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#### 9.4.2 Mode Line Formatting

Mode line formatting variables (e.g., `gnus-summary-mode-line-format`) follow the same rules as other, buffer line oriented formatting variables (see Formatting Basics) with the following two differences:

1. There must be no newline (‘`\n`’) at the end.
2. The special ‘`%%b`’ spec can be used to display the buffer name. Well, it's no spec at all, really—‘`%%`’ is just a way to quote ‘`%`’ to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled, so that Emacs receives ‘`%b`’, which is something the Emacs mode line display interprets to mean “show the buffer name”. For a full list of mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the `mode-line-format` variable.