1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message 6.10.037 Manual
9 @c * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
14 @setchapternewpage odd
18 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
20 Copyright (C) 1996,97,98 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
23 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
24 are preserved on all copies.
27 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
28 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
29 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
30 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
33 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
34 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
35 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
36 permission notice identical to this one.
38 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
39 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
45 @title Message 6.10.037 Manual
47 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
50 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 Copyright @copyright{} 1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
53 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
54 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
55 are preserved on all copies.
57 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
58 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
59 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
60 permission notice identical to this one.
62 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
63 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
73 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
77 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
78 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
79 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
80 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
81 * Appendices:: More technical things.
82 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
83 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
86 This manual corresponds to Message 6.10.037. Message is
87 distributed with the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number
94 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
95 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
96 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
97 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
98 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
102 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
103 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
104 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
105 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
106 * Followup:: Following up via news.
107 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
108 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
109 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
110 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
111 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
115 @node New Mail Message
116 @section New Mail Message
119 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
121 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
122 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
123 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
126 @node New News Message
127 @section New News Message
130 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
132 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
133 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
134 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
140 @findex message-reply
141 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
142 reply to the message in the current buffer.
144 @vindex message-reply-to-function
145 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
146 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
147 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
149 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
150 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
153 (setq message-reply-to-function
155 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
156 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
161 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
164 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
165 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
166 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
169 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
170 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
171 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
172 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
173 the head of the outgoing mail.
179 @findex message-wide-reply
180 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
181 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
182 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
183 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
185 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
186 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
187 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
188 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
189 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
191 @findex rmail-dont-reply-to-names
192 Addresses that match the @code{rmail-dont-reply-to-names} regular
193 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
199 @findex message-followup
200 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
201 followup to the message in the current buffer.
203 @vindex message-followup-to-function
204 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
205 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
206 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
207 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
209 @vindex message-use-followup-to
210 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
211 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
212 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
213 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
214 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
218 @section Canceling News
220 @findex message-cancel-news
221 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
228 @findex message-supersede
229 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
230 supersede the message in the current buffer.
232 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
233 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
234 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
235 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
236 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
243 @findex message-forward
244 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
245 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
249 @item message-forward-start-separator
250 @vindex message-forward-start-separator
251 Delimiter inserted before forwarded messages. The default is@*
252 @samp{------- Start of forwarded message -------\n}.
254 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
255 @item message-forward-end-separator
256 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
257 Delimiter inserted after forwarded messages. The default is@*
258 @samp{------- End of forwarded message -------\n}.
260 @item message-signature-before-forwarded-message
261 @vindex message-signature-before-forwarded-message
262 If this variable is @code{t}, which it is by default, your personal
263 signature will be inserted before the forwarded message. If not, the
264 forwarded message will be inserted first in the new mail.
266 @item message-included-forward-headers
267 @vindex message-included-forward-headers
268 Regexp matching header lines to be included in forwarded messages.
270 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
271 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
272 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
273 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
274 passed into each successive function.
276 The provided functions are:
279 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
280 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
281 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
284 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
285 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
288 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
289 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
290 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
291 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
292 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
293 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
301 @findex message-resend
302 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
303 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
305 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
306 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
307 be removed before sending the message. The default is
308 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
314 @findex message-bounce
315 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
316 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
317 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
318 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
321 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
322 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
323 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
324 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
331 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
332 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
333 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
334 * Various Commands:: Various things.
335 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
336 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
340 @node Header Commands
341 @section Header Commands
343 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
350 @findex message-goto-to
351 Describe the message mode.
355 @findex message-goto-to
356 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
360 @findex message-goto-bcc
361 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
365 @findex message-goto-fcc
366 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
370 @findex message-goto-cc
371 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
375 @findex message-goto-subject
376 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
380 @findex message-goto-reply-to
381 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
385 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
386 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
390 @findex message-goto-distribution
391 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
395 @findex message-goto-followup-to
396 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
400 @findex message-goto-keywords
401 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
405 @findex message-goto-summary
406 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
417 @findex message-goto-body
418 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
419 (@code{message-goto-body}).
423 @findex message-goto-signature
424 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
436 @findex message-yank-original
437 Yank the message in the buffer @code{gnus-article-copy} into the message
438 buffer. Normally @code{gnus-article-copy} is what you are replying to
439 (@code{message-yank-original}).
443 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
444 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
445 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
446 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
447 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
453 @findex message-insert-signature
454 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
455 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
460 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
461 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
462 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
463 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
466 @item message-citation-line-function
467 @vindex message-citation-line-function
468 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
469 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
473 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
476 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
479 @item message-yank-prefix
480 @vindex message-yank-prefix
483 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
484 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
485 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
486 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
487 If it is @code{nil}, just indent the message.
489 @item message-indentation-spaces
490 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
491 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
493 @item message-cite-function
494 @vindex message-cite-function
495 @findex message-cite-original
496 @findex sc-cite-original
497 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
499 Function for citing an original message. The default is
500 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
501 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
502 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
503 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
506 @item message-indent-citation-function
507 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
508 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
509 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
510 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
511 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
513 @item message-signature
514 @vindex message-signature
515 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
516 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
517 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
518 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
519 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
521 @item message-signature-file
522 @vindex message-signature-file
523 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
524 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
528 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
529 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
530 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
531 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
532 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
534 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
535 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
536 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
540 @node Various Commands
541 @section Various Commands
547 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
548 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
549 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
550 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
551 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
555 @findex message-elide-region
556 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
557 The text is killed and an ellipsis (@samp{[...]}) will be inserted in
562 @findex message-kill-to-signature
563 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
564 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
568 @findex message-delete-not-region
569 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
570 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
574 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
575 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
580 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
583 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
586 > This is some quoted text.
590 > And here's more quoted text.
593 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
597 @findex message-insert-to
598 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
599 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
600 (@code{message-insert-to}).
604 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
605 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
606 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
607 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
611 @findex message-rename-buffer
612 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
613 prompt for a new buffer name.
624 @findex message-send-and-exit
625 Send the message and bury the current buffer
626 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
631 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
635 @findex message-dont-send
636 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
640 @findex message-kill-buffer
641 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
648 @section Mail Aliases
652 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
653 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
654 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
655 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
656 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
658 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
659 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
662 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
663 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
666 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
667 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
668 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
670 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
671 expansions have to be done explicitly.
679 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
680 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
681 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
682 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
683 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
684 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
685 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
686 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
687 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
691 @node Message Headers
692 @section Message Headers
694 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
695 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
696 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
697 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
698 look sufficiently similar.
702 @item message-generate-headers-first
703 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
704 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
707 @item message-from-style
708 @vindex message-from-style
709 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
714 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
717 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
720 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
723 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
724 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
725 @code{angles} anyway.
729 @item message-deletable-headers
730 @vindex message-deletable-headers
731 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
732 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
733 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
734 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
735 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
736 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
737 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
738 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
741 @item message-default-headers
742 @vindex message-default-headers
743 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
746 @item message-subject-re-regexp
747 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
748 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
749 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but in
750 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
751 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
752 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
753 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
754 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
755 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
756 just throw away non-compliant mail.
762 @section Mail Headers
765 @item message-required-mail-headers
766 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
767 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
768 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
769 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
771 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
772 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
773 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
774 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
776 @item message-default-mail-headers
777 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
778 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
779 buffers that are initialized as mail.
785 @section Mail Variables
788 @item message-send-mail-function
789 @vindex message-send-mail-function
790 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
791 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
792 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
794 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
795 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
796 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
797 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
798 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
799 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
806 @section News Headers
808 @vindex message-required-news-headers
809 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
810 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
811 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
817 @findex user-full-name
818 @findex user-mail-address
819 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
820 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
821 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
822 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
826 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
830 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
831 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
835 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
836 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
837 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
838 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
839 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
840 parameters and should return a string to be used).
844 This optional header will be computed by Message.
848 @vindex mail-host-address
851 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
852 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message will
853 use @code{mail-host-address} as the fully qualified domain name (FQDN)
854 of the machine if that variable is defined. If not, it will use
855 @code{system-name}, which doesn't report a FQDN on some machines --
860 This optional header will be filled out according to the
861 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
864 This optional header will be filled out according to the
865 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
866 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
869 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
870 header of the article being replied to.
874 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
875 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
876 be used unless you know what you're doing.
880 This optional header is filled out according to the
881 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
882 much misunderstood header.
886 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
887 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
888 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
889 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
890 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
891 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
892 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
897 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
898 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
899 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
900 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
901 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
902 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
903 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
904 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
905 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
907 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
908 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
911 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
915 @item message-syntax-checks
916 @vindex message-syntax-checks
917 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
918 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
921 (signature . disabled)
930 Check the subject for commands.
933 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
934 @item multiple-headers
935 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
938 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
940 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
942 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
945 Check for too long lines.
947 Check for invalid characters.
949 Check for excessive size.
951 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
953 Check the length of the signature.
956 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
957 something only moderators should include.
959 Check whether the article is empty.
961 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
963 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
964 @item existing-newsgroups
965 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
966 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
967 @item valid-newsgroups
968 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
969 are valid syntactically.
970 @item repeated-newsgroups
971 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
972 contains repeated group names.
973 @item shorten-followup-to
974 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
975 of groups to post to.
978 All these conditions are checked by default.
980 @item message-ignored-news-headers
981 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
982 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
983 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
985 @item message-default-news-headers
986 @vindex message-default-news-headers
987 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
988 buffers that are initialized as news.
994 @section News Variables
997 @item message-send-news-function
998 @vindex message-send-news-function
999 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1000 @code{message-send-news}.
1002 @item message-post-method
1003 @vindex message-post-method
1004 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1005 posting a prepared news message.
1010 @node Various Message Variables
1011 @section Various Message Variables
1014 @item message-signature-separator
1015 @vindex message-signature-separator
1016 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1019 @item mail-header-separator
1020 @vindex mail-header-separator
1021 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1022 follows this line--} by default.
1024 @item message-directory
1025 @vindex message-directory
1026 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1028 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1029 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1030 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1031 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1033 @item message-setup-hook
1034 @vindex message-setup-hook
1035 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1036 but before yanked text is inserted.
1038 @item message-header-setup-hook
1039 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1040 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1042 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1043 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1044 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1047 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1048 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1049 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1050 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1051 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1052 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1054 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1055 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1058 @item message-send-hook
1059 @vindex message-send-hook
1060 Hook run before sending messages.
1062 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1063 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1064 @findex message-add-header
1067 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1068 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1071 "Content-Type: text/plain"
1072 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit"))
1075 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1077 @item message-send-mail-hook
1078 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1079 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1081 @item message-send-news-hook
1082 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1083 Hook run before sending news messages.
1085 @item message-sent-hook
1086 @vindex message-sent-hook
1087 Hook run after sending messages.
1089 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1090 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1091 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1093 @item message-send-method-alist
1094 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1096 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1099 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1104 A symbol that names the method.
1107 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1108 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1111 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1112 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1116 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1117 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1126 @node Sending Variables
1127 @section Sending Variables
1131 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1132 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1133 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1134 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1135 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1137 @item message-courtesy-message
1138 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1139 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1140 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1141 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1142 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1143 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1144 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1149 @node Message Buffers
1150 @section Message Buffers
1152 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1153 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1154 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1155 message buffers are kept alive.
1158 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1159 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1160 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1161 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1162 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1163 The function should return the new buffer name.
1165 @item message-use-multi-frames
1166 @vindex message-use-multi-frames
1167 If non-@code{nil}, generate new frames. The default is @code{nil}.
1169 @item message-delete-frame-on-exit
1170 @vindex message-delete-frame-on-exit
1171 The @code{message-delete-frame-on-exit} variable says whether to delete
1172 the frame after sending the message or killing the message buffer. If it
1173 is @code{nil} (which is the default), don't delete the frame. If it is
1174 @code{ask}, ask wheter to delete the frame. If it is @code{t}, always
1177 @item message-max-buffers
1178 @vindex message-max-buffers
1179 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1180 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1181 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1182 will ever be killed.
1184 @item message-send-rename-function
1185 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1186 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1187 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1188 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1189 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1193 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1196 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1197 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1198 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1203 @node Message Actions
1204 @section Message Actions
1206 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1207 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1208 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1211 @vindex message-kill-actions
1212 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1213 @vindex message-exit-actions
1214 @vindex message-send-actions
1215 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1216 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1217 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1218 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1219 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1220 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1221 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1222 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1224 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1225 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1226 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1227 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1231 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1232 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1235 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1236 killed, postponed or exited.
1238 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1239 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1240 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1244 @chapter Compatibility
1245 @cindex compatibility
1247 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1248 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1249 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1252 (require 'messcompat)
1255 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1256 corresponding mail variables.
1263 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1270 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1275 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1276 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1277 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1288 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1289 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1290 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1291 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1295 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1302 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1303 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1304 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1308 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1309 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1320 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1321 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is