This is Info file ../info/gnus, produced by Makeinfo version 1.68 from
the input file gnus.texi.

INFO-DIR-SECTION Editors
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Gnus: (gnus).		The news reader 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: PostScript Files,  Next: Decoding Variables,  Prev: Shared Articles,  Up: Decoding Articles

PostScript Files
----------------

`X p'
     Unpack the current PostScript series (`gnus-uu-decode-postscript').

`X P'
     Unpack and save the current PostScript series
     (`gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save').

`X v p'
     View the current PostScript series
     (`gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view').

`X v P'
     View and save the current PostScript series
     (`gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view').


File: gnus,  Node: Decoding Variables,  Next: Viewing Files,  Prev: PostScript Files,  Up: Decoding Articles

Decoding Variables
------------------

   Adjective, not verb.

* Menu:

* Rule Variables::          Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
* Other Decode Variables::  Other decode variables.
* Uuencoding and Posting::  Variables for customizing uuencoding.


File: gnus,  Node: Rule Variables,  Next: Other Decode Variables,  Up: Decoding Variables

Rule Variables
..............

   Gnus uses "rule variables" to decide how to view a file.  All these
variables are on the form

           (list '(regexp1 command2)
                 '(regexp2 command2)
                 ...)

`gnus-uu-user-view-rules'
     This variable is consulted first when viewing files.  If you wish
     to use, for instance, `sox' to convert an `.au' sound file, you
     could say something like:
          (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
                (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))

`gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end'
     This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from
     the user and default view rules.

`gnus-uu-user-archive-rules'
     This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to
     unpack archives.


File: gnus,  Node: Other Decode Variables,  Next: Uuencoding and Posting,  Prev: Rule Variables,  Up: Decoding Variables

Other Decode Variables
......................

`gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions'
     All functions in this list will be called right each file has been
     successfully decoded--so that you can move or view files right
     away, and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before
     you can do anything.  Ready-made functions you can put in this
     list are:

    `gnus-uu-grab-view'
          View the file.

    `gnus-uu-grab-move'
          Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)

`gnus-uu-be-dangerous'
     Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding.
     If `nil', be as conservative as possible.  If `t', ignore things
     that didn't work, and overwrite existing files.  Otherwise, ask
     each time.

`gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name'
     Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.

`gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type'
     Files with a MIME type matching this variable won't be viewed.
     Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the
     name.  `gnus-uu' is not a MIME package (yet), so this is slightly
     kludgey.

`gnus-uu-tmp-dir'
     Where `gnus-uu' does its work.

`gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives'
     Non-`nil' means that `gnus-uu' won't peek inside archives looking
     for files to display.

`gnus-uu-view-and-save'
     Non-`nil' means that the user will always be asked to save a file
     after viewing it.

`gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules'
     Non-`nil' means that `gnus-uu' will ignore the default viewing
     rules.

`gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules'
     Non-`nil' means that `gnus-uu' will ignore the default archive
     unpacking commands.

`gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return'
     Non-`nil' means that `gnus-uu' will strip all carriage returns
     from articles.

`gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded'
     Non-`nil' means that `gnus-uu' will mark articles that were
     unsuccessfully decoded as unread.

`gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode'
     Non-`nil' means that `gnus-uu' will *try* to fix uuencoded files
     that have had trailing spaces deleted.

`gnus-uu-view-with-metamail'
     Non-`nil' means that `gnus-uu' will ignore the viewing commands
     defined by the rule variables and just fudge a MIME content type
     based on the file name.  The result will be fed to `metamail' for
     viewing.

`gnus-uu-save-in-digest'
     Non-`nil' means that `gnus-uu', when asked to save without
     decoding, will save in digests.  If this variable is `nil',
     `gnus-uu' will just save everything in a file without any
     embellishments.  The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153--no easy
     way to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found,
     so I simply dropped them.


File: gnus,  Node: Uuencoding and Posting,  Prev: Other Decode Variables,  Up: Decoding Variables

Uuencoding and Posting
......................

`gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing'
     Non-`nil' means that `gnus-uu' will ask for a file to encode
     before you compose the article.  If this variable is `t', you can
     either include an encoded file with `C-c C-i' or have one included
     for you when you post the article.

`gnus-uu-post-length'
     Maximum length of an article.  The encoded file will be split into
     how many articles it takes to post the entire file.

`gnus-uu-post-threaded'
     Non-`nil' means that `gnus-uu' will post the encoded file in a
     thread.  This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen
     are able to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles.
     (Well, I have seen one package that does that--`gnus-uu', but
     somehow, I don't think that counts...) Default is `nil'.

`gnus-uu-post-separate-description'
     Non-`nil' means that the description will be posted in a separate
     article.  The first article will typically be numbered (0/x).  If
     this variable is `nil', the description the user enters will be
     included at the beginning of the first article, which will be
     numbered (1/x).  Default is `t'.


File: gnus,  Node: Viewing Files,  Prev: Decoding Variables,  Up: Decoding Articles

Viewing Files
-------------

   After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will
attempt to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the
archive can be viewed.  For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file
`pics.tar.gz' containing the files `pic1.jpg' and `pic2.gif', Gnus will
uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
of archives, it'll all be unpacked.

   Finally, Gnus will normally insert a "pseudo-article" for each
extracted file into the summary buffer.  If you go to these "articles",
you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus will make a
suggestion), and then the command will be run.

   If `gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously' is `nil', Emacs will wait until
the viewing is done before proceeding.

   If `gnus-view-pseudos' is `automatic', Gnus will not insert the
pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them immediately.  If
this variable is `not-confirm', the user won't even be asked for a
confirmation before viewing is done.

   If `gnus-view-pseudos-separately' is non-`nil', one pseudo-article
will be created for each file to be viewed.  If `nil', all files that
use the same viewing command will be given as a list of parameters to
that command.

   If `gnus-insert-pseudo-articles' is non-`nil', insert
pseudo-articles when decoding.  It is `t' by default.

   So; there you are, reading your *pseudo-articles* in your *virtual
newsgroup* from the *virtual server*; and you think: Why isn't anything
real anymore? How did we get here?


File: gnus,  Node: Article Treatment,  Next: Article Commands,  Prev: Decoding Articles,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Article Treatment
=================

   Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that
the object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
written.  Reading articles.  Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
these articles easier.

* Menu:

* Article Highlighting::    You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
* Article Fontisizing::     Making emphasized text look niced.
* Article Hiding::          You also want to make certain info go away.
* Article Washing::         Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
* Article Buttons::         Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
* Article Date::            Grumble, UT!
* Article Signature::       What is a signature?


File: gnus,  Node: Article Highlighting,  Next: Article Fontisizing,  Up: Article Treatment

Article Highlighting
--------------------

   Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad,
but you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.

`W H a'
     Highlight the current article (`gnus-article-highlight').

`W H h'
     Highlight the headers (`gnus-article-highlight-headers').  The
     highlighting will be done according to the `gnus-header-face-alist'
     variable, which is a list where each element has the form (REGEXP
     NAME CONTENT).  REGEXP is a regular expression for matching the
     header, NAME is the face used for highlighting the header name and
     CONTENT is the face for highlighting the header value.  The first
     match made will be used.  Note that REGEXP shouldn't have `^'
     prepended--Gnus will add one.

`W H c'
     Highlight cited text (`gnus-article-highlight-citation').

     Some variables to customize the citation highlights:

    `gnus-cite-parse-max-size'
          If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is
          25000 by default), no citation highlighting will be performed.

    `gnus-cite-prefix-regexp'
          Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a
          line.

    `gnus-cite-max-prefix'
          Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).

    `gnus-cite-face-list'
          List of faces used for highlighting citations.  When there
          are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
          Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own
          face.  This should make it easier to see who wrote what.

    `gnus-supercite-regexp'
          Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.

    `gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp'
          Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.

    `gnus-cite-minimum-match-count'
          Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we
          believe that it's a citation.

    `gnus-cite-attribution-prefix'
          Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.

    `gnus-cite-attribution-suffix'
          Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.

    `gnus-cite-attribution-face'
          Face used for attribution lines.  It is merged with the face
          for the cited text belonging to the attribution.

`W H s'
     Highlight the signature (`gnus-article-highlight-signature').
     Everything after `gnus-signature-separator' (*note Article
     Signature::.) in an article will be considered a signature and
     will be highlighted with `gnus-signature-face', which is `italic'
     by default.


File: gnus,  Node: Article Fontisizing,  Next: Article Hiding,  Prev: Article Highlighting,  Up: Article Treatment

Article Fontisizing
-------------------

   People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing
things like `_this_' or `*this*'.  Gnus can make this look nicer by
running the article through the `W e' (`gnus-article-emphasize')
command.

   How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
`gnus-article-emphasis' variable.  This is an alist where the first
element is a regular expression to be matched.  The second is a number
that says what regular expression grouping used to find the entire
emphasized word.  The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
should be displayed and highlighted.  (The text between these two
groupings will be hidden.)  The fourth is the face used for
highlighting.

     (setq gnus-article-emphasis
           '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
             ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))

   By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
`gnus-emphasis-bold', `gnus-emphasis-italic',
`gnus-emphasis-underline', `gnus-emphasis-bold-italic',
`gnus-emphasis-underline-italic', `gnus-emphasis-undeline-bold', and
`gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic'.

   If you want to change these faces, you can either use `M-x
customize', or you can use `copy-face'.  For instance, if you want to
make `gnus-emphasis-italic' use a red face instead, you could say
something like:

     (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)


File: gnus,  Node: Article Hiding,  Next: Article Washing,  Prev: Article Fontisizing,  Up: Article Treatment

Article Hiding
--------------

   Or rather, hiding certain things in each article.  There usually is
much too much cruft in most articles.

`W W a'
     Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (`gnus-article-hide').

`W W h'
     Hide headers (`gnus-article-hide-headers').  *Note Hiding
     Headers::.

`W W b'
     Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
     (`gnus-article-hide-boring-headers').  *Note Hiding Headers::.

`W W s'
     Hide signature (`gnus-article-hide-signature').  *Note Article
     Signature::.

`W W p'
     Hide PGP signatures (`gnus-article-hide-pgp').

`W W P'
     Hide PEM (privacy enhanced messages) gruft
     (`gnus-article-hide-pem').

`W W c'
     Hide citation (`gnus-article-hide-citation').  Some variables for
     customizing the hiding:

    `gnus-cite-hide-percentage'
          If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this
          variable (default 50), hide the cited text.

    `gnus-cite-hide-absolute'
          The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10)
          before it is hidden.

    `gnus-cited-text-button-line-format'
          Gnus adds buttons show where the cited text has been hidden,
          and to allow toggle hiding the text.  The format of the
          variable is specified by this format-like variable (*note
          Formatting Variables::.).  These specs are legal:

         `b'
               Start point of the hidden text.

         `e'
               End point of the hidden text.

         `l'
               Length of the hidden text.

    `gnus-cited-lines-visible'
          The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to
          leave shown.

`W W C'
     Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
     (`gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups').  This isn't very
     useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to
     stick in `gnus-article-display-hook' (*note Customizing
     Articles::.).

   All these "hiding" commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
hidden.  If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.

   Also *note Article Highlighting::. for further variables for
citation customization.


File: gnus,  Node: Article Washing,  Next: Article Buttons,  Prev: Article Hiding,  Up: Article Treatment

Article Washing
---------------

   We call this "article washing" for a really good reason.  Namely, the
`A' key was taken, so we had to use the `W' key instead.

   "Washing" is defined by us as "changing something from something to
something else", but normally results in something looking better.
Cleaner, perhaps.

`W l'
     Remove page breaks from the current article
     (`gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking').

`W r'
     Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
     (`gnus-summary-caesar-message').

`W t'
     Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
     (`gnus-summary-toggle-header').

`W v'
     Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
     permanently (`gnus-summary-verbose-header').

`W m'
     Toggle whether to run the article through MIME before displaying
     (`gnus-summary-toggle-mime').

`W o'
     Treat overstrike (`gnus-article-treat-overstrike').

`W w'
     Do word wrap (`gnus-article-fill-cited-article').  If you use this
     function in `gnus-article-display-hook', it should be run fairly
     late and certainly after any highlighting.

     You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width
     to use when filling.

`W c'
     Remove CR (`gnus-article-remove-cr').

`W q'
     Treat quoted-printable (`gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable').

`W f'
     Look for and display any X-Face headers
     (`gnus-article-display-x-face').  The command executed by this
     function is given by the `gnus-article-x-face-command' variable.
     If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
     sub-shell.  If it is a function, this function will be called with
     the face as the argument.  If the `gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly'
     (which is a regexp) matches the `From' header, the face will not
     be shown.  The default action under Emacs is to fork off an `xv'
     to view the face; under XEmacs the default action is to display
     the face before the `From' header.  (It's nicer if XEmacs has been
     compiled with X-Face support--that will make display somewhat
     faster.  If there's no native X-Face support, Gnus will try to
     convert the `X-Face' header using external programs from the
     `pbmplus' package and friends.)  If you want to have this function
     in the display hook, it should probably come last.

`W b'
     Add clickable buttons to the article (`gnus-article-add-buttons').

`W B'
     Add clickable buttons to the article headers
     (`gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head').

`W E l'
     Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
     (`gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines').

`W E m'
     Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple
     empty lines with a single empty line.
     (`gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines').

`W E t'
     Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
     (`gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines').

`W E a'
     Do all the three commands above (`gnus-article-strip-blank-lines').

`W E s'
     Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the
     article body (`gnus-article-strip-leading-space').


File: gnus,  Node: Article Buttons,  Next: Article Date,  Prev: Article Washing,  Up: Article Treatment

Article Buttons
---------------

   People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it
would be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk
about with the minimum of fuzz.

   Gnus adds "buttons" to certain standard references by default:
Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs.  This is controlled by
two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
article heads:

`gnus-button-alist'
     This is an alist where each entry has this form:

          (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)

    REGEXP
          All text that match this regular expression will be
          considered an external reference.  Here's a typical regexp
          that match embedded URLs: `<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>'.

    BUTTON-PAR
          Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be
          highlighted.  This is a number that says what sub-expression
          of the regexp that is to be highlighted.  If you want it all
          highlighted, you use 0 here.

    USE-P
          This form will be `eval'ed, and if the result is non-`nil',
          this is considered a match.  This is useful if you want extra
          sifting to avoid false matches.

    FUNCTION
          This function will be called when you click on this button.

    DATA-PAR
          As with BUTTON-PAR, this is a sub-expression number, but this
          one says which part of the match is to be sent as data to
          FUNCTION.

     So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then

          ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)

`gnus-header-button-alist'
     This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
     article head only, and that each entry has an additional element
     that is used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:

          (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)

     HEADER is a regular expression.

`gnus-button-url-regexp'
     A regular expression that matches embedded URLs.  It is used in the
     default values of the variables above.

`gnus-article-button-face'
     Face used on buttons.

`gnus-article-mouse-face'
     Face is used when the mouse cursor is over a button.


File: gnus,  Node: Article Date,  Next: Article Signature,  Prev: Article Buttons,  Up: Article Treatment

Article Date
------------

   The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've
never heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time
was when the article was sent.

`W T u'
     Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
     (`gnus-article-date-ut').

`W T l'
     Display the date in the local timezone (`gnus-article-date-local').

`W T s'
     Display the date using a user-defined format
     (`gnus-article-date-user').  The format is specified by the
     `gnus-article-time-format' variable, and is a string that's passed
     to `format-time-string'.  See the documentation of that variable
     for a list possible format specs.

`W T e'
     Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and
     now (`gnus-article-date-lapsed').

`W T o'
     Display the original date (`gnus-article-date-original').  This can
     be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
     worried that it might be doing something totally wrong.  Say,
     claiming that the article was posted in 1854.  Although something
     like that is *totally* impossible.  Don't you trust me? *titter*


File: gnus,  Node: Article Signature,  Prev: Article Date,  Up: Article Treatment

Article Signature
-----------------

   Each article is divided into two parts--the head and the body.  The
body can be divided into a signature part and a text part.  The variable
that says what is to be considered a signature is
`gnus-signature-separator'.  This is normally the standard `^-- $' as
mandated by son-of-RFC 1036.  However, many people use non-standard
signature separators, so this variable can also be a list of regular
expressions to be tested, one by one.  (Searches are done from the end
of the body towards the beginning.)  One likely value is:

     (setq gnus-signature-separator
           '("^-- $"         ; The standard
             "^-- *$"        ; A common mangling
             "^-------*$"    ; Many people just use a looong
                             ; line of dashes.  Shame!
             "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
             "^________*$"   ; Underscores are also popular
             "^========*$")) ; Pervert!

   The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get
false positives.

   `gnus-signature-limit' provides a limit to what is considered a
signature.

  1. If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters)
     than that integer.

  2. If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in
     lines) than that number.

  3. If it is a function, the function will be called without any
     parameters, and if it returns `nil', there is no signature in the
     buffer.

  4. If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp.  If it matches,
     the text in question is not a signature.

   This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the
types listed above.


File: gnus,  Node: Article Commands,  Next: Summary Sorting,  Prev: Article Treatment,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Article Commands
================

`A P'
     Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
     (`gnus-summary-print-article').  `gnus-ps-print-hook' will be run
     just before printing the buffer.


File: gnus,  Node: Summary Sorting,  Next: Finding the Parent,  Prev: Article Commands,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Summary Sorting
===============

   You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
can't really see why you'd want that.

`C-c C-s C-n'
     Sort by article number (`gnus-summary-sort-by-number').

`C-c C-s C-a'
     Sort by author (`gnus-summary-sort-by-author').

`C-c C-s C-s'
     Sort by subject (`gnus-summary-sort-by-subject').

`C-c C-s C-d'
     Sort by date (`gnus-summary-sort-by-date').

`C-c C-s C-l'
     Sort by lines (`gnus-summary-sort-by-lines').

`C-c C-s C-i'
     Sort by score (`gnus-summary-sort-by-score').

   These functions will work both when you use threading and when you
don't use threading.  In the latter case, all summary lines will be
sorted, line by line.  In the former case, sorting will be done on a
root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for.  To
toggle whether to use threading, type `T T' (*note Thread Commands::.).


File: gnus,  Node: Finding the Parent,  Next: Alternative Approaches,  Prev: Summary Sorting,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Finding the Parent
==================

   If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is
not displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to.  That
is, if the current group is fetched by NNTP, the parent hasn't expired
and the `References' in the current article are not mangled, you can
just press `^' or `A r' (`gnus-summary-refer-parent-article').  If
everything goes well, you'll get the parent.  If the parent is already
displayed in the summary buffer, point will just move to this article.

   If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back
into the ancestry.  If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just
that ancestor.  So if you say `3 ^', Gnus will fetch the parent, the
grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article.  If you say
`-3 ^', Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
article.

   You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the `References'
header of the article by pushing `A R'
(`gnus-summary-refer-references').

   You can also ask the NNTP server for an arbitrary article, no matter
what group it belongs to.  `M-^' (`gnus-summary-refer-article') will
ask you for a `Message-ID', which is one of those long, hard-to-read
thingies that look something like `<38o6up$6f2@hymir.ifi.uio.no>'.  You
have to get it all exactly right.  No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.

   The current select method will be used when fetching by `Message-ID'
from non-news select method, but you can override this by giving this
command a prefix.

   If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
support fetching by `Message-ID' very well (like `nnspool'), you can
set `gnus-refer-article-method' to an NNTP method.  It would, perhaps,
be best if the NNTP server you consult is the same as the one that
keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's not really
necessary.

   Most of the mail backends support fetching by `Message-ID', but do
not do a particularly excellent job of it.  That is, `nnmbox' and
`nnbabyl' are able to locate articles from any groups, while `nnml' and
`nnfolder' are only able to locate articles that have been posted to
the current group.  (Anything else would be too time consuming.)
`nnmh' does not support this at all.


File: gnus,  Node: Alternative Approaches,  Next: Tree Display,  Prev: Finding the Parent,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Alternative Approaches
======================

   Different people like to read news using different methods.  This
being Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary
buffers.

* Menu:

* Pick and Read::               First mark articles and then read them.
* Binary Groups::               Auto-decode all articles.


File: gnus,  Node: Pick and Read,  Next: Binary Groups,  Up: Alternative Approaches

Pick and Read
-------------

   Some newsreaders (like `nn' and, uhm, `nn') use a two-phased reading
interface.  The user first marks the articles she wants to read from a
summary buffer.  Then she starts reading the articles with just an
article buffer displayed.

   Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
this--`gnus-pick-mode'.  This basically means that a few process mark
commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and it
makes one additional command for switching to the summary buffer
available.

   Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:

`.'
     Pick the article on the current line
     (`gnus-summary-mark-as-processable').  If given a numerical prefix,
     go to the article on that line and pick that article.  (The line
     number is normally displayed on the beginning of the summary pick
     lines.)

`SPACE'
     Scroll the summary buffer up one page (`gnus-pick-next-page').  If
     at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.

`u'
     Unpick the article (`gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable').

`U'
     Unpick all articles (`gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable').

`t'
     Pick the thread (`gnus-uu-mark-thread').

`T'
     Unpick the thread (`gnus-uu-unmark-thread').

`r'
     Pick the region (`gnus-uu-mark-region').

`R'
     Unpick the region (`gnus-uu-unmark-region').

`e'
     Pick articles that match a regexp (`gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp').

`E'
     Unpick articles that match a regexp (`gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp').

`b'
     Pick the buffer (`gnus-uu-mark-buffer').

`B'
     Unpick the buffer (`gnus-uu-unmark-buffer').

`RET'
     Start reading the picked articles (`gnus-pick-start-reading').  If
     given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first.  If
     `gnus-pick-display-summary' is non-`nil', the summary buffer will
     still be visible when you are reading.

   If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:

     (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)

   `gnus-pick-mode-hook' is run in pick minor mode buffers.

   If `gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read' is non-`nil', mark all
unpicked articles as read.  The default is `nil'.

   The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different than the
standard format.  At the beginning of each line the line number is
displayed.  The pick mode line format is controlled by the
`gnus-summary-pick-line-format' variable (*note Formatting
Variables::.).  It accepts the same format specs that
`gnus-summary-line-format' does (*note Summary Buffer Lines::.).


File: gnus,  Node: Binary Groups,  Prev: Pick and Read,  Up: Alternative Approaches

Binary Groups
-------------

   If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of
hitting `X u', `n', `RET' all the time.  `M-x gnus-binary-mode' is a
minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.

   In fact, the only way to see the actual articles if you have turned
this mode on is the `g' command (`gnus-binary-show-article').

   `gnus-binary-mode-hook' is called in binary minor mode buffers.


File: gnus,  Node: Tree Display,  Next: Mail Group Commands,  Prev: Alternative Approaches,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Tree Display
============

   If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try
setting `gnus-use-trees' to `t'.  This will create (by default) an
additional "tree buffer".  You can execute all summary mode commands in
the tree buffer.

   There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:

`gnus-tree-mode-hook'
     A hook called in all tree mode buffers.

`gnus-tree-mode-line-format'
     A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers.  The
     default is `Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z'.  For a list of legal specs, *note
     Summary Buffer Mode Line::..

`gnus-selected-tree-face'
     Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree
     buffer.  The default is `modeline'.

`gnus-tree-line-format'
     A format string for the tree nodes.  The name is a bit of a
     misnomer, though--it doesn't define a line, but just the node.
     The default value is `%(%[%3,3n%]%)', which displays the first
     three characters of the name of the poster.  It is vital that all
     nodes are of the same length, so you *must* use `%4,4n'-like
     specifiers.

     Legal specs are:

    `n'
          The name of the poster.

    `f'
          The `From' header.

    `N'
          The number of the article.

    `['
          The opening bracket.

    `]'
          The closing bracket.

    `s'
          The subject.

     *Note Formatting Variables::.

     Variables related to the display are:

    `gnus-tree-brackets'
          This is used for differentiating between "real" articles and
          "sparse" articles.  The format is ((REAL-OPEN . REAL-CLOSE)
          (SPARSE-OPEN . SPARSE-CLOSE) (DUMMY-OPEN . DUMMY-CLOSE)), and
          the default is `((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?{ . ?}))'.

    `gnus-tree-parent-child-edges'
          This is a list that contains the characters used for
          connecting parent nodes to their children.  The default is
          `(?- ?\\ ?|)'.

`gnus-tree-minimize-window'
     If this variable is non-`nil', Gnus will try to keep the tree
     buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
     windows.  If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never
     be higher than that number.  The default is `t'.  Note that if you
     have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
     buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also
     resize all other windows that are displayed next to it.

`gnus-generate-tree-function'
     The function that actually generates the thread tree.  Two
     predefined functions are available:
     `gnus-generate-horizontal-tree' and `gnus-generate-vertical-tree'
     (which is the default).

   Here's and example from a horizontal tree buffer:

     {***}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
          |      \[Jan]
          |      \[odd]-[Eri]
          |      \(***)-[Eri]
          |            \[odd]-[Paa]
          \[Bjo]
          \[Gun]
          \[Gun]-[Jor]

   Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:

     {***}
       |--------------------------\-----\-----\
     (***)                         [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
       |--\-----\-----\                          |
     [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***)                   [Jor]
       |           |     |--\
     [Gun]       [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
                               |
                             [Paa]


File: gnus,  Node: Mail Group Commands,  Next: Various Summary Stuff,  Prev: Tree Display,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Mail Group Commands
===================

   Some commands only make sense in mail groups.  If these commands are
illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.

   All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
process/prefix convention (*note Process/Prefix::.).

`B e'
     Expire all expirable articles in the group
     (`gnus-summary-expire-articles').

`B M-C-e'
     Delete all the expirable articles in the group
     (`gnus-summary-expire-articles-now').  This means that *all*
     articles that are eligible for expiry in the current group will
     disappear forever into that big `/dev/null' in the sky.

`B DEL'
     Delete the mail article.  This is "delete" as in "delete it from
     your disk forever and ever, never to return again." Use with
     caution.  (`gnus-summary-delete-article').

`B m'
     Move the article from one mail group to another
     (`gnus-summary-move-article').

`B c'
     Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
     (`gnus-summary-copy-article').

`B C'
     Crosspost the current article to some other group
     (`gnus-summary-crosspost-article').  This will create a new copy of
     the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the
     article will be properly updated.

`B i'
     Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
     (`gnus-summary-import-article').  You will be prompted for a file
     name, a `From' header and a `Subject' header.

`B r'
     Respool the mail article (`gnus-summary-move-article').
     `gnus-summary-respool-default-method' will be used as the default
     select method when respooling.  This variable is `nil' by default,
     which means that the current group select method will be used
     instead.

`B w'
`e'
     Edit the current article (`gnus-summary-edit-article').  To finish
     editing and make the changes permanent, type `C-c C-c'
     (`gnus-summary-edit-article-done').

`B q'
     If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to
     what group the article will end up in before you do the
     re-spooling.  This command will tell you
     (`gnus-summary-respool-query').

`B p'
     Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
     follow up to articles you have posted.  These usually have a
     `Newsgroups' header in them, but not always.  This command
     (`gnus-summary-article-posted-p') will try to fetch the current
     article from your news server (or rather, from
     `gnus-refer-article-method' or `gnus-select-method') and will
     report back whether it found the article or not.  Even if it says
     that it didn't find the article, it may have been posted
     anyway--mail propagation is much faster than news propagation, and
     the news copy may just not have arrived yet.

   If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
suggest where to put the articles.  `gnus-move-split-methods' is a
variable that uses the same syntax as `gnus-split-methods' (*note
Saving Articles::.).  You may customize that variable to create
suggestions you find reasonable.

     (setq gnus-move-split-methods
           '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
             ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
             (".*" "nnml:misc")))


File: gnus,  Node: Various Summary Stuff,  Next: Exiting the Summary Buffer,  Prev: Mail Group Commands,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Various Summary Stuff
=====================

* Menu:

* Summary Group Information::         Information oriented commands.
* Searching for Articles::            Multiple article commands.
* Summary Generation Commands::       (Re)generating the summary buffer.
* Really Various Summary Commands::   Those pesky non-conformant commands.

`gnus-summary-mode-hook'
     This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.

`gnus-summary-generate-hook'
     This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
     generation of the summary buffer.  It's quite convenient for
     customizing the threading variables based on what data the
     newsgroup has.  This hook is called from the summary buffer after
     most summary buffer variables has been set.

`gnus-summary-prepare-hook'
     Is is called after the summary buffer has been generated.  You
     might use it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look
     of the buffer in some other ungodly manner.  I don't care.

`gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates'
     When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same `Message-ID',
     it has to do something drastic.  No articles are allowed to have
     the same `Message-ID', but this may happen when reading mail from
     some sources.  Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this
     variable.  If it is `nil' (which is the default), Gnus will rename
     the `Message-ID' (for display purposes only) and display the
     article as any other article.  If this variable is `t', it won't
     display the article--it'll be as if it never existed.


File: gnus,  Node: Summary Group Information,  Next: Searching for Articles,  Up: Various Summary Stuff

Summary Group Information
-------------------------

`H f'
     Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
     current group (`gnus-summary-fetch-faq').  Gnus will try to get the
     FAQ from `gnus-group-faq-directory', which is usually a directory
     on a remote machine.  This variable can also be a list of
     directories.  In that case, giving a prefix to this command will
     allow you to choose between the various sites.  `ange-ftp'
     probably will be used for fetching the file.

`H d'
     Give a brief description of the current group
     (`gnus-summary-describe-group').  If given a prefix, force
     rereading the description from the server.

`H h'
     Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
     keystrokes (`gnus-summary-describe-briefly').

`H i'
     Go to the Gnus info node (`gnus-info-find-node').


File: gnus,  Node: Searching for Articles,  Next: Summary Generation Commands,  Prev: Summary Group Information,  Up: Various Summary Stuff

Searching for Articles
----------------------

`M-s'
     Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
     (`gnus-summary-search-article-forward').

`M-r'
     Search through all previous articles for a regexp
     (`gnus-summary-search-article-backward').

`&'
     This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular
     expression to match on this field, and a command to be executed if
     the match is made (`gnus-summary-execute-command').

`M-&'
     Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
     the process mark (`gnus-summary-universal-argument').


File: gnus,  Node: Summary Generation Commands,  Next: Really Various Summary Commands,  Prev: Searching for Articles,  Up: Various Summary Stuff

Summary Generation Commands
---------------------------

`Y g'
     Regenerate the current summary buffer (`gnus-summary-prepare').

`Y c'
     Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary
     buffer (`gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles').


File: gnus,  Node: Really Various Summary Commands,  Prev: Summary Generation Commands,  Up: Various Summary Stuff

Really Various Summary Commands
-------------------------------

`C-d'
     If the current article is a collection of other articles (for
     instance, a digest), you might use this command to enter a group
     based on that article (`gnus-summary-enter-digest-group').  Gnus
     will try to guess what article type is currently displayed unless
     you give a prefix to this command, which forces a "digest"
     interpretation.  Basically, whenever you see a message that is a
     collection of other messages on some format, you `C-d' and read
     these messages in a more convenient fashion.

`M-C-d'
     This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
     several documents into one biiig group
     (`gnus-summary-read-document').  It does this by opening several
     `nndoc' groups for each document, and then opening an `nnvirtual'
     group on top of these `nndoc' groups.  This command understands
     the process/prefix convention (*note Process/Prefix::.).

`C-t'
     Toggle truncation of summary lines
     (`gnus-summary-toggle-truncation').  This will probably confuse the
     line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good
     idea to have truncation switched off while reading articles.

`='
     Expand the summary buffer window (`gnus-summary-expand-window').
     If given a prefix, force an `article' window configuration.


File: gnus,  Node: Exiting the Summary Buffer,  Next: Crosspost Handling,  Prev: Various Summary Stuff,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Exiting the Summary Buffer
==========================

   Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
group and return you to the group buffer.

`Z Z'
`q'
     Exit the current group and update all information on the group
     (`gnus-summary-exit'). `gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook' is called
     before doing much of the exiting, and calls
     `gnus-summary-expire-articles' by default.
     `gnus-summary-exit-hook' is called after finishing the exiting
     process.  `gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook' is run when returning to
     group mode having no more (unread) groups.

`Z E'
`Q'
     Exit the current group without updating any information on the
     group (`gnus-summary-exit-no-update').

`Z c'
`c'
     Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
     (`gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit').

`Z C'
     Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
     (`gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit').

`Z n'
     Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
     (`gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group').

`Z R'
     Exit this group, and then enter it again
     (`gnus-summary-reselect-current-group').  If given a prefix, select
     all articles, both read and unread.

`Z G'
`M-g'
     Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
     group (`gnus-summary-rescan-group').  If given a prefix, select all
     articles, both read and unread.

`Z N'
     Exit the group and go to the next group
     (`gnus-summary-next-group').

`Z P'
     Exit the group and go to the previous group
     (`gnus-summary-prev-group').

`Z s'
     Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble
     buffer and then save the dribble buffer
     (`gnus-summary-save-newsrc').  If given a prefix, also save the
     `.newsrc' file(s).  Using this command will make exit without
     updating (the `Q' command) worthless.

   `gnus-exit-group-hook' is called when you exit the current group.

   If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
about it, you might set `gnus-kill-summary-on-exit' to `nil'.  If you
do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.  (Quelle
surprise!)  Instead it will change the name of the buffer to something
like `*Dead Summary ... *' and install a minor mode called
`gnus-dead-summary-mode'.  Now, if you switch back to this buffer,
you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
`gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead'.  So tapping any keys in a dead summary
buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.

   There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one
time.

   The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you
have read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
summary buffer.  If the `gnus-use-cross-reference' variable is `t'
(which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to this
group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the other
subscribed groups they were cross-posted to.  If this variable is
neither `nil' nor `t', the article will be marked as read in both
subscribed and unsubscribed groups (*note Crosspost Handling::.).


File: gnus,  Node: Crosspost Handling,  Next: Duplicate Suppression,  Prev: Exiting the Summary Buffer,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Crosspost Handling
==================

   Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have
to read the same article more than once.  Unless, of course, somebody
has posted it to several groups separately.  Posting the same article to
several groups (not cross-posting) is called "spamming", and you are by
law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
heinous crime.  You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
(*note NoCeM::.).

   Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
separately to several groups is not.  Massive cross-posting (aka.
"velveeta") is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
`gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint' command to complain about
excessive crossposting (*note Summary Mail Commands::.).

   One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
correctly is if you use an NNTP server that supports XOVER (which is
very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which does not
include the `Xref' header in its NOV lines.  This is Evil, but all too
common, alas, alack.  Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing even with XOVER
by registering the `Xref' lines of all articles you actually read, but
if you kill the articles, or just mark them as read without reading
them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop the `Xref' lines out of these
articles, and will be unable to use the cross reference mechanism.

   To check whether your NNTP server includes the `Xref' header in its
overview files, try `telnet your.nntp.server nntp', `MODE READER' on
`inn' servers, and then say `LIST overview.fmt'.  This may not work,
but if it does, and the last line you get does not read `Xref:full',
then you should shout and whine at your news admin until she includes
the `Xref' header in the overview files.

   If you want Gnus to get the `Xref's right all the time, you have to
set `gnus-nov-is-evil' to `t', which slows things down considerably.

   C'est la vie.

   For an alternative approach, *note Duplicate Suppression::..

