1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle T-gnus 6.17 Message Manual
9 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
11 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
12 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
15 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
16 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
17 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
18 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
19 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
20 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
21 License'' in the Emacs manual.
23 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
24 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
25 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
27 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
28 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
29 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
30 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
36 * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
41 @setchapternewpage odd
44 @title T-gnus 6.17 Message Manual
46 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
49 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
57 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
61 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
62 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
63 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
64 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
65 * Appendices:: More technical things.
66 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
67 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
70 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.17 Message. Message is distributed
71 with the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this
78 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message---reply,
79 follow up, forward, cancel---the program (or person) should just put
80 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
81 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
82 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
86 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
87 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
88 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
89 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
90 * Followup:: Following up via news.
91 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
92 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
93 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
94 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
95 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
96 * Mailing Lists:: Send mail to mailing lists.
100 @node New Mail Message
101 @section New Mail Message
104 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
106 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
107 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
108 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
111 @node New News Message
112 @section New News Message
115 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
117 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
118 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
119 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
125 @findex message-reply
126 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
127 reply to the message in the current buffer.
129 @vindex message-reply-to-function
130 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
131 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
132 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
134 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
135 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
138 (setq message-reply-to-function
140 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
141 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
146 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
149 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
150 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
151 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
154 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
155 should be a cons, where the @sc{car} should be the name of a header
156 (e.g. @code{Cc}) and the @sc{cdr} should be the header value
157 (e.g. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
158 the head of the outgoing mail.
164 @findex message-wide-reply
165 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
166 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
167 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
168 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
170 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
171 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
172 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
173 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
174 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
176 @vindex message-dont-reply-to-names
177 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
178 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
180 @vindex message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients
181 If @code{message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients} is non-@code{nil} you
182 will be asked to confirm that you want to reply to multiple
183 recipients. The default is @code{nil}.
188 @findex message-followup
189 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
190 followup to the message in the current buffer.
192 @vindex message-followup-to-function
193 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
194 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
195 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
196 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
198 @vindex message-use-followup-to
199 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
200 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
201 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
202 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
203 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
207 @section Canceling News
209 @findex message-cancel-news
210 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
213 @vindex message-cancel-message
214 The value of @code{message-cancel-message} is inserted in the body of
215 the cancel message. The default is @samp{I am canceling my own
219 @vindex message-insert-canlock
221 When Message posts news messages, it inserts @code{Cancel-Lock}
222 headers by default. This is a cryptographic header that ensures that
223 only you can cancel your own messages, which is nice. The downside
224 is that if you lose your @file{.emacs} file (which is where Gnus
225 stores the secret cancel lock password (which is generated
226 automatically the first time you use this feature)), you won't be
227 able to cancel your message. If you want to manage a password yourself,
228 you can put something like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
231 (setq canlock-password "geheimnis"
232 canlock-password-for-verify canlock-password)
235 Whether to insert the header or not is controlled by the
236 @code{message-insert-canlock} variable.
238 Not many news servers respect the @code{Cancel-Lock} header yet, but
239 this is expected to change in the future.
245 @findex message-supersede
246 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
247 supersede the message in the current buffer.
249 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
250 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
251 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
252 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
253 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
260 @findex message-forward
261 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
262 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
266 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
267 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
268 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
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}.
295 @item message-forward-as-mime
296 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
297 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
298 included as inline @acronym{MIME} RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
299 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
300 non @acronym{MIME}-savvy versions of Gnus would do.
302 @item message-forward-before-signature
303 @vindex message-forward-before-signature
304 If non-@code{nil}, put forwarded message before signature, else after.
312 @findex message-resend
313 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
314 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
316 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
317 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
318 be removed before sending the message.
324 @findex message-bounce
325 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
326 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
327 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
328 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
331 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
332 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
333 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
334 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
338 @section Mailing Lists
340 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
341 Sometimes while posting to mailing lists, the poster needs to direct
342 followups to the post to specific places. The Mail-Followup-To (MFT)
343 was created to enable just this. Two example scenarios where this is
348 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
349 sent to just the list, and not the poster as well. This will happen
350 if the poster is already subscribed to the list.
353 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
354 sent to the list and the poster as well. This will happen if the poster
355 is not subscribed to the list.
358 If a message is posted to several mailing lists, MFT may also be used
359 to direct the following discussion to one list only, because
360 discussions that are spread over several lists tend to be fragmented
361 and very difficult to follow.
365 Gnus honors the MFT header in other's messages (i.e. while following
366 up to someone else's post) and also provides support for generating
367 sensible MFT headers for outgoing messages as well.
370 @c * Honoring an MFT post:: What to do when one already exists
371 @c * Composing with a MFT header:: Creating one from scratch.
374 @c @node Composing with a MFT header
375 @subsection Composing a correct MFT header automagically
377 The first step in getting Gnus to automagically generate a MFT header
378 in posts you make is to give Gnus a list of the mailing lists
379 addresses you are subscribed to. You can do this in more than one
380 way. The following variables would come in handy.
384 @vindex message-subscribed-addresses
385 @item message-subscribed-addresses
386 This should be a list of addresses the user is subscribed to. Its
387 default value is @code{nil}. Example:
389 (setq message-subscribed-addresses
390 '("ding@@gnus.org" "bing@@noose.org"))
393 @vindex message-subscribed-regexps
394 @item message-subscribed-regexps
395 This should be a list of regexps denoting the addresses of mailing
396 lists subscribed to. Default value is @code{nil}. Example: If you
397 want to achieve the same result as above:
399 (setq message-subscribed-regexps
400 '("\\(ding@@gnus\\)\\|\\(bing@@noose\\)\\.org")
403 @vindex message-subscribed-address-functions
404 @item message-subscribed-address-functions
405 This can be a list of functions to be called (one at a time!!) to
406 determine the value of MFT headers. It is advisable that these
407 functions not take any arguments. Default value is @code{nil}.
409 There is a pre-defined function in Gnus that is a good candidate for
410 this variable. @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses} is a function
411 that returns a list of addresses corresponding to the groups that have
412 the @code{subscribed} (@pxref{Group Parameters, ,Group Parameters,
413 gnus, The Gnus Manual}) group parameter set to a non-@code{nil} value.
414 This is how you would do it.
417 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
418 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
421 @vindex message-subscribed-address-file
422 @item message-subscribed-address-file
423 You might be one organised human freak and have a list of addresses of
424 all subscribed mailing lists in a separate file! Then you can just
425 set this variable to the name of the file and life would be good.
429 You can use one or more of the above variables. All their values are
430 ``added'' in some way that works :-)
432 Now you are all set. Just start composing a message as you normally do.
433 And just send it; as always. Just before the message is sent out, Gnus'
434 MFT generation thingy kicks in and checks if the message already has a
435 MFT field. If there is one, it is left alone. (Except if it's empty -
436 in that case, the field is removed and is not replaced with an
437 automatically generated one. This lets you disable MFT generation on a
438 per-message basis.) If there is none, then the list of recipient
439 addresses (in the To: and Cc: headers) is checked to see if one of them
440 is a list address you are subscribed to. If none of them is a list
441 address, then no MFT is generated; otherwise, a MFT is added to the
442 other headers and set to the value of all addresses in To: and Cc:
445 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
447 @findex message-goto-mail-followup-to
448 Hm. ``So'', you ask, ``what if I send an email to a list I am not
449 subscribed to? I want my MFT to say that I want an extra copy.'' (This
450 is supposed to be interpreted by others the same way as if there were no
451 MFT, but you can use an explicit MFT to override someone else's
452 to-address group parameter.) The function
453 @code{message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to} might come in
454 handy. It is bound to @kbd{C-c C-f C-a} by default. In any case, you
455 can insert a MFT of your own choice; @kbd{C-c C-f C-m}
456 (@code{message-goto-mail-followup-to}) will help you get started.
458 @c @node Honoring an MFT post
459 @subsection Honoring an MFT post
461 @vindex message-use-mail-followup-to
462 When you followup to a post on a mailing list, and the post has a MFT
463 header, Gnus' action will depend on the value of the variable
464 @code{message-use-mail-followup-to}. This variable can be one of:
468 Always honor MFTs. The To: and Cc: headers in your followup will be
469 derived from the MFT header of the original post. This is the default.
472 Always dishonor MFTs (just ignore the darned thing)
475 Gnus will prompt you for an action.
479 It is considered good netiquette to honor MFT, as it is assumed the
480 fellow who posted a message knows where the followups need to go
487 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
488 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving headers or changing headers.
489 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
490 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
491 * MIME:: @acronym{MIME} considerations.
492 * IDNA:: Non-@acronym{ASCII} domain name considerations.
493 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
494 * Various Commands:: Various things.
495 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
496 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
497 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
502 @section Buffer Entry
506 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
507 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
508 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
509 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
510 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
511 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
512 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
513 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
516 @node Header Commands
517 @section Header Commands
519 @subsection Commands for moving to headers
521 These following commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't
522 exist, it will be inserted.
528 @findex describe-mode
529 Describe the message mode.
533 @findex message-goto-to
534 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
538 @findex message-goto-from
539 Go to the @code{From} header (@code{message-goto-from}). (The ``o''
540 in the key binding is for Originator.)
544 @findex message-goto-bcc
545 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
549 @findex message-goto-fcc
550 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
554 @findex message-goto-cc
555 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
559 @findex message-goto-subject
560 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
564 @findex message-goto-reply-to
565 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
569 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
570 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
574 @findex message-goto-distribution
575 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
579 @findex message-goto-followup-to
580 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
584 @findex message-goto-keywords
585 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
589 @findex message-goto-summary
590 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
594 @findex message-insert-or-toggle-importance
595 This inserts the @samp{Importance:} header with a value of
596 @samp{high}. This header is used to signal the importance of the
597 message to the receiver. If the header is already present in the
598 buffer, it cycles between the three valid values according to RFC
599 1376: @samp{low}, @samp{normal} and @samp{high}.
603 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
604 Insert a reasonable @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
605 (@pxref{Mailing Lists}) in a post to an
606 unsubscribed list. When making original posts to a mailing list you are
607 not subscribed to, you have to type in a @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
608 by hand. The contents, usually, are the addresses of the list and your
609 own address. This function inserts such a header automatically. It
610 fetches the contents of the @samp{To:} header in the current mail
611 buffer, and appends the current @code{user-mail-address}.
613 If the optional argument @code{include-cc} is non-@code{nil}, the
614 addresses in the @samp{Cc:} header are also put into the
615 @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header.
619 @subsection Commands to change headers
625 @findex message-sort-headers
626 @vindex message-header-format-alist
627 Sort headers according to @code{message-header-format-alist}
628 (@code{message-sort-headers}).
632 @findex message-insert-to
633 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
634 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
635 (@code{message-insert-to}).
639 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
640 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
641 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
642 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
646 @findex message-to-list-only
647 Send a message to the list only. Remove all addresses but the list
648 address from @code{To:} and @code{Cc:} headers.
652 @findex message-insert-disposition-notification-to
653 Insert a request for a disposition
654 notification. (@code{message-insert-disposition-notification-to}).
655 This means that if the recipient support RFC 2298 she might send you a
656 notification that she received the message.
658 @item M-x message-insert-importance-high
659 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-high
660 @findex message-insert-importance-high
662 Insert an @samp{Importance} header with a value of @samp{high},
663 deleting headers if necessary.
665 @item M-x message-insert-importance-low
666 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-low
667 @findex message-insert-importance-low
669 Insert an @samp{Importance} header with a value of @samp{low}, deleting
670 headers if necessary.
674 @findex message-change-subject
676 Change the current @samp{Subject} header. Ask for new @samp{Subject}
677 header and append @samp{(was: <Old Subject>)}. The old subject can be
678 stripped on replying, see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}
679 (@pxref{Message Headers}).
683 @findex message-cross-post-followup-to
684 @vindex message-cross-post-default
687 Ask for an additional @samp{Newsgroups} and @samp{FollowUp-To} for a
688 cross-post. @code{message-cross-post-followup-to} mangles
689 @samp{FollowUp-To} and @samp{Newsgroups} header to point to group.
690 If @code{message-cross-post-default} is @code{nil} or if called with a
691 prefix-argument @samp{Follow-Up} is set, but the message is not
696 @findex message-reduce-to-to-cc
697 Replace contents of @samp{To} header with contents of @samp{Cc} or
702 @findex message-insert-wide-reply
703 Insert @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers as if you were doing a wide
708 @findex message-add-archive-header
709 @vindex message-archive-header
710 @vindex message-archive-note
712 Insert @samp{X-No-Archive: Yes} in the header and a note in the body.
713 The header and the note can be customized using
714 @code{message-archive-header} and @code{message-archive-note}. When
715 called with a prefix argument, ask for a text to insert. If you don't
716 want the note in the body, set @code{message-archive-note} to
728 @findex message-goto-body
729 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
730 (@code{message-goto-body}).
734 @findex message-goto-signature
735 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
739 @findex message-beginning-of-line
740 @vindex message-beginning-of-line
741 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
742 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
743 name and the colon.) This behaviour can be disabled by toggling
744 the variable @code{message-beginning-of-line}.
756 @findex message-yank-original
757 Yank the message in the buffer @code{gnus-article-copy} into the message
758 buffer. Normally @code{gnus-article-copy} is what you are replying to
759 (@code{message-yank-original}).
763 @findex message-yank-buffer
764 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
765 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
769 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
770 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
771 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
772 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
773 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
778 @findex message-insert-signature
779 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
780 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
784 @findex message-insert-headers
785 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
789 @findex message-mark-inserted-region
790 Mark some region in the current article with enclosing tags.
791 See @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
795 @findex message-mark-insert-file
796 Insert a file in the current article with enclosing tags.
797 See @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
809 Message is a @acronym{MIME}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
810 doesn't have to do anything to make the @acronym{MIME} happen---Message will
811 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
812 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
814 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
815 @acronym{MIME} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out.
816 This can be done with the @kbd{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for
817 a file name and a @acronym{MIME} type. If your Emacs supports drag
818 and drop, you can also drop the file in the Message buffer.
820 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the @acronym{MML}
821 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
827 @cindex internationalized domain names
828 @cindex non-ascii domain names
830 Message is a @acronym{IDNA}-compliant posting agent. The user
831 generally doesn't have to do anything to make the @acronym{IDNA}
832 happen---Message will encode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in @code{From},
833 @code{To}, and @code{Cc} headers automatically.
835 Until @acronym{IDNA} becomes more well known, Message queries you
836 whether @acronym{IDNA} encoding of the domain name really should
837 occur. Some users might not be aware that domain names can contain
838 non-@acronym{ASCII} now, so this gives them a safety net if they accidently
839 typed a non-@acronym{ASCII} domain name.
841 @vindex message-use-idna
842 The @code{message-use-idna} variable control whether @acronym{IDNA} is
843 used. If the variable is @code{nil} no @acronym{IDNA} encoding will
844 ever happen, if it is set to the symbol @code{ask} the user will be
845 queried (the default), and if set to @code{t} @acronym{IDNA} encoding
846 happens automatically.
848 @findex message-idna-to-ascii-rhs
849 If you want to experiment with the @acronym{IDNA} encoding, you can
850 invoke @kbd{M-x message-idna-to-ascii-rhs RET} in the message buffer
851 to have the non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names encoded while you edit the message.
853 Note that you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU
854 Libidn} installed in order to use this functionality.
866 Using the @acronym{MML} language, Message is able to create digitally
867 signed and digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather
868 @acronym{MML}) currently support @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991),
869 @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME}. Instructing
870 @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a @acronym{MIME} part is
871 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m
872 c} key map for encryption, as follows.
878 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
880 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
884 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
886 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
890 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime
892 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
896 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
898 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
902 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
904 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
908 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
910 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
914 @findex mml-unsecure-message
915 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
919 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
920 merely insert the proper @acronym{MML} secure tag to instruct the
921 @acronym{MML} engine to perform that operation when the message is
922 actually sent. They may perform other operations too, such as locating
923 and retrieving a @acronym{S/MIME} certificate of the person you wish to
924 send encrypted mail to. When the mml parsing engine converts your
925 @acronym{MML} into a properly encoded @acronym{MIME} message, the secure
926 tag will be replaced with either a part or a multipart tag. If your
927 message contains other mml parts, a multipart tag will be used; if no
928 other parts are present in your message a single part tag will be used.
929 This way, message mode will do the Right Thing (TM) with
930 signed/encrypted multipart messages.
932 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
933 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
934 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
935 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
936 using @kbd{C-u C-c RET P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can
937 verify that your long rant about what your ex-significant other or
938 whomever actually did with that funny looking person at that strange
939 party the other night, actually will be sent encrypted.
941 @emph{Note!} Neither @acronym{PGP/MIME} nor @acronym{S/MIME} encrypt/signs
942 RFC822 headers. They only operate on the @acronym{MIME} object. Keep this
943 in mind before sending mail with a sensitive Subject line.
945 By default, when encrypting a message, Gnus will use the
946 ``signencrypt'' mode, which means the message is both signed and
947 encrypted. If you would like to disable this for a particular
948 message, give the @code{mml-secure-message-encrypt-*} command a prefix
949 argument, e.g., @kbd{C-u C-c C-m c p}.
951 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
952 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
953 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
954 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
956 @subsection Using S/MIME
958 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
959 modern cryptography, @acronym{S/MIME}, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and
962 The @acronym{S/MIME} support in Message (and @acronym{MML}) require
963 OpenSSL. OpenSSL performs the actual @acronym{S/MIME} sign/encrypt
964 operations. OpenSSL can be found at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}.
965 OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work. Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail
966 addresses from certificates, and it insert a spurious CR character into
967 @acronym{MIME} separators so you may wish to avoid it if you would like
968 to avoid being regarded as someone who send strange mail. (Although by
969 sending @acronym{S/MIME} messages you've probably already lost that
972 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
973 required. Message (@acronym{MML}) need a certificate for the person to whom you
974 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
975 @kbd{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
976 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local
977 file, it need to contain a X.509 certificate in @acronym{PEM} format.
978 If you chose DNS, you're asked for the domain name where the
979 certificate is stored, the default is a good guess. To my belief,
980 Message (@acronym{MML}) is the first mail agent in the world to support
981 retrieving @acronym{S/MIME} certificates from DNS, so you're not
982 likely to find very many certificates out there. At least there
983 should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}. LDAP
984 is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for it
985 is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
986 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
988 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
989 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
990 where your private key and your certificate is stored. @acronym{MML}
991 uses an Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it
992 contain a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try
993 @kbd{M-x customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
995 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create
996 your own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this
997 manually with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape
998 and got a free @acronym{S/MIME} certificate from one of the big CA's on the
999 net. Netscape is able to export your private key and certificate in
1000 PKCS #12 format. Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509
1001 certificate in PEM format as follows.
1004 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
1007 The @file{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
1008 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
1010 @emph{Note!} Your private key is now stored unencrypted in the file,
1011 so take care in handling it. Storing encrypted keys on the disk are
1012 supported, and Gnus will ask you for a passphrase before invoking
1013 OpenSSL. Read the OpenSSL documentation for how to achieve this. If
1014 you use unencrypted keys (e.g., if they are on a secure storage, or if
1015 you are on a secure single user machine) simply press @code{RET} at
1016 the passphrase prompt.
1018 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
1020 @acronym{PGP/MIME} requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such
1021 as @uref{http://www.gnupg.org/, GNU Privacy Guard}. Pre-OpenPGP
1022 implementations such as PGP 2.x and PGP 5.x are also supported. One
1023 Emacs interface to the PGP implementations, PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG,
1024 pgg, PGG Manual}), is included, but Mailcrypt and Florian Weimer's
1025 @code{gpg.el} are also supported.
1027 @vindex gpg-temp-directory
1028 Note, if you are using the @code{gpg.el} you must make sure that the
1029 directory specified by @code{gpg-temp-directory} have permissions
1032 Creating your own key is described in detail in the documentation of
1033 your PGP implementation, so we refer to it.
1035 If you have imported your old PGP 2.x key into GnuPG, and want to send
1036 signed and encrypted messages to your fellow PGP 2.x users, you'll
1037 discover that the receiver cannot understand what you send. One
1038 solution is to use PGP 2.x instead (i.e., if you use @code{pgg}, set
1039 @code{pgg-default-scheme} to @code{pgp}). If you do want to use
1040 GnuPG, you can use a compatibility script called @code{gpg-2comp}
1042 @uref{http://muppet.faveve.uni-stuttgart.de/~gero/gpg-2comp/}. You
1043 could also convince your fellow PGP 2.x users to convert to GnuPG.
1044 @vindex mml-signencrypt-style-alist
1045 As a final workaround, you can make the sign and encryption work in
1046 two steps; separately sign, then encrypt a message. If you would like
1047 to change this behavior you can customize the
1048 @code{mml-signencrypt-style-alist} variable. For example:
1051 (setq mml-signencrypt-style-alist '(("smime" separate)
1053 ("pgpauto" separate)
1054 ("pgpmime" separate)))
1057 This causes to sign and encrypt in two passes, thus generating a
1058 message that can be understood by PGP version 2.
1060 (Refer to @uref{http://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/pgp2x.html} for more
1061 information about the problem.)
1063 @node Various Commands
1064 @section Various Commands
1070 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
1071 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
1072 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
1073 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
1074 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
1078 @findex message-elide-region
1079 @vindex message-elide-ellipsis
1080 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
1081 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
1082 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
1087 @findex message-kill-address
1088 Kill the address under point.
1092 @findex message-kill-to-signature
1093 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
1094 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
1098 @findex message-delete-not-region
1099 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
1100 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
1104 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
1105 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
1110 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
1113 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
1116 > This is some quoted text.
1120 > And here's more quoted text.
1123 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
1127 @findex message-rename-buffer
1128 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
1129 prompt for a new buffer name.
1134 @vindex message-tab-body-function
1135 If non-@code{nil} execute the function specified in
1136 @code{message-tab-body-function}. Otherwise use the function bound to
1137 @kbd{TAB} in @code{text-mode-map} or @code{global-map}.
1148 @findex message-send-and-exit
1149 Send the message and bury the current buffer
1150 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
1154 @findex message-send
1155 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
1159 @findex message-dont-send
1160 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
1164 @findex message-kill-buffer
1165 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}). It will
1166 delete the message frame if it has been created exclusively for the
1167 message buffer. If the option
1168 @code{message-kill-buffer-and-remove-file} is non-@code{nil} and the
1169 backup file has been created for the message buffer, it will also remove
1170 the file after prompting to the user.
1174 @findex message-mimic-kill-buffer
1175 @vindex message-kill-buffer-and-remove-file
1176 This is an imitation for @code{kill-buffer}
1177 (@code{message-mimic-kill-buffer}). It dynamically binds the variable
1178 @code{message-kill-buffer-and-remove-file} to @code{nil} and calls the
1179 function @code{message-kill-buffer}.
1186 @section Mail Aliases
1187 @cindex mail aliases
1190 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
1191 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
1192 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
1193 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
1194 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
1196 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
1197 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
1200 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
1201 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
1204 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
1205 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
1206 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
1208 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
1209 expansions have to be done explicitly.
1215 @findex ispell-message
1217 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
1218 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
1219 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
1220 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
1221 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
1222 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
1225 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
1228 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1229 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
1230 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
1233 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1234 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
1235 (".*" . "default")))
1238 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1241 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
1242 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
1245 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
1249 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
1251 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
1254 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1262 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
1263 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
1264 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
1265 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
1266 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
1267 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
1268 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
1269 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
1270 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
1271 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
1275 @node Message Headers
1276 @section Message Headers
1278 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
1279 be---it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
1280 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
1281 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
1282 look sufficiently similar.
1286 @item message-generate-headers-first
1287 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
1288 If @code{t}, generate all required headers before starting to
1289 compose the message. This can also be a list of headers to generate:
1292 (setq message-generate-headers-first
1296 @vindex message-required-headers
1297 The variables @code{message-required-headers},
1298 @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
1299 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are
1302 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
1303 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
1305 @item message-draft-headers
1306 @vindex message-draft-headers
1307 When running Message from Gnus, the message buffers are associated
1308 with a draft group. @code{message-draft-headers} says which headers
1309 should be generated when a draft is written to the draft group.
1311 @item message-from-style
1312 @vindex message-from-style
1313 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
1318 Just the address---@samp{king@@grassland.com}.
1321 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
1324 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
1327 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
1328 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
1329 @code{angles} anyway.
1333 @item message-deletable-headers
1334 @vindex message-deletable-headers
1335 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
1336 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
1337 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1338 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1339 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1340 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1341 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1342 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1345 @item message-default-headers
1346 @vindex message-default-headers
1347 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1350 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1351 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1355 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1356 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1357 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1358 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1359 to use abominations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1360 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1361 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1362 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1363 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1365 Here's an example of a value to deal with these headers when
1366 responding to a message:
1369 (setq message-subject-re-regexp
1374 "[Aa][Nn][Tt][Ww]\\.?\\|" ; antw
1376 "[Ff][Ww][Dd]?\\|" ; fwd
1377 "[Oo][Dd][Pp]\\|" ; odp
1379 "[Rr][\311\351][Ff]\\.?\\|" ; ref
1382 "\\(\\[[0-9]*\\]\\)"
1389 @item message-subject-trailing-was-query
1390 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-query
1391 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp
1392 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-regexp
1393 Controls what to do with trailing @samp{(was: <old subject>)} in subject
1394 lines. If @code{nil}, leave the subject unchanged. If it is the symbol
1395 @code{ask}, query the user what do do. In this case, the subject is
1396 matched against @code{message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp}. If
1397 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query} is t, always strip the
1398 trailing old subject. In this case,
1399 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-regexp} is used.
1401 @item message-alternative-emails
1402 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1403 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1404 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1406 @item message-allow-no-recipients
1407 @vindex message-allow-no-recipients
1408 Specifies what to do when there are no recipients other than
1409 @code{Gcc} or @code{Fcc}. If it is @code{always}, the posting is
1410 allowed. If it is @code{never}, the posting is not allowed. If it is
1411 @code{ask} (the default), you are prompted.
1413 @item message-hidden-headers
1414 @vindex message-hidden-headers
1415 A regexp, a list of regexps, or a list where the first element is
1416 @code{not} and the rest are regexps. It says which headers to keep
1417 hidden when composing a message.
1420 (setq message-hidden-headers
1421 '(not "From" "Subject" "To" "Cc" "Newsgroups"))
1424 @item message-header-synonyms
1425 @vindex message-header-synonyms
1426 A list of lists of header synonyms. E.g., if this list contains a
1427 member list with elements @code{Cc} and @code{To}, then
1428 @code{message-carefully-insert-headers} will not insert a @code{To}
1429 header when the message is already @code{Cc}ed to the recipient.
1435 @section Mail Headers
1438 @item message-required-mail-headers
1439 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1440 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1441 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1442 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1444 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1445 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1446 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1447 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1449 @item message-default-mail-headers
1450 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1451 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1452 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1454 @item message-generate-hashcash
1455 @vindex message-generate-hashcash
1456 Boolean variable that indicate whether @samp{X-Hashcash} headers
1457 should be computed for the message. @xref{Hashcash, ,Hashcash,gnus,
1463 @node Mail Variables
1464 @section Mail Variables
1467 @item message-send-mail-function
1468 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1469 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1470 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1471 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1472 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
1473 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1474 @findex feedmail-send-it
1475 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1476 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1477 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1478 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}, @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
1479 @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1481 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1482 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1483 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1484 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1485 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1486 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1489 @item message-qmail-inject-program
1490 @vindex message-qmail-inject-program
1492 Location of the qmail-inject program.
1494 @item message-qmail-inject-args
1495 @vindex message-qmail-inject-args
1496 Arguments passed to qmail-inject programs.
1497 This should be a list of strings, one string for each argument. It
1498 may also be a function.
1500 For e.g., if you wish to set the envelope sender address so that bounces
1501 go to the right place or to deal with listserv's usage of that address, you
1502 might set this variable to @code{'("-f" "you@@some.where")}.
1504 @item message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1505 @vindex message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1507 Non-@code{nil} means don't add @samp{-f username} to the sendmail
1508 command line. Doing so would be even more evil than leaving it out.
1510 @item message-sendmail-envelope-from
1511 @vindex message-sendmail-envelope-from
1512 When @code{message-sendmail-f-is-evil} is @code{nil}, this specifies
1513 the address to use in the @acronym{SMTP} envelope. If it is
1514 @code{nil}, use @code{user-mail-address}. If it is the symbol
1515 @code{header}, use the @samp{From} header of the message.
1517 @item message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1518 @vindex message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1519 Set this to non-@code{nil} if the system's mailer runs the header and
1520 body together. (This problem exists on SunOS 4 when sendmail is run
1521 in remote mode.) The value should be an expression to test whether
1522 the problem will actually occur.
1524 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1525 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1526 @cindex split large message
1527 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial. The lower bound
1528 of message size in characters, beyond which the message should be sent
1529 in several parts. If it is @code{nil}, the size is unlimited.
1535 @section News Headers
1537 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1538 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1539 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1540 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1546 @findex user-full-name
1547 @findex user-mail-address
1548 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1549 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1550 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1551 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1555 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1559 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1560 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1563 @cindex organization
1564 @vindex message-user-organization
1565 @vindex message-user-organization-file
1566 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1567 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1568 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1569 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1570 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1571 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1575 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1579 @vindex message-user-fqdn
1580 @vindex mail-host-address
1581 @vindex user-mail-address
1584 @cindex i-did-not-set--mail-host-address--so-tickle-me
1585 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1586 created based on the date, time, user name (for the local part) and the
1587 domain part. For the domain part, message will look (in this order) at
1588 @code{message-user-fqdn}, @code{system-name}, @code{mail-host-address}
1589 and @code{message-user-mail-address} (i.e. @code{user-mail-address})
1590 until a probably valid fully qualified domain name (FQDN) was found.
1594 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1595 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1598 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1599 header of the article being replied to.
1603 @vindex message-expires
1604 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1605 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1606 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1609 @cindex Distribution
1610 @vindex message-distribution-function
1611 This optional header is filled out according to the
1612 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1613 much misunderstood header.
1617 @vindex message-user-path
1618 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1619 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1620 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1621 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1622 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1623 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1624 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1628 @cindex Mime-Version
1629 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The @sc{car} of this cons
1630 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1631 the @sc{cdr} can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1632 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1633 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1634 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1635 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1636 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1637 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1639 If the list contains a cons where the @sc{car} of the cons is
1640 @code{optional}, the @sc{cdr} of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1643 If you want to delete an entry from this list, the following Lisp
1644 snippet might be useful. Adjust accordingly if you want to remove
1648 (setq message-required-news-headers
1649 (delq 'Message-ID message-required-news-headers))
1652 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1656 @item message-syntax-checks
1657 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1658 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1659 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1662 (signature . disabled)
1671 Check the subject for commands.
1674 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1675 @item multiple-headers
1676 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1679 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1681 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1683 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1686 Check for too long lines.
1688 Check for invalid characters.
1690 Check for excessive size.
1692 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1694 Check the length of the signature.
1697 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1698 something only moderators should include.
1700 Check whether the article is empty.
1701 @item invisible-text
1702 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1704 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1705 @item existing-newsgroups
1706 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1707 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1708 @item valid-newsgroups
1709 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1710 are valid syntactically.
1711 @item repeated-newsgroups
1712 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1713 contains repeated group names.
1714 @item shorten-followup-to
1715 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1716 of groups to post to.
1719 All these conditions are checked by default.
1721 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1722 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1723 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1724 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1726 @item message-default-news-headers
1727 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1728 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1729 buffers that are initialized as news.
1734 @node News Variables
1735 @section News Variables
1738 @item message-send-news-function
1739 @vindex message-send-news-function
1740 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1741 @code{message-send-news}.
1743 @item message-post-method
1744 @vindex message-post-method
1745 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1746 posting a prepared news message.
1751 @node Insertion Variables
1752 @section Insertion Variables
1755 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
1756 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
1757 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
1758 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
1761 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
1762 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
1763 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
1765 @item message-citation-line-function
1766 @vindex message-citation-line-function
1767 @cindex attribution line
1768 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
1769 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
1773 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
1776 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
1779 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
1780 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
1781 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
1782 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
1783 Article Highlighting, gnus, The Gnus Manual}, for details.
1785 @item message-yank-prefix
1786 @vindex message-yank-prefix
1789 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
1790 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
1791 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
1792 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
1793 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
1796 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
1797 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
1801 When yanking text from an article which contains no text or already
1802 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
1803 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
1804 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
1806 @item message-yank-add-new-references
1807 @vindex message-yank-add-new-references
1809 Non-@code{nil} means new IDs will be added to References field when an
1810 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
1811 interactively. If it is a symbol @code{message-id-only}, only an ID
1812 from Message-ID field is used, otherwise IDs extracted from References,
1813 In-Reply-To and Message-ID fields are used.
1815 @item message-list-references-add-position
1816 @vindex message-list-references-add-position
1818 Integer value means position for adding to References field when an
1819 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
1822 @item message-indentation-spaces
1823 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
1824 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
1826 @item message-cite-function
1827 @vindex message-cite-function
1828 @findex message-cite-original
1829 @findex sc-cite-original
1830 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
1832 Function for citing an original message. The default is
1833 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
1834 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
1835 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
1836 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
1839 @item message-suspend-font-lock-when-citing
1840 @vindex message-suspend-font-lock-when-citing
1841 If non-@code{nil}, suspend font-lock'ing while citing an original
1842 message. Some lazy demand-driven fontification tools (or Emacs itself)
1843 have a bug that they often miss a buffer to be fontified. It will
1844 mostly occur when Emacs prompts user for any inputs in the minibuffer.
1845 Setting this option to non-@code{nil} may help you to avoid unpleasant
1846 errors even if it is an add-hoc expedient.
1848 @item message-indent-citation-function
1849 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
1850 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
1851 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
1852 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
1853 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
1855 @item message-mark-insert-begin
1856 @vindex message-mark-insert-begin
1857 String to mark the beginning of some inserted text.
1859 @item message-mark-insert-end
1860 @vindex message-mark-insert-end
1861 String to mark the end of some inserted text.
1863 @item message-signature
1864 @vindex message-signature
1865 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
1866 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
1867 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
1868 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
1869 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
1871 @item message-signature-file
1872 @vindex message-signature-file
1873 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
1874 The default is @file{~/.signature}.
1876 @item message-signature-insert-empty-line
1877 @vindex message-signature-insert-empty-line
1878 If @code{t} (the default value) an empty line is inserted before the
1879 signature separator.
1883 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
1884 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
1885 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
1886 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
1887 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
1889 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
1890 Including @acronym{ASCII} graphics is an efficient way to get
1891 everybody to believe that you are silly and have nothing important to
1895 @node Various Message Variables
1896 @section Various Message Variables
1899 @item message-default-charset
1900 @vindex message-default-charset
1902 Symbol naming a @acronym{MIME} charset. Non-@acronym{ASCII}
1903 characters in messages are assumed to be encoded using this charset.
1904 The default is @code{nil}, which means ask the user. (This variable
1905 is used only on non-@sc{mule} Emacsen. @xref{Charset Translation, ,
1906 Charset Translation, emacs-mime, Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on
1907 the @sc{mule}-to-@acronym{MIME} translation process.
1909 @item message-signature-separator
1910 @vindex message-signature-separator
1911 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1914 @item mail-header-separator
1915 @vindex mail-header-separator
1916 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1917 follows this line--} by default.
1919 @item message-directory
1920 @vindex message-directory
1921 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1923 @item message-auto-save-directory
1924 @vindex message-auto-save-directory
1925 Directory where Message auto-saves buffers if Gnus isn't running. If
1926 @code{nil}, Message won't auto-save. The default is @file{~/Mail/drafts/}.
1928 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1929 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1930 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1931 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1933 @item message-setup-hook
1934 @vindex message-setup-hook
1935 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1936 but before yanked text is inserted.
1938 @item message-header-setup-hook
1939 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1940 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1942 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1943 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1944 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1947 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1948 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1949 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1950 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1951 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1952 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1954 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1955 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1958 @item message-send-hook
1959 @vindex message-send-hook
1960 Hook run before sending messages.
1962 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1963 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1964 @findex message-add-header
1967 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1968 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1969 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1970 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1973 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1975 @item message-send-mail-hook
1976 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1977 Hook run before sending mail messages. This hook is run very late --
1978 just before the message is actually sent as mail.
1980 @item message-send-news-hook
1981 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1982 Hook run before sending news messages. This hook is run very late --
1983 just before the message is actually sent as news.
1985 @item message-sent-hook
1986 @vindex message-sent-hook
1987 Hook run after sending messages.
1989 @item message-cancel-hook
1990 @vindex message-cancel-hook
1991 Hook run when canceling news articles.
1993 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1994 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1995 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1997 @item message-cite-articles-with-x-no-archive
1998 @vindex message-cite-articles-with-x-no-archive
1999 If non-@code{nil}, don't strip quoted text from articles that have
2000 @samp{X-No-Archive} set. Even if this variable isn't set, you can
2001 undo the stripping by hitting the @code{undo} keystroke.
2003 @item message-strip-special-text-properties
2004 @vindex message-strip-special-text-properties
2005 Emacs has a number of special text properties which can break message
2006 composing in various ways. If this option is set, message will strip
2007 these properties from the message composition buffer. However, some
2008 packages requires these properties to be present in order to work. If
2009 you use one of these packages, turn this option off, and hope the
2010 message composition doesn't break too bad.
2012 @item message-send-method-alist
2013 @vindex message-send-method-alist
2015 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
2018 (@var{type} @var{predicate} @var{function})
2023 A symbol that names the method.
2026 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
2027 message is a message of type @var{type}.
2030 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
2031 @var{function} is called with one parameter---the prefix.
2035 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
2036 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
2044 @node Sending Variables
2045 @section Sending Variables
2049 @item message-fcc-handler-function
2050 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
2051 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
2052 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
2053 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
2055 @item message-courtesy-message
2056 @vindex message-courtesy-message
2057 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
2058 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
2059 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
2060 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
2061 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
2062 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
2064 @item message-fcc-externalize-attachments
2065 @vindex message-fcc-externalize-attachments
2066 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Fcc copies; if it is
2067 non-@code{nil}, attach local files as external parts.
2069 @item message-interactive
2070 @vindex message-interactive
2071 If non-@code{nil} wait for and display errors when sending a message;
2072 if @code{nil} let the mailer mail back a message to report errors.
2077 @node Message Buffers
2078 @section Message Buffers
2080 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
2081 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
2082 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
2083 message buffers are kept alive.
2086 @item message-generate-new-buffers
2087 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
2088 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
2089 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
2090 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
2091 The function should return the new buffer name.
2093 @item message-use-multi-frames
2094 @vindex message-use-multi-frames
2095 If non-@code{nil}, generate new frames. The default is @code{nil}.
2097 @item message-delete-frame-on-exit
2098 @vindex message-delete-frame-on-exit
2099 The @code{message-delete-frame-on-exit} variable says whether to delete
2100 the frame after sending the message or killing the message buffer. If it
2101 is @code{nil} (which is the default), don't delete the frame. If it is
2102 @code{ask}, ask wheter to delete the frame. If it is @code{t}, always
2105 @item message-max-buffers
2106 @vindex message-max-buffers
2107 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
2108 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
2109 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
2110 will ever be killed.
2112 @item message-send-rename-function
2113 @vindex message-send-rename-function
2114 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
2115 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
2116 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
2117 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
2121 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
2124 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
2125 @vindex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
2126 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
2128 @item message-kill-buffer-query-function
2129 @vindex message-kill-buffer-query-function
2130 @findex message-kill-buffer
2131 @findex message-mimic-kill-buffer
2132 Function used to prompt user whether to kill the message buffer when the
2133 command @code{message-kill-buffer} or @code{message-mimic-kill-buffer}
2134 is used. It defaults to @code{yes-or-no-p}. You may alter the value to
2135 @code{y-or-n-p}, @code{nnheader-Y-or-n-p}, etc. If it is @code{t}, the
2136 buffer will be killed without query.
2138 @item message-kill-buffer-and-remove-file
2139 @vindex message-kill-buffer-and-remove-file
2140 @findex message-kill-buffer
2141 @findex message-mimic-kill-buffer
2142 If it is non-@code{nil}, remove the backup file if it exists with a
2143 query to the user, after the message buffer is killed. Otherwise the
2144 file won't be removed. It defaults to @code{t}. However, it is treated
2145 as @code{nil} when the command `message-mimic-kill-buffer' is used.
2150 @node Message Actions
2151 @section Message Actions
2153 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
2154 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
2155 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
2158 @vindex message-kill-actions
2159 @vindex message-postpone-actions
2160 @vindex message-exit-actions
2161 @vindex message-send-actions
2162 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
2163 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
2164 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
2165 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
2166 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
2167 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
2168 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
2169 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
2171 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
2172 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
2173 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
2174 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
2178 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
2179 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
2182 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
2183 killed, postponed or exited.
2185 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
2186 @sc{car} is a function and the @sc{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
2187 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
2191 @chapter Compatibility
2192 @cindex compatibility
2194 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
2195 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
2196 into account, you can put the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
2199 (require 'messcompat)
2202 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
2203 corresponding mail variables.
2210 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
2217 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
2222 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
2223 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
2224 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
2235 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
2236 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
2237 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
2238 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
2242 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
2249 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
2250 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
2251 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
2255 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
2256 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
2267 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
2268 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is