This is Info file ../info/gnus.info, produced by Makeinfo-1.63 from the
input file gnus.texi.

   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.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Starting Up,  Up: (dir)

The Gnus Newsreader
*******************

   You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus.  The
news can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of--NNTP, local
spool or your mbox file.  All at the same time, if you want to push your
luck.

* Menu:

* Starting Up::           Finding news can be a pain.
* The Group Buffer::      Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
* The Summary Buffer::    Reading, saving and posting articles.
* The Article Buffer::    Displaying and handling articles.
* Composing Messages::    Information on sending mail and news.
* Select Methods::        Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
* Scoring::               Assigning values to articles.
* Various::               General purpose settings.
* The End::               Farewell and goodbye.
* Appendices::            Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
* Index::                 Variable, function and concept index.
* Key Index::             Key Index.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Starting Up,  Next: The Group Buffer,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

Starting Gnus
*************

   If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting
Gnus and reading news is extremely easy--you just type `M-x gnus' in
your Emacs.

   If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the
command `M-x gnus-other-frame' instead.

   If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
variables.

* Menu:

* Finding the News::    Choosing a method for getting news.
* The First Time::      What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
* The Server is Down::  How can I read my mail then?
* Slave Gnusii::        You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
* Fetching a Group::    Starting Gnus just to read a group.
* New Groups::          What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
* Startup Files::       Those pesky startup files--`.newsrc'.
* Auto Save::           Recovering from a crash.
* The Active File::     Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
* Startup Variables::   Other variables you might change.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Finding the News,  Next: The First Time,  Up: Starting Up

Finding the News
================

   The `gnus-select-method' variable says where Gnus should look for
news.  This variable should be a list where the first element says
"how" and the second element says "where".  This method is your native
method.  All groups that are not fetched with this method are foreign
groups.

   For instance, if the `news.somewhere.edu' NNTP server is where you
want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:

     (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))

   If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:

     (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))

   If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
certainly be much faster.

   If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
`NNTPSERVER' environment variable.  If that variable isn't set, Gnus
will see whether `gnus-nntpserver-file' (`/etc/nntpserver' by default)
has any opinions on the matter.  If that fails as well, Gnus will will
try to use the machine that is running Emacs as an NNTP server.  That's
a long-shot, though.

   If `gnus-nntp-server' is set, this variable will override
`gnus-select-method'.  You should therefore set `gnus-nntp-server' to
`nil', which is what it is by default.

   You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
NNTP server.  If you give a non-numerical prefix to `gnus' (i.e., `C-u
M-x gnus'), Gnus will let you choose between the servers in the
`gnus-secondary-servers' list (if any).  You can also just type in the
name of any server you feel like visiting.

   However, if you use one NNTP server regularly and are just
interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
better served by using the `B' command in the group buffer.  It will
let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
to any of the groups you want to.  This also makes `.newsrc'
maintenance much tidier.  *Note Foreign Groups::.

   A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
`gnus-secondary-select-methods' variable.  The select methods listed in
this variable are in many ways just as native as the
`gnus-select-method' server.  They will also be queried for active
files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
groups are.

   For instance, if you use the `nnmbox' backend to read your mail, you
would typically set this variable to

     (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))


File: gnus.info,  Node: The First Time,  Next: The Server is Down,  Prev: Finding the News,  Up: Starting Up

The First Time
==============

   If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups
should be subscribed by default.

   If the variable `gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups' is set, Gnus
will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
killed.  Your system administrator should have set this variable to
something useful.

   Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
picked groups (i.e., `*.newusers').  ("Arbitrary" is here defined as
"whatever Lars thinks you should read".)

   You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which
should help you with most common problems.

   If `gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups' is `t', Gnus will just use
the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
special.


File: gnus.info,  Node: The Server is Down,  Next: Slave Gnusii,  Prev: The First Time,  Up: Starting Up

The Server is Down
==================

   If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
problems starting.  However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.

   Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
without a native select method if that server can't be contacted.  This
will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
for some reason or other.  If you decide to continue and have no foreign
groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
buffer.  But, hey, that's your problem.  Blllrph!

   If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to
read your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
`gnus-no-server' command to start Gnus.  That might come in handy if
you're in a hurry as well.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Slave Gnusii,  Next: Fetching a Group,  Prev: The Server is Down,  Up: Starting Up

Slave Gnusiï
============

   You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at
the same time.  If you are using different `.newsrc' files (eg., if you
are using the two different Gnusiï to read from two different servers),
that is no problem whatsoever.  You just do it.

   The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusiï that use the
same `.newsrc' file.

   To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the
Gnus Towers have come up with a new concept: "Masters" and "servants".
(We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have taken out a
copyright on those words.  If you wish to use those words in
conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
me.  Usage of the patent ("Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
Applications") will be much more expensive, of course.)

   Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with `M-x gnus' (or
however you do it).  Each subsequent slave Gnusiï should be started
with `M-x gnus-slave'.  These slaves won't save normal `.newsrc' files,
but instead save "slave files" that contains information only on what
groups have been read in the slave session.  When a master Gnus starts,
it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
information from them.  (The slave files will be read in the sequence
they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)

   Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
information in the normal (i. e., master) `.newsrc' file.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Fetching a Group,  Next: New Groups,  Prev: Slave Gnusii,  Up: Starting Up

Fetching a Group
================

   It it sometime convenient to be able to just say "I want to read this
group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not".  This is
perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
command `gnus-fetch-group' provides this functionality in any case.  It
takes the group name as a parameter.


File: gnus.info,  Node: New Groups,  Next: Startup Files,  Prev: Fetching a Group,  Up: Starting Up

New Groups
==========

   What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
`gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method' variable.

   This variable should contain a function.  Some handy pre-fab values
are:

`gnus-subscribe-zombies'
     Make all new groups zombies.  You can browse the zombies later
     (with `A z') and either kill them all off properly, or subscribe
     to them.  This is the default.

`gnus-subscribe-randomly'
     Subscribe all new groups randomly.

`gnus-subscribe-alphabetically'
     Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.

`gnus-subscribe-hierarchically'
     Subscribe all new groups hierarchically.  The difference between
     this function and `gnus-subscribe-alphabetically' is slight.
     `gnus-subscribe-alphabetically' will subscribe new groups in a
     strictly alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter
     groups into it's hierarchy.  So if you want to have the `rec'
     hierarchy before the `comp' hierarchy, this function will not mess
     that configuration up.  Or something like that.

`gnus-subscribe-interactively'
     Subscribe new groups interactively.  This means that Gnus will ask
     you about *all* new groups.

`gnus-subscribe-killed'
     Kill all new groups.

   A closely related variable is
`gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive'.  (That's quite a mouthful.)
If this variable is non-`nil', Gnus will ask you in a hierarchical
fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not.  Gnus will ask you
for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the hierarchy or not.

   One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
`gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive'.  This is an error.  This
will not work.  This is ga-ga.  So don't do it.

   A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
subscribed (or ignored) is to put an "options" line at the start of the
`.newsrc' file.  Here's an example:

     options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all

   This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual
scientific person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it
says that all groups that have names beginning with `alt' and `rec'
should be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with `sci' should
be subscribed.  Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
subscribing these groups.  `gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method' is
used instead.  This variable defaults to
`gnus-subscribe-alphabetically'.

   If you don't want to mess with your `.newsrc' file, you can just set
the two variables `gnus-options-subscribe' and
`gnus-options-not-subscribe'.  These two variables do exactly the same
as the `.newsrc' `options -n' trick.  Both are regexps, and if the the
new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally subscribed,
and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.

   Yet another variable that meddles here is
`gnus-auto-subscribed-groups'.  It works exactly like
`gnus-options-subscribe', and is therefore really superfluous, but I
thought it would be nice to have two of these.  This variable is more
meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
more for user fiddling.  By default this variable makes all new groups
that come from mail backends (`nnml', `nnbabyl', `nnfolder', `nnmbox',
and `nnmh') subscribed.  If you don't like that, just set this variable
to `nil'.

   If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new
groups, you could set `gnus-check-new-newsgroups' to `nil'.  This will
also save you some time at startup.  Even if this variable is `nil',
you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing `U' in the
group buffer (*note Group Maintenance::.).  This variable is `t' by
default.

   Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing
the list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed
and dead groups.  This isn't a particularly fast method.  If
`gnus-check-new-newsgroups' is `ask-server', Gnus will ask the server
for new groups since the last time.  This is both faster & cheaper.
This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed groups
altogether, so you may set `gnus-save-killed-list' to `nil', which will
save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.  Saves disk space,
too.  Why isn't this the default, then?  Unfortunately, not all servers
support this command.

   I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
server supports `ask-server'?  No?  Good, because I don't have a
fail-safe answer.  I would suggest just setting this variable to
`ask-server' and see whether any new groups appear within the next few
days.  If any do, then it works.  If any don't, then it doesn't work.
I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server supports
`ask-server', but it would just be a guess.  So I won't.  You could
`telnet' to the server and say `HELP' and see whether it lists
`NEWGROUPS' among the commands it understands.  If it does, then it
might work.  (But there are servers that lists `NEWGROUPS' without
supporting the function properly.)

   This variable can also be a list of select methods.  If so, Gnus will
issue an `ask-server' command to each of the select methods, and
subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods.  This might be handy
if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups.  A side effect is
that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
Use the mantra "dingnusdingnusdingnus" to achieve permanent bliss.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Startup Files,  Next: Auto Save,  Prev: New Groups,  Up: Starting Up

Startup Files
=============

   Now, you all know about the `.newsrc' file.  All subscription
information is traditionally stored in this file.

   Things got a bit more complicated with GNUS.  In addition to keeping
the `.newsrc' file updated, it also used a file called `.newsrc.el' for
storing all the information that didn't fit into the `.newsrc' file.
(Actually, it also duplicated everything in the `.newsrc' file.)  GNUS
would read whichever one of these files was the most recently saved,
which enabled people to swap between GNUS and other newsreaders.

   That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
`.newsrc' and `.newsrc.el' files, Gnus also has a file called
`.newsrc.eld'.  It will read whichever of these files that are most
recent, but it will never write a `.newsrc.el' file.

   You can turn off writing the `.newsrc' file by setting
`gnus-save-newsrc-file' to `nil', which means you can delete the file
and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.  However,
this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than Gnus.  But
hey, who would want to, right?

   If `gnus-save-killed-list' (default `t') is `nil', Gnus will not
save the list of killed groups to the startup file.  This will save
both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk).  It will
also means that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old, so
the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.  You
should always set `gnus-check-new-newsgroups' to `nil' or `ask-server'
if you set this variable to `nil' (*note New Groups::.).

   The `gnus-startup-file' variable says where the startup files are.
The default value is `~/.newsrc', with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup file
being whatever that one is with a `.eld' appended.

   `gnus-save-newsrc-hook' is called before saving any of the newsrc
files, while `gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook' is called just before saving
the `.newsrc.eld' file, and `gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook' is called
just before saving the `.newsrc' file.  The latter two are commonly
used to turn version control on or off.  Version control is off by
default when saving the startup files.

   When Gnus starts, it will read the `gnus-init-file' file, which is
`~/.gnus.el' by default.  This is a normal Emacs Lisp file and can be
used to avoid cluttering your `.emacs' file with Gnus stuff.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Auto Save,  Next: The Active File,  Prev: Startup Files,  Up: Starting Up

Auto Save
=========

   Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading
articles, catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added
to a special "dribble buffer".  This buffer is auto-saved the normal
Emacs way.  If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
`.newsrc' files, all changes you have made can be recovered from this
file.

   If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
read it.  The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file
is saved.

   If `gnus-use-dribble-file' is `nil', Gnus won't create and maintain
a dribble buffer.  The default is `t'.

   Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in `gnus-dribble-directory'.  If
this variable is `nil', which it is by default, Gnus will dribble into
the directory where the `.newsrc' file is located.  (This is normally
the user's home directory.)  The dribble file will get the same file
permissions as the `.newsrc' file.


File: gnus.info,  Node: The Active File,  Next: Startup Variables,  Prev: Auto Save,  Up: Starting Up

The Active File
===============

   When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether
new articles have arrived, it reads the active file.  This is a very
large file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.

   Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match
the regexp `gnus-ignored-newsgroups'.  This is done primarily to reject
any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in.  However, this is not
recommended.  In fact, it's highly discouraged.  Instead, *note New
Groups::. for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.

   The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network,
you can set `gnus-read-active-file' to `nil' to prevent Gnus from
reading the active file.  This variable is `t' by default.

   Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups
that you actually subscribe to.

   Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
variable to `nil' will probably make Gnus slower, not faster.  At
present, having this variable `nil' will slow Gnus down considerably,
unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.

   This variable can also have the value `some'.  Gnus will then
attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups.  On some
servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
support the `LIST ACTIVE group' command), on others this isn't fast at
all.  In any case, `some' should be faster than `nil', and is certainly
faster than `t' over slow lines.

   If this variable is `nil', Gnus will ask for group info in total
lock-step, which isn't very fast.  If it is `some' and you use an NNTP
server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and read all the
replies in one swoop.  This will normally result in better performance,
but if the server does not support the aforementioned `LIST ACTIVE
group' command, this isn't very nice to the server.

   In any case, if you use `some' or `nil', you should definitely kill
all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Startup Variables,  Prev: The Active File,  Up: Starting Up

Startup Variables
=================

`gnus-load-hook'
     A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded.  Note that this
     hook will normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no
     matter how many times you start Gnus.

`gnus-startup-hook'
     A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.

`gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups'
     If non-`nil', Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
     startup.  A "bogus group" is a group that you have in your
     `.newsrc' file, but doesn't exist on the news server.  Checking for
     bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources
     it's best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus
     groups once in a while from the group buffer instead (*note Group
     Maintenance::.).

`gnus-inhibit-startup-message'
     If non-`nil', the startup message won't be displayed.  That way,
     your boss might not notice that you are reading news instead of
     doing your job as easily.

`gnus-no-groups-message'
     Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.


File: gnus.info,  Node: The Group Buffer,  Next: The Summary Buffer,  Prev: Starting Up,  Up: Top

The Group Buffer
****************

   The "group buffer" lists all (or parts) of the available groups.  It
is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
long as Gnus is active.

* Menu:

* Group Buffer Format::    Information listed and how you can change it.
* Group Maneuvering::      Commands for moving in the group buffer.
* Selecting a Group::      Actually reading news.
* Subscription Commands::  Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
* Group Levels::           Levels? What are those, then?
* Group Score::            A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
* Marking Groups::         You can mark groups for later processing.
* Foreign Groups::         Creating and editing groups.
* Group Parameters::       Each group may have different parameters set.
* Listing Groups::         Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
* Sorting Groups::         Re-arrange the group order.
* Group Maintenance::      Maintaining a tidy `.newsrc' file.
* Browse Foreign Server::  You can browse a server.  See what it has to offer.
* Exiting Gnus::           Stop reading news and get some work done.
* Group Topics::           A folding group mode divided into topics.
* Misc Group Stuff::       Other stuff that you can to do.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Group Buffer Format,  Next: Group Maneuvering,  Up: The Group Buffer

Group Buffer Format
===================

* Menu:

* Group Line Specification::       Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
* Group Modeline Specification::   The group buffer modeline.
* Group Highlighting::             Having nice colors in the group buffer.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Group Line Specification,  Next: Group Modeline Specification,  Up: Group Buffer Format

Group Line Specification
------------------------

   The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.

   Here's a couple of example group lines:

          25: news.announce.newusers
      *    0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin

   Quite simple, huh?

   You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
`news.announce.newusers'.  There are no unread articles, but some
ticked articles, in `alt.fan.andrea-dworkin' (see that little asterisk
at the beginning of the line?)

   You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
`gnus-group-line-format' variable.  This variable works along the lines
of a `format' specification, which is pretty much the same as a
`printf' specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.  *Note
Formatting Variables::.

   The default value that produced those lines above is `%M%S%5y:
%(%g%)\n'.

   There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves
to the colon after performing an operation.  Nothing else is
required--not even the group name.  All displayed text is just window
dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.  Gnus stores all real
information it needs using text properties.

   (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
instead of wasting time reading news.)

   Here's a list of all available format characters:

`M'
     Only marked articles.

`S'
     Whether the group is subscribed.

`L'
     Level of subscribedness.

`N'
     Number of unread articles.

`I'
     Number of dormant articles.

`T'
     Number of ticked articles.

`R'
     Number of read articles.

`t'
     Total number of articles.

`y'
     Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.

`i'
     Number of ticked and dormant articles.

`g'
     Full group name.

`G'
     Group name.

`D'
     Newsgroup description.

`o'
     `m' if moderated.

`O'
     `(m)' if moderated.

`s'
     Select method.

`n'
     Select from where.

`z'
     A string that looks like `<%s:%n>' if a foreign select method is
     used.

`P'
     Indentation based on the level of the topic (*note Group
     Topics::.).

`c'
     Short (collapsed) group name.  The `gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels'
     variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group
     name.  The default is `1'.

`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 headers as
     argument.  The function should return a string, which will be
     inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
     specifier.

   All the "number-of" specs will be filled with an asterisk (`*') if
no info is available--for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
group, or a bogus (or semi-bogus) native group.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Group Modeline Specification,  Next: Group Highlighting,  Prev: Group Line Specification,  Up: Group Buffer Format

Group Modeline Specification
----------------------------

   The mode line can be changed by setting
(`gnus-group-mode-line-format').  It doesn't understand that many
format specifiers:

`S'
     The native news server.

`M'
     The native select method.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Group Highlighting,  Prev: Group Modeline Specification,  Up: Group Buffer Format

Group Highlighting
------------------

   Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
`gnus-group-highlight' variable.  This is an alist with elements that
look like (FORM . FACE).  If FORM evaluates to something non-`nil', the
FACE will be used on the line.

   Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
background is dark:

     (setq gnus-group-highlight
         `(((> unread 200) .
            ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
           ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
            ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
           ((< level 3) .
            ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
           ((zerop unread) .
            ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
           (t .
            ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
           ))

   Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
include:

`group'
     The group name.

`unread'
     The number of unread articles in the group.

`method'
     The select method.

`mailp'
     Whether the group is a mail group.

`level'
     The level of the group.

`score'
     The score of the group.

`ticked'
     The number of ticked articles in the group.

`topic'
     When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the
     current topic being inserted.

   When the forms are `eval'ed, point is at the beginning of the line
of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
functions for snarfing info on the group.

   `gnus-group-update-hook' is called when a group line is changed.  It
will not be called when `gnus-visual' is `nil'.  This hook calls
`gnus-group-highlight-line' by default.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Group Maneuvering,  Next: Selecting a Group,  Prev: Group Buffer Format,  Up: The Group Buffer

Group Maneuvering
=================

   All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave
as expected, hopefully.

`n'
     Go to the next group that has unread articles
     (`gnus-group-next-unread-group').

`p'
`DEL'
     Go to the previous group group that has unread articles
     (`gnus-group-prev-unread-group').

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

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

`M-p'
     Go to the next unread group on the same level (or lower)
     (`gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level').

`M-n'
     Go to the previous unread group on the same level (or lower)
     (`gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level').

   Three commands for jumping to groups:

`j'
     Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
     (`gnus-group-jump-to-group').  Killed groups can be jumped to, just
     like living groups.

`,'
     Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
     (`gnus-group-best-unread-group').

`.'
     Jump to the first group with unread articles
     (`gnus-group-first-unread-group').

   If `gnus-group-goto-unread' is `nil', all the movement commands will
move to the next group, not the next unread group.  Even the commands
that say they move to the next unread group.  The default is `t'.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Selecting a Group,  Next: Subscription Commands,  Prev: Group Maneuvering,  Up: The Group Buffer

Selecting a Group
=================

`SPACE'
     Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display
     the first unread article (`gnus-group-read-group').  If there are
     no unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical
     prefix to this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old
     articles in this group from the server.  If you give a numerical
     prefix N, Gnus will fetch N number of articles.  If N is positive,
     fetch the N newest articles, if N is negative, fetch the ABS(N)
     oldest articles.

`RET'
     Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
     (`gnus-group-select-group').  Takes the same arguments as
     `gnus-group-read-group'--the only difference is that this command
     does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
     entry.

`M-RET'
     This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with
     the minimum amount off fuzz (`gnus-group-quick-select-group').  No
     scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and
     no expunging.  This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and
     have to enter some humongous group.

`M-SPACE'
     This is yet one more command that does the same as the one above,
     but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
     (`gnus-group-visible-select-group').

`c'
     Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
     (`gnus-group-catchup-current').  `gnus-group-catchup-group-hook'
     is when catching up a group from the group buffer.

`C'
     Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
     (`gnus-group-catchup-current-all').

   The `gnus-large-newsgroup' variable says what Gnus should consider
to be a big group.  This is 200 by default.  If the group has more
unread articles than this, Gnus will query the user before entering the
group.  The user can then specify how many articles should be fetched
from the server.  If the user specifies a negative number (`-n'), the
`n' oldest articles will be fetched.  If it is positive, the `n'
articles that have arrived most recently will be fetched.

   `gnus-auto-select-first' control whether any articles are selected
automatically when entering a group.

`nil'
     Don't select any articles when entering the group.  Just display
     the full summary buffer.

`t'
     Select the first unread article when entering the group.

`best'
     Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
     group.

   If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to `nil' in
`gnus-select-group-hook', which is called when a group is selected.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Subscription Commands,  Next: Group Levels,  Prev: Selecting a Group,  Up: The Group Buffer

Subscription Commands
=====================

`S t'
`u'
     Toggle subscription to the current group
     (`gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group').

`S s'
`U'
     Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it.  If it was
     subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
     (`gnus-group-unsubscribe-group').

`S k'
`C-k'
     Kill the current group (`gnus-group-kill-group').

`S y'
`C-y'
     Yank the last killed group (`gnus-group-yank-group').

`C-x C-t'
     Transpose two groups (`gnus-group-transpose-groups').  This isn't
     really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
     kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.

`S w'
`C-w'
     Kill all groups in the region (`gnus-group-kill-region').

`S z'
     Kill all zombie groups (`gnus-group-kill-all-zombies').

`S C-k'
     Kill all groups on a certain level (`gnus-group-kill-level').
     These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command
     should be used with some caution.  The only thing where this
     command comes in really handy is when you have a `.newsrc' with
     lots of unsubscribed groups that you want to get rid off.  `S C-k'
     on level `7' will kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not
     have message numbers in the `.newsrc' file.

   Also *note Group Levels::..


File: gnus.info,  Node: Group Levels,  Next: Group Score,  Prev: Subscription Commands,  Up: The Group Buffer

Group Levels
============

   All groups have a level of "subscribedness".  For instance, if a
group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5.  You
can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower (*note
Listing Groups::.), or to just check for new articles in groups on a
given level or lower (*note Scanning New Messages::.).

   Remember:  The higher the level of the group, the less important it
is.

`S l'
     Set the level of the current group.  If a numeric prefix is given,
     the next N groups will have their levels set.  The user will be
     prompted for a level.

   Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
`gnus-level-subscribed' (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
`gnus-level-subscribed' (exclusive) and `gnus-level-unsubscribed'
(inclusive) (default 7) to be unsubscribed, `gnus-level-zombie' to be
zombies (walking dead) (default 8) and `gnus-level-killed' to be killed
(default 9), completely dead.  Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed
groups exactly the same, but zombie and killed groups have no
information on what articles you have read, etc, stored.  This
distinction between dead and living groups isn't done because it is
nice or clever, it is done purely for reasons of efficiency.

   It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on
quite low levels (eg. 1 or 2).

   If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some
care.  Set them once, and don't touch them ever again.  Better yet,
don't touch them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.

   Two closely related variables are `gnus-level-default-subscribed'
(default 3) and `gnus-level-default-unsubscribed' (default 6), which
are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
(un)subscribed.  These two variables should, of course, be inside the
relevant legal ranges.

   If `gnus-keep-same-level' is non-`nil', some movement commands will
only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower).  In
particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
will go to the next group of the same level (or lower).  This might be
handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
rest.

   All groups with a level less than or equal to
`gnus-group-default-list-level' will be listed in the group buffer by
default.

   If `gnus-group-list-inactive-groups' is non-`nil', non-active groups
will be listed along with the unread groups.  This variable is `t' by
default.  If it is `nil', inactive groups won't be listed.

   If `gnus-group-use-permanent-levels' is non-`nil', once you give a
level prefix to `g' or `l', all subsequent commands will use this level
as the "work" level.

   Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
`gnus-activate-level' or less.  If you don't want to activate
unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to `5'.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Group Score,  Next: Marking Groups,  Prev: Group Levels,  Up: The Group Buffer

Group Score
===========

   You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that
scheme is somewhat restrictive.  Don't you wish you could have Gnus
sort the group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps?
Within reason?

   This is what "group score" is for.  You can assign a score to each
group.  You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level.  (Taken together,
the level and the score is called the "rank" of the group.  A group
that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
on level 5 that has a score of 300.  (The level is the most significant
part and the score is the least significant part.)

   If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups
you read seldom you can add the `gnus-summary-bubble-group' function to
the `gnus-summary-exit-hook' hook.  This will result (after sorting) in
a bubbling sort of action.  If you want to see that in action after
each summary exit, you can add `gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank' or
`gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score' to the same hook, but that will slow
things down somewhat.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Marking Groups,  Next: Foreign Groups,  Prev: Group Score,  Up: The Group Buffer

Marking Groups
==============

   If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they
appear subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
numerical prefix to the command.  Most group commands will then do your
bidding on those groups.

   However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
perform a command on several groups.  You simply mark the groups first
with the process mark and then execute the command.

`#'
`M m'
     Set the mark on the current group (`gnus-group-mark-group').

`M-#'
`M u'
     Remove the mark from the current group (`gnus-group-unmark-group').

`M U'
     Remove the mark from all groups (`gnus-group-unmark-all-groups').

`M w'
     Mark all groups between point and mark (`gnus-group-mark-region').

`M b'
     Mark all groups in the buffer (`gnus-group-mark-buffer').

`M r'
     Mark all groups that match some regular expression
     (`gnus-group-mark-regexp').

   Also *note Process/Prefix::..

   If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been
marked with the process mark, you can use the `M-&'
(`gnus-group-universal-argument') command.  It will prompt you for the
command to be executed.


File: gnus.info,  Node: Foreign Groups,  Next: Group Parameters,  Prev: Marking Groups,  Up: The Group Buffer

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

   Here 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:

`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 legal only on some
     groups--mail groups mostly.  This command might very well be quite
     slow on some backends.

`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.  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 with were a newsgroup with the
     `nneething' backend (`gnus-group-enter-directory').

`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', and `forward'.  If you run this
     command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file type.

`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.

`G V'
     Make a new, fresh, empty `nnvirtual' group
     (`gnus-group-make-empty-virtual').

`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 the `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.


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

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

   Gnus stores all information on a group in a list that is usually
known as the "group info".  This list has from three to six elements.
Here's an example info.

     ("nnml:mail.ding" 3 ((1 . 232) 244 (256 . 270)) ((tick 246 249))
                       (nnml "private") ((to-address . "ding@ifi.uio.no")))

   The first element is the "group name", as Gnus knows the group,
anyway.  The second element is the "subscription level", which normally
is a small integer.  The third element is a list of ranges of read
articles.  The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of
various kinds.  The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
server, if you like).  The sixth element is a list of "group
parameters", which is what this section is about.

   Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not
required.  In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have
the first three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.

   The group parameters store information local to a particular group:

`to-address'
     If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
     `(to-address .  "some@where.com")', that address will be used by
     the backend when doing followups and posts.  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'
     If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
     `(to-list . "some@where.com")', that address will be used when
     doing a `a' in any group.  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'.

`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'
     If the group parameter list contains an element like `(to-group .
     "some.group.name")', all posts will be sent to that group.

`auto-expire'
     If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, all
     articles that are read will be marked as expirable.  For an
     alternative approach, *note Expiring Mail::..

`total-expire'
     If this symbol is present, all read articles will be put through
     the expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable.  Use
     with caution.

`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.  This means
     that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.

`admin-address'
     When unsubscribing to 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.

`comment'
     This parameter allows you to enter a arbitrary comment on the
     group.

`(VARIABLE FORM)'
     You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the
     group you are entering.  Say you want to turn threading off in
     `news.answers'.  You'd then 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 the group
     `alt.binaries.pictures.furniture', 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?

   If you want to change the group info you can use the `G E' command
to enter a buffer where you can edit it.

   You usually don't want to edit the entire group info, so you'd be
better off using the `G p' command to just edit the group parameters.

