  The slrn reference manual
  Matthias Friedrich <mafr@topmail.de>
  Thomas Schultz <tststs@gmx.de>
  version 0.9.7.0

  Using and customizing the slrn newsreader
  ______________________________________________________________________

  Table of Contents

























































  1. Introduction

     1.1 Downloading slrn
     1.2 Getting help
     1.3 About this manual
        1.3.1 History

  2. Configuration

  3. Reference

     3.1 Command line switches
     3.2 Environment variables
     3.3 Configuration commands
        3.3.1 autobaud
        3.3.2 color
        3.3.3 compatible_charsets
        3.3.4 grouplens_add
        3.3.5 header_display_format
        3.3.6 hostname
        3.3.7 ignore_quotes
        3.3.8 include
        3.3.9 interpret
        3.3.10 mono
        3.3.11 nnrpaccess
        3.3.12 posting_host
        3.3.13 scorefile
        3.3.14 server
        3.3.15 set
        3.3.16 setkey
        3.3.17 strip_re_regexp
        3.3.18 strip_sig_regexp
        3.3.19 strip_was_regexp
        3.3.20 unsetkey
        3.3.21 visible_headers
     3.4 Configuration variables
        3.4.1 abort_unmodified_edits
        3.4.2 art_help_line
        3.4.3 author_display
        3.4.4 auto_mark_article_as_read
        3.4.5 beep
        3.4.6 broken_xref
        3.4.7 cc_followup
        3.4.8 cc_followup_string
        3.4.9 cc_post_string
        3.4.10 charset
        3.4.11 color_by_score
        3.4.12 confirm_actions
        3.4.13 check_new_groups
        3.4.14 custom_headers
        3.4.15 decode_directory
        3.4.16 display_author_realname
        3.4.17 display_cursor_bar
        3.4.18 display_score
        3.4.19 editor_command
        3.4.20 emphasized_text_mask
        3.4.21 emphasized_text_mode
        3.4.22 failed_posts_file
        3.4.23 followup
        3.4.24 followup_custom_headers
        3.4.25 followup_date_format
        3.4.26 followup_string
        3.4.27 followup_strip_signature
        3.4.28 generate_email_from
        3.4.29 generate_message_id
        3.4.30 group_dsc_start_column
        3.4.31 group_help_line
        3.4.32 grouplens_host
        3.4.33 grouplens_port
        3.4.34 grouplens_pseudoname
        3.4.35 header_help_line
        3.4.36 hide_pgpsignature
        3.4.37 hide_signature
        3.4.38 hide_verbatim_marks
        3.4.39 highlight_unread_subjects
        3.4.40 hostname
        3.4.41 ignore_signature
        3.4.42 inews_program
        3.4.43 kill_score
        3.4.44 lines_per_update
        3.4.45 macro_directory
        3.4.46 mail_editor_command
        3.4.47 max_low_score
        3.4.48 metamail_command
        3.4.49 mime_charset
        3.4.50 min_high_score
        3.4.51 mouse
        3.4.52 new_subject_breaks_threads
        3.4.53 no_backups
        3.4.54 non_Xbrowser
        3.4.55 organization
        3.4.56 overview_date_format
        3.4.57 post_editor_command
        3.4.58 post_object
        3.4.59 postpone_directory
        3.4.60 prefer_head
        3.4.61 printer_name
        3.4.62 process_verbatim_marks
        3.4.63 process_verbatum_marks
        3.4.64 prompt_next_group
        3.4.65 query_next_article
        3.4.66 query_next_group
        3.4.67 query_read_group_cutoff
        3.4.68 query_reconnect
        3.4.69 quote_string
        3.4.70 read_active
        3.4.71 realname
        3.4.72 reject_long_lines
        3.4.73 reply_custom_headers
        3.4.74 reply_string
        3.4.75 replyto
        3.4.76 save_directory
        3.4.77 save_posts
        3.4.78 save_replies
        3.4.79 score_editor_command
        3.4.80 scorefile
        3.4.81 scroll_by_page
        3.4.82 sendmail_command
        3.4.83 server_object
        3.4.84 show_article
        3.4.85 show_descriptions
        3.4.86 show_thread_subject
        3.4.87 signature
        3.4.88 signoff_string
        3.4.89 simulate_graphic_chars
        3.4.90 smart_quote
        3.4.91 sorting_method
        3.4.92 spoiler_char
        3.4.93 spoiler_display_mode
        3.4.94 spool_active_file
        3.4.95 spool_activetimes_file
        3.4.96 spool_check_up_on_nov
        3.4.97 spool_inn_root
        3.4.98 spool_newsgroups_file
        3.4.99 spool_nov_file
        3.4.100 spool_nov_root
        3.4.101 spool_root
        3.4.102 supersedes_custom_headers
        3.4.103 top_status_line
        3.4.104 uncollapse_threads
        3.4.105 unsubscribe_new_groups
        3.4.106 use_blink
        3.4.107 use_color
        3.4.108 use_flow_control
        3.4.109 use_grouplens
        3.4.110 use_header_numbers
        3.4.111 use_localtime
        3.4.112 use_metamail
        3.4.113 use_mime
        3.4.114 use_slrnpull
        3.4.115 use_tilde
        3.4.116 use_tmpdir
        3.4.117 use_xgtitle
        3.4.118 username
        3.4.119 warn_followup_to
        3.4.120 wrap_flags
        3.4.121 wrap_method
        3.4.122 write_newsrc_flags
        3.4.123 Xbrowser


  ______________________________________________________________________

  1.  Introduction


  slrn (``s-lang read news'') is a newsreader, i.e. a program that
  accesses a newsserver to read messages from the Internet News service
  (also known as ``Usenet''). It runs in console mode on various Unix-
  like systems (including Linux), 32-bit Windows, OS/2, BeOS and VMS.
  Beside the usual features of a newsreader, slrn supports scoring rules
  to highlight, sort or kill articles based on information from their
  header. It is highly customizable, allows free key-bindings and can
  easily be extended using the sophisticated s-lang macro language.
  Offline reading is possible by using either slrnpull (shipped with
  slrn) or a local newsserver (like leafnode or INN).


  1.1.  Downloading slrn


  The latest version of slrn is available both via HTTP from slrn's
  homepage <http://slrn.sourceforge.net/> and via anonymous FTP
  <ftp://slrn.sourceforge.net/pub/slrn/>, as well as from a number of
  mirrors <http://slrn.sourceforge.net/#sect_getslrn>.

  If you are running Linux, slrn is probably included in your
  distribution. However, please note that some distributors modify the
  sources; in this case, slrn might not always behave like it is
  described here.


  1.2.  Getting help


  Questions that are neither answered by this manual nor the slrn FAQ
  <http://slrn.sourceforge.net/manual/slrn-FAQ.html> are on-topic in
  news.software.readers.
  You may also want to have a look at the slrn web pages at
  http://slrn.sourceforge.net/ (also known as www.slrn.org).  You will
  find a list of known bugs and feature requests, some useful add-ons, a
  recent copy of this manual and links to more information about slrn
  there.


  1.3.  About this manual

  This manual has been started by Matthias Friedrich and Thomas Schultz
  in 1999 since there was no up to date end user documentation
  available. As of version 0.9.7.0, it is part of the official
  documentation.

  This manual still needs a lot of work to become more comprehensive.
  Anyone willing to contribute additional chapters should contact us -
  you are welcome to join our efforts. Furthermore, we greatly
  appreciate feedback about errors, bad language or suggestions
  concerning this manual.

  All questions regarding the manual can be discussed on the slrn-user
  mailing list <http://lists.sourceforge.net/mailman/listinfo/slrn-
  user>. Of course, you still can email us privately if you want.


  1.3.1.  History


     2001-03-28: Revision 1.1
        Manual updated to reflect the changes in slrn 0.9.7.0.

     2000-09-27: Revision 1
        First public release, explaining all slrnrc commands,
        configuration and environment variables and command line
        switches.



  2.  Configuration


  Basically there are four possibilities to change slrn's behaviour:


  o  ``environment variables''

  o  ``a global configuration file''

  o  ``a personal configuration file''

  o  ``command line options''

  The list is sorted by priority - environment variables are overridden
  by settings in configuration files that are in turn overridden by
  command line switches.

  Most customizations in slrn are done using an initialization file. By
  default, it is .slrnrc (or slrn.rc on VMS, OS/2 and Windows) in your
  home directory.

  The file consists of ``configuration commands'', each one on a line of
  its own. Most commands require arguments that can be either strings or
  integer values. If a string contains whitespace, you have to enclose
  it in double quotes (").


  The percent sign (%) is used as the comment character. From this
  character on, everything else on the same line will be ignored.
  Example:


  % Name of signature file to use
  set signature ".signature"



  If you set the same variable more than once in your configuration
  file, the last setting will take effect.

  The easiest way to build a personal configuration file is to make a
  copy of the annotated sample slrn.rc that is included in the slrn
  distribution and to tailor it to your needs.

  This manual contains a list of all ``configuration commands'' and
  ``variables''.



  3.  Reference

  Note: Please do not use options that are called ``obsolete'' in this
  manual. They are only included for backwards compatibility and will be
  removed before version 1.0 is released.


  3.1.  Command line switches

  The following options can be used when calling slrn from the command
  line:

     -a Read active file when checking for new news. This can be
        permanently turned on by setting ``read_active'' to 1.

     -C Use colors without checking if the terminal supports it.

     -C-
        Don't use colors, even if the terminal supports it.

     -d Get group descriptions (taglines) from the news server. Please
        note that this may cause a download of several hundred kilobytes
        and thus can take a long time. The output is saved to a local
        file, so you only need to do this once. May not be specified in
        combination with ``--create''.

     -Dname
        Add name to the list of predefined preprocessing tokens, which
        can be used in your slrnrc file to have conditionally
        interpreted lines. For example, you can use the following slrnrc
        entry if you want to read mailing lists (stored as MH mail
        directories in /home/username/Mail/) with slrn -DMAIL:

        #ifdef MAIL
          set spool_inn_root      "/home/username/Mail"
          set spool_root          "/home/username/Mail"
          set spool_nov_root      "/home/username/Mail"
          set server_object       "spool"
          set read_active         1
          server "/home/username/Mail"  ".jnewsrc.mail"
        #endif



     Similarly, you can test if a given environment variable is set:

     #if$DISPLAY
       set editor_command "xjed '%s' -g %d -tmp"
     #endif



     -f file
        Use file as the newsrc file for this session.  This is
        permanently set via the ``server'' configuration command.

     -h [snews://]host[:port]
        Connect to the NNTP server on host, overriding the $NNTPSERVER
        environment variable.  If no port is given, the default NNTP
        port (119) will be used. The prefix snews:// indicates that slrn
        should attempt a secure connection. This will result in an error
        message when SSL support is not compiled in. Has no effect when
        reading directly from spool.

     -i file
        Read file as the initialization (slrnrc) file.  The default is
        to use .slrnrc (or slrn.rc on VMS, OS/2 and Windows) in your
        home directory.

     -k Don't read the ``score file''.

     -k0
        Read the score file, but inhibit ``expensive'' scoring. A
        scoring rule is ``expensive'' if it contains header lines that
        are not included in the server's overview files. This makes
        applying them slow.

     -n Do not check for new groups (usually resulting in a faster
        startup). You can permanently set this via ``check_new_groups''.

     -m Force mouse support (without checking if it works on the current
        terminal). To permanently activate mouse support, you can use
        the ``mouse'' configuration variable.

     -p N
        Use port N to connect to the NNTP server.

     --create
        Read the active file (the list of all groups) from the news
        server to create an initial newsrc file.

     -create
        Obsolete version of ``--create''

     --debug file
        Log dialog with the NNTP server to file.  This option is only
        accepted when explicitly using ``--nntp''.

     --help
        Show help for command line switches.

     --inews
        Use an external ``inews program'' to post articles.

     --kill-log file
        Keep a log of all articles that were killed by the scorefile in
        file.

     --nntp
        Use builtin NNTP support for reading and posting (an external
        program is used to post if the ``force inews'' compile time
        option is set).

     --pull
        Spool outgoing articles locally for slrnpull to send.

     --spool
        Read directly from spool.

     --version
        Print version and some compile time settings.


  3.2.  Environment variables

  slrn is influenced by the following environment variables:

     COLORTERM

        If this variable is set, slrn will assume that your terminal
        supports ``ANSI color sequences''. It also enables a workaround
        for a problem with the ``mouse reporting'' when running slrn
        inside of an rxvt.


     DISPLAY

        If set, slrn assumes that X11 is running and uses ``Xbrowser''
        when browsing a URL. Otherwise, ``non_Xbrowser'' is called.


     EDITOR

        See ``$SLRN_EDITOR''.


     HOME

        See ``$SLRNHOME''.


     HOSTNAME

        If no ``hostname'' is given, the value of this environment
        variable is used. As a last resort, slrn will call
        gethostname(3) and gethostbyname(3) to find a value it can work
        with. The hostname can also be hardcoded when building slrn (see
        OUR_HOSTNAME in slrnfeat.h). The value of OUR_HOSTNAME can
        either be the hostname as a string or the name of a file
        containing the hostname. Note that the environment variable
        overrides the hardcoded default and that the configuration
        variable overrides both.


     LOGNAME

        See ``$USER''.


     NAME

        If you did not set ``realname'', slrn tries to get a value from
        $NAME. On Unix systems, it also queries the /etc/passwd gecos
        field.


     NNTPSERVER

        You can use this variable to tell slrn which NNTP server to
        connect to.  It can be overridden by the command line option -h.
        It is possible to compile in a default setting in case the user
        does not set $NNTPSERVER. This is done in slrnfeat.h by either
        setting NNTPSERVER_FILE to the name of a file containing the
        hostname or by directly setting NNTPSERVER_NAME to the hostname.
        In case both are defined, slrn first tries to read the file and
        only uses NNTPSERVER_NAME as a fallback.


     ORGANIZATION

        If ``organization'' is unset, the value of this variable is
        used. It overrides the compile time setting of OUR_ORGANIZATION
        (default is unset) in slrnfeat.h. Both the environment variable
        and the compile time default can optionally point to a file from
        which the organization line will be read.


     PRINTER

        On Unix systems, slrn pipes the current article to an external
        program in order to print it. If you do not specify the program
        using ``printer_name'', it uses lpr -P$PRINTER as the default.


     PWD

        This variable is only used on Unix systems that don't support
        getcwd(3). In these cases, it should be set to the current
        directory at the time slrn is invoked. This is usually nothing
        the user has to worry about.


     REPLYTO

        The value of this variable is used as the default if you do not
        set ``replyto'' in your slrnrc file.


     SLANG_EDITOR

        See ``$SLRN_EDITOR''.


     SLRNHELP

        The help window you get when hitting `?' inside slrn shows the
        default key bindings, which may or may not be the ones you are
        currently using. This is why slrn allows you to change the help
        text by creating a ``help file'' and letting $SLRNHELP point to
        it (the absolute filename is needed here).  Your slrn
        distribution should include the file help.txt which you can copy
        and modify to suit your needs. It also serves as an example of
        the syntax of slrn help files.


     SLRNHOME

        When interpreting filenames as relative to your home directory,
        slrn uses this variable to find out what your home directory is.
        If $SLRNHOME is unset, $HOME is used instead.


     SLRNPULL_ROOT

        If you want to use slrnpull, you need to define a directory
        where it will look for its configuration files and spool the
        articles. An absolute filename is needed here. There is a
        compile time default for it in slrnfeat.h (SLRNPULL_ROOT_DIR,
        default: "/var/spool/news/slrnpull"), which can be overridden by
        the environment variable $SLRNPULL_ROOT. If an alternate root
        directory is given via the command line parameter -d, it
        overrides both.


     SLRN_EDITOR

        If you didn't define an editor in ``editor_command'' et al, slrn
        checks this variable. If it is unset, slrn subsequently looks at
        $SLANG_EDITOR, $EDITOR and $VISUAL. The last desperate call goes
        to edit (VMS and Windows), e (OS/2) or vi (Unix).


     SLRN_LIB_DIR

        This variable can be used to set the directory in which slrn
        looks for its global configuration file (slrn.rc) and newsgroup
        descriptions (newsgroups.dsc). The default is defined at compile
        time (on unix, as a configure option; otherwise, in slrnconf.h).
        Usual values are /usr/local/lib/slrn, C:/slrn on OS/2 and
        Windows or sys$manager: on VMS.


     TMP

        Indicates the directory in which slrn should save temporary
        files. If it is unset or does not contain an existing directory,
        $TMPDIR is tried. If both are unset, /tmp is used on UNIX
        systems, the current working directory on OS/2 and Windows and
        SYS$LOGIN: on VMS.

        An exception to this are temporary files created to invoke
        ``metamail''. In this case, $TMP is only queried on OS/2 and
        Windows NT.


     TMPDIR

        See ``$TMP''.


     USER

        If ``username'' is unset, slrn tries to get your login name from
        the system first. If this fails, it looks at $USER and $LOGNAME.


     VISUAL

        See ``$SLRN_EDITOR''.


  3.3.  Configuration commands

  You can use the following commands in the configuration file:




  3.3.1.  autobaud

  Usage: autobaud
  Default: off

  The autobaud command may be used to synchronize the output rate slrn
  uses to the terminal baud rate.


  3.3.2.  color

  Usage: color display_element foreground background

  If your terminal supports ANSI color sequences, you can use the color
  command to define your own color scheme. You can assign a different
  color to almost every element on your screen.

  display_element can be one of these:


     article
        Regular text in the article body.

     author
        The author's name / email address in header overview.

     boldtext
        Text in the article body that is interpreted as *bold*.

     box
        Text inside of selection boxes (like the one you see when
        choosing a sorting mode).

     cursor
        The cursor you see in the group window and in header overview.

     date
        The article date in the header overview.

     description
        The ``group descriptions'' (taglines) in group window.

     error
        Error messages in the status line.

     frame
        The frame around selection boxes (see also: ``box'').

     from_myself
        The ``From:'' header line or realname in header overview, in
        case it contains your ``name''.

     group
        The group names in group window.

     grouplens_display
        ``GroupLens'' scores.

     header_name
        The name of header lines in the pager (e.g. ``From:'').

     header_number
        The header number in header overview.

     headers
        The content of header lines in the pager.
     high_score
        The exclamation mark (``!'') used to denote ``high scoring''
        articles in header overview.

     italicstext
        Text in the article body that is interpreted as /italic/.

     menu
        The first line of your display. If ``mouse reporting'' is turned
        on, it contains a menu.

     menu_press
        A menu item while you click on it.

     neg_score
        The subject / score of articles with a negative score value,
        depending on the setting of ``color_by_score''.

     normal
        Everything that does not have its own color object.

     pos_score
        The subject / score of articles with a positive score value,
        depending on the setting of ``color_by_score''.

     pgpsignature
        ``PGP signatures'' appended to the article body.

     quotes
        ``Quoted text'' in the article body. It is now possible to
        distinguish up to 8 levels of quoted material by using color
        objects ``quotes0'' to ``quotes7''.

     response_char
        The highlighted character you need to press if you want to make
        a selection (e.g. in ``[Y]es or [N]o?'').

     selection
        The ``cursor'' used in selection boxes (see also: ``box'').

     signature
        ``Signatures'' appended to the article body.

     status
        The status lines slrn displays.

     subject
        The subject in header overview.

     thread_number
        The number of articles in the thread (displayed in header
        overview next to collapsed threads).

     tilde
        The ``tilde'' displayed at the end of the article body.

     tree
        The thread tree drawn in the header overview.

     underlinetext
        Text in the article body that is interpreted as _underlined_.

     verbatim
        Text in the article body enclosed by ``verbatim marks''.


     verbatum
        Obsolete spelling of ``verbatim''.

  The foreground and background colors have to be set to one of the
  following strings:


       black                gray
       red                  brightred
       green                brightgreen
       brown                yellow
       blue                 brightblue
       magenta              brightmagenta
       cyan                 brightcyan
       lightgray            white



  Additionally, you can use the default foreground / background colors
  of your terminal via the keyword "default".

  Please note that the colors in the right column are all ``bright'' (or
  ``bold'') and can by default only be used for the foreground. If your
  terminal supports it, setting ``use_blink'' to 1 will lift this
  restriction.

  A sample color scheme (which simply sets the colors to their compile
  time default) can be found in the slrn.rc file that should have come
  with your slrn distribution.


  3.3.3.  compatible_charsets

  Usage: compatible_charsets charsets

  With this command, you can give a (comma-separated) list of MIME
  charsets your terminal is capable to display. When slrn encounters one
  of them, it will show the message in the internal pager instead of
  calling ``metamail''.


  3.3.4.  grouplens_add

  Usage: grouplens_add newsgroup

  Add newsgroup to the list of groups for which you want to download
  GroupLens scores.


  3.3.5.  header_display_format

  Usage: header_display_format number format-string

  This command can be used to customize the way article headers are
  presented in the header overview in article mode. You can specify up
  to 10 different formats and switch among them using
  toggle_header_formats (default binding: ESC a). This command may also
  be used with a prefix argument to select a particular format, e.g.,
  ESC 0 ESC a will select the 0th format.

  Here are slrn's default settings:





          header_display_format 0 "%F%-5S%G%-5l:[%12r]%t%s"
          header_display_format 1 "%F%G%-5l:[%12r]%t%s"
          header_display_format 2 "%F%-5l:%t%s"
          header_display_format 3 "%F%-5S%-5l:%t%50s %r"



  number is the number of the format (0-9).

  format-string is a string containing printf(3) style % escapes. This
  is the generic format:

          %[-][w]x


  The brackets indicate optional items. w may consist of one or more
  digits and specifies the width of the field. If the minus sign (-) is
  present, the item will be right justified, otherwise it is left justi-
  fied. The item specifier (x) is required and, depending on its value,
  has the following meaning:


           %   percent character
           F   flags (read/unread, `*' and `#' tags, header number)
           G   GroupLens score
           S   score
           d   date
           D   date (as defined by overview_date_format)
           f   from header
           l   number of lines
           n   server number
           r   author's real name
           s   subject
           t   thread tree



  Additionally, the special format descriptor %Xg can be used. It is not
  substituted by text, but specifies that the next write on the screen
  should take place in column X (numbered from 0). If X is negative, the
  cursor is placed X columns from the right edge of the window.

  Thus, "%F%-5l:%t%s%-20g %r" indicates that the header window will
  contain (in that order): the flags, the number of lines the article
  contains (right justified in a 5 character field), a `:', the tree,
  the subject, and, beginning 20 columns from the right edge of the
  window and separated by a blank, the author's real name.

  See also: ``overview_date_format''


  3.3.6.  hostname

  Usage: hostname your_host_name

  The hostname command is obsolete.  You can now set the ``hostname''
  variable directly.


  3.3.7.  ignore_quotes

  Usage: ignore_quotes pattern [pattern] ...

  The regular expressions given here are used to determine quoted lines
  in the body of an article. You can define up to 5 different patterns
  (this is meant to make up for the lack of an OR operator in slang
  regexps). Please try to keep them as exact as possible, so that slrn
  is able to distinguish different quoting levels - e.g. use "^>" rather
  than "^>*".

  By default, only one pattern is set: "^ ?[:>]"


  3.3.8.  include

  Usage: include filename

  You can use this command to load an additional file that contains
  configuration commands. With this feature, you can easily keep startup
  files for different key bindings, colors etc.  filename is relative to
  your home directory (see ``$SLRNHOME''). This can safely be done
  multiple times and recursively.


  Example: include ".slrnrc-colors"




  3.3.9.  interpret

  Usage: interpret filename

  This command loads and executes an slang macro file. filename is
  relative to your ``macro_directory'' or (if the file cannot be found
  there) to your home directory.

  This command has no effect if the slang interpreter has been
  deactivated at compile time.


  3.3.10.  mono

  Usage: mono display_element attributes

  You can use this command to customize slrn's appearence on monochrome
  displays. See section ``color'' for a description of display_element.
  attributes can be one of


  o  bold

  o  blink

  o  underline

  o  reverse

  or ``none'' to turn off video attributes. The attributes can also be
  combined (simply separate them with blanks). You can find sample
  settings in the slrn.rc file that should have come with your slrn
  distribution.

  If you don't like blinking, you can turn it off altogether via
  ``use_blink''. If you run slrn with colors, these settings will not
  have any effect.


  3.3.11.  nnrpaccess

  Usage: nnrpaccess host username password

  This command can be used to set the necessary data for servers that
  request NNRP authentification. host is the full hostname of the
  server.

  If you do not feel comfortable with leaving your password written on
  disk, you might want to set the password (and optionally the username
  as well) to an empty string (""). slrn will then prompt for it on
  startup. If your server requires a username, but no password, set it
  to a blank (" ") and you won't be prompted.


  3.3.12.  posting_host

  Usage: posting_host hostname

  The hostname specified in this command will be used to generate
  Message-IDs.  Please note that it is usually not necessary to set this
  manually, as slrn uses the fully-qualified domain name of the machine
  it is running on for this task, which is the correct solution in most
  cases.

  However, if your system is part of a local network, it might not have
  an official hostname. As the current MESSFOR draft permits the use of
  hostnames without a DNS record for Message-ID generation, some
  providers started to give each user a unique hostname that may be used
  here.

  Note: Do not use this command unless you fully understand the
  implications. Specifically, do not enter an arbitrary string here!
  Instead, please turn off ``generate_message_id'' if the hostname found
  by slrn is not unique.


  3.3.13.  scorefile

  Usage: scorefile filename

  The scorefile command is now obsolete. Please use the ``scorefile''
  variable instead.


  3.3.14.  server

  Usage: server nntp-server[:port] newsrc-file

  By default, slrn uses .jnewsrc in your home directory (jnews.rc on
  VMS, OS/2 and Windows) as its newsrc file. If you want to define a
  different filename for it or if you want to access more than one
  server, you can use this command. It tells slrn to use newsrc-file
  when connecting to nntp-server (which has to be the full hostname of
  the server and an optional port number or, if you are reading from
  spool, the path of the spool directory).

  If your server requires a password, you will also need to use the
  ``nnrpaccess'' command.


  3.3.15.  set

  Usage: set varname value

  The set command is used to assign values to the ``configuration
  variables'' described below. varname has to be a valid variable name.
  value is either a string (best enclosed in double quotes ``"'') or an
  integer value (number), depending on the variable.

  Example: set realname "Matthias Friedrich"
           set kill_score -9999



  Note: If you set a variable which controls a feature that has not been
  compiled in, slrn will not give you an error message. The setting will
  simply remain without an effect.


  3.3.16.  setkey

  Usage: setkey keymap function key-sequence

  This command allows you to map slrn's functions to keys.  There are
  three different keymaps: The "group" keymap contains all functions in
  group mode, "article" contains the functions in article mode (note
  that header overview and pager do not have separate keymaps); finally,
  the "readline" keymap can be used to customize the line editor.

  function specifies the function that is executed when key-sequence is
  pressed. In key-sequence, special keys can be addressed in different
  ways:



       \e    escape
       \r    return
       \\    backslash
       ^C    control and character C
       \NNN  the key sending keycode (octal) NNN






  3.3.17.  strip_re_regexp

  Usage: strip_re_regexp pattern [pattern] ...

  Here, you can define up to 5 different regular expressions to detect
  non-standard back references created by broken user agents. They will
  be stripped on followups.

  By default, slrn only checks for the standard "Re:". This test is
  performed before strip_re_regexp is even tried and it cannot be turned
  off.

  Note: This variable does not affect the way slrn sorts subjects. For
  example, ``subject'' and ``Re: subject'' are equivalent when sorting;
  ``subject'' and ``AW: subject'' are not, even if you defined "^AW:" in
  strip_re_regexp. The reason for this is that it would be too expensive
  to do a full regexp search whenever comparing subjects.


  3.3.18.  strip_sig_regexp

  Usage: strip_sig_regexp pattern [pattern] ...

  slrn itself makes sure that you use the signature delimiter that
  current drafts prescribe ("-- " - mind the trailing space!). If you
  want it to recognize different delimiters as well (e.g. ones created
  by broken software), you can use this command to define (up to five)
  regular expressions that match them.

  3.3.19.  strip_was_regexp

  Usage: strip_was_regexp pattern [pattern] ...

  When changing the ``Subject:'' header line, some people follow a
  convention and include the old subject in brackets (e.g. ``new subject
  (was: old subject)''). You can use this command to strip the old
  subject automatically on followups and when creating scorefile entries
  based on the subject (so it will still match when the old subject is
  stripped). To do this, I recommend the setting " ?(was:.*)$".

  Note: This variable does not affect sorting. See ``strip_re_regexp''
  for an explanation.


  3.3.20.  unsetkey

  Usage: unsetkey keymap key-sequence

  The unsetkey command undoes a key binding. Please see ``setkey'' for
  more information.


  Example: unsetkey group "\e"




  3.3.21.  visible_headers

  Usage: visible_headers header_lines

  With this command, you can specify a comma-separated list of
  header_lines that should still be visible in the article pager when
  the display of all headers is turned off (this is toggled via
  toggle_headers, by default bound to `t').

  Note that the strings are not regular expressions. However, substrings
  can be used; e.g. "X-" matches all headers beginning with ``X-''. It's
  also possible to exclude certain headers by preceding them with a bang
  (`!'). If multiple entries match, the last one decides whether or not
  the header is displayed, so "X-,!X-Trace:" shows all X-headers except
  ``X-Trace:''.

  Headers mentioned in visible_headers that don't occur in the article
  are silently ignored.


  Example:
  visible_headers "From:,Subject:,Newsgroups:,Followup-To:,Reply-To:"




  3.4.  Configuration variables

  These variables can be set using the ``set'' configuration command:


  3.4.1.  abort_unmodified_edits

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, slrn aborts posting or email operations if user did not
  modify the article.
  See also: ``editor_command'', ``post_editor_command'',
  ``mail_editor_command''


  3.4.2.  art_help_line

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  This string is displayed in the status line while you are reading an
  article. It is intended as a quick help when you cannot remember what
  key to press ;-) If unset, the following line is used:


  SPC:Pgdn  B:PgUp  u:Un-Mark-as-Read  f:Followup  n:Next  p:Prev  q:Quit



  See also: ``group_help_line'', ``header_help_line''



  3.4.3.  author_display

  Type: integer
  Default: (unset)

  This variable is obsolete. You can now use the much more powerful
  approach of having up to 10 user-defined ``header display formats''.


  3.4.4.  auto_mark_article_as_read

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If non-zero, every article you open will automatically be marked as
  read.


  3.4.5.  beep

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  This variable controls how slrn tries to get your attention.



       0     do not beep
       1     send audible bell
       2     send visible bell
       3     send both visible and audible bell





  3.4.6.  broken_xref

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  When you set this variable to a non-zero value, slrn requests articles
  by Message-ID instead of header number. This provides support for
  servers with broken ``Xref:'' headers and should otherwise be left
  untouched.


  3.4.7.  cc_followup

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If this variable is non-zero, slrn will ask you whether you want to
  send a courtesy copy (an email containing the text of your article) to
  the original poster whenever you write a followup. If the original
  posting included a ``(X-)Mail-Copies-To:'' header line containing one
  of the key words ``never'' or ``nobody'', that will take precedence
  over cc_followup (i.e. you won't be asked and no email copy will be
  sent).

  Note: Please be aware that many people on usenet consider ``courtesy
  copies'' to be impolite because they do not want to read the same
  message in their private email and in a newsgroup.

  See Also: ``cc_followup_string''


  3.4.8.  cc_followup_string

  Type: string
  Default: "[This message has also been posted to %n.]"

  This string will be included in the mail copies of any followup you
  send. However, it won't be displayed in the editor and will not be
  included in the posting sent to the newsgroup.

  The variable may contain printf(3)-style % sequences which will be
  replaced with the corresponding data from the original posting. See
  the description of ``followup_string'' for a list of legal sequences.

  Note: If you postponed a followup and do not select the original
  message before sending it, the information to expand the % sequences
  is not available. In this case, ``cc_post_string'' is used.

  See Also: ``cc_followup''


  3.4.9.  cc_post_string

  Type: string
  Default: "[This message has also been posted.]"

  This string is automatically added to mail copies of postings you
  send. In followups, ``cc_followup_string'' is used instead. As opposed
  to this variable, cc_post_string currently does not expand any
  printf(3)-style % sequences.


  3.4.10.  charset

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  If you set this variable to the character set your terminal is using,
  slrn will try to map Latin 1 characters to your local charset, so that
  they are correctly displayed. Also, your own postings are converted to
  Latin 1, so that others can read your postings.

  If unset, the default depends on the compile time setting
  DEFAULT_CHARSET_NAME in ``charmaps.h'' which is set automatically.
  Valid values are:


     ibm850
        is the default on OS/2 and Windows,

     NeXT
        is the default on NeXT machines,

     isolatin
        is the default on all other systems and does no recoding;

     ibm852
        converts from and to Latin 2;

     koi8
        also does no recoding, as users of KOI-8 are expected to have
        the correct font installed.

  This variable will only have an effect if ``character mapping'' is
  enabled at compile time (default). You can query this by calling slrn
  --version from your shell prompt.


  3.4.11.  color_by_score

  Type: integer
  Default: 3

  Determines whether or not color should be used to indicate the score
  of an article. The following settings are possible:



       0    scores do not influence colors
       1    scores are colored by their value
       2    subjects are colored by score
       3    both scores and subjects are colored by score




  If this feature is enabled, slrn uses the color objects neg_score,
  pos_score and high_score when printing the score / subject of articles
  with a non-zero score value.


  3.4.12.  confirm_actions

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If non-zero, you will be asked to confirm certain actions by answering
  one of the following questions:



       "Are you sure you want to post?"
       "Are you sure you want to followup?"
       "Are you sure you want to supersede?"
       "Are you sure you want to reply?"
       "Are you sure you want to print the article?"
       "Do you really want to quit?"
       "Mark %group% as read?"
       "Mark %group% as un-read?"

  3.4.13.  check_new_groups

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If you do not want to check for new groups on startup and when doing a
  group refresh (by default bound to `G'), you can set this variable to
  0. This has the same effect as using the command-line parameter -n.


  3.4.14.  custom_headers

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Use this variable to create additional header lines when posting to a
  newsgroup. Note that they will only be added to articles you wrote
  using post (by default bound to `P'). If you want to have additional
  headers in followups, you need to set them in
  ``followup_custom_headers'' instead; headers in supersedes are set
  with ``supersedes_custom_headers''. The header lines you add this way
  will also show up in your editor so you can modify them.

  Note: It is generally not possible to override existing headers using
  custom_headers. An exception to this rule is the ``Message-Id:''
  header line which can optionally be set by using this variable.
  However, there is usually no need to do this as slrn has an excellent
  algorithm for creating Message-IDs itself. Let me repeat this: Only
  override the ``Message-Id:'' header if you know exactly what you are
  doing.


  Example: set custom_headers "X-URL: http://foo.com\nX-No-Archive: yes"



  See also: ``reply_custom_headers''


  3.4.15.  decode_directory

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  The directory where uuencoded files, shar archives and things like
  that are placed after decoding. This variable has no effect if slrn is
  built without support for decoding articles (i.e. if SLRN_HAS_DECODE
  in slrnfeat.h is disabled at compile time; default on VMS). If
  decode_directory is unset, ``save_directory'' is used.


  3.4.16.  display_author_realname

  Type: integer
  Default: (unset)

  This variable is obsolete. You can now use the much more powerful
  approach of having up to 10 user-defined ``header display formats''.


  3.4.17.  display_cursor_bar

  Type: integer
  Default: 0


  If non-zero, the ``cursor'' will be displayed as a horizontal bar
  across the screen rather than an arrow ("->") in the first column.


  3.4.18.  display_score

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  When set to 0, the % sequence "%S" in ``header_display_format'' will
  be replaced with an empty string instead of the score.

  Note: This variable is no longer useful as you can simply omit "%S" in
  header_display_format.  However, you still need to set it to 1 if you
  want to see the scores. By the time this variable is removed from
  slrn, the default behaviour will be as if it was set to 1.


  3.4.19.  editor_command

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  The value of this variable is used as a shell command to start your
  favourite editor. However, slrn will prefer the more specific
  variables - there is one for each case in which an editor is needed:


     Posting an article or a followup:
        slrn uses ``post_editor_command''

     Replying by mail:
        slrn uses ``mail_editor_command''

     Editing a score file:
        slrn uses ``score_editor_command''

  editor_command is a kind of fall-back if the more specific editor
  command is not set. If editor_command is empty, slrn looks at
  ``$SLRN_EDITOR'' et al.

  The following % escapes can be used:


       %s    name of the file to edit
       %d    number of the first line of the message body




  If no escapes are found, the filename is simply appended to the
  specified command.


  Example: set editor_command "jed '%s' -g %d -tmp"




  3.4.20.  emphasized_text_mask

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  This variable controls what parts of an article should be scanned for
  emphasized text (like *this*, _this_ or /that/), which will then be
  processed according to the value of ``emphasized_text_mode''. It has a
  bitmapped value which can be the sum of any combination of the
  following numbers:



       1     scan message portion (the non-quoted, non-signature part)
       2     scan quoted text
       4     scan signature




  For example, if you wanted slrn to look for emphasized text in both
  the message and the quoted portions, you would set this variable to 3
  (1+2).


  3.4.21.  emphasized_text_mode

  Type: integer
  Default: 3

  This variable controls how slrn displays text that has been recognized
  as emphasized. If it is non-zero, the text will be highlighted
  according to the color objects boldtext, italicstext and
  underlinetext.  Additionally, there are two values which have special
  meanings: If set to 1, the characters which were used for emphasis
  (`*', `/' and `_', respectively) are not printed on the screen; if set
  to 2, these characters are written as spaces. In all other cases
  (including the default value), they will not be changed.

  See also: ``emphasized_text_mask''


  3.4.22.  failed_posts_file

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  If posting failed for some reason, your article will be saved to the
  file specified by failed_posts_file.

  It this variable is unset, it defaults to the value of
  SLRN_FAILED_POST_FILE in slrnfeat.h, typically either "slrn-failed-
  post.txt" (UNIX and VMS) or "failpost.txt" (OS/2 and Windows).

  See also: ``save_posts''


  3.4.23.  followup

  Type: string
  Default: "In article %m, %r wrote:"

  Obsolete; replaced by ``followup_string''.


  3.4.24.  followup_custom_headers

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Use this variable to create additional headers when posting a
  followup. You can use all % escapes that are defined in
  ``followup_string''. The headers you add this way will also show up in
  your editor and can be modified.

  Note: It is generally not possible to override existing headers using
  followup_custom_headers. See note at ``custom_headers'' for details.

  See also: ``reply_custom_headers'', ``supersedes_custom_headers''


  3.4.25.  followup_date_format

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  This variable defines the format string for the ``%D'' specifier in
  ``followup_string''. Its syntax is identical to the one of
  strftime(3).

  If unset, slrn uses "%a, %d %b %Y at %H:%M GMT".

  See also: ``use_localtime''


  3.4.26.  followup_string

  Type: string
  Default: "In article %m, %r wrote:"

  Each followup you write will automatically be prefixed by the value of
  followup_string. The following % sequences are recognized and replaced
  with the corresponding text that is extracted from the article you are
  answering:



       %s     Subject
       %m     Message-Id
       %r     Real name
       %R     Real name up to the first space (first name)
       %f     Email address
       %n     Current newsgroup
       %d     Date
       %D     Date (as defined by followup_date_format)
       %%     %




  Note: It is common practice to have at least the name of the person
  you are quoting in your followup_string.

  See also: ``followup_date_format'', ``reply_string''


  3.4.27.  followup_strip_signature

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, the signature is stripped automatically from the article
  you are answering when writing followups or replies. This is
  considered good netiquette whenever you do not want to refer to the
  signature in your reply.

  See also: ``ignore_signature'', ``hide_signature'',
  ``strip_sig_regexp''

  3.4.28.  generate_email_from

  Type: integer
  Default: (system dependent)

  If non-zero, a ``From:'' header line is generated when sending email.
  On Unix systems, this is usually not necessary, because the MTA will
  do the job for you and might even be configured to reject messages
  that already have a ``From:'' header.

  This variable defaults to 0, except on Windows and OS/2, where this
  feature is turned on by default. Its value cannot be changed when
  SLRN_HAS_STRICT_FROM was enabled at compile time (default is off).


  3.4.29.  generate_message_id

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If non-zero, slrn creates its own ``Message-Id:'' header lines
  (consisting of the string "slrn", time, process id, user- and
  hostname) when posting. Setting this variable has no effect if
  creation of Message-Ids has been disabled at compile time.

  Note: Although creating your own Message-Ids has a lot of advantages,
  you should only allow slrn to do so if the hostname of the machine it
  is running on is a FQDN (fully qualified domain name) or you can
  provide a unique hostname. Otherwise, you cannot guarantee that your
  Message-Ids are unique and should leave the job to your news server.

  See also: ``posting_host'', ``username''


  3.4.30.  group_dsc_start_column

  Type: integer
  Default: 40

  This variable is used to set the column where the group description
  (tagline) will start in group mode. This has no visible effect if
  ``show_descriptions'' is disabled.


  3.4.31.  group_help_line

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  This string is displayed in the status line of the group menu. It is
  intended as a quick help. If unset, the following line is used:


  SPC:Select  p:Post  c:CatchUp  l:List  q:Quit  ^R:Redraw (u)s:(Un)Subscribe



  See also: ``art_help_line'', ``header_help_line''


  3.4.32.  grouplens_host

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)


  If you intend to use GroupLens, this variable has to contain the name
  of the server that carries the GroupLens scores.

  This variable does not have an effect if GroupLens support is
  disabled; see ``use_grouplens'' for details.

  See also: ``grouplens_port'', ``grouplens_pseudoname''


  3.4.33.  grouplens_port

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  This variable contains the port you want slrn to use when connecting
  to ``grouplens_host''.

  See also: ``grouplens_pseudoname'', ``use_grouplens''


  3.4.34.  grouplens_pseudoname

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  This variable is for your registered GroupLens pseudoname.

  See also: ``grouplens_host'', ``grouplens_port'', ``use_grouplens''


  3.4.35.  header_help_line

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  This string is displayed in the status line in article mode when no
  article is shown (e.g. while you are just browsing through the
  headers). If unset, the following line is used:


  SPC:Select  Ctrl-D:PgDn  Ctrl-U:PgUp  d:Mark-as-Read  n:Next  p:Prev  q:Quit



  See also: ``art_help_line'', ``group_help_line''


  3.4.36.  hide_pgpsignature

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, PGP signatures in articles will not be displayed. The
  setting of this variable can be changed using toggle_pgpsignature
  (default binding: `]') while slrn is running.

  See also: ``hide_signature''


  3.4.37.  hide_signature

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, signatures in articles (as defined by
  ``strip_sig_regexp'') will not be displayed. The setting of this
  variable can be changed using toggle_signature (default binding: `\')
  while slrn is running.

  See also: ``followup_strip_signature'', ``hide_pgpsignature'',
  ``ignore_signature''


  3.4.38.  hide_verbatim_marks

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If ``process_verbatim_marks'' is turned on, you can hide ``verbatim
  marks'' (#v+ and #v-) in the article body by setting this variable to
  a non-zero value. It can also be changed using toggle_verbatim_marks
  while slrn is running.


  3.4.39.  highlight_unread_subjects

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If non-zero, the subjects of unread articles are highlighted by
  printing them bright (when using colors) or bold (in monochrome mode).

  Note: The special color ``default'' does not have a bright version.
  Besides that, this feature will obviously not have any visible effect
  if the subject is printed bold or in a bright color anyways.


  3.4.40.  hostname

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  hostname is used as the domain part of the email address slrn puts in
  your ``From:'' header, so it should be set to just that. This may or
  may not be the hostname of the machine slrn is running on, depending
  on whether you have an email account on that machine and whether you
  want to use it for your usenet postings.

  Please see the entry ``$HOSTNAME'' for a discussion of slrn's default
  behaviour if this variable is unset.

  Note: In each case, slrn either uses the information you set in
  ``posting_host'' or returned by gethostbyname(3) to generate its
  Message-Ids, so their domain part is not influenced by the value of
  this variable.

  See also: ``realname'', ``username''


  3.4.41.  ignore_signature

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If you use article_page_down (default binding: space) to read an
  article ``page by page'', you might find it annoying if the last page
  contains nothing but the author's signature. If you set this variable
  to a non-zero value, slrn will not scroll down in those cases, but
  immediately goes to the next article instead.

  See also: ``hide_signature'', ``strip_sig_regexp''

  3.4.42.  inews_program

  Type: string
  Default: (compile time setting)

  To post your articles, you can use an external program (usually
  inews(1)) instead of the builtin NNTP routines slrn offers (see
  ``post_object'' for details). In this case, inews_program can be used
  to specify the command you want slrn to pipe outgoing articles to.

  Note: This variable only works if you add the line


  #define SLRN_HAS_USER_INEWS     1



  to slrnfeat.h before compiling. Also make sure you have inews support
  enabled (which is the default).


  3.4.43.  kill_score

  Type: integer
  Default: -9999

  When the score of an article is equal or less than kill_score points,
  it will be killed. This means that it will not be displayed in article
  mode at all, so you won't be bothered with it.

  See also:  ``max_low_score'', ``min_high_score''


  3.4.44.  lines_per_update

  Type: integer
  Default: 50

  When entering a group or reading an article, slrn displays a
  ``percentage meter'' in the status line, telling the user how many
  articles (or lines) have already been read. This variable controls how
  often this message is updated (default is to update it every 50 read
  articles / lines).  You may want to change this value, depending on
  the speed of your server connection and of your display.

  Note: If you set this variable to less than 5, slrn will ignore it and
  use the default of 50 instead (or 20, when reading short articles that
  contain less than 200 lines).


  3.4.45.  macro_directory

  Type: string
  Default: (compile time setting)

  Use this to specify (in a comma separated list) the directories where
  you keep your slang macros. This tells slrn where to look when loading
  macros via the interpret slrnrc command, so you do not have to type
  the absolute filename for each macro you want to use.

  On Unix, the configure script automatically sets the default of this
  variable to the directory where the macros that come with slrn are
  installed. If it was called without any parameters, this is
  /usr/local/share/slrn. If a macro does not exist in macro_directory,
  slrn will try to find it in the user's home directory ($HOME).

  Example:

  interpret "/usr/share/slrn/util.sl"
  interpret "News/macros/my-macro.sl"

  can be replaced with

  set macro_directory "News/macros,/usr/share/slrn"
  interpret "util.sl"
  interpret "my-macro.sl"




  3.4.46.  mail_editor_command

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  This variable is interpreted as a shell command which will be used to
  invoke your editor of choice when you want to reply by email. If it is
  unset, slrn will use the editor defined by ``editor_command''.

  Note: The variable may contain % escapes. A list of them can be found
  in the section on ``editor_command''.

  See also: ``post_editor_command'', ``score_editor_command''


  3.4.47.  max_low_score

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  Articles with a score lower than max_low_score will automatically be
  marked as read and receive the ``HEADER_LOW_SCORE'' header flag.
  However, they are still displayed in the header overview.

  See also: ``kill_score'', ``min_high_score''


  3.4.48.  metamail_command

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  When you select an article which uses a MIME content type or encoding
  not supported by slrn, an external program can be launched to view it.
  This variable contains the name of the program which will be used in
  those cases. slrn will write the article to a temporary file, so the
  command used here has to accept a filename as its argument.

  If this variable is unset, slrn will try to invoke metamail. Setting
  this variable has no effect if MIME support has not been compiled in.

  See also: ``use_metamail''


  3.4.49.  mime_charset

  Type: string
  Default: (automatically chosen)

  This variable tells slrn which MIME character set to declare when
  posting 8bit characters. The default is "iso-8859-1" or "iso-8859-2"
  if you set ``charset'' to "ibm852".
  Setting this variable has no effect if MIME support has not been
  compiled in.

  See also: ``use_mime''


  3.4.50.  min_high_score

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  Articles with a score of at least min_high_score points are marked as
  ``high'' (the ``HEADER_HIGH_SCORE'' header flag is set; this is
  indicated in header overview by an exclamation mark). Articles with
  ``high'' scores are displayed first in sorting modes 2-11 and you will
  be able to jump to the next ``high scoring'' article using
  next_high_score (default binding: `!').

  See also: ``kill_score'', ``max_low_score'', ``sorting_method''


  3.4.51.  mouse

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If this variable is non-zero and you run slrn inside an X terminal
  emulator, some basic mouse support will be activated.

  Note: Setting this variable to -1 will always activate mouse support,
  even if it does not work (and is therefore useless) on the current
  terminal.


  3.4.52.  new_subject_breaks_threads

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, a new thread is started if the ``Subject:'' header line
  changes.


  3.4.53.  no_backups

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, no backups of the newsrc file are created.


  3.4.54.  non_Xbrowser

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  The command in this variable will be used to start a text mode web
  browser when browse_url (default binding: `U') is called. slrn will
  chose the text mode web browser if ``$DISPLAY'' is unset or no command
  could be found in ``Xbrowser''.


  3.4.55.  organization

  Type: string
  Default: (compile time setting)
  Using this variable, you can set the ``Organization:'' header line to
  an arbitrary string. A discussion on how slrn obtains the default
  value can be found in the entry on ``$ORGANIZATION''.


  3.4.56.  overview_date_format

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  This variable defines the format string for the ``%D'' specifier in
  ``header_display_format''.  Its syntax is identical to the one of
  strftime(3).

  If unset, slrn uses "%d %b %y %H:%M".

  See also: ``use_localtime''


  3.4.57.  post_editor_command

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  This variable is interpreted as a shell command which will be used to
  invoke your editor of choice when you edit a new posting or write a
  followup. If it is unset, slrn will use the editor defined by
  ``editor_command''.

  Note: The variable may contain % escapes. You will find a list of them
  in the section on ``editor_command''.

  See also: ``mail_editor_command'', ``score_editor_command''


  3.4.58.  post_object

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Controls the method slrn uses to post articles. It can be one of
  "nntp" (use builtin NNTP support), "inews" (pipe article to an
  external program) or "slrnpull" (spool messages for slrnpull to send).
  If the variable is unset, the default depends on the compile time
  setting of SLRN_DEFAULT_POST_OBJ in slrnfeat.h.

  See also: ``server_object'', ``use_slrnpull''


  3.4.59.  postpone_directory

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Directory where articles you want to postpone are saved. If this
  variable is unset, slrn will try to use ``save_directory'' for this
  purpose.


  3.4.60.  prefer_head

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  This variable affects ``expensive scoring'': If available, slrn uses
  the XOVER and XHDR extensions to retrieve only the needed header
  lines; otherwise, the HEAD NNTP command is used to get all headers.
  Although this notably increases network traffic, it might be faster,
  depending on your connection and the number of ``expensive'' headers
  you score on. In this case, you can set this variable and slrn will
  prefer HEAD over XOVER / XHDR.


  3.4.61.  printer_name

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  This variable can be used to customize the print_article function. Its
  meaning and the default action depend on the operating system:

  On Unix systems, it can contain a command to which slrn will pipe the
  article you want to print. For example, you would set it to
  "my_print_filter | lpr -Pmy_printer" if you want the article to be
  processed by my_print_filter and then printed on ``my_printer''. If
  unset, the default action is to use lpr with the value of ``$PRINTER''
  as the -P option.

  On Windows, you can set this variable to the name of the print queue
  you want to use. Here, the default is to use the setting in
  ``win.ini''.

  print_article is not yet implemented for VMS and OS/2.


  3.4.62.  process_verbatim_marks

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If this variable is set to a non-zero value, slrn will interpret text
  enclosed by "#v+" and "#v-" (on a line of their own) as ``verbatim''.
  Verbatim text will be displayed according to the color object
  verbatim; emphasized text it might contain will not be highlighted.
  This is especially useful when dealing with source code.

  See also: ``emphasized_text_mask'', ``emphasized_text_mode'',
  ``hide_verbatim_marks''


  3.4.63.  process_verbatum_marks

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  Obsolete spelling of ``process_verbatim_marks''.


  3.4.64.  prompt_next_group

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  This variable is obsolete.


  3.4.65.  query_next_article

  Type: integer
  Default: 1


  When you use article_page_down (default binding: space) while you are
  already at the end of an article, slrn moves to the next unread
  article. If this variable is set to 0, this will happen automatically;
  if it is 1, you will be asked to confirm that you want to select the
  new article.

  See also: ``query_next_group''


  3.4.66.  query_next_group

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  When you use article_page_down (default binding: space) while you are
  at the end of the last unread article in a group, slrn can move to the
  next newsgroup that contains unread articles. If this variable is set
  to 0, this will happen automatically; if it is 1, you will be asked to
  confirm that you want to select a new group.

  See also: ``query_next_article''


  3.4.67.  query_read_group_cutoff

  Type: integer
  Default: 100

  When you enter a newsgroup and slrn is about to read more than
  query_read_group_cutoff article headers, it will prompt you to confirm
  (or change) the number of articles to read. This feature is turned off
  if you set this variable to 0.


  3.4.68.  query_reconnect

  Type: integer
  Default: (unset)

  This variable is obsolete.


  3.4.69.  quote_string

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  This string will be used to indent quoted text in followups and
  replies.  If the variable is unset, slrn uses ">".

  See Also: ``smart_quote''


  3.4.70.  read_active

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If this variable is non-zero, slrn will read the active file from the
  server when starting. If your server carries few groups or your
  network connection is fast (e.g. because you are using a local
  newsserver), this may lead to a faster startup. If it is slow, you
  should leave the default setting untouched.



  3.4.71.  realname

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  It is considered good netiquette to set this variable to your real
  name. It will be included in the ``From:'' header line. If you do not
  set it, slrn tries to get a value from ``$NAME''. On UNIX systems, it
  also queries the /etc/passwd gecos field.

  See also: ``hostname'', ``username''


  3.4.72.  reject_long_lines

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If set to 1, slrn will not allow you to post articles containing non-
  quoted lines which are longer than 80 characters. If you set it to 2,
  slrn will merely issue a warning that you can decide to ignore (e.g.
  when posting source code). Setting this variable to 0 turns the check
  off. Please note that long lines are generally considered bad
  netiquette.


  3.4.73.  reply_custom_headers

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Use this variable to create additional headers when replying to a
  posting (via email). You can use all % escapes that are defined in
  ``followup_string''. The headers you add this way will also show up in
  your editor and can be modified.

  Note: It is not possible to override existing headers using
  reply_custom_headers.

  See also:  ``custom_headers'', ``followup_custom_headers'',
  ``supersedes_custom_headers''


  3.4.74.  reply_string

  Type: string
  Default: "In %n, you wrote:"

  This variable determines the attribution line slrn uses when replying
  via email. You can use the same % escapes as in ``followup_string''.


  3.4.75.  replyto

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  You can use this variable to set the address you want replies to your
  articles to be sent to. You only need to set this if you do not want
  people to send replies to the address in the ``From:'' header line. If
  you do not set this variable, slrn tries to get a default value from
  ``$REPLYTO''.

  See also: ``hostname'', ``username''


  3.4.76.  save_directory

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Sets the default directory where saved articles are placed. If it is
  unset, slrn uses "News".

  Note: If save_directory is not an absolute pathname, it is interpreted
  as being relative to your home directory as determined by the
  environment variables ``$SLRNHOME'' or ``$HOME''.

  See also:  ``decode_directory'', ``postpone_directory''


  3.4.77.  save_posts

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Specifies a file to which every article you post should be appended
  (in standard mailbox format). If unset, slrn will not even try to make
  a copy of your postings; if it cannot write to the specified file, it
  will give a warning and post nonetheless.

  Note: If the filename in save_posts does not contain an absolute path,
  it is interpreted as being relative to your home directory (see
  ``$SLRNHOME'').

  See also:  ``save_replies''


  3.4.78.  save_replies

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Specifies a file to which every reply you send by email should be
  appended (in standard mailbox format). The same rules apply as for
  ``save_posts''.

  Note: If you send a Cc (carbon copy) of one of your articles by email,
  the posting will only be appended to the folder in save_posts, not to
  save_replies.


  3.4.79.  score_editor_command

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Defines the program that will be called to edit your score file. If
  unset, the editor in ``editor_command'' is used.

  Note: The variable may contain % escapes. They are listed in the
  section on ``editor_command''.

  See also: ``mail_editor_command'', ``post_editor_command''


  3.4.80.  scorefile

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)


  If you want to score articles, you need to set this variable to the
  filename of your scorefile. It is interpreted as being relative to
  your home directory (unless it starts with a slash).

  If you want to use more than one scorefile, you need to use an include
  statement in the scorefile itself. Please do not confuse this with the
  ``include'' slrnrc command discussed above.

  For further details on scoring, please refer to the files score.txt
  and SCORE_FAQ that should have come with your slrn distribution. A
  future version of this manual might also include a separate section
  about the concept of ``scoring''.


  3.4.81.  scroll_by_page

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If set to non-zero, both group window and header window will scroll by
  a full page instead of a single line. This does not affect the article
  window.


  3.4.82.  sendmail_command

  Type: string
  Default: (compile time setting)

  slrn uses this string as a command to send email (when forwarding or
  replying). Input will be piped to the program if the system supports
  it.  On systems without pipes, sendmail_command will be given the name
  of a temporary file containing the email as the last command line
  argument.

  The default is set at compile time. On Unix, the configure script
  tries to find the sendmail binary; otherwise, you can set
  SLRN_SENDMAIL_COMMAND in slrnfeat.h.


  3.4.83.  server_object

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Controls the method slrn uses to read news. It can be either "nntp"
  (connect an NNTP server) or "spool" (read from a local spool).

  If this variable is unset, the default behaviour depends on the
  compile time #define SLRN_DEFAULT_SERVER_OBJ in slrnfeat.h. If NNTP
  support is compiled in, it is used by default.

  See also: ``post_object'', ``use_slrnpull''


  3.4.84.  show_article

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, the first article is automatically displayed when
  entering a group.




  3.4.85.  show_descriptions

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If non-zero, the group descriptions (taglines) will be shown in group
  mode once you downloaded them (slrn -d does this). When set to zero,
  the ``high and low water marks'' of the group are displayed instead
  (i.e.  its highest and lowest article numbers). At runtime, this
  variable can be toggled via toggle_group_display (default binding is
  ESC-A).

  See also: ``group_dsc_start_column''


  3.4.86.  show_thread_subject

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  When viewing a thread tree, slrn usually does not display subjects
  that are identical to the one of the previous posting as this would
  make the screen look busy without giving any additional information.
  If you still prefer to have all subject lines displayed, you can set
  this variable to a non-zero value.


  3.4.87.  signature

  Type: string
  Default: (compile time setting)

  slrn can append a signature to all outgoing articles and mails.  Set
  signature to the name of your signature file or to an empty string if
  you don't want to use a signature. slrn will not give any error
  message if the file specified in signature does not exist.

  The default of this variable is defined in slrnfeat.h
  (SLRN_SIGNATURE_FILE): It is ".signature" on Unix and VMS and
  "signatur.txt" on OS/2 and Windows.

  Note: If your signature file doesn't start with sig dashes ("-- \n"),
  slrn will add them automatically.

  See also: ``signoff_string''


  3.4.88.  signoff_string

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  The value of this variable will be inserted before the signature. This
  is useful for people who want to sign off their messages with their
  name, like it is common in some groups.

  Note: If you use this feature, do not append much more than your name
  with it, or you will annoy your readers. If you want to tell people
  the URL of your homepage or append some funny quote to your postings,
  put it in your ``signature file''.


  3.4.89.  simulate_graphic_chars

  Type: integer
  Default: 0
  If you see strange characters in the thread tree, you can set this
  variable to a non-zero value to make slrn restrict itself to the use
  of simple ASCII characters to represent the thread tree. slrn does
  this automatically if you use OS/2 or Windows and your system does not
  have line drawing characters.

  Note: It also might be possible to fix your terminal to support proper
  line drawing (which looks much better). Please see the slrn FAQ for
  details.


  3.4.90.  smart_quote

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If non-zero, slrn will insert a blank between your ``quote_string''
  and previously unquoted lines, leading to a result most people find
  better readable.


  3.4.91.  sorting_method

  Type: integer
  Default: 3

  This variable controls in which order articles will be displayed in
  the header window:



        0     do not sort
        1     perform threading
        2     sort by subject
        3     thread, then sort by subject
        4     sort by score
        5     thread, then sort by score
        6     sort by score, then by subject
        7     thread, then sort by score and subject
        8     sort by date with most recent first
        9     thread, then sort by date with most recent first
       10     sort by date with most recent last
       11     thread, then sort by date with most recent last





  3.4.92.  spoiler_char

  Type: character
  Default: '*'

  This character will be used to hide ``spoiler'' text (i.e. text
  preceded by a linefeed character). The interpretation of linefeed
  characters as ``spoilers'' can be turned off at compile time.

  See also: ``spoiler_display_mode''


  3.4.93.  spoiler_display_mode

  Type: integer
  Default: 1


  This variable defines what happens when a spoiler is revealed (this is
  typically done by hitting space, which is the default binding of
  article_page_down):



       0    keep the display still, and reveal the current spoiler
       1    start a new page, and reveal the current spoiler
       2    keep the display still, and reveal all spoilers
       3    start new page, and reveal all spoilers




  See also: ``spoiler_char''


  3.4.94.  spool_active_file

  Type: string
  Default: "data/active"

  Sets the location of the active file that lists all available
  newsgroups.  The filename is relative to ``spool_inn_root'', unless it
  starts with a slash ('/').

  The default of this variable is set at compile time in slrnfeat.h
  (#define SLRN_SPOOL_ACTIVE).

  Note: Of course, you only need to set the spool* variables if you want
  to read your news directly from spool (e.g. when using slrnpull). When
  using an NNTP server, setting them will have no effect.

  See also: ``spool_inn_root'', ``server_object'', ``post_object'',
  ``use_slrnpull''


  3.4.95.  spool_activetimes_file

  Type: string
  Default: "data/active.times"

  This variable provides the name of your news server's active.times
  file.  This file contains the creation dates of the newsgroups.

  The notes that can be found in the entry for ``spool_active_file''
  also apply to this variable.

  See also: ``spool_inn_root''


  3.4.96.  spool_check_up_on_nov

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, slrn checks whether the articles referenced by the news
  overview files actually exist. This may add a perceptible delay and is
  redundant with servers that keep their overview files up to date.
  However, some servers don't, so if you see a lot of ``article not
  available'' errors, you might want to turn this on.

  See also: ``spool_active_file'', ``spool_nov_file''



  3.4.97.  spool_inn_root

  Type: string
  Default: "/var/lib/news"

  The directory that contains the active, active.times and newsgroups
  files.

  The default of this variable is set at compile time in slrnfeat.h
  (#define SLRN_SPOOL_INNROOT).

  See also: ``spool_active_file'', ``spool_activetimes_file'',
  ``spool_newsgroups_file''


  3.4.98.  spool_newsgroups_file

  Type: string
  Default: "data/newsgroups"

  This variable provides the name of your news server's newsgroups file.
  The file contains a list of newsgroups with short descriptions
  (taglines).

  The notes that can be found in the entry for ``spool_active_file''
  also apply to this variable.

  See also: ``spool_inn_root''


  3.4.99.  spool_nov_file

  Type: string
  Default: ".overview"

  The name of your news server's overview files.

  See also: ``spool_nov_root''


  3.4.100.  spool_nov_root

  Type: string
  Default: "/var/spool/news"

  The root directory of the news overview database. Often, this is the
  same as ``spool_root''.

  See also: ``spool_nov_file''


  3.4.101.  spool_root

  Type: string
  Default: "/var/spool/news"

  The root directory of your news spool.

  See also: ``spool_inn_root'', ``spool_nov_root''


  3.4.102.  supersedes_custom_headers

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  This variable is used to create additional headers when superseding a
  message. Otherwise, it works exactly like ``followup_custom_headers''.

  See also: ``custom_headers'', ``reply_custom_headers''


  3.4.103.  top_status_line

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Using this variable, you can customize the status line slrn displays
  at the top of the screen. It can be set to a format string that works
  like the one used in ``header_display_format''. The following %
  escapes can be used:


           %   percent character
           d   current date
           n   name of the current newsgroup
           s   name of the current server
           t   current time
           v   version of slrn



  When unset, slrn uses "slrn %v ** Press '?' for help, 'q' to quit. **
  Server: %s" as the default.

  Note: The current time and date are printed in the preferred
  representation for the current locale. If you have date/time
  information in the status line, you should be aware that it is not
  automatically redrawn every second.


  3.4.104.  uncollapse_threads

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, all threads will be uncollapsed when entering a group.


  3.4.105.  unsubscribe_new_groups

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, new newsgroups won't be subscribed automatically.


  3.4.106.  use_blink

  Type: integer
  Default: (system dependent)

  Enables blinking of display if non-zero. The default is 0 if your
  terminal supports colors, 1 if not.

  Note: On some color terminals, setting this variable to 1 makes it
  possible to use ``bright'' colors for the background.





  3.4.107.  use_color

  Type: integer
  Default: (system dependent)

  Forces the use of colors (if set to 1) or the use of monochrom mode
  (if set to 0). When unset, color is automatically used if your
  terminal supports it according to its termcap entry.


  3.4.108.  use_flow_control

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If set to non-zero, ^S/^Q processing by the terminal driver is
  enabled. This means that you will be able to ``freeze'' the screen
  using Control-S and ``thaw'' it by pressing Control-Q.


  3.4.109.  use_grouplens

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, slrn will try to contact your ``grouplens server'' to
  exchange GroupLens scores.

  This variable has no effect if GroupLens has not been enabled at
  compile time.

  Note: As far as we could find out, GroupLens is not in use any more.
  If this is incorrect, we would be grateful for a pointer to additional
  information on it.


  3.4.110.  use_header_numbers

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If non-zero, header numbers are displayed at the left margin to make
  article selection more efficient.


  3.4.111.  use_localtime

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  This variable determines if your local timezone is used by the ``%D''
  specifiers in ``followup_date_format'' and ``overview_date_format''.
  The following settings are possible:



       0    always use GMT
       1    use local timezone in overview_date_format
       2    use local timezone in followup_date_format
       3    always use local timezone




  Note: This setting does not affect the ``Date:'' header lines in your
  own postings. They are not even generated by slrn.  VMS and BeOS do
  not support using GMT.


  3.4.112.  use_metamail

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If non-zero, slrn calls the program given in ``metamail_command'' to
  processes MIME articles it cannot handle.


  3.4.113.  use_mime

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If this variable is non-zero, MIME support is enabled. You need MIME
  support if you want to read articles in quoted-printable or utf-8
  encoding or need to decipher RFC 2047-encoded header lines. It also
  makes sure that 8bit characters you are sending yourself are encoded
  correctly.

  Setting this variable has no effect if mime support has been
  deactivated at compile time.

  See also: ``mime_charset''


  3.4.114.  use_slrnpull

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, slrn will spool outgoing postings to let slrnpull send
  them instead of contacting the newsserver itself. The same effect can
  be achieved by setting ``post_object'' to "slrnpull".

  See also: ``server_object''


  3.4.115.  use_tilde

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  If non-zero, tildes (``~'') are displayed at the end of an article
  like it is done in the vi editor.


  3.4.116.  use_tmpdir

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If non-zero, temporary files for postings, followups and replies will
  be held in the directory specified by ``$TMP'' (the entry there also
  explains what will happen if $TMP is unset).


  3.4.117.  use_xgtitle

  Type: integer
  Default: 0


  If this variable is non-zero and ``read_active'' is zero, slrn will
  attempt to use the ``XGTITLE'' NNTP command to query the server for
  unsubscribed newsgroups matching a user-defined pattern.

  Note: If you do not want to let slrn read the active file on each
  startup and your server does not support ``XGTITLE'', you will need to
  keep a complete list of newsgroups in your newsrc file. Otherwise,
  toggle_list_all (by default bound to `L' in group mode) will not work
  as expected.


  3.4.118.  username

  Type: string
  Default: (system specific)

  Contains your user name (login name). It is used as the local part of
  your email address and as a part of the Message-Id: header (if slrn is
  configured to create one).

  If it is unset, slrn tries to get your login name from the system
  first. If this fails, it looks at ``$USER'' and ``$LOGNAME''. If it
  cannot find a valid user name, an error message is issued and the
  program is aborted.

  Note: Do not confuse your user name  with your real name!

  See also: ``hostname'', ``realname''


  3.4.119.  warn_followup_to

  Type: integer
  Default: 1

  When a ``Followup-To:'' header line is set, your followup will appear
  in different newsgroups than the original posting. If you always want
  to be notified of this, you can set this variable to 2. The default
  setting (1) only warns you when your followup would not appear in the
  group you are currently reading; setting it to 0 disables this warning
  completely.


  3.4.120.  wrap_flags

  Type: integer
  Default: 3

  This variable controls what text is wrapped in the article pager:



       0     wrap body only
       1     wrap headers and body
       2     wrap quoted material and body
       3     wrap headers, quoted material and body




  If you want articles to be automatically wrapped, simply add 4 to your
  preferred wrap mode.

  See also: ``wrap_method''


  3.4.121.  wrap_method

  Type: integer
  Default: 2

  With this variable, you can control how slrn wraps long lines. When 0,
  it wraps at word boundries, leaving words that are longer than your
  line width untouched. When 1, it always wraps at the right border of
  the screen. When 2, it first tries so find a good place to wrap the
  line and wraps at the right border only when necessary.

  See also: ``wrap_flags''


  3.4.122.  write_newsrc_flags

  Type: integer
  Default: 0

  If this variable is zero, all groups are saved when writing your
  newsrc file. If it is 1, unsubscribed groups are not saved; if it is
  2, unsubscribed groups are not saved if there are any unread messages
  in them.


  3.4.123.  Xbrowser

  Type: string
  Default: (unset)

  Used to start an X11 web browser on a URL when browse_url (default
  binding: `U') is called. If ``$DISPLAY'' is set, slrn tries to execute
  the command stored in Xbrowser.  Otherwise, non_Xbrowser is used
  instead. The string may contain "%s" which will be replaced with the
  chosen URL. If no such substring is found, the URL is simply appended
  to the specified command.


  Example: set Xbrowser "netscape %s &"



  See also: ``non_Xbrowser''























