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2716 This command is similar to @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group}, but
2717 the group name and the article number and range are constructed from a
2718 given @acronym{URL}. Supported @acronym{URL} formats include:
2719 @indicateurl{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12300/focus=12399},
2720 @indicateurl{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2721 @indicateurl{http://article.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2722 @indicateurl{http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/}, and
2723 @indicateurl{http://news.gmane.org/group/gmane.foo.bar/thread=12345}.
2725 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2726 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2727 Read an Emacs bug report in an ephemeral group. Gnus will prompt for a
2728 bug number. The default is the number at point. The @acronym{URL} is
2729 specified in @code{gnus-bug-group-download-format-alist}.
2731 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2732 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2733 Read a Debian bug report in an ephemeral group. Analog to
2734 @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group}.
2737 Some of these command are also useful for article buttons, @xref{Article
2745 '("#\\([0-9]+\\)\\>" 1
2746 (string-match "\\<emacs\\>" (or gnus-newsgroup-name ""))
2747 gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group 1))
2751 @node Group Parameters
2752 @section Group Parameters
2753 @cindex group parameters
2755 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2757 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2758 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2759 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2760 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2761 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2762 Additionally, you can set group parameters via the
2763 @code{gnus-parameters} variable, see below.
2765 Here's an example group parameter list:
2768 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2772 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2773 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2774 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2775 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2777 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2778 is an alist of regexps and values.
2780 The following group parameters can be used:
2785 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2788 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2791 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2792 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2793 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2794 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2795 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2797 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2798 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2799 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2800 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2801 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2802 list address instead.
2804 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2808 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2811 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2814 It is totally ignored
2815 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2816 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2818 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2819 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2820 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2821 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2822 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2824 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2825 @cindex mail list groups
2826 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2827 entering summary buffer.
2829 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2834 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2835 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2836 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2837 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2838 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2839 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2840 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2841 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2844 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2845 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2848 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2849 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2853 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2854 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2855 of whether it has any unread articles.
2857 This parameter cannot be set via @code{gnus-parameters}. See
2858 @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.
2860 @item broken-reply-to
2861 @cindex broken-reply-to
2862 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2863 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2864 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2865 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2866 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2867 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2871 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2872 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2876 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2877 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2878 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2883 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2884 composed messages will be @code{gcc}d to the current group. If
2885 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2886 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "group")} is present, this string will
2887 be inserted literally as a @code{Gcc:} header. It should be a group
2888 name. The @code{gcc-self} value may also be a list of strings and
2889 @code{t}, e.g., @code{(gcc-self "group1" "group2" t)} means to
2890 @code{gcc} the newly composed message into the groups @code{"group1"}
2891 and @code{"group2"}, and into the current group. The @code{gcc-self}
2892 parameter takes precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as
2893 described later (@pxref{Archived Messages}), with the exception for
2896 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2897 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2898 doesn't accept articles.
2902 @cindex expiring mail
2903 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2904 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2905 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2907 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2910 @cindex total-expire
2911 @cindex expiring mail
2912 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2913 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2914 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2915 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2918 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2922 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2923 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2924 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2925 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2926 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2927 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2928 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2931 @cindex expiry-target
2932 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2933 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2936 @cindex score file group parameter
2937 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2938 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2939 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2942 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2943 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2944 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2945 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2948 @cindex admin-address
2949 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2950 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2951 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2952 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2956 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2957 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2961 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2964 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2965 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2968 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2972 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2974 Here are some examples:
2978 Display only unread articles.
2981 Display everything except expirable articles.
2983 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2984 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2988 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2989 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2990 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2991 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2992 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, and @code{unseen}.
2996 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2997 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2998 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
3002 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
3003 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
3004 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
3008 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
3009 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
3010 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
3012 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
3014 @item ignored-charsets
3015 @cindex ignored-charset
3016 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
3017 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
3018 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
3020 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
3023 @cindex posting-style
3024 You can store additional posting style information for this group
3025 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
3026 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
3027 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
3028 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
3030 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
3031 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
3032 like this in the group parameters:
3037 ("X-Message-SMTP-Method" "smtp smtp.example.org 587")
3038 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
3039 (signature "Funky Signature"))
3042 If you're using topics to organize your group buffer
3043 (@pxref{Group Topics}), note that posting styles can also be set in
3044 the topics parameters. Posting styles in topic parameters apply to all
3045 groups in this topic. More precisely, the posting-style settings for a
3046 group result from the hierarchical merging of all posting-style
3047 entries in the parameters of this group and all the topics it belongs
3053 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
3054 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
3058 If it is set, and the setting of @code{mail-sources} includes a
3059 @code{group} mail source (@pxref{Mail Sources}), the value is a
3060 mail source for this group.
3064 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
3065 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
3066 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
3067 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
3068 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
3072 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
3073 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
3074 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
3075 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3077 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3078 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3079 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3080 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3083 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
3084 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3088 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
3089 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
3090 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
3091 like the following is generated:
3094 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3095 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3099 You can also use regexp expansions in the rules:
3102 (sieve header :regex "list-id" "<c++std-\\1.accu.org>")
3105 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3106 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3108 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3109 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3111 @item (agent parameters)
3112 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of its parameters to
3113 control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3114 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3115 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3116 minimize the configuration effort.
3118 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3119 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3120 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3121 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3122 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3123 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3124 @code{eval}ed there.
3126 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer
3127 if and only if @var{variable} has been bound as a variable. Otherwise,
3128 only evaluating the form will take place. So, you may want to bind the
3129 variable in advance using @code{defvar} or other if the result of the
3130 form needs to be set to it.
3132 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3133 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3134 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3135 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3136 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3137 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3138 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3141 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3144 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3145 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3146 the subject fields of articles. E.g., if the news group
3149 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3152 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3153 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3154 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3155 into the group parameters for the group.
3157 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3158 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3159 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group. If
3160 @code{dummy-variable} has been bound (see above), it will be set to the
3161 (meaningless) result of the @code{(ding)} form.
3163 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3164 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3165 following is added to a group parameter
3168 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3169 (lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3172 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3177 @vindex gnus-parameters
3178 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3179 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect (For this
3180 case see @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.).
3184 (setq gnus-parameters
3186 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3187 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3188 (gnus-summary-line-format
3189 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3193 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3197 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3201 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3204 All clauses that matches the group name will be used, but the last
3205 setting ``wins''. So if you have two clauses that both match the
3206 group name, and both set, say @code{display}, the last setting will
3209 Parameters that are strings will be subjected to regexp substitution,
3210 as the @code{to-group} example shows.
3212 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3213 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3214 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3215 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3216 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3217 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3218 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3219 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3220 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3221 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3222 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3223 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3225 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3226 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3227 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3228 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3229 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3230 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3231 weekly news RSS feed
3232 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3238 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3239 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3240 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3241 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3242 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3244 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3245 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3246 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3247 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3248 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3249 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3253 @node Listing Groups
3254 @section Listing Groups
3255 @cindex group listing
3257 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3265 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3266 List all groups that have unread articles
3267 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3268 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3269 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3270 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3277 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3278 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3279 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3280 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3281 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3282 unsubscribed groups).
3286 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3287 List all unread groups on a specific level
3288 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3289 with no unread articles.
3293 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3294 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3295 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3296 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3301 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3302 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3306 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3307 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3308 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3312 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3313 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3317 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3318 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3319 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3320 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3321 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3322 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3323 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3324 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3328 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3329 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3330 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3334 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3335 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3336 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3340 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3341 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3345 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3346 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3350 @findex gnus-group-list-ticked
3351 List all groups with ticked articles (@code{gnus-group-list-ticked}).
3355 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3356 Further limit groups within the current selection
3357 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}). If you've first limited to groups
3358 with dormant articles with @kbd{A ?}, you can then further limit with
3359 @kbd{A / c}, which will then limit to groups with cached articles,
3360 giving you the groups that have both dormant articles and cached
3365 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3366 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3370 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3371 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3375 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3376 @cindex visible group parameter
3377 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3378 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3379 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3380 get the same effect.
3382 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3383 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3384 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3385 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3386 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3389 @node Sorting Groups
3390 @section Sorting Groups
3391 @cindex sorting groups
3393 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3394 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3395 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3396 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3397 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3398 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3403 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3404 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3405 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3407 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3408 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3409 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3411 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3412 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3413 Sort by group level.
3415 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3416 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3417 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3419 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3420 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3421 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3422 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3424 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3425 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3426 Sort by number of unread articles.
3428 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3429 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3430 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3432 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3433 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3434 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3439 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3440 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3444 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3445 some sorting criteria:
3449 @kindex G S a (Group)
3450 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3451 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3452 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3455 @kindex G S u (Group)
3456 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3457 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3458 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3461 @kindex G S l (Group)
3462 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3463 Sort the group buffer by group level
3464 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3467 @kindex G S v (Group)
3468 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3469 Sort the group buffer by group score
3470 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3473 @kindex G S r (Group)
3474 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3475 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3476 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3479 @kindex G S m (Group)
3480 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3481 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3482 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3485 @kindex G S n (Group)
3486 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3487 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3488 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3492 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3493 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3495 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3496 commands will sort in reverse order.
3498 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3502 @kindex G P a (Group)
3503 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3504 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3505 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3508 @kindex G P u (Group)
3509 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3510 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3511 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3514 @kindex G P l (Group)
3515 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3516 Sort the groups by group level
3517 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3520 @kindex G P v (Group)
3521 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3522 Sort the groups by group score
3523 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3526 @kindex G P r (Group)
3527 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3528 Sort the groups by group rank
3529 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3532 @kindex G P m (Group)
3533 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3534 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3535 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3538 @kindex G P n (Group)
3539 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3540 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3541 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3544 @kindex G P s (Group)
3545 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3546 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3550 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3554 @node Group Maintenance
3555 @section Group Maintenance
3556 @cindex bogus groups
3561 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3562 Find bogus groups and delete them
3563 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3567 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3568 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3569 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3570 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3571 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3575 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3576 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3577 @cindex expiring mail
3578 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3579 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3580 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3581 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3584 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3585 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3586 @cindex expiring mail
3587 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3588 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3593 @node Browse Foreign Server
3594 @section Browse Foreign Server
3595 @cindex foreign servers
3596 @cindex browsing servers
3601 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3602 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3603 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3604 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3607 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3608 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3609 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3610 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3612 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3617 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3618 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3622 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3623 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3626 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3627 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3628 Enter the current group and display the first article
3629 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3632 @kindex RET (Browse)
3633 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3634 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3638 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3639 @vindex gnus-browse-subscribe-newsgroup-method
3640 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3641 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}). You
3642 can affect the way the new group is entered into the Group buffer
3643 using the variable @code{gnus-browse-subscribe-newsgroup-method}. See
3644 @pxref{Subscription Methods} for available options.
3650 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3651 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3655 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3656 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3660 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3661 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3662 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3665 @kindex DEL (Browse)
3666 @findex gnus-browse-delete-group
3667 This function will delete the current group
3668 (@code{gnus-browse-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function
3669 will actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly
3670 remove the group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only
3671 if you are absolutely sure of what you are doing.
3676 @section Exiting Gnus
3677 @cindex exiting Gnus
3679 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3684 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3685 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3686 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3687 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3691 @findex gnus-group-exit
3692 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3693 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3697 @findex gnus-group-quit
3698 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3699 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3702 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3703 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3704 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3705 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3706 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3707 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3713 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3714 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3715 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3721 @section Group Topics
3724 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3725 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3726 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3727 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3728 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3729 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3733 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3734 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3745 2: alt.religion.emacs
3748 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3750 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3751 13: comp.sources.unix
3754 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3756 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3757 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3758 is a toggling command.)
3760 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3761 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3762 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3763 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3766 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3767 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3768 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3771 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3775 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3776 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3777 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3778 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3779 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3783 @node Topic Commands
3784 @subsection Topic Commands
3785 @cindex topic commands
3787 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3788 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3789 definitions slightly.
3791 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3792 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3793 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3794 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3795 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3796 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3798 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3805 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3806 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3807 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3811 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3813 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3814 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3815 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3816 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3819 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3820 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3821 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3822 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3826 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3827 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3828 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3829 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3835 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3836 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3837 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3841 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3842 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3843 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3846 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3847 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3848 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3849 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3850 paste. Like I said---E-Z.
3852 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3853 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3857 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3858 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3865 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3867 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3868 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3869 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3870 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3871 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3872 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3876 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3882 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3883 Move the current group to some other topic
3884 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3885 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3889 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3890 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3894 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3895 Copy the current group to some other topic
3896 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3897 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3901 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3902 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3903 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3907 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3908 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3909 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3913 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3914 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3915 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3916 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3917 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3918 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3919 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3922 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3923 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3927 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3928 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3929 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3933 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3934 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3935 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3939 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3940 Toggle hiding empty topics
3941 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3945 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3946 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3947 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3948 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3951 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3952 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3953 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3954 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3955 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3958 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3959 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3960 @cindex expiring mail
3961 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3962 expiry process (if any)
3963 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3967 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3968 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3971 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3972 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3973 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3977 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3978 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3979 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3982 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3983 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3984 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3987 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3988 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3989 Go to the previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3993 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3994 @cindex group parameters
3995 @cindex topic parameters
3997 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3998 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
4003 @node Topic Variables
4004 @subsection Topic Variables
4005 @cindex topic variables
4007 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
4008 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
4010 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
4011 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
4012 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4025 Number of groups in the topic.
4027 Number of unread articles in the topic.
4029 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
4032 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
4033 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
4034 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
4037 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
4038 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
4040 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
4041 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
4042 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
4046 @subsection Topic Sorting
4047 @cindex topic sorting
4049 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
4055 @kindex T S a (Topic)
4056 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
4057 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
4058 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
4061 @kindex T S u (Topic)
4062 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
4063 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
4064 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
4067 @kindex T S l (Topic)
4068 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
4069 Sort the current topic by group level
4070 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
4073 @kindex T S v (Topic)
4074 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
4075 Sort the current topic by group score
4076 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
4079 @kindex T S r (Topic)
4080 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
4081 Sort the current topic by group rank
4082 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
4085 @kindex T S m (Topic)
4086 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
4087 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
4088 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
4091 @kindex T S e (Topic)
4092 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
4093 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
4094 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
4097 @kindex T S s (Topic)
4098 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
4099 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
4100 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
4101 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
4105 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
4106 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
4110 @node Topic Topology
4111 @subsection Topic Topology
4112 @cindex topic topology
4115 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
4122 2: alt.religion.emacs
4125 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4127 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4128 13: comp.sources.unix
4132 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
4133 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
4134 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
4139 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
4140 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
4144 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
4145 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
4146 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
4147 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
4148 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
4149 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
4151 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
4152 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
4153 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
4156 @node Topic Parameters
4157 @subsection Topic Parameters
4158 @cindex topic parameters
4160 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
4161 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
4162 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
4163 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
4164 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
4166 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
4171 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
4172 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
4173 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
4176 @item subscribe-level
4177 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
4178 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4179 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4183 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4184 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4185 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4186 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4193 2: alt.religion.emacs
4197 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4199 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4200 13: comp.sources.unix
4205 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4206 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4207 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4208 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4209 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4210 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4212 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4213 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4214 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4215 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4216 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4218 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4219 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4220 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4221 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4222 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4223 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4224 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4225 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4228 @node Non-ASCII Group Names
4229 @section Accessing groups of non-English names
4230 @cindex non-ascii group names
4232 There are some news servers that provide groups of which the names are
4233 expressed with their native languages in the world. For instance, in a
4234 certain news server there are some newsgroups of which the names are
4235 spelled in Chinese, where people are talking in Chinese. You can, of
4236 course, subscribe to such news groups using Gnus. Currently Gnus
4237 supports non-@acronym{ASCII} group names not only with the @code{nntp}
4238 back end but also with the @code{nnml} back end and the @code{nnrss}
4241 Every such group name is encoded by a certain charset in the server
4242 side (in an @acronym{NNTP} server its administrator determines the
4243 charset, but for groups in the other back ends it is determined by you).
4244 Gnus has to display the decoded ones for you in the group buffer and the
4245 article buffer, and needs to use the encoded ones when communicating
4246 with servers. However, Gnus doesn't know what charset is used for each
4247 non-@acronym{ASCII} group name. The following two variables are just
4248 the ones for telling Gnus what charset should be used for each group:
4251 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4252 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4253 An alist of select methods and charsets. The default value is
4254 @code{nil}. The names of groups in the server specified by that select
4255 method are all supposed to use the corresponding charset. For example:
4258 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4259 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4262 Charsets specified for groups with this variable are preferred to the
4263 ones specified for the same groups with the
4264 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} variable (see below).
4266 A select method can be very long, like:
4270 (nntp-address "news.gmane.org")
4271 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
4272 (nntp-open-connection-function
4273 nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
4274 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
4275 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
4276 ("-C" "-t" "-e" "none"))
4277 (nntp-via-address @dots{}))
4280 In that case, you can truncate it into @code{(nntp "gmane")} in this
4281 variable. That is, it is enough to contain only the back end name and
4284 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4285 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4286 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4287 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
4288 @code{((".*" . utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported,
4289 otherwise the default is @code{nil}. For example:
4292 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4293 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)
4297 Note that this variable is ignored if the match is made with
4298 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist}.
4301 Those two variables are used also to determine the charset for encoding
4302 and decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} group names that are in the back ends
4303 other than @code{nntp}. It means that it is you who determine it. If
4304 you do nothing, the charset used for group names in those back ends will
4305 all be @code{utf-8} because of the last element of
4306 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4308 There is one more important variable for non-@acronym{ASCII} group
4312 @item nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4313 @vindex nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4314 The value of this variable should be a coding system or @code{nil}. The
4315 default is @code{nil} in Emacs, or is the aliasee of the coding system
4316 named @code{file-name} (a certain coding system of which an alias is
4317 @code{file-name}) in XEmacs.
4319 The @code{nnml} back end, the @code{nnrss} back end, the agent, and
4320 the cache use non-@acronym{ASCII} group names in those files and
4321 directories. This variable overrides the value of
4322 @code{file-name-coding-system} which specifies the coding system used
4323 when encoding and decoding those file names and directory names.
4325 In XEmacs (with the @code{mule} feature), @code{file-name-coding-system}
4326 is the only means to specify the coding system used to encode and decode
4327 file names. On the other hand, Emacs uses the value of
4328 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} if @code{file-name-coding-system}
4329 is @code{nil} or it is bound to the value of
4330 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} which is @code{nil}.
4332 Normally the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system} in Emacs or
4333 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} in XEmacs is initialized according
4334 to the locale, so you will need to do nothing if the value is suitable
4335 to encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4337 The value of this variable (or @code{default-file-name-coding-system})
4338 does not necessarily need to be the same value that is determined by
4339 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} and
4340 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4342 If @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable is
4343 initialized by default to @code{iso-latin-1-unix} for example, although you
4344 want to subscribe to the groups spelled in Chinese, that is the most
4345 typical case where you have to customize
4346 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}. The @code{utf-8-unix} coding system is
4347 a good candidate for it. Otherwise, you may change the locale in your
4348 system so that @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable
4349 may be initialized to an appropriate value.
4352 Note that when you copy or move articles from a non-@acronym{ASCII}
4353 group to another group, the charset used to encode and decode group
4354 names should be the same in both groups. Otherwise the Newsgroups
4355 header will be displayed incorrectly in the article buffer.
4358 @node Misc Group Stuff
4359 @section Misc Group Stuff
4362 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4363 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4364 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4365 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4366 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4373 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Group)
4374 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
4375 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
4378 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map (kbd "v j d")
4381 (gnus-group-jump-to-group "nndraft:drafts")))
4384 On keys reserved for users in Emacs and on keybindings in general
4385 @xref{Keymaps, Keymaps, , emacs, The Emacs Editor}.
4389 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4390 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4391 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4395 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4396 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4397 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4398 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4399 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4400 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4401 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4405 @findex gnus-group-mail
4406 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4407 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4408 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4409 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4413 @findex gnus-group-news
4414 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4415 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4416 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4418 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4419 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4420 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4421 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4422 for this to work though.
4426 @findex gnus-group-compact-group
4428 Compact the group under point (@code{gnus-group-compact-group}).
4429 Currently implemented only in nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes
4430 gaps between article numbers, hence getting a correct total article
4435 Variables for the group buffer:
4439 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4440 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4441 is called after the group buffer has been
4444 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4445 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4446 is called after the group buffer is
4447 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4450 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4451 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4452 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4453 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4455 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4456 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4457 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4458 whether they are empty or not.
4462 @node Scanning New Messages
4463 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4464 @cindex new messages
4465 @cindex scanning new news
4471 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4472 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4473 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4474 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4475 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4476 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4481 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4482 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4483 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4484 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4485 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4486 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4487 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4489 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4490 @cindex activating groups
4492 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4493 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4498 @findex gnus-group-restart
4499 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4500 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4501 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4505 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4506 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4508 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4509 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4513 @node Group Information
4514 @subsection Group Information
4515 @cindex group information
4516 @cindex information on groups
4523 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4525 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4526 @cindex describing groups
4527 @cindex group description
4528 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4529 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4530 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4534 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4535 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4536 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4543 @findex gnus-version
4544 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4548 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4549 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4552 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4555 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4556 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4560 @node Group Timestamp
4561 @subsection Group Timestamp
4563 @cindex group timestamps
4565 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4566 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4567 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4570 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4573 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4575 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4576 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4579 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4580 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4583 This will result in lines looking like:
4586 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4587 0: custom 19961002T012713
4590 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4591 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4595 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4596 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4599 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4600 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4604 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4605 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4606 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4607 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4609 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4613 To see what variables are dynamically bound (like
4614 @code{gnus-tmp-group}), you have to look at the source code. The
4615 variable names aren't guaranteed to be stable over Gnus versions,
4620 @subsection File Commands
4621 @cindex file commands
4627 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4628 @vindex gnus-init-file
4629 @cindex reading init file
4630 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4631 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4635 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4636 @cindex saving .newsrc
4637 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4638 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4639 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4642 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4643 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4644 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4649 @node Sieve Commands
4650 @subsection Sieve Commands
4651 @cindex group sieve commands
4653 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4654 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4655 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4656 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4657 script that can be transferred to the server somehow.
4659 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4660 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4661 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4662 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4663 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4664 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4665 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4666 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4667 regenerate the Sieve script.
4669 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4670 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4671 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4672 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4673 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4674 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4675 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4676 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4677 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4678 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4681 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4682 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4687 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4693 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4694 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4695 @cindex generating sieve script
4696 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4697 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4701 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4702 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4703 @cindex updating sieve script
4704 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4705 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4706 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4711 @node Summary Buffer
4712 @chapter Summary Buffer
4713 @cindex summary buffer
4715 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4716 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4718 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4719 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4721 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4723 You can customize the Summary Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
4724 customize-apropos RET gnus-summary-tool-bar}. This feature is only
4728 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Summary)
4729 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
4730 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
4732 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map (kbd "v -") "LrS") ;; lower subthread
4736 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4737 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4738 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4739 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4740 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4741 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4742 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4743 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4744 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4745 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4746 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4747 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4748 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4749 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
4750 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4751 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4752 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4753 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4754 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4755 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4756 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4757 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4758 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4759 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4760 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4761 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4762 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4763 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4764 or reselecting the current group.
4765 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4766 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4767 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4768 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4772 @node Summary Buffer Format
4773 @section Summary Buffer Format
4774 @cindex summary buffer format
4778 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4779 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4780 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4786 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4787 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4788 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4789 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4792 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4793 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4794 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4795 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4796 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4797 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4798 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4799 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4800 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4801 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4802 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4805 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4806 'mail-extract-address-components)
4809 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4810 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4811 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4812 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4815 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4816 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4818 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4819 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4820 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4821 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4822 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4824 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4825 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4826 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4827 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4828 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4829 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4831 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4833 The following format specification characters and extended format
4834 specification(s) are understood:
4840 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4841 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4843 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4844 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4845 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4847 Full @code{From} header.
4849 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4851 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4854 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4855 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4856 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4857 may be more thorough.
4859 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4862 Number of lines in the article.
4864 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4865 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4867 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4868 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4870 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4872 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4873 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4886 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4887 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4888 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4889 line-drawing glyphs.
4891 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4892 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4893 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4894 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4896 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4897 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4898 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4899 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4901 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4902 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4903 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4904 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4906 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4907 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4908 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4910 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4911 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4912 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4914 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4915 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4916 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4918 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4919 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4920 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4925 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4926 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4928 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4929 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4931 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4932 for adopted articles.
4934 One space for each thread level.
4936 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4938 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4941 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4942 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4943 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4946 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4948 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4949 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4950 default level. If the difference between
4951 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4952 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4960 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4962 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4968 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4969 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4971 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4972 article has any children.
4978 Desired cursor position (instead of after first colon).
4980 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4981 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4983 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4984 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4985 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4986 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4987 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4988 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4991 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4992 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4993 There can only be one such area.
4995 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4996 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4997 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4998 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4999 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
5000 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
5002 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
5003 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
5005 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
5008 @node To From Newsgroups
5009 @subsection To From Newsgroups
5013 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
5014 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
5015 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
5016 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
5017 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
5021 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
5022 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
5023 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
5027 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5028 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
5031 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
5032 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
5035 @findex gnus-extra-header
5036 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
5037 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
5038 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
5041 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
5045 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5046 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the
5047 @samp{%f} summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader}
5048 or @code{From} header. The variable may be a regexp or a predicate
5049 function. If this matches the contents of the @code{From}
5050 header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader} headers are
5053 To distinguish regular articles from those where the @code{From} field
5054 has been swapped, a string is prefixed to the @code{To} or
5055 @code{Newsgroups} header in the summary line. By default the string is
5056 @samp{-> } for @code{To} and @samp{=> } for @code{Newsgroups}, you can
5057 customize these strings with @code{gnus-summary-to-prefix} and
5058 @code{gnus-summary-newsgroup-prefix}.
5062 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
5063 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
5064 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
5065 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
5066 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
5067 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g., nnml) to cause
5070 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5071 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
5072 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
5073 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
5075 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
5079 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5081 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
5082 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
5083 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
5084 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5088 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
5091 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
5092 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
5095 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
5096 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
5097 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
5103 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
5104 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
5107 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
5108 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
5110 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
5111 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
5112 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
5113 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
5115 Here are the elements you can play with:
5121 Unprefixed group name.
5123 Current article number.
5125 Current article score.
5129 Number of unread articles in this group.
5131 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
5134 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
5135 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
5136 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
5137 and no unselected ones.
5139 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
5140 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
5142 Subject of the current article.
5144 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
5146 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
5148 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5150 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5152 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
5154 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
5158 @node Summary Highlighting
5159 @subsection Summary Highlighting
5163 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5164 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5165 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
5166 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
5167 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5169 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
5170 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
5171 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
5172 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5174 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
5175 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
5176 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
5177 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
5179 @item gnus-summary-highlight
5180 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
5181 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
5182 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
5183 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
5184 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
5187 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
5188 ((> score default) . bold))
5190 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
5191 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
5195 @node Summary Maneuvering
5196 @section Summary Maneuvering
5197 @cindex summary movement
5199 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
5200 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
5202 None of these commands select articles.
5207 @kindex M-n (Summary)
5208 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
5210 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
5211 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
5215 @kindex M-p (Summary)
5216 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
5217 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
5218 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
5219 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
5222 @kindex G g (Summary)
5223 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
5224 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
5225 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
5228 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
5229 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
5230 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
5231 to the group buffer.
5233 Variables related to summary movement:
5237 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
5238 @item gnus-auto-select-next
5239 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
5240 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
5241 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
5242 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
5243 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
5244 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
5245 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
5246 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
5247 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
5248 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
5249 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
5250 @pxref{Group Levels}.
5252 @item gnus-auto-select-same
5253 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
5254 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
5255 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
5256 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
5257 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
5258 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
5260 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
5262 @item gnus-summary-check-current
5263 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
5264 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
5265 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
5266 Instead, they will choose the current article.
5268 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
5269 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
5270 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
5271 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
5272 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
5273 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
5274 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
5275 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
5278 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
5279 the given number of lines from the top.
5281 @item gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
5282 @vindex gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
5283 If non-@code{nil}, don't go to the next article when hitting
5284 @kbd{SPC}, and you're at the end of the article.
5289 @node Choosing Articles
5290 @section Choosing Articles
5291 @cindex selecting articles
5294 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
5295 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
5299 @node Choosing Commands
5300 @subsection Choosing Commands
5302 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
5303 and they all select and display an article.
5305 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
5306 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
5310 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5311 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5312 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5313 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5315 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5316 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5317 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5322 @kindex G n (Summary)
5323 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5324 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5325 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5330 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5331 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5332 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5337 @kindex G N (Summary)
5338 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5339 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5344 @kindex G P (Summary)
5345 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5346 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5349 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5350 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5351 Go to the next article with the same subject
5352 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5355 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5356 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5357 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5358 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5362 @kindex G f (Summary)
5364 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5365 Go to the first unread article
5366 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5370 @kindex G b (Summary)
5372 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5373 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5374 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5375 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5380 @kindex G l (Summary)
5381 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5382 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5385 @kindex G o (Summary)
5386 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5388 @cindex article history
5389 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5390 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5391 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5392 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5393 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5394 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5399 @kindex G j (Summary)
5400 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5401 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5402 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5407 @node Choosing Variables
5408 @subsection Choosing Variables
5410 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5413 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5414 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5415 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5416 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5417 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5418 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5420 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5421 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5422 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. The default is
5423 @code{nil}. If you would like each article to be saved in the Agent as
5424 you read it, putting @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this
5427 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5428 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5429 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5430 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5431 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5432 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5433 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5434 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5435 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-read-mark}. The only
5436 articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5437 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5438 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5439 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5440 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5445 @node Paging the Article
5446 @section Scrolling the Article
5447 @cindex article scrolling
5452 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5453 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5454 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5455 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5456 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5458 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5459 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5460 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5461 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5462 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5463 what is considered uninteresting with
5464 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5465 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5468 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5469 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5470 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5473 @kindex RET (Summary)
5474 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5475 Scroll the current article one line forward
5476 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5479 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5480 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5481 Scroll the current article one line backward
5482 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5486 @kindex A g (Summary)
5488 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5489 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5490 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5491 given a prefix, show a completely ``raw'' article, just the way it
5492 came from the server. If given a prefix twice (i.e., @kbd{C-u C-u
5493 g'}), fetch the current article, but don't run any of the article
5494 treatment functions.
5496 @cindex charset, view article with different charset
5497 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5498 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5499 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5502 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5507 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5512 @kindex A < (Summary)
5513 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5514 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5515 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5520 @kindex A > (Summary)
5521 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5522 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5526 @kindex A s (Summary)
5528 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5529 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5530 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5534 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5535 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5540 @node Reply Followup and Post
5541 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5544 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5545 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5546 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5547 * Canceling and Superseding::
5551 @node Summary Mail Commands
5552 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5554 @cindex composing mail
5556 Commands for composing a mail message:
5562 @kindex S r (Summary)
5564 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5565 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5566 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5567 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5568 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5573 @kindex S R (Summary)
5574 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5575 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5576 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5577 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5578 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5581 @kindex S w (Summary)
5582 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5583 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5584 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5585 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5586 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5587 present, that's used instead.
5590 @kindex S W (Summary)
5591 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5592 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5593 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5594 the process/prefix convention, but only uses the headers from the
5595 first article to determine the recipients.
5598 @kindex S L (Summary)
5599 @findex gnus-summary-reply-to-list-with-original
5600 When replying to a message from a mailing list, send a reply to that
5601 message to the mailing list, and include the original message
5602 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-to-list-with-original}).
5605 @kindex S v (Summary)
5606 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5607 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5608 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5609 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5610 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5611 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5614 @kindex S V (Summary)
5615 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5616 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5617 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5618 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5621 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5622 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5623 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5624 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5625 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5626 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5627 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5628 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5631 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5632 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5633 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5634 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5635 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5639 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5640 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5641 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5642 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5643 Forward the current article to some other person
5644 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5645 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5646 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5647 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5648 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5649 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5650 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5651 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5652 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
5658 @kindex S m (Summary)
5659 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5660 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5661 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5662 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5663 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5666 @kindex S i (Summary)
5667 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5668 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5669 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5670 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5672 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5673 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5674 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5675 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5676 for this to work though.
5679 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5680 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5681 @cindex bouncing mail
5682 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5683 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5684 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5685 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5686 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5687 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5688 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5689 very well fail, though.
5692 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5693 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5694 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5695 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5696 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5697 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5698 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5699 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5700 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5701 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5703 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5704 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5705 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5706 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5707 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5709 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5710 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5713 @kindex S D e (Summary)
5714 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
5716 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
5717 if it were a new message before resending.
5720 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5721 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5722 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5723 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5724 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5727 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5728 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5729 @cindex crossposting
5730 @cindex excessive crossposting
5731 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5732 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5734 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5735 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5736 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5737 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5738 command understands the process/prefix convention
5739 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5743 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5744 Manual}, for more information.
5747 @node Summary Post Commands
5748 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5750 @cindex composing news
5752 Commands for posting a news article:
5758 @kindex S p (Summary)
5759 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5760 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5761 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5762 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5763 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5768 @kindex S f (Summary)
5769 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5770 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5771 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5775 @kindex S F (Summary)
5777 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5778 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5779 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5780 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5781 process/prefix convention.
5784 @kindex S n (Summary)
5785 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5786 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5787 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5790 @kindex S N (Summary)
5791 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5792 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5793 message through mail and include the original message
5794 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5795 the process/prefix convention.
5798 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5799 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5800 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5801 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5802 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5803 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5804 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5805 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5806 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5807 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5808 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5809 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5810 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
5813 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5814 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5816 @cindex making digests
5817 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5818 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5819 process/prefix convention.
5822 @kindex S u (Summary)
5823 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5824 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5825 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5826 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5829 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5830 Manual}, for more information.
5833 @node Summary Message Commands
5834 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5838 @kindex S y (Summary)
5839 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5840 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5841 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5842 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5843 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5848 @node Canceling and Superseding
5849 @subsection Canceling Articles
5850 @cindex canceling articles
5851 @cindex superseding articles
5853 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5854 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5856 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5858 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5860 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5861 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5862 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5863 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5864 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5865 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5867 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5868 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5871 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5872 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5873 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5875 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
5876 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
5877 message, Message Manual}).
5879 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5880 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5881 your original article.
5883 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5885 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5886 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5887 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5890 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5891 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5892 have posted almost the same article twice.
5894 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5895 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5896 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5897 to the post buffer (which is called @file{*sent ...*}). There you will
5898 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5899 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5900 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5901 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5902 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5903 canceled/superseded.
5905 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5907 @node Delayed Articles
5908 @section Delayed Articles
5909 @cindex delayed sending
5910 @cindex send delayed
5912 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5913 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5914 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5915 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5918 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5921 @findex gnus-delay-article
5922 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5923 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5924 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5925 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5929 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5930 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5931 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5932 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5935 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5936 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5937 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5940 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5941 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5942 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5943 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5944 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5945 that means a time tomorrow.
5948 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5949 couple of variables:
5952 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5953 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5954 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5955 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5957 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5958 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5959 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5960 formats described above.
5962 @item gnus-delay-group
5963 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5964 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5965 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5966 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5968 @item gnus-delay-header
5969 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5970 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5971 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5972 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5975 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5976 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5977 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5978 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5979 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5981 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5982 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5983 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5984 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5985 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5986 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5987 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5990 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5991 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5992 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5993 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5994 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5995 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5996 argument is ignored.
5998 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5999 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
6000 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
6003 When delaying an article with @kbd{C-c C-j}, Message mode will
6004 automatically add a @code{"Date"} header with the current time. In
6005 many cases you probably want the @code{"Date"} header to reflect the
6006 time the message is sent instead. To do this, you have to delete
6007 @code{Date} from @code{message-draft-headers}.
6010 @node Marking Articles
6011 @section Marking Articles
6012 @cindex article marking
6013 @cindex article ticking
6016 There are several marks you can set on an article.
6018 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
6019 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
6020 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
6022 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
6025 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
6029 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
6030 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
6031 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
6032 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
6033 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
6034 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
6038 @node Unread Articles
6039 @subsection Unread Articles
6041 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
6046 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
6047 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
6049 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
6050 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
6051 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
6052 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
6053 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
6054 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
6055 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
6058 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
6059 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
6061 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
6062 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
6063 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
6064 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
6068 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
6069 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
6071 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
6076 @subsection Read Articles
6077 @cindex expirable mark
6079 All the following marks mark articles as read.
6084 @vindex gnus-del-mark
6085 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
6086 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
6089 @vindex gnus-read-mark
6090 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
6093 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
6094 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
6095 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
6098 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
6099 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
6102 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
6103 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
6106 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
6107 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
6110 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
6111 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
6114 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
6115 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
6118 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
6119 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
6123 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
6124 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
6125 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6129 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
6130 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
6132 One more special mark, though:
6136 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
6137 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
6139 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
6140 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
6141 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
6142 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
6148 @subsection Other Marks
6149 @cindex process mark
6152 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
6158 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
6159 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
6160 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
6161 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
6162 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
6165 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
6166 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
6167 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
6168 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
6171 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
6172 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
6173 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
6176 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
6177 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
6178 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6181 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
6182 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
6183 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
6184 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
6187 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
6188 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
6189 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
6192 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
6193 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
6194 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
6195 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
6196 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
6200 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
6201 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
6202 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
6203 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
6204 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
6205 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
6208 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
6209 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
6210 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
6211 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
6212 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
6213 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
6217 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
6218 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
6219 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
6220 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
6221 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
6224 @vindex gnus-process-mark
6225 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
6226 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
6227 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
6228 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
6229 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
6233 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
6234 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
6235 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
6237 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
6238 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
6239 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
6243 @subsection Setting Marks
6244 @cindex setting marks
6246 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
6251 @kindex M c (Summary)
6252 @kindex M-u (Summary)
6253 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
6254 @cindex mark as unread
6255 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
6256 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
6262 @kindex M t (Summary)
6263 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
6264 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
6265 @xref{Article Caching}.
6270 @kindex M ? (Summary)
6271 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
6272 Mark the current article as dormant
6273 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6277 @kindex M d (Summary)
6279 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
6280 Mark the current article as read
6281 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
6285 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
6286 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
6287 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
6292 @kindex M k (Summary)
6293 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
6294 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
6295 and then select the next unread article
6296 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
6300 @kindex M K (Summary)
6301 @kindex C-k (Summary)
6302 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
6303 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
6304 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
6307 @kindex M C (Summary)
6308 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
6309 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
6310 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
6313 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
6314 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
6315 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
6316 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
6319 @kindex M H (Summary)
6320 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
6321 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
6322 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
6325 @kindex M h (Summary)
6326 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
6327 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6328 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6331 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6332 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6333 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6334 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6337 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6338 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6339 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6340 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6344 @kindex M e (Summary)
6346 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6347 Mark the current article as expirable
6348 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6351 @kindex M b (Summary)
6352 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6353 Set a bookmark in the current article
6354 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6357 @kindex M B (Summary)
6358 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6359 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6360 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6363 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6364 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6365 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6366 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6369 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6370 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6371 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6372 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6375 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6376 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6377 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6378 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6379 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6382 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6383 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6384 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6385 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6386 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6387 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6388 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6389 The default is @code{t}.
6392 @node Generic Marking Commands
6393 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6395 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) to
6396 go to the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6397 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article.
6398 And even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6399 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6402 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6403 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6406 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6407 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6408 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6409 to list in this manual.
6411 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6412 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6413 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6414 article, you could say something like:
6418 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6419 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6420 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6428 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6429 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6433 @node Setting Process Marks
6434 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6435 @cindex setting process marks
6437 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6438 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6439 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6440 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6441 articles into the cache. For more information,
6442 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6449 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6450 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6451 Mark the current article with the process mark
6452 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6453 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6457 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6458 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6459 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6460 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6463 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6464 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6465 Remove the process mark from all articles
6466 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6469 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6470 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6471 Invert the list of process marked articles
6472 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6475 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6476 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6477 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6478 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6481 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6482 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6483 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6484 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6487 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6488 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6489 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6492 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6493 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6494 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6497 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6498 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6499 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6500 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6503 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6504 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6505 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6506 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6509 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6510 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6511 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6512 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6515 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6516 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6517 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6520 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6521 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6522 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6523 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6526 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6527 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6528 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
6531 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6532 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6533 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6534 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6537 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6538 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6539 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6540 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6543 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6544 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6545 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6546 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6549 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6550 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6551 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6552 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6556 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6557 set process marks based on article body contents.
6564 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6565 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6566 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6569 Limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched from
6570 the servers. These commands don't query the server for additional
6577 @kindex / / (Summary)
6578 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6579 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6580 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6584 @kindex / a (Summary)
6585 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6586 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6587 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6591 @kindex / R (Summary)
6592 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
6593 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
6594 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
6598 @kindex / A (Summary)
6599 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-address
6600 Limit the summary buffer to articles in which contents of From, To or Cc
6601 header match a given address (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-address}). If
6602 given a prefix, exclude matching articles.
6605 @kindex / S (Summary)
6606 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons
6607 Limit the summary buffer to articles that aren't part of any displayed
6608 threads (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons}). If given a prefix,
6609 limit to articles that are part of displayed threads.
6612 @kindex / x (Summary)
6613 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6614 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6615 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6616 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6621 @kindex / u (Summary)
6623 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6624 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6625 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6626 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6627 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6630 @kindex / m (Summary)
6631 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6632 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6633 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6636 @kindex / t (Summary)
6637 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6638 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6639 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6640 articles younger than that number of days.
6643 @kindex / n (Summary)
6644 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6645 With prefix @samp{n}, limit the summary buffer to the next @samp{n}
6646 articles. If not given a prefix, use the process marked articles
6647 instead. (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}).
6650 @kindex / w (Summary)
6651 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6652 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6653 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6657 @kindex / . (Summary)
6658 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6659 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6660 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6663 @kindex / v (Summary)
6664 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6665 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6666 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6669 @kindex / p (Summary)
6670 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6671 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6672 group parameter predicate
6673 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6674 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6677 @kindex / r (Summary)
6678 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
6679 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
6680 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
6685 @kindex M S (Summary)
6686 @kindex / E (Summary)
6687 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6688 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6689 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6692 @kindex / D (Summary)
6693 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6694 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6695 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6698 @kindex / * (Summary)
6699 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6700 Include all cached articles in the limit
6701 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6704 @kindex / d (Summary)
6705 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6706 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6707 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6710 @kindex / M (Summary)
6711 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6712 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6715 @kindex / T (Summary)
6716 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6717 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6720 @kindex / c (Summary)
6721 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6722 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6723 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6726 @kindex / C (Summary)
6727 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6728 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6729 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6730 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6733 @kindex / b (Summary)
6734 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies
6735 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have bodies that match a
6736 certain regexp (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies}). If given a
6737 prefix, reverse the limit. This command is quite slow since it
6738 requires selecting each article to find the matches.
6741 @kindex / h (Summary)
6742 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-headers
6743 Like the previous command, only limit to headers instead
6744 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-headers}).
6749 The following commands aren't limiting commands, but use the @kbd{/}
6754 @kindex / N (Summary)
6755 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6756 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6757 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6760 @kindex / o (Summary)
6761 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6762 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6763 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6771 @cindex article threading
6773 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6774 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6775 hierarchical fashion.
6777 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6778 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6779 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6780 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6781 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6782 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6783 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6785 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6789 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6792 A tree-like article structure.
6795 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6798 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6799 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6800 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6801 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6802 called loose threads.
6804 @item thread gathering
6805 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6807 @item sparse threads
6808 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6809 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6815 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6816 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6820 @node Customizing Threading
6821 @subsection Customizing Threading
6822 @cindex customizing threading
6825 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6826 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6827 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6828 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6833 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6836 @cindex loose threads
6839 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6840 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6841 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6842 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6843 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6844 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6846 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6847 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6848 There are four possible values:
6852 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6853 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6854 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6855 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6856 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6861 @cindex adopting articles
6866 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6867 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6868 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6869 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6872 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6873 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6874 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6875 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6876 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6877 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6878 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6879 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6880 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6881 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6884 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6885 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6886 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6890 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6891 display them after one another.
6894 Don't gather loose threads.
6897 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6898 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6899 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6900 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6901 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6902 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6903 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6904 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6905 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6906 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6907 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6909 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6910 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6911 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6914 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6915 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6916 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6917 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6918 simplification is used.
6920 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6921 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6922 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6923 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6925 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6927 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6933 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6934 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6935 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6936 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6941 (mapconcat 'identity
6942 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6944 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6947 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6950 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6951 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6952 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6953 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6954 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6955 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6957 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6960 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6961 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6962 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6964 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6965 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6968 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6969 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6970 Remove excessive whitespace.
6972 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6973 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6974 Remove all whitespace.
6977 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6980 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6981 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6982 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6983 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6984 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6985 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6986 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6987 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6989 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6990 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6991 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6992 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6993 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6994 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6995 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6996 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6997 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
7001 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7002 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7003 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
7004 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
7006 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7007 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7008 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
7011 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
7015 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7016 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
7022 @node Filling In Threads
7023 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
7026 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
7027 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
7028 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
7029 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
7030 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
7031 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
7032 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
7033 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
7034 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
7035 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
7036 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
7037 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
7040 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
7041 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
7042 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
7044 The server has to support @acronym{NOV} for any of this to work.
7046 @cindex Gmane, gnus-fetch-old-headers
7047 This feature can seriously impact performance it ignores all locally
7048 cached header entries. Setting it to @code{t} for groups for a server
7049 that doesn't expire articles (such as news.gmane.org), leads to very
7050 slow summary generation.
7052 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7053 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7054 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
7057 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
7058 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
7059 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
7060 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
7061 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
7062 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
7063 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
7064 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
7065 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
7066 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
7067 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
7068 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
7069 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
7070 @code{nil} by default.
7072 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
7073 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
7074 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
7075 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
7076 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
7077 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
7080 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
7081 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
7082 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
7087 @node More Threading
7088 @subsubsection More Threading
7091 @item gnus-show-threads
7092 @vindex gnus-show-threads
7093 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
7094 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
7095 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
7096 slower and more awkward.
7098 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7099 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7100 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
7103 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
7104 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
7105 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
7110 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7111 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
7112 gnus-article-unseen-p))
7115 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
7116 unread, but you get my drift.)
7119 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
7120 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
7121 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
7122 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
7123 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
7124 threads are expunged.
7126 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
7127 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
7128 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
7131 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7132 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7133 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
7134 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
7135 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
7136 result in a new thread.
7138 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
7139 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
7140 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
7143 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7144 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7145 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
7146 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
7147 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
7148 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
7149 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
7150 Setting this variable to an alternate value
7151 (e.g., @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
7152 appropriate hook (e.g., @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
7153 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
7158 @node Low-Level Threading
7159 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
7163 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
7164 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
7165 Hook run before parsing any headers.
7167 @item gnus-alter-header-function
7168 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
7169 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
7170 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
7171 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
7172 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
7173 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
7174 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
7175 meaningful. Here's one example:
7178 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
7180 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
7181 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
7183 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
7185 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
7192 @node Thread Commands
7193 @subsection Thread Commands
7194 @cindex thread commands
7200 @kindex T k (Summary)
7201 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
7202 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
7203 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
7204 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
7205 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
7210 @kindex T l (Summary)
7211 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
7212 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
7213 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
7214 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
7217 @kindex T i (Summary)
7218 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
7219 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
7220 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
7223 @kindex T # (Summary)
7224 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7225 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
7226 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7229 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
7230 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7231 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
7232 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7235 @kindex T T (Summary)
7236 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
7237 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
7240 @kindex T s (Summary)
7241 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
7242 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
7243 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
7246 @kindex T h (Summary)
7247 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
7248 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
7251 @kindex T S (Summary)
7252 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
7253 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
7256 @kindex T H (Summary)
7257 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
7258 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
7261 @kindex T t (Summary)
7262 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
7263 Re-thread the current article's thread
7264 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
7265 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
7268 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
7269 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
7270 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
7271 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
7274 @kindex T M-^ (Summary)
7275 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-children
7276 Make the current article the parent of the marked articles
7277 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-children}).
7281 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
7282 understand the numeric prefix.
7287 @kindex T n (Summary)
7289 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
7291 @kindex M-down (Summary)
7292 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
7293 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
7296 @kindex T p (Summary)
7298 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
7300 @kindex M-up (Summary)
7301 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
7302 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
7305 @kindex T d (Summary)
7306 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
7307 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
7310 @kindex T u (Summary)
7311 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
7312 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
7315 @kindex T o (Summary)
7316 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
7317 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
7320 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
7321 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
7322 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
7323 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
7324 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
7325 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
7326 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
7327 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
7328 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
7329 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
7330 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
7331 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
7335 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
7336 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
7338 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
7339 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
7340 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
7341 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7342 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
7343 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
7344 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7345 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
7346 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
7347 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
7348 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
7349 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
7350 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
7351 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
7352 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
7354 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
7355 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
7356 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient},
7357 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
7358 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date},
7359 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
7360 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
7361 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
7362 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
7363 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
7365 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
7366 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
7367 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. Exceptions
7368 to this rule are @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number} and
7369 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date}.
7371 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
7372 last function in the list. You should probably always include
7373 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
7374 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
7375 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
7376 ascending article order.
7378 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
7379 by number, you could do something like:
7382 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7383 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7384 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7385 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
7388 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
7389 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
7390 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7391 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7392 which the articles arrived.
7394 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7398 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7399 '((not gnus-thread-sort-by-number)
7400 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7403 By default, threads including their subthreads are sorted according to
7404 the value of @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}. By customizing
7405 @code{gnus-subthread-sort-functions} you can define a custom sorting
7406 order for subthreads. This allows for example to sort threads from
7407 high score to low score in the summary buffer, but to have subthreads
7408 still sorted chronologically from old to new without taking their
7411 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7412 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7413 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7414 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7417 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7418 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7419 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-date
7420 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7421 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7422 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7423 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7424 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7425 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-number
7426 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7427 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7428 variable. It is very similar to the
7429 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7430 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7431 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7432 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7433 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7434 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7435 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7437 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7441 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7442 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7443 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7446 You can define group specific sorting via @code{gnus-parameters},
7447 @xref{Group Parameters}.
7450 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7451 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7452 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7453 @cindex article pre-fetch
7456 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7457 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7458 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7459 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7460 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7462 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7463 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
7465 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7466 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7467 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7468 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7469 connection is blocked.
7471 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7472 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7473 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7474 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
7476 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7477 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7478 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7479 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7482 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7485 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7486 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7487 happen automatically.
7489 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7490 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7491 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7492 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7493 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7494 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7495 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7497 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7498 @findex gnus-async-unread-p
7499 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7500 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7501 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7502 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7503 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-unread-p}, which
7504 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7505 article data structure as the only parameter.
7507 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7508 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7511 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7512 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7513 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7514 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7517 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7520 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7521 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7522 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7524 @vindex gnus-async-post-fetch-function
7525 @findex gnus-html-prefetch-images
7526 After an article has been prefetched, this
7527 @code{gnus-async-post-fetch-function} will be called. The buffer will
7528 be narrowed to the region of the article that was fetched. A useful
7529 value would be @code{gnus-html-prefetch-images}, which will prefetch
7530 and store images referenced in the article, so that you don't have to
7531 wait for them to be fetched when you read the article. This is useful
7532 for @acronym{HTML} messages that have external images.
7534 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7535 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7536 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7537 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7541 Remove articles when they are read.
7544 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7547 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7549 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7550 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7551 @c from the next group.
7554 @node Article Caching
7555 @section Article Caching
7556 @cindex article caching
7559 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7560 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7561 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7562 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7563 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7565 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7567 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7568 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7569 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7570 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7571 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7572 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7573 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7574 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7576 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7577 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7578 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7579 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7580 as dormant, and don't worry.
7582 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7584 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7585 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7586 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7587 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7588 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7589 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7590 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7591 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7592 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7593 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7595 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7596 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7597 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7598 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7599 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7600 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7601 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7602 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7603 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7604 not then be downloaded by this command.
7606 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7607 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7608 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7609 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7610 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7611 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7613 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7614 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7615 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7616 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7617 variables, the group is not cached.
7619 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7620 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7621 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7622 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7623 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7624 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7625 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7626 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7627 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7630 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7631 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7632 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7633 where, isn't that cool?
7635 @node Persistent Articles
7636 @section Persistent Articles
7637 @cindex persistent articles
7639 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7640 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7641 useful in my opinion.
7643 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7644 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7645 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7646 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7647 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7648 the expiry going on at the news server.
7650 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7651 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7652 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7658 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7659 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7662 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7663 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7664 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7665 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7669 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7671 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7672 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7673 interested in persistent articles:
7676 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7679 @node Sticky Articles
7680 @section Sticky Articles
7681 @cindex sticky articles
7683 When you select an article the current article buffer will be reused
7684 according to the value of the variable
7685 @code{gnus-single-article-buffer}. If its value is non-@code{nil} (the
7686 default) all articles reuse the same article buffer. Else each group
7687 has its own article buffer.
7689 This implies that it's not possible to have more than one article buffer
7690 in a group at a time. But sometimes you might want to display all the
7691 latest emails from your mother, your father, your aunt, your uncle and
7692 your 17 cousins to coordinate the next Christmas party.
7694 That's where sticky articles come in handy. A sticky article buffer
7695 basically is a normal article buffer, but it won't be reused when you
7696 select another article. You can make an article sticky with:
7700 @kindex A S (Summary)
7701 @findex gnus-sticky-article
7702 Make the current article sticky. If a prefix arg is given, ask for a
7703 name for this sticky article buffer.
7706 To close a sticky article buffer you can use these commands:
7712 Puts this sticky article buffer at the end of the list of all buffers.
7716 @findex gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffer
7717 Kills this sticky article buffer.
7720 To kill all sticky article buffers you can use:
7722 @defun gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffers ARG
7723 Kill all sticky article buffers.
7724 If a prefix ARG is given, ask for confirmation.
7727 @node Article Backlog
7728 @section Article Backlog
7730 @cindex article backlog
7732 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7733 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7734 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7735 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7736 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7737 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7738 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7739 increase memory usage some.
7741 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7742 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7743 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7744 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7745 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7746 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7747 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7749 The default value is 20.
7752 @node Saving Articles
7753 @section Saving Articles
7754 @cindex saving articles
7756 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7757 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7758 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7759 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7760 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7762 For the commands listed here, the target is a file.
7763 A directory name (ending in @samp{/}) causes the target
7764 to be a file under that directory. If you want to
7765 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7766 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7768 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7769 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7770 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7772 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7773 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7774 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7775 deleted before saving.
7781 @kindex O o (Summary)
7783 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7784 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7785 Save the current article using the default article saver
7786 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7789 @kindex O m (Summary)
7790 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7791 Save the current article in a Unix mail box (mbox) file
7792 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7795 @kindex O r (Summary)
7796 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7797 Save the current article in Rmail format
7798 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}). This is mbox since Emacs 23,
7799 Babyl in older versions.
7802 @kindex O f (Summary)
7803 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7804 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7805 Save the current article in plain file format
7806 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7809 @kindex O F (Summary)
7810 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7811 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7812 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7815 @kindex O b (Summary)
7816 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7817 Save the current article body in plain file format
7818 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7821 @kindex O h (Summary)
7822 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7823 Save the current article in mh folder format
7824 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7827 @kindex O v (Summary)
7828 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7829 Save the current article in a VM folder
7830 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7834 @kindex O p (Summary)
7836 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7837 @vindex gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command
7838 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7839 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7840 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7841 complete headers in the piped output. The symbolic prefix @code{r} is
7842 special; it lets this command pipe a raw article including all headers.
7843 The @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} variable can be set
7844 to a string containing the default command and options (default
7848 @kindex O P (Summary)
7849 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7850 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7851 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7852 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7853 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7854 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7855 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7859 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7860 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7861 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7862 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7863 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7864 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7865 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7866 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7867 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7868 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7869 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7870 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7874 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7875 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7876 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the eight ready-made
7877 functions below, or you can create your own.
7881 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7882 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7883 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7884 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7885 This is the default format, that used by the Rmail package. Since Emacs
7886 23, Rmail uses standard mbox format. Before this, it used the
7887 @dfn{Babyl} format. Accordingly, this command writes mbox format since
7888 Emacs 23, unless appending to an existing Babyl file. In older versions
7889 of Emacs, it always uses Babyl format. Uses the function in the
7890 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7891 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7893 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7894 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7895 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7896 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7897 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7898 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7900 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7901 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7902 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7903 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7904 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7905 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7906 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7908 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7909 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7910 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7911 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7912 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7913 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7915 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7916 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7917 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7918 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7919 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7921 @item gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
7922 @findex gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
7923 Write the article body straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7924 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7925 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7926 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7928 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7929 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7930 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7931 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7932 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7935 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7936 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7937 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7938 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7939 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7941 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7942 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7943 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7944 reader to use this setting.
7946 @item gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
7947 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
7948 Pipe the article to a shell command. This function takes optional two
7949 arguments COMMAND and RAW@. Valid values for COMMAND include:
7953 The executable command name and possibly arguments.
7955 You will be prompted for the command in the minibuffer.
7956 @item the symbol @code{default}@*
7957 It will be replaced with the command which the variable
7958 @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} holds or the command
7959 last used for saving.
7962 Non-@code{nil} value for RAW overrides @code{:decode} and
7963 @code{:headers} properties (see below) and the raw article including all
7964 headers will be piped.
7967 The symbol of each function may have the following properties:
7971 The value non-@code{nil} means save decoded articles. This is
7972 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-save-in-file},
7973 @code{gnus-summary-save-body-in-file},
7974 @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file},
7975 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}, and
7976 @code{gnus-summary-save-in-pipe}.
7979 The value specifies an alternative function which appends, not
7980 overwrites, articles to a file. This implies that when saving many
7981 articles at a time, @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} is bound to
7982 @code{t} and all articles are saved in a single file. This is
7983 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file} and
7984 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}.
7987 The value specifies the symbol of a variable of which the value
7988 specifies headers to be saved. If it is omitted,
7989 @code{gnus-save-all-headers} and @code{gnus-saved-headers} control what
7990 headers should be saved.
7993 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7994 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7995 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7996 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7999 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
8000 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
8001 available functions that generate names:
8005 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
8006 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
8007 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8009 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
8010 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8011 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8013 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
8014 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
8015 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8017 @item gnus-plain-save-name
8018 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8019 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8021 @item gnus-sender-save-name
8022 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
8023 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
8026 @vindex gnus-split-methods
8027 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
8028 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
8029 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
8030 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
8034 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
8035 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
8036 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
8037 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
8040 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
8041 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
8042 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
8043 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
8044 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
8045 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
8046 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
8047 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
8048 called returns a string or a list of strings.
8050 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
8051 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
8052 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
8053 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
8055 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
8056 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
8057 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
8060 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
8061 lots of mail groups called things like
8062 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
8063 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
8064 following will do just that:
8067 (defun my-save-name (group)
8068 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
8069 (substring group (match-end 0))))
8071 (setq gnus-split-methods
8072 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
8077 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8078 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
8079 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
8080 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
8081 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
8082 all the files in the top level directory
8083 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
8084 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
8085 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
8086 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
8088 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
8089 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
8090 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
8091 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
8092 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
8095 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
8099 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
8100 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
8101 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
8104 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
8105 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
8106 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
8107 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
8110 @node Decoding Articles
8111 @section Decoding Articles
8112 @cindex decoding articles
8114 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
8115 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
8118 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
8119 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
8120 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
8121 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
8122 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
8123 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
8127 @cindex article series
8128 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
8129 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
8130 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
8131 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
8132 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
8134 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
8135 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
8136 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
8138 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
8139 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
8140 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
8142 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
8143 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
8144 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
8147 @node Uuencoded Articles
8148 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
8150 @cindex uuencoded articles
8155 @kindex X u (Summary)
8156 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
8157 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
8158 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
8161 @kindex X U (Summary)
8162 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
8163 Uudecodes and saves the current series
8164 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8167 @kindex X v u (Summary)
8168 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
8169 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
8172 @kindex X v U (Summary)
8173 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
8174 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
8175 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
8179 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
8180 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
8181 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
8182 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
8183 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8185 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
8186 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
8187 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
8188 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
8191 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
8192 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
8193 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
8194 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
8195 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
8196 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
8200 @node Shell Archives
8201 @subsection Shell Archives
8203 @cindex shell archives
8204 @cindex shared articles
8206 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
8207 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
8208 some commands to deal with these:
8213 @kindex X s (Summary)
8214 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
8215 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
8218 @kindex X S (Summary)
8219 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
8220 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
8223 @kindex X v s (Summary)
8224 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
8225 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
8228 @kindex X v S (Summary)
8229 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
8230 Unshars, views and saves the current series
8231 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
8235 @node PostScript Files
8236 @subsection PostScript Files
8242 @kindex X p (Summary)
8243 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
8244 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
8247 @kindex X P (Summary)
8248 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
8249 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
8250 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
8253 @kindex X v p (Summary)
8254 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
8255 View the current PostScript series
8256 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
8259 @kindex X v P (Summary)
8260 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
8261 View and save the current PostScript series
8262 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
8267 @subsection Other Files
8271 @kindex X o (Summary)
8272 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
8273 Save the current series
8274 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
8277 @kindex X b (Summary)
8278 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
8279 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
8280 doesn't really work yet.
8283 @kindex X Y (Summary)
8284 @findex gnus-uu-decode-yenc
8285 yEnc-decode the current series and save it (@code{gnus-uu-decode-yenc}).
8289 @node Decoding Variables
8290 @subsection Decoding Variables
8292 Adjective, not verb.
8295 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
8296 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
8297 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
8301 @node Rule Variables
8302 @subsubsection Rule Variables
8303 @cindex rule variables
8305 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
8306 variables are of the form
8309 (list '(regexp1 command2)
8316 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8317 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8319 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
8320 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
8323 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8324 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
8327 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
8328 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
8329 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
8330 user and default view rules.
8332 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
8333 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
8334 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
8339 @node Other Decode Variables
8340 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
8343 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
8345 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
8346 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
8347 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
8348 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
8349 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
8353 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
8354 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
8357 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
8358 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
8359 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
8362 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
8363 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
8364 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
8365 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
8366 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
8369 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
8370 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
8371 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
8373 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
8374 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
8375 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
8376 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
8377 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
8380 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
8381 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
8382 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
8384 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
8385 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
8386 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
8387 looking for files to display.
8389 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
8390 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
8391 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
8394 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
8395 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
8396 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
8399 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
8400 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
8401 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
8404 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
8405 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
8406 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
8409 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
8410 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
8411 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
8412 decoded articles as unread.
8414 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
8415 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
8416 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
8417 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
8419 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
8420 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
8421 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
8423 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
8424 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
8426 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
8427 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
8428 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
8429 @code{metamail} for viewing.
8431 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8432 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8433 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
8434 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
8435 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
8436 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
8437 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
8438 simply dropped them.
8443 @node Uuencoding and Posting
8444 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
8448 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8449 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8450 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
8451 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
8452 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
8453 for you when you post the article.
8455 @item gnus-uu-post-length
8456 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
8457 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
8458 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
8460 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
8461 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
8462 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
8463 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
8464 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
8465 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
8466 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
8468 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8469 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8470 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
8471 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
8472 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
8473 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
8474 Default is @code{t}.
8480 @subsection Viewing Files
8481 @cindex viewing files
8482 @cindex pseudo-articles
8484 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
8485 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
8486 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
8487 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
8488 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
8489 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
8490 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
8492 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
8493 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
8494 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
8495 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
8497 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
8498 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
8499 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
8501 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
8502 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
8503 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
8504 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
8505 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
8507 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
8508 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
8509 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
8510 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
8511 a list of parameters to that command.
8513 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
8514 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
8515 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
8517 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
8518 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
8519 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
8522 @node Article Treatment
8523 @section Article Treatment
8525 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8526 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8527 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8528 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8529 these articles easier.
8532 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8533 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8534 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8535 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8536 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8537 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8538 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8539 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8540 * Article Display:: Display various stuff:
8541 X-Face, Picons, Gravatars, Smileys.
8542 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8543 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8547 @node Article Highlighting
8548 @subsection Article Highlighting
8549 @cindex highlighting
8551 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8552 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8557 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8558 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8559 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8560 Do much highlighting of the current article
8561 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8562 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8565 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8566 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8567 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8568 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8569 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8570 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8571 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8572 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8573 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8574 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8575 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8576 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8579 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8580 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8581 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8583 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8586 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8588 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8589 If the article size in bytes is bigger than this variable (which is
8590 25000 by default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8592 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8593 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8594 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8596 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8597 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8598 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8599 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8600 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8601 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8603 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8604 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8605 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8607 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8608 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8609 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8611 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8612 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8613 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8614 that it's a citation.
8616 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8617 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8618 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8620 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8621 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8622 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8624 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8625 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8626 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8627 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8629 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8630 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8631 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
8632 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
8633 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
8640 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8641 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8642 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8643 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8644 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8645 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8646 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8647 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8652 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8655 @node Article Fontisizing
8656 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8658 @cindex article emphasis
8660 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8661 @kindex W e (Summary)
8662 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8663 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8664 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8665 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8667 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8668 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8669 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8670 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8671 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8672 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8673 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8674 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8678 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8679 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8680 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8689 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8690 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8691 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8692 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8693 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8694 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8695 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8696 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8697 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8698 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8699 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8700 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8701 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8703 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8704 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8705 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8709 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8712 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8714 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8715 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8716 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8717 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8719 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8722 @node Article Hiding
8723 @subsection Article Hiding
8724 @cindex article hiding
8726 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8727 too much cruft in most articles.
8732 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8733 @findex gnus-article-hide
8734 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8735 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8736 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8739 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8740 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8741 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8745 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8746 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8747 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8748 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8751 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8752 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8753 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8757 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8758 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8759 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8760 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8761 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8762 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8763 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8764 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8768 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8769 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8770 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8771 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8776 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8777 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8778 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8779 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8782 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8783 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8784 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8785 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8788 @cindex stripping advertisements
8789 @cindex advertisements
8790 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8791 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8792 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8793 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8794 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8795 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8796 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8797 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8798 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8799 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8805 (setq gnus-article-banner-alist
8807 "^\n*--~--~---------\\(.+\n\\)+")))
8810 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8811 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8812 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8816 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8817 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8818 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8819 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8820 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8821 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8822 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8823 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8824 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8825 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8826 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8829 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8830 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8836 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8837 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8838 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8839 customizing the hiding:
8843 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8844 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8845 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8846 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8847 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8848 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8849 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8854 Starting point of the hidden text.
8856 Ending point of the hidden text.
8858 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8860 Number of lines of hidden text.
8863 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8864 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8865 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8866 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8867 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8872 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8873 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8875 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8876 following two variables:
8879 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8880 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8881 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8882 50), hide the cited text.
8884 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8885 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8886 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8891 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8892 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8893 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8894 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8895 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8896 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8900 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8901 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8902 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8904 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8905 citation customization.
8907 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8911 @node Article Washing
8912 @subsection Article Washing
8914 @cindex article washing
8916 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8917 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8919 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8920 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8923 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8924 articles by default.
8929 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8930 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8934 Force redisplaying of the current article
8935 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8936 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8937 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8938 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8941 @kindex W l (Summary)
8942 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8943 Remove page breaks from the current article
8944 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8948 @kindex W r (Summary)
8949 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8950 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8951 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8952 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8953 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8954 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8956 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8957 positions in the alphabet, e.g., @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8958 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8959 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8962 @kindex W m (Summary)
8963 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8964 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8967 @kindex W i (Summary)
8968 @findex gnus-summary-idna-message
8969 Decode IDNA encoded domain names in the current articles. IDNA
8970 encoded domain names looks like @samp{xn--bar}. If a string remain
8971 unencoded after running invoking this, it is likely an invalid IDNA
8972 string (@samp{xn--bar} is invalid). You must have GNU Libidn
8973 (@url{https://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}) installed for this command
8978 @kindex W t (Summary)
8980 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8981 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8982 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8985 @kindex W v (Summary)
8986 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8987 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8988 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8991 @kindex W o (Summary)
8992 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8993 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8996 @kindex W d (Summary)
8997 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8998 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
9000 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
9002 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
9003 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
9004 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
9005 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
9008 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
9009 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
9010 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
9011 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
9014 @kindex W U (Summary)
9015 @findex gnus-article-treat-non-ascii
9017 @cindex Non-@acronym{ASCII}
9018 Translate many non-@acronym{ASCII} characters into their
9019 @acronym{ASCII} equivalents (@code{gnus-article-treat-non-ascii}).
9020 This is mostly useful if you're on a terminal that has a limited font
9021 and doesn't show accented characters, ``advanced'' punctuation, and the
9022 like. For instance, @samp{»} is translated into @samp{>>}, and so on.
9025 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
9026 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
9027 @cindex Outlook Express
9028 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
9029 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
9030 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
9033 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
9034 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
9035 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
9036 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
9037 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
9038 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
9039 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
9040 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
9041 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
9042 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
9045 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
9046 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
9047 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
9048 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
9051 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
9052 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
9053 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
9054 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
9057 @kindex W w (Summary)
9058 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
9059 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
9061 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
9065 @kindex W Q (Summary)
9066 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
9067 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
9070 @kindex W C (Summary)
9071 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
9072 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
9073 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
9076 @kindex W c (Summary)
9077 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
9078 Translate CRLF pairs (i.e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
9079 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
9080 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
9081 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
9084 @kindex W q (Summary)
9085 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
9086 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
9087 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
9088 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
9089 makes strings like @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
9090 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
9091 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9092 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9093 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9096 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
9097 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
9098 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
9099 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
9100 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
9101 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9102 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9103 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9106 @kindex W Z (Summary)
9107 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
9108 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
9109 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
9110 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
9113 @kindex W A (Summary)
9114 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
9115 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
9116 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
9117 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
9118 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
9121 @kindex W u (Summary)
9122 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
9123 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
9124 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
9125 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
9126 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
9129 @kindex W h (Summary)
9130 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
9131 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
9132 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9133 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
9135 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for. If it is a number,
9136 the charset defined in @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist}
9137 (@pxref{Paging the Article}) will be used.
9139 The default is to use the function specified by
9140 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
9141 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
9142 @acronym{HTML}. Pre-defined functions you can use include:
9146 Use Gnus simple html renderer.
9149 Use Gnus rendered based on w3m.
9152 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
9154 @item w3m-standalone
9155 Use @uref{http://w3m.sourceforge.net/, w3m}.
9158 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
9161 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
9164 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
9169 @kindex W b (Summary)
9170 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
9171 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
9172 @xref{Article Buttons}.
9175 @kindex W B (Summary)
9176 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
9177 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
9178 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
9181 @kindex W p (Summary)
9182 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
9183 Verify a signed control message
9184 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
9185 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
9186 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
9187 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
9188 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
9189 available at @uref{https://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
9192 @kindex W s (Summary)
9193 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
9194 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
9195 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
9196 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
9199 @kindex W a (Summary)
9200 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
9201 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
9202 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
9205 @kindex W E l (Summary)
9206 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
9207 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
9208 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
9211 @kindex W E m (Summary)
9212 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
9213 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
9214 lines with a single empty line.
9215 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
9218 @kindex W E t (Summary)
9219 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
9220 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
9221 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
9224 @kindex W E a (Summary)
9225 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
9226 Do all the three commands above
9227 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
9230 @kindex W E A (Summary)
9231 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
9232 Remove all blank lines
9233 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
9236 @kindex W E s (Summary)
9237 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
9238 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
9239 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
9242 @kindex W E e (Summary)
9243 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
9244 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
9245 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
9249 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
9252 @node Article Header
9253 @subsection Article Header
9255 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
9260 @kindex W G u (Summary)
9261 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
9262 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
9265 @kindex W G n (Summary)
9266 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
9267 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
9268 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
9271 @kindex W G f (Summary)
9272 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
9273 Fold all the message headers
9274 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
9277 @kindex W E w (Summary)
9278 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
9279 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
9280 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
9285 @node Article Buttons
9286 @subsection Article Buttons
9289 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
9290 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
9291 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
9292 button on these references.
9294 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9295 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
9296 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
9297 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
9298 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
9302 @item gnus-button-alist
9303 @vindex gnus-button-alist
9304 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
9307 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
9313 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
9314 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
9315 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
9316 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
9317 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
9320 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
9321 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
9322 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
9325 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
9326 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
9327 avoid false matches. Often variables named
9328 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
9329 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
9331 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
9334 This function will be called when you click on this button.
9337 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
9338 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
9342 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
9345 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
9348 @item gnus-header-button-alist
9349 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
9350 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
9351 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
9352 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
9355 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
9358 @var{header} is a regular expression.
9361 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
9364 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
9365 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
9367 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
9369 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
9370 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
9371 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
9372 default values of the variables above.
9374 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
9376 @item gnus-button-man-handler
9377 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9378 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
9379 argument with a string naming the man page.
9381 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
9383 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
9384 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
9385 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
9387 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
9388 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
9389 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
9390 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
9391 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
9392 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
9393 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
9394 @code{ask}, always query the user what to do. If it is a function, this
9395 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
9396 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
9397 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
9398 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
9400 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
9401 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
9402 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
9403 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
9404 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
9407 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
9408 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
9409 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
9410 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
9414 @item gnus-article-button-face
9415 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
9416 Face used on buttons.
9418 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
9419 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
9420 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
9424 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
9427 @node Article Button Levels
9428 @subsection Article button levels
9429 @cindex button levels
9430 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
9431 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
9432 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
9433 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
9434 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
9435 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
9436 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
9437 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
9440 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
9441 (setq gnus-parameters
9442 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
9443 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
9444 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
9449 @item gnus-button-browse-level
9450 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
9451 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
9452 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
9453 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
9454 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
9456 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
9457 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
9458 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
9459 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
9460 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
9461 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
9462 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
9463 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
9464 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
9465 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
9466 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
9467 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
9468 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
9470 @item gnus-button-man-level
9471 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
9472 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
9473 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
9475 @item gnus-button-message-level
9476 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
9477 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
9478 Related variables and functions include
9479 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
9480 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
9481 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
9482 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
9488 @subsection Article Date
9490 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
9491 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
9492 when the article was sent.
9497 @kindex W T u (Summary)
9498 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
9499 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
9500 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
9503 @kindex W T i (Summary)
9504 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
9506 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
9507 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
9510 @kindex W T l (Summary)
9511 @findex gnus-article-date-local
9512 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
9515 @kindex W T p (Summary)
9516 @findex gnus-article-date-english
9517 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
9518 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
9521 @kindex W T s (Summary)
9522 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
9523 @findex gnus-article-date-user
9524 @findex format-time-string
9525 Display the date using a user-defined format
9526 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
9527 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
9528 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
9529 for a list of possible format specs.
9532 @kindex W T e (Summary)
9533 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
9534 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
9535 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
9536 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
9537 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
9540 Date: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
9543 To make this line updated continually, set the
9544 @code{gnus-article-update-date-headers} variable to the frequency in
9545 seconds (the default is @code{nil}).
9548 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9549 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9550 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9551 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9552 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9553 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9554 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9558 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9559 preferred format automatically.
9562 @node Article Display
9563 @subsection Article Display
9569 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9570 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9572 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9573 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9575 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9576 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9578 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9579 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9581 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9582 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9584 Gravatars reside on-line and are fetched from
9585 @uref{http://www.gravatar.com/} (@pxref{Gravatars}).
9587 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9592 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9593 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9594 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9595 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9598 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9599 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9600 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9601 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9604 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9605 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9606 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9609 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9610 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9611 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9614 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9615 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9616 Piconify all mail headers (i.e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9617 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9620 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9621 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9622 Piconify all news headers (i.e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9623 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9626 @kindex W D g (Summary)
9627 @findex gnus-treat-from-gravatar
9628 Gravatarify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-gravatar}).
9631 @kindex W D h (Summary)
9632 @findex gnus-treat-mail-gravatar
9633 Gravatarify all mail headers (i.e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9634 (@code{gnus-treat-from-gravatar}).
9637 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9638 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9639 Remove all images from the article buffer
9640 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9643 @kindex W D W (Summary)
9644 @findex gnus-html-show-images
9645 If you're reading an @acronym{HTML} article rendered with
9646 @code{gnus-article-html}, then you can insert any blocked images in
9647 the buffer with this command.
9648 (@code{gnus-html-show-images}).
9654 @node Article Signature
9655 @subsection Article Signature
9657 @cindex article signature
9659 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9660 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9661 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9662 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9663 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9664 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9665 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9666 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9667 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9670 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9671 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9672 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9673 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9674 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9675 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9676 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9677 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9680 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9683 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9684 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9685 signature when displaying articles.
9689 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9692 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9695 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9696 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9698 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9699 in question is not a signature.
9702 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9703 listed above. Here's an example:
9706 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9707 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9710 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9711 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9712 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9713 signature after all.
9716 @node Article Miscellanea
9717 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9721 @kindex A t (Summary)
9722 @findex gnus-article-babel
9723 Translate the article from one language to another
9724 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9730 @section MIME Commands
9731 @cindex MIME decoding
9733 @cindex viewing attachments
9735 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9736 instance, @kbd{3 K v} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9742 @kindex K v (Summary)
9743 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9746 @kindex K o (Summary)
9747 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9750 @kindex K O (Summary)
9751 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} part and strip it
9752 from the article. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred
9753 via the message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
9756 @kindex K r (Summary)
9757 Replace the @acronym{MIME} part with an external body.
9760 @kindex K d (Summary)
9761 Delete the @acronym{MIME} part and add some information about the
9765 @kindex K c (Summary)
9766 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9769 @kindex K e (Summary)
9770 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9773 @kindex K i (Summary)
9774 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9777 @kindex K | (Summary)
9778 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9781 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9786 @kindex K H (Summary)
9787 @findex gnus-article-browse-html-article
9788 View @samp{text/html} parts of the current article with a WWW browser.
9789 Inline images embedded in a message using the @code{cid} scheme, as they
9790 are generally considered to be safe, will be processed properly. The
9791 message header is added to the beginning of every @acronym{HTML} part
9792 unless the prefix argument is given.
9794 Warning: Spammers use links to images (using the @code{http} scheme) in
9795 @acronym{HTML} articles to verify whether you have read the message. As
9796 this command passes the @acronym{HTML} content to the browser without
9797 eliminating these ``web bugs'' you should only use it for mails from
9800 If you always want to display @acronym{HTML} parts in the browser, set
9801 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} to @code{nil}.
9803 This command creates temporary files to pass @acronym{HTML} contents
9804 including images if any to the browser, and deletes them when exiting
9805 the group (if you want).
9808 @kindex K b (Summary)
9809 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9810 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9814 @kindex W M h (Summary)
9815 @findex gnus-mime-buttonize-attachments-in-header
9816 @vindex gnus-mime-display-attachment-buttons-in-header
9817 Display @acronym{MIME} part buttons in the end of the header of an
9818 article (@code{gnus-mime-buttonize-attachments-in-header}). This
9819 command toggles the display. Note that buttons to be added to the
9820 header are only the ones that aren't inlined in the body. If you want
9821 those buttons always to be displayed, set
9822 @code{gnus-mime-display-attachment-buttons-in-header} to non-@code{nil}.
9823 The default is @code{t}. To change the appearance of buttons, customize
9824 @code{gnus-header-face-alist}.
9827 @kindex K m (Summary)
9828 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9829 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9830 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9831 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9832 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9835 @kindex X m (Summary)
9836 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9837 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9838 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9839 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9842 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9843 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9844 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9845 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9848 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9849 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9850 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9851 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9854 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9855 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9856 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9857 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9859 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9860 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9861 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9862 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9863 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9864 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9867 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9868 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9869 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9870 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9877 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9878 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9879 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9880 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9883 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9886 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9890 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9891 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9892 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9893 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9894 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9895 default is @code{t}.
9897 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9898 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9901 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9902 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9903 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9904 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9905 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}. Only
9906 single-part yEnc encoded attachments can be decoded. There's no support
9907 for encoding in Gnus.
9909 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9910 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9911 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9912 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9913 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9914 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9915 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9916 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9918 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9919 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9920 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9921 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9922 displayed. This variable overrides
9923 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9924 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9927 E.g., to see security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9928 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9929 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9931 You could also add @code{"multipart/alternative"} to this list to
9932 display radio buttons that allow you to choose one of two media types
9933 those mails include. See also @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}
9934 (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The
9935 Emacs MIME Manual}).
9937 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9938 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9939 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9940 default value is @code{nil}.
9942 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9943 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9944 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9945 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9946 users to gather information from the article (e.g., add Vcard info to
9947 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e.g., automatically
9948 save all jpegs into some directory).
9950 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9953 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9954 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9956 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9957 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9958 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9959 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9960 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9963 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9964 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9965 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9967 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9968 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9969 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9971 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9972 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9973 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9975 If displaying @samp{text/html} is discouraged, see
9976 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}, images or other material inside a
9977 "multipart/related" part might be overlooked when this variable is
9978 @code{nil}. @ref{Display Customization, Display Customization, ,
9979 emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}.
9981 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9982 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9983 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
9984 overrides @code{nil} values of
9985 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
9986 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
9988 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9989 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9990 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9991 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9993 Ready-made functions include@*
9994 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9995 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9996 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9997 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9998 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9999 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
10000 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
10001 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
10002 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10003 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10004 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10005 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10007 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
10008 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
10010 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
10011 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
10012 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
10015 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10016 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10017 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10018 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
10022 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
10031 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
10032 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
10033 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
10034 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
10035 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
10036 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
10037 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp}.
10039 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
10040 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
10041 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
10042 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
10044 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
10045 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
10046 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
10047 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
10048 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
10049 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
10050 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
10051 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
10052 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
10054 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
10055 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
10056 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
10057 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
10058 quoted-printable header encoding.
10060 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
10061 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
10062 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
10066 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
10069 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
10070 means encode all charsets),
10072 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
10073 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
10074 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
10081 @cindex coding system aliases
10082 @cindex preferred charset
10084 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
10085 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
10086 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
10088 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
10090 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
10091 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
10094 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
10095 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
10098 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
10099 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
10101 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
10104 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
10107 This will almost do the right thing.
10109 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
10113 (codepage-setup 1251)
10114 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
10118 @node Article Commands
10119 @section Article Commands
10126 @kindex A P (Summary)
10127 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
10128 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
10129 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
10130 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
10131 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
10132 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
10135 @vindex gnus-fetch-partial-articles
10136 @findex gnus-summary-show-complete-article
10137 If @code{<backend>-fetch-partial-articles} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
10138 fetch partial articles, if the backend it fetches them from supports
10139 it. Currently only @code{nnimap} does. If you're looking at a
10140 partial article, and want to see the complete article instead, then
10141 the @kbd{A C} command (@code{gnus-summary-show-complete-article}) will
10147 @node Summary Sorting
10148 @section Summary Sorting
10149 @cindex summary sorting
10151 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
10152 can't really see why you'd want that.
10157 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10158 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
10159 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
10161 @item C-c C-s C-m C-n
10162 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10163 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number
10164 Sort by most recent article number
10165 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number}).
10168 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
10169 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
10170 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
10173 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
10174 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
10175 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
10178 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
10179 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
10180 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
10183 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
10184 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
10185 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
10187 @item C-c C-s C-m C-d
10188 @kindex C-c C-s C-m C-d (Summary)
10189 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date
10190 Sort by most recent date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date}).
10193 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
10194 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
10195 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
10198 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
10199 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
10200 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
10202 @item C-c C-s C-m C-m
10203 @kindex C-c C-s C-m C-m (Summary)
10204 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-marks
10205 Sort by article ``readedness'' marks (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-marks}).
10208 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
10209 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
10210 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
10213 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
10214 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
10215 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
10218 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
10219 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
10220 Sort using the default sorting method
10221 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
10224 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
10225 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
10226 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
10227 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
10228 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
10231 If a prefix argument if given, the sort order is reversed.
10234 @node Finding the Parent
10235 @section Finding the Parent
10236 @cindex parent articles
10237 @cindex referring articles
10241 @kindex ^ (Summary)
10242 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
10243 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
10244 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
10245 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
10246 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
10247 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
10248 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
10249 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
10250 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
10252 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
10253 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
10254 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
10255 grandparent and the great-grandparent of the current article. If you say
10256 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the great-grandparent of the current
10259 @item A R (Summary)
10260 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
10261 @kindex A R (Summary)
10262 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
10263 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
10265 @item A T (Summary)
10266 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
10267 @kindex A T (Summary)
10268 Display the full thread where the current article appears
10269 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
10270 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
10271 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
10272 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
10273 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
10274 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
10276 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
10277 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i.e.,
10278 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
10279 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
10280 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
10281 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
10283 @item M-^ (Summary)
10284 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
10285 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
10287 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
10288 You can also ask Gnus for an arbitrary article, no matter what group it
10289 belongs to. @kbd{M-^} (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you
10290 for a @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read
10291 thingies that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}.
10292 You have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
10294 Gnus looks for the @code{Message-ID} in the headers that have already
10295 been fetched, but also tries all the select methods specified by
10296 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} if it is not found.
10299 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
10300 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
10301 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
10302 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
10303 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
10304 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
10307 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
10308 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
10309 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
10312 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
10313 then ask Google if that fails:
10316 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
10318 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
10321 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
10322 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
10323 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
10324 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
10325 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
10326 group. @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
10328 Fortunately, the special @code{nnregistry} back end is able to locate
10329 articles in any groups, regardless of their back end (@pxref{Registry
10330 Article Refer Method, fetching by @code{Message-ID} using the
10333 @node Alternative Approaches
10334 @section Alternative Approaches
10336 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
10337 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
10340 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
10341 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
10345 @node Pick and Read
10346 @subsection Pick and Read
10347 @cindex pick and read
10349 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
10350 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
10351 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
10352 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
10354 @findex gnus-pick-mode
10355 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
10356 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
10357 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
10358 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
10359 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
10361 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
10366 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
10367 Pick the article or thread on the current line
10368 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
10369 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
10370 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
10371 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
10372 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
10373 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
10376 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
10377 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
10378 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
10379 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
10383 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
10384 Unpick the thread or article
10385 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
10386 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
10387 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
10388 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
10389 the thread or article at that line.
10393 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
10394 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
10395 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
10396 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
10397 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
10398 will still be visible when you are reading.
10402 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
10403 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
10404 which is mapped to the same function
10405 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
10407 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
10410 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
10413 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
10414 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
10416 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
10417 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
10418 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
10420 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
10421 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
10422 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
10423 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
10424 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
10425 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
10426 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
10429 @node Binary Groups
10430 @subsection Binary Groups
10431 @cindex binary groups
10433 @findex gnus-binary-mode
10434 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
10435 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
10436 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
10437 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
10438 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
10439 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
10442 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
10443 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
10444 command, when you have turned on this mode
10445 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
10447 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
10448 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
10452 @section Tree Display
10455 @vindex gnus-use-trees
10456 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
10457 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
10458 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
10459 in the tree buffer.
10461 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
10464 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
10465 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
10466 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
10468 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
10469 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
10470 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
10471 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
10472 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
10474 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
10475 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
10476 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
10477 default is @code{modeline}.
10479 @item gnus-tree-line-format
10480 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
10481 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
10482 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
10483 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
10484 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
10485 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
10491 The name of the poster.
10493 The @code{From} header.
10495 The number of the article.
10497 The opening bracket.
10499 The closing bracket.
10504 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
10506 Variables related to the display are:
10509 @item gnus-tree-brackets
10510 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
10511 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
10512 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
10514 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
10515 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
10516 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
10518 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
10520 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10521 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10522 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
10523 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
10527 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
10528 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
10529 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
10530 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
10531 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
10532 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
10533 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
10534 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
10535 other windows displayed next to it.
10537 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
10541 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
10542 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
10545 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
10546 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
10547 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10548 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
10549 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
10550 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
10551 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
10555 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
10558 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
10568 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
10573 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
10574 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
10576 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
10578 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
10584 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
10585 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
10586 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
10589 (setq gnus-use-trees t
10590 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10591 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
10592 (gnus-add-configuration
10596 (summary 0.75 point)
10601 @xref{Window Layout}.
10604 @node Mail Group Commands
10605 @section Mail Group Commands
10606 @cindex mail group commands
10608 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
10609 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
10611 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
10612 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10617 @kindex B e (Summary)
10618 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
10619 @cindex expiring mail
10620 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
10621 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
10622 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
10623 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
10626 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
10627 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
10628 @cindex expiring mail
10629 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
10630 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
10631 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
10632 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
10635 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
10636 @cindex deleting mail
10637 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
10638 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
10639 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
10640 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
10641 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
10644 @kindex B m (Summary)
10646 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
10647 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
10648 Move the article from one mail group to another
10649 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10650 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10653 @kindex B c (Summary)
10655 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
10656 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
10657 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
10658 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10659 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10662 @kindex B B (Summary)
10663 @cindex crosspost mail
10664 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
10665 Crosspost the current article to some other group
10666 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
10667 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
10668 be properly updated.
10671 @kindex B i (Summary)
10672 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
10673 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
10674 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
10675 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10678 @kindex B I (Summary)
10679 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
10680 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
10681 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
10682 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10685 @kindex B r (Summary)
10686 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10687 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10688 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10689 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10690 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10691 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10692 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10693 (which is the default).
10697 @kindex B w (Summary)
10698 @kindex e (Summary)
10699 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10700 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10701 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10702 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10703 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10704 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10705 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10708 @kindex B q (Summary)
10709 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10710 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10711 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10712 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10715 @kindex B t (Summary)
10716 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10717 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10718 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10721 @kindex B p (Summary)
10722 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10723 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10724 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10725 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10726 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10727 article from your news server (or rather, from
10728 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10729 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10730 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10731 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10732 just not have arrived yet.
10735 @kindex K E (Summary)
10736 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10737 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10738 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10739 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10740 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10744 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10745 @cindex moving articles
10746 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
10747 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10748 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10749 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10750 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10751 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10752 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10755 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10756 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10757 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10758 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10762 @node Various Summary Stuff
10763 @section Various Summary Stuff
10766 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10767 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10768 * Summary Generation Commands::
10769 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10773 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10774 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10775 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10776 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10777 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10778 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10780 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10781 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10782 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10785 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10786 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10787 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10789 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10790 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10791 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10792 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10793 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10794 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10797 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10798 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10799 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10800 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10801 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10803 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10804 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10805 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10808 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10809 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10810 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10811 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10812 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10813 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10814 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
10815 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10816 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10817 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10819 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10820 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10821 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10822 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10823 list of articles to be selected.
10825 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10826 the list in one particular group:
10829 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10830 (if (string= group "some.group")
10831 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10835 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10836 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10837 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10838 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
10839 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
10842 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
10843 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
10844 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
10845 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
10846 variable will be used instead.
10848 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
10849 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
10850 buffers. For example:
10853 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10854 '(message-use-followup-to
10855 (gnus-visible-headers .
10856 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10859 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
10864 @node Summary Group Information
10865 @subsection Summary Group Information
10870 @kindex H d (Summary)
10871 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10872 Give a brief description of the current group
10873 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10874 rereading the description from the server.
10877 @kindex H h (Summary)
10878 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10879 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10880 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10883 @kindex H i (Summary)
10884 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10885 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10889 @node Searching for Articles
10890 @subsection Searching for Articles
10895 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10896 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10897 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10898 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10901 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10902 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10903 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10904 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10907 @kindex M-S (Summary)
10908 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward
10909 Repeat the previous search forwards
10910 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward}).
10913 @kindex M-R (Summary)
10914 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward
10915 Repeat the previous search backwards
10916 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward}).
10919 @kindex & (Summary)
10920 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10921 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10922 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10923 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10924 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10925 search backward instead.
10927 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10928 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10931 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10932 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10933 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10934 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10937 @node Summary Generation Commands
10938 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10943 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10944 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10945 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10948 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10949 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10950 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10951 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10954 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10955 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10956 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10957 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10960 @kindex Y t (Summary)
10961 @findex gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles
10962 Pull all ticked articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10963 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles}).
10968 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10969 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10975 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10976 @kindex A D (Summary)
10977 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10978 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10979 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10980 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10981 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10982 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10983 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10984 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10987 @vindex gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit
10988 The variable @code{gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit} controls what
10989 article should be selected after exiting a digest group. Valid values
10994 Select the next article.
10997 Select the next unread article.
10999 @item next-noselect
11000 Move the cursor to the next article. This is the default.
11002 @item next-unread-noselect
11003 Move the cursor to the next unread article.
11006 If it has any other value or there is no next (unread) article, the
11007 article selected before entering to the digest group will appear.
11010 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
11011 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
11012 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
11013 several documents into one biiig group
11014 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
11015 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
11016 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
11017 command understands the process/prefix convention
11018 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11021 @kindex C-t (Summary)
11022 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
11023 Toggle truncation of summary lines
11024 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
11025 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
11026 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
11029 @kindex = (Summary)
11030 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
11031 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
11032 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
11035 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
11036 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
11037 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11038 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
11041 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
11042 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
11043 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11044 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
11049 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
11050 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
11051 @cindex summary exit
11052 @cindex exiting groups
11054 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
11055 group and return you to the group buffer.
11062 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
11063 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
11064 @kindex q (Summary)
11065 @findex gnus-summary-exit
11066 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
11067 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
11068 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
11069 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
11070 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
11071 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
11072 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
11073 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
11074 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
11075 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
11076 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
11080 @kindex Z E (Summary)
11081 @kindex Q (Summary)
11082 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
11083 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
11084 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
11088 @kindex Z c (Summary)
11089 @kindex c (Summary)
11090 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
11091 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
11092 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
11093 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
11096 @kindex Z C (Summary)
11097 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
11098 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
11099 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
11102 @kindex Z n (Summary)
11103 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
11104 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
11105 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
11108 @kindex Z p (Summary)
11109 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group
11110 Mark all articles as read and go to the previous group
11111 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group}).
11115 @kindex Z R (Summary)
11116 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
11117 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
11118 Exit this group, and then enter it again
11119 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
11120 all articles, both read and unread.
11124 @kindex Z G (Summary)
11125 @kindex M-g (Summary)
11126 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
11127 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
11128 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
11129 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
11130 articles, both read and unread.
11133 @kindex Z N (Summary)
11134 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
11135 Exit the group and go to the next group
11136 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
11139 @kindex Z P (Summary)
11140 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
11141 Exit the group and go to the previous group
11142 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
11145 @kindex Z s (Summary)
11146 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
11147 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
11148 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
11149 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
11150 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
11153 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
11154 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
11155 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
11156 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
11158 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
11159 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
11160 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
11161 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
11162 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
11163 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
11164 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
11165 something like @file{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
11166 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
11167 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
11168 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
11169 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
11171 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
11173 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
11174 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
11175 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.)@: when you exit the
11176 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
11177 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
11178 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
11179 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
11180 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
11181 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
11184 @node Crosspost Handling
11185 @section Crosspost Handling
11189 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
11190 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
11191 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
11192 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
11193 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
11196 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
11197 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
11198 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
11199 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
11200 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
11202 @cindex cross-posting
11204 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
11205 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
11206 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
11207 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
11208 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
11209 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
11210 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
11211 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
11212 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
11213 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
11214 the cross reference mechanism.
11216 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
11217 @cindex overview.fmt
11218 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
11219 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
11220 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
11221 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
11222 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
11223 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
11226 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
11227 set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
11228 considerably. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
11232 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
11235 @node Duplicate Suppression
11236 @section Duplicate Suppression
11238 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
11239 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
11240 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
11241 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
11246 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
11247 is evil and not very common.
11250 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
11251 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
11254 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
11255 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
11258 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
11261 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
11262 well, but these four are the most common situations.
11264 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
11265 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
11266 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
11267 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
11268 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
11269 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
11270 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
11273 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
11274 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
11275 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
11276 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
11277 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
11278 saw the article in.
11281 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
11282 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
11283 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
11285 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
11286 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
11287 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
11288 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
11289 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
11290 session are suppressed.
11292 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
11293 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
11294 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
11295 suppression list. The default is 10000.
11297 @item gnus-duplicate-file
11298 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
11299 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
11300 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
11303 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
11304 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
11305 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
11306 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
11307 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
11308 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
11309 to you to figure out, I think.
11314 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
11315 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
11316 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
11321 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
11322 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG@. The Lisp interface
11323 to GnuPG included with Emacs is called EasyPG (@pxref{Top, ,EasyPG,
11324 epa, EasyPG Assistant user's manual}), but PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg,
11325 PGG Manual}), and Mailcrypt are also supported.
11328 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL@. OpenSSL 0.9.6
11329 or newer is recommended.
11333 The variables that control security functionality on reading/composing
11337 @item mm-verify-option
11338 @vindex mm-verify-option
11339 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
11340 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
11341 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
11343 @item mm-decrypt-option
11344 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
11345 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
11346 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
11347 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
11349 @item mm-sign-option
11350 @vindex mm-sign-option
11351 Option of creating signed parts. @code{nil}, use default signing
11352 keys; @code{guided}, ask user to select signing keys from the menu.
11354 @item mm-encrypt-option
11355 @vindex mm-encrypt-option
11356 Option of creating encrypted parts. @code{nil}, use the first
11357 public-key matching the @samp{From:} header as the recipient;
11358 @code{guided}, ask user to select recipient keys from the menu.
11361 @vindex mml1991-use
11362 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
11363 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but @code{pgg},
11364 and @code{mailcrypt} are also supported although
11365 deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available interface in
11369 @vindex mml2015-use
11370 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
11371 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but
11372 @code{pgg}, and @code{mailcrypt} are also supported
11373 although deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available
11374 interface in this order.
11378 By default the buttons that display security information are not
11379 shown, because they clutter reading the actual e-mail. You can type
11380 @kbd{K b} manually to display the information. Use the
11381 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types} and
11382 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} variables to control this
11383 permanently. @ref{MIME Commands} for further details, and hints on
11384 how to customize these variables to always display security
11387 @cindex snarfing keys
11388 @cindex importing PGP keys
11389 @cindex PGP key ring import
11390 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
11391 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
11392 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
11393 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
11394 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
11395 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
11396 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
11397 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
11398 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
11401 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
11404 This happens to also be the default action defined in
11405 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
11407 More information on how to set things for sending outgoing signed and
11408 encrypted messages up can be found in the message manual
11409 (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
11412 @section Mailing List
11413 @cindex mailing list
11416 @kindex A M (summary)
11417 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
11418 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
11419 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
11420 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
11423 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
11428 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
11429 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
11430 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
11433 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
11434 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
11435 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
11438 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
11439 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
11440 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
11444 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
11445 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
11446 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
11449 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
11450 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
11451 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
11454 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
11455 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
11456 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
11461 @node Article Buffer
11462 @chapter Article Buffer
11463 @cindex article buffer
11465 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
11466 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
11467 tell Gnus otherwise.
11470 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
11471 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
11472 * HTML:: Reading @acronym{HTML} messages.
11473 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
11474 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
11475 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
11479 @node Hiding Headers
11480 @section Hiding Headers
11481 @cindex hiding headers
11482 @cindex deleting headers
11484 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
11485 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
11487 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
11488 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
11489 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
11490 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
11491 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
11492 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
11493 @code{References}, etc.@: ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
11494 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
11495 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
11497 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
11501 @item gnus-visible-headers
11502 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
11503 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
11504 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
11505 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
11507 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
11508 the article and the subject, you'd say:
11511 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
11514 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
11517 @item gnus-ignored-headers
11518 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
11519 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
11520 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
11521 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
11522 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
11524 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
11525 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
11528 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
11531 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
11534 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
11535 variable will have no effect.
11539 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
11540 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
11541 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
11542 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
11543 the headers are to be displayed.
11545 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
11546 and then the subject, you might say something like:
11549 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
11552 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
11553 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
11555 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
11556 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
11557 You can hide further boring headers by setting
11558 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
11559 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
11560 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
11561 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
11564 These conditions are:
11567 Remove all empty headers.
11569 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
11570 @code{Newsgroups} header.
11572 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
11573 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
11576 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
11579 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11580 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
11582 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11583 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11585 Remove the @code{Cc} header if it only contains the address identical to
11586 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11588 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
11591 Remove the @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} header if it is very long.
11593 Remove all @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} headers if there are more than one.
11596 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
11599 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
11600 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
11603 This is also the default value for this variable.
11607 @section Using MIME
11608 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11610 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
11611 while people stand around yawning.
11613 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
11614 while all newsreaders die of fear.
11616 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
11617 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
11618 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
11620 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
11621 @findex gnus-display-mime
11622 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
11623 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
11624 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
11625 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
11627 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
11628 @acronym{MIME} button:
11631 @findex gnus-article-press-button
11632 @item RET (Article)
11633 @kindex RET (Article)
11634 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
11635 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
11636 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
11637 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
11638 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
11639 object is displayed inline.
11641 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
11642 @item M-RET (Article)
11643 @kindex M-RET (Article)
11645 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11646 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
11648 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
11650 @kindex t (Article)
11651 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
11652 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
11654 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
11656 @kindex C (Article)
11657 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11658 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
11660 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
11662 @kindex o (Article)
11663 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
11664 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
11666 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
11667 @item C-o (Article)
11668 @kindex C-o (Article)
11669 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
11670 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
11671 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
11672 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
11673 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
11674 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
11676 @findex gnus-mime-replace-part
11678 @kindex r (Article)
11679 Prompt for a file name, replace the @acronym{MIME} object with an
11680 external body referring to the file via the message/external-body
11681 @acronym{MIME} type. (@code{gnus-mime-replace-part}).
11683 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
11685 @kindex d (Article)
11686 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
11687 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
11688 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
11690 @c FIXME: gnus-auto-select-part should be documented here
11692 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
11694 @kindex c (Article)
11695 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
11696 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). If given a prefix, copy the raw contents
11697 without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual
11698 charset stuff (see @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in
11699 @ref{Paging the Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
11700 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
11701 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
11702 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11704 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
11706 @kindex p (Article)
11707 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
11708 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
11709 @file{.mailcap} file.
11711 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
11713 @kindex i (Article)
11714 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
11715 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as @samp{text/plain}. If given a prefix, insert
11716 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
11717 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
11718 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
11719 Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and @file{.bz2} are
11720 automatically decompressed depending on @code{jka-compr} regardless of
11721 @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed Files,, Accessing
11722 Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11724 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
11726 @kindex E (Article)
11727 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
11728 viewer is available, use an external viewer
11729 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
11731 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
11733 @kindex e (Article)
11734 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
11735 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
11737 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
11739 @kindex | (Article)
11740 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
11742 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
11744 @kindex . (Article)
11745 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
11746 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
11750 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
11751 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
11752 @acronym{MIME} manual.
11754 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
11755 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
11756 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
11757 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
11758 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
11759 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
11760 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
11761 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
11762 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
11764 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
11766 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
11770 @section @acronym{HTML}
11771 @cindex @acronym{HTML}
11773 Gnus can display @acronym{HTML} articles nicely formatted in the
11774 article buffer. There are many methods for doing that, but two of
11775 them are kind of default methods.
11777 If your Emacs copy has been built with libxml2 support, then Gnus uses
11778 Emacs' built-in, plain elisp Simple HTML Renderer @code{shr}
11779 @footnote{@code{shr} displays colors as declared in the @acronym{HTML}
11780 article but tries to adjust them in order to be readable. If you
11781 prefer more contrast, @xref{FAQ 4-16}.} which is also used by Emacs'
11782 browser EWW (@pxref{EWW, ,EWW, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
11784 If your Emacs copy lacks libxml2 support but you have @code{w3m}
11785 installed on your system, Gnus uses that to render @acronym{HTML} mail
11786 and display the results in the article buffer (@code{gnus-w3m}).
11788 For a complete overview, consult @xref{Display Customization, ,Display
11789 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. This section only
11790 describes the default method.
11793 @item mm-text-html-renderer
11794 @vindex mm-text-html-renderer
11795 If set to @code{shr}, Gnus uses its own simple @acronym{HTML}
11796 renderer. If set to @code{gnus-w3m}, it uses @code{w3m}.
11798 @item gnus-blocked-images
11799 @vindex gnus-blocked-images
11800 External images that have @acronym{URL}s that match this regexp won't
11801 be fetched and displayed. For instance, to block all @acronym{URL}s
11802 that have the string ``ads'' in them, do the following:
11805 (setq gnus-blocked-images "ads")
11808 This can also be a function to be evaluated. If so, it will be
11809 called with the group name as the parameter. The default value is
11810 @code{gnus-block-private-groups}, which will return @samp{"."} for
11811 anything that isn't a newsgroup. This means that no external images
11812 will be fetched as a result of reading mail, so that nobody can use
11813 web bugs (and the like) to track whether you've read email.
11815 Also @pxref{Misc Article} for @code{gnus-inhibit-images}.
11817 @item gnus-html-cache-directory
11818 @vindex gnus-html-cache-directory
11819 Gnus will download and cache images according to how
11820 @code{gnus-blocked-images} is set. These images will be stored in
11823 @item gnus-html-cache-size
11824 @vindex gnus-html-cache-size
11825 When @code{gnus-html-cache-size} bytes have been used in that
11826 directory, the oldest files will be deleted. The default is 500MB.
11828 @item gnus-html-frame-width
11829 @vindex gnus-html-frame-width
11830 The width to use when rendering HTML@. The default is 70.
11832 @item gnus-max-image-proportion
11833 @vindex gnus-max-image-proportion
11834 How big pictures displayed are in relation to the window they're in.
11835 A value of 0.7 (the default) means that they are allowed to take up
11836 70% of the width and height of the window. If they are larger than
11837 this, and Emacs supports it, then the images will be rescaled down to
11838 fit these criteria.
11840 @item gnus-article-show-cursor
11841 @vindex gnus-article-show-cursor
11842 If non-@code{nil}, display the cursor in the article buffer even when
11843 the article buffer isn't the current buffer.
11846 To use this, make sure that you have @code{w3m} and @code{curl}
11847 installed. If you have, then Gnus should display @acronym{HTML}
11852 @node Customizing Articles
11853 @section Customizing Articles
11854 @cindex article customization
11856 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
11857 exist. You can call these functions interactively
11858 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
11859 called automatically when you select the articles.
11861 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
11862 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
11863 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
11864 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
11866 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
11867 for sensible values.
11871 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
11874 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
11877 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
11880 @code{first}: Do this treatment on the first body part.
11883 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last body part.
11886 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
11890 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
11891 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
11892 regexps in the list.
11895 A list where the first element is not a string:
11897 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
11898 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
11899 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
11903 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
11907 A function: the function is called with no arguments and should return
11908 @code{nil} or non-@code{nil}. The current article is available in the
11909 buffer named by @code{gnus-article-buffer}.
11913 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
11914 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
11915 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
11916 considered to contain just a single part.
11918 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
11919 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
11920 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11921 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11922 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11923 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11924 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11927 @c Avoid sort of redundant entries in the same section for the printed
11928 @c manual, but add them in info to allow 'i gnus-treat-foo-bar RET' or
11930 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize
11931 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize-head
11932 @vindex gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences
11933 @vindex gnus-treat-overstrike
11934 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-cr
11935 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body
11936 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
11937 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
11938 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-pem
11939 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
11940 @vindex gnus-treat-unsplit-urls
11941 @vindex gnus-treat-wash-html
11942 @vindex gnus-treat-date
11943 @vindex gnus-treat-from-picon
11944 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-picon
11945 @vindex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
11946 @vindex gnus-treat-from-gravatar
11947 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-gravatar
11948 @vindex gnus-treat-display-smileys
11949 @vindex gnus-treat-body-boundary
11950 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
11951 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
11952 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
11953 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
11954 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
11955 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
11956 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
11957 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
11958 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
11959 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
11960 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
11961 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
11962 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
11963 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
11964 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
11965 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
11966 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
11967 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
11968 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
11969 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
11970 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
11973 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11974 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11975 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11976 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11979 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11980 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11982 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11984 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11985 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11986 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11987 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11988 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, first, integer)
11989 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11990 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11991 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11992 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11993 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11995 @xref{Article Washing}.
11997 @item gnus-treat-date (head)
11999 This will transform/add date headers according to the
12000 @code{gnus-article-date-headers} variable. This is a list of Date
12001 headers to display. The formats available are:
12005 Universal time, aka GMT, aka ZULU.
12008 The user's local time zone.
12011 A semi-readable English sentence.
12014 The time elapsed since the message was posted.
12016 @item combined-lapsed
12017 Both the original date header and a (shortened) elapsed time.
12020 The original date header.
12023 ISO8601 format, i.e., ``2010-11-23T22:05:21''.
12026 A format done according to the @code{gnus-article-time-format}
12031 @xref{Article Date}.
12033 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
12034 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
12035 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
12039 @item gnus-treat-from-gravatar (head)
12040 @item gnus-treat-mail-gravatar (head)
12044 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
12046 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
12048 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
12049 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
12050 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
12054 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12055 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
12059 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12060 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
12064 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12065 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
12066 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12067 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
12068 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12069 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
12070 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12071 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
12072 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12073 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
12074 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12075 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
12076 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12077 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
12078 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12079 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
12080 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12081 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
12082 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12083 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
12085 @xref{Article Hiding}.
12087 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12088 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
12089 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12090 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
12091 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12092 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
12094 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
12096 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12097 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
12098 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
12099 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12100 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
12102 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12103 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
12104 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12105 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
12106 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12107 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
12108 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12109 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
12111 @xref{Article Header}.
12116 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
12117 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
12118 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
12119 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
12120 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
12124 @node Article Keymap
12125 @section Article Keymap
12127 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
12128 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
12129 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
12130 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
12133 @kindex v (Article)
12134 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Article)
12135 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
12136 command or better use it as a prefix key.
12138 A few additional keystrokes are available:
12143 @kindex SPACE (Article)
12144 @findex gnus-article-next-page
12145 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
12146 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
12149 @kindex DEL (Article)
12150 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
12151 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
12152 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
12155 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
12156 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
12157 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
12158 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
12159 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
12162 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
12163 @findex gnus-article-mail
12164 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
12165 given a prefix, include the mail.
12168 @kindex s (Article)
12169 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
12170 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
12171 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
12174 @kindex ? (Article)
12175 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
12176 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
12177 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
12180 @kindex TAB (Article)
12181 @findex gnus-article-next-button
12182 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
12183 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
12186 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
12187 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
12188 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
12191 @kindex R (Article)
12192 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
12193 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
12194 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If the region is active,
12195 only yank the text in the region.
12198 @kindex S W (Article)
12199 @findex gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original
12200 Send a wide reply to the current article and yank the current article
12201 (@code{gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original}). If the region is
12202 active, only yank the text in the region.
12205 @kindex F (Article)
12206 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
12207 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
12208 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If the region is active,
12209 only yank the text in the region.
12216 @section Misc Article
12220 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
12221 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
12222 @cindex article buffers, several
12223 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
12224 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
12227 @item gnus-widen-article-window
12228 @cindex gnus-widen-article-window
12229 If non-@code{nil}, selecting the article buffer with the @kbd{h}
12230 command will ``widen'' the article window to take the entire frame.
12232 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
12233 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
12234 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12235 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
12236 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
12238 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
12239 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
12240 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
12241 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
12242 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
12243 the contents of the article buffer.
12245 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
12246 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
12247 Hook called in article mode buffers.
12249 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12250 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12251 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
12252 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
12254 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
12255 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
12256 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
12257 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
12259 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
12260 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
12261 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
12262 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
12263 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
12264 with two extensions:
12269 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
12270 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
12271 performed. The characters and their meaning:
12276 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
12279 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
12282 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
12283 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
12284 security status, i.e., good or bad signature.)
12287 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
12290 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
12293 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasized strings in the article buffer.
12298 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
12302 @vindex gnus-break-pages
12304 @item gnus-break-pages
12305 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
12306 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
12307 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
12308 paging will not be done.
12310 @item gnus-page-delimiter
12311 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
12312 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
12316 @cindex internationalized domain names
12317 @vindex gnus-use-idna
12318 @item gnus-use-idna
12319 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
12320 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
12321 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
12322 for how to compose such messages. This requires
12323 @uref{https://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
12324 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
12326 @vindex gnus-inhibit-images
12327 @item gnus-inhibit-images
12328 If this is non-@code{nil}, inhibit displaying of images inline in the
12329 article body. It is effective to images that are in articles as
12330 @acronym{MIME} parts, and images in @acronym{HTML} articles rendered
12331 when @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization,
12332 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) is
12333 @code{shr} or @code{gnus-w3m}.
12338 @node Composing Messages
12339 @chapter Composing Messages
12340 @cindex composing messages
12343 @cindex sending mail
12348 @cindex using s/mime
12349 @cindex using smime
12351 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
12352 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
12353 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
12354 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
12355 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
12356 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
12359 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
12360 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
12361 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
12362 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
12363 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
12364 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
12365 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
12366 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
12367 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
12370 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
12371 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
12377 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
12380 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
12381 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
12382 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
12383 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
12384 @code{nil} include all headers.
12386 @item gnus-add-to-list
12387 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
12388 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
12389 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
12391 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12392 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12393 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you for a confirmation when you are
12394 about to reply to news articles by mail. If it is @code{nil}, nothing
12395 interferes in what you want to do. This can also be a function
12396 receiving the group name as the only parameter which should return
12397 non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is needed, or a regular expression
12398 matching group names, where confirmation should be asked for.
12400 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
12401 press @kbd{R} anyway, this variable might be for you.
12403 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12404 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12405 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
12406 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
12407 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
12412 @node Posting Server
12413 @section Posting Server
12415 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
12416 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
12418 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
12420 It can be quite complicated.
12422 @vindex gnus-post-method
12423 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
12424 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
12425 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
12426 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
12427 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
12428 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
12429 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
12430 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
12431 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
12434 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
12437 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
12438 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
12439 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
12440 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
12442 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
12443 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
12445 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
12446 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
12449 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
12450 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
12452 @vindex message-send-mail-function
12453 When sending mail, Message invokes the function specified by the
12454 variable @code{message-send-mail-function}. Gnus tries to set it to a
12455 value suitable for your system.
12456 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Mail Variables,message,Message manual}, for more
12460 @node POP before SMTP
12461 @section POP before SMTP
12462 @cindex pop before smtp
12463 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
12465 Does your @acronym{ISP} use @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
12466 authentication? This authentication method simply requires you to
12467 contact the @acronym{POP} server before sending email. To do that,
12468 put the following lines in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
12471 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
12475 The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function does @acronym{POP}
12476 authentication according to the value of @code{mail-sources} without
12477 fetching mails, just before sending a mail. @xref{Mail Sources}.
12479 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
12480 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
12481 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
12482 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
12483 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
12484 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
12487 (setq mail-source-primary-source
12488 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12489 :password "secret"))
12493 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
12494 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
12497 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
12499 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
12500 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12501 :password "secret")))
12502 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
12506 @node Mail and Post
12507 @section Mail and Post
12509 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
12513 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
12514 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
12515 @cindex mailing lists
12517 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
12518 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
12519 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
12520 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
12521 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
12522 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
12523 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
12524 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
12525 still a pain, though.
12527 @item gnus-user-agent
12528 @vindex gnus-user-agent
12531 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
12532 User-Agent header. It can be a list of symbols or a string. Valid
12533 symbols are @code{gnus} (show Gnus version) and @code{emacs} (show Emacs
12534 version). In addition to the Emacs version, you can add @code{codename}
12535 (show (S)XEmacs codename) or either @code{config} (show system
12536 configuration) or @code{type} (show system type). If you set it to a
12537 string, be sure to use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
12541 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
12542 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
12543 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
12546 @findex ispell-message
12548 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
12551 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
12552 you're in, you could say something like the following:
12555 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
12559 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
12560 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
12562 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
12565 Modify to suit your needs.
12567 @vindex gnus-message-highlight-citation
12568 If @code{gnus-message-highlight-citation} is @code{t}, different levels of
12569 citations are highlighted like in Gnus article buffers also in message
12572 @node Archived Messages
12573 @section Archived Messages
12574 @cindex archived messages
12575 @cindex sent messages
12577 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
12578 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
12579 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
12580 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}. The
12581 default is @code{"sent.%Y-%m"}, which gives you one archive group per month.
12583 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
12584 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
12587 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
12588 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
12589 use to store sent messages. The default is @code{"archive"}, and when
12590 actually being used it is expanded into:
12593 (nnfolder "archive"
12594 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
12595 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
12596 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
12597 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
12601 @vindex gnus-update-message-archive-method
12602 Note: a server like this is saved in the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file first
12603 so that it may be used as a real method of the server which is named
12604 @code{"archive"} (that is, for the case where
12605 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} is set to @code{"archive"}) ever
12606 since. If it once has been saved, it will never be updated by default
12607 even if you change the value of @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
12608 afterward. Therefore, the server @code{"archive"} doesn't necessarily
12609 mean the @code{nnfolder} server like this at all times. If you want the
12610 saved method to reflect always the value of
12611 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, set the
12612 @code{gnus-update-message-archive-method} variable to a non-@code{nil}
12613 value. The default value of this variable is @code{nil}.
12616 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
12617 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
12618 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
12619 directory chosen, you could say something like:
12622 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
12623 '(nnfolder "archive"
12624 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
12625 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
12626 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
12629 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
12631 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
12632 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
12633 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
12635 This variable can be used to do the following:
12639 Messages will be saved in that group.
12641 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
12642 message will not be stored in the select method given by
12643 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
12644 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
12645 has the default value shown above. Then setting
12646 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
12647 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
12648 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
12651 @item a list of strings
12652 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
12654 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
12655 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
12658 No message archiving will take place.
12663 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
12665 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
12668 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
12670 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
12673 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
12675 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12676 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
12677 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
12678 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
12681 More complex stuff:
12683 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12684 '((if (message-news-p)
12689 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
12690 messages in one file per month:
12693 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12694 '((if (message-news-p)
12696 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
12699 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
12700 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
12701 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
12702 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
12703 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
12704 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
12705 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
12706 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
12707 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
12708 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
12711 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
12712 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
12713 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
12715 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
12716 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
12717 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
12718 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
12719 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
12720 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
12721 changed in the future.
12723 @item gnus-gcc-self-resent-messages
12724 @vindex gnus-gcc-self-resent-messages
12725 Like the @code{gcc-self} group parameter, applied only for unmodified
12726 messages that @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} (@pxref{Summary Mail
12727 Commands}) resends. Non-@code{nil} value of this variable takes
12728 precedence over any existing @code{Gcc} header.
12730 If this is @code{none}, no @code{Gcc} copy will be made. If this is
12731 @code{t}, messages resent will be @code{Gcc} copied to the current
12732 group. If this is a string, it specifies a group to which resent
12733 messages will be @code{Gcc} copied. If this is @code{nil}, @code{Gcc}
12734 will be done according to existing @code{Gcc} header(s), if any. If
12735 this is @code{no-gcc-self}, that is the default, resent messages will be
12736 @code{Gcc} copied to groups that existing @code{Gcc} header specifies,
12737 except for the current group.
12739 @item gnus-gcc-pre-body-encode-hook
12740 @vindex gnus-gcc-pre-body-encode-hook
12741 @itemx gnus-gcc-post-body-encode-hook
12742 @vindex gnus-gcc-post-body-encode-hook
12744 These hooks are run before/after encoding the message body of the Gcc
12745 copy of a sent message. The current buffer (when the hook is run)
12746 contains the message including the message header. Changes made to
12747 the message will only affect the Gcc copy, but not the original
12748 message. You can use these hooks to edit the copy (and influence
12749 subsequent transformations), e.g., remove MML secure tags
12750 (@pxref{Signing and encrypting}).
12755 @node Posting Styles
12756 @section Posting Styles
12757 @cindex posting styles
12760 All them variables, they make my head swim.
12762 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
12763 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
12764 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
12767 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
12768 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
12769 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
12770 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
12771 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
12776 (signature "Peace and happiness")
12777 (organization "What me?"))
12779 (signature "Death to everybody"))
12780 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
12781 (organization "Emacs is it")))
12784 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
12785 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
12786 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
12787 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
12788 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
12789 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
12790 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
12791 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
12793 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
12794 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
12795 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
12796 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
12797 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
12798 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
12799 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
12800 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
12801 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
12802 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
12803 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
12804 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
12805 said to @dfn{match}.
12807 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
12808 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
12809 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
12810 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
12811 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
12812 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
12813 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
12814 name can be one of:
12817 @item @code{signature}
12818 @item @code{signature-file}
12819 @item @code{x-face-file}
12820 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
12821 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
12825 Note that the @code{signature-file} attribute honors the variable
12826 @code{message-signature-directory}.
12828 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
12829 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
12830 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
12831 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
12832 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
12834 The attribute value can be a string, a function with zero arguments
12835 (the return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used)
12836 or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be
12837 used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
12838 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current
12839 article are available through the @code{message-reply-headers}
12840 variable, which is a vector of the following headers: number subject
12841 from date id references chars lines xref extra.
12843 In the case of a string value, if the @code{match} is a regular
12844 expression, or if it takes the form @code{(header @var{match}
12845 @var{regexp})}, a @samp{gnus-match-substitute-replacement} is proceed
12846 on the value to replace the positional parameters @samp{\@var{n}} by
12847 the corresponding parenthetical matches (see @xref{Replacing Match,,
12848 Replacing the Text that Matched, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference
12851 @vindex message-reply-headers
12853 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
12854 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
12855 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
12857 @findex message-mail-p
12858 @findex message-news-p
12860 So here's a new example:
12863 (setq gnus-posting-styles
12865 (signature-file "~/.signature")
12867 (x-face-file "~/.xface")
12868 (x-url (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
12869 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
12871 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
12872 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
12873 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
12874 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
12875 (signature my-news-signature))
12876 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
12877 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
12878 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
12879 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
12880 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
12881 ;; @r{Reply to a message from the same subaddress the message}
12882 ;; @r{was sent to.}
12883 ((header "x-original-to" "me\\(\\+.+\\)@@example.org")
12884 (address "me\\1@@example.org"))
12885 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
12886 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
12887 (address "user@@bar.foo")
12888 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
12889 ("X-Message-SMTP-Method" "smtp smtp.example.org 587")
12890 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
12892 (From (with-current-buffer gnus-article-buffer
12893 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
12895 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
12898 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
12899 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
12900 if you fill many roles.
12901 You may also use @code{message-alternative-emails} instead.
12902 @xref{Message Headers, ,Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
12904 Of particular interest in the ``work-mail'' style is the
12905 @samp{X-Message-SMTP-Method} header. It specifies how to send the
12906 outgoing email. You may want to sent certain emails through certain
12907 @acronym{SMTP} servers due to company policies, for instance.
12908 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Message Variables, message, Message Manual}.
12915 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
12916 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
12917 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
12918 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
12919 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
12921 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
12922 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
12923 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
12924 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
12925 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
12929 @vindex nndraft-directory
12930 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
12931 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
12932 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
12933 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
12934 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
12935 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
12937 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
12938 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
12939 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
12940 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
12941 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
12942 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
12943 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
12944 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
12945 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
12947 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
12948 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
12949 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
12950 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
12951 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
12952 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
12953 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
12954 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
12955 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
12956 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
12957 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
12958 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
12959 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
12960 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
12962 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
12963 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
12964 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
12966 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
12967 @kindex D e (Draft)
12968 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
12969 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
12970 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
12972 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
12975 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
12976 @kindex D s (Draft)
12977 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
12978 @kindex D S (Draft)
12979 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
12980 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
12981 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
12982 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
12983 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
12986 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
12987 @kindex D t (Draft)
12988 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
12989 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
12990 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
12992 Finally, if you want to delete a draft, use the normal @kbd{B DEL}
12993 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12996 @node Rejected Articles
12997 @section Rejected Articles
12998 @cindex rejected articles
13000 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
13001 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
13002 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
13003 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
13005 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
13006 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
13007 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
13008 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
13009 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
13011 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
13012 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
13013 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
13015 @node Signing and encrypting
13016 @section Signing and encrypting
13018 @cindex using s/mime
13019 @cindex using smime
13021 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
13022 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
13023 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
13024 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
13026 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
13027 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
13028 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
13029 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
13030 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
13031 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
13032 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
13033 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
13034 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
13035 automatically encrypted messages.
13037 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
13038 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
13039 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
13044 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
13045 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
13047 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13050 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
13051 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13053 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13056 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
13057 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13059 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13062 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
13063 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
13065 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13068 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
13069 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
13071 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13074 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
13075 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
13077 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13080 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
13081 @findex mml-unsecure-message
13082 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
13086 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
13088 @node Select Methods
13089 @chapter Select Methods
13090 @cindex foreign groups
13091 @cindex select methods
13093 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
13094 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
13095 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
13096 personal mail group.
13098 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
13099 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
13100 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g., @code{nntp},
13101 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
13102 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
13103 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
13105 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
13106 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
13108 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
13111 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
13112 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
13113 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
13114 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
13115 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
13117 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
13120 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
13121 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
13122 * Using IMAP:: Reading mail from @acronym{IMAP}.
13123 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
13124 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
13125 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
13126 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
13127 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
13128 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
13132 @node Server Buffer
13133 @section Server Buffer
13135 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
13136 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
13137 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
13138 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
13139 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
13140 back end represents a virtual server.
13142 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
13143 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
13144 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
13145 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
13147 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
13148 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
13149 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
13150 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
13151 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
13152 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
13153 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
13155 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
13156 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
13159 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
13160 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
13161 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
13162 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
13163 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
13164 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
13165 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
13168 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
13169 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
13172 @node Server Buffer Format
13173 @subsection Server Buffer Format
13174 @cindex server buffer format
13176 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
13177 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
13178 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
13179 variable, with some simple extensions:
13184 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
13187 The name of this server.
13190 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
13193 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
13196 Whether this server is agentized.
13199 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
13200 The mode line can also be customized by using the
13201 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
13202 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
13212 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
13215 @node Server Commands
13216 @subsection Server Commands
13217 @cindex server commands
13223 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Server)
13224 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
13225 command or better use it as a prefix key.
13229 @findex gnus-server-add-server
13230 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
13234 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
13235 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
13239 @findex gnus-server-show-server
13240 Show the definition of a server (@code{gnus-server-show-server}).
13243 @kindex SPACE (Server)
13244 @findex gnus-server-read-server
13245 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
13249 @findex gnus-server-exit
13250 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
13254 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
13255 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
13259 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
13260 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
13264 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
13265 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
13269 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
13270 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
13274 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
13275 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
13276 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
13281 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
13282 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
13283 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
13284 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
13288 @findex gnus-server-compact-server
13290 Compact all groups in the server under point
13291 (@code{gnus-server-compact-server}). Currently implemented only in
13292 nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes gaps between article numbers,
13293 hence getting a correct total article count.
13297 Some more commands for closing, disabling, and re-opening servers are
13298 listed in @ref{Unavailable Servers}.
13301 @node Example Methods
13302 @subsection Example Methods
13304 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
13307 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
13310 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
13316 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
13317 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
13320 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
13321 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
13323 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
13324 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
13328 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
13331 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
13332 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
13334 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
13335 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
13336 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
13340 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
13343 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
13346 Here's the method for a public spool:
13350 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
13351 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
13357 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
13358 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
13359 on the firewall machine and connect with
13360 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} from there to the
13361 @acronym{NNTP} server.
13362 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
13363 should probably look something like this:
13367 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)
13368 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
13369 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host"))
13372 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
13373 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
13374 configuration to the example above:
13377 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13380 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}. Here's an example for
13381 an indirect connection:
13384 (setq gnus-select-method
13386 (nntp-address "news.server.example")
13387 (nntp-via-user-name "intermediate_user_name")
13388 (nntp-via-address "intermediate.host.example")
13389 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13390 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches ("-C"))
13391 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)))
13394 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
13395 provide automatic authorization, of course.
13397 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
13398 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
13399 netcat connection to the news server as follows:
13403 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13404 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
13405 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
13409 @node Creating a Virtual Server
13410 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
13412 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
13413 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
13415 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
13416 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
13417 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
13419 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
13421 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
13422 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
13423 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
13424 will contain the following:
13434 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
13435 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
13438 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
13439 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
13440 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
13443 @node Server Variables
13444 @subsection Server Variables
13445 @cindex server variables
13446 @cindex server parameters
13448 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
13449 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
13450 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
13451 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
13452 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
13454 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
13455 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
13456 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
13457 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
13458 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
13459 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
13460 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
13461 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
13462 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
13466 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
13467 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
13468 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
13471 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
13473 @node Servers and Methods
13474 @subsection Servers and Methods
13476 Wherever you would normally use a select method
13477 (e.g., @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
13478 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
13479 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
13483 @node Unavailable Servers
13484 @subsection Unavailable Servers
13486 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
13487 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
13488 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
13489 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
13490 actually the case or not.
13492 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
13493 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
13494 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
13495 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
13496 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
13497 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
13498 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
13499 it will regard that server as ``down''.
13501 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
13502 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
13504 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
13505 with the following commands:
13511 @findex gnus-server-open-server
13512 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
13513 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
13517 @findex gnus-server-close-server
13518 Close the connection (if any) to the server
13519 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
13523 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
13524 Mark the current server as unreachable
13525 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}). This will effectively disable the
13529 @kindex M-o (Server)
13530 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
13531 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
13532 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
13535 @kindex M-c (Server)
13536 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
13537 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
13538 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
13542 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
13543 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
13544 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
13548 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
13549 Copy a server and give it a new name
13550 (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}). This can be useful if you have a
13551 complex method definition, and want to use the same definition towards
13552 a different (physical) server.
13556 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
13557 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
13563 @section Getting News
13564 @cindex reading news
13565 @cindex news back ends
13567 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
13568 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
13569 or it can read from a local spool.
13572 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
13573 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
13581 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
13582 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
13583 server as the, uhm, address.
13585 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
13586 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
13587 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
13588 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13590 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
13591 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
13592 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
13594 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
13599 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
13600 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
13601 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
13603 @cindex authentication
13604 @cindex nntp authentication
13605 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
13606 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
13607 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
13608 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
13609 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
13610 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
13611 present in this hook.
13613 @item nntp-authinfo-function
13614 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
13615 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
13616 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
13617 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
13618 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
13619 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
13620 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
13621 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
13622 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
13623 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
13624 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
13628 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
13631 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
13633 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
13634 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
13635 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
13636 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
13637 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
13638 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
13639 @samp{force} is explained below.
13643 Here's an example file:
13646 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
13647 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
13650 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
13651 have to be first, for instance.
13653 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
13654 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
13655 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
13656 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
13657 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
13658 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
13659 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
13661 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
13662 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
13668 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
13669 previously mentioned.
13671 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
13673 @item nntp-server-action-alist
13674 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
13675 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
13676 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
13677 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
13680 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
13681 '(("innd" (ding))))
13684 You probably don't want to do that, though.
13686 The default value is
13689 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
13690 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
13691 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
13694 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
13695 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
13697 @item nntp-maximum-request
13698 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
13699 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
13700 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
13701 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
13702 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
13703 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
13704 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
13706 @item nntp-connection-timeout
13707 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
13708 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
13709 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
13710 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
13711 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
13712 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
13713 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
13714 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
13715 no timeouts are done.
13717 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
13718 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
13719 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
13720 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
13723 @item nntp-xover-commands
13724 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
13725 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
13727 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
13728 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
13732 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
13733 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
13734 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
13735 if you have read articles 2--5000 in the group, and only want to read
13736 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
13737 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
13738 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
13739 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
13740 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
13741 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
13742 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
13744 @item nntp-xref-number-is-evil
13745 @vindex nntp-xref-number-is-evil
13746 When Gnus refers to an article having the @code{Message-ID} that a user
13747 specifies or having the @code{Message-ID} of the parent article of the
13748 current one (@pxref{Finding the Parent}), Gnus sends a @code{HEAD}
13749 command to the @acronym{NNTP} server to know where it is, and the server
13750 returns the data containing the pairs of a group and an article number
13751 in the @code{Xref} header. Gnus normally uses the article number to
13752 refer to the article if the data shows that that article is in the
13753 current group, while it uses the @code{Message-ID} otherwise. However,
13754 some news servers, e.g., ones running Diablo, run multiple engines
13755 having the same articles but article numbers are not kept synchronized
13756 between them. In that case, the article number that appears in the
13757 @code{Xref} header varies by which engine is chosen, so you cannot refer
13758 to the parent article that is in the current group, for instance. If
13759 you connect to such a server, set this variable to a non-@code{nil}
13760 value, and Gnus never uses article numbers. For example:
13763 (setq gnus-select-method
13765 (nntp-address "newszilla.example.com")
13766 (nntp-xref-number-is-evil t)
13770 The default value of this server variable is @code{nil}.
13772 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
13773 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
13774 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
13776 @item nntp-record-commands
13777 @vindex nntp-record-commands
13778 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
13779 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @file{*nntp-log*}
13780 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
13781 that doesn't seem to work.
13783 @item nntp-open-connection-function
13784 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
13785 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
13786 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
13787 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
13788 Seven pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped
13789 in two categories: direct connection functions (four pre-made), and
13790 indirect ones (three pre-made).
13792 @item nntp-never-echoes-commands
13793 @vindex nntp-never-echoes-commands
13794 Non-@code{nil} means the nntp server never echoes commands. It is
13795 reported that some nntps server doesn't echo commands. So, you may want
13796 to set this to non-@code{nil} in the method for such a server setting
13797 @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream} for
13798 example. The default value is @code{nil}. Note that the
13799 @code{nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands} variable
13800 overrides the @code{nil} value of this variable.
13802 @item nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
13803 @vindex nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
13804 List of functions that never echo commands. Add or set a function which
13805 you set to @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to this list if it does
13806 not echo commands. Note that a non-@code{nil} value of the
13807 @code{nntp-never-echoes-commands} variable overrides this variable. The
13808 default value is @code{(nntp-open-network-stream)}.
13810 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
13811 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
13812 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
13813 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
13814 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
13815 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
13816 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
13819 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
13822 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID@. This works for
13823 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
13825 @item nntp-server-list-active-group
13826 If @code{nil}, then always use @samp{GROUP} instead of @samp{LIST
13827 ACTIVE}. This is usually slower, but on misconfigured servers that
13828 don't update their active files often, this can help.
13834 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
13835 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
13836 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
13840 @node Direct Functions
13841 @subsubsection Direct Functions
13842 @cindex direct connection functions
13844 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
13845 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
13846 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
13847 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13850 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
13851 @item nntp-open-network-stream
13852 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
13853 remote system. If both Emacs and the server supports it, the
13854 connection will be upgraded to an encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS}
13855 connection automatically.
13858 The same as the above, but don't do automatic @acronym{STARTTLS} upgrades.
13860 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
13861 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
13862 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
13863 this you must have @uref{https://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GnuTLS}
13864 installed. You then define a server as follows:
13867 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
13868 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
13870 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
13871 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
13872 (nntp-port-number 563)
13873 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
13876 @c FIXME openssl s_client should be deprecated in favor of gnutls.
13877 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
13878 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
13879 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
13880 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL}
13882 @c Defunct URL, ancient package, so don't mention it.
13883 or @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay}
13885 installed. You then define a server as follows:
13888 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
13889 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
13891 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
13892 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
13893 (nntp-port-number 563)
13894 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
13897 @findex nntp-open-netcat-stream
13898 @item nntp-open-netcat-stream
13899 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server using the @code{netcat}
13900 program. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have
13901 the default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
13902 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
13903 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
13904 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
13908 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13909 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
13910 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
13913 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
13914 session, which is not a good idea.
13916 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
13917 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
13918 Like @code{nntp-open-netcat-stream}, but uses @code{telnet} rather than
13919 @code{netcat}. @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things
13920 like line-end-conversion, but sometimes netcat is simply
13921 not available. The previous example would turn into:
13925 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13926 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
13927 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
13928 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
13933 @node Indirect Functions
13934 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
13935 @cindex indirect connection functions
13937 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
13938 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13939 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
13940 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
13941 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
13942 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13945 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13946 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13947 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then uses @code{netcat} to connect
13948 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
13949 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
13951 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
13954 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13955 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13956 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13957 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13959 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13960 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13961 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13962 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
13963 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
13964 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections.
13967 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13968 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13969 Does essentially the same, but uses @code{telnet} instead of @samp{netcat}
13970 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
13971 @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things like
13972 line-end-conversion, but sometimes @code{netcat} is simply not available.
13974 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
13977 @item nntp-telnet-command
13978 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
13979 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
13980 intermediate host. The default is @samp{telnet}.
13982 @item nntp-telnet-switches
13983 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
13984 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
13985 @code{nntp-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{("-8")}.
13987 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13988 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13989 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13990 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13992 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13993 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13994 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13995 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. If you use @samp{ssh}, you may need to set
13996 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
13997 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
13998 host. The default is @code{nil}.
14001 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14002 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14004 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14005 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14006 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
14007 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
14009 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14012 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
14013 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
14014 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
14017 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
14018 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
14019 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14020 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
14022 @item nntp-via-user-password
14023 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
14024 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
14026 @item nntp-via-envuser
14027 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
14028 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
14029 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
14030 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
14032 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
14033 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
14034 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
14035 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
14039 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14040 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14044 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
14049 @item nntp-via-user-name
14050 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
14051 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
14053 @item nntp-via-address
14054 @vindex nntp-via-address
14055 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
14060 @node Common Variables
14061 @subsubsection Common Variables
14063 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
14064 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
14065 affected (the values of the following variables will be used as the
14066 default if each virtual @code{nntp} server doesn't specify those server
14067 variables individually).
14071 @item nntp-pre-command
14072 @vindex nntp-pre-command
14073 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
14074 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
14075 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}). This is
14076 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
14079 @vindex nntp-address
14080 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14082 @item nntp-port-number
14083 @vindex nntp-port-number
14084 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14085 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
14086 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
14087 than named ports (i.e., use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
14088 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
14089 not work with named ports.
14091 @item nntp-end-of-line
14092 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
14093 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
14094 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
14095 using a non native telnet connection function.
14097 @item nntp-netcat-command
14098 @vindex nntp-netcat-command
14099 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
14100 @samp{netcat}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
14101 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14104 @item nntp-netcat-switches
14105 @vindex nntp-netcat-switches
14106 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-netcat-command}. The default
14112 @subsection News Spool
14116 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
14117 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
14118 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
14121 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
14122 anything else) as the address.
14124 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
14125 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
14126 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
14127 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
14131 @item nnspool-inews-program
14132 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
14133 Program used to post an article.
14135 @item nnspool-inews-switches
14136 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
14137 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
14139 @item nnspool-spool-directory
14140 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
14141 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
14142 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
14144 @item nnspool-nov-directory
14145 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
14146 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
14147 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
14149 @item nnspool-lib-dir
14150 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
14151 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
14153 @item nnspool-active-file
14154 @vindex nnspool-active-file
14155 The name of the active file.
14157 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
14158 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
14159 The name of the group descriptions file.
14161 @item nnspool-history-file
14162 @vindex nnspool-history-file
14163 The name of the news history file.
14165 @item nnspool-active-times-file
14166 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
14167 The name of the active date file.
14169 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
14170 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
14171 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
14174 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14175 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14177 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
14178 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
14179 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
14186 @section Using IMAP
14189 The most popular mail backend is probably @code{nnimap}, which
14190 provides access to @acronym{IMAP} servers. @acronym{IMAP} servers
14191 store mail remotely, so the client doesn't store anything locally.
14192 This means that it's a convenient choice when you're reading your mail
14193 from different locations, or with different user agents.
14196 * Connecting to an IMAP Server:: Getting started with @acronym{IMAP}.
14197 * Customizing the IMAP Connection:: Variables for @acronym{IMAP} connection.
14198 * Client-Side IMAP Splitting:: Put mail in the correct mail box.
14199 * Support for IMAP Extensions:: Getting extensions and labels from servers.
14203 @node Connecting to an IMAP Server
14204 @subsection Connecting to an IMAP Server
14206 Connecting to an @acronym{IMAP} can be very easy. Type @kbd{B} in the
14207 group buffer, or (if your primary interest is reading email), say
14211 (setq gnus-select-method
14212 '(nnimap "imap.gmail.com"))
14215 You'll be prompted for a user name and password. If you grow tired of
14216 that, then add the following to your @file{~/.authinfo} file:
14219 machine imap.gmail.com login <username> password <password> port imap
14222 That should basically be it for most users.
14225 @node Customizing the IMAP Connection
14226 @subsection Customizing the IMAP Connection
14228 Here's an example method that's more complex:
14231 (nnimap "imap.gmail.com"
14232 (nnimap-inbox "INBOX")
14233 (nnimap-split-methods default)
14235 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14239 @item nnimap-address
14240 The address of the server, like @samp{imap.gmail.com}.
14242 @item nnimap-server-port
14243 If the server uses a non-standard port, that can be specified here. A
14244 typical port would be @code{"imap"} or @code{"imaps"}.
14246 @item nnimap-stream
14247 How @code{nnimap} should connect to the server. Possible values are:
14251 This is the default, and this first tries the @code{ssl} setting, and
14252 then tries the @code{network} setting.
14255 This uses standard @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
14258 Non-encrypted and unsafe straight socket connection, but will upgrade
14259 to encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS} if both Emacs and the server
14263 Encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS} over the normal @acronym{IMAP} port.
14266 If you need to tunnel via other systems to connect to the server, you
14267 can use this option, and customize @code{nnimap-shell-program} to be
14271 Non-encrypted and unsafe straight socket connection.
14272 @acronym{STARTTLS} will not be used even if it is available.
14276 @item nnimap-authenticator
14277 Some @acronym{IMAP} servers allow anonymous logins. In that case,
14278 this should be set to @code{anonymous}. If this variable isn't set,
14279 the normal login methods will be used. If you wish to specify a
14280 specific login method to be used, you can set this variable to either
14281 @code{login} (the traditional @acronym{IMAP} login method),
14282 @code{plain} or @code{cram-md5}.
14284 @item nnimap-expunge
14285 If non-@code{nil}, expunge articles after deleting them. This is always done
14286 if the server supports UID EXPUNGE, but it's not done by default on
14287 servers that doesn't support that command.
14289 @item nnimap-streaming
14290 Virtually all @acronym{IMAP} server support fast streaming of data.
14291 If you have problems connecting to the server, try setting this to
14294 @item nnimap-fetch-partial-articles
14295 If non-@code{nil}, fetch partial articles from the server. If set to
14296 a string, then it's interpreted as a regexp, and parts that have
14297 matching types will be fetched. For instance, @samp{"text/"} will
14298 fetch all textual parts, while leaving the rest on the server.
14300 @item nnimap-record-commands
14301 If non-@code{nil}, record all @acronym{IMAP} commands in the
14302 @samp{"*imap log*"} buffer.
14307 @node Client-Side IMAP Splitting
14308 @subsection Client-Side IMAP Splitting
14310 Many people prefer to do the sorting/splitting of mail into their mail
14311 boxes on the @acronym{IMAP} server. That way they don't have to
14312 download the mail they're not all that interested in.
14314 If you do want to do client-side mail splitting, then the following
14315 variables are relevant:
14319 This is the @acronym{IMAP} mail box that will be scanned for new
14320 mail. This can also be a list of mail box names.
14322 @item nnimap-split-methods
14323 Uses the same syntax as @code{nnmail-split-methods} (@pxref{Splitting
14324 Mail}), except the symbol @code{default}, which means that it should
14325 use the value of the @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable.
14327 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14328 Uses the same syntax as @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14330 @item nnimap-unsplittable-articles
14331 List of flag symbols to ignore when doing splitting. That is,
14332 articles that have these flags won't be considered when splitting.
14333 The default is @samp{(%Deleted %Seen)}.
14337 Here's a complete example @code{nnimap} backend with a client-side
14338 ``fancy'' splitting method:
14341 (nnimap "imap.example.com"
14342 (nnimap-inbox "INBOX")
14343 (nnimap-split-fancy
14344 (| ("MailScanner-SpamCheck" "spam" "spam.detected")
14345 (to "foo@@bar.com" "foo")
14350 @node Support for IMAP Extensions
14351 @subsection Support for IMAP Extensions
14354 @cindex X-GM-LABELS
14355 @cindex IMAP labels
14357 If you're using Google's Gmail, you may want to see your Gmail labels
14358 when reading your mail. Gnus can give you this information if you ask
14359 for @samp{X-GM-LABELS} in the variable @code{gnus-extra-headers}. For
14363 (setq gnus-extra-headers
14364 '(To Newsgroups X-GM-LABELS))
14367 This will result in Gnus storing your labels in message header
14368 structures for later use. The content is always a parenthesized
14369 (possible empty) list.
14374 @section Getting Mail
14375 @cindex reading mail
14378 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD@? But of
14382 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
14383 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
14384 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
14385 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
14386 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
14387 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
14388 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
14389 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
14390 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
14391 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
14392 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
14393 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
14394 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
14398 @node Mail in a Newsreader
14399 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
14401 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
14402 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
14403 of a culture shock.
14405 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
14406 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
14408 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
14409 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
14410 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
14411 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
14413 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
14415 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
14416 deleted? How awful!
14418 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
14419 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
14420 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
14421 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
14424 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
14425 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
14426 they want to treat a message.
14428 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
14429 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
14430 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
14431 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
14432 archived somewhere else.
14434 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
14435 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
14436 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
14437 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
14438 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
14440 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
14441 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
14442 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
14444 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
14445 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
14448 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
14449 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
14450 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
14451 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
14452 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
14454 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
14455 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
14456 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
14457 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
14458 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
14459 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
14463 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
14464 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
14466 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
14467 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
14468 and things will happen automatically.
14470 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
14471 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14474 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14477 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
14478 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
14479 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
14480 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
14481 like any other group.
14483 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
14486 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14487 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14488 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14492 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
14493 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
14494 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
14497 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
14498 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
14499 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
14502 @node Splitting Mail
14503 @subsection Splitting Mail
14504 @cindex splitting mail
14505 @cindex mail splitting
14506 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
14508 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
14509 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
14510 to be split into groups.
14513 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14514 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14515 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14516 ("mail.other" "")))
14519 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
14520 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
14521 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
14522 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
14523 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
14524 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
14525 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
14528 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
14532 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
14533 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14535 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14536 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
14537 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
14538 mail belongs in that group.
14540 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
14541 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
14542 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
14543 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
14544 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
14545 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
14546 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
14547 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
14548 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
14549 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
14551 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
14552 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
14553 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
14554 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
14555 thinks should carry this mail message.
14557 This variable can also be a fancy split method. For the syntax,
14558 see @ref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14560 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
14561 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
14562 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
14563 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
14565 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
14566 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
14567 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
14568 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
14569 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
14571 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
14574 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
14575 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
14576 links. If that's the case for you, set
14577 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
14578 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
14580 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
14581 @findex nnmail-split-history
14582 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
14583 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
14584 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
14585 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
14588 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
14589 Header lines longer than the value of
14590 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
14593 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
14594 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
14595 By default, splitting does not decode headers, so you can not match on
14596 non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. But it is useful if you want to match
14597 articles based on the raw header data. To enable it, set the
14598 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} variable to a non-@code{nil} value.
14599 In addition, the value of the @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
14600 variable is used for decoding non-@acronym{MIME} encoded string when
14601 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} is non-@code{nil}. The default
14602 value is @code{nil} which means not to decode non-@acronym{MIME} encoded
14603 string. A suitable value for you will be @code{undecided} or be the
14604 charset used normally in mails you are interested in.
14606 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14607 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
14608 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
14609 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
14610 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
14611 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
14612 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
14613 other kinds of entries.)
14615 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
14616 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
14617 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
14618 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
14619 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
14620 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
14621 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
14622 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
14623 month's rent money.
14627 @subsection Mail Sources
14629 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
14630 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
14631 maildir, for instance.
14634 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
14635 * Mail Source Functions::
14636 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
14637 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
14641 @node Mail Source Specifiers
14642 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
14644 @cindex mail server
14647 @cindex mail source
14649 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
14650 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
14655 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
14658 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
14659 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
14660 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
14663 The @code{mail-sources} is global for all mail groups. You can specify
14664 an additional mail source for a particular group by including the
14665 @code{group} mail specifier in @code{mail-sources}, and setting a
14666 @code{mail-source} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) specifying
14667 a single mail source. When this is used, @code{mail-sources} is
14668 typically just @code{((group))}; the @code{mail-source} parameter for a
14669 group might look like this:
14672 (mail-source . (file :path "home/user/spools/foo.spool"))
14675 This means that the group's (and only this group's) messages will be
14676 fetched from the spool file @samp{/user/spools/foo.spool}.
14678 The following mail source types are available:
14682 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
14688 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
14689 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
14690 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
14694 Script run before/after fetching mail.
14697 An example file mail source:
14700 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
14703 Or using the default file name:
14709 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
14710 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
14711 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
14712 mail spool while moving the mail.
14714 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
14718 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
14721 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
14725 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
14728 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
14730 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
14733 Alter this script to fit the @samp{movemail} and temporary
14734 file you want to use.
14738 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
14739 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
14740 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
14741 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
14742 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
14743 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
14744 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
14745 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
14746 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
14747 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
14749 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14750 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
14751 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
14752 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
14758 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
14762 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
14766 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
14767 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
14768 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
14769 predicate are considered.
14773 Script run before/after fetching mail.
14777 An example directory mail source:
14780 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
14785 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
14791 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
14792 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
14795 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (e.g.,
14796 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (e.g., @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
14797 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
14798 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
14799 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
14802 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
14806 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
14807 the user is prompted.
14810 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
14811 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
14814 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
14817 The valid format specifier characters are:
14821 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
14822 included in this string.
14825 The name of the server.
14828 The port number of the server.
14831 The user name to use.
14834 The password to use.
14837 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
14838 corresponding keywords.
14841 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
14842 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
14844 One popular way to use this is to set up an SSH tunnel to access the
14845 @acronym{POP} server. Here's an example:
14848 (pop :server "127.0.0.1"
14853 "nohup ssh -f -L 1234:pop.server:110 remote.host sleep 3600 &")
14857 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
14858 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
14861 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
14862 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
14863 mail should be moved to.
14865 @item :authentication
14866 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
14867 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
14871 Non-@code{nil} if the mail is to be left on the @acronym{POP} server
14872 after fetching. Only the built-in @code{pop3-movemail} program (the
14873 default) supports this keyword.
14875 If this is a number, leave mails on the server for this many days since
14876 you first checked new mails. In that case, mails once fetched will
14877 never be fetched again by the @acronym{UIDL} control. If this is
14878 @code{nil} (the default), mails will be deleted on the server right
14879 after fetching. If this is neither @code{nil} nor a number, all mails
14880 will be left on the server, and you will end up getting the same mails
14883 @vindex pop3-uidl-file
14884 The @code{pop3-uidl-file} variable specifies the file to which the
14885 @acronym{UIDL} data are locally stored. The default value is
14886 @file{~/.pop3-uidl}.
14888 Note that @acronym{POP} servers maintain no state information between
14889 sessions, so what the client believes is there and what is actually
14890 there may not match up. If they do not, then you may get duplicate
14891 mails or the whole thing can fall apart and leave you with a corrupt
14896 @findex pop3-movemail
14897 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
14898 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
14899 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
14901 Here are some examples for getting mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
14903 Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server, using the default user
14904 name, and default fetcher:
14910 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
14913 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
14914 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
14917 Leave mails on the server for 14 days:
14920 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
14921 :user "user-name" :password "secret"
14925 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
14928 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
14932 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
14933 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
14934 contains exactly one mail.
14940 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
14941 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
14944 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
14945 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
14947 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
14948 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
14949 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
14952 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
14953 from locking problems).
14957 Two example maildir mail sources:
14960 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
14961 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
14965 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
14970 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
14971 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (i.e.,
14972 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
14973 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
14974 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{Using IMAP}, for more information.
14980 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
14981 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
14984 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
14985 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
14988 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
14992 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
14996 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
14997 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
14998 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
14999 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
15001 @item :authentication
15002 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
15003 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
15004 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
15005 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
15008 When using the @samp{shell} :stream, the contents of this variable is
15009 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
15010 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
15016 Make sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g.,
15017 don't forget to redirect the error output to the void. The valid format
15018 specifier characters are:
15022 The name of the server.
15025 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
15028 The port number of the server.
15031 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15032 corresponding keywords.
15035 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
15036 which normally is the mailbox which receives incoming mail. Instead of
15037 a single mailbox, this can be a list of mailboxes to fetch mail from.
15040 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
15041 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
15042 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
15043 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
15044 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
15045 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
15048 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
15049 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
15050 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
15051 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
15054 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
15055 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
15059 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
15062 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
15064 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
15068 Get the actual mail source from the @code{mail-source} group parameter,
15069 @xref{Group Parameters}.
15074 @item Common Keywords
15075 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
15081 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
15082 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
15087 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
15092 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
15093 useful when you use local mail and news.
15098 @node Mail Source Functions
15099 @subsubsection Function Interface
15101 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
15102 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
15103 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
15104 consider the following mail-source setting:
15107 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
15108 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
15111 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
15112 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
15113 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
15114 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
15115 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
15117 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
15120 @node Mail Source Customization
15121 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
15123 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
15124 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
15128 @item mail-source-crash-box
15129 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
15130 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
15131 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
15134 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
15135 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
15136 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
15137 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
15138 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
15139 (the deletion will only happen when receiving new mail). You may also
15140 set @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
15141 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
15142 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{10} in alpha Gnusae
15143 and @code{2} in released Gnusae. @xref{Gnus Development}.
15145 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15146 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15147 If non-@code{nil}, ask for confirmation before deleting old incoming
15148 files. This variable only applies when
15149 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
15151 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
15152 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
15153 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
15155 @item mail-source-directory
15156 @vindex mail-source-directory
15157 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
15158 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
15159 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
15160 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
15162 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15163 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15164 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
15165 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
15166 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
15167 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
15170 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
15171 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
15172 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is @code{#o600}.
15174 @item mail-source-movemail-program
15175 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
15176 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
15177 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
15182 @node Fetching Mail
15183 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
15185 @vindex mail-sources
15186 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
15187 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
15188 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
15190 If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to
15191 fetch mail by themselves.
15193 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
15194 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
15199 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15200 :password "secret")))
15203 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
15207 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
15208 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15211 :password "secret")))
15215 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
15216 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
15217 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
15218 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
15219 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
15220 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
15224 @node Mail Back End Variables
15225 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
15227 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
15231 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15232 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15233 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
15234 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
15236 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
15237 @item nnmail-split-hook
15238 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
15239 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
15240 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
15241 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
15242 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
15243 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
15244 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
15245 in the buffer will show up in any files.
15246 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
15249 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15250 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15251 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15252 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15253 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
15254 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
15255 starting to handle the new mail) and
15256 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
15257 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
15258 default file modes the new mail files get:
15261 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15262 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes #o700)))
15264 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15265 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes #o775)))
15268 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
15269 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
15270 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
15271 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
15272 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
15273 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
15274 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
15276 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
15277 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
15278 @findex delete-file
15279 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
15281 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15282 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15283 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
15284 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
15285 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
15287 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15288 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15289 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
15290 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
15291 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
15293 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
15294 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
15295 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
15300 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
15301 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
15302 @cindex mail splitting
15303 @cindex fancy mail splitting
15305 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
15306 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
15307 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
15308 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
15309 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
15310 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
15312 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
15315 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
15316 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
15317 ;; @r{from real errors.}
15318 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
15320 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
15321 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
15322 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
15323 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
15324 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
15325 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
15326 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
15327 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
15328 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
15329 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
15330 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
15331 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
15332 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
15333 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
15334 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
15335 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
15336 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
15340 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
15341 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
15342 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
15347 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
15348 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
15350 @c Don't fold this line.
15351 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split} [@var{invert-partial}])
15352 The split can be a list containing at least three elements. If the
15353 first element @var{field} (a regexp matching a header) contains
15354 @var{value} (also a regexp) then store the message as specified by
15357 If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
15358 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
15359 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
15360 @var{split} is processed.
15362 The last element @var{invert-partial} is optional. If it is
15363 non-@code{nil}, the match-partial-words behavior controlled by the
15364 variable @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} (see below) is
15365 be inverted. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15367 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
15368 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
15369 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
15370 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
15371 stored in one or more groups.
15373 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
15374 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
15375 process all @var{split}s in the list.
15378 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
15379 this message. Use with extreme caution.
15381 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
15382 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
15383 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
15384 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
15387 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
15388 body of the messages:
15391 (defun split-on-body ()
15395 (goto-char (point-min))
15396 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
15400 The buffer is narrowed to the header of the message in question when
15401 @var{function} is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called
15402 after @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
15403 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
15404 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
15405 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
15406 (@pxref{Client-Side IMAP Splitting}).
15408 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
15409 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
15410 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
15411 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
15412 should return a split.
15415 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
15419 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
15421 Normally, @var{value} in these splits must match a complete @emph{word}
15422 according to the fundamental mode syntax table. In other words, all
15423 @var{value}'s will be implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers,
15424 which are word delimiters. Therefore, if you use the following split,
15428 (any "joe" "joemail")
15432 messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will normally not be filed
15433 in @samp{joemail}. If you want to alter this behavior, you can use any
15434 of the following three ways:
15438 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
15439 You can set the @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} variable
15440 to non-@code{nil} in order to ignore word boundaries and instead the
15441 match becomes more like a grep. This variable controls whether partial
15442 words are matched during fancy splitting. The default value is
15445 Note that it influences all @var{value}'s in your split rules.
15448 @var{value} beginning with @code{.*} ignores word boundaries in front of
15449 a word. Similarly, if @var{value} ends with @code{.*}, word boundaries
15450 in the rear of a word will be ignored. For example, the @var{value}
15451 @code{"@@example\\.com"} does not match @samp{foo@@example.com} but
15452 @code{".*@@example\\.com"} does.
15455 You can set the @var{invert-partial} flag in your split rules of the
15456 @samp{(@var{field} @var{value} @dots{})} types, aforementioned in this
15457 section. If the flag is set, word boundaries on both sides of a word
15458 are ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15459 @code{nil}. Contrarily, if the flag is set, word boundaries are not
15460 ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15461 non-@code{nil}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15464 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
15465 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
15466 they are expanded as specified by the variable
15467 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
15468 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
15469 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
15470 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
15474 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
15476 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
15477 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
15479 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
15482 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
15483 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
15484 when all this splitting is performed.
15486 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
15487 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
15488 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
15491 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
15494 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
15495 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
15497 If the string contains the element @samp{\\&}, then the previously
15498 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
15499 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
15500 groupings 1 through 9.
15502 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
15503 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
15504 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
15505 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
15506 groups when users send to an address using different case
15507 (i.e., mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
15510 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
15511 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
15512 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
15513 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
15514 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
15515 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
15516 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
15517 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
15518 it once per thread.
15520 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
15521 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
15522 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
15523 using the colon feature, like so:
15525 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
15526 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
15528 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
15529 ;; @r{other splits go here}
15533 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
15534 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
15535 in the file specified by the variable
15536 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
15537 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
15538 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
15539 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
15540 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
15541 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
15542 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
15543 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
15544 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
15545 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
15546 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
15547 300 kBytes in size.)
15548 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15549 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
15550 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
15551 messages goes into the new group.
15553 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
15554 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
15555 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
15556 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
15557 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
15558 ``outgoing'' group.
15561 @node Group Mail Splitting
15562 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
15563 @cindex mail splitting
15564 @cindex group mail splitting
15566 @findex gnus-group-split
15567 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
15568 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
15569 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
15570 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
15571 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
15572 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
15573 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
15574 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
15576 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
15577 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
15578 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
15579 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
15581 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
15582 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
15583 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
15584 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
15585 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
15586 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
15587 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
15589 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
15590 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
15591 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
15592 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
15593 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
15594 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
15595 @code{gnus-group-split}.
15597 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
15598 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
15599 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
15600 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
15601 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
15602 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
15603 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
15604 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
15605 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
15606 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
15607 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
15608 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
15609 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
15611 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
15616 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
15617 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
15619 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
15620 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
15621 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
15622 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
15624 ((split-spec . catch-all))
15627 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
15628 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
15629 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
15632 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
15633 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
15634 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
15638 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
15639 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
15640 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15644 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
15647 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
15648 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
15649 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
15650 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
15651 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
15652 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
15653 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
15654 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
15655 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
15657 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
15658 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
15659 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
15660 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
15661 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
15662 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
15663 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
15664 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
15665 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
15667 @findex gnus-group-split-update
15668 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
15669 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
15670 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
15671 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
15672 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
15675 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
15678 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
15679 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
15680 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
15681 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
15682 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
15685 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
15686 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
15687 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
15688 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
15690 @node Incorporating Old Mail
15691 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
15692 @cindex incorporating old mail
15693 @cindex import old mail
15695 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
15696 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
15697 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
15700 Doing so can be quite easy.
15702 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
15703 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
15704 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
15705 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
15706 your @code{nnml} groups.
15712 Go to the group buffer.
15715 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
15716 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15719 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
15722 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
15723 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15726 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
15727 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
15730 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
15731 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
15732 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
15733 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
15734 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
15736 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
15737 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
15738 using the new mail back end.
15741 @node Expiring Mail
15742 @subsection Expiring Mail
15743 @cindex article expiry
15744 @cindex expiring mail
15746 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
15747 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
15748 different approach to mail reading.
15750 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
15751 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
15752 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
15753 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
15754 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
15755 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
15758 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
15759 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
15760 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
15761 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
15762 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
15763 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
15764 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
15765 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
15766 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
15768 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-marks
15769 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
15770 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
15771 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
15772 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
15773 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
15774 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
15775 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} (and so on) are considered
15776 expirable. @code{gnus-auto-expirable-marks} has the full list of
15779 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
15780 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
15781 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
15782 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
15783 into its own group.)
15785 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
15786 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
15787 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
15788 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
15789 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
15790 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
15791 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
15792 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
15795 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
15796 Groups that match the regular expression
15797 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
15798 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
15799 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
15801 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
15802 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
15803 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
15804 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
15805 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15807 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
15809 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
15810 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
15811 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
15814 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
15815 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
15816 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
15817 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
15818 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
15820 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
15821 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
15824 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
15825 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
15828 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
15829 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
15831 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
15832 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
15833 don't really mix very well.
15835 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
15836 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
15837 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
15838 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
15841 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
15842 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
15843 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
15844 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
15847 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15849 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15851 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
15853 ((string= group "mail.junk")
15855 ((string= group "important")
15861 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
15862 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
15864 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
15865 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
15866 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
15869 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
15870 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
15872 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
15873 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
15874 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
15875 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
15876 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
15877 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
15878 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
15879 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
15880 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
15881 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
15882 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
15883 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
15884 name or @code{delete}.
15886 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
15888 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
15891 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
15892 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
15893 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
15894 expire mail to groups according to the variable
15895 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
15898 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
15899 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
15900 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
15901 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
15902 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
15905 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
15906 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
15907 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
15908 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
15909 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
15910 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
15912 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
15913 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
15914 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
15915 easier for procmail users.
15917 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
15918 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
15919 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
15920 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
15921 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
15922 caution. Even more dangerous is the
15923 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
15924 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
15925 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
15926 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
15927 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
15928 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
15929 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
15932 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
15934 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
15935 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
15936 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
15937 auto-expire turned on.
15939 @vindex gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable
15940 The expirable marks of articles will be removed when copying or moving
15941 them to a group in which auto-expire is not turned on. This is for
15942 preventing articles from being expired unintentionally. On the other
15943 hand, to a group that has turned auto-expire on, the expirable marks of
15944 articles that are copied or moved will not be changed by default. I.e.,
15945 when copying or moving to such a group, articles that were expirable
15946 will be left expirable and ones that were not expirable will not be
15947 marked as expirable. So, even though in auto-expire groups, some
15948 articles will never get expired (unless you read them again). If you
15949 don't side with that behavior that unexpirable articles may be mixed
15950 into auto-expire groups, you can set
15951 @code{gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable} to a
15952 non-@code{nil} value. In that case, articles that have been read will
15953 be marked as expirable automatically when being copied or moved to a
15954 group that has auto-expire turned on. The default value is @code{nil}.
15958 @subsection Washing Mail
15959 @cindex mail washing
15960 @cindex list server brain damage
15961 @cindex incoming mail treatment
15963 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
15964 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
15965 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
15966 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
15967 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
15968 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
15970 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
15971 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
15972 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
15975 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
15976 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
15977 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
15978 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
15981 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
15982 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
15983 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
15984 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
15985 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
15988 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
15989 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
15990 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
15991 Emacs running on MS machines.
15995 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
15996 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
15997 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
15998 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
16001 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16002 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16003 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
16004 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
16006 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
16007 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
16008 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
16009 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
16010 into a feature by documenting it.)
16012 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16013 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16014 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
16015 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
16016 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
16017 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
16018 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
16021 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
16022 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
16025 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
16026 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
16029 This can also be done non-destructively with
16030 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
16032 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
16033 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
16034 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
16036 @item nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16037 @findex nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16038 @c @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
16041 Some mail user agents (e.g., Eudora and Pegasus) produce broken
16042 @code{References} headers, but correct @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This
16043 function will get rid of the @code{References} header if the headers
16044 contain a line matching the regular expression
16045 @code{nnmail-broken-references-mailers}.
16049 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16050 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16051 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
16055 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
16056 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
16057 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
16064 @subsection Duplicates
16066 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
16067 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
16068 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
16069 @cindex duplicate mails
16070 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
16071 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
16072 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
16073 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s:
16074 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
16075 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
16076 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
16077 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
16078 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
16079 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
16080 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
16081 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
16082 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
16084 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
16085 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
16086 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
16087 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
16089 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
16092 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
16093 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
16097 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
16098 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
16099 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
16100 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
16101 (any mail "mail.misc")
16102 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16108 (setq nnmail-split-methods
16109 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
16110 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16114 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
16115 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
16116 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
16117 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
16118 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
16121 @node Not Reading Mail
16122 @subsection Not Reading Mail
16124 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
16125 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
16126 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
16128 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
16129 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
16130 mail, which should help.
16132 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16133 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16134 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16135 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16136 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16137 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
16138 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old (pre-Emacs
16139 23) Rmail file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
16140 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
16141 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
16142 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
16144 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
16145 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
16149 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
16150 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
16152 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
16153 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
16154 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
16156 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
16157 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
16158 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
16162 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
16163 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
16164 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
16165 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
16166 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
16167 * nnmaildir Group Parameters::
16168 * Article Identification::
16171 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
16172 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
16177 @node Unix Mail Box
16178 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
16180 @cindex unix mail box
16182 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16183 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16184 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
16185 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
16186 which group it belongs in.
16188 Virtual server settings:
16191 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
16192 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16193 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
16196 @item nnmbox-active-file
16197 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16198 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
16199 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
16201 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
16202 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16203 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
16204 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
16209 @subsubsection Babyl
16212 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16213 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16214 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box to store mail.
16215 @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail article to say which
16216 group it belongs in.
16218 Virtual server settings:
16221 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
16222 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16223 The name of the Babyl file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
16225 @item nnbabyl-active-file
16226 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16227 The name of the active file for the Babyl file. The default is
16228 @file{~/.rmail-active}
16230 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16231 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16232 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
16238 @subsubsection Mail Spool
16240 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
16242 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
16243 format. It should be used with some caution.
16245 @vindex nnml-directory
16246 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
16247 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
16248 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
16249 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
16251 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
16254 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
16255 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
16256 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
16257 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
16258 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
16259 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
16260 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
16261 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
16263 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
16264 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
16265 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
16266 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
16268 Virtual server settings:
16271 @item nnml-directory
16272 @vindex nnml-directory
16273 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
16274 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
16277 @item nnml-active-file
16278 @vindex nnml-active-file
16279 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
16280 @file{~/Mail/active}.
16282 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
16283 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
16284 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16285 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
16287 @item nnml-get-new-mail
16288 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16289 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
16292 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
16293 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
16294 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16295 default is @code{nil}.
16297 @item nnml-nov-file-name
16298 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
16299 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
16301 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16302 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16303 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
16305 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
16306 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
16307 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
16308 files. This requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be enabled
16309 (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
16310 If the value of @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is a string, it is used
16311 as the file extension specifying the compression program. You can set it
16312 to @samp{.bz2} if your Emacs supports it. A value of @code{t} is
16313 equivalent to @samp{.gz}.
16315 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16316 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16317 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
16318 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
16319 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil}.
16323 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
16324 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
16325 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
16326 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
16327 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
16328 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
16329 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
16334 @subsubsection MH Spool
16336 @cindex mh-e mail spool
16338 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
16339 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
16340 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
16341 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
16344 Virtual server settings:
16347 @item nnmh-directory
16348 @vindex nnmh-directory
16349 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
16350 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
16353 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
16354 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16355 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
16359 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
16360 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
16361 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
16362 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
16363 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
16364 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
16365 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
16370 @subsubsection Maildir
16374 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
16375 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
16376 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
16377 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
16378 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
16381 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
16382 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
16383 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
16384 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
16385 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
16386 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
16387 that appear as group in Gnus.
16389 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
16390 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
16391 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
16393 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
16394 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
16395 another, and you will keep your marks.
16397 Virtual server settings:
16401 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
16402 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
16403 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
16404 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
16405 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
16406 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
16407 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
16408 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
16409 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
16410 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
16412 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
16413 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
16414 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
16415 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
16416 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
16417 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
16418 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
16419 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
16420 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
16421 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
16424 @item target-prefix
16425 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
16426 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
16427 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
16430 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
16431 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
16432 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
16433 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
16434 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
16435 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
16436 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
16437 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
16438 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
16440 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
16441 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
16442 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
16443 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
16444 symlinks pointing to them will be).
16446 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
16447 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
16448 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
16449 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
16450 @code{force} argument.
16452 @item directory-files
16453 This should be a function with the same interface as
16454 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
16455 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
16456 parameter is optional; the default is
16457 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
16458 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
16459 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
16460 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
16461 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
16462 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
16465 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
16466 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
16467 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
16468 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
16469 value is @code{nil}.
16471 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
16472 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
16473 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
16474 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
16475 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
16478 @node nnmaildir Group Parameters
16479 @subsubsection Group parameters
16481 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
16482 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
16483 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
16484 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
16485 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
16486 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
16489 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
16490 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
16491 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
16492 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
16493 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
16494 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
16495 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
16496 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
16497 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
16501 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
16502 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
16503 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
16504 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
16505 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
16506 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
16507 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
16508 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
16509 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
16510 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
16511 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
16512 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
16513 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
16516 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
16518 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
16520 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
16521 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
16522 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
16523 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
16524 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
16525 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
16526 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
16527 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
16528 article. So that form can refer to
16529 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
16530 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
16531 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
16532 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
16535 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
16536 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
16537 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
16538 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
16539 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
16540 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
16541 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
16542 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
16543 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
16544 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
16545 contain extra copies of the articles.
16547 @item directory-files
16548 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
16549 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
16550 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
16551 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
16553 @item distrust-Lines:
16554 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
16555 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
16556 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
16559 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
16560 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16561 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
16562 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
16563 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
16564 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16567 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
16568 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16569 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
16570 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
16571 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
16572 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
16573 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16575 @item nov-cache-size
16576 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
16577 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
16578 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
16579 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
16580 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
16581 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
16582 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
16583 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
16584 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
16585 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
16586 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
16589 @node Article Identification
16590 @subsubsection Article identification
16591 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
16592 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
16593 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
16594 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
16595 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
16596 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
16597 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
16598 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
16599 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
16600 request the article in the summary buffer.
16603 @subsubsection NOV data
16604 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
16605 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
16606 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
16607 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
16608 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
16609 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
16610 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
16611 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
16612 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
16613 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
16614 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
16616 @node Article Marks
16617 @subsubsection Article marks
16618 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
16619 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
16620 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16621 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
16622 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16623 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
16624 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
16625 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
16627 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
16628 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
16629 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
16630 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
16631 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
16632 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
16633 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
16634 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
16635 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
16639 @subsubsection Mail Folders
16641 @cindex mbox folders
16642 @cindex mail folders
16644 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
16645 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
16646 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
16647 numbers and arrival dates.
16649 Virtual server settings:
16652 @item nnfolder-directory
16653 @vindex nnfolder-directory
16654 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
16655 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
16656 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
16658 @item nnfolder-active-file
16659 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
16660 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
16662 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16663 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16664 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16665 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
16667 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
16668 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16669 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
16670 default is @code{t}
16672 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16673 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16674 @cindex backup files
16675 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
16676 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
16677 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
16678 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
16681 (defun turn-off-backup ()
16682 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
16684 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
16687 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
16688 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
16689 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
16690 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
16691 extract some information from it before removing it.
16693 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
16694 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
16695 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16696 default is @code{nil}.
16698 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
16699 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
16700 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
16702 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
16703 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
16704 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
16705 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
16710 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
16711 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
16712 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
16713 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
16714 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
16715 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
16718 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
16719 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
16721 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
16722 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
16723 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
16724 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
16725 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
16727 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
16728 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
16729 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
16730 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
16731 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
16732 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
16733 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
16734 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
16737 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
16738 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
16739 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
16740 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
16745 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-defined
16746 format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
16747 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
16748 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
16749 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
16750 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
16751 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
16752 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
16753 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
16754 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
16755 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
16756 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
16757 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
16762 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
16763 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
16764 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
16765 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
16766 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
16767 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
16768 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
16769 Rmail was Emacs's first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
16770 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
16771 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
16772 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
16773 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
16774 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
16775 course, and is still maintained within Emacs. Since Emacs 23, it
16776 uses standard mbox format rather than Babyl.
16778 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
16779 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
16784 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
16785 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
16786 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
16787 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
16788 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
16789 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
16790 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
16791 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
16792 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
16793 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
16794 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
16795 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
16796 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
16797 provided by the active file and overviews.
16799 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
16800 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
16801 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
16802 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
16803 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
16806 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
16807 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
16812 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
16813 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
16814 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
16815 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
16816 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
16817 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
16818 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
16822 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
16823 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
16824 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
16825 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
16826 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
16827 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
16828 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
16829 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
16830 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
16832 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
16833 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
16834 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
16835 friendly mail back end all over.
16839 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
16840 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
16843 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
16844 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
16845 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
16846 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
16847 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}.
16848 (Use @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this
16849 slows you down or takes up very much space, a non-block-structured
16852 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
16853 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
16854 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
16855 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
16856 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
16857 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
16858 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
16859 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
16860 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
16861 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
16862 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
16864 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
16865 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
16866 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
16867 else, and still have your marks.
16869 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
16870 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
16871 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
16872 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
16873 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
16874 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
16875 removed in the future.
16877 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
16878 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
16879 on your file system.
16881 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
16882 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
16887 @node Browsing the Web
16888 @section Browsing the Web
16890 @cindex browsing the web
16894 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
16895 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
16896 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
16897 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
16898 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
16899 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
16900 even know what a news group is.
16902 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
16903 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
16904 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
16905 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
16906 you mad in the end.
16908 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
16911 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
16912 interfaces to these sources.
16916 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
16917 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
16920 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
16921 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
16922 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
16923 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
16924 though, you should be ok.
16926 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
16927 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
16928 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
16929 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
16930 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
16932 @node Archiving Mail
16933 @subsection Archiving Mail
16934 @cindex archiving mail
16935 @cindex backup of mail
16937 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
16938 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
16939 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
16940 marks is fairly simple.
16942 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
16943 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
16946 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
16947 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
16948 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
16949 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
16950 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
16951 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
16952 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
16953 before you restore the data.
16956 @subsection Web Searches
16961 @cindex Usenet searches
16962 @cindex searching the Usenet
16964 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
16965 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
16966 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
16967 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
16968 searches without having to use a browser.
16970 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
16971 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
16972 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
16973 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
16974 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
16976 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
16977 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
16978 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
16979 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
16980 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
16981 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
16982 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
16983 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
16984 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
16985 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
16988 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
16989 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
16990 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
16991 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
16992 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
16993 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
16995 Virtual server variables:
17000 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
17001 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
17002 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
17005 @vindex nnweb-search
17006 The search string to feed to the search engine.
17008 @item nnweb-max-hits
17009 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
17010 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
17013 @item nnweb-type-definition
17014 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
17015 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
17016 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
17021 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
17025 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
17028 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
17031 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
17035 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
17046 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
17047 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
17048 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
17049 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
17050 changes to a wiki (e.g., @url{http://cliki.net/site/recent-changes}).
17052 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
17053 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
17055 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
17056 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
17057 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
17060 @kindex G R (Group)
17061 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
17062 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
17063 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
17064 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
17066 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
17067 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
17068 subscribe to groups.
17070 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
17071 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
17072 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
17073 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
17074 variable or other. Also @xref{Non-ASCII Group Names}, for more
17077 The @code{nnrss} back end generates @samp{multipart/alternative}
17078 @acronym{MIME} articles in which each contains a @samp{text/plain} part
17079 and a @samp{text/html} part.
17082 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
17083 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
17086 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
17087 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
17091 @defun nnrss-opml-export
17092 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
17093 @acronym{OPML} format.
17096 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
17099 @item nnrss-directory
17100 @vindex nnrss-directory
17101 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
17102 @file{~/News/rss/}.
17104 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
17105 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
17106 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
17107 data files. The default is the value of
17108 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
17109 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
17111 @item nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17112 @vindex nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17113 Some feeds update constantly article fields during their publications,
17114 e.g., to indicate the number of comments. However, if there is
17115 a difference between the local article and the distant one, the latter
17116 is considered to be new. To avoid this and discard some fields, set this
17117 variable to the list of fields to be ignored. The default is
17118 @code{'(slash:comments)}.
17120 @item nnrss-use-local
17121 @vindex nnrss-use-local
17122 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
17123 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
17124 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
17125 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
17126 download script using @command{wget}.
17129 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
17130 the summary buffer.
17133 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
17134 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
17136 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
17138 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
17139 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
17142 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
17146 (require 'browse-url)
17148 (defun browse-nnrss-url (arg)
17150 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
17153 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
17154 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
17157 (browse-url (cdr url))
17158 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
17159 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
17161 (with-eval-after-load "gnus"
17162 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
17163 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
17164 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
17167 Even if you have added @samp{text/html} to the
17168 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} variable (@pxref{Display
17169 Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
17170 Manual}) since you don't want to see @acronym{HTML} parts, it might be
17171 more useful especially in @code{nnrss} groups to display
17172 @samp{text/html} parts. Here's an example of setting
17173 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} as a group parameter (@pxref{Group
17174 Parameters}) in order to display @samp{text/html} parts only in
17175 @code{nnrss} groups:
17178 ;; @r{Set the default value of @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}.}
17179 (with-eval-after-load "gnus-sum"
17181 'gnus-newsgroup-variables
17182 '(mm-discouraged-alternatives
17183 . '("text/html" "image/.*"))))
17185 ;; @r{Display @samp{text/html} parts in @code{nnrss} groups.}
17188 '("\\`nnrss:" (mm-discouraged-alternatives nil)))
17192 @node Other Sources
17193 @section Other Sources
17195 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
17196 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
17200 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
17201 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
17202 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
17203 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
17204 * The Empty Backend:: The backend that never has any news.
17208 @node Directory Groups
17209 @subsection Directory Groups
17211 @cindex directory groups
17213 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
17214 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
17217 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
17218 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
17219 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
17220 back end to read directories. Big deal.
17222 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
17223 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
17224 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
17225 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
17226 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
17228 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
17230 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
17231 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
17232 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
17233 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
17236 @node Anything Groups
17237 @subsection Anything Groups
17240 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
17241 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
17242 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
17245 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
17246 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
17247 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
17248 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
17249 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
17250 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
17251 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
17252 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g., a C source file),
17253 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
17254 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
17257 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
17258 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
17259 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
17260 in the article buffer, just as usual.
17262 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
17263 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
17264 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
17265 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
17267 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
17268 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
17269 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
17270 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
17271 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
17272 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
17273 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
17274 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
17279 @item nneething-map-file-directory
17280 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
17281 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
17282 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
17284 @item nneething-exclude-files
17285 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
17286 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
17287 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
17289 @item nneething-include-files
17290 @vindex nneething-include-files
17291 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
17292 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
17294 @item nneething-map-file
17295 @vindex nneething-map-file
17296 Name of the map files.
17300 @node Document Groups
17301 @subsection Document Groups
17303 @cindex documentation group
17306 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
17307 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
17317 The standard Unix mbox file.
17319 @cindex MMDF mail box
17321 The MMDF mail box format.
17324 Several news articles appended into a file.
17326 @cindex rnews batch files
17328 The rnews batch transport format.
17331 Netscape mail boxes.
17334 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
17336 @item standard-digest
17337 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
17340 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
17342 @item lanl-gov-announce
17343 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
17345 @cindex git commit messages
17347 @code{git} commit messages.
17349 @cindex forwarded messages
17350 @item rfc822-forward
17351 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
17354 The Outlook mail box.
17357 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
17360 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
17363 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
17366 An RFC934-forwarded message.
17372 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
17375 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
17381 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
17382 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
17383 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
17386 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
17387 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
17388 group. And that's it.
17390 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
17391 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
17392 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
17393 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
17394 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
17395 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
17396 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
17397 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
17398 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
17399 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
17401 Virtual server variables:
17404 @item nndoc-article-type
17405 @vindex nndoc-article-type
17406 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
17407 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
17408 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
17409 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
17410 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
17412 @item nndoc-post-type
17413 @vindex nndoc-post-type
17414 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
17415 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
17420 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
17424 @node Document Server Internals
17425 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
17427 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
17428 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
17429 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
17430 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
17432 First, here's an example document type definition:
17436 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
17437 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
17440 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
17441 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
17442 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
17443 types can be defined with very few settings:
17446 @item first-article
17447 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
17448 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
17451 @item article-begin
17452 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
17453 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
17454 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
17455 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
17457 @item article-begin-function
17458 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
17459 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
17462 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
17463 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
17464 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
17466 @item head-begin-function
17467 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
17468 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
17471 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
17472 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
17475 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
17476 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
17477 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
17479 @item body-begin-function
17480 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
17481 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
17484 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
17485 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
17486 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
17488 @item body-end-function
17489 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
17490 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
17493 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
17494 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
17497 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
17498 regexp will be totally ignored.
17502 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
17503 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
17504 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
17505 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
17506 something that's palatable for Gnus:
17509 @item prepare-body-function
17510 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
17511 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
17512 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
17514 @item article-transform-function
17515 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
17516 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
17517 body of the article.
17519 @item generate-head-function
17520 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
17521 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
17522 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
17523 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
17525 @item generate-article-function
17526 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
17527 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
17528 parameter when requesting all articles.
17530 @item dissection-function
17531 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
17532 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
17533 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
17534 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
17535 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
17536 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
17540 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
17545 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17546 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17547 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
17548 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
17549 (head-end . "^ ?$")
17550 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
17551 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
17552 (subtype digest guess))
17555 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
17556 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
17557 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
17558 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
17559 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
17561 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
17562 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
17563 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
17564 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
17565 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
17566 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
17567 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
17568 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
17569 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
17570 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
17571 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
17572 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
17575 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17576 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17577 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17580 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17581 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17582 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17584 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17590 @item nngateway-address
17591 @vindex nngateway-address
17592 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17594 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17595 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17596 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17597 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17598 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17599 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17600 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17603 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17604 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17605 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17608 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17611 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17614 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17617 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17619 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17622 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17623 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17624 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17626 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17628 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17629 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17630 @code{nngateway-address}.
17638 (setq gnus-post-method
17640 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17641 (nngateway-header-transformation
17642 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17645 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17648 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17652 @node The Empty Backend
17653 @subsection The Empty Backend
17656 @code{nnnil} is a backend that can be used as a placeholder if you
17657 have to specify a backend somewhere, but don't really want to. The
17658 classical example is if you don't want to have a primary select
17659 methods, but want to only use secondary ones:
17662 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnnil ""))
17663 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
17669 @node Combined Groups
17670 @section Combined Groups
17672 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17676 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17680 @node Virtual Groups
17681 @subsection Virtual Groups
17683 @cindex virtual groups
17684 @cindex merging groups
17686 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17689 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17690 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17691 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17693 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17694 regexp to match component groups.
17696 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17697 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17698 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17699 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17700 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17701 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17702 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17703 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17705 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17706 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17709 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17712 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17713 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17715 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17716 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17717 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17718 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17721 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17724 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17725 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17726 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17728 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17729 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17730 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17731 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17732 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17734 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17735 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17736 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17738 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17739 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} variable is non-@code{nil} (which
17740 is the default), @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread
17741 articles when entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil}
17742 and you read articles in a component group after the virtual group has
17743 been activated, the read articles from the component group will show up
17744 when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this effect if you
17745 have two virtual groups that have a component group in common. If
17746 that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}. Or you can
17747 just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before you enter
17748 it---it'll have much the same effect.
17750 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17751 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17752 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17753 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17754 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17755 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17756 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17758 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17759 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17761 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17762 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17766 @node Email Based Diary
17767 @section Email Based Diary
17769 @cindex email based diary
17772 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
17773 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
17774 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
17775 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
17776 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
17777 namely, as event reminders.
17779 Here is a typical scenario:
17783 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
17784 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
17786 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
17788 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
17790 From time to time, as you type @kbd{g} in the group buffer and as the date
17791 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
17792 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
17794 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
17795 of the night you're gonna have.
17797 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
17798 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
17801 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
17802 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
17803 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
17804 explained in the sections below.
17807 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
17808 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
17809 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
17813 @node The NNDiary Back End
17814 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
17816 @cindex the nndiary back end
17818 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
17819 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
17820 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
17821 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
17822 directory per group.
17824 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
17825 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
17826 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
17827 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
17830 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
17831 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
17832 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
17835 @node Diary Messages
17836 @subsubsection Diary Messages
17837 @cindex nndiary messages
17838 @cindex nndiary mails
17840 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
17841 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
17842 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
17843 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
17844 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
17845 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
17846 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
17850 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
17851 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
17852 (separated by a comma).
17854 A field is either an integer, or a range.
17856 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
17858 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
17859 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
17860 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
17862 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
17863 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
17864 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
17866 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
17867 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
17868 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
17869 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
17870 list of available time zone values, see the variable
17871 @code{nndiary-headers}.
17874 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
17875 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
17876 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
17881 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
17884 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
17886 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
17889 @node Running NNDiary
17890 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
17891 @cindex running nndiary
17892 @cindex nndiary operation modes
17894 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
17895 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
17896 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
17897 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
17898 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
17899 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
17901 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
17902 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
17903 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
17904 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
17905 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
17906 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
17907 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
17910 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
17915 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
17916 line in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
17919 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
17922 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
17923 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
17924 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
17925 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
17926 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
17928 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
17929 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
17938 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
17939 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
17941 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
17942 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
17943 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
17944 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
17947 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
17948 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
17949 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
17952 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
17953 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
17954 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
17956 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
17957 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
17958 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
17959 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
17960 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
17962 @node Customizing NNDiary
17963 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
17964 @cindex customizing nndiary
17965 @cindex nndiary customization
17967 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
17968 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
17969 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
17970 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
17972 @defvar nndiary-reminders
17973 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
17974 appointments (e.g., 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
17975 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
17976 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
17980 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
17981 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
17986 @node The Gnus Diary Library
17987 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
17989 @cindex the gnus diary library
17991 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
17992 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
17993 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
17994 useful things for you.
17996 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
17999 (require 'gnus-diary)
18002 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
18003 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
18004 (sorry if you used them before).
18008 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
18009 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
18010 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
18011 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
18014 @node Diary Summary Line Format
18015 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
18016 @cindex diary summary buffer line
18017 @cindex diary summary line format
18019 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
18020 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
18021 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
18022 see the event's date.
18024 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
18025 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
18026 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g., ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
18027 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximate remaining time until the
18028 next occurrence of the event (e.g., ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
18030 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
18031 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
18032 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
18035 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
18038 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
18039 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
18042 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
18045 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
18046 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
18047 with the following user options:
18049 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
18050 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
18051 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
18052 diary groups'parameters.
18055 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
18056 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
18057 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
18060 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
18061 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
18062 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
18063 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
18064 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
18067 @node Diary Articles Sorting
18068 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
18069 @cindex diary articles sorting
18070 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
18071 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
18072 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
18073 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
18075 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
18076 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
18077 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
18078 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
18079 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
18081 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
18082 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
18083 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
18084 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
18087 @node Diary Headers Generation
18088 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
18089 @cindex diary headers generation
18090 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
18092 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
18093 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
18094 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
18095 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
18098 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
18099 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
18100 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c C-f d} in
18101 @code{message-mode} and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the
18102 process of converting a usual mail to a diary one.
18104 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
18105 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
18106 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
18109 @node Diary Group Parameters
18110 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
18111 @cindex diary group parameters
18113 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
18114 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
18115 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
18116 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
18117 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
18118 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
18119 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
18120 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
18122 @node Sending or Not Sending
18123 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
18125 Well, assuming you've read all of the above, here are two final notes on
18126 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
18130 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
18131 messages for real. This means for instance that you can give
18132 appointments to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
18133 sending the diary message to them as well.
18135 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
18136 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
18137 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
18138 comes in very handy for private appointments.
18141 @node Gnus Unplugged
18142 @section Gnus Unplugged
18147 @cindex Gnus unplugged
18149 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
18150 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
18151 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
18152 read news. Believe it or not.
18154 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
18155 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
18156 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
18157 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
18158 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
18160 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
18161 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
18162 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
18163 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
18164 reading news on a machine.
18166 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
18167 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
18168 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
18170 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
18173 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
18174 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
18175 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
18176 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
18177 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
18178 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
18179 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
18180 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
18181 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
18182 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
18183 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
18184 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
18185 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
18186 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
18191 @subsection Agent Basics
18193 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
18195 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
18196 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
18197 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
18198 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
18200 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
18201 connected to the net continuously.
18203 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
18204 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
18206 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
18207 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
18208 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
18209 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
18210 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
18212 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
18213 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
18214 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
18215 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
18216 they're kinda like plugged always).
18218 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
18219 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
18220 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
18223 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
18224 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
18225 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
18226 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
18227 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
18229 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
18234 @findex gnus-unplugged
18235 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
18236 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
18237 already fetched while in this mode.
18240 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
18241 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
18242 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
18243 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
18244 Source Specifiers}).
18247 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
18248 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
18249 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
18250 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
18251 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
18254 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
18255 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
18256 then you read the news offline.
18259 And then you go to step 2.
18262 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
18268 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
18269 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
18270 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
18271 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
18272 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
18273 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
18274 no servers are agentized.
18277 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
18278 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
18279 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
18280 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
18282 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
18283 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
18284 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
18285 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
18286 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
18287 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
18291 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
18295 @node Agent Categories
18296 @subsection Agent Categories
18298 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
18299 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
18300 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
18301 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
18302 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
18303 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
18304 you're interested in the articles anyway.
18306 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
18307 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
18308 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
18309 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
18310 buffer for creating and managing categories.
18312 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
18313 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
18314 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
18315 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
18316 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
18319 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
18320 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
18321 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
18322 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
18323 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
18324 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
18328 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
18329 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
18330 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
18334 @node Category Syntax
18335 @subsubsection Category Syntax
18337 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
18338 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
18339 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
18342 @cindex Agent Parameters
18345 The list of groups that are in this category.
18347 @item agent-predicate
18348 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
18349 are eligible for downloading; and
18352 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
18353 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
18354 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
18356 @item agent-enable-expiration
18357 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
18358 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
18359 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
18360 only groups that should not be expired.
18362 @item agent-days-until-old
18363 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
18364 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
18366 @item agent-low-score
18367 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
18369 @item agent-high-score
18370 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
18372 @item agent-short-article
18373 an integer that overrides the value of
18374 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
18376 @item agent-long-article
18377 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
18379 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
18380 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
18381 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
18382 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
18383 undownloaded faces.
18386 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
18389 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
18390 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
18391 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
18394 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
18395 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
18396 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
18397 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
18399 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
18400 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
18401 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
18403 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
18404 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
18405 operators sprinkled in between.
18407 Perhaps some examples are in order.
18409 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
18410 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
18416 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
18417 short (for some value of ``short'').
18419 Here's a more complex predicate:
18428 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
18429 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
18432 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
18433 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
18434 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
18436 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
18437 you want to do, you can write your own.
18439 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
18440 bound to the value determined by calling
18441 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
18442 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
18443 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
18444 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
18445 predicate to individual groups.
18449 True if the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
18450 lines; default 100.
18453 True if the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
18454 lines; default 200.
18457 True if the article has a download score less than
18458 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
18461 True if the article has a download score greater than
18462 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
18465 True if the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
18466 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
18467 checksum and sees whether articles match.
18476 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
18477 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
18478 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
18481 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
18482 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g., posted
18483 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
18484 something along the lines of the following:
18487 (defun my-article-old-p ()
18488 "Say whether an article is old."
18489 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
18490 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
18493 with the predicate then defined as:
18496 (not my-article-old-p)
18499 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
18500 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
18504 (require 'gnus-agent)
18505 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
18506 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
18507 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
18510 and simply specify your predicate as:
18516 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
18517 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
18518 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
18519 just don't give a damn.
18521 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
18522 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
18523 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
18524 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
18525 parameters like so:
18528 (agent-predicate . short)
18531 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
18532 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
18533 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
18535 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
18538 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
18541 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
18542 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
18543 predicate is assumed to be a list.
18546 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
18547 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
18548 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
18549 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
18550 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
18551 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
18553 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
18554 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
18555 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
18556 if it's to be specific to that group.
18558 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
18565 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
18566 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
18572 Category specification
18576 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18582 Group/Topic Parameter specification
18585 (agent-score ("from"
18586 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18591 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
18597 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
18598 keywords stated above.
18604 Category specification
18607 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
18613 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
18617 Group Parameter specification
18620 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
18623 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
18628 Use @code{normal} score files
18630 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
18631 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
18632 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
18633 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
18635 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
18636 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
18637 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
18638 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
18642 Category Specification
18649 Group Parameter specification
18652 (agent-score . file)
18657 @node Category Buffer
18658 @subsubsection Category Buffer
18660 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
18661 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
18662 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
18664 The following commands are available in this buffer:
18668 @kindex q (Category)
18669 @findex gnus-category-exit
18670 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
18673 @kindex e (Category)
18674 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
18675 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
18676 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
18679 @kindex k (Category)
18680 @findex gnus-category-kill
18681 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
18684 @kindex c (Category)
18685 @findex gnus-category-copy
18686 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
18689 @kindex a (Category)
18690 @findex gnus-category-add
18691 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
18694 @kindex p (Category)
18695 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
18696 Edit the predicate of the current category
18697 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
18700 @kindex g (Category)
18701 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
18702 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
18703 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
18706 @kindex s (Category)
18707 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
18708 Edit the download score rule of the current category
18709 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
18712 @kindex l (Category)
18713 @findex gnus-category-list
18714 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
18718 @node Category Variables
18719 @subsubsection Category Variables
18722 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
18723 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
18724 Hook run in category buffers.
18726 @item gnus-category-line-format
18727 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
18728 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
18729 Variables}). Valid elements are:
18733 The name of the category.
18736 The number of groups in the category.
18739 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
18740 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
18741 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
18743 @item gnus-agent-short-article
18744 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
18745 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
18747 @item gnus-agent-long-article
18748 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
18749 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
18751 @item gnus-agent-low-score
18752 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
18753 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
18756 @item gnus-agent-high-score
18757 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
18758 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18761 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18762 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18763 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18764 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18765 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18766 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18767 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18768 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18772 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18773 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18774 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18775 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18776 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18777 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18778 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18783 @node Agent Commands
18784 @subsection Agent Commands
18785 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18786 @kindex J j (Agent)
18788 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18789 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18790 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18794 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18795 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18796 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18802 @node Group Agent Commands
18803 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18807 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18808 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18809 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18810 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18813 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18814 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18815 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18818 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18819 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18820 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18821 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18824 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18825 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18826 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18827 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18830 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18831 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18832 Add the current group to an Agent category
18833 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18834 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18837 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18838 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18839 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18840 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18841 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18844 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18845 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18846 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18852 @node Summary Agent Commands
18853 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18857 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18858 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18859 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18862 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18863 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18864 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18865 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18869 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18870 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18871 Toggle whether to download the article
18872 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18876 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18877 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18878 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18881 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18882 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18883 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18884 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18887 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18888 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
18889 Download all processable articles in this group.
18890 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
18893 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18894 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18895 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18896 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18901 @node Server Agent Commands
18902 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18906 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18907 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18908 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18909 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18912 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18913 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18914 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18915 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18920 @node Agent Visuals
18921 @subsection Agent Visuals
18923 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18924 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18925 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18926 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18927 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18928 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18929 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18930 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18931 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18932 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18934 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18935 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18936 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18937 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18938 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
18939 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18940 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18941 articles will be available when unplugged.
18943 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18944 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18945 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18946 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18947 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18948 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18949 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18950 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18952 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18953 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18954 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18955 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18956 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18957 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18958 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18959 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18960 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18962 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18963 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18964 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18965 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18966 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
18967 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
18968 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
18969 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
18970 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
18971 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
18973 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
18974 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
18975 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
18976 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
18977 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
18978 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18980 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
18981 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
18982 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
18983 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
18984 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
18985 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
18986 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
18987 expiring'' articles.
18989 @node Agent as Cache
18990 @subsection Agent as Cache
18992 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18993 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18994 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18995 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18996 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18997 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18998 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18999 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
19000 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
19002 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
19003 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
19004 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
19005 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
19006 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
19009 @subsection Agent Expiry
19011 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
19012 @findex gnus-agent-expire
19013 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
19014 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
19015 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
19016 @cindex agent expiry
19017 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
19018 @cindex expiry, in Gnus agent
19020 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
19021 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
19022 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
19023 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
19024 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
19025 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
19026 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
19027 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
19029 Note that other functions might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you
19030 to keep the agent synchronized with the group.
19032 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
19033 prevent expiration in selected groups.
19035 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
19036 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
19037 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
19038 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
19039 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
19040 be kept indefinitely.
19042 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
19043 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
19044 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
19045 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
19047 @node Agent Regeneration
19048 @subsection Agent Regeneration
19050 @cindex agent regeneration
19051 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
19052 @cindex regeneration
19054 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
19055 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
19056 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
19057 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
19058 internal inconsistencies.
19060 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
19061 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
19062 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
19063 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
19064 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
19065 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
19067 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
19068 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
19069 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
19070 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
19071 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
19072 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
19074 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19075 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19076 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
19077 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
19078 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
19079 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
19082 @node Agent and flags
19083 @subsection Agent and flags
19085 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
19086 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc.)@: on the server. Sadly,
19087 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
19088 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
19089 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
19090 to the flags in its own files.
19092 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
19093 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
19094 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
19096 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19097 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19098 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19099 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19100 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19101 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19103 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
19104 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
19105 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
19106 in the group buffer.
19108 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
19109 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
19110 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
19111 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
19112 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
19113 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
19114 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
19115 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
19117 @node Agent and IMAP
19118 @subsection Agent and IMAP
19120 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
19121 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
19122 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
19123 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
19125 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
19126 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
19131 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
19134 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
19138 @node Outgoing Messages
19139 @subsection Outgoing Messages
19141 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
19142 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
19143 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
19145 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
19146 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
19147 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
19149 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
19150 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
19151 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
19152 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
19155 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
19156 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
19157 ask you to confirm your action (see
19158 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
19160 @node Agent Variables
19161 @subsection Agent Variables
19166 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
19167 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
19168 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
19169 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
19171 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
19172 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
19175 @item gnus-agent-directory
19176 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
19177 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
19178 @file{~/News/agent/}.
19180 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
19181 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
19182 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
19183 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
19184 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
19187 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19188 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19189 Hook run when connecting to the network.
19191 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19192 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19193 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
19195 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19196 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19197 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
19199 @item gnus-agent-cache
19200 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
19201 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
19202 articles when plugged, e.g., essentially using the Agent as a cache.
19203 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
19205 @item gnus-agent-go-online
19206 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
19207 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
19208 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
19209 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
19210 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
19211 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
19214 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19215 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19216 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
19217 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
19218 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
19219 read. The default is @code{t}.
19221 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19222 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19223 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19224 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19225 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19226 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19227 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19229 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19230 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19231 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
19232 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
19233 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
19234 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
19235 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
19236 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
19237 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
19238 over and over again.
19240 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19241 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19242 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
19243 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
19244 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
19245 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
19246 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
19247 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
19248 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
19249 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
19250 However, all articles parsed prior to losing the connection will be
19251 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
19254 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
19255 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
19256 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
19257 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
19258 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
19259 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
19260 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
19261 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
19262 is only valid if the Agent is used.
19264 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19265 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19266 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
19267 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
19268 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
19269 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
19271 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
19272 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
19273 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
19274 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
19275 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
19277 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
19278 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
19279 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
19280 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
19281 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
19282 mail. The default is @code{t}.
19284 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19285 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19286 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
19287 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
19288 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
19290 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19291 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19292 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
19293 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
19294 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
19295 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
19296 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
19297 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
19298 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
19299 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
19300 start Gnus. The default is @samp{nil}.
19305 @node Example Setup
19306 @subsection Example Setup
19308 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
19309 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
19310 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
19313 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
19314 ;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
19315 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
19317 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
19318 ;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
19319 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
19321 ;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
19322 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
19324 ;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
19325 ;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
19326 ;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
19329 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
19330 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
19333 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
19334 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
19335 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
19336 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
19337 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
19340 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
19341 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
19342 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
19343 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
19344 back all the killed groups.)
19346 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
19347 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
19348 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
19351 @node Batching Agents
19352 @subsection Batching Agents
19353 @findex gnus-agent-batch
19355 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
19356 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
19357 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
19359 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
19360 following incantation:
19364 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
19368 @node Agent Caveats
19369 @subsection Agent Caveats
19371 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
19372 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
19376 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
19378 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
19379 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
19380 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
19382 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
19383 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
19385 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
19389 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
19390 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
19391 locally stored articles.
19398 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
19399 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
19400 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
19403 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
19404 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
19405 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
19406 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
19407 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
19409 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
19410 before generating the summary buffer.
19412 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
19413 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
19414 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
19416 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
19417 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
19418 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
19419 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
19422 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
19423 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
19424 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
19425 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
19426 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
19427 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
19428 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
19429 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
19430 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
19431 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
19432 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
19433 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
19434 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
19435 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
19436 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
19437 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
19441 @node Summary Score Commands
19442 @section Summary Score Commands
19443 @cindex score commands
19445 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
19446 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
19447 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
19448 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
19449 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
19451 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
19452 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
19453 some other score file (e.g., @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
19454 score file the current one.
19456 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
19461 @kindex V s (Summary)
19462 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
19463 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
19466 @kindex V S (Summary)
19467 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
19468 Display the score of the current article
19469 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
19472 @kindex V t (Summary)
19473 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
19474 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
19475 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @file{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
19476 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
19477 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
19478 score file and edit it.
19481 @kindex V w (Summary)
19482 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
19483 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
19486 @kindex V R (Summary)
19487 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
19488 Run the current summary through the scoring process
19489 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
19490 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
19491 effect you're having.
19494 @kindex V c (Summary)
19495 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
19496 Make a different score file the current
19497 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
19500 @kindex V e (Summary)
19501 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
19502 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
19503 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
19507 @kindex V f (Summary)
19508 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
19509 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
19510 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
19513 @kindex V F (Summary)
19514 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19515 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
19516 after editing score files.
19519 @kindex V C (Summary)
19520 @findex gnus-score-customize
19521 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
19522 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
19526 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
19531 @kindex V m (Summary)
19532 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
19533 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
19534 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
19537 @kindex V x (Summary)
19538 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
19539 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
19540 expunge all articles below this score
19541 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
19544 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
19545 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
19548 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
19549 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
19553 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
19554 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
19556 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
19557 keys are available:
19561 Score on the author name.
19564 Score on the subject line.
19567 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
19570 Score on the @code{References} line.
19576 Score on the number of lines.
19579 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
19582 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
19583 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
19586 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
19587 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
19588 @file{ADAPT} files.)
19597 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
19603 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
19604 what headers you are scoring on.
19616 Substring matching.
19619 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
19648 Greater than number.
19653 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
19654 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
19655 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
19660 Temporary score entry.
19663 Permanent score entry.
19666 Immediately scoring.
19670 If you are scoring on @samp{e} (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
19671 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
19672 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
19676 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
19677 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
19678 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
19679 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
19681 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
19682 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
19683 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
19684 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
19685 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
19687 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
19688 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
19689 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
19690 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
19691 current score file.
19693 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
19694 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
19695 pretend they are keymaps or not.
19698 @node Group Score Commands
19699 @section Group Score Commands
19700 @cindex group score commands
19702 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
19707 @kindex W e (Group)
19708 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
19709 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
19710 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
19713 @kindex W f (Group)
19714 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19715 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
19716 all the time. This command will flush the cache
19717 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
19721 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
19723 @findex gnus-batch-score
19724 @cindex batch scoring
19726 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
19730 @node Score Variables
19731 @section Score Variables
19732 @cindex score variables
19736 @item gnus-use-scoring
19737 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
19738 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
19739 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
19741 @item gnus-kill-killed
19742 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
19743 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
19744 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
19745 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
19746 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
19747 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
19748 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
19750 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
19751 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
19752 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
19753 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
19754 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
19756 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
19757 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
19758 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
19759 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
19761 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19762 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19763 @cindex score cache
19764 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
19765 score files. However, this might make your Emacs grow big and
19766 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
19767 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
19768 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
19769 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
19770 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
19773 @item gnus-save-score
19774 @vindex gnus-save-score
19775 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
19776 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
19777 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19779 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
19780 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
19781 across group visits.
19783 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19784 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19785 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
19786 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
19787 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
19788 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
19789 manually entered data.
19791 @item gnus-summary-default-score
19792 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
19793 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
19795 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
19796 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
19797 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
19798 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
19799 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
19800 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
19802 @item gnus-score-over-mark
19803 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
19804 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
19805 default. Default is @samp{+}.
19807 @item gnus-score-below-mark
19808 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
19809 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
19810 default. Default is @samp{-}.
19812 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19813 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19814 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19815 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19817 Predefined functions available are:
19820 @item gnus-score-find-single
19821 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19822 Only apply the group's own score file.
19824 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19825 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19826 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19827 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19828 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19829 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19830 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19831 then a regexp match is done.
19833 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19834 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19836 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19837 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19838 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19839 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19841 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19842 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19843 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19844 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19845 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19849 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19850 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19851 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19852 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19853 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19854 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19855 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19858 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19859 overall score file, you could use the value
19861 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19862 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19865 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19866 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19867 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19868 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19869 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19871 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19872 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19873 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19874 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19875 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19876 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19877 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19878 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19880 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19881 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19882 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19884 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19885 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19886 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19887 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19888 threading---according to the current value of
19889 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19890 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19891 simplified in this manner.
19896 @node Score File Format
19897 @section Score File Format
19898 @cindex score file format
19900 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19901 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19902 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19904 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19908 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19910 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19912 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19914 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19919 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19923 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19924 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19925 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19926 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19930 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19931 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19933 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19934 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19935 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19937 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19942 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19943 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19944 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19945 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19946 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19947 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19948 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19949 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19950 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19951 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19952 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19953 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19954 to articles that matches these score entries.
19956 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19957 score entry has one to four elements.
19961 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19962 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19966 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19967 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19968 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19969 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19970 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19971 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19974 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19975 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19976 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19977 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19978 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19981 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19982 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19983 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19984 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19987 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19988 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19989 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19990 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19991 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19992 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19993 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19994 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19995 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19996 instead, if you feel like.
19999 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
20000 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
20001 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
20002 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
20003 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
20004 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
20008 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
20009 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
20013 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
20014 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
20016 These predicates are true if
20019 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
20022 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
20023 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
20030 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
20031 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
20032 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
20033 it's not. I think.)
20035 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
20036 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
20037 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
20038 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
20041 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
20042 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
20043 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
20044 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
20045 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
20046 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
20047 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
20051 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
20052 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
20053 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
20054 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
20055 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
20056 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
20057 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
20058 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
20061 @item Head, Body, All
20062 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc.)@:
20066 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
20067 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
20068 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
20069 you to increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
20070 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
20071 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
20072 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
20076 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
20077 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
20078 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
20079 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
20080 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
20081 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
20082 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
20083 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
20084 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
20085 nondeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
20086 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
20090 @cindex score file atoms
20092 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20093 lower than this number will be marked as read.
20096 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20097 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
20099 @item mark-and-expunge
20100 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20101 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
20104 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
20105 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
20106 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
20107 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
20108 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
20111 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
20112 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
20115 @item exclude-files
20116 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
20117 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
20121 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}ed. This element will be
20122 ignored when handling global score files.
20125 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
20126 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
20127 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
20128 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
20131 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
20132 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
20133 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
20134 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
20136 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
20140 (mark-and-expunge -100)
20143 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
20144 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
20145 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{c y}) the
20146 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
20147 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
20149 I.e., the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
20150 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
20151 scoring rules exist.
20154 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
20155 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
20156 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
20157 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
20158 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
20159 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
20160 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20161 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
20162 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
20163 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
20164 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
20168 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
20169 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
20170 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
20171 file for a number of groups.
20174 @cindex local variables
20175 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
20176 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
20177 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
20178 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
20179 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
20184 @node Score File Editing
20185 @section Score File Editing
20187 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
20188 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
20189 with a mode for that.
20191 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
20192 additional commands:
20197 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
20198 @findex gnus-score-edit-exit
20199 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
20200 (@code{gnus-score-edit-exit}).
20203 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
20204 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
20205 Insert the current date in numerical format
20206 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
20207 you were wondering.
20210 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
20211 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
20212 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
20213 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
20214 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
20219 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
20221 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
20222 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
20224 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
20225 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
20228 @node Adaptive Scoring
20229 @section Adaptive Scoring
20230 @cindex adaptive scoring
20232 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
20233 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
20234 stupidity, to be precise.
20236 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
20237 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
20238 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
20239 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
20240 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20241 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
20242 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
20243 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
20244 variable to @code{(word line)}.
20246 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20247 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
20248 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
20249 might look something like this:
20252 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20253 '((gnus-unread-mark)
20254 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
20255 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
20256 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
20257 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
20258 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
20259 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
20260 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
20261 (gnus-ancient-mark)
20262 (gnus-low-score-mark)
20263 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
20266 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
20267 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
20268 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
20269 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
20270 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
20271 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
20274 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
20275 will be applied to each article.
20277 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
20278 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
20279 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
20280 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
20282 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
20283 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
20284 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
20285 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
20287 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
20288 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
20289 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
20290 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
20292 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
20293 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
20294 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
20295 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
20296 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
20297 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
20299 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
20300 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
20301 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
20303 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
20304 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
20305 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
20307 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
20308 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
20309 let you use different rules in different groups.
20311 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
20312 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
20313 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
20316 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
20317 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
20318 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
20319 default) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
20321 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
20322 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
20323 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
20324 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
20325 the length of the match is less than
20326 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
20327 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
20330 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20331 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
20332 headers. If you adapt on words, the
20333 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
20334 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
20337 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20338 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
20339 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
20340 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
20341 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
20344 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
20345 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
20346 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
20347 score with 30 points.
20349 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
20350 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
20351 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
20352 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
20353 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
20355 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
20356 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
20357 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
20358 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
20359 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
20361 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
20362 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
20363 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
20364 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
20366 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
20367 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
20368 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
20369 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
20371 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
20372 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
20373 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
20374 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
20375 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
20377 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
20378 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
20379 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
20381 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
20382 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
20383 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
20384 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
20387 @node Home Score File
20388 @section Home Score File
20390 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
20391 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
20392 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
20393 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
20395 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
20396 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
20397 could perhaps use the same home score file.
20399 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
20400 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
20405 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
20409 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
20410 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
20414 A list. The elements in this list can be:
20418 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
20419 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
20422 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
20423 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
20424 name of the group as the parameter.
20427 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
20430 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
20435 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
20438 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20439 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
20442 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
20443 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
20445 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
20447 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20448 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
20451 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
20452 Other functions include
20455 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
20456 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
20457 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
20458 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
20462 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
20463 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
20464 their own home score files:
20467 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20468 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
20469 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
20470 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
20471 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
20474 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
20475 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
20476 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
20477 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
20478 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
20480 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
20481 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
20482 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
20483 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
20484 precedence over this variable.
20487 @node Followups To Yourself
20488 @section Followups To Yourself
20490 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
20491 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
20492 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
20493 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
20494 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
20495 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
20499 @item gnus-score-followup-article
20500 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
20501 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
20504 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
20505 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
20506 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
20510 @vindex message-sent-hook
20511 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
20512 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
20514 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
20518 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
20519 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
20523 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20524 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20527 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
20528 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
20533 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
20537 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
20538 is system-dependent.
20541 @node Scoring On Other Headers
20542 @section Scoring On Other Headers
20543 @cindex scoring on other headers
20545 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
20546 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
20547 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
20548 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
20549 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
20551 @vindex gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring
20552 You can inhibit this slow scoring on headers or body by setting the
20553 variable @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring}. If
20554 @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring} is regexp, slow scoring is inhibited if
20555 the group matches the regexp. If it is @code{t}, slow scoring on it is
20556 inhibited for all groups.
20558 Now, there's not much you can do about the slowness for news groups, but for
20559 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
20560 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
20561 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
20562 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
20564 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
20567 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
20568 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
20571 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
20572 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
20573 time if you have much mail.
20575 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
20576 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
20582 @section Scoring Tips
20583 @cindex scoring tips
20589 @cindex scoring crossposts
20590 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
20591 the @code{Xref} header.
20593 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
20596 @item Multiple crossposts
20597 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
20598 more than, say, 3 groups:
20601 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
20605 @item Matching on the body
20606 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
20607 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
20608 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
20609 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
20610 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
20611 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
20612 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
20615 @item Marking as read
20616 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
20617 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
20618 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
20622 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
20624 @item Negated character classes
20625 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
20626 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
20627 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
20631 @node Reverse Scoring
20632 @section Reverse Scoring
20633 @cindex reverse scoring
20635 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
20636 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
20637 like this in your score file:
20641 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
20646 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
20647 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
20650 @node Global Score Files
20651 @section Global Score Files
20652 @cindex global score files
20654 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
20655 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
20656 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
20658 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
20659 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
20660 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
20662 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
20663 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
20664 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
20665 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
20666 files are applicable to which group.
20668 To use the score file
20669 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
20670 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
20674 (setq gnus-global-score-files
20675 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
20676 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
20679 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
20681 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
20682 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
20683 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
20684 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
20686 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
20687 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
20689 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
20690 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
20691 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
20692 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
20693 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
20694 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
20696 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
20702 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
20704 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
20706 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
20708 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
20709 lowered out of existence.
20711 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
20712 articles completely.
20715 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
20716 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
20717 old articles for a long time.
20720 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
20721 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
20722 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
20723 holding our breath yet?
20727 @section Kill Files
20730 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
20731 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
20732 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
20734 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
20735 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
20736 files into score files.
20738 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
20739 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
20740 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
20741 that isn't a very good idea.
20743 Normal kill files look like this:
20746 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20747 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
20751 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
20752 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
20754 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
20755 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
20758 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
20763 @kindex M-k (Summary)
20764 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
20765 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
20768 @kindex M-K (Summary)
20769 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
20770 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
20773 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
20778 @kindex M-k (Group)
20779 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
20780 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
20783 @kindex M-K (Group)
20784 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
20785 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
20788 Kill file variables:
20791 @item gnus-kill-file-name
20792 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
20793 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
20794 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
20795 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
20796 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
20797 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
20799 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20800 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20801 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
20802 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
20805 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
20806 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
20807 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
20808 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
20809 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
20810 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
20811 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
20812 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
20813 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
20815 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20816 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20817 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
20822 @node Converting Kill Files
20823 @section Converting Kill Files
20825 @cindex converting kill files
20827 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20828 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20829 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20832 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Emacs by default.
20833 You can fetch it from the contrib directory of the Gnus distribution or
20835 @uref{http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20837 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20838 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20839 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20843 @node Advanced Scoring
20844 @section Advanced Scoring
20846 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20847 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20848 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20849 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20850 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20852 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20856 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20857 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20858 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20862 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20863 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20865 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20866 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20867 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20868 non-@code{nil} value.
20870 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20871 operator, and various match operators.
20878 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20879 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20880 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20885 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20886 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20887 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20892 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20893 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20897 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20898 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20899 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20900 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20901 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20902 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20903 the ancestry you want to go.
20905 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20906 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20907 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20908 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20909 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20912 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20913 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20915 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20916 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20919 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20920 when he's talking about Gnus:
20925 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20926 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20933 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20937 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20944 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20945 really don't want to read what he's written:
20949 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20950 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigil Logge")))
20954 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20955 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20956 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20963 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20964 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20965 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20966 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20970 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
20971 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
20972 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
20973 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
20976 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
20978 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
20982 The possibilities are endless.
20984 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20985 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20987 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20988 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20989 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20990 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20991 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20992 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20993 @samp{subject}) first.
20995 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20996 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
21007 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
21008 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
21014 ("subject" "Gnus")))
21021 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
21022 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
21027 @section Score Decays
21028 @cindex score decays
21031 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
21032 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
21033 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
21034 use them in any sensible way.
21036 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
21037 @findex gnus-decay-score
21038 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
21039 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
21040 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
21041 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
21042 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
21043 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
21044 regexp are treated. E.g., you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
21045 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
21046 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
21047 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
21051 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
21052 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
21053 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
21055 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
21057 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
21059 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
21060 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
21061 ;; XEmacs's floor can handle only the floating point
21062 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
21063 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
21065 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
21069 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
21070 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
21071 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
21072 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
21076 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
21079 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
21082 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
21086 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
21087 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
21088 the new score, which should be an integer.
21090 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
21091 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
21097 FIXME: Add a brief overview of Gnus search capabilities. A brief
21098 comparison of nnir, nnmairix, contrib/gnus-namazu would be nice
21101 This chapter describes tools for searching groups and servers for
21102 articles matching a query and then retrieving those articles. Gnus
21103 provides a simpler mechanism for searching through articles in a summary buffer
21104 to find those matching a pattern. @xref{Searching for Articles}.
21107 * nnir:: Searching with various engines.
21108 * nnmairix:: Searching with Mairix.
21115 This section describes how to use @code{nnir} to search for articles
21119 * What is nnir?:: What does @code{nnir} do?
21120 * Basic Usage:: How to perform simple searches.
21121 * Setting up nnir:: How to set up @code{nnir}.
21124 @node What is nnir?
21125 @subsection What is nnir?
21127 @code{nnir} is a Gnus interface to a number of tools for searching
21128 through mail and news repositories. Different backends (like
21129 @code{nnimap} and @code{nntp}) work with different tools (called
21130 @dfn{engines} in @code{nnir} lingo), but all use the same basic search
21133 The @code{nnimap} and @code{gmane} search engines should work with no
21134 configuration. Other engines require a local index that needs to be
21135 created and maintained outside of Gnus.
21139 @subsection Basic Usage
21141 In the group buffer typing @kbd{G G} will search the group on the
21142 current line by calling @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group}. This prompts
21143 for a query string, creates an ephemeral @code{nnir} group containing
21144 the articles that match this query, and takes you to a summary buffer
21145 showing these articles. Articles may then be read, moved and deleted
21146 using the usual commands.
21148 The @code{nnir} group made in this way is an @code{ephemeral} group,
21149 and some changes are not permanent: aside from reading, moving, and
21150 deleting, you can't act on the original article. But there is an
21151 alternative: you can @emph{warp} (i.e., jump) to the original group
21152 for the article on the current line with @kbd{A W}, aka
21153 @code{gnus-warp-to-article}. Even better, the function
21154 @code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}, bound by default in summary buffers
21155 to @kbd{A T}, will first warp to the original group before it works
21156 its magic and includes all the articles in the thread. From here you
21157 can read, move and delete articles, but also copy them, alter article
21158 marks, whatever. Go nuts.
21160 You say you want to search more than just the group on the current line?
21161 No problem: just process-mark the groups you want to search. You want
21162 even more? Calling for an nnir search with the cursor on a topic heading
21163 will search all the groups under that heading.
21165 Still not enough? OK, in the server buffer
21166 @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group} (now bound to @kbd{G}) will search all
21167 groups from the server on the current line. Too much? Want to ignore
21168 certain groups when searching, like spam groups? Just customize
21169 @code{nnir-ignored-newsgroups}.
21171 One more thing: individual search engines may have special search
21172 features. You can access these special features by giving a prefix-arg
21173 to @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group}. If you are searching multiple
21174 groups with different search engines you will be prompted for the
21175 special search features for each engine separately.
21178 @node Setting up nnir
21179 @subsection Setting up nnir
21181 To set up nnir you may need to do some prep work. Firstly, you may need
21182 to configure the search engines you plan to use. Some of them, like
21183 @code{imap} and @code{gmane}, need no special configuration. Others,
21184 like @code{namazu} and @code{swish}, require configuration as described
21185 below. Secondly, you need to associate a search engine with a server or
21188 If you just want to use the @code{imap} engine to search @code{nnimap}
21189 servers, and the @code{gmane} engine to search @code{gmane} then you
21190 don't have to do anything. But you might want to read the details of the
21191 query language anyway.
21194 * Associating Engines:: How to associate engines.
21195 * The imap Engine:: Imap configuration and usage.
21196 * The gmane Engine:: Gmane configuration and usage.
21197 * The swish++ Engine:: Swish++ configuration and usage.
21198 * The swish-e Engine:: Swish-e configuration and usage.
21199 * The namazu Engine:: Namazu configuration and usage.
21200 * The notmuch Engine:: Notmuch configuration and usage.
21201 * The hyrex Engine:: Hyrex configuration and usage.
21202 * Customizations:: User customizable settings.
21205 @node Associating Engines
21206 @subsubsection Associating Engines
21209 When searching a group, @code{nnir} needs to know which search engine to
21210 use. You can configure a given server to use a particular engine by
21211 setting the server variable @code{nnir-search-engine} to the engine
21212 name. For example to use the @code{namazu} engine to search the server
21213 named @code{home} you can use
21216 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
21218 (nnimap-address "localhost")
21219 (nnir-search-engine namazu))))
21222 Alternatively you might want to use a particular engine for all servers
21223 with a given backend. For example, you might want to use the @code{imap}
21224 engine for all servers using the @code{nnimap} backend. In this case you
21225 can customize the variable @code{nnir-method-default-engines}. This is
21226 an alist of pairs of the form @code{(backend . engine)}. By default this
21227 variable is set to use the @code{imap} engine for all servers using the
21228 @code{nnimap} backend, and the @code{gmane} backend for @code{nntp}
21229 servers. (Don't worry, the @code{gmane} search engine won't actually try
21230 to search non-gmane @code{nntp} servers.) But if you wanted to use
21231 @code{namazu} for all your servers with an @code{nnimap} backend you
21232 could change this to
21235 '((nnimap . namazu)
21239 @node The imap Engine
21240 @subsubsection The imap Engine
21242 The @code{imap} engine requires no configuration.
21244 Queries using the @code{imap} engine follow a simple query language.
21245 The search is always case-insensitive and supports the following
21246 features (inspired by the Google search input language):
21250 @item Boolean query operators
21251 AND, OR, and NOT are supported, and parentheses can be used to control
21252 operator precedence, e.g., (emacs OR xemacs) AND linux. Note that
21253 operators must be written with all capital letters to be
21254 recognized. Also preceding a term with a @minus{} sign is equivalent
21257 @item Automatic AND queries
21258 If you specify multiple words then they will be treated as an AND
21259 expression intended to match all components.
21261 @item Phrase searches
21262 If you wrap your query in double-quotes then it will be treated as a
21267 By default the whole message will be searched. The query can be limited
21268 to a specific part of a message by using a prefix-arg. After inputting
21269 the query this will prompt (with completion) for a message part.
21270 Choices include ``Whole message'', ``Subject'', ``From'', and
21271 ``To''. Any unrecognized input is interpreted as a header name. For
21272 example, typing @kbd{Message-ID} in response to this prompt will limit
21273 the query to the Message-ID header.
21275 Finally selecting ``Imap'' will interpret the query as a raw
21276 @acronym{IMAP} search query. The format of such queries can be found in
21279 If you don't like the default of searching whole messages you can
21280 customize @code{nnir-imap-default-search-key}. For example to use
21281 @acronym{IMAP} queries by default
21284 (setq nnir-imap-default-search-key "Imap")
21287 @node The gmane Engine
21288 @subsubsection The gmane Engine
21290 The @code{gmane} engine requires no configuration.
21292 Gmane queries follow a simple query language:
21295 @item Boolean query operators
21296 AND, OR, NOT (or AND NOT), and XOR are supported, and brackets can be
21297 used to control operator precedence, e.g., (emacs OR xemacs) AND linux.
21298 Note that operators must be written with all capital letters to be
21301 @item Required and excluded terms
21302 + and @minus{} can be used to require or exclude terms, e.g., football
21305 @item Unicode handling
21306 The search engine converts all text to utf-8, so searching should work
21310 Common English words (like 'the' and 'a') are ignored by default. You
21311 can override this by prefixing such words with a + (e.g., +the) or
21312 enclosing the word in quotes (e.g., "the").
21316 The query can be limited to articles by a specific author using a
21317 prefix-arg. After inputting the query this will prompt for an author
21318 name (or part of a name) to match.
21320 @node The swish++ Engine
21321 @subsubsection The swish++ Engine
21323 FIXME: Say something more here.
21325 Documentation for swish++ may be found at the swish++ sourceforge page:
21326 @uref{http://swishplusplus.sourceforge.net}
21330 @item nnir-swish++-program
21331 The name of the swish++ executable. Defaults to @code{search}
21333 @item nnir-swish++-additional-switches
21334 A list of strings to be given as additional arguments to
21335 swish++. @code{nil} by default.
21337 @item nnir-swish++-remove-prefix
21338 The prefix to remove from each file name returned by swish++ in order
21339 to get a group name. By default this is @code{$HOME/Mail}.
21343 @node The swish-e Engine
21344 @subsubsection The swish-e Engine
21346 FIXME: Say something more here.
21348 Documentation for swish-e may be found at the swish-e homepage
21349 @uref{http://swish-e.org}
21353 @item nnir-swish-e-program
21354 The name of the swish-e search program. Defaults to @code{swish-e}.
21356 @item nnir-swish-e-additional-switches
21357 A list of strings to be given as additional arguments to
21358 swish-e. @code{nil} by default.
21360 @item nnir-swish-e-remove-prefix
21361 The prefix to remove from each file name returned by swish-e in order
21362 to get a group name. By default this is @code{$HOME/Mail}.
21366 @node The namazu Engine
21367 @subsubsection The namazu Engine
21369 Using the namazu engine requires creating and maintaining index files.
21370 One directory should contain all the index files, and nnir must be told
21371 where to find them by setting the @code{nnir-namazu-index-directory}
21374 To work correctly the @code{nnir-namazu-remove-prefix} variable must
21375 also be correct. This is the prefix to remove from each file name
21376 returned by Namazu in order to get a proper group name (albeit with @samp{/}
21377 instead of @samp{.}).
21379 For example, suppose that Namazu returns file names such as
21380 @samp{/home/john/Mail/mail/misc/42}. For this example, use the
21381 following setting: @code{(setq nnir-namazu-remove-prefix
21382 "/home/john/Mail/")} Note the trailing slash. Removing this prefix from
21383 the directory gives @samp{mail/misc/42}. @code{nnir} knows to remove
21384 the @samp{/42} and to replace @samp{/} with @samp{.} to arrive at the
21385 correct group name @samp{mail.misc}.
21387 Extra switches may be passed to the namazu search command by setting the
21388 variable @code{nnir-namazu-additional-switches}. It is particularly
21389 important not to pass any any switches to namazu that will change the
21390 output format. Good switches to use include @option{--sort},
21391 @option{--ascending}, @option{--early} and @option{--late}.
21392 Refer to the Namazu documentation for further
21393 information on valid switches.
21395 Mail must first be indexed with the @command{mknmz} program. Read the
21396 documentation for namazu to create a configuration file. Here is an
21401 package conf; # Don't remove this line!
21403 # Paths which will not be indexed. Don't use '^' or '$' anchors.
21404 $EXCLUDE_PATH = "spam|sent";
21406 # Header fields which should be searchable. case-insensitive
21407 $REMAIN_HEADER = "from|date|message-id|subject";
21409 # Searchable fields. case-insensitive
21410 $SEARCH_FIELD = "from|date|message-id|subject";
21412 # The max length of a word.
21413 $WORD_LENG_MAX = 128;
21415 # The max length of a field.
21416 $MAX_FIELD_LENGTH = 256;
21420 For this example, mail is stored in the directories @samp{~/Mail/mail/},
21421 @samp{~/Mail/lists/} and @samp{~/Mail/archive/}, so to index them go to
21422 the index directory set in @code{nnir-namazu-index-directory} and issue
21423 the following command:
21426 mknmz --mailnews ~/Mail/archive/ ~/Mail/mail/ ~/Mail/lists/
21429 For maximum searching efficiency you might want to have a cron job run
21430 this command periodically, say every four hours.
21433 @node The notmuch Engine
21434 @subsubsection The notmuch Engine
21437 @item nnir-notmuch-program
21438 The name of the notmuch search executable. Defaults to
21441 @item nnir-notmuch-additional-switches
21442 A list of strings, to be given as additional arguments to notmuch.
21444 @item nnir-notmuch-remove-prefix
21445 The prefix to remove from each file name returned by notmuch in order
21446 to get a group name (albeit with @samp{/} instead of @samp{.}). This
21447 is a regular expression.
21452 @node The hyrex Engine
21453 @subsubsection The hyrex Engine
21454 This engine is obsolete.
21456 @node Customizations
21457 @subsubsection Customizations
21461 @item nnir-method-default-engines
21462 Alist of pairs of server backends and search engines. The default
21469 @item nnir-ignored-newsgroups
21470 A regexp to match newsgroups in the active file that should be skipped
21471 when searching all groups on a server.
21473 @item nnir-summary-line-format
21474 The format specification to be used for lines in an nnir summary buffer.
21475 All the items from @code{gnus-summary-line-format} are available, along with
21476 three items unique to nnir summary buffers:
21479 %Z Search retrieval score value (integer)
21480 %G Article original full group name (string)
21481 %g Article original short group name (string)
21484 If @code{nil} (the default) this will use @code{gnus-summary-line-format}.
21486 @item nnir-retrieve-headers-override-function
21487 If non-@code{nil}, a function that retrieves article headers rather than using
21488 the gnus built-in function. This function takes an article list and
21489 group as arguments and populates the @code{nntp-server-buffer} with the
21490 retrieved headers. It should then return either 'nov or 'headers
21491 indicating the retrieved header format. Failure to retrieve headers
21492 should return @code{nil}.
21494 If this variable is @code{nil}, or if the provided function returns
21495 @code{nil} for a search result, @code{gnus-retrieve-headers} will be
21507 This paragraph describes how to set up mairix and the back end
21508 @code{nnmairix} for indexing and searching your mail from within
21509 Gnus. Additionally, you can create permanent ``smart'' groups which are
21510 bound to mairix searches and are automatically updated.
21513 * About mairix:: About the mairix mail search engine
21514 * nnmairix requirements:: What you will need for using nnmairix
21515 * What nnmairix does:: What does nnmairix actually do?
21516 * Setting up mairix:: Set up your mairix installation
21517 * Configuring nnmairix:: Set up the nnmairix back end
21518 * nnmairix keyboard shortcuts:: List of available keyboard shortcuts
21519 * Propagating marks:: How to propagate marks from nnmairix groups
21520 * nnmairix tips and tricks:: Some tips, tricks and examples
21521 * nnmairix caveats:: Some more stuff you might want to know
21524 @c FIXME: The markup in this section might need improvement.
21525 @c E.g., adding @samp, @var, @file, @command, etc.
21526 @c Cf. (info "(texinfo)Indicating")
21529 @subsection About mairix
21531 Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
21532 mail. It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the
21533 GPL@. Mairix comes with most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but it also
21534 runs under Windows (with cygwin), macOS and Solaris. The homepage can
21536 @uref{http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/mairix/index.html}
21538 Though mairix might not be as flexible as other search tools like
21539 swish++ or namazu, which you can use via the @code{nnir} back end, it
21540 has the prime advantage of being incredibly fast. On current systems, it
21541 can easily search through headers and message bodies of thousands and
21542 thousands of mails in well under a second. Building the database
21543 necessary for searching might take a minute or two, but only has to be
21544 done once fully. Afterwards, the updates are done incrementally and
21545 therefore are really fast, too. Additionally, mairix is very easy to set
21548 For maximum speed though, mairix should be used with mails stored in
21549 @code{Maildir} or @code{MH} format (this includes the @code{nnml} back
21550 end), although it also works with mbox. Mairix presents the search
21551 results by populating a @emph{virtual} maildir/MH folder with symlinks
21552 which point to the ``real'' message files (if mbox is used, copies are
21553 made). Since mairix already presents search results in such a virtual
21554 mail folder, it is very well suited for using it as an external program
21555 for creating @emph{smart} mail folders, which represent certain mail
21558 @node nnmairix requirements
21559 @subsection nnmairix requirements
21561 Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
21562 direct access to your mail folders. If your mail resides on another
21563 server (e.g., an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
21564 access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g., via ssh.
21566 Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
21567 ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You must use
21568 one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like
21569 @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
21571 If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
21572 you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
21573 @code{nnimap}. This is a rather massive setup for accessing some mbox
21574 files, so just change to MH or Maildir already... However, if you're
21575 really, really passionate about using mbox, you might want to look into
21576 the package @file{mairix.el}, which comes with Emacs 23.
21578 @node What nnmairix does
21579 @subsection What nnmairix does
21581 The back end @code{nnmairix} enables you to call mairix from within Gnus,
21582 either to query mairix with a search term or to update the
21583 database. While visiting a message in the summary buffer, you can use
21584 several pre-defined shortcuts for calling mairix, e.g., to quickly
21585 search for all mails from the sender of the current message or to
21586 display the whole thread associated with the message, even if the
21587 mails are in different folders.
21589 Additionally, you can create permanent @code{nnmairix} groups which are bound
21590 to certain mairix searches. This way, you can easily create a group
21591 containing mails from a certain sender, with a certain subject line or
21592 even for one specific thread based on the Message-ID@. If you check for
21593 new mail in these folders (e.g., by pressing @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g}), they
21594 automatically update themselves by calling mairix.
21596 You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
21597 creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
21598 then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
21599 does not---at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
21600 strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
21601 claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible. This is due to
21602 the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
21603 its back. Another problem can be the mail back end itself, e.g., if you
21604 use mairix with an @acronym{IMAP} server (I had Dovecot complaining
21605 about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
21606 group). Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
21608 @code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like
21609 a wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores
21610 the searches and the Gnus front end. You can choose between three
21611 different mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml},
21612 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnimap}. @code{nnmairix} will call the mairix
21613 binary so that the search results are stored in folders named
21614 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>} on this mail back end, but it will
21615 present these folders in the Gnus front end only with @code{<NAME>}.
21616 You can use an existing mail back end where you already store your mail,
21617 but if you're uncomfortable with @code{nnmairix} creating new mail
21618 groups alongside your other mail, you can also create, e.g., a new
21619 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml} server exclusively for mairix, but then
21620 make sure those servers do not accidentally receive your new mail
21621 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). A special case exists if you want to use
21622 mairix remotely on an IMAP server with @code{nnimap}---here the mairix
21623 folders and your other mail must be on the same @code{nnimap} back end.
21625 @node Setting up mairix
21626 @subsection Setting up mairix
21628 First: create a backup of your mail folders (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}).
21630 Setting up mairix is easy: simply create a @file{.mairixrc} file with
21631 (at least) the following entries:
21634 # Your Maildir/MH base folder
21638 This is the base folder for your mails. All the following directories
21639 are relative to this base folder. If you want to use @code{nnmairix}
21640 with @code{nnimap}, this base directory has to point to the mail
21641 directory where the @acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
21644 maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
21645 mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
21646 mbox = ... your mbox files which should be indexed ...
21649 This specifies all your mail folders and mbox files (relative to the
21650 base directory!) you want to index with mairix. Note that the
21651 @code{nnml} back end saves mails in MH format, so you have to put those
21652 directories in the @code{mh} line. See the example at the end of this
21653 section and mairixrc's man-page for further details.
21659 @vindex nnmairix-group-prefix
21660 This should make sure that you don't accidentally index the mairix
21661 search results. You can change the prefix of these folders with the
21662 variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
21665 mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
21666 database= ... location of database file ...
21669 The @code{format} setting specifies the output format for the mairix
21670 search folder. Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
21671 with @code{nnml}. Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
21673 To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
21677 maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
21678 mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
21679 mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
21682 database=~/.mairixdatabase
21685 In this case, the base directory is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
21686 folders are stored. As you can see, the folders are separated by
21687 colons. If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
21688 because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
21689 @code{Maildir++} folders. For testing nnmairix, I also have some
21690 @code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}. Since this has
21691 to be specified relative to the @code{base} directory, the @code{../Mail}
21692 notation is needed. Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
21693 to recursively scan all files under this directory. Without the three
21694 dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively. I also have some
21695 old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
21696 The other lines should be obvious.
21698 See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
21699 especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
21700 than you are used to.
21702 Now simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
21703 Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
21704 the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.
21706 @node Configuring nnmairix
21707 @subsection Configuring nnmairix
21709 In group mode, type @kbd{G b c}
21710 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). This will ask you for all
21711 necessary information and create a @code{nnmairix} server as a foreign
21712 server. You will have to specify the following:
21717 The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
21721 The name of the @strong{back end server} where mairix should store its
21722 searches. This must be a full server name, like @code{nnml:mymail}.
21723 Just hit @kbd{TAB} to see the available servers. Currently, servers
21724 which are accessed through @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnimap} and
21725 @code{nnml} are supported. As explained above, for locally stored
21726 mails, this can be an existing server where you store your mails.
21727 However, you can also create, e.g., a new @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml}
21728 server exclusively for @code{nnmairix} in your secondary select methods
21729 (@pxref{Finding the News}). If you use a secondary @code{nnml} server
21730 just for mairix, make sure that you explicitly set the server variable
21731 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}, or you might lose mail
21732 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). If you want to use mairix remotely on an
21733 @acronym{IMAP} server, you have to choose the corresponding
21734 @code{nnimap} server here.
21737 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-search-options
21738 The @strong{command} to call the mairix binary. This will usually just
21739 be @code{mairix}, but you can also choose something like @code{ssh
21740 SERVER mairix} if you want to call mairix remotely, e.g., on your
21741 @acronym{IMAP} server. If you want to add some default options to
21742 mairix, you could do this here, but better use the variable
21743 @code{nnmairix-mairix-search-options} instead.
21746 The name of the @strong{default search group}. This will be the group
21747 where all temporary mairix searches are stored, i.e., all searches which
21748 are not bound to permanent @code{nnmairix} groups. Choose whatever you
21752 If the mail back end is @code{nnimap} or @code{nnmaildir}, you will be
21753 asked if you work with @strong{Maildir++}, i.e., with hidden maildir
21754 folders (=beginning with a dot). For example, you have to answer
21755 @samp{yes} here if you work with the Dovecot @acronym{IMAP}
21756 server. Otherwise, you should answer @samp{no} here.
21760 @node nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
21761 @subsection nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
21768 @kindex G b c (Group)
21769 @findex nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group
21770 Creates @code{nnmairix} server and default search group for this server
21771 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). You should have done
21772 this by now (@pxref{Configuring nnmairix}).
21775 @kindex G b s (Group)
21776 @findex nnmairix-search
21777 Prompts for query which is then sent to the mairix binary. Search
21778 results are put into the default search group which is automatically
21779 displayed (@code{nnmairix-search}).
21782 @kindex G b m (Group)
21783 @findex nnmairix-widget-search
21784 Allows you to create a mairix search or a permanent group more
21785 comfortably using graphical widgets, similar to a customization
21786 group. Just try it to see how it works (@code{nnmairix-widget-search}).
21789 @kindex G b i (Group)
21790 @findex nnmairix-search-interactive
21791 Another command for creating a mairix query more comfortably, but uses
21792 only the minibuffer (@code{nnmairix-search-interactive}).
21795 @kindex G b g (Group)
21796 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group
21797 Creates a permanent group which is associated with a search query
21798 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group}). The @code{nnmairix} back end
21799 automatically calls mairix when you update this group with @kbd{g} or
21803 @kindex G b q (Group)
21804 @findex nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group
21805 Changes the search query for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor
21806 (@code{nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group}).
21809 @kindex G b t (Group)
21810 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group
21811 Toggles the 'threads' parameter for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor,
21812 i.e., if you want see the whole threads of the found messages
21813 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group}).
21816 @kindex G b u (Group)
21817 @findex nnmairix-update-database
21818 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-update-options
21819 Calls mairix binary for updating the database
21820 (@code{nnmairix-update-database}). The default parameters are @code{-F}
21821 and @code{-Q} for making this as fast as possible (see variable
21822 @code{nnmairix-mairix-update-options} for defining these default
21826 @kindex G b r (Group)
21827 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group
21828 Keep articles in this @code{nnmairix} group always read or unread, or leave the
21829 marks unchanged (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group}).
21832 @kindex G b d (Group)
21833 @findex nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group
21834 Recreate @code{nnmairix} group on the ``real'' mail back end
21835 (@code{nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group}). You can do this if
21836 you always get wrong article counts with a @code{nnmairix} group.
21839 @kindex G b a (Group)
21840 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group
21841 Toggles the @code{allow-fast} parameters for group under cursor
21842 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group}). The default
21843 behavior of @code{nnmairix} is to do a mairix search every time you
21844 update or enter the group. With the @code{allow-fast} parameter set,
21845 mairix will only be called when you explicitly update the group, but not
21846 upon entering. This makes entering the group faster, but it may also
21847 lead to dangling symlinks if something changed between updating and
21848 entering the group which is not yet in the mairix database.
21851 @kindex G b p (Group)
21852 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group
21853 Toggle marks propagation for this group
21854 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group}). (@pxref{Propagating
21858 @kindex G b o (Group)
21859 @findex nnmairix-propagate-marks
21860 Manually propagate marks (@code{nnmairix-propagate-marks}); needed only when
21861 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} is set to @code{nil}.
21870 @kindex G G m (Summary)
21871 @findex nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article
21872 Allows you to create a mairix query or group based on the current
21873 message using graphical widgets (same as @code{nnmairix-widget-search})
21874 (@code{nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article}).
21877 @kindex G G g (Summary)
21878 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message
21879 Interactively creates a new search group with query based on the current
21880 message, but uses the minibuffer instead of graphical widgets
21881 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message}).
21884 @kindex G G t (Summary)
21885 @findex nnmairix-search-thread-this-article
21886 Searches thread for the current article
21887 (@code{nnmairix-search-thread-this-article}). This is effectively a
21888 shortcut for calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{m:msgid} of the
21889 current article and enabled threads.
21892 @kindex G G f (Summary)
21893 @findex nnmairix-search-from-this-article
21894 Searches all messages from sender of the current article
21895 (@code{nnmairix-search-from-this-article}). This is a shortcut for
21896 calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{f:From}.
21899 @kindex G G o (Summary)
21900 @findex nnmairix-goto-original-article
21901 (Only in @code{nnmairix} groups!) Tries determine the group this article
21902 originally came from and displays the article in this group, so that,
21903 e.g., replying to this article the correct posting styles/group
21904 parameters are applied (@code{nnmairix-goto-original-article}). This
21905 function will use the registry if available, but can also parse the
21906 article file name as a fallback method.
21909 @kindex G G u (Summary)
21910 @findex nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article
21911 Remove possibly existing tick mark from original article
21912 (@code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article}). (@pxref{nnmairix
21917 @node Propagating marks
21918 @subsection Propagating marks
21920 First of: you really need a patched mairix binary for using the marks
21921 propagation feature efficiently. Otherwise, you would have to update
21922 the mairix database all the time. You can get the patch at
21924 @uref{http://www.randomsample.de/mairix-maildir-patch.tar}
21926 You need the mairix v0.21 source code for this patch; everything else
21927 is explained in the accompanied readme file. If you don't want to use
21928 marks propagation, you don't have to apply these patches, but they also
21929 fix some annoyances regarding changing maildir flags, so it might still
21932 With the patched mairix binary, you can use @code{nnmairix} as an
21933 alternative to mail splitting (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}). For
21934 example, instead of splitting all mails from @samp{david@@foobar.com}
21935 into a group, you can simply create a search group with the query
21936 @samp{f:david@@foobar.com}. This is actually what ``smart folders'' are
21937 all about: simply put everything in one mail folder and dynamically
21938 create searches instead of splitting. This is more flexible, since you
21939 can dynamically change your folders any time you want to. This also
21940 implies that you will usually read your mails in the @code{nnmairix}
21941 groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
21943 There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
21944 @samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
21945 ``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
21946 search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
21947 enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
21948 marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
21949 mail group it will be still shown as unread.
21951 You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
21952 tedious and error prone, since you may overlook mails you don't have
21953 created @code{nnmairix} groups for. Of course, you could first use
21954 @code{nnmairix-goto-original-article} (@pxref{nnmairix keyboard
21955 shortcuts}) and then read the mail in the original group, but that's
21956 even more cumbersome.
21958 Clearly, the easiest way would be if marks could somehow be
21959 automatically set for the original article. This is exactly what
21960 @emph{marks propagation} is about.
21962 Marks propagation is inactive by default. You can activate it for a
21963 certain @code{nnmairix} group with
21964 @code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group} (bound to @kbd{G b
21965 p}). This function will warn you if you try to use it with your default
21966 search group; the reason is that the default search group is used for
21967 temporary searches, and it's easy to accidentally propagate marks from
21968 this group. However, you can ignore this warning if you really want to.
21970 With marks propagation enabled, all the marks you set in a @code{nnmairix}
21971 group should now be propagated to the original article. For example,
21972 you can now tick an article (by default with @kbd{!}) and this mark should
21973 magically be set for the original article, too.
21975 A few more remarks which you may or may not want to know:
21977 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close
21978 Marks will not be set immediately, but only upon closing a group. This
21979 not only makes marks propagation faster, it also avoids problems with
21980 dangling symlinks when dealing with maildir files (since changing flags
21981 will change the file name). You can also control when to propagate marks
21982 via @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} (see the doc-string for
21985 Obviously, @code{nnmairix} will have to look up the original group for every
21986 article you want to set marks for. If available, @code{nnmairix} will first
21987 use the registry for determining the original group. The registry is very
21988 fast, hence you should really, really enable the registry when using
21989 marks propagation. If you don't have to worry about RAM and disc space,
21990 set @code{gnus-registry-max-entries} to a large enough value; to be on
21991 the safe side, choose roughly the amount of mails you index with mairix.
21993 @vindex nnmairix-only-use-registry
21994 If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
21995 original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix
21996 search for determining the file name of the article. This, of course, is
21997 way slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
21998 marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation by
21999 setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to @code{t}.
22001 Maybe you also want to propagate marks the other way round, i.e., if you
22002 tick an article in a "real" mail group, you'd like to have the same
22003 article in a @code{nnmairix} group ticked, too. For several good
22004 reasons, this can only be done efficiently if you use maildir. To
22005 immediately contradict myself, let me mention that it WON'T work with
22006 @code{nnmaildir}, since @code{nnmaildir} stores the marks externally and
22007 not in the file name. Therefore, propagating marks to @code{nnmairix}
22008 groups will usually only work if you use an IMAP server which uses
22009 maildir as its file format.
22011 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups
22012 If you work with this setup, just set
22013 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t} and see what
22014 happens. If you don't like what you see, just set it to @code{nil} again.
22015 One problem might be that you get a wrong number of unread articles; this
22016 usually happens when you delete or expire articles in the original
22017 groups. When this happens, you can recreate the @code{nnmairix} group on
22018 the back end using @kbd{G b d}.
22020 @node nnmairix tips and tricks
22021 @subsection nnmairix tips and tricks
22027 @findex nnmairix-update-groups
22028 I put all my important mail groups at group level 1. The mairix groups
22029 have group level 5, so they do not get checked at start up (@pxref{Group
22032 I use the following to check for mails:
22035 (defun my-check-mail-mairix-update (level)
22037 ;; if no prefix given, set level=1
22038 (gnus-group-get-new-news (or level 1))
22039 (nnmairix-update-groups "mairixsearch" t t)
22040 (gnus-group-list-groups))
22042 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map "g" 'my-check-mail-mairix-update)
22045 Instead of @samp{"mairixsearch"} use the name of your @code{nnmairix}
22046 server. See the doc string for @code{nnmairix-update-groups} for
22050 Example: search group for ticked articles
22052 For example, you can create a group for all ticked articles, where the
22053 articles always stay unread:
22055 Hit @kbd{G b g}, enter group name (e.g., @samp{important}), use
22056 @samp{F:f} as query and do not include threads.
22058 Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
22059 activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
22061 So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
22062 group? There are two options: You may simply use
22063 @code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{G G u}) to remove
22064 tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
22065 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t}, but see the above
22066 comments about this option. If it works for you, the tick marks should
22067 also exist in the @code{nnmairix} group and you can remove them as usual,
22068 e.g., by marking an article as read.
22070 When you have removed a tick mark from the original article, this
22071 article should vanish from the @code{nnmairix} group after you have updated the
22072 mairix database and updated the group. Fortunately, there is a function
22073 for doing exactly that: @code{nnmairix-update-groups}. See the previous code
22074 snippet and the doc string for details.
22077 Dealing with auto-subscription of mail groups
22079 As described before, all @code{nnmairix} groups are in fact stored on
22080 the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
22081 see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
22082 should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
22083 usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
22084 @code{nnml}, i.e., you will suddenly see groups of the form
22085 @samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
22086 simply kill these groups with C-k. For avoiding this, turn off
22087 auto-subscription completely by setting the variable
22088 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups} to @code{nil} (@pxref{Filtering New
22089 Groups}), or if you like to keep this feature use the following kludge
22090 for turning it off for all groups beginning with @samp{zz_}:
22093 (setq gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
22094 "^\\(nnml\\|nnfolder\\|nnmbox\\|nnmh\\|nnbabyl\\|nnmaildir\\).*:\\([^z]\\|z$\\|\\z[^z]\\|zz$\\|zz[^_]\\|zz_$\\).*")
22099 @node nnmairix caveats
22100 @subsection nnmairix caveats
22104 You can create a secondary @code{nnml} server just for nnmairix, but then
22105 you have to explicitly set the corresponding server variable
22106 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}. Otherwise, new mail might get
22107 put into this secondary server (and would never show up again). Here's
22108 an example server definition:
22111 (nnml "mairix" (nnml-directory "mairix") (nnml-get-new-mail nil))
22114 (The @code{nnmaildir} back end also has a server variable
22115 @code{get-new-mail}, but its default value is @code{nil}, so you don't
22116 have to explicitly set it if you use a @code{nnmaildir} server just for
22120 If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
22121 @code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
22122 @code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}; this is the default). Be
22123 @emph{extra careful} if you use
22124 @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are split
22125 into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as you
22126 check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
22129 Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
22130 groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
22133 If you use the Gnus agent (@pxref{Gnus Unplugged}): don't agentize
22134 @code{nnmairix} groups (though I have no idea what happens if you do).
22137 mairix does only support us-ascii characters.
22140 @code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
22141 completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
22142 called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
22143 back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
22144 don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
22145 own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
22149 All necessary information is stored in the group parameters
22150 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). This has the advantage that no active file
22151 is needed, but also implies that when you kill a @code{nnmairix} group,
22152 it is gone for good.
22155 @findex nnmairix-purge-old-groups
22156 If you create and kill a lot of @code{nnmairix} groups, the
22157 ``zz_mairix-*'' groups will accumulate on the mail back end server. To
22158 delete old groups which are no longer needed, call
22159 @code{nnmairix-purge-old-groups}. Note that this assumes that you don't
22160 save any ``real'' mail in folders of the form
22161 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can change the prefix of
22162 @code{nnmairix} groups by changing the variable
22163 @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
22166 The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
22167 for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
22169 A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and
22170 comes with the fact that maildir stores mail flags like @samp{Seen} or
22171 @samp{Replied} by appending chars @samp{S} and @samp{R} to the message
22172 file name, respectively. This implies that currently you would have to
22173 update the mairix database not only when new mail arrives, but also when
22174 mail flags are changing. The same applies to new mails which are indexed
22175 while they are still in the @samp{new} folder but then get moved to
22176 @samp{cur} when Gnus has seen the mail. If you don't update the database
22177 after this has happened, a mairix query can lead to symlinks pointing to
22178 non-existing files. In Gnus, these messages will usually appear with
22179 ``(none)'' entries in the header and can't be accessed. If this happens
22180 to you, using @kbd{G b u} and updating the group will usually fix this.
22187 @include message.texi
22188 @chapter Emacs MIME
22189 @include emacs-mime.texi
22191 @include sieve.texi
22203 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
22204 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
22205 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
22206 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
22207 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
22208 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
22209 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
22210 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
22211 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
22212 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
22213 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
22214 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
22215 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
22216 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
22217 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
22218 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
22219 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
22220 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
22221 * The Gnus Cloud:: A package for synchronizing Gnus marks.
22222 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
22223 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
22227 @node Process/Prefix
22228 @section Process/Prefix
22229 @cindex process/prefix convention
22231 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
22232 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
22234 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
22235 command to be performed on.
22239 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
22240 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
22241 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
22242 with the current one.
22244 @vindex transient-mark-mode
22245 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
22246 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
22248 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
22249 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
22252 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
22253 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
22255 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
22258 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
22259 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
22260 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
22261 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22263 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
22264 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
22265 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
22266 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
22267 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
22268 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
22269 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
22270 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
22272 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
22273 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
22274 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
22275 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
22276 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
22280 @section Interactive
22281 @cindex interaction
22285 @item gnus-novice-user
22286 @vindex gnus-novice-user
22287 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
22288 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
22289 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
22290 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
22293 @item gnus-expert-user
22294 @vindex gnus-expert-user
22295 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
22296 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing,
22297 no matter how strange. For example, quitting Gnus, exiting a group
22298 without an update, catching up with a group, deleting expired
22299 articles, and replying by mail to a news message will not require
22302 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
22303 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
22304 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
22305 is @code{t} by default.
22307 @item gnus-interactive-exit
22308 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
22309 If non-@code{nil}, require a confirmation when exiting Gnus. If
22310 @code{quiet}, update any active summary buffers automatically without
22311 querying. The default value is @code{t}.
22315 @node Symbolic Prefixes
22316 @section Symbolic Prefixes
22317 @cindex symbolic prefixes
22319 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
22320 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
22321 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
22322 rule of 900 to the current article.
22324 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
22325 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
22326 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
22327 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
22328 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
22329 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
22330 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
22332 @kindex M-i (Summary)
22333 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
22334 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
22335 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
22336 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
22337 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
22338 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
22339 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
22340 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
22342 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
22343 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
22344 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
22346 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
22350 @node Formatting Variables
22351 @section Formatting Variables
22352 @cindex formatting variables
22354 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
22355 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
22356 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
22357 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
22358 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
22361 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
22362 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
22363 lots of percentages everywhere.
22366 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
22367 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
22368 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
22369 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
22370 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
22371 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
22372 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
22373 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
22376 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
22377 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
22378 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
22379 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
22380 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
22381 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
22382 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
22383 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
22385 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
22386 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
22388 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
22389 @findex gnus-update-format
22390 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
22391 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
22392 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
22393 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
22397 @node Formatting Basics
22398 @subsection Formatting Basics
22400 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
22401 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
22402 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
22404 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
22405 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
22406 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
22407 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
22408 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
22411 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
22412 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
22413 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
22414 less than 4 characters wide.
22416 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
22417 @samp{%&user-date;}.
22420 @node Mode Line Formatting
22421 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
22423 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
22424 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
22425 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
22426 with the following two differences:
22431 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
22434 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
22435 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
22436 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
22437 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
22438 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
22439 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
22440 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
22445 @node Advanced Formatting
22446 @subsection Advanced Formatting
22448 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
22449 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
22450 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
22451 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
22453 These are the valid modifiers:
22458 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
22462 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
22467 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
22470 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
22475 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
22478 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
22481 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
22484 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
22490 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
22495 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
22496 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
22497 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
22498 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
22499 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
22500 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
22501 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
22503 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
22504 last operation, padding.
22507 @node User-Defined Specs
22508 @subsection User-Defined Specs
22510 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
22511 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
22512 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
22513 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
22514 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
22515 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
22516 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
22517 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
22518 should protect against that.
22520 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
22521 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
22523 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
22524 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
22525 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
22526 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
22530 @node Formatting Fonts
22531 @subsection Formatting Fonts
22534 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22535 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
22536 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
22537 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
22538 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
22542 @vindex gnus-face-0
22543 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
22544 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
22545 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
22546 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
22547 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
22548 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
22550 @cindex %<<, %>>, guillemets
22551 @c @cindex %<<, %>>, %«, %», guillemets
22552 @vindex gnus-balloon-face-0
22553 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
22554 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
22555 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
22556 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
22557 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
22558 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
22559 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
22560 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
22561 (in Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
22562 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
22563 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
22566 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
22569 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
22570 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
22571 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
22573 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
22574 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
22575 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
22576 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
22577 ;; @r{Set the color.}
22578 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
22579 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
22581 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
22582 (setq gnus-group-line-format
22583 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
22586 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
22587 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
22589 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
22590 mode-line variables.
22592 @node Positioning Point
22593 @subsection Positioning Point
22595 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
22596 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
22597 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
22599 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
22601 @findex gnus-goto-colon
22602 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
22603 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
22605 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
22606 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
22607 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
22612 @subsection Tabulation
22614 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
22615 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
22616 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
22617 about lining up the following text afterwards.
22619 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
22620 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
22622 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22623 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
22624 This is the soft tabulator.
22626 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22627 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
22628 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
22631 @node Wide Characters
22632 @subsection Wide Characters
22634 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
22635 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
22636 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
22638 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
22639 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
22640 these countries, that's not true.
22642 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
22643 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
22644 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
22645 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
22649 @node Window Layout
22650 @section Window Layout
22651 @cindex window layout
22653 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
22655 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
22656 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
22657 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
22658 @code{t} by default.
22660 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
22661 glitches. Use at your own peril.
22663 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
22664 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
22665 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
22668 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)))
22669 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22673 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
22674 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
22675 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
22676 possible names is listed below.
22678 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
22679 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example:
22682 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22686 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
22687 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
22688 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
22689 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
22690 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
22691 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
22692 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
22693 size spec per split.
22695 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
22696 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
22697 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e., is the third or
22698 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
22699 present) gets focus.
22701 Here's a more complicated example:
22704 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
22705 (summary 0.25 point)
22709 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
22710 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
22711 occupy, not a percentage.
22713 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
22714 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
22715 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
22716 be used as a split.
22718 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
22721 (article (horizontal 1.0
22725 (summary 0.25 point)
22729 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
22730 @code{horizontal} thingie?
22732 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
22733 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
22734 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
22735 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
22736 the screen is to be given to this strip.
22738 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
22739 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
22740 lines from the splits.
22742 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
22747 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
22748 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
22749 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
22750 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
22751 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
22752 size = number | frame-params
22753 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
22757 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
22758 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
22759 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
22760 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
22762 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
22763 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
22764 @cindex window height
22765 @cindex window width
22766 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
22767 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
22768 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
22769 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
22770 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
22771 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
22773 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
22774 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
22775 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
22776 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
22778 @findex gnus-configure-frame
22779 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
22780 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
22781 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
22782 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
22783 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
22784 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
22785 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
22786 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
22787 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
22788 configuration list.
22791 (gnus-configure-frame
22795 (article 0.3 point))
22803 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
22804 @code{frame} split:
22807 (gnus-configure-frame
22810 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
22812 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
22813 (user-position . t)
22814 (left . -1) (top . 1))
22819 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
22820 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
22821 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
22822 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
22823 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
22824 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
22825 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
22826 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
22828 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
22829 be found in its default value.
22831 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
22832 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
22833 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
22837 (message (horizontal 1.0
22838 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
22840 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
22845 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
22846 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
22847 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
22852 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
22853 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
22854 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
22855 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
22856 (name . "Message"))
22857 (message 1.0 point))))
22860 @findex gnus-add-configuration
22861 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
22862 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
22863 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
22864 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
22867 (gnus-add-configuration
22868 '(article (vertical 1.0
22870 (summary .25 point)
22874 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
22875 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
22876 Gnus has been loaded.
22878 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
22879 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
22880 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
22881 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
22882 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
22884 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
22885 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
22886 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
22889 @subsection Window Configuration Names
22891 Here's a list of most of the currently known window configurations,
22892 and when they're used:
22899 Entering a group and showing only the summary.
22902 Selecting an article.
22908 Browsing groups from the server buffer.
22911 Composing a (new) message.
22914 Showing only the article buffer.
22917 Editing an article.
22920 Editing group parameters and the like.
22923 Editing a server definition.
22926 Composing a news message.
22929 Replying or following up an article without yanking the text.
22932 Forwarding a message.
22935 Replying or following up an article with yanking the text.
22938 Bouncing a message.
22941 Sending an article to an external process.
22944 Sending a bug report.
22947 Displaying the score trace.
22950 Displaying the score words.
22953 Displaying the split trace.
22955 @item compose-bounce
22956 Composing a bounce message.
22959 Previewing a @acronym{MIME} part.
22964 @subsection Example Window Configurations
22968 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
22969 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
22984 (gnus-add-configuration
22987 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22989 (summary 0.16 point)
22992 (gnus-add-configuration
22995 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22996 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
23002 @node Faces and Fonts
23003 @section Faces and Fonts
23008 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
23009 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
23010 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
23015 @section Mode Lines
23018 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
23019 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
23020 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
23021 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
23022 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
23023 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
23024 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
23027 @cindex display-time
23029 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
23030 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
23031 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
23032 to display (e.g., the subject of the article) is often longer than the
23033 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
23034 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
23035 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
23036 additional elements on the mode line (e.g., a clock), you should modify
23039 @c Hook written by Francesco Potortì <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
23041 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
23042 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
23044 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
23045 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
23046 (length display-time-string)))))
23049 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
23050 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
23051 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
23052 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
23053 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
23056 @node Highlighting and Menus
23057 @section Highlighting and Menus
23059 @cindex highlighting
23062 @vindex gnus-visual
23063 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
23064 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
23065 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
23068 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
23069 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
23072 @item group-highlight
23073 Do highlights in the group buffer.
23074 @item summary-highlight
23075 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
23076 @item article-highlight
23077 Do highlights in the article buffer.
23079 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
23081 Create menus in the group buffer.
23083 Create menus in the summary buffers.
23085 Create menus in the article buffer.
23087 Create menus in the browse buffer.
23089 Create menus in the server buffer.
23091 Create menus in the score buffers.
23093 Create menus in all buffers.
23096 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
23097 buffers, you could say something like:
23100 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
23103 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
23106 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
23109 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
23110 in all Gnus buffers.
23112 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
23115 @item gnus-mouse-face
23116 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
23117 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
23118 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
23122 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
23126 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
23127 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
23128 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
23130 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
23131 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
23132 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
23134 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
23135 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
23136 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
23138 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
23139 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
23140 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
23142 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
23143 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
23144 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
23146 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
23147 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
23148 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
23158 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
23159 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
23160 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
23161 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
23162 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
23164 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
23165 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
23166 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
23168 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
23169 been idle for thirty minutes:
23172 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
23175 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
23179 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
23182 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
23183 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
23184 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23186 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
23187 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
23188 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
23189 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23191 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
23192 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
23193 @var{idle} minutes.
23195 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
23196 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
23199 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
23200 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
23201 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
23203 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
23204 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
23205 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
23206 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
23208 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
23209 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23211 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
23213 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
23216 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
23217 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
23218 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
23219 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
23220 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
23221 @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
23222 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
23223 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
23224 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
23225 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
23227 @findex gnus-demon-init
23228 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
23229 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
23230 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
23231 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
23232 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
23234 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
23235 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
23236 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
23244 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
23245 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
23246 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
23248 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
23249 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
23250 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
23251 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
23252 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
23253 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
23254 @code{undo} function.
23256 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
23257 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
23258 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
23259 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
23260 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
23261 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
23262 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
23263 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
23264 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
23265 never be totally undoable.
23267 @findex gnus-undo-mode
23268 @vindex gnus-use-undo
23270 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
23271 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
23272 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
23273 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
23277 @node Predicate Specifiers
23278 @section Predicate Specifiers
23279 @cindex predicate specifiers
23281 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
23282 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
23283 to type all that much.
23285 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
23290 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
23291 gnus-article-unread-p)
23294 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
23295 functions all take one parameter.
23297 @findex gnus-make-predicate
23298 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
23299 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
23300 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
23305 @section Moderation
23308 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
23309 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
23310 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
23313 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
23317 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
23320 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
23322 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
23327 You split your incoming mail by matching on
23328 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
23329 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
23332 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
23333 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
23336 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
23337 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
23341 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
23344 (setq gnus-moderated-list
23345 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
23349 @node Fetching a Group
23350 @section Fetching a Group
23351 @cindex fetching a group
23353 @findex gnus-fetch-group
23354 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
23355 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
23356 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
23357 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
23358 It takes the group name as a parameter.
23361 @node Image Enhancements
23362 @section Image Enhancements
23364 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
23365 support images, Emacs 22 does.} and up, are able to display pictures and
23366 stuff, so Gnus has taken advantage of that.
23369 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
23370 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
23371 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
23372 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
23373 * Gravatars:: Display the avatar of people you read.
23374 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
23382 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
23383 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
23384 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
23388 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
23389 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
23390 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
23398 Viewing an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
23399 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions have), or that you
23400 have suitable conversion or display programs installed. If your Emacs
23401 has image support the default action is to display the face before the
23402 @code{From} header. If there's no native @code{X-Face} support, Gnus
23403 will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using external programs
23404 from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends, see below. For XEmacs it's
23405 faster if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support. The
23406 default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
23407 @code{display} program.
23409 On a GNU/Linux system, the @code{display} program is included in the
23410 ImageMagick package. For external conversion programs look for packages
23411 with names like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.
23412 On Windows, you may use the packages @code{netpbm} and @code{compface}
23413 from @url{http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net}. You need to add the
23414 @code{bin} directory to your @code{PATH} environment variable.
23415 @c In fact only the following DLLs and binaries seem to be required:
23416 @c compface1.dll uncompface.exe libnetpbm10.dll icontopbm.exe
23418 The variable @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} controls which programs
23419 are used to display the @code{X-Face} header. If this variable is a
23420 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
23421 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
23422 If @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches the
23423 @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
23425 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
23433 @vindex gnus-x-face
23434 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
23435 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
23436 default colors are black and white.
23438 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
23439 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
23440 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
23441 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
23442 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
23443 XEmacs. Here are examples:
23446 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
23447 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23448 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
23449 (png . (:ascent 80))))
23451 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
23452 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23453 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
23454 (png . (:relief -2))))
23457 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
23458 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
23459 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
23460 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
23461 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
23462 @samp{libcompface} library.
23465 If you use posting styles, you can use an @code{x-face-file} entry in
23466 @code{gnus-posting-styles}, @xref{Posting Styles}. If you don't, Gnus
23467 provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow easier
23468 insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages. You also need the
23469 above mentioned ImageMagick, netpbm or other image conversion packages
23470 (depending the values of the variables below) for these functions.
23472 @findex gnus-random-x-face
23473 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
23474 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
23475 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
23476 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
23477 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
23478 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
23479 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
23480 header data as a string.
23482 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
23483 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
23484 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
23485 randomly generated data.
23487 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
23488 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
23489 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
23490 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
23491 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
23493 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
23494 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23497 (setq message-required-news-headers
23498 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23499 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
23502 Using the last function would be something like this:
23505 (setq message-required-news-headers
23506 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23507 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
23508 (gnus-x-face-from-file
23509 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
23517 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces' implementations should really be harmonized.
23519 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
23520 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
23521 represent the author of the message.
23524 @findex gnus-article-display-face
23525 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
23526 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
23529 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
23530 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
23532 Viewing a @code{Face} header requires an Emacs that is able to display
23535 @c (if (featurep 'xemacs)
23537 @c (image-type-available-p 'png))
23539 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
23540 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
23542 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
23543 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
23544 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
23546 @findex gnus-face-from-file
23547 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
23548 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
23549 converts the file to Face format by using the
23550 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
23552 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
23553 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23556 (setq message-required-news-headers
23557 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23558 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
23559 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
23564 @subsection Smileys
23569 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
23574 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
23575 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
23577 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
23578 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23581 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
23584 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
23585 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
23586 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
23587 text and maps that to file names.
23589 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
23590 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
23591 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
23592 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
23593 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
23596 The following variables customize the appearance of the smileys:
23601 @vindex smiley-style
23602 Specifies the smiley style. Predefined smiley styles include
23603 @code{low-color} (small 13x14 pixel, three-color images), @code{medium}
23604 (more colorful images, 16x16 pixel), and @code{grayscale} (grayscale
23605 images, 14x14 pixel). The default depends on the height of the default
23608 @item smiley-data-directory
23609 @vindex smiley-data-directory
23610 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files. You shouldn't set this
23611 variable anymore. Customize @code{smiley-style} instead.
23613 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
23614 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
23615 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
23629 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
23630 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
23631 over your shoulder as you read news.
23633 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
23642 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
23643 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
23644 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
23645 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
23646 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
23647 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
23648 @code{GIF} formats.
23651 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23652 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
23653 point your Web browser at
23654 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
23656 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
23657 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
23659 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
23660 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
23663 @vindex gnus-picon-style
23664 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
23665 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
23666 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
23668 @vindex gnus-picon-properties
23669 The value of the variable @code{gnus-picon-properties} is a list of
23670 properties applied to picons.
23672 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
23676 @item gnus-picon-databases
23677 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23678 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
23679 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
23680 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
23681 "/usr/local/faces")}.
23683 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
23684 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
23685 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23686 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
23688 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
23689 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
23690 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
23691 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
23693 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
23694 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
23695 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23696 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
23697 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
23699 @item gnus-picon-file-types
23700 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
23701 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
23702 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
23704 @item gnus-picon-inhibit-top-level-domains
23705 @vindex gnus-picon-inhibit-top-level-domains
23706 If non-@code{nil} (which is the default), don't display picons for
23707 things like @samp{.net} and @samp{.de}, which aren't usually very
23713 @subsection Gravatars
23717 \include{gravatars}
23721 A gravatar is an image registered to an e-mail address.
23723 You can submit yours on-line at @uref{http://www.gravatar.com}.
23725 The following variables offer control over how things are displayed.
23729 @item gnus-gravatar-size
23730 @vindex gnus-gravatar-size
23731 The size in pixels of gravatars. Gravatars are always square, so one
23732 number for the size is enough.
23734 @item gnus-gravatar-properties
23735 @vindex gnus-gravatar-properties
23736 List of image properties applied to Gravatar images.
23738 @item gnus-gravatar-too-ugly
23739 @vindex gnus-gravatar-too-ugly
23740 Regexp that matches mail addresses or names of people of which avatars
23741 should not be displayed, or @code{nil}. It default to the value of
23742 @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (@pxref{X-Face}).
23746 If you want to see them in the From field, set:
23748 (setq gnus-treat-from-gravatar 'head)
23751 If you want to see them in the Cc and To fields, set:
23754 (setq gnus-treat-mail-gravatar 'head)
23759 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
23762 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23763 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23764 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
23765 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
23766 unusual directory structure.
23768 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23769 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23770 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
23775 @subsubsection Toolbar
23779 @item gnus-use-toolbar
23780 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
23781 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
23782 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-@code{nil}, it should
23783 be one of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom},
23784 @code{right}, and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default
23785 toolbar, the rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those
23786 names show. The default is @code{default}.
23788 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
23789 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
23790 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
23791 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
23792 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
23793 The default is that of the default toolbar.
23795 @item gnus-group-toolbar
23796 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
23797 The toolbar in the group buffer.
23799 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
23800 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
23801 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
23803 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23804 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23805 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
23816 @node Fuzzy Matching
23817 @section Fuzzy Matching
23818 @cindex fuzzy matching
23820 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
23821 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
23823 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
23824 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
23825 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
23827 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
23828 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
23829 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
23830 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
23831 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
23834 @node Thwarting Email Spam
23835 @section Thwarting Email Spam
23839 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23841 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
23842 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
23843 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
23844 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
23845 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
23846 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
23847 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
23848 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
23851 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
23852 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
23853 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
23854 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
23855 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
23856 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
23858 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
23861 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
23862 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
23863 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
23864 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
23867 @node The problem of spam
23868 @subsection The problem of spam
23870 @cindex spam filtering approaches
23871 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
23873 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23875 First, some background on spam.
23877 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
23878 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
23879 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
23880 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
23881 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
23882 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
23883 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
23884 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
23885 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
23887 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
23888 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
23889 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
23890 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
23891 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
23892 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
23893 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
23894 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
23895 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
23898 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
23899 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
23900 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
23901 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
23902 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
23903 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
23904 from Bulgarian IPs.
23906 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
23907 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
23908 etc.)@: or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.)@: from contacting
23909 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
23911 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
23912 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
23913 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
23914 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
23916 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
23917 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
23918 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
23919 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
23920 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
23921 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
23922 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
23923 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
23924 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
23926 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
23927 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
23928 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
23929 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
23930 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
23931 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
23932 down for some time because of the incident.
23934 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
23935 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
23936 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
23937 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
23938 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
23939 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
23940 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
23941 to store the database of spam analysis. Statistical analysis on the
23942 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
23943 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
23944 the server that it has misclassified mail.
23946 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
23947 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
23948 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
23949 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
23950 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
23951 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
23952 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
23955 @node Anti-Spam Basics
23956 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
23960 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23962 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
23963 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
23965 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
23966 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
23967 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
23968 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
23969 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
23970 part of the mail address.)
23973 (setq message-default-news-headers
23974 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
23977 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23978 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23982 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
23983 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
23984 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
23989 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
23990 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
23991 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
23992 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
23994 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
23995 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
23996 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
23997 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
23998 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
23999 your fancy split rule in this way:
24004 (to "larsi" "misc")
24008 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
24009 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
24010 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
24011 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
24012 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
24014 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
24015 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
24016 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
24017 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
24019 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
24023 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
24024 @cindex SpamAssassin
24025 @cindex Vipul's Razor
24028 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
24029 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
24030 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
24031 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
24032 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
24033 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
24034 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
24036 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
24037 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
24038 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
24041 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
24042 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
24043 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
24044 Specifiers}) follow.
24048 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
24052 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
24055 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
24056 the mail contain, e.g., a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
24057 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
24060 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
24064 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
24067 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
24068 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
24072 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
24073 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
24074 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
24075 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
24078 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
24080 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
24084 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
24085 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
24089 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
24090 downloaded by default. You need to set
24091 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
24092 (@pxref{Client-Side IMAP Splitting}).
24094 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
24095 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
24096 spam. And here is the nifty function:
24099 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
24100 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
24102 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d" t)
24103 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
24107 @subsection Hashcash
24110 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
24111 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
24112 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
24113 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
24114 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
24116 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
24117 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
24118 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
24119 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
24120 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
24121 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
24122 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
24123 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
24124 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
24125 one of them separately.
24128 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
24129 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
24130 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
24131 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
24132 need to install to use this feature, see
24133 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
24134 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
24136 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
24137 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
24138 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
24141 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
24144 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
24148 @item hashcash-default-payment
24149 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
24150 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
24151 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
24154 @item hashcash-payment-alist
24155 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
24156 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
24157 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
24158 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
24159 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
24160 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
24161 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
24162 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
24164 @item hashcash-path
24165 @vindex hashcash-path
24166 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
24167 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
24168 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
24169 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
24170 when you generate hashcash payments.
24174 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
24175 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
24176 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
24177 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
24178 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
24179 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
24180 Hashcash Payments}).
24183 @section Spam Package
24184 @cindex spam filtering
24187 The Spam package provides Gnus with a centralized mechanism for
24188 detecting and filtering spam. It filters new mail, and processes
24189 messages according to whether they are spam or ham. (@dfn{Ham} is the
24190 name used throughout this manual to indicate non-spam messages.)
24193 * Spam Package Introduction::
24194 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
24195 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
24196 * Spam and Ham Processors::
24197 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
24199 * Extending the Spam package::
24200 * Spam Statistics Package::
24203 @node Spam Package Introduction
24204 @subsection Spam Package Introduction
24205 @cindex spam filtering
24206 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
24209 You must read this section to understand how the Spam package works.
24210 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
24212 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
24213 events. See @xref{Extending the Spam package}.
24215 @cindex spam-initialize
24216 @vindex spam-use-stat
24217 To use the Spam package, you @strong{must} first run the function
24218 @code{spam-initialize}:
24224 This autoloads @code{spam.el} and installs the various hooks necessary
24225 to let the Spam package do its job. In order to make use of the Spam
24226 package, you have to set up certain group parameters and variables,
24227 which we will describe below. All of the variables controlling the
24228 Spam package can be found in the @samp{spam} customization group.
24230 There are two ``contact points'' between the Spam package and the rest
24231 of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and leaving a group.
24233 Checking new mail for spam is done in one of two ways: while splitting
24234 incoming mail, or when you enter a group.
24236 The first way, checking for spam while splitting incoming mail, is
24237 suited to mail back ends such as @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap}, where
24238 new mail appears in a single spool file. The Spam package processes
24239 incoming mail, and sends mail considered to be spam to a designated
24240 ``spam'' group. @xref{Filtering Incoming Mail}.
24242 The second way is suited to back ends such as @code{nntp}, which have
24243 no incoming mail spool, or back ends where the server is in charge of
24244 splitting incoming mail. In this case, when you enter a Gnus group,
24245 the unseen or unread messages in that group are checked for spam.
24246 Detected spam messages are marked as spam. @xref{Detecting Spam in
24249 @cindex spam back ends
24250 In either case, you have to tell the Spam package what method to use
24251 to detect spam messages. There are several methods, or @dfn{spam back
24252 ends} (not to be confused with Gnus back ends!) to choose from: spam
24253 ``blacklists'' and ``whitelists'', dictionary-based filters, and so
24254 forth. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24256 In the Gnus summary buffer, messages that have been identified as spam
24257 always appear with a @samp{$} symbol.
24259 The Spam package divides Gnus groups into three categories: ham
24260 groups, spam groups, and unclassified groups. You should mark each of
24261 the groups you subscribe to as either a ham group or a spam group,
24262 using the @code{spam-contents} group parameter (@pxref{Group
24263 Parameters}). Spam groups have a special property: when you enter a
24264 spam group, all unseen articles are marked as spam. Thus, mail split
24265 into a spam group is automatically marked as spam.
24267 Identifying spam messages is only half of the Spam package's job. The
24268 second half comes into play whenever you exit a group buffer. At this
24269 point, the Spam package does several things:
24271 First, it calls @dfn{spam and ham processors} to process the articles
24272 according to whether they are spam or ham. There is a pair of spam
24273 and ham processors associated with each spam back end, and what the
24274 processors do depends on the back end. At present, the main role of
24275 spam and ham processors is for dictionary-based spam filters: they add
24276 the contents of the messages in the group to the filter's dictionary,
24277 to improve its ability to detect future spam. The @code{spam-process}
24278 group parameter specifies what spam processors to use. @xref{Spam and
24281 If the spam filter failed to mark a spam message, you can mark it
24282 yourself, so that the message is processed as spam when you exit the
24290 @kindex $ (Summary)
24291 @kindex M-d (Summary)
24292 @kindex S x (Summary)
24293 @kindex M s x (Summary)
24294 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24295 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24296 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark
24297 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}).
24301 Similarly, you can unmark an article if it has been erroneously marked
24302 as spam. @xref{Setting Marks}.
24304 Normally, a ham message found in a non-ham group is not processed as
24305 ham---the rationale is that it should be moved into a ham group for
24306 further processing (see below). However, you can force these articles
24307 to be processed as ham by setting
24308 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
24309 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups}.
24311 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24312 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24313 The second thing that the Spam package does when you exit a group is
24314 to move ham articles out of spam groups, and spam articles out of ham
24315 groups. Ham in a spam group is moved to the group specified by the
24316 variable @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}, or the group parameter
24317 @code{ham-process-destination}. Spam in a ham group is moved to the
24318 group specified by the variable @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations},
24319 or the group parameter @code{spam-process-destination}. If these
24320 variables are not set, the articles are left in their current group.
24321 If an article cannot be moved (e.g., with a read-only backend such
24322 as @acronym{NNTP}), it is copied.
24324 If an article is moved to another group, it is processed again when
24325 you visit the new group. Normally, this is not a problem, but if you
24326 want each article to be processed only once, load the
24327 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and set the variable
24328 @code{spam-log-to-registry} to @code{t}. @xref{Spam Package
24329 Configuration Examples}.
24331 Normally, spam groups ignore @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations}.
24332 However, if you set @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only} to
24333 @code{nil}, spam will also be moved out of spam groups, depending on
24334 the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter.
24336 The final thing the Spam package does is to mark spam articles as
24337 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
24339 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
24340 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
24341 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
24343 @node Filtering Incoming Mail
24344 @subsection Filtering Incoming Mail
24345 @cindex spam filtering
24346 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
24349 To use the Spam package to filter incoming mail, you must first set up
24350 fancy mail splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}. The Spam package
24351 defines a special splitting function that you can add to your fancy
24352 split variable (either @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
24353 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on your mail back end):
24359 @vindex spam-split-group
24361 The @code{spam-split} function scans incoming mail according to your
24362 chosen spam back end(s), and sends messages identified as spam to a
24363 spam group. By default, the spam group is a group named @samp{spam},
24364 but you can change this by customizing @code{spam-split-group}. Make
24365 sure the contents of @code{spam-split-group} are an unqualified group
24366 name. For instance, in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server},
24367 the value @samp{spam} means @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The value
24368 @samp{nnimap+server:spam} is therefore wrong---it gives the group
24369 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam}.
24371 @code{spam-split} does not modify the contents of messages in any way.
24373 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
24374 Note for IMAP users: if you use the @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
24375 @code{spam-check-ifile}, and @code{spam-check-stat} spam back ends,
24376 you should also set the variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to
24377 @code{t}. These spam back ends are most useful when they can ``scan''
24378 the full message body. By default, the nnimap back end only retrieves
24379 the message headers; @code{nnimap-split-download-body} tells it to
24380 retrieve the message bodies as well. We don't set this by default
24381 because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and that is not an
24382 appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user. @xref{Client-Side
24385 You have to specify one or more spam back ends for @code{spam-split}
24386 to use, by setting the @code{spam-use-*} variables. @xref{Spam Back
24387 Ends}. Normally, @code{spam-split} simply uses all the spam back ends
24388 you enabled in this way. However, you can tell @code{spam-split} to
24389 use only some of them. Why this is useful? Suppose you are using the
24390 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and @code{spam-use-blackholes} spam back
24391 ends, and the following split rule:
24394 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24395 (any "ding" "ding")
24397 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24402 The problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the ding
24403 folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam detected by
24404 SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through, when it's
24405 sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to the ding
24406 list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the invocation
24407 of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
24409 The solution is to let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, and
24410 perform the other @code{spam-split} rules (including a second
24411 invocation of the regex-headers check) after the ding rule. This is
24412 done by passing a parameter to @code{spam-split}:
24417 ;; @r{spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
24418 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24419 (any "ding" "ding")
24420 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
24422 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24427 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
24428 your particular needs, and target the results of those checks to a
24429 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
24430 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
24431 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
24432 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
24433 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
24435 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24436 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24437 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24438 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24440 @c @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
24441 @c statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
24444 @node Detecting Spam in Groups
24445 @subsection Detecting Spam in Groups
24447 To detect spam when visiting a group, set the group's
24448 @code{spam-autodetect} and @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group
24449 parameters. These are accessible with @kbd{G c} or @kbd{G p}, as
24450 usual (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24452 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24453 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24454 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24455 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
24457 By default, only unseen articles are processed for spam. You can
24458 force Gnus to recheck all messages in the group by setting the
24459 variable @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages} to @code{t}.
24461 If you use the @code{spam-autodetect} method of checking for spam, you
24462 can specify different spam detection methods for different groups.
24463 For instance, the @samp{ding} group may have @code{spam-use-BBDB} as
24464 the autodetection method, while the @samp{suspect} group may have the
24465 @code{spam-use-blacklist} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods
24466 enabled. Unlike with @code{spam-split}, you don't have any control
24467 over the @emph{sequence} of checks, but this is probably unimportant.
24469 @node Spam and Ham Processors
24470 @subsection Spam and Ham Processors
24471 @cindex spam filtering
24472 @cindex spam filtering variables
24473 @cindex spam variables
24476 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
24477 Spam and ham processors specify special actions to take when you exit
24478 a group buffer. Spam processors act on spam messages, and ham
24479 processors on ham messages. At present, the main role of these
24480 processors is to update the dictionaries of dictionary-based spam back
24481 ends such as Bogofilter (@pxref{Bogofilter}) and the Spam Statistics
24482 package (@pxref{Spam Statistics Filtering}).
24484 The spam and ham processors that apply to each group are determined by
24485 the group's@code{spam-process} group parameter. If this group
24486 parameter is not defined, they are determined by the variable
24487 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups}.
24489 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24490 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
24491 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
24492 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
24493 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
24494 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
24495 by customizing the corresponding variable
24496 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
24497 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
24498 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
24499 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
24500 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
24501 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
24502 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
24505 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
24507 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
24508 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
24509 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
24510 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
24511 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
24512 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
24513 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
24514 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
24515 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
24516 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
24517 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
24518 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
24519 processor which will study them as spam samples.
24521 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
24522 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
24523 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
24524 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
24525 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
24526 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
24527 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
24528 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
24531 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24532 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
24533 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
24534 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
24535 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
24536 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
24537 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
24542 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24543 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
24544 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
24545 you really want to.
24548 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
24549 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
24550 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
24551 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
24552 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
24553 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
24556 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24557 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
24558 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
24559 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
24560 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
24561 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
24562 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
24563 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
24564 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
24565 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
24566 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
24567 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
24568 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
24569 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
24570 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
24572 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24573 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24575 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24576 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
24577 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
24579 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
24580 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
24582 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
24583 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
24584 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
24585 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
24586 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
24588 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
24589 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
24590 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
24591 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
24592 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
24595 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24596 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
24597 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
24598 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
24599 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
24600 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
24601 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
24602 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
24603 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
24604 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
24605 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
24606 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
24607 group buffer then you need it here as well.
24609 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24610 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24612 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24613 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
24616 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
24617 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
24618 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
24619 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
24620 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
24621 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
24622 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
24624 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
24625 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
24626 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
24627 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
24629 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
24630 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
24631 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
24632 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
24633 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
24634 from the mail server.
24636 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
24637 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
24638 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
24639 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
24641 @node Spam Package Configuration Examples
24642 @subsection Spam Package Configuration Examples
24643 @cindex spam filtering
24644 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
24645 @cindex spam configuration examples
24648 @subsubheading Ted's setup
24650 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
24652 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
24653 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
24654 (gnus-registry-initialize)
24658 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
24660 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
24661 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
24662 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24663 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24664 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
24665 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
24666 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
24667 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
24668 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
24669 ;; @r{for nnimap you'll probably want to set nnimap-split-methods, see the manual}
24670 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24671 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
24672 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
24673 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
24674 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24675 (any "ding" "ding")
24676 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
24678 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24681 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
24683 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
24684 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
24685 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
24686 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
24688 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24690 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
24691 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
24692 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
24693 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
24694 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24696 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
24697 ((spam-autodetect . t))
24699 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
24701 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
24702 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
24704 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
24705 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
24706 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
24708 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
24710 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
24711 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
24713 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
24714 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
24715 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
24717 (gnus-ticked-mark))
24718 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
24719 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
24720 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
24722 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
24723 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
24724 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
24728 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
24729 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24731 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
24732 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
24733 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
24734 i.e., to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
24735 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
24736 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
24737 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
24738 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
24739 @samp{training.spam} folders.
24741 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
24742 does most of the job for me:
24745 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
24746 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
24747 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
24748 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24749 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
24750 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
24751 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
24756 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
24758 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
24759 (i.e., legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
24760 bogofilter or DCC).
24762 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
24763 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
24764 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark
24765 (@code{ham-marks}, @ref{Spam and Ham Processors}). On group exit,
24766 those messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want
24767 to have the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter)
24768 and deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
24770 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
24771 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
24772 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e., chars) makes finding
24773 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
24774 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
24775 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
24777 @item @b{Ham folders:}
24779 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
24780 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
24781 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
24782 @samp{training.spam}.
24785 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
24787 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24789 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
24790 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
24791 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
24795 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
24798 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
24799 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
24800 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e., the article numbers are
24801 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
24802 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
24804 @node Spam Back Ends
24805 @subsection Spam Back Ends
24806 @cindex spam back ends
24808 The spam package offers a variety of back ends for detecting spam.
24809 Each back end defines a set of methods for detecting spam
24810 (@pxref{Filtering Incoming Mail}, @pxref{Detecting Spam in Groups}),
24811 and a pair of spam and ham processors (@pxref{Spam and Ham
24815 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
24816 * BBDB Whitelists::
24817 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
24818 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
24820 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
24822 * SpamAssassin back end::
24823 * ifile spam filtering::
24824 * Spam Statistics Filtering::
24828 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
24829 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
24830 @cindex spam filtering
24831 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
24832 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
24835 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
24837 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
24838 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
24839 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
24840 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
24845 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
24847 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
24848 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
24849 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24850 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
24851 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24855 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
24857 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
24858 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24859 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
24863 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
24865 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24866 customizing the group parameters or the
24867 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24868 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24869 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
24873 Instead of the obsolete
24874 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
24875 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
24876 the same way, we promise.
24880 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
24882 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24883 customizing the group parameters or the
24884 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24885 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24886 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24891 Instead of the obsolete
24892 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
24893 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
24894 the same way, we promise.
24898 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
24899 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
24900 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
24901 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
24902 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
24904 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
24905 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
24906 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
24907 Emacs regular expression syntax.
24909 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
24910 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
24911 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
24912 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
24913 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
24914 @file{blacklist} respectively.
24916 @node BBDB Whitelists
24917 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
24918 @cindex spam filtering
24919 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
24920 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
24923 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
24925 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24926 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
24927 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
24928 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
24929 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24930 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
24931 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24935 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
24937 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
24938 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24939 unless the sender is in the BBDB@. Use with care. Only sender
24940 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
24941 classified as spammers.
24943 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
24944 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
24945 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
24946 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to @code{t}, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
24951 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
24953 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24954 customizing the group parameters or the
24955 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24956 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24957 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24962 Instead of the obsolete
24963 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
24964 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
24965 the same way, we promise.
24969 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
24970 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
24971 @cindex spam reporting
24972 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24973 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24976 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
24978 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24979 customizing the group parameters or the
24980 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24981 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
24982 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
24985 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
24989 Instead of the obsolete
24990 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
24991 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
24992 same way, we promise.
24996 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
24998 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
24999 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
25000 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
25001 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
25002 @code{spam-report.el} will fetch the number from the article headers.
25006 @defvar spam-report-user-mail-address
25008 Mail address exposed in the User-Agent spam reports to Gmane. It allows
25009 the Gmane administrators to contact you in case of misreports. The
25010 default is @code{user-mail-address}.
25014 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25015 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25016 @cindex spam filtering
25017 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
25020 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
25022 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
25023 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
25024 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
25025 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
25026 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
25027 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25032 @subsubsection Blackholes
25033 @cindex spam filtering
25034 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
25037 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
25039 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
25040 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
25041 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
25042 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
25043 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
25044 contains outdated servers.
25046 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
25047 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
25048 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
25049 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
25050 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
25051 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
25055 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
25057 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
25061 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
25063 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
25064 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
25068 @defvar spam-use-dig
25070 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
25071 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
25075 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
25076 ham processor for blackholes.
25078 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
25079 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
25080 @cindex spam filtering
25081 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
25084 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
25086 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
25087 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
25088 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
25089 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
25090 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
25091 message is spam or ham, respectively.
25095 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
25097 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25098 the message, positively identify it as spam.
25102 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
25104 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25105 the message, positively identify it as ham.
25109 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
25110 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
25113 @subsubsection Bogofilter
25114 @cindex spam filtering
25115 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
25118 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
25120 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25123 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
25124 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
25125 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
25126 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
25127 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
25128 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
25130 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
25131 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
25134 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
25135 processing will be turned off.
25137 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
25146 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
25147 Get the Bogofilter spamicity score (@code{spam-bogofilter-score}).
25150 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
25152 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25153 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
25154 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
25155 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
25156 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
25157 installation documents for details.
25159 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
25163 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
25164 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25165 customizing the group parameters or the
25166 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25167 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
25168 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
25172 Instead of the obsolete
25173 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25174 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25175 the same way, we promise.
25178 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
25179 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25180 customizing the group parameters or the
25181 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25182 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25183 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
25184 of non-spam messages.
25188 Instead of the obsolete
25189 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25190 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25191 the same way, we promise.
25194 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
25196 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
25197 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
25198 database directory.
25202 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
25203 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25204 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
25205 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
25206 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
25207 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
25209 @node SpamAssassin back end
25210 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
25211 @cindex spam filtering
25212 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
25215 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
25217 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
25219 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
25220 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
25221 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
25222 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
25225 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
25226 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
25227 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
25228 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
25231 You should not enable this if you use
25232 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
25236 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
25238 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
25239 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
25241 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
25245 @defvar spam-spamassassin-program
25247 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
25248 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
25249 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
25250 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
25254 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
25255 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
25256 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
25257 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
25258 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
25259 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
25260 to test this functionality.
25262 @node ifile spam filtering
25263 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
25264 @cindex spam filtering
25265 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
25268 @defvar spam-use-ifile
25270 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
25271 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
25275 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
25277 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
25278 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
25279 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
25283 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
25285 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
25286 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
25287 the default value of @samp{spam}.
25290 @defvar spam-ifile-database
25292 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
25293 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
25297 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
25298 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25299 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
25300 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
25303 @node Spam Statistics Filtering
25304 @subsubsection Spam Statistics Filtering
25305 @cindex spam filtering
25306 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
25310 This back end uses the Spam Statistics Emacs Lisp package to perform
25311 statistics-based filtering (@pxref{Spam Statistics Package}). Before
25312 using this, you may want to perform some additional steps to
25313 initialize your Spam Statistics dictionary. @xref{Creating a
25314 spam-stat dictionary}.
25316 @defvar spam-use-stat
25320 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
25321 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25322 customizing the group parameters or the
25323 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25324 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25325 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
25329 Instead of the obsolete
25330 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25331 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25332 the same way, we promise.
25335 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
25336 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25337 customizing the group parameters or the
25338 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25339 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25340 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
25341 of non-spam messages.
25345 Instead of the obsolete
25346 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25347 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25348 the same way, we promise.
25351 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
25352 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
25353 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
25354 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
25355 @code{spam-split} are provided.
25358 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
25359 @cindex spam filtering
25363 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
25364 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
25365 installed separately.
25367 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
25368 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
25369 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
25370 mail as a spam mail or not.
25372 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
25373 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
25374 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
25376 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Spam Package})
25379 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
25380 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
25381 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
25382 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}. @xref{Spam
25383 Package}. In this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is
25384 filtered using SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be
25385 moved to @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham
25386 messages stay in @samp{INBOX}:
25389 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
25390 spam-split-group "Junk"
25391 ;; @r{for nnimap you'll probably want to set nnimap-split-methods, see the manual}
25392 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
25393 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
25396 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
25397 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
25401 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
25402 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
25403 user's PATH@. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
25407 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
25408 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
25409 store its analysis. This is controlled by the variable
25410 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
25411 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
25412 database to live somewhere special, set
25413 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
25416 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
25417 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
25418 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns
25419 the characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
25420 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
25421 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary
25422 buffer and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using
25423 @file{spam.el}'s spam- and ham-processors, which is much more
25424 convenient. For a detailed description of spam- and ham-processors,
25425 @xref{Spam Package}.
25427 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
25428 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25429 customizing the group parameter or the
25430 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25431 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
25432 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
25436 Instead of the obsolete
25437 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25438 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25439 the same way, we promise.
25442 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
25443 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25444 customizing the group parameter or the
25445 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25446 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
25447 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
25452 Instead of the obsolete
25453 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25454 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25455 the same way, we promise.
25458 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
25459 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
25462 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
25463 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
25464 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
25466 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
25467 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
25468 (e.g., because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
25469 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
25470 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
25471 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
25473 @node Extending the Spam package
25474 @subsection Extending the Spam package
25475 @cindex spam filtering
25476 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
25477 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
25479 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
25480 incoming mail, provide the following:
25488 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
25489 "True if blackbox should be used.")
25492 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
25494 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
25495 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
25496 register/unregister routines as a start, or other register/unregister
25497 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
25498 register/unregister spam and ham.
25503 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
25504 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
25505 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
25506 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
25511 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
25518 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
25519 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
25521 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
25522 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
25523 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
25524 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
25527 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
25528 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
25529 Only applicable to spam groups.")
25531 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
25532 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
25533 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
25542 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
25543 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
25545 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
25546 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
25547 variable customization.
25551 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
25553 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
25554 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
25556 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
25557 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
25563 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
25565 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
25566 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
25567 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
25570 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
25572 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
25573 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
25577 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
25579 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
25580 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
25581 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
25585 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
25587 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
25588 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
25589 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
25592 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
25594 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
25595 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
25599 @code{spam-install-backend}
25601 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
25602 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
25603 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
25606 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
25608 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
25609 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
25610 never install such a back end.
25615 @node Spam Statistics Package
25616 @subsection Spam Statistics Package
25617 @cindex Paul Graham
25618 @cindex Graham, Paul
25619 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
25620 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
25621 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
25623 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
25624 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
25625 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
25626 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
25627 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
25628 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
25629 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
25630 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
25631 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
25634 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
25635 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
25636 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
25637 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
25638 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
25639 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
25640 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
25641 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
25643 The Spam Statistics package adds support to Gnus for this kind of
25644 filtering. It can be used as one of the back ends of the Spam package
25645 (@pxref{Spam Package}), or by itself.
25647 Before using the Spam Statistics package, you need to set it up.
25648 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
25649 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
25650 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
25651 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
25654 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
25655 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
25656 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
25659 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25660 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25662 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
25663 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
25664 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
25665 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
25666 need several hundred emails in both collections.
25668 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
25669 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
25670 per mail. Use the following:
25672 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
25673 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
25674 is treated as one spam mail.
25677 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
25678 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
25679 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
25682 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
25683 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds to
25684 the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
25685 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
25686 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds to the group
25687 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
25689 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
25690 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
25691 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
25692 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
25693 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
25696 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
25697 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
25698 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
25699 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
25702 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
25703 reset the dictionary.
25705 @defun spam-stat-reset
25706 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
25709 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
25710 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
25711 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
25712 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
25713 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
25714 only non-spam mails.
25716 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
25717 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
25718 to update the dictionary incrementally.
25721 @defun spam-stat-save
25722 Save the dictionary.
25725 @defvar spam-stat-file
25726 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
25727 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
25730 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
25731 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
25733 This section describes how to use the Spam statistics
25734 @emph{independently} of the @xref{Spam Package}.
25736 First, add the following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25739 (require 'spam-stat)
25743 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
25746 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
25747 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
25748 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
25749 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
25751 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
25752 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
25753 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
25754 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
25757 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25758 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25762 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
25763 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
25766 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
25767 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
25768 expression are considered potential spam.
25771 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25772 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25773 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25777 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
25778 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
25779 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
25780 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
25781 mails, when creating the dictionary!
25784 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25785 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25786 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25790 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
25791 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
25792 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
25793 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
25794 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
25798 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25799 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
25800 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25801 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25806 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25807 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25809 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
25811 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
25812 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
25813 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25816 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
25817 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
25818 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25821 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
25822 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
25823 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
25824 already been processed as non-spam.
25827 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
25828 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
25829 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
25830 been processed as spam.
25833 @defun spam-stat-save
25834 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
25835 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25838 @defun spam-stat-load
25839 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
25840 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25843 @defun spam-stat-score-word
25844 Return the spam score for a word.
25847 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
25848 Return the spam score for a buffer.
25851 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
25852 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
25853 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
25856 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
25857 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25860 (require 'spam-stat)
25864 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
25867 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25868 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25869 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25870 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25871 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25872 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25873 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25874 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25875 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25876 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25877 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25878 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25879 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25880 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25883 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
25886 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25887 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25888 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25889 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
25890 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25891 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25894 @node The Gnus Registry
25895 @section The Gnus Registry
25900 The Gnus registry is a package that tracks messages by their
25901 Message-ID across all backends. This allows Gnus users to do several
25902 cool things, be the envy of the locals, get free haircuts, and be
25903 experts on world issues. Well, maybe not all of those, but the
25904 features are pretty cool.
25906 Although they will be explained in detail shortly, here's a quick list
25907 of said features in case your attention span is... never mind.
25911 Split messages to their parent
25913 This keeps discussions in the same group. You can use the subject and
25914 the sender in addition to the Message-ID@. Several strategies are
25918 Refer to messages by ID
25920 Commands like @code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article} can take
25921 advantage of the registry to jump to the referred article, regardless
25922 of the group the message is in.
25925 Store custom flags and keywords
25927 The registry can store custom flags and keywords for a message. For
25928 instance, you can mark a message ``To-Do'' this way and the flag will
25929 persist whether the message is in the nnimap, nnml, nnmaildir,
25933 Store arbitrary data
25935 Through a simple ELisp API, the registry can remember any data for a
25936 message. A built-in inverse map, when activated, allows quick lookups
25937 of all messages matching a particular set of criteria.
25941 * Gnus Registry Setup::
25942 * Registry Article Refer Method::
25943 * Fancy splitting to parent::
25944 * Store custom flags and keywords::
25945 * Store arbitrary data::
25948 @node Gnus Registry Setup
25949 @subsection Gnus Registry Setup
25951 Fortunately, setting up the Gnus registry is pretty easy:
25954 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500)
25956 (gnus-registry-initialize)
25959 This adds registry saves to Gnus newsrc saves (which happen on exit
25960 and when you press @kbd{s} from the @file{*Group*} buffer. It also
25961 adds registry calls to article actions in Gnus (copy, move, etc.)@: so
25962 it's not easy to undo the initialization. See
25963 @code{gnus-registry-initialize} for the gory details.
25965 Here are other settings used by the author of the registry (understand
25966 what they do before you copy them blindly).
25970 gnus-registry-split-strategy 'majority
25971 gnus-registry-ignored-groups '(("nntp" t)
25975 gnus-registry-max-entries 500000
25976 ;; this is the default
25977 gnus-registry-track-extra '(sender subject))
25980 They say: keep a lot of messages around, track messages by sender and
25981 subject (not just parent Message-ID), and when the registry splits
25982 incoming mail, use a majority rule to decide where messages should go
25983 if there's more than one possibility. In addition, the registry
25984 should ignore messages in groups that match ``nntp'', ``nnrss'',
25985 ``spam'', or ``train.''
25987 You are doubtless impressed by all this, but you ask: ``I am a Gnus
25988 user, I customize to live. Give me more.'' Here you go, these are
25989 the general settings.
25991 @defvar gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups
25992 The groups that will not be followed by
25993 @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}. They will still be
25994 remembered by the registry. This is a list of regular expressions.
25995 By default any group name that ends with ``delayed'', ``drafts'',
25996 ``queue'', or ``INBOX'', belongs to the nnmairix backend, or contains
25997 the word ``archive'' is not followed.
26000 @defvar gnus-registry-max-entries
26001 The number (an integer or @code{nil} for unlimited) of entries the
26002 registry will keep. If the registry has reached or exceeded this
26003 size, it will reject insertion of new entries.
26006 @defvar gnus-registry-prune-factor
26007 This option (a float between 0 and 1) controls how much the registry
26008 is cut back during pruning. In order to prevent constant pruning, the
26009 registry will be pruned back to less than
26010 @code{gnus-registry-max-entries}. This option controls exactly how
26011 much less: the target is calculated as the maximum number of entries
26012 minus the maximum number times this factor. The default is 0.1:
26013 i.e., if your registry is limited to 50000 entries, pruning will try to
26014 cut back to 45000 entries. Entries with keys marked as precious will
26018 @defvar gnus-registry-default-sort-function
26019 This option specifies how registry entries are sorted during pruning.
26020 If a function is given, it should sort least valuable entries first,
26021 as pruning starts from the beginning of the list. The default value
26022 is @code{gnus-registry-sort-by-creation-time}, which proposes the
26023 oldest entries for pruning. Set to nil to perform no sorting, which
26024 will speed up the pruning process.
26027 @defvar gnus-registry-cache-file
26028 The file where the registry will be stored between Gnus sessions. By
26029 default the file name is @code{.gnus.registry.eieio} in the same
26030 directory as your @code{.newsrc.eld}.
26033 @node Registry Article Refer Method
26034 @subsection Fetching by @code{Message-ID} Using the Registry
26036 The registry knows how to map each @code{Message-ID} to the group it's
26037 in. This can be leveraged to enhance the ``article refer method'',
26038 the thing that tells Gnus how to look up an article given its
26039 Message-ID (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
26042 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
26044 The @code{nnregistry} refer method does exactly that. It has the
26045 advantage that an article may be found regardless of the group it's
26046 in---provided its @code{Message-ID} is known to the registry. It can
26047 be enabled by augmenting the start-up file with something along these
26051 ;; Keep enough entries to have a good hit rate when referring to an
26052 ;; article using the registry. Use long group names so that Gnus
26053 ;; knows where the article is.
26054 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500)
26056 (gnus-registry-initialize)
26058 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
26061 (nnweb "gmane" (nnweb-type gmane))))
26064 The example above instructs Gnus to first look up the article in the
26065 current group, or, alternatively, using the registry, and finally, if
26066 all else fails, using Gmane.
26068 @node Fancy splitting to parent
26069 @subsection Fancy splitting to parent
26071 Simply put, this lets you put followup e-mail where it belongs.
26073 Every message has a Message-ID, which is unique, and the registry
26074 remembers it. When the message is moved or copied, the registry will
26075 notice this and offer the new group as a choice to the splitting
26078 When a followup is made, usually it mentions the original message's
26079 Message-ID in the headers. The registry knows this and uses that
26080 mention to find the group where the original message lives. You only
26081 have to put a rule like this:
26084 (setq nnimap-my-split-fancy '(|
26086 ;; split to parent: you need this
26087 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
26089 ;; other rules, as an example
26095 in your fancy split setup. In addition, you may want to customize the
26096 following variables.
26098 @defvar gnus-registry-track-extra
26099 This is a list of symbols, so it's best to change it from the
26100 Customize interface. By default it's @code{(subject sender recipient)},
26101 which may work for you. It can be annoying if your mail flow is large
26102 and people don't stick to the same groups.
26104 When you decide to stop tracking any of those extra data, you can use
26105 the command @code{gnus-registry-remove-extra-data} to purge it from
26106 the existing registry entries.
26109 @defvar gnus-registry-split-strategy
26110 This is a symbol, so it's best to change it from the Customize
26111 interface. By default it's @code{nil}, but you may want to set it to
26112 @code{majority} or @code{first} to split by sender or subject based on
26113 the majority of matches or on the first found. I find @code{majority}
26117 @node Store custom flags and keywords
26118 @subsection Store custom flags and keywords
26120 The registry lets you set custom flags and keywords per message. You
26121 can use the Gnus->Registry Marks menu or the @kbd{M M x} keyboard
26122 shortcuts, where @code{x} is the first letter of the mark's name.
26124 @defvar gnus-registry-marks
26125 The custom marks that the registry can use. You can modify the
26126 default list, if you like. If you do, you'll have to exit Emacs
26127 before they take effect (you can also unload the registry and reload
26128 it or evaluate the specific macros you'll need, but you probably don't
26129 want to bother). Use the Customize interface to modify the list.
26131 By default this list has the @code{Important}, @code{Work},
26132 @code{Personal}, @code{To-Do}, and @code{Later} marks. They all have
26133 keyboard shortcuts like @kbd{M M i} for Important, using the first
26137 @defun gnus-registry-mark-article
26138 Call this function to mark an article with a custom registry mark. It
26139 will offer the available marks for completion.
26142 You can use @code{defalias} to install a summary line formatting
26143 function that will show the registry marks. There are two flavors of
26144 this function, either showing the marks as single characters, using
26145 their @code{:char} property, or showing the marks as full strings.
26148 ;; show the marks as single characters (see the :char property in
26149 ;; 'gnus-registry-marks'):
26150 ;; (defalias 'gnus-user-format-function-M 'gnus-registry-article-marks-to-chars)
26152 ;; show the marks by name (see 'gnus-registry-marks'):
26153 ;; (defalias 'gnus-user-format-function-M 'gnus-registry-article-marks-to-names)
26157 @node Store arbitrary data
26158 @subsection Store arbitrary data
26160 The registry has a simple API that uses a Message-ID as the key to
26161 store arbitrary data (as long as it can be converted to a list for
26164 @defun gnus-registry-set-id-key (id key value)
26165 Store @code{value} under @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26168 @defun gnus-registry-get-id-key (id key)
26169 Get the data under @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26172 @defvar gnus-registry-extra-entries-precious
26173 If any extra entries are precious, their presence will make the
26174 registry keep the whole entry forever, even if there are no groups for
26175 the Message-ID and if the size limit of the registry is reached. By
26176 default this is just @code{(marks)} so the custom registry marks are
26180 @node The Gnus Cloud
26181 @section The Gnus Cloud
26184 @cindex synchronization
26188 The Gnus Cloud is a way to synchronize marks and general files and
26189 data across multiple machines.
26191 Very often, you want all your marks (what articles you've read, which
26192 ones were important, and so on) to be synchronized between several
26193 machines. With IMAP, that's built into the protocol, so you can read
26194 nnimap groups from many machines and they are automatically
26195 synchronized. But NNTP, nnrss, and many other backends do not store
26196 marks, so you have to do it locally.
26198 The Gnus Cloud package stores the marks, plus any files you choose, on
26199 an IMAP server in a special folder. It's like a
26200 DropTorrentSyncBoxOakTree(TM).
26203 * Gnus Cloud Setup::
26204 * Gnus Cloud Usage::
26207 @node Gnus Cloud Setup
26208 @subsection Gnus Cloud Setup
26210 Setting up the Gnus Cloud takes less than a minute. From the Group
26213 Press @kbd{^} to go to the Server buffer. Here you'll see all the
26214 servers that Gnus knows. @xref{Server Buffer}.
26216 Then press @kbd{i} to mark any servers as cloud-synchronized (their marks are synchronized).
26218 Then press @kbd{I} to mark a single server as the cloud host (it must
26219 be an IMAP server, and will host a special IMAP folder with all the
26220 synchronization data). This will set the variable
26221 @code{gnus-cloud-method} (using the Customize facilities), then ask
26222 you to optionally upload your first CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM).
26224 @node Gnus Cloud Usage
26225 @subsection Gnus Cloud Usage
26227 After setting up, you can use these shortcuts from the Group buffer:
26232 @findex gnus-cloud-download-all-data
26233 @cindex cloud, download
26234 Download the latest Gnus Cloud data.
26238 @findex gnus-cloud-upload-all-data
26239 @cindex cloud, download
26240 Upload the local Gnus Cloud data. Creates a new
26241 CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM).
26245 But wait, there's more. Of course there's more. So much more. You can
26246 customize all of the following.
26248 @defvar gnus-cloud-synced-files
26249 These are the files that will be part of every
26250 CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM). They are included in every upload,
26251 so don't synchronize a lot of large files. Files under 100Kb are best.
26254 @defvar gnus-cloud-storage-method
26255 This is a choice from several storage methods. It's highly recommended
26256 to use the EPG facilities. It will be automatic if have GnuPG
26257 installed and EPG loaded. Otherwise, you could use Base64+gzip,
26258 Base64, or no encoding.
26261 @defvar gnus-cloud-interactive
26262 When this is set, and by default it is, the Gnus Cloud package will
26263 ask you for confirmation here and there. Leave it on until you're
26264 comfortable with the package.
26268 @defvar gnus-cloud-method
26269 The name of the IMAP server to store the
26270 CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM)s. It's easiest to set this from the
26271 Server buffer (@pxref{Gnus Cloud Setup}).
26275 @section Interaction with other modes
26280 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provides some useful functions for dired
26281 buffers. It is enabled with
26283 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
26288 @findex gnus-dired-attach
26289 @cindex attachments, selection via dired
26290 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
26291 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
26294 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
26295 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
26296 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
26300 @findex gnus-dired-print
26301 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
26302 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
26305 @node Various Various
26306 @section Various Various
26312 @item gnus-home-directory
26313 @vindex gnus-home-directory
26314 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
26315 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
26317 @item gnus-directory
26318 @vindex gnus-directory
26319 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
26320 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
26321 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
26323 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
26324 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
26325 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
26326 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
26328 @item gnus-default-directory
26329 @vindex gnus-default-directory
26330 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
26331 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
26332 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
26333 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
26334 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
26335 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
26338 @vindex gnus-verbose
26339 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
26340 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
26341 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
26342 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
26343 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
26345 @item gnus-verbose-backends
26346 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
26347 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
26348 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
26350 @item gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26351 @vindex gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26352 This variable controls whether to add timestamps to messages that are
26353 controlled by @code{gnus-verbose} and @code{gnus-verbose-backends} and
26354 are issued. The default value is @code{nil} which means never to add
26355 timestamp. If it is @code{log}, add timestamps to only the messages
26356 that go into the @file{*Messages*} buffer (in XEmacs, it is the
26357 @w{@file{ *Message-Log*}} buffer). If it is neither @code{nil} nor
26358 @code{log}, add timestamps not only to log messages but also to the ones
26359 displayed in the echo area.
26361 @item nnheader-max-head-length
26362 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
26363 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
26364 as little as possible. This variable (default 8192) specifies
26365 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
26366 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
26367 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
26368 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
26369 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
26370 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
26372 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
26373 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
26374 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
26375 read when doing the operation described above.
26377 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26378 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26380 @cindex invalid characters in file names
26381 @cindex characters in file names
26382 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
26383 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
26384 on your system (you MS Windows user you), you could say something like:
26388 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26393 In fact, this is (part of) the default value for this variable on MS
26394 Windows (phooey) systems.
26396 @item gnus-hidden-properties
26397 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
26398 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
26399 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
26400 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
26402 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
26403 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
26404 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
26405 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
26406 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
26408 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
26409 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
26410 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
26412 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26413 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26415 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
26416 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
26417 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
26418 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
26421 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
26423 @item gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26424 @vindex gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26425 Groups in which links in html articles are considered all safe. The
26426 value may be a regexp matching those groups, a list of group names, or
26427 @code{nil}. This overrides @code{mm-w3m-safe-url-regexp}. The default
26428 value is @code{"\\`nnrss[+:]"}. This is effective only when emacs-w3m
26429 renders html articles, i.e., in the case @code{mm-text-html-renderer} is
26430 set to @code{w3m}. @xref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization,
26431 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}.
26438 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
26439 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
26441 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
26443 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
26449 Not because of victories @*
26452 but for the common sunshine,@*
26454 the largess of the spring.
26458 but for the day's work done@*
26459 as well as I was able;@*
26460 not for a seat upon the dais@*
26461 but at the common table.@*
26466 @chapter Appendices
26469 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
26470 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
26471 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
26472 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
26473 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
26474 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
26475 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
26476 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
26477 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
26484 @cindex installing under XEmacs
26486 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
26487 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
26488 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
26489 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
26490 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print},
26491 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
26498 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
26499 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
26501 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
26502 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
26503 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
26504 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
26505 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
26507 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
26508 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
26509 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
26510 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
26511 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
26512 appropriate name, don't you think?)
26514 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
26515 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
26516 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
26517 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
26520 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
26521 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
26522 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
26523 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
26524 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
26525 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
26526 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
26527 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
26531 @node Gnus Versions
26532 @subsection Gnus Versions
26534 @cindex September Gnus
26536 @cindex Quassia Gnus
26537 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
26541 @cindex Gnus versions
26543 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
26544 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
26545 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
26547 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
26548 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
26550 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
26551 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
26553 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
26554 It was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
26556 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
26557 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
26560 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun and was released as
26561 Gnus 5.10 on May 1st 2003 (24 releases).
26563 On the January 4th 2004, No Gnus was begun.
26565 On April 19, 2010 Gnus development was moved to Git. See
26566 http://git.gnus.org for details (http://www.gnus.org will be updated
26567 with the information when possible).
26569 On the January 31th 2012, Ma Gnus was begun.
26571 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name---``(ding)
26572 Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
26573 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'', ``No Gnus'', ``Ma Gnus''---don't
26574 panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly.
26575 Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of
26576 its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up to
26583 What's the point of Gnus?
26585 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
26586 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
26587 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
26588 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
26589 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
26590 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
26591 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
26592 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
26593 keep track of millions of people who post?
26595 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
26596 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
26597 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
26598 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
26599 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
26600 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
26601 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
26602 every one of you to explore and invent.
26604 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
26605 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
26608 @node Compatibility
26609 @subsection Compatibility
26611 @cindex compatibility
26612 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
26613 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
26614 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
26619 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
26623 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
26626 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
26629 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
26630 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
26631 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
26632 important variables have their values copied into their global
26633 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
26634 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
26636 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
26637 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
26638 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
26639 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
26640 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
26644 @cindex highlighting
26645 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
26646 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
26647 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
26648 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
26649 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
26650 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
26653 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
26654 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
26655 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
26656 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
26658 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
26659 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
26660 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
26661 to stop doing it the old way.
26663 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
26665 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26667 @cindex reporting bugs
26669 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
26670 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
26671 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
26673 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
26674 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
26675 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
26676 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
26681 @subsection Conformity
26683 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
26684 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
26692 There are no known breaches of this standard.
26696 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
26698 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
26699 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
26700 We do have some breaches to this one.
26706 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
26707 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
26708 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
26709 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
26710 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
26715 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
26716 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
26717 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
26718 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
26720 @item MIME---RFC 2045--2049 etc
26721 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
26722 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
26724 @item Disposition Notifications---RFC 2298
26725 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
26727 @item PGP---RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
26730 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
26731 published as an informational RFC@. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
26732 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
26733 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
26734 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
26737 @item PGP/MIME---RFC 2015/3156
26738 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
26739 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
26740 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
26742 @item S/MIME---RFC 2633
26743 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
26745 @item IMAP---RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
26746 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
26747 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
26748 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
26749 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
26750 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
26751 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
26752 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
26756 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
26757 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
26762 @subsection Emacsen
26768 This version of Gnus should work on:
26776 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
26780 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
26781 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
26782 Emacs versions. Particularly, Gnus 5.10.8 should also work on Emacs
26783 20.7 and XEmacs 21.1.
26785 @c No-merge comment: The paragraph added in v5-10 here must not be
26788 @node Gnus Development
26789 @subsection Gnus Development
26791 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
26792 discussion on the development mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}, where people
26793 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
26794 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
26795 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
26796 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
26797 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
26798 have names like ``Oort Gnus'' and ``No Gnus''. @xref{Gnus Versions}.
26800 After futzing around for 10--100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
26801 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
26802 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.10.1'' instead. Normal people are
26803 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
26804 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup. This newgroup is mirrored to the
26805 mailing list @samp{info-gnus-english@@gnu.org} which is carried on Gmane
26806 as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.user}. These releases are finally integrated
26810 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26811 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26812 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26813 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26814 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26816 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
26817 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
26818 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
26819 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
26820 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
26821 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
26822 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
26823 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
26824 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
26825 can't be assumed to do so.
26827 So if you have problems with or questions about the alpha versions,
26828 direct those to the ding mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}. This list
26829 is also available on Gmane as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.general}.
26832 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26833 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26834 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26835 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26836 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26839 @subsection Contributors
26840 @cindex contributors
26842 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
26843 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
26844 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
26845 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
26846 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
26847 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
26848 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
26849 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
26850 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
26851 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
26853 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
26859 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
26862 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el,
26863 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
26864 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
26865 functionality and stuff.
26868 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
26869 well as numerous other things).
26872 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
26875 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
26878 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
26881 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
26884 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
26885 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
26888 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
26891 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
26894 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
26897 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
26900 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bug detection and fixes.
26903 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
26906 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
26907 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
26910 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
26913 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
26916 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
26919 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
26923 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
26926 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
26929 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
26932 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
26933 well as autoconf support.
26937 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
26938 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
26940 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
26955 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
26957 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
26961 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
26971 Alexei V. Barantsev,
26986 Massimo Campostrini,
26991 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
26992 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
26996 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
26999 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
27005 Michael Welsh Duggan,
27010 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
27014 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
27022 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
27024 Michelangelo Grigni,
27028 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
27030 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
27032 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
27040 François Felix Ingrand,
27041 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
27042 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
27044 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
27054 Peter Skov Knudsen,
27055 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
27057 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
27058 Thor Kristoffersen,
27061 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
27079 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
27080 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
27087 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
27092 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
27096 John McClary Prevost,
27102 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
27107 Christian von Roques,
27110 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
27117 Philippe Schnoebelen,
27119 Randal L. Schwartz,
27133 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
27138 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
27158 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
27159 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
27160 (550kB and counting).
27162 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
27165 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
27166 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
27170 @subsection New Features
27171 @cindex new features
27174 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
27175 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
27176 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
27177 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
27178 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
27179 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
27180 * No Gnus:: Very punny. Gnus 5.12/5.13.
27181 * Ma Gnus:: Celebrating 25 years of Gnus.
27184 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
27185 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
27186 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
27189 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
27191 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
27196 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
27197 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
27200 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
27201 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
27204 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
27207 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
27208 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
27209 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
27212 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
27213 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
27214 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
27215 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27218 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
27219 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27222 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
27223 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
27224 (@pxref{The Active File}).
27227 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
27228 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
27231 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
27232 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
27233 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27236 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
27237 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
27238 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
27241 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
27242 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
27245 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
27246 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
27249 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
27250 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27253 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
27254 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
27257 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
27258 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27261 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
27264 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
27265 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
27268 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
27269 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
27272 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
27273 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
27276 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
27279 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
27280 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27283 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
27287 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
27291 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
27292 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
27297 @node September Gnus
27298 @subsubsection September Gnus
27302 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
27306 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
27311 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
27312 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
27316 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
27317 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
27321 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
27325 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
27326 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
27329 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
27333 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
27336 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
27339 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
27342 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
27346 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
27347 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
27350 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
27354 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
27358 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
27362 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
27366 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
27369 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
27370 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
27373 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
27377 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
27378 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
27381 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
27384 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
27385 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
27386 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27389 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets.
27392 The Gnus cache is much faster.
27395 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
27399 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
27400 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
27403 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
27404 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
27407 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
27408 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
27411 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
27412 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
27413 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
27416 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
27417 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
27420 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
27423 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27426 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
27429 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
27432 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
27433 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
27436 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
27440 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
27443 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
27448 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27451 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
27455 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
27458 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
27461 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
27462 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27465 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
27466 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
27470 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
27471 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
27474 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
27478 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
27479 buffer to allow easier treatment.
27482 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
27485 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
27489 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
27493 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
27494 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
27497 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
27501 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
27502 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27505 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
27506 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27509 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
27513 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27516 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
27519 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
27525 @subsubsection Red Gnus
27527 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
27531 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
27538 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
27541 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
27542 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27545 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
27546 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
27550 Article washing status can be displayed in the
27551 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
27554 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
27557 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
27558 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
27561 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
27565 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
27566 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
27570 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extensible (@pxref{Document
27571 Server Internals}).
27574 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
27578 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
27581 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
27582 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
27585 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
27586 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
27587 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
27590 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
27591 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27594 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
27595 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
27598 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
27602 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
27603 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27606 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
27607 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27610 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
27614 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
27617 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
27621 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
27622 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27625 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
27626 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27629 A new command for reading collections of documents
27630 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
27631 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
27634 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
27638 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
27639 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
27642 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
27643 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
27644 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
27647 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
27648 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
27652 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
27656 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
27660 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
27665 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
27669 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
27673 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
27674 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
27677 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
27683 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
27685 New features in Gnus 5.6:
27690 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
27691 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
27692 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
27695 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
27696 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
27697 group, which is created automatically.
27700 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
27704 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-IDs.
27707 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
27708 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
27711 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
27715 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
27718 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
27719 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
27722 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
27725 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
27729 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
27730 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
27733 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
27734 control over simplification.
27737 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
27740 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
27744 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
27747 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
27750 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
27751 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
27752 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
27755 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
27756 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
27759 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
27763 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
27764 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
27767 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
27768 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
27771 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
27775 A history of where mails have been split is available.
27778 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
27781 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
27782 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
27785 A new function for citing in Message has been
27786 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
27789 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
27792 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
27796 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
27797 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
27800 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
27801 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
27804 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
27807 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
27811 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
27812 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
27814 New features in Gnus 5.8:
27819 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
27820 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
27822 If you used procmail like in
27825 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
27826 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
27827 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
27828 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
27831 this now has changed to
27835 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
27839 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
27842 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
27843 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
27846 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
27847 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
27850 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
27851 called to position point.
27854 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
27855 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
27858 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
27859 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
27862 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
27863 subtly different manner.
27866 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
27867 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
27868 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
27871 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
27876 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
27879 New features in Gnus 5.10:
27883 @item Installation changes
27884 @c ***********************
27888 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
27890 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
27891 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
27892 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
27893 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
27894 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
27895 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
27896 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
27897 isn't save in general.
27900 Lisp files are now installed in @file{.../site-lisp/gnus/} by default.
27901 It defaulted to @file{.../site-lisp/} formerly. In addition to this,
27902 the new installer issues a warning if other Gnus installations which
27903 will shadow the latest one are detected. You can then remove those
27904 shadows manually or remove them using @code{make
27905 remove-installed-shadows}.
27908 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
27910 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
27911 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
27912 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, if you want
27913 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
27914 the second parameter.
27916 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
27917 automatic recognition of XEmacs and Emacs, generates
27918 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
27919 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
27920 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
27921 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
27922 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
27923 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
27924 cycle used under Unix systems.
27926 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} and @file{xemacs.mak}
27927 superfluous, so they have been removed.
27930 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
27932 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
27933 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
27936 @c FIXME: 'gnus-load' is mentioned in README, which is not included in
27937 @c the repository. We should find a better place for this item.
27939 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
27941 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
27942 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
27943 lisp directory into load-path.
27945 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
27946 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
27950 @item New packages and libraries within Gnus
27951 @c *****************************************
27956 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
27957 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
27960 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
27962 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
27963 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GnuTLS.
27966 Improved anti-spam features.
27968 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
27969 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
27970 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
27971 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
27972 are also new. @ref{Thwarting Email Spam} and @ref{Spam Package}.
27973 @c FIXME: @xref{Spam Package}?. Should this be under Misc?
27976 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
27978 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
27979 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
27980 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
27981 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
27982 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
27986 @item Changes in group mode
27987 @c ************************
27992 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
27996 Retrieval of charters and control messages
27998 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
27999 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
28002 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
28004 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
28005 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
28006 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
28007 variable in @file{~/.gnus.el} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
28008 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
28011 (setq gnus-parameters
28013 (gnus-show-threads nil)
28014 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
28015 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
28016 (to-group . "\\1"))))
28020 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
28022 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
28023 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
28024 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
28025 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
28026 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} (called after getting new
28027 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
28028 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
28029 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
28030 when getting new mail, remove the function.
28033 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
28035 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
28036 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
28037 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
28040 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
28041 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
28043 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
28044 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
28045 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
28047 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
28051 Old intermediate incoming mail files (@file{Incoming*}) are deleted
28052 after a couple of days, not immediately. @xref{Mail Source
28053 Customization}. (New in Gnus 5.10.10 / Emacs 22.2)
28057 @item Changes in summary and article mode
28058 @c **************************************
28063 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
28064 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
28065 region if the region is active.
28068 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
28069 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
28074 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
28075 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
28076 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
28077 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
28080 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
28085 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
28086 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
28088 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
28089 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
28093 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
28094 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
28097 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
28100 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
28101 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
28104 Warn about email replies to news
28106 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
28107 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
28111 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
28112 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
28116 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
28117 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
28120 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
28121 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
28124 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
28125 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
28128 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
28130 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
28131 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
28132 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
28133 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
28136 The new command @kbd{W Y f}
28137 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}) allows deuglifying broken
28138 Outlook (Express) articles.
28141 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
28143 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
28144 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
28145 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
28146 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
28148 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
28149 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
28150 message cited below.
28153 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc.)@: are now displayed graphically in
28156 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.gnus.el} to
28160 Face headers handling. @xref{Face}.
28163 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
28164 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
28167 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
28170 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
28172 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
28173 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
28174 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
28175 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
28176 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
28180 Deleting of attachments.
28182 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
28183 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
28184 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
28185 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
28186 that support editing.
28189 @code{gnus-default-charset}
28191 The default value is determined from the
28192 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
28193 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
28194 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
28197 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
28199 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
28200 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
28201 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
28204 Extended format specs.
28206 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
28207 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
28208 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
28209 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
28210 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
28211 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
28214 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
28215 @c FIXME: Was this a user-visible change?
28217 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
28218 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
28219 out other articles.
28222 Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
28224 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
28225 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
28226 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
28227 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
28230 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
28234 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
28235 @c ****************************************************
28242 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
28243 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
28244 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
28247 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
28248 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
28251 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
28252 Gcc articles as read.
28255 Externalizing of attachments
28257 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
28258 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
28259 local files as external parts.
28262 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
28263 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
28266 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
28268 Earlier it was generated when the user configurable email address was
28269 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
28270 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
28271 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
28272 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
28273 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
28274 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
28275 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
28276 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
28279 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
28281 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
28282 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
28283 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
28284 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
28285 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
28286 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
28289 References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
28290 start composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
28294 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers. @xref{X-Face}.
28297 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
28299 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
28300 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
28301 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
28302 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
28303 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
28304 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
28305 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
28306 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
28307 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
28308 was inserted directly.
28311 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
28313 @c FIXME should that not be 'message-user-agent?
28314 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
28315 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
28316 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
28317 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
28320 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
28322 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
28324 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
28325 'bbdb-complete-name)
28329 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
28331 Add a new format of match like
28333 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
28334 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28336 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
28338 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
28339 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28343 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
28345 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
28346 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
28347 need add those two headers too.
28350 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
28351 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
28352 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
28356 The option @code{mm-fill-flowed} can be used to disable treatment of
28357 ``format=flowed'' messages. Also, flowed text is disabled when sending
28358 inline PGP signed messages. @xref{Flowed text, , Flowed text,
28359 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
28360 @c This entry is also present in the node "No Gnus".
28363 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
28365 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
28368 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
28370 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
28374 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
28376 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
28377 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
28378 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
28379 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
28380 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
28381 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
28382 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
28383 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
28386 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
28387 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630--2633).
28389 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
28390 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
28391 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
28392 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
28395 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
28398 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
28399 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
28402 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to the symbol
28405 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
28406 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
28407 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
28408 invalidate the digital signature.
28411 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
28412 decompressed when activated.
28413 @c FIXME: Does this affect article or message mode?
28416 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
28418 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
28419 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
28420 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
28421 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
28422 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
28425 @item You can now drag and drop attachments to the Message buffer.
28426 See @code{mml-dnd-protocol-alist} and @code{mml-dnd-attach-options}.
28427 @xref{MIME, ,MIME, message, Message Manual}.
28428 @c New in 5.10.9 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.1)
28430 @item @code{auto-fill-mode} is enabled by default in Message mode.
28431 See @code{message-fill-column}. @xref{Various Message Variables, ,
28432 Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
28433 @c New in Gnus 5.10.12 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.3)
28437 @item Changes in back ends
28438 @c ***********************
28442 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
28445 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
28448 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
28450 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
28453 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
28455 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
28456 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
28457 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
28458 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within, e.g., a department. It
28459 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
28460 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
28461 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
28462 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
28463 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
28464 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
28465 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
28475 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
28476 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
28479 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
28480 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
28481 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
28482 message, Message Manual}).
28485 The tool bars have been updated to use GNOME icons in Group, Summary and
28486 Message mode. You can also customize the tool bars: @kbd{M-x
28487 customize-apropos RET -tool-bar$} should get you started. This is a new
28488 feature in Gnus 5.10.10. (Only for Emacs, not in XEmacs.)
28490 @item The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly
28491 in the group buffer, see the variable @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}.
28492 Its default value depends on your Emacs version. This is a new feature
28497 @item Miscellaneous changes
28498 @c ************************
28505 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
28506 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
28507 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
28508 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
28509 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
28510 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
28511 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
28512 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
28513 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
28514 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
28515 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
28516 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
28517 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
28518 is not needed any more.
28521 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
28523 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
28524 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
28525 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
28530 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
28531 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
28532 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
28536 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
28539 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
28541 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
28548 @subsubsection No Gnus
28551 New features in No Gnus:
28552 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
28554 @include gnus-news.texi
28557 @subsubsection Ma Gnus
28560 I'm sure there will be lots of text here. It's really spelled 真
28563 New features in Ma Gnus:
28567 @item Changes in summary and article mode
28568 @c **************************************
28573 By default, @acronym{MIME} part buttons for attachments (if any) will
28574 appear in the end of the article header in addition to the bottom of the
28575 article body, so you can easily find them without scrolling the article
28576 again and again. @xref{MIME Commands}.
28580 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
28581 @c ****************************************************
28586 The new hooks @code{gnus-gcc-pre-body-encode-hook} and
28587 @code{gnus-gcc-post-body-encode-hook} are run before/after encoding
28588 the message body of the Gcc copy of a sent message. See
28589 @xref{Archived Messages}.
28599 @section The Manual
28603 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
28604 either @code{texi2dvi}
28606 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
28607 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
28609 to get what you hold in your hands now.
28611 The following conventions have been used:
28616 This is a @samp{string}
28619 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
28622 This is a @file{file}
28625 This is a @code{symbol}
28629 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
28633 (setq flargnoze "yes")
28636 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
28639 (setq flumphel 'yes)
28642 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
28643 ever get them confused.
28647 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
28648 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
28649 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
28650 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
28651 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
28652 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
28653 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
28659 @node On Writing Manuals
28660 @section On Writing Manuals
28662 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
28663 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
28664 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
28665 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
28666 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
28667 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code go hand
28670 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
28671 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
28672 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
28675 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
28676 reference manual as source material. It would look quite different.
28681 @section Terminology
28683 @cindex terminology
28688 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
28689 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
28690 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
28691 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
28692 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
28696 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
28697 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
28698 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
28699 not posting, and replying is not following up.
28703 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
28707 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
28712 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
28713 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
28714 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
28715 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
28716 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
28717 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
28718 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
28719 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
28720 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
28723 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
28724 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
28725 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
28726 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
28727 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
28728 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
28730 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
28731 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
28732 access the articles.
28734 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
28735 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
28736 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
28741 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
28742 default, way of getting news. Groups from the native select method
28743 have names like @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}.
28747 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same
28748 time. These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends
28749 for getting news. Foreign groups have names like
28750 @samp{nntp+news.gmane.org:gmane.emacs.gnus.devel}.
28754 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and
28755 being foreign, but they mostly act like they are native, but they, too
28756 have names like @samp{nntp+news.gmane.org:gmane.emacs.gnus.devel}.
28760 A message that has been posted as news.
28763 @cindex mail message
28764 A message that has been mailed.
28768 A mail message or news article
28772 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.)@: is
28777 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
28782 A line from the head of an article.
28786 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
28787 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
28789 @item @acronym{NOV}
28790 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
28791 @acronym{NOV} stands for News OverView, which is a type of news server
28792 header which provide datas containing the condensed header information
28793 of articles. They are produced by the server itself; in the @code{nntp}
28794 back end Gnus uses the ones that the @acronym{NNTP} server makes, but
28795 Gnus makes them by itself for some backends (in particular, @code{nnml}).
28797 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
28798 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
28799 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
28800 normal @sc{head} format.
28802 The @acronym{NOV} data consist of one or more text lines (@pxref{Text
28803 Lines, ,Motion by Text Lines, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual})
28804 where each line has the header information of one article. The header
28805 information is a tab-separated series of the header's contents including
28806 an article number, a subject, an author, a date, a message-id,
28809 Those data enable Gnus to generate summary lines quickly. However, if
28810 the server does not support @acronym{NOV} or you disable it purposely or
28811 for some reason, Gnus will try to generate the header information by
28812 parsing each article's headers one by one. It will take time.
28813 Therefore, it is not usually a good idea to set nn*-nov-is-evil
28814 (@pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}) to a non-@code{nil} value unless you
28815 know that the server makes wrong @acronym{NOV} data.
28819 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1--9). The ones
28820 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
28821 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1--5 are considered
28822 @dfn{subscribed}; 6--7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
28823 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
28824 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
28826 @item killed groups
28827 @cindex killed groups
28828 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
28829 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
28831 @item zombie groups
28832 @cindex zombie groups
28833 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
28836 @cindex active file
28837 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
28838 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
28839 is rather large, as you might surmise.
28842 @cindex bogus groups
28843 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
28844 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
28845 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
28848 @cindex activating groups
28849 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
28850 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
28851 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
28855 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
28856 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
28857 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
28861 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
28863 @item select method
28864 @cindex select method
28865 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
28868 @item virtual server
28869 @cindex virtual server
28870 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
28871 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
28872 whole is a virtual server.
28876 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
28877 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
28880 @item ephemeral groups
28881 @cindex ephemeral groups
28882 @cindex temporary groups
28883 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
28884 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
28885 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
28888 @cindex solid groups
28889 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
28890 group buffer are solid groups.
28892 @item sparse articles
28893 @cindex sparse articles
28894 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
28895 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
28899 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
28900 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
28904 @cindex thread root
28905 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
28906 articles in the thread.
28910 An article that has responses.
28914 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
28918 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
28919 specified by RFC 1153.
28922 @cindex splitting, terminology
28923 @cindex mail sorting
28924 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
28925 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
28926 incorrectly called mail filtering.
28932 @node Customization
28933 @section Customization
28934 @cindex general customization
28936 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
28937 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
28938 for some quite common situations.
28941 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
28942 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
28943 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
28944 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
28948 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
28949 @subsection Slow/Expensive Connection
28951 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
28952 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
28953 Gnus has to get from the server.
28957 @item gnus-read-active-file
28958 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
28959 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
28960 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
28961 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
28962 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
28964 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
28965 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
28966 Usually this one must @emph{always} be @code{nil} (which is the
28967 default). If, for example, you wish to not use @acronym{NOV}
28968 (@pxref{Terminology}) with the @code{nntp} back end (@pxref{Crosspost
28969 Handling}), set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to a non-@code{nil} value
28970 instead of setting this. But you normally do not need to set
28971 @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} since Gnus by itself will detect whether the
28972 @acronym{NNTP} server supports @acronym{NOV}. Anyway, grabbing article
28973 headers from the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast if you tell
28974 Gnus not to use @acronym{NOV}.
28976 As the variables for the other back ends, there are
28977 @code{nndiary-nov-is-evil}, @code{nndir-nov-is-evil},
28978 @code{nnfolder-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnimap-nov-is-evil},
28979 @code{nnml-nov-is-evil}, and @code{nnspool-nov-is-evil}. Note that a
28980 non-@code{nil} value for @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} overrides all those
28985 @node Slow Terminal Connection
28986 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
28988 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
28989 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
28990 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
28994 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
28995 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
28996 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
28997 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
28998 horizontal and vertical recentering.
29000 @item gnus-visible-headers
29001 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
29002 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
29003 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
29004 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
29006 Use the following to enable all the available hiding features:
29008 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
29009 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
29010 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
29013 @item gnus-use-full-window
29014 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
29015 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
29016 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
29017 want to read them anyway.
29019 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
29020 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
29024 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
29025 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
29026 lines, which might save some time.
29030 @node Little Disk Space
29031 @subsection Little Disk Space
29034 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
29035 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
29039 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
29040 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
29041 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29042 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29045 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
29046 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
29047 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29048 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29051 @item gnus-save-killed-list
29052 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
29053 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
29054 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
29055 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
29061 @subsection Slow Machine
29062 @cindex slow machine
29064 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
29065 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
29067 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
29068 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
29070 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
29071 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
29072 summary buffer faster. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
29076 @node Troubleshooting
29077 @section Troubleshooting
29078 @cindex troubleshooting
29080 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
29088 Make sure your computer is switched on.
29091 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
29092 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
29096 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
29098 @samp{Gnus v5.13} @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change this line!
29100 you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old @file{.el}
29101 files lying around. Delete these.
29104 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
29105 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
29108 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
29109 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
29110 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
29111 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
29112 something like that.
29115 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
29118 @cindex reporting bugs
29120 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
29122 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
29123 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
29124 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
29125 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
29127 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
29128 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
29129 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
29130 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
29133 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
29134 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
29135 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
29136 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
29137 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
29138 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
29140 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
29141 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
29142 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
29146 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
29147 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
29150 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
29151 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
29152 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
29153 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
29154 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
29155 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
29156 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
29157 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
29158 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
29159 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
29160 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
29161 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
29162 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
29163 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
29168 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
29169 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
29170 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
29171 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
29172 helps isolating the real problem areas).
29174 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP@. The profiler is
29175 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
29176 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
29177 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g., @kbd{M-x
29178 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
29179 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
29180 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
29181 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
29182 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
29183 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
29184 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
29185 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
29186 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
29189 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
29190 @cindex ding mailing list
29191 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
29192 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
29193 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
29194 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
29198 @node Gnus Reference Guide
29199 @section Gnus Reference Guide
29201 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
29202 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
29203 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
29204 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
29207 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
29208 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
29209 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
29210 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
29211 and general methods of operation.
29214 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
29215 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
29216 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
29217 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
29218 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
29219 * Group Info:: The group info format.
29220 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
29221 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
29222 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
29226 @node Gnus Utility Functions
29227 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
29228 @cindex Gnus utility functions
29229 @cindex utility functions
29231 @cindex internal variables
29233 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
29234 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
29235 Below is a list of the most common ones.
29239 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
29240 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
29241 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
29243 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
29244 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
29245 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
29247 @item gnus-group-real-name
29248 @findex gnus-group-real-name
29249 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
29252 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
29253 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
29254 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
29255 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
29257 @item gnus-get-info
29258 @findex gnus-get-info
29259 Returns the group info list for @var{group} (@pxref{Group Info}).
29261 @item gnus-group-unread
29262 @findex gnus-group-unread
29263 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
29267 @findex gnus-active
29268 The active entry (i.e., a cons cell containing the lowest and highest
29269 article numbers) for @var{group}.
29271 @item gnus-set-active
29272 @findex gnus-set-active
29273 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
29275 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29276 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29277 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
29280 @item gnus-continuum-version
29281 @findex gnus-continuum-version
29282 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
29283 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
29286 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
29287 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
29288 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
29290 @item gnus-news-group-p
29291 @findex gnus-news-group-p
29292 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
29294 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29295 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29296 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
29298 @item gnus-server-to-method
29299 @findex gnus-server-to-method
29300 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
29302 @item gnus-server-equal
29303 @findex gnus-server-equal
29304 Says whether two virtual servers are essentially equal. For instance,
29305 two virtual servers may have server parameters in different order, but
29306 this function will consider them equal.
29308 @item gnus-group-native-p
29309 @findex gnus-group-native-p
29310 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
29312 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
29313 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
29314 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
29316 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
29317 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
29318 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
29320 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
29321 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
29322 Returns the parameter list of @var{group} (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
29323 If given a second parameter, returns the value of that parameter for
29326 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
29327 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
29328 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
29330 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
29331 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
29332 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
29334 @item gnus-check-backend-function
29335 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
29336 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
29337 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
29340 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
29344 @item gnus-read-method
29345 @findex gnus-read-method
29346 Prompts the user for a select method.
29351 @node Back End Interface
29352 @subsection Back End Interface
29354 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
29355 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
29356 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
29357 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
29358 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
29359 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
29361 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
29362 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
29363 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
29364 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
29365 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
29366 been opened, the function should fail.
29368 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
29369 name. Take this example:
29373 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
29374 (nntp-port-number 4324))
29377 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
29378 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
29380 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
29381 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
29382 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
29384 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
29385 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
29386 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
29388 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
29389 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
29390 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
29391 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
29392 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
29393 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
29396 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
29397 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
29398 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server'';
29399 they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
29402 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
29403 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
29404 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
29405 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
29406 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
29407 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
29408 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
29409 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
29410 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
29411 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
29413 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
29414 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
29415 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
29416 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
29417 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
29418 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
29419 of numbers as long as possible.
29421 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
29422 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
29423 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
29425 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
29428 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
29431 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
29432 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
29433 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
29434 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
29435 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
29436 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
29440 @node Required Back End Functions
29441 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
29445 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
29447 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
29448 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
29449 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
29450 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
29452 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
29453 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
29454 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
29455 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
29457 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
29458 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
29459 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
29460 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
29461 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
29462 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
29463 number, do maximum fetches.
29465 Here's an example HEAD:
29468 221 1056 Article retrieved.
29469 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
29470 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
29471 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
29472 Subject: Re: Something very droll
29473 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
29474 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
29476 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
29477 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
29478 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
29482 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
29483 these in the data buffer.
29485 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
29489 head = error / valid-head
29490 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
29491 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
29492 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
29493 header = <text> eol
29497 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
29499 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
29500 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
29504 nov-buffer = *nov-line
29505 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
29506 field = <text except TAB>
29509 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
29513 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
29515 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
29516 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
29518 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
29519 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
29520 server. In fact, it should do so.
29522 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
29523 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
29526 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
29528 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
29529 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
29532 There should be no data returned.
29535 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
29537 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
29538 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
29539 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
29540 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
29542 There should be no data returned.
29545 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
29547 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
29548 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
29549 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
29550 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
29552 There should be no data returned.
29555 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
29557 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
29559 There should be no data returned.
29562 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
29564 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
29565 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
29566 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
29567 it would be nice if that were possible.
29569 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
29570 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
29571 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
29572 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
29573 into its article buffer.
29575 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
29576 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
29577 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
29578 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
29579 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
29580 on successful article retrieval.
29583 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST INFO)
29585 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
29586 making @var{group} the current group.
29588 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
29591 If @var{info}, it allows the backend to update the group info
29594 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
29597 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
29600 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
29601 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
29602 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
29603 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
29604 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
29605 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
29606 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
29607 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
29608 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
29612 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
29613 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
29614 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
29618 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29620 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
29621 a no-op on most back ends.
29623 There should be no data returned.
29626 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
29628 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
29631 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
29634 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
29635 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
29638 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
29639 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
29640 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
29641 and the highest as 0.
29644 active-file = *active-line
29645 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
29647 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
29650 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
29651 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
29652 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
29655 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
29657 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
29658 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
29659 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
29660 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
29661 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
29662 clear if the posting could not be completed.
29664 There should be no result data from this function.
29669 @node Optional Back End Functions
29670 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
29674 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
29676 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
29677 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
29678 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
29680 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
29681 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
29682 former is in the same format as the data from
29683 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
29684 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
29687 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
29691 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
29693 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
29694 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
29695 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
29696 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
29697 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
29698 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
29699 the network resources).
29701 There should be no result data from this function.
29704 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
29706 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
29707 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
29708 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
29709 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
29710 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
29711 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
29712 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
29713 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
29715 There should be no result data from this function.
29718 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
29720 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
29721 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc.)@: internally, and store them in
29722 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
29723 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
29724 propagate the mark information to the server.
29726 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
29729 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
29732 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
29733 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
29734 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
29735 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
29736 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
29737 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend}, and
29738 @code{forward}, but your back end should, if possible, not limit
29741 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
29742 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
29743 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
29744 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
29746 An example action list:
29749 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
29750 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
29751 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
29754 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
29755 mark on (currently not used for anything).
29757 There should be no result data from this function.
29759 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
29761 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
29762 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
29763 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
29764 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
29765 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
29767 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
29768 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
29769 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
29772 There should be no result data from this function.
29775 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
29777 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
29778 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
29779 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
29780 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
29781 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
29782 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
29783 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
29784 local if that's practical.
29786 There should be no result data from this function.
29789 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
29791 The result data from this function should be a description of
29795 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
29797 description = <text>
29800 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
29802 The result data from this function should be the description of all
29803 groups available on the server.
29806 description-buffer = *description-line
29810 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
29812 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
29813 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
29814 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
29815 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
29816 in the active buffer format.
29818 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
29819 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
29820 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
29821 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
29822 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
29823 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
29824 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
29827 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29829 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
29831 There should be no return data.
29834 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
29836 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
29837 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
29838 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
29839 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
29840 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
29843 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
29846 There should be no result data returned.
29849 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
29851 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
29852 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
29854 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
29855 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
29856 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
29857 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
29858 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
29859 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
29861 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
29862 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
29865 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29866 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29868 There should be no data returned.
29871 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
29873 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
29874 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
29875 this function in short order.
29877 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29878 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29880 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
29881 article for that group.
29883 There should be no data returned.
29886 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
29888 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
29889 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
29891 There should be no data returned.
29894 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
29896 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
29897 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
29898 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
29900 There should be no data returned.
29903 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
29905 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
29906 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
29908 There should be no data returned.
29913 @node Error Messaging
29914 @subsubsection Error Messaging
29916 @findex nnheader-report
29917 @findex nnheader-get-report
29918 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
29919 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
29920 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
29921 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
29922 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
29923 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
29926 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
29928 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
29931 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
29932 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
29933 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
29934 takes one argument---the server symbol.
29936 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
29937 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
29938 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
29941 @node Writing New Back Ends
29942 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
29944 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
29945 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
29946 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
29947 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
29948 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
29951 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
29952 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
29953 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
29955 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
29956 package called @code{nnoo}.
29958 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
29959 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
29965 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
29966 parameters. For instance:
29969 (nnoo-declare nndir
29973 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
29974 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
29977 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
29978 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
29979 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
29981 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
29982 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
29983 a function in those back ends.
29986 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
29987 "Where nndir will look for groups."
29988 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
29991 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
29992 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
29993 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
29995 @item nnoo-define-basics
29996 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
30000 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30004 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
30005 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
30006 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
30008 @item nnoo-map-functions
30009 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
30010 functions from the parent back ends.
30013 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30014 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30015 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
30018 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
30019 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
30020 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
30021 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
30024 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
30025 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
30026 haven't already been defined.
30032 nnmh-request-newgroups)
30036 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
30037 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
30038 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
30043 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
30046 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
30047 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
30051 (require 'nnheader)
30055 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
30057 (nnoo-declare nndir
30060 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
30061 "Where nndir will look for groups."
30062 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
30064 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
30065 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
30068 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
30070 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
30071 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
30072 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
30074 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
30075 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
30077 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
30079 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30081 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
30082 (setq nndir-directory
30083 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
30085 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
30086 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
30087 (push `(nndir-current-group
30088 ,(file-name-nondirectory
30089 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30091 (push `(nndir-top-directory
30092 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30094 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
30096 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30097 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30098 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30099 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
30100 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
30104 nnmh-status-message
30106 nnmh-request-newgroups))
30112 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30113 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30115 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
30116 @findex gnus-declare-backend
30117 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
30118 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
30119 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
30121 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
30122 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
30127 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
30130 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
30132 The abilities can be:
30136 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
30138 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
30140 This back end supports both mail and news.
30142 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
30145 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
30146 articles and groups.
30148 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
30149 true for almost all back ends.
30150 @item prompt-address
30151 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
30152 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
30153 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
30157 @node Mail-like Back Ends
30158 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
30160 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
30161 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
30162 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
30163 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
30166 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
30167 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
30168 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
30171 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
30172 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
30175 This function takes four parameters.
30179 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
30182 @item exit-function
30183 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
30185 @item temp-directory
30186 Where the temporary files should be stored.
30189 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
30190 performed for one group only.
30193 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
30194 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
30195 find the article number assigned to this article.
30197 The function also uses the following variables:
30198 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
30199 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
30200 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
30201 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
30205 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
30206 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
30210 @node Score File Syntax
30211 @subsection Score File Syntax
30213 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
30214 malleable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
30215 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
30217 Here's a typical score file:
30221 ("Windows 95" -10000 nil s)
30228 BNF definition of a score file:
30231 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
30232 element = rule / atom
30233 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
30234 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
30235 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
30236 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
30238 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
30239 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
30240 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
30241 date-header = "date"
30242 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30243 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30244 score = "nil" / <integer>
30245 date = "nil" / <natural number>
30246 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
30247 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
30248 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
30249 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
30250 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30251 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30252 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
30253 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30254 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
30255 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
30256 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
30257 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
30258 exclude-files / read-only / touched
30259 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
30260 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
30261 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
30262 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
30263 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
30264 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
30265 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
30266 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
30267 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
30268 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
30269 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
30270 eval = "eval" space <form>
30271 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
30274 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
30277 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
30278 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
30279 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
30280 one looong line, then that's ok.
30282 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
30283 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
30287 @subsection Headers
30289 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
30290 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
30291 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
30292 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
30294 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
30295 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
30296 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
30297 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
30298 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
30299 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
30300 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
30302 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
30303 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
30304 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
30305 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
30306 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
30308 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
30309 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
30315 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
30316 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
30318 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
30319 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
30320 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
30321 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
30323 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
30327 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
30330 is transformed into
30333 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
30336 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
30337 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
30340 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
30343 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
30344 is slightly tricky:
30347 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
30353 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
30356 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
30362 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
30369 and is equal to the previous range.
30371 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
30372 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
30373 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
30377 range = simple-range / normal-range
30378 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
30379 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
30380 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
30381 number *[ " " contents ]
30384 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
30385 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
30386 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
30387 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
30388 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
30393 @subsection Group Info
30395 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
30396 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
30397 describes the group.
30399 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
30400 second is a more complex one:
30403 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
30405 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
30406 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
30408 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
30411 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
30412 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
30413 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
30414 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
30415 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
30416 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
30417 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
30418 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
30419 this section is about.
30421 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
30422 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
30423 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
30425 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
30428 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
30429 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
30430 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30431 group = quote <string> quote
30432 ralevel = rank / level
30433 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30434 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
30435 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30437 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
30438 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
30439 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
30440 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
30443 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
30444 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
30447 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
30448 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
30451 @item gnus-info-group
30452 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
30453 @findex gnus-info-group
30454 @findex gnus-info-set-group
30455 Get/set the group name.
30457 @item gnus-info-rank
30458 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
30459 @findex gnus-info-rank
30460 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
30461 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
30463 @item gnus-info-level
30464 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
30465 @findex gnus-info-level
30466 @findex gnus-info-set-level
30467 Get/set the group level.
30469 @item gnus-info-score
30470 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
30471 @findex gnus-info-score
30472 @findex gnus-info-set-score
30473 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
30475 @item gnus-info-read
30476 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
30477 @findex gnus-info-read
30478 @findex gnus-info-set-read
30479 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
30481 @item gnus-info-marks
30482 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
30483 @findex gnus-info-marks
30484 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
30485 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
30487 @item gnus-info-method
30488 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
30489 @findex gnus-info-method
30490 @findex gnus-info-set-method
30491 Get/set the group select method.
30493 @item gnus-info-params
30494 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
30495 @findex gnus-info-params
30496 @findex gnus-info-set-params
30497 Get/set the group parameters.
30500 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
30501 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
30503 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
30504 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
30505 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
30506 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
30509 @node Extended Interactive
30510 @subsection Extended Interactive
30511 @cindex interactive
30512 @findex gnus-interactive
30514 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
30515 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
30516 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
30519 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
30520 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
30525 The best thing to do would have been to implement
30526 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
30527 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
30528 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
30529 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
30530 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
30531 @code{interactive}.
30533 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
30538 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
30539 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
30543 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
30544 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
30545 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
30548 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
30552 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
30556 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
30562 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
30563 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
30567 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
30568 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
30569 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
30571 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
30572 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
30573 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
30574 Gnus, that's very useful.
30576 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
30577 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
30578 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
30579 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
30580 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
30581 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
30582 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
30583 following function:
30586 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
30590 (,function ,@@args))
30594 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
30595 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
30596 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
30599 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
30600 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
30601 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
30603 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
30604 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
30605 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
30608 @node Various File Formats
30609 @subsection Various File Formats
30612 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
30613 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
30617 @node Active File Format
30618 @subsubsection Active File Format
30620 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
30621 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
30624 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
30627 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
30628 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
30629 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
30630 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
30631 no.general 1000 900 y
30634 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
30637 active = *group-line
30638 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
30639 group = <non-white-space string>
30641 high-number = <non-negative integer>
30642 low-number = <positive integer>
30643 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
30646 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
30647 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
30650 @node Newsgroups File Format
30651 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
30653 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
30654 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
30655 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
30658 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
30659 Here's the definition:
30663 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
30664 group = <non-white-space string>
30666 description = <string>
30671 @node Emacs for Heathens
30672 @section Emacs for Heathens
30674 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
30675 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
30676 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
30677 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
30678 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
30679 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
30680 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
30684 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
30685 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
30690 @subsection Keystrokes
30694 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
30697 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
30700 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
30701 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
30702 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
30703 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
30704 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
30705 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
30707 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
30708 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
30709 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
30710 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
30711 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
30712 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
30713 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
30715 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
30716 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
30717 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
30718 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
30719 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
30720 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
30721 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
30723 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
30724 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
30725 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
30726 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
30727 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
30733 @subsection Emacs Lisp
30735 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
30736 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
30737 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
30738 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
30740 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
30741 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
30742 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
30743 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
30744 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
30745 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
30746 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{~/.gnus.el}
30747 file to customize Gnus. (You can also use the @file{~/.emacs} file, but
30748 in order to set things of Gnus up, it is much better to use the
30749 @file{~/.gnus.el} file, @xref{Startup Files}.)
30751 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
30752 write the following:
30755 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
30758 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
30759 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
30760 you can go and fill your @file{~/.gnus.el} file with lots of these to
30761 change how Gnus works.
30763 If you have put that thing in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, it will be
30764 read and @code{eval}ed (which is Lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
30765 start Gnus. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
30766 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
30767 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
30769 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
30770 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
30771 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
30775 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
30779 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
30782 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server-file} to
30783 @samp{/etc/nntpserver}'', that means:
30786 (setq gnus-nntp-server-file "/etc/nntpserver")
30789 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
30790 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
30793 @include gnus-faq.texi
30795 @node GNU Free Documentation License
30796 @chapter GNU Free Documentation License
30797 @include doclicense.texi
30815 @c Local Variables: