Parts of the Rule System

    

What Parts of Gravity Make up the Rule System? How are they all related?
The following table summarizes all of the parts of Gravity that are related to rules and indicates when they should be used. You might not see some of the Standard Rules in the Rule List until you the rule once.   

Rules Dialog Tools - Rules Opens the to create, edit, enable and disable, or import and export rules. Use the Newsgroups tab to specify to which groups the rule should apply. Use the Conditions tab to specify the conditions that an article must satisfy. Use the Actions tab to specify the actions to be taken if the article matches the rule.
Apply a Rule Manually If you enable a rule, its conditions are applied to incoming headers. If you want to apply rules to a group or selected articles on command, use the command.  You can also manually apply a rule to multiple groups at once.
Rule Bar Use the Rule Bar to apply rules manually.  Select the rule you want, then click the Run button.
Important Words Rule Important Words are phrases you want Gravity to call to your attention. The rule evaluates article subjects for words or phrases that are in the Important Word List (see next) and flags the article as Important
If enabled, this happens automatically when retrieving headers. The default action for the Important Words rule is to mark the article as Important, but it can be edited by the advanced user.
Important Words List Tools - Important Words - Enter your important words in the Important Words List. These are the words used by the Important Words Rule. You can make other rules that flag articles important, or even mark articles manually, but this list is used by the Important Word Rule.
Watch Thread Command, Rule and List Use the Watch Thread Command (W) to automatically retrieve all articles in a thread.  When you are reading an article and choose Watch Thread, Gravity looks at each article within the thread and adds its references (ancestor message-ids) to the Watch List (see below). It then applies the Watch Rule to each article.  Gravity fetches the articles (or tags them for retrieval if off-line) and automatically retrieves any article in the future that belongs to the thread.It also flags the article as watched
The Watch Thread Rule is a Standard Rule and will appear after first use. Like other rules, it can be edited (advanced users).
Watch List The Watch List (View - Other Windows) is a list of threads Gravity is currently watching. The Watch Rule tests articles to see if one of its ancestors is in the Watch List, and if so, applies the specified rule actions to the article ( “ Retrieve Body ” and “ Add to Watch list ” are the default actions).
There are two list settings. One setting controls how many days can elapse between the time an article in the thread was last seen and when the thread is removed from the Watch List.  The other setting controls whether articles with identical subjects but not related Message-IDs are treated as belonging to the same thread.
You do not have to remove Watched threads from this window. It is easier to re-use the watch thread command (W) in the main window and Gravity will remove the thread from the list automatically.
Ignore Thread Command, Rule and List Use the Ignore Thread Command (I) to automatically ignore all articles in a thread.  When you choose Ignore Thread, Gravity looks at each article within the thread and adds all of its references (ancestor message-ids) to the Ignore List (see below). 
It then applies the Ignore Rule to each of the articles in the thread. Gravity marks the articles as read and removes them from the display and automatically marks any article in the future that belongs to the thread marked as Read and Ignored.
The Ignore Thread Rule is a and will appear after first use. Like other rules, it can be edited.
Ignore List The Ignore List (View - Other Windows) is the list of threads Gravity is currently ignoring. The Ignore Rule tests articles to see if one of its ancestors is in the Ignore List, and if so, applies the specified actions to the article ( “ Mark as Read ” and “ Add to Ignore list ” are the default actions).
There are two list settings. One setting controls how many days can elapse between the time an article in the thread was last seen and when the thread is removed from the Ignore List.  The other setting controls whether articles with identical subjects, but not related message-ids, are treated as belonging to the same thread.
You do not have to remove ignored threads from this window. It is easier to re-use the ignore thread command (I) in the main window and Gravity will remove the thread from the list automatcially.
Rule Statistics Dialog View - Other Windows - The Rule Statistics dialog monitors which rules are running and how much processing time they are taking up. It shows the total number of headers examined in this session, the number of times the actions were fired, and the total percentage of rule time spent in the rule.
Example Rules Gravity includes a few example rules, including the “ Ignore the spam! ” rule, and the “ User-specified word in subject ” rule.  Use these rules as models for your own rules, or delete or modify them, as you like.