1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle T-gnus 6.15 Message Manual
10 * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
15 @setchapternewpage odd
19 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
21 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
24 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
25 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
26 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
27 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
28 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
29 License'' in the Emacs manual.
31 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
32 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
33 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
35 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
36 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
37 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
38 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
44 @title T-gnus 6.15 Message Manual
46 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
49 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
50 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
51 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
53 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
54 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
55 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
56 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
57 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
58 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
59 License'' in the Emacs manual.
61 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
62 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
63 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
65 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
66 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
67 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
68 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
77 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
81 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
82 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
83 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
84 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
85 * Appendices:: More technical things.
86 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
87 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
90 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.15 Message. Message is distributed
91 with the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this
98 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
99 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
100 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
101 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
102 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
106 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
107 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
108 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
109 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
110 * Followup:: Following up via news.
111 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
112 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
113 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
114 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
115 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
119 @node New Mail Message
120 @section New Mail Message
123 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
125 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
126 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
127 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
130 @node New News Message
131 @section New News Message
134 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
136 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
137 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
138 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
144 @findex message-reply
145 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
146 reply to the message in the current buffer.
148 @vindex message-reply-to-function
149 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
150 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
151 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
153 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
154 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
157 (setq message-reply-to-function
159 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
160 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
165 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
168 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
169 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
170 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
173 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
174 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
175 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
176 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
177 the head of the outgoing mail.
183 @findex message-wide-reply
184 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
185 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
186 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
187 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
189 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
190 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
191 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
192 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
193 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
195 @findex message-dont-reply-to-names
196 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
197 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
203 @findex message-followup
204 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
205 followup to the message in the current buffer.
207 @vindex message-followup-to-function
208 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
209 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
210 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
211 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
213 @vindex message-use-followup-to
214 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
215 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
216 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
217 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
218 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
222 @section Canceling News
224 @findex message-cancel-news
225 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
232 @findex message-supersede
233 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
234 supersede the message in the current buffer.
236 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
237 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
238 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
239 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
240 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
247 @findex message-forward
248 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
249 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
253 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
254 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
255 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
257 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
258 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
259 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
260 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
261 passed into each successive function.
263 The provided functions are:
266 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
267 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
268 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
271 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
272 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
275 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
276 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
277 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
278 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
279 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
280 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
282 @item message-forward-as-mime
283 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
284 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
285 included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
286 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
287 non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
294 @findex message-resend
295 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
296 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
298 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
299 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
300 be removed before sending the message. The default is
301 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
307 @findex message-bounce
308 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
309 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
310 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
311 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
314 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
315 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
316 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
317 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
324 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
325 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
326 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
327 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
328 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
329 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
330 * Various Commands:: Various things.
331 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
332 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
333 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
338 @section Buffer Entry
342 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
343 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
344 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
345 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
346 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
347 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
348 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
349 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
352 @node Header Commands
353 @section Header Commands
355 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
362 @findex message-goto-to
363 Describe the message mode.
367 @findex message-goto-to
368 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
372 @findex message-goto-bcc
373 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
377 @findex message-goto-fcc
378 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
382 @findex message-goto-cc
383 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
387 @findex message-goto-subject
388 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
392 @findex message-goto-reply-to
393 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
397 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
398 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
402 @findex message-goto-distribution
403 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
407 @findex message-goto-followup-to
408 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
412 @findex message-goto-keywords
413 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
417 @findex message-goto-summary
418 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
429 @findex message-goto-body
430 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
431 (@code{message-goto-body}).
435 @findex message-goto-signature
436 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
440 @findex message-beginning-of-line
441 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
442 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
455 @findex message-yank-original
456 Yank the message in the buffer @code{gnus-article-copy} into the message
457 buffer. Normally @code{gnus-article-copy} is what you are replying to
458 (@code{message-yank-original}).
462 @findex message-yank-buffer
463 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
464 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
468 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
469 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
470 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
471 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
472 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
477 @findex message-insert-signature
478 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
479 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
483 @findex message-insert-headers
484 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
488 @findex message-insert-or-toggle-importance
489 This inserts the @samp{Importance:} header with a value of
490 @samp{high}. This header is used to signal the importance of the
491 message to the receiver. If the header is already present in the
492 buffer, it cycles between the three valid values according to RFC
493 1376: @samp{low}, @samp{normal} and @samp{high}.
495 @item M-x message-insert-importance-high
496 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-high
497 @findex message-insert-importance-high
498 Insert a @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{high},
499 deleting headers if necessary.
501 @item M-x message-insert-importance-low
502 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-low
503 @findex message-insert-importance-low
504 Insert a @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{low},
505 deleting headers if necessary.
517 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
518 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
519 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
520 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
522 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
523 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
524 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
525 name and a @sc{mime} type.
527 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
528 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
540 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
541 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently
542 support PGP (RFC 1991), PGP/MIME (RFC 2015/3156) and S/MIME.
543 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a MIME part is done
544 using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @code{C-c C-m
545 c} key map for encryption, as follows.
551 @findex mml-secure-sign-smime
553 Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
557 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
559 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP.
563 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
565 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
569 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
571 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
575 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgp
577 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP.
581 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
583 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
587 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
588 merely insert proper MML tags to instruct the MML engine to perform that
589 operation when the message is actually sent. They may perform other
590 operations too, such as locating and retrieving a S/MIME certificate of
591 the person you wish to send encrypted mail to.
593 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
594 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
595 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
596 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
597 using @code{C-u C-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
598 your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
599 did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
600 night, actually will be sent encrypted.
602 @emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
603 They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
604 mail with a sensitive Subject line.
606 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
607 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
608 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
609 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
611 @subsection Using S/MIME
613 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
614 modern cryptography, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
616 The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
617 perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
618 at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work.
619 Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from certificates, and it
620 insert a spurious CR character into MIME separators so you may wish to
621 avoid it if you would like to avoid being regarded as someone who send
622 strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME messages you've probably
623 already lost that contest.)
625 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
626 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
627 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
628 @code{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
629 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
630 it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
631 you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
632 default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
633 agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
634 so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
635 there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
636 LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
637 it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
638 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
640 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
641 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
642 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
643 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
644 a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
645 customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
647 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
648 own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
649 with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
650 free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
651 is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
652 Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
656 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
659 The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
660 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
662 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
665 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
667 PGP/MIME requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
668 Privacy Guard (@uref{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an Emacs
669 interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
670 @uref{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
671 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
673 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
674 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
676 @node Various Commands
677 @section Various Commands
683 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
684 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
685 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
686 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
687 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
691 @findex message-elide-region
692 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
693 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
694 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
699 @findex message-kill-to-signature
700 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
701 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
705 @findex message-delete-not-region
706 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
707 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
711 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
712 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
717 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
720 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
723 > This is some quoted text.
727 > And here's more quoted text.
730 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
734 @findex message-insert-to
735 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
736 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
737 (@code{message-insert-to}).
741 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
742 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
743 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
744 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
748 @findex message-rename-buffer
749 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
750 prompt for a new buffer name.
761 @findex message-send-and-exit
762 Send the message and bury the current buffer
763 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
768 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
772 @findex message-dont-send
773 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
777 @findex message-kill-buffer
778 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
785 @section Mail Aliases
789 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
790 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
791 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
792 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
793 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
795 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
796 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
799 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
800 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
803 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
804 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
805 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
807 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
808 expansions have to be done explicitly.
814 @findex ispell-message
816 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
817 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
818 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
819 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
820 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
821 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
824 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
827 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
828 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
829 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
832 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
833 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
837 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
840 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
841 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
844 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
848 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
850 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
853 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
861 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
862 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
863 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
864 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
865 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
866 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
867 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
868 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
869 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
870 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
874 @node Message Headers
875 @section Message Headers
877 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
878 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
879 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
880 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
881 look sufficiently similar.
885 @item message-generate-headers-first
886 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
887 If non-@code{nil}, generate all required headers before starting to
890 The variables @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
891 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are required.
893 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
894 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
896 @item message-from-style
897 @vindex message-from-style
898 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
903 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
906 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
909 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
912 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
913 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
914 @code{angles} anyway.
918 @item message-deletable-headers
919 @vindex message-deletable-headers
920 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
921 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
922 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
923 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
924 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
925 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
926 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
927 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
930 @item message-default-headers
931 @vindex message-default-headers
932 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
935 @item message-subject-re-regexp
936 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
937 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
938 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
939 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
940 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
941 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
942 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
943 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
944 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
945 just throw away non-compliant mail.
947 @item message-alternative-emails
948 @vindex message-alternative-emails
949 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
950 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
956 @section Mail Headers
959 @item message-required-mail-headers
960 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
961 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
962 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
963 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
965 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
966 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
967 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
968 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
970 @item message-default-mail-headers
971 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
972 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
973 buffers that are initialized as mail.
979 @section Mail Variables
982 @item message-send-mail-function
983 @vindex message-send-mail-function
984 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
985 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
986 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
987 @findex smtpmail-send-it
988 @findex feedmail-send-it
989 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
990 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
991 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
992 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
994 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
995 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
996 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
997 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
998 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
999 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1002 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1003 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1004 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1005 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1006 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1012 @section News Headers
1014 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1015 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1016 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1017 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1023 @findex user-full-name
1024 @findex user-mail-address
1025 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1026 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1027 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1028 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1032 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1036 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1037 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1040 @cindex organization
1041 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1042 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1043 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1044 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1045 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1046 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1050 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1054 @vindex mail-host-address
1057 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1058 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1059 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1060 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1061 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1065 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1066 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1069 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1070 header of the article being replied to.
1074 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1075 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1076 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1079 @cindex Distribution
1080 This optional header is filled out according to the
1081 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1082 much misunderstood header.
1086 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1087 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1088 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1089 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1090 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1091 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1092 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1096 @cindex Mime-Version
1097 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1098 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1099 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1100 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1101 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1102 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1103 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1104 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1105 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1107 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1108 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1111 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1115 @item message-syntax-checks
1116 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1117 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1118 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1121 (signature . disabled)
1130 Check the subject for commands.
1133 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1134 @item multiple-headers
1135 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1138 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1140 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1142 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1145 Check for too long lines.
1147 Check for invalid characters.
1149 Check for excessive size.
1151 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1153 Check the length of the signature.
1156 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1157 something only moderators should include.
1159 Check whether the article is empty.
1160 @item invisible-text
1161 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1163 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1164 @item existing-newsgroups
1165 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1166 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1167 @item valid-newsgroups
1168 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1169 are valid syntactically.
1170 @item repeated-newsgroups
1171 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1172 contains repeated group names.
1173 @item shorten-followup-to
1174 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1175 of groups to post to.
1178 All these conditions are checked by default.
1180 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1181 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1182 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1183 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1185 @item message-default-news-headers
1186 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1187 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1188 buffers that are initialized as news.
1193 @node News Variables
1194 @section News Variables
1197 @item message-send-news-function
1198 @vindex message-send-news-function
1199 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1200 @code{message-send-news}.
1202 @item message-post-method
1203 @vindex message-post-method
1204 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1205 posting a prepared news message.
1210 @node Insertion Variables
1211 @section Insertion Variables
1214 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
1215 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
1216 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
1217 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
1220 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
1221 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
1222 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
1224 @item message-citation-line-function
1225 @vindex message-citation-line-function
1226 @cindex attribution line
1227 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
1228 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
1232 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
1235 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
1238 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
1239 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
1240 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
1241 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
1242 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
1244 @item message-yank-prefix
1245 @vindex message-yank-prefix
1248 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
1249 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
1250 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
1251 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
1252 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
1255 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
1256 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
1260 When yanking text from a article which contains no text or already
1261 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
1262 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
1263 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
1265 @item message-yank-add-new-references
1266 @vindex message-yank-add-new-references
1268 Non-@code{nil} means new IDs will be added to References field when an
1269 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
1270 interactively. If it is a symbol @code{message-id-only}, only an ID
1271 from Message-ID field is used, otherwise IDs extracted from References,
1272 In-Reply-To and Message-ID fields are used.
1274 @item message-list-references-add-position
1275 @vindex message-list-references-add-position
1277 Integer value means position for adding to References field when an
1278 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
1281 @item message-indentation-spaces
1282 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
1283 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
1285 @item message-cite-function
1286 @vindex message-cite-function
1287 @findex message-cite-original
1288 @findex sc-cite-original
1289 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
1291 Function for citing an original message. The default is
1292 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
1293 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
1294 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
1295 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
1298 @item message-suspend-font-lock-when-citing
1299 @vindex message-suspend-font-lock-when-citing
1300 If non-@code{nil}, suspend font-lock'ing while citing an original
1301 message. Some lazy demand-driven fontification tools (or Emacs itself)
1302 have a bug that they often miss a buffer to be fontified. It will
1303 mostly occur when Emacs prompts user for any inputs in the minibuffer.
1304 Setting this option to non-@code{nil} may help you to avoid unpleasant
1305 errors even if it is an add-hoc expedient.
1307 @item message-indent-citation-function
1308 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
1309 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
1310 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
1311 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
1312 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
1314 @item message-signature
1315 @vindex message-signature
1316 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
1317 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
1318 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
1319 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
1320 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
1322 @item message-signature-file
1323 @vindex message-signature-file
1324 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
1325 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
1329 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
1330 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
1331 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
1332 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
1333 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
1335 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
1336 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
1337 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
1340 @node Various Message Variables
1341 @section Various Message Variables
1344 @item message-default-charset
1345 @vindex message-default-charset
1347 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1348 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1349 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1351 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1352 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1353 translation process.
1355 @item message-signature-separator
1356 @vindex message-signature-separator
1357 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1360 @item mail-header-separator
1361 @vindex mail-header-separator
1362 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1363 follows this line--} by default.
1365 @item message-directory
1366 @vindex message-directory
1367 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1369 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1370 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1371 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1372 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1374 @item message-setup-hook
1375 @vindex message-setup-hook
1376 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1377 but before yanked text is inserted.
1379 @item message-header-setup-hook
1380 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1381 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1383 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1384 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1385 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1388 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1389 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1390 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1391 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1392 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1393 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1395 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1396 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1399 @item message-send-hook
1400 @vindex message-send-hook
1401 Hook run before sending messages.
1403 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1404 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1405 @findex message-add-header
1408 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1409 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1410 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1411 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1414 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1416 @item message-send-mail-hook
1417 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1418 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1420 @item message-send-news-hook
1421 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1422 Hook run before sending news messages.
1424 @item message-sent-hook
1425 @vindex message-sent-hook
1426 Hook run after sending messages.
1428 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1429 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1430 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1432 @item message-send-method-alist
1433 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1435 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1438 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1443 A symbol that names the method.
1446 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1447 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1450 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1451 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1455 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1456 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1465 @node Sending Variables
1466 @section Sending Variables
1470 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1471 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1472 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1473 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1474 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1476 @item message-courtesy-message
1477 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1478 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1479 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1480 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1481 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1482 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1483 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
1488 @node Message Buffers
1489 @section Message Buffers
1491 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1492 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1493 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1494 message buffers are kept alive.
1497 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1498 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1499 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1500 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1501 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1502 The function should return the new buffer name.
1504 @item message-use-multi-frames
1505 @vindex message-use-multi-frames
1506 If non-@code{nil}, generate new frames. The default is @code{nil}.
1508 @item message-delete-frame-on-exit
1509 @vindex message-delete-frame-on-exit
1510 The @code{message-delete-frame-on-exit} variable says whether to delete
1511 the frame after sending the message or killing the message buffer. If it
1512 is @code{nil} (which is the default), don't delete the frame. If it is
1513 @code{ask}, ask wheter to delete the frame. If it is @code{t}, always
1516 @item message-max-buffers
1517 @vindex message-max-buffers
1518 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1519 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1520 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1521 will ever be killed.
1523 @item message-send-rename-function
1524 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1525 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1526 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1527 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1528 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1532 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1535 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1536 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1537 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1542 @node Message Actions
1543 @section Message Actions
1545 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1546 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1547 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1550 @vindex message-kill-actions
1551 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1552 @vindex message-exit-actions
1553 @vindex message-send-actions
1554 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1555 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1556 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1557 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1558 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1559 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1560 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1561 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1563 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1564 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1565 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1566 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1570 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1571 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1574 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1575 killed, postponed or exited.
1577 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1578 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1579 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1583 @chapter Compatibility
1584 @cindex compatibility
1586 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1587 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1588 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1591 (require 'messcompat)
1594 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1595 corresponding mail variables.
1602 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1609 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1614 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1615 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1616 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1627 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1628 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1629 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1630 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1634 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1641 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1642 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1643 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1647 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1648 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1659 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1660 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is