1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Pterodactyl Message 0.97 Manual
9 @c * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
14 @setchapternewpage odd
18 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
20 Copyright (C) 1996,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
23 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
24 are preserved on all copies.
27 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
28 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
29 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
30 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
33 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
34 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
35 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
36 permission notice identical to this one.
38 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
39 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
45 @title Pterodactyl Message 0.97 Manual
47 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
50 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 Copyright @copyright{} 1996,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
53 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
54 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
55 are preserved on all copies.
57 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
58 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
59 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
60 permission notice identical to this one.
62 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
63 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
73 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
77 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
78 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
79 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
80 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
81 * Appendices:: More technical things.
82 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
83 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
86 This manual corresponds to Pterodactyl Message 0.97. Message is
87 distributed with the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number
94 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
95 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
96 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
97 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
98 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
102 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
103 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
104 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
105 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
106 * Followup:: Following up via news.
107 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
108 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
109 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
110 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
111 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
115 @node New Mail Message
116 @section New Mail Message
119 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
121 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
122 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
123 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
126 @node New News Message
127 @section New News Message
130 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
132 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
133 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
134 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
140 @findex message-reply
141 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
142 reply to the message in the current buffer.
144 @vindex message-reply-to-function
145 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
146 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
147 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
149 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
150 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
153 (setq message-reply-to-function
155 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
156 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
161 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
164 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
165 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
166 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
169 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
170 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
171 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
172 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
173 the head of the outgoing mail.
179 @findex message-wide-reply
180 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
181 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
182 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
183 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
185 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
186 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
187 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
188 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
189 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
191 @findex message-dont-reply-to-names
192 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
193 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
199 @findex message-followup
200 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
201 followup to the message in the current buffer.
203 @vindex message-followup-to-function
204 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
205 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
206 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
207 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
209 @vindex message-use-followup-to
210 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
211 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
212 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
213 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
214 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
218 @section Canceling News
220 @findex message-cancel-news
221 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
228 @findex message-supersede
229 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
230 supersede the message in the current buffer.
232 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
233 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
234 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
235 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
236 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
243 @findex message-forward
244 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
245 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
249 @item message-ignored-forward-headers
250 @vindex message-ignored-forward-headers
251 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
253 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
254 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
255 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
256 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
257 passed into each successive function.
259 The provided functions are:
262 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
263 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
264 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
267 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
268 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
271 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
272 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
273 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
274 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
275 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
276 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
284 @findex message-resend
285 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
286 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
288 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
289 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
290 be removed before sending the message. The default is
291 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
297 @findex message-bounce
298 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
299 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
300 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
301 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
304 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
305 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
306 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
307 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
314 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
315 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
316 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
317 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
318 * Various Commands:: Various things.
319 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
320 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
324 @node Header Commands
325 @section Header Commands
327 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
334 @findex message-goto-to
335 Describe the message mode.
339 @findex message-goto-to
340 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
344 @findex message-goto-bcc
345 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
349 @findex message-goto-fcc
350 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
354 @findex message-goto-cc
355 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
359 @findex message-goto-subject
360 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
364 @findex message-goto-reply-to
365 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
369 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
370 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
374 @findex message-goto-distribution
375 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
379 @findex message-goto-followup-to
380 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
384 @findex message-goto-keywords
385 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
389 @findex message-goto-summary
390 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
401 @findex message-goto-body
402 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
403 (@code{message-goto-body}).
407 @findex message-goto-signature
408 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
420 @findex message-yank-original
421 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
422 (@code{message-yank-original}).
426 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
427 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
428 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
429 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
430 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
435 @findex message-insert-signature
436 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
437 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
441 @findex message-insert-headers
442 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
447 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
448 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
449 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
450 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
453 @item message-citation-line-function
454 @vindex message-citation-line-function
455 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
456 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
460 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
463 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
466 @item message-yank-prefix
467 @vindex message-yank-prefix
470 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
471 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
472 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
473 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
475 @item message-indentation-spaces
476 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
477 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
479 @item message-cite-function
480 @vindex message-cite-function
481 @findex message-cite-original
482 @findex sc-cite-original
483 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
485 Function for citing an original message. The default is
486 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
487 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
488 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
489 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
492 @item message-indent-citation-function
493 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
494 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
495 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
496 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
497 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
499 @item message-signature
500 @vindex message-signature
501 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
502 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
503 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
504 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
505 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
507 @item message-signature-file
508 @vindex message-signature-file
509 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
510 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
514 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
515 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
516 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
517 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
518 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
520 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
521 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
522 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
532 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
533 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
534 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
535 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
537 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
538 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
539 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
540 name and a @sc{mime} type.
542 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
543 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
547 @node Various Commands
548 @section Various Commands
554 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
555 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
556 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
557 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
558 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
562 @findex message-elide-region
563 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
564 The text is killed and an ellipsis (@samp{[...]}) will be inserted in
569 @findex message-kill-to-signature
570 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
571 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
575 @findex message-delete-not-region
576 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
577 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
581 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
582 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
587 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
590 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
593 > This is some quoted text.
597 > And here's more quoted text.
600 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
604 @findex message-insert-to
605 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
606 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
607 (@code{message-insert-to}).
611 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
612 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
613 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
614 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
618 @findex message-rename-buffer
619 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
620 prompt for a new buffer name.
631 @findex message-send-and-exit
632 Send the message and bury the current buffer
633 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
638 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
642 @findex message-dont-send
643 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
647 @findex message-kill-buffer
648 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
655 @section Mail Aliases
659 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
660 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
661 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
662 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
663 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
665 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
666 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
669 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
670 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
673 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
674 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
675 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
677 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
678 expansions have to be done explicitly.
686 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
687 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
688 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
689 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
690 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
691 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
692 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
693 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
694 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
698 @node Message Headers
699 @section Message Headers
701 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
702 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
703 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
704 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
705 look sufficiently similar.
709 @item message-generate-headers-first
710 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
711 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
714 @item message-from-style
715 @vindex message-from-style
716 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
721 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
724 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
727 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
730 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
731 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
732 @code{angles} anyway.
736 @item message-deletable-headers
737 @vindex message-deletable-headers
738 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
739 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
740 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
741 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
742 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
743 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
744 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
745 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
748 @item message-default-headers
749 @vindex message-default-headers
750 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
753 @item message-subject-re-regexp
754 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
755 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
756 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but in
757 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
758 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
759 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
760 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
761 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
762 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
763 just throw away non-compliant mail.
769 @section Mail Headers
772 @item message-required-mail-headers
773 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
774 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
775 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
776 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
778 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
779 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
780 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
781 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
783 @item message-default-mail-headers
784 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
785 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
786 buffers that are initialized as mail.
792 @section Mail Variables
795 @item message-send-mail-function
796 @vindex message-send-mail-function
797 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
798 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
799 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
801 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
802 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
803 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
804 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
805 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
806 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
813 @section News Headers
815 @vindex message-required-news-headers
816 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
817 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
818 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
824 @findex user-full-name
825 @findex user-mail-address
826 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
827 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
828 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
829 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
833 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
837 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
838 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
842 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
843 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
844 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
845 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
846 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
847 parameters and should return a string to be used).
851 This optional header will be computed by Message.
855 @vindex mail-host-address
858 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
859 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message will
860 use @code{mail-host-address} as the fully qualified domain name (FQDN)
861 of the machine if that variable is defined. If not, it will use
862 @code{system-name}, which doesn't report a FQDN on some machines --
867 This optional header will be filled out according to the
868 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
871 This optional header will be filled out according to the
872 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
873 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
876 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
877 header of the article being replied to.
881 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
882 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
883 be used unless you know what you're doing.
887 This optional header is filled out according to the
888 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
889 much misunderstood header.
893 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
894 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
895 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
896 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
897 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
898 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
899 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
904 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
905 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
906 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
907 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
908 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
909 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
910 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
911 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
912 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
914 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
915 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
918 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
922 @item message-syntax-checks
923 @vindex message-syntax-checks
924 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
925 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
928 (signature . disabled)
937 Check the subject for commands.
940 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
941 @item multiple-headers
942 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
945 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
947 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
949 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
952 Check for too long lines.
954 Check for invalid characters.
956 Check for excessive size.
958 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
960 Check the length of the signature.
963 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
964 something only moderators should include.
966 Check whether the article is empty.
968 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
970 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
971 @item existing-newsgroups
972 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
973 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
974 @item valid-newsgroups
975 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
976 are valid syntactically.
977 @item repeated-newsgroups
978 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
979 contains repeated group names.
980 @item shorten-followup-to
981 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
982 of groups to post to.
985 All these conditions are checked by default.
987 @item message-ignored-news-headers
988 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
989 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
990 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
992 @item message-default-news-headers
993 @vindex message-default-news-headers
994 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
995 buffers that are initialized as news.
1000 @node News Variables
1001 @section News Variables
1004 @item message-send-news-function
1005 @vindex message-send-news-function
1006 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1007 @code{message-send-news}.
1009 @item message-post-method
1010 @vindex message-post-method
1011 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1012 posting a prepared news message.
1017 @node Various Message Variables
1018 @section Various Message Variables
1021 @item message-signature-separator
1022 @vindex message-signature-separator
1023 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1026 @item mail-header-separator
1027 @vindex mail-header-separator
1028 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1029 follows this line--} by default.
1031 @item message-directory
1032 @vindex message-directory
1033 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1035 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1036 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1037 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1038 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1040 @item message-setup-hook
1041 @vindex message-setup-hook
1042 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1043 but before yanked text is inserted.
1045 @item message-header-setup-hook
1046 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1047 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1049 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1050 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1051 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1054 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1055 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1056 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1057 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1058 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1059 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1061 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1062 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1065 @item message-send-hook
1066 @vindex message-send-hook
1067 Hook run before sending messages.
1069 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1070 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1071 @findex message-add-header
1074 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1075 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1077 "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense"
1081 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1083 @item message-send-mail-hook
1084 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1085 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1087 @item message-send-news-hook
1088 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1089 Hook run before sending news messages.
1091 @item message-sent-hook
1092 @vindex message-sent-hook
1093 Hook run after sending messages.
1095 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1096 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1097 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1099 @item message-send-method-alist
1100 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1102 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1105 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1110 A symbol that names the method.
1113 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1114 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1117 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1118 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1122 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1123 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1132 @node Sending Variables
1133 @section Sending Variables
1137 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1138 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1139 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1140 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1141 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1143 @item message-courtesy-message
1144 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1145 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1146 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1147 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1148 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1149 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1150 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1155 @node Message Buffers
1156 @section Message Buffers
1158 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1159 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1160 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1161 message buffers are kept alive.
1164 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1165 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1166 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1167 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1168 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1169 The function should return the new buffer name.
1171 @item message-max-buffers
1172 @vindex message-max-buffers
1173 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1174 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1175 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1176 will ever be killed.
1178 @item message-send-rename-function
1179 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1180 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1181 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1182 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1183 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1187 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1190 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1191 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1192 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1197 @node Message Actions
1198 @section Message Actions
1200 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1201 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1202 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1205 @vindex message-kill-actions
1206 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1207 @vindex message-exit-actions
1208 @vindex message-send-actions
1209 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1210 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1211 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1212 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1213 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1214 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1215 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1216 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1218 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1219 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1220 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1221 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1225 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1226 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1229 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1230 killed, postponed or exited.
1232 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1233 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1234 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1238 @chapter Compatibility
1239 @cindex compatibility
1241 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1242 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1243 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1246 (require 'messcompat)
1249 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1250 corresponding mail variables.
1257 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1264 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1269 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1270 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1271 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1282 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1283 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1284 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1285 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1289 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1296 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1297 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1298 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1302 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1303 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1314 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1315 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is