This is ../info/gnus, produced by makeinfo version 4.0 from 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: Foreign Groups,  Next: Group Parameters,  Prev: Marking Groups,  Up: The Group Buffer

Foreign Groups
==============

   Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general
foreign groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
special-purpose groups.  All these commands insert the newly created
groups under point--`gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method' is not consulted.

`G m'
     Make a new group (`gnus-group-make-group').  Gnus will prompt you
     for a name, a method and possibly an "address".  For an easier way
     to subscribe to NNTP groups, *note Browse Foreign Server::.

`G r'
     Rename the current group to something else
     (`gnus-group-rename-group').  This is valid only on some
     groups--mail groups mostly.  This command might very well be quite
     slow on some backends.

`G c'
     Customize the group parameters (`gnus-group-customize').

`G e'
     Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
     group (`gnus-group-edit-group-method').

`G p'
     Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
     (`gnus-group-edit-group-parameters').

`G E'
     Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
     (`gnus-group-edit-group').

`G d'
     Make a directory group (*note Directory Groups::).  You will be
     prompted for a directory name (`gnus-group-make-directory-group').

`G h'
     Make the Gnus help group (`gnus-group-make-help-group').

`G a'
     Make a Gnus archive group (`gnus-group-make-archive-group').  By
     default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be
     created (`gnus-group-recent-archive-directory'), but given a
     prefix, a full group will be created from
     `gnus-group-archive-directory'.

`G k'
     Make a kiboze group.  You will be prompted for a name, for a
     regexp to match groups to be "included" in the kiboze group, and a
     series of strings to match on headers
     (`gnus-group-make-kiboze-group').  *Note Kibozed Groups::.

`G D'
     Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
     `nneething' backend (`gnus-group-enter-directory').  *Note
     Anything Groups::.

`G f'
     Make a group based on some file or other
     (`gnus-group-make-doc-group').  If you give a prefix to this
     command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
     Currently supported types are `babyl', `mbox', `digest', `mmdf',
     `news', `rnews', `clari-briefs', `rfc934', `rfc822-forward', and
     `forward'.  If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will
     guess at the file type.  *Note Document Groups::.

`G u'
     Create one of the groups mentioned in `gnus-useful-groups'
     (`gnus-group-make-useful-group').

`G w'
     Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
     (`gnus-group-make-web-group').  If you give a prefix to this
     command, make a solid group instead.  You will be prompted for the
     search engine type and the search string.  Valid search engine
     types include `dejanews', `altavista' and `reference'.  *Note Web
     Searches::.

     If you use the `dejanews' search engine, you can limit the search
     to a particular group by using a match string like `~g
     alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving'.

`G DEL'
     This function will delete the current group
     (`gnus-group-delete-group').  If given a prefix, this function will
     actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove
     the group itself from the face of the Earth.  Use a prefix only if
     you are absolutely sure of what you are doing.  This command can't
     be used on read-only groups (like `nntp' group), though.

`G V'
     Make a new, fresh, empty `nnvirtual' group
     (`gnus-group-make-empty-virtual').  *Note Virtual Groups::.

`G v'
     Add the current group to an `nnvirtual' group
     (`gnus-group-add-to-virtual').  Uses the process/prefix convention.

   *Note Select Methods::, for more information on the various select
methods.

   If `gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups' is a positive number, Gnus
will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
groups from different NNTP servers.  Also *note Group Levels::;
`gnus-activate-level' also affects activation of foreign newsgroups.


File: gnus,  Node: Group Parameters,  Next: Listing Groups,  Prev: Foreign Groups,  Up: The Group Buffer

Group Parameters
================

   The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
Here's an example group parameter list:

     ((to-address . "ding@gnus.org")
      (auto-expire . t))

   We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"--the thing
before the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value.
All the parameters have this form _except_ local variable specs, which
are not dotted pairs, but proper lists.

   The following group parameters can be used:

`to-address'
     Address used by when doing followups and new posts.

          (to-address .  "some@where.com")

     This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed
     mailing lists--mailing lists where it's expected that everybody
     that writes to the mailing list is subscribed to it.  Since using
     this parameter ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list
     itself, it means that members won't receive two copies of your
     followups.

     Using `to-address' will actually work whether the group is foreign
     or not.  Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
     `fa.4ad-l'.  This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
     the articles from a mail-to-news gateway.  Posting directly to this
     group is therefore impossible--you have to send mail to the mailing
     list address instead.

`to-list'
     Address used when doing a `a' in that group.

          (to-list . "some@where.com")

     It is totally ignored when doing a followup--except that if it is
     present in a news group, you'll get mail group semantics when
     doing `f'.

     If you do an `a' command in a mail group and you have neither a
     `to-list' group parameter nor a `to-address' group parameter, then
     a `to-list' group parameter will be added automatically upon
     sending the message if `gnus-add-to-list' is set to `t'.

     If you do an `a' command in a mail group and you don't have a
     `to-list' group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
     sending the message.

`visible'
     If the group parameter list has the element `(visible . t)', that
     group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless of
     whether it has any unread articles.

`broken-reply-to'
     Elements like `(broken-reply-to . t)' signals that `Reply-To'
     headers in this group are to be ignored.  This can be useful if
     you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
     `Reply-To' headers that point back to the listserv itself.  This is
     broken behavior.  So there!

`to-group'
     Elements like `(to-group . "some.group.name")' means that all
     posts in that group will be sent to `some.group.name'.

`newsgroup'
     If you have `(newsgroup . t)' in the group parameter list, Gnus
     will treat all responses as if they were responses to news
     articles.  This can be useful if you have a mail group that's
     really a mirror of a news group.

`gcc-self'
     If `(gcc-self . t)' is present in the group parameter list, newly
     composed messages will be `Gcc''d to the current group. If
     `(gcc-self . none)' is present, no `Gcc:' header will be
     generated, if `(gcc-self . "string")' is present, this string will
     be inserted literally as a `gcc' header.  This parameter takes
     precedence over any default `Gcc' rules as described later (*note
     Archived Messages::).

`auto-expire'
     If the group parameter has an element that looks like `(auto-expire
     . t)', all articles read will be marked as expirable.  For an
     alternative approach, *note Expiring Mail::.

`total-expire'
     If the group parameter has an element that looks like
     `(total-expire . t)', all read articles will be put through the
     expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable.  Use with
     caution.  Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
     expiry.

`expiry-wait'
     If the group parameter has an element that looks like `(expiry-wait
     . 10)', this value will override any `nnmail-expiry-wait' and
     `nnmail-expiry-wait-function' when expiring expirable messages.
     The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an
     integer) or the symbols `never' or `immediate'.

`score-file'
     Elements that look like `(score-file . "file")' will make `file'
     into the current score file for the group in question.  All
     interactive score entries will be put into this file.

`adapt-file'
     Elements that look like `(adapt-file . "file")' will make `file'
     into the current adaptive file for the group in question.  All
     adaptive score entries will be put into this file.

`admin-address'
     When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
     unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself.  Instead, you'd
     send messages to the administrative address.  This parameter
     allows you to put the admin address somewhere convenient.

`display'
     Elements that look like `(display . MODE)' say which articles to
     display on entering the group.  Valid values are:

    `all'
          Display all articles, both read and unread.

    `default'
          Display the default visible articles, which normally includes
          unread and ticked articles.

`comment'
     Elements that look like `(comment . "This is a comment")' are
     arbitrary comments on the group.  They are currently ignored by
     Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on
     particular groups.

`(VARIABLE FORM)'
     You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the
     group you are entering.  If you want to turn threading off in
     `news.answers', you could put `(gnus-show-threads nil)' in the
     group parameters of that group.  `gnus-show-threads' will be made
     into a local variable in the summary buffer you enter, and the
     form `nil' will be `eval'ed there.

     This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd
     like.  If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you
     could put something like `(dummy-variable (ding))' in the
     parameters of that group.  `dummy-variable' will be set to the
     result of the `(ding)' form, but who cares?

   Use the `G p' command to edit group parameters of a group.  You
might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (*note Topic
Parameters::).


File: gnus,  Node: Listing Groups,  Next: Sorting Groups,  Prev: Group Parameters,  Up: The Group Buffer

Listing Groups
==============

   These commands all list various slices of the groups available.

`l'
`A s'
     List all groups that have unread articles
     (`gnus-group-list-groups').  If the numeric prefix is used, this
     command will list only groups of level ARG and lower.  By default,
     it only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
     `gnus-group-default-list-level') or lower (i.e., just subscribed
     groups).

`L'
`A u'
     List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
     (`gnus-group-list-all-groups').  If the numeric prefix is used,
     this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower.  By
     default, it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just
     subscribed and unsubscribed groups).

`A l'
     List all unread groups on a specific level
     (`gnus-group-list-level').  If given a prefix, also list the groups
     with no unread articles.

`A k'
     List all killed groups (`gnus-group-list-killed').  If given a
     prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but
     aren't currently (un)subscribed.  This could entail reading the
     active file from the server.

`A z'
     List all zombie groups (`gnus-group-list-zombies').

`A m'
     List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
     (`gnus-group-list-matching').

`A M'
     List groups that match a regexp (`gnus-group-list-all-matching').

`A A'
     List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the server(s)
     you are connected to (`gnus-group-list-active').  This might very
     well take quite a while.  It might actually be a better idea to do
     a `A M' to list all matching, and just give `.' as the thing to
     match on.  Also note that this command may list groups that don't
     exist (yet)--these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
     Take the output with some grains of salt.

`A a'
     List all groups that have names that match a regexp
     (`gnus-group-apropos').

`A d'
     List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
     (`gnus-group-description-apropos').

   Groups that match the `gnus-permanently-visible-groups' regexp will
always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not.  You can also
add the `visible' element to the group parameters in question to get
the same effect.

   Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in
the group buffer.  If `gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles' is `nil',
these groups will be treated just like totally empty groups.  It is `t'
by default.


File: gnus,  Node: Sorting Groups,  Next: Group Maintenance,  Prev: Listing Groups,  Up: The Group Buffer

Sorting Groups
==============

   The `C-c C-s' (`gnus-group-sort-groups') command sorts the group
buffer according to the function(s) given by the
`gnus-group-sort-function' variable.  Available sorting functions
include:

`gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet'
     Sort the group names alphabetically.  This is the default.

`gnus-group-sort-by-real-name'
     Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.

`gnus-group-sort-by-level'
     Sort by group level.

`gnus-group-sort-by-score'
     Sort by group score.  *Note Group Score::.

`gnus-group-sort-by-rank'
     Sort by group score and then the group level.  The level and the
     score are, when taken together, the group's "rank".  *Note Group
     Score::.

`gnus-group-sort-by-unread'
     Sort by number of unread articles.

`gnus-group-sort-by-method'
     Sort alphabetically on the select method.

   `gnus-group-sort-function' can also be a list of sorting functions.
In that case, the most significant sort key function must be the last
one.

   There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
some sorting criteria:

`G S a'
     Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
     (`gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet').

`G S u'
     Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
     (`gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread').

`G S l'
     Sort the group buffer by group level
     (`gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level').

`G S v'
     Sort the group buffer by group score
     (`gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score').  *Note Group Score::.

`G S r'
     Sort the group buffer by group rank
     (`gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank').  *Note Group Score::.

`G S m'
     Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
     (`gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method').

   When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.

   You can also sort a subset of the groups:

`G P a'
     Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer
     alphabetically by group name
     (`gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet').

`G P u'
     Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by the number
     of unread articles (`gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread').

`G P l'
     Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group level
     (`gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level').

`G P v'
     Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group score
     (`gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score').  *Note Group Score::.

`G P r'
     Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group rank
     (`gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank').  *Note Group Score::.

`G P m'
     Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer
     alphabetically by backend name
     (`gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method').


File: gnus,  Node: Group Maintenance,  Next: Browse Foreign Server,  Prev: Sorting Groups,  Up: The Group Buffer

Group Maintenance
=================

`b'
     Find bogus groups and delete them
     (`gnus-group-check-bogus-groups').

`F'
     Find new groups and process them (`gnus-group-find-new-groups').
     With 1 `C-u', use the `ask-server' method to query the server for
     new groups.  With 2 `C-u''s, use most complete method possible to
     query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
     zombies.

`C-c C-x'
     Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
     process (if any) (`gnus-group-expire-articles').

`C-c M-C-x'
     Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
     (`gnus-group-expire-all-groups').


File: gnus,  Node: Browse Foreign Server,  Next: Exiting Gnus,  Prev: Group Maintenance,  Up: The Group Buffer

Browse Foreign Server
=====================

`B'
     You will be queried for a select method and a server name.  Gnus
     will then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the
     groups there (`gnus-group-browse-foreign-server').

   A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear.  This
buffer will use the `gnus-browse-mode'.  This buffer looks a bit (well,
a lot) like a normal group buffer.

   Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:

`n'
     Go to the next group (`gnus-group-next-group').

`p'
     Go to the previous group (`gnus-group-prev-group').

`SPACE'
     Enter the current group and display the first article
     (`gnus-browse-read-group').

`RET'
     Enter the current group (`gnus-browse-select-group').

`u'
     Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
     subscribe to it (`gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group').

`l'
`q'
     Exit browse mode (`gnus-browse-exit').

`?'
     Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe,
     is there) (`gnus-browse-describe-briefly').


File: gnus,  Node: Exiting Gnus,  Next: Group Topics,  Prev: Browse Foreign Server,  Up: The Group Buffer

Exiting Gnus
============

   Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.

`z'
     Suspend Gnus (`gnus-group-suspend').  This doesn't really exit
     Gnus, but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer.  I'm not
     sure why this is a gain, but then who am I to judge?

`q'
     Quit Gnus (`gnus-group-exit').

`Q'
     Quit Gnus without saving the `.newsrc' files (`gnus-group-quit').
     The dribble file will be saved, though (*note Auto Save::).

   `gnus-suspend-gnus-hook' is called when you suspend Gnus and
`gnus-exit-gnus-hook' is called when you quit Gnus, while
`gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook' is called as the final item when exiting
Gnus.

   If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can
use the `gnus-unload' command.  This command is also very handy when
trying to customize meta-variables.

   Note:

     Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet
     go numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy
     sitting behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the
     back of her plastic chair.


File: gnus,  Node: Group Topics,  Next: Misc Group Stuff,  Prev: Exiting Gnus,  Up: The Group Buffer

Group Topics
============

   If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
them hierarchically according to topics.  You put your Emacs groups over
here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway.  You can
even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
groups or the sex groups--or both!  Go wild!

   Here's an example:

     Gnus
       Emacs -- I wuw it!
          3: comp.emacs
          2: alt.religion.emacs
         Naughty Emacs
          452: alt.sex.emacs
            0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
       Misc
          8: comp.binaries.fractals
         13: comp.sources.unix

   To get this _fab_ functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
`gnus-topic' minor mode--type `t' in the group buffer.  (This is a
toggling command.)

   Go ahead, just try it.  I'll still be here when you get back.  La de
dum...  Nice tune, that...  la la la...  What, you're back? Yes, and now
press `l'.  There.  All your groups are now listed under `misc'.
Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?  Hot and bothered?

   If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode
to the hook for the group mode:

     (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)

* Menu:

* Topic Variables::    How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
* Topic Commands::     Interactive E-Z commands.
* Topic Sorting::      Sorting each topic individually.
* Topic Topology::     A map of the world.
* Topic Parameters::   Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.


File: gnus,  Node: Topic Variables,  Next: Topic Commands,  Up: Group Topics

Topic Variables
---------------

   Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
really neat, I think.

   The topic lines themselves are created according to the
`gnus-topic-line-format' variable (*note Formatting Variables::).
Valid elements are:

`i'
     Indentation.

`n'
     Topic name.

`v'
     Visibility.

`l'
     Level.

`g'
     Number of groups in the topic.

`a'
     Number of unread articles in the topic.

`A'
     Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.

   Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented
with `gnus-topic-indent-level' times the topic level number of spaces.
The default is 2.

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

   The `gnus-topic-display-empty-topics' says whether to display even
topics that have no unread articles in them.  The default is `t'.


File: gnus,  Node: Topic Commands,  Next: Topic Sorting,  Prev: Topic Variables,  Up: Group Topics

Topic Commands
--------------

   When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new `T' submap will be
available.  In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
definitions slightly.

`T n'
     Prompt for a new topic name and create it
     (`gnus-topic-create-topic').

`T m'
     Move the current group to some other topic
     (`gnus-topic-move-group').  This command uses the process/prefix
     convention (*note Process/Prefix::).

`T c'
     Copy the current group to some other topic
     (`gnus-topic-copy-group').  This command uses the process/prefix
     convention (*note Process/Prefix::).

`T D'
     Remove a group from the current topic (`gnus-topic-remove-group').
     This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
     topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics.  You may also
     remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it
     to the root topic the next time you start Gnus.  In fact, all new
     groups (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up
     in the root topic.

     This command uses the process/prefix convention (*note
     Process/Prefix::).

`T M'
     Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
     (`gnus-topic-move-matching').

`T C'
     Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
     (`gnus-topic-copy-matching').

`T H'
     Toggle hiding empty topics
     (`gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics').

`T #'
     Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
     (`gnus-topic-mark-topic').

`T M-#'
     Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
     (`gnus-topic-unmark-topic').

`RET'
`SPACE'
     Either select a group or fold a topic (`gnus-topic-select-group').
     When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group,
     as usual.  When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if
     it was visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already).  So it's
     basically a toggling command on topics.  In addition, if you give
     a numerical prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be
     displayed.

`T TAB'
`TAB'
     "Indent" the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
     previous topic (`gnus-topic-indent').  If given a prefix,
     "un-indent" the topic instead.

`M-TAB'
     "Un-indent" the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
     parent of its current parent (`gnus-topic-unindent').

`C-k'
     Kill a group or topic (`gnus-topic-kill-group').  All groups in the
     topic will be removed along with the topic.

`C-y'
     Yank the previously killed group or topic
     (`gnus-topic-yank-group').  Note that all topics will be yanked
     before all groups.

`T r'
     Rename a topic (`gnus-topic-rename').

`T DEL'
     Delete an empty topic (`gnus-topic-delete').

`A T'
     List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
     (`gnus-topic-list-active').

`G p'
     Edit the topic parameters (`gnus-topic-edit-parameters').  *Note
     Topic Parameters::.


File: gnus,  Node: Topic Sorting,  Next: Topic Topology,  Prev: Topic Commands,  Up: Group Topics

Topic Sorting
-------------

   You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
commands:

`T S a'
     Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
     (`gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet').

`T S u'
     Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
     (`gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread').

`T S l'
     Sort the current topic by group level
     (`gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level').

`T S v'
     Sort the current topic by group score
     (`gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score').  *Note Group Score::.

`T S r'
     Sort the current topic by group rank
     (`gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank').  *Note Group Score::.

`T S m'
     Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
     (`gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method').

   *Note Sorting Groups::, for more information about group sorting.


File: gnus,  Node: Topic Topology,  Next: Topic Parameters,  Prev: Topic Sorting,  Up: Group Topics

Topic Topology
--------------

   So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:

     Gnus
       Emacs -- I wuw it!
          3: comp.emacs
          2: alt.religion.emacs
         Naughty Emacs
          452: alt.sex.emacs
            0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
       Misc
          8: comp.binaries.fractals
         13: comp.sources.unix

   So, here we have one top-level topic (`Gnus'), two topics under
that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics.  (There is always
just one (1) top-level topic).  This topology can be expressed as
follows:

     (("Gnus" visible)
      (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
       (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
      (("Misc" visible)))

   This is in fact how the variable `gnus-topic-topology' would look
for the display above.  That variable is saved in the `.newsrc.eld'
file, and shouldn't be messed with manually--unless you really want to.
Since this variable is read from the `.newsrc.eld' file, setting it in
any other startup files will have no effect.

   This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics
(right), and which topics are visible.  Two settings are currently
allowed--`visible' and `invisible'.


File: gnus,  Node: Topic Parameters,  Prev: Topic Topology,  Up: Group Topics

Topic Parameters
----------------

   All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
(and ancestor) topic parameters.  All valid group parameters are valid
topic parameters (*note Group Parameters::).

   Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics.  You
know.  Normal inheritance rules.  ("Rules" is here a noun, not a verb,
although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)

     Gnus
       Emacs
          3: comp.emacs
          2: alt.religion.emacs
        452: alt.sex.emacs
         Relief
          452: alt.sex.emacs
            0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
       Misc
          8: comp.binaries.fractals
         13: comp.sources.unix
        452: alt.sex.emacs

   The `Emacs' topic has the topic parameter `(score-file .
"emacs.SCORE")'; the `Relief' topic has the topic parameter
`(score-file . "relief.SCORE")'; and the `Misc' topic has the topic
parameter `(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")'.  In addition,
`alt.religion.emacs' has the group parameter `(score-file .
"religion.SCORE")'.

   Now, when you enter `alt.sex.emacs' in the `Relief' topic, you will
get the `relief.SCORE' home score file.  If you enter the same group in
the `Emacs' topic, you'll get the `emacs.SCORE' home score file.  If
you enter the group `alt.religion.emacs', you'll get the
`religion.SCORE' home score file.

   This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it?  Well, yes.
But there are some problems, especially with the `total-expiry'
parameter.  Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
`total-expiry' and one without.  What happens when you do `M-x
gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups'?  Gnus has no way of telling which one
of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
happen.  In fact, I hereby declare that it is "undefined" what happens.
You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.


File: gnus,  Node: Misc Group Stuff,  Prev: Group Topics,  Up: The Group Buffer

Misc Group Stuff
================

* Menu:

* Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
* Group Information::     Information and help on groups and Gnus.
* Group Timestamp::       Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
* File Commands::         Reading and writing the Gnus files.

`^'
     Enter the server buffer (`gnus-group-enter-server-mode').  *Note
     The Server Buffer::.

`a'
     Post an article to a group (`gnus-group-post-news').  If given a
     prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.

`m'
     Mail a message somewhere (`gnus-group-mail').

   Variables for the group buffer:

`gnus-group-mode-hook'
     is called after the group buffer has been created.

`gnus-group-prepare-hook'
     is called after the group buffer is generated.  It may be used to
     modify the buffer in some strange, unnatural way.

`gnus-group-prepared-hook'
     is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
     generated.  It may be used to move point around, for instance.

`gnus-permanently-visible-groups'
     Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group
     buffer, whether they are empty or not.


File: gnus,  Node: Scanning New Messages,  Next: Group Information,  Up: Misc Group Stuff

Scanning New Messages
---------------------

`g'
     Check the server(s) for new articles.  If the numerical prefix is
     used, this command will check only groups of level ARG and lower
     (`gnus-group-get-new-news').  If given a non-numerical prefix, this
     command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from
     the backend(s).

`M-g'
     Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
     (`gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group').
     `gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating' says whether this command is
     to move point to the next group or not.  It is `t' by default.

`C-c M-g'
     Activate absolutely all groups (`gnus-activate-all-groups').

`R'
     Restart Gnus (`gnus-group-restart').  This saves the `.newsrc'
     file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all
     run-time Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.

   `gnus-get-new-news-hook' is run just before checking for new news.

   `gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook' is run after checking for new
news.


File: gnus,  Node: Group Information,  Next: Group Timestamp,  Prev: Scanning New Messages,  Up: Misc Group Stuff

Group Information
-----------------

`H f'
     Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
     (`gnus-group-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' (or `efs') will be
     used for fetching the file.

     If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt
     to go through `gnus-group-faq-directory' and try to open them one
     by one.

`H d'
`C-c C-d'
     Describe the current group (`gnus-group-describe-group').  If given
     a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.

`M-d'
     Describe all groups (`gnus-group-describe-all-groups').  If given a
     prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.

`H v'
`V'
     Display current Gnus version numbers (`gnus-version').

`?'
     Give a very short help message (`gnus-group-describe-briefly').

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


File: gnus,  Node: Group Timestamp,  Next: File Commands,  Prev: Group Information,  Up: Misc Group Stuff

Group Timestamp
---------------

   It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
group.  To set the ball rolling, you should add
`gnus-group-set-timestamp' to `gnus-select-group-hook':

     (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)

   After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.

   This information can be displayed in various ways--the easiest is to
use the `%d' spec in the group line format:

     (setq gnus-group-line-format
           "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")

   This will result in lines looking like:

     *        0: mail.ding                                19961002T012943
              0: custom                                   19961002T012713

   As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format.
This may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
something like:

     (setq gnus-group-line-format
           "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")


File: gnus,  Node: File Commands,  Prev: Group Timestamp,  Up: Misc Group Stuff

File Commands
-------------

`r'
     Re-read the init file (`gnus-init-file', which defaults to
     `~/.gnus') (`gnus-group-read-init-file').

`s'
     Save the `.newsrc.eld' file (and `.newsrc' if wanted)
     (`gnus-group-save-newsrc').  If given a prefix, force saving the
     file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.


File: gnus,  Node: The Summary Buffer,  Next: The Article Buffer,  Prev: The Group Buffer,  Up: Top

The Summary Buffer
******************

   A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer.  You can
move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.

   The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
group buffer (*note Selecting a Group::).

   You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.

* Menu:

* Summary Buffer Format::       Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
* Summary Maneuvering::         Moving around the summary buffer.
* Choosing Articles::           Reading articles.
* Paging the Article::          Scrolling the current article.
* Reply Followup and Post::     Posting articles.
* Canceling and Superseding::   ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
* Marking Articles::            Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
* Limiting::                    You can limit the summary buffer.
* Threading::                   How threads are made.
* Sorting::                     How articles and threads are sorted.
* Asynchronous Fetching::       Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
* Article Caching::             You may store articles in a cache.
* Persistent Articles::         Making articles expiry-resistant.
* Article Backlog::             Having already read articles hang around.
* Saving Articles::             Ways of customizing article saving.
* Decoding Articles::           Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
* Article Treatment::           The article buffer can be mangled at will.
* Article Commands::            Doing various things with the article buffer.
* Summary Sorting::             Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
* Finding the Parent::          No child support? Get the parent.
* Alternative Approaches::      Reading using non-default summaries.
* Tree Display::                A more visual display of threads.
* Mail Group Commands::         Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
* Various Summary Stuff::       What didn't fit anywhere else.
* Exiting the Summary Buffer::  Returning to the Group buffer.
* Crosspost Handling::          How crossposted articles are dealt with.
* Duplicate Suppression::       An alternative when crosspost handling fails.


File: gnus,  Node: Summary Buffer Format,  Next: Summary Maneuvering,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Summary Buffer Format
=====================

* Menu:

* Summary Buffer Lines::     You can specify how summary lines should look.
* Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
* Summary Highlighting::     Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.

   Gnus will use the value of the `gnus-extract-address-components'
variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
`From' header.  Two pre-defined functions exist:
`gnus-extract-address-components', which is the default, quite fast,
and too simplistic solution; and `mail-extract-address-components',
which works very nicely, but is slower.  The default function will
return the wrong answer in 5% of the cases.  If this is unacceptable to
you, use the other function instead.

   `gnus-summary-same-subject' is a string indicating that the current
article has the same subject as the previous.  This string will be used
with those specs that require it.  The default is `""'.


File: gnus,  Node: Summary Buffer Lines,  Next: Summary Buffer Mode Line,  Up: Summary Buffer Format

Summary Buffer Lines
--------------------

   You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by
changing the `gnus-summary-line-format' variable.  It works along the
same lines as a normal `format' string, with some extensions (*note
Formatting Variables::).

   The default string is `%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n'.

   The following format specification characters are understood:

`N'
     Article number.

`S'
     Subject string.

`s'
     Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous
     article had a different subject, `gnus-summary-same-subject'
     otherwise.  (`gnus-summary-same-subject' defaults to `""'.)

`F'
     Full `From' header.

`n'
     The name (from the `From' header).

`a'
     The name (from the `From' header).  This differs from the `n' spec
     in that it uses the function designated by the
     `gnus-extract-address-components' variable, which is slower, but
     may be more thorough.

`A'
     The address (from the `From' header).  This works the same way as
     the `a' spec.

`L'
     Number of lines in the article.

`c'
     Number of characters in the article.

`I'
     Indentation based on thread level (*note Customizing Threading::).

`T'
     Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
     pushes everything after it off the screen).

`['
     Opening bracket, which is normally `[', but can also be `<' for
     adopted articles (*note Customizing Threading::).

`]'
     Closing bracket, which is normally `]', but can also be `>' for
     adopted articles.

`>'
     One space for each thread level.

`<'
     Twenty minus thread level spaces.

`U'
     Unread.

`R'
     This misleadingly named specifier is the "secondary mark".  This
     mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been
     cached, or has been saved.

`i'
     Score as a number (*note Scoring::).

`z'
     Zcore, `+' if above the default level and `-' if below the default
     level.  If the difference between `gnus-summary-default-score' and
     the score is less than `gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz', this spec will
     not be used.

`V'
     Total thread score.

`x'
     `Xref'.

`D'
     `Date'.

`d'
     The `Date' in `DD-MMM' format.

`o'
     The `Date' in YYYYMMDD`T'HHMMSS format.

`M'
     `Message-ID'.

`r'
     `References'.

`t'
     Number of articles in the current sub-thread.  Using this spec
     will slow down summary buffer generation somewhat.

`e'
     An `=' (`gnus-not-empty-thread-mark') will be displayed if the
     article has any children.

`P'
     The line number.

`O'
     Download mark.

`u'
     User defined specifier.  The next character in the format string
     should be a letter.  Gnus will call the function
     `gnus-user-format-function-'`X', where `X' is the letter following
     `%u'.  The function will be passed the current header as argument.
     The function should return a string, which will be inserted into
     the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.

   The `%U' (status), `%R' (replied) and `%z' (zcore) specs have to be
handled with care.  For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will compute what
column these characters will end up in, and "hard-code" that.  This
means that it is invalid to have these specs after a variable-length
spec.  Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary buffer will
look strange, which is bad enough.

   The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as
possible.  (Isn't that the case with everything, though?  But I
digress.)

   This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.


File: gnus,  Node: Summary Buffer Mode Line,  Next: Summary Highlighting,  Prev: Summary Buffer Lines,  Up: Summary Buffer Format

Summary Buffer Mode Line
------------------------

   You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (*note Mode
Line Formatting::).  Set `gnus-summary-mode-line-format' to whatever you
like.  The default is `Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z'.

   Here are the elements you can play with:

`G'
     Group name.

`p'
     Unprefixed group name.

`A'
     Current article number.

`z'
     Current article score.

`V'
     Gnus version.

`U'
     Number of unread articles in this group.

`e'
     Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in
     the summary buffer.

`Z'
     A string with the number of unread and unselected articles
     represented either as `<%U(+%e) more>' if there are both unread
     and unselected articles, and just as `<%U more>' if there are just
     unread articles and no unselected ones.

`g'
     Shortish group name.  For instance, `rec.arts.anime' will be
     shortened to `r.a.anime'.

`S'
     Subject of the current article.

`u'
     User-defined spec (*note User-Defined Specs::).

`s'
     Name of the current score file (*note Scoring::).

`d'
     Number of dormant articles (*note Unread Articles::).

`t'
     Number of ticked articles (*note Unread Articles::).

`r'
     Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.

`E'
     Number of articles expunged by the score files.


File: gnus,  Node: Summary Highlighting,  Prev: Summary Buffer Mode Line,  Up: Summary Buffer Format

Summary Highlighting
--------------------

`gnus-visual-mark-article-hook'
     This hook is run after selecting an article.  It is meant to be
     used for highlighting the article in some way.  It is not run if
     `gnus-visual' is `nil'.

`gnus-summary-update-hook'
     This hook is called when a summary line is changed.  It is not run
     if `gnus-visual' is `nil'.

`gnus-summary-selected-face'
     This is the face (or "font" as some people call it) used to
     highlight the current article in the summary buffer.

`gnus-summary-highlight'
     Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is
     a list where the elements are of the format `(FORM . FACE)'.  If
     you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and
     high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable to
     something like
          (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
           ((> score default) . bold))
     As you may have guessed, if FORM returns a non-`nil' value, FACE
     will be applied to the line.


File: gnus,  Node: Summary Maneuvering,  Next: Choosing Articles,  Prev: Summary Buffer Format,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Summary Maneuvering
===================

   All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
behave pretty much as you'd expect.

   None of these commands select articles.

`G M-n'
`M-n'
     Go to the next summary line of an unread article
     (`gnus-summary-next-unread-subject').

`G M-p'
`M-p'
     Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
     (`gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject').

`G j'
`j'
     Ask for an article number or `Message-ID', and then go to that
     article (`gnus-summary-goto-article').

`G g'
     Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that
     article without displaying the article
     (`gnus-summary-goto-subject').

   If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group,
you can use the `C-n' and `C-p' keys to move around the group buffer,
searching for the next group to read without actually returning to the
group buffer.

   Variables related to summary movement:

`gnus-auto-select-next'
     If you issue one of the movement commands (like `n') and there are
     no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to
     go to the next group.  If this variable is `t' and the next group
     is empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group
     buffer.  If this variable is neither `t' nor `nil', Gnus will
     select the next group, no matter whether it has any unread
     articles or not.  As a special case, if this variable is
     `quietly', Gnus will select the next group without asking for
     confirmation.  If this variable is `almost-quietly', the same will
     happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
     Finally, if this variable is `slightly-quietly', the `Z n' command
     will go to the next group without confirmation.  Also *note Group
     Levels::.

`gnus-auto-select-same'
     If non-`nil', all the movement commands will try to go to the next
     article with the same subject as the current.  ("Same" here might
     mean "roughly equal".  See `gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit' for
     details (*note Customizing Threading::).)  If there are no more
     articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.

     This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded
     display.

`gnus-summary-check-current'
     If non-`nil', all the "unread" movement commands will not proceed
     to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
     Instead, they will choose the current article.

`gnus-auto-center-summary'
     If non-`nil', Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
     centered at all times.  This makes things quite tidy, but if you
     have a slow network connection, or simply do not like this
     un-Emacsism, you can set this variable to `nil' to get the normal
     Emacs scrolling action.  This will also inhibit horizontal
     re-centering of the summary buffer, which might make it more
     inconvenient to read extremely long threads.


File: gnus,  Node: Choosing Articles,  Next: Paging the Article,  Prev: Summary Maneuvering,  Up: The Summary Buffer

Choosing Articles
=================

* Menu:

* Choosing Commands::        Commands for choosing articles.
* Choosing Variables::       Variables that influence these commands.


File: gnus,  Node: Choosing Commands,  Next: Choosing Variables,  Up: Choosing Articles

Choosing Commands
-----------------

   None of the following movement commands understand the numeric
prefix, and they all select and display an article.

`SPACE'
     Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the
     next unread article (`gnus-summary-next-page').

`G n'
`n'
     Go to next unread article (`gnus-summary-next-unread-article').

`G p'
`p'
     Go to previous unread article (`gnus-summary-prev-unread-article').

`G N'
`N'
     Go to the next article (`gnus-summary-next-article').

`G P'
`P'
     Go to the previous article (`gnus-summary-prev-article').

`G C-n'
     Go to the next article with the same subject
     (`gnus-summary-next-same-subject').

`G C-p'
     Go to the previous article with the same subject
     (`gnus-summary-prev-same-subject').

`G f'
`.'
     Go to the first unread article
     (`gnus-summary-first-unread-article').

`G b'
`,'
     Go to the article with the highest score
     (`gnus-summary-best-unread-article').

`G l'
`l'
     Go to the previous article read (`gnus-summary-goto-last-article').

`G o'
     Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
     (`gnus-summary-pop-article').  This command differs from the
     command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
     history as you like, while `l' toggles the two last read articles.
     For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
     *note Article Backlog::.

