1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle T-gnus 6.14 Message Manual
9 @c * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
14 @setchapternewpage odd
18 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
20 Copyright (C) 1996,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
23 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
24 are preserved on all copies.
27 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
28 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
29 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
30 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
33 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
34 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
35 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
36 permission notice identical to this one.
38 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
39 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
45 @title T-gnus 6.14 Message Manual
47 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
50 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 Copyright @copyright{} 1996,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
53 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
54 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
55 are preserved on all copies.
57 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
58 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
59 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
60 permission notice identical to this one.
62 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
63 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
73 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
77 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
78 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
79 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
80 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
81 * Appendices:: More technical things.
82 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
83 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
86 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.14 Message. Message is
87 distributed with the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number
94 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
95 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
96 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
97 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
98 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
102 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
103 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
104 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
105 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
106 * Followup:: Following up via news.
107 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
108 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
109 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
110 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
111 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
115 @node New Mail Message
116 @section New Mail Message
119 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
121 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
122 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
123 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
126 @node New News Message
127 @section New News Message
130 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
132 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
133 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
134 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
140 @findex message-reply
141 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
142 reply to the message in the current buffer.
144 @vindex message-reply-to-function
145 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
146 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
147 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
149 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
150 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
153 (setq message-reply-to-function
155 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
156 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
161 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
164 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
165 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
166 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
169 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
170 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
171 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
172 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
173 the head of the outgoing mail.
179 @findex message-wide-reply
180 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
181 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
182 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
183 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
185 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
186 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
187 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
188 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
189 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
191 @findex message-dont-reply-to-names
192 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
193 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
199 @findex message-followup
200 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
201 followup to the message in the current buffer.
203 @vindex message-followup-to-function
204 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
205 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
206 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
207 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
209 @vindex message-use-followup-to
210 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
211 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
212 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
213 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
214 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
218 @section Canceling News
220 @findex message-cancel-news
221 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
228 @findex message-supersede
229 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
230 supersede the message in the current buffer.
232 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
233 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
234 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
235 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
236 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
243 @findex message-forward
244 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
245 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
249 @item message-ignored-forward-headers
250 @vindex message-ignored-forward-headers
251 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
253 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
254 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
255 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
256 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
257 passed into each successive function.
259 The provided functions are:
262 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
263 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
264 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
267 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
268 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
271 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
272 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
273 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
274 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
275 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
276 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
278 @item message-forward-as-mime
279 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
280 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
281 included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
282 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
283 non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
290 @findex message-resend
291 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
292 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
294 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
295 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
296 be removed before sending the message. The default is
297 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
303 @findex message-bounce
304 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
305 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
306 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
307 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
310 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
311 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
312 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
313 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
320 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
321 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
322 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
323 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
324 * Various Commands:: Various things.
325 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
326 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
330 @node Header Commands
331 @section Header Commands
333 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
340 @findex message-goto-to
341 Describe the message mode.
345 @findex message-goto-to
346 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
350 @findex message-goto-bcc
351 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
355 @findex message-goto-fcc
356 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
360 @findex message-goto-cc
361 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
365 @findex message-goto-subject
366 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
370 @findex message-goto-reply-to
371 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
375 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
376 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
380 @findex message-goto-distribution
381 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
385 @findex message-goto-followup-to
386 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
390 @findex message-goto-keywords
391 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
395 @findex message-goto-summary
396 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
407 @findex message-goto-body
408 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
409 (@code{message-goto-body}).
413 @findex message-goto-signature
414 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
426 @findex message-yank-original
427 Yank the message in the buffer @code{gnus-article-copy} into the message
428 buffer. Normally @code{gnus-article-copy} is what you are replying to
429 (@code{message-yank-original}).
433 @findex message-yank-buffer
434 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
435 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
439 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
440 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
441 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
442 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
443 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
448 @findex message-insert-signature
449 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
450 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
454 @findex message-insert-headers
455 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
460 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
461 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
462 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
463 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
466 @item message-citation-line-function
467 @vindex message-citation-line-function
468 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
469 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
473 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
476 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
479 @item message-yank-prefix
480 @vindex message-yank-prefix
483 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
484 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
485 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
486 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
488 @item message-yank-add-new-references
489 @vindex message-yank-add-new-references
491 Non-@code{nil} means new IDs will be added to References field when an
492 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
493 interactively. If it is a symbol @code{message-id-only}, only an ID
494 from Message-ID field is used, otherwise IDs extracted from References,
495 In-Reply-To and Message-ID fields are used.
497 @item message-list-references-add-position
498 @vindex message-list-references-add-position
500 Integer value means position for adding to References field when an
501 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
504 @item message-indentation-spaces
505 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
506 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
508 @item message-cite-function
509 @vindex message-cite-function
510 @findex message-cite-original
511 @findex sc-cite-original
512 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
514 Function for citing an original message. The default is
515 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
516 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
517 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
518 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
521 @item message-indent-citation-function
522 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
523 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
524 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
525 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
526 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
528 @item message-signature
529 @vindex message-signature
530 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
531 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
532 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
533 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
534 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
536 @item message-signature-file
537 @vindex message-signature-file
538 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
539 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
543 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
544 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
545 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
546 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
547 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
549 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
550 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
551 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
561 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
562 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
563 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
564 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
566 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
567 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
568 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
569 name and a @sc{mime} type.
571 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
572 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
576 @node Various Commands
577 @section Various Commands
583 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
584 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
585 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
586 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
587 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
591 @findex message-elide-region
592 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
593 The text is killed and an ellipsis (@samp{[...]}) will be inserted in
598 @findex message-kill-to-signature
599 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
600 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
604 @findex message-delete-not-region
605 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
606 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
610 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
611 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
616 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
619 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
622 > This is some quoted text.
626 > And here's more quoted text.
629 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
633 @findex message-insert-to
634 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
635 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
636 (@code{message-insert-to}).
640 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
641 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
642 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
643 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
647 @findex message-rename-buffer
648 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
649 prompt for a new buffer name.
660 @findex message-send-and-exit
661 Send the message and bury the current buffer
662 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
667 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
671 @findex message-dont-send
672 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
676 @findex message-kill-buffer
677 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
684 @section Mail Aliases
688 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
689 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
690 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
691 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
692 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
694 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
695 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
698 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
699 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
702 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
703 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
704 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
706 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
707 expansions have to be done explicitly.
715 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
716 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
717 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
718 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
719 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
720 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
721 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
722 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
723 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
727 @node Message Headers
728 @section Message Headers
730 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
731 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
732 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
733 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
734 look sufficiently similar.
738 @item message-generate-headers-first
739 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
740 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
743 @item message-from-style
744 @vindex message-from-style
745 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
750 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
753 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
756 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
759 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
760 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
761 @code{angles} anyway.
765 @item message-deletable-headers
766 @vindex message-deletable-headers
767 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
768 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
769 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
770 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
771 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
772 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
773 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
774 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
777 @item message-default-headers
778 @vindex message-default-headers
779 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
782 @item message-subject-re-regexp
783 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
784 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
785 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but in
786 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
787 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
788 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
789 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
790 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
791 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
792 just throw away non-compliant mail.
798 @section Mail Headers
801 @item message-required-mail-headers
802 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
803 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
804 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
805 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
807 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
808 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
809 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
810 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
812 @item message-default-mail-headers
813 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
814 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
815 buffers that are initialized as mail.
821 @section Mail Variables
824 @item message-send-mail-function
825 @vindex message-send-mail-function
826 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
827 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
828 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
830 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
831 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
832 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
833 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
834 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
835 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
842 @section News Headers
844 @vindex message-required-news-headers
845 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
846 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
847 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
853 @findex user-full-name
854 @findex user-mail-address
855 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
856 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
857 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
858 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
862 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
866 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
867 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
871 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
872 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
873 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
874 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
875 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
876 parameters and should return a string to be used).
880 This optional header will be computed by Message.
884 @vindex mail-host-address
887 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
888 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
889 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
890 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
891 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
895 This optional header will be filled out according to the
896 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
899 This optional header will be filled out according to the
900 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
901 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
904 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
905 header of the article being replied to.
909 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
910 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
911 be used unless you know what you're doing.
915 This optional header is filled out according to the
916 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
917 much misunderstood header.
921 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
922 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
923 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
924 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
925 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
926 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
927 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
932 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
933 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
934 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
935 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
936 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
937 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
938 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
939 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
940 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
942 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
943 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
946 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
950 @item message-syntax-checks
951 @vindex message-syntax-checks
952 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
953 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
956 (signature . disabled)
965 Check the subject for commands.
968 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
969 @item multiple-headers
970 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
973 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
975 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
977 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
980 Check for too long lines.
982 Check for invalid characters.
984 Check for excessive size.
986 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
988 Check the length of the signature.
991 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
992 something only moderators should include.
994 Check whether the article is empty.
996 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
998 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
999 @item existing-newsgroups
1000 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1001 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1002 @item valid-newsgroups
1003 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1004 are valid syntactically.
1005 @item repeated-newsgroups
1006 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1007 contains repeated group names.
1008 @item shorten-followup-to
1009 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1010 of groups to post to.
1013 All these conditions are checked by default.
1015 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1016 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1017 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1018 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
1020 @item message-default-news-headers
1021 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1022 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1023 buffers that are initialized as news.
1028 @node News Variables
1029 @section News Variables
1032 @item message-send-news-function
1033 @vindex message-send-news-function
1034 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1035 @code{message-send-news}.
1037 @item message-post-method
1038 @vindex message-post-method
1039 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1040 posting a prepared news message.
1045 @node Various Message Variables
1046 @section Various Message Variables
1049 @item message-signature-separator
1050 @vindex message-signature-separator
1051 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1054 @item mail-header-separator
1055 @vindex mail-header-separator
1056 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1057 follows this line--} by default.
1059 @item message-directory
1060 @vindex message-directory
1061 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1063 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1064 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1065 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1066 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1068 @item message-setup-hook
1069 @vindex message-setup-hook
1070 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1071 but before yanked text is inserted.
1073 @item message-header-setup-hook
1074 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1075 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1077 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1078 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1079 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1082 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1083 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1084 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1085 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1086 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1087 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1089 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1090 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1093 @item message-send-hook
1094 @vindex message-send-hook
1095 Hook run before sending messages.
1097 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1098 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1099 @findex message-add-header
1102 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1103 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1105 "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense"
1109 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1111 @item message-send-mail-hook
1112 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1113 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1115 @item message-send-news-hook
1116 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1117 Hook run before sending news messages.
1119 @item message-sent-hook
1120 @vindex message-sent-hook
1121 Hook run after sending messages.
1123 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1124 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1125 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1127 @item message-send-method-alist
1128 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1130 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1133 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1138 A symbol that names the method.
1141 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1142 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1145 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1146 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1150 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1151 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1160 @node Sending Variables
1161 @section Sending Variables
1165 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1166 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1167 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1168 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1169 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1171 @item message-courtesy-message
1172 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1173 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1174 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1175 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1176 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1177 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1178 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1183 @node Message Buffers
1184 @section Message Buffers
1186 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1187 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1188 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1189 message buffers are kept alive.
1192 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1193 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1194 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1195 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1196 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1197 The function should return the new buffer name.
1199 @item message-use-multi-frames
1200 @vindex message-use-multi-frames
1201 If non-@code{nil}, generate new frames. The default is @code{nil}.
1203 @item message-delete-frame-on-exit
1204 @vindex message-delete-frame-on-exit
1205 The @code{message-delete-frame-on-exit} variable says whether to delete
1206 the frame after sending the message or killing the message buffer. If it
1207 is @code{nil} (which is the default), don't delete the frame. If it is
1208 @code{ask}, ask wheter to delete the frame. If it is @code{t}, always
1211 @item message-max-buffers
1212 @vindex message-max-buffers
1213 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1214 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1215 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1216 will ever be killed.
1218 @item message-send-rename-function
1219 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1220 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1221 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1222 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1223 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1227 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1230 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1231 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1232 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1237 @node Message Actions
1238 @section Message Actions
1240 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1241 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1242 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1245 @vindex message-kill-actions
1246 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1247 @vindex message-exit-actions
1248 @vindex message-send-actions
1249 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1250 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1251 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1252 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1253 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1254 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1255 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1256 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1258 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1259 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1260 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1261 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1265 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1266 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1269 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1270 killed, postponed or exited.
1272 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1273 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1274 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1278 @chapter Compatibility
1279 @cindex compatibility
1281 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1282 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1283 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1286 (require 'messcompat)
1289 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1290 corresponding mail variables.
1297 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1304 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1309 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1310 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1311 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1322 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1323 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1324 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1325 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1329 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1336 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1337 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1338 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1342 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1343 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1354 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1355 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is