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 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}).
448 @findex message-yank-original
449 Yank the message in the buffer @code{gnus-article-copy} into the message
450 buffer. Normally @code{gnus-article-copy} is what you are replying to
451 (@code{message-yank-original}).
455 @findex message-yank-buffer
456 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
457 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
461 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
462 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
463 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
464 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
465 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
470 @findex message-insert-signature
471 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
472 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
476 @findex message-insert-headers
477 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
482 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
483 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
484 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
485 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
488 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
489 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
490 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
492 @item message-citation-line-function
493 @vindex message-citation-line-function
494 @cindex attribution line
495 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
496 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
500 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
503 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
506 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
507 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
508 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
509 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
510 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
512 @item message-yank-prefix
513 @vindex message-yank-prefix
516 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
517 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
518 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
519 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
520 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
523 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
524 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
528 When yanking text from a article which contains no text or already
529 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
530 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
531 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
533 @item message-yank-add-new-references
534 @vindex message-yank-add-new-references
536 Non-@code{nil} means new IDs will be added to References field when an
537 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
538 interactively. If it is a symbol @code{message-id-only}, only an ID
539 from Message-ID field is used, otherwise IDs extracted from References,
540 In-Reply-To and Message-ID fields are used.
542 @item message-list-references-add-position
543 @vindex message-list-references-add-position
545 Integer value means position for adding to References field when an
546 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
549 @item message-indentation-spaces
550 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
551 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
553 @item message-cite-function
554 @vindex message-cite-function
555 @findex message-cite-original
556 @findex sc-cite-original
557 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
559 Function for citing an original message. The default is
560 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
561 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
562 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
563 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
566 @item message-suspend-font-lock-when-citing
567 @vindex message-suspend-font-lock-when-citing
568 If non-@code{nil}, suspend font-lock'ing while citing an original
569 message. Some lazy demand-driven fontification tools (or Emacs itself)
570 have a bug that they often miss a buffer to be fontified. It will
571 mostly occur when Emacs prompts user for any inputs in the minibuffer.
572 Setting this option to non-@code{nil} may help you to avoid unpleasant
573 errors even if it is an add-hoc expedient.
575 @item message-indent-citation-function
576 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
577 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
578 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
579 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
580 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
582 @item message-signature
583 @vindex message-signature
584 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
585 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
586 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
587 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
588 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
590 @item message-signature-file
591 @vindex message-signature-file
592 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
593 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
597 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
598 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
599 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
600 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
601 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
603 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
604 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
605 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
615 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
616 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
617 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
618 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
620 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
621 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
622 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
623 name and a @sc{mime} type.
625 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
626 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
637 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
638 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently support
639 PGP/MIME and S/MIME. Instructing MML to perform security operations on
640 a MIME part is done using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the
641 @code{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
647 @findex mml-secure-sign-smime
649 Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
653 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
655 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
659 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
661 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
665 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
667 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
671 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
672 merely insert proper MML tags to instruct the MML engine to perform that
673 operation when the message is actually sent. They may perform other
674 operations too, such as locating and retrieving a S/MIME certificate of
675 the person you wish to send encrypted mail to.
677 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
678 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
679 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
680 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
681 using @code{C-u C-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
682 your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
683 did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
684 night, actually will be sent encrypted.
686 @emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
687 They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
688 mail with a sensitive Subject line.
690 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
691 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
692 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
693 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
695 @subsection Using S/MIME
697 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
698 modern cryptography, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
700 The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
701 perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
702 at @code{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work.
703 Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from certificates, and it
704 insert a spurious CR character into MIME separators so you may wish to
705 avoid it if you would like to avoid being regarded as someone who send
706 strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME messages you've probably
707 already lost that contest.)
709 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
710 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
711 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
712 @code{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
713 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
714 it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
715 you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
716 default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
717 agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
718 so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
719 there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
720 LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
721 it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
722 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
724 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
725 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
726 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
727 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
728 a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
729 customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
731 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
732 own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
733 with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
734 free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
735 is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
736 Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
740 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
743 The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
744 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
746 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
749 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
751 PGP/MIME requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
752 Privacy Guard (@code{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an Emacs
753 interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
754 @code{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
755 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
757 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
758 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
760 @node Various Commands
761 @section Various Commands
767 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
768 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
769 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
770 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
771 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
775 @findex message-elide-region
776 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
777 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
778 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
783 @findex message-kill-to-signature
784 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
785 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
789 @findex message-delete-not-region
790 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
791 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
795 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
796 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
801 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
804 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
807 > This is some quoted text.
811 > And here's more quoted text.
814 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
818 @findex message-insert-to
819 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
820 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
821 (@code{message-insert-to}).
825 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
826 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
827 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
828 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
832 @findex message-rename-buffer
833 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
834 prompt for a new buffer name.
845 @findex message-send-and-exit
846 Send the message and bury the current buffer
847 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
852 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
856 @findex message-dont-send
857 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
861 @findex message-kill-buffer
862 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
869 @section Mail Aliases
873 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
874 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
875 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
876 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
877 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
879 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
880 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
883 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
884 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
887 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
888 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
889 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
891 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
892 expansions have to be done explicitly.
898 @findex ispell-message
900 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
901 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
902 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
903 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
904 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
905 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
908 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
911 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
912 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
913 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
916 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
917 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
921 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
924 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
925 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
928 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
932 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
934 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
937 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
945 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
946 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
947 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
948 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
949 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
950 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
951 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
952 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
953 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
957 @node Message Headers
958 @section Message Headers
960 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
961 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
962 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
963 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
964 look sufficiently similar.
968 @item message-generate-headers-first
969 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
970 If non-@code{nil}, generate all required headers before starting to
973 The variables @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
974 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are required.
976 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
977 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
979 @item message-from-style
980 @vindex message-from-style
981 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
986 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
989 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
992 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
995 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
996 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
997 @code{angles} anyway.
1001 @item message-deletable-headers
1002 @vindex message-deletable-headers
1003 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
1004 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
1005 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1006 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1007 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1008 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1009 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1010 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1013 @item message-default-headers
1014 @vindex message-default-headers
1015 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1018 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1019 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1020 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1021 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1022 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1023 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1024 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1025 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1026 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1027 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1028 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1030 @item message-alternative-emails
1031 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1032 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1033 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1039 @section Mail Headers
1042 @item message-required-mail-headers
1043 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1044 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1045 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1046 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1048 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1049 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1050 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1051 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1053 @item message-default-mail-headers
1054 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1055 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1056 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1061 @node Mail Variables
1062 @section Mail Variables
1065 @item message-send-mail-function
1066 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1067 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1068 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1069 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1070 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1071 @findex feedmail-send-it
1072 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1073 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1074 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1075 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1077 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1078 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1079 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1080 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1081 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1082 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1085 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1086 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1087 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1088 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1089 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1095 @section News Headers
1097 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1098 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1099 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1100 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1106 @findex user-full-name
1107 @findex user-mail-address
1108 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1109 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1110 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1111 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1115 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1119 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1120 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1123 @cindex organization
1124 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1125 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1126 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1127 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1128 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1129 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1133 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1137 @vindex mail-host-address
1140 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1141 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1142 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1143 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1144 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1148 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1149 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1152 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1153 header of the article being replied to.
1157 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1158 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1159 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1162 @cindex Distribution
1163 This optional header is filled out according to the
1164 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1165 much misunderstood header.
1169 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1170 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1171 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1172 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1173 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1174 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1175 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1179 @cindex Mime-Version
1180 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1181 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1182 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1183 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1184 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1185 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1186 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1187 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1188 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1190 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1191 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1194 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1198 @item message-syntax-checks
1199 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1200 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1201 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1204 (signature . disabled)
1213 Check the subject for commands.
1216 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1217 @item multiple-headers
1218 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1221 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1223 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1225 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1228 Check for too long lines.
1230 Check for invalid characters.
1232 Check for excessive size.
1234 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1236 Check the length of the signature.
1239 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1240 something only moderators should include.
1242 Check whether the article is empty.
1243 @item invisible-text
1244 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1246 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1247 @item existing-newsgroups
1248 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1249 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1250 @item valid-newsgroups
1251 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1252 are valid syntactically.
1253 @item repeated-newsgroups
1254 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1255 contains repeated group names.
1256 @item shorten-followup-to
1257 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1258 of groups to post to.
1261 All these conditions are checked by default.
1263 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1264 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1265 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1266 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1268 @item message-default-news-headers
1269 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1270 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1271 buffers that are initialized as news.
1276 @node News Variables
1277 @section News Variables
1280 @item message-send-news-function
1281 @vindex message-send-news-function
1282 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1283 @code{message-send-news}.
1285 @item message-post-method
1286 @vindex message-post-method
1287 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1288 posting a prepared news message.
1293 @node Various Message Variables
1294 @section Various Message Variables
1297 @item message-default-charset
1298 @vindex message-default-charset
1300 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1301 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1302 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1304 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1305 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1306 translation process.
1308 @item message-signature-separator
1309 @vindex message-signature-separator
1310 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1313 @item mail-header-separator
1314 @vindex mail-header-separator
1315 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1316 follows this line--} by default.
1318 @item message-directory
1319 @vindex message-directory
1320 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1322 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1323 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1324 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1325 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1327 @item message-setup-hook
1328 @vindex message-setup-hook
1329 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1330 but before yanked text is inserted.
1332 @item message-header-setup-hook
1333 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1334 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1336 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1337 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1338 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1341 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1342 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1343 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1344 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1345 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1346 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1348 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1349 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1352 @item message-send-hook
1353 @vindex message-send-hook
1354 Hook run before sending messages.
1356 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1357 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1358 @findex message-add-header
1361 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1362 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1363 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1364 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1367 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1369 @item message-send-mail-hook
1370 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1371 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1373 @item message-send-news-hook
1374 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1375 Hook run before sending news messages.
1377 @item message-sent-hook
1378 @vindex message-sent-hook
1379 Hook run after sending messages.
1381 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1382 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1383 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1385 @item message-send-method-alist
1386 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1388 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1391 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1396 A symbol that names the method.
1399 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1400 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1403 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1404 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1408 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1409 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1418 @node Sending Variables
1419 @section Sending Variables
1423 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1424 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1425 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1426 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1427 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1429 @item message-courtesy-message
1430 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1431 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1432 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1433 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1434 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1435 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1436 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
1441 @node Message Buffers
1442 @section Message Buffers
1444 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1445 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1446 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1447 message buffers are kept alive.
1450 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1451 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1452 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1453 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1454 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1455 The function should return the new buffer name.
1457 @item message-use-multi-frames
1458 @vindex message-use-multi-frames
1459 If non-@code{nil}, generate new frames. The default is @code{nil}.
1461 @item message-delete-frame-on-exit
1462 @vindex message-delete-frame-on-exit
1463 The @code{message-delete-frame-on-exit} variable says whether to delete
1464 the frame after sending the message or killing the message buffer. If it
1465 is @code{nil} (which is the default), don't delete the frame. If it is
1466 @code{ask}, ask wheter to delete the frame. If it is @code{t}, always
1469 @item message-max-buffers
1470 @vindex message-max-buffers
1471 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1472 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1473 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1474 will ever be killed.
1476 @item message-send-rename-function
1477 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1478 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1479 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1480 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1481 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1485 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1488 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1489 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1490 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1495 @node Message Actions
1496 @section Message Actions
1498 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1499 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1500 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1503 @vindex message-kill-actions
1504 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1505 @vindex message-exit-actions
1506 @vindex message-send-actions
1507 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1508 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1509 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1510 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1511 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1512 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1513 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1514 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1516 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1517 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1518 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1519 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1523 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1524 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1527 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1528 killed, postponed or exited.
1530 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1531 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1532 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1536 @chapter Compatibility
1537 @cindex compatibility
1539 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1540 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1541 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1544 (require 'messcompat)
1547 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1548 corresponding mail variables.
1555 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1562 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1567 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1568 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1569 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1580 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1581 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1582 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1583 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1587 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1594 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1595 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1596 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1600 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1601 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1612 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1613 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is