1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle T-gnus 6.14 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) 1996,97,98,99,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
24 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
25 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
26 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
27 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
28 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
29 License'' in the Emacs manual.
31 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
32 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
33 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
35 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
36 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
37 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
38 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
44 @title T-gnus 6.14 Message Manual
46 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
49 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
50 Copyright @copyright{} 1996,97,98,99,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
52 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
53 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
54 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
55 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
56 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
57 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
58 License'' in the Emacs manual.
60 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
61 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
62 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
64 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
65 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
66 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
67 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
76 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
80 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
81 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
82 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
83 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
84 * Appendices:: More technical things.
85 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
86 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
89 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.14 Message. Message is
90 distributed with the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number
97 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
98 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
99 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
100 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
101 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
105 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
106 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
107 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
108 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
109 * Followup:: Following up via news.
110 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
111 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
112 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
113 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
114 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
118 @node New Mail Message
119 @section New Mail Message
122 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
124 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
125 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
126 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
129 @node New News Message
130 @section New News Message
133 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
135 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
136 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
137 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
143 @findex message-reply
144 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
145 reply to the message in the current buffer.
147 @vindex message-reply-to-function
148 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
149 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
150 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
152 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
153 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
156 (setq message-reply-to-function
158 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
159 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
164 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
167 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
168 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
169 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
172 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
173 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
174 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
175 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
176 the head of the outgoing mail.
182 @findex message-wide-reply
183 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
184 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
185 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
186 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
188 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
189 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
190 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
191 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
192 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
194 @findex message-dont-reply-to-names
195 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
196 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
202 @findex message-followup
203 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
204 followup to the message in the current buffer.
206 @vindex message-followup-to-function
207 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
208 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
209 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
210 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
212 @vindex message-use-followup-to
213 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
214 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
215 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
216 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
217 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
221 @section Canceling News
223 @findex message-cancel-news
224 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
231 @findex message-supersede
232 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
233 supersede the message in the current buffer.
235 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
236 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
237 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
238 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
239 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
246 @findex message-forward
247 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
248 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
252 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
253 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
254 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
256 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
257 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
258 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
259 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
260 passed into each successive function.
262 The provided functions are:
265 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
266 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
267 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
270 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
271 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
274 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
275 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
276 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
277 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
278 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
279 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
281 @item message-forward-as-mime
282 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
283 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
284 included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
285 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
286 non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
293 @findex message-resend
294 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
295 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
297 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
298 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
299 be removed before sending the message. The default is
300 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
306 @findex message-bounce
307 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
308 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
309 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
310 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
313 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
314 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
315 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
316 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
323 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
324 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
325 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
326 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
327 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
328 * Various Commands:: Various things.
329 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
330 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
331 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
336 @section Buffer Entry
340 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
341 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
342 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
343 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
344 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
345 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
346 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
347 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
350 @node Header Commands
351 @section Header Commands
353 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
360 @findex message-goto-to
361 Describe the message mode.
365 @findex message-goto-to
366 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
370 @findex message-goto-bcc
371 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
375 @findex message-goto-fcc
376 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
380 @findex message-goto-cc
381 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
385 @findex message-goto-subject
386 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
390 @findex message-goto-reply-to
391 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
395 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
396 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
400 @findex message-goto-distribution
401 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
405 @findex message-goto-followup-to
406 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
410 @findex message-goto-keywords
411 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
415 @findex message-goto-summary
416 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
427 @findex message-goto-body
428 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
429 (@code{message-goto-body}).
433 @findex message-goto-signature
434 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
446 @findex message-yank-original
447 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
448 (@code{message-yank-original}).
452 @findex message-yank-buffer
453 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
454 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
458 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
459 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
460 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
461 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
462 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
467 @findex message-insert-signature
468 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
469 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
473 @findex message-insert-headers
474 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
479 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
480 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
481 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
482 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
485 @item message-citation-line-function
486 @vindex message-citation-line-function
487 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
488 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
492 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
495 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
498 @item message-yank-prefix
499 @vindex message-yank-prefix
502 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
503 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
504 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
505 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
507 @item message-yank-add-new-references
508 @vindex message-yank-add-new-references
510 Non-@code{nil} means new IDs will be added to References field when an
511 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
512 interactively. If it is a symbol @code{message-id-only}, only an ID
513 from Message-ID field is used, otherwise IDs extracted from References,
514 In-Reply-To and Message-ID fields are used.
516 @item message-list-references-add-position
517 @vindex message-list-references-add-position
519 Integer value means position for adding to References field when an
520 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
523 @item message-indentation-spaces
524 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
525 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
527 @item message-cite-function
528 @vindex message-cite-function
529 @findex message-cite-original
530 @findex sc-cite-original
531 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
533 Function for citing an original message. The default is
534 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
535 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
536 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
537 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
540 @item message-indent-citation-function
541 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
542 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
543 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
544 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
545 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
547 @item message-signature
548 @vindex message-signature
549 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
550 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
551 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
552 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
553 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
555 @item message-signature-file
556 @vindex message-signature-file
557 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
558 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
562 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
563 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
564 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
565 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
566 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
568 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
569 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
570 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
580 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
581 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
582 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
583 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
585 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
586 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
587 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
588 name and a @sc{mime} type.
590 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
591 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
595 @node Various Commands
596 @section Various Commands
602 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
603 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
604 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
605 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
606 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
610 @findex message-elide-region
611 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
612 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
613 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
618 @findex message-kill-to-signature
619 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
620 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
624 @findex message-delete-not-region
625 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
626 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
630 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
631 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
636 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
639 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
642 > This is some quoted text.
646 > And here's more quoted text.
649 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
653 @findex message-insert-to
654 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
655 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
656 (@code{message-insert-to}).
660 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
661 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
662 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
663 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
667 @findex message-rename-buffer
668 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
669 prompt for a new buffer name.
680 @findex message-send-and-exit
681 Send the message and bury the current buffer
682 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
687 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
691 @findex message-dont-send
692 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
696 @findex message-kill-buffer
697 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
704 @section Mail Aliases
708 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
709 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
710 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
711 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
712 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
714 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
715 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
718 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
719 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
722 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
723 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
724 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
726 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
727 expansions have to be done explicitly.
733 @findex ispell-message
735 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
736 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
737 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
738 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
739 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
740 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
743 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
746 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
747 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
748 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
751 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
752 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
756 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
759 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
760 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
763 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
767 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
769 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
772 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
780 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
781 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
782 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
783 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
784 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
785 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
786 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
787 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
788 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
792 @node Message Headers
793 @section Message Headers
795 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
796 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
797 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
798 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
799 look sufficiently similar.
803 @item message-generate-headers-first
804 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
805 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
808 @item message-from-style
809 @vindex message-from-style
810 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
815 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
818 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
821 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
824 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
825 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
826 @code{angles} anyway.
830 @item message-deletable-headers
831 @vindex message-deletable-headers
832 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
833 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
834 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
835 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
836 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
837 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
838 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
839 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
842 @item message-default-headers
843 @vindex message-default-headers
844 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
847 @item message-subject-re-regexp
848 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
849 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
850 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but in
851 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
852 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
853 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
854 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
855 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
856 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
857 just throw away non-compliant mail.
859 @item message-alternative-emails
860 @vindex message-alternative-emails
861 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
862 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
868 @section Mail Headers
871 @item message-required-mail-headers
872 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
873 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
874 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
875 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
877 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
878 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
879 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
880 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
882 @item message-default-mail-headers
883 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
884 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
885 buffers that are initialized as mail.
891 @section Mail Variables
894 @item message-send-mail-function
895 @vindex message-send-mail-function
896 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
897 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
898 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
900 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
901 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
902 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
903 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
904 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
905 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
912 @section News Headers
914 @vindex message-required-news-headers
915 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
916 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
917 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
923 @findex user-full-name
924 @findex user-mail-address
925 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
926 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
927 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
928 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
932 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
936 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
937 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
941 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
942 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
943 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
944 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
945 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
946 parameters and should return a string to be used).
950 This optional header will be computed by Message.
954 @vindex mail-host-address
957 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
958 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
959 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
960 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
961 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
965 This optional header will be filled out according to the
966 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
969 This optional header will be filled out according to the
970 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
971 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
974 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
975 header of the article being replied to.
979 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
980 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
981 be used unless you know what you're doing.
985 This optional header is filled out according to the
986 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
987 much misunderstood header.
991 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
992 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
993 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
994 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
995 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
996 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
997 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1001 @cindex Mime-Version
1002 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1003 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1004 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1005 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1006 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1007 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1008 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1009 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1010 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1012 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1013 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1016 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1020 @item message-syntax-checks
1021 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1022 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1023 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1026 (signature . disabled)
1035 Check the subject for commands.
1038 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1039 @item multiple-headers
1040 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1043 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1045 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1047 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1050 Check for too long lines.
1052 Check for invalid characters.
1054 Check for excessive size.
1056 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1058 Check the length of the signature.
1061 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1062 something only moderators should include.
1064 Check whether the article is empty.
1065 @item invisible-text
1066 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1068 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1069 @item existing-newsgroups
1070 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1071 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1072 @item valid-newsgroups
1073 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1074 are valid syntactically.
1075 @item repeated-newsgroups
1076 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1077 contains repeated group names.
1078 @item shorten-followup-to
1079 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1080 of groups to post to.
1083 All these conditions are checked by default.
1085 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1086 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1087 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1088 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
1090 @item message-default-news-headers
1091 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1092 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1093 buffers that are initialized as news.
1098 @node News Variables
1099 @section News Variables
1102 @item message-send-news-function
1103 @vindex message-send-news-function
1104 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1105 @code{message-send-news}.
1107 @item message-post-method
1108 @vindex message-post-method
1109 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1110 posting a prepared news message.
1115 @node Various Message Variables
1116 @section Various Message Variables
1119 @item message-default-charset
1120 @vindex message-default-charset
1122 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1123 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1124 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1126 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1127 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1128 translation process.
1130 @item message-signature-separator
1131 @vindex message-signature-separator
1132 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1135 @item mail-header-separator
1136 @vindex mail-header-separator
1137 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1138 follows this line--} by default.
1140 @item message-directory
1141 @vindex message-directory
1142 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1144 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1145 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1146 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1147 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1149 @item message-setup-hook
1150 @vindex message-setup-hook
1151 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1152 but before yanked text is inserted.
1154 @item message-header-setup-hook
1155 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1156 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1158 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1159 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1160 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1163 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1164 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1165 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1166 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1167 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1168 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1170 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1171 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1174 @item message-send-hook
1175 @vindex message-send-hook
1176 Hook run before sending messages.
1178 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1179 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1180 @findex message-add-header
1183 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1184 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1186 "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense"
1190 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1192 @item message-send-mail-hook
1193 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1194 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1196 @item message-send-news-hook
1197 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1198 Hook run before sending news messages.
1200 @item message-sent-hook
1201 @vindex message-sent-hook
1202 Hook run after sending messages.
1204 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1205 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1206 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1208 @item message-send-method-alist
1209 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1211 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1214 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1219 A symbol that names the method.
1222 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1223 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1226 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1227 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1231 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1232 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1241 @node Sending Variables
1242 @section Sending Variables
1246 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1247 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1248 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1249 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1250 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1252 @item message-courtesy-message
1253 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1254 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1255 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1256 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1257 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1258 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1259 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1264 @node Message Buffers
1265 @section Message Buffers
1267 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1268 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1269 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1270 message buffers are kept alive.
1273 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1274 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1275 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1276 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1277 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1278 The function should return the new buffer name.
1280 @item message-use-multi-frames
1281 @vindex message-use-multi-frames
1282 If non-@code{nil}, generate new frames. The default is @code{nil}.
1284 @item message-delete-frame-on-exit
1285 @vindex message-delete-frame-on-exit
1286 The @code{message-delete-frame-on-exit} variable says whether to delete
1287 the frame after sending the message or killing the message buffer. If it
1288 is @code{nil} (which is the default), don't delete the frame. If it is
1289 @code{ask}, ask wheter to delete the frame. If it is @code{t}, always
1292 @item message-max-buffers
1293 @vindex message-max-buffers
1294 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1295 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1296 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1297 will ever be killed.
1299 @item message-send-rename-function
1300 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1301 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1302 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1303 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1304 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1308 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1311 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1312 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1313 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1318 @node Message Actions
1319 @section Message Actions
1321 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1322 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1323 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1326 @vindex message-kill-actions
1327 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1328 @vindex message-exit-actions
1329 @vindex message-send-actions
1330 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1331 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1332 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1333 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1334 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1335 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1336 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1337 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1339 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1340 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1341 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1342 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1346 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1347 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1350 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1351 killed, postponed or exited.
1353 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1354 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1355 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1359 @chapter Compatibility
1360 @cindex compatibility
1362 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1363 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1364 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1367 (require 'messcompat)
1370 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1371 corresponding mail variables.
1378 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1385 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1390 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1391 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1392 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1403 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1404 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1405 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1406 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1410 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1417 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1418 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1419 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1423 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1424 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1435 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1436 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is