This is Info file ../info/gnus, produced by Makeinfo version 1.68 from the input file gnus.texi. START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus. END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader. Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.  File: gnus, Node: Choosing Variables, Prev: Choosing Commands, Up: Choosing Articles Choosing Variables ------------------ Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles: `gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup' All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next) article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if this variable is non-`nil'. Gnus will then fetch the article from the server and display it in the article buffer. `gnus-select-article-hook' This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. `gnus-mark-article-hook' This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to be used for marking articles as read. The default value is `gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read', and will change the mark of almost any article you read to `gnus-unread-mark'. The only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles marked as read, you can use `gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read' instead. It will leave marks like `gnus-low-score-mark', `gnus-del-mark' (and so on) alone.  File: gnus, Node: Paging the Article, Next: Reply Followup and Post, Prev: Choosing Articles, Up: The Summary Buffer Scrolling the Article ===================== `SPACE' Pressing `SPACE' will scroll the current article forward one page, or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the next article (`gnus-summary-next-page'). `DEL' Scroll the current article back one page (`gnus-summary-prev-page'). `RET' Scroll the current article one line forward (`gnus-summary-scroll-up'). `M-RET' Scroll the current article one line backward (`gnus-summary-scroll-down'). `A g' `g' (Re)fetch the current article (`gnus-summary-show-article'). If given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the article treatment functions. This will give you a "raw" article, just the way it came from the server. `A <' `<' Scroll to the beginning of the article (`gnus-summary-beginning-of-article'). `A >' `>' Scroll to the end of the article (`gnus-summary-end-of-article'). `A s' `s' Perform an isearch in the article buffer (`gnus-summary-isearch-article'). `h' Select the article buffer (`gnus-summary-select-article-buffer').  File: gnus, Node: Reply Followup and Post, Next: Canceling and Superseding, Prev: Paging the Article, Up: The Summary Buffer Reply, Followup and Post ======================== * Menu: * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail. * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.  File: gnus, Node: Summary Mail Commands, Next: Summary Post Commands, Up: Reply Followup and Post Summary Mail Commands --------------------- Commands for composing a mail message: `S r' `r' Mail a reply to the author of the current article (`gnus-summary-reply'). `S R' `R' Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the original message (`gnus-summary-reply-with-original'). This command uses the process/prefix convention. `S w' Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article (`gnus-summary-wide-reply'). A "wide reply" is a reply that goes out to all people listed in the `To', `From' (or `Reply-to') and `Cc' headers. `S W' Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original message (`gnus-summary-reply-with-original'). This command uses the process/prefix convention. `S o m' Forward the current article to some other person (`gnus-summary-mail-forward'). If given a prefix, include the full headers of the forwarded article. `S m' `m' Send a mail to some other person (`gnus-summary-mail-other-window'). `S D b' If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to resend that bounced mail (`gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail'). You will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might very well fail, though. `S D r' Not to be confused with the previous command, `gnus-summary-resend-message' will prompt you for an address to send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The headers of the message won't be altered--but lots of headers that say `Resent-To', `Resent-From' and so on will be added. This means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a `To' header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people. So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl. This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both `root' and `postmaster' and get a mail for `postmaster' to the `root' account, you may want to resend it to `postmaster'. Ordnung muß sein! This command understands the process/prefix convention (*note Process/Prefix::.). `S O m' Digest the current series (*note Decoding Articles::.) and forward the result using mail (`gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward'). This command uses the process/prefix convention (*note Process/Prefix::.). `S M-c' Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the current article (`gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint'). This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply using the `gnus-crosspost-complaint' variable as a preamble. This command understands the process/prefix convention (*note Process/Prefix::.) and will prompt you before sending each mail. Also *note (message)Header Commands::. for more information.  File: gnus, Node: Summary Post Commands, Prev: Summary Mail Commands, Up: Reply Followup and Post Summary Post Commands --------------------- Commands for posting a news article: `S p' `a' Post an article to the current group (`gnus-summary-post-news'). `S f' `f' Post a followup to the current article (`gnus-summary-followup'). `S F' `F' Post a followup to the current article and include the original message (`gnus-summary-followup-with-original'). This command uses the process/prefix convention. `S n' Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the message through mail (`gnus-summary-followup-to-mail'). `S N' Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the message through mail and include the original message (`gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original'). This command uses the process/prefix convention. `S o p' Forward the current article to a newsgroup (`gnus-summary-post-forward'). If given a prefix, include the full headers of the forwarded article. `S O p' Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup (`gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward'). This command uses the process/prefix convention. `S u' Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series (`gnus-uu-post-news'). (*note Uuencoding and Posting::.). Also *note (message)Header Commands::. for more information.  File: gnus, Node: Canceling and Superseding, Next: Marking Articles, Prev: Reply Followup and Post, Up: The Summary Buffer Canceling Articles ================== Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really, really, really wish you hadn't posted that? Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts. Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press `C' or `S c' (`gnus-summary-cancel-article'). Your article will be canceled--machines all over the world will be deleting your article. This command uses the process/prefix convention (*note Process/Prefix::.). Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in question. Gnus will use the "current" select method when canceling. If you want to use the standard posting method, use the `a' symbolic prefix (*note Symbolic Prefixes::.). If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some corrections, you can post a "superseding" article that will replace your original article. Go to the original article and press `S s' (`gnus-summary-supersede-article'). You will be put in a buffer where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the usual way. The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you have posted almost the same article twice. If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away, there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return to the post buffer (which is called `*sent ...*'). There you will find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change the `Message-ID' header to a `Cancel' or `Supersedes' header by substituting one of those words for the word `Message-ID'. Then just press `C-c C-c' to send the article as you would do normally. The previous article will be canceled/superseded. Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.  File: gnus, Node: Marking Articles, Next: Limiting, Prev: Canceling and Superseding, Up: The Summary Buffer Marking Articles ================ There are several marks you can set on an article. You have marks that decide the "readedness" (whoo, neato-keano neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean "read", while non-alphabetic characters generally mean "unread". In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness. * Menu: * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles. * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles. * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness. There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks: * Menu: * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks. * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.  File: gnus, Node: Unread Articles, Next: Read Articles, Up: Marking Articles Unread Articles --------------- The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or other. `!' Marked as ticked (`gnus-ticked-mark'). "Ticked articles" are articles that will remain visible always. If you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (*note Persistent Articles::.). `?' Marked as dormant (`gnus-dormant-mark'). "Dormant articles" will only appear in the summary buffer if there are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have followups, you can use the `/ D' command (*note Limiting::.). `SPACE' Marked as unread (`gnus-unread-mark'). "Unread articles" are articles that haven't been read at all yet.  File: gnus, Node: Read Articles, Next: Other Marks, Prev: Unread Articles, Up: Marking Articles Read Articles ------------- All the following marks mark articles as read. `r' These are articles that the user has marked as read with the `d' command manually, more or less (`gnus-del-mark'). `R' Articles that have actually been read (`gnus-read-mark'). `O' Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now "old" (`gnus-ancient-mark'). `K' Marked as killed (`gnus-killed-mark'). `X' Marked as killed by kill files (`gnus-kill-file-mark'). `Y' Marked as read by having too low a score (`gnus-low-score-mark'). `C' Marked as read by a catchup (`gnus-catchup-mark'). `G' Canceled article (`gnus-canceled-mark') `F' SOUPed article (`gnus-souped-mark'). *Note SOUP::. `Q' Sparsely reffed article (`gnus-sparse-mark'). *Note Customizing Threading::. `M' Article marked as read by duplicate suppression (`gnus-duplicated-mark'). *Note Duplicate Suppression::. All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really. They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though. One more special mark, though: `E' Marked as expirable (`gnus-expirable-mark'). Marking articles as "expirable" (or have them marked as such automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups--a user doesn't control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance, articles marked as "expirable" can be deleted by Gnus at any time.  File: gnus, Node: Other Marks, Next: Setting Marks, Prev: Read Articles, Up: Marking Articles Other Marks ----------- There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is read or not. * You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it encounters the article. *Note Setting Marks::. * All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have answered) will be marked with an `A' in the second column (`gnus-replied-mark'). * Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an `*' in the second column (`gnus-cached-mark'). *Note Article Caching::. * Articles "saved" (in some manner or other; not necessarily religiously) are marked with an `S' in the second column (`gnus-saved-mark'). * If the `%e' spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be marked with `gnus-not-empty-thread-mark' and `gnus-empty-thread-mark' in the third column, respectively. * Finally we have the "process mark" (`gnus-process-mark'). A variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For instance, `X u' (`gnus-uu-decode-uu') will uudecode and view all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles marked with the process mark have a `#' in the second column. You might have noticed that most of these "non-readedness" marks appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved, replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like? Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache -> replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied, you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.  File: gnus, Node: Setting Marks, Next: Setting Process Marks, Prev: Other Marks, Up: Marking Articles Setting Marks ------------- All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix. `M c' `M-u' Clear all readedness-marks from the current article (`gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward'). In other words, mark the article as unread. `M t' `!' Tick the current article (`gnus-summary-tick-article-forward'). *Note Article Caching::. `M ?' `?' Mark the current article as dormant (`gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant'). *Note Article Caching::. `M d' `d' Mark the current article as read (`gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward'). `D' Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line (`gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward'). `M k' `k' Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read, and then select the next unread article (`gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select'). `M K' `C-k' Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read (`gnus-summary-kill-same-subject'). `M C' Mark all unread articles as read (`gnus-summary-catchup'). `M C-c' Mark all articles in the group as read--even the ticked and dormant articles (`gnus-summary-catchup-all'). `M H' Catchup the current group to point (`gnus-summary-catchup-to-here'). `C-w' Mark all articles between point and mark as read (`gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read'). `M V k' Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the numeric prefix) (`gnus-summary-kill-below'). `M e' `E' Mark the current article as expirable (`gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable'). `M b' Set a bookmark in the current article (`gnus-summary-set-bookmark'). `M B' Remove the bookmark from the current article (`gnus-summary-remove-bookmark'). `M V c' Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or over the numeric prefix) (`gnus-summary-clear-above'). `M V u' Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the numeric prefix) (`gnus-summary-tick-above'). `M V m' Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark (`gnus-summary-clear-above'). The `gnus-summary-goto-unread' variable controls what action should be taken after setting a mark. If non-`nil', point will move to the next/previous unread article. If `nil', point will just move one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is `never', all the marking commands as well as other commands (like `SPACE') will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not. The default is `t'.  File: gnus, Node: Setting Process Marks, Prev: Setting Marks, Up: Marking Articles Setting Process Marks --------------------- `M P p' `#' Mark the current article with the process mark (`gnus-summary-mark-as-processable'). `M P u' `M-#' Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article (`gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable'). `M P U' Remove the process mark from all articles (`gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable'). `M P i' Invert the list of process marked articles (`gnus-uu-invert-processable'). `M P R' Mark articles that have a `Subject' header that matches a regular expression (`gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp'). `M P r' Mark articles in region (`gnus-uu-mark-region'). `M P t' Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread (`gnus-uu-mark-thread'). `M P T' Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread (`gnus-uu-unmark-thread'). `M P v' Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument (`gnus-uu-mark-over'). `M P s' Mark all articles in the current series (`gnus-uu-mark-series'). `M P S' Mark all series that have already had some articles marked (`gnus-uu-mark-sparse'). `M P a' Mark all articles in series order (`gnus-uu-mark-series'). `M P b' Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear (`gnus-uu-mark-buffer'). `M P k' Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles (`gnus-summary-kill-process-mark'). `M P y' Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it (`gnus-summary-yank-process-mark'). `M P w' Push the current process mark set onto the stack (`gnus-summary-save-process-mark').  File: gnus, Node: Limiting, Next: Threading, Prev: Marking Articles, Up: The Summary Buffer Limiting ======== It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary buffer. All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched from the servers. None of these commands query the server for additional articles. `/ /' `/ s' Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject (`gnus-summary-limit-to-subject'). `/ a' Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author (`gnus-summary-limit-to-author'). `/ u' `x' Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read (`gnus-summary-limit-to-unread'). If given a prefix, limit the buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and dormant articles will also be excluded. `/ m' Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked with that mark (`gnus-summary-limit-to-marks'). `/ t' Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days (`gnus-summary-limit-to-marks'). If given a prefix, limit to articles younger than that number of days. `/ n' Limit the summary buffer to the current article (`gnus-summary-limit-to-articles'). Uses the process/prefix convention (*note Process/Prefix::.). `/ w' Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it (`gnus-summary-pop-limit'). If given a prefix, pop all limits off the stack. `/ v' Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some score (`gnus-summary-limit-to-score'). `/ E' `M S' Include all expunged articles in the limit (`gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged'). `/ D' Include all dormant articles in the limit (`gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant'). `/ *' Include all cached articles in the limit (`gnus-summary-limit-include-cached'). `/ d' Exclude all dormant articles from the limit (`gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant'). `/ T' Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit. `/ c' Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit (`gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant'). `/ C' Mark all excluded unread articles as read (`gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read'). If given a prefix, also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.  File: gnus, Node: Threading, Next: Sorting, Prev: Limiting, Up: The Summary Buffer Threading ========= Gnus threads articles by default. "To thread" is to put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond to--in a hierarchical fashion. Threading is done by looking at the `References' headers of the articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty trees, but unfortunately, the `References' header is often broken or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem, so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in *note Customizing Threading::.. First, a quick overview of the concepts: "root" The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread. "thread" A tree-like article structure. "sub-thread" A small(er) section of this tree-like structure. "loose threads" Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are called loose threads. "thread gathering" An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads. "sparse threads" A thread where the missing articles have been "guessed" at, and are displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer. * Menu: * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading. * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.  File: gnus, Node: Customizing Threading, Next: Thread Commands, Up: Threading Customizing Threading --------------------- * Menu: * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads. * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller. * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads. * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!  File: gnus, Node: Loose Threads, Next: Filling In Threads, Up: Customizing Threading Loose Threads ............. `gnus-summary-make-false-root' If non-`nil', Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top? Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've read or killed the root in a previous session. When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use. There are four possible values: `adopt' Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be marked as such by pointy brackets (`<>') instead of the standard square brackets (`[]'). This is the default method. `dummy' Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy article. `gnus-summary-dummy-line-format' is used to specify the format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: `S', which is the subject of the article. *Note Formatting Variables::. `empty' Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will use `gnus-summary-same-subject' as the subject (*note Summary Buffer Format::.).) `none' Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and display them after one another. `nil' Don't gather loose threads. `gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit' Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this variable is `nil', Gnus requires an exact match between the subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful. If you set this variable to the special value `fuzzy', Gnus will use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (*note Fuzzy Matching::.). `gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp' This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject simplification is used. `gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes' If you set `gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit' to something as low as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible: (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes (concat "\\`\\[?\\(" (mapconcat 'identity '("looking" "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?" "help" "query" "problem" "question" "answer" "reference" "announce" "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of" ;; ... ) "\\|") "\\)\\s *\\(" (mapconcat 'identity '("for" "for reference" "with" "about") "\\|") "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*")) All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two subjects. `gnus-simplify-subject-functions' If non-`nil', this variable overrides `gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit'. This variable should be a list of functions to apply to the `Subject' string iteratively to arrive at the simplified version of the string. Useful functions to put in this list include: `gnus-simplify-subject-re' Strip the leading `Re:'. `gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy' Simplify fuzzily. `gnus-simplify-whitespace' Remove excessive whitespace. You may also write your own functions, of course. `gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject' Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like `' and `(none)'. To make the situation slightly better, you can use the regexp `gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject' to say what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The default is `^ *$\\|^(none)$'. `gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function' Gnus gathers threads by looking at `Subject' headers. This means that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same "thread", which is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the `Message-ID's in all the `References' headers to find matches. This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours--plague or cholera: `gnus-gather-threads-by-subject' This function is the default gathering function and looks at `Subject's exclusively. `gnus-gather-threads-by-references' This function looks at `References' headers exclusively. If you want to test gathering by `References', you could say something like: (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)  File: gnus, Node: Filling In Threads, Next: More Threading, Prev: Loose Threads, Up: Customizing Threading Filling In Threads .................. `gnus-fetch-old-headers' If non-`nil', Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching more old headers--headers to articles marked as read. If you would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to `some' or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries overview files--this would normally be `nntp', `nnspool' and `nnml'. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that. This variable can also be set to `invisible'. This won't have any visible effects, but is useful if you use the `A T' command a lot (*note Finding the Parent::.). `gnus-build-sparse-threads' Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be gotten by setting this variable to `some'. Gnus will then look at the complete `References' headers of all articles and try to string together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave "gaps" in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in question.) If this variable is `t', Gnus will display all these "gaps" without regard for whether they are useful for completing the thread or not. Finally, if this variable is `more', Gnus won't cut off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is `nil' by default.  File: gnus, Node: More Threading, Next: Low-Level Threading, Prev: Filling In Threads, Up: Customizing Threading More Threading .............. `gnus-show-threads' If this variable is `nil', no threading will be done, and all of the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading slower and more awkward. `gnus-thread-hide-subtree' If non-`nil', all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is generated. `gnus-thread-expunge-below' All threads that have a total score (as defined by `gnus-thread-score-function') less than this number will be expunged. This variable is `nil' by default, which means that no threads are expunged. `gnus-thread-hide-killed' if you kill a thread and this variable is non-`nil', the subtree will be hidden. `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If this variable is non-`nil', the subject change is ignored. If it is `nil', which is the default, a change in the subject will result in a new thread. `gnus-thread-indent-level' This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented. The default is 4.  File: gnus, Node: Low-Level Threading, Prev: More Threading, Up: Customizing Threading Low-Level Threading ................... `gnus-parse-headers-hook' Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is `(gnus-decode-rfc1522)', which means that QPized headers will be slightly decoded in a hackish way. This is likely to change in the future when Gnus becomes MIMEified. `gnus-alter-header-function' If non-`nil', this function will be called to allow alteration of article header structures. The function is called with one parameter, the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance, if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the `Message-ID's in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this variable to un-scramble the `Message-ID's so that they are more meaningful. Here's one example: (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id) (defun my-alter-message-id (header) (let ((id (mail-header-id header))) (when (string-match "\\(<[^<>@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@\\([^<>@]*>\\)" id) (mail-header-set-id (concat (match-string 1 id) "@" (match-string 2 id)) header))))  File: gnus, Node: Thread Commands, Prev: Customizing Threading, Up: Threading Thread Commands --------------- `T k' `M-C-k' Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read (`gnus-summary-kill-thread'). If the prefix argument is positive, remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick articles instead. `T l' `M-C-l' Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread (`gnus-summary-lower-thread'). `T i' Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread (`gnus-summary-raise-thread'). `T #' Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread (`gnus-uu-mark-thread'). `T M-#' Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread (`gnus-uu-unmark-thread'). `T T' Toggle threading (`gnus-summary-toggle-threads'). `T s' Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any (`gnus-summary-show-thread'). `T h' Hide the current (sub-)thread (`gnus-summary-hide-thread'). `T S' Expose all hidden threads (`gnus-summary-show-all-threads'). `T H' Hide all threads (`gnus-summary-hide-all-threads'). `T t' Re-thread the current article's thread (`gnus-summary-rethread-current'). This works even when the summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded. `T ^' Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article (`gnus-summary-reparent-thread'). The following commands are thread movement commands. They all understand the numeric prefix. `T n' Go to the next thread (`gnus-summary-next-thread'). `T p' Go to the previous thread (`gnus-summary-prev-thread'). `T d' Descend the thread (`gnus-summary-down-thread'). `T u' Ascend the thread (`gnus-summary-up-thread'). `T o' Go to the top of the thread (`gnus-summary-top-thread'). If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue a command like `T k' (`gnus-summary-kill-thread') you might not wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea, you can fiddle with `gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject'. If it is non-`nil' (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored when doing thread commands. If this variable is `nil', articles in the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the operation in question. If this variable is `fuzzy', only articles that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (*note Fuzzy Matching::.).  File: gnus, Node: Sorting, Next: Asynchronous Fetching, Prev: Threading, Up: The Summary Buffer Sorting ======= If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by setting `gnus-thread-sort-functions', which is a list of functions. By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting predicate functions include `gnus-thread-sort-by-number', `gnus-thread-sort-by-author', `gnus-thread-sort-by-subject', `gnus-thread-sort-by-date', `gnus-thread-sort-by-score', and `gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score'. Each function takes two threads and returns non-`nil' if the first thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function in the list. You should probably always include `gnus-thread-sort-by-number' in the list of sorting functions--preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in ascending article order. If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by number, you could do something like: (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number gnus-thread-sort-by-subject gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)) The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in which the articles arrived. If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could say something like: (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions '((lambda (t1 t2) (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2))) gnus-thread-sort-by-score)) The function in the `gnus-thread-score-function' variable (default `+') is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful functions might be `max', `min', or squared means, or whatever tickles your fancy. If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other, you have to fiddle with the `gnus-article-sort-functions' variable. It is very similar to the `gnus-thread-sort-functions', except that it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available sorting predicate functions are `gnus-article-sort-by-number', `gnus-article-sort-by-author', `gnus-article-sort-by-subject', `gnus-article-sort-by-date', and `gnus-article-sort-by-score'. If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could say something like: (setq gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-number gnus-article-sort-by-subject))  File: gnus, Node: Asynchronous Fetching, Next: Article Caching, Prev: Sorting, Up: The Summary Buffer Asynchronous Article Fetching ============================= If you read your news from an NNTP server that's far away, the network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait for a while after pressing `n' to go to the next article before the article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed. First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it. Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the connection is blocked. To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two) connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower. Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that the link between your machine and the NNTP server will become more loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will also become more loaded--both with the extra article requests, and the extra connection. Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless you really want to. Here's how: Set `gnus-asynchronous' to `t'. The rest should happen automatically. You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting `gnus-use-article-prefetch'. This is 30 by default, which means that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch the next 30 articles. If this variable is `t', the backend will pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is `nil', no pre-fetching will be done. There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch--read articles, for instance. The `gnus-async-prefetch-article-p' variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should return non-`nil' when the article in question is to be pre-fetched. The default is `gnus-async-read-p', which returns `nil' on read articles. The function is called with an article data structure as the only parameter. If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like: (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data) "Return non-nil for short, unread articles." (and (gnus-data-unread-p data) (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data)) 100))) (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p) These functions will be called many, many times, so they should preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much. It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this. Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The `gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy' says when to remove articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements: `read' Remove articles when they are read. `exit' Remove articles when exiting the group. The default value is `(read exit)'.  File: gnus, Node: Article Caching, Next: Persistent Articles, Prev: Asynchronous Fetching, Up: The Summary Buffer Article Caching =============== If you have an *extremely* slow NNTP connection, you may consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could potentially use *huge* amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka. Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles. To turn caching on, set `gnus-use-cache' to `t'. By default, all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied over to your local cache (`gnus-cache-directory'). Whether this cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the `gnus-use-long-file-name' variable, as usual. When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save as dormant, and don't worry. When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache. The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the `gnus-cache-enter-articles' and `gnus-cache-remove-articles' variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is `(ticked dormant)' by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be put in the cache. The latter is `(read)' by default, meaning that articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly symbols in these two lists are `ticked', `dormant', `unread' and `read'. So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the picture? The `gnus-jog-cache' command will go through all subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this command if 1) your connection to the NNTP server is really, really, really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will not then be downloaded by this command. It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance, if your `nnml' mail is located under your home directory, it makes no sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching, you could set `gnus-cacheable-groups' to a regexp of groups to cache, `^nntp' for instance, or set the `gnus-uncacheable-groups' regexp to `^nnml', for instance. Both variables are `nil' by default. If a group matches both variables, the group is not cached. The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active file (`gnus-cache-active-file'). If this file (or any other parts of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus offers two functions that will try to set things right. `M-x gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases' will (re)build all the NOV files, and `gnus-cache-generate-active' will (re)generate the active file.  File: gnus, Node: Persistent Articles, Next: Article Backlog, Prev: Article Caching, Up: The Summary Buffer Persistent Articles =================== Closely related to article caching, we have "persistent articles". In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more useful in my opinion. Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by the expiry going on at the news server. This is what a "persistent article" is--an article that just won't be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles: `*' Make the current article persistent (`gnus-cache-enter-article'). `M-*' Remove the current article from the persistent articles (`gnus-cache-remove-article'). This will normally delete the article. Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention. To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache, you should set `gnus-use-cache' to `passive' if you're just interested in persistent articles: (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)  File: gnus, Node: Article Backlog, Next: Saving Articles, Prev: Persistent Articles, Up: The Summary Buffer Article Backlog =============== If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some by switching on the "backlog". This is where Gnus will buffer already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and increase memory usage some. If you set `gnus-keep-backlog' to a number N, Gnus will store at most N old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this variable is non-`nil' and is not a number, Gnus will store *all* read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put that in there just to keep y'all on your toes. This variable is `nil' by default.