1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle T-gnus 6.16 Message Manual
10 * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
15 @setchapternewpage odd
19 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
21 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
22 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
24 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
25 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
26 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
27 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
28 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
29 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
30 License'' in the Emacs manual.
32 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
33 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
34 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
36 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
37 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
38 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
39 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
45 @title T-gnus 6.16 Message Manual
47 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
50 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
52 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
54 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
55 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
56 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
57 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
58 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
59 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
60 License'' in the Emacs manual.
62 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
63 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
64 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
66 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
67 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
68 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
69 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
78 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
82 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
83 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
84 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
85 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
86 * Appendices:: More technical things.
87 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
88 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
91 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.16 Message. Message is distributed
92 with the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this
99 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
100 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
101 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
102 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
103 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
107 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
108 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
109 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
110 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
111 * Followup:: Following up via news.
112 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
113 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
114 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
115 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
116 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
117 * Mailing Lists:: Send mail to mailing lists.
121 @node New Mail Message
122 @section New Mail Message
125 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
127 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
128 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
129 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
132 @node New News Message
133 @section New News Message
136 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
138 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
139 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
140 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
146 @findex message-reply
147 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
148 reply to the message in the current buffer.
150 @vindex message-reply-to-function
151 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
152 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
153 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
155 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
156 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
159 (setq message-reply-to-function
161 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
162 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
167 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
170 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
171 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
172 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
175 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
176 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
177 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
178 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
179 the head of the outgoing mail.
185 @findex message-wide-reply
186 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
187 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
188 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
189 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
191 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
192 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
193 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
194 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
195 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
197 @vindex message-dont-reply-to-names
198 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
199 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
201 @vindex message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients
202 If @code{message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients} is non-@code{nil} you
203 will be asked to confirm that you want to reply to multiple
204 recipients. The default is @code{nil}.
209 @findex message-followup
210 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
211 followup to the message in the current buffer.
213 @vindex message-followup-to-function
214 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
215 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
216 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
217 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
219 @vindex message-use-followup-to
220 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
221 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
222 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
223 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
224 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
228 @section Canceling News
230 @findex message-cancel-news
231 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
234 @vindex message-cancel-message
235 The value of @code{message-cancel-message} is inserted in the body of
236 the cancel message. The default is @samp{I am canceling my own
240 @vindex message-insert-canlock
242 When Message posts news messages, it inserts @code{Cancel-Lock}
243 headers by default. This is a cryptographic header that ensures that
244 only you can cancel your own messages, which is nice. The downside
245 is that if you lose your @file{.emacs} file (which is where Gnus
246 stores the secret cancel lock password (which is generated
247 automatically the first time you use this feature)), you won't be
248 able to cancel your message.
250 Whether to insert the header or not is controlled by the
251 @code{message-insert-canlock} variable.
253 Not many news servers respect the @code{Cancel-Lock} header yet, but
254 this is expected to change in the future.
260 @findex message-supersede
261 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
262 supersede the message in the current buffer.
264 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
265 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
266 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
267 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
268 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
275 @findex message-forward
276 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
277 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
281 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
282 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
283 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
285 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
286 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
287 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
288 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
289 passed into each successive function.
291 The provided functions are:
294 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
295 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
296 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
299 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
300 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
303 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
304 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
305 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
306 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
307 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
308 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
310 @item message-forward-as-mime
311 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
312 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
313 included as inline @acronym{MIME} RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
314 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
315 non @acronym{MIME}-savvy versions of gnus would do.
317 @item message-forward-before-signature
318 @vindex message-forward-before-signature
319 If non-@code{nil}, put forwarded message before signature, else after.
327 @findex message-resend
328 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
329 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
331 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
332 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
333 be removed before sending the message. The default is
334 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
340 @findex message-bounce
341 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
342 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
343 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
344 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
347 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
348 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
349 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
350 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
354 @section Mailing Lists
356 Sometimes while posting to mailing lists, the poster needs to direct
357 followups to the post to specific places. The Mail-Followup-To (MFT)
358 was created to enable just this. Two example scenarios where this is
363 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
364 sent to just the list, and not the poster as well. This will happen
365 if the poster is already subscribed to the list.
368 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
369 sent to the list and the poster as well. This will happen if the poster
370 is not subscribed to the list.
373 If a message is posted to several mailing lists, MFT may also be used
374 to direct the following discussion to one list only, because
375 discussions that are spread over several lists tend to be fragmented
376 and very difficult to follow.
380 Gnus honors the MFT header in other's messages (i.e. while following
381 up to someone else's post) and also provides support for generating
382 sensible MFT headers for outgoing messages as well.
385 @c * Honoring an MFT post:: What to do when one already exists
386 @c * Composing with a MFT header:: Creating one from scratch.
389 @c @node Composing with a MFT header
390 @subsection Composing a correct MFT header automagically
392 The first step in getting Gnus to automagically generate a MFT header
393 in posts you make is to give Gnus a list of the mailing lists
394 addresses you are subscribed to. You can do this in more than one
395 way. The following variables would come in handy.
399 @vindex message-subscribed-addresses
400 @item message-subscribed-addresses
401 This should be a list of addresses the user is subscribed to. Its
402 default value is @code{nil}. Example:
404 (setq message-subscribed-addresses
405 '("ding@@gnus.org" "bing@@noose.org"))
408 @vindex message-subscribed-regexps
409 @item message-subscribed-regexps
410 This should be a list of regexps denoting the addresses of mailing
411 lists subscribed to. Default value is @code{nil}. Example: If you
412 want to achieve the same result as above:
414 (setq message-subscribed-regexps
415 '("\\(ding@@gnus\\)\\|\\(bing@@noose\\)\\.org")
418 @vindex message-subscribed-address-functions
419 @item message-subscribed-address-functions
420 This can be a list of functions to be called (one at a time!!) to
421 determine the value of MFT headers. It is advisable that these
422 functions not take any arguments. Default value is @code{nil}.
424 There is a pre-defined function in Gnus that is a good candidate for
425 this variable. @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses} is a function
426 that returns a list of addresses corresponding to the groups that have
427 the @code{subscribed} (@pxref{Group Parameters, ,Group Parameters,
428 gnus, The Gnus Manual}) group parameter set to a non-nil value. This
429 is how you would do it.
432 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
433 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
436 @vindex message-subscribed-address-file
437 @item message-subscribed-address-file
438 You might be one organised human freak and have a list of addresses of
439 all subscribed mailing lists in a separate file! Then you can just
440 set this variable to the name of the file and life would be good.
444 You can use one or more of the above variables. All their values are
445 ``added'' in some way that works :-)
447 Now you are all set. Just start composing a message as you normally do.
448 And just send it; as always. Just before the message is sent out, Gnus'
449 MFT generation thingy kicks in and checks if the message already has a
450 MFT field. If there is one, it is left alone. (Except if it's empty -
451 in that case, the field is removed and is not replaced with an
452 automatically generated one. This lets you disable MFT generation on a
453 per-message basis.) If there is none, then the list of recipient
454 addresses (in the To: and Cc: headers) is checked to see if one of them
455 is a list address you are subscribed to. If none of them is a list
456 address, then no MFT is generated; otherwise, a MFT is added to the
457 other headers and set to the value of all addresses in To: and Cc:
460 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
462 @findex message-goto-mail-followup-to
463 Hm. ``So'', you ask, ``what if I send an email to a list I am not
464 subscribed to? I want my MFT to say that I want an extra copy.'' (This
465 is supposed to be interpreted by others the same way as if there were no
466 MFT, but you can use an explicit MFT to override someone else's
467 to-address group parameter.) The function
468 @code{message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to} might come in
469 handy. It is bound to @kbd{C-c C-f C-a} by default. In any case, you
470 can insert a MFT of your own choice; @kbd{C-c C-f C-m}
471 (@code{message-goto-mail-followup-to}) will help you get started.
473 @c @node Honoring an MFT post
474 @subsection Honoring an MFT post
476 @vindex message-use-mail-followup-to
477 When you followup to a post on a mailing list, and the post has a MFT
478 header, Gnus' action will depend on the value of the variable
479 @code{message-use-mail-followup-to}. This variable can be one of:
483 Always honor MFTs. The To: and Cc: headers in your followup will be
484 derived from the MFT header of the original post. This is the default.
487 Always dishonor MFTs (just ignore the darned thing)
490 Gnus will prompt you for an action.
494 It is considered good nettiquette to honor MFT, as it is assumed the
495 fellow who posted a message knows where the followups need to go
502 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
503 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving headers or changing headers.
504 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
505 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
506 * MIME:: @acronym{MIME} considerations.
507 * IDNA:: Non-@acronym{ASCII} domain name considerations.
508 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
509 * Various Commands:: Various things.
510 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
511 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
512 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
517 @section Buffer Entry
521 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
522 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
523 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
524 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
525 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
526 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
527 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
528 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
531 @node Header Commands
532 @section Header Commands
534 @subsection Commands for moving to headers
536 These following commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't
537 exist, it will be inserted.
543 @findex describe-mode
544 Describe the message mode.
548 @findex message-goto-to
549 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
553 @findex message-goto-from
554 Go to the @code{From} header (@code{message-goto-from}). (The ``o''
555 in the key binding is for Originator.)
559 @findex message-goto-bcc
560 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
564 @findex message-goto-fcc
565 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
569 @findex message-goto-cc
570 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
574 @findex message-goto-subject
575 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
579 @findex message-goto-reply-to
580 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
584 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
585 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
589 @findex message-goto-distribution
590 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
594 @findex message-goto-followup-to
595 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
599 @findex message-goto-keywords
600 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
604 @findex message-goto-summary
605 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
609 @findex message-insert-or-toggle-importance
610 This inserts the @samp{Importance:} header with a value of
611 @samp{high}. This header is used to signal the importance of the
612 message to the receiver. If the header is already present in the
613 buffer, it cycles between the three valid values according to RFC
614 1376: @samp{low}, @samp{normal} and @samp{high}.
618 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
619 Insert a reasonable @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
620 (@pxref{Mailing Lists}) in a post to an
621 unsubscribed list. When making original posts to a mailing list you are
622 not subscribed to, you have to type in a @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
623 by hand. The contents, usually, are the addresses of the list and your
624 own address. This function inserts such a header automatically. It
625 fetches the contents of the @samp{To:} header in the current mail
626 buffer, and appends the current @code{user-mail-address}.
628 If the optional argument @code{include-cc} is non-nil, the addresses in
629 the @samp{Cc:} header are also put into the @samp{Mail-Followup-To:}
634 @subsection Commands to change headers
640 @findex message-sort-headers
641 @vindex message-header-format-alist
642 Sort headers according to @code{message-header-format-alist}
643 (@code{message-sort-headers}).
647 @findex message-insert-to
648 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
649 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
650 (@code{message-insert-to}).
654 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
655 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
656 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
657 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
661 @findex message-to-list-only
662 Send a message to the list only. Remove all addresses but the list
663 address from @code{To:} and @code{Cc:} headers.
667 @findex message-insert-disposition-notification-to
668 Insert a request for a disposition
669 notification. (@code{message-insert-disposition-notification-to}).
670 This means that if the recipient support RFC 2298 she might send you a
671 notification that she received the message.
673 @item M-x message-insert-importance-high
674 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-high
675 @findex message-insert-importance-high
677 Insert an @samp{Importance} header with a value of @samp{high},
678 deleting headers if necessary.
680 @item M-x message-insert-importance-low
681 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-low
682 @findex message-insert-importance-low
684 Insert an @samp{Importance} header with a value of @samp{low}, deleting
685 headers if necessary.
689 @findex message-change-subject
691 Change the current @samp{Subject} header. Ask for new @samp{Subject}
692 header and append @samp{(was: <Old Subject>)}. The old subject can be
693 stripped on replying, see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}
694 (@pxref{Message Headers}).
698 @findex message-cross-post-followup-to
699 @vindex message-cross-post-default
702 Ask for an additional @samp{Newsgroups} and @samp{FollowUp-To} for a
703 cross-post. @code{message-cross-post-followup-to} mangles
704 @samp{FollowUp-To} and @samp{Newsgroups} header to point to group.
705 If @code{message-cross-post-default} is @code{nil} or if called with a
706 prefix-argument @samp{Follow-Up} is set, but the message is not
711 @findex message-reduce-to-to-cc
712 Replace contents of @samp{To} header with contents of @samp{Cc} or
717 @findex message-insert-wide-reply
718 Insert @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers as if you were doing a wide
723 @findex message-add-archive-header
724 @vindex message-archive-header
725 @vindex message-archive-note
727 Insert @samp{X-No-Archive: Yes} in the header and a note in the body.
728 The header and the note can be customized using
729 @code{message-archive-header} and @code{message-archive-note}. When
730 called with a prefix argument, ask for a text to insert. If you don't
731 want the note in the body, set @code{message-archive-note} to
743 @findex message-goto-body
744 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
745 (@code{message-goto-body}).
749 @findex message-goto-signature
750 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
754 @findex message-beginning-of-line
755 @vindex message-beginning-of-line
756 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
757 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
758 name and the colon.) This behaviour can be disabled by toggling
759 the variable @code{message-beginning-of-line}.
771 @findex message-yank-original
772 Yank the message in the buffer @code{gnus-article-copy} into the message
773 buffer. Normally @code{gnus-article-copy} is what you are replying to
774 (@code{message-yank-original}).
778 @findex message-yank-buffer
779 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
780 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
784 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
785 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
786 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
787 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
788 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
793 @findex message-insert-signature
794 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
795 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
799 @findex message-insert-headers
800 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
804 @findex message-mark-inserted-region
805 Mark some region in the current article with enclosing tags.
806 See @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
810 @findex message-mark-insert-file
811 Insert a file in the current article with enclosing tags.
812 See @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
824 Message is a @acronym{MIME}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
825 doesn't have to do anything to make the @acronym{MIME} happen---Message will
826 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
827 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
829 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
830 @acronym{MIME} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
831 be done with the @kbd{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
832 name and a @acronym{MIME} type.
834 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
835 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
841 @cindex internationalized domain names
842 @cindex non-ascii domain names
844 Message is a @acronym{IDNA}-compliant posting agent. The user
845 generally doesn't have to do anything to make the @acronym{IDNA}
846 happen---Message will encode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in @code{From},
847 @code{To}, and @code{Cc} headers automatically.
849 Until @acronym{IDNA} becomes more well known, Message queries you
850 whether @acronym{IDNA} encoding of the domain name really should
851 occur. Some users might not be aware that domain names can contain
852 non-@acronym{ASCII} now, so this gives them a safety net if they accidently
853 typed a non-@acronym{ASCII} domain name.
855 @vindex message-use-idna
856 The @code{message-use-idna} variable control whether @acronym{IDNA} is
857 used. If the variable is @code{nil} no @acronym{IDNA} encoding will
858 ever happen, if it is set to the symbol @code{ask} the user will be
859 queried (the default), and if set to @code{t} @acronym{IDNA} encoding
860 happens automatically.
862 @findex message-idna-to-ascii-rhs
863 If you want to experiment with the @acronym{IDNA} encoding, you can
864 invoke @kbd{M-x message-idna-to-ascii-rhs RET} in the message buffer
865 to have the non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names encoded while you edit the message.
867 Note that you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU
868 Libidn} installed in order to use this functionality.
880 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
881 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently
882 support @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME}.
883 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @acronym{MIME} part is
884 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
885 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
891 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
893 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
897 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
899 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
903 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime
905 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
909 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
911 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
915 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
917 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
921 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
923 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
927 @findex mml-unsecure-message
928 Remove security related MML tags from message.
932 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
933 merely insert the proper MML secure tag to instruct the MML engine to
934 perform that operation when the message is actually sent. They may
935 perform other operations too, such as locating and retrieving a
936 @acronym{S/MIME} certificate of the person you wish to send encrypted mail
937 to. When the mml parsing engine converts your MML into a properly
938 encoded @acronym{MIME} message, the secure tag will be replaced with either
939 a part or a multipart tag. If your message contains other mml parts,
940 a multipart tag will be used; if no other parts are present in your
941 message a single part tag will be used. This way, message mode will
942 do the Right Thing (TM) with signed/encrypted multipart messages.
944 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
945 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
946 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
947 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
948 using @kbd{C-u C-c RET P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can
949 verify that your long rant about what your ex-significant other or
950 whomever actually did with that funny looking person at that strange
951 party the other night, actually will be sent encrypted.
953 @emph{Note!} Neither @acronym{PGP/MIME} nor @acronym{S/MIME} encrypt/signs
954 RFC822 headers. They only operate on the @acronym{MIME} object. Keep this
955 in mind before sending mail with a sensitive Subject line.
957 By default, when encrypting a message, Gnus will use the
958 ``signencrypt'' mode, which means the message is both signed and
959 encrypted. If you would like to disable this for a particular
960 message, give the @code{mml-secure-message-encrypt-*} command a prefix
961 argument, e.g., @kbd{C-u C-c C-m c p}.
963 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
964 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
965 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
966 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
968 @subsection Using S/MIME
970 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
971 modern cryptography, @acronym{S/MIME}, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and
974 The @acronym{S/MIME} support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
975 perform the actual @acronym{S/MIME} sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can
976 be found at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later
977 should work. Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from
978 certificates, and it insert a spurious CR character into @acronym{MIME}
979 separators so you may wish to avoid it if you would like to avoid
980 being regarded as someone who send strange mail. (Although by sending
981 @acronym{S/MIME} messages you've probably already lost that contest.)
983 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
984 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
985 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
986 @kbd{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
987 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local
988 file, it need to contain a X.509 certificate in @acronym{PEM} format.
989 If you chose DNS, you're asked for the domain name where the
990 certificate is stored, the default is a good guess. To my belief,
991 Message (MML) is the first mail agent in the world to support
992 retrieving @acronym{S/MIME} certificates from DNS, so you're not
993 likely to find very many certificates out there. At least there
994 should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}. LDAP
995 is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for it
996 is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
997 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
999 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
1000 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
1001 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
1002 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it
1003 contain a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try
1004 @kbd{M-x customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
1006 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create
1007 your own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this
1008 manually with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape
1009 and got a free @acronym{S/MIME} certificate from one of the big CA's on the
1010 net. Netscape is able to export your private key and certificate in
1011 PKCS #12 format. Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509
1012 certificate in PEM format as follows.
1015 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
1018 The @file{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
1019 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
1021 @emph{Note!} Your private key is now stored unencrypted in the file,
1022 so take care in handling it. Storing encrypted keys on the disk are
1023 supported, and Gnus will ask you for a passphrase before invoking
1024 OpenSSL. Read the OpenSSL documentation for how to achieve this. If
1025 you use unencrypted keys (e.g., if they are on a secure storage, or if
1026 you are on a secure single user machine) simply press @code{RET} at
1027 the passphrase prompt.
1029 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
1031 @acronym{PGP/MIME} requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such
1032 as @uref{http://www.gnupg.org/, GNU Privacy Guard}. Pre-OpenPGP
1033 implementations such as PGP 2.x and PGP 5.x are also supported. One
1034 Emacs interface to the PGP implementations, PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG,
1035 pgg, PGG Manual}), is included, but Mailcrypt and Florian Weimer's
1036 @code{gpg.el} are also supported.
1038 @vindex gpg-temp-directory
1039 Note, if you are using the @code{gpg.el} you must make sure that the
1040 directory specified by @code{gpg-temp-directory} have permissions
1043 Creating your own key is described in detail in the documentation of
1044 your PGP implementation, so we refer to it.
1046 If you have imported your old PGP 2.x key into GnuPG, and want to send
1047 signed and encrypted messages to your fellow PGP 2.x users, you'll
1048 discover that the receiver cannot understand what you send. One
1049 solution is to use PGP 2.x instead (i.e., if you use @code{pgg}, set
1050 @code{pgg-default-scheme} to @code{pgp}). If you do want to use
1051 GnuPG, you can use a compatibility script called @code{gpg-2comp}
1053 @url{http://muppet.faveve.uni-stuttgart.de/~gero/gpg-2comp/}. You
1054 could also convince your fellow PGP 2.x users to convert to GnuPG.
1055 @vindex mml-signencrypt-style-alist
1056 As a final workaround, you can make the sign and encryption work in
1057 two steps; separately sign, then encrypt a message. If you would like
1058 to change this behavior you can customize the
1059 @code{mml-signencrypt-style-alist} variable. For example:
1062 (setq mml-signencrypt-style-alist '(("smime" separate)
1064 ("pgpauto" separate)
1065 ("pgpmime" separate)))
1068 This causes to sign and encrypt in two passes, thus generating a
1069 message that can be understood by PGP version 2.
1071 (Refer to @url{http://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/pgp2x.html} for more
1072 information about the problem.)
1074 @node Various Commands
1075 @section Various Commands
1081 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
1082 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
1083 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
1084 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
1085 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
1089 @findex message-elide-region
1090 @vindex message-elide-ellipsis
1091 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
1092 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
1093 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
1098 @findex message-kill-to-signature
1099 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
1100 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
1104 @findex message-delete-not-region
1105 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
1106 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
1110 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
1111 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
1116 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
1119 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
1122 > This is some quoted text.
1126 > And here's more quoted text.
1129 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
1133 @findex message-rename-buffer
1134 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
1135 prompt for a new buffer name.
1140 @vindex message-tab-body-function
1141 If non-@code{nil} execute the function specified in
1142 @code{message-tab-body-function}. Otherwise use the function bound to
1143 @kbd{TAB} in @code{text-mode-map} or @code{global-map}.
1154 @findex message-send-and-exit
1155 Send the message and bury the current buffer
1156 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
1160 @findex message-send
1161 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
1165 @findex message-dont-send
1166 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
1170 @findex message-kill-buffer
1171 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}). It will
1172 delete the message frame if it has been created exclusively for the
1173 message buffer. If the option
1174 @code{message-kill-buffer-and-remove-file} is non-@code{nil} and the
1175 backup file has been created for the message buffer, it will also remove
1176 the file after prompting to the user.
1180 @findex message-mimic-kill-buffer
1181 @vindex message-kill-buffer-and-remove-file
1182 This is an imitation for @code{kill-buffer}
1183 (@code{message-mimic-kill-buffer}). It dynamically binds the variable
1184 @code{message-kill-buffer-and-remove-file} to @code{nil} and calls the
1185 function @code{message-kill-buffer}.
1192 @section Mail Aliases
1193 @cindex mail aliases
1196 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
1197 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
1198 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
1199 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
1200 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
1202 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
1203 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
1206 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
1207 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
1210 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
1211 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
1212 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
1214 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
1215 expansions have to be done explicitly.
1221 @findex ispell-message
1223 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
1224 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
1225 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
1226 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
1227 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
1228 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
1231 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
1234 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1235 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
1236 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
1239 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1240 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
1241 (".*" . "default")))
1244 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1247 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
1248 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
1251 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
1255 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
1257 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
1260 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1268 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
1269 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
1270 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
1271 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
1272 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
1273 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
1274 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
1275 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
1276 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
1277 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
1281 @node Message Headers
1282 @section Message Headers
1284 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
1285 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
1286 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
1287 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
1288 look sufficiently similar.
1292 @item message-generate-headers-first
1293 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
1294 If @code{t}, generate all required headers before starting to
1295 compose the message. This can also be a list of headers to generate:
1298 (setq message-generate-headers-first
1302 @vindex message-required-headers
1303 The variables @code{message-required-headers},
1304 @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
1305 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are
1308 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
1309 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
1311 @item message-draft-headers
1312 @vindex message-draft-headers
1313 When running Message from Gnus, the message buffers are associated
1314 with a draft group. @code{message-draft-headers} says which headers
1315 should be generated when a draft is written to the draft group.
1317 @item message-from-style
1318 @vindex message-from-style
1319 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
1324 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
1327 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
1330 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
1333 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
1334 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
1335 @code{angles} anyway.
1339 @item message-deletable-headers
1340 @vindex message-deletable-headers
1341 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
1342 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
1343 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1344 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1345 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1346 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1347 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1348 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1351 @item message-default-headers
1352 @vindex message-default-headers
1353 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1356 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1357 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1361 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1362 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1363 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1364 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1365 to use abominations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1366 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1367 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1368 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1369 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1371 Here's an example of a value to deal with these headers when
1372 responding to a message:
1375 (setq message-subject-re-regexp
1380 "[Aa][Nn][Tt][Ww]\\.?\\|" ; antw
1382 "[Ff][Ww][Dd]?\\|" ; fwd
1383 "[Oo][Dd][Pp]\\|" ; odp
1385 "[Rr][\311\351][Ff]\\.?\\|" ; ref
1388 "\\(\\[[0-9]*\\]\\)"
1395 @item message-subject-trailing-was-query
1396 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-query
1397 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp
1398 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-regexp
1399 Controls what to do with trailing @samp{(was: <old subject>)} in subject
1400 lines. If @code{nil}, leave the subject unchanged. If it is the symbol
1401 @code{ask}, query the user what do do. In this case, the subject is
1402 matched against @code{message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp}. If
1403 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query} is t, always strip the
1404 trailing old subject. In this case,
1405 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-regexp} is used.
1407 @item message-alternative-emails
1408 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1409 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1410 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1412 @item message-allow-no-recipients
1413 @vindex message-allow-no-recipients
1414 Specifies what to do when there are no recipients other than
1415 @code{Gcc} or @code{Fcc}. If it is @code{always}, the posting is
1416 allowed. If it is @code{never}, the posting is not allowed. If it is
1417 @code{ask} (the default), you are prompted.
1419 @item message-hidden-headers
1420 @vindex message-hidden-headers
1421 A regexp, a list of regexps, or a list where the first element is
1422 @code{not} and the rest are regexps. It says which headers to keep
1423 hidden when composing a message.
1426 (setq message-hidden-headers
1427 '(not "From" "Subject" "To" "Cc" "Newsgroups"))
1434 @section Mail Headers
1437 @item message-required-mail-headers
1438 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1439 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1440 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1441 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1443 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1444 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1445 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1446 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1448 @item message-default-mail-headers
1449 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1450 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1451 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1456 @node Mail Variables
1457 @section Mail Variables
1460 @item message-send-mail-function
1461 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1462 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1463 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1464 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1465 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
1466 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1467 @findex feedmail-send-it
1468 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1469 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1470 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1471 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}, @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
1472 @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1474 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1475 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1476 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1477 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1478 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1479 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1482 @item message-qmail-inject-program
1483 @vindex message-qmail-inject-program
1485 Location of the qmail-inject program.
1487 @item message-qmail-inject-args
1488 @vindex message-qmail-inject-args
1489 Arguments passed to qmail-inject programs.
1490 This should be a list of strings, one string for each argument. It
1491 may also be a function.
1493 For e.g., if you wish to set the envelope sender address so that bounces
1494 go to the right place or to deal with listserv's usage of that address, you
1495 might set this variable to @code{'("-f" "you@@some.where")}.
1497 @item message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1498 @vindex message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1500 Non-@code{nil} means don't add @samp{-f username} to the sendmail
1501 command line. Doing so would be even more evil than leaving it out.
1503 @item message-sendmail-envelope-from
1504 @vindex message-sendmail-envelope-from
1505 When @code{message-sendmail-f-is-evil} is @code{nil}, this specifies
1506 the address to use in the @acronym{SMTP} envelope. If it is
1507 @code{nil}, use @code{user-mail-address}. If it is the symbol
1508 @code{header}, use the @samp{From} header of the message.
1510 @item message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1511 @vindex message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1512 Set this to non-@code{nil} if the system's mailer runs the header and
1513 body together. (This problem exists on SunOS 4 when sendmail is run
1514 in remote mode.) The value should be an expression to test whether
1515 the problem will actually occur.
1517 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1518 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1519 @cindex split large message
1520 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial. The lower bound
1521 of message size in characters, beyond which the message should be sent
1522 in several parts. If it is @code{nil}, the size is unlimited.
1528 @section News Headers
1530 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1531 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1532 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1533 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1539 @findex user-full-name
1540 @findex user-mail-address
1541 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1542 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1543 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1544 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1548 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1552 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1553 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1556 @cindex organization
1557 @vindex message-user-organization
1558 @vindex message-user-organization-file
1559 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1560 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1561 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1562 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1563 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1564 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1568 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1572 @vindex message-user-fqdn
1573 @vindex mail-host-address
1574 @vindex user-mail-address
1577 @cindex i-did-not-set--mail-host-address--so-tickle-me
1578 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1579 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. For the
1580 domain part, message will look (in this order) at
1581 @code{message-user-fqdn}, @code{system-name}, @code{mail-host-address}
1582 and @code{message-user-mail-address} (i.e. @code{user-mail-address})
1583 until a probably valid fully qualified domain name (FQDN) was found.
1587 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1588 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1591 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1592 header of the article being replied to.
1596 @vindex message-expires
1597 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1598 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1599 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1602 @cindex Distribution
1603 @vindex message-distribution-function
1604 This optional header is filled out according to the
1605 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1606 much misunderstood header.
1610 @vindex message-user-path
1611 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1612 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1613 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1614 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1615 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1616 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1617 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1621 @cindex Mime-Version
1622 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1623 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1624 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1625 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1626 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1627 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1628 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1629 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1630 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1632 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1633 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1636 If you want to delete an entry from this list, the following Lisp
1637 snippet might be useful. Adjust accordingly if you want to remove
1641 (setq message-required-news-headers
1642 (delq 'Message-ID message-required-news-headers))
1645 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1649 @item message-syntax-checks
1650 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1651 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1652 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1655 (signature . disabled)
1664 Check the subject for commands.
1667 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1668 @item multiple-headers
1669 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1672 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1674 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1676 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1679 Check for too long lines.
1681 Check for invalid characters.
1683 Check for excessive size.
1685 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1687 Check the length of the signature.
1690 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1691 something only moderators should include.
1693 Check whether the article is empty.
1694 @item invisible-text
1695 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1697 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1698 @item existing-newsgroups
1699 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1700 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1701 @item valid-newsgroups
1702 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1703 are valid syntactically.
1704 @item repeated-newsgroups
1705 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1706 contains repeated group names.
1707 @item shorten-followup-to
1708 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1709 of groups to post to.
1712 All these conditions are checked by default.
1714 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1715 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1716 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1717 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1719 @item message-default-news-headers
1720 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1721 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1722 buffers that are initialized as news.
1727 @node News Variables
1728 @section News Variables
1731 @item message-send-news-function
1732 @vindex message-send-news-function
1733 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1734 @code{message-send-news}.
1736 @item message-post-method
1737 @vindex message-post-method
1738 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1739 posting a prepared news message.
1744 @node Insertion Variables
1745 @section Insertion Variables
1748 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
1749 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
1750 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
1751 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
1754 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
1755 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
1756 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
1758 @item message-citation-line-function
1759 @vindex message-citation-line-function
1760 @cindex attribution line
1761 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
1762 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
1766 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
1769 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
1772 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
1773 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
1774 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
1775 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
1776 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
1778 @item message-yank-prefix
1779 @vindex message-yank-prefix
1782 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
1783 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
1784 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
1785 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
1786 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
1789 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
1790 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
1794 When yanking text from an article which contains no text or already
1795 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
1796 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
1797 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
1799 @item message-yank-add-new-references
1800 @vindex message-yank-add-new-references
1802 Non-@code{nil} means new IDs will be added to References field when an
1803 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
1804 interactively. If it is a symbol @code{message-id-only}, only an ID
1805 from Message-ID field is used, otherwise IDs extracted from References,
1806 In-Reply-To and Message-ID fields are used.
1808 @item message-list-references-add-position
1809 @vindex message-list-references-add-position
1811 Integer value means position for adding to References field when an
1812 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
1815 @item message-indentation-spaces
1816 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
1817 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
1819 @item message-cite-function
1820 @vindex message-cite-function
1821 @findex message-cite-original
1822 @findex sc-cite-original
1823 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
1825 Function for citing an original message. The default is
1826 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
1827 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
1828 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
1829 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
1832 @item message-suspend-font-lock-when-citing
1833 @vindex message-suspend-font-lock-when-citing
1834 If non-@code{nil}, suspend font-lock'ing while citing an original
1835 message. Some lazy demand-driven fontification tools (or Emacs itself)
1836 have a bug that they often miss a buffer to be fontified. It will
1837 mostly occur when Emacs prompts user for any inputs in the minibuffer.
1838 Setting this option to non-@code{nil} may help you to avoid unpleasant
1839 errors even if it is an add-hoc expedient.
1841 @item message-indent-citation-function
1842 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
1843 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
1844 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
1845 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
1846 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
1848 @item message-mark-insert-begin
1849 @vindex message-mark-insert-begin
1850 String to mark the beginning of some inserted text.
1852 @item message-mark-insert-end
1853 @vindex message-mark-insert-end
1854 String to mark the end of some inserted text.
1856 @item message-signature
1857 @vindex message-signature
1858 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
1859 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
1860 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
1861 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
1862 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
1864 @item message-signature-file
1865 @vindex message-signature-file
1866 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
1867 The default is @file{~/.signature}.
1869 @item message-signature-insert-empty-line
1870 @vindex message-signature-insert-empty-line
1871 If @code{t} (the default value) an empty line is inserted before the
1872 signature separator.
1876 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
1877 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
1878 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
1879 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
1880 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
1882 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
1883 Including @acronym{ASCII} graphics is an efficient way to get
1884 everybody to believe that you are silly and have nothing important to
1888 @node Various Message Variables
1889 @section Various Message Variables
1892 @item message-default-charset
1893 @vindex message-default-charset
1895 Symbol naming a @acronym{MIME} charset. Non-@acronym{ASCII}
1896 characters in messages are assumed to be encoded using this charset.
1897 The default is @code{nil}, which means ask the user. (This variable
1898 is used only on non-@sc{mule} Emacsen. @xref{Charset Translation, ,
1899 Charset Translation, emacs-mime, Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on
1900 the @sc{mule}-to-@acronym{MIME} translation process.
1902 @item message-signature-separator
1903 @vindex message-signature-separator
1904 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1907 @item mail-header-separator
1908 @vindex mail-header-separator
1909 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1910 follows this line--} by default.
1912 @item message-directory
1913 @vindex message-directory
1914 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1916 @item message-auto-save-directory
1917 @vindex message-auto-save-directory
1918 Directory where Message auto-saves buffers if Gnus isn't running. If
1919 @code{nil}, Message won't auto-save. The default is @file{~/Mail/drafts/}.
1921 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1922 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1923 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1924 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1926 @item message-setup-hook
1927 @vindex message-setup-hook
1928 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1929 but before yanked text is inserted.
1931 @item message-header-setup-hook
1932 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1933 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1935 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1936 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1937 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1940 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1941 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1942 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1943 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1944 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1945 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1947 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1948 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1951 @item message-send-hook
1952 @vindex message-send-hook
1953 Hook run before sending messages.
1955 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1956 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1957 @findex message-add-header
1960 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1961 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1962 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1963 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1966 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1968 @item message-send-mail-hook
1969 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1970 Hook run before sending mail messages. This hook is run very late --
1971 just before the message is actually sent as mail.
1973 @item message-send-news-hook
1974 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1975 Hook run before sending news messages. This hook is run very late --
1976 just before the message is actually sent as news.
1978 @item message-sent-hook
1979 @vindex message-sent-hook
1980 Hook run after sending messages.
1982 @item message-cancel-hook
1983 @vindex message-cancel-hook
1984 Hook run when cancelling news articles.
1986 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1987 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1988 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1990 @item message-strip-special-text-properties
1991 @vindex message-strip-special-text-properties
1992 Emacs has a number of special text properties which can break message
1993 composing in various ways. If this option is set, message will strip
1994 these properties from the message composition buffer. However, some
1995 packages requires these properties to be present in order to work. If
1996 you use one of these packages, turn this option off, and hope the
1997 message composition doesn't break too bad.
1999 @item message-send-method-alist
2000 @vindex message-send-method-alist
2002 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
2005 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
2010 A symbol that names the method.
2013 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
2014 message is a message of type @var{type}.
2017 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
2018 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
2022 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
2023 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
2032 @node Sending Variables
2033 @section Sending Variables
2037 @item message-fcc-handler-function
2038 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
2039 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
2040 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
2041 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
2043 @item message-courtesy-message
2044 @vindex message-courtesy-message
2045 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
2046 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
2047 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
2048 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
2049 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
2050 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
2052 @item message-fcc-externalize-attachments
2053 @vindex message-fcc-externalize-attachments
2054 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Fcc copies; if it is
2055 non-@code{nil}, attach local files as external parts.
2057 @item message-interactive
2058 @vindex message-interactive
2059 If non-@code{nil} wait for and display errors when sending a message;
2060 if @code{nil} let the mailer mail back a message to report errors.
2065 @node Message Buffers
2066 @section Message Buffers
2068 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
2069 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
2070 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
2071 message buffers are kept alive.
2074 @item message-generate-new-buffers
2075 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
2076 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
2077 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
2078 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
2079 The function should return the new buffer name.
2081 @item message-use-multi-frames
2082 @vindex message-use-multi-frames
2083 If non-@code{nil}, generate new frames. The default is @code{nil}.
2085 @item message-delete-frame-on-exit
2086 @vindex message-delete-frame-on-exit
2087 The @code{message-delete-frame-on-exit} variable says whether to delete
2088 the frame after sending the message or killing the message buffer. If it
2089 is @code{nil} (which is the default), don't delete the frame. If it is
2090 @code{ask}, ask wheter to delete the frame. If it is @code{t}, always
2093 @item message-max-buffers
2094 @vindex message-max-buffers
2095 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
2096 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
2097 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
2098 will ever be killed.
2100 @item message-send-rename-function
2101 @vindex message-send-rename-function
2102 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
2103 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
2104 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
2105 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
2109 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
2112 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
2113 @vindex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
2114 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
2116 @item message-kill-buffer-query-function
2117 @vindex message-kill-buffer-query-function
2118 @findex message-kill-buffer
2119 @findex message-mimic-kill-buffer
2120 Function used to prompt user whether to kill the message buffer when the
2121 command @code{message-kill-buffer} or @code{message-mimic-kill-buffer}
2122 is used. It defaults to @code{yes-or-no-p}. You may alter the value to
2123 @code{y-or-n-p}, @code{nnheader-Y-or-n-p}, etc. If it is @code{t}, the
2124 buffer will be killed without query.
2126 @item message-kill-buffer-and-remove-file
2127 @vindex message-kill-buffer-and-remove-file
2128 @findex message-kill-buffer
2129 @findex message-mimic-kill-buffer
2130 If it is non-@code{nil}, remove the backup file if it exists with a
2131 query to the user, after the message buffer is killed. Otherwise the
2132 file won't be removed. It defaults to @code{t}. However, it is treated
2133 as @code{nil} when the command `message-mimic-kill-buffer' is used.
2138 @node Message Actions
2139 @section Message Actions
2141 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
2142 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
2143 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
2146 @vindex message-kill-actions
2147 @vindex message-postpone-actions
2148 @vindex message-exit-actions
2149 @vindex message-send-actions
2150 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
2151 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
2152 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
2153 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
2154 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
2155 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
2156 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
2157 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
2159 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
2160 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
2161 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
2162 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
2166 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
2167 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
2170 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
2171 killed, postponed or exited.
2173 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
2174 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
2175 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
2179 @chapter Compatibility
2180 @cindex compatibility
2182 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
2183 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
2184 into account, you can put the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
2187 (require 'messcompat)
2190 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
2191 corresponding mail variables.
2198 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
2205 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
2210 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
2211 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
2212 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
2223 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
2224 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
2225 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
2226 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
2230 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
2237 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
2238 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
2239 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
2243 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
2244 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
2255 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
2256 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is