This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
-Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
-Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
+Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
* Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
* Resending:: Resending a mail message.
* Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
+* Mailing Lists:: Send mail to mailing lists.
@end menu
@item message-forward-as-mime
@vindex message-forward-as-mime
If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
-included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
+included as inline @sc{mime} RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
-non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
+non @sc{mime}-savvy versions of gnus would do.
@end table
@samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
+@node Mailing Lists
+@section Mailing Lists
+
+Sometimes while posting to mailing lists, the poster needs to direct
+followups to the post to specific places. The Mail-Followup-To (MFT)
+was created to enable just this. Two example scenarios where this is
+useful:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
+sent to just the list, and not the poster as well. This will happen
+if the poster is already subscribed to the list.
+
+@item
+A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
+sent to the list and the poster as well. This will happen if the poster
+is not subscribed to the list.
+
+@item
+If a message is posted to several mailing lists, MFT may also be used
+to direct the following discussion to one list only, because
+discussions that are spread over several lists tend to be fragmented
+and very difficult to follow.
+
+@end itemize
+
+Gnus honors the MFT header in other's messages (i.e. while following
+up to someone else's post) and also provides support for generating
+sensible MFT headers for outgoing messages as well.
+
+@c @menu
+@c * Honoring an MFT post:: What to do when one already exists
+@c * Composing with a MFT header:: Creating one from scratch.
+@c @end menu
+
+@c @node Composing with a MFT header
+@subsection Composing a correct MFT header automagically
+
+The first step in getting Gnus to automagically generate a MFT header
+in posts you make is to give Gnus a list of the mailing lists
+addresses you are subscribed to. You can do this in more than one
+way. The following variables would come in handy.
+
+@table @code
+
+@vindex message-subscribed-addresses
+@item message-subscribed-addresses
+This should be a list of addresses the user is subscribed to. Its
+default value is @code{nil}. Example:
+@lisp
+(setq message-subscribed-addresses
+ '("ding@@gnus.org" "bing@@noose.org"))
+@end lisp
+
+@vindex message-subscribed-regexps
+@item message-subscribed-regexps
+This should be a list of regexps denoting the addresses of mailing
+lists subscribed to. Default value is @code{nil}. Example: If you
+want to achieve the same result as above:
+@lisp
+(setq message-subscribed-regexps
+ '("\\(ding@@gnus\\)\\|\\(bing@@noose\\)\\.org")
+@end lisp
+
+@vindex message-subscribed-address-functions
+@item message-subscribed-address-functions
+This can be a list of functions to be called (one at a time!!) to
+determine the value of MFT headers. It is advisable that these
+functions not take any arguments. Default value is @code{nil}.
+
+There is a pre-defined function in Gnus that is a good candidate for
+this variable. @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses} is a function
+that returns a list of addresses corresponding to the groups that have
+the @code{subscribed} (@pxref{(gnus)subscribed})
+group parameter set to a non-nil value. This is how you would do it.
+
+@lisp
+(setq message-subscribed-address-functions
+ '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
+@end lisp
+
+@item message-subscribed-address-file
+You might be one organised human freak and have a list of addresses of
+all subscribed mailing lists in a separate file! Then you can just
+set this variable to the name of the file and life would be good.
+
+@end table
+
+You can use one or more of the above variables. All their values are
+``added'' in some way that works :-)
+
+Now you are all set. Just start composing a message as you normally do.
+And just send it; as always. Just before the message is sent out, Gnus'
+MFT generation thingy kicks in and checks if the message already has a
+MFT field. If there is one, it is left alone. (Except if it's empty -
+in that case, the field is removed and is not replaced with an
+automatically generated one. This lets you disable MFT generation on a
+per-message basis.) If there is none, then the list of recipient
+addresses (in the To: and Cc: headers) is checked to see if one of them
+is a list address you are subscribed to. If none of them is a list
+address, then no MFT is generated; otherwise, a MFT is added to the
+other headers and set to the value of all addresses in To: and Cc:
+
+Hm. ``So'', you ask, ``what if I send an email to a list I am not
+subscribed to? I want my MFT to say that I want an extra copy.'' (This
+is supposed to be interpreted by others the same way as if there were no
+MFT, but you can use an explicit MFT to override someone else's
+to-address group parameter.) Well, the kind folks at Gnus Towers are
+working on a database of all known mailing list addresses that can be
+used for this purpose. Till then, you could, like, insert a MFT header
+manually, with the help of @kbd{C-c C-f C-m} !!
+
+@c @node Honoring an MFT post
+@subsection Honoring an MFT post
+
+@vindex message-use-mail-followup-to
+When you followup to a post on a mailing list, and the post has a MFT
+header, Gnus' action will depend on the value of the variable
+@code{message-use-mail-followup-to}. This variable can be one of:
+
+@table @code
+@item use
+ Always honor MFTs. The To: and Cc: headers in your followup will be
+ derived from the MFT header of the original post. This is the default.
+
+@item nil
+ Always dishonor MFTs (just ignore the darned thing)
+
+@item ask
+Gnus will prompt you for an action.
+
+@end table
+
+It is considered good nettiquette to honor MFT, as it is assumed the
+fellow who posted a message knows where the followups need to go
+better than you do.
+
@node Commands
@chapter Commands
@item C-c ?
@kindex C-c ?
-@findex message-goto-to
+@findex describe-mode
Describe the message mode.
@item C-c C-f C-t
@findex message-goto-to
Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
+@item C-c C-f C-o
+@kindex C-c C-f C-o
+@findex message-goto-from
+Go to the @code{From} header (@code{message-goto-from}). (The ``o''
+in the key binding is for Originator.)
+
@item C-c C-f C-b
@kindex C-c C-f C-b
@findex message-goto-bcc
@findex message-insert-headers
Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
+@item C-c M-n
+@kindex C-c M-n
+@findex message-insert-disposition-notification-to
+Insert a request for a disposition
+notification. (@code{message-insert-disposition-notification-to}).
+This means that if the recipient support RFC 2298 she might send you a
+notification that she received the message.
+
@end table
The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
@sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
-be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
+be done with the @kbd{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
name and a @sc{mime} type.
You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
@cindex PGP/MIME
@cindex sign
@cindex encrypt
+@cindex secure
Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently
-support PGP (RFC 1991), PGP/MIME (RFC 2015/3156) and S/MIME.
-Instructing MML to perform security operations on a MIME part is done
-using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @code{C-c C-m
-c} key map for encryption, as follows.
+support PGP (RFC 1991), @sc{pgp/mime} (RFC 2015/3156) and @sc{s/mime}.
+Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
+done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
+C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
@table @kbd
@item C-c C-m s s
@kindex C-c C-m s s
-@findex mml-secure-sign-smime
+@findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
-Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
+Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
@item C-c C-m s o
@kindex C-c C-m s o
-@findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
+@findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
-Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP.
+Digitally sign current message using PGP.
@item C-c C-m s p
@kindex C-c C-m s p
-@findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
+@findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime
-Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
+Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
@item C-c C-m c s
@kindex C-c C-m c s
-@findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
+@findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
-Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
+Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
@item C-c C-m c o
@kindex C-c C-m c o
-@findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgp
+@findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
-Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP.
+Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
@item C-c C-m c p
@kindex C-c C-m c p
-@findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
+@findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
-Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
+Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
@end table
These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
-merely insert proper MML tags to instruct the MML engine to perform that
-operation when the message is actually sent. They may perform other
-operations too, such as locating and retrieving a S/MIME certificate of
-the person you wish to send encrypted mail to.
+merely insert the proper MML secure tag to instruct the MML engine to
+perform that operation when the message is actually sent. They may
+perform other operations too, such as locating and retrieving a
+@sc{s/mime} certificate of the person you wish to send encrypted mail
+to. When the mml parsing engine converts your MML into a properly
+encoded @sc{mime} message, the secure tag will be replaced with either
+a part or a multipart tag. If your message contains other mml parts,
+a multipart tag will be used; if no other parts are present in your
+message a single part tag will be used. This way, message mode will
+do the Right Thing (TM) with signed/encrypted multipart messages.
Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
-using @code{C-u C-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
-your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
-did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
-night, actually will be sent encrypted.
+using @kbd{C-u C-c RET P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can
+verify that your long rant about what your ex-significant other or
+whomever actually did with that funny looking person at that strange
+party the other night, actually will be sent encrypted.
-@emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
-They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
-mail with a sensitive Subject line.
+@emph{Note!} Neither @sc{pgp/mime} nor @sc{s/mime} encrypt/signs
+RFC822 headers. They only operate on the @sc{mime} object. Keep this
+in mind before sending mail with a sensitive Subject line.
Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
@subsection Using S/MIME
@emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
-modern cryptography, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
-
-The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
-perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
-at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work.
-Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from certificates, and it
-insert a spurious CR character into MIME separators so you may wish to
-avoid it if you would like to avoid being regarded as someone who send
-strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME messages you've probably
-already lost that contest.)
+modern cryptography, @sc{s/mime}, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and
+so on.
+
+The @sc{s/mime} support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
+perform the actual @sc{s/mime} sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can
+be found at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later
+should work. Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from
+certificates, and it insert a spurious CR character into @sc{mime}
+separators so you may wish to avoid it if you would like to avoid
+being regarded as someone who send strange mail. (Although by sending
+@sc{s/mime} messages you've probably already lost that contest.)
To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
-@code{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
-certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
-it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
-you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
-default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
-agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
-so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
-there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
-LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
-it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
-command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
+@kbd{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
+certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local
+file, it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you
+chose DNS, you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is
+stored, the default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is
+the first mail agent in the world to support retrieving @sc{s/mime}
+certificates from DNS, so you're not likely to find very many
+certificates out there. At least there should be one, stored at the
+domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}. LDAP is a more popular method of
+distributing certificates, support for it is planned. (Meanwhile, you
+can use @code{ldapsearch} from the command line to retrieve a
+certificate into a file and use it.)
As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
-Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
-a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
-customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
-
-Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
-own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
-with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
-free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
-is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
-Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
-as follows.
+Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it
+contain a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try
+@kbd{M-x customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
+
+Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create
+your own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this
+manually with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape
+and got a free @sc{s/mime} certificate from one of the big CA's on the
+net. Netscape is able to export your private key and certificate in
+PKCS #12 format. Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509
+certificate in PEM format as follows.
@example
$ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
@end example
-The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
+The @file{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
@code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
@emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
@subsection Using PGP/MIME
-PGP/MIME requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
-Privacy Guard (@uref{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an Emacs
-interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
+@sc{pgp/mime} requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
+Privacy Guard (@uref{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an
+Emacs interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
@uref{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
+@vindex gpg-temp-directory
+Note, if you are using the @code{gpg.el} you must make sure that the
+path specified by @code{gpg-temp-directory} have permissions 0700.
+
Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
@item message-subject-re-regexp
@vindex message-subject-re-regexp
+@cindex Aw:
+@cindex Sv:
+@cindex Re:
Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
just throw away non-compliant mail.
+Here's an example of a value to deal with these headers when
+responding to a message:
+
+@lisp
+(setq message-subject-re-regexp
+ "^\\(\\(\\([Rr][Ee]\\|[Ss][Vv]\\|[Aa][Ww]\\): *\\)+\\))
+@end lisp
+
@item message-alternative-emails
@vindex message-alternative-emails
A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
@item message-signature-file
@vindex message-signature-file
File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
-The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
+The default is @file{~/.signature}.
@end table
The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
+@item message-fcc-externalize-attachments
+@vindex message-fcc-externalize-attachments
+If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Fcc copies; if it is
+non-@code{nil}, attach local files as external parts.
+
@end table
Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
-into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
+into account, you can put the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
@lisp
(require 'messcompat)
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