1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message 6.10.070 Manual
9 @c * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
14 @setchapternewpage odd
18 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
20 Copyright (C) 1996,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
23 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
24 are preserved on all copies.
27 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
28 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
29 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
30 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
33 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
34 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
35 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
36 permission notice identical to this one.
38 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
39 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
45 @title Message 6.10.070 Manual
47 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
50 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 Copyright @copyright{} 1996,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
53 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
54 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
55 are preserved on all copies.
57 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
58 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
59 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
60 permission notice identical to this one.
62 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
63 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
73 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
77 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
78 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
79 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
80 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
81 * Appendices:: More technical things.
82 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
83 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
86 This manual corresponds to Message 6.10.070. 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 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
335 * Various Commands:: Various things.
336 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
337 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
341 @node Header Commands
342 @section Header Commands
344 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
351 @findex message-goto-to
352 Describe the message mode.
356 @findex message-goto-to
357 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
361 @findex message-goto-bcc
362 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
366 @findex message-goto-fcc
367 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
371 @findex message-goto-cc
372 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
376 @findex message-goto-subject
377 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
381 @findex message-goto-reply-to
382 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
386 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
387 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
391 @findex message-goto-distribution
392 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
396 @findex message-goto-followup-to
397 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
401 @findex message-goto-keywords
402 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
406 @findex message-goto-summary
407 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
418 @findex message-goto-body
419 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
420 (@code{message-goto-body}).
424 @findex message-goto-signature
425 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
437 @findex message-yank-original
438 Yank the message in the buffer @code{gnus-article-copy} into the message
439 buffer. Normally @code{gnus-article-copy} is what you are replying to
440 (@code{message-yank-original}).
444 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
445 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
446 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
447 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
448 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}).
459 @findex message-insert-headers
460 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
465 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
466 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
467 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
468 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
471 @item message-citation-line-function
472 @vindex message-citation-line-function
473 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
474 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
478 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
481 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
484 @item message-yank-prefix
485 @vindex message-yank-prefix
488 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
489 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
490 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
491 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
493 @item message-indentation-spaces
494 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
495 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
497 @item message-cite-function
498 @vindex message-cite-function
499 @findex message-cite-original
500 @findex sc-cite-original
501 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
503 Function for citing an original message. The default is
504 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
505 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
506 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
507 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
510 @item message-indent-citation-function
511 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
512 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
513 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
514 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
515 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
517 @item message-signature
518 @vindex message-signature
519 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
520 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
521 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
522 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
523 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
525 @item message-signature-file
526 @vindex message-signature-file
527 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
528 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
532 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
533 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
534 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
535 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
536 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
538 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
539 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
540 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
550 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
551 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
552 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
553 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
555 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
556 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
557 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
558 name and a @sc{mime} type.
560 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
561 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
565 @node Various Commands
566 @section Various Commands
572 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
573 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
574 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
575 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
576 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
580 @findex message-elide-region
581 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
582 The text is killed and an ellipsis (@samp{[...]}) will be inserted in
587 @findex message-kill-to-signature
588 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
589 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
593 @findex message-delete-not-region
594 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
595 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
599 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
600 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
605 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
608 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
611 > This is some quoted text.
615 > And here's more quoted text.
618 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
622 @findex message-insert-to
623 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
624 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
625 (@code{message-insert-to}).
629 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
630 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
631 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
632 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
636 @findex message-rename-buffer
637 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
638 prompt for a new buffer name.
649 @findex message-send-and-exit
650 Send the message and bury the current buffer
651 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
656 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
660 @findex message-dont-send
661 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
665 @findex message-kill-buffer
666 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
673 @section Mail Aliases
677 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
678 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
679 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
680 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
681 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
683 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
684 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
687 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
688 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
691 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
692 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
693 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
695 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
696 expansions have to be done explicitly.
704 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
705 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
706 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
707 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
708 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
709 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
710 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
711 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
712 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
716 @node Message Headers
717 @section Message Headers
719 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
720 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
721 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
722 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
723 look sufficiently similar.
727 @item message-generate-headers-first
728 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
729 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
732 @item message-from-style
733 @vindex message-from-style
734 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
739 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
742 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
745 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
748 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
749 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
750 @code{angles} anyway.
754 @item message-deletable-headers
755 @vindex message-deletable-headers
756 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
757 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
758 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
759 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
760 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
761 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
762 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
763 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
766 @item message-default-headers
767 @vindex message-default-headers
768 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
771 @item message-subject-re-regexp
772 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
773 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
774 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but in
775 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
776 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
777 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
778 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
779 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
780 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
781 just throw away non-compliant mail.
787 @section Mail Headers
790 @item message-required-mail-headers
791 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
792 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
793 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
794 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
796 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
797 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
798 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
799 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
801 @item message-default-mail-headers
802 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
803 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
804 buffers that are initialized as mail.
810 @section Mail Variables
813 @item message-send-mail-function
814 @vindex message-send-mail-function
815 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
816 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
817 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
819 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
820 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
821 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
822 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
823 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
824 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
831 @section News Headers
833 @vindex message-required-news-headers
834 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
835 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
836 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
842 @findex user-full-name
843 @findex user-mail-address
844 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
845 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
846 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
847 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
851 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
855 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
856 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
860 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
861 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
862 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
863 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
864 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
865 parameters and should return a string to be used).
869 This optional header will be computed by Message.
873 @vindex mail-host-address
876 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
877 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message will
878 use @code{mail-host-address} as the fully qualified domain name (FQDN)
879 of the machine if that variable is defined. If not, it will use
880 @code{system-name}, which doesn't report a FQDN on some machines --
885 This optional header will be filled out according to the
886 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
889 This optional header will be filled out according to the
890 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
891 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
894 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
895 header of the article being replied to.
899 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
900 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
901 be used unless you know what you're doing.
905 This optional header is filled out according to the
906 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
907 much misunderstood header.
911 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
912 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
913 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
914 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
915 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
916 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
917 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
922 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
923 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
924 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
925 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
926 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
927 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
928 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
929 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
930 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
932 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
933 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
936 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
940 @item message-syntax-checks
941 @vindex message-syntax-checks
942 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
943 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
946 (signature . disabled)
955 Check the subject for commands.
958 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
959 @item multiple-headers
960 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
963 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
965 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
967 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
970 Check for too long lines.
972 Check for invalid characters.
974 Check for excessive size.
976 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
978 Check the length of the signature.
981 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
982 something only moderators should include.
984 Check whether the article is empty.
986 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
988 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
989 @item existing-newsgroups
990 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
991 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
992 @item valid-newsgroups
993 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
994 are valid syntactically.
995 @item repeated-newsgroups
996 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
997 contains repeated group names.
998 @item shorten-followup-to
999 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1000 of groups to post to.
1003 All these conditions are checked by default.
1005 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1006 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1007 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1008 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
1010 @item message-default-news-headers
1011 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1012 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1013 buffers that are initialized as news.
1018 @node News Variables
1019 @section News Variables
1022 @item message-send-news-function
1023 @vindex message-send-news-function
1024 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1025 @code{message-send-news}.
1027 @item message-post-method
1028 @vindex message-post-method
1029 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1030 posting a prepared news message.
1035 @node Various Message Variables
1036 @section Various Message Variables
1039 @item message-signature-separator
1040 @vindex message-signature-separator
1041 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1044 @item mail-header-separator
1045 @vindex mail-header-separator
1046 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1047 follows this line--} by default.
1049 @item message-directory
1050 @vindex message-directory
1051 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1053 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1054 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1055 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1056 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1058 @item message-setup-hook
1059 @vindex message-setup-hook
1060 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1061 but before yanked text is inserted.
1063 @item message-header-setup-hook
1064 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1065 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1067 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1068 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1069 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1072 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1073 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1074 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1075 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1076 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1077 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1079 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1080 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1083 @item message-send-hook
1084 @vindex message-send-hook
1085 Hook run before sending messages.
1087 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1088 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1089 @findex message-add-header
1092 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1093 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1095 "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense"
1099 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1101 @item message-send-mail-hook
1102 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1103 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1105 @item message-send-news-hook
1106 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1107 Hook run before sending news messages.
1109 @item message-sent-hook
1110 @vindex message-sent-hook
1111 Hook run after sending messages.
1113 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1114 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1115 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1117 @item message-send-method-alist
1118 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1120 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1123 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1128 A symbol that names the method.
1131 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1132 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1135 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1136 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1140 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1141 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1150 @node Sending Variables
1151 @section Sending Variables
1155 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1156 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1157 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1158 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1159 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1161 @item message-courtesy-message
1162 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1163 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1164 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1165 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1166 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1167 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1168 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1173 @node Message Buffers
1174 @section Message Buffers
1176 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1177 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1178 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1179 message buffers are kept alive.
1182 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1183 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1184 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1185 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1186 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1187 The function should return the new buffer name.
1189 @item message-use-multi-frames
1190 @vindex message-use-multi-frames
1191 If non-@code{nil}, generate new frames. The default is @code{nil}.
1193 @item message-delete-frame-on-exit
1194 @vindex message-delete-frame-on-exit
1195 The @code{message-delete-frame-on-exit} variable says whether to delete
1196 the frame after sending the message or killing the message buffer. If it
1197 is @code{nil} (which is the default), don't delete the frame. If it is
1198 @code{ask}, ask wheter to delete the frame. If it is @code{t}, always
1201 @item message-max-buffers
1202 @vindex message-max-buffers
1203 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1204 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1205 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1206 will ever be killed.
1208 @item message-send-rename-function
1209 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1210 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1211 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1212 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1213 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1217 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1220 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1221 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1222 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1227 @node Message Actions
1228 @section Message Actions
1230 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1231 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1232 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1235 @vindex message-kill-actions
1236 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1237 @vindex message-exit-actions
1238 @vindex message-send-actions
1239 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1240 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1241 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1242 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1243 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1244 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1245 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1246 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1248 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1249 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1250 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1251 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1255 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1256 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1259 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1260 killed, postponed or exited.
1262 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1263 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1264 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1268 @chapter Compatibility
1269 @cindex compatibility
1271 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1272 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1273 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1276 (require 'messcompat)
1279 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1280 corresponding mail variables.
1287 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1294 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1299 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1300 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1301 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1312 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1313 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1314 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1315 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1319 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1326 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1327 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1328 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1332 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1333 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1344 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1345 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is