The Server Buffer

Traditionally, a server is a machine or a piece of software that one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each backend represents a virtual server.

For instance, the nntp backend may be used to connect to several different actual nntp servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports on the same actual nntp server. You tell Gnus which backend to use, and what parameters to set by specifying a select method.

These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite complicated - say, for instance, that you want to read from the nntp server `news.funet.fi' on port number `13', which hangs if queried for NOV headers and has a buggy select. Ahem. Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of putting names to methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.

• Server Buffer Format: You can customize the look of this buffer.
• Server Commands: Commands to manipulate servers.
• Example Methods: Examples server specifications.
• Servers & Methods: You can use server names as select methods.

Server Buffer Format

You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the gnus-server-line-format variable. This is a format-like variable, with some simple extensions:

`h'

How the news is fetched - the backend name.

`n'

The name of this server.

`w'

Where the news is to be fetched from - the address.

Server Commands

SPC

Browse the current server (gnus-server-read-server).

q

Return to the group buffer (gnus-server-exit).

l

List all servers (gnus-server-list-servers).

k

Kill the current server (gnus-server-kill-server).

y

Yank the previously killed server (gnus-server-yank-server).

c

Copy the current server (gnus-server-copy-server).

a

Add a new server (gnus-server-add-server).

e

Edit a server (gnus-server-edit-server).

Example Methods

Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:

(nntp "news.funet.fi")

Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:

(nnspool "")

As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the backend, and the second is the address, or name, if you will.

After these two elements, there may be a random number of (variable form) pairs.

To go back to the first example - imagine that you want to read from port 15 from that machine. This is what the select method should look like then:

(nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))

You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what variables are relevant, but here's an nnmh example.

nnmh is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for you private mail:

(nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))

(This server is then called `private', but you may have guessed that.

Here's the method for the public spool:

(nnmh "public" 
      (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/") 
      (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))

Servers & Methods

Wherever you would normally use a select method (eg. gnus-secondary-select-method, in the group select method, when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all over.