3 @include gnus-overrides.texi
5 @setfilename ../../info/gnus.info
13 Copyright @copyright{} 1995--2016 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 If non-@code{nil}, expunge articles after deleting them. This is always done
14277 if the server supports UID EXPUNGE, but it's not done by default on
14278 servers that doesn't support that command.
14280 @item nnimap-streaming
14281 Virtually all @acronym{IMAP} server support fast streaming of data.
14282 If you have problems connecting to the server, try setting this to
14285 @item nnimap-fetch-partial-articles
14286 If non-@code{nil}, fetch partial articles from the server. If set to
14287 a string, then it's interpreted as a regexp, and parts that have
14288 matching types will be fetched. For instance, @samp{"text/"} will
14289 fetch all textual parts, while leaving the rest on the server.
14291 @item nnimap-record-commands
14292 If non-@code{nil}, record all @acronym{IMAP} commands in the
14293 @samp{"*imap log*"} buffer.
14298 @node Client-Side IMAP Splitting
14299 @subsection Client-Side IMAP Splitting
14301 Many people prefer to do the sorting/splitting of mail into their mail
14302 boxes on the @acronym{IMAP} server. That way they don't have to
14303 download the mail they're not all that interested in.
14305 If you do want to do client-side mail splitting, then the following
14306 variables are relevant:
14310 This is the @acronym{IMAP} mail box that will be scanned for new
14311 mail. This can also be a list of mail box names.
14313 @item nnimap-split-methods
14314 Uses the same syntax as @code{nnmail-split-methods} (@pxref{Splitting
14315 Mail}), except the symbol @code{default}, which means that it should
14316 use the value of the @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable.
14318 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14319 Uses the same syntax as @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14321 @item nnimap-unsplittable-articles
14322 List of flag symbols to ignore when doing splitting. That is,
14323 articles that have these flags won't be considered when splitting.
14324 The default is @samp{(%Deleted %Seen)}.
14328 Here's a complete example @code{nnimap} backend with a client-side
14329 ``fancy'' splitting method:
14332 (nnimap "imap.example.com"
14333 (nnimap-inbox "INBOX")
14334 (nnimap-split-fancy
14335 (| ("MailScanner-SpamCheck" "spam" "spam.detected")
14336 (to "foo@@bar.com" "foo")
14341 @node Support for IMAP Extensions
14342 @subsection Support for IMAP Extensions
14345 @cindex X-GM-LABELS
14346 @cindex IMAP labels
14348 If you're using Google's Gmail, you may want to see your Gmail labels
14349 when reading your mail. Gnus can give you this information if you ask
14350 for @samp{X-GM-LABELS} in the variable @code{gnus-extra-headers}. For
14354 (setq gnus-extra-headers
14355 '(To Newsgroups X-GM-LABELS))
14358 This will result in Gnus storing your labels in message header
14359 structures for later use. The content is always a parenthesized
14360 (possible empty) list.
14365 @section Getting Mail
14366 @cindex reading mail
14369 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD@? But of
14373 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
14374 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
14375 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
14376 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
14377 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
14378 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
14379 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
14380 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
14381 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
14382 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
14383 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
14384 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
14385 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
14389 @node Mail in a Newsreader
14390 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
14392 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
14393 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
14394 of a culture shock.
14396 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
14397 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
14399 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
14400 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
14401 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
14402 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
14404 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
14406 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
14407 deleted? How awful!
14409 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
14410 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
14411 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
14412 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
14415 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
14416 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
14417 they want to treat a message.
14419 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
14420 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
14421 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
14422 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
14423 archived somewhere else.
14425 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
14426 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
14427 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
14428 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
14429 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
14431 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
14432 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
14433 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
14435 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
14436 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
14439 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
14440 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
14441 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
14442 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
14443 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
14445 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
14446 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
14447 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
14448 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
14449 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
14450 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
14454 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
14455 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
14457 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
14458 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
14459 and things will happen automatically.
14461 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
14462 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14465 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14468 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
14469 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
14470 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
14471 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
14472 like any other group.
14474 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
14477 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14478 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14479 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14483 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
14484 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
14485 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
14488 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
14489 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
14490 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
14493 @node Splitting Mail
14494 @subsection Splitting Mail
14495 @cindex splitting mail
14496 @cindex mail splitting
14497 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
14499 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
14500 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
14501 to be split into groups.
14504 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14505 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14506 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14507 ("mail.other" "")))
14510 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
14511 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
14512 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
14513 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
14514 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
14515 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
14516 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
14519 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
14523 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
14524 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14526 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14527 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
14528 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
14529 mail belongs in that group.
14531 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
14532 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
14533 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
14534 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
14535 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
14536 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
14537 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
14538 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
14539 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
14540 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
14542 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
14543 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
14544 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
14545 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
14546 thinks should carry this mail message.
14548 This variable can also be a fancy split method. For the syntax,
14549 see @ref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14551 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
14552 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
14553 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
14554 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
14556 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
14557 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
14558 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
14559 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
14560 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
14562 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
14565 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
14566 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
14567 links. If that's the case for you, set
14568 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
14569 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
14571 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
14572 @findex nnmail-split-history
14573 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
14574 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
14575 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
14576 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
14579 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
14580 Header lines longer than the value of
14581 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
14584 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
14585 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
14586 By default, splitting does not decode headers, so you can not match on
14587 non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. But it is useful if you want to match
14588 articles based on the raw header data. To enable it, set the
14589 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} variable to a non-@code{nil} value.
14590 In addition, the value of the @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
14591 variable is used for decoding non-@acronym{MIME} encoded string when
14592 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} is non-@code{nil}. The default
14593 value is @code{nil} which means not to decode non-@acronym{MIME} encoded
14594 string. A suitable value for you will be @code{undecided} or be the
14595 charset used normally in mails you are interested in.
14597 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14598 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
14599 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
14600 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
14601 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
14602 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
14603 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
14604 other kinds of entries.)
14606 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
14607 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
14608 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
14609 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
14610 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
14611 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
14612 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
14613 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
14614 month's rent money.
14618 @subsection Mail Sources
14620 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
14621 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
14622 maildir, for instance.
14625 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
14626 * Mail Source Functions::
14627 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
14628 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
14632 @node Mail Source Specifiers
14633 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
14635 @cindex mail server
14638 @cindex mail source
14640 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
14641 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
14646 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
14649 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
14650 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
14651 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
14654 The @code{mail-sources} is global for all mail groups. You can specify
14655 an additional mail source for a particular group by including the
14656 @code{group} mail specifier in @code{mail-sources}, and setting a
14657 @code{mail-source} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) specifying
14658 a single mail source. When this is used, @code{mail-sources} is
14659 typically just @code{(group)}; the @code{mail-source} parameter for a
14660 group might look like this:
14663 (mail-source . (file :path "home/user/spools/foo.spool"))
14666 This means that the group's (and only this group's) messages will be
14667 fetched from the spool file @samp{/user/spools/foo.spool}.
14669 The following mail source types are available:
14673 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
14679 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
14680 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
14681 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
14685 Script run before/after fetching mail.
14688 An example file mail source:
14691 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
14694 Or using the default file name:
14700 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
14701 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
14702 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
14703 mail spool while moving the mail.
14705 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
14709 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
14712 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
14716 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
14719 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
14721 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
14724 Alter this script to fit the @samp{movemail} and temporary
14725 file you want to use.
14729 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
14730 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
14731 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
14732 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
14733 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
14734 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
14735 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
14736 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
14737 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
14738 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
14740 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
14741 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
14742 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
14743 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
14749 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
14753 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
14757 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
14758 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
14759 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
14760 predicate are considered.
14764 Script run before/after fetching mail.
14768 An example directory mail source:
14771 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
14776 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
14782 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
14783 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
14786 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (e.g.,
14787 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (e.g., @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
14788 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
14789 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
14790 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
14793 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
14797 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
14798 the user is prompted.
14801 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
14802 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
14805 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
14808 The valid format specifier characters are:
14812 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
14813 included in this string.
14816 The name of the server.
14819 The port number of the server.
14822 The user name to use.
14825 The password to use.
14828 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
14829 corresponding keywords.
14832 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
14833 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
14835 One popular way to use this is to set up an SSH tunnel to access the
14836 @acronym{POP} server. Here's an example:
14839 (pop :server "127.0.0.1"
14844 "nohup ssh -f -L 1234:pop.server:110 remote.host sleep 3600 &")
14848 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
14849 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
14852 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
14853 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
14854 mail should be moved to.
14856 @item :authentication
14857 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
14858 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
14862 Non-@code{nil} if the mail is to be left on the @acronym{POP} server
14863 after fetching. Only the built-in @code{pop3-movemail} program (the
14864 default) supports this keyword.
14866 If this is a number, leave mails on the server for this many days since
14867 you first checked new mails. In that case, mails once fetched will
14868 never be fetched again by the @acronym{UIDL} control. If this is
14869 @code{nil} (the default), mails will be deleted on the server right
14870 after fetching. If this is neither @code{nil} nor a number, all mails
14871 will be left on the server, and you will end up getting the same mails
14874 @vindex pop3-uidl-file
14875 The @code{pop3-uidl-file} variable specifies the file to which the
14876 @acronym{UIDL} data are locally stored. The default value is
14877 @file{~/.pop3-uidl}.
14879 Note that @acronym{POP} servers maintain no state information between
14880 sessions, so what the client believes is there and what is actually
14881 there may not match up. If they do not, then you may get duplicate
14882 mails or the whole thing can fall apart and leave you with a corrupt
14887 @findex pop3-movemail
14888 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
14889 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
14890 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
14892 Here are some examples for getting mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
14894 Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server, using the default user
14895 name, and default fetcher:
14901 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
14904 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
14905 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
14908 Leave mails on the server for 14 days:
14911 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
14912 :user "user-name" :password "secret"
14916 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
14919 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
14923 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
14924 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
14925 contains exactly one mail.
14931 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
14932 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
14935 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
14936 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
14938 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
14939 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
14940 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
14943 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
14944 from locking problems).
14948 Two example maildir mail sources:
14951 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
14952 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
14956 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
14961 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
14962 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (i.e.,
14963 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
14964 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
14965 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{Using IMAP}, for more information.
14971 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
14972 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
14975 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
14976 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
14979 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
14983 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
14987 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
14988 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
14989 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
14990 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
14992 @item :authentication
14993 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
14994 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
14995 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
14996 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
14999 When using the @samp{shell} :stream, the contents of this variable is
15000 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
15001 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
15007 Make sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g.,
15008 don't forget to redirect the error output to the void. The valid format
15009 specifier characters are:
15013 The name of the server.
15016 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
15019 The port number of the server.
15022 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15023 corresponding keywords.
15026 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
15027 which normally is the mailbox which receives incoming mail. Instead of
15028 a single mailbox, this can be a list of mailboxes to fetch mail from.
15031 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
15032 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
15033 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
15034 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
15035 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
15036 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
15039 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
15040 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
15041 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
15042 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
15045 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
15046 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
15050 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
15053 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
15055 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
15059 Get the actual mail source from the @code{mail-source} group parameter,
15060 @xref{Group Parameters}.
15065 @item Common Keywords
15066 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
15072 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
15073 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
15078 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
15083 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
15084 useful when you use local mail and news.
15089 @node Mail Source Functions
15090 @subsubsection Function Interface
15092 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
15093 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
15094 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
15095 consider the following mail-source setting:
15098 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
15099 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
15102 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
15103 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
15104 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
15105 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
15106 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
15108 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
15111 @node Mail Source Customization
15112 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
15114 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
15115 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
15119 @item mail-source-crash-box
15120 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
15121 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
15122 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
15125 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
15126 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
15127 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
15128 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
15129 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
15130 (the deletion will only happen when receiving new mail). You may also
15131 set @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
15132 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
15133 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{10} in alpha Gnusae
15134 and @code{2} in released Gnusae. @xref{Gnus Development}.
15136 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15137 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15138 If non-@code{nil}, ask for confirmation before deleting old incoming
15139 files. This variable only applies when
15140 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
15142 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
15143 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
15144 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
15146 @item mail-source-directory
15147 @vindex mail-source-directory
15148 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
15149 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
15150 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
15151 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
15153 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15154 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15155 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
15156 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
15157 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
15158 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
15161 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
15162 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
15163 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is @code{#o600}.
15165 @item mail-source-movemail-program
15166 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
15167 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
15168 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
15173 @node Fetching Mail
15174 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
15176 @vindex mail-sources
15177 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
15178 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
15179 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
15181 If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to
15182 fetch mail by themselves.
15184 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
15185 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
15190 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15191 :password "secret")))
15194 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
15198 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
15199 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15202 :password "secret")))
15206 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
15207 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
15208 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
15209 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
15210 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
15211 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
15215 @node Mail Back End Variables
15216 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
15218 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
15222 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15223 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15224 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
15225 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
15227 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
15228 @item nnmail-split-hook
15229 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
15230 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
15231 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
15232 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
15233 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
15234 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
15235 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
15236 in the buffer will show up in any files.
15237 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
15240 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15241 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15242 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15243 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15244 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
15245 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
15246 starting to handle the new mail) and
15247 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
15248 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
15249 default file modes the new mail files get:
15252 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15253 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes #o700)))
15255 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15256 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes #o775)))
15259 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
15260 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
15261 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
15262 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
15263 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
15264 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
15265 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
15267 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
15268 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
15269 @findex delete-file
15270 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
15272 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15273 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15274 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
15275 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
15276 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
15278 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15279 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15280 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
15281 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
15282 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
15284 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
15285 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
15286 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
15291 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
15292 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
15293 @cindex mail splitting
15294 @cindex fancy mail splitting
15296 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
15297 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
15298 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
15299 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
15300 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
15301 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
15303 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
15306 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
15307 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
15308 ;; @r{from real errors.}
15309 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
15311 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
15312 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
15313 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
15314 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
15315 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
15316 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
15317 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
15318 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
15319 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
15320 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
15321 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
15322 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
15323 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
15324 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
15325 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
15326 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
15327 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
15331 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
15332 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
15333 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
15338 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
15339 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
15341 @c Don't fold this line.
15342 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split} [@var{invert-partial}])
15343 The split can be a list containing at least three elements. If the
15344 first element @var{field} (a regexp matching a header) contains
15345 @var{value} (also a regexp) then store the message as specified by
15348 If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
15349 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
15350 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
15351 @var{split} is processed.
15353 The last element @var{invert-partial} is optional. If it is
15354 non-@code{nil}, the match-partial-words behavior controlled by the
15355 variable @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} (see below) is
15356 be inverted. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15358 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
15359 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
15360 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
15361 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
15362 stored in one or more groups.
15364 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
15365 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
15366 process all @var{split}s in the list.
15369 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
15370 this message. Use with extreme caution.
15372 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
15373 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
15374 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
15375 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
15378 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
15379 body of the messages:
15382 (defun split-on-body ()
15386 (goto-char (point-min))
15387 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
15391 The buffer is narrowed to the header of the message in question when
15392 @var{function} is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called
15393 after @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
15394 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
15395 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
15396 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
15397 (@pxref{Client-Side IMAP Splitting}).
15399 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
15400 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
15401 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
15402 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
15403 should return a split.
15406 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
15410 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
15412 Normally, @var{value} in these splits must match a complete @emph{word}
15413 according to the fundamental mode syntax table. In other words, all
15414 @var{value}'s will be implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers,
15415 which are word delimiters. Therefore, if you use the following split,
15419 (any "joe" "joemail")
15423 messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will normally not be filed
15424 in @samp{joemail}. If you want to alter this behavior, you can use any
15425 of the following three ways:
15429 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
15430 You can set the @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} variable
15431 to non-@code{nil} in order to ignore word boundaries and instead the
15432 match becomes more like a grep. This variable controls whether partial
15433 words are matched during fancy splitting. The default value is
15436 Note that it influences all @var{value}'s in your split rules.
15439 @var{value} beginning with @code{.*} ignores word boundaries in front of
15440 a word. Similarly, if @var{value} ends with @code{.*}, word boundaries
15441 in the rear of a word will be ignored. For example, the @var{value}
15442 @code{"@@example\\.com"} does not match @samp{foo@@example.com} but
15443 @code{".*@@example\\.com"} does.
15446 You can set the @var{invert-partial} flag in your split rules of the
15447 @samp{(@var{field} @var{value} @dots{})} types, aforementioned in this
15448 section. If the flag is set, word boundaries on both sides of a word
15449 are ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15450 @code{nil}. Contrarily, if the flag is set, word boundaries are not
15451 ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15452 non-@code{nil}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15455 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
15456 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
15457 they are expanded as specified by the variable
15458 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
15459 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
15460 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
15461 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
15465 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
15467 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
15468 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
15470 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
15473 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
15474 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
15475 when all this splitting is performed.
15477 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
15478 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
15479 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
15482 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
15485 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
15486 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
15488 If the string contains the element @samp{\\&}, then the previously
15489 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
15490 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
15491 groupings 1 through 9.
15493 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
15494 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
15495 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
15496 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
15497 groups when users send to an address using different case
15498 (i.e., mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
15501 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
15502 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
15503 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
15504 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
15505 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
15506 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
15507 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
15508 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
15509 it once per thread.
15511 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
15512 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
15513 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
15514 using the colon feature, like so:
15516 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
15517 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
15519 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
15520 ;; @r{other splits go here}
15524 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
15525 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
15526 in the file specified by the variable
15527 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
15528 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
15529 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
15530 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
15531 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
15532 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
15533 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
15534 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
15535 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
15536 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
15537 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
15538 300 kBytes in size.)
15539 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15540 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
15541 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
15542 messages goes into the new group.
15544 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
15545 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
15546 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
15547 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
15548 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
15549 ``outgoing'' group.
15552 @node Group Mail Splitting
15553 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
15554 @cindex mail splitting
15555 @cindex group mail splitting
15557 @findex gnus-group-split
15558 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
15559 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
15560 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
15561 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
15562 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
15563 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
15564 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
15565 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
15567 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
15568 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
15569 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
15570 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
15572 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
15573 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
15574 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
15575 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
15576 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
15577 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
15578 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
15580 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
15581 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
15582 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
15583 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
15584 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
15585 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
15586 @code{gnus-group-split}.
15588 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
15589 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
15590 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
15591 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
15592 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
15593 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
15594 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
15595 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
15596 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
15597 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
15598 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
15599 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
15600 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
15602 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
15607 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
15608 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
15610 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
15611 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
15612 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
15613 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
15615 ((split-spec . catch-all))
15618 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
15619 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
15620 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
15623 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
15624 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
15625 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
15629 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
15630 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
15631 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15635 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
15638 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
15639 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
15640 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
15641 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
15642 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
15643 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
15644 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
15645 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
15646 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
15648 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
15649 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
15650 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
15651 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
15652 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
15653 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
15654 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
15655 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
15656 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
15658 @findex gnus-group-split-update
15659 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
15660 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
15661 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
15662 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
15663 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
15666 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
15669 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
15670 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
15671 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
15672 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
15673 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
15676 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
15677 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
15678 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
15679 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
15681 @node Incorporating Old Mail
15682 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
15683 @cindex incorporating old mail
15684 @cindex import old mail
15686 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
15687 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
15688 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
15691 Doing so can be quite easy.
15693 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
15694 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
15695 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
15696 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
15697 your @code{nnml} groups.
15703 Go to the group buffer.
15706 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
15707 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15710 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
15713 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
15714 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15717 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
15718 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
15721 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
15722 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
15723 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
15724 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
15725 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
15727 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
15728 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
15729 using the new mail back end.
15732 @node Expiring Mail
15733 @subsection Expiring Mail
15734 @cindex article expiry
15735 @cindex expiring mail
15737 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
15738 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
15739 different approach to mail reading.
15741 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
15742 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
15743 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
15744 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
15745 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
15746 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
15749 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
15750 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
15751 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
15752 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
15753 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
15754 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
15755 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
15756 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
15757 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
15759 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-marks
15760 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
15761 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
15762 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
15763 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
15764 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
15765 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
15766 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} (and so on) are considered
15767 expirable. @code{gnus-auto-expirable-marks} has the full list of
15770 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
15771 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
15772 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
15773 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
15774 into its own group.)
15776 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
15777 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
15778 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
15779 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
15780 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
15781 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
15782 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
15783 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
15786 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
15787 Groups that match the regular expression
15788 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
15789 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
15790 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
15792 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
15793 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
15794 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
15795 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
15796 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15798 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
15800 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
15801 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
15802 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
15805 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
15806 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
15807 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
15808 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
15809 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
15811 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
15812 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
15815 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
15816 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
15819 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
15820 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
15822 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
15823 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
15824 don't really mix very well.
15826 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
15827 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
15828 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
15829 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
15832 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
15833 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
15834 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
15835 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
15838 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15840 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15842 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
15844 ((string= group "mail.junk")
15846 ((string= group "important")
15852 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
15853 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
15855 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
15856 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
15857 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
15860 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
15861 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
15863 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
15864 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
15865 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
15866 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
15867 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
15868 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
15869 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
15870 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
15871 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
15872 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
15873 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
15874 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
15875 name or @code{delete}.
15877 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
15879 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
15882 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
15883 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
15884 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
15885 expire mail to groups according to the variable
15886 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
15889 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
15890 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
15891 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
15892 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
15893 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
15896 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
15897 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
15898 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
15899 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
15900 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
15901 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
15903 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
15904 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
15905 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
15906 easier for procmail users.
15908 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
15909 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
15910 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
15911 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
15912 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
15913 caution. Even more dangerous is the
15914 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
15915 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
15916 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
15917 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
15918 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
15919 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
15920 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
15923 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
15925 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
15926 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
15927 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
15928 auto-expire turned on.
15930 @vindex gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable
15931 The expirable marks of articles will be removed when copying or moving
15932 them to a group in which auto-expire is not turned on. This is for
15933 preventing articles from being expired unintentionally. On the other
15934 hand, to a group that has turned auto-expire on, the expirable marks of
15935 articles that are copied or moved will not be changed by default. I.e.,
15936 when copying or moving to such a group, articles that were expirable
15937 will be left expirable and ones that were not expirable will not be
15938 marked as expirable. So, even though in auto-expire groups, some
15939 articles will never get expired (unless you read them again). If you
15940 don't side with that behavior that unexpirable articles may be mixed
15941 into auto-expire groups, you can set
15942 @code{gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable} to a
15943 non-@code{nil} value. In that case, articles that have been read will
15944 be marked as expirable automatically when being copied or moved to a
15945 group that has auto-expire turned on. The default value is @code{nil}.
15949 @subsection Washing Mail
15950 @cindex mail washing
15951 @cindex list server brain damage
15952 @cindex incoming mail treatment
15954 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
15955 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
15956 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
15957 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
15958 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
15959 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
15961 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
15962 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
15963 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
15966 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
15967 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
15968 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
15969 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
15972 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
15973 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
15974 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
15975 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
15976 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
15979 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
15980 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
15981 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
15982 Emacs running on MS machines.
15986 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
15987 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
15988 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
15989 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
15992 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
15993 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
15994 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
15995 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
15997 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
15998 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
15999 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
16000 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
16001 into a feature by documenting it.)
16003 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16004 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16005 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
16006 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
16007 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
16008 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
16009 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
16012 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
16013 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
16016 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
16017 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
16020 This can also be done non-destructively with
16021 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
16023 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
16024 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
16025 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
16027 @item nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16028 @findex nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16029 @c @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
16032 Some mail user agents (e.g., Eudora and Pegasus) produce broken
16033 @code{References} headers, but correct @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This
16034 function will get rid of the @code{References} header if the headers
16035 contain a line matching the regular expression
16036 @code{nnmail-broken-references-mailers}.
16040 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16041 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16042 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
16046 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
16047 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
16048 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
16055 @subsection Duplicates
16057 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
16058 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
16059 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
16060 @cindex duplicate mails
16061 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
16062 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
16063 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
16064 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s:
16065 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
16066 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
16067 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
16068 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
16069 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
16070 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
16071 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
16072 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
16073 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
16075 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
16076 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
16077 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
16078 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
16080 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
16083 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
16084 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
16088 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
16089 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
16090 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
16091 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
16092 (any mail "mail.misc")
16093 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16099 (setq nnmail-split-methods
16100 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
16101 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16105 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
16106 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
16107 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
16108 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
16109 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
16112 @node Not Reading Mail
16113 @subsection Not Reading Mail
16115 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
16116 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
16117 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
16119 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
16120 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
16121 mail, which should help.
16123 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16124 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16125 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16126 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16127 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16128 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
16129 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old (pre-Emacs
16130 23) Rmail file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
16131 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
16132 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
16133 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
16135 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
16136 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
16140 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
16141 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
16143 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
16144 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
16145 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
16147 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
16148 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
16149 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
16153 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
16154 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
16155 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
16156 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
16157 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
16158 * nnmaildir Group Parameters::
16159 * Article Identification::
16162 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
16163 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
16168 @node Unix Mail Box
16169 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
16171 @cindex unix mail box
16173 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16174 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16175 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
16176 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
16177 which group it belongs in.
16179 Virtual server settings:
16182 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
16183 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16184 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
16187 @item nnmbox-active-file
16188 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16189 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
16190 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
16192 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
16193 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16194 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
16195 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
16200 @subsubsection Babyl
16203 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16204 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16205 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box to store mail.
16206 @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail article to say which
16207 group it belongs in.
16209 Virtual server settings:
16212 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
16213 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16214 The name of the Babyl file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
16216 @item nnbabyl-active-file
16217 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16218 The name of the active file for the Babyl file. The default is
16219 @file{~/.rmail-active}
16221 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16222 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16223 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
16229 @subsubsection Mail Spool
16231 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
16233 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
16234 format. It should be used with some caution.
16236 @vindex nnml-directory
16237 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
16238 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
16239 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
16240 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
16242 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
16245 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
16246 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
16247 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
16248 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
16249 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
16250 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
16251 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
16252 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
16254 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
16255 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
16256 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
16257 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
16259 Virtual server settings:
16262 @item nnml-directory
16263 @vindex nnml-directory
16264 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
16265 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
16268 @item nnml-active-file
16269 @vindex nnml-active-file
16270 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
16271 @file{~/Mail/active}.
16273 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
16274 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
16275 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16276 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
16278 @item nnml-get-new-mail
16279 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16280 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
16283 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
16284 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
16285 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16286 default is @code{nil}.
16288 @item nnml-nov-file-name
16289 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
16290 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
16292 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16293 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16294 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
16296 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
16297 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
16298 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
16299 files. This requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be enabled
16300 (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
16301 If the value of @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is a string, it is used
16302 as the file extension specifying the compression program. You can set it
16303 to @samp{.bz2} if your Emacs supports it. A value of @code{t} is
16304 equivalent to @samp{.gz}.
16306 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16307 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16308 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
16309 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
16310 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil}.
16314 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
16315 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
16316 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
16317 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
16318 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
16319 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
16320 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
16325 @subsubsection MH Spool
16327 @cindex mh-e mail spool
16329 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
16330 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
16331 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
16332 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
16335 Virtual server settings:
16338 @item nnmh-directory
16339 @vindex nnmh-directory
16340 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
16341 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
16344 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
16345 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16346 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
16350 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
16351 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
16352 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
16353 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
16354 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
16355 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
16356 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
16361 @subsubsection Maildir
16365 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
16366 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
16367 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
16368 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
16369 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
16372 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
16373 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
16374 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
16375 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
16376 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
16377 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
16378 that appear as group in Gnus.
16380 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
16381 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
16382 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
16384 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
16385 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
16386 another, and you will keep your marks.
16388 Virtual server settings:
16392 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
16393 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
16394 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
16395 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
16396 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
16397 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
16398 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
16399 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
16400 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
16401 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
16403 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
16404 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
16405 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
16406 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
16407 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
16408 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
16409 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
16410 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
16411 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
16412 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
16415 @item target-prefix
16416 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
16417 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
16418 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
16421 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
16422 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
16423 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
16424 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
16425 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
16426 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
16427 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
16428 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
16429 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
16431 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
16432 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
16433 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
16434 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
16435 symlinks pointing to them will be).
16437 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
16438 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
16439 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
16440 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
16441 @code{force} argument.
16443 @item directory-files
16444 This should be a function with the same interface as
16445 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
16446 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
16447 parameter is optional; the default is
16448 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
16449 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
16450 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
16451 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
16452 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
16453 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
16456 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
16457 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
16458 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
16459 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
16460 value is @code{nil}.
16462 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
16463 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
16464 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
16465 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
16466 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
16469 @node nnmaildir Group Parameters
16470 @subsubsection Group parameters
16472 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
16473 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
16474 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
16475 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
16476 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
16477 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
16480 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
16481 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
16482 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
16483 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
16484 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
16485 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
16486 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
16487 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
16488 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
16492 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
16493 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
16494 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
16495 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
16496 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
16497 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
16498 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
16499 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
16500 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
16501 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
16502 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
16503 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
16504 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
16507 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
16509 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
16511 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
16512 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
16513 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
16514 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
16515 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
16516 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
16517 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
16518 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
16519 article. So that form can refer to
16520 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
16521 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
16522 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
16523 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
16526 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
16527 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
16528 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
16529 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
16530 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
16531 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
16532 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
16533 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
16534 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
16535 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
16536 contain extra copies of the articles.
16538 @item directory-files
16539 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
16540 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
16541 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
16542 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
16544 @item distrust-Lines:
16545 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
16546 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
16547 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
16550 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
16551 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16552 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
16553 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
16554 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
16555 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16558 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
16559 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
16560 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
16561 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
16562 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
16563 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
16564 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
16566 @item nov-cache-size
16567 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
16568 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
16569 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
16570 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
16571 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
16572 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
16573 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
16574 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
16575 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
16576 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
16577 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
16580 @node Article Identification
16581 @subsubsection Article identification
16582 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
16583 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
16584 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
16585 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
16586 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
16587 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
16588 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
16589 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
16590 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
16591 request the article in the summary buffer.
16594 @subsubsection NOV data
16595 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
16596 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
16597 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
16598 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
16599 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
16600 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
16601 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
16602 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
16603 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
16604 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
16605 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
16607 @node Article Marks
16608 @subsubsection Article marks
16609 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
16610 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
16611 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16612 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
16613 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
16614 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
16615 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
16616 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
16618 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
16619 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
16620 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
16621 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
16622 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
16623 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
16624 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
16625 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
16626 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
16630 @subsubsection Mail Folders
16632 @cindex mbox folders
16633 @cindex mail folders
16635 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
16636 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
16637 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
16638 numbers and arrival dates.
16640 Virtual server settings:
16643 @item nnfolder-directory
16644 @vindex nnfolder-directory
16645 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
16646 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
16647 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
16649 @item nnfolder-active-file
16650 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
16651 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
16653 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16654 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
16655 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16656 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
16658 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
16659 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16660 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
16661 default is @code{t}
16663 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16664 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
16665 @cindex backup files
16666 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
16667 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
16668 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
16669 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
16672 (defun turn-off-backup ()
16673 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
16675 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
16678 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
16679 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
16680 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
16681 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
16682 extract some information from it before removing it.
16684 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
16685 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
16686 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16687 default is @code{nil}.
16689 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
16690 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
16691 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
16693 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
16694 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
16695 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
16696 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
16701 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
16702 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
16703 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
16704 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
16705 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
16706 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
16709 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
16710 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
16712 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
16713 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
16714 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
16715 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
16716 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
16718 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
16719 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
16720 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
16721 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
16722 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
16723 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
16724 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
16725 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
16728 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
16729 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
16730 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
16731 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
16736 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-defined
16737 format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
16738 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
16739 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
16740 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
16741 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
16742 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
16743 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
16744 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
16745 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
16746 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
16747 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
16748 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
16753 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
16754 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
16755 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
16756 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
16757 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
16758 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
16759 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
16760 Rmail was Emacs's first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
16761 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
16762 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
16763 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
16764 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
16765 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
16766 course, and is still maintained within Emacs. Since Emacs 23, it
16767 uses standard mbox format rather than Babyl.
16769 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
16770 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
16775 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
16776 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
16777 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
16778 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
16779 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
16780 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
16781 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
16782 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
16783 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
16784 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
16785 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
16786 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
16787 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
16788 provided by the active file and overviews.
16790 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
16791 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
16792 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
16793 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
16794 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
16797 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
16798 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
16803 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
16804 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
16805 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
16806 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
16807 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
16808 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
16809 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
16813 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
16814 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
16815 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
16816 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
16817 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
16818 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
16819 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
16820 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
16821 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
16823 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
16824 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
16825 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
16826 friendly mail back end all over.
16830 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
16831 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
16834 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
16835 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
16836 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
16837 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
16838 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}.
16839 (Use @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this
16840 slows you down or takes up very much space, a non-block-structured
16843 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
16844 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
16845 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
16846 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
16847 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
16848 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
16849 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
16850 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
16851 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
16852 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
16853 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
16855 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
16856 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
16857 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
16858 else, and still have your marks.
16860 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
16861 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
16862 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
16863 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
16864 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
16865 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
16866 removed in the future.
16868 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
16869 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
16870 on your file system.
16872 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
16873 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
16878 @node Browsing the Web
16879 @section Browsing the Web
16881 @cindex browsing the web
16885 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
16886 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
16887 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
16888 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
16889 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
16890 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
16891 even know what a news group is.
16893 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
16894 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
16895 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
16896 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
16897 you mad in the end.
16899 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
16902 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
16903 interfaces to these sources.
16907 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
16908 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
16911 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
16912 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
16913 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
16914 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
16915 though, you should be ok.
16917 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
16918 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
16919 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
16920 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
16921 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
16923 @node Archiving Mail
16924 @subsection Archiving Mail
16925 @cindex archiving mail
16926 @cindex backup of mail
16928 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
16929 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
16930 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
16931 marks is fairly simple.
16933 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
16934 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
16937 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
16938 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
16939 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
16940 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
16941 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
16942 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
16943 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
16944 before you restore the data.
16947 @subsection Web Searches
16952 @cindex Usenet searches
16953 @cindex searching the Usenet
16955 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
16956 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
16957 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
16958 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
16959 searches without having to use a browser.
16961 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
16962 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
16963 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
16964 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
16965 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
16967 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
16968 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
16969 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
16970 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
16971 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
16972 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
16973 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
16974 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
16975 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
16976 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
16979 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
16980 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
16981 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
16982 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
16983 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
16984 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
16986 Virtual server variables:
16991 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
16992 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
16993 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
16996 @vindex nnweb-search
16997 The search string to feed to the search engine.
16999 @item nnweb-max-hits
17000 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
17001 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
17004 @item nnweb-type-definition
17005 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
17006 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
17007 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
17012 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
17016 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
17019 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
17022 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
17026 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
17037 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
17038 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
17039 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
17040 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
17041 changes to a wiki (e.g., @url{http://cliki.net/site/recent-changes}).
17043 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
17044 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
17046 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
17047 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
17048 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
17051 @kindex G R (Group)
17052 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
17053 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
17054 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
17055 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
17057 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
17058 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
17059 subscribe to groups.
17061 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
17062 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
17063 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
17064 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
17065 variable or other. Also @xref{Non-ASCII Group Names}, for more
17068 The @code{nnrss} back end generates @samp{multipart/alternative}
17069 @acronym{MIME} articles in which each contains a @samp{text/plain} part
17070 and a @samp{text/html} part.
17073 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
17074 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
17077 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
17078 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
17082 @defun nnrss-opml-export
17083 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
17084 @acronym{OPML} format.
17087 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
17090 @item nnrss-directory
17091 @vindex nnrss-directory
17092 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
17093 @file{~/News/rss/}.
17095 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
17096 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
17097 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
17098 data files. The default is the value of
17099 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
17100 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
17102 @item nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17103 @vindex nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17104 Some feeds update constantly article fields during their publications,
17105 e.g., to indicate the number of comments. However, if there is
17106 a difference between the local article and the distant one, the latter
17107 is considered to be new. To avoid this and discard some fields, set this
17108 variable to the list of fields to be ignored. The default is
17109 @code{'(slash:comments)}.
17111 @item nnrss-use-local
17112 @vindex nnrss-use-local
17113 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
17114 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
17115 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
17116 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
17117 download script using @command{wget}.
17120 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
17121 the summary buffer.
17124 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
17125 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
17127 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
17129 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
17130 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
17133 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
17137 (require 'browse-url)
17139 (defun browse-nnrss-url (arg)
17141 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
17144 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
17145 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
17148 (browse-url (cdr url))
17149 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
17150 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
17152 (with-eval-after-load "gnus"
17153 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
17154 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
17155 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
17158 Even if you have added @samp{text/html} to the
17159 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} variable (@pxref{Display
17160 Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
17161 Manual}) since you don't want to see @acronym{HTML} parts, it might be
17162 more useful especially in @code{nnrss} groups to display
17163 @samp{text/html} parts. Here's an example of setting
17164 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} as a group parameter (@pxref{Group
17165 Parameters}) in order to display @samp{text/html} parts only in
17166 @code{nnrss} groups:
17169 ;; @r{Set the default value of @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}.}
17170 (with-eval-after-load "gnus-sum"
17172 'gnus-newsgroup-variables
17173 '(mm-discouraged-alternatives
17174 . '("text/html" "image/.*"))))
17176 ;; @r{Display @samp{text/html} parts in @code{nnrss} groups.}
17179 '("\\`nnrss:" (mm-discouraged-alternatives nil)))
17183 @node Other Sources
17184 @section Other Sources
17186 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
17187 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
17191 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
17192 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
17193 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
17194 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
17195 * The Empty Backend:: The backend that never has any news.
17199 @node Directory Groups
17200 @subsection Directory Groups
17202 @cindex directory groups
17204 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
17205 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
17208 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
17209 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
17210 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
17211 back end to read directories. Big deal.
17213 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
17214 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
17215 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
17216 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
17217 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
17219 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
17221 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
17222 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
17223 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
17224 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
17227 @node Anything Groups
17228 @subsection Anything Groups
17231 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
17232 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
17233 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
17236 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
17237 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
17238 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
17239 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
17240 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
17241 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
17242 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
17243 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g., a C source file),
17244 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
17245 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
17248 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
17249 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
17250 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
17251 in the article buffer, just as usual.
17253 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
17254 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
17255 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
17256 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
17258 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
17259 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
17260 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
17261 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
17262 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
17263 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
17264 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
17265 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
17270 @item nneething-map-file-directory
17271 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
17272 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
17273 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
17275 @item nneething-exclude-files
17276 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
17277 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
17278 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
17280 @item nneething-include-files
17281 @vindex nneething-include-files
17282 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
17283 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
17285 @item nneething-map-file
17286 @vindex nneething-map-file
17287 Name of the map files.
17291 @node Document Groups
17292 @subsection Document Groups
17294 @cindex documentation group
17297 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
17298 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
17308 The standard Unix mbox file.
17310 @cindex MMDF mail box
17312 The MMDF mail box format.
17315 Several news articles appended into a file.
17317 @cindex rnews batch files
17319 The rnews batch transport format.
17322 Netscape mail boxes.
17325 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
17327 @item standard-digest
17328 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
17331 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
17333 @item lanl-gov-announce
17334 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
17336 @cindex git commit messages
17338 @code{git} commit messages.
17340 @cindex forwarded messages
17341 @item rfc822-forward
17342 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
17345 The Outlook mail box.
17348 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
17351 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
17354 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
17357 An RFC934-forwarded message.
17363 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
17366 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
17372 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
17373 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
17374 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
17377 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
17378 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
17379 group. And that's it.
17381 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
17382 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
17383 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
17384 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
17385 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
17386 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
17387 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
17388 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
17389 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
17390 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
17392 Virtual server variables:
17395 @item nndoc-article-type
17396 @vindex nndoc-article-type
17397 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
17398 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
17399 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
17400 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
17401 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
17403 @item nndoc-post-type
17404 @vindex nndoc-post-type
17405 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
17406 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
17411 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
17415 @node Document Server Internals
17416 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
17418 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
17419 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
17420 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
17421 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
17423 First, here's an example document type definition:
17427 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
17428 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
17431 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
17432 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
17433 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
17434 types can be defined with very few settings:
17437 @item first-article
17438 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
17439 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
17442 @item article-begin
17443 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
17444 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
17445 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
17446 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
17448 @item article-begin-function
17449 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
17450 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
17453 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
17454 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
17455 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
17457 @item head-begin-function
17458 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
17459 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
17462 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
17463 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
17466 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
17467 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
17468 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
17470 @item body-begin-function
17471 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
17472 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
17475 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
17476 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
17477 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
17479 @item body-end-function
17480 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
17481 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
17484 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
17485 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
17488 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
17489 regexp will be totally ignored.
17493 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
17494 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
17495 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
17496 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
17497 something that's palatable for Gnus:
17500 @item prepare-body-function
17501 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
17502 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
17503 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
17505 @item article-transform-function
17506 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
17507 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
17508 body of the article.
17510 @item generate-head-function
17511 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
17512 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
17513 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
17514 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
17516 @item generate-article-function
17517 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
17518 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
17519 parameter when requesting all articles.
17521 @item dissection-function
17522 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
17523 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
17524 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
17525 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
17526 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
17527 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
17531 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
17536 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17537 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17538 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
17539 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
17540 (head-end . "^ ?$")
17541 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
17542 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
17543 (subtype digest guess))
17546 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
17547 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
17548 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
17549 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
17550 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
17552 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
17553 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
17554 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
17555 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
17556 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
17557 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
17558 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
17559 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
17560 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
17561 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
17562 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
17563 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
17566 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17567 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17568 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17571 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17572 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17573 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17575 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17581 @item nngateway-address
17582 @vindex nngateway-address
17583 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17585 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17586 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17587 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17588 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17589 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17590 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17591 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17594 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17595 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17596 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17599 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17602 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17605 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17608 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17610 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17613 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17614 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17615 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17617 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17619 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17620 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17621 @code{nngateway-address}.
17629 (setq gnus-post-method
17631 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17632 (nngateway-header-transformation
17633 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17636 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17639 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17643 @node The Empty Backend
17644 @subsection The Empty Backend
17647 @code{nnnil} is a backend that can be used as a placeholder if you
17648 have to specify a backend somewhere, but don't really want to. The
17649 classical example is if you don't want to have a primary select
17650 methods, but want to only use secondary ones:
17653 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnnil ""))
17654 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
17660 @node Combined Groups
17661 @section Combined Groups
17663 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17667 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17671 @node Virtual Groups
17672 @subsection Virtual Groups
17674 @cindex virtual groups
17675 @cindex merging groups
17677 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17680 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17681 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17682 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17684 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17685 regexp to match component groups.
17687 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17688 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17689 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17690 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17691 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17692 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17693 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17694 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17696 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17697 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17700 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17703 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17704 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17706 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17707 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17708 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17709 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17712 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17715 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17716 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17717 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17719 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17720 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17721 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17722 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17723 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17725 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17726 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17727 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17729 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17730 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} variable is non-@code{nil} (which
17731 is the default), @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread
17732 articles when entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil}
17733 and you read articles in a component group after the virtual group has
17734 been activated, the read articles from the component group will show up
17735 when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this effect if you
17736 have two virtual groups that have a component group in common. If
17737 that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}. Or you can
17738 just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before you enter
17739 it---it'll have much the same effect.
17741 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17742 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17743 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17744 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17745 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17746 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17747 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17749 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17750 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17752 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17753 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17757 @node Email Based Diary
17758 @section Email Based Diary
17760 @cindex email based diary
17763 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
17764 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
17765 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
17766 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
17767 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
17768 namely, as event reminders.
17770 Here is a typical scenario:
17774 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
17775 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
17777 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
17779 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
17781 From time to time, as you type @kbd{g} in the group buffer and as the date
17782 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
17783 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
17785 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
17786 of the night you're gonna have.
17788 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
17789 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
17792 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
17793 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
17794 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
17795 explained in the sections below.
17798 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
17799 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
17800 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
17804 @node The NNDiary Back End
17805 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
17807 @cindex the nndiary back end
17809 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
17810 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
17811 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
17812 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
17813 directory per group.
17815 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
17816 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
17817 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
17818 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
17821 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
17822 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
17823 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
17826 @node Diary Messages
17827 @subsubsection Diary Messages
17828 @cindex nndiary messages
17829 @cindex nndiary mails
17831 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
17832 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
17833 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
17834 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
17835 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
17836 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
17837 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
17841 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
17842 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
17843 (separated by a comma).
17845 A field is either an integer, or a range.
17847 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
17849 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
17850 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
17851 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
17853 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
17854 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
17855 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
17857 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
17858 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
17859 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
17860 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
17861 list of available time zone values, see the variable
17862 @code{nndiary-headers}.
17865 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
17866 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
17867 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
17872 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
17875 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
17877 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
17880 @node Running NNDiary
17881 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
17882 @cindex running nndiary
17883 @cindex nndiary operation modes
17885 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
17886 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
17887 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
17888 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
17889 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
17890 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
17892 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
17893 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
17894 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
17895 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
17896 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
17897 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
17898 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
17901 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
17906 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
17907 line in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
17910 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
17913 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
17914 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
17915 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
17916 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
17917 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
17919 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
17920 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
17929 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
17930 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
17932 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
17933 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
17934 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
17935 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
17938 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
17939 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
17940 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
17943 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
17944 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
17945 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
17947 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
17948 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
17949 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
17950 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
17951 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
17953 @node Customizing NNDiary
17954 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
17955 @cindex customizing nndiary
17956 @cindex nndiary customization
17958 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
17959 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
17960 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
17961 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
17963 @defvar nndiary-reminders
17964 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
17965 appointments (e.g., 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
17966 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
17967 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
17971 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
17972 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
17977 @node The Gnus Diary Library
17978 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
17980 @cindex the gnus diary library
17982 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
17983 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
17984 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
17985 useful things for you.
17987 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
17990 (require 'gnus-diary)
17993 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
17994 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
17995 (sorry if you used them before).
17999 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
18000 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
18001 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
18002 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
18005 @node Diary Summary Line Format
18006 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
18007 @cindex diary summary buffer line
18008 @cindex diary summary line format
18010 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
18011 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
18012 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
18013 see the event's date.
18015 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
18016 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
18017 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g., ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
18018 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximate remaining time until the
18019 next occurrence of the event (e.g., ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
18021 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
18022 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
18023 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
18026 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
18029 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
18030 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
18033 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
18036 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
18037 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
18038 with the following user options:
18040 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
18041 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
18042 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
18043 diary groups'parameters.
18046 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
18047 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
18048 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
18051 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
18052 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
18053 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
18054 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
18055 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
18058 @node Diary Articles Sorting
18059 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
18060 @cindex diary articles sorting
18061 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
18062 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
18063 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
18064 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
18066 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
18067 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
18068 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
18069 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
18070 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
18072 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
18073 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
18074 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
18075 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
18078 @node Diary Headers Generation
18079 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
18080 @cindex diary headers generation
18081 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
18083 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
18084 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
18085 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
18086 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
18089 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
18090 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
18091 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c C-f d} in
18092 @code{message-mode} and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the
18093 process of converting a usual mail to a diary one.
18095 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
18096 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
18097 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
18100 @node Diary Group Parameters
18101 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
18102 @cindex diary group parameters
18104 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
18105 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
18106 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
18107 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
18108 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
18109 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
18110 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
18111 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
18113 @node Sending or Not Sending
18114 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
18116 Well, assuming you've read all of the above, here are two final notes on
18117 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
18121 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
18122 messages for real. This means for instance that you can give
18123 appointments to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
18124 sending the diary message to them as well.
18126 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
18127 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
18128 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
18129 comes in very handy for private appointments.
18132 @node Gnus Unplugged
18133 @section Gnus Unplugged
18138 @cindex Gnus unplugged
18140 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
18141 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
18142 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
18143 read news. Believe it or not.
18145 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
18146 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
18147 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
18148 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
18149 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
18151 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
18152 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
18153 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
18154 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
18155 reading news on a machine.
18157 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
18158 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
18159 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
18161 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
18164 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
18165 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
18166 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
18167 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
18168 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
18169 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
18170 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
18171 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
18172 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
18173 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
18174 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
18175 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
18176 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
18177 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
18182 @subsection Agent Basics
18184 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
18186 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
18187 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
18188 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
18189 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
18191 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
18192 connected to the net continuously.
18194 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
18195 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
18197 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
18198 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
18199 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
18200 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
18201 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
18203 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
18204 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
18205 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
18206 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
18207 they're kinda like plugged always).
18209 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
18210 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
18211 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
18214 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
18215 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
18216 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
18217 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
18218 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
18220 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
18225 @findex gnus-unplugged
18226 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
18227 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
18228 already fetched while in this mode.
18231 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
18232 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
18233 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
18234 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
18235 Source Specifiers}).
18238 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
18239 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
18240 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
18241 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
18242 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
18245 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
18246 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
18247 then you read the news offline.
18250 And then you go to step 2.
18253 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
18259 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
18260 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
18261 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
18262 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
18263 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
18264 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
18265 no servers are agentized.
18268 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
18269 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
18270 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
18271 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
18273 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
18274 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
18275 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
18276 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
18277 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
18278 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
18282 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
18286 @node Agent Categories
18287 @subsection Agent Categories
18289 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
18290 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
18291 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
18292 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
18293 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
18294 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
18295 you're interested in the articles anyway.
18297 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
18298 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
18299 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
18300 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
18301 buffer for creating and managing categories.
18303 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
18304 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
18305 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
18306 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
18307 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
18310 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
18311 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
18312 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
18313 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
18314 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
18315 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
18319 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
18320 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
18321 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
18325 @node Category Syntax
18326 @subsubsection Category Syntax
18328 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
18329 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
18330 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
18333 @cindex Agent Parameters
18336 The list of groups that are in this category.
18338 @item agent-predicate
18339 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
18340 are eligible for downloading; and
18343 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
18344 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
18345 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
18347 @item agent-enable-expiration
18348 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
18349 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
18350 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
18351 only groups that should not be expired.
18353 @item agent-days-until-old
18354 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
18355 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
18357 @item agent-low-score
18358 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
18360 @item agent-high-score
18361 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
18363 @item agent-short-article
18364 an integer that overrides the value of
18365 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
18367 @item agent-long-article
18368 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
18370 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
18371 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
18372 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
18373 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
18374 undownloaded faces.
18377 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
18380 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
18381 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
18382 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
18385 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
18386 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
18387 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
18388 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
18390 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
18391 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
18392 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
18394 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
18395 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
18396 operators sprinkled in between.
18398 Perhaps some examples are in order.
18400 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
18401 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
18407 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
18408 short (for some value of ``short'').
18410 Here's a more complex predicate:
18419 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
18420 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
18423 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
18424 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
18425 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
18427 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
18428 you want to do, you can write your own.
18430 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
18431 bound to the value determined by calling
18432 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
18433 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
18434 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
18435 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
18436 predicate to individual groups.
18440 True if the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
18441 lines; default 100.
18444 True if the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
18445 lines; default 200.
18448 True if the article has a download score less than
18449 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
18452 True if the article has a download score greater than
18453 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
18456 True if the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
18457 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
18458 checksum and sees whether articles match.
18467 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
18468 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
18469 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
18472 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
18473 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g., posted
18474 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
18475 something along the lines of the following:
18478 (defun my-article-old-p ()
18479 "Say whether an article is old."
18480 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
18481 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
18484 with the predicate then defined as:
18487 (not my-article-old-p)
18490 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
18491 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
18495 (require 'gnus-agent)
18496 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
18497 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
18498 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
18501 and simply specify your predicate as:
18507 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
18508 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
18509 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
18510 just don't give a damn.
18512 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
18513 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
18514 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
18515 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
18516 parameters like so:
18519 (agent-predicate . short)
18522 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
18523 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
18524 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
18526 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
18529 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
18532 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
18533 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
18534 predicate is assumed to be a list.
18537 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
18538 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
18539 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
18540 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
18541 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
18542 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
18544 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
18545 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
18546 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
18547 if it's to be specific to that group.
18549 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
18556 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
18557 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
18563 Category specification
18567 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18573 Group/Topic Parameter specification
18576 (agent-score ("from"
18577 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18582 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
18588 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
18589 keywords stated above.
18595 Category specification
18598 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
18604 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
18608 Group Parameter specification
18611 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
18614 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
18619 Use @code{normal} score files
18621 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
18622 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
18623 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
18624 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
18626 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
18627 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
18628 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
18629 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
18633 Category Specification
18640 Group Parameter specification
18643 (agent-score . file)
18648 @node Category Buffer
18649 @subsubsection Category Buffer
18651 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
18652 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
18653 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
18655 The following commands are available in this buffer:
18659 @kindex q (Category)
18660 @findex gnus-category-exit
18661 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
18664 @kindex e (Category)
18665 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
18666 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
18667 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
18670 @kindex k (Category)
18671 @findex gnus-category-kill
18672 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
18675 @kindex c (Category)
18676 @findex gnus-category-copy
18677 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
18680 @kindex a (Category)
18681 @findex gnus-category-add
18682 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
18685 @kindex p (Category)
18686 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
18687 Edit the predicate of the current category
18688 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
18691 @kindex g (Category)
18692 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
18693 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
18694 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
18697 @kindex s (Category)
18698 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
18699 Edit the download score rule of the current category
18700 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
18703 @kindex l (Category)
18704 @findex gnus-category-list
18705 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
18709 @node Category Variables
18710 @subsubsection Category Variables
18713 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
18714 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
18715 Hook run in category buffers.
18717 @item gnus-category-line-format
18718 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
18719 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
18720 Variables}). Valid elements are:
18724 The name of the category.
18727 The number of groups in the category.
18730 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
18731 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
18732 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
18734 @item gnus-agent-short-article
18735 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
18736 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
18738 @item gnus-agent-long-article
18739 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
18740 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
18742 @item gnus-agent-low-score
18743 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
18744 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
18747 @item gnus-agent-high-score
18748 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
18749 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18752 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18753 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18754 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18755 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18756 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18757 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18758 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18759 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18763 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18764 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18765 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18766 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18767 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18768 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18769 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18774 @node Agent Commands
18775 @subsection Agent Commands
18776 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18777 @kindex J j (Agent)
18779 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18780 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18781 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18785 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18786 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18787 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18793 @node Group Agent Commands
18794 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18798 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18799 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18800 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18801 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18804 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18805 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18806 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18809 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18810 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18811 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18812 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18815 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18816 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18817 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18818 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18821 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18822 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18823 Add the current group to an Agent category
18824 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18825 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18828 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18829 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18830 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18831 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18832 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18835 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18836 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18837 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18843 @node Summary Agent Commands
18844 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18848 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18849 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18850 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18853 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18854 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18855 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18856 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18860 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18861 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18862 Toggle whether to download the article
18863 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18867 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18868 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18869 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18872 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18873 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18874 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18875 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18878 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18879 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
18880 Download all processable articles in this group.
18881 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
18884 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18885 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18886 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18887 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18892 @node Server Agent Commands
18893 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18897 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18898 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18899 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18900 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18903 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18904 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18905 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18906 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18911 @node Agent Visuals
18912 @subsection Agent Visuals
18914 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18915 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18916 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18917 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18918 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18919 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18920 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18921 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18922 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18923 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18925 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18926 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18927 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18928 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18929 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
18930 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18931 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18932 articles will be available when unplugged.
18934 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18935 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18936 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18937 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18938 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18939 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18940 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18941 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18943 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18944 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18945 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18946 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18947 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18948 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18949 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18950 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18951 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18953 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18954 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18955 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18956 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18957 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
18958 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
18959 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
18960 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
18961 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
18962 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
18964 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
18965 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
18966 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
18967 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
18968 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
18969 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18971 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
18972 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
18973 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
18974 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
18975 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
18976 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
18977 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
18978 expiring'' articles.
18980 @node Agent as Cache
18981 @subsection Agent as Cache
18983 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18984 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18985 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18986 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18987 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18988 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18989 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18990 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18991 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18993 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18994 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18995 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18996 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18997 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
19000 @subsection Agent Expiry
19002 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
19003 @findex gnus-agent-expire
19004 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
19005 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
19006 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
19007 @cindex agent expiry
19008 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
19009 @cindex expiry, in Gnus agent
19011 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
19012 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
19013 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
19014 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
19015 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
19016 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
19017 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
19018 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
19020 Note that other functions might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you
19021 to keep the agent synchronized with the group.
19023 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
19024 prevent expiration in selected groups.
19026 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
19027 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
19028 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
19029 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
19030 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
19031 be kept indefinitely.
19033 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
19034 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
19035 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
19036 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
19038 @node Agent Regeneration
19039 @subsection Agent Regeneration
19041 @cindex agent regeneration
19042 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
19043 @cindex regeneration
19045 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
19046 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
19047 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
19048 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
19049 internal inconsistencies.
19051 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
19052 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
19053 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
19054 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
19055 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
19056 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
19058 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
19059 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
19060 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
19061 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
19062 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
19063 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
19065 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19066 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19067 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
19068 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
19069 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
19070 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
19073 @node Agent and flags
19074 @subsection Agent and flags
19076 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
19077 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc.)@: on the server. Sadly,
19078 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
19079 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
19080 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
19081 to the flags in its own files.
19083 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
19084 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
19085 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
19087 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19088 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19089 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19090 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19091 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19092 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19094 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
19095 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
19096 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
19097 in the group buffer.
19099 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
19100 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
19101 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
19102 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
19103 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
19104 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
19105 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
19106 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
19108 @node Agent and IMAP
19109 @subsection Agent and IMAP
19111 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
19112 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
19113 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
19114 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
19116 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
19117 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
19122 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
19125 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
19129 @node Outgoing Messages
19130 @subsection Outgoing Messages
19132 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
19133 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
19134 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
19136 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
19137 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
19138 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
19140 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
19141 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
19142 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
19143 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
19146 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
19147 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
19148 ask you to confirm your action (see
19149 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
19151 @node Agent Variables
19152 @subsection Agent Variables
19157 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
19158 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
19159 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
19160 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
19162 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
19163 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
19166 @item gnus-agent-directory
19167 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
19168 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
19169 @file{~/News/agent/}.
19171 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
19172 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
19173 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
19174 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
19175 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
19178 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19179 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19180 Hook run when connecting to the network.
19182 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19183 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19184 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
19186 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19187 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19188 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
19190 @item gnus-agent-cache
19191 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
19192 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
19193 articles when plugged, e.g., essentially using the Agent as a cache.
19194 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
19196 @item gnus-agent-go-online
19197 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
19198 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
19199 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
19200 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
19201 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
19202 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
19205 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19206 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19207 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
19208 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
19209 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
19210 read. The default is @code{t}.
19212 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19213 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19214 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19215 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19216 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19217 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19218 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19220 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19221 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19222 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
19223 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
19224 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
19225 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
19226 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
19227 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
19228 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
19229 over and over again.
19231 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19232 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19233 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
19234 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
19235 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
19236 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
19237 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
19238 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
19239 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
19240 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
19241 However, all articles parsed prior to losing the connection will be
19242 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
19245 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
19246 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
19247 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
19248 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
19249 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
19250 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
19251 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
19252 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
19253 is only valid if the Agent is used.
19255 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19256 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19257 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
19258 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
19259 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
19260 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
19262 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
19263 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
19264 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
19265 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
19266 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
19268 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
19269 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
19270 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
19271 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
19272 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
19273 mail. The default is @code{t}.
19275 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19276 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19277 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
19278 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
19279 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
19281 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19282 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19283 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
19284 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
19285 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
19286 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
19287 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
19288 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
19289 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
19290 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
19291 start Gnus. The default is @samp{nil}.
19296 @node Example Setup
19297 @subsection Example Setup
19299 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
19300 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
19301 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
19304 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
19305 ;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
19306 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
19308 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
19309 ;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
19310 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
19312 ;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
19313 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
19315 ;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
19316 ;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
19317 ;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
19320 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
19321 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
19324 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
19325 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
19326 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
19327 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
19328 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
19331 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
19332 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
19333 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
19334 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
19335 back all the killed groups.)
19337 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
19338 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
19339 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
19342 @node Batching Agents
19343 @subsection Batching Agents
19344 @findex gnus-agent-batch
19346 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
19347 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
19348 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
19350 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
19351 following incantation:
19355 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
19359 @node Agent Caveats
19360 @subsection Agent Caveats
19362 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
19363 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
19367 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
19369 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
19370 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
19371 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
19373 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
19374 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
19376 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
19380 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
19381 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
19382 locally stored articles.
19389 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
19390 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
19391 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
19394 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
19395 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
19396 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
19397 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
19398 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
19400 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
19401 before generating the summary buffer.
19403 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
19404 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
19405 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
19407 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
19408 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
19409 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
19410 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
19413 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
19414 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
19415 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
19416 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
19417 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
19418 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
19419 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
19420 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
19421 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
19422 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
19423 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
19424 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
19425 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
19426 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
19427 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
19428 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
19432 @node Summary Score Commands
19433 @section Summary Score Commands
19434 @cindex score commands
19436 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
19437 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
19438 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
19439 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
19440 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
19442 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
19443 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
19444 some other score file (e.g., @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
19445 score file the current one.
19447 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
19452 @kindex V s (Summary)
19453 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
19454 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
19457 @kindex V S (Summary)
19458 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
19459 Display the score of the current article
19460 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
19463 @kindex V t (Summary)
19464 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
19465 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
19466 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @file{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
19467 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
19468 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
19469 score file and edit it.
19472 @kindex V w (Summary)
19473 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
19474 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
19477 @kindex V R (Summary)
19478 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
19479 Run the current summary through the scoring process
19480 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
19481 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
19482 effect you're having.
19485 @kindex V c (Summary)
19486 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
19487 Make a different score file the current
19488 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
19491 @kindex V e (Summary)
19492 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
19493 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
19494 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
19498 @kindex V f (Summary)
19499 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
19500 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
19501 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
19504 @kindex V F (Summary)
19505 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19506 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
19507 after editing score files.
19510 @kindex V C (Summary)
19511 @findex gnus-score-customize
19512 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
19513 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
19517 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
19522 @kindex V m (Summary)
19523 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
19524 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
19525 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
19528 @kindex V x (Summary)
19529 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
19530 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
19531 expunge all articles below this score
19532 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
19535 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
19536 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
19539 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
19540 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
19544 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
19545 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
19547 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
19548 keys are available:
19552 Score on the author name.
19555 Score on the subject line.
19558 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
19561 Score on the @code{References} line.
19567 Score on the number of lines.
19570 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
19573 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
19574 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
19577 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
19578 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
19579 @file{ADAPT} files.)
19588 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
19594 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
19595 what headers you are scoring on.
19607 Substring matching.
19610 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
19639 Greater than number.
19644 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
19645 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
19646 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
19651 Temporary score entry.
19654 Permanent score entry.
19657 Immediately scoring.
19661 If you are scoring on @samp{e} (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
19662 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
19663 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
19667 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
19668 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
19669 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
19670 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
19672 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
19673 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
19674 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
19675 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
19676 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
19678 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
19679 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
19680 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
19681 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
19682 current score file.
19684 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
19685 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
19686 pretend they are keymaps or not.
19689 @node Group Score Commands
19690 @section Group Score Commands
19691 @cindex group score commands
19693 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
19698 @kindex W e (Group)
19699 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
19700 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
19701 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
19704 @kindex W f (Group)
19705 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19706 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
19707 all the time. This command will flush the cache
19708 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
19712 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
19714 @findex gnus-batch-score
19715 @cindex batch scoring
19717 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
19721 @node Score Variables
19722 @section Score Variables
19723 @cindex score variables
19727 @item gnus-use-scoring
19728 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
19729 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
19730 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
19732 @item gnus-kill-killed
19733 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
19734 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
19735 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
19736 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
19737 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
19738 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
19739 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
19741 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
19742 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
19743 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
19744 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
19745 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
19747 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
19748 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
19749 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
19750 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
19752 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19753 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19754 @cindex score cache
19755 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
19756 score files. However, this might make your Emacs grow big and
19757 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
19758 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
19759 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
19760 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
19761 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
19764 @item gnus-save-score
19765 @vindex gnus-save-score
19766 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
19767 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
19768 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19770 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
19771 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
19772 across group visits.
19774 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19775 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19776 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
19777 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
19778 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
19779 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
19780 manually entered data.
19782 @item gnus-summary-default-score
19783 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
19784 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
19786 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
19787 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
19788 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
19789 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
19790 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
19791 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
19793 @item gnus-score-over-mark
19794 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
19795 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
19796 default. Default is @samp{+}.
19798 @item gnus-score-below-mark
19799 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
19800 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
19801 default. Default is @samp{-}.
19803 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19804 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19805 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19806 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19808 Predefined functions available are:
19811 @item gnus-score-find-single
19812 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19813 Only apply the group's own score file.
19815 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19816 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19817 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19818 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19819 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19820 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19821 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19822 then a regexp match is done.
19824 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19825 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19827 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19828 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19829 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19830 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19832 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19833 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19834 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19835 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19836 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19840 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19841 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19842 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19843 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19844 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19845 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19846 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19849 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19850 overall score file, you could use the value
19852 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19853 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19856 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19857 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19858 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19859 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19860 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19862 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19863 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19864 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19865 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19866 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19867 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19868 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19869 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19871 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19872 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19873 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19875 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19876 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19877 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19878 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19879 threading---according to the current value of
19880 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19881 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19882 simplified in this manner.
19887 @node Score File Format
19888 @section Score File Format
19889 @cindex score file format
19891 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19892 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19893 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19895 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19899 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19901 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19903 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19905 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19910 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19914 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19915 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19916 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19917 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19921 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19922 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19924 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19925 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19926 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19928 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19933 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19934 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19935 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19936 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19937 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19938 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19939 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19940 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19941 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19942 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19943 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19944 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19945 to articles that matches these score entries.
19947 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19948 score entry has one to four elements.
19952 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19953 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19957 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19958 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19959 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19960 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19961 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19962 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19965 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19966 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19967 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19968 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19969 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19972 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19973 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19974 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19975 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19978 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19979 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19980 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19981 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19982 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19983 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19984 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19985 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19986 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19987 instead, if you feel like.
19990 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19991 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19992 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19993 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19994 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
19995 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
19999 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
20000 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
20004 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
20005 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
20007 These predicates are true if
20010 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
20013 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
20014 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
20021 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
20022 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
20023 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
20024 it's not. I think.)
20026 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
20027 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
20028 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
20029 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
20032 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
20033 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
20034 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
20035 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
20036 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
20037 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
20038 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
20042 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
20043 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
20044 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
20045 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
20046 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
20047 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
20048 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
20049 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
20052 @item Head, Body, All
20053 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc.)@:
20057 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
20058 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
20059 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
20060 you to increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
20061 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
20062 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
20063 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
20067 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
20068 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
20069 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
20070 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
20071 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
20072 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
20073 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
20074 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
20075 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
20076 nondeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
20077 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
20081 @cindex score file atoms
20083 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20084 lower than this number will be marked as read.
20087 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20088 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
20090 @item mark-and-expunge
20091 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20092 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
20095 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
20096 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
20097 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
20098 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
20099 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
20102 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
20103 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
20106 @item exclude-files
20107 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
20108 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
20112 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}ed. This element will be
20113 ignored when handling global score files.
20116 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
20117 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
20118 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
20119 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
20122 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
20123 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
20124 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
20125 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
20127 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
20131 (mark-and-expunge -100)
20134 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
20135 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
20136 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{c y}) the
20137 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
20138 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
20140 I.e., the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
20141 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
20142 scoring rules exist.
20145 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
20146 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
20147 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
20148 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
20149 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
20150 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
20151 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20152 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
20153 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
20154 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
20155 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
20159 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
20160 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
20161 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
20162 file for a number of groups.
20165 @cindex local variables
20166 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
20167 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
20168 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
20169 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
20170 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
20175 @node Score File Editing
20176 @section Score File Editing
20178 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
20179 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
20180 with a mode for that.
20182 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
20183 additional commands:
20188 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
20189 @findex gnus-score-edit-exit
20190 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
20191 (@code{gnus-score-edit-exit}).
20194 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
20195 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
20196 Insert the current date in numerical format
20197 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
20198 you were wondering.
20201 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
20202 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
20203 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
20204 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
20205 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
20210 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
20212 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
20213 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
20215 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
20216 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
20219 @node Adaptive Scoring
20220 @section Adaptive Scoring
20221 @cindex adaptive scoring
20223 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
20224 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
20225 stupidity, to be precise.
20227 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
20228 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
20229 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
20230 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
20231 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20232 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
20233 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
20234 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
20235 variable to @code{(word line)}.
20237 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20238 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
20239 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
20240 might look something like this:
20243 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20244 '((gnus-unread-mark)
20245 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
20246 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
20247 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
20248 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
20249 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
20250 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
20251 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
20252 (gnus-ancient-mark)
20253 (gnus-low-score-mark)
20254 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
20257 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
20258 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
20259 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
20260 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
20261 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
20262 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
20265 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
20266 will be applied to each article.
20268 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
20269 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
20270 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
20271 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
20273 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
20274 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
20275 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
20276 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
20278 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
20279 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
20280 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
20281 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
20283 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
20284 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
20285 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
20286 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
20287 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
20288 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
20290 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
20291 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
20292 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
20294 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
20295 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
20296 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
20298 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
20299 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
20300 let you use different rules in different groups.
20302 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
20303 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
20304 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
20307 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
20308 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
20309 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
20310 default) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
20312 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
20313 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
20314 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
20315 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
20316 the length of the match is less than
20317 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
20318 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
20321 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20322 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
20323 headers. If you adapt on words, the
20324 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
20325 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
20328 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20329 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
20330 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
20331 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
20332 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
20335 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
20336 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
20337 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
20338 score with 30 points.
20340 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
20341 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
20342 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
20343 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
20344 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
20346 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
20347 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
20348 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
20349 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
20350 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
20352 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
20353 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
20354 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
20355 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
20357 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
20358 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
20359 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
20360 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
20362 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
20363 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
20364 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
20365 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
20366 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
20368 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
20369 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
20370 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
20372 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
20373 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
20374 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
20375 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
20378 @node Home Score File
20379 @section Home Score File
20381 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
20382 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
20383 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
20384 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
20386 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
20387 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
20388 could perhaps use the same home score file.
20390 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
20391 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
20396 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
20400 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
20401 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
20405 A list. The elements in this list can be:
20409 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
20410 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
20413 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
20414 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
20415 name of the group as the parameter.
20418 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
20421 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
20426 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
20429 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20430 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
20433 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
20434 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
20436 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
20438 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20439 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
20442 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
20443 Other functions include
20446 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
20447 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
20448 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
20449 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
20453 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
20454 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
20455 their own home score files:
20458 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20459 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
20460 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
20461 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
20462 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
20465 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
20466 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
20467 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
20468 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
20469 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
20471 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
20472 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
20473 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
20474 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
20475 precedence over this variable.
20478 @node Followups To Yourself
20479 @section Followups To Yourself
20481 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
20482 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
20483 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
20484 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
20485 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
20486 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
20490 @item gnus-score-followup-article
20491 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
20492 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
20495 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
20496 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
20497 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
20501 @vindex message-sent-hook
20502 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
20503 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
20505 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
20509 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
20510 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
20514 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20515 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20518 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
20519 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
20524 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
20528 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
20529 is system-dependent.
20532 @node Scoring On Other Headers
20533 @section Scoring On Other Headers
20534 @cindex scoring on other headers
20536 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
20537 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
20538 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
20539 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
20540 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
20542 @vindex gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring
20543 You can inhibit this slow scoring on headers or body by setting the
20544 variable @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring}. If
20545 @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring} is regexp, slow scoring is inhibited if
20546 the group matches the regexp. If it is @code{t}, slow scoring on it is
20547 inhibited for all groups.
20549 Now, there's not much you can do about the slowness for news groups, but for
20550 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
20551 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
20552 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
20553 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
20555 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
20558 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
20559 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
20562 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
20563 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
20564 time if you have much mail.
20566 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
20567 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
20573 @section Scoring Tips
20574 @cindex scoring tips
20580 @cindex scoring crossposts
20581 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
20582 the @code{Xref} header.
20584 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
20587 @item Multiple crossposts
20588 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
20589 more than, say, 3 groups:
20592 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
20596 @item Matching on the body
20597 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
20598 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
20599 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
20600 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
20601 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
20602 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
20603 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
20606 @item Marking as read
20607 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
20608 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
20609 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
20613 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
20615 @item Negated character classes
20616 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
20617 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
20618 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
20622 @node Reverse Scoring
20623 @section Reverse Scoring
20624 @cindex reverse scoring
20626 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
20627 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
20628 like this in your score file:
20632 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
20637 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
20638 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
20641 @node Global Score Files
20642 @section Global Score Files
20643 @cindex global score files
20645 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
20646 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
20647 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
20649 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
20650 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
20651 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
20653 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
20654 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
20655 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
20656 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
20657 files are applicable to which group.
20659 To use the score file
20660 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
20661 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
20665 (setq gnus-global-score-files
20666 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
20667 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
20670 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
20672 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
20673 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
20674 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
20675 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
20677 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
20678 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
20680 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
20681 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
20682 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
20683 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
20684 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
20685 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
20687 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
20693 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
20695 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
20697 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
20699 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
20700 lowered out of existence.
20702 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
20703 articles completely.
20706 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
20707 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
20708 old articles for a long time.
20711 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
20712 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
20713 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
20714 holding our breath yet?
20718 @section Kill Files
20721 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
20722 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
20723 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
20725 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
20726 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
20727 files into score files.
20729 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
20730 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
20731 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
20732 that isn't a very good idea.
20734 Normal kill files look like this:
20737 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20738 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
20742 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
20743 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
20745 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
20746 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
20749 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
20754 @kindex M-k (Summary)
20755 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
20756 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
20759 @kindex M-K (Summary)
20760 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
20761 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
20764 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
20769 @kindex M-k (Group)
20770 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
20771 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
20774 @kindex M-K (Group)
20775 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
20776 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
20779 Kill file variables:
20782 @item gnus-kill-file-name
20783 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
20784 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
20785 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
20786 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
20787 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
20788 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
20790 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20791 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20792 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
20793 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
20796 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
20797 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
20798 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
20799 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
20800 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
20801 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
20802 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
20803 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
20804 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
20806 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20807 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20808 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
20813 @node Converting Kill Files
20814 @section Converting Kill Files
20816 @cindex converting kill files
20818 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20819 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20820 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20823 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Emacs by default.
20824 You can fetch it from the contrib directory of the Gnus distribution or
20826 @uref{http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20828 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20829 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20830 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20834 @node Advanced Scoring
20835 @section Advanced Scoring
20837 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20838 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20839 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20840 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20841 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20843 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20847 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20848 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20849 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20853 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20854 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20856 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20857 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20858 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20859 non-@code{nil} value.
20861 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20862 operator, and various match operators.
20869 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20870 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20871 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20876 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20877 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20878 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20883 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20884 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20888 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20889 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20890 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20891 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20892 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20893 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20894 the ancestry you want to go.
20896 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20897 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20898 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20899 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20900 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20903 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20904 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20906 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20907 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20910 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20911 when he's talking about Gnus:
20916 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20917 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20924 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20928 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20935 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20936 really don't want to read what he's written:
20940 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20941 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigil Logge")))
20945 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20946 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20947 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20954 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20955 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20956 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20957 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20961 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
20962 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
20963 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
20964 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
20967 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
20969 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
20973 The possibilities are endless.
20975 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20976 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20978 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20979 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20980 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20981 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20982 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20983 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20984 @samp{subject}) first.
20986 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20987 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20998 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20999 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
21005 ("subject" "Gnus")))
21012 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
21013 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
21018 @section Score Decays
21019 @cindex score decays
21022 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
21023 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
21024 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
21025 use them in any sensible way.
21027 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
21028 @findex gnus-decay-score
21029 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
21030 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
21031 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
21032 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
21033 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
21034 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
21035 regexp are treated. E.g., you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
21036 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
21037 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
21038 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
21042 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
21043 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
21044 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
21046 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
21048 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
21050 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
21051 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
21052 ;; XEmacs's floor can handle only the floating point
21053 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
21054 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
21056 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
21060 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
21061 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
21062 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
21063 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
21067 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
21070 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
21073 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
21077 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
21078 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
21079 the new score, which should be an integer.
21081 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
21082 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
21088 FIXME: Add a brief overview of Gnus search capabilities. A brief
21089 comparison of nnir, nnmairix, contrib/gnus-namazu would be nice
21092 This chapter describes tools for searching groups and servers for
21093 articles matching a query and then retrieving those articles. Gnus
21094 provides a simpler mechanism for searching through articles in a summary buffer
21095 to find those matching a pattern. @xref{Searching for Articles}.
21098 * nnir:: Searching with various engines.
21099 * nnmairix:: Searching with Mairix.
21106 This section describes how to use @code{nnir} to search for articles
21110 * What is nnir?:: What does @code{nnir} do?
21111 * Basic Usage:: How to perform simple searches.
21112 * Setting up nnir:: How to set up @code{nnir}.
21115 @node What is nnir?
21116 @subsection What is nnir?
21118 @code{nnir} is a Gnus interface to a number of tools for searching
21119 through mail and news repositories. Different backends (like
21120 @code{nnimap} and @code{nntp}) work with different tools (called
21121 @dfn{engines} in @code{nnir} lingo), but all use the same basic search
21124 The @code{nnimap} and @code{gmane} search engines should work with no
21125 configuration. Other engines require a local index that needs to be
21126 created and maintained outside of Gnus.
21130 @subsection Basic Usage
21132 In the group buffer typing @kbd{G G} will search the group on the
21133 current line by calling @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group}. This prompts
21134 for a query string, creates an ephemeral @code{nnir} group containing
21135 the articles that match this query, and takes you to a summary buffer
21136 showing these articles. Articles may then be read, moved and deleted
21137 using the usual commands.
21139 The @code{nnir} group made in this way is an @code{ephemeral} group,
21140 and some changes are not permanent: aside from reading, moving, and
21141 deleting, you can't act on the original article. But there is an
21142 alternative: you can @emph{warp} (i.e., jump) to the original group
21143 for the article on the current line with @kbd{A W}, aka
21144 @code{gnus-warp-to-article}. Even better, the function
21145 @code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}, bound by default in summary buffers
21146 to @kbd{A T}, will first warp to the original group before it works
21147 its magic and includes all the articles in the thread. From here you
21148 can read, move and delete articles, but also copy them, alter article
21149 marks, whatever. Go nuts.
21151 You say you want to search more than just the group on the current line?
21152 No problem: just process-mark the groups you want to search. You want
21153 even more? Calling for an nnir search with the cursor on a topic heading
21154 will search all the groups under that heading.
21156 Still not enough? OK, in the server buffer
21157 @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group} (now bound to @kbd{G}) will search all
21158 groups from the server on the current line. Too much? Want to ignore
21159 certain groups when searching, like spam groups? Just customize
21160 @code{nnir-ignored-newsgroups}.
21162 One more thing: individual search engines may have special search
21163 features. You can access these special features by giving a prefix-arg
21164 to @code{gnus-group-make-nnir-group}. If you are searching multiple
21165 groups with different search engines you will be prompted for the
21166 special search features for each engine separately.
21169 @node Setting up nnir
21170 @subsection Setting up nnir
21172 To set up nnir you may need to do some prep work. Firstly, you may need
21173 to configure the search engines you plan to use. Some of them, like
21174 @code{imap} and @code{gmane}, need no special configuration. Others,
21175 like @code{namazu} and @code{swish}, require configuration as described
21176 below. Secondly, you need to associate a search engine with a server or
21179 If you just want to use the @code{imap} engine to search @code{nnimap}
21180 servers, and the @code{gmane} engine to search @code{gmane} then you
21181 don't have to do anything. But you might want to read the details of the
21182 query language anyway.
21185 * Associating Engines:: How to associate engines.
21186 * The imap Engine:: Imap configuration and usage.
21187 * The gmane Engine:: Gmane configuration and usage.
21188 * The swish++ Engine:: Swish++ configuration and usage.
21189 * The swish-e Engine:: Swish-e configuration and usage.
21190 * The namazu Engine:: Namazu configuration and usage.
21191 * The notmuch Engine:: Notmuch configuration and usage.
21192 * The hyrex Engine:: Hyrex configuration and usage.
21193 * Customizations:: User customizable settings.
21196 @node Associating Engines
21197 @subsubsection Associating Engines
21200 When searching a group, @code{nnir} needs to know which search engine to
21201 use. You can configure a given server to use a particular engine by
21202 setting the server variable @code{nnir-search-engine} to the engine
21203 name. For example to use the @code{namazu} engine to search the server
21204 named @code{home} you can use
21207 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
21209 (nnimap-address "localhost")
21210 (nnir-search-engine namazu))))
21213 Alternatively you might want to use a particular engine for all servers
21214 with a given backend. For example, you might want to use the @code{imap}
21215 engine for all servers using the @code{nnimap} backend. In this case you
21216 can customize the variable @code{nnir-method-default-engines}. This is
21217 an alist of pairs of the form @code{(backend . engine)}. By default this
21218 variable is set to use the @code{imap} engine for all servers using the
21219 @code{nnimap} backend, and the @code{gmane} backend for @code{nntp}
21220 servers. (Don't worry, the @code{gmane} search engine won't actually try
21221 to search non-gmane @code{nntp} servers.) But if you wanted to use
21222 @code{namazu} for all your servers with an @code{nnimap} backend you
21223 could change this to
21226 '((nnimap . namazu)
21230 @node The imap Engine
21231 @subsubsection The imap Engine
21233 The @code{imap} engine requires no configuration.
21235 Queries using the @code{imap} engine follow a simple query language.
21236 The search is always case-insensitive and supports the following
21237 features (inspired by the Google search input language):
21241 @item Boolean query operators
21242 AND, OR, and NOT are supported, and parentheses can be used to control
21243 operator precedence, e.g., (emacs OR xemacs) AND linux. Note that
21244 operators must be written with all capital letters to be
21245 recognized. Also preceding a term with a @minus{} sign is equivalent
21248 @item Automatic AND queries
21249 If you specify multiple words then they will be treated as an AND
21250 expression intended to match all components.
21252 @item Phrase searches
21253 If you wrap your query in double-quotes then it will be treated as a
21258 By default the whole message will be searched. The query can be limited
21259 to a specific part of a message by using a prefix-arg. After inputting
21260 the query this will prompt (with completion) for a message part.
21261 Choices include ``Whole message'', ``Subject'', ``From'', and
21262 ``To''. Any unrecognized input is interpreted as a header name. For
21263 example, typing @kbd{Message-ID} in response to this prompt will limit
21264 the query to the Message-ID header.
21266 Finally selecting ``Imap'' will interpret the query as a raw
21267 @acronym{IMAP} search query. The format of such queries can be found in
21270 If you don't like the default of searching whole messages you can
21271 customize @code{nnir-imap-default-search-key}. For example to use
21272 @acronym{IMAP} queries by default
21275 (setq nnir-imap-default-search-key "Imap")
21278 @node The gmane Engine
21279 @subsubsection The gmane Engine
21281 The @code{gmane} engine requires no configuration.
21283 Gmane queries follow a simple query language:
21286 @item Boolean query operators
21287 AND, OR, NOT (or AND NOT), and XOR are supported, and brackets can be
21288 used to control operator precedence, e.g., (emacs OR xemacs) AND linux.
21289 Note that operators must be written with all capital letters to be
21292 @item Required and excluded terms
21293 + and @minus{} can be used to require or exclude terms, e.g., football
21296 @item Unicode handling
21297 The search engine converts all text to utf-8, so searching should work
21301 Common English words (like 'the' and 'a') are ignored by default. You
21302 can override this by prefixing such words with a + (e.g., +the) or
21303 enclosing the word in quotes (e.g., "the").
21307 The query can be limited to articles by a specific author using a
21308 prefix-arg. After inputting the query this will prompt for an author
21309 name (or part of a name) to match.
21311 @node The swish++ Engine
21312 @subsubsection The swish++ Engine
21314 FIXME: Say something more here.
21316 Documentation for swish++ may be found at the swish++ sourceforge page:
21317 @uref{http://swishplusplus.sourceforge.net}
21321 @item nnir-swish++-program
21322 The name of the swish++ executable. Defaults to @code{search}
21324 @item nnir-swish++-additional-switches
21325 A list of strings to be given as additional arguments to
21326 swish++. @code{nil} by default.
21328 @item nnir-swish++-remove-prefix
21329 The prefix to remove from each file name returned by swish++ in order
21330 to get a group name. By default this is @code{$HOME/Mail}.
21334 @node The swish-e Engine
21335 @subsubsection The swish-e Engine
21337 FIXME: Say something more here.
21339 Documentation for swish-e may be found at the swish-e homepage
21340 @uref{http://swish-e.org}
21344 @item nnir-swish-e-program
21345 The name of the swish-e search program. Defaults to @code{swish-e}.
21347 @item nnir-swish-e-additional-switches
21348 A list of strings to be given as additional arguments to
21349 swish-e. @code{nil} by default.
21351 @item nnir-swish-e-remove-prefix
21352 The prefix to remove from each file name returned by swish-e in order
21353 to get a group name. By default this is @code{$HOME/Mail}.
21357 @node The namazu Engine
21358 @subsubsection The namazu Engine
21360 Using the namazu engine requires creating and maintaining index files.
21361 One directory should contain all the index files, and nnir must be told
21362 where to find them by setting the @code{nnir-namazu-index-directory}
21365 To work correctly the @code{nnir-namazu-remove-prefix} variable must
21366 also be correct. This is the prefix to remove from each file name
21367 returned by Namazu in order to get a proper group name (albeit with @samp{/}
21368 instead of @samp{.}).
21370 For example, suppose that Namazu returns file names such as
21371 @samp{/home/john/Mail/mail/misc/42}. For this example, use the
21372 following setting: @code{(setq nnir-namazu-remove-prefix
21373 "/home/john/Mail/")} Note the trailing slash. Removing this prefix from
21374 the directory gives @samp{mail/misc/42}. @code{nnir} knows to remove
21375 the @samp{/42} and to replace @samp{/} with @samp{.} to arrive at the
21376 correct group name @samp{mail.misc}.
21378 Extra switches may be passed to the namazu search command by setting the
21379 variable @code{nnir-namazu-additional-switches}. It is particularly
21380 important not to pass any any switches to namazu that will change the
21381 output format. Good switches to use include @option{--sort},
21382 @option{--ascending}, @option{--early} and @option{--late}.
21383 Refer to the Namazu documentation for further
21384 information on valid switches.
21386 Mail must first be indexed with the @command{mknmz} program. Read the
21387 documentation for namazu to create a configuration file. Here is an
21392 package conf; # Don't remove this line!
21394 # Paths which will not be indexed. Don't use '^' or '$' anchors.
21395 $EXCLUDE_PATH = "spam|sent";
21397 # Header fields which should be searchable. case-insensitive
21398 $REMAIN_HEADER = "from|date|message-id|subject";
21400 # Searchable fields. case-insensitive
21401 $SEARCH_FIELD = "from|date|message-id|subject";
21403 # The max length of a word.
21404 $WORD_LENG_MAX = 128;
21406 # The max length of a field.
21407 $MAX_FIELD_LENGTH = 256;
21411 For this example, mail is stored in the directories @samp{~/Mail/mail/},
21412 @samp{~/Mail/lists/} and @samp{~/Mail/archive/}, so to index them go to
21413 the index directory set in @code{nnir-namazu-index-directory} and issue
21414 the following command:
21417 mknmz --mailnews ~/Mail/archive/ ~/Mail/mail/ ~/Mail/lists/
21420 For maximum searching efficiency you might want to have a cron job run
21421 this command periodically, say every four hours.
21424 @node The notmuch Engine
21425 @subsubsection The notmuch Engine
21428 @item nnir-notmuch-program
21429 The name of the notmuch search executable. Defaults to
21432 @item nnir-notmuch-additional-switches
21433 A list of strings, to be given as additional arguments to notmuch.
21435 @item nnir-notmuch-remove-prefix
21436 The prefix to remove from each file name returned by notmuch in order
21437 to get a group name (albeit with @samp{/} instead of @samp{.}). This
21438 is a regular expression.
21443 @node The hyrex Engine
21444 @subsubsection The hyrex Engine
21445 This engine is obsolete.
21447 @node Customizations
21448 @subsubsection Customizations
21452 @item nnir-method-default-engines
21453 Alist of pairs of server backends and search engines. The default
21460 @item nnir-ignored-newsgroups
21461 A regexp to match newsgroups in the active file that should be skipped
21462 when searching all groups on a server.
21464 @item nnir-summary-line-format
21465 The format specification to be used for lines in an nnir summary buffer.
21466 All the items from @code{gnus-summary-line-format} are available, along with
21467 three items unique to nnir summary buffers:
21470 %Z Search retrieval score value (integer)
21471 %G Article original full group name (string)
21472 %g Article original short group name (string)
21475 If @code{nil} (the default) this will use @code{gnus-summary-line-format}.
21477 @item nnir-retrieve-headers-override-function
21478 If non-@code{nil}, a function that retrieves article headers rather than using
21479 the gnus built-in function. This function takes an article list and
21480 group as arguments and populates the @code{nntp-server-buffer} with the
21481 retrieved headers. It should then return either 'nov or 'headers
21482 indicating the retrieved header format. Failure to retrieve headers
21483 should return @code{nil}.
21485 If this variable is @code{nil}, or if the provided function returns
21486 @code{nil} for a search result, @code{gnus-retrieve-headers} will be
21498 This paragraph describes how to set up mairix and the back end
21499 @code{nnmairix} for indexing and searching your mail from within
21500 Gnus. Additionally, you can create permanent ``smart'' groups which are
21501 bound to mairix searches and are automatically updated.
21504 * About mairix:: About the mairix mail search engine
21505 * nnmairix requirements:: What you will need for using nnmairix
21506 * What nnmairix does:: What does nnmairix actually do?
21507 * Setting up mairix:: Set up your mairix installation
21508 * Configuring nnmairix:: Set up the nnmairix back end
21509 * nnmairix keyboard shortcuts:: List of available keyboard shortcuts
21510 * Propagating marks:: How to propagate marks from nnmairix groups
21511 * nnmairix tips and tricks:: Some tips, tricks and examples
21512 * nnmairix caveats:: Some more stuff you might want to know
21515 @c FIXME: The markup in this section might need improvement.
21516 @c E.g., adding @samp, @var, @file, @command, etc.
21517 @c Cf. (info "(texinfo)Indicating")
21520 @subsection About mairix
21522 Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
21523 mail. It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the
21524 GPL@. Mairix comes with most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but it also
21525 runs under Windows (with cygwin), macOS and Solaris. The homepage can
21527 @uref{http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/mairix/index.html}
21529 Though mairix might not be as flexible as other search tools like
21530 swish++ or namazu, which you can use via the @code{nnir} back end, it
21531 has the prime advantage of being incredibly fast. On current systems, it
21532 can easily search through headers and message bodies of thousands and
21533 thousands of mails in well under a second. Building the database
21534 necessary for searching might take a minute or two, but only has to be
21535 done once fully. Afterwards, the updates are done incrementally and
21536 therefore are really fast, too. Additionally, mairix is very easy to set
21539 For maximum speed though, mairix should be used with mails stored in
21540 @code{Maildir} or @code{MH} format (this includes the @code{nnml} back
21541 end), although it also works with mbox. Mairix presents the search
21542 results by populating a @emph{virtual} maildir/MH folder with symlinks
21543 which point to the ``real'' message files (if mbox is used, copies are
21544 made). Since mairix already presents search results in such a virtual
21545 mail folder, it is very well suited for using it as an external program
21546 for creating @emph{smart} mail folders, which represent certain mail
21549 @node nnmairix requirements
21550 @subsection nnmairix requirements
21552 Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
21553 direct access to your mail folders. If your mail resides on another
21554 server (e.g., an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
21555 access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g., via ssh.
21557 Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
21558 ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You must use
21559 one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like
21560 @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
21562 If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
21563 you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
21564 @code{nnimap}. This is a rather massive setup for accessing some mbox
21565 files, so just change to MH or Maildir already... However, if you're
21566 really, really passionate about using mbox, you might want to look into
21567 the package @file{mairix.el}, which comes with Emacs 23.
21569 @node What nnmairix does
21570 @subsection What nnmairix does
21572 The back end @code{nnmairix} enables you to call mairix from within Gnus,
21573 either to query mairix with a search term or to update the
21574 database. While visiting a message in the summary buffer, you can use
21575 several pre-defined shortcuts for calling mairix, e.g., to quickly
21576 search for all mails from the sender of the current message or to
21577 display the whole thread associated with the message, even if the
21578 mails are in different folders.
21580 Additionally, you can create permanent @code{nnmairix} groups which are bound
21581 to certain mairix searches. This way, you can easily create a group
21582 containing mails from a certain sender, with a certain subject line or
21583 even for one specific thread based on the Message-ID@. If you check for
21584 new mail in these folders (e.g., by pressing @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g}), they
21585 automatically update themselves by calling mairix.
21587 You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
21588 creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
21589 then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
21590 does not---at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
21591 strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
21592 claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible. This is due to
21593 the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
21594 its back. Another problem can be the mail back end itself, e.g., if you
21595 use mairix with an @acronym{IMAP} server (I had Dovecot complaining
21596 about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
21597 group). Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
21599 @code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like
21600 a wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores
21601 the searches and the Gnus front end. You can choose between three
21602 different mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml},
21603 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnimap}. @code{nnmairix} will call the mairix
21604 binary so that the search results are stored in folders named
21605 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>} on this mail back end, but it will
21606 present these folders in the Gnus front end only with @code{<NAME>}.
21607 You can use an existing mail back end where you already store your mail,
21608 but if you're uncomfortable with @code{nnmairix} creating new mail
21609 groups alongside your other mail, you can also create, e.g., a new
21610 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml} server exclusively for mairix, but then
21611 make sure those servers do not accidentally receive your new mail
21612 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). A special case exists if you want to use
21613 mairix remotely on an IMAP server with @code{nnimap}---here the mairix
21614 folders and your other mail must be on the same @code{nnimap} back end.
21616 @node Setting up mairix
21617 @subsection Setting up mairix
21619 First: create a backup of your mail folders (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}).
21621 Setting up mairix is easy: simply create a @file{.mairixrc} file with
21622 (at least) the following entries:
21625 # Your Maildir/MH base folder
21629 This is the base folder for your mails. All the following directories
21630 are relative to this base folder. If you want to use @code{nnmairix}
21631 with @code{nnimap}, this base directory has to point to the mail
21632 directory where the @acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
21635 maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
21636 mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
21637 mbox = ... your mbox files which should be indexed ...
21640 This specifies all your mail folders and mbox files (relative to the
21641 base directory!) you want to index with mairix. Note that the
21642 @code{nnml} back end saves mails in MH format, so you have to put those
21643 directories in the @code{mh} line. See the example at the end of this
21644 section and mairixrc's man-page for further details.
21650 @vindex nnmairix-group-prefix
21651 This should make sure that you don't accidentally index the mairix
21652 search results. You can change the prefix of these folders with the
21653 variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
21656 mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
21657 database= ... location of database file ...
21660 The @code{format} setting specifies the output format for the mairix
21661 search folder. Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
21662 with @code{nnml}. Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
21664 To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
21668 maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
21669 mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
21670 mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
21673 database=~/.mairixdatabase
21676 In this case, the base directory is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
21677 folders are stored. As you can see, the folders are separated by
21678 colons. If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
21679 because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
21680 @code{Maildir++} folders. For testing nnmairix, I also have some
21681 @code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}. Since this has
21682 to be specified relative to the @code{base} directory, the @code{../Mail}
21683 notation is needed. Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
21684 to recursively scan all files under this directory. Without the three
21685 dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively. I also have some
21686 old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
21687 The other lines should be obvious.
21689 See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
21690 especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
21691 than you are used to.
21693 Now simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
21694 Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
21695 the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.
21697 @node Configuring nnmairix
21698 @subsection Configuring nnmairix
21700 In group mode, type @kbd{G b c}
21701 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). This will ask you for all
21702 necessary information and create a @code{nnmairix} server as a foreign
21703 server. You will have to specify the following:
21708 The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
21712 The name of the @strong{back end server} where mairix should store its
21713 searches. This must be a full server name, like @code{nnml:mymail}.
21714 Just hit @kbd{TAB} to see the available servers. Currently, servers
21715 which are accessed through @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnimap} and
21716 @code{nnml} are supported. As explained above, for locally stored
21717 mails, this can be an existing server where you store your mails.
21718 However, you can also create, e.g., a new @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml}
21719 server exclusively for @code{nnmairix} in your secondary select methods
21720 (@pxref{Finding the News}). If you use a secondary @code{nnml} server
21721 just for mairix, make sure that you explicitly set the server variable
21722 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}, or you might lose mail
21723 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). If you want to use mairix remotely on an
21724 @acronym{IMAP} server, you have to choose the corresponding
21725 @code{nnimap} server here.
21728 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-search-options
21729 The @strong{command} to call the mairix binary. This will usually just
21730 be @code{mairix}, but you can also choose something like @code{ssh
21731 SERVER mairix} if you want to call mairix remotely, e.g., on your
21732 @acronym{IMAP} server. If you want to add some default options to
21733 mairix, you could do this here, but better use the variable
21734 @code{nnmairix-mairix-search-options} instead.
21737 The name of the @strong{default search group}. This will be the group
21738 where all temporary mairix searches are stored, i.e., all searches which
21739 are not bound to permanent @code{nnmairix} groups. Choose whatever you
21743 If the mail back end is @code{nnimap} or @code{nnmaildir}, you will be
21744 asked if you work with @strong{Maildir++}, i.e., with hidden maildir
21745 folders (=beginning with a dot). For example, you have to answer
21746 @samp{yes} here if you work with the Dovecot @acronym{IMAP}
21747 server. Otherwise, you should answer @samp{no} here.
21751 @node nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
21752 @subsection nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
21759 @kindex G b c (Group)
21760 @findex nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group
21761 Creates @code{nnmairix} server and default search group for this server
21762 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). You should have done
21763 this by now (@pxref{Configuring nnmairix}).
21766 @kindex G b s (Group)
21767 @findex nnmairix-search
21768 Prompts for query which is then sent to the mairix binary. Search
21769 results are put into the default search group which is automatically
21770 displayed (@code{nnmairix-search}).
21773 @kindex G b m (Group)
21774 @findex nnmairix-widget-search
21775 Allows you to create a mairix search or a permanent group more
21776 comfortably using graphical widgets, similar to a customization
21777 group. Just try it to see how it works (@code{nnmairix-widget-search}).
21780 @kindex G b i (Group)
21781 @findex nnmairix-search-interactive
21782 Another command for creating a mairix query more comfortably, but uses
21783 only the minibuffer (@code{nnmairix-search-interactive}).
21786 @kindex G b g (Group)
21787 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group
21788 Creates a permanent group which is associated with a search query
21789 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group}). The @code{nnmairix} back end
21790 automatically calls mairix when you update this group with @kbd{g} or
21794 @kindex G b q (Group)
21795 @findex nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group
21796 Changes the search query for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor
21797 (@code{nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group}).
21800 @kindex G b t (Group)
21801 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group
21802 Toggles the 'threads' parameter for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor,
21803 i.e., if you want see the whole threads of the found messages
21804 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group}).
21807 @kindex G b u (Group)
21808 @findex nnmairix-update-database
21809 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-update-options
21810 Calls mairix binary for updating the database
21811 (@code{nnmairix-update-database}). The default parameters are @code{-F}
21812 and @code{-Q} for making this as fast as possible (see variable
21813 @code{nnmairix-mairix-update-options} for defining these default
21817 @kindex G b r (Group)
21818 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group
21819 Keep articles in this @code{nnmairix} group always read or unread, or leave the
21820 marks unchanged (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group}).
21823 @kindex G b d (Group)
21824 @findex nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group
21825 Recreate @code{nnmairix} group on the ``real'' mail back end
21826 (@code{nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group}). You can do this if
21827 you always get wrong article counts with a @code{nnmairix} group.
21830 @kindex G b a (Group)
21831 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group
21832 Toggles the @code{allow-fast} parameters for group under cursor
21833 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group}). The default
21834 behavior of @code{nnmairix} is to do a mairix search every time you
21835 update or enter the group. With the @code{allow-fast} parameter set,
21836 mairix will only be called when you explicitly update the group, but not
21837 upon entering. This makes entering the group faster, but it may also
21838 lead to dangling symlinks if something changed between updating and
21839 entering the group which is not yet in the mairix database.
21842 @kindex G b p (Group)
21843 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group
21844 Toggle marks propagation for this group
21845 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group}). (@pxref{Propagating
21849 @kindex G b o (Group)
21850 @findex nnmairix-propagate-marks
21851 Manually propagate marks (@code{nnmairix-propagate-marks}); needed only when
21852 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} is set to @code{nil}.
21861 @kindex $ m (Summary)
21862 @findex nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article
21863 Allows you to create a mairix query or group based on the current
21864 message using graphical widgets (same as @code{nnmairix-widget-search})
21865 (@code{nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article}).
21868 @kindex $ g (Summary)
21869 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message
21870 Interactively creates a new search group with query based on the current
21871 message, but uses the minibuffer instead of graphical widgets
21872 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message}).
21875 @kindex $ t (Summary)
21876 @findex nnmairix-search-thread-this-article
21877 Searches thread for the current article
21878 (@code{nnmairix-search-thread-this-article}). This is effectively a
21879 shortcut for calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{m:msgid} of the
21880 current article and enabled threads.
21883 @kindex $ f (Summary)
21884 @findex nnmairix-search-from-this-article
21885 Searches all messages from sender of the current article
21886 (@code{nnmairix-search-from-this-article}). This is a shortcut for
21887 calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{f:From}.
21890 @kindex $ o (Summary)
21891 @findex nnmairix-goto-original-article
21892 (Only in @code{nnmairix} groups!) Tries determine the group this article
21893 originally came from and displays the article in this group, so that,
21894 e.g., replying to this article the correct posting styles/group
21895 parameters are applied (@code{nnmairix-goto-original-article}). This
21896 function will use the registry if available, but can also parse the
21897 article file name as a fallback method.
21900 @kindex $ u (Summary)
21901 @findex nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article
21902 Remove possibly existing tick mark from original article
21903 (@code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article}). (@pxref{nnmairix
21908 @node Propagating marks
21909 @subsection Propagating marks
21911 First of: you really need a patched mairix binary for using the marks
21912 propagation feature efficiently. Otherwise, you would have to update
21913 the mairix database all the time. You can get the patch at
21915 @uref{http://www.randomsample.de/mairix-maildir-patch.tar}
21917 You need the mairix v0.21 source code for this patch; everything else
21918 is explained in the accompanied readme file. If you don't want to use
21919 marks propagation, you don't have to apply these patches, but they also
21920 fix some annoyances regarding changing maildir flags, so it might still
21923 With the patched mairix binary, you can use @code{nnmairix} as an
21924 alternative to mail splitting (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}). For
21925 example, instead of splitting all mails from @samp{david@@foobar.com}
21926 into a group, you can simply create a search group with the query
21927 @samp{f:david@@foobar.com}. This is actually what ``smart folders'' are
21928 all about: simply put everything in one mail folder and dynamically
21929 create searches instead of splitting. This is more flexible, since you
21930 can dynamically change your folders any time you want to. This also
21931 implies that you will usually read your mails in the @code{nnmairix}
21932 groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
21934 There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
21935 @samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
21936 ``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
21937 search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
21938 enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
21939 marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
21940 mail group it will be still shown as unread.
21942 You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
21943 tedious and error prone, since you may overlook mails you don't have
21944 created @code{nnmairix} groups for. Of course, you could first use
21945 @code{nnmairix-goto-original-article} (@pxref{nnmairix keyboard
21946 shortcuts}) and then read the mail in the original group, but that's
21947 even more cumbersome.
21949 Clearly, the easiest way would be if marks could somehow be
21950 automatically set for the original article. This is exactly what
21951 @emph{marks propagation} is about.
21953 Marks propagation is inactive by default. You can activate it for a
21954 certain @code{nnmairix} group with
21955 @code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group} (bound to @kbd{G b
21956 p}). This function will warn you if you try to use it with your default
21957 search group; the reason is that the default search group is used for
21958 temporary searches, and it's easy to accidentally propagate marks from
21959 this group. However, you can ignore this warning if you really want to.
21961 With marks propagation enabled, all the marks you set in a @code{nnmairix}
21962 group should now be propagated to the original article. For example,
21963 you can now tick an article (by default with @kbd{!}) and this mark should
21964 magically be set for the original article, too.
21966 A few more remarks which you may or may not want to know:
21968 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close
21969 Marks will not be set immediately, but only upon closing a group. This
21970 not only makes marks propagation faster, it also avoids problems with
21971 dangling symlinks when dealing with maildir files (since changing flags
21972 will change the file name). You can also control when to propagate marks
21973 via @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} (see the doc-string for
21976 Obviously, @code{nnmairix} will have to look up the original group for every
21977 article you want to set marks for. If available, @code{nnmairix} will first
21978 use the registry for determining the original group. The registry is very
21979 fast, hence you should really, really enable the registry when using
21980 marks propagation. If you don't have to worry about RAM and disc space,
21981 set @code{gnus-registry-max-entries} to a large enough value; to be on
21982 the safe side, choose roughly the amount of mails you index with mairix.
21984 @vindex nnmairix-only-use-registry
21985 If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
21986 original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix
21987 search for determining the file name of the article. This, of course, is
21988 way slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
21989 marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation by
21990 setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to @code{t}.
21992 Maybe you also want to propagate marks the other way round, i.e., if you
21993 tick an article in a "real" mail group, you'd like to have the same
21994 article in a @code{nnmairix} group ticked, too. For several good
21995 reasons, this can only be done efficiently if you use maildir. To
21996 immediately contradict myself, let me mention that it WON'T work with
21997 @code{nnmaildir}, since @code{nnmaildir} stores the marks externally and
21998 not in the file name. Therefore, propagating marks to @code{nnmairix}
21999 groups will usually only work if you use an IMAP server which uses
22000 maildir as its file format.
22002 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups
22003 If you work with this setup, just set
22004 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t} and see what
22005 happens. If you don't like what you see, just set it to @code{nil} again.
22006 One problem might be that you get a wrong number of unread articles; this
22007 usually happens when you delete or expire articles in the original
22008 groups. When this happens, you can recreate the @code{nnmairix} group on
22009 the back end using @kbd{G b d}.
22011 @node nnmairix tips and tricks
22012 @subsection nnmairix tips and tricks
22018 @findex nnmairix-update-groups
22019 I put all my important mail groups at group level 1. The mairix groups
22020 have group level 5, so they do not get checked at start up (@pxref{Group
22023 I use the following to check for mails:
22026 (defun my-check-mail-mairix-update (level)
22028 ;; if no prefix given, set level=1
22029 (gnus-group-get-new-news (or level 1))
22030 (nnmairix-update-groups "mairixsearch" t t)
22031 (gnus-group-list-groups))
22033 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map "g" 'my-check-mail-mairix-update)
22036 Instead of @samp{"mairixsearch"} use the name of your @code{nnmairix}
22037 server. See the doc string for @code{nnmairix-update-groups} for
22041 Example: search group for ticked articles
22043 For example, you can create a group for all ticked articles, where the
22044 articles always stay unread:
22046 Hit @kbd{G b g}, enter group name (e.g., @samp{important}), use
22047 @samp{F:f} as query and do not include threads.
22049 Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
22050 activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
22052 So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
22053 group? There are two options: You may simply use
22054 @code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{$ u}) to remove
22055 tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
22056 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t}, but see the above
22057 comments about this option. If it works for you, the tick marks should
22058 also exist in the @code{nnmairix} group and you can remove them as usual,
22059 e.g., by marking an article as read.
22061 When you have removed a tick mark from the original article, this
22062 article should vanish from the @code{nnmairix} group after you have updated the
22063 mairix database and updated the group. Fortunately, there is a function
22064 for doing exactly that: @code{nnmairix-update-groups}. See the previous code
22065 snippet and the doc string for details.
22068 Dealing with auto-subscription of mail groups
22070 As described before, all @code{nnmairix} groups are in fact stored on
22071 the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
22072 see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
22073 should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
22074 usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
22075 @code{nnml}, i.e., you will suddenly see groups of the form
22076 @samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
22077 simply kill these groups with C-k. For avoiding this, turn off
22078 auto-subscription completely by setting the variable
22079 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups} to @code{nil} (@pxref{Filtering New
22080 Groups}), or if you like to keep this feature use the following kludge
22081 for turning it off for all groups beginning with @samp{zz_}:
22084 (setq gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
22085 "^\\(nnml\\|nnfolder\\|nnmbox\\|nnmh\\|nnbabyl\\|nnmaildir\\).*:\\([^z]\\|z$\\|\\z[^z]\\|zz$\\|zz[^_]\\|zz_$\\).*")
22090 @node nnmairix caveats
22091 @subsection nnmairix caveats
22095 You can create a secondary @code{nnml} server just for nnmairix, but then
22096 you have to explicitly set the corresponding server variable
22097 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}. Otherwise, new mail might get
22098 put into this secondary server (and would never show up again). Here's
22099 an example server definition:
22102 (nnml "mairix" (nnml-directory "mairix") (nnml-get-new-mail nil))
22105 (The @code{nnmaildir} back end also has a server variable
22106 @code{get-new-mail}, but its default value is @code{nil}, so you don't
22107 have to explicitly set it if you use a @code{nnmaildir} server just for
22111 If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
22112 @code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
22113 @code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}; this is the default). Be
22114 @emph{extra careful} if you use
22115 @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are split
22116 into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as you
22117 check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
22120 Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
22121 groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
22124 If you use the Gnus agent (@pxref{Gnus Unplugged}): don't agentize
22125 @code{nnmairix} groups (though I have no idea what happens if you do).
22128 mairix does only support us-ascii characters.
22131 @code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
22132 completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
22133 called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
22134 back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
22135 don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
22136 own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
22140 All necessary information is stored in the group parameters
22141 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). This has the advantage that no active file
22142 is needed, but also implies that when you kill a @code{nnmairix} group,
22143 it is gone for good.
22146 @findex nnmairix-purge-old-groups
22147 If you create and kill a lot of @code{nnmairix} groups, the
22148 ``zz_mairix-*'' groups will accumulate on the mail back end server. To
22149 delete old groups which are no longer needed, call
22150 @code{nnmairix-purge-old-groups}. Note that this assumes that you don't
22151 save any ``real'' mail in folders of the form
22152 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can change the prefix of
22153 @code{nnmairix} groups by changing the variable
22154 @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
22157 The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
22158 for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
22160 A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and
22161 comes with the fact that maildir stores mail flags like @samp{Seen} or
22162 @samp{Replied} by appending chars @samp{S} and @samp{R} to the message
22163 file name, respectively. This implies that currently you would have to
22164 update the mairix database not only when new mail arrives, but also when
22165 mail flags are changing. The same applies to new mails which are indexed
22166 while they are still in the @samp{new} folder but then get moved to
22167 @samp{cur} when Gnus has seen the mail. If you don't update the database
22168 after this has happened, a mairix query can lead to symlinks pointing to
22169 non-existing files. In Gnus, these messages will usually appear with
22170 ``(none)'' entries in the header and can't be accessed. If this happens
22171 to you, using @kbd{G b u} and updating the group will usually fix this.
22178 @include message.texi
22179 @chapter Emacs MIME
22180 @include emacs-mime.texi
22182 @include sieve.texi
22194 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
22195 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
22196 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
22197 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
22198 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
22199 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
22200 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
22201 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
22202 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
22203 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
22204 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
22205 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
22206 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
22207 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
22208 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
22209 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
22210 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
22211 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
22212 * The Gnus Cloud:: A package for synchronizing Gnus marks.
22213 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
22214 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
22218 @node Process/Prefix
22219 @section Process/Prefix
22220 @cindex process/prefix convention
22222 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
22223 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
22225 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
22226 command to be performed on.
22230 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
22231 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
22232 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
22233 with the current one.
22235 @vindex transient-mark-mode
22236 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
22237 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
22239 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
22240 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
22243 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
22244 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
22246 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
22249 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
22250 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
22251 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
22252 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22254 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
22255 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
22256 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
22257 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
22258 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
22259 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
22260 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
22261 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
22263 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
22264 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
22265 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
22266 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
22267 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
22271 @section Interactive
22272 @cindex interaction
22276 @item gnus-novice-user
22277 @vindex gnus-novice-user
22278 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
22279 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
22280 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
22281 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
22284 @item gnus-expert-user
22285 @vindex gnus-expert-user
22286 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
22287 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing,
22288 no matter how strange. For example, quitting Gnus, exiting a group
22289 without an update, catching up with a group, deleting expired
22290 articles, and replying by mail to a news message will not require
22293 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
22294 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
22295 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
22296 is @code{t} by default.
22298 @item gnus-interactive-exit
22299 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
22300 If non-@code{nil}, require a confirmation when exiting Gnus. If
22301 @code{quiet}, update any active summary buffers automatically without
22302 querying. The default value is @code{t}.
22306 @node Symbolic Prefixes
22307 @section Symbolic Prefixes
22308 @cindex symbolic prefixes
22310 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
22311 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
22312 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
22313 rule of 900 to the current article.
22315 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
22316 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
22317 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
22318 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
22319 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
22320 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
22321 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
22323 @kindex M-i (Summary)
22324 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
22325 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
22326 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
22327 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
22328 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
22329 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
22330 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
22331 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
22333 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
22334 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
22335 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
22337 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
22341 @node Formatting Variables
22342 @section Formatting Variables
22343 @cindex formatting variables
22345 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
22346 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
22347 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
22348 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
22349 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
22352 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
22353 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
22354 lots of percentages everywhere.
22357 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
22358 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
22359 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
22360 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
22361 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
22362 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
22363 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
22364 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
22367 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
22368 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
22369 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
22370 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
22371 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
22372 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
22373 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
22374 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
22376 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
22377 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
22379 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
22380 @findex gnus-update-format
22381 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
22382 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
22383 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
22384 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
22388 @node Formatting Basics
22389 @subsection Formatting Basics
22391 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
22392 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
22393 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
22395 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
22396 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
22397 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
22398 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
22399 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
22402 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
22403 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
22404 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
22405 less than 4 characters wide.
22407 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
22408 @samp{%&user-date;}.
22411 @node Mode Line Formatting
22412 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
22414 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
22415 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
22416 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
22417 with the following two differences:
22422 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
22425 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
22426 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
22427 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
22428 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
22429 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
22430 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
22431 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
22436 @node Advanced Formatting
22437 @subsection Advanced Formatting
22439 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
22440 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
22441 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
22442 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
22444 These are the valid modifiers:
22449 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
22453 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
22458 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
22461 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
22466 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
22469 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
22472 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
22475 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
22481 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
22486 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
22487 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
22488 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
22489 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
22490 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
22491 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
22492 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
22494 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
22495 last operation, padding.
22498 @node User-Defined Specs
22499 @subsection User-Defined Specs
22501 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
22502 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
22503 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
22504 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
22505 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
22506 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
22507 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
22508 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
22509 should protect against that.
22511 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
22512 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
22514 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
22515 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
22516 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
22517 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
22521 @node Formatting Fonts
22522 @subsection Formatting Fonts
22525 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22526 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
22527 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
22528 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
22529 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
22533 @vindex gnus-face-0
22534 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
22535 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
22536 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
22537 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
22538 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
22539 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
22541 @cindex %<<, %>>, guillemets
22542 @c @cindex %<<, %>>, %«, %», guillemets
22543 @vindex gnus-balloon-face-0
22544 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
22545 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
22546 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
22547 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
22548 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
22549 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
22550 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
22551 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
22552 (in Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
22553 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
22554 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
22557 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
22560 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
22561 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
22562 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
22564 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
22565 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
22566 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
22567 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
22568 ;; @r{Set the color.}
22569 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
22570 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
22572 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
22573 (setq gnus-group-line-format
22574 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
22577 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
22578 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
22580 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
22581 mode-line variables.
22583 @node Positioning Point
22584 @subsection Positioning Point
22586 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
22587 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
22588 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
22590 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
22592 @findex gnus-goto-colon
22593 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
22594 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
22596 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
22597 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
22598 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
22603 @subsection Tabulation
22605 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
22606 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
22607 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
22608 about lining up the following text afterwards.
22610 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
22611 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
22613 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22614 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
22615 This is the soft tabulator.
22617 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22618 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
22619 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
22622 @node Wide Characters
22623 @subsection Wide Characters
22625 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
22626 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
22627 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
22629 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
22630 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
22631 these countries, that's not true.
22633 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
22634 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
22635 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
22636 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
22640 @node Window Layout
22641 @section Window Layout
22642 @cindex window layout
22644 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
22646 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
22647 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
22648 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
22649 @code{t} by default.
22651 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
22652 glitches. Use at your own peril.
22654 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
22655 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
22656 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
22659 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)))
22660 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22664 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
22665 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
22666 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
22667 possible names is listed below.
22669 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
22670 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example:
22673 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22677 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
22678 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
22679 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
22680 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
22681 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
22682 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
22683 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
22684 size spec per split.
22686 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
22687 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
22688 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e., is the third or
22689 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
22690 present) gets focus.
22692 Here's a more complicated example:
22695 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
22696 (summary 0.25 point)
22700 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
22701 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
22702 occupy, not a percentage.
22704 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
22705 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
22706 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
22707 be used as a split.
22709 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
22712 (article (horizontal 1.0
22716 (summary 0.25 point)
22720 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
22721 @code{horizontal} thingie?
22723 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
22724 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
22725 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
22726 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
22727 the screen is to be given to this strip.
22729 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
22730 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
22731 lines from the splits.
22733 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
22738 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
22739 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
22740 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
22741 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
22742 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
22743 size = number | frame-params
22744 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
22748 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
22749 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
22750 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
22751 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
22753 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
22754 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
22755 @cindex window height
22756 @cindex window width
22757 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
22758 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
22759 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
22760 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
22761 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
22762 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
22764 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
22765 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
22766 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
22767 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
22769 @findex gnus-configure-frame
22770 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
22771 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
22772 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
22773 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
22774 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
22775 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
22776 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
22777 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
22778 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
22779 configuration list.
22782 (gnus-configure-frame
22786 (article 0.3 point))
22794 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
22795 @code{frame} split:
22798 (gnus-configure-frame
22801 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
22803 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
22804 (user-position . t)
22805 (left . -1) (top . 1))
22810 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
22811 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
22812 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
22813 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
22814 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
22815 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
22816 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
22817 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
22819 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
22820 be found in its default value.
22822 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
22823 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
22824 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
22828 (message (horizontal 1.0
22829 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
22831 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
22836 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
22837 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
22838 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
22843 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
22844 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
22845 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
22846 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
22847 (name . "Message"))
22848 (message 1.0 point))))
22851 @findex gnus-add-configuration
22852 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
22853 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
22854 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
22855 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
22858 (gnus-add-configuration
22859 '(article (vertical 1.0
22861 (summary .25 point)
22865 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
22866 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
22867 Gnus has been loaded.
22869 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
22870 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
22871 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
22872 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
22873 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
22875 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
22876 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
22877 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
22880 @subsection Window Configuration Names
22882 Here's a list of most of the currently known window configurations,
22883 and when they're used:
22890 Entering a group and showing only the summary.
22893 Selecting an article.
22899 Browsing groups from the server buffer.
22902 Composing a (new) message.
22905 Showing only the article buffer.
22908 Editing an article.
22911 Editing group parameters and the like.
22914 Editing a server definition.
22917 Composing a news message.
22920 Replying or following up an article without yanking the text.
22923 Forwarding a message.
22926 Replying or following up an article with yanking the text.
22929 Bouncing a message.
22932 Sending an article to an external process.
22935 Sending a bug report.
22938 Displaying the score trace.
22941 Displaying the score words.
22944 Displaying the split trace.
22946 @item compose-bounce
22947 Composing a bounce message.
22950 Previewing a @acronym{MIME} part.
22955 @subsection Example Window Configurations
22959 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
22960 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
22975 (gnus-add-configuration
22978 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22980 (summary 0.16 point)
22983 (gnus-add-configuration
22986 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22987 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
22993 @node Faces and Fonts
22994 @section Faces and Fonts
22999 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
23000 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
23001 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
23006 @section Mode Lines
23009 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
23010 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
23011 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
23012 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
23013 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
23014 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
23015 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
23018 @cindex display-time
23020 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
23021 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
23022 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
23023 to display (e.g., the subject of the article) is often longer than the
23024 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
23025 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
23026 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
23027 additional elements on the mode line (e.g., a clock), you should modify
23030 @c Hook written by Francesco Potortì <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
23032 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
23033 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
23035 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
23036 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
23037 (length display-time-string)))))
23040 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
23041 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
23042 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
23043 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
23044 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
23047 @node Highlighting and Menus
23048 @section Highlighting and Menus
23050 @cindex highlighting
23053 @vindex gnus-visual
23054 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
23055 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
23056 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
23059 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
23060 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
23063 @item group-highlight
23064 Do highlights in the group buffer.
23065 @item summary-highlight
23066 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
23067 @item article-highlight
23068 Do highlights in the article buffer.
23070 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
23072 Create menus in the group buffer.
23074 Create menus in the summary buffers.
23076 Create menus in the article buffer.
23078 Create menus in the browse buffer.
23080 Create menus in the server buffer.
23082 Create menus in the score buffers.
23084 Create menus in all buffers.
23087 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
23088 buffers, you could say something like:
23091 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
23094 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
23097 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
23100 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
23101 in all Gnus buffers.
23103 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
23106 @item gnus-mouse-face
23107 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
23108 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
23109 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
23113 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
23117 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
23118 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
23119 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
23121 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
23122 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
23123 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
23125 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
23126 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
23127 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
23129 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
23130 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
23131 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
23133 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
23134 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
23135 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
23137 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
23138 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
23139 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
23149 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
23150 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
23151 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
23152 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
23153 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
23155 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
23156 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
23157 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
23159 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
23160 been idle for thirty minutes:
23163 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
23166 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
23170 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
23173 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
23174 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
23175 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23177 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
23178 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
23179 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
23180 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23182 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
23183 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
23184 @var{idle} minutes.
23186 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
23187 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
23190 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
23191 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
23192 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
23194 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
23195 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
23196 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
23197 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
23199 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
23200 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23202 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
23204 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
23207 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
23208 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
23209 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
23210 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
23211 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
23212 @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
23213 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
23214 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
23215 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
23216 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
23218 @findex gnus-demon-init
23219 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
23220 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
23221 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
23222 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
23223 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
23225 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
23226 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
23227 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
23235 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
23236 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
23237 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
23239 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
23240 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
23241 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
23242 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
23243 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
23244 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
23245 @code{undo} function.
23247 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
23248 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
23249 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
23250 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
23251 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
23252 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
23253 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
23254 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
23255 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
23256 never be totally undoable.
23258 @findex gnus-undo-mode
23259 @vindex gnus-use-undo
23261 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
23262 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
23263 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
23264 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
23268 @node Predicate Specifiers
23269 @section Predicate Specifiers
23270 @cindex predicate specifiers
23272 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
23273 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
23274 to type all that much.
23276 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
23281 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
23282 gnus-article-unread-p)
23285 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
23286 functions all take one parameter.
23288 @findex gnus-make-predicate
23289 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
23290 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
23291 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
23296 @section Moderation
23299 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
23300 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
23301 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
23304 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
23308 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
23311 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
23313 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
23318 You split your incoming mail by matching on
23319 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
23320 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
23323 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
23324 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
23327 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
23328 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
23332 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
23335 (setq gnus-moderated-list
23336 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
23340 @node Fetching a Group
23341 @section Fetching a Group
23342 @cindex fetching a group
23344 @findex gnus-fetch-group
23345 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
23346 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
23347 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
23348 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
23349 It takes the group name as a parameter.
23352 @node Image Enhancements
23353 @section Image Enhancements
23355 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
23356 support images, Emacs 22 does.} and up, are able to display pictures and
23357 stuff, so Gnus has taken advantage of that.
23360 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
23361 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
23362 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
23363 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
23364 * Gravatars:: Display the avatar of people you read.
23365 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
23373 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
23374 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
23375 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
23379 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
23380 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
23381 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
23389 Viewing an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
23390 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions have), or that you
23391 have suitable conversion or display programs installed. If your Emacs
23392 has image support the default action is to display the face before the
23393 @code{From} header. If there's no native @code{X-Face} support, Gnus
23394 will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using external programs
23395 from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends, see below. For XEmacs it's
23396 faster if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support. The
23397 default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
23398 @code{display} program.
23400 On a GNU/Linux system, the @code{display} program is included in the
23401 ImageMagick package. For external conversion programs look for packages
23402 with names like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.
23403 On Windows, you may use the packages @code{netpbm} and @code{compface}
23404 from @url{http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net}. You need to add the
23405 @code{bin} directory to your @code{PATH} environment variable.
23406 @c In fact only the following DLLs and binaries seem to be required:
23407 @c compface1.dll uncompface.exe libnetpbm10.dll icontopbm.exe
23409 The variable @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} controls which programs
23410 are used to display the @code{X-Face} header. If this variable is a
23411 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
23412 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
23413 If @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches the
23414 @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
23416 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
23424 @vindex gnus-x-face
23425 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
23426 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
23427 default colors are black and white.
23429 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
23430 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
23431 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
23432 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
23433 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
23434 XEmacs. Here are examples:
23437 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
23438 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23439 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
23440 (png . (:ascent 80))))
23442 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
23443 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23444 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
23445 (png . (:relief -2))))
23448 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
23449 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
23450 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
23451 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
23452 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
23453 @samp{libcompface} library.
23456 If you use posting styles, you can use an @code{x-face-file} entry in
23457 @code{gnus-posting-styles}, @xref{Posting Styles}. If you don't, Gnus
23458 provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow easier
23459 insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages. You also need the
23460 above mentioned ImageMagick, netpbm or other image conversion packages
23461 (depending the values of the variables below) for these functions.
23463 @findex gnus-random-x-face
23464 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
23465 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
23466 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
23467 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
23468 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
23469 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
23470 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
23471 header data as a string.
23473 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
23474 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
23475 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
23476 randomly generated data.
23478 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
23479 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
23480 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
23481 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
23482 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
23484 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
23485 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23488 (setq message-required-news-headers
23489 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23490 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
23493 Using the last function would be something like this:
23496 (setq message-required-news-headers
23497 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23498 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
23499 (gnus-x-face-from-file
23500 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
23508 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces' implementations should really be harmonized.
23510 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
23511 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
23512 represent the author of the message.
23515 @findex gnus-article-display-face
23516 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
23517 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
23520 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
23521 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
23523 Viewing a @code{Face} header requires an Emacs that is able to display
23526 @c (if (featurep 'xemacs)
23528 @c (image-type-available-p 'png))
23530 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
23531 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
23533 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
23534 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
23535 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
23537 @findex gnus-face-from-file
23538 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
23539 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
23540 converts the file to Face format by using the
23541 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
23543 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
23544 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23547 (setq message-required-news-headers
23548 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23549 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
23550 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
23555 @subsection Smileys
23560 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
23565 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
23566 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
23568 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
23569 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23572 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
23575 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
23576 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
23577 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
23578 text and maps that to file names.
23580 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
23581 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
23582 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
23583 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
23584 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
23587 The following variables customize the appearance of the smileys:
23592 @vindex smiley-style
23593 Specifies the smiley style. Predefined smiley styles include
23594 @code{low-color} (small 13x14 pixel, three-color images), @code{medium}
23595 (more colorful images, 16x16 pixel), and @code{grayscale} (grayscale
23596 images, 14x14 pixel). The default depends on the height of the default
23599 @item smiley-data-directory
23600 @vindex smiley-data-directory
23601 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files. You shouldn't set this
23602 variable anymore. Customize @code{smiley-style} instead.
23604 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
23605 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
23606 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
23620 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
23621 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
23622 over your shoulder as you read news.
23624 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
23633 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
23634 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
23635 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
23636 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
23637 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
23638 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
23639 @code{GIF} formats.
23642 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23643 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
23644 point your Web browser at
23645 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
23647 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
23648 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
23650 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
23651 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
23654 @vindex gnus-picon-style
23655 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
23656 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
23657 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
23659 @vindex gnus-picon-properties
23660 The value of the variable @code{gnus-picon-properties} is a list of
23661 properties applied to picons.
23663 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
23667 @item gnus-picon-databases
23668 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23669 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
23670 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
23671 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
23672 "/usr/local/faces")}.
23674 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
23675 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
23676 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23677 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
23679 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
23680 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
23681 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
23682 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
23684 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
23685 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
23686 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23687 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
23688 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
23690 @item gnus-picon-file-types
23691 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
23692 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
23693 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
23695 @item gnus-picon-inhibit-top-level-domains
23696 @vindex gnus-picon-inhibit-top-level-domains
23697 If non-@code{nil} (which is the default), don't display picons for
23698 things like @samp{.net} and @samp{.de}, which aren't usually very
23704 @subsection Gravatars
23708 \include{gravatars}
23712 A gravatar is an image registered to an e-mail address.
23714 You can submit yours on-line at @uref{http://www.gravatar.com}.
23716 The following variables offer control over how things are displayed.
23720 @item gnus-gravatar-size
23721 @vindex gnus-gravatar-size
23722 The size in pixels of gravatars. Gravatars are always square, so one
23723 number for the size is enough.
23725 @item gnus-gravatar-properties
23726 @vindex gnus-gravatar-properties
23727 List of image properties applied to Gravatar images.
23729 @item gnus-gravatar-too-ugly
23730 @vindex gnus-gravatar-too-ugly
23731 Regexp that matches mail addresses or names of people of which avatars
23732 should not be displayed, or @code{nil}. It default to the value of
23733 @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (@pxref{X-Face}).
23737 If you want to see them in the From field, set:
23739 (setq gnus-treat-from-gravatar 'head)
23742 If you want to see them in the Cc and To fields, set:
23745 (setq gnus-treat-mail-gravatar 'head)
23750 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
23753 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23754 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23755 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
23756 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
23757 unusual directory structure.
23759 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23760 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23761 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
23766 @subsubsection Toolbar
23770 @item gnus-use-toolbar
23771 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
23772 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
23773 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-@code{nil}, it should
23774 be one of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom},
23775 @code{right}, and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default
23776 toolbar, the rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those
23777 names show. The default is @code{default}.
23779 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
23780 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
23781 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
23782 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
23783 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
23784 The default is that of the default toolbar.
23786 @item gnus-group-toolbar
23787 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
23788 The toolbar in the group buffer.
23790 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
23791 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
23792 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
23794 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23795 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23796 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
23807 @node Fuzzy Matching
23808 @section Fuzzy Matching
23809 @cindex fuzzy matching
23811 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
23812 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
23814 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
23815 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
23816 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
23818 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
23819 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
23820 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
23821 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
23822 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
23825 @node Thwarting Email Spam
23826 @section Thwarting Email Spam
23830 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23832 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
23833 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
23834 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
23835 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
23836 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
23837 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
23838 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
23839 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
23842 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
23843 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
23844 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
23845 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
23846 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
23847 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
23849 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
23852 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
23853 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
23854 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
23855 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
23858 @node The problem of spam
23859 @subsection The problem of spam
23861 @cindex spam filtering approaches
23862 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
23864 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23866 First, some background on spam.
23868 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
23869 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
23870 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
23871 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
23872 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
23873 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
23874 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
23875 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
23876 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
23878 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
23879 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
23880 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
23881 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
23882 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
23883 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
23884 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
23885 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
23886 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
23889 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
23890 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
23891 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
23892 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
23893 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
23894 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
23895 from Bulgarian IPs.
23897 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
23898 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
23899 etc.)@: or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.)@: from contacting
23900 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
23902 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
23903 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
23904 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
23905 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
23907 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
23908 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
23909 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
23910 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
23911 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
23912 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
23913 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
23914 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
23915 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
23917 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
23918 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
23919 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
23920 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
23921 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
23922 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
23923 down for some time because of the incident.
23925 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
23926 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
23927 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
23928 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
23929 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
23930 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
23931 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
23932 to store the database of spam analysis. Statistical analysis on the
23933 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
23934 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
23935 the server that it has misclassified mail.
23937 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
23938 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
23939 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
23940 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
23941 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
23942 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
23943 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
23946 @node Anti-Spam Basics
23947 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
23951 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23953 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
23954 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
23956 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
23957 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
23958 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
23959 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
23960 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
23961 part of the mail address.)
23964 (setq message-default-news-headers
23965 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
23968 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23969 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23973 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
23974 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
23975 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
23980 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
23981 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
23982 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
23983 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
23985 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
23986 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
23987 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
23988 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
23989 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
23990 your fancy split rule in this way:
23995 (to "larsi" "misc")
23999 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
24000 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
24001 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
24002 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
24003 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
24005 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
24006 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
24007 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
24008 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
24010 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
24014 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
24015 @cindex SpamAssassin
24016 @cindex Vipul's Razor
24019 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
24020 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
24021 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
24022 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
24023 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
24024 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
24025 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
24027 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
24028 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
24029 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
24032 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
24033 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
24034 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
24035 Specifiers}) follow.
24039 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
24043 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
24046 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
24047 the mail contain, e.g., a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
24048 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
24051 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
24055 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
24058 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
24059 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
24063 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
24064 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
24065 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
24066 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
24069 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
24071 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
24075 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
24076 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
24080 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
24081 downloaded by default. You need to set
24082 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
24083 (@pxref{Client-Side IMAP Splitting}).
24085 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
24086 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
24087 spam. And here is the nifty function:
24090 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
24091 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
24093 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d" t)
24094 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
24098 @subsection Hashcash
24101 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
24102 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
24103 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
24104 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
24105 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
24107 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
24108 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
24109 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
24110 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
24111 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
24112 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
24113 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
24114 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
24115 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
24116 one of them separately.
24119 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
24120 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
24121 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
24122 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
24123 need to install to use this feature, see
24124 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
24125 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
24127 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
24128 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
24129 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
24132 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
24135 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
24139 @item hashcash-default-payment
24140 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
24141 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
24142 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
24145 @item hashcash-payment-alist
24146 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
24147 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
24148 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
24149 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
24150 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
24151 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
24152 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
24153 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
24155 @item hashcash-path
24156 @vindex hashcash-path
24157 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
24158 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
24159 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
24160 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
24161 when you generate hashcash payments.
24165 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
24166 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
24167 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
24168 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
24169 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
24170 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
24171 Hashcash Payments}).
24174 @section Spam Package
24175 @cindex spam filtering
24178 The Spam package provides Gnus with a centralized mechanism for
24179 detecting and filtering spam. It filters new mail, and processes
24180 messages according to whether they are spam or ham. (@dfn{Ham} is the
24181 name used throughout this manual to indicate non-spam messages.)
24184 * Spam Package Introduction::
24185 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
24186 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
24187 * Spam and Ham Processors::
24188 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
24190 * Extending the Spam package::
24191 * Spam Statistics Package::
24194 @node Spam Package Introduction
24195 @subsection Spam Package Introduction
24196 @cindex spam filtering
24197 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
24200 You must read this section to understand how the Spam package works.
24201 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
24203 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
24204 events. See @xref{Extending the Spam package}.
24206 @cindex spam-initialize
24207 @vindex spam-use-stat
24208 To use the Spam package, you @strong{must} first run the function
24209 @code{spam-initialize}:
24215 This autoloads @code{spam.el} and installs the various hooks necessary
24216 to let the Spam package do its job. In order to make use of the Spam
24217 package, you have to set up certain group parameters and variables,
24218 which we will describe below. All of the variables controlling the
24219 Spam package can be found in the @samp{spam} customization group.
24221 There are two ``contact points'' between the Spam package and the rest
24222 of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and leaving a group.
24224 Checking new mail for spam is done in one of two ways: while splitting
24225 incoming mail, or when you enter a group.
24227 The first way, checking for spam while splitting incoming mail, is
24228 suited to mail back ends such as @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap}, where
24229 new mail appears in a single spool file. The Spam package processes
24230 incoming mail, and sends mail considered to be spam to a designated
24231 ``spam'' group. @xref{Filtering Incoming Mail}.
24233 The second way is suited to back ends such as @code{nntp}, which have
24234 no incoming mail spool, or back ends where the server is in charge of
24235 splitting incoming mail. In this case, when you enter a Gnus group,
24236 the unseen or unread messages in that group are checked for spam.
24237 Detected spam messages are marked as spam. @xref{Detecting Spam in
24240 @cindex spam back ends
24241 In either case, you have to tell the Spam package what method to use
24242 to detect spam messages. There are several methods, or @dfn{spam back
24243 ends} (not to be confused with Gnus back ends!) to choose from: spam
24244 ``blacklists'' and ``whitelists'', dictionary-based filters, and so
24245 forth. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24247 In the Gnus summary buffer, messages that have been identified as spam
24248 always appear with a @samp{$} symbol.
24250 The Spam package divides Gnus groups into three categories: ham
24251 groups, spam groups, and unclassified groups. You should mark each of
24252 the groups you subscribe to as either a ham group or a spam group,
24253 using the @code{spam-contents} group parameter (@pxref{Group
24254 Parameters}). Spam groups have a special property: when you enter a
24255 spam group, all unseen articles are marked as spam. Thus, mail split
24256 into a spam group is automatically marked as spam.
24258 Identifying spam messages is only half of the Spam package's job. The
24259 second half comes into play whenever you exit a group buffer. At this
24260 point, the Spam package does several things:
24262 First, it calls @dfn{spam and ham processors} to process the articles
24263 according to whether they are spam or ham. There is a pair of spam
24264 and ham processors associated with each spam back end, and what the
24265 processors do depends on the back end. At present, the main role of
24266 spam and ham processors is for dictionary-based spam filters: they add
24267 the contents of the messages in the group to the filter's dictionary,
24268 to improve its ability to detect future spam. The @code{spam-process}
24269 group parameter specifies what spam processors to use. @xref{Spam and
24272 If the spam filter failed to mark a spam message, you can mark it
24273 yourself, so that the message is processed as spam when you exit the
24281 @kindex $ (Summary)
24282 @kindex M-d (Summary)
24283 @kindex S x (Summary)
24284 @kindex M s x (Summary)
24285 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24286 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24287 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark
24288 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}).
24292 Similarly, you can unmark an article if it has been erroneously marked
24293 as spam. @xref{Setting Marks}.
24295 Normally, a ham message found in a non-ham group is not processed as
24296 ham---the rationale is that it should be moved into a ham group for
24297 further processing (see below). However, you can force these articles
24298 to be processed as ham by setting
24299 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
24300 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups}.
24302 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24303 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24304 The second thing that the Spam package does when you exit a group is
24305 to move ham articles out of spam groups, and spam articles out of ham
24306 groups. Ham in a spam group is moved to the group specified by the
24307 variable @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}, or the group parameter
24308 @code{ham-process-destination}. Spam in a ham group is moved to the
24309 group specified by the variable @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations},
24310 or the group parameter @code{spam-process-destination}. If these
24311 variables are not set, the articles are left in their current group.
24312 If an article cannot be moved (e.g., with a read-only backend such
24313 as @acronym{NNTP}), it is copied.
24315 If an article is moved to another group, it is processed again when
24316 you visit the new group. Normally, this is not a problem, but if you
24317 want each article to be processed only once, load the
24318 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and set the variable
24319 @code{spam-log-to-registry} to @code{t}. @xref{Spam Package
24320 Configuration Examples}.
24322 Normally, spam groups ignore @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations}.
24323 However, if you set @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only} to
24324 @code{nil}, spam will also be moved out of spam groups, depending on
24325 the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter.
24327 The final thing the Spam package does is to mark spam articles as
24328 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
24330 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
24331 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
24332 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
24334 @node Filtering Incoming Mail
24335 @subsection Filtering Incoming Mail
24336 @cindex spam filtering
24337 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
24340 To use the Spam package to filter incoming mail, you must first set up
24341 fancy mail splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}. The Spam package
24342 defines a special splitting function that you can add to your fancy
24343 split variable (either @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
24344 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on your mail back end):
24350 @vindex spam-split-group
24352 The @code{spam-split} function scans incoming mail according to your
24353 chosen spam back end(s), and sends messages identified as spam to a
24354 spam group. By default, the spam group is a group named @samp{spam},
24355 but you can change this by customizing @code{spam-split-group}. Make
24356 sure the contents of @code{spam-split-group} are an unqualified group
24357 name. For instance, in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server},
24358 the value @samp{spam} means @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The value
24359 @samp{nnimap+server:spam} is therefore wrong---it gives the group
24360 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam}.
24362 @code{spam-split} does not modify the contents of messages in any way.
24364 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
24365 Note for IMAP users: if you use the @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
24366 @code{spam-check-ifile}, and @code{spam-check-stat} spam back ends,
24367 you should also set the variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to
24368 @code{t}. These spam back ends are most useful when they can ``scan''
24369 the full message body. By default, the nnimap back end only retrieves
24370 the message headers; @code{nnimap-split-download-body} tells it to
24371 retrieve the message bodies as well. We don't set this by default
24372 because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and that is not an
24373 appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user. @xref{Client-Side
24376 You have to specify one or more spam back ends for @code{spam-split}
24377 to use, by setting the @code{spam-use-*} variables. @xref{Spam Back
24378 Ends}. Normally, @code{spam-split} simply uses all the spam back ends
24379 you enabled in this way. However, you can tell @code{spam-split} to
24380 use only some of them. Why this is useful? Suppose you are using the
24381 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and @code{spam-use-blackholes} spam back
24382 ends, and the following split rule:
24385 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24386 (any "ding" "ding")
24388 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24393 The problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the ding
24394 folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam detected by
24395 SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through, when it's
24396 sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to the ding
24397 list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the invocation
24398 of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
24400 The solution is to let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, and
24401 perform the other @code{spam-split} rules (including a second
24402 invocation of the regex-headers check) after the ding rule. This is
24403 done by passing a parameter to @code{spam-split}:
24408 ;; @r{spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
24409 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24410 (any "ding" "ding")
24411 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
24413 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24418 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
24419 your particular needs, and target the results of those checks to a
24420 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
24421 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
24422 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
24423 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
24424 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
24426 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24427 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24428 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24429 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24431 @c @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
24432 @c statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
24435 @node Detecting Spam in Groups
24436 @subsection Detecting Spam in Groups
24438 To detect spam when visiting a group, set the group's
24439 @code{spam-autodetect} and @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group
24440 parameters. These are accessible with @kbd{G c} or @kbd{G p}, as
24441 usual (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24443 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24444 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24445 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24446 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
24448 By default, only unseen articles are processed for spam. You can
24449 force Gnus to recheck all messages in the group by setting the
24450 variable @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages} to @code{t}.
24452 If you use the @code{spam-autodetect} method of checking for spam, you
24453 can specify different spam detection methods for different groups.
24454 For instance, the @samp{ding} group may have @code{spam-use-BBDB} as
24455 the autodetection method, while the @samp{suspect} group may have the
24456 @code{spam-use-blacklist} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods
24457 enabled. Unlike with @code{spam-split}, you don't have any control
24458 over the @emph{sequence} of checks, but this is probably unimportant.
24460 @node Spam and Ham Processors
24461 @subsection Spam and Ham Processors
24462 @cindex spam filtering
24463 @cindex spam filtering variables
24464 @cindex spam variables
24467 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
24468 Spam and ham processors specify special actions to take when you exit
24469 a group buffer. Spam processors act on spam messages, and ham
24470 processors on ham messages. At present, the main role of these
24471 processors is to update the dictionaries of dictionary-based spam back
24472 ends such as Bogofilter (@pxref{Bogofilter}) and the Spam Statistics
24473 package (@pxref{Spam Statistics Filtering}).
24475 The spam and ham processors that apply to each group are determined by
24476 the group's@code{spam-process} group parameter. If this group
24477 parameter is not defined, they are determined by the variable
24478 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups}.
24480 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24481 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
24482 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
24483 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
24484 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
24485 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
24486 by customizing the corresponding variable
24487 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
24488 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
24489 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
24490 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
24491 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
24492 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
24493 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
24496 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
24498 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
24499 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
24500 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
24501 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
24502 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
24503 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
24504 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
24505 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
24506 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
24507 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
24508 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
24509 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
24510 processor which will study them as spam samples.
24512 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
24513 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
24514 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
24515 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
24516 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
24517 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
24518 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
24519 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
24522 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24523 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
24524 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
24525 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
24526 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
24527 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
24528 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
24533 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24534 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
24535 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
24536 you really want to.
24539 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
24540 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
24541 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
24542 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
24543 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
24544 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
24547 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24548 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
24549 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
24550 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
24551 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
24552 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
24553 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
24554 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
24555 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
24556 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
24557 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
24558 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
24559 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
24560 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
24561 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
24563 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24564 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24566 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24567 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
24568 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
24570 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
24571 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
24573 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
24574 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
24575 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
24576 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
24577 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
24579 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
24580 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
24581 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
24582 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
24583 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
24586 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24587 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
24588 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
24589 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
24590 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
24591 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
24592 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
24593 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
24594 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
24595 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
24596 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
24597 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
24598 group buffer then you need it here as well.
24600 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24601 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24603 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24604 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
24607 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
24608 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
24609 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
24610 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
24611 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
24612 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
24613 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
24615 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
24616 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
24617 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
24618 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
24620 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
24621 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
24622 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
24623 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
24624 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
24625 from the mail server.
24627 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
24628 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
24629 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
24630 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
24632 @node Spam Package Configuration Examples
24633 @subsection Spam Package Configuration Examples
24634 @cindex spam filtering
24635 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
24636 @cindex spam configuration examples
24639 @subsubheading Ted's setup
24641 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
24643 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
24644 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
24645 (gnus-registry-initialize)
24649 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
24651 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
24652 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
24653 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24654 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24655 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
24656 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
24657 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
24658 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
24659 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
24660 ;; @r{for nnimap you'll probably want to set nnimap-split-methods, see the manual}
24661 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24662 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
24663 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
24664 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
24665 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24666 (any "ding" "ding")
24667 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
24669 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24672 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
24674 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
24675 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
24676 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
24677 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
24679 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24681 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
24682 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
24683 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
24684 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
24685 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24687 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
24688 ((spam-autodetect . t))
24690 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
24692 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
24693 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
24695 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
24696 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
24697 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
24699 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
24701 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
24702 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
24704 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
24705 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
24706 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
24708 (gnus-ticked-mark))
24709 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
24710 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
24711 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
24713 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
24714 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
24715 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
24719 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
24720 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24722 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
24723 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
24724 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
24725 i.e., to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
24726 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
24727 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
24728 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
24729 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
24730 @samp{training.spam} folders.
24732 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
24733 does most of the job for me:
24736 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
24737 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
24738 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
24739 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24740 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
24741 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
24742 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
24747 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
24749 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
24750 (i.e., legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
24751 bogofilter or DCC).
24753 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
24754 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
24755 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark
24756 (@code{ham-marks}, @ref{Spam and Ham Processors}). On group exit,
24757 those messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want
24758 to have the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter)
24759 and deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
24761 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
24762 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
24763 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e., chars) makes finding
24764 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
24765 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
24766 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
24768 @item @b{Ham folders:}
24770 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
24771 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
24772 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
24773 @samp{training.spam}.
24776 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
24778 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24780 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
24781 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
24782 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
24786 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
24789 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
24790 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
24791 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e., the article numbers are
24792 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
24793 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
24795 @node Spam Back Ends
24796 @subsection Spam Back Ends
24797 @cindex spam back ends
24799 The spam package offers a variety of back ends for detecting spam.
24800 Each back end defines a set of methods for detecting spam
24801 (@pxref{Filtering Incoming Mail}, @pxref{Detecting Spam in Groups}),
24802 and a pair of spam and ham processors (@pxref{Spam and Ham
24806 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
24807 * BBDB Whitelists::
24808 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
24809 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
24811 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
24813 * SpamAssassin back end::
24814 * ifile spam filtering::
24815 * Spam Statistics Filtering::
24819 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
24820 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
24821 @cindex spam filtering
24822 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
24823 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
24826 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
24828 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
24829 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
24830 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
24831 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
24836 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
24838 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
24839 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
24840 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24841 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
24842 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24846 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
24848 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
24849 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24850 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
24854 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
24856 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24857 customizing the group parameters or the
24858 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24859 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24860 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
24864 Instead of the obsolete
24865 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
24866 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
24867 the same way, we promise.
24871 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
24873 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24874 customizing the group parameters or the
24875 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24876 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24877 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24882 Instead of the obsolete
24883 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
24884 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
24885 the same way, we promise.
24889 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
24890 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
24891 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
24892 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
24893 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
24895 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
24896 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
24897 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
24898 Emacs regular expression syntax.
24900 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
24901 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
24902 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
24903 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
24904 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
24905 @file{blacklist} respectively.
24907 @node BBDB Whitelists
24908 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
24909 @cindex spam filtering
24910 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
24911 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
24914 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
24916 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24917 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
24918 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
24919 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
24920 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24921 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
24922 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24926 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
24928 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
24929 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24930 unless the sender is in the BBDB@. Use with care. Only sender
24931 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
24932 classified as spammers.
24934 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
24935 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
24936 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
24937 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to @code{t}, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
24942 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
24944 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24945 customizing the group parameters or the
24946 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24947 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24948 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24953 Instead of the obsolete
24954 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
24955 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
24956 the same way, we promise.
24960 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
24961 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
24962 @cindex spam reporting
24963 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24964 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24967 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
24969 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24970 customizing the group parameters or the
24971 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24972 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
24973 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
24976 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
24980 Instead of the obsolete
24981 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
24982 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
24983 same way, we promise.
24987 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
24989 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
24990 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
24991 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
24992 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
24993 @code{spam-report.el} will fetch the number from the article headers.
24997 @defvar spam-report-user-mail-address
24999 Mail address exposed in the User-Agent spam reports to Gmane. It allows
25000 the Gmane administrators to contact you in case of misreports. The
25001 default is @code{user-mail-address}.
25005 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25006 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25007 @cindex spam filtering
25008 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
25011 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
25013 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
25014 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
25015 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
25016 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
25017 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
25018 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25023 @subsubsection Blackholes
25024 @cindex spam filtering
25025 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
25028 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
25030 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
25031 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
25032 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
25033 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
25034 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
25035 contains outdated servers.
25037 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
25038 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
25039 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
25040 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
25041 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
25042 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
25046 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
25048 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
25052 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
25054 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
25055 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
25059 @defvar spam-use-dig
25061 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
25062 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
25066 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
25067 ham processor for blackholes.
25069 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
25070 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
25071 @cindex spam filtering
25072 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
25075 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
25077 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
25078 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
25079 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
25080 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
25081 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
25082 message is spam or ham, respectively.
25086 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
25088 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25089 the message, positively identify it as spam.
25093 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
25095 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25096 the message, positively identify it as ham.
25100 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
25101 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
25104 @subsubsection Bogofilter
25105 @cindex spam filtering
25106 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
25109 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
25111 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25114 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
25115 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
25116 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
25117 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
25118 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
25119 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
25121 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
25122 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
25125 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
25126 processing will be turned off.
25128 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
25137 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
25138 Get the Bogofilter spamicity score (@code{spam-bogofilter-score}).
25141 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
25143 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25144 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
25145 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
25146 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
25147 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
25148 installation documents for details.
25150 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
25154 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
25155 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25156 customizing the group parameters or the
25157 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25158 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
25159 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
25163 Instead of the obsolete
25164 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25165 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25166 the same way, we promise.
25169 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
25170 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25171 customizing the group parameters or the
25172 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25173 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25174 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
25175 of non-spam messages.
25179 Instead of the obsolete
25180 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25181 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25182 the same way, we promise.
25185 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
25187 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
25188 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
25189 database directory.
25193 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
25194 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25195 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
25196 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
25197 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
25198 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
25200 @node SpamAssassin back end
25201 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
25202 @cindex spam filtering
25203 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
25206 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
25208 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
25210 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
25211 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
25212 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
25213 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
25216 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
25217 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
25218 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
25219 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
25222 You should not enable this if you use
25223 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
25227 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
25229 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
25230 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
25232 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
25236 @defvar spam-spamassassin-program
25238 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
25239 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
25240 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
25241 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
25245 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
25246 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
25247 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
25248 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
25249 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
25250 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
25251 to test this functionality.
25253 @node ifile spam filtering
25254 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
25255 @cindex spam filtering
25256 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
25259 @defvar spam-use-ifile
25261 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
25262 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
25266 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
25268 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
25269 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
25270 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
25274 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
25276 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
25277 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
25278 the default value of @samp{spam}.
25281 @defvar spam-ifile-database
25283 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
25284 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
25288 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
25289 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25290 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
25291 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
25294 @node Spam Statistics Filtering
25295 @subsubsection Spam Statistics Filtering
25296 @cindex spam filtering
25297 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
25301 This back end uses the Spam Statistics Emacs Lisp package to perform
25302 statistics-based filtering (@pxref{Spam Statistics Package}). Before
25303 using this, you may want to perform some additional steps to
25304 initialize your Spam Statistics dictionary. @xref{Creating a
25305 spam-stat dictionary}.
25307 @defvar spam-use-stat
25311 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
25312 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25313 customizing the group parameters or the
25314 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25315 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25316 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
25320 Instead of the obsolete
25321 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25322 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25323 the same way, we promise.
25326 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
25327 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25328 customizing the group parameters or the
25329 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25330 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25331 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
25332 of non-spam messages.
25336 Instead of the obsolete
25337 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25338 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25339 the same way, we promise.
25342 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
25343 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
25344 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
25345 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
25346 @code{spam-split} are provided.
25349 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
25350 @cindex spam filtering
25354 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
25355 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
25356 installed separately.
25358 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
25359 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
25360 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
25361 mail as a spam mail or not.
25363 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
25364 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
25365 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
25367 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Spam Package})
25370 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
25371 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
25372 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
25373 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}. @xref{Spam
25374 Package}. In this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is
25375 filtered using SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be
25376 moved to @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham
25377 messages stay in @samp{INBOX}:
25380 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
25381 spam-split-group "Junk"
25382 ;; @r{for nnimap you'll probably want to set nnimap-split-methods, see the manual}
25383 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
25384 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
25387 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
25388 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
25392 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
25393 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
25394 user's PATH@. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
25398 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
25399 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
25400 store its analysis. This is controlled by the variable
25401 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
25402 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
25403 database to live somewhere special, set
25404 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
25407 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
25408 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
25409 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns
25410 the characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
25411 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
25412 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary
25413 buffer and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using
25414 @file{spam.el}'s spam- and ham-processors, which is much more
25415 convenient. For a detailed description of spam- and ham-processors,
25416 @xref{Spam Package}.
25418 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
25419 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25420 customizing the group parameter or the
25421 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25422 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
25423 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
25427 Instead of the obsolete
25428 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25429 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25430 the same way, we promise.
25433 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
25434 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25435 customizing the group parameter or the
25436 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25437 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
25438 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
25443 Instead of the obsolete
25444 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25445 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25446 the same way, we promise.
25449 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
25450 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
25453 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
25454 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
25455 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
25457 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
25458 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
25459 (e.g., because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
25460 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
25461 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
25462 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
25464 @node Extending the Spam package
25465 @subsection Extending the Spam package
25466 @cindex spam filtering
25467 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
25468 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
25470 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
25471 incoming mail, provide the following:
25479 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
25480 "True if blackbox should be used.")
25483 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
25485 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
25486 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
25487 register/unregister routines as a start, or other register/unregister
25488 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
25489 register/unregister spam and ham.
25494 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
25495 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
25496 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
25497 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
25502 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
25509 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
25510 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
25512 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
25513 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
25514 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
25515 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
25518 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
25519 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
25520 Only applicable to spam groups.")
25522 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
25523 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
25524 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
25533 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
25534 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
25536 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
25537 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
25538 variable customization.
25542 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
25544 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
25545 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
25547 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
25548 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
25554 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
25556 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
25557 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
25558 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
25561 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
25563 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
25564 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
25568 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
25570 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
25571 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
25572 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
25576 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
25578 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
25579 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
25580 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
25583 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
25585 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
25586 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
25590 @code{spam-install-backend}
25592 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
25593 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
25594 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
25597 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
25599 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
25600 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
25601 never install such a back end.
25606 @node Spam Statistics Package
25607 @subsection Spam Statistics Package
25608 @cindex Paul Graham
25609 @cindex Graham, Paul
25610 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
25611 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
25612 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
25614 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
25615 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
25616 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
25617 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
25618 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
25619 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
25620 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
25621 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
25622 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
25625 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
25626 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
25627 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
25628 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
25629 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
25630 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
25631 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
25632 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
25634 The Spam Statistics package adds support to Gnus for this kind of
25635 filtering. It can be used as one of the back ends of the Spam package
25636 (@pxref{Spam Package}), or by itself.
25638 Before using the Spam Statistics package, you need to set it up.
25639 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
25640 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
25641 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
25642 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
25645 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
25646 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
25647 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
25650 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25651 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25653 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
25654 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
25655 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
25656 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
25657 need several hundred emails in both collections.
25659 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
25660 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
25661 per mail. Use the following:
25663 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
25664 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
25665 is treated as one spam mail.
25668 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
25669 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
25670 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
25673 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
25674 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds to
25675 the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
25676 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
25677 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds to the group
25678 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
25680 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
25681 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
25682 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
25683 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
25684 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
25687 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
25688 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
25689 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
25690 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
25693 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
25694 reset the dictionary.
25696 @defun spam-stat-reset
25697 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
25700 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
25701 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
25702 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
25703 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
25704 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
25705 only non-spam mails.
25707 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
25708 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
25709 to update the dictionary incrementally.
25712 @defun spam-stat-save
25713 Save the dictionary.
25716 @defvar spam-stat-file
25717 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
25718 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
25721 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
25722 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
25724 This section describes how to use the Spam statistics
25725 @emph{independently} of the @xref{Spam Package}.
25727 First, add the following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25730 (require 'spam-stat)
25734 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
25737 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
25738 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
25739 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
25740 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
25742 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
25743 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
25744 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
25745 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
25748 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25749 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25753 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
25754 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
25757 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
25758 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
25759 expression are considered potential spam.
25762 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25763 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25764 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25768 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
25769 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
25770 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
25771 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
25772 mails, when creating the dictionary!
25775 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25776 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25777 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25781 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
25782 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
25783 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
25784 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
25785 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
25789 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25790 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
25791 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25792 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25797 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25798 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25800 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
25802 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
25803 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
25804 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25807 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
25808 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
25809 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25812 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
25813 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
25814 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
25815 already been processed as non-spam.
25818 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
25819 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
25820 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
25821 been processed as spam.
25824 @defun spam-stat-save
25825 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
25826 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25829 @defun spam-stat-load
25830 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
25831 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25834 @defun spam-stat-score-word
25835 Return the spam score for a word.
25838 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
25839 Return the spam score for a buffer.
25842 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
25843 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
25844 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
25847 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
25848 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25851 (require 'spam-stat)
25855 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
25858 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25859 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25860 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25861 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25862 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25863 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25864 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25865 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25866 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25867 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25868 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25869 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25870 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25871 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25874 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
25877 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25878 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25879 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25880 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
25881 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25882 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25885 @node The Gnus Registry
25886 @section The Gnus Registry
25891 The Gnus registry is a package that tracks messages by their
25892 Message-ID across all backends. This allows Gnus users to do several
25893 cool things, be the envy of the locals, get free haircuts, and be
25894 experts on world issues. Well, maybe not all of those, but the
25895 features are pretty cool.
25897 Although they will be explained in detail shortly, here's a quick list
25898 of said features in case your attention span is... never mind.
25902 Split messages to their parent
25904 This keeps discussions in the same group. You can use the subject and
25905 the sender in addition to the Message-ID@. Several strategies are
25909 Refer to messages by ID
25911 Commands like @code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article} can take
25912 advantage of the registry to jump to the referred article, regardless
25913 of the group the message is in.
25916 Store custom flags and keywords
25918 The registry can store custom flags and keywords for a message. For
25919 instance, you can mark a message ``To-Do'' this way and the flag will
25920 persist whether the message is in the nnimap, nnml, nnmaildir,
25924 Store arbitrary data
25926 Through a simple ELisp API, the registry can remember any data for a
25927 message. A built-in inverse map, when activated, allows quick lookups
25928 of all messages matching a particular set of criteria.
25932 * Gnus Registry Setup::
25933 * Registry Article Refer Method::
25934 * Fancy splitting to parent::
25935 * Store custom flags and keywords::
25936 * Store arbitrary data::
25939 @node Gnus Registry Setup
25940 @subsection Gnus Registry Setup
25942 Fortunately, setting up the Gnus registry is pretty easy:
25945 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500)
25947 (gnus-registry-initialize)
25950 This adds registry saves to Gnus newsrc saves (which happen on exit
25951 and when you press @kbd{s} from the @file{*Group*} buffer. It also
25952 adds registry calls to article actions in Gnus (copy, move, etc.)@: so
25953 it's not easy to undo the initialization. See
25954 @code{gnus-registry-initialize} for the gory details.
25956 Here are other settings used by the author of the registry (understand
25957 what they do before you copy them blindly).
25961 gnus-registry-split-strategy 'majority
25962 gnus-registry-ignored-groups '(("nntp" t)
25966 gnus-registry-max-entries 500000
25967 ;; this is the default
25968 gnus-registry-track-extra '(sender subject))
25971 They say: keep a lot of messages around, track messages by sender and
25972 subject (not just parent Message-ID), and when the registry splits
25973 incoming mail, use a majority rule to decide where messages should go
25974 if there's more than one possibility. In addition, the registry
25975 should ignore messages in groups that match ``nntp'', ``nnrss'',
25976 ``spam'', or ``train.''
25978 You are doubtless impressed by all this, but you ask: ``I am a Gnus
25979 user, I customize to live. Give me more.'' Here you go, these are
25980 the general settings.
25982 @defvar gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups
25983 The groups that will not be followed by
25984 @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}. They will still be
25985 remembered by the registry. This is a list of regular expressions.
25986 By default any group name that ends with ``delayed'', ``drafts'',
25987 ``queue'', or ``INBOX'', belongs to the nnmairix backend, or contains
25988 the word ``archive'' is not followed.
25991 @defvar gnus-registry-max-entries
25992 The number (an integer or @code{nil} for unlimited) of entries the
25993 registry will keep. If the registry has reached or exceeded this
25994 size, it will reject insertion of new entries.
25997 @defvar gnus-registry-prune-factor
25998 This option (a float between 0 and 1) controls how much the registry
25999 is cut back during pruning. In order to prevent constant pruning, the
26000 registry will be pruned back to less than
26001 @code{gnus-registry-max-entries}. This option controls exactly how
26002 much less: the target is calculated as the maximum number of entries
26003 minus the maximum number times this factor. The default is 0.1:
26004 i.e., if your registry is limited to 50000 entries, pruning will try to
26005 cut back to 45000 entries. Entries with keys marked as precious will
26009 @defvar gnus-registry-default-sort-function
26010 This option specifies how registry entries are sorted during pruning.
26011 If a function is given, it should sort least valuable entries first,
26012 as pruning starts from the beginning of the list. The default value
26013 is @code{gnus-registry-sort-by-creation-time}, which proposes the
26014 oldest entries for pruning. Set to nil to perform no sorting, which
26015 will speed up the pruning process.
26018 @defvar gnus-registry-cache-file
26019 The file where the registry will be stored between Gnus sessions. By
26020 default the file name is @code{.gnus.registry.eieio} in the same
26021 directory as your @code{.newsrc.eld}.
26024 @node Registry Article Refer Method
26025 @subsection Fetching by @code{Message-ID} Using the Registry
26027 The registry knows how to map each @code{Message-ID} to the group it's
26028 in. This can be leveraged to enhance the ``article refer method'',
26029 the thing that tells Gnus how to look up an article given its
26030 Message-ID (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
26033 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
26035 The @code{nnregistry} refer method does exactly that. It has the
26036 advantage that an article may be found regardless of the group it's
26037 in---provided its @code{Message-ID} is known to the registry. It can
26038 be enabled by augmenting the start-up file with something along these
26042 ;; Keep enough entries to have a good hit rate when referring to an
26043 ;; article using the registry. Use long group names so that Gnus
26044 ;; knows where the article is.
26045 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500)
26047 (gnus-registry-initialize)
26049 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
26052 (nnweb "gmane" (nnweb-type gmane))))
26055 The example above instructs Gnus to first look up the article in the
26056 current group, or, alternatively, using the registry, and finally, if
26057 all else fails, using Gmane.
26059 @node Fancy splitting to parent
26060 @subsection Fancy splitting to parent
26062 Simply put, this lets you put followup e-mail where it belongs.
26064 Every message has a Message-ID, which is unique, and the registry
26065 remembers it. When the message is moved or copied, the registry will
26066 notice this and offer the new group as a choice to the splitting
26069 When a followup is made, usually it mentions the original message's
26070 Message-ID in the headers. The registry knows this and uses that
26071 mention to find the group where the original message lives. You only
26072 have to put a rule like this:
26075 (setq nnimap-my-split-fancy '(|
26077 ;; split to parent: you need this
26078 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
26080 ;; other rules, as an example
26086 in your fancy split setup. In addition, you may want to customize the
26087 following variables.
26089 @defvar gnus-registry-track-extra
26090 This is a list of symbols, so it's best to change it from the
26091 Customize interface. By default it's @code{(subject sender recipient)},
26092 which may work for you. It can be annoying if your mail flow is large
26093 and people don't stick to the same groups.
26095 When you decide to stop tracking any of those extra data, you can use
26096 the command @code{gnus-registry-remove-extra-data} to purge it from
26097 the existing registry entries.
26100 @defvar gnus-registry-split-strategy
26101 This is a symbol, so it's best to change it from the Customize
26102 interface. By default it's @code{nil}, but you may want to set it to
26103 @code{majority} or @code{first} to split by sender or subject based on
26104 the majority of matches or on the first found. I find @code{majority}
26108 @node Store custom flags and keywords
26109 @subsection Store custom flags and keywords
26111 The registry lets you set custom flags and keywords per message. You
26112 can use the Gnus->Registry Marks menu or the @kbd{M M x} keyboard
26113 shortcuts, where @code{x} is the first letter of the mark's name.
26115 @defvar gnus-registry-marks
26116 The custom marks that the registry can use. You can modify the
26117 default list, if you like. If you do, you'll have to exit Emacs
26118 before they take effect (you can also unload the registry and reload
26119 it or evaluate the specific macros you'll need, but you probably don't
26120 want to bother). Use the Customize interface to modify the list.
26122 By default this list has the @code{Important}, @code{Work},
26123 @code{Personal}, @code{To-Do}, and @code{Later} marks. They all have
26124 keyboard shortcuts like @kbd{M M i} for Important, using the first
26128 @defun gnus-registry-mark-article
26129 Call this function to mark an article with a custom registry mark. It
26130 will offer the available marks for completion.
26133 You can use @code{defalias} to install a summary line formatting
26134 function that will show the registry marks. There are two flavors of
26135 this function, either showing the marks as single characters, using
26136 their @code{:char} property, or showing the marks as full strings.
26139 ;; show the marks as single characters (see the :char property in
26140 ;; 'gnus-registry-marks'):
26141 ;; (defalias 'gnus-user-format-function-M 'gnus-registry-article-marks-to-chars)
26143 ;; show the marks by name (see 'gnus-registry-marks'):
26144 ;; (defalias 'gnus-user-format-function-M 'gnus-registry-article-marks-to-names)
26148 @node Store arbitrary data
26149 @subsection Store arbitrary data
26151 The registry has a simple API that uses a Message-ID as the key to
26152 store arbitrary data (as long as it can be converted to a list for
26155 @defun gnus-registry-set-id-key (id key value)
26156 Store @code{value} under @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26159 @defun gnus-registry-get-id-key (id key)
26160 Get the data under @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26163 @defvar gnus-registry-extra-entries-precious
26164 If any extra entries are precious, their presence will make the
26165 registry keep the whole entry forever, even if there are no groups for
26166 the Message-ID and if the size limit of the registry is reached. By
26167 default this is just @code{(marks)} so the custom registry marks are
26171 @node The Gnus Cloud
26172 @section The Gnus Cloud
26175 @cindex synchronization
26179 The Gnus Cloud is a way to synchronize marks and general files and
26180 data across multiple machines.
26182 Very often, you want all your marks (what articles you've read, which
26183 ones were important, and so on) to be synchronized between several
26184 machines. With IMAP, that's built into the protocol, so you can read
26185 nnimap groups from many machines and they are automatically
26186 synchronized. But NNTP, nnrss, and many other backends do not store
26187 marks, so you have to do it locally.
26189 The Gnus Cloud package stores the marks, plus any files you choose, on
26190 an IMAP server in a special folder. It's like a
26191 DropTorrentSyncBoxOakTree(TM).
26194 * Gnus Cloud Setup::
26195 * Gnus Cloud Usage::
26198 @node Gnus Cloud Setup
26199 @subsection Gnus Cloud Setup
26201 Setting up the Gnus Cloud takes less than a minute. From the Group
26204 Press @kbd{^} to go to the Server buffer. Here you'll see all the
26205 servers that Gnus knows. @xref{Server Buffer}.
26207 Then press @kbd{i} to mark any servers as cloud-synchronized (their marks are synchronized).
26209 Then press @kbd{I} to mark a single server as the cloud host (it must
26210 be an IMAP server, and will host a special IMAP folder with all the
26211 synchronization data). This will set the variable
26212 @code{gnus-cloud-method} (using the Customize facilities), then ask
26213 you to optionally upload your first CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM).
26215 @node Gnus Cloud Usage
26216 @subsection Gnus Cloud Usage
26218 After setting up, you can use these shortcuts from the Group buffer:
26223 @findex gnus-cloud-download-all-data
26224 @cindex cloud, download
26225 Download the latest Gnus Cloud data.
26229 @findex gnus-cloud-upload-all-data
26230 @cindex cloud, download
26231 Upload the local Gnus Cloud data. Creates a new
26232 CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM).
26236 But wait, there's more. Of course there's more. So much more. You can
26237 customize all of the following.
26239 @defvar gnus-cloud-synced-files
26240 These are the files that will be part of every
26241 CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM). They are included in every upload,
26242 so don't synchronize a lot of large files. Files under 100Kb are best.
26245 @defvar gnus-cloud-storage-method
26246 This is a choice from several storage methods. It's highly recommended
26247 to use the EPG facilities. It will be automatic if have GnuPG
26248 installed and EPG loaded. Otherwise, you could use Base64+gzip,
26249 Base64, or no encoding.
26252 @defvar gnus-cloud-interactive
26253 When this is set, and by default it is, the Gnus Cloud package will
26254 ask you for confirmation here and there. Leave it on until you're
26255 comfortable with the package.
26259 @defvar gnus-cloud-method
26260 The name of the IMAP server to store the
26261 CloudSynchronizationDataPack(TM)s. It's easiest to set this from the
26262 Server buffer (@pxref{Gnus Cloud Setup}).
26266 @section Interaction with other modes
26271 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provides some useful functions for dired
26272 buffers. It is enabled with
26274 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
26279 @findex gnus-dired-attach
26280 @cindex attachments, selection via dired
26281 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
26282 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
26285 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
26286 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
26287 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
26291 @findex gnus-dired-print
26292 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
26293 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
26296 @node Various Various
26297 @section Various Various
26303 @item gnus-home-directory
26304 @vindex gnus-home-directory
26305 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
26306 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
26308 @item gnus-directory
26309 @vindex gnus-directory
26310 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
26311 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
26312 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
26314 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
26315 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
26316 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
26317 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
26319 @item gnus-default-directory
26320 @vindex gnus-default-directory
26321 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
26322 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
26323 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
26324 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
26325 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
26326 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
26329 @vindex gnus-verbose
26330 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
26331 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
26332 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
26333 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
26334 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
26336 @item gnus-verbose-backends
26337 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
26338 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
26339 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
26341 @item gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26342 @vindex gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26343 This variable controls whether to add timestamps to messages that are
26344 controlled by @code{gnus-verbose} and @code{gnus-verbose-backends} and
26345 are issued. The default value is @code{nil} which means never to add
26346 timestamp. If it is @code{log}, add timestamps to only the messages
26347 that go into the @file{*Messages*} buffer (in XEmacs, it is the
26348 @w{@file{ *Message-Log*}} buffer). If it is neither @code{nil} nor
26349 @code{log}, add timestamps not only to log messages but also to the ones
26350 displayed in the echo area.
26352 @item nnheader-max-head-length
26353 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
26354 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
26355 as little as possible. This variable (default 8192) specifies
26356 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
26357 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
26358 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
26359 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
26360 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
26361 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
26363 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
26364 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
26365 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
26366 read when doing the operation described above.
26368 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26369 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26371 @cindex invalid characters in file names
26372 @cindex characters in file names
26373 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
26374 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
26375 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
26379 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26384 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
26385 Windows (phooey) systems.
26387 @item gnus-hidden-properties
26388 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
26389 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
26390 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
26391 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
26393 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
26394 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
26395 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
26396 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
26397 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
26399 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
26400 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
26401 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
26403 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26404 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26406 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
26407 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
26408 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
26409 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
26412 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
26414 @item gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26415 @vindex gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26416 Groups in which links in html articles are considered all safe. The
26417 value may be a regexp matching those groups, a list of group names, or
26418 @code{nil}. This overrides @code{mm-w3m-safe-url-regexp}. The default
26419 value is @code{"\\`nnrss[+:]"}. This is effective only when emacs-w3m
26420 renders html articles, i.e., in the case @code{mm-text-html-renderer} is
26421 set to @code{w3m}. @xref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization,
26422 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}.
26429 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
26430 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
26432 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
26434 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
26440 Not because of victories @*
26443 but for the common sunshine,@*
26445 the largess of the spring.
26449 but for the day's work done@*
26450 as well as I was able;@*
26451 not for a seat upon the dais@*
26452 but at the common table.@*
26457 @chapter Appendices
26460 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
26461 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
26462 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
26463 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
26464 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
26465 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
26466 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
26467 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
26468 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
26475 @cindex installing under XEmacs
26477 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
26478 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
26479 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
26480 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
26481 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print},
26482 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
26489 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
26490 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
26492 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
26493 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
26494 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
26495 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
26496 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
26498 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
26499 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
26500 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
26501 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
26502 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
26503 appropriate name, don't you think?)
26505 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
26506 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
26507 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
26508 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
26511 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
26512 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
26513 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
26514 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
26515 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
26516 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
26517 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
26518 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
26522 @node Gnus Versions
26523 @subsection Gnus Versions
26525 @cindex September Gnus
26527 @cindex Quassia Gnus
26528 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
26532 @cindex Gnus versions
26534 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
26535 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
26536 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
26538 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
26539 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
26541 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
26542 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
26544 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
26545 It was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
26547 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
26548 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
26551 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun and was released as
26552 Gnus 5.10 on May 1st 2003 (24 releases).
26554 On the January 4th 2004, No Gnus was begun.
26556 On April 19, 2010 Gnus development was moved to Git. See
26557 http://git.gnus.org for details (http://www.gnus.org will be updated
26558 with the information when possible).
26560 On the January 31th 2012, Ma Gnus was begun.
26562 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name---``(ding)
26563 Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
26564 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'', ``No Gnus'', ``Ma Gnus''---don't
26565 panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly.
26566 Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of
26567 its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up to
26574 What's the point of Gnus?
26576 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
26577 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
26578 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
26579 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
26580 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
26581 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
26582 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
26583 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
26584 keep track of millions of people who post?
26586 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
26587 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
26588 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
26589 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
26590 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
26591 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
26592 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
26593 every one of you to explore and invent.
26595 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
26596 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
26599 @node Compatibility
26600 @subsection Compatibility
26602 @cindex compatibility
26603 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
26604 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
26605 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
26610 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
26614 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
26617 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
26620 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
26621 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
26622 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
26623 important variables have their values copied into their global
26624 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
26625 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
26627 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
26628 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
26629 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
26630 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
26631 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
26635 @cindex highlighting
26636 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
26637 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
26638 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
26639 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
26640 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
26641 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
26644 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
26645 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
26646 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
26647 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
26649 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
26650 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
26651 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
26652 to stop doing it the old way.
26654 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
26656 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26658 @cindex reporting bugs
26660 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
26661 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
26662 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
26664 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
26665 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
26666 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
26667 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
26672 @subsection Conformity
26674 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
26675 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
26683 There are no known breaches of this standard.
26687 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
26689 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
26690 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
26691 We do have some breaches to this one.
26697 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
26698 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
26699 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
26700 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
26701 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
26706 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
26707 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
26708 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
26709 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
26711 @item MIME---RFC 2045--2049 etc
26712 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
26713 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
26715 @item Disposition Notifications---RFC 2298
26716 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
26718 @item PGP---RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
26721 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
26722 published as an informational RFC@. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
26723 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
26724 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
26725 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
26728 @item PGP/MIME---RFC 2015/3156
26729 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
26730 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
26731 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
26733 @item S/MIME---RFC 2633
26734 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
26736 @item IMAP---RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
26737 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
26738 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
26739 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
26740 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
26741 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
26742 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
26743 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
26747 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
26748 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
26753 @subsection Emacsen
26759 This version of Gnus should work on:
26767 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
26771 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
26772 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
26773 Emacs versions. Particularly, Gnus 5.10.8 should also work on Emacs
26774 20.7 and XEmacs 21.1.
26776 @c No-merge comment: The paragraph added in v5-10 here must not be
26779 @node Gnus Development
26780 @subsection Gnus Development
26782 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
26783 discussion on the development mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}, where people
26784 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
26785 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
26786 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
26787 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
26788 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
26789 have names like ``Oort Gnus'' and ``No Gnus''. @xref{Gnus Versions}.
26791 After futzing around for 10--100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
26792 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
26793 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.10.1'' instead. Normal people are
26794 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
26795 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup. This newgroup is mirrored to the
26796 mailing list @samp{info-gnus-english@@gnu.org} which is carried on Gmane
26797 as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.user}. These releases are finally integrated
26801 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26802 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26803 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26804 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26805 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26807 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
26808 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
26809 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
26810 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
26811 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
26812 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
26813 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
26814 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
26815 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
26816 can't be assumed to do so.
26818 So if you have problems with or questions about the alpha versions,
26819 direct those to the ding mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}. This list
26820 is also available on Gmane as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.general}.
26823 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26824 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26825 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26826 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26827 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26830 @subsection Contributors
26831 @cindex contributors
26833 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
26834 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
26835 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
26836 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
26837 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
26838 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
26839 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
26840 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
26841 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
26842 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
26844 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
26850 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
26853 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el,
26854 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
26855 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
26856 functionality and stuff.
26859 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
26860 well as numerous other things).
26863 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
26866 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
26869 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
26872 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
26875 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
26876 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
26879 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
26882 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
26885 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
26888 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
26891 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bug detection and fixes.
26894 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
26897 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
26898 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
26901 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
26904 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
26907 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
26910 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
26914 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
26917 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
26920 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
26923 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
26924 well as autoconf support.
26928 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
26929 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
26931 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
26946 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
26948 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
26952 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
26962 Alexei V. Barantsev,
26977 Massimo Campostrini,
26982 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
26983 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
26987 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
26990 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
26996 Michael Welsh Duggan,
27001 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
27005 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
27013 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
27015 Michelangelo Grigni,
27019 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
27021 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
27023 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
27031 François Felix Ingrand,
27032 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
27033 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
27035 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
27045 Peter Skov Knudsen,
27046 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
27048 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
27049 Thor Kristoffersen,
27052 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
27070 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
27071 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
27078 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
27083 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
27087 John McClary Prevost,
27093 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
27098 Christian von Roques,
27101 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
27108 Philippe Schnoebelen,
27110 Randal L. Schwartz,
27124 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
27129 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
27149 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
27150 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
27151 (550kB and counting).
27153 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
27156 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
27157 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
27161 @subsection New Features
27162 @cindex new features
27165 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
27166 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
27167 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
27168 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
27169 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
27170 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
27171 * No Gnus:: Very punny. Gnus 5.12/5.13.
27172 * Ma Gnus:: Celebrating 25 years of Gnus.
27175 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
27176 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
27177 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
27180 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
27182 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
27187 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
27188 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
27191 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
27192 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
27195 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
27198 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
27199 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
27200 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
27203 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
27204 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
27205 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
27206 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27209 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
27210 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27213 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
27214 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
27215 (@pxref{The Active File}).
27218 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
27219 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
27222 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
27223 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
27224 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27227 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
27228 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
27229 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
27232 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
27233 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
27236 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
27237 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
27240 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
27241 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27244 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
27245 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
27248 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
27249 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27252 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
27255 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
27256 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
27259 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
27260 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
27263 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
27264 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
27267 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
27270 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
27271 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27274 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
27278 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
27282 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
27283 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
27288 @node September Gnus
27289 @subsubsection September Gnus
27293 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
27297 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
27302 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
27303 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
27307 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
27308 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
27312 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
27316 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
27317 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
27320 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
27324 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
27327 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
27330 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
27333 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
27337 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
27338 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
27341 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
27345 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
27349 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
27353 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
27357 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
27360 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
27361 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
27364 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
27368 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
27369 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
27372 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
27375 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
27376 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
27377 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27380 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets.
27383 The Gnus cache is much faster.
27386 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
27390 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
27391 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
27394 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
27395 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
27398 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
27399 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
27402 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
27403 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
27404 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
27407 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
27408 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
27411 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
27414 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27417 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
27420 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
27423 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
27424 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
27427 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
27431 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
27434 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
27439 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27442 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
27446 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
27449 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
27452 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
27453 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27456 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
27457 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
27461 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
27462 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
27465 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
27469 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
27470 buffer to allow easier treatment.
27473 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
27476 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
27480 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
27484 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
27485 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
27488 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
27492 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
27493 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27496 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
27497 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27500 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
27504 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27507 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
27510 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
27516 @subsubsection Red Gnus
27518 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
27522 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
27529 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
27532 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
27533 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27536 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
27537 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
27541 Article washing status can be displayed in the
27542 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
27545 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
27548 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
27549 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
27552 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
27556 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
27557 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
27561 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extensible (@pxref{Document
27562 Server Internals}).
27565 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
27569 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
27572 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
27573 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
27576 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
27577 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
27578 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
27581 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
27582 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27585 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
27586 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
27589 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
27593 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
27594 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27597 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
27598 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27601 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
27605 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
27608 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
27612 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
27613 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27616 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
27617 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27620 A new command for reading collections of documents
27621 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
27622 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
27625 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
27629 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
27630 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
27633 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
27634 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
27635 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
27638 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
27639 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
27643 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
27647 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
27651 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
27656 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
27660 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
27664 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
27665 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
27668 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
27674 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
27676 New features in Gnus 5.6:
27681 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
27682 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
27683 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
27686 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
27687 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
27688 group, which is created automatically.
27691 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
27695 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-IDs.
27698 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
27699 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
27702 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
27706 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
27709 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
27710 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
27713 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
27716 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
27720 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
27721 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
27724 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
27725 control over simplification.
27728 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
27731 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
27735 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
27738 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
27741 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
27742 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
27743 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
27746 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
27747 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
27750 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
27754 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
27755 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
27758 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
27759 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
27762 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
27766 A history of where mails have been split is available.
27769 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
27772 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
27773 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
27776 A new function for citing in Message has been
27777 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
27780 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
27783 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
27787 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
27788 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
27791 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
27792 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
27795 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
27798 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
27802 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
27803 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
27805 New features in Gnus 5.8:
27810 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
27811 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
27813 If you used procmail like in
27816 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
27817 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
27818 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
27819 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
27822 this now has changed to
27826 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
27830 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
27833 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
27834 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
27837 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
27838 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
27841 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
27842 called to position point.
27845 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
27846 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
27849 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
27850 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
27853 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
27854 subtly different manner.
27857 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
27858 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
27859 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
27862 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
27867 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
27870 New features in Gnus 5.10:
27874 @item Installation changes
27875 @c ***********************
27879 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
27881 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
27882 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
27883 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
27884 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
27885 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
27886 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
27887 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
27888 isn't save in general.
27891 Lisp files are now installed in @file{.../site-lisp/gnus/} by default.
27892 It defaulted to @file{.../site-lisp/} formerly. In addition to this,
27893 the new installer issues a warning if other Gnus installations which
27894 will shadow the latest one are detected. You can then remove those
27895 shadows manually or remove them using @code{make
27896 remove-installed-shadows}.
27899 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
27901 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
27902 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
27903 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, if you want
27904 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
27905 the second parameter.
27907 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
27908 automatic recognition of XEmacs and Emacs, generates
27909 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
27910 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
27911 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
27912 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
27913 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
27914 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
27915 cycle used under Unix systems.
27917 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} and @file{xemacs.mak}
27918 superfluous, so they have been removed.
27921 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
27923 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
27924 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
27927 @c FIXME: 'gnus-load' is mentioned in README, which is not included in
27928 @c the repository. We should find a better place for this item.
27930 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
27932 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
27933 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
27934 lisp directory into load-path.
27936 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
27937 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
27941 @item New packages and libraries within Gnus
27942 @c *****************************************
27947 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
27948 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
27951 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
27953 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
27954 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GnuTLS.
27957 Improved anti-spam features.
27959 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
27960 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
27961 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
27962 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
27963 are also new. @ref{Thwarting Email Spam} and @ref{Spam Package}.
27964 @c FIXME: @xref{Spam Package}?. Should this be under Misc?
27967 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
27969 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
27970 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
27971 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
27972 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
27973 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
27977 @item Changes in group mode
27978 @c ************************
27983 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
27987 Retrieval of charters and control messages
27989 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
27990 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
27993 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
27995 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
27996 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
27997 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
27998 variable in @file{~/.gnus.el} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
27999 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
28002 (setq gnus-parameters
28004 (gnus-show-threads nil)
28005 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
28006 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
28007 (to-group . "\\1"))))
28011 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
28013 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
28014 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
28015 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
28016 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
28017 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} (called after getting new
28018 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
28019 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
28020 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
28021 when getting new mail, remove the function.
28024 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
28026 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
28027 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
28028 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
28031 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
28032 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
28034 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
28035 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
28036 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
28038 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
28042 Old intermediate incoming mail files (@file{Incoming*}) are deleted
28043 after a couple of days, not immediately. @xref{Mail Source
28044 Customization}. (New in Gnus 5.10.10 / Emacs 22.2)
28048 @item Changes in summary and article mode
28049 @c **************************************
28054 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
28055 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
28056 region if the region is active.
28059 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
28060 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
28065 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
28066 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
28067 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
28068 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
28071 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
28076 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
28077 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
28079 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
28080 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
28084 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
28085 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
28088 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
28091 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
28092 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
28095 Warn about email replies to news
28097 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
28098 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
28102 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
28103 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
28107 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
28108 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
28111 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
28112 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
28115 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
28116 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
28119 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
28121 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
28122 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
28123 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
28124 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
28127 The new command @kbd{W Y f}
28128 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}) allows deuglifying broken
28129 Outlook (Express) articles.
28132 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
28134 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
28135 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
28136 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
28137 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
28139 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
28140 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
28141 message cited below.
28144 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc.)@: are now displayed graphically in
28147 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.gnus.el} to
28151 Face headers handling. @xref{Face}.
28154 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
28155 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
28158 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
28161 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
28163 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
28164 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
28165 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
28166 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
28167 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
28171 Deleting of attachments.
28173 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
28174 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
28175 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
28176 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
28177 that support editing.
28180 @code{gnus-default-charset}
28182 The default value is determined from the
28183 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
28184 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
28185 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
28188 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
28190 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
28191 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
28192 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
28195 Extended format specs.
28197 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
28198 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
28199 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
28200 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
28201 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
28202 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
28205 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
28206 @c FIXME: Was this a user-visible change?
28208 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
28209 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
28210 out other articles.
28213 Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
28215 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
28216 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
28217 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
28218 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
28221 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
28225 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
28226 @c ****************************************************
28233 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
28234 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
28235 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
28238 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
28239 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
28242 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
28243 Gcc articles as read.
28246 Externalizing of attachments
28248 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
28249 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
28250 local files as external parts.
28253 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
28254 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
28257 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
28259 Earlier it was generated when the user configurable email address was
28260 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
28261 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
28262 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
28263 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
28264 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
28265 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
28266 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
28267 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
28270 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
28272 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
28273 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
28274 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
28275 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
28276 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
28277 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
28280 References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
28281 start composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
28285 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers. @xref{X-Face}.
28288 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
28290 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
28291 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
28292 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
28293 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
28294 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
28295 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
28296 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
28297 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
28298 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
28299 was inserted directly.
28302 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
28304 @c FIXME should that not be 'message-user-agent?
28305 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
28306 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
28307 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
28308 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
28311 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
28313 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
28315 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
28316 'bbdb-complete-name)
28320 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
28322 Add a new format of match like
28324 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
28325 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28327 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
28329 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
28330 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28334 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
28336 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
28337 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
28338 need add those two headers too.
28341 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
28342 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
28343 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
28347 The option @code{mm-fill-flowed} can be used to disable treatment of
28348 ``format=flowed'' messages. Also, flowed text is disabled when sending
28349 inline PGP signed messages. @xref{Flowed text, , Flowed text,
28350 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
28351 @c This entry is also present in the node "No Gnus".
28354 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
28356 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
28359 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
28361 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
28365 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
28367 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
28368 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
28369 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
28370 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
28371 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
28372 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
28373 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
28374 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
28377 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
28378 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630--2633).
28380 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
28381 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
28382 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
28383 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
28386 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
28389 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
28390 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
28393 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to the symbol
28396 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
28397 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
28398 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
28399 invalidate the digital signature.
28402 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
28403 decompressed when activated.
28404 @c FIXME: Does this affect article or message mode?
28407 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
28409 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
28410 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
28411 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
28412 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
28413 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
28416 @item You can now drag and drop attachments to the Message buffer.
28417 See @code{mml-dnd-protocol-alist} and @code{mml-dnd-attach-options}.
28418 @xref{MIME, ,MIME, message, Message Manual}.
28419 @c New in 5.10.9 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.1)
28421 @item @code{auto-fill-mode} is enabled by default in Message mode.
28422 See @code{message-fill-column}. @xref{Various Message Variables, ,
28423 Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
28424 @c New in Gnus 5.10.12 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.3)
28428 @item Changes in back ends
28429 @c ***********************
28433 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
28436 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
28439 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
28441 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
28444 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
28446 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
28447 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
28448 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
28449 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within, e.g., a department. It
28450 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
28451 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
28452 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
28453 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
28454 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
28455 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
28456 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
28466 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
28467 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
28470 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
28471 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
28472 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
28473 message, Message Manual}).
28476 The tool bars have been updated to use GNOME icons in Group, Summary and
28477 Message mode. You can also customize the tool bars: @kbd{M-x
28478 customize-apropos RET -tool-bar$} should get you started. This is a new
28479 feature in Gnus 5.10.10. (Only for Emacs, not in XEmacs.)
28481 @item The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly
28482 in the group buffer, see the variable @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}.
28483 Its default value depends on your Emacs version. This is a new feature
28488 @item Miscellaneous changes
28489 @c ************************
28496 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
28497 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
28498 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
28499 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
28500 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
28501 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
28502 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
28503 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
28504 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
28505 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
28506 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
28507 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
28508 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
28509 is not needed any more.
28512 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
28514 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
28515 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
28516 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
28521 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
28522 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
28523 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
28527 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
28530 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
28532 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
28539 @subsubsection No Gnus
28542 New features in No Gnus:
28543 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
28545 @include gnus-news.texi
28548 @subsubsection Ma Gnus
28551 I'm sure there will be lots of text here. It's really spelled 真
28554 New features in Ma Gnus:
28558 @item Changes in summary and article mode
28559 @c **************************************
28564 By default, @acronym{MIME} part buttons for attachments (if any) will
28565 appear in the end of the article header in addition to the bottom of the
28566 article body, so you can easily find them without scrolling the article
28567 again and again. @xref{MIME Commands}.
28571 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
28572 @c ****************************************************
28577 The new hooks @code{gnus-gcc-pre-body-encode-hook} and
28578 @code{gnus-gcc-post-body-encode-hook} are run before/after encoding
28579 the message body of the Gcc copy of a sent message. See
28580 @xref{Archived Messages}.
28590 @section The Manual
28594 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
28595 either @code{texi2dvi}
28597 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
28598 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
28600 to get what you hold in your hands now.
28602 The following conventions have been used:
28607 This is a @samp{string}
28610 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
28613 This is a @file{file}
28616 This is a @code{symbol}
28620 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
28624 (setq flargnoze "yes")
28627 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
28630 (setq flumphel 'yes)
28633 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
28634 ever get them confused.
28638 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
28639 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
28640 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
28641 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
28642 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
28643 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
28644 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
28650 @node On Writing Manuals
28651 @section On Writing Manuals
28653 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
28654 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
28655 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
28656 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
28657 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
28658 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code go hand
28661 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
28662 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
28663 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
28666 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
28667 reference manual as source material. It would look quite different.
28672 @section Terminology
28674 @cindex terminology
28679 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
28680 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
28681 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
28682 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
28683 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
28687 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
28688 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
28689 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
28690 not posting, and replying is not following up.
28694 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
28698 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
28703 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
28704 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
28705 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
28706 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
28707 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
28708 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
28709 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
28710 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
28711 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
28714 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
28715 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
28716 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
28717 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
28718 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
28719 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
28721 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
28722 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
28723 access the articles.
28725 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
28726 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
28727 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
28732 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
28733 default, way of getting news. Groups from the native select method
28734 have names like @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}.
28738 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same
28739 time. These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends
28740 for getting news. Foreign groups have names like
28741 @samp{nntp+news.gmane.org:gmane.emacs.gnus.devel}.
28745 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and
28746 being foreign, but they mostly act like they are native, but they, too
28747 have names like @samp{nntp+news.gmane.org:gmane.emacs.gnus.devel}.
28751 A message that has been posted as news.
28754 @cindex mail message
28755 A message that has been mailed.
28759 A mail message or news article
28763 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.)@: is
28768 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
28773 A line from the head of an article.
28777 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
28778 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
28780 @item @acronym{NOV}
28781 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
28782 @acronym{NOV} stands for News OverView, which is a type of news server
28783 header which provide datas containing the condensed header information
28784 of articles. They are produced by the server itself; in the @code{nntp}
28785 back end Gnus uses the ones that the @acronym{NNTP} server makes, but
28786 Gnus makes them by itself for some backends (in particular, @code{nnml}).
28788 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
28789 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
28790 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
28791 normal @sc{head} format.
28793 The @acronym{NOV} data consist of one or more text lines (@pxref{Text
28794 Lines, ,Motion by Text Lines, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual})
28795 where each line has the header information of one article. The header
28796 information is a tab-separated series of the header's contents including
28797 an article number, a subject, an author, a date, a message-id,
28800 Those data enable Gnus to generate summary lines quickly. However, if
28801 the server does not support @acronym{NOV} or you disable it purposely or
28802 for some reason, Gnus will try to generate the header information by
28803 parsing each article's headers one by one. It will take time.
28804 Therefore, it is not usually a good idea to set nn*-nov-is-evil
28805 (@pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}) to a non-@code{nil} value unless you
28806 know that the server makes wrong @acronym{NOV} data.
28810 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1--9). The ones
28811 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
28812 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1--5 are considered
28813 @dfn{subscribed}; 6--7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
28814 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
28815 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
28817 @item killed groups
28818 @cindex killed groups
28819 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
28820 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
28822 @item zombie groups
28823 @cindex zombie groups
28824 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
28827 @cindex active file
28828 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
28829 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
28830 is rather large, as you might surmise.
28833 @cindex bogus groups
28834 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
28835 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
28836 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
28839 @cindex activating groups
28840 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
28841 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
28842 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
28846 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
28847 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
28848 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
28852 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
28854 @item select method
28855 @cindex select method
28856 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
28859 @item virtual server
28860 @cindex virtual server
28861 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
28862 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
28863 whole is a virtual server.
28867 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
28868 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
28871 @item ephemeral groups
28872 @cindex ephemeral groups
28873 @cindex temporary groups
28874 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
28875 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
28876 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
28879 @cindex solid groups
28880 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
28881 group buffer are solid groups.
28883 @item sparse articles
28884 @cindex sparse articles
28885 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
28886 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
28890 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
28891 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
28895 @cindex thread root
28896 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
28897 articles in the thread.
28901 An article that has responses.
28905 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
28909 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
28910 specified by RFC 1153.
28913 @cindex splitting, terminology
28914 @cindex mail sorting
28915 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
28916 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
28917 incorrectly called mail filtering.
28923 @node Customization
28924 @section Customization
28925 @cindex general customization
28927 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
28928 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
28929 for some quite common situations.
28932 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
28933 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
28934 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
28935 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
28939 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
28940 @subsection Slow/Expensive Connection
28942 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
28943 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
28944 Gnus has to get from the server.
28948 @item gnus-read-active-file
28949 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
28950 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
28951 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
28952 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
28953 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
28955 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
28956 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
28957 Usually this one must @emph{always} be @code{nil} (which is the
28958 default). If, for example, you wish to not use @acronym{NOV}
28959 (@pxref{Terminology}) with the @code{nntp} back end (@pxref{Crosspost
28960 Handling}), set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to a non-@code{nil} value
28961 instead of setting this. But you normally do not need to set
28962 @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} since Gnus by itself will detect whether the
28963 @acronym{NNTP} server supports @acronym{NOV}. Anyway, grabbing article
28964 headers from the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast if you tell
28965 Gnus not to use @acronym{NOV}.
28967 As the variables for the other back ends, there are
28968 @code{nndiary-nov-is-evil}, @code{nndir-nov-is-evil},
28969 @code{nnfolder-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnimap-nov-is-evil},
28970 @code{nnml-nov-is-evil}, and @code{nnspool-nov-is-evil}. Note that a
28971 non-@code{nil} value for @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} overrides all those
28976 @node Slow Terminal Connection
28977 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
28979 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
28980 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
28981 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
28985 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
28986 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
28987 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
28988 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
28989 horizontal and vertical recentering.
28991 @item gnus-visible-headers
28992 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
28993 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
28994 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
28995 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
28997 Use the following to enable all the available hiding features:
28999 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
29000 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
29001 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
29004 @item gnus-use-full-window
29005 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
29006 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
29007 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
29008 want to read them anyway.
29010 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
29011 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
29015 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
29016 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
29017 lines, which might save some time.
29021 @node Little Disk Space
29022 @subsection Little Disk Space
29025 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
29026 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
29030 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
29031 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
29032 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29033 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29036 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
29037 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
29038 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29039 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29042 @item gnus-save-killed-list
29043 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
29044 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
29045 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
29046 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
29052 @subsection Slow Machine
29053 @cindex slow machine
29055 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
29056 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
29058 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
29059 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
29061 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
29062 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
29063 summary buffer faster. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
29067 @node Troubleshooting
29068 @section Troubleshooting
29069 @cindex troubleshooting
29071 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
29079 Make sure your computer is switched on.
29082 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
29083 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
29087 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
29089 @samp{Gnus v5.13} @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change this line!
29091 you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old @file{.el}
29092 files lying around. Delete these.
29095 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
29096 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
29099 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
29100 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
29101 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
29102 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
29103 something like that.
29106 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
29109 @cindex reporting bugs
29111 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
29113 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
29114 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
29115 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
29116 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
29118 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
29119 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
29120 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
29121 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
29124 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
29125 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
29126 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
29127 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
29128 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
29129 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
29131 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
29132 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
29133 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
29137 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
29138 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
29141 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
29142 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
29143 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
29144 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
29145 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
29146 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
29147 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
29148 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
29149 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
29150 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
29151 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
29152 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
29153 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
29154 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
29159 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
29160 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
29161 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
29162 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
29163 helps isolating the real problem areas).
29165 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP@. The profiler is
29166 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
29167 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
29168 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g., @kbd{M-x
29169 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
29170 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
29171 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
29172 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
29173 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
29174 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
29175 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
29176 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
29177 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
29180 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
29181 @cindex ding mailing list
29182 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
29183 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
29184 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
29185 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
29189 @node Gnus Reference Guide
29190 @section Gnus Reference Guide
29192 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
29193 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
29194 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
29195 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
29198 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
29199 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
29200 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
29201 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
29202 and general methods of operation.
29205 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
29206 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
29207 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
29208 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
29209 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
29210 * Group Info:: The group info format.
29211 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
29212 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
29213 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
29217 @node Gnus Utility Functions
29218 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
29219 @cindex Gnus utility functions
29220 @cindex utility functions
29222 @cindex internal variables
29224 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
29225 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
29226 Below is a list of the most common ones.
29230 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
29231 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
29232 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
29234 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
29235 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
29236 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
29238 @item gnus-group-real-name
29239 @findex gnus-group-real-name
29240 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
29243 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
29244 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
29245 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
29246 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
29248 @item gnus-get-info
29249 @findex gnus-get-info
29250 Returns the group info list for @var{group} (@pxref{Group Info}).
29252 @item gnus-group-unread
29253 @findex gnus-group-unread
29254 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
29258 @findex gnus-active
29259 The active entry (i.e., a cons cell containing the lowest and highest
29260 article numbers) for @var{group}.
29262 @item gnus-set-active
29263 @findex gnus-set-active
29264 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
29266 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29267 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29268 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
29271 @item gnus-continuum-version
29272 @findex gnus-continuum-version
29273 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
29274 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
29277 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
29278 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
29279 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
29281 @item gnus-news-group-p
29282 @findex gnus-news-group-p
29283 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
29285 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29286 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29287 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
29289 @item gnus-server-to-method
29290 @findex gnus-server-to-method
29291 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
29293 @item gnus-server-equal
29294 @findex gnus-server-equal
29295 Says whether two virtual servers are essentially equal. For instance,
29296 two virtual servers may have server parameters in different order, but
29297 this function will consider them equal.
29299 @item gnus-group-native-p
29300 @findex gnus-group-native-p
29301 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
29303 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
29304 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
29305 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
29307 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
29308 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
29309 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
29311 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
29312 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
29313 Returns the parameter list of @var{group} (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
29314 If given a second parameter, returns the value of that parameter for
29317 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
29318 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
29319 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
29321 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
29322 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
29323 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
29325 @item gnus-check-backend-function
29326 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
29327 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
29328 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
29331 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
29335 @item gnus-read-method
29336 @findex gnus-read-method
29337 Prompts the user for a select method.
29342 @node Back End Interface
29343 @subsection Back End Interface
29345 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
29346 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
29347 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
29348 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
29349 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
29350 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
29352 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
29353 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
29354 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
29355 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
29356 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
29357 been opened, the function should fail.
29359 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
29360 name. Take this example:
29364 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
29365 (nntp-port-number 4324))
29368 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
29369 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
29371 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
29372 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
29373 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
29375 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
29376 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
29377 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
29379 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
29380 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
29381 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
29382 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
29383 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
29384 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
29387 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
29388 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
29389 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server'';
29390 they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
29393 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
29394 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
29395 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
29396 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
29397 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
29398 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
29399 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
29400 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
29401 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
29402 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
29404 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
29405 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
29406 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
29407 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
29408 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
29409 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
29410 of numbers as long as possible.
29412 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
29413 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
29414 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
29416 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
29419 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
29422 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
29423 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
29424 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
29425 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
29426 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
29427 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
29431 @node Required Back End Functions
29432 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
29436 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
29438 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
29439 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
29440 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
29441 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
29443 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
29444 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
29445 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
29446 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
29448 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
29449 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
29450 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
29451 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
29452 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
29453 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
29454 number, do maximum fetches.
29456 Here's an example HEAD:
29459 221 1056 Article retrieved.
29460 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
29461 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
29462 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
29463 Subject: Re: Something very droll
29464 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
29465 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
29467 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
29468 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
29469 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
29473 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
29474 these in the data buffer.
29476 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
29480 head = error / valid-head
29481 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
29482 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
29483 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
29484 header = <text> eol
29488 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
29490 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
29491 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
29495 nov-buffer = *nov-line
29496 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
29497 field = <text except TAB>
29500 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
29504 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
29506 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
29507 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
29509 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
29510 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
29511 server. In fact, it should do so.
29513 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
29514 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
29517 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
29519 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
29520 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
29523 There should be no data returned.
29526 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
29528 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
29529 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
29530 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
29531 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
29533 There should be no data returned.
29536 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
29538 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
29539 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
29540 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
29541 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
29543 There should be no data returned.
29546 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
29548 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
29550 There should be no data returned.
29553 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
29555 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
29556 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
29557 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
29558 it would be nice if that were possible.
29560 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
29561 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
29562 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
29563 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
29564 into its article buffer.
29566 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
29567 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
29568 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
29569 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
29570 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
29571 on successful article retrieval.
29574 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST INFO)
29576 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
29577 making @var{group} the current group.
29579 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
29582 If @var{info}, it allows the backend to update the group info
29585 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
29588 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
29591 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
29592 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
29593 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
29594 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
29595 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
29596 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
29597 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
29598 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
29599 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
29603 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
29604 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
29605 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
29609 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29611 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
29612 a no-op on most back ends.
29614 There should be no data returned.
29617 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
29619 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
29622 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
29625 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
29626 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
29629 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
29630 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
29631 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
29632 and the highest as 0.
29635 active-file = *active-line
29636 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
29638 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
29641 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
29642 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
29643 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
29646 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
29648 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
29649 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
29650 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
29651 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
29652 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
29653 clear if the posting could not be completed.
29655 There should be no result data from this function.
29660 @node Optional Back End Functions
29661 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
29665 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
29667 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
29668 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
29669 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
29671 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
29672 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
29673 former is in the same format as the data from
29674 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
29675 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
29678 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
29682 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
29684 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
29685 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
29686 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
29687 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
29688 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
29689 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
29690 the network resources).
29692 There should be no result data from this function.
29695 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
29697 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
29698 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
29699 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
29700 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
29701 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
29702 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
29703 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
29704 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
29706 There should be no result data from this function.
29709 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
29711 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
29712 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc.)@: internally, and store them in
29713 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
29714 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
29715 propagate the mark information to the server.
29717 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
29720 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
29723 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
29724 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
29725 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
29726 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
29727 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
29728 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend}, and
29729 @code{forward}, but your back end should, if possible, not limit
29732 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
29733 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
29734 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
29735 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
29737 An example action list:
29740 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
29741 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
29742 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
29745 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
29746 mark on (currently not used for anything).
29748 There should be no result data from this function.
29750 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
29752 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
29753 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
29754 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
29755 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
29756 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
29758 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
29759 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
29760 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
29763 There should be no result data from this function.
29766 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
29768 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
29769 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
29770 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
29771 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
29772 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
29773 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
29774 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
29775 local if that's practical.
29777 There should be no result data from this function.
29780 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
29782 The result data from this function should be a description of
29786 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
29788 description = <text>
29791 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
29793 The result data from this function should be the description of all
29794 groups available on the server.
29797 description-buffer = *description-line
29801 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
29803 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
29804 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
29805 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
29806 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
29807 in the active buffer format.
29809 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
29810 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
29811 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
29812 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
29813 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
29814 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
29815 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
29818 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29820 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
29822 There should be no return data.
29825 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
29827 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
29828 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
29829 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
29830 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
29831 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
29834 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
29837 There should be no result data returned.
29840 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
29842 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
29843 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
29845 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
29846 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
29847 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
29848 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
29849 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
29850 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
29852 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
29853 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
29856 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29857 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29859 There should be no data returned.
29862 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
29864 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
29865 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
29866 this function in short order.
29868 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29869 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29871 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
29872 article for that group.
29874 There should be no data returned.
29877 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
29879 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
29880 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
29882 There should be no data returned.
29885 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
29887 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
29888 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
29889 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
29891 There should be no data returned.
29894 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
29896 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
29897 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
29899 There should be no data returned.
29904 @node Error Messaging
29905 @subsubsection Error Messaging
29907 @findex nnheader-report
29908 @findex nnheader-get-report
29909 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
29910 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
29911 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
29912 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
29913 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
29914 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
29917 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
29919 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
29922 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
29923 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
29924 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
29925 takes one argument---the server symbol.
29927 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
29928 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
29929 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
29932 @node Writing New Back Ends
29933 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
29935 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
29936 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
29937 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
29938 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
29939 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
29942 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
29943 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
29944 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
29946 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
29947 package called @code{nnoo}.
29949 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
29950 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
29956 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
29957 parameters. For instance:
29960 (nnoo-declare nndir
29964 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
29965 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
29968 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
29969 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
29970 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
29972 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
29973 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
29974 a function in those back ends.
29977 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
29978 "Where nndir will look for groups."
29979 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
29982 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
29983 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
29984 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
29986 @item nnoo-define-basics
29987 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
29991 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
29995 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
29996 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
29997 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
29999 @item nnoo-map-functions
30000 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
30001 functions from the parent back ends.
30004 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30005 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30006 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
30009 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
30010 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
30011 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
30012 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
30015 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
30016 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
30017 haven't already been defined.
30023 nnmh-request-newgroups)
30027 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
30028 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
30029 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
30034 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
30037 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
30038 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
30042 (require 'nnheader)
30046 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
30048 (nnoo-declare nndir
30051 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
30052 "Where nndir will look for groups."
30053 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
30055 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
30056 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
30059 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
30061 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
30062 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
30063 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
30065 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
30066 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
30068 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
30070 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30072 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
30073 (setq nndir-directory
30074 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
30076 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
30077 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
30078 (push `(nndir-current-group
30079 ,(file-name-nondirectory
30080 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30082 (push `(nndir-top-directory
30083 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30085 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
30087 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30088 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30089 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30090 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
30091 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
30095 nnmh-status-message
30097 nnmh-request-newgroups))
30103 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30104 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30106 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
30107 @findex gnus-declare-backend
30108 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
30109 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
30110 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
30112 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
30113 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
30118 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
30121 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
30123 The abilities can be:
30127 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
30129 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
30131 This back end supports both mail and news.
30133 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
30136 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
30137 articles and groups.
30139 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
30140 true for almost all back ends.
30141 @item prompt-address
30142 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
30143 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
30144 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
30148 @node Mail-like Back Ends
30149 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
30151 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
30152 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
30153 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
30154 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
30157 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
30158 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
30159 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
30162 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
30163 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
30166 This function takes four parameters.
30170 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
30173 @item exit-function
30174 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
30176 @item temp-directory
30177 Where the temporary files should be stored.
30180 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
30181 performed for one group only.
30184 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
30185 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
30186 find the article number assigned to this article.
30188 The function also uses the following variables:
30189 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
30190 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
30191 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
30192 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
30196 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
30197 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
30201 @node Score File Syntax
30202 @subsection Score File Syntax
30204 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
30205 malleable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
30206 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
30208 Here's a typical score file:
30212 ("Windows 95" -10000 nil s)
30219 BNF definition of a score file:
30222 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
30223 element = rule / atom
30224 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
30225 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
30226 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
30227 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
30229 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
30230 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
30231 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
30232 date-header = "date"
30233 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30234 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30235 score = "nil" / <integer>
30236 date = "nil" / <natural number>
30237 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
30238 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
30239 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
30240 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
30241 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30242 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30243 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
30244 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30245 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
30246 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
30247 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
30248 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
30249 exclude-files / read-only / touched
30250 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
30251 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
30252 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
30253 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
30254 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
30255 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
30256 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
30257 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
30258 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
30259 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
30260 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
30261 eval = "eval" space <form>
30262 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
30265 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
30268 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
30269 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
30270 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
30271 one looong line, then that's ok.
30273 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
30274 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
30278 @subsection Headers
30280 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
30281 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
30282 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
30283 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
30285 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
30286 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
30287 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
30288 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
30289 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
30290 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
30291 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
30293 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
30294 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
30295 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
30296 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
30297 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
30299 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
30300 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
30306 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
30307 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
30309 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
30310 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
30311 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
30312 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
30314 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
30318 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
30321 is transformed into
30324 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
30327 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
30328 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
30331 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
30334 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
30335 is slightly tricky:
30338 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
30344 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
30347 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
30353 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
30360 and is equal to the previous range.
30362 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
30363 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
30364 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
30368 range = simple-range / normal-range
30369 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
30370 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
30371 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
30372 number *[ " " contents ]
30375 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
30376 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
30377 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
30378 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
30379 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
30384 @subsection Group Info
30386 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
30387 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
30388 describes the group.
30390 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
30391 second is a more complex one:
30394 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
30396 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
30397 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
30399 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
30402 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
30403 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
30404 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
30405 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
30406 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
30407 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
30408 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
30409 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
30410 this section is about.
30412 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
30413 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
30414 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
30416 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
30419 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
30420 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
30421 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30422 group = quote <string> quote
30423 ralevel = rank / level
30424 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30425 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
30426 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30428 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
30429 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
30430 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
30431 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
30434 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
30435 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
30438 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
30439 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
30442 @item gnus-info-group
30443 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
30444 @findex gnus-info-group
30445 @findex gnus-info-set-group
30446 Get/set the group name.
30448 @item gnus-info-rank
30449 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
30450 @findex gnus-info-rank
30451 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
30452 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
30454 @item gnus-info-level
30455 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
30456 @findex gnus-info-level
30457 @findex gnus-info-set-level
30458 Get/set the group level.
30460 @item gnus-info-score
30461 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
30462 @findex gnus-info-score
30463 @findex gnus-info-set-score
30464 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
30466 @item gnus-info-read
30467 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
30468 @findex gnus-info-read
30469 @findex gnus-info-set-read
30470 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
30472 @item gnus-info-marks
30473 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
30474 @findex gnus-info-marks
30475 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
30476 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
30478 @item gnus-info-method
30479 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
30480 @findex gnus-info-method
30481 @findex gnus-info-set-method
30482 Get/set the group select method.
30484 @item gnus-info-params
30485 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
30486 @findex gnus-info-params
30487 @findex gnus-info-set-params
30488 Get/set the group parameters.
30491 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
30492 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
30494 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
30495 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
30496 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
30497 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
30500 @node Extended Interactive
30501 @subsection Extended Interactive
30502 @cindex interactive
30503 @findex gnus-interactive
30505 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
30506 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
30507 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
30510 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
30511 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
30516 The best thing to do would have been to implement
30517 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
30518 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
30519 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
30520 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
30521 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
30522 @code{interactive}.
30524 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
30529 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
30530 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
30534 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
30535 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
30536 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
30539 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
30543 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
30547 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
30553 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
30554 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
30558 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
30559 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
30560 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
30562 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
30563 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
30564 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
30565 Gnus, that's very useful.
30567 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
30568 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
30569 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
30570 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
30571 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
30572 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
30573 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
30574 following function:
30577 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
30581 (,function ,@@args))
30585 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
30586 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
30587 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
30590 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
30591 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
30592 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
30594 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
30595 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
30596 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
30599 @node Various File Formats
30600 @subsection Various File Formats
30603 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
30604 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
30608 @node Active File Format
30609 @subsubsection Active File Format
30611 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
30612 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
30615 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
30618 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
30619 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
30620 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
30621 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
30622 no.general 1000 900 y
30625 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
30628 active = *group-line
30629 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
30630 group = <non-white-space string>
30632 high-number = <non-negative integer>
30633 low-number = <positive integer>
30634 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
30637 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
30638 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
30641 @node Newsgroups File Format
30642 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
30644 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
30645 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
30646 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
30649 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
30650 Here's the definition:
30654 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
30655 group = <non-white-space string>
30657 description = <string>
30662 @node Emacs for Heathens
30663 @section Emacs for Heathens
30665 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
30666 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
30667 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
30668 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
30669 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
30670 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
30671 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
30675 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
30676 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
30681 @subsection Keystrokes
30685 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
30688 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
30691 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
30692 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
30693 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
30694 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
30695 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
30696 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
30698 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
30699 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
30700 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
30701 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
30702 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
30703 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
30704 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
30706 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
30707 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
30708 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
30709 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
30710 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
30711 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
30712 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
30714 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
30715 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
30716 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
30717 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
30718 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
30724 @subsection Emacs Lisp
30726 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
30727 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
30728 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
30729 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
30731 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
30732 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
30733 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
30734 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
30735 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
30736 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
30737 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{~/.gnus.el}
30738 file to customize Gnus. (You can also use the @file{~/.emacs} file, but
30739 in order to set things of Gnus up, it is much better to use the
30740 @file{~/.gnus.el} file, @xref{Startup Files}.)
30742 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
30743 write the following:
30746 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
30749 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
30750 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
30751 you can go and fill your @file{~/.gnus.el} file with lots of these to
30752 change how Gnus works.
30754 If you have put that thing in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, it will be
30755 read and @code{eval}ed (which is Lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
30756 start Gnus. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
30757 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
30758 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
30760 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
30761 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
30762 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
30766 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
30770 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
30773 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server-file} to
30774 @samp{/etc/nntpserver}'', that means:
30777 (setq gnus-nntp-server-file "/etc/nntpserver")
30780 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
30781 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
30784 @include gnus-faq.texi
30786 @node GNU Free Documentation License
30787 @chapter GNU Free Documentation License
30788 @include doclicense.texi
30806 @c Local Variables: