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 a directory 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} 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} 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. If you want to
7763 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7764 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7766 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7767 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7768 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7770 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7771 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7772 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7773 deleted before saving.
7779 @kindex O o (Summary)
7781 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7782 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7783 Save the current article using the default article saver
7784 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7787 @kindex O m (Summary)
7788 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7789 Save the current article in a Unix mail box (mbox) file
7790 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7793 @kindex O r (Summary)
7794 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7795 Save the current article in Rmail format
7796 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}). This is mbox since Emacs 23,
7797 Babyl in older versions.
7800 @kindex O f (Summary)
7801 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7802 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7803 Save the current article in plain file format
7804 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7807 @kindex O F (Summary)
7808 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7809 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7810 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7813 @kindex O b (Summary)
7814 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7815 Save the current article body in plain file format
7816 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7819 @kindex O h (Summary)
7820 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7821 Save the current article in mh folder format
7822 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7825 @kindex O v (Summary)
7826 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7827 Save the current article in a VM folder
7828 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7832 @kindex O p (Summary)
7834 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7835 @vindex gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command
7836 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7837 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7838 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7839 complete headers in the piped output. The symbolic prefix @code{r} is
7840 special; it lets this command pipe a raw article including all headers.
7841 The @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} variable can be set
7842 to a string containing the default command and options (default
7846 @kindex O P (Summary)
7847 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7848 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7849 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7850 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7851 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7852 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7853 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7857 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7858 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7859 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7860 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7861 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7862 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7863 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7864 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7865 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7866 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7867 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7868 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7872 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7873 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7874 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the eight ready-made
7875 functions below, or you can create your own.
7879 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7880 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7881 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7882 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7883 This is the default format, that used by the Rmail package. Since Emacs
7884 23, Rmail uses standard mbox format. Before this, it used the
7885 @dfn{Babyl} format. Accordingly, this command writes mbox format since
7886 Emacs 23, unless appending to an existing Babyl file. In older versions
7887 of Emacs, it always uses Babyl format. Uses the function in the
7888 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7889 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7891 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7892 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7893 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7894 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7895 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7896 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7898 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7899 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7900 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7901 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7902 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7903 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7904 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7906 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7907 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7908 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7909 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7910 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7911 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7913 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7914 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7915 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7916 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7917 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7919 @item gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
7920 @findex gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
7921 Write the article body straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7922 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7923 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7924 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7926 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7927 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7928 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7929 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7930 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7933 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7934 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7935 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7936 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7937 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7939 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7940 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7941 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7942 reader to use this setting.
7944 @item gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
7945 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
7946 Pipe the article to a shell command. This function takes optional two
7947 arguments COMMAND and RAW@. Valid values for COMMAND include:
7951 The executable command name and possibly arguments.
7953 You will be prompted for the command in the minibuffer.
7954 @item the symbol @code{default}@*
7955 It will be replaced with the command which the variable
7956 @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} holds or the command
7957 last used for saving.
7960 Non-@code{nil} value for RAW overrides @code{:decode} and
7961 @code{:headers} properties (see below) and the raw article including all
7962 headers will be piped.
7965 The symbol of each function may have the following properties:
7969 The value non-@code{nil} means save decoded articles. This is
7970 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-save-in-file},
7971 @code{gnus-summary-save-body-in-file},
7972 @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file},
7973 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}, and
7974 @code{gnus-summary-save-in-pipe}.
7977 The value specifies an alternative function which appends, not
7978 overwrites, articles to a file. This implies that when saving many
7979 articles at a time, @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} is bound to
7980 @code{t} and all articles are saved in a single file. This is
7981 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file} and
7982 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}.
7985 The value specifies the symbol of a variable of which the value
7986 specifies headers to be saved. If it is omitted,
7987 @code{gnus-save-all-headers} and @code{gnus-saved-headers} control what
7988 headers should be saved.
7991 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7992 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7993 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7994 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7997 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7998 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7999 available functions that generate names:
8003 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
8004 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
8005 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8007 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
8008 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8009 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8011 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
8012 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
8013 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8015 @item gnus-plain-save-name
8016 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8017 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8019 @item gnus-sender-save-name
8020 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
8021 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
8024 @vindex gnus-split-methods
8025 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
8026 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
8027 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
8028 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
8032 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
8033 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
8034 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
8035 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
8038 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
8039 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
8040 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
8041 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
8042 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
8043 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
8044 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
8045 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
8046 called returns a string or a list of strings.
8048 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
8049 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
8050 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
8051 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
8053 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
8054 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
8055 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
8058 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
8059 lots of mail groups called things like
8060 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
8061 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
8062 following will do just that:
8065 (defun my-save-name (group)
8066 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
8067 (substring group (match-end 0))))
8069 (setq gnus-split-methods
8070 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
8075 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8076 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
8077 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
8078 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
8079 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
8080 all the files in the top level directory
8081 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
8082 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
8083 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
8084 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
8086 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
8087 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
8088 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
8089 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
8090 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
8093 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
8097 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
8098 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
8099 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
8102 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
8103 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
8104 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
8105 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
8108 @node Decoding Articles
8109 @section Decoding Articles
8110 @cindex decoding articles
8112 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
8113 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
8116 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
8117 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
8118 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
8119 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
8120 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
8121 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
8125 @cindex article series
8126 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
8127 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
8128 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
8129 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
8130 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
8132 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
8133 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
8134 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
8136 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
8137 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
8138 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
8140 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
8141 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
8142 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
8145 @node Uuencoded Articles
8146 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
8148 @cindex uuencoded articles
8153 @kindex X u (Summary)
8154 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
8155 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
8156 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
8159 @kindex X U (Summary)
8160 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
8161 Uudecodes and saves the current series
8162 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8165 @kindex X v u (Summary)
8166 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
8167 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
8170 @kindex X v U (Summary)
8171 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
8172 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
8173 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
8177 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
8178 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
8179 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
8180 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
8181 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8183 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
8184 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
8185 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
8186 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
8189 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
8190 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
8191 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
8192 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
8193 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
8194 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
8198 @node Shell Archives
8199 @subsection Shell Archives
8201 @cindex shell archives
8202 @cindex shared articles
8204 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
8205 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
8206 some commands to deal with these:
8211 @kindex X s (Summary)
8212 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
8213 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
8216 @kindex X S (Summary)
8217 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
8218 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
8221 @kindex X v s (Summary)
8222 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
8223 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
8226 @kindex X v S (Summary)
8227 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
8228 Unshars, views and saves the current series
8229 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
8233 @node PostScript Files
8234 @subsection PostScript Files
8240 @kindex X p (Summary)
8241 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
8242 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
8245 @kindex X P (Summary)
8246 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
8247 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
8248 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
8251 @kindex X v p (Summary)
8252 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
8253 View the current PostScript series
8254 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
8257 @kindex X v P (Summary)
8258 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
8259 View and save the current PostScript series
8260 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
8265 @subsection Other Files
8269 @kindex X o (Summary)
8270 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
8271 Save the current series
8272 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
8275 @kindex X b (Summary)
8276 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
8277 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
8278 doesn't really work yet.
8281 @kindex X Y (Summary)
8282 @findex gnus-uu-decode-yenc
8283 yEnc-decode the current series and save it (@code{gnus-uu-decode-yenc}).
8287 @node Decoding Variables
8288 @subsection Decoding Variables
8290 Adjective, not verb.
8293 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
8294 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
8295 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
8299 @node Rule Variables
8300 @subsubsection Rule Variables
8301 @cindex rule variables
8303 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
8304 variables are of the form
8307 (list '(regexp1 command2)
8314 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8315 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8317 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
8318 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
8321 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8322 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
8325 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
8326 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
8327 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
8328 user and default view rules.
8330 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
8331 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
8332 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
8337 @node Other Decode Variables
8338 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
8341 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
8343 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
8344 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
8345 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
8346 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
8347 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
8351 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
8352 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
8355 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
8356 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
8357 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
8360 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
8361 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
8362 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
8363 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
8364 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
8367 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
8368 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
8369 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
8371 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
8372 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
8373 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
8374 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
8375 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
8378 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
8379 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
8380 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
8382 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
8383 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
8384 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
8385 looking for files to display.
8387 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
8388 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
8389 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
8392 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
8393 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
8394 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
8397 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
8398 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
8399 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
8402 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
8403 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
8404 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
8407 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
8408 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
8409 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
8410 decoded articles as unread.
8412 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
8413 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
8414 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
8415 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
8417 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
8418 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
8419 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
8421 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
8422 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
8424 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
8425 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
8426 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
8427 @code{metamail} for viewing.
8429 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8430 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8431 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
8432 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
8433 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
8434 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
8435 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
8436 simply dropped them.
8441 @node Uuencoding and Posting
8442 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
8446 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8447 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8448 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
8449 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
8450 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
8451 for you when you post the article.
8453 @item gnus-uu-post-length
8454 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
8455 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
8456 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
8458 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
8459 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
8460 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
8461 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
8462 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
8463 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
8464 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
8466 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8467 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8468 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
8469 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
8470 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
8471 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
8472 Default is @code{t}.
8478 @subsection Viewing Files
8479 @cindex viewing files
8480 @cindex pseudo-articles
8482 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
8483 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
8484 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
8485 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
8486 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
8487 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
8488 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
8490 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
8491 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
8492 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
8493 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
8495 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
8496 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
8497 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
8499 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
8500 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
8501 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
8502 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
8503 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
8505 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
8506 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
8507 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
8508 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
8509 a list of parameters to that command.
8511 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
8512 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
8513 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
8515 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
8516 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
8517 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
8520 @node Article Treatment
8521 @section Article Treatment
8523 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8524 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8525 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8526 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8527 these articles easier.
8530 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8531 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8532 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8533 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8534 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8535 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8536 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8537 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8538 * Article Display:: Display various stuff:
8539 X-Face, Picons, Gravatars, Smileys.
8540 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8541 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8545 @node Article Highlighting
8546 @subsection Article Highlighting
8547 @cindex highlighting
8549 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8550 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8555 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8556 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8557 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8558 Do much highlighting of the current article
8559 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8560 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8563 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8564 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8565 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8566 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8567 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8568 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8569 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8570 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8571 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8572 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8573 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8574 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8577 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8578 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8579 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8581 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8584 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8586 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8587 If the article size in bytes is bigger than this variable (which is
8588 25000 by default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8590 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8591 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8592 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8594 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8595 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8596 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8597 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8598 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8599 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8601 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8602 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8603 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8605 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8606 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8607 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8609 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8610 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8611 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8612 that it's a citation.
8614 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8615 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8616 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8618 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8619 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8620 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8622 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8623 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8624 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8625 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8627 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8628 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8629 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
8630 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
8631 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
8638 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8639 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8640 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8641 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8642 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8643 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8644 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8645 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8650 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8653 @node Article Fontisizing
8654 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8656 @cindex article emphasis
8658 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8659 @kindex W e (Summary)
8660 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8661 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8662 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8663 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8665 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8666 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8667 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8668 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8669 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8670 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8671 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8672 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8676 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8677 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8678 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8687 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8688 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8689 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8690 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8691 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8692 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8693 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8694 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8695 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8696 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8697 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8698 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8699 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8701 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8702 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8703 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8707 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8710 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8712 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8713 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8714 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8715 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8717 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8720 @node Article Hiding
8721 @subsection Article Hiding
8722 @cindex article hiding
8724 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8725 too much cruft in most articles.
8730 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8731 @findex gnus-article-hide
8732 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8733 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8734 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8737 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8738 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8739 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8743 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8744 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8745 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8746 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8749 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8750 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8751 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8755 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8756 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8757 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8758 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8759 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8760 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8761 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8762 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8766 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8767 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8768 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8769 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8774 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8775 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8776 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8777 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8780 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8781 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8782 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8783 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8786 @cindex stripping advertisements
8787 @cindex advertisements
8788 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8789 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8790 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8791 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8792 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8793 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8794 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8795 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8796 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8797 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8803 (setq gnus-article-banner-alist
8805 "^\n*--~--~---------\\(.+\n\\)+")))
8808 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8809 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8810 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8814 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8815 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8816 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8817 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8818 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8819 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8820 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8821 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8822 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8823 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8824 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8827 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8828 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8834 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8835 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8836 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8837 customizing the hiding:
8841 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8842 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8843 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8844 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8845 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8846 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8847 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8852 Starting point of the hidden text.
8854 Ending point of the hidden text.
8856 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8858 Number of lines of hidden text.
8861 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8862 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8863 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8864 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8865 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8870 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8871 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8873 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8874 following two variables:
8877 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8878 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8879 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8880 50), hide the cited text.
8882 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8883 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8884 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8889 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8890 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8891 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8892 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8893 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8894 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8898 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8899 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8900 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8902 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8903 citation customization.
8905 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8909 @node Article Washing
8910 @subsection Article Washing
8912 @cindex article washing
8914 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8915 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8917 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8918 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8921 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8922 articles by default.
8927 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8928 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8932 Force redisplaying of the current article
8933 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8934 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8935 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8936 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8939 @kindex W l (Summary)
8940 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8941 Remove page breaks from the current article
8942 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8946 @kindex W r (Summary)
8947 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8948 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8949 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8950 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8951 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8952 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8954 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8955 positions in the alphabet, e.g., @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8956 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8957 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8960 @kindex W m (Summary)
8961 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8962 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8965 @kindex W i (Summary)
8966 @findex gnus-summary-idna-message
8967 Decode IDNA encoded domain names in the current articles. IDNA
8968 encoded domain names looks like @samp{xn--bar}. If a string remain
8969 unencoded after running invoking this, it is likely an invalid IDNA
8970 string (@samp{xn--bar} is invalid). You must have GNU Libidn
8971 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}) installed for this command
8976 @kindex W t (Summary)
8978 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8979 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8980 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8983 @kindex W v (Summary)
8984 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8985 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8986 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8989 @kindex W o (Summary)
8990 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8991 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8994 @kindex W d (Summary)
8995 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8996 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8998 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
9000 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
9001 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
9002 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
9003 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
9006 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
9007 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
9008 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
9009 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
9012 @kindex W U (Summary)
9013 @findex gnus-article-treat-non-ascii
9015 @cindex Non-@acronym{ASCII}
9016 Translate many non-@acronym{ASCII} characters into their
9017 @acronym{ASCII} equivalents (@code{gnus-article-treat-non-ascii}).
9018 This is mostly useful if you're on a terminal that has a limited font
9019 and doesn't show accented characters, ``advanced'' punctuation, and the
9020 like. For instance, @samp{»} is translated into @samp{>>}, and so on.
9023 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
9024 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
9025 @cindex Outlook Express
9026 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
9027 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
9028 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
9031 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
9032 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
9033 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
9034 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
9035 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
9036 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
9037 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
9038 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
9039 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
9040 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
9043 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
9044 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
9045 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
9046 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
9049 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
9050 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
9051 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
9052 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
9055 @kindex W w (Summary)
9056 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
9057 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
9059 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
9063 @kindex W Q (Summary)
9064 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
9065 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
9068 @kindex W C (Summary)
9069 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
9070 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
9071 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
9074 @kindex W c (Summary)
9075 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
9076 Translate CRLF pairs (i.e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
9077 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
9078 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
9079 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
9082 @kindex W q (Summary)
9083 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
9084 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
9085 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
9086 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
9087 makes strings like @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
9088 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
9089 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9090 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9091 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9094 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
9095 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
9096 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
9097 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
9098 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
9099 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9100 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9101 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9104 @kindex W Z (Summary)
9105 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
9106 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
9107 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
9108 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
9111 @kindex W A (Summary)
9112 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
9113 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
9114 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
9115 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
9116 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
9119 @kindex W u (Summary)
9120 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
9121 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
9122 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
9123 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
9124 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
9127 @kindex W h (Summary)
9128 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
9129 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
9130 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9131 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
9133 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for. If it is a number,
9134 the charset defined in @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist}
9135 (@pxref{Paging the Article}) will be used.
9137 The default is to use the function specified by
9138 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
9139 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
9140 @acronym{HTML}. Pre-defined functions you can use include:
9144 Use Gnus simple html renderer.
9147 Use Gnus rendered based on w3m.
9150 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
9152 @item w3m-standalone
9153 Use @uref{http://w3m.sourceforge.net/, w3m}.
9156 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
9159 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
9162 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
9167 @kindex W b (Summary)
9168 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
9169 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
9170 @xref{Article Buttons}.
9173 @kindex W B (Summary)
9174 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
9175 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
9176 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
9179 @kindex W p (Summary)
9180 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
9181 Verify a signed control message
9182 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
9183 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
9184 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
9185 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
9186 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
9187 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
9190 @kindex W s (Summary)
9191 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
9192 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
9193 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
9194 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
9197 @kindex W a (Summary)
9198 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
9199 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
9200 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
9203 @kindex W E l (Summary)
9204 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
9205 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
9206 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
9209 @kindex W E m (Summary)
9210 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
9211 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
9212 lines with a single empty line.
9213 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
9216 @kindex W E t (Summary)
9217 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
9218 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
9219 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
9222 @kindex W E a (Summary)
9223 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
9224 Do all the three commands above
9225 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
9228 @kindex W E A (Summary)
9229 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
9230 Remove all blank lines
9231 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
9234 @kindex W E s (Summary)
9235 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
9236 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
9237 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
9240 @kindex W E e (Summary)
9241 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
9242 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
9243 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
9247 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
9250 @node Article Header
9251 @subsection Article Header
9253 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
9258 @kindex W G u (Summary)
9259 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
9260 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
9263 @kindex W G n (Summary)
9264 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
9265 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
9266 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
9269 @kindex W G f (Summary)
9270 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
9271 Fold all the message headers
9272 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
9275 @kindex W E w (Summary)
9276 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
9277 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
9278 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
9283 @node Article Buttons
9284 @subsection Article Buttons
9287 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
9288 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
9289 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
9290 button on these references.
9292 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9293 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
9294 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
9295 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
9296 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
9300 @item gnus-button-alist
9301 @vindex gnus-button-alist
9302 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
9305 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
9311 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
9312 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
9313 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
9314 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
9315 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
9318 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
9319 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
9320 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
9323 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
9324 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
9325 avoid false matches. Often variables named
9326 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
9327 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
9329 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
9332 This function will be called when you click on this button.
9335 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
9336 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
9340 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
9343 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
9346 @item gnus-header-button-alist
9347 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
9348 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
9349 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
9350 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
9353 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
9356 @var{header} is a regular expression.
9359 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
9362 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
9363 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
9365 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
9367 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
9368 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
9369 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
9370 default values of the variables above.
9372 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
9374 @item gnus-button-man-handler
9375 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9376 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
9377 argument with a string naming the man page.
9379 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
9381 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
9382 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
9383 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
9385 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
9386 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
9387 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
9388 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
9389 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
9390 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
9391 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
9392 @code{ask}, always query the user what to do. If it is a function, this
9393 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
9394 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
9395 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
9396 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
9398 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
9399 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
9400 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
9401 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
9402 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
9405 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
9406 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
9407 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
9408 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
9412 @item gnus-article-button-face
9413 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
9414 Face used on buttons.
9416 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
9417 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
9418 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
9422 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
9425 @node Article Button Levels
9426 @subsection Article button levels
9427 @cindex button levels
9428 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
9429 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
9430 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
9431 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
9432 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
9433 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
9434 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
9435 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
9438 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
9439 (setq gnus-parameters
9440 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
9441 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
9442 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
9447 @item gnus-button-browse-level
9448 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
9449 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
9450 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
9451 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
9452 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
9454 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
9455 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
9456 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
9457 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
9458 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
9459 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
9460 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
9461 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
9462 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
9463 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
9464 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
9465 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
9466 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
9468 @item gnus-button-man-level
9469 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
9470 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
9471 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
9473 @item gnus-button-message-level
9474 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
9475 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
9476 Related variables and functions include
9477 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
9478 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
9479 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
9480 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
9486 @subsection Article Date
9488 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
9489 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
9490 when the article was sent.
9495 @kindex W T u (Summary)
9496 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
9497 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
9498 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
9501 @kindex W T i (Summary)
9502 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
9504 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
9505 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
9508 @kindex W T l (Summary)
9509 @findex gnus-article-date-local
9510 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
9513 @kindex W T p (Summary)
9514 @findex gnus-article-date-english
9515 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
9516 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
9519 @kindex W T s (Summary)
9520 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
9521 @findex gnus-article-date-user
9522 @findex format-time-string
9523 Display the date using a user-defined format
9524 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
9525 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
9526 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
9527 for a list of possible format specs.
9530 @kindex W T e (Summary)
9531 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
9532 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
9533 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
9534 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
9535 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
9538 Date: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
9541 To make this line updated continually, set the
9542 @code{gnus-article-update-date-headers} variable to the frequency in
9543 seconds (the default is @code{nil}).
9546 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9547 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9548 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9549 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9550 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9551 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9552 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9556 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9557 preferred format automatically.
9560 @node Article Display
9561 @subsection Article Display
9567 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9568 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9570 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9571 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9573 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9574 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9576 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9577 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9579 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9580 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9582 Gravatars reside on-line and are fetched from
9583 @uref{http://www.gravatar.com/} (@pxref{Gravatars}).
9585 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9590 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9591 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9592 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9593 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9596 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9597 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9598 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9599 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9602 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9603 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9604 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9607 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9608 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9609 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9612 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9613 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9614 Piconify all mail headers (i.e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9615 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9618 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9619 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9620 Piconify all news headers (i.e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9621 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9624 @kindex W D g (Summary)
9625 @findex gnus-treat-from-gravatar
9626 Gravatarify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-gravatar}).
9629 @kindex W D h (Summary)
9630 @findex gnus-treat-mail-gravatar
9631 Gravatarify all mail headers (i.e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9632 (@code{gnus-treat-from-gravatar}).
9635 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9636 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9637 Remove all images from the article buffer
9638 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9641 @kindex W D W (Summary)
9642 @findex gnus-html-show-images
9643 If you're reading an @acronym{HTML} article rendered with
9644 @code{gnus-article-html}, then you can insert any blocked images in
9645 the buffer with this command.
9646 (@code{gnus-html-show-images}).
9652 @node Article Signature
9653 @subsection Article Signature
9655 @cindex article signature
9657 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9658 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9659 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9660 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9661 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9662 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9663 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9664 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9665 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9668 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9669 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9670 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9671 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9672 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9673 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9674 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9675 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9678 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9681 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9682 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9683 signature when displaying articles.
9687 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9690 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9693 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9694 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9696 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9697 in question is not a signature.
9700 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9701 listed above. Here's an example:
9704 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9705 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9708 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9709 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9710 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9711 signature after all.
9714 @node Article Miscellanea
9715 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9719 @kindex A t (Summary)
9720 @findex gnus-article-babel
9721 Translate the article from one language to another
9722 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9728 @section MIME Commands
9729 @cindex MIME decoding
9731 @cindex viewing attachments
9733 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9734 instance, @kbd{3 K v} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9740 @kindex K v (Summary)
9741 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9744 @kindex K o (Summary)
9745 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9748 @kindex K O (Summary)
9749 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} part and strip it
9750 from the article. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred
9751 via the message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
9754 @kindex K r (Summary)
9755 Replace the @acronym{MIME} part with an external body.
9758 @kindex K d (Summary)
9759 Delete the @acronym{MIME} part and add some information about the
9763 @kindex K c (Summary)
9764 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9767 @kindex K e (Summary)
9768 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9771 @kindex K i (Summary)
9772 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9775 @kindex K | (Summary)
9776 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9779 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9784 @kindex K H (Summary)
9785 @findex gnus-article-browse-html-article
9786 View @samp{text/html} parts of the current article with a WWW browser.
9787 Inline images embedded in a message using the @code{cid} scheme, as they
9788 are generally considered to be safe, will be processed properly. The
9789 message header is added to the beginning of every @acronym{HTML} part
9790 unless the prefix argument is given.
9792 Warning: Spammers use links to images (using the @code{http} scheme) in
9793 @acronym{HTML} articles to verify whether you have read the message. As
9794 this command passes the @acronym{HTML} content to the browser without
9795 eliminating these ``web bugs'' you should only use it for mails from
9798 If you always want to display @acronym{HTML} parts in the browser, set
9799 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} to @code{nil}.
9801 This command creates temporary files to pass @acronym{HTML} contents
9802 including images if any to the browser, and deletes them when exiting
9803 the group (if you want).
9806 @kindex K b (Summary)
9807 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9808 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9812 @kindex W M h (Summary)
9813 @findex gnus-mime-buttonize-attachments-in-header
9814 @vindex gnus-mime-display-attachment-buttons-in-header
9815 Display @acronym{MIME} part buttons in the end of the header of an
9816 article (@code{gnus-mime-buttonize-attachments-in-header}). This
9817 command toggles the display. Note that buttons to be added to the
9818 header are only the ones that aren't inlined in the body. If you want
9819 those buttons always to be displayed, set
9820 @code{gnus-mime-display-attachment-buttons-in-header} to non-@code{nil}.
9821 The default is @code{t}. To change the appearance of buttons, customize
9822 @code{gnus-header-face-alist}.
9825 @kindex K m (Summary)
9826 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9827 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9828 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9829 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9830 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9833 @kindex X m (Summary)
9834 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9835 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9836 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9837 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9840 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9841 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9842 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9843 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9846 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9847 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9848 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9849 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9852 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9853 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9854 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9855 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9857 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9858 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9859 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9860 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9861 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9862 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9865 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9866 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9867 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9868 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9875 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9876 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9877 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9878 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9881 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9884 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9888 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9889 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9890 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9891 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9892 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9893 default is @code{t}.
9895 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9896 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9899 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9900 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9901 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9902 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9903 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}. Only
9904 single-part yEnc encoded attachments can be decoded. There's no support
9905 for encoding in Gnus.
9907 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9908 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9909 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9910 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9911 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9912 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9913 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9914 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9916 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9917 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9918 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9919 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9920 displayed. This variable overrides
9921 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9922 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9925 E.g., to see security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9926 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9927 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9929 You could also add @code{"multipart/alternative"} to this list to
9930 display radio buttons that allow you to choose one of two media types
9931 those mails include. See also @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}
9932 (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The
9933 Emacs MIME Manual}).
9935 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9936 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9937 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9938 default value is @code{nil}.
9940 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9941 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9942 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9943 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9944 users to gather information from the article (e.g., add Vcard info to
9945 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e.g., automatically
9946 save all jpegs into some directory).
9948 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9951 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9952 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9954 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9955 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9956 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9957 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9958 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9961 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9962 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9963 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9965 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9966 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9967 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9969 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9970 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9971 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9973 If displaying @samp{text/html} is discouraged, see
9974 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}, images or other material inside a
9975 "multipart/related" part might be overlooked when this variable is
9976 @code{nil}. @ref{Display Customization, Display Customization, ,
9977 emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}.
9979 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9980 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9981 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
9982 overrides @code{nil} values of
9983 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
9984 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
9986 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9987 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9988 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9989 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9991 Ready-made functions include@*
9992 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9993 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9994 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9995 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9996 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9997 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9998 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9999 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
10000 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10001 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10002 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10003 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10005 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
10006 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
10008 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
10009 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
10010 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
10013 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10014 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10015 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10016 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
10020 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
10029 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
10030 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
10031 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
10032 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
10033 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
10034 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
10035 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp}.
10037 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
10038 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
10039 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
10040 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
10042 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
10043 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
10044 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
10045 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
10046 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
10047 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
10048 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
10049 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
10050 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
10052 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
10053 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
10054 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
10055 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
10056 quoted-printable header encoding.
10058 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
10059 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
10060 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
10064 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
10067 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
10068 means encode all charsets),
10070 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
10071 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
10072 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
10079 @cindex coding system aliases
10080 @cindex preferred charset
10082 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
10083 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
10084 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
10086 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
10088 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
10089 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
10092 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
10093 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
10096 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
10097 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
10099 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
10102 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
10105 This will almost do the right thing.
10107 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
10111 (codepage-setup 1251)
10112 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
10116 @node Article Commands
10117 @section Article Commands
10124 @kindex A P (Summary)
10125 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
10126 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
10127 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
10128 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
10129 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
10130 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
10133 @vindex gnus-fetch-partial-articles
10134 @findex gnus-summary-show-complete-article
10135 If @code{<backend>-fetch-partial-articles} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
10136 fetch partial articles, if the backend it fetches them from supports
10137 it. Currently only @code{nnimap} does. If you're looking at a
10138 partial article, and want to see the complete article instead, then
10139 the @kbd{A C} command (@code{gnus-summary-show-complete-article}) will
10145 @node Summary Sorting
10146 @section Summary Sorting
10147 @cindex summary sorting
10149 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
10150 can't really see why you'd want that.
10155 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10156 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
10157 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
10159 @item C-c C-s C-m C-n
10160 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10161 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number
10162 Sort by most recent article number
10163 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number}).
10166 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
10167 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
10168 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
10171 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
10172 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
10173 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
10176 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
10177 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
10178 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
10181 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
10182 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
10183 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
10185 @item C-c C-s C-m C-d
10186 @kindex C-c C-s C-m C-d (Summary)
10187 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date
10188 Sort by most recent date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date}).
10191 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
10192 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
10193 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
10196 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
10197 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
10198 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
10201 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
10202 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
10203 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
10206 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
10207 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
10208 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
10211 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
10212 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
10213 Sort using the default sorting method
10214 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
10217 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
10218 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
10219 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
10220 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
10221 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
10224 If a prefix argument if given, the sort order is reversed.
10227 @node Finding the Parent
10228 @section Finding the Parent
10229 @cindex parent articles
10230 @cindex referring articles
10234 @kindex ^ (Summary)
10235 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
10236 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
10237 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
10238 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
10239 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
10240 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
10241 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
10242 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
10243 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
10245 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
10246 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
10247 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
10248 grandparent and the great-grandparent of the current article. If you say
10249 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the great-grandparent of the current
10252 @item A R (Summary)
10253 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
10254 @kindex A R (Summary)
10255 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
10256 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
10258 @item A T (Summary)
10259 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
10260 @kindex A T (Summary)
10261 Display the full thread where the current article appears
10262 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
10263 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
10264 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
10265 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
10266 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
10267 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
10269 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
10270 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i.e.,
10271 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
10272 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
10273 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
10274 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
10276 @item M-^ (Summary)
10277 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
10278 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
10280 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
10281 You can also ask Gnus for an arbitrary article, no matter what group it
10282 belongs to. @kbd{M-^} (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you
10283 for a @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read
10284 thingies that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}.
10285 You have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
10287 Gnus looks for the @code{Message-ID} in the headers that have already
10288 been fetched, but also tries all the select methods specified by
10289 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} if it is not found.
10292 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
10293 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
10294 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
10295 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
10296 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
10297 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
10300 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
10301 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
10302 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
10305 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
10306 then ask Google if that fails:
10309 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
10311 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
10314 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
10315 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
10316 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
10317 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
10318 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
10319 group. @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
10321 Fortunately, the special @code{nnregistry} back end is able to locate
10322 articles in any groups, regardless of their back end (@pxref{Registry
10323 Article Refer Method, fetching by @code{Message-ID} using the
10326 @node Alternative Approaches
10327 @section Alternative Approaches
10329 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
10330 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
10333 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
10334 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
10338 @node Pick and Read
10339 @subsection Pick and Read
10340 @cindex pick and read
10342 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
10343 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
10344 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
10345 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
10347 @findex gnus-pick-mode
10348 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
10349 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
10350 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
10351 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
10352 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
10354 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
10359 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
10360 Pick the article or thread on the current line
10361 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
10362 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
10363 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
10364 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
10365 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
10366 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
10369 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
10370 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
10371 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
10372 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
10376 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
10377 Unpick the thread or article
10378 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
10379 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
10380 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
10381 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
10382 the thread or article at that line.
10386 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
10387 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
10388 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
10389 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
10390 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
10391 will still be visible when you are reading.
10395 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
10396 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
10397 which is mapped to the same function
10398 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
10400 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
10403 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
10406 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
10407 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
10409 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
10410 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
10411 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
10413 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
10414 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
10415 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
10416 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
10417 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
10418 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
10419 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
10422 @node Binary Groups
10423 @subsection Binary Groups
10424 @cindex binary groups
10426 @findex gnus-binary-mode
10427 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
10428 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
10429 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
10430 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
10431 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
10432 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
10435 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
10436 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
10437 command, when you have turned on this mode
10438 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
10440 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
10441 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
10445 @section Tree Display
10448 @vindex gnus-use-trees
10449 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
10450 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
10451 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
10452 in the tree buffer.
10454 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
10457 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
10458 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
10459 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
10461 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
10462 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
10463 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
10464 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
10465 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
10467 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
10468 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
10469 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
10470 default is @code{modeline}.
10472 @item gnus-tree-line-format
10473 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
10474 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
10475 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
10476 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
10477 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
10478 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
10484 The name of the poster.
10486 The @code{From} header.
10488 The number of the article.
10490 The opening bracket.
10492 The closing bracket.
10497 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
10499 Variables related to the display are:
10502 @item gnus-tree-brackets
10503 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
10504 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
10505 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
10507 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
10508 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
10509 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
10511 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
10513 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10514 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10515 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
10516 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
10520 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
10521 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
10522 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
10523 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
10524 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
10525 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
10526 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
10527 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
10528 other windows displayed next to it.
10530 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
10534 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
10535 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
10538 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
10539 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
10540 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10541 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
10542 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
10543 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
10544 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
10548 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
10551 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
10561 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
10566 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
10567 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
10569 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
10571 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
10577 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
10578 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
10579 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
10582 (setq gnus-use-trees t
10583 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10584 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
10585 (gnus-add-configuration
10589 (summary 0.75 point)
10594 @xref{Window Layout}.
10597 @node Mail Group Commands
10598 @section Mail Group Commands
10599 @cindex mail group commands
10601 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
10602 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
10604 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
10605 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10610 @kindex B e (Summary)
10611 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
10612 @cindex expiring mail
10613 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
10614 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
10615 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
10616 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
10619 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
10620 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
10621 @cindex expiring mail
10622 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
10623 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
10624 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
10625 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
10628 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
10629 @cindex deleting mail
10630 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
10631 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
10632 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
10633 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
10634 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
10637 @kindex B m (Summary)
10639 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
10640 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
10641 Move the article from one mail group to another
10642 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10643 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10646 @kindex B c (Summary)
10648 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
10649 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
10650 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
10651 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10652 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10655 @kindex B B (Summary)
10656 @cindex crosspost mail
10657 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
10658 Crosspost the current article to some other group
10659 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
10660 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
10661 be properly updated.
10664 @kindex B i (Summary)
10665 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
10666 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
10667 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
10668 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10671 @kindex B I (Summary)
10672 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
10673 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
10674 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
10675 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10678 @kindex B r (Summary)
10679 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10680 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10681 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10682 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10683 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10684 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10685 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10686 (which is the default).
10690 @kindex B w (Summary)
10691 @kindex e (Summary)
10692 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10693 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10694 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10695 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10696 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10697 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10698 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10701 @kindex B q (Summary)
10702 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10703 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10704 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10705 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10708 @kindex B t (Summary)
10709 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10710 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10711 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10714 @kindex B p (Summary)
10715 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10716 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10717 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10718 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10719 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10720 article from your news server (or rather, from
10721 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10722 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10723 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10724 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10725 just not have arrived yet.
10728 @kindex K E (Summary)
10729 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10730 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10731 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10732 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10733 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10737 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10738 @cindex moving articles
10739 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
10740 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10741 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10742 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10743 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10744 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10745 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10748 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10749 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10750 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10751 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10755 @node Various Summary Stuff
10756 @section Various Summary Stuff
10759 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10760 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10761 * Summary Generation Commands::
10762 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10766 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10767 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10768 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10769 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10770 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10771 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10773 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10774 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10775 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10778 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10779 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10780 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10782 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10783 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10784 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10785 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10786 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10787 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10790 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10791 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10792 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10793 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10794 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10796 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10797 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10798 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10801 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10802 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10803 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10804 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10805 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10806 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10807 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
10808 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10809 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10810 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10812 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10813 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10814 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10815 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10816 list of articles to be selected.
10818 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10819 the list in one particular group:
10822 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10823 (if (string= group "some.group")
10824 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10828 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10829 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10830 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10831 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
10832 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
10835 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
10836 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
10837 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
10838 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
10839 variable will be used instead.
10841 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
10842 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
10843 buffers. For example:
10846 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10847 '(message-use-followup-to
10848 (gnus-visible-headers .
10849 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10852 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
10857 @node Summary Group Information
10858 @subsection Summary Group Information
10863 @kindex H d (Summary)
10864 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10865 Give a brief description of the current group
10866 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10867 rereading the description from the server.
10870 @kindex H h (Summary)
10871 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10872 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10873 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10876 @kindex H i (Summary)
10877 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10878 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10882 @node Searching for Articles
10883 @subsection Searching for Articles
10888 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10889 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10890 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10891 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10894 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10895 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10896 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10897 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10900 @kindex M-S (Summary)
10901 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward
10902 Repeat the previous search forwards
10903 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward}).
10906 @kindex M-R (Summary)
10907 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward
10908 Repeat the previous search backwards
10909 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward}).
10912 @kindex & (Summary)
10913 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10914 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10915 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10916 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10917 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10918 search backward instead.
10920 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10921 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10924 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10925 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10926 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10927 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10930 @node Summary Generation Commands
10931 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10936 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10937 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10938 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10941 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10942 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10943 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10944 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10947 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10948 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10949 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10950 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10953 @kindex Y t (Summary)
10954 @findex gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles
10955 Pull all ticked articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10956 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles}).
10961 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10962 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10968 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10969 @kindex A D (Summary)
10970 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10971 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10972 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10973 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10974 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10975 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10976 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10977 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10980 @vindex gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit
10981 The variable @code{gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit} controls what
10982 article should be selected after exiting a digest group. Valid values
10987 Select the next article.
10990 Select the next unread article.
10992 @item next-noselect
10993 Move the cursor to the next article. This is the default.
10995 @item next-unread-noselect
10996 Move the cursor to the next unread article.
10999 If it has any other value or there is no next (unread) article, the
11000 article selected before entering to the digest group will appear.
11003 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
11004 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
11005 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
11006 several documents into one biiig group
11007 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
11008 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
11009 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
11010 command understands the process/prefix convention
11011 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11014 @kindex C-t (Summary)
11015 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
11016 Toggle truncation of summary lines
11017 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
11018 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
11019 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
11022 @kindex = (Summary)
11023 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
11024 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
11025 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
11028 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
11029 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
11030 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11031 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
11034 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
11035 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
11036 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11037 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
11042 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
11043 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
11044 @cindex summary exit
11045 @cindex exiting groups
11047 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
11048 group and return you to the group buffer.
11055 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
11056 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
11057 @kindex q (Summary)
11058 @findex gnus-summary-exit
11059 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
11060 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
11061 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
11062 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
11063 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
11064 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
11065 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
11066 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
11067 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
11068 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
11069 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
11073 @kindex Z E (Summary)
11074 @kindex Q (Summary)
11075 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
11076 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
11077 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
11081 @kindex Z c (Summary)
11082 @kindex c (Summary)
11083 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
11084 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
11085 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
11086 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
11089 @kindex Z C (Summary)
11090 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
11091 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
11092 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
11095 @kindex Z n (Summary)
11096 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
11097 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
11098 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
11101 @kindex Z p (Summary)
11102 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group
11103 Mark all articles as read and go to the previous group
11104 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group}).
11108 @kindex Z R (Summary)
11109 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
11110 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
11111 Exit this group, and then enter it again
11112 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
11113 all articles, both read and unread.
11117 @kindex Z G (Summary)
11118 @kindex M-g (Summary)
11119 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
11120 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
11121 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
11122 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
11123 articles, both read and unread.
11126 @kindex Z N (Summary)
11127 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
11128 Exit the group and go to the next group
11129 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
11132 @kindex Z P (Summary)
11133 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
11134 Exit the group and go to the previous group
11135 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
11138 @kindex Z s (Summary)
11139 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
11140 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
11141 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
11142 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
11143 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
11146 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
11147 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
11148 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
11149 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
11151 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
11152 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
11153 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
11154 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
11155 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
11156 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
11157 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
11158 something like @file{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
11159 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
11160 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
11161 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
11162 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
11164 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
11166 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
11167 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
11168 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.)@: when you exit the
11169 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
11170 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
11171 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
11172 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
11173 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
11174 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
11177 @node Crosspost Handling
11178 @section Crosspost Handling
11182 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
11183 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
11184 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
11185 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
11186 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
11189 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
11190 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
11191 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
11192 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
11193 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
11195 @cindex cross-posting
11197 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
11198 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
11199 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
11200 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
11201 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
11202 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
11203 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
11204 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
11205 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
11206 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
11207 the cross reference mechanism.
11209 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
11210 @cindex overview.fmt
11211 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
11212 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
11213 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
11214 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
11215 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
11216 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
11219 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
11220 set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
11221 considerably. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
11225 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
11228 @node Duplicate Suppression
11229 @section Duplicate Suppression
11231 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
11232 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
11233 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
11234 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
11239 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
11240 is evil and not very common.
11243 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
11244 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
11247 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
11248 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
11251 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
11254 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
11255 well, but these four are the most common situations.
11257 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
11258 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
11259 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
11260 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
11261 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
11262 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
11263 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
11266 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
11267 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
11268 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
11269 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
11270 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
11271 saw the article in.
11274 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
11275 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
11276 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
11278 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
11279 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
11280 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
11281 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
11282 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
11283 session are suppressed.
11285 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
11286 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
11287 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
11288 suppression list. The default is 10000.
11290 @item gnus-duplicate-file
11291 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
11292 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
11293 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
11296 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
11297 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
11298 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
11299 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
11300 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
11301 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
11302 to you to figure out, I think.
11307 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
11308 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
11309 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
11314 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
11315 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG@. The Lisp interface
11316 to GnuPG included with Emacs is called EasyPG (@pxref{Top, ,EasyPG,
11317 epa, EasyPG Assistant user's manual}), but PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg,
11318 PGG Manual}), and Mailcrypt are also supported.
11321 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL@. OpenSSL 0.9.6
11322 or newer is recommended.
11326 The variables that control security functionality on reading/composing
11330 @item mm-verify-option
11331 @vindex mm-verify-option
11332 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
11333 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
11334 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
11336 @item mm-decrypt-option
11337 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
11338 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
11339 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
11340 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
11342 @item mm-sign-option
11343 @vindex mm-sign-option
11344 Option of creating signed parts. @code{nil}, use default signing
11345 keys; @code{guided}, ask user to select signing keys from the menu.
11347 @item mm-encrypt-option
11348 @vindex mm-encrypt-option
11349 Option of creating encrypted parts. @code{nil}, use the first
11350 public-key matching the @samp{From:} header as the recipient;
11351 @code{guided}, ask user to select recipient keys from the menu.
11354 @vindex mml1991-use
11355 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
11356 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but @code{pgg},
11357 and @code{mailcrypt} are also supported although
11358 deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available interface in
11362 @vindex mml2015-use
11363 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
11364 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but
11365 @code{pgg}, and @code{mailcrypt} are also supported
11366 although deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available
11367 interface in this order.
11371 By default the buttons that display security information are not
11372 shown, because they clutter reading the actual e-mail. You can type
11373 @kbd{K b} manually to display the information. Use the
11374 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types} and
11375 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} variables to control this
11376 permanently. @ref{MIME Commands} for further details, and hints on
11377 how to customize these variables to always display security
11380 @cindex snarfing keys
11381 @cindex importing PGP keys
11382 @cindex PGP key ring import
11383 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
11384 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
11385 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
11386 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
11387 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
11388 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
11389 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
11390 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
11391 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
11394 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
11397 This happens to also be the default action defined in
11398 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
11400 More information on how to set things for sending outgoing signed and
11401 encrypted messages up can be found in the message manual
11402 (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
11405 @section Mailing List
11406 @cindex mailing list
11409 @kindex A M (summary)
11410 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
11411 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
11412 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
11413 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
11416 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
11421 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
11422 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
11423 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
11426 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
11427 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
11428 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
11431 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
11432 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
11433 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
11437 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
11438 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
11439 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
11442 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
11443 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
11444 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
11447 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
11448 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
11449 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
11454 @node Article Buffer
11455 @chapter Article Buffer
11456 @cindex article buffer
11458 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
11459 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
11460 tell Gnus otherwise.
11463 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
11464 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
11465 * HTML:: Reading @acronym{HTML} messages.
11466 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
11467 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
11468 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
11472 @node Hiding Headers
11473 @section Hiding Headers
11474 @cindex hiding headers
11475 @cindex deleting headers
11477 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
11478 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
11480 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
11481 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
11482 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
11483 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
11484 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
11485 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
11486 @code{References}, etc.@: ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
11487 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
11488 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
11490 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
11494 @item gnus-visible-headers
11495 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
11496 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
11497 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
11498 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
11500 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
11501 the article and the subject, you'd say:
11504 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
11507 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
11510 @item gnus-ignored-headers
11511 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
11512 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
11513 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
11514 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
11515 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
11517 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
11518 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
11521 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
11524 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
11527 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
11528 variable will have no effect.
11532 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
11533 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
11534 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
11535 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
11536 the headers are to be displayed.
11538 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
11539 and then the subject, you might say something like:
11542 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
11545 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
11546 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
11548 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
11549 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
11550 You can hide further boring headers by setting
11551 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
11552 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
11553 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
11554 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
11557 These conditions are:
11560 Remove all empty headers.
11562 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
11563 @code{Newsgroups} header.
11565 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
11566 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
11569 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
11572 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11573 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
11575 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11576 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11578 Remove the @code{Cc} header if it only contains the address identical to
11579 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11581 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
11584 Remove the @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} header if it is very long.
11586 Remove all @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} headers if there are more than one.
11589 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
11592 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
11593 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
11596 This is also the default value for this variable.
11600 @section Using MIME
11601 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11603 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
11604 while people stand around yawning.
11606 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
11607 while all newsreaders die of fear.
11609 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
11610 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
11611 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
11613 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
11614 @findex gnus-display-mime
11615 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
11616 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
11617 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
11618 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
11620 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
11621 @acronym{MIME} button:
11624 @findex gnus-article-press-button
11625 @item RET (Article)
11626 @kindex RET (Article)
11627 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
11628 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
11629 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
11630 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
11631 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
11632 object is displayed inline.
11634 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
11635 @item M-RET (Article)
11636 @kindex M-RET (Article)
11638 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11639 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
11641 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
11643 @kindex t (Article)
11644 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
11645 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
11647 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
11649 @kindex C (Article)
11650 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11651 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
11653 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
11655 @kindex o (Article)
11656 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
11657 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
11659 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
11660 @item C-o (Article)
11661 @kindex C-o (Article)
11662 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
11663 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
11664 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
11665 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
11666 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
11667 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
11669 @findex gnus-mime-replace-part
11671 @kindex r (Article)
11672 Prompt for a file name, replace the @acronym{MIME} object with an
11673 external body referring to the file via the message/external-body
11674 @acronym{MIME} type. (@code{gnus-mime-replace-part}).
11676 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
11678 @kindex d (Article)
11679 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
11680 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
11681 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
11683 @c FIXME: gnus-auto-select-part should be documented here
11685 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
11687 @kindex c (Article)
11688 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
11689 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). If given a prefix, copy the raw contents
11690 without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual
11691 charset stuff (see @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in
11692 @ref{Paging the Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
11693 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
11694 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
11695 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11697 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
11699 @kindex p (Article)
11700 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
11701 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
11702 @file{.mailcap} file.
11704 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
11706 @kindex i (Article)
11707 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
11708 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as @samp{text/plain}. If given a prefix, insert
11709 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
11710 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
11711 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
11712 Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and @file{.bz2} are
11713 automatically decompressed depending on @code{jka-compr} regardless of
11714 @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed Files,, Accessing
11715 Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11717 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
11719 @kindex E (Article)
11720 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
11721 viewer is available, use an external viewer
11722 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
11724 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
11726 @kindex e (Article)
11727 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
11728 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
11730 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
11732 @kindex | (Article)
11733 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
11735 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
11737 @kindex . (Article)
11738 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
11739 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
11743 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
11744 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
11745 @acronym{MIME} manual.
11747 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
11748 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
11749 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
11750 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
11751 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
11752 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
11753 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
11754 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
11755 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
11757 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
11759 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
11763 @section @acronym{HTML}
11764 @cindex @acronym{HTML}
11766 Gnus can display @acronym{HTML} articles nicely formatted in the
11767 article buffer. There are many methods for doing that, but two of
11768 them are kind of default methods.
11770 If your Emacs copy has been built with libxml2 support, then Gnus uses
11771 Emacs' built-in, plain elisp Simple HTML Renderer @code{shr}
11772 @footnote{@code{shr} displays colors as declared in the @acronym{HTML}
11773 article but tries to adjust them in order to be readable. If you
11774 prefer more contrast, @xref{FAQ 4-16}.} which is also used by Emacs'
11775 browser EWW (@pxref{EWW, ,EWW, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
11777 If your Emacs copy lacks libxml2 support but you have @code{w3m}
11778 installed on your system, Gnus uses that to render @acronym{HTML} mail
11779 and display the results in the article buffer (@code{gnus-w3m}).
11781 For a complete overview, consult @xref{Display Customization, ,Display
11782 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. This section only
11783 describes the default method.
11786 @item mm-text-html-renderer
11787 @vindex mm-text-html-renderer
11788 If set to @code{shr}, Gnus uses its own simple @acronym{HTML}
11789 renderer. If set to @code{gnus-w3m}, it uses @code{w3m}.
11791 @item gnus-blocked-images
11792 @vindex gnus-blocked-images
11793 External images that have @acronym{URL}s that match this regexp won't
11794 be fetched and displayed. For instance, to block all @acronym{URL}s
11795 that have the string ``ads'' in them, do the following:
11798 (setq gnus-blocked-images "ads")
11801 This can also be a function to be evaluated. If so, it will be
11802 called with the group name as the parameter. The default value is
11803 @code{gnus-block-private-groups}, which will return @samp{"."} for
11804 anything that isn't a newsgroup. This means that no external images
11805 will be fetched as a result of reading mail, so that nobody can use
11806 web bugs (and the like) to track whether you've read email.
11808 Also @pxref{Misc Article} for @code{gnus-inhibit-images}.
11810 @item gnus-html-cache-directory
11811 @vindex gnus-html-cache-directory
11812 Gnus will download and cache images according to how
11813 @code{gnus-blocked-images} is set. These images will be stored in
11816 @item gnus-html-cache-size
11817 @vindex gnus-html-cache-size
11818 When @code{gnus-html-cache-size} bytes have been used in that
11819 directory, the oldest files will be deleted. The default is 500MB.
11821 @item gnus-html-frame-width
11822 @vindex gnus-html-frame-width
11823 The width to use when rendering HTML@. The default is 70.
11825 @item gnus-max-image-proportion
11826 @vindex gnus-max-image-proportion
11827 How big pictures displayed are in relation to the window they're in.
11828 A value of 0.7 (the default) means that they are allowed to take up
11829 70% of the width and height of the window. If they are larger than
11830 this, and Emacs supports it, then the images will be rescaled down to
11831 fit these criteria.
11833 @item gnus-article-show-cursor
11834 @vindex gnus-article-show-cursor
11835 If non-@code{nil}, display the cursor in the article buffer even when
11836 the article buffer isn't the current buffer.
11839 To use this, make sure that you have @code{w3m} and @code{curl}
11840 installed. If you have, then Gnus should display @acronym{HTML}
11845 @node Customizing Articles
11846 @section Customizing Articles
11847 @cindex article customization
11849 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
11850 exist. You can call these functions interactively
11851 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
11852 called automatically when you select the articles.
11854 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
11855 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
11856 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
11857 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
11859 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
11860 for sensible values.
11864 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
11867 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
11870 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
11873 @code{first}: Do this treatment on the first body part.
11876 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last body part.
11879 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
11883 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
11884 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
11885 regexps in the list.
11888 A list where the first element is not a string:
11890 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
11891 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
11892 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
11896 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
11900 A function: the function is called with no arguments and should return
11901 @code{nil} or non-@code{nil}. The current article is available in the
11902 buffer named by @code{gnus-article-buffer}.
11906 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
11907 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
11908 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
11909 considered to contain just a single part.
11911 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
11912 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
11913 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11914 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11915 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11916 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11917 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11920 @c Avoid sort of redundant entries in the same section for the printed
11921 @c manual, but add them in info to allow 'i gnus-treat-foo-bar RET' or
11923 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize
11924 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize-head
11925 @vindex gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences
11926 @vindex gnus-treat-overstrike
11927 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-cr
11928 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body
11929 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
11930 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
11931 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-pem
11932 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
11933 @vindex gnus-treat-unsplit-urls
11934 @vindex gnus-treat-wash-html
11935 @vindex gnus-treat-date
11936 @vindex gnus-treat-from-picon
11937 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-picon
11938 @vindex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
11939 @vindex gnus-treat-from-gravatar
11940 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-gravatar
11941 @vindex gnus-treat-display-smileys
11942 @vindex gnus-treat-body-boundary
11943 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
11944 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
11945 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
11946 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
11947 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
11948 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
11949 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
11950 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
11951 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
11952 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
11953 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
11954 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
11955 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
11956 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
11957 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
11958 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
11959 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
11960 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
11961 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
11962 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
11963 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
11966 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11967 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11968 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11969 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11972 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11973 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11975 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11977 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11978 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11979 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11980 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11981 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, first, integer)
11982 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11983 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11984 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11985 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11986 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11988 @xref{Article Washing}.
11990 @item gnus-treat-date (head)
11992 This will transform/add date headers according to the
11993 @code{gnus-article-date-headers} variable. This is a list of Date
11994 headers to display. The formats available are:
11998 Universal time, aka GMT, aka ZULU.
12001 The user's local time zone.
12004 A semi-readable English sentence.
12007 The time elapsed since the message was posted.
12009 @item combined-lapsed
12010 Both the original date header and a (shortened) elapsed time.
12013 The original date header.
12016 ISO8601 format, i.e., ``2010-11-23T22:05:21''.
12019 A format done according to the @code{gnus-article-time-format}
12024 @xref{Article Date}.
12026 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
12027 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
12028 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
12032 @item gnus-treat-from-gravatar (head)
12033 @item gnus-treat-mail-gravatar (head)
12037 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
12039 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
12041 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
12042 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
12043 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
12047 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12048 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
12052 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12053 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
12057 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12058 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
12059 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12060 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
12061 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12062 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
12063 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12064 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
12065 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12066 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
12067 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12068 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
12069 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12070 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
12071 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12072 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
12073 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12074 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
12075 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12076 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
12078 @xref{Article Hiding}.
12080 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12081 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
12082 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12083 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
12084 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12085 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
12087 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
12089 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12090 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
12091 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
12092 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12093 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
12095 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12096 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
12097 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12098 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
12099 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12100 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
12101 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12102 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
12104 @xref{Article Header}.
12109 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
12110 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
12111 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
12112 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
12113 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
12117 @node Article Keymap
12118 @section Article Keymap
12120 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
12121 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
12122 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
12123 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
12126 @kindex v (Article)
12127 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Article)
12128 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
12129 command or better use it as a prefix key.
12131 A few additional keystrokes are available:
12136 @kindex SPACE (Article)
12137 @findex gnus-article-next-page
12138 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
12139 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
12142 @kindex DEL (Article)
12143 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
12144 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
12145 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
12148 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
12149 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
12150 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
12151 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
12152 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
12155 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
12156 @findex gnus-article-mail
12157 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
12158 given a prefix, include the mail.
12161 @kindex s (Article)
12162 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
12163 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
12164 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
12167 @kindex ? (Article)
12168 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
12169 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
12170 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
12173 @kindex TAB (Article)
12174 @findex gnus-article-next-button
12175 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
12176 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
12179 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
12180 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
12181 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
12184 @kindex R (Article)
12185 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
12186 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
12187 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If the region is active,
12188 only yank the text in the region.
12191 @kindex S W (Article)
12192 @findex gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original
12193 Send a wide reply to the current article and yank the current article
12194 (@code{gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original}). If the region is
12195 active, only yank the text in the region.
12198 @kindex F (Article)
12199 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
12200 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
12201 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If the region is active,
12202 only yank the text in the region.
12209 @section Misc Article
12213 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
12214 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
12215 @cindex article buffers, several
12216 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
12217 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
12220 @item gnus-widen-article-window
12221 @cindex gnus-widen-article-window
12222 If non-@code{nil}, selecting the article buffer with the @kbd{h}
12223 command will ``widen'' the article window to take the entire frame.
12225 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
12226 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
12227 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12228 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
12229 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
12231 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
12232 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
12233 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
12234 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
12235 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
12236 the contents of the article buffer.
12238 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
12239 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
12240 Hook called in article mode buffers.
12242 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12243 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12244 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
12245 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
12247 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
12248 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
12249 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
12250 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
12252 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
12253 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
12254 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
12255 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
12256 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
12257 with two extensions:
12262 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
12263 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
12264 performed. The characters and their meaning:
12269 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
12272 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
12275 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
12276 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
12277 security status, i.e., good or bad signature.)
12280 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
12283 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
12286 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasized strings in the article buffer.
12291 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
12295 @vindex gnus-break-pages
12297 @item gnus-break-pages
12298 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
12299 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
12300 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
12301 paging will not be done.
12303 @item gnus-page-delimiter
12304 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
12305 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
12309 @cindex internationalized domain names
12310 @vindex gnus-use-idna
12311 @item gnus-use-idna
12312 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
12313 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
12314 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
12315 for how to compose such messages. This requires
12316 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
12317 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
12319 @vindex gnus-inhibit-images
12320 @item gnus-inhibit-images
12321 If this is non-@code{nil}, inhibit displaying of images inline in the
12322 article body. It is effective to images that are in articles as
12323 @acronym{MIME} parts, and images in @acronym{HTML} articles rendered
12324 when @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization,
12325 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) is
12326 @code{shr} or @code{gnus-w3m}.
12331 @node Composing Messages
12332 @chapter Composing Messages
12333 @cindex composing messages
12336 @cindex sending mail
12341 @cindex using s/mime
12342 @cindex using smime
12344 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
12345 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
12346 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
12347 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
12348 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
12349 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
12352 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
12353 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
12354 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
12355 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
12356 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
12357 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
12358 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
12359 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
12360 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
12363 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
12364 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
12370 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
12373 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
12374 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
12375 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
12376 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
12377 @code{nil} include all headers.
12379 @item gnus-add-to-list
12380 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
12381 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
12382 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
12384 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12385 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
12386 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you for a confirmation when you are
12387 about to reply to news articles by mail. If it is @code{nil}, nothing
12388 interferes in what you want to do. This can also be a function
12389 receiving the group name as the only parameter which should return
12390 non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is needed, or a regular expression
12391 matching group names, where confirmation should be asked for.
12393 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
12394 press @kbd{R} anyway, this variable might be for you.
12396 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12397 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
12398 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
12399 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
12400 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
12405 @node Posting Server
12406 @section Posting Server
12408 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
12409 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
12411 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
12413 It can be quite complicated.
12415 @vindex gnus-post-method
12416 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
12417 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
12418 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
12419 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
12420 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
12421 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
12422 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
12423 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
12424 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
12427 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
12430 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
12431 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
12432 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
12433 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
12435 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
12436 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
12438 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
12439 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
12442 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
12443 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
12445 @vindex message-send-mail-function
12446 When sending mail, Message invokes the function specified by the
12447 variable @code{message-send-mail-function}. Gnus tries to set it to a
12448 value suitable for your system.
12449 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Mail Variables,message,Message manual}, for more
12453 @node POP before SMTP
12454 @section POP before SMTP
12455 @cindex pop before smtp
12456 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
12458 Does your @acronym{ISP} use @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
12459 authentication? This authentication method simply requires you to
12460 contact the @acronym{POP} server before sending email. To do that,
12461 put the following lines in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
12464 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
12468 The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function does @acronym{POP}
12469 authentication according to the value of @code{mail-sources} without
12470 fetching mails, just before sending a mail. @xref{Mail Sources}.
12472 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
12473 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
12474 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
12475 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
12476 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
12477 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
12480 (setq mail-source-primary-source
12481 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12482 :password "secret"))
12486 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
12487 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
12490 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
12492 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
12493 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12494 :password "secret")))
12495 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
12499 @node Mail and Post
12500 @section Mail and Post
12502 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
12506 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
12507 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
12508 @cindex mailing lists
12510 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
12511 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
12512 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
12513 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
12514 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
12515 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
12516 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
12517 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
12518 still a pain, though.
12520 @item gnus-user-agent
12521 @vindex gnus-user-agent
12524 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
12525 User-Agent header. It can be a list of symbols or a string. Valid
12526 symbols are @code{gnus} (show Gnus version) and @code{emacs} (show Emacs
12527 version). In addition to the Emacs version, you can add @code{codename}
12528 (show (S)XEmacs codename) or either @code{config} (show system
12529 configuration) or @code{type} (show system type). If you set it to a
12530 string, be sure to use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
12534 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
12535 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
12536 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
12539 @findex ispell-message
12541 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
12544 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
12545 you're in, you could say something like the following:
12548 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
12552 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
12553 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
12555 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
12558 Modify to suit your needs.
12560 @vindex gnus-message-highlight-citation
12561 If @code{gnus-message-highlight-citation} is @code{t}, different levels of
12562 citations are highlighted like in Gnus article buffers also in message
12565 @node Archived Messages
12566 @section Archived Messages
12567 @cindex archived messages
12568 @cindex sent messages
12570 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
12571 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
12572 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
12573 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}. The
12574 default is @code{"sent.%Y-%m"}, which gives you one archive group per month.
12576 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
12577 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
12580 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
12581 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
12582 use to store sent messages. The default is @code{"archive"}, and when
12583 actually being used it is expanded into:
12586 (nnfolder "archive"
12587 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
12588 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
12589 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
12590 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
12594 @vindex gnus-update-message-archive-method
12595 Note: a server like this is saved in the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file first
12596 so that it may be used as a real method of the server which is named
12597 @code{"archive"} (that is, for the case where
12598 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} is set to @code{"archive"}) ever
12599 since. If it once has been saved, it will never be updated by default
12600 even if you change the value of @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
12601 afterward. Therefore, the server @code{"archive"} doesn't necessarily
12602 mean the @code{nnfolder} server like this at all times. If you want the
12603 saved method to reflect always the value of
12604 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, set the
12605 @code{gnus-update-message-archive-method} variable to a non-@code{nil}
12606 value. The default value of this variable is @code{nil}.
12609 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
12610 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
12611 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
12612 directory chosen, you could say something like:
12615 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
12616 '(nnfolder "archive"
12617 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
12618 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
12619 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
12622 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
12624 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
12625 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
12626 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
12628 This variable can be used to do the following:
12632 Messages will be saved in that group.
12634 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
12635 message will not be stored in the select method given by
12636 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
12637 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
12638 has the default value shown above. Then setting
12639 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
12640 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
12641 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
12644 @item a list of strings
12645 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
12647 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
12648 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
12651 No message archiving will take place.
12656 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
12658 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
12661 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
12663 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
12666 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
12668 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12669 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
12670 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
12671 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
12674 More complex stuff:
12676 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12677 '((if (message-news-p)
12682 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
12683 messages in one file per month:
12686 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
12687 '((if (message-news-p)
12689 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
12692 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
12693 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
12694 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
12695 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
12696 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
12697 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
12698 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
12699 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
12700 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
12701 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
12704 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
12705 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
12706 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
12708 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
12709 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
12710 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
12711 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
12712 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
12713 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
12714 changed in the future.
12716 @item gnus-gcc-self-resent-messages
12717 @vindex gnus-gcc-self-resent-messages
12718 Like the @code{gcc-self} group parameter, applied only for unmodified
12719 messages that @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} (@pxref{Summary Mail
12720 Commands}) resends. Non-@code{nil} value of this variable takes
12721 precedence over any existing @code{Gcc} header.
12723 If this is @code{none}, no @code{Gcc} copy will be made. If this is
12724 @code{t}, messages resent will be @code{Gcc} copied to the current
12725 group. If this is a string, it specifies a group to which resent
12726 messages will be @code{Gcc} copied. If this is @code{nil}, @code{Gcc}
12727 will be done according to existing @code{Gcc} header(s), if any. If
12728 this is @code{no-gcc-self}, that is the default, resent messages will be
12729 @code{Gcc} copied to groups that existing @code{Gcc} header specifies,
12730 except for the current group.
12732 @item gnus-gcc-pre-body-encode-hook
12733 @vindex gnus-gcc-pre-body-encode-hook
12734 @itemx gnus-gcc-post-body-encode-hook
12735 @vindex gnus-gcc-post-body-encode-hook
12737 These hooks are run before/after encoding the message body of the Gcc
12738 copy of a sent message. The current buffer (when the hook is run)
12739 contains the message including the message header. Changes made to
12740 the message will only affect the Gcc copy, but not the original
12741 message. You can use these hooks to edit the copy (and influence
12742 subsequent transformations), e.g., remove MML secure tags
12743 (@pxref{Signing and encrypting}).
12748 @node Posting Styles
12749 @section Posting Styles
12750 @cindex posting styles
12753 All them variables, they make my head swim.
12755 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
12756 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
12757 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
12760 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
12761 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
12762 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
12763 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
12764 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
12769 (signature "Peace and happiness")
12770 (organization "What me?"))
12772 (signature "Death to everybody"))
12773 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
12774 (organization "Emacs is it")))
12777 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
12778 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
12779 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
12780 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
12781 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
12782 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
12783 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
12784 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
12786 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
12787 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
12788 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
12789 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
12790 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
12791 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
12792 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
12793 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
12794 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
12795 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
12796 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
12797 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
12798 said to @dfn{match}.
12800 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
12801 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
12802 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
12803 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
12804 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
12805 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
12806 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
12807 name can be one of:
12810 @item @code{signature}
12811 @item @code{signature-file}
12812 @item @code{x-face-file}
12813 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
12814 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
12818 Note that the @code{signature-file} attribute honors the variable
12819 @code{message-signature-directory}.
12821 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
12822 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
12823 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
12824 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
12825 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
12827 The attribute value can be a string, a function with zero arguments
12828 (the return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used)
12829 or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be
12830 used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
12831 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current
12832 article are available through the @code{message-reply-headers}
12833 variable, which is a vector of the following headers: number subject
12834 from date id references chars lines xref extra.
12836 In the case of a string value, if the @code{match} is a regular
12837 expression, or if it takes the form @code{(header @var{match}
12838 @var{regexp})}, a @samp{gnus-match-substitute-replacement} is proceed
12839 on the value to replace the positional parameters @samp{\@var{n}} by
12840 the corresponding parenthetical matches (see @xref{Replacing Match,,
12841 Replacing the Text that Matched, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference
12844 @vindex message-reply-headers
12846 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
12847 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
12848 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
12850 @findex message-mail-p
12851 @findex message-news-p
12853 So here's a new example:
12856 (setq gnus-posting-styles
12858 (signature-file "~/.signature")
12860 (x-face-file "~/.xface")
12861 (x-url (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
12862 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
12864 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
12865 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
12866 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
12867 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
12868 (signature my-news-signature))
12869 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
12870 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
12871 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
12872 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
12873 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
12874 ;; @r{Reply to a message from the same subaddress the message}
12875 ;; @r{was sent to.}
12876 ((header "x-original-to" "me\\(\\+.+\\)@@example.org")
12877 (address "me\\1@@example.org"))
12878 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
12879 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
12880 (address "user@@bar.foo")
12881 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
12882 ("X-Message-SMTP-Method" "smtp smtp.example.org 587")
12883 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
12885 (From (with-current-buffer gnus-article-buffer
12886 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
12888 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
12891 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
12892 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
12893 if you fill many roles.
12894 You may also use @code{message-alternative-emails} instead.
12895 @xref{Message Headers, ,Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
12897 Of particular interest in the ``work-mail'' style is the
12898 @samp{X-Message-SMTP-Method} header. It specifies how to send the
12899 outgoing email. You may want to sent certain emails through certain
12900 @acronym{SMTP} servers due to company policies, for instance.
12901 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Message Variables, message, Message Manual}.
12908 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
12909 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
12910 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
12911 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
12912 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
12914 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
12915 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
12916 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
12917 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
12918 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
12922 @vindex nndraft-directory
12923 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
12924 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
12925 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
12926 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
12927 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
12928 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
12930 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
12931 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
12932 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
12933 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
12934 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
12935 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
12936 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
12937 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
12938 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
12940 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
12941 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
12942 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
12943 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
12944 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
12945 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
12946 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
12947 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
12948 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
12949 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
12950 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
12951 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
12952 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
12953 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
12955 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
12956 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
12957 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
12959 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
12960 @kindex D e (Draft)
12961 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
12962 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
12963 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
12965 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
12968 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
12969 @kindex D s (Draft)
12970 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
12971 @kindex D S (Draft)
12972 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
12973 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
12974 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
12975 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
12976 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
12979 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
12980 @kindex D t (Draft)
12981 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
12982 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
12983 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
12985 Finally, if you want to delete a draft, use the normal @kbd{B DEL}
12986 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12989 @node Rejected Articles
12990 @section Rejected Articles
12991 @cindex rejected articles
12993 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
12994 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
12995 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
12996 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
12998 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
12999 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
13000 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
13001 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
13002 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
13004 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
13005 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
13006 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
13008 @node Signing and encrypting
13009 @section Signing and encrypting
13011 @cindex using s/mime
13012 @cindex using smime
13014 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
13015 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
13016 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
13017 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
13019 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
13020 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
13021 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
13022 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
13023 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
13024 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
13025 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
13026 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
13027 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
13028 automatically encrypted messages.
13030 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
13031 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
13032 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
13037 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
13038 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
13040 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13043 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
13044 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13046 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13049 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
13050 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13052 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13055 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
13056 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
13058 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13061 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
13062 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
13064 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13067 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
13068 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
13070 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13073 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
13074 @findex mml-unsecure-message
13075 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
13079 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
13081 @node Select Methods
13082 @chapter Select Methods
13083 @cindex foreign groups
13084 @cindex select methods
13086 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
13087 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
13088 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
13089 personal mail group.
13091 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
13092 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
13093 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g., @code{nntp},
13094 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
13095 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
13096 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
13098 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
13099 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
13101 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
13104 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
13105 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
13106 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
13107 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
13108 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
13110 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
13113 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
13114 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
13115 * Using IMAP:: Reading mail from @acronym{IMAP}.
13116 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
13117 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
13118 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
13119 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
13120 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
13121 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
13125 @node Server Buffer
13126 @section Server Buffer
13128 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
13129 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
13130 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
13131 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
13132 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
13133 back end represents a virtual server.
13135 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
13136 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
13137 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
13138 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
13140 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
13141 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
13142 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
13143 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
13144 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
13145 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
13146 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
13148 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
13149 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
13152 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
13153 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
13154 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
13155 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
13156 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
13157 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
13158 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
13161 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
13162 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
13165 @node Server Buffer Format
13166 @subsection Server Buffer Format
13167 @cindex server buffer format
13169 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
13170 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
13171 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
13172 variable, with some simple extensions:
13177 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
13180 The name of this server.
13183 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
13186 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
13189 Whether this server is agentized.
13192 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
13193 The mode line can also be customized by using the
13194 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
13195 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
13205 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
13208 @node Server Commands
13209 @subsection Server Commands
13210 @cindex server commands
13216 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Server)
13217 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
13218 command or better use it as a prefix key.
13222 @findex gnus-server-add-server
13223 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
13227 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
13228 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
13232 @findex gnus-server-show-server
13233 Show the definition of a server (@code{gnus-server-show-server}).
13236 @kindex SPACE (Server)
13237 @findex gnus-server-read-server
13238 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
13242 @findex gnus-server-exit
13243 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
13247 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
13248 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
13252 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
13253 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
13257 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
13258 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
13262 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
13263 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
13267 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
13268 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
13269 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
13274 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
13275 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
13276 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
13277 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
13281 @findex gnus-server-compact-server
13283 Compact all groups in the server under point
13284 (@code{gnus-server-compact-server}). Currently implemented only in
13285 nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes gaps between article numbers,
13286 hence getting a correct total article count.
13290 Some more commands for closing, disabling, and re-opening servers are
13291 listed in @ref{Unavailable Servers}.
13294 @node Example Methods
13295 @subsection Example Methods
13297 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
13300 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
13303 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
13309 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
13310 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
13313 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
13314 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
13316 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
13317 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
13321 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
13324 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
13325 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
13327 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
13328 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
13329 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
13333 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
13336 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
13339 Here's the method for a public spool:
13343 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
13344 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
13350 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
13351 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
13352 on the firewall machine and connect with
13353 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} from there to the
13354 @acronym{NNTP} server.
13355 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
13356 should probably look something like this:
13360 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)
13361 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
13362 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host"))
13365 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
13366 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
13367 configuration to the example above:
13370 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13373 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}. Here's an example for
13374 an indirect connection:
13377 (setq gnus-select-method
13379 (nntp-address "news.server.example")
13380 (nntp-via-user-name "intermediate_user_name")
13381 (nntp-via-address "intermediate.host.example")
13382 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13383 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches ("-C"))
13384 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)))
13387 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
13388 provide automatic authorization, of course.
13390 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
13391 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
13392 netcat connection to the news server as follows:
13396 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13397 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
13398 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
13402 @node Creating a Virtual Server
13403 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
13405 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
13406 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
13408 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
13409 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
13410 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
13412 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
13414 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
13415 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
13416 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
13417 will contain the following:
13427 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
13428 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
13431 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
13432 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
13433 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
13436 @node Server Variables
13437 @subsection Server Variables
13438 @cindex server variables
13439 @cindex server parameters
13441 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
13442 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
13443 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
13444 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
13445 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
13447 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
13448 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
13449 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
13450 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
13451 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
13452 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
13453 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
13454 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
13455 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
13459 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
13460 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
13461 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
13464 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
13466 @node Servers and Methods
13467 @subsection Servers and Methods
13469 Wherever you would normally use a select method
13470 (e.g., @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
13471 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
13472 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
13476 @node Unavailable Servers
13477 @subsection Unavailable Servers
13479 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
13480 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
13481 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
13482 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
13483 actually the case or not.
13485 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
13486 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
13487 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
13488 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
13489 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
13490 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
13491 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
13492 it will regard that server as ``down''.
13494 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
13495 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
13497 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
13498 with the following commands:
13504 @findex gnus-server-open-server
13505 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
13506 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
13510 @findex gnus-server-close-server
13511 Close the connection (if any) to the server
13512 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
13516 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
13517 Mark the current server as unreachable
13518 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
13521 @kindex M-o (Server)
13522 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
13523 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
13524 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
13527 @kindex M-c (Server)
13528 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
13529 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
13530 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
13534 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
13535 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
13536 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
13540 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
13541 Copy a server and give it a new name
13542 (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}). This can be useful if you have a
13543 complex method definition, and want to use the same definition towards
13544 a different (physical) server.
13548 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
13549 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
13555 @section Getting News
13556 @cindex reading news
13557 @cindex news back ends
13559 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
13560 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
13561 or it can read from a local spool.
13564 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
13565 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
13573 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
13574 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
13575 server as the, uhm, address.
13577 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
13578 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
13579 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
13580 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13582 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
13583 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
13584 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
13586 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
13591 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
13592 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
13593 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
13595 @cindex authentication
13596 @cindex nntp authentication
13597 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
13598 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
13599 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
13600 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
13601 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
13602 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
13603 present in this hook.
13605 @item nntp-authinfo-function
13606 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
13607 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
13608 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
13609 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
13610 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
13611 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
13612 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
13613 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
13614 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
13615 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
13616 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
13620 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
13623 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
13625 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
13626 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
13627 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
13628 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
13629 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
13630 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
13631 @samp{force} is explained below.
13635 Here's an example file:
13638 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
13639 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
13642 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
13643 have to be first, for instance.
13645 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
13646 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
13647 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
13648 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
13649 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
13650 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
13651 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
13653 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
13654 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
13660 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
13661 previously mentioned.
13663 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
13665 @item nntp-server-action-alist
13666 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
13667 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
13668 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
13669 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
13672 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
13673 '(("innd" (ding))))
13676 You probably don't want to do that, though.
13678 The default value is
13681 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
13682 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
13683 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
13686 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
13687 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
13689 @item nntp-maximum-request
13690 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
13691 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
13692 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
13693 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
13694 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
13695 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
13696 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
13698 @item nntp-connection-timeout
13699 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
13700 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
13701 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
13702 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
13703 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
13704 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
13705 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
13706 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
13707 no timeouts are done.
13709 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
13710 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
13711 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
13712 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
13715 @item nntp-xover-commands
13716 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
13717 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
13719 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
13720 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
13724 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
13725 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
13726 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
13727 if you have read articles 2--5000 in the group, and only want to read
13728 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
13729 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
13730 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
13731 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
13732 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
13733 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
13734 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
13736 @item nntp-xref-number-is-evil
13737 @vindex nntp-xref-number-is-evil
13738 When Gnus refers to an article having the @code{Message-ID} that a user
13739 specifies or having the @code{Message-ID} of the parent article of the
13740 current one (@pxref{Finding the Parent}), Gnus sends a @code{HEAD}
13741 command to the @acronym{NNTP} server to know where it is, and the server
13742 returns the data containing the pairs of a group and an article number
13743 in the @code{Xref} header. Gnus normally uses the article number to
13744 refer to the article if the data shows that that article is in the
13745 current group, while it uses the @code{Message-ID} otherwise. However,
13746 some news servers, e.g., ones running Diablo, run multiple engines
13747 having the same articles but article numbers are not kept synchronized
13748 between them. In that case, the article number that appears in the
13749 @code{Xref} header varies by which engine is chosen, so you cannot refer
13750 to the parent article that is in the current group, for instance. If
13751 you connect to such a server, set this variable to a non-@code{nil}
13752 value, and Gnus never uses article numbers. For example:
13755 (setq gnus-select-method
13757 (nntp-address "newszilla.example.com")
13758 (nntp-xref-number-is-evil t)
13762 The default value of this server variable is @code{nil}.
13764 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
13765 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
13766 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
13768 @item nntp-record-commands
13769 @vindex nntp-record-commands
13770 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
13771 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @file{*nntp-log*}
13772 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
13773 that doesn't seem to work.
13775 @item nntp-open-connection-function
13776 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
13777 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
13778 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
13779 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
13780 Seven pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped
13781 in two categories: direct connection functions (four pre-made), and
13782 indirect ones (three pre-made).
13784 @item nntp-never-echoes-commands
13785 @vindex nntp-never-echoes-commands
13786 Non-@code{nil} means the nntp server never echoes commands. It is
13787 reported that some nntps server doesn't echo commands. So, you may want
13788 to set this to non-@code{nil} in the method for such a server setting
13789 @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream} for
13790 example. The default value is @code{nil}. Note that the
13791 @code{nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands} variable
13792 overrides the @code{nil} value of this variable.
13794 @item nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
13795 @vindex nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
13796 List of functions that never echo commands. Add or set a function which
13797 you set to @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to this list if it does
13798 not echo commands. Note that a non-@code{nil} value of the
13799 @code{nntp-never-echoes-commands} variable overrides this variable. The
13800 default value is @code{(nntp-open-network-stream)}.
13802 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
13803 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
13804 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
13805 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
13806 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
13807 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
13808 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
13811 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
13814 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID@. This works for
13815 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
13817 @item nntp-server-list-active-group
13818 If @code{nil}, then always use @samp{GROUP} instead of @samp{LIST
13819 ACTIVE}. This is usually slower, but on misconfigured servers that
13820 don't update their active files often, this can help.
13826 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
13827 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
13828 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
13832 @node Direct Functions
13833 @subsubsection Direct Functions
13834 @cindex direct connection functions
13836 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
13837 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
13838 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
13839 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13842 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
13843 @item nntp-open-network-stream
13844 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
13845 remote system. If both Emacs and the server supports it, the
13846 connection will be upgraded to an encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS}
13847 connection automatically.
13850 The same as the above, but don't do automatic @acronym{STARTTLS} upgrades.
13852 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
13853 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
13854 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
13855 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GnuTLS}
13856 installed. You then define a server as follows:
13859 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
13860 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
13862 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
13863 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
13864 (nntp-port-number 563)
13865 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
13868 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
13869 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
13870 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
13871 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL}
13873 @c Defunct URL, ancient package, so don't mention it.
13874 or @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay}
13876 installed. You then define a server as follows:
13879 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
13880 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
13882 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
13883 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
13884 (nntp-port-number 563)
13885 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
13888 @findex nntp-open-netcat-stream
13889 @item nntp-open-netcat-stream
13890 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server using the @code{netcat}
13891 program. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have
13892 the default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
13893 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
13894 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
13895 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
13899 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13900 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
13901 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
13904 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
13905 session, which is not a good idea.
13907 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
13908 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
13909 Like @code{nntp-open-netcat-stream}, but uses @code{telnet} rather than
13910 @code{netcat}. @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things
13911 like line-end-conversion, but sometimes netcat is simply
13912 not available. The previous example would turn into:
13916 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13917 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
13918 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
13919 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
13924 @node Indirect Functions
13925 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
13926 @cindex indirect connection functions
13928 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
13929 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13930 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
13931 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
13932 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
13933 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13936 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13937 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13938 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then uses @code{netcat} to connect
13939 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
13940 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
13942 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
13945 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13946 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13947 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13948 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13950 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13951 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13952 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13953 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
13954 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
13955 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections.
13958 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13959 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13960 Does essentially the same, but uses @code{telnet} instead of @samp{netcat}
13961 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
13962 @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things like
13963 line-end-conversion, but sometimes @code{netcat} is simply not available.
13965 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
13968 @item nntp-telnet-command
13969 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
13970 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
13971 intermediate host. The default is @samp{telnet}.
13973 @item nntp-telnet-switches
13974 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
13975 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
13976 @code{nntp-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{("-8")}.
13978 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13979 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13980 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13981 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13983 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13984 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13985 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13986 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. If you use @samp{ssh}, you may need to set
13987 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
13988 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
13989 host. The default is @code{nil}.
13992 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
13993 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13995 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
13996 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
13997 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
13998 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
14000 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14003 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
14004 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
14005 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
14008 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
14009 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
14010 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14011 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
14013 @item nntp-via-user-password
14014 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
14015 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
14017 @item nntp-via-envuser
14018 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
14019 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
14020 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
14021 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
14023 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
14024 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
14025 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
14026 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
14030 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14031 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14035 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
14040 @item nntp-via-user-name
14041 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
14042 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
14044 @item nntp-via-address
14045 @vindex nntp-via-address
14046 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
14051 @node Common Variables
14052 @subsubsection Common Variables
14054 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
14055 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
14056 affected (the values of the following variables will be used as the
14057 default if each virtual @code{nntp} server doesn't specify those server
14058 variables individually).
14062 @item nntp-pre-command
14063 @vindex nntp-pre-command
14064 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
14065 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
14066 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}). This is
14067 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
14070 @vindex nntp-address
14071 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14073 @item nntp-port-number
14074 @vindex nntp-port-number
14075 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14076 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
14077 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
14078 than named ports (i.e., use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
14079 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
14080 not work with named ports.
14082 @item nntp-end-of-line
14083 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
14084 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
14085 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
14086 using a non native telnet connection function.
14088 @item nntp-netcat-command
14089 @vindex nntp-netcat-command
14090 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
14091 @samp{netcat}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
14092 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14095 @item nntp-netcat-switches
14096 @vindex nntp-netcat-switches
14097 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-netcat-command}. The default
14103 @subsection News Spool
14107 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
14108 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
14109 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
14112 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
14113 anything else) as the address.
14115 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
14116 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
14117 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
14118 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
14122 @item nnspool-inews-program
14123 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
14124 Program used to post an article.
14126 @item nnspool-inews-switches
14127 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
14128 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
14130 @item nnspool-spool-directory
14131 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
14132 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
14133 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
14135 @item nnspool-nov-directory
14136 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
14137 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
14138 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
14140 @item nnspool-lib-dir
14141 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
14142 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
14144 @item nnspool-active-file
14145 @vindex nnspool-active-file
14146 The name of the active file.
14148 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
14149 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
14150 The name of the group descriptions file.
14152 @item nnspool-history-file
14153 @vindex nnspool-history-file
14154 The name of the news history file.
14156 @item nnspool-active-times-file
14157 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
14158 The name of the active date file.
14160 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
14161 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
14162 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
14165 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14166 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14168 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
14169 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
14170 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
14177 @section Using IMAP
14180 The most popular mail backend is probably @code{nnimap}, which
14181 provides access to @acronym{IMAP} servers. @acronym{IMAP} servers
14182 store mail remotely, so the client doesn't store anything locally.
14183 This means that it's a convenient choice when you're reading your mail
14184 from different locations, or with different user agents.
14187 * Connecting to an IMAP Server:: Getting started with @acronym{IMAP}.
14188 * Customizing the IMAP Connection:: Variables for @acronym{IMAP} connection.
14189 * Client-Side IMAP Splitting:: Put mail in the correct mail box.
14190 * Support for IMAP Extensions:: Getting extensions and labels from servers.
14194 @node Connecting to an IMAP Server
14195 @subsection Connecting to an IMAP Server
14197 Connecting to an @acronym{IMAP} can be very easy. Type @kbd{B} in the
14198 group buffer, or (if your primary interest is reading email), say
14202 (setq gnus-select-method
14203 '(nnimap "imap.gmail.com"))
14206 You'll be prompted for a user name and password. If you grow tired of
14207 that, then add the following to your @file{~/.authinfo} file:
14210 machine imap.gmail.com login <username> password <password> port imap
14213 That should basically be it for most users.
14216 @node Customizing the IMAP Connection
14217 @subsection Customizing the IMAP Connection
14219 Here's an example method that's more complex:
14222 (nnimap "imap.gmail.com"
14223 (nnimap-inbox "INBOX")
14224 (nnimap-split-methods default)
14226 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14230 @item nnimap-address
14231 The address of the server, like @samp{imap.gmail.com}.
14233 @item nnimap-server-port
14234 If the server uses a non-standard port, that can be specified here. A
14235 typical port would be @code{"imap"} or @code{"imaps"}.
14237 @item nnimap-stream
14238 How @code{nnimap} should connect to the server. Possible values are:
14242 This is the default, and this first tries the @code{ssl} setting, and
14243 then tries the @code{network} setting.
14246 This uses standard @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
14249 Non-encrypted and unsafe straight socket connection, but will upgrade
14250 to encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS} if both Emacs and the server
14254 Encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS} over the normal @acronym{IMAP} port.
14257 If you need to tunnel via other systems to connect to the server, you
14258 can use this option, and customize @code{nnimap-shell-program} to be
14262 Non-encrypted and unsafe straight socket connection.
14263 @acronym{STARTTLS} will not be used even if it is available.
14267 @item nnimap-authenticator
14268 Some @acronym{IMAP} servers allow anonymous logins. In that case,
14269 this should be set to @code{anonymous}. If this variable isn't set,
14270 the normal login methods will be used. If you wish to specify a
14271 specific login method to be used, you can set this variable to either
14272 @code{login} (the traditional @acronym{IMAP} login method),
14273 @code{plain} or @code{cram-md5}.
14275 @item nnimap-expunge
14276 When to expunge deleted messages. If @code{never}, deleted articles
14277 are marked with the IMAP @code{\\Delete} flag but not automatically
14278 expunged. If @code{immediately}, deleted articles are immediately expunged
14279 (this requires the server to support the UID EXPUNGE command). If
14280 @code{on-exit}, deleted articles are flagged, and all flagged articles are
14281 expunged when the group is closed.
14283 For backwards compatibility, this variable may also be set to t
14284 or nil. If the server supports UID EXPUNGE, both t and nil are
14285 equivalent to @code{immediately}. If the server does not support UID
14286 EXPUNGE nil is equivalent to @code{never}, while t will immediately
14287 expunge ALL articles that are currently flagged as deleted
14288 (i.e., potentially not only the article that was just deleted).
14290 @item nnimap-streaming
14291 Virtually all @acronym{IMAP} server support fast streaming of data.
14292 If you have problems connecting to the server, try setting this to
14295 @item nnimap-fetch-partial-articles
14296 If non-@code{nil}, fetch partial articles from the server. If set to
14297 a string, then it's interpreted as a regexp, and parts that have
14298 matching types will be fetched. For instance, @samp{"text/"} will
14299 fetch all textual parts, while leaving the rest on the server.
14301 @item nnimap-record-commands
14302 If non-@code{nil}, record all @acronym{IMAP} commands in the
14303 @samp{"*imap log*"} buffer.
14308 @node Client-Side IMAP Splitting
14309 @subsection Client-Side IMAP Splitting
14311 Many people prefer to do the sorting/splitting of mail into their mail
14312 boxes on the @acronym{IMAP} server. That way they don't have to
14313 download the mail they're not all that interested in.
14315 If you do want to do client-side mail splitting, then the following
14316 variables are relevant:
14320 This is the @acronym{IMAP} mail box that will be scanned for new
14321 mail. This can also be a list of mail box names.
14323 @item nnimap-split-methods
14324 Uses the same syntax as @code{nnmail-split-methods} (@pxref{Splitting
14325 Mail}), except the symbol @code{default}, which means that it should
14326 use the value of the @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable.
14328 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14329 Uses the same syntax as @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14331 @item nnimap-unsplittable-articles
14332 List of flag symbols to ignore when doing splitting. That is,
14333 articles that have these flags won't be considered when splitting.
14334 The default is @samp{(%Deleted %Seen)}.
14338 Here's a complete example @code{nnimap} backend with a client-side
14339 ``fancy'' splitting method:
14342 (nnimap "imap.example.com"
14343 (nnimap-inbox "INBOX")
14344 (nnimap-split-fancy
14345 (| ("MailScanner-SpamCheck" "spam" "spam.detected")
14346 (to "foo@@bar.com" "foo")
14351 @node Support for IMAP Extensions
14352 @subsection Support for IMAP Extensions
14355 @cindex X-GM-LABELS
14356 @cindex IMAP labels
14358 If you're using Google's Gmail, you may want to see your Gmail labels
14359 when reading your mail. Gnus can give you this information if you ask
14360 for @samp{X-GM-LABELS} in the variable @code{gnus-extra-headers}. For
14364 (setq gnus-extra-headers
14365 '(To Newsgroups X-GM-LABELS))
14368 This will result in Gnus storing your labels in message header
14369 structures for later use. The content is always a parenthesized
14370 (possible empty) list.
14375 @section Getting Mail
14376 @cindex reading mail
14379 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD@? But of
14383 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
14384 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
14385 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
14386 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
14387 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
14388 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
14389 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
14390 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
14391 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
14392 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
14393 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
14394 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
14395 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
14399 @node Mail in a Newsreader
14400 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
14402 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
14403 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
14404 of a culture shock.
14406 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
14407 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
14409 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
14410 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
14411 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
14412 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
14414 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
14416 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
14417 deleted? How awful!
14419 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
14420 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
14421 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
14422 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
14425 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
14426 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
14427 they want to treat a message.
14429 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
14430 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
14431 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
14432 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
14433 archived somewhere else.
14435 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
14436 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
14437 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
14438 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
14439 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
14441 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
14442 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
14443 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
14445 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
14446 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
14449 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
14450 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
14451 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
14452 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
14453 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
14455 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
14456 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
14457 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
14458 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
14459 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
14460 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
14464 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
14465 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
14467 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
14468 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
14469 and things will happen automatically.
14471 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
14472 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14475 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14478 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
14479 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
14480 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
14481 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
14482 like any other group.
14484 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
14487 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14488 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14489 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14493 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
14494 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
14495 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
14498 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
14499 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
14500 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
14503 @node Splitting Mail
14504 @subsection Splitting Mail
14505 @cindex splitting mail
14506 @cindex mail splitting
14507 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
14509 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
14510 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
14511 to be split into groups.
14514 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14515 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14516 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14517 ("mail.other" "")))
14520 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
14521 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
14522 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
14523 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
14524 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
14525 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
14526 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
14529 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
14533 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
14534 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14536 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14537 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
14538 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
14539 mail belongs in that group.
14541 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
14542 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
14543 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
14544 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
14545 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
14546 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
14547 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
14548 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
14549 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
14550 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
14552 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
14553 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
14554 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
14555 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
14556 thinks should carry this mail message.
14558 This variable can also be a fancy split method. For the syntax,
14559 see @ref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14561 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
14562 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
14563 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
14564 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
14566 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
14567 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
14568 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
14569 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
14570 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
14572 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
14575 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
14576 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
14577 links. If that's the case for you, set
14578 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
14579 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
14581 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
14582 @findex nnmail-split-history
14583 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
14584 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
14585 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
14586 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
14589 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
14590 Header lines longer than the value of
14591 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
14594 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
14595 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
14596 By default, splitting does not decode headers, so you can not match on
14597 non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. But it is useful if you want to match
14598 articles based on the raw header data. To enable it, set the
14599 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} variable to a non-@code{nil} value.
14600 In addition, the value of the @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
14601 variable is used for decoding non-@acronym{MIME} encoded string when
14602 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} is non-@code{nil}. The default
14603 value is @code{nil} which means not to decode non-@acronym{MIME} encoded
14604 string. A suitable value for you will be @code{undecided} or be the
14605 charset used normally in mails you are interested in.
14607 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14608 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
14609 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
14610 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
14611 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
14612 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
14613 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
14614 other kinds of entries.)
14616 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
14617 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
14618 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
14619 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
14620 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
14621 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
14622 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
14623 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
14624 month's rent money.
14628 @subsection Mail Sources
14630 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
14631 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
14632 maildir, for instance.
14635 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
14636 * Mail Source Functions::
14637 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
14638 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
14642 @node Mail Source Specifiers
14643 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
14645 @cindex mail server
14648 @cindex mail source
14650 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
14651 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
14656 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
14659 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
14660 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
14661 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
14664 The @code{mail-sources} is global for all mail groups. You can specify
14665 an additional mail source for a particular group by including the
14666 @code{group} mail specifier in @code{mail-sources}, and setting a
14667 @code{mail-source} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) specifying
14668 a single mail source. When this is used, @code{mail-sources} is
14669 typically just @code{((group))}; the @code{mail-source} parameter for a
14670 group might look like this:
14673 (mail-source . (file :path "home/user/spools/foo.spool"))
14676 This means that the group's (and only this group's) messages will be
14677 fetched from the spool file @samp{/user/spools/foo.spool}.
14679 The following mail source types are available:
14683 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
14689 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
14690 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
14691 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
14695 Script run before/after fetching mail.
14698 An example file mail source:
14701 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
14704 Or using the default file name:
14710 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
14711 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
14712 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
14713 mail spool while moving the mail.
14715 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
14719 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
14722 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
14726 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
14729 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
14731 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
14734 Alter this script to fit the @samp{movemail} and temporary
14735 file you want to use.
14739 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
14740 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
14741 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
14742 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
14743 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
14744 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
14745 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
14746 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
14747 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
14748 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
14750 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14751 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
14752 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
14753 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
14759 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
14763 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
14767 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
14768 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
14769 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
14770 predicate are considered.
14774 Script run before/after fetching mail.
14778 An example directory mail source:
14781 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
14786 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
14792 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
14793 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
14796 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (e.g.,
14797 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (e.g., @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
14798 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
14799 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
14800 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
14803 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
14807 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
14808 the user is prompted.
14811 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
14812 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
14815 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
14818 The valid format specifier characters are:
14822 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
14823 included in this string.
14826 The name of the server.
14829 The port number of the server.
14832 The user name to use.
14835 The password to use.
14838 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
14839 corresponding keywords.
14842 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
14843 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
14845 One popular way to use this is to set up an SSH tunnel to access the
14846 @acronym{POP} server. Here's an example:
14849 (pop :server "127.0.0.1"
14854 "nohup ssh -f -L 1234:pop.server:110 remote.host sleep 3600 &")
14858 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
14859 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
14862 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
14863 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
14864 mail should be moved to.
14866 @item :authentication
14867 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
14868 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
14872 Non-@code{nil} if the mail is to be left on the @acronym{POP} server
14873 after fetching. Only the built-in @code{pop3-movemail} program (the
14874 default) supports this keyword.
14876 If this is a number, leave mails on the server for this many days since
14877 you first checked new mails. In that case, mails once fetched will
14878 never be fetched again by the @acronym{UIDL} control. If this is
14879 @code{nil} (the default), mails will be deleted on the server right
14880 after fetching. If this is neither @code{nil} nor a number, all mails
14881 will be left on the server, and you will end up getting the same mails
14884 @vindex pop3-uidl-file
14885 The @code{pop3-uidl-file} variable specifies the file to which the
14886 @acronym{UIDL} data are locally stored. The default value is
14887 @file{~/.pop3-uidl}.
14889 Note that @acronym{POP} servers maintain no state information between
14890 sessions, so what the client believes is there and what is actually
14891 there may not match up. If they do not, then you may get duplicate
14892 mails or the whole thing can fall apart and leave you with a corrupt
14897 @findex pop3-movemail
14898 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
14899 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
14900 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
14902 Here are some examples for getting mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
14904 Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server, using the default user
14905 name, and default fetcher:
14911 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
14914 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
14915 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
14918 Leave mails on the server for 14 days:
14921 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
14922 :user "user-name" :password "secret"
14926 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
14929 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
14933 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
14934 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
14935 contains exactly one mail.
14941 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
14942 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
14945 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
14946 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
14948 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
14949 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
14950 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
14953 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
14954 from locking problems).
14958 Two example maildir mail sources:
14961 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
14962 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
14966 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
14971 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
14972 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (i.e.,
14973 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
14974 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
14975 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{Using IMAP}, for more information.
14981 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
14982 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
14985 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
14986 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
14989 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
14993 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
14997 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
14998 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
14999 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
15000 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
15002 @item :authentication
15003 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
15004 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
15005 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
15006 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
15009 When using the @samp{shell} :stream, the contents of this variable is
15010 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
15011 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
15017 Make sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g.,
15018 don't forget to redirect the error output to the void. The valid format
15019 specifier characters are:
15023 The name of the server.
15026 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
15029 The port number of the server.
15032 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15033 corresponding keywords.
15036 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
15037 which normally is the mailbox which receives incoming mail. Instead of
15038 a single mailbox, this can be a list of mailboxes to fetch mail from.
15041 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
15042 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
15043 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
15044 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
15045 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
15046 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
15049 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
15050 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
15051 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
15052 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
15055 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
15056 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
15060 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
15063 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
15065 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
15069 Get the actual mail source from the @code{mail-source} group parameter,
15070 @xref{Group Parameters}.
15075 @item Common Keywords
15076 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
15082 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
15083 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
15088 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
15093 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
15094 useful when you use local mail and news.
15099 @node Mail Source Functions
15100 @subsubsection Function Interface
15102 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
15103 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
15104 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
15105 consider the following mail-source setting:
15108 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
15109 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
15112 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
15113 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
15114 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
15115 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
15116 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
15118 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
15121 @node Mail Source Customization
15122 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
15124 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
15125 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
15129 @item mail-source-crash-box
15130 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
15131 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
15132 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
15135 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
15136 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
15137 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
15138 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
15139 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
15140 (the deletion will only happen when receiving new mail). You may also
15141 set @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
15142 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
15143 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{10} in alpha Gnusae
15144 and @code{2} in released Gnusae. @xref{Gnus Development}.
15146 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15147 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15148 If non-@code{nil}, ask for confirmation before deleting old incoming
15149 files. This variable only applies when
15150 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
15152 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
15153 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
15154 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
15156 @item mail-source-directory
15157 @vindex mail-source-directory
15158 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
15159 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
15160 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
15161 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
15163 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15164 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15165 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
15166 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
15167 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
15168 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
15171 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
15172 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
15173 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is @code{#o600}.
15175 @item mail-source-movemail-program
15176 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
15177 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
15178 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
15183 @node Fetching Mail
15184 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
15186 @vindex mail-sources
15187 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
15188 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
15189 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
15191 If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to
15192 fetch mail by themselves.
15194 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
15195 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
15200 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15201 :password "secret")))
15204 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
15208 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
15209 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15212 :password "secret")))
15216 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
15217 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
15218 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
15219 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
15220 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
15221 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
15225 @node Mail Back End Variables
15226 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
15228 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
15232 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15233 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15234 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
15235 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
15237 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
15238 @item nnmail-split-hook
15239 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
15240 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
15241 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
15242 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
15243 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
15244 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
15245 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
15246 in the buffer will show up in any files.
15247 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
15250 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15251 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15252 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15253 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15254 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
15255 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
15256 starting to handle the new mail) and
15257 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
15258 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
15259 default file modes the new mail files get:
15262 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15263 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes #o700)))
15265 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15266 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes #o775)))
15269 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
15270 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
15271 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
15272 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
15273 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
15274 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
15275 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
15277 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
15278 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
15279 @findex delete-file
15280 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
15282 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15283 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15284 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
15285 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
15286 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
15288 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15289 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15290 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
15291 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
15292 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
15294 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
15295 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
15296 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
15301 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
15302 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
15303 @cindex mail splitting
15304 @cindex fancy mail splitting
15306 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
15307 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
15308 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
15309 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
15310 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
15311 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
15313 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
15316 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
15317 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
15318 ;; @r{from real errors.}
15319 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
15321 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
15322 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
15323 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
15324 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
15325 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
15326 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
15327 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
15328 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
15329 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
15330 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
15331 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
15332 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
15333 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
15334 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
15335 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
15336 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
15337 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
15341 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
15342 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
15343 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
15348 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
15349 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
15351 @c Don't fold this line.
15352 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split} [@var{invert-partial}])
15353 The split can be a list containing at least three elements. If the
15354 first element @var{field} (a regexp matching a header) contains
15355 @var{value} (also a regexp) then store the message as specified by
15358 If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
15359 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
15360 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
15361 @var{split} is processed.
15363 The last element @var{invert-partial} is optional. If it is
15364 non-@code{nil}, the match-partial-words behavior controlled by the
15365 variable @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} (see below) is
15366 be inverted. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15368 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
15369 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
15370 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
15371 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
15372 stored in one or more groups.
15374 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
15375 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
15376 process all @var{split}s in the list.
15379 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
15380 this message. Use with extreme caution.
15382 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
15383 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
15384 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
15385 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
15388 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
15389 body of the messages:
15392 (defun split-on-body ()
15396 (goto-char (point-min))
15397 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
15401 The buffer is narrowed to the header of the message in question when
15402 @var{function} is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called
15403 after @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
15404 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
15405 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
15406 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
15407 (@pxref{Client-Side IMAP Splitting}).
15409 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
15410 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
15411 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
15412 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
15413 should return a split.
15416 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
15420 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
15422 Normally, @var{value} in these splits must match a complete @emph{word}
15423 according to the fundamental mode syntax table. In other words, all
15424 @var{value}'s will be implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers,
15425 which are word delimiters. Therefore, if you use the following split,
15429 (any "joe" "joemail")
15433 messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will normally not be filed
15434 in @samp{joemail}. If you want to alter this behavior, you can use any
15435 of the following three ways:
15439 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
15440 You can set the @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} variable
15441 to non-@code{nil} in order to ignore word boundaries and instead the
15442 match becomes more like a grep. This variable controls whether partial
15443 words are matched during fancy splitting. The default value is
15446 Note that it influences all @var{value}'s in your split rules.
15449 @var{value} beginning with @code{.*} ignores word boundaries in front of
15450 a word. Similarly, if @var{value} ends with @code{.*}, word boundaries
15451 in the rear of a word will be ignored. For example, the @var{value}
15452 @code{"@@example\\.com"} does not match @samp{foo@@example.com} but
15453 @code{".*@@example\\.com"} does.
15456 You can set the @var{invert-partial} flag in your split rules of the
15457 @samp{(@var{field} @var{value} @dots{})} types, aforementioned in this
15458 section. If the flag is set, word boundaries on both sides of a word
15459 are ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15460 @code{nil}. Contrarily, if the flag is set, word boundaries are not
15461 ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15462 non-@code{nil}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15465 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
15466 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
15467 they are expanded as specified by the variable
15468 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
15469 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
15470 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
15471 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
15475 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
15477 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
15478 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
15480 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
15483 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
15484 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
15485 when all this splitting is performed.
15487 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
15488 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
15489 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
15492 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
15495 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
15496 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
15498 If the string contains the element @samp{\\&}, then the previously
15499 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
15500 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
15501 groupings 1 through 9.
15503 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
15504 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
15505 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
15506 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
15507 groups when users send to an address using different case
15508 (i.e., mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
15511 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
15512 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
15513 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
15514 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
15515 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
15516 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
15517 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
15518 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
15519 it once per thread.
15521 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
15522 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
15523 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
15524 using the colon feature, like so:
15526 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
15527 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
15529 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
15530 ;; @r{other splits go here}
15534 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
15535 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
15536 in the file specified by the variable
15537 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
15538 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
15539 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
15540 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
15541 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
15542 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
15543 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
15544 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
15545 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
15546 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
15547 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
15548 300 kBytes in size.)
15549 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15550 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
15551 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
15552 messages goes into the new group.
15554 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
15555 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
15556 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
15557 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
15558 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
15559 ``outgoing'' group.
15562 @node Group Mail Splitting
15563 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
15564 @cindex mail splitting
15565 @cindex group mail splitting
15567 @findex gnus-group-split
15568 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
15569 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
15570 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
15571 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
15572 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
15573 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
15574 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
15575 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
15577 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
15578 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
15579 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
15580 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
15582 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
15583 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
15584 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
15585 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
15586 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
15587 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
15588 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
15590 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
15591 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
15592 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
15593 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
15594 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
15595 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
15596 @code{gnus-group-split}.
15598 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
15599 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
15600 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
15601 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
15602 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
15603 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
15604 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
15605 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
15606 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
15607 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
15608 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
15609 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
15610 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
15612 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
15617 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
15618 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
15620 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
15621 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
15622 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
15623 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
15625 ((split-spec . catch-all))
15628 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
15629 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
15630 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
15633 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
15634 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
15635 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
15639 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
15640 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
15641 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15645 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
15648 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
15649 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
15650 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
15651 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
15652 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
15653 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
15654 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
15655 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
15656 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
15658 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
15659 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
15660 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
15661 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
15662 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
15663 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
15664 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
15665 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
15666 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
15668 @findex gnus-group-split-update
15669 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
15670 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
15671 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
15672 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
15673 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
15676 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
15679 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
15680 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
15681 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
15682 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
15683 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
15686 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
15687 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
15688 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
15689 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
15691 @node Incorporating Old Mail
15692 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
15693 @cindex incorporating old mail
15694 @cindex import old mail
15696 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
15697 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
15698 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
15701 Doing so can be quite easy.
15703 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
15704 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
15705 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
15706 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
15707 your @code{nnml} groups.
15713 Go to the group buffer.
15716 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
15717 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15720 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
15723 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
15724 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15727 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
15728 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
15731 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
15732 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
15733 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
15734 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
15735 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
15737 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
15738 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
15739 using the new mail back end.
15742 @node Expiring Mail
15743 @subsection Expiring Mail
15744 @cindex article expiry
15745 @cindex expiring mail
15747 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
15748 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
15749 different approach to mail reading.
15751 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
15752 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
15753 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
15754 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
15755 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
15756 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
15759 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
15760 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
15761 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
15762 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
15763 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
15764 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
15765 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
15766 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
15767 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
15769 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-marks
15770 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
15771 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
15772 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
15773 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
15774 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
15775 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
15776 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} (and so on) are considered
15777 expirable. @code{gnus-auto-expirable-marks} has the full list of
15780 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
15781 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
15782 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
15783 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
15784 into its own group.)
15786 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
15787 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
15788 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
15789 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
15790 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
15791 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
15792 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
15793 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
15796 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
15797 Groups that match the regular expression
15798 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
15799 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
15800 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
15802 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
15803 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
15804 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
15805 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
15806 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15808 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
15810 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
15811 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
15812 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
15815 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
15816 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
15817 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
15818 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
15819 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
15821 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
15822 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
15825 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
15826 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
15829 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
15830 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
15832 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
15833 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
15834 don't really mix very well.
15836 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
15837 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
15838 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
15839 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
15842 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
15843 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
15844 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
15845 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
15848 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15850 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15852 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
15854 ((string= group "mail.junk")
15856 ((string= group "important")
15862 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
15863 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
15865 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
15866 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
15867 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
15870 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
15871 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
15873 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
15874 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
15875 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
15876 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
15877 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
15878 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
15879 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
15880 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
15881 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
15882 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
15883 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
15884 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
15885 name or @code{delete}.
15887 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
15889 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
15892 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
15893 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
15894 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
15895 expire mail to groups according to the variable
15896 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
15899 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
15900 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
15901 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
15902 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
15903 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
15906 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
15907 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
15908 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
15909 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
15910 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
15911 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
15913 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
15914 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
15915 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
15916 easier for procmail users.
15918 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
15919 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
15920 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
15921 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
15922 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
15923 caution. Even more dangerous is the
15924 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
15925 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
15926 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
15927 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
15928 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
15929 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
15930 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
15933 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
15935 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
15936 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
15937 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
15938 auto-expire turned on.
15940 @vindex gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable
15941 The expirable marks of articles will be removed when copying or moving
15942 them to a group in which auto-expire is not turned on. This is for
15943 preventing articles from being expired unintentionally. On the other
15944 hand, to a group that has turned auto-expire on, the expirable marks of
15945 articles that are copied or moved will not be changed by default. I.e.,
15946 when copying or moving to such a group, articles that were expirable
15947 will be left expirable and ones that were not expirable will not be
15948 marked as expirable. So, even though in auto-expire groups, some
15949 articles will never get expired (unless you read them again). If you
15950 don't side with that behavior that unexpirable articles may be mixed
15951 into auto-expire groups, you can set
15952 @code{gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable} to a
15953 non-@code{nil} value. In that case, articles that have been read will
15954 be marked as expirable automatically when being copied or moved to a
15955 group that has auto-expire turned on. The default value is @code{nil}.
15959 @subsection Washing Mail
15960 @cindex mail washing
15961 @cindex list server brain damage
15962 @cindex incoming mail treatment
15964 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
15965 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
15966 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
15967 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
15968 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
15969 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
15971 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
15972 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
15973 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
15976 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
15977 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
15978 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
15979 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
15982 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
15983 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
15984 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
15985 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
15986 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
15989 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
15990 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
15991 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
15992 Emacs running on MS machines.
15996 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
15997 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
15998 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
15999 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
16002 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16003 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16004 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
16005 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
16007 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
16008 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
16009 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
16010 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
16011 into a feature by documenting it.)
16013 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16014 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16015 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
16016 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
16017 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
16018 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
16019 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
16022 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
16023 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
16026 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
16027 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
16030 This can also be done non-destructively with
16031 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
16033 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
16034 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
16035 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
16037 @item nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16038 @findex nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16039 @c @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
16042 Some mail user agents (e.g., Eudora and Pegasus) produce broken
16043 @code{References} headers, but correct @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This
16044 function will get rid of the @code{References} header if the headers
16045 contain a line matching the regular expression
16046 @code{nnmail-broken-references-mailers}.
16050 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16051 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16052 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
16056 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
16057 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
16058 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
16065 @subsection Duplicates
16067 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
16068 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
16069 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
16070 @cindex duplicate mails
16071 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
16072 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
16073 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
16074 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s:
16075 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
16076 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
16077 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
16078 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
16079 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
16080 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
16081 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
16082 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
16083 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
16085 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
16086 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
16087 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
16088 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
16090 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
16093 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
16094 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
16098 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
16099 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
16100 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
16101 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
16102 (any mail "mail.misc")
16103 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16109 (setq nnmail-split-methods
16110 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
16111 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16115 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
16116 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
16117 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
16118 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
16119 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
16122 @node Not Reading Mail
16123 @subsection Not Reading Mail
16125 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
16126 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
16127 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
16129 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
16130 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
16131 mail, which should help.
16133 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16134 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16135 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16136 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16137 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16138 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
16139 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old (pre-Emacs
16140 23) Rmail file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
16141 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
16142 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
16143 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
16145 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
16146 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
16150 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
16151 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
16153 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
16154 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
16155 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
16157 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
16158 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
16159 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
16163 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
16164 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
16165 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
16166 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
16167 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
16168 * nnmaildir Group Parameters::
16169 * Article Identification::
16172 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
16173 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
16178 @node Unix Mail Box
16179 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
16181 @cindex unix mail box
16183 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16184 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16185 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
16186 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
16187 which group it belongs in.
16189 Virtual server settings:
16192 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
16193 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16194 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
16197 @item nnmbox-active-file
16198 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16199 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
16200 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
16202 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
16203 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16204 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
16205 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
16210 @subsubsection Babyl
16213 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16214 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16215 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box to store mail.
16216 @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail article to say which
16217 group it belongs in.
16219 Virtual server settings:
16222 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
16223 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16224 The name of the Babyl file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
16226 @item nnbabyl-active-file
16227 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16228 The name of the active file for the Babyl file. The default is
16229 @file{~/.rmail-active}
16231 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16232 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16233 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
16239 @subsubsection Mail Spool
16241 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
16243 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
16244 format. It should be used with some caution.
16246 @vindex nnml-directory
16247 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
16248 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
16249 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
16250 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
16252 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
16255 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
16256 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
16257 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
16258 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
16259 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
16260 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
16261 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
16262 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
16264 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
16265 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
16266 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
16267 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
16269 Virtual server settings:
16272 @item nnml-directory
16273 @vindex nnml-directory
16274 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
16275 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
16278 @item nnml-active-file
16279 @vindex nnml-active-file
16280 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
16281 @file{~/Mail/active}.
16283 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
16284 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
16285 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16286 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
16288 @item nnml-get-new-mail
16289 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16290 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
16293 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
16294 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
16295 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16296 default is @code{nil}.
16298 @item nnml-nov-file-name
16299 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
16300 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
16302 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16303 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16304 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
16306 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
16307 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
16308 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
16309 files. This requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be enabled
16310 (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
16311 If the value of @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is a string, it is used
16312 as the file extension specifying the compression program. You can set it
16313 to @samp{.bz2} if your Emacs supports it. A value of @code{t} is
16314 equivalent to @samp{.gz}.
16316 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16317 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16318 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
16319 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
16320 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil}.
16324 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
16325 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
16326 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
16327 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
16328 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
16329 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
16330 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
16335 @subsubsection MH Spool
16337 @cindex mh-e mail spool
16339 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
16340 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
16341 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
16342 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
16345 Virtual server settings:
16348 @item nnmh-directory
16349 @vindex nnmh-directory
16350 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
16351 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
16354 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
16355 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16356 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
16360 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
16361 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
16362 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
16363 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
16364 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
16365 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
16366 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
16371 @subsubsection Maildir
16375 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
16376 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
16377 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
16378 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
16379 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
16382 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
16383 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
16384 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
16385 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
16386 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
16387 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
16388 that appear as group in Gnus.
16390 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
16391 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
16392 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
16394 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
16395 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
16396 another, and you will keep your marks.
16398 Virtual server settings:
16402 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
16403 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
16404 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
16405 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
16406 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
16407 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
16408 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
16409 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
16410 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
16411 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
16413 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
16414 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
16415 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
16416 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
16417 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
16418 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
16419 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
16420 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
16421 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
16422 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
16425 @item target-prefix
16426 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
16427 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
16428 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
16431 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
16432 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
16433 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
16434 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
16435 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
16436 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
16437 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
16438 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
16439 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
16441 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
16442 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
16443 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
16444 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
16445 symlinks pointing to them will be).
16447 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
16448 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
16449 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
16450 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
16451 @code{force} argument.
16453 @item directory-files
16454 This should be a function with the same interface as
16455 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
16456 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
16457 parameter is optional; the default is
16458 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
16459 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
16460 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
16461 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
16462 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
16463 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
16466 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
16467 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
16468 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
16469 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
16470 value is @code{nil}.
16472 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
16473 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
16474 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
16475 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
16476 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
16479 @node nnmaildir Group Parameters
16480 @subsubsection Group parameters
16482 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
16483 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
16484 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
16485 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
16486 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
16487 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
16490 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
16491 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
16492 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
16493 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
16494 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
16495 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
16496 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
16497 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
16498 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
16502 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
16503 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
16504 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
16505 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
16506 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
16507 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
16508 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
16509 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
16510 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
16511 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
16512 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
16513 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
16514 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
16517 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
16519 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
16521 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
16522 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
16523 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
16524 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
16525 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
16526 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
16527 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
16528 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
16529 article. So that form can refer to
16530 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
16531 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
16532 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
16533 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
16536 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
16537 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
16538 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
16539 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
16540 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
16541 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
16542 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
16543 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
16544 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
16545 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
16546 contain extra copies of the articles.
16548 @item directory-files
16549 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
16550 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
16551 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
16552 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
16554 @item distrust-Lines:
16555 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
16556 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
16557 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
16560 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
16561 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16562 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
16563 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
16564 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
16565 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16568 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
16569 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16570 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
16571 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
16572 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
16573 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
16574 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16576 @item nov-cache-size
16577 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
16578 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
16579 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
16580 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
16581 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
16582 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
16583 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
16584 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
16585 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
16586 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
16587 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
16590 @node Article Identification
16591 @subsubsection Article identification
16592 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
16593 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
16594 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
16595 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
16596 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
16597 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
16598 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
16599 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
16600 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
16601 request the article in the summary buffer.
16604 @subsubsection NOV data
16605 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
16606 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
16607 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
16608 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
16609 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
16610 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
16611 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
16612 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
16613 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
16614 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
16615 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
16617 @node Article Marks
16618 @subsubsection Article marks
16619 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
16620 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
16621 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16622 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
16623 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16624 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
16625 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
16626 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
16628 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
16629 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
16630 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
16631 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
16632 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
16633 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
16634 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
16635 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
16636 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
16640 @subsubsection Mail Folders
16642 @cindex mbox folders
16643 @cindex mail folders
16645 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
16646 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
16647 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
16648 numbers and arrival dates.
16650 Virtual server settings:
16653 @item nnfolder-directory
16654 @vindex nnfolder-directory
16655 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
16656 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
16657 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
16659 @item nnfolder-active-file
16660 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
16661 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
16663 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16664 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16665 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16666 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
16668 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
16669 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16670 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
16671 default is @code{t}
16673 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16674 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16675 @cindex backup files
16676 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
16677 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
16678 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
16679 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
16682 (defun turn-off-backup ()
16683 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
16685 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
16688 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
16689 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
16690 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
16691 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
16692 extract some information from it before removing it.
16694 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
16695 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
16696 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16697 default is @code{nil}.
16699 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
16700 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
16701 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
16703 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
16704 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
16705 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
16706 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
16711 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
16712 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
16713 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
16714 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
16715 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
16716 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
16719 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
16720 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
16722 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
16723 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
16724 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
16725 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
16726 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
16728 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
16729 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
16730 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
16731 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
16732 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
16733 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
16734 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
16735 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
16738 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
16739 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
16740 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
16741 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
16746 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-defined
16747 format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
16748 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
16749 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
16750 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
16751 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
16752 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
16753 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
16754 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
16755 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
16756 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
16757 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
16758 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
16763 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
16764 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
16765 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
16766 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
16767 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
16768 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
16769 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
16770 Rmail was Emacs's first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
16771 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
16772 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
16773 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
16774 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
16775 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
16776 course, and is still maintained within Emacs. Since Emacs 23, it
16777 uses standard mbox format rather than Babyl.
16779 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
16780 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
16785 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
16786 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
16787 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
16788 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
16789 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
16790 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
16791 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
16792 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
16793 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
16794 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
16795 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
16796 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
16797 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
16798 provided by the active file and overviews.
16800 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
16801 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
16802 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
16803 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
16804 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
16807 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
16808 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
16813 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
16814 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
16815 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
16816 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
16817 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
16818 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
16819 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
16823 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
16824 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
16825 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
16826 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
16827 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
16828 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
16829 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
16830 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
16831 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
16833 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
16834 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
16835 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
16836 friendly mail back end all over.
16840 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
16841 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
16844 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
16845 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
16846 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
16847 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
16848 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}.
16849 (Use @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this
16850 slows you down or takes up very much space, a non-block-structured
16853 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
16854 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
16855 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
16856 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
16857 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
16858 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
16859 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
16860 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
16861 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
16862 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
16863 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
16865 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
16866 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
16867 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
16868 else, and still have your marks.
16870 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
16871 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
16872 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
16873 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
16874 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
16875 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
16876 removed in the future.
16878 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
16879 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
16880 on your file system.
16882 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
16883 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
16888 @node Browsing the Web
16889 @section Browsing the Web
16891 @cindex browsing the web
16895 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
16896 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
16897 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
16898 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
16899 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
16900 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
16901 even know what a news group is.
16903 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
16904 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
16905 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
16906 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
16907 you mad in the end.
16909 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
16912 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
16913 interfaces to these sources.
16917 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
16918 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
16921 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
16922 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
16923 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
16924 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
16925 though, you should be ok.
16927 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
16928 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
16929 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
16930 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
16931 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
16933 @node Archiving Mail
16934 @subsection Archiving Mail
16935 @cindex archiving mail
16936 @cindex backup of mail
16938 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
16939 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
16940 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
16941 marks is fairly simple.
16943 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
16944 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
16947 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
16948 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
16949 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
16950 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
16951 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
16952 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
16953 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
16954 before you restore the data.
16957 @subsection Web Searches
16962 @cindex Usenet searches
16963 @cindex searching the Usenet
16965 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
16966 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
16967 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
16968 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
16969 searches without having to use a browser.
16971 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
16972 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
16973 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
16974 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
16975 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
16977 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
16978 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
16979 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
16980 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
16981 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
16982 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
16983 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
16984 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
16985 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
16986 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
16989 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
16990 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
16991 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
16992 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
16993 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
16994 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
16996 Virtual server variables:
17001 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
17002 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
17003 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
17006 @vindex nnweb-search
17007 The search string to feed to the search engine.
17009 @item nnweb-max-hits
17010 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
17011 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
17014 @item nnweb-type-definition
17015 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
17016 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
17017 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
17022 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
17026 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
17029 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
17032 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
17036 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
17047 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
17048 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
17049 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
17050 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
17051 changes to a wiki (e.g., @url{http://cliki.net/site/recent-changes}).
17053 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
17054 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
17056 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
17057 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
17058 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
17061 @kindex G R (Group)
17062 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
17063 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
17064 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
17065 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
17067 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
17068 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
17069 subscribe to groups.
17071 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
17072 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
17073 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
17074 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
17075 variable or other. Also @xref{Non-ASCII Group Names}, for more
17078 The @code{nnrss} back end generates @samp{multipart/alternative}
17079 @acronym{MIME} articles in which each contains a @samp{text/plain} part
17080 and a @samp{text/html} part.
17083 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
17084 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
17087 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
17088 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
17092 @defun nnrss-opml-export
17093 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
17094 @acronym{OPML} format.
17097 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
17100 @item nnrss-directory
17101 @vindex nnrss-directory
17102 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
17103 @file{~/News/rss/}.
17105 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
17106 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
17107 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
17108 data files. The default is the value of
17109 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
17110 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
17112 @item nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17113 @vindex nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17114 Some feeds update constantly article fields during their publications,
17115 e.g., to indicate the number of comments. However, if there is
17116 a difference between the local article and the distant one, the latter
17117 is considered to be new. To avoid this and discard some fields, set this
17118 variable to the list of fields to be ignored. The default is
17119 @code{'(slash:comments)}.
17121 @item nnrss-use-local
17122 @vindex nnrss-use-local
17123 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
17124 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
17125 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
17126 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
17127 download script using @command{wget}.
17130 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
17131 the summary buffer.
17134 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
17135 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
17137 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
17139 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
17140 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
17143 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
17147 (require 'browse-url)
17149 (defun browse-nnrss-url (arg)
17151 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
17154 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
17155 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
17158 (browse-url (cdr url))
17159 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
17160 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
17162 (with-eval-after-load "gnus"
17163 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
17164 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
17165 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
17168 Even if you have added @samp{text/html} to the
17169 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} variable (@pxref{Display
17170 Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
17171 Manual}) since you don't want to see @acronym{HTML} parts, it might be
17172 more useful especially in @code{nnrss} groups to display
17173 @samp{text/html} parts. Here's an example of setting
17174 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} as a group parameter (@pxref{Group
17175 Parameters}) in order to display @samp{text/html} parts only in
17176 @code{nnrss} groups:
17179 ;; @r{Set the default value of @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}.}
17180 (with-eval-after-load "gnus-sum"
17182 'gnus-newsgroup-variables
17183 '(mm-discouraged-alternatives
17184 . '("text/html" "image/.*"))))
17186 ;; @r{Display @samp{text/html} parts in @code{nnrss} groups.}
17189 '("\\`nnrss:" (mm-discouraged-alternatives nil)))
17193 @node Other Sources
17194 @section Other Sources
17196 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
17197 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
17201 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
17202 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
17203 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
17204 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
17205 * The Empty Backend:: The backend that never has any news.
17209 @node Directory Groups
17210 @subsection Directory Groups
17212 @cindex directory groups
17214 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
17215 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
17218 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
17219 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
17220 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
17221 back end to read directories. Big deal.
17223 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
17224 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
17225 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
17226 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
17227 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
17229 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
17231 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
17232 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
17233 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
17234 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
17237 @node Anything Groups
17238 @subsection Anything Groups
17241 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
17242 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
17243 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
17246 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
17247 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
17248 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
17249 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
17250 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
17251 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
17252 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
17253 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g., a C source file),
17254 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
17255 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
17258 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
17259 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
17260 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
17261 in the article buffer, just as usual.
17263 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
17264 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
17265 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
17266 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
17268 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
17269 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
17270 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
17271 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
17272 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
17273 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
17274 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
17275 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
17280 @item nneething-map-file-directory
17281 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
17282 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
17283 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
17285 @item nneething-exclude-files
17286 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
17287 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
17288 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
17290 @item nneething-include-files
17291 @vindex nneething-include-files
17292 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
17293 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
17295 @item nneething-map-file
17296 @vindex nneething-map-file
17297 Name of the map files.
17301 @node Document Groups
17302 @subsection Document Groups
17304 @cindex documentation group
17307 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
17308 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
17318 The standard Unix mbox file.
17320 @cindex MMDF mail box
17322 The MMDF mail box format.
17325 Several news articles appended into a file.
17327 @cindex rnews batch files
17329 The rnews batch transport format.
17332 Netscape mail boxes.
17335 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
17337 @item standard-digest
17338 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
17341 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
17343 @item lanl-gov-announce
17344 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
17346 @cindex git commit messages
17348 @code{git} commit messages.
17350 @cindex forwarded messages
17351 @item rfc822-forward
17352 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
17355 The Outlook mail box.
17358 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
17361 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
17364 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
17367 An RFC934-forwarded message.
17373 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
17376 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
17382 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
17383 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
17384 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
17387 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
17388 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
17389 group. And that's it.
17391 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
17392 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
17393 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
17394 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
17395 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
17396 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
17397 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
17398 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
17399 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
17400 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
17402 Virtual server variables:
17405 @item nndoc-article-type
17406 @vindex nndoc-article-type
17407 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
17408 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
17409 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
17410 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
17411 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
17413 @item nndoc-post-type
17414 @vindex nndoc-post-type
17415 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
17416 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
17421 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
17425 @node Document Server Internals
17426 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
17428 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
17429 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
17430 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
17431 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
17433 First, here's an example document type definition:
17437 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
17438 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
17441 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
17442 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
17443 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
17444 types can be defined with very few settings:
17447 @item first-article
17448 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
17449 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
17452 @item article-begin
17453 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
17454 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
17455 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
17456 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
17458 @item article-begin-function
17459 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
17460 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
17463 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
17464 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
17465 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
17467 @item head-begin-function
17468 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
17469 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
17472 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
17473 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
17476 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
17477 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
17478 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
17480 @item body-begin-function
17481 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
17482 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
17485 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
17486 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
17487 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
17489 @item body-end-function
17490 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
17491 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
17494 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
17495 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
17498 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
17499 regexp will be totally ignored.
17503 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
17504 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
17505 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
17506 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
17507 something that's palatable for Gnus:
17510 @item prepare-body-function
17511 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
17512 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
17513 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
17515 @item article-transform-function
17516 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
17517 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
17518 body of the article.
17520 @item generate-head-function
17521 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
17522 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
17523 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
17524 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
17526 @item generate-article-function
17527 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
17528 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
17529 parameter when requesting all articles.
17531 @item dissection-function
17532 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
17533 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
17534 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
17535 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
17536 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
17537 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
17541 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
17546 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17547 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17548 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
17549 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
17550 (head-end . "^ ?$")
17551 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
17552 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
17553 (subtype digest guess))
17556 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
17557 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
17558 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
17559 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
17560 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
17562 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
17563 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
17564 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
17565 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
17566 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
17567 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
17568 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
17569 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
17570 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
17571 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
17572 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
17573 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
17576 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17577 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17578 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17581 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17582 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17583 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17585 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17591 @item nngateway-address
17592 @vindex nngateway-address
17593 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17595 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17596 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17597 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17598 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17599 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17600 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17601 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17604 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17605 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17606 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17609 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17612 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17615 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17618 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17620 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17623 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17624 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17625 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17627 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17629 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17630 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17631 @code{nngateway-address}.
17639 (setq gnus-post-method
17641 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17642 (nngateway-header-transformation
17643 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17646 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17649 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17653 @node The Empty Backend
17654 @subsection The Empty Backend
17657 @code{nnnil} is a backend that can be used as a placeholder if you
17658 have to specify a backend somewhere, but don't really want to. The
17659 classical example is if you don't want to have a primary select
17660 methods, but want to only use secondary ones:
17663 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnnil ""))
17664 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
17670 @node Combined Groups
17671 @section Combined Groups
17673 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17677 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17681 @node Virtual Groups
17682 @subsection Virtual Groups
17684 @cindex virtual groups
17685 @cindex merging groups
17687 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17690 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17691 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17692 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17694 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17695 regexp to match component groups.
17697 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17698 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17699 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17700 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17701 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17702 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17703 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17704 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17706 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17707 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17710 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17713 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17714 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17716 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17717 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17718 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17719 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17722 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17725 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17726 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17727 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17729 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17730 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17731 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17732 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17733 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17735 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17736 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17737 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17739 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17740 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} variable is non-@code{nil} (which
17741 is the default), @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread
17742 articles when entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil}
17743 and you read articles in a component group after the virtual group has
17744 been activated, the read articles from the component group will show up
17745 when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this effect if you
17746 have two virtual groups that have a component group in common. If
17747 that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}. Or you can
17748 just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before you enter
17749 it---it'll have much the same effect.
17751 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17752 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17753 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17754 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17755 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17756 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17757 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17759 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17760 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17762 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17763 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17767 @node Email Based Diary
17768 @section Email Based Diary
17770 @cindex email based diary
17773 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
17774 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
17775 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
17776 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
17777 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
17778 namely, as event reminders.
17780 Here is a typical scenario:
17784 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
17785 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
17787 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
17789 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
17791 From time to time, as you type @kbd{g} in the group buffer and as the date
17792 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
17793 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
17795 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
17796 of the night you're gonna have.
17798 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
17799 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
17802 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
17803 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
17804 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
17805 explained in the sections below.
17808 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
17809 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
17810 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
17814 @node The NNDiary Back End
17815 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
17817 @cindex the nndiary back end
17819 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
17820 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
17821 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
17822 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
17823 directory per group.
17825 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
17826 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
17827 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
17828 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
17831 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
17832 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
17833 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
17836 @node Diary Messages
17837 @subsubsection Diary Messages
17838 @cindex nndiary messages
17839 @cindex nndiary mails
17841 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
17842 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
17843 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
17844 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
17845 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
17846 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
17847 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
17851 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
17852 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
17853 (separated by a comma).
17855 A field is either an integer, or a range.
17857 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
17859 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
17860 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
17861 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
17863 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
17864 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
17865 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
17867 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
17868 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
17869 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
17870 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
17871 list of available time zone values, see the variable
17872 @code{nndiary-headers}.
17875 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
17876 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
17877 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
17882 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
17885 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
17887 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
17890 @node Running NNDiary
17891 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
17892 @cindex running nndiary
17893 @cindex nndiary operation modes
17895 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
17896 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
17897 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
17898 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
17899 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
17900 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
17902 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
17903 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
17904 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
17905 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
17906 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
17907 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
17908 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
17911 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
17916 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
17917 line in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
17920 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
17923 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
17924 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
17925 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
17926 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
17927 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
17929 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
17930 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
17939 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
17940 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
17942 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
17943 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
17944 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
17945 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
17948 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
17949 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
17950 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
17953 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
17954 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
17955 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
17957 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
17958 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
17959 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
17960 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
17961 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
17963 @node Customizing NNDiary
17964 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
17965 @cindex customizing nndiary
17966 @cindex nndiary customization
17968 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
17969 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
17970 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
17971 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
17973 @defvar nndiary-reminders
17974 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
17975 appointments (e.g., 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
17976 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
17977 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
17981 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
17982 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
17987 @node The Gnus Diary Library
17988 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
17990 @cindex the gnus diary library
17992 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
17993 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
17994 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
17995 useful things for you.
17997 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
18000 (require 'gnus-diary)
18003 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
18004 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
18005 (sorry if you used them before).
18009 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
18010 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
18011 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
18012 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
18015 @node Diary Summary Line Format
18016 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
18017 @cindex diary summary buffer line
18018 @cindex diary summary line format
18020 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
18021 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
18022 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
18023 see the event's date.
18025 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
18026 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
18027 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g., ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
18028 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximate remaining time until the
18029 next occurrence of the event (e.g., ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
18031 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
18032 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
18033 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
18036 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
18039 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
18040 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
18043 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
18046 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
18047 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
18048 with the following user options:
18050 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
18051 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
18052 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
18053 diary groups'parameters.
18056 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
18057 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
18058 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
18061 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
18062 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
18063 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
18064 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
18065 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
18068 @node Diary Articles Sorting
18069 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
18070 @cindex diary articles sorting
18071 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
18072 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
18073 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
18074 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
18076 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
18077 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
18078 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
18079 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
18080 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
18082 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
18083 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
18084 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
18085 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
18088 @node Diary Headers Generation
18089 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
18090 @cindex diary headers generation
18091 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
18093 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
18094 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
18095 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
18096 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
18099 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
18100 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
18101 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c C-f d} in
18102 @code{message-mode} and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the
18103 process of converting a usual mail to a diary one.
18105 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
18106 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
18107 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
18110 @node Diary Group Parameters
18111 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
18112 @cindex diary group parameters
18114 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
18115 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
18116 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
18117 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
18118 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
18119 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
18120 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
18121 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
18123 @node Sending or Not Sending
18124 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
18126 Well, assuming you've read all of the above, here are two final notes on
18127 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
18131 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
18132 messages for real. This means for instance that you can give
18133 appointments to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
18134 sending the diary message to them as well.
18136 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
18137 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
18138 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
18139 comes in very handy for private appointments.
18142 @node Gnus Unplugged
18143 @section Gnus Unplugged
18148 @cindex Gnus unplugged
18150 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
18151 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
18152 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
18153 read news. Believe it or not.
18155 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
18156 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
18157 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
18158 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
18159 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
18161 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
18162 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
18163 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
18164 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
18165 reading news on a machine.
18167 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
18168 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
18169 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
18171 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
18174 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
18175 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
18176 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
18177 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
18178 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
18179 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
18180 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
18181 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
18182 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
18183 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
18184 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
18185 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
18186 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
18187 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
18192 @subsection Agent Basics
18194 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
18196 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
18197 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
18198 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
18199 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
18201 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
18202 connected to the net continuously.
18204 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
18205 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
18207 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
18208 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
18209 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
18210 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
18211 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
18213 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
18214 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
18215 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
18216 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
18217 they're kinda like plugged always).
18219 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
18220 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
18221 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
18224 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
18225 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
18226 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
18227 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
18228 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
18230 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
18235 @findex gnus-unplugged
18236 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
18237 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
18238 already fetched while in this mode.
18241 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
18242 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
18243 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
18244 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
18245 Source Specifiers}).
18248 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
18249 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
18250 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
18251 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
18252 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
18255 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
18256 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
18257 then you read the news offline.
18260 And then you go to step 2.
18263 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
18269 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
18270 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
18271 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
18272 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
18273 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
18274 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
18275 no servers are agentized.
18278 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
18279 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
18280 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
18281 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
18283 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
18284 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
18285 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
18286 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
18287 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
18288 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
18292 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
18296 @node Agent Categories
18297 @subsection Agent Categories
18299 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
18300 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
18301 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
18302 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
18303 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
18304 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
18305 you're interested in the articles anyway.
18307 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
18308 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
18309 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
18310 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
18311 buffer for creating and managing categories.
18313 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
18314 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
18315 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
18316 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
18317 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
18320 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
18321 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
18322 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
18323 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
18324 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
18325 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
18329 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
18330 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
18331 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
18335 @node Category Syntax
18336 @subsubsection Category Syntax
18338 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
18339 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
18340 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
18343 @cindex Agent Parameters
18346 The list of groups that are in this category.
18348 @item agent-predicate
18349 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
18350 are eligible for downloading; and
18353 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
18354 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
18355 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
18357 @item agent-enable-expiration
18358 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
18359 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
18360 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
18361 only groups that should not be expired.
18363 @item agent-days-until-old
18364 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
18365 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
18367 @item agent-low-score
18368 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
18370 @item agent-high-score
18371 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
18373 @item agent-short-article
18374 an integer that overrides the value of
18375 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
18377 @item agent-long-article
18378 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
18380 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
18381 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
18382 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
18383 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
18384 undownloaded faces.
18387 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
18390 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
18391 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
18392 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
18395 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
18396 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
18397 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
18398 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
18400 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
18401 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
18402 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
18404 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
18405 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
18406 operators sprinkled in between.
18408 Perhaps some examples are in order.
18410 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
18411 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
18417 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
18418 short (for some value of ``short'').
18420 Here's a more complex predicate:
18429 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
18430 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
18433 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
18434 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
18435 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
18437 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
18438 you want to do, you can write your own.
18440 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
18441 bound to the value determined by calling
18442 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
18443 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
18444 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
18445 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
18446 predicate to individual groups.
18450 True if the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
18451 lines; default 100.
18454 True if the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
18455 lines; default 200.
18458 True if the article has a download score less than
18459 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
18462 True if the article has a download score greater than
18463 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
18466 True if the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
18467 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
18468 checksum and sees whether articles match.
18477 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
18478 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
18479 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
18482 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
18483 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g., posted
18484 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
18485 something along the lines of the following:
18488 (defun my-article-old-p ()
18489 "Say whether an article is old."
18490 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
18491 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
18494 with the predicate then defined as:
18497 (not my-article-old-p)
18500 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
18501 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
18505 (require 'gnus-agent)
18506 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
18507 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
18508 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
18511 and simply specify your predicate as:
18517 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
18518 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
18519 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
18520 just don't give a damn.
18522 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
18523 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
18524 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
18525 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
18526 parameters like so:
18529 (agent-predicate . short)
18532 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
18533 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
18534 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
18536 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
18539 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
18542 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
18543 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
18544 predicate is assumed to be a list.
18547 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
18548 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
18549 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
18550 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
18551 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
18552 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
18554 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
18555 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
18556 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
18557 if it's to be specific to that group.
18559 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
18566 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
18567 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
18573 Category specification
18577 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18583 Group/Topic Parameter specification
18586 (agent-score ("from"
18587 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18592 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
18598 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
18599 keywords stated above.
18605 Category specification
18608 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
18614 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
18618 Group Parameter specification
18621 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
18624 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
18629 Use @code{normal} score files
18631 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
18632 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
18633 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
18634 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
18636 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
18637 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
18638 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
18639 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
18643 Category Specification
18650 Group Parameter specification
18653 (agent-score . file)
18658 @node Category Buffer
18659 @subsubsection Category Buffer
18661 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
18662 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
18663 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
18665 The following commands are available in this buffer:
18669 @kindex q (Category)
18670 @findex gnus-category-exit
18671 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
18674 @kindex e (Category)
18675 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
18676 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
18677 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
18680 @kindex k (Category)
18681 @findex gnus-category-kill
18682 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
18685 @kindex c (Category)
18686 @findex gnus-category-copy
18687 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
18690 @kindex a (Category)
18691 @findex gnus-category-add
18692 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
18695 @kindex p (Category)
18696 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
18697 Edit the predicate of the current category
18698 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
18701 @kindex g (Category)
18702 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
18703 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
18704 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
18707 @kindex s (Category)
18708 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
18709 Edit the download score rule of the current category
18710 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
18713 @kindex l (Category)
18714 @findex gnus-category-list
18715 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
18719 @node Category Variables
18720 @subsubsection Category Variables
18723 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
18724 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
18725 Hook run in category buffers.
18727 @item gnus-category-line-format
18728 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
18729 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
18730 Variables}). Valid elements are:
18734 The name of the category.
18737 The number of groups in the category.
18740 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
18741 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
18742 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
18744 @item gnus-agent-short-article
18745 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
18746 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
18748 @item gnus-agent-long-article
18749 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
18750 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
18752 @item gnus-agent-low-score
18753 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
18754 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
18757 @item gnus-agent-high-score
18758 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
18759 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18762 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18763 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18764 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18765 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18766 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18767 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18768 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18769 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18773 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18774 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18775 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18776 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18777 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18778 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18779 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18784 @node Agent Commands
18785 @subsection Agent Commands
18786 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18787 @kindex J j (Agent)
18789 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18790 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18791 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18795 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18796 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18797 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18803 @node Group Agent Commands
18804 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18808 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18809 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18810 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18811 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18814 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18815 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18816 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18819 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18820 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18821 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18822 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18825 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18826 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18827 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18828 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18831 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18832 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18833 Add the current group to an Agent category
18834 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18835 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18838 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18839 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18840 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18841 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18842 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18845 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18846 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18847 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18853 @node Summary Agent Commands
18854 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18858 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18859 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18860 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18863 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18864 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18865 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18866 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18870 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18871 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18872 Toggle whether to download the article
18873 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18877 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18878 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18879 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18882 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18883 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18884 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18885 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18888 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18889 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
18890 Download all processable articles in this group.
18891 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
18894 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18895 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18896 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18897 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18902 @node Server Agent Commands
18903 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18907 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18908 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18909 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18910 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18913 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18914 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18915 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18916 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18921 @node Agent Visuals
18922 @subsection Agent Visuals
18924 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18925 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18926 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18927 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18928 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18929 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18930 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18931 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18932 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18933 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18935 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18936 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18937 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18938 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18939 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
18940 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18941 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18942 articles will be available when unplugged.
18944 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18945 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18946 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18947 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18948 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18949 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18950 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18951 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18953 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18954 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18955 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18956 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18957 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18958 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18959 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18960 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18961 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18963 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18964 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18965 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18966 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18967 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
18968 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
18969 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
18970 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
18971 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
18972 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
18974 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
18975 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
18976 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
18977 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
18978 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
18979 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18981 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
18982 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
18983 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
18984 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
18985 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
18986 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
18987 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
18988 expiring'' articles.
18990 @node Agent as Cache
18991 @subsection Agent as Cache
18993 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18994 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18995 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18996 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18997 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18998 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18999 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
19000 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
19001 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
19003 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
19004 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
19005 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
19006 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
19007 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
19010 @subsection Agent Expiry
19012 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
19013 @findex gnus-agent-expire
19014 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
19015 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
19016 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
19017 @cindex agent expiry
19018 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
19019 @cindex expiry, in Gnus agent
19021 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
19022 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
19023 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
19024 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
19025 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
19026 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
19027 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
19028 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
19030 Note that other functions might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you
19031 to keep the agent synchronized with the group.
19033 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
19034 prevent expiration in selected groups.
19036 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
19037 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
19038 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
19039 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
19040 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
19041 be kept indefinitely.
19043 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
19044 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
19045 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
19046 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
19048 @node Agent Regeneration
19049 @subsection Agent Regeneration
19051 @cindex agent regeneration
19052 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
19053 @cindex regeneration
19055 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
19056 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
19057 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
19058 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
19059 internal inconsistencies.
19061 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
19062 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
19063 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
19064 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
19065 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
19066 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
19068 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
19069 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
19070 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
19071 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
19072 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
19073 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
19075 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19076 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19077 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
19078 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
19079 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
19080 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
19083 @node Agent and flags
19084 @subsection Agent and flags
19086 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
19087 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc.)@: on the server. Sadly,
19088 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
19089 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
19090 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
19091 to the flags in its own files.
19093 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
19094 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
19095 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
19097 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19098 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19099 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19100 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19101 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19102 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19104 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
19105 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
19106 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
19107 in the group buffer.
19109 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
19110 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
19111 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
19112 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
19113 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
19114 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
19115 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
19116 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
19118 @node Agent and IMAP
19119 @subsection Agent and IMAP
19121 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
19122 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
19123 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
19124 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
19126 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
19127 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
19132 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
19135 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
19139 @node Outgoing Messages
19140 @subsection Outgoing Messages
19142 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
19143 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
19144 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
19146 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
19147 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
19148 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
19150 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
19151 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
19152 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
19153 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
19156 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
19157 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
19158 ask you to confirm your action (see
19159 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
19161 @node Agent Variables
19162 @subsection Agent Variables
19167 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
19168 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
19169 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
19170 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
19172 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
19173 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
19176 @item gnus-agent-directory
19177 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
19178 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
19179 @file{~/News/agent/}.
19181 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
19182 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
19183 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
19184 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
19185 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
19188 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19189 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19190 Hook run when connecting to the network.
19192 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19193 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19194 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
19196 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19197 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19198 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
19200 @item gnus-agent-cache
19201 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
19202 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
19203 articles when plugged, e.g., essentially using the Agent as a cache.
19204 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
19206 @item gnus-agent-go-online
19207 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
19208 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
19209 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
19210 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
19211 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
19212 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
19215 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19216 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19217 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
19218 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
19219 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
19220 read. The default is @code{t}.
19222 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19223 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19224 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19225 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19226 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19227 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19228 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19230 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19231 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19232 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
19233 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
19234 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
19235 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
19236 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
19237 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
19238 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
19239 over and over again.
19241 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19242 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19243 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
19244 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
19245 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
19246 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
19247 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
19248 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
19249 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
19250 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
19251 However, all articles parsed prior to losing the connection will be
19252 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
19255 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
19256 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
19257 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
19258 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
19259 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
19260 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
19261 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
19262 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
19263 is only valid if the Agent is used.
19265 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19266 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19267 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
19268 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
19269 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
19270 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
19272 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
19273 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
19274 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
19275 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
19276 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
19278 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
19279 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
19280 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
19281 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
19282 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
19283 mail. The default is @code{t}.
19285 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19286 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19287 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
19288 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
19289 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
19291 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19292 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19293 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
19294 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
19295 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
19296 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
19297 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
19298 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
19299 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
19300 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
19301 start Gnus. The default is @samp{nil}.
19306 @node Example Setup
19307 @subsection Example Setup
19309 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
19310 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
19311 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
19314 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
19315 ;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
19316 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
19318 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
19319 ;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
19320 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
19322 ;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
19323 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
19325 ;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
19326 ;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
19327 ;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
19330 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
19331 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
19334 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
19335 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
19336 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
19337 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
19338 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
19341 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
19342 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
19343 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
19344 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
19345 back all the killed groups.)
19347 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
19348 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
19349 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
19352 @node Batching Agents
19353 @subsection Batching Agents
19354 @findex gnus-agent-batch
19356 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
19357 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
19358 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
19360 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
19361 following incantation:
19365 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
19369 @node Agent Caveats
19370 @subsection Agent Caveats
19372 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
19373 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
19377 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
19379 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
19380 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
19381 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
19383 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
19384 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
19386 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
19390 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
19391 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
19392 locally stored articles.
19399 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
19400 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
19401 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
19404 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
19405 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
19406 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
19407 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
19408 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
19410 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
19411 before generating the summary buffer.
19413 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
19414 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
19415 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
19417 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
19418 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
19419 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
19420 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
19423 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
19424 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
19425 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
19426 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
19427 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
19428 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
19429 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
19430 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
19431 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
19432 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
19433 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
19434 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
19435 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
19436 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
19437 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
19438 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
19442 @node Summary Score Commands
19443 @section Summary Score Commands
19444 @cindex score commands
19446 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
19447 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
19448 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
19449 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
19450 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
19452 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
19453 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
19454 some other score file (e.g., @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
19455 score file the current one.
19457 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
19462 @kindex V s (Summary)
19463 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
19464 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
19467 @kindex V S (Summary)
19468 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
19469 Display the score of the current article
19470 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
19473 @kindex V t (Summary)
19474 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
19475 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
19476 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @file{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
19477 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
19478 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
19479 score file and edit it.
19482 @kindex V w (Summary)
19483 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
19484 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
19487 @kindex V R (Summary)
19488 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
19489 Run the current summary through the scoring process
19490 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
19491 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
19492 effect you're having.
19495 @kindex V c (Summary)
19496 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
19497 Make a different score file the current
19498 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
19501 @kindex V e (Summary)
19502 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
19503 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
19504 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
19508 @kindex V f (Summary)
19509 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
19510 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
19511 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
19514 @kindex V F (Summary)
19515 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19516 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
19517 after editing score files.
19520 @kindex V C (Summary)
19521 @findex gnus-score-customize
19522 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
19523 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
19527 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
19532 @kindex V m (Summary)
19533 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
19534 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
19535 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
19538 @kindex V x (Summary)
19539 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
19540 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
19541 expunge all articles below this score
19542 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
19545 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
19546 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
19549 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
19550 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
19554 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
19555 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
19557 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
19558 keys are available:
19562 Score on the author name.
19565 Score on the subject line.
19568 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
19571 Score on the @code{References} line.
19577 Score on the number of lines.
19580 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
19583 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
19584 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
19587 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
19588 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
19589 @file{ADAPT} files.)
19598 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
19604 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
19605 what headers you are scoring on.
19617 Substring matching.
19620 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
19649 Greater than number.
19654 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
19655 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
19656 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
19661 Temporary score entry.
19664 Permanent score entry.
19667 Immediately scoring.
19671 If you are scoring on @samp{e} (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
19672 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
19673 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
19677 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
19678 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
19679 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
19680 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
19682 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
19683 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
19684 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
19685 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
19686 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
19688 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
19689 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
19690 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
19691 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
19692 current score file.
19694 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
19695 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
19696 pretend they are keymaps or not.
19699 @node Group Score Commands
19700 @section Group Score Commands
19701 @cindex group score commands
19703 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
19708 @kindex W e (Group)
19709 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
19710 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
19711 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
19714 @kindex W f (Group)
19715 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19716 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
19717 all the time. This command will flush the cache
19718 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
19722 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
19724 @findex gnus-batch-score
19725 @cindex batch scoring
19727 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
19731 @node Score Variables
19732 @section Score Variables
19733 @cindex score variables
19737 @item gnus-use-scoring
19738 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
19739 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
19740 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
19742 @item gnus-kill-killed
19743 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
19744 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
19745 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
19746 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
19747 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
19748 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
19749 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
19751 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
19752 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
19753 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
19754 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
19755 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
19757 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
19758 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
19759 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
19760 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
19762 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19763 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19764 @cindex score cache
19765 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
19766 score files. However, this might make your Emacs grow big and
19767 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
19768 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
19769 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
19770 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
19771 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
19774 @item gnus-save-score
19775 @vindex gnus-save-score
19776 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
19777 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
19778 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19780 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
19781 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
19782 across group visits.
19784 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19785 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19786 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
19787 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
19788 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
19789 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
19790 manually entered data.
19792 @item gnus-summary-default-score
19793 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
19794 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
19796 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
19797 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
19798 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
19799 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
19800 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
19801 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
19803 @item gnus-score-over-mark
19804 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
19805 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
19806 default. Default is @samp{+}.
19808 @item gnus-score-below-mark
19809 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
19810 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
19811 default. Default is @samp{-}.
19813 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19814 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19815 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19816 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19818 Predefined functions available are:
19821 @item gnus-score-find-single
19822 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19823 Only apply the group's own score file.
19825 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19826 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19827 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19828 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19829 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19830 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19831 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19832 then a regexp match is done.
19834 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19835 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19837 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19838 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19839 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19840 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19842 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19843 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19844 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19845 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19846 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19850 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19851 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19852 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19853 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19854 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19855 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19856 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19859 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19860 overall score file, you could use the value
19862 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19863 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19866 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19867 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19868 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19869 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19870 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19872 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19873 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19874 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19875 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19876 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19877 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19878 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19879 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19881 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19882 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19883 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19885 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19886 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19887 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19888 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19889 threading---according to the current value of
19890 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19891 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19892 simplified in this manner.
19897 @node Score File Format
19898 @section Score File Format
19899 @cindex score file format
19901 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19902 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19903 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19905 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19909 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19911 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19913 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19915 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19920 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19924 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19925 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19926 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19927 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19931 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19932 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19934 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19935 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19936 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19938 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19943 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19944 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19945 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19946 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19947 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19948 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19949 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19950 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19951 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19952 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19953 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19954 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19955 to articles that matches these score entries.
19957 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19958 score entry has one to four elements.
19962 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19963 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19967 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19968 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19969 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19970 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19971 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19972 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19975 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19976 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19977 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19978 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19979 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19982 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19983 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19984 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19985 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19988 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19989 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19990 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19991 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19992 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19993 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19994 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19995 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19996 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19997 instead, if you feel like.
20000 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
20001 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
20002 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
20003 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
20004 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
20005 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
20009 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
20010 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
20014 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
20015 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
20017 These predicates are true if
20020 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
20023 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
20024 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
20031 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
20032 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
20033 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
20034 it's not. I think.)
20036 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
20037 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
20038 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
20039 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
20042 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
20043 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
20044 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
20045 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
20046 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
20047 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
20048 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
20052 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
20053 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
20054 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
20055 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
20056 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
20057 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
20058 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
20059 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
20062 @item Head, Body, All
20063 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc.)@:
20067 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
20068 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
20069 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
20070 you to increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
20071 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
20072 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
20073 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
20077 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
20078 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
20079 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
20080 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
20081 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
20082 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
20083 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
20084 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
20085 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
20086 nondeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
20087 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
20091 @cindex score file atoms
20093 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20094 lower than this number will be marked as read.
20097 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20098 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
20100 @item mark-and-expunge
20101 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20102 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
20105 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
20106 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
20107 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
20108 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
20109 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
20112 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
20113 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
20116 @item exclude-files
20117 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
20118 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
20122 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}ed. This element will be
20123 ignored when handling global score files.
20126 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
20127 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
20128 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
20129 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
20132 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
20133 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
20134 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
20135 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
20137 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
20141 (mark-and-expunge -100)
20144 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
20145 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
20146 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{c y}) the
20147 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
20148 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
20150 I.e., the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
20151 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
20152 scoring rules exist.
20155 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
20156 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
20157 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
20158 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
20159 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
20160 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
20161 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20162 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
20163 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
20164 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
20165 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
20169 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
20170 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
20171 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
20172 file for a number of groups.
20175 @cindex local variables
20176 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
20177 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
20178 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
20179 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
20180 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
20185 @node Score File Editing
20186 @section Score File Editing
20188 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
20189 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
20190 with a mode for that.
20192 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
20193 additional commands:
20198 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
20199 @findex gnus-score-edit-exit
20200 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
20201 (@code{gnus-score-edit-exit}).
20204 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
20205 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
20206 Insert the current date in numerical format
20207 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
20208 you were wondering.
20211 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
20212 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
20213 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
20214 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
20215 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
20220 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
20222 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
20223 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
20225 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
20226 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
20229 @node Adaptive Scoring
20230 @section Adaptive Scoring
20231 @cindex adaptive scoring
20233 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
20234 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
20235 stupidity, to be precise.
20237 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
20238 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
20239 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
20240 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
20241 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20242 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
20243 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
20244 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
20245 variable to @code{(word line)}.
20247 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20248 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
20249 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
20250 might look something like this:
20253 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20254 '((gnus-unread-mark)
20255 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
20256 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
20257 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
20258 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
20259 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
20260 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
20261 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
20262 (gnus-ancient-mark)
20263 (gnus-low-score-mark)
20264 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
20267 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
20268 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
20269 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
20270 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
20271 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
20272 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
20275 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
20276 will be applied to each article.
20278 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
20279 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
20280 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
20281 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
20283 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
20284 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
20285 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
20286 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
20288 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
20289 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
20290 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
20291 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
20293 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
20294 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
20295 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
20296 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
20297 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
20298 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
20300 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
20301 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
20302 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
20304 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
20305 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
20306 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
20308 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
20309 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
20310 let you use different rules in different groups.
20312 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
20313 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
20314 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
20317 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
20318 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
20319 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
20320 default) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
20322 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
20323 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
20324 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
20325 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
20326 the length of the match is less than
20327 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
20328 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
20331 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20332 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
20333 headers. If you adapt on words, the
20334 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
20335 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
20338 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20339 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
20340 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
20341 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
20342 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
20345 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
20346 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
20347 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
20348 score with 30 points.
20350 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
20351 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
20352 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
20353 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
20354 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
20356 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
20357 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
20358 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
20359 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
20360 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
20362 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
20363 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
20364 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
20365 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
20367 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
20368 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
20369 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
20370 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
20372 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
20373 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
20374 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
20375 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
20376 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
20378 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
20379 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
20380 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
20382 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
20383 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
20384 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
20385 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
20388 @node Home Score File
20389 @section Home Score File
20391 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
20392 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
20393 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
20394 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
20396 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
20397 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
20398 could perhaps use the same home score file.
20400 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
20401 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
20406 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
20410 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
20411 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
20415 A list. The elements in this list can be:
20419 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
20420 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
20423 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
20424 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
20425 name of the group as the parameter.
20428 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
20431 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
20436 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
20439 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20440 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
20443 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
20444 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
20446 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
20448 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20449 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
20452 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
20453 Other functions include
20456 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
20457 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
20458 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
20459 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
20463 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
20464 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
20465 their own home score files:
20468 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20469 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
20470 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
20471 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
20472 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
20475 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
20476 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
20477 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
20478 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
20479 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
20481 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
20482 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
20483 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
20484 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
20485 precedence over this variable.
20488 @node Followups To Yourself
20489 @section Followups To Yourself
20491 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
20492 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
20493 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
20494 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
20495 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
20496 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
20500 @item gnus-score-followup-article
20501 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
20502 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
20505 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
20506 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
20507 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
20511 @vindex message-sent-hook
20512 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
20513 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
20515 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
20519 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
20520 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
20524 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20525 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20528 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
20529 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
20534 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
20538 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
20539 is system-dependent.
20542 @node Scoring On Other Headers
20543 @section Scoring On Other Headers
20544 @cindex scoring on other headers
20546 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
20547 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
20548 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
20549 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
20550 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
20552 @vindex gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring
20553 You can inhibit this slow scoring on headers or body by setting the
20554 variable @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring}. If
20555 @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring} is regexp, slow scoring is inhibited if
20556 the group matches the regexp. If it is @code{t}, slow scoring on it is
20557 inhibited for all groups.
20559 Now, there's not much you can do about the slowness for news groups, but for
20560 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
20561 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
20562 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
20563 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
20565 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
20568 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
20569 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
20572 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
20573 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
20574 time if you have much mail.
20576 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
20577 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
20583 @section Scoring Tips
20584 @cindex scoring tips
20590 @cindex scoring crossposts
20591 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
20592 the @code{Xref} header.
20594 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
20597 @item Multiple crossposts
20598 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
20599 more than, say, 3 groups:
20602 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
20606 @item Matching on the body
20607 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
20608 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
20609 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
20610 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
20611 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
20612 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
20613 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
20616 @item Marking as read
20617 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
20618 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
20619 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
20623 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
20625 @item Negated character classes
20626 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
20627 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
20628 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
20632 @node Reverse Scoring
20633 @section Reverse Scoring
20634 @cindex reverse scoring
20636 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
20637 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
20638 like this in your score file:
20642 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
20647 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
20648 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
20651 @node Global Score Files
20652 @section Global Score Files
20653 @cindex global score files
20655 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
20656 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
20657 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
20659 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
20660 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
20661 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
20663 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
20664 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
20665 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
20666 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
20667 files are applicable to which group.
20669 To use the score file
20670 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
20671 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
20675 (setq gnus-global-score-files
20676 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
20677 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
20680 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
20682 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
20683 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
20684 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
20685 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
20687 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
20688 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
20690 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
20691 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
20692 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
20693 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
20694 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
20695 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
20697 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
20703 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
20705 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
20707 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
20709 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
20710 lowered out of existence.
20712 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
20713 articles completely.
20716 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
20717 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
20718 old articles for a long time.
20721 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
20722 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
20723 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
20724 holding our breath yet?
20728 @section Kill Files
20731 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
20732 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
20733 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
20735 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
20736 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
20737 files into score files.
20739 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
20740 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
20741 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
20742 that isn't a very good idea.
20744 Normal kill files look like this:
20747 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20748 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
20752 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
20753 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
20755 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
20756 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
20759 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
20764 @kindex M-k (Summary)
20765 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
20766 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
20769 @kindex M-K (Summary)
20770 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
20771 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
20774 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
20779 @kindex M-k (Group)
20780 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
20781 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
20784 @kindex M-K (Group)
20785 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
20786 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
20789 Kill file variables:
20792 @item gnus-kill-file-name
20793 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
20794 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
20795 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
20796 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
20797 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
20798 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
20800 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20801 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20802 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
20803 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
20806 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
20807 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
20808 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
20809 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
20810 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
20811 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
20812 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
20813 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
20814 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
20816 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20817 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20818 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
20823 @node Converting Kill Files
20824 @section Converting Kill Files
20826 @cindex converting kill files
20828 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20829 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20830 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20833 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Emacs by default.
20834 You can fetch it from the contrib directory of the Gnus distribution or
20836 @uref{http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20838 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20839 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20840 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20844 @node Advanced Scoring
20845 @section Advanced Scoring
20847 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20848 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20849 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20850 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20851 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20853 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20857 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20858 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20859 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20863 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20864 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20866 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20867 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20868 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20869 non-@code{nil} value.
20871 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20872 operator, and various match operators.
20879 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20880 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20881 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20886 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20887 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20888 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20893 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20894 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20898 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20899 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20900 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20901 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20902 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20903 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20904 the ancestry you want to go.
20906 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20907 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20908 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20909 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20910 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20913 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20914 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20916 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20917 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20920 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20921 when he's talking about Gnus:
20926 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20927 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20934 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20938 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20945 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20946 really don't want to read what he's written:
20950 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20951 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigil Logge")))
20955 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20956 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20957 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20964 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20965 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20966 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20967 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20971 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
20972 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
20973 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
20974 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
20977 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
20979 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
20983 The possibilities are endless.
20985 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20986 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20988 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20989 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20990 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20991 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20992 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20993 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20994 @samp{subject}) first.
20996 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20997 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
21008 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
21009 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
21015 ("subject" "Gnus")))
21022 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
21023 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
21028 @section Score Decays
21029 @cindex score decays
21032 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
21033 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
21034 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
21035 use them in any sensible way.
21037 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
21038 @findex gnus-decay-score
21039 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
21040 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
21041 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
21042 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
21043 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
21044 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
21045 regexp are treated. E.g., you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
21046 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
21047 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
21048 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
21052 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
21053 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
21054 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
21056 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
21058 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
21060 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
21061 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
21062 ;; XEmacs's floor can handle only the floating point
21063 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
21064 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
21066 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
21070 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
21071 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
21072 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
21073 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
21077 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
21080 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
21083 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
21087 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
21088 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
21089 the new score, which should be an integer.
21091 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
21092 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
21098 FIXME: Add a brief overview of Gnus search capabilities. A brief
21099 comparison of nnir, nnmairix, contrib/gnus-namazu would be nice
21102 This chapter describes tools for searching groups and servers for
21103 articles matching a query and then retrieving those articles. Gnus
21104 provides a simpler mechanism for searching through articles in a summary buffer
21105 to find those matching a pattern. @xref{Searching for Articles}.
21108 * nnir:: Searching with various engines.
21109 * nnmairix:: Searching with Mairix.
21116 This section describes how to use @code{nnir} to search for articles
21120 * What is nnir?:: What does @code{nnir} do?
21121 * Basic Usage:: How to perform simple searches.
21122 * Setting up nnir:: How to set up @code{nnir}.
21125 @node What is nnir?
21126 @subsection What is nnir?
21128 @code{nnir} is a Gnus interface to a number of tools for searching
21129 through mail and news repositories. Different backends (like
21130 @code{nnimap} and @code{nntp}) work with different tools (called
21131 @dfn{engines} in @code{nnir} lingo), but all use the same basic search
21134 The @code{nnimap} and @code{gmane} search engines should work with no
21135 configuration. Other engines require a local index that needs to be
21136 created and maintained outside of Gnus.
21140 @subsection Basic Usage
21142 In the group buffer typing @kbd{G G} will search the group on the
21143 current line by calling @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group}. This prompts
21144 for a query string, creates an ephemeral @code{nnir} group containing
21145 the articles that match this query, and takes you to a summary buffer
21146 showing these articles. Articles may then be read, moved and deleted
21147 using the usual commands.
21149 The @code{nnir} group made in this way is an @code{ephemeral} group,
21150 and some changes are not permanent: aside from reading, moving, and
21151 deleting, you can't act on the original article. But there is an
21152 alternative: you can @emph{warp} (i.e., jump) to the original group
21153 for the article on the current line with @kbd{A W}, aka
21154 @code{gnus-warp-to-article}. Even better, the function
21155 @code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}, bound by default in summary buffers
21156 to @kbd{A T}, will first warp to the original group before it works
21157 its magic and includes all the articles in the thread. From here you
21158 can read, move and delete articles, but also copy them, alter article
21159 marks, whatever. Go nuts.
21161 You say you want to search more than just the group on the current line?
21162 No problem: just process-mark the groups you want to search. You want
21163 even more? Calling for an nnir search with the cursor on a topic heading
21164 will search all the groups under that heading.
21166 Still not enough? OK, in the server buffer
21167 @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group} (now bound to @kbd{G}) will search all
21168 groups from the server on the current line. Too much? Want to ignore
21169 certain groups when searching, like spam groups? Just customize
21170 @code{nnir-ignored-newsgroups}.
21172 One more thing: individual search engines may have special search
21173 features. You can access these special features by giving a prefix-arg
21174 to @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group}. If you are searching multiple
21175 groups with different search engines you will be prompted for the
21176 special search features for each engine separately.
21179 @node Setting up nnir
21180 @subsection Setting up nnir
21182 To set up nnir you may need to do some prep work. Firstly, you may need
21183 to configure the search engines you plan to use. Some of them, like
21184 @code{imap} and @code{gmane}, need no special configuration. Others,
21185 like @code{namazu} and @code{swish}, require configuration as described
21186 below. Secondly, you need to associate a search engine with a server or
21189 If you just want to use the @code{imap} engine to search @code{nnimap}
21190 servers, and the @code{gmane} engine to search @code{gmane} then you
21191 don't have to do anything. But you might want to read the details of the
21192 query language anyway.
21195 * Associating Engines:: How to associate engines.
21196 * The imap Engine:: Imap configuration and usage.
21197 * The gmane Engine:: Gmane configuration and usage.
21198 * The swish++ Engine:: Swish++ configuration and usage.
21199 * The swish-e Engine:: Swish-e configuration and usage.
21200 * The namazu Engine:: Namazu configuration and usage.
21201 * The notmuch Engine:: Notmuch configuration and usage.
21202 * The hyrex Engine:: Hyrex configuration and usage.
21203 * Customizations:: User customizable settings.
21206 @node Associating Engines
21207 @subsubsection Associating Engines
21210 When searching a group, @code{nnir} needs to know which search engine to
21211 use. You can configure a given server to use a particular engine by
21212 setting the server variable @code{nnir-search-engine} to the engine
21213 name. For example to use the @code{namazu} engine to search the server
21214 named @code{home} you can use
21217 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
21219 (nnimap-address "localhost")
21220 (nnir-search-engine namazu))))
21223 Alternatively you might want to use a particular engine for all servers
21224 with a given backend. For example, you might want to use the @code{imap}
21225 engine for all servers using the @code{nnimap} backend. In this case you
21226 can customize the variable @code{nnir-method-default-engines}. This is
21227 an alist of pairs of the form @code{(backend . engine)}. By default this
21228 variable is set to use the @code{imap} engine for all servers using the
21229 @code{nnimap} backend, and the @code{gmane} backend for @code{nntp}
21230 servers. (Don't worry, the @code{gmane} search engine won't actually try
21231 to search non-gmane @code{nntp} servers.) But if you wanted to use
21232 @code{namazu} for all your servers with an @code{nnimap} backend you
21233 could change this to
21236 '((nnimap . namazu)
21240 @node The imap Engine
21241 @subsubsection The imap Engine
21243 The @code{imap} engine requires no configuration.
21245 Queries using the @code{imap} engine follow a simple query language.
21246 The search is always case-insensitive and supports the following
21247 features (inspired by the Google search input language):
21251 @item Boolean query operators
21252 AND, OR, and NOT are supported, and parentheses can be used to control
21253 operator precedence, e.g., (emacs OR xemacs) AND linux. Note that
21254 operators must be written with all capital letters to be
21255 recognized. Also preceding a term with a @minus{} sign is equivalent
21258 @item Automatic AND queries
21259 If you specify multiple words then they will be treated as an AND
21260 expression intended to match all components.
21262 @item Phrase searches
21263 If you wrap your query in double-quotes then it will be treated as a
21268 By default the whole message will be searched. The query can be limited
21269 to a specific part of a message by using a prefix-arg. After inputting
21270 the query this will prompt (with completion) for a message part.
21271 Choices include ``Whole message'', ``Subject'', ``From'', and
21272 ``To''. Any unrecognized input is interpreted as a header name. For
21273 example, typing @kbd{Message-ID} in response to this prompt will limit
21274 the query to the Message-ID header.
21276 Finally selecting ``Imap'' will interpret the query as a raw
21277 @acronym{IMAP} search query. The format of such queries can be found in
21280 If you don't like the default of searching whole messages you can
21281 customize @code{nnir-imap-default-search-key}. For example to use
21282 @acronym{IMAP} queries by default
21285 (setq nnir-imap-default-search-key "Imap")
21288 @node The gmane Engine
21289 @subsubsection The gmane Engine
21291 The @code{gmane} engine requires no configuration.
21293 Gmane queries follow a simple query language:
21296 @item Boolean query operators
21297 AND, OR, NOT (or AND NOT), and XOR are supported, and brackets can be
21298 used to control operator precedence, e.g., (emacs OR xemacs) AND linux.
21299 Note that operators must be written with all capital letters to be
21302 @item Required and excluded terms
21303 + and @minus{} can be used to require or exclude terms, e.g., football
21306 @item Unicode handling
21307 The search engine converts all text to utf-8, so searching should work
21311 Common English words (like 'the' and 'a') are ignored by default. You
21312 can override this by prefixing such words with a + (e.g., +the) or
21313 enclosing the word in quotes (e.g., "the").
21317 The query can be limited to articles by a specific author using a
21318 prefix-arg. After inputting the query this will prompt for an author
21319 name (or part of a name) to match.
21321 @node The swish++ Engine
21322 @subsubsection The swish++ Engine
21324 FIXME: Say something more here.
21326 Documentation for swish++ may be found at the swish++ sourceforge page:
21327 @uref{http://swishplusplus.sourceforge.net}
21331 @item nnir-swish++-program
21332 The name of the swish++ executable. Defaults to @code{search}
21334 @item nnir-swish++-additional-switches
21335 A list of strings to be given as additional arguments to
21336 swish++. @code{nil} by default.
21338 @item nnir-swish++-remove-prefix
21339 The prefix to remove from each file name returned by swish++ in order
21340 to get a group name. By default this is @code{$HOME/Mail}.
21344 @node The swish-e Engine
21345 @subsubsection The swish-e Engine
21347 FIXME: Say something more here.
21349 Documentation for swish-e may be found at the swish-e homepage
21350 @uref{http://swish-e.org}
21354 @item nnir-swish-e-program
21355 The name of the swish-e search program. Defaults to @code{swish-e}.
21357 @item nnir-swish-e-additional-switches
21358 A list of strings to be given as additional arguments to
21359 swish-e. @code{nil} by default.
21361 @item nnir-swish-e-remove-prefix
21362 The prefix to remove from each file name returned by swish-e in order
21363 to get a group name. By default this is @code{$HOME/Mail}.
21367 @node The namazu Engine
21368 @subsubsection The namazu Engine
21370 Using the namazu engine requires creating and maintaining index files.
21371 One directory should contain all the index files, and nnir must be told
21372 where to find them by setting the @code{nnir-namazu-index-directory}
21375 To work correctly the @code{nnir-namazu-remove-prefix} variable must
21376 also be correct. This is the prefix to remove from each file name
21377 returned by Namazu in order to get a proper group name (albeit with @samp{/}
21378 instead of @samp{.}).
21380 For example, suppose that Namazu returns file names such as
21381 @samp{/home/john/Mail/mail/misc/42}. For this example, use the
21382 following setting: @code{(setq nnir-namazu-remove-prefix
21383 "/home/john/Mail/")} Note the trailing slash. Removing this prefix from
21384 the directory gives @samp{mail/misc/42}. @code{nnir} knows to remove
21385 the @samp{/42} and to replace @samp{/} with @samp{.} to arrive at the
21386 correct group name @samp{mail.misc}.
21388 Extra switches may be passed to the namazu search command by setting the
21389 variable @code{nnir-namazu-additional-switches}. It is particularly
21390 important not to pass any any switches to namazu that will change the
21391 output format. Good switches to use include @option{--sort},
21392 @option{--ascending}, @option{--early} and @option{--late}.
21393 Refer to the Namazu documentation for further
21394 information on valid switches.
21396 Mail must first be indexed with the @command{mknmz} program. Read the
21397 documentation for namazu to create a configuration file. Here is an
21402 package conf; # Don't remove this line!
21404 # Paths which will not be indexed. Don't use '^' or '$' anchors.
21405 $EXCLUDE_PATH = "spam|sent";
21407 # Header fields which should be searchable. case-insensitive
21408 $REMAIN_HEADER = "from|date|message-id|subject";
21410 # Searchable fields. case-insensitive
21411 $SEARCH_FIELD = "from|date|message-id|subject";
21413 # The max length of a word.
21414 $WORD_LENG_MAX = 128;
21416 # The max length of a field.
21417 $MAX_FIELD_LENGTH = 256;
21421 For this example, mail is stored in the directories @samp{~/Mail/mail/},
21422 @samp{~/Mail/lists/} and @samp{~/Mail/archive/}, so to index them go to
21423 the index directory set in @code{nnir-namazu-index-directory} and issue
21424 the following command:
21427 mknmz --mailnews ~/Mail/archive/ ~/Mail/mail/ ~/Mail/lists/
21430 For maximum searching efficiency you might want to have a cron job run
21431 this command periodically, say every four hours.
21434 @node The notmuch Engine
21435 @subsubsection The notmuch Engine
21438 @item nnir-notmuch-program
21439 The name of the notmuch search executable. Defaults to
21442 @item nnir-notmuch-additional-switches
21443 A list of strings, to be given as additional arguments to notmuch.
21445 @item nnir-notmuch-remove-prefix
21446 The prefix to remove from each file name returned by notmuch in order
21447 to get a group name (albeit with @samp{/} instead of @samp{.}). This
21448 is a regular expression.
21453 @node The hyrex Engine
21454 @subsubsection The hyrex Engine
21455 This engine is obsolete.
21457 @node Customizations
21458 @subsubsection Customizations
21462 @item nnir-method-default-engines
21463 Alist of pairs of server backends and search engines. The default
21470 @item nnir-ignored-newsgroups
21471 A regexp to match newsgroups in the active file that should be skipped
21472 when searching all groups on a server.
21474 @item nnir-summary-line-format
21475 The format specification to be used for lines in an nnir summary buffer.
21476 All the items from @code{gnus-summary-line-format} are available, along with
21477 three items unique to nnir summary buffers:
21480 %Z Search retrieval score value (integer)
21481 %G Article original full group name (string)
21482 %g Article original short group name (string)
21485 If @code{nil} (the default) this will use @code{gnus-summary-line-format}.
21487 @item nnir-retrieve-headers-override-function
21488 If non-@code{nil}, a function that retrieves article headers rather than using
21489 the gnus built-in function. This function takes an article list and
21490 group as arguments and populates the @code{nntp-server-buffer} with the
21491 retrieved headers. It should then return either 'nov or 'headers
21492 indicating the retrieved header format. Failure to retrieve headers
21493 should return @code{nil}.
21495 If this variable is @code{nil}, or if the provided function returns
21496 @code{nil} for a search result, @code{gnus-retrieve-headers} will be
21508 This paragraph describes how to set up mairix and the back end
21509 @code{nnmairix} for indexing and searching your mail from within
21510 Gnus. Additionally, you can create permanent ``smart'' groups which are
21511 bound to mairix searches and are automatically updated.
21514 * About mairix:: About the mairix mail search engine
21515 * nnmairix requirements:: What you will need for using nnmairix
21516 * What nnmairix does:: What does nnmairix actually do?
21517 * Setting up mairix:: Set up your mairix installation
21518 * Configuring nnmairix:: Set up the nnmairix back end
21519 * nnmairix keyboard shortcuts:: List of available keyboard shortcuts
21520 * Propagating marks:: How to propagate marks from nnmairix groups
21521 * nnmairix tips and tricks:: Some tips, tricks and examples
21522 * nnmairix caveats:: Some more stuff you might want to know
21525 @c FIXME: The markup in this section might need improvement.
21526 @c E.g., adding @samp, @var, @file, @command, etc.
21527 @c Cf. (info "(texinfo)Indicating")
21530 @subsection About mairix
21532 Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
21533 mail. It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the
21534 GPL@. Mairix comes with most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but it also
21535 runs under Windows (with cygwin), macOS and Solaris. The homepage can
21537 @uref{http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/mairix/index.html}
21539 Though mairix might not be as flexible as other search tools like
21540 swish++ or namazu, which you can use via the @code{nnir} back end, it
21541 has the prime advantage of being incredibly fast. On current systems, it
21542 can easily search through headers and message bodies of thousands and
21543 thousands of mails in well under a second. Building the database
21544 necessary for searching might take a minute or two, but only has to be
21545 done once fully. Afterwards, the updates are done incrementally and
21546 therefore are really fast, too. Additionally, mairix is very easy to set
21549 For maximum speed though, mairix should be used with mails stored in
21550 @code{Maildir} or @code{MH} format (this includes the @code{nnml} back
21551 end), although it also works with mbox. Mairix presents the search
21552 results by populating a @emph{virtual} maildir/MH folder with symlinks
21553 which point to the ``real'' message files (if mbox is used, copies are
21554 made). Since mairix already presents search results in such a virtual
21555 mail folder, it is very well suited for using it as an external program
21556 for creating @emph{smart} mail folders, which represent certain mail
21559 @node nnmairix requirements
21560 @subsection nnmairix requirements
21562 Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
21563 direct access to your mail folders. If your mail resides on another
21564 server (e.g., an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
21565 access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g., via ssh.
21567 Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
21568 ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You must use
21569 one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like
21570 @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
21572 If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
21573 you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
21574 @code{nnimap}. This is a rather massive setup for accessing some mbox
21575 files, so just change to MH or Maildir already... However, if you're
21576 really, really passionate about using mbox, you might want to look into
21577 the package @file{mairix.el}, which comes with Emacs 23.
21579 @node What nnmairix does
21580 @subsection What nnmairix does
21582 The back end @code{nnmairix} enables you to call mairix from within Gnus,
21583 either to query mairix with a search term or to update the
21584 database. While visiting a message in the summary buffer, you can use
21585 several pre-defined shortcuts for calling mairix, e.g., to quickly
21586 search for all mails from the sender of the current message or to
21587 display the whole thread associated with the message, even if the
21588 mails are in different folders.
21590 Additionally, you can create permanent @code{nnmairix} groups which are bound
21591 to certain mairix searches. This way, you can easily create a group
21592 containing mails from a certain sender, with a certain subject line or
21593 even for one specific thread based on the Message-ID@. If you check for
21594 new mail in these folders (e.g., by pressing @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g}), they
21595 automatically update themselves by calling mairix.
21597 You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
21598 creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
21599 then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
21600 does not---at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
21601 strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
21602 claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible. This is due to
21603 the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
21604 its back. Another problem can be the mail back end itself, e.g., if you
21605 use mairix with an @acronym{IMAP} server (I had Dovecot complaining
21606 about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
21607 group). Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
21609 @code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like
21610 a wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores
21611 the searches and the Gnus front end. You can choose between three
21612 different mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml},
21613 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnimap}. @code{nnmairix} will call the mairix
21614 binary so that the search results are stored in folders named
21615 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>} on this mail back end, but it will
21616 present these folders in the Gnus front end only with @code{<NAME>}.
21617 You can use an existing mail back end where you already store your mail,
21618 but if you're uncomfortable with @code{nnmairix} creating new mail
21619 groups alongside your other mail, you can also create, e.g., a new
21620 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml} server exclusively for mairix, but then
21621 make sure those servers do not accidentally receive your new mail
21622 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). A special case exists if you want to use
21623 mairix remotely on an IMAP server with @code{nnimap}---here the mairix
21624 folders and your other mail must be on the same @code{nnimap} back end.
21626 @node Setting up mairix
21627 @subsection Setting up mairix
21629 First: create a backup of your mail folders (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}).
21631 Setting up mairix is easy: simply create a @file{.mairixrc} file with
21632 (at least) the following entries:
21635 # Your Maildir/MH base folder
21639 This is the base folder for your mails. All the following directories
21640 are relative to this base folder. If you want to use @code{nnmairix}
21641 with @code{nnimap}, this base directory has to point to the mail
21642 directory where the @acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
21645 maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
21646 mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
21647 mbox = ... your mbox files which should be indexed ...
21650 This specifies all your mail folders and mbox files (relative to the
21651 base directory!) you want to index with mairix. Note that the
21652 @code{nnml} back end saves mails in MH format, so you have to put those
21653 directories in the @code{mh} line. See the example at the end of this
21654 section and mairixrc's man-page for further details.
21660 @vindex nnmairix-group-prefix
21661 This should make sure that you don't accidentally index the mairix
21662 search results. You can change the prefix of these folders with the
21663 variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
21666 mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
21667 database= ... location of database file ...
21670 The @code{format} setting specifies the output format for the mairix
21671 search folder. Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
21672 with @code{nnml}. Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
21674 To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
21678 maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
21679 mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
21680 mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
21683 database=~/.mairixdatabase
21686 In this case, the base directory is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
21687 folders are stored. As you can see, the folders are separated by
21688 colons. If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
21689 because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
21690 @code{Maildir++} folders. For testing nnmairix, I also have some
21691 @code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}. Since this has
21692 to be specified relative to the @code{base} directory, the @code{../Mail}
21693 notation is needed. Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
21694 to recursively scan all files under this directory. Without the three
21695 dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively. I also have some
21696 old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
21697 The other lines should be obvious.
21699 See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
21700 especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
21701 than you are used to.
21703 Now simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
21704 Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
21705 the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.
21707 @node Configuring nnmairix
21708 @subsection Configuring nnmairix
21710 In group mode, type @kbd{G b c}
21711 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). This will ask you for all
21712 necessary information and create a @code{nnmairix} server as a foreign
21713 server. You will have to specify the following:
21718 The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
21722 The name of the @strong{back end server} where mairix should store its
21723 searches. This must be a full server name, like @code{nnml:mymail}.
21724 Just hit @kbd{TAB} to see the available servers. Currently, servers
21725 which are accessed through @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnimap} and
21726 @code{nnml} are supported. As explained above, for locally stored
21727 mails, this can be an existing server where you store your mails.
21728 However, you can also create, e.g., a new @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml}
21729 server exclusively for @code{nnmairix} in your secondary select methods
21730 (@pxref{Finding the News}). If you use a secondary @code{nnml} server
21731 just for mairix, make sure that you explicitly set the server variable
21732 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}, or you might lose mail
21733 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). If you want to use mairix remotely on an
21734 @acronym{IMAP} server, you have to choose the corresponding
21735 @code{nnimap} server here.
21738 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-search-options
21739 The @strong{command} to call the mairix binary. This will usually just
21740 be @code{mairix}, but you can also choose something like @code{ssh
21741 SERVER mairix} if you want to call mairix remotely, e.g., on your
21742 @acronym{IMAP} server. If you want to add some default options to
21743 mairix, you could do this here, but better use the variable
21744 @code{nnmairix-mairix-search-options} instead.
21747 The name of the @strong{default search group}. This will be the group
21748 where all temporary mairix searches are stored, i.e., all searches which
21749 are not bound to permanent @code{nnmairix} groups. Choose whatever you
21753 If the mail back end is @code{nnimap} or @code{nnmaildir}, you will be
21754 asked if you work with @strong{Maildir++}, i.e., with hidden maildir
21755 folders (=beginning with a dot). For example, you have to answer
21756 @samp{yes} here if you work with the Dovecot @acronym{IMAP}
21757 server. Otherwise, you should answer @samp{no} here.
21761 @node nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
21762 @subsection nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
21769 @kindex G b c (Group)
21770 @findex nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group
21771 Creates @code{nnmairix} server and default search group for this server
21772 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). You should have done
21773 this by now (@pxref{Configuring nnmairix}).
21776 @kindex G b s (Group)
21777 @findex nnmairix-search
21778 Prompts for query which is then sent to the mairix binary. Search
21779 results are put into the default search group which is automatically
21780 displayed (@code{nnmairix-search}).
21783 @kindex G b m (Group)
21784 @findex nnmairix-widget-search
21785 Allows you to create a mairix search or a permanent group more
21786 comfortably using graphical widgets, similar to a customization
21787 group. Just try it to see how it works (@code{nnmairix-widget-search}).
21790 @kindex G b i (Group)
21791 @findex nnmairix-search-interactive
21792 Another command for creating a mairix query more comfortably, but uses
21793 only the minibuffer (@code{nnmairix-search-interactive}).
21796 @kindex G b g (Group)
21797 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group
21798 Creates a permanent group which is associated with a search query
21799 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group}). The @code{nnmairix} back end
21800 automatically calls mairix when you update this group with @kbd{g} or
21804 @kindex G b q (Group)
21805 @findex nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group
21806 Changes the search query for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor
21807 (@code{nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group}).
21810 @kindex G b t (Group)
21811 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group
21812 Toggles the 'threads' parameter for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor,
21813 i.e., if you want see the whole threads of the found messages
21814 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group}).
21817 @kindex G b u (Group)
21818 @findex nnmairix-update-database
21819 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-update-options
21820 Calls mairix binary for updating the database
21821 (@code{nnmairix-update-database}). The default parameters are @code{-F}
21822 and @code{-Q} for making this as fast as possible (see variable
21823 @code{nnmairix-mairix-update-options} for defining these default
21827 @kindex G b r (Group)
21828 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group
21829 Keep articles in this @code{nnmairix} group always read or unread, or leave the
21830 marks unchanged (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group}).
21833 @kindex G b d (Group)
21834 @findex nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group
21835 Recreate @code{nnmairix} group on the ``real'' mail back end
21836 (@code{nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group}). You can do this if
21837 you always get wrong article counts with a @code{nnmairix} group.
21840 @kindex G b a (Group)
21841 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group
21842 Toggles the @code{allow-fast} parameters for group under cursor
21843 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group}). The default
21844 behavior of @code{nnmairix} is to do a mairix search every time you
21845 update or enter the group. With the @code{allow-fast} parameter set,
21846 mairix will only be called when you explicitly update the group, but not
21847 upon entering. This makes entering the group faster, but it may also
21848 lead to dangling symlinks if something changed between updating and
21849 entering the group which is not yet in the mairix database.
21852 @kindex G b p (Group)
21853 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group
21854 Toggle marks propagation for this group
21855 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group}). (@pxref{Propagating
21859 @kindex G b o (Group)
21860 @findex nnmairix-propagate-marks
21861 Manually propagate marks (@code{nnmairix-propagate-marks}); needed only when
21862 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} is set to @code{nil}.
21871 @kindex $ m (Summary)
21872 @findex nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article
21873 Allows you to create a mairix query or group based on the current
21874 message using graphical widgets (same as @code{nnmairix-widget-search})
21875 (@code{nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article}).
21878 @kindex $ g (Summary)
21879 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message
21880 Interactively creates a new search group with query based on the current
21881 message, but uses the minibuffer instead of graphical widgets
21882 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message}).
21885 @kindex $ t (Summary)
21886 @findex nnmairix-search-thread-this-article
21887 Searches thread for the current article
21888 (@code{nnmairix-search-thread-this-article}). This is effectively a
21889 shortcut for calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{m:msgid} of the
21890 current article and enabled threads.
21893 @kindex $ f (Summary)
21894 @findex nnmairix-search-from-this-article
21895 Searches all messages from sender of the current article
21896 (@code{nnmairix-search-from-this-article}). This is a shortcut for
21897 calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{f:From}.
21900 @kindex $ o (Summary)
21901 @findex nnmairix-goto-original-article
21902 (Only in @code{nnmairix} groups!) Tries determine the group this article
21903 originally came from and displays the article in this group, so that,
21904 e.g., replying to this article the correct posting styles/group
21905 parameters are applied (@code{nnmairix-goto-original-article}). This
21906 function will use the registry if available, but can also parse the
21907 article file name as a fallback method.
21910 @kindex $ u (Summary)
21911 @findex nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article
21912 Remove possibly existing tick mark from original article
21913 (@code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article}). (@pxref{nnmairix
21918 @node Propagating marks
21919 @subsection Propagating marks
21921 First of: you really need a patched mairix binary for using the marks
21922 propagation feature efficiently. Otherwise, you would have to update
21923 the mairix database all the time. You can get the patch at
21925 @uref{http://www.randomsample.de/mairix-maildir-patch.tar}
21927 You need the mairix v0.21 source code for this patch; everything else
21928 is explained in the accompanied readme file. If you don't want to use
21929 marks propagation, you don't have to apply these patches, but they also
21930 fix some annoyances regarding changing maildir flags, so it might still
21933 With the patched mairix binary, you can use @code{nnmairix} as an
21934 alternative to mail splitting (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}). For
21935 example, instead of splitting all mails from @samp{david@@foobar.com}
21936 into a group, you can simply create a search group with the query
21937 @samp{f:david@@foobar.com}. This is actually what ``smart folders'' are
21938 all about: simply put everything in one mail folder and dynamically
21939 create searches instead of splitting. This is more flexible, since you
21940 can dynamically change your folders any time you want to. This also
21941 implies that you will usually read your mails in the @code{nnmairix}
21942 groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
21944 There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
21945 @samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
21946 ``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
21947 search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
21948 enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
21949 marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
21950 mail group it will be still shown as unread.
21952 You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
21953 tedious and error prone, since you may overlook mails you don't have
21954 created @code{nnmairix} groups for. Of course, you could first use
21955 @code{nnmairix-goto-original-article} (@pxref{nnmairix keyboard
21956 shortcuts}) and then read the mail in the original group, but that's
21957 even more cumbersome.
21959 Clearly, the easiest way would be if marks could somehow be
21960 automatically set for the original article. This is exactly what
21961 @emph{marks propagation} is about.
21963 Marks propagation is inactive by default. You can activate it for a
21964 certain @code{nnmairix} group with
21965 @code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group} (bound to @kbd{G b
21966 p}). This function will warn you if you try to use it with your default
21967 search group; the reason is that the default search group is used for
21968 temporary searches, and it's easy to accidentally propagate marks from
21969 this group. However, you can ignore this warning if you really want to.
21971 With marks propagation enabled, all the marks you set in a @code{nnmairix}
21972 group should now be propagated to the original article. For example,
21973 you can now tick an article (by default with @kbd{!}) and this mark should
21974 magically be set for the original article, too.
21976 A few more remarks which you may or may not want to know:
21978 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close
21979 Marks will not be set immediately, but only upon closing a group. This
21980 not only makes marks propagation faster, it also avoids problems with
21981 dangling symlinks when dealing with maildir files (since changing flags
21982 will change the file name). You can also control when to propagate marks
21983 via @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} (see the doc-string for
21986 Obviously, @code{nnmairix} will have to look up the original group for every
21987 article you want to set marks for. If available, @code{nnmairix} will first
21988 use the registry for determining the original group. The registry is very
21989 fast, hence you should really, really enable the registry when using
21990 marks propagation. If you don't have to worry about RAM and disc space,
21991 set @code{gnus-registry-max-entries} to a large enough value; to be on
21992 the safe side, choose roughly the amount of mails you index with mairix.
21994 @vindex nnmairix-only-use-registry
21995 If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
21996 original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix
21997 search for determining the file name of the article. This, of course, is
21998 way slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
21999 marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation by
22000 setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to @code{t}.
22002 Maybe you also want to propagate marks the other way round, i.e., if you
22003 tick an article in a "real" mail group, you'd like to have the same
22004 article in a @code{nnmairix} group ticked, too. For several good
22005 reasons, this can only be done efficiently if you use maildir. To
22006 immediately contradict myself, let me mention that it WON'T work with
22007 @code{nnmaildir}, since @code{nnmaildir} stores the marks externally and
22008 not in the file name. Therefore, propagating marks to @code{nnmairix}
22009 groups will usually only work if you use an IMAP server which uses
22010 maildir as its file format.
22012 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups
22013 If you work with this setup, just set
22014 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t} and see what
22015 happens. If you don't like what you see, just set it to @code{nil} again.
22016 One problem might be that you get a wrong number of unread articles; this
22017 usually happens when you delete or expire articles in the original
22018 groups. When this happens, you can recreate the @code{nnmairix} group on
22019 the back end using @kbd{G b d}.
22021 @node nnmairix tips and tricks
22022 @subsection nnmairix tips and tricks
22028 @findex nnmairix-update-groups
22029 I put all my important mail groups at group level 1. The mairix groups
22030 have group level 5, so they do not get checked at start up (@pxref{Group
22033 I use the following to check for mails:
22036 (defun my-check-mail-mairix-update (level)
22038 ;; if no prefix given, set level=1
22039 (gnus-group-get-new-news (or level 1))
22040 (nnmairix-update-groups "mairixsearch" t t)
22041 (gnus-group-list-groups))
22043 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map "g" 'my-check-mail-mairix-update)
22046 Instead of @samp{"mairixsearch"} use the name of your @code{nnmairix}
22047 server. See the doc string for @code{nnmairix-update-groups} for
22051 Example: search group for ticked articles
22053 For example, you can create a group for all ticked articles, where the
22054 articles always stay unread:
22056 Hit @kbd{G b g}, enter group name (e.g., @samp{important}), use
22057 @samp{F:f} as query and do not include threads.
22059 Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
22060 activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
22062 So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
22063 group? There are two options: You may simply use
22064 @code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{$ u}) to remove
22065 tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
22066 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t}, but see the above
22067 comments about this option. If it works for you, the tick marks should
22068 also exist in the @code{nnmairix} group and you can remove them as usual,
22069 e.g., by marking an article as read.
22071 When you have removed a tick mark from the original article, this
22072 article should vanish from the @code{nnmairix} group after you have updated the
22073 mairix database and updated the group. Fortunately, there is a function
22074 for doing exactly that: @code{nnmairix-update-groups}. See the previous code
22075 snippet and the doc string for details.
22078 Dealing with auto-subscription of mail groups
22080 As described before, all @code{nnmairix} groups are in fact stored on
22081 the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
22082 see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
22083 should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
22084 usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
22085 @code{nnml}, i.e., you will suddenly see groups of the form
22086 @samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
22087 simply kill these groups with C-k. For avoiding this, turn off
22088 auto-subscription completely by setting the variable
22089 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups} to @code{nil} (@pxref{Filtering New
22090 Groups}), or if you like to keep this feature use the following kludge
22091 for turning it off for all groups beginning with @samp{zz_}:
22094 (setq gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
22095 "^\\(nnml\\|nnfolder\\|nnmbox\\|nnmh\\|nnbabyl\\|nnmaildir\\).*:\\([^z]\\|z$\\|\\z[^z]\\|zz$\\|zz[^_]\\|zz_$\\).*")
22100 @node nnmairix caveats
22101 @subsection nnmairix caveats
22105 You can create a secondary @code{nnml} server just for nnmairix, but then
22106 you have to explicitly set the corresponding server variable
22107 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}. Otherwise, new mail might get
22108 put into this secondary server (and would never show up again). Here's
22109 an example server definition:
22112 (nnml "mairix" (nnml-directory "mairix") (nnml-get-new-mail nil))
22115 (The @code{nnmaildir} back end also has a server variable
22116 @code{get-new-mail}, but its default value is @code{nil}, so you don't
22117 have to explicitly set it if you use a @code{nnmaildir} server just for
22121 If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
22122 @code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
22123 @code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}; this is the default). Be
22124 @emph{extra careful} if you use
22125 @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are split
22126 into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as you
22127 check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
22130 Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
22131 groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
22134 If you use the Gnus agent (@pxref{Gnus Unplugged}): don't agentize
22135 @code{nnmairix} groups (though I have no idea what happens if you do).
22138 mairix does only support us-ascii characters.
22141 @code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
22142 completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
22143 called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
22144 back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
22145 don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
22146 own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
22150 All necessary information is stored in the group parameters
22151 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). This has the advantage that no active file
22152 is needed, but also implies that when you kill a @code{nnmairix} group,
22153 it is gone for good.
22156 @findex nnmairix-purge-old-groups
22157 If you create and kill a lot of @code{nnmairix} groups, the
22158 ``zz_mairix-*'' groups will accumulate on the mail back end server. To
22159 delete old groups which are no longer needed, call
22160 @code{nnmairix-purge-old-groups}. Note that this assumes that you don't
22161 save any ``real'' mail in folders of the form
22162 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can change the prefix of
22163 @code{nnmairix} groups by changing the variable
22164 @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
22167 The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
22168 for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
22170 A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and
22171 comes with the fact that maildir stores mail flags like @samp{Seen} or
22172 @samp{Replied} by appending chars @samp{S} and @samp{R} to the message
22173 file name, respectively. This implies that currently you would have to
22174 update the mairix database not only when new mail arrives, but also when
22175 mail flags are changing. The same applies to new mails which are indexed
22176 while they are still in the @samp{new} folder but then get moved to
22177 @samp{cur} when Gnus has seen the mail. If you don't update the database
22178 after this has happened, a mairix query can lead to symlinks pointing to
22179 non-existing files. In Gnus, these messages will usually appear with
22180 ``(none)'' entries in the header and can't be accessed. If this happens
22181 to you, using @kbd{G b u} and updating the group will usually fix this.
22188 @include message.texi
22189 @chapter Emacs MIME
22190 @include emacs-mime.texi
22192 @include sieve.texi
22204 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
22205 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
22206 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
22207 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
22208 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
22209 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
22210 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
22211 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
22212 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
22213 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
22214 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
22215 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
22216 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
22217 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
22218 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
22219 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
22220 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
22221 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
22222 * The Gnus Cloud:: A package for synchronizing Gnus marks.
22223 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
22224 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
22228 @node Process/Prefix
22229 @section Process/Prefix
22230 @cindex process/prefix convention
22232 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
22233 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
22235 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
22236 command to be performed on.
22240 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
22241 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
22242 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
22243 with the current one.
22245 @vindex transient-mark-mode
22246 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
22247 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
22249 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
22250 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
22253 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
22254 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
22256 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
22259 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
22260 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
22261 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
22262 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22264 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
22265 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
22266 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
22267 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
22268 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
22269 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
22270 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
22271 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
22273 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
22274 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
22275 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
22276 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
22277 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
22281 @section Interactive
22282 @cindex interaction
22286 @item gnus-novice-user
22287 @vindex gnus-novice-user
22288 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
22289 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
22290 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
22291 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
22294 @item gnus-expert-user
22295 @vindex gnus-expert-user
22296 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
22297 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing,
22298 no matter how strange. For example, quitting Gnus, exiting a group
22299 without an update, catching up with a group, deleting expired
22300 articles, and replying by mail to a news message will not require
22303 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
22304 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
22305 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
22306 is @code{t} by default.
22308 @item gnus-interactive-exit
22309 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
22310 If non-@code{nil}, require a confirmation when exiting Gnus. If
22311 @code{quiet}, update any active summary buffers automatically without
22312 querying. The default value is @code{t}.
22316 @node Symbolic Prefixes
22317 @section Symbolic Prefixes
22318 @cindex symbolic prefixes
22320 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
22321 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
22322 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
22323 rule of 900 to the current article.
22325 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
22326 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
22327 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
22328 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
22329 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
22330 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
22331 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
22333 @kindex M-i (Summary)
22334 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
22335 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
22336 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
22337 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
22338 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
22339 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
22340 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
22341 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
22343 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
22344 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
22345 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
22347 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
22351 @node Formatting Variables
22352 @section Formatting Variables
22353 @cindex formatting variables
22355 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
22356 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
22357 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
22358 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
22359 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
22362 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
22363 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
22364 lots of percentages everywhere.
22367 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
22368 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
22369 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
22370 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
22371 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
22372 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
22373 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
22374 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
22377 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
22378 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
22379 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
22380 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
22381 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
22382 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
22383 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
22384 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
22386 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
22387 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
22389 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
22390 @findex gnus-update-format
22391 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
22392 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
22393 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
22394 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
22398 @node Formatting Basics
22399 @subsection Formatting Basics
22401 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
22402 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
22403 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
22405 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
22406 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
22407 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
22408 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
22409 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
22412 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
22413 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
22414 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
22415 less than 4 characters wide.
22417 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
22418 @samp{%&user-date;}.
22421 @node Mode Line Formatting
22422 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
22424 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
22425 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
22426 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
22427 with the following two differences:
22432 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
22435 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
22436 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
22437 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
22438 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
22439 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
22440 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
22441 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
22446 @node Advanced Formatting
22447 @subsection Advanced Formatting
22449 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
22450 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
22451 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
22452 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
22454 These are the valid modifiers:
22459 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
22463 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
22468 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
22471 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
22476 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
22479 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
22482 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
22485 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
22491 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
22496 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
22497 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
22498 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
22499 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
22500 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
22501 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
22502 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
22504 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
22505 last operation, padding.
22508 @node User-Defined Specs
22509 @subsection User-Defined Specs
22511 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
22512 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
22513 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
22514 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
22515 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
22516 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
22517 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
22518 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
22519 should protect against that.
22521 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
22522 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
22524 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
22525 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
22526 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
22527 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
22531 @node Formatting Fonts
22532 @subsection Formatting Fonts
22535 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22536 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
22537 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
22538 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
22539 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
22543 @vindex gnus-face-0
22544 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
22545 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
22546 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
22547 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
22548 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
22549 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
22551 @cindex %<<, %>>, guillemets
22552 @c @cindex %<<, %>>, %«, %», guillemets
22553 @vindex gnus-balloon-face-0
22554 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
22555 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
22556 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
22557 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
22558 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
22559 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
22560 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
22561 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
22562 (in Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
22563 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
22564 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
22567 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
22570 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
22571 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
22572 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
22574 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
22575 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
22576 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
22577 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
22578 ;; @r{Set the color.}
22579 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
22580 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
22582 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
22583 (setq gnus-group-line-format
22584 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
22587 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
22588 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
22590 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
22591 mode-line variables.
22593 @node Positioning Point
22594 @subsection Positioning Point
22596 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
22597 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
22598 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
22600 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
22602 @findex gnus-goto-colon
22603 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
22604 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
22606 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
22607 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
22608 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
22613 @subsection Tabulation
22615 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
22616 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
22617 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
22618 about lining up the following text afterwards.
22620 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
22621 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
22623 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22624 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
22625 This is the soft tabulator.
22627 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22628 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
22629 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
22632 @node Wide Characters
22633 @subsection Wide Characters
22635 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
22636 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
22637 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
22639 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
22640 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
22641 these countries, that's not true.
22643 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
22644 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
22645 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
22646 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
22650 @node Window Layout
22651 @section Window Layout
22652 @cindex window layout
22654 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
22656 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
22657 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
22658 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
22659 @code{t} by default.
22661 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
22662 glitches. Use at your own peril.
22664 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
22665 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
22666 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
22669 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)))
22670 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22674 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
22675 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
22676 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
22677 possible names is listed below.
22679 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
22680 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example:
22683 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22687 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
22688 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
22689 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
22690 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
22691 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
22692 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
22693 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
22694 size spec per split.
22696 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
22697 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
22698 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e., is the third or
22699 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
22700 present) gets focus.
22702 Here's a more complicated example:
22705 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
22706 (summary 0.25 point)
22710 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
22711 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
22712 occupy, not a percentage.
22714 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
22715 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
22716 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
22717 be used as a split.
22719 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
22722 (article (horizontal 1.0
22726 (summary 0.25 point)
22730 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
22731 @code{horizontal} thingie?
22733 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
22734 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
22735 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
22736 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
22737 the screen is to be given to this strip.
22739 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
22740 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
22741 lines from the splits.
22743 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
22748 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
22749 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
22750 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
22751 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
22752 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
22753 size = number | frame-params
22754 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
22758 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
22759 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
22760 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
22761 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
22763 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
22764 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
22765 @cindex window height
22766 @cindex window width
22767 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
22768 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
22769 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
22770 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
22771 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
22772 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
22774 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
22775 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
22776 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
22777 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
22779 @findex gnus-configure-frame
22780 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
22781 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
22782 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
22783 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
22784 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
22785 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
22786 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
22787 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
22788 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
22789 configuration list.
22792 (gnus-configure-frame
22796 (article 0.3 point))
22804 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
22805 @code{frame} split:
22808 (gnus-configure-frame
22811 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
22813 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
22814 (user-position . t)
22815 (left . -1) (top . 1))
22820 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
22821 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
22822 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
22823 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
22824 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
22825 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
22826 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
22827 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
22829 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
22830 be found in its default value.
22832 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
22833 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
22834 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
22838 (message (horizontal 1.0
22839 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
22841 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
22846 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
22847 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
22848 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
22853 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
22854 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
22855 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
22856 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
22857 (name . "Message"))
22858 (message 1.0 point))))
22861 @findex gnus-add-configuration
22862 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
22863 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
22864 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
22865 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
22868 (gnus-add-configuration
22869 '(article (vertical 1.0
22871 (summary .25 point)
22875 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
22876 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
22877 Gnus has been loaded.
22879 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
22880 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
22881 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
22882 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
22883 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
22885 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
22886 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
22887 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
22890 @subsection Window Configuration Names
22892 Here's a list of most of the currently known window configurations,
22893 and when they're used:
22900 Entering a group and showing only the summary.
22903 Selecting an article.
22909 Browsing groups from the server buffer.
22912 Composing a (new) message.
22915 Showing only the article buffer.
22918 Editing an article.
22921 Editing group parameters and the like.
22924 Editing a server definition.
22927 Composing a news message.
22930 Replying or following up an article without yanking the text.
22933 Forwarding a message.
22936 Replying or following up an article with yanking the text.
22939 Bouncing a message.
22942 Sending an article to an external process.
22945 Sending a bug report.
22948 Displaying the score trace.
22951 Displaying the score words.
22954 Displaying the split trace.
22956 @item compose-bounce
22957 Composing a bounce message.
22960 Previewing a @acronym{MIME} part.
22965 @subsection Example Window Configurations
22969 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
22970 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
22985 (gnus-add-configuration
22988 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22990 (summary 0.16 point)
22993 (gnus-add-configuration
22996 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22997 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
23003 @node Faces and Fonts
23004 @section Faces and Fonts
23009 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
23010 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
23011 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
23016 @section Mode Lines
23019 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
23020 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
23021 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
23022 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
23023 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
23024 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
23025 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
23028 @cindex display-time
23030 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
23031 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
23032 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
23033 to display (e.g., the subject of the article) is often longer than the
23034 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
23035 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
23036 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
23037 additional elements on the mode line (e.g., a clock), you should modify
23040 @c Hook written by Francesco Potortì <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
23042 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
23043 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
23045 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
23046 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
23047 (length display-time-string)))))
23050 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
23051 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
23052 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
23053 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
23054 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
23057 @node Highlighting and Menus
23058 @section Highlighting and Menus
23060 @cindex highlighting
23063 @vindex gnus-visual
23064 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
23065 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
23066 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
23069 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
23070 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
23073 @item group-highlight
23074 Do highlights in the group buffer.
23075 @item summary-highlight
23076 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
23077 @item article-highlight
23078 Do highlights in the article buffer.
23080 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
23082 Create menus in the group buffer.
23084 Create menus in the summary buffers.
23086 Create menus in the article buffer.
23088 Create menus in the browse buffer.
23090 Create menus in the server buffer.
23092 Create menus in the score buffers.
23094 Create menus in all buffers.
23097 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
23098 buffers, you could say something like:
23101 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
23104 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
23107 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
23110 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
23111 in all Gnus buffers.
23113 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
23116 @item gnus-mouse-face
23117 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
23118 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
23119 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
23123 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
23127 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
23128 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
23129 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
23131 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
23132 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
23133 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
23135 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
23136 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
23137 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
23139 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
23140 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
23141 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
23143 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
23144 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
23145 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
23147 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
23148 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
23149 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
23159 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
23160 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
23161 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
23162 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
23163 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
23165 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
23166 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
23167 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
23169 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
23170 been idle for thirty minutes:
23173 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
23176 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
23180 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
23183 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
23184 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
23185 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23187 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
23188 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
23189 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
23190 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23192 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
23193 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
23194 @var{idle} minutes.
23196 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
23197 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
23200 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
23201 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
23202 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
23204 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
23205 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
23206 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
23207 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
23209 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
23210 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23212 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
23214 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
23217 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
23218 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
23219 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
23220 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
23221 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
23222 @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
23223 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
23224 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
23225 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
23226 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
23228 @findex gnus-demon-init
23229 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
23230 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
23231 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
23232 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
23233 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
23235 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
23236 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
23237 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
23245 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
23246 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
23247 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
23249 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
23250 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
23251 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
23252 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
23253 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
23254 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
23255 @code{undo} function.
23257 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
23258 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
23259 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
23260 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
23261 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
23262 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
23263 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
23264 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
23265 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
23266 never be totally undoable.
23268 @findex gnus-undo-mode
23269 @vindex gnus-use-undo
23271 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
23272 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
23273 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
23274 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
23278 @node Predicate Specifiers
23279 @section Predicate Specifiers
23280 @cindex predicate specifiers
23282 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
23283 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
23284 to type all that much.
23286 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
23291 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
23292 gnus-article-unread-p)
23295 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
23296 functions all take one parameter.
23298 @findex gnus-make-predicate
23299 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
23300 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
23301 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
23306 @section Moderation
23309 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
23310 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
23311 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
23314 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
23318 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
23321 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
23323 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
23328 You split your incoming mail by matching on
23329 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
23330 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
23333 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
23334 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
23337 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
23338 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
23342 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
23345 (setq gnus-moderated-list
23346 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
23350 @node Fetching a Group
23351 @section Fetching a Group
23352 @cindex fetching a group
23354 @findex gnus-fetch-group
23355 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
23356 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
23357 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
23358 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
23359 It takes the group name as a parameter.
23362 @node Image Enhancements
23363 @section Image Enhancements
23365 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
23366 support images, Emacs 22 does.} and up, are able to display pictures and
23367 stuff, so Gnus has taken advantage of that.
23370 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
23371 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
23372 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
23373 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
23374 * Gravatars:: Display the avatar of people you read.
23375 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
23383 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
23384 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
23385 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
23389 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
23390 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
23391 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
23399 Viewing an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
23400 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions have), or that you
23401 have suitable conversion or display programs installed. If your Emacs
23402 has image support the default action is to display the face before the
23403 @code{From} header. If there's no native @code{X-Face} support, Gnus
23404 will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using external programs
23405 from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends, see below. For XEmacs it's
23406 faster if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support. The
23407 default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
23408 @code{display} program.
23410 On a GNU/Linux system, the @code{display} program is included in the
23411 ImageMagick package. For external conversion programs look for packages
23412 with names like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.
23413 On Windows, you may use the packages @code{netpbm} and @code{compface}
23414 from @url{http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net}. You need to add the
23415 @code{bin} directory to your @code{PATH} environment variable.
23416 @c In fact only the following DLLs and binaries seem to be required:
23417 @c compface1.dll uncompface.exe libnetpbm10.dll icontopbm.exe
23419 The variable @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} controls which programs
23420 are used to display the @code{X-Face} header. If this variable is a
23421 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
23422 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
23423 If @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches the
23424 @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
23426 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
23434 @vindex gnus-x-face
23435 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
23436 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
23437 default colors are black and white.
23439 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
23440 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
23441 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
23442 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
23443 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
23444 XEmacs. Here are examples:
23447 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
23448 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23449 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
23450 (png . (:ascent 80))))
23452 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
23453 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23454 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
23455 (png . (:relief -2))))
23458 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
23459 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
23460 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
23461 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
23462 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
23463 @samp{libcompface} library.
23466 If you use posting styles, you can use an @code{x-face-file} entry in
23467 @code{gnus-posting-styles}, @xref{Posting Styles}. If you don't, Gnus
23468 provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow easier
23469 insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages. You also need the
23470 above mentioned ImageMagick, netpbm or other image conversion packages
23471 (depending the values of the variables below) for these functions.
23473 @findex gnus-random-x-face
23474 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
23475 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
23476 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
23477 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
23478 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
23479 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
23480 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
23481 header data as a string.
23483 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
23484 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
23485 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
23486 randomly generated data.
23488 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
23489 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
23490 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
23491 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
23492 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
23494 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
23495 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23498 (setq message-required-news-headers
23499 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23500 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
23503 Using the last function would be something like this:
23506 (setq message-required-news-headers
23507 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23508 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
23509 (gnus-x-face-from-file
23510 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
23518 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces' implementations should really be harmonized.
23520 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
23521 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
23522 represent the author of the message.
23525 @findex gnus-article-display-face
23526 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
23527 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
23530 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
23531 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
23533 Viewing a @code{Face} header requires an Emacs that is able to display
23536 @c (if (featurep 'xemacs)
23538 @c (image-type-available-p 'png))
23540 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
23541 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
23543 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
23544 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
23545 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
23547 @findex gnus-face-from-file
23548 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
23549 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
23550 converts the file to Face format by using the
23551 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
23553 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
23554 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23557 (setq message-required-news-headers
23558 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23559 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
23560 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
23565 @subsection Smileys
23570 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
23575 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
23576 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
23578 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
23579 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23582 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
23585 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
23586 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
23587 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
23588 text and maps that to file names.
23590 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
23591 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
23592 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
23593 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
23594 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
23597 The following variables customize the appearance of the smileys:
23602 @vindex smiley-style
23603 Specifies the smiley style. Predefined smiley styles include
23604 @code{low-color} (small 13x14 pixel, three-color images), @code{medium}
23605 (more colorful images, 16x16 pixel), and @code{grayscale} (grayscale
23606 images, 14x14 pixel). The default depends on the height of the default
23609 @item smiley-data-directory
23610 @vindex smiley-data-directory
23611 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files. You shouldn't set this
23612 variable anymore. Customize @code{smiley-style} instead.
23614 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
23615 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
23616 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
23630 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
23631 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
23632 over your shoulder as you read news.
23634 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
23643 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
23644 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
23645 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
23646 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
23647 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
23648 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
23649 @code{GIF} formats.
23652 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23653 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
23654 point your Web browser at
23655 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
23657 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
23658 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
23660 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
23661 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
23664 @vindex gnus-picon-style
23665 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
23666 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
23667 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
23669 @vindex gnus-picon-properties
23670 The value of the variable @code{gnus-picon-properties} is a list of
23671 properties applied to picons.
23673 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
23677 @item gnus-picon-databases
23678 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23679 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
23680 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
23681 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
23682 "/usr/local/faces")}.
23684 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
23685 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
23686 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23687 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
23689 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
23690 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
23691 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
23692 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
23694 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
23695 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
23696 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23697 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
23698 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
23700 @item gnus-picon-file-types
23701 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
23702 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
23703 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
23705 @item gnus-picon-inhibit-top-level-domains
23706 @vindex gnus-picon-inhibit-top-level-domains
23707 If non-@code{nil} (which is the default), don't display picons for
23708 things like @samp{.net} and @samp{.de}, which aren't usually very
23714 @subsection Gravatars
23718 \include{gravatars}
23722 A gravatar is an image registered to an e-mail address.
23724 You can submit yours on-line at @uref{http://www.gravatar.com}.
23726 The following variables offer control over how things are displayed.
23730 @item gnus-gravatar-size
23731 @vindex gnus-gravatar-size
23732 The size in pixels of gravatars. Gravatars are always square, so one
23733 number for the size is enough.
23735 @item gnus-gravatar-properties
23736 @vindex gnus-gravatar-properties
23737 List of image properties applied to Gravatar images.
23739 @item gnus-gravatar-too-ugly
23740 @vindex gnus-gravatar-too-ugly
23741 Regexp that matches mail addresses or names of people of which avatars
23742 should not be displayed, or @code{nil}. It default to the value of
23743 @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (@pxref{X-Face}).
23747 If you want to see them in the From field, set:
23749 (setq gnus-treat-from-gravatar 'head)
23752 If you want to see them in the Cc and To fields, set:
23755 (setq gnus-treat-mail-gravatar 'head)
23760 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
23763 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23764 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23765 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
23766 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
23767 unusual directory structure.
23769 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23770 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23771 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
23776 @subsubsection Toolbar
23780 @item gnus-use-toolbar
23781 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
23782 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
23783 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-@code{nil}, it should
23784 be one of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom},
23785 @code{right}, and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default
23786 toolbar, the rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those
23787 names show. The default is @code{default}.
23789 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
23790 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
23791 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
23792 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
23793 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
23794 The default is that of the default toolbar.
23796 @item gnus-group-toolbar
23797 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
23798 The toolbar in the group buffer.
23800 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
23801 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
23802 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
23804 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23805 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23806 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
23817 @node Fuzzy Matching
23818 @section Fuzzy Matching
23819 @cindex fuzzy matching
23821 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
23822 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
23824 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
23825 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
23826 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
23828 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
23829 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
23830 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
23831 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
23832 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
23835 @node Thwarting Email Spam
23836 @section Thwarting Email Spam
23840 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23842 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
23843 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
23844 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
23845 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
23846 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
23847 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
23848 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
23849 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
23852 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
23853 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
23854 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
23855 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
23856 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
23857 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
23859 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
23862 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
23863 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
23864 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
23865 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
23868 @node The problem of spam
23869 @subsection The problem of spam
23871 @cindex spam filtering approaches
23872 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
23874 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23876 First, some background on spam.
23878 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
23879 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
23880 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
23881 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
23882 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
23883 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
23884 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
23885 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
23886 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
23888 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
23889 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
23890 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
23891 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
23892 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
23893 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
23894 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
23895 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
23896 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
23899 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
23900 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
23901 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
23902 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
23903 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
23904 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
23905 from Bulgarian IPs.
23907 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
23908 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
23909 etc.)@: or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.)@: from contacting
23910 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
23912 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
23913 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
23914 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
23915 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
23917 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
23918 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
23919 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
23920 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
23921 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
23922 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
23923 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
23924 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
23925 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
23927 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
23928 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
23929 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
23930 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
23931 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
23932 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
23933 down for some time because of the incident.
23935 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
23936 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
23937 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
23938 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
23939 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
23940 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
23941 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
23942 to store the database of spam analysis. Statistical analysis on the
23943 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
23944 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
23945 the server that it has misclassified mail.
23947 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
23948 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
23949 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
23950 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
23951 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
23952 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
23953 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
23956 @node Anti-Spam Basics
23957 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
23961 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23963 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
23964 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
23966 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
23967 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
23968 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
23969 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
23970 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
23971 part of the mail address.)
23974 (setq message-default-news-headers
23975 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
23978 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23979 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23983 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
23984 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
23985 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
23990 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
23991 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
23992 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
23993 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
23995 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
23996 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
23997 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
23998 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
23999 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
24000 your fancy split rule in this way:
24005 (to "larsi" "misc")
24009 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
24010 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
24011 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
24012 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
24013 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
24015 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
24016 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
24017 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
24018 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
24020 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
24024 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
24025 @cindex SpamAssassin
24026 @cindex Vipul's Razor
24029 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
24030 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
24031 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
24032 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
24033 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
24034 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
24035 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
24037 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
24038 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
24039 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
24042 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
24043 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
24044 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
24045 Specifiers}) follow.
24049 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
24053 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
24056 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
24057 the mail contain, e.g., a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
24058 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
24061 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
24065 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
24068 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
24069 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
24073 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
24074 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
24075 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
24076 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
24079 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
24081 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
24085 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
24086 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
24090 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
24091 downloaded by default. You need to set
24092 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
24093 (@pxref{Client-Side IMAP Splitting}).
24095 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
24096 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
24097 spam. And here is the nifty function:
24100 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
24101 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
24103 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d" t)
24104 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
24108 @subsection Hashcash
24111 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
24112 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
24113 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
24114 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
24115 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
24117 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
24118 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
24119 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
24120 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
24121 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
24122 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
24123 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
24124 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
24125 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
24126 one of them separately.
24129 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
24130 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
24131 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
24132 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
24133 need to install to use this feature, see
24134 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
24135 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
24137 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
24138 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
24139 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
24142 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
24145 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
24149 @item hashcash-default-payment
24150 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
24151 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
24152 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
24155 @item hashcash-payment-alist
24156 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
24157 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
24158 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
24159 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
24160 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
24161 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
24162 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
24163 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
24165 @item hashcash-path
24166 @vindex hashcash-path
24167 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
24168 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
24169 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
24170 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
24171 when you generate hashcash payments.
24175 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
24176 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
24177 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
24178 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
24179 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
24180 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
24181 Hashcash Payments}).
24184 @section Spam Package
24185 @cindex spam filtering
24188 The Spam package provides Gnus with a centralized mechanism for
24189 detecting and filtering spam. It filters new mail, and processes
24190 messages according to whether they are spam or ham. (@dfn{Ham} is the
24191 name used throughout this manual to indicate non-spam messages.)
24194 * Spam Package Introduction::
24195 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
24196 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
24197 * Spam and Ham Processors::
24198 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
24200 * Extending the Spam package::
24201 * Spam Statistics Package::
24204 @node Spam Package Introduction
24205 @subsection Spam Package Introduction
24206 @cindex spam filtering
24207 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
24210 You must read this section to understand how the Spam package works.
24211 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
24213 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
24214 events. See @xref{Extending the Spam package}.
24216 @cindex spam-initialize
24217 @vindex spam-use-stat
24218 To use the Spam package, you @strong{must} first run the function
24219 @code{spam-initialize}:
24225 This autoloads @code{spam.el} and installs the various hooks necessary
24226 to let the Spam package do its job. In order to make use of the Spam
24227 package, you have to set up certain group parameters and variables,
24228 which we will describe below. All of the variables controlling the
24229 Spam package can be found in the @samp{spam} customization group.
24231 There are two ``contact points'' between the Spam package and the rest
24232 of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and leaving a group.
24234 Checking new mail for spam is done in one of two ways: while splitting
24235 incoming mail, or when you enter a group.
24237 The first way, checking for spam while splitting incoming mail, is
24238 suited to mail back ends such as @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap}, where
24239 new mail appears in a single spool file. The Spam package processes
24240 incoming mail, and sends mail considered to be spam to a designated
24241 ``spam'' group. @xref{Filtering Incoming Mail}.
24243 The second way is suited to back ends such as @code{nntp}, which have
24244 no incoming mail spool, or back ends where the server is in charge of
24245 splitting incoming mail. In this case, when you enter a Gnus group,
24246 the unseen or unread messages in that group are checked for spam.
24247 Detected spam messages are marked as spam. @xref{Detecting Spam in
24250 @cindex spam back ends
24251 In either case, you have to tell the Spam package what method to use
24252 to detect spam messages. There are several methods, or @dfn{spam back
24253 ends} (not to be confused with Gnus back ends!) to choose from: spam
24254 ``blacklists'' and ``whitelists'', dictionary-based filters, and so
24255 forth. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24257 In the Gnus summary buffer, messages that have been identified as spam
24258 always appear with a @samp{$} symbol.
24260 The Spam package divides Gnus groups into three categories: ham
24261 groups, spam groups, and unclassified groups. You should mark each of
24262 the groups you subscribe to as either a ham group or a spam group,
24263 using the @code{spam-contents} group parameter (@pxref{Group
24264 Parameters}). Spam groups have a special property: when you enter a
24265 spam group, all unseen articles are marked as spam. Thus, mail split
24266 into a spam group is automatically marked as spam.
24268 Identifying spam messages is only half of the Spam package's job. The
24269 second half comes into play whenever you exit a group buffer. At this
24270 point, the Spam package does several things:
24272 First, it calls @dfn{spam and ham processors} to process the articles
24273 according to whether they are spam or ham. There is a pair of spam
24274 and ham processors associated with each spam back end, and what the
24275 processors do depends on the back end. At present, the main role of
24276 spam and ham processors is for dictionary-based spam filters: they add
24277 the contents of the messages in the group to the filter's dictionary,
24278 to improve its ability to detect future spam. The @code{spam-process}
24279 group parameter specifies what spam processors to use. @xref{Spam and
24282 If the spam filter failed to mark a spam message, you can mark it
24283 yourself, so that the message is processed as spam when you exit the
24291 @kindex $ (Summary)
24292 @kindex M-d (Summary)
24293 @kindex S x (Summary)
24294 @kindex M s x (Summary)
24295 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24296 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24297 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark
24298 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}).
24302 Similarly, you can unmark an article if it has been erroneously marked
24303 as spam. @xref{Setting Marks}.
24305 Normally, a ham message found in a non-ham group is not processed as
24306 ham---the rationale is that it should be moved into a ham group for
24307 further processing (see below). However, you can force these articles
24308 to be processed as ham by setting
24309 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
24310 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups}.
24312 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24313 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24314 The second thing that the Spam package does when you exit a group is
24315 to move ham articles out of spam groups, and spam articles out of ham
24316 groups. Ham in a spam group is moved to the group specified by the
24317 variable @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}, or the group parameter
24318 @code{ham-process-destination}. Spam in a ham group is moved to the
24319 group specified by the variable @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations},
24320 or the group parameter @code{spam-process-destination}. If these
24321 variables are not set, the articles are left in their current group.
24322 If an article cannot be moved (e.g., with a read-only backend such
24323 as @acronym{NNTP}), it is copied.
24325 If an article is moved to another group, it is processed again when
24326 you visit the new group. Normally, this is not a problem, but if you
24327 want each article to be processed only once, load the
24328 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and set the variable
24329 @code{spam-log-to-registry} to @code{t}. @xref{Spam Package
24330 Configuration Examples}.
24332 Normally, spam groups ignore @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations}.
24333 However, if you set @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only} to
24334 @code{nil}, spam will also be moved out of spam groups, depending on
24335 the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter.
24337 The final thing the Spam package does is to mark spam articles as
24338 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
24340 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
24341 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
24342 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
24344 @node Filtering Incoming Mail
24345 @subsection Filtering Incoming Mail
24346 @cindex spam filtering
24347 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
24350 To use the Spam package to filter incoming mail, you must first set up
24351 fancy mail splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}. The Spam package
24352 defines a special splitting function that you can add to your fancy
24353 split variable (either @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
24354 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on your mail back end):
24360 @vindex spam-split-group
24362 The @code{spam-split} function scans incoming mail according to your
24363 chosen spam back end(s), and sends messages identified as spam to a
24364 spam group. By default, the spam group is a group named @samp{spam},
24365 but you can change this by customizing @code{spam-split-group}. Make
24366 sure the contents of @code{spam-split-group} are an unqualified group
24367 name. For instance, in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server},
24368 the value @samp{spam} means @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The value
24369 @samp{nnimap+server:spam} is therefore wrong---it gives the group
24370 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam}.
24372 @code{spam-split} does not modify the contents of messages in any way.
24374 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
24375 Note for IMAP users: if you use the @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
24376 @code{spam-check-ifile}, and @code{spam-check-stat} spam back ends,
24377 you should also set the variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to
24378 @code{t}. These spam back ends are most useful when they can ``scan''
24379 the full message body. By default, the nnimap back end only retrieves
24380 the message headers; @code{nnimap-split-download-body} tells it to
24381 retrieve the message bodies as well. We don't set this by default
24382 because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and that is not an
24383 appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user. @xref{Client-Side
24386 You have to specify one or more spam back ends for @code{spam-split}
24387 to use, by setting the @code{spam-use-*} variables. @xref{Spam Back
24388 Ends}. Normally, @code{spam-split} simply uses all the spam back ends
24389 you enabled in this way. However, you can tell @code{spam-split} to
24390 use only some of them. Why this is useful? Suppose you are using the
24391 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and @code{spam-use-blackholes} spam back
24392 ends, and the following split rule:
24395 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24396 (any "ding" "ding")
24398 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24403 The problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the ding
24404 folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam detected by
24405 SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through, when it's
24406 sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to the ding
24407 list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the invocation
24408 of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
24410 The solution is to let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, and
24411 perform the other @code{spam-split} rules (including a second
24412 invocation of the regex-headers check) after the ding rule. This is
24413 done by passing a parameter to @code{spam-split}:
24418 ;; @r{spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
24419 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24420 (any "ding" "ding")
24421 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
24423 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24428 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
24429 your particular needs, and target the results of those checks to a
24430 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
24431 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
24432 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
24433 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
24434 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
24436 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24437 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24438 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24439 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24441 @c @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
24442 @c statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
24445 @node Detecting Spam in Groups
24446 @subsection Detecting Spam in Groups
24448 To detect spam when visiting a group, set the group's
24449 @code{spam-autodetect} and @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group
24450 parameters. These are accessible with @kbd{G c} or @kbd{G p}, as
24451 usual (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24453 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24454 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24455 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24456 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
24458 By default, only unseen articles are processed for spam. You can
24459 force Gnus to recheck all messages in the group by setting the
24460 variable @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages} to @code{t}.
24462 If you use the @code{spam-autodetect} method of checking for spam, you
24463 can specify different spam detection methods for different groups.
24464 For instance, the @samp{ding} group may have @code{spam-use-BBDB} as
24465 the autodetection method, while the @samp{suspect} group may have the
24466 @code{spam-use-blacklist} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods
24467 enabled. Unlike with @code{spam-split}, you don't have any control
24468 over the @emph{sequence} of checks, but this is probably unimportant.
24470 @node Spam and Ham Processors
24471 @subsection Spam and Ham Processors
24472 @cindex spam filtering
24473 @cindex spam filtering variables
24474 @cindex spam variables
24477 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
24478 Spam and ham processors specify special actions to take when you exit
24479 a group buffer. Spam processors act on spam messages, and ham
24480 processors on ham messages. At present, the main role of these
24481 processors is to update the dictionaries of dictionary-based spam back
24482 ends such as Bogofilter (@pxref{Bogofilter}) and the Spam Statistics
24483 package (@pxref{Spam Statistics Filtering}).
24485 The spam and ham processors that apply to each group are determined by
24486 the group's@code{spam-process} group parameter. If this group
24487 parameter is not defined, they are determined by the variable
24488 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups}.
24490 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24491 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
24492 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
24493 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
24494 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
24495 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
24496 by customizing the corresponding variable
24497 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
24498 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
24499 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
24500 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
24501 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
24502 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
24503 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
24506 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
24508 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
24509 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
24510 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
24511 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
24512 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
24513 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
24514 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
24515 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
24516 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
24517 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
24518 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
24519 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
24520 processor which will study them as spam samples.
24522 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
24523 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
24524 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
24525 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
24526 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
24527 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
24528 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
24529 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
24532 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24533 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
24534 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
24535 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
24536 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
24537 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
24538 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
24543 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24544 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
24545 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
24546 you really want to.
24549 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
24550 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
24551 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
24552 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
24553 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
24554 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
24557 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24558 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
24559 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
24560 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
24561 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
24562 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
24563 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
24564 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
24565 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
24566 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
24567 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
24568 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
24569 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
24570 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
24571 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
24573 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24574 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24576 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24577 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
24578 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
24580 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
24581 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
24583 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
24584 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
24585 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
24586 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
24587 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
24589 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
24590 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
24591 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
24592 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
24593 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
24596 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24597 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
24598 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
24599 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
24600 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
24601 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
24602 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
24603 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
24604 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
24605 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
24606 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
24607 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
24608 group buffer then you need it here as well.
24610 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24611 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24613 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24614 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
24617 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
24618 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
24619 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
24620 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
24621 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
24622 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
24623 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
24625 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
24626 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
24627 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
24628 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
24630 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
24631 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
24632 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
24633 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
24634 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
24635 from the mail server.
24637 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
24638 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
24639 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
24640 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
24642 @node Spam Package Configuration Examples
24643 @subsection Spam Package Configuration Examples
24644 @cindex spam filtering
24645 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
24646 @cindex spam configuration examples
24649 @subsubheading Ted's setup
24651 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
24653 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
24654 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
24655 (gnus-registry-initialize)
24659 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
24661 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
24662 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
24663 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24664 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24665 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
24666 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
24667 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
24668 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
24669 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
24670 ;; @r{for nnimap you'll probably want to set nnimap-split-methods, see the manual}
24671 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24672 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
24673 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
24674 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
24675 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24676 (any "ding" "ding")
24677 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
24679 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24682 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
24684 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
24685 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
24686 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
24687 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
24689 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24691 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
24692 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
24693 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
24694 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
24695 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24697 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
24698 ((spam-autodetect . t))
24700 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
24702 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
24703 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
24705 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
24706 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
24707 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
24709 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
24711 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
24712 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
24714 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
24715 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
24716 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
24718 (gnus-ticked-mark))
24719 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
24720 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
24721 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
24723 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
24724 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
24725 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
24729 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
24730 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24732 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
24733 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
24734 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
24735 i.e., to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
24736 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
24737 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
24738 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
24739 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
24740 @samp{training.spam} folders.
24742 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
24743 does most of the job for me:
24746 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
24747 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
24748 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
24749 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24750 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
24751 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
24752 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
24757 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
24759 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
24760 (i.e., legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
24761 bogofilter or DCC).
24763 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
24764 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
24765 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark
24766 (@code{ham-marks}, @ref{Spam and Ham Processors}). On group exit,
24767 those messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want
24768 to have the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter)
24769 and deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
24771 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
24772 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
24773 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e., chars) makes finding
24774 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
24775 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
24776 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
24778 @item @b{Ham folders:}
24780 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
24781 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
24782 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
24783 @samp{training.spam}.
24786 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
24788 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24790 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
24791 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
24792 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
24796 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
24799 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
24800 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
24801 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e., the article numbers are
24802 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
24803 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
24805 @node Spam Back Ends
24806 @subsection Spam Back Ends
24807 @cindex spam back ends
24809 The spam package offers a variety of back ends for detecting spam.
24810 Each back end defines a set of methods for detecting spam
24811 (@pxref{Filtering Incoming Mail}, @pxref{Detecting Spam in Groups}),
24812 and a pair of spam and ham processors (@pxref{Spam and Ham
24816 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
24817 * BBDB Whitelists::
24818 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
24819 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
24821 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
24823 * SpamAssassin back end::
24824 * ifile spam filtering::
24825 * Spam Statistics Filtering::
24829 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
24830 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
24831 @cindex spam filtering
24832 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
24833 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
24836 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
24838 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
24839 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
24840 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
24841 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
24846 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
24848 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
24849 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
24850 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24851 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
24852 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24856 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
24858 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
24859 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24860 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
24864 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
24866 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24867 customizing the group parameters or the
24868 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24869 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24870 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
24874 Instead of the obsolete
24875 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
24876 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
24877 the same way, we promise.
24881 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
24883 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24884 customizing the group parameters or the
24885 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24886 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24887 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24892 Instead of the obsolete
24893 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
24894 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
24895 the same way, we promise.
24899 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
24900 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
24901 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
24902 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
24903 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
24905 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
24906 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
24907 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
24908 Emacs regular expression syntax.
24910 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
24911 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
24912 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
24913 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
24914 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
24915 @file{blacklist} respectively.
24917 @node BBDB Whitelists
24918 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
24919 @cindex spam filtering
24920 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
24921 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
24924 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
24926 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24927 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
24928 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
24929 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
24930 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24931 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
24932 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24936 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
24938 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
24939 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24940 unless the sender is in the BBDB@. Use with care. Only sender
24941 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
24942 classified as spammers.
24944 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
24945 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
24946 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
24947 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to @code{t}, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
24952 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
24954 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24955 customizing the group parameters or the
24956 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24957 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24958 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24963 Instead of the obsolete
24964 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
24965 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
24966 the same way, we promise.
24970 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
24971 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
24972 @cindex spam reporting
24973 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24974 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24977 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
24979 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24980 customizing the group parameters or the
24981 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24982 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
24983 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
24986 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
24990 Instead of the obsolete
24991 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
24992 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
24993 same way, we promise.
24997 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
24999 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
25000 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
25001 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
25002 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
25003 @code{spam-report.el} will fetch the number from the article headers.
25007 @defvar spam-report-user-mail-address
25009 Mail address exposed in the User-Agent spam reports to Gmane. It allows
25010 the Gmane administrators to contact you in case of misreports. The
25011 default is @code{user-mail-address}.
25015 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25016 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25017 @cindex spam filtering
25018 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
25021 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
25023 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
25024 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
25025 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
25026 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
25027 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
25028 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25033 @subsubsection Blackholes
25034 @cindex spam filtering
25035 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
25038 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
25040 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
25041 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
25042 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
25043 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
25044 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
25045 contains outdated servers.
25047 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
25048 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
25049 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
25050 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
25051 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
25052 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
25056 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
25058 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
25062 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
25064 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
25065 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
25069 @defvar spam-use-dig
25071 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
25072 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
25076 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
25077 ham processor for blackholes.
25079 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
25080 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
25081 @cindex spam filtering
25082 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
25085 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
25087 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
25088 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
25089 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
25090 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
25091 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
25092 message is spam or ham, respectively.
25096 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
25098 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25099 the message, positively identify it as spam.
25103 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
25105 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25106 the message, positively identify it as ham.
25110 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
25111 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
25114 @subsubsection Bogofilter
25115 @cindex spam filtering
25116 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
25119 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
25121 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25124 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
25125 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
25126 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
25127 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
25128 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
25129 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
25131 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
25132 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
25135 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
25136 processing will be turned off.
25138 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
25147 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
25148 Get the Bogofilter spamicity score (@code{spam-bogofilter-score}).
25151 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
25153 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25154 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
25155 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
25156 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
25157 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
25158 installation documents for details.
25160 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
25164 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
25165 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25166 customizing the group parameters or the
25167 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25168 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
25169 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
25173 Instead of the obsolete
25174 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25175 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25176 the same way, we promise.
25179 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
25180 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25181 customizing the group parameters or the
25182 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25183 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25184 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
25185 of non-spam messages.
25189 Instead of the obsolete
25190 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25191 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25192 the same way, we promise.
25195 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
25197 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
25198 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
25199 database directory.
25203 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
25204 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25205 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
25206 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
25207 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
25208 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
25210 @node SpamAssassin back end
25211 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
25212 @cindex spam filtering
25213 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
25216 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
25218 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
25220 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
25221 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
25222 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
25223 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
25226 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
25227 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
25228 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
25229 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
25232 You should not enable this if you use
25233 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
25237 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
25239 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
25240 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
25242 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
25246 @defvar spam-spamassassin-program
25248 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
25249 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
25250 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
25251 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
25255 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
25256 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
25257 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
25258 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
25259 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
25260 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
25261 to test this functionality.
25263 @node ifile spam filtering
25264 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
25265 @cindex spam filtering
25266 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
25269 @defvar spam-use-ifile
25271 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
25272 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
25276 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
25278 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
25279 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
25280 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
25284 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
25286 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
25287 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
25288 the default value of @samp{spam}.
25291 @defvar spam-ifile-database
25293 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
25294 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
25298 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
25299 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25300 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
25301 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
25304 @node Spam Statistics Filtering
25305 @subsubsection Spam Statistics Filtering
25306 @cindex spam filtering
25307 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
25311 This back end uses the Spam Statistics Emacs Lisp package to perform
25312 statistics-based filtering (@pxref{Spam Statistics Package}). Before
25313 using this, you may want to perform some additional steps to
25314 initialize your Spam Statistics dictionary. @xref{Creating a
25315 spam-stat dictionary}.
25317 @defvar spam-use-stat
25321 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
25322 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25323 customizing the group parameters or the
25324 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25325 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25326 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
25330 Instead of the obsolete
25331 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25332 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25333 the same way, we promise.
25336 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
25337 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25338 customizing the group parameters or the
25339 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25340 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25341 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
25342 of non-spam messages.
25346 Instead of the obsolete
25347 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25348 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25349 the same way, we promise.
25352 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
25353 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
25354 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
25355 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
25356 @code{spam-split} are provided.
25359 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
25360 @cindex spam filtering
25364 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
25365 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
25366 installed separately.
25368 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
25369 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
25370 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
25371 mail as a spam mail or not.
25373 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
25374 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
25375 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
25377 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Spam Package})
25380 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
25381 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
25382 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
25383 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}. @xref{Spam
25384 Package}. In this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is
25385 filtered using SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be
25386 moved to @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham
25387 messages stay in @samp{INBOX}:
25390 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
25391 spam-split-group "Junk"
25392 ;; @r{for nnimap you'll probably want to set nnimap-split-methods, see the manual}
25393 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
25394 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
25397 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
25398 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
25402 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
25403 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
25404 user's PATH@. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
25408 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
25409 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
25410 store its analysis. This is controlled by the variable
25411 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
25412 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
25413 database to live somewhere special, set
25414 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
25417 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
25418 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
25419 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns
25420 the characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
25421 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
25422 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary
25423 buffer and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using
25424 @file{spam.el}'s spam- and ham-processors, which is much more
25425 convenient. For a detailed description of spam- and ham-processors,
25426 @xref{Spam Package}.
25428 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
25429 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25430 customizing the group parameter or the
25431 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25432 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
25433 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
25437 Instead of the obsolete
25438 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25439 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25440 the same way, we promise.
25443 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
25444 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25445 customizing the group parameter or the
25446 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25447 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
25448 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
25453 Instead of the obsolete
25454 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25455 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25456 the same way, we promise.
25459 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
25460 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
25463 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
25464 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
25465 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
25467 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
25468 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
25469 (e.g., because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
25470 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
25471 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
25472 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
25474 @node Extending the Spam package
25475 @subsection Extending the Spam package
25476 @cindex spam filtering
25477 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
25478 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
25480 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
25481 incoming mail, provide the following:
25489 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
25490 "True if blackbox should be used.")
25493 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
25495 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
25496 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
25497 register/unregister routines as a start, or other register/unregister
25498 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
25499 register/unregister spam and ham.
25504 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
25505 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
25506 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
25507 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
25512 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
25519 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
25520 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
25522 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
25523 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
25524 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
25525 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
25528 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
25529 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
25530 Only applicable to spam groups.")
25532 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
25533 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
25534 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
25543 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
25544 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
25546 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
25547 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
25548 variable customization.
25552 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
25554 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
25555 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
25557 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
25558 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
25564 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
25566 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
25567 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
25568 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
25571 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
25573 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
25574 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
25578 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
25580 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
25581 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
25582 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
25586 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
25588 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
25589 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
25590 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
25593 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
25595 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
25596 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
25600 @code{spam-install-backend}
25602 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
25603 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
25604 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
25607 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
25609 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
25610 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
25611 never install such a back end.
25616 @node Spam Statistics Package
25617 @subsection Spam Statistics Package
25618 @cindex Paul Graham
25619 @cindex Graham, Paul
25620 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
25621 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
25622 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
25624 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
25625 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
25626 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
25627 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
25628 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
25629 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
25630 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
25631 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
25632 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
25635 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
25636 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
25637 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
25638 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
25639 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
25640 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
25641 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
25642 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
25644 The Spam Statistics package adds support to Gnus for this kind of
25645 filtering. It can be used as one of the back ends of the Spam package
25646 (@pxref{Spam Package}), or by itself.
25648 Before using the Spam Statistics package, you need to set it up.
25649 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
25650 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
25651 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
25652 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
25655 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
25656 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
25657 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
25660 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25661 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25663 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
25664 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
25665 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
25666 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
25667 need several hundred emails in both collections.
25669 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
25670 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
25671 per mail. Use the following:
25673 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
25674 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
25675 is treated as one spam mail.
25678 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
25679 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
25680 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
25683 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
25684 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds to
25685 the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
25686 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
25687 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds to the group
25688 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
25690 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
25691 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
25692 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
25693 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
25694 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
25697 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
25698 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
25699 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
25700 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
25703 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
25704 reset the dictionary.
25706 @defun spam-stat-reset
25707 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
25710 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
25711 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
25712 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
25713 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
25714 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
25715 only non-spam mails.
25717 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
25718 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
25719 to update the dictionary incrementally.
25722 @defun spam-stat-save
25723 Save the dictionary.
25726 @defvar spam-stat-file
25727 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
25728 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
25731 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
25732 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
25734 This section describes how to use the Spam statistics
25735 @emph{independently} of the @xref{Spam Package}.
25737 First, add the following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25740 (require 'spam-stat)
25744 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
25747 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
25748 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
25749 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
25750 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
25752 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
25753 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
25754 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
25755 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
25758 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25759 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25763 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
25764 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
25767 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
25768 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
25769 expression are considered potential spam.
25772 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25773 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25774 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25778 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
25779 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
25780 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
25781 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
25782 mails, when creating the dictionary!
25785 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25786 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25787 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25791 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
25792 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
25793 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
25794 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
25795 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
25799 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25800 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
25801 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25802 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25807 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25808 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25810 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
25812 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
25813 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
25814 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25817 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
25818 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
25819 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25822 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
25823 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
25824 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
25825 already been processed as non-spam.
25828 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
25829 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
25830 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
25831 been processed as spam.
25834 @defun spam-stat-save
25835 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
25836 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25839 @defun spam-stat-load
25840 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
25841 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25844 @defun spam-stat-score-word
25845 Return the spam score for a word.
25848 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
25849 Return the spam score for a buffer.
25852 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
25853 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
25854 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
25857 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
25858 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25861 (require 'spam-stat)
25865 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
25868 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25869 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25870 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25871 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25872 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25873 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25874 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25875 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25876 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25877 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25878 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25879 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25880 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25881 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25884 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
25887 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25888 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25889 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25890 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
25891 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25892 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25895 @node The Gnus Registry
25896 @section The Gnus Registry
25901 The Gnus registry is a package that tracks messages by their
25902 Message-ID across all backends. This allows Gnus users to do several
25903 cool things, be the envy of the locals, get free haircuts, and be
25904 experts on world issues. Well, maybe not all of those, but the
25905 features are pretty cool.
25907 Although they will be explained in detail shortly, here's a quick list
25908 of said features in case your attention span is... never mind.
25912 Split messages to their parent
25914 This keeps discussions in the same group. You can use the subject and
25915 the sender in addition to the Message-ID@. Several strategies are
25919 Refer to messages by ID
25921 Commands like @code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article} can take
25922 advantage of the registry to jump to the referred article, regardless
25923 of the group the message is in.
25926 Store custom flags and keywords
25928 The registry can store custom flags and keywords for a message. For
25929 instance, you can mark a message ``To-Do'' this way and the flag will
25930 persist whether the message is in the nnimap, nnml, nnmaildir,
25934 Store arbitrary data
25936 Through a simple ELisp API, the registry can remember any data for a
25937 message. A built-in inverse map, when activated, allows quick lookups
25938 of all messages matching a particular set of criteria.
25942 * Gnus Registry Setup::
25943 * Registry Article Refer Method::
25944 * Fancy splitting to parent::
25945 * Store custom flags and keywords::
25946 * Store arbitrary data::
25949 @node Gnus Registry Setup
25950 @subsection Gnus Registry Setup
25952 Fortunately, setting up the Gnus registry is pretty easy:
25955 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500)
25957 (gnus-registry-initialize)
25960 This adds registry saves to Gnus newsrc saves (which happen on exit
25961 and when you press @kbd{s} from the @file{*Group*} buffer. It also
25962 adds registry calls to article actions in Gnus (copy, move, etc.)@: so
25963 it's not easy to undo the initialization. See
25964 @code{gnus-registry-initialize} for the gory details.
25966 Here are other settings used by the author of the registry (understand
25967 what they do before you copy them blindly).
25971 gnus-registry-split-strategy 'majority
25972 gnus-registry-ignored-groups '(("nntp" t)
25976 gnus-registry-max-entries 500000
25977 ;; this is the default
25978 gnus-registry-track-extra '(sender subject))
25981 They say: keep a lot of messages around, track messages by sender and
25982 subject (not just parent Message-ID), and when the registry splits
25983 incoming mail, use a majority rule to decide where messages should go
25984 if there's more than one possibility. In addition, the registry
25985 should ignore messages in groups that match ``nntp'', ``nnrss'',
25986 ``spam'', or ``train.''
25988 You are doubtless impressed by all this, but you ask: ``I am a Gnus
25989 user, I customize to live. Give me more.'' Here you go, these are
25990 the general settings.
25992 @defvar gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups
25993 The groups that will not be followed by
25994 @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}. They will still be
25995 remembered by the registry. This is a list of regular expressions.
25996 By default any group name that ends with ``delayed'', ``drafts'',
25997 ``queue'', or ``INBOX'', belongs to the nnmairix backend, or contains
25998 the word ``archive'' is not followed.
26001 @defvar gnus-registry-max-entries
26002 The number (an integer or @code{nil} for unlimited) of entries the
26003 registry will keep. If the registry has reached or exceeded this
26004 size, it will reject insertion of new entries.
26007 @defvar gnus-registry-prune-factor
26008 This option (a float between 0 and 1) controls how much the registry
26009 is cut back during pruning. In order to prevent constant pruning, the
26010 registry will be pruned back to less than
26011 @code{gnus-registry-max-entries}. This option controls exactly how
26012 much less: the target is calculated as the maximum number of entries
26013 minus the maximum number times this factor. The default is 0.1:
26014 i.e., if your registry is limited to 50000 entries, pruning will try to
26015 cut back to 45000 entries. Entries with keys marked as precious will
26019 @defvar gnus-registry-default-sort-function
26020 This option specifies how registry entries are sorted during pruning.
26021 If a function is given, it should sort least valuable entries first,
26022 as pruning starts from the beginning of the list. The default value
26023 is @code{gnus-registry-sort-by-creation-time}, which proposes the
26024 oldest entries for pruning. Set to nil to perform no sorting, which
26025 will speed up the pruning process.
26028 @defvar gnus-registry-cache-file
26029 The file where the registry will be stored between Gnus sessions. By
26030 default the file name is @code{.gnus.registry.eieio} in the same
26031 directory as your @code{.newsrc.eld}.
26034 @node Registry Article Refer Method
26035 @subsection Fetching by @code{Message-ID} Using the Registry
26037 The registry knows how to map each @code{Message-ID} to the group it's
26038 in. This can be leveraged to enhance the ``article refer method'',
26039 the thing that tells Gnus how to look up an article given its
26040 Message-ID (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
26043 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
26045 The @code{nnregistry} refer method does exactly that. It has the
26046 advantage that an article may be found regardless of the group it's
26047 in---provided its @code{Message-ID} is known to the registry. It can
26048 be enabled by augmenting the start-up file with something along these
26052 ;; Keep enough entries to have a good hit rate when referring to an
26053 ;; article using the registry. Use long group names so that Gnus
26054 ;; knows where the article is.
26055 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500)
26057 (gnus-registry-initialize)
26059 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
26062 (nnweb "gmane" (nnweb-type gmane))))
26065 The example above instructs Gnus to first look up the article in the
26066 current group, or, alternatively, using the registry, and finally, if
26067 all else fails, using Gmane.
26069 @node Fancy splitting to parent
26070 @subsection Fancy splitting to parent
26072 Simply put, this lets you put followup e-mail where it belongs.
26074 Every message has a Message-ID, which is unique, and the registry
26075 remembers it. When the message is moved or copied, the registry will
26076 notice this and offer the new group as a choice to the splitting
26079 When a followup is made, usually it mentions the original message's
26080 Message-ID in the headers. The registry knows this and uses that
26081 mention to find the group where the original message lives. You only
26082 have to put a rule like this:
26085 (setq nnimap-my-split-fancy '(|
26087 ;; split to parent: you need this
26088 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
26090 ;; other rules, as an example
26096 in your fancy split setup. In addition, you may want to customize the
26097 following variables.
26099 @defvar gnus-registry-track-extra
26100 This is a list of symbols, so it's best to change it from the
26101 Customize interface. By default it's @code{(subject sender recipient)},
26102 which may work for you. It can be annoying if your mail flow is large
26103 and people don't stick to the same groups.
26105 When you decide to stop tracking any of those extra data, you can use
26106 the command @code{gnus-registry-remove-extra-data} to purge it from
26107 the existing registry entries.
26110 @defvar gnus-registry-split-strategy
26111 This is a symbol, so it's best to change it from the Customize
26112 interface. By default it's @code{nil}, but you may want to set it to
26113 @code{majority} or @code{first} to split by sender or subject based on
26114 the majority of matches or on the first found. I find @code{majority}
26118 @node Store custom flags and keywords
26119 @subsection Store custom flags and keywords
26121 The registry lets you set custom flags and keywords per message. You
26122 can use the Gnus->Registry Marks menu or the @kbd{M M x} keyboard
26123 shortcuts, where @code{x} is the first letter of the mark's name.
26125 @defvar gnus-registry-marks
26126 The custom marks that the registry can use. You can modify the
26127 default list, if you like. If you do, you'll have to exit Emacs
26128 before they take effect (you can also unload the registry and reload
26129 it or evaluate the specific macros you'll need, but you probably don't
26130 want to bother). Use the Customize interface to modify the list.
26132 By default this list has the @code{Important}, @code{Work},
26133 @code{Personal}, @code{To-Do}, and @code{Later} marks. They all have
26134 keyboard shortcuts like @kbd{M M i} for Important, using the first
26138 @defun gnus-registry-mark-article
26139 Call this function to mark an article with a custom registry mark. It
26140 will offer the available marks for completion.
26143 You can use @code{defalias} to install a summary line formatting
26144 function that will show the registry marks. There are two flavors of
26145 this function, either showing the marks as single characters, using
26146 their @code{:char} property, or showing the marks as full strings.
26149 ;; show the marks as single characters (see the :char property in
26150 ;; 'gnus-registry-marks'):
26151 ;; (defalias 'gnus-user-format-function-M 'gnus-registry-article-marks-to-chars)
26153 ;; show the marks by name (see 'gnus-registry-marks'):
26154 ;; (defalias 'gnus-user-format-function-M 'gnus-registry-article-marks-to-names)
26158 @node Store arbitrary data
26159 @subsection Store arbitrary data
26161 The registry has a simple API that uses a Message-ID as the key to
26162 store arbitrary data (as long as it can be converted to a list for
26165 @defun gnus-registry-set-id-key (id key value)
26166 Store @code{value} under @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26169 @defun gnus-registry-get-id-key (id key)
26170 Get the data under @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26173 @defvar gnus-registry-extra-entries-precious
26174 If any extra entries are precious, their presence will make the
26175 registry keep the whole entry forever, even if there are no groups for
26176 the Message-ID and if the size limit of the registry is reached. By
26177 default this is just @code{(marks)} so the custom registry marks are
26181 @node The Gnus Cloud
26182 @section The Gnus Cloud
26185 @cindex synchronization
26189 The Gnus Cloud is a way to synchronize marks and general files and
26190 data across multiple machines.
26192 Very often, you want all your marks (what articles you've read, which
26193 ones were important, and so on) to be synchronized between several
26194 machines. With IMAP, that's built into the protocol, so you can read
26195 nnimap groups from many machines and they are automatically
26196 synchronized. But NNTP, nnrss, and many other backends do not store
26197 marks, so you have to do it locally.
26199 The Gnus Cloud package stores the marks, plus any files you choose, on
26200 an IMAP server in a special folder. It's like a
26201 DropTorrentSyncBoxOakTree(TM).
26204 * Gnus Cloud Setup::
26205 * Gnus Cloud Usage::
26208 @node Gnus Cloud Setup
26209 @subsection Gnus Cloud Setup
26211 Setting up the Gnus Cloud takes less than a minute. From the Group
26214 Press @kbd{^} to go to the Server buffer. Here you'll see all the
26215 servers that Gnus knows. @xref{Server Buffer}.
26217 Then press @kbd{i} to mark any servers as cloud-synchronized (their marks are synchronized).
26219 Then press @kbd{I} to mark a single server as the cloud host (it must
26220 be an IMAP server, and will host a special IMAP folder with all the
26221 synchronization data). This will set the variable
26222 @code{gnus-cloud-method} (using the Customize facilities), then ask
26223 you to optionally upload your first CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM).
26225 @node Gnus Cloud Usage
26226 @subsection Gnus Cloud Usage
26228 After setting up, you can use these shortcuts from the Group buffer:
26233 @findex gnus-cloud-download-all-data
26234 @cindex cloud, download
26235 Download the latest Gnus Cloud data.
26239 @findex gnus-cloud-upload-all-data
26240 @cindex cloud, download
26241 Upload the local Gnus Cloud data. Creates a new
26242 CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM).
26246 But wait, there's more. Of course there's more. So much more. You can
26247 customize all of the following.
26249 @defvar gnus-cloud-synced-files
26250 These are the files that will be part of every
26251 CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM). They are included in every upload,
26252 so don't synchronize a lot of large files. Files under 100Kb are best.
26255 @defvar gnus-cloud-storage-method
26256 This is a choice from several storage methods. It's highly recommended
26257 to use the EPG facilities. It will be automatic if have GnuPG
26258 installed and EPG loaded. Otherwise, you could use Base64+gzip,
26259 Base64, or no encoding.
26262 @defvar gnus-cloud-interactive
26263 When this is set, and by default it is, the Gnus Cloud package will
26264 ask you for confirmation here and there. Leave it on until you're
26265 comfortable with the package.
26269 @defvar gnus-cloud-method
26270 The name of the IMAP server to store the
26271 CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM)s. It's easiest to set this from the
26272 Server buffer (@pxref{Gnus Cloud Setup}).
26276 @section Interaction with other modes
26281 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provides some useful functions for dired
26282 buffers. It is enabled with
26284 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
26289 @findex gnus-dired-attach
26290 @cindex attachments, selection via dired
26291 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
26292 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
26295 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
26296 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
26297 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
26301 @findex gnus-dired-print
26302 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
26303 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
26306 @node Various Various
26307 @section Various Various
26313 @item gnus-home-directory
26314 @vindex gnus-home-directory
26315 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
26316 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
26318 @item gnus-directory
26319 @vindex gnus-directory
26320 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
26321 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
26322 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
26324 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
26325 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
26326 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
26327 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
26329 @item gnus-default-directory
26330 @vindex gnus-default-directory
26331 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
26332 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
26333 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
26334 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
26335 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
26336 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
26339 @vindex gnus-verbose
26340 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
26341 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
26342 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
26343 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
26344 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
26346 @item gnus-verbose-backends
26347 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
26348 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
26349 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
26351 @item gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26352 @vindex gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26353 This variable controls whether to add timestamps to messages that are
26354 controlled by @code{gnus-verbose} and @code{gnus-verbose-backends} and
26355 are issued. The default value is @code{nil} which means never to add
26356 timestamp. If it is @code{log}, add timestamps to only the messages
26357 that go into the @file{*Messages*} buffer (in XEmacs, it is the
26358 @w{@file{ *Message-Log*}} buffer). If it is neither @code{nil} nor
26359 @code{log}, add timestamps not only to log messages but also to the ones
26360 displayed in the echo area.
26362 @item nnheader-max-head-length
26363 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
26364 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
26365 as little as possible. This variable (default 8192) specifies
26366 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
26367 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
26368 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
26369 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
26370 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
26371 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
26373 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
26374 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
26375 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
26376 read when doing the operation described above.
26378 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26379 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26381 @cindex invalid characters in file names
26382 @cindex characters in file names
26383 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
26384 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
26385 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
26389 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26394 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
26395 Windows (phooey) systems.
26397 @item gnus-hidden-properties
26398 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
26399 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
26400 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
26401 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
26403 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
26404 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
26405 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
26406 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
26407 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
26409 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
26410 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
26411 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
26413 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26414 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26416 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
26417 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
26418 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
26419 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
26422 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
26424 @item gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26425 @vindex gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26426 Groups in which links in html articles are considered all safe. The
26427 value may be a regexp matching those groups, a list of group names, or
26428 @code{nil}. This overrides @code{mm-w3m-safe-url-regexp}. The default
26429 value is @code{"\\`nnrss[+:]"}. This is effective only when emacs-w3m
26430 renders html articles, i.e., in the case @code{mm-text-html-renderer} is
26431 set to @code{w3m}. @xref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization,
26432 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}.
26439 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
26440 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
26442 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
26444 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
26450 Not because of victories @*
26453 but for the common sunshine,@*
26455 the largess of the spring.
26459 but for the day's work done@*
26460 as well as I was able;@*
26461 not for a seat upon the dais@*
26462 but at the common table.@*
26467 @chapter Appendices
26470 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
26471 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
26472 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
26473 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
26474 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
26475 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
26476 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
26477 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
26478 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
26485 @cindex installing under XEmacs
26487 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
26488 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
26489 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
26490 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
26491 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print},
26492 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
26499 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
26500 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
26502 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
26503 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
26504 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
26505 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
26506 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
26508 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
26509 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
26510 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
26511 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
26512 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
26513 appropriate name, don't you think?)
26515 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
26516 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
26517 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
26518 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
26521 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
26522 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
26523 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
26524 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
26525 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
26526 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
26527 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
26528 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
26532 @node Gnus Versions
26533 @subsection Gnus Versions
26535 @cindex September Gnus
26537 @cindex Quassia Gnus
26538 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
26542 @cindex Gnus versions
26544 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
26545 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
26546 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
26548 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
26549 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
26551 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
26552 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
26554 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
26555 It was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
26557 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
26558 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
26561 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun and was released as
26562 Gnus 5.10 on May 1st 2003 (24 releases).
26564 On the January 4th 2004, No Gnus was begun.
26566 On April 19, 2010 Gnus development was moved to Git. See
26567 http://git.gnus.org for details (http://www.gnus.org will be updated
26568 with the information when possible).
26570 On the January 31th 2012, Ma Gnus was begun.
26572 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name---``(ding)
26573 Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
26574 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'', ``No Gnus'', ``Ma Gnus''---don't
26575 panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly.
26576 Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of
26577 its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up to
26584 What's the point of Gnus?
26586 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
26587 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
26588 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
26589 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
26590 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
26591 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
26592 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
26593 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
26594 keep track of millions of people who post?
26596 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
26597 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
26598 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
26599 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
26600 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
26601 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
26602 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
26603 every one of you to explore and invent.
26605 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
26606 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
26609 @node Compatibility
26610 @subsection Compatibility
26612 @cindex compatibility
26613 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
26614 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
26615 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
26620 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
26624 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
26627 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
26630 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
26631 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
26632 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
26633 important variables have their values copied into their global
26634 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
26635 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
26637 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
26638 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
26639 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
26640 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
26641 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
26645 @cindex highlighting
26646 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
26647 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
26648 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
26649 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
26650 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
26651 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
26654 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
26655 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
26656 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
26657 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
26659 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
26660 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
26661 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
26662 to stop doing it the old way.
26664 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
26666 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26668 @cindex reporting bugs
26670 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
26671 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
26672 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
26674 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
26675 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
26676 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
26677 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
26682 @subsection Conformity
26684 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
26685 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
26693 There are no known breaches of this standard.
26697 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
26699 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
26700 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
26701 We do have some breaches to this one.
26707 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
26708 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
26709 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
26710 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
26711 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
26716 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
26717 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
26718 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
26719 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
26721 @item MIME---RFC 2045--2049 etc
26722 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
26723 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
26725 @item Disposition Notifications---RFC 2298
26726 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
26728 @item PGP---RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
26731 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
26732 published as an informational RFC@. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
26733 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
26734 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
26735 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
26738 @item PGP/MIME---RFC 2015/3156
26739 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
26740 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
26741 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
26743 @item S/MIME---RFC 2633
26744 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
26746 @item IMAP---RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
26747 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
26748 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
26749 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
26750 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
26751 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
26752 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
26753 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
26757 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
26758 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
26763 @subsection Emacsen
26769 This version of Gnus should work on:
26777 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
26781 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
26782 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
26783 Emacs versions. Particularly, Gnus 5.10.8 should also work on Emacs
26784 20.7 and XEmacs 21.1.
26786 @c No-merge comment: The paragraph added in v5-10 here must not be
26789 @node Gnus Development
26790 @subsection Gnus Development
26792 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
26793 discussion on the development mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}, where people
26794 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
26795 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
26796 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
26797 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
26798 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
26799 have names like ``Oort Gnus'' and ``No Gnus''. @xref{Gnus Versions}.
26801 After futzing around for 10--100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
26802 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
26803 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.10.1'' instead. Normal people are
26804 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
26805 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup. This newgroup is mirrored to the
26806 mailing list @samp{info-gnus-english@@gnu.org} which is carried on Gmane
26807 as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.user}. These releases are finally integrated
26811 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26812 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26813 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26814 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26815 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26817 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
26818 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
26819 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
26820 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
26821 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
26822 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
26823 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
26824 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
26825 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
26826 can't be assumed to do so.
26828 So if you have problems with or questions about the alpha versions,
26829 direct those to the ding mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}. This list
26830 is also available on Gmane as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.general}.
26833 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26834 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26835 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26836 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26837 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26840 @subsection Contributors
26841 @cindex contributors
26843 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
26844 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
26845 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
26846 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
26847 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
26848 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
26849 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
26850 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
26851 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
26852 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
26854 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
26860 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
26863 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el,
26864 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
26865 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
26866 functionality and stuff.
26869 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
26870 well as numerous other things).
26873 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
26876 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
26879 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
26882 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
26885 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
26886 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
26889 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
26892 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
26895 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
26898 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
26901 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bug detection and fixes.
26904 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
26907 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
26908 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
26911 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
26914 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
26917 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
26920 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
26924 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
26927 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
26930 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
26933 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
26934 well as autoconf support.
26938 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
26939 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
26941 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
26956 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
26958 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
26962 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
26972 Alexei V. Barantsev,
26987 Massimo Campostrini,
26992 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
26993 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
26997 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
27000 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
27006 Michael Welsh Duggan,
27011 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
27015 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
27023 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
27025 Michelangelo Grigni,
27029 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
27031 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
27033 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
27041 François Felix Ingrand,
27042 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
27043 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
27045 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
27055 Peter Skov Knudsen,
27056 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
27058 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
27059 Thor Kristoffersen,
27062 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
27080 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
27081 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
27088 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
27093 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
27097 John McClary Prevost,
27103 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
27108 Christian von Roques,
27111 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
27118 Philippe Schnoebelen,
27120 Randal L. Schwartz,
27134 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
27139 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
27159 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
27160 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
27161 (550kB and counting).
27163 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
27166 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
27167 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
27171 @subsection New Features
27172 @cindex new features
27175 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
27176 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
27177 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
27178 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
27179 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
27180 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
27181 * No Gnus:: Very punny. Gnus 5.12/5.13.
27182 * Ma Gnus:: Celebrating 25 years of Gnus.
27185 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
27186 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
27187 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
27190 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
27192 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
27197 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
27198 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
27201 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
27202 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
27205 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
27208 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
27209 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
27210 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
27213 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
27214 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
27215 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
27216 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27219 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
27220 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27223 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
27224 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
27225 (@pxref{The Active File}).
27228 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
27229 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
27232 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
27233 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
27234 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27237 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
27238 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
27239 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
27242 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
27243 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
27246 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
27247 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
27250 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
27251 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27254 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
27255 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
27258 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
27259 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27262 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
27265 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
27266 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
27269 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
27270 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
27273 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
27274 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
27277 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
27280 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
27281 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27284 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
27288 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
27292 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
27293 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
27298 @node September Gnus
27299 @subsubsection September Gnus
27303 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
27307 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
27312 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
27313 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
27317 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
27318 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
27322 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
27326 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
27327 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
27330 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
27334 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
27337 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
27340 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
27343 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
27347 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
27348 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
27351 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
27355 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
27359 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
27363 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
27367 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
27370 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
27371 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
27374 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
27378 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
27379 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
27382 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
27385 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
27386 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
27387 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27390 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets.
27393 The Gnus cache is much faster.
27396 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
27400 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
27401 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
27404 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
27405 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
27408 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
27409 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
27412 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
27413 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
27414 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
27417 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
27418 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
27421 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
27424 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27427 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
27430 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
27433 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
27434 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
27437 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
27441 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
27444 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
27449 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27452 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
27456 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
27459 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
27462 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
27463 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27466 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
27467 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
27471 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
27472 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
27475 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
27479 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
27480 buffer to allow easier treatment.
27483 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
27486 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
27490 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
27494 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
27495 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
27498 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
27502 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
27503 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27506 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
27507 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27510 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
27514 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27517 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
27520 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
27526 @subsubsection Red Gnus
27528 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
27532 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
27539 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
27542 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
27543 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27546 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
27547 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
27551 Article washing status can be displayed in the
27552 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
27555 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
27558 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
27559 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
27562 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
27566 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
27567 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
27571 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extensible (@pxref{Document
27572 Server Internals}).
27575 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
27579 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
27582 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
27583 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
27586 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
27587 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
27588 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
27591 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
27592 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27595 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
27596 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
27599 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
27603 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
27604 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27607 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
27608 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27611 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
27615 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
27618 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
27622 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
27623 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27626 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
27627 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27630 A new command for reading collections of documents
27631 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
27632 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
27635 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
27639 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
27640 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
27643 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
27644 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
27645 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
27648 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
27649 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
27653 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
27657 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
27661 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
27666 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
27670 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
27674 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
27675 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
27678 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
27684 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
27686 New features in Gnus 5.6:
27691 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
27692 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
27693 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
27696 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
27697 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
27698 group, which is created automatically.
27701 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
27705 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-IDs.
27708 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
27709 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
27712 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
27716 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
27719 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
27720 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
27723 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
27726 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
27730 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
27731 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
27734 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
27735 control over simplification.
27738 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
27741 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
27745 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
27748 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
27751 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
27752 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
27753 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
27756 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
27757 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
27760 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
27764 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
27765 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
27768 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
27769 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
27772 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
27776 A history of where mails have been split is available.
27779 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
27782 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
27783 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
27786 A new function for citing in Message has been
27787 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
27790 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
27793 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
27797 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
27798 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
27801 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
27802 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
27805 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
27808 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
27812 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
27813 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
27815 New features in Gnus 5.8:
27820 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
27821 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
27823 If you used procmail like in
27826 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
27827 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
27828 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
27829 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
27832 this now has changed to
27836 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
27840 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
27843 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
27844 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
27847 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
27848 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
27851 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
27852 called to position point.
27855 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
27856 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
27859 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
27860 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
27863 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
27864 subtly different manner.
27867 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
27868 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
27869 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
27872 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
27877 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
27880 New features in Gnus 5.10:
27884 @item Installation changes
27885 @c ***********************
27889 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
27891 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
27892 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
27893 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
27894 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
27895 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
27896 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
27897 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
27898 isn't save in general.
27901 Lisp files are now installed in @file{.../site-lisp/gnus/} by default.
27902 It defaulted to @file{.../site-lisp/} formerly. In addition to this,
27903 the new installer issues a warning if other Gnus installations which
27904 will shadow the latest one are detected. You can then remove those
27905 shadows manually or remove them using @code{make
27906 remove-installed-shadows}.
27909 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
27911 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
27912 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
27913 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, if you want
27914 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
27915 the second parameter.
27917 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
27918 automatic recognition of XEmacs and Emacs, generates
27919 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
27920 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
27921 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
27922 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
27923 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
27924 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
27925 cycle used under Unix systems.
27927 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} and @file{xemacs.mak}
27928 superfluous, so they have been removed.
27931 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
27933 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
27934 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
27937 @c FIXME: 'gnus-load' is mentioned in README, which is not included in
27938 @c the repository. We should find a better place for this item.
27940 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
27942 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
27943 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
27944 lisp directory into load-path.
27946 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
27947 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
27951 @item New packages and libraries within Gnus
27952 @c *****************************************
27957 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
27958 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
27961 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
27963 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
27964 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GnuTLS.
27967 Improved anti-spam features.
27969 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
27970 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
27971 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
27972 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
27973 are also new. @ref{Thwarting Email Spam} and @ref{Spam Package}.
27974 @c FIXME: @xref{Spam Package}?. Should this be under Misc?
27977 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
27979 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
27980 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
27981 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
27982 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
27983 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
27987 @item Changes in group mode
27988 @c ************************
27993 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
27997 Retrieval of charters and control messages
27999 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
28000 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
28003 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
28005 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
28006 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
28007 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
28008 variable in @file{~/.gnus.el} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
28009 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
28012 (setq gnus-parameters
28014 (gnus-show-threads nil)
28015 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
28016 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
28017 (to-group . "\\1"))))
28021 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
28023 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
28024 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
28025 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
28026 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
28027 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} (called after getting new
28028 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
28029 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
28030 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
28031 when getting new mail, remove the function.
28034 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
28036 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
28037 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
28038 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
28041 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
28042 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
28044 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
28045 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
28046 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
28048 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
28052 Old intermediate incoming mail files (@file{Incoming*}) are deleted
28053 after a couple of days, not immediately. @xref{Mail Source
28054 Customization}. (New in Gnus 5.10.10 / Emacs 22.2)
28058 @item Changes in summary and article mode
28059 @c **************************************
28064 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
28065 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
28066 region if the region is active.
28069 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
28070 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
28075 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
28076 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
28077 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
28078 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
28081 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
28086 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
28087 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
28089 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
28090 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
28094 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
28095 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
28098 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
28101 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
28102 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
28105 Warn about email replies to news
28107 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
28108 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
28112 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
28113 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
28117 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
28118 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
28121 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
28122 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
28125 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
28126 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
28129 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
28131 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
28132 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
28133 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
28134 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
28137 The new command @kbd{W Y f}
28138 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}) allows deuglifying broken
28139 Outlook (Express) articles.
28142 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
28144 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
28145 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
28146 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
28147 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
28149 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
28150 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
28151 message cited below.
28154 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc.)@: are now displayed graphically in
28157 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.gnus.el} to
28161 Face headers handling. @xref{Face}.
28164 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
28165 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
28168 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
28171 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
28173 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
28174 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
28175 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
28176 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
28177 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
28181 Deleting of attachments.
28183 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
28184 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
28185 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
28186 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
28187 that support editing.
28190 @code{gnus-default-charset}
28192 The default value is determined from the
28193 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
28194 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
28195 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
28198 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
28200 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
28201 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
28202 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
28205 Extended format specs.
28207 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
28208 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
28209 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
28210 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
28211 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
28212 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
28215 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
28216 @c FIXME: Was this a user-visible change?
28218 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
28219 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
28220 out other articles.
28223 Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
28225 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
28226 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
28227 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
28228 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
28231 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
28235 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
28236 @c ****************************************************
28243 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
28244 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
28245 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
28248 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
28249 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
28252 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
28253 Gcc articles as read.
28256 Externalizing of attachments
28258 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
28259 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
28260 local files as external parts.
28263 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
28264 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
28267 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
28269 Earlier it was generated when the user configurable email address was
28270 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
28271 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
28272 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
28273 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
28274 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
28275 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
28276 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
28277 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
28280 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
28282 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
28283 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
28284 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
28285 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
28286 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
28287 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
28290 References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
28291 start composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
28295 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers. @xref{X-Face}.
28298 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
28300 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
28301 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
28302 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
28303 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
28304 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
28305 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
28306 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
28307 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
28308 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
28309 was inserted directly.
28312 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
28314 @c FIXME should that not be 'message-user-agent?
28315 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
28316 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
28317 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
28318 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
28321 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
28323 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
28325 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
28326 'bbdb-complete-name)
28330 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
28332 Add a new format of match like
28334 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
28335 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28337 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
28339 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
28340 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28344 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
28346 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
28347 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
28348 need add those two headers too.
28351 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
28352 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
28353 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
28357 The option @code{mm-fill-flowed} can be used to disable treatment of
28358 ``format=flowed'' messages. Also, flowed text is disabled when sending
28359 inline PGP signed messages. @xref{Flowed text, , Flowed text,
28360 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
28361 @c This entry is also present in the node "No Gnus".
28364 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
28366 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
28369 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
28371 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
28375 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
28377 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
28378 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
28379 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
28380 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
28381 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
28382 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
28383 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
28384 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
28387 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
28388 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630--2633).
28390 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
28391 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
28392 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
28393 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
28396 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
28399 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
28400 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
28403 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to the symbol
28406 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
28407 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
28408 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
28409 invalidate the digital signature.
28412 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
28413 decompressed when activated.
28414 @c FIXME: Does this affect article or message mode?
28417 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
28419 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
28420 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
28421 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
28422 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
28423 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
28426 @item You can now drag and drop attachments to the Message buffer.
28427 See @code{mml-dnd-protocol-alist} and @code{mml-dnd-attach-options}.
28428 @xref{MIME, ,MIME, message, Message Manual}.
28429 @c New in 5.10.9 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.1)
28431 @item @code{auto-fill-mode} is enabled by default in Message mode.
28432 See @code{message-fill-column}. @xref{Various Message Variables, ,
28433 Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
28434 @c New in Gnus 5.10.12 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.3)
28438 @item Changes in back ends
28439 @c ***********************
28443 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
28446 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
28449 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
28451 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
28454 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
28456 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
28457 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
28458 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
28459 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within, e.g., a department. It
28460 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
28461 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
28462 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
28463 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
28464 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
28465 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
28466 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
28476 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
28477 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
28480 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
28481 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
28482 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
28483 message, Message Manual}).
28486 The tool bars have been updated to use GNOME icons in Group, Summary and
28487 Message mode. You can also customize the tool bars: @kbd{M-x
28488 customize-apropos RET -tool-bar$} should get you started. This is a new
28489 feature in Gnus 5.10.10. (Only for Emacs, not in XEmacs.)
28491 @item The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly
28492 in the group buffer, see the variable @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}.
28493 Its default value depends on your Emacs version. This is a new feature
28498 @item Miscellaneous changes
28499 @c ************************
28506 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
28507 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
28508 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
28509 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
28510 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
28511 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
28512 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
28513 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
28514 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
28515 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
28516 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
28517 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
28518 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
28519 is not needed any more.
28522 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
28524 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
28525 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
28526 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
28531 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
28532 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
28533 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
28537 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
28540 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
28542 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
28549 @subsubsection No Gnus
28552 New features in No Gnus:
28553 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
28555 @include gnus-news.texi
28558 @subsubsection Ma Gnus
28561 I'm sure there will be lots of text here. It's really spelled 真
28564 New features in Ma Gnus:
28568 @item Changes in summary and article mode
28569 @c **************************************
28574 By default, @acronym{MIME} part buttons for attachments (if any) will
28575 appear in the end of the article header in addition to the bottom of the
28576 article body, so you can easily find them without scrolling the article
28577 again and again. @xref{MIME Commands}.
28581 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
28582 @c ****************************************************
28587 The new hooks @code{gnus-gcc-pre-body-encode-hook} and
28588 @code{gnus-gcc-post-body-encode-hook} are run before/after encoding
28589 the message body of the Gcc copy of a sent message. See
28590 @xref{Archived Messages}.
28600 @section The Manual
28604 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
28605 either @code{texi2dvi}
28607 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
28608 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
28610 to get what you hold in your hands now.
28612 The following conventions have been used:
28617 This is a @samp{string}
28620 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
28623 This is a @file{file}
28626 This is a @code{symbol}
28630 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
28634 (setq flargnoze "yes")
28637 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
28640 (setq flumphel 'yes)
28643 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
28644 ever get them confused.
28648 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
28649 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
28650 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
28651 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
28652 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
28653 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
28654 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
28660 @node On Writing Manuals
28661 @section On Writing Manuals
28663 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
28664 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
28665 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
28666 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
28667 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
28668 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code go hand
28671 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
28672 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
28673 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
28676 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
28677 reference manual as source material. It would look quite different.
28682 @section Terminology
28684 @cindex terminology
28689 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
28690 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
28691 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
28692 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
28693 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
28697 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
28698 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
28699 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
28700 not posting, and replying is not following up.
28704 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
28708 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
28713 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
28714 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
28715 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
28716 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
28717 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
28718 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
28719 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
28720 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
28721 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
28724 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
28725 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
28726 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
28727 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
28728 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
28729 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
28731 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
28732 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
28733 access the articles.
28735 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
28736 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
28737 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
28742 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
28743 default, way of getting news. Groups from the native select method
28744 have names like @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}.
28748 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same
28749 time. These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends
28750 for getting news. Foreign groups have names like
28751 @samp{nntp+news.gmane.org:gmane.emacs.gnus.devel}.
28755 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and
28756 being foreign, but they mostly act like they are native, but they, too
28757 have names like @samp{nntp+news.gmane.org:gmane.emacs.gnus.devel}.
28761 A message that has been posted as news.
28764 @cindex mail message
28765 A message that has been mailed.
28769 A mail message or news article
28773 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.)@: is
28778 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
28783 A line from the head of an article.
28787 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
28788 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
28790 @item @acronym{NOV}
28791 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
28792 @acronym{NOV} stands for News OverView, which is a type of news server
28793 header which provide datas containing the condensed header information
28794 of articles. They are produced by the server itself; in the @code{nntp}
28795 back end Gnus uses the ones that the @acronym{NNTP} server makes, but
28796 Gnus makes them by itself for some backends (in particular, @code{nnml}).
28798 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
28799 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
28800 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
28801 normal @sc{head} format.
28803 The @acronym{NOV} data consist of one or more text lines (@pxref{Text
28804 Lines, ,Motion by Text Lines, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual})
28805 where each line has the header information of one article. The header
28806 information is a tab-separated series of the header's contents including
28807 an article number, a subject, an author, a date, a message-id,
28810 Those data enable Gnus to generate summary lines quickly. However, if
28811 the server does not support @acronym{NOV} or you disable it purposely or
28812 for some reason, Gnus will try to generate the header information by
28813 parsing each article's headers one by one. It will take time.
28814 Therefore, it is not usually a good idea to set nn*-nov-is-evil
28815 (@pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}) to a non-@code{nil} value unless you
28816 know that the server makes wrong @acronym{NOV} data.
28820 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1--9). The ones
28821 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
28822 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1--5 are considered
28823 @dfn{subscribed}; 6--7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
28824 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
28825 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
28827 @item killed groups
28828 @cindex killed groups
28829 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
28830 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
28832 @item zombie groups
28833 @cindex zombie groups
28834 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
28837 @cindex active file
28838 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
28839 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
28840 is rather large, as you might surmise.
28843 @cindex bogus groups
28844 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
28845 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
28846 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
28849 @cindex activating groups
28850 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
28851 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
28852 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
28856 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
28857 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
28858 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
28862 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
28864 @item select method
28865 @cindex select method
28866 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
28869 @item virtual server
28870 @cindex virtual server
28871 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
28872 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
28873 whole is a virtual server.
28877 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
28878 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
28881 @item ephemeral groups
28882 @cindex ephemeral groups
28883 @cindex temporary groups
28884 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
28885 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
28886 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
28889 @cindex solid groups
28890 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
28891 group buffer are solid groups.
28893 @item sparse articles
28894 @cindex sparse articles
28895 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
28896 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
28900 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
28901 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
28905 @cindex thread root
28906 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
28907 articles in the thread.
28911 An article that has responses.
28915 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
28919 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
28920 specified by RFC 1153.
28923 @cindex splitting, terminology
28924 @cindex mail sorting
28925 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
28926 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
28927 incorrectly called mail filtering.
28933 @node Customization
28934 @section Customization
28935 @cindex general customization
28937 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
28938 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
28939 for some quite common situations.
28942 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
28943 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
28944 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
28945 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
28949 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
28950 @subsection Slow/Expensive Connection
28952 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
28953 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
28954 Gnus has to get from the server.
28958 @item gnus-read-active-file
28959 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
28960 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
28961 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
28962 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
28963 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
28965 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
28966 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
28967 Usually this one must @emph{always} be @code{nil} (which is the
28968 default). If, for example, you wish to not use @acronym{NOV}
28969 (@pxref{Terminology}) with the @code{nntp} back end (@pxref{Crosspost
28970 Handling}), set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to a non-@code{nil} value
28971 instead of setting this. But you normally do not need to set
28972 @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} since Gnus by itself will detect whether the
28973 @acronym{NNTP} server supports @acronym{NOV}. Anyway, grabbing article
28974 headers from the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast if you tell
28975 Gnus not to use @acronym{NOV}.
28977 As the variables for the other back ends, there are
28978 @code{nndiary-nov-is-evil}, @code{nndir-nov-is-evil},
28979 @code{nnfolder-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnimap-nov-is-evil},
28980 @code{nnml-nov-is-evil}, and @code{nnspool-nov-is-evil}. Note that a
28981 non-@code{nil} value for @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} overrides all those
28986 @node Slow Terminal Connection
28987 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
28989 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
28990 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
28991 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
28995 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
28996 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
28997 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
28998 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
28999 horizontal and vertical recentering.
29001 @item gnus-visible-headers
29002 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
29003 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
29004 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
29005 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
29007 Use the following to enable all the available hiding features:
29009 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
29010 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
29011 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
29014 @item gnus-use-full-window
29015 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
29016 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
29017 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
29018 want to read them anyway.
29020 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
29021 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
29025 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
29026 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
29027 lines, which might save some time.
29031 @node Little Disk Space
29032 @subsection Little Disk Space
29035 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
29036 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
29040 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
29041 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
29042 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29043 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29046 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
29047 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
29048 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29049 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29052 @item gnus-save-killed-list
29053 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
29054 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
29055 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
29056 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
29062 @subsection Slow Machine
29063 @cindex slow machine
29065 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
29066 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
29068 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
29069 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
29071 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
29072 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
29073 summary buffer faster. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
29077 @node Troubleshooting
29078 @section Troubleshooting
29079 @cindex troubleshooting
29081 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
29089 Make sure your computer is switched on.
29092 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
29093 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
29097 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
29099 @samp{Gnus v5.13} @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change this line!
29101 you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old @file{.el}
29102 files lying around. Delete these.
29105 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
29106 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
29109 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
29110 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
29111 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
29112 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
29113 something like that.
29116 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
29119 @cindex reporting bugs
29121 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
29123 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
29124 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
29125 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
29126 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
29128 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
29129 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
29130 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
29131 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
29134 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
29135 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
29136 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
29137 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
29138 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
29139 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
29141 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
29142 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
29143 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
29147 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
29148 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
29151 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
29152 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
29153 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
29154 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
29155 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
29156 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
29157 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
29158 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
29159 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
29160 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
29161 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
29162 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
29163 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
29164 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
29169 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
29170 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
29171 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
29172 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
29173 helps isolating the real problem areas).
29175 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP@. The profiler is
29176 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
29177 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
29178 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g., @kbd{M-x
29179 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
29180 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
29181 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
29182 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
29183 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
29184 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
29185 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
29186 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
29187 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
29190 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
29191 @cindex ding mailing list
29192 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
29193 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
29194 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
29195 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
29199 @node Gnus Reference Guide
29200 @section Gnus Reference Guide
29202 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
29203 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
29204 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
29205 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
29208 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
29209 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
29210 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
29211 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
29212 and general methods of operation.
29215 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
29216 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
29217 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
29218 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
29219 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
29220 * Group Info:: The group info format.
29221 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
29222 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
29223 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
29227 @node Gnus Utility Functions
29228 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
29229 @cindex Gnus utility functions
29230 @cindex utility functions
29232 @cindex internal variables
29234 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
29235 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
29236 Below is a list of the most common ones.
29240 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
29241 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
29242 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
29244 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
29245 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
29246 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
29248 @item gnus-group-real-name
29249 @findex gnus-group-real-name
29250 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
29253 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
29254 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
29255 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
29256 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
29258 @item gnus-get-info
29259 @findex gnus-get-info
29260 Returns the group info list for @var{group} (@pxref{Group Info}).
29262 @item gnus-group-unread
29263 @findex gnus-group-unread
29264 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
29268 @findex gnus-active
29269 The active entry (i.e., a cons cell containing the lowest and highest
29270 article numbers) for @var{group}.
29272 @item gnus-set-active
29273 @findex gnus-set-active
29274 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
29276 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29277 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29278 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
29281 @item gnus-continuum-version
29282 @findex gnus-continuum-version
29283 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
29284 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
29287 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
29288 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
29289 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
29291 @item gnus-news-group-p
29292 @findex gnus-news-group-p
29293 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
29295 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29296 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29297 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
29299 @item gnus-server-to-method
29300 @findex gnus-server-to-method
29301 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
29303 @item gnus-server-equal
29304 @findex gnus-server-equal
29305 Says whether two virtual servers are essentially equal. For instance,
29306 two virtual servers may have server parameters in different order, but
29307 this function will consider them equal.
29309 @item gnus-group-native-p
29310 @findex gnus-group-native-p
29311 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
29313 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
29314 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
29315 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
29317 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
29318 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
29319 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
29321 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
29322 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
29323 Returns the parameter list of @var{group} (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
29324 If given a second parameter, returns the value of that parameter for
29327 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
29328 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
29329 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
29331 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
29332 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
29333 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
29335 @item gnus-check-backend-function
29336 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
29337 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
29338 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
29341 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
29345 @item gnus-read-method
29346 @findex gnus-read-method
29347 Prompts the user for a select method.
29352 @node Back End Interface
29353 @subsection Back End Interface
29355 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
29356 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
29357 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
29358 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
29359 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
29360 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
29362 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
29363 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
29364 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
29365 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
29366 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
29367 been opened, the function should fail.
29369 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
29370 name. Take this example:
29374 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
29375 (nntp-port-number 4324))
29378 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
29379 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
29381 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
29382 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
29383 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
29385 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
29386 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
29387 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
29389 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
29390 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
29391 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
29392 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
29393 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
29394 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
29397 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
29398 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
29399 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server'';
29400 they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
29403 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
29404 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
29405 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
29406 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
29407 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
29408 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
29409 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
29410 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
29411 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
29412 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
29414 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
29415 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
29416 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
29417 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
29418 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
29419 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
29420 of numbers as long as possible.
29422 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
29423 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
29424 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
29426 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
29429 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
29432 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
29433 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
29434 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
29435 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
29436 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
29437 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
29441 @node Required Back End Functions
29442 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
29446 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
29448 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
29449 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
29450 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
29451 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
29453 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
29454 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
29455 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
29456 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
29458 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
29459 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
29460 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
29461 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
29462 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
29463 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
29464 number, do maximum fetches.
29466 Here's an example HEAD:
29469 221 1056 Article retrieved.
29470 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
29471 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
29472 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
29473 Subject: Re: Something very droll
29474 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
29475 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
29477 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
29478 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
29479 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
29483 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
29484 these in the data buffer.
29486 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
29490 head = error / valid-head
29491 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
29492 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
29493 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
29494 header = <text> eol
29498 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
29500 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
29501 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
29505 nov-buffer = *nov-line
29506 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
29507 field = <text except TAB>
29510 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
29514 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
29516 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
29517 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
29519 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
29520 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
29521 server. In fact, it should do so.
29523 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
29524 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
29527 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
29529 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
29530 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
29533 There should be no data returned.
29536 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
29538 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
29539 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
29540 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
29541 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
29543 There should be no data returned.
29546 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
29548 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
29549 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
29550 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
29551 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
29553 There should be no data returned.
29556 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
29558 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
29560 There should be no data returned.
29563 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
29565 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
29566 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
29567 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
29568 it would be nice if that were possible.
29570 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
29571 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
29572 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
29573 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
29574 into its article buffer.
29576 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
29577 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
29578 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
29579 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
29580 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
29581 on successful article retrieval.
29584 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST INFO)
29586 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
29587 making @var{group} the current group.
29589 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
29592 If @var{info}, it allows the backend to update the group info
29595 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
29598 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
29601 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
29602 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
29603 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
29604 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
29605 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
29606 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
29607 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
29608 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
29609 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
29613 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
29614 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
29615 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
29619 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29621 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
29622 a no-op on most back ends.
29624 There should be no data returned.
29627 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
29629 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
29632 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
29635 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
29636 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
29639 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
29640 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
29641 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
29642 and the highest as 0.
29645 active-file = *active-line
29646 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
29648 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
29651 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
29652 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
29653 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
29656 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
29658 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
29659 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
29660 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
29661 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
29662 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
29663 clear if the posting could not be completed.
29665 There should be no result data from this function.
29670 @node Optional Back End Functions
29671 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
29675 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
29677 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
29678 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
29679 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
29681 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
29682 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
29683 former is in the same format as the data from
29684 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
29685 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
29688 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
29692 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
29694 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
29695 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
29696 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
29697 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
29698 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
29699 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
29700 the network resources).
29702 There should be no result data from this function.
29705 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
29707 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
29708 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
29709 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
29710 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
29711 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
29712 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
29713 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
29714 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
29716 There should be no result data from this function.
29719 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
29721 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
29722 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc.)@: internally, and store them in
29723 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
29724 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
29725 propagate the mark information to the server.
29727 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
29730 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
29733 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
29734 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
29735 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
29736 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
29737 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
29738 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend}, and
29739 @code{forward}, but your back end should, if possible, not limit
29742 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
29743 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
29744 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
29745 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
29747 An example action list:
29750 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
29751 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
29752 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
29755 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
29756 mark on (currently not used for anything).
29758 There should be no result data from this function.
29760 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
29762 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
29763 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
29764 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
29765 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
29766 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
29768 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
29769 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
29770 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
29773 There should be no result data from this function.
29776 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
29778 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
29779 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
29780 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
29781 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
29782 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
29783 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
29784 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
29785 local if that's practical.
29787 There should be no result data from this function.
29790 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
29792 The result data from this function should be a description of
29796 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
29798 description = <text>
29801 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
29803 The result data from this function should be the description of all
29804 groups available on the server.
29807 description-buffer = *description-line
29811 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
29813 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
29814 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
29815 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
29816 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
29817 in the active buffer format.
29819 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
29820 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
29821 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
29822 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
29823 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
29824 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
29825 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
29828 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29830 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
29832 There should be no return data.
29835 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
29837 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
29838 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
29839 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
29840 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
29841 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
29844 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
29847 There should be no result data returned.
29850 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
29852 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
29853 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
29855 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
29856 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
29857 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
29858 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
29859 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
29860 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
29862 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
29863 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
29866 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29867 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29869 There should be no data returned.
29872 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
29874 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
29875 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
29876 this function in short order.
29878 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29879 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29881 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
29882 article for that group.
29884 There should be no data returned.
29887 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
29889 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
29890 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
29892 There should be no data returned.
29895 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
29897 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
29898 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
29899 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
29901 There should be no data returned.
29904 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
29906 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
29907 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
29909 There should be no data returned.
29914 @node Error Messaging
29915 @subsubsection Error Messaging
29917 @findex nnheader-report
29918 @findex nnheader-get-report
29919 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
29920 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
29921 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
29922 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
29923 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
29924 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
29927 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
29929 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
29932 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
29933 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
29934 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
29935 takes one argument---the server symbol.
29937 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
29938 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
29939 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
29942 @node Writing New Back Ends
29943 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
29945 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
29946 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
29947 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
29948 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
29949 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
29952 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
29953 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
29954 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
29956 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
29957 package called @code{nnoo}.
29959 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
29960 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
29966 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
29967 parameters. For instance:
29970 (nnoo-declare nndir
29974 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
29975 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
29978 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
29979 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
29980 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
29982 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
29983 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
29984 a function in those back ends.
29987 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
29988 "Where nndir will look for groups."
29989 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
29992 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
29993 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
29994 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
29996 @item nnoo-define-basics
29997 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
30001 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30005 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
30006 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
30007 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
30009 @item nnoo-map-functions
30010 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
30011 functions from the parent back ends.
30014 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30015 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30016 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
30019 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
30020 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
30021 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
30022 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
30025 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
30026 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
30027 haven't already been defined.
30033 nnmh-request-newgroups)
30037 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
30038 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
30039 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
30044 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
30047 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
30048 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
30052 (require 'nnheader)
30056 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
30058 (nnoo-declare nndir
30061 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
30062 "Where nndir will look for groups."
30063 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
30065 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
30066 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
30069 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
30071 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
30072 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
30073 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
30075 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
30076 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
30078 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
30080 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30082 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
30083 (setq nndir-directory
30084 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
30086 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
30087 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
30088 (push `(nndir-current-group
30089 ,(file-name-nondirectory
30090 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30092 (push `(nndir-top-directory
30093 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30095 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
30097 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30098 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30099 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30100 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
30101 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
30105 nnmh-status-message
30107 nnmh-request-newgroups))
30113 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30114 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30116 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
30117 @findex gnus-declare-backend
30118 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
30119 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
30120 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
30122 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
30123 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
30128 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
30131 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
30133 The abilities can be:
30137 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
30139 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
30141 This back end supports both mail and news.
30143 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
30146 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
30147 articles and groups.
30149 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
30150 true for almost all back ends.
30151 @item prompt-address
30152 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
30153 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
30154 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
30158 @node Mail-like Back Ends
30159 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
30161 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
30162 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
30163 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
30164 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
30167 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
30168 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
30169 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
30172 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
30173 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
30176 This function takes four parameters.
30180 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
30183 @item exit-function
30184 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
30186 @item temp-directory
30187 Where the temporary files should be stored.
30190 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
30191 performed for one group only.
30194 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
30195 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
30196 find the article number assigned to this article.
30198 The function also uses the following variables:
30199 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
30200 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
30201 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
30202 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
30206 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
30207 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
30211 @node Score File Syntax
30212 @subsection Score File Syntax
30214 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
30215 malleable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
30216 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
30218 Here's a typical score file:
30222 ("Windows 95" -10000 nil s)
30229 BNF definition of a score file:
30232 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
30233 element = rule / atom
30234 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
30235 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
30236 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
30237 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
30239 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
30240 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
30241 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
30242 date-header = "date"
30243 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30244 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30245 score = "nil" / <integer>
30246 date = "nil" / <natural number>
30247 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
30248 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
30249 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
30250 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
30251 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30252 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30253 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
30254 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30255 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
30256 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
30257 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
30258 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
30259 exclude-files / read-only / touched
30260 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
30261 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
30262 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
30263 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
30264 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
30265 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
30266 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
30267 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
30268 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
30269 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
30270 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
30271 eval = "eval" space <form>
30272 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
30275 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
30278 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
30279 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
30280 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
30281 one looong line, then that's ok.
30283 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
30284 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
30288 @subsection Headers
30290 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
30291 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
30292 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
30293 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
30295 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
30296 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
30297 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
30298 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
30299 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
30300 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
30301 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
30303 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
30304 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
30305 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
30306 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
30307 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
30309 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
30310 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
30316 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
30317 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
30319 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
30320 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
30321 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
30322 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
30324 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
30328 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
30331 is transformed into
30334 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
30337 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
30338 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
30341 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
30344 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
30345 is slightly tricky:
30348 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
30354 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
30357 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
30363 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
30370 and is equal to the previous range.
30372 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
30373 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
30374 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
30378 range = simple-range / normal-range
30379 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
30380 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
30381 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
30382 number *[ " " contents ]
30385 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
30386 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
30387 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
30388 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
30389 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
30394 @subsection Group Info
30396 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
30397 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
30398 describes the group.
30400 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
30401 second is a more complex one:
30404 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
30406 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
30407 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
30409 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
30412 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
30413 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
30414 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
30415 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
30416 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
30417 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
30418 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
30419 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
30420 this section is about.
30422 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
30423 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
30424 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
30426 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
30429 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
30430 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
30431 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30432 group = quote <string> quote
30433 ralevel = rank / level
30434 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30435 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
30436 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30438 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
30439 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
30440 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
30441 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
30444 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
30445 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
30448 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
30449 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
30452 @item gnus-info-group
30453 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
30454 @findex gnus-info-group
30455 @findex gnus-info-set-group
30456 Get/set the group name.
30458 @item gnus-info-rank
30459 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
30460 @findex gnus-info-rank
30461 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
30462 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
30464 @item gnus-info-level
30465 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
30466 @findex gnus-info-level
30467 @findex gnus-info-set-level
30468 Get/set the group level.
30470 @item gnus-info-score
30471 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
30472 @findex gnus-info-score
30473 @findex gnus-info-set-score
30474 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
30476 @item gnus-info-read
30477 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
30478 @findex gnus-info-read
30479 @findex gnus-info-set-read
30480 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
30482 @item gnus-info-marks
30483 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
30484 @findex gnus-info-marks
30485 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
30486 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
30488 @item gnus-info-method
30489 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
30490 @findex gnus-info-method
30491 @findex gnus-info-set-method
30492 Get/set the group select method.
30494 @item gnus-info-params
30495 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
30496 @findex gnus-info-params
30497 @findex gnus-info-set-params
30498 Get/set the group parameters.
30501 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
30502 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
30504 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
30505 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
30506 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
30507 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
30510 @node Extended Interactive
30511 @subsection Extended Interactive
30512 @cindex interactive
30513 @findex gnus-interactive
30515 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
30516 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
30517 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
30520 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
30521 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
30526 The best thing to do would have been to implement
30527 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
30528 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
30529 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
30530 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
30531 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
30532 @code{interactive}.
30534 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
30539 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
30540 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
30544 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
30545 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
30546 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
30549 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
30553 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
30557 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
30563 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
30564 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
30568 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
30569 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
30570 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
30572 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
30573 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
30574 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
30575 Gnus, that's very useful.
30577 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
30578 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
30579 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
30580 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
30581 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
30582 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
30583 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
30584 following function:
30587 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
30591 (,function ,@@args))
30595 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
30596 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
30597 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
30600 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
30601 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
30602 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
30604 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
30605 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
30606 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
30609 @node Various File Formats
30610 @subsection Various File Formats
30613 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
30614 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
30618 @node Active File Format
30619 @subsubsection Active File Format
30621 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
30622 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
30625 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
30628 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
30629 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
30630 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
30631 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
30632 no.general 1000 900 y
30635 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
30638 active = *group-line
30639 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
30640 group = <non-white-space string>
30642 high-number = <non-negative integer>
30643 low-number = <positive integer>
30644 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
30647 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
30648 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
30651 @node Newsgroups File Format
30652 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
30654 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
30655 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
30656 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
30659 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
30660 Here's the definition:
30664 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
30665 group = <non-white-space string>
30667 description = <string>
30672 @node Emacs for Heathens
30673 @section Emacs for Heathens
30675 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
30676 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
30677 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
30678 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
30679 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
30680 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
30681 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
30685 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
30686 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
30691 @subsection Keystrokes
30695 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
30698 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
30701 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
30702 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
30703 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
30704 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
30705 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
30706 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
30708 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
30709 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
30710 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
30711 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
30712 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
30713 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
30714 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
30716 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
30717 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
30718 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
30719 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
30720 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
30721 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
30722 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
30724 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
30725 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
30726 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
30727 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
30728 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
30734 @subsection Emacs Lisp
30736 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
30737 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
30738 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
30739 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
30741 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
30742 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
30743 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
30744 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
30745 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
30746 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
30747 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{~/.gnus.el}
30748 file to customize Gnus. (You can also use the @file{~/.emacs} file, but
30749 in order to set things of Gnus up, it is much better to use the
30750 @file{~/.gnus.el} file, @xref{Startup Files}.)
30752 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
30753 write the following:
30756 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
30759 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
30760 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
30761 you can go and fill your @file{~/.gnus.el} file with lots of these to
30762 change how Gnus works.
30764 If you have put that thing in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, it will be
30765 read and @code{eval}ed (which is Lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
30766 start Gnus. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
30767 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
30768 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
30770 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
30771 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
30772 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
30776 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
30780 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
30783 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server-file} to
30784 @samp{/etc/nntpserver}'', that means:
30787 (setq gnus-nntp-server-file "/etc/nntpserver")
30790 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
30791 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
30794 @include gnus-faq.texi
30796 @node GNU Free Documentation License
30797 @chapter GNU Free Documentation License
30798 @include doclicense.texi
30816 @c Local Variables: