GNU Info
(bbdb.info)Gnus Summary Buffer
Gnus Summary Buffer Enhancements
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Gnus can use the BBDB to do one of two things:
* Mark authors in the Summary Buffer who have records in the BBDB
with a user-defined mark character. See Marking Posters, below.
* For authors in the Summary Buffer who also have records in the
BBDB, replace their name as listed in the Summary Buffer with
their name as stored in the BBDB. See Using Names from the BBDB,
below.
Marking Posters
...............
Authors with records in the BBDB can be marked either with a
user-defined mark character, or with a default one. The marking is
enabled by the use of a Gnus user format code, as determined by
`bbdb/gnus-summary-in-bbdb-format-letter'. This variable, which
defaults to `b', is used to create a format code which is intended for
use in `gnus-summary-line-format'. The format code is created by
concatenating `%u' with the value of
`bbdb/gnus-summary-in-bbdb-format-letter'. In the default case this
results in the creation of the format code `%ub'.
Posts are marked as follows: If the record for the poster has the
field indicated in `bbdb-message-marker-field' (the default is
`mark-char'), the value of that field is used as the mark character.(1)
If no such field is present, the value of
`bbdb/gnus-summary-known-poster-mark' will be used instead. If the
author is not in the BBDB, a space will be used as the mark character.
Using Names from the BBDB
.........................
The names reported for authors of posts in the Summary buffer can be
altered to conform to the values present in their respective BBDB
records (if any). This rewriting is enabled by the use of a Gnus user
format code, as determined by `bbdb/gnus-summary-user-format-letter'.
This variable, which defaults to `B', is used to create a format code
which is intended for use in `gnus-summary-line-format'. The format
code is created by concatenating `%u' with the value of
`bbdb/gnus-summary-user-format-letter'. In the default case this
results in the creation of the format code `%uB'. This format code is
intended to replace the format code previously used in the Summary
buffer format line to indicate the author and/or net address (usually
`%a', `%n', and/or `$N').
The effects of this format code are in two independent parts - the
marking of known posters, and the rewriting of posters names. The
first, the marking of posters, occurs only when
`bbdb/gnus-summary-mark-known-posters' is `t' (the default) and the
posters have entries in the BBDB. When this variable is true, the
marking occurs as described in the previous section, Marking Posters,
above.
The poster name rewriting is done for all posters - not just for
those with records in the BBDB. That said, rewriting rules for posters
in the BBDB are more flexible than for those not listed. The rewriting
is governed by two variables, as described below.
`bbdb/gnus-summary-prefer-real-names' can have one of three values -
`t', `bbdb', or `nil'. In general, this variable governs the
preference between net addresses and names. If it is `t', the name (if
any) will be used. If `nil', the net address will be used. The third
value, `bbdb', can be used as a method for distinguishing between
authors with records in the BBDB and those without. If the variable is
set to `bbdb', the name from the BBDB record will be used if the author
has a record in the BBDB. If the author is not in the BBDB, the net
address from the message will be printed. This variable makes little
sense if `bbdb/gnus-summary-prefer-bbdb-data' is `nil', as no names
will be printed in the Summary buffer in this case - only net addresses.
`bbdb/gnus-summary-prefer-bbdb-data' is used to (dis)allow use of
the BBDB for author data retrieval. If it is `t', data from the BBDB
will be used if available. If it is `nil', data from the BBDB will not
be used.
In the following examples, assume the following:
1. Message: `From: Jamie <jwz@netscape.com>'
BBDB: No record
2. Message: `From: Matt <simmonmt@acm.org>'
BBDB: Name: `Matthew', Net: `simmonmt@purdue.edu'
`bbdb/gnus-summary-prefer-bbdb-data' `t' `t' `nil'
`bbdb/gnus-summary-prefer-real-names' `t' `bbdb' `t'
Printed in Summary buffer for
Case 1 Jamie jwz@netscape.com Jamie
Case 2 Matthew Matthew Matt
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) While it is possible to put a multi-character mark in
`bbdb-message-marker-field' and/or in
`bbdb/gnus-summary-known-poster-mark', the resulting summary buffer
will be misaligned as a result. This misalignment will result from fact
that at this time the character used to indicate posts whose authors are
not in the BBDB is always a single character, and cannot be changed.
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