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 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
495 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
499 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
502 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
505 @item message-yank-prefix
506 @vindex message-yank-prefix
509 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
510 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
511 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
512 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
514 @item message-yank-add-new-references
515 @vindex message-yank-add-new-references
517 Non-@code{nil} means new IDs will be added to References field when an
518 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
519 interactively. If it is a symbol @code{message-id-only}, only an ID
520 from Message-ID field is used, otherwise IDs extracted from References,
521 In-Reply-To and Message-ID fields are used.
523 @item message-list-references-add-position
524 @vindex message-list-references-add-position
526 Integer value means position for adding to References field when an
527 article is yanked by the command @code{message-yank-original}
530 @item message-indentation-spaces
531 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
532 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
534 @item message-cite-function
535 @vindex message-cite-function
536 @findex message-cite-original
537 @findex sc-cite-original
538 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
540 Function for citing an original message. The default is
541 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
542 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
543 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
544 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
547 @item message-suspend-font-lock-when-citing
548 @vindex message-suspend-font-lock-when-citing
549 If non-@code{nil}, suspend font-lock'ing while citing an original
550 message. Some lazy demand-driven fontification tools (or Emacs itself)
551 have a bug that they often miss a buffer to be fontified. It will
552 mostly occur when Emacs prompts user for any inputs in the minibuffer.
553 Setting this option to non-@code{nil} may help you to avoid unpleasant
554 errors even if it is an add-hoc expedient.
556 @item message-indent-citation-function
557 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
558 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
559 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
560 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
561 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
563 @item message-signature
564 @vindex message-signature
565 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
566 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
567 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
568 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
569 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
571 @item message-signature-file
572 @vindex message-signature-file
573 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
574 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
578 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
579 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
580 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
581 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
582 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
584 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
585 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
586 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
596 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
597 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
598 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
599 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
601 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
602 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
603 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
604 name and a @sc{mime} type.
606 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
607 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
618 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
619 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently support
620 PGP/MIME and S/MIME. Instructing MML to perform security operations on
621 a MIME part is done using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the
622 @code{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
628 @findex mml-secure-sign-smime
630 Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
634 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
636 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
640 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
642 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
646 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
648 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
652 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
653 merely insert proper MML tags to instruct the MML engine to perform that
654 operation when the message is actually sent. They may perform other
655 operations too, such as locating and retrieving a S/MIME certificate of
656 the person you wish to send encrypted mail to.
658 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
659 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
660 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
661 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
662 using @code{C-u C-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
663 your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
664 did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
665 night, actually will be sent encrypted.
667 @emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
668 They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
669 mail with a sensitive Subject line.
671 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
672 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
673 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
674 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
676 @subsection Using S/MIME
678 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
679 modern cryptography, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
681 The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
682 perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
683 at @code{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work.
684 Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from certificates, and it
685 insert a spurious CR character into MIME separators so you may wish to
686 avoid it if you would like to avoid being regarded as someone who send
687 strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME messages you've probably
688 already lost that contest.)
690 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
691 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
692 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
693 @code{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
694 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
695 it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
696 you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
697 default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
698 agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
699 so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
700 there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
701 LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
702 it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
703 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
705 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
706 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
707 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
708 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
709 a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
710 customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
712 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
713 own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
714 with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
715 free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
716 is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
717 Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
721 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
724 The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
725 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
727 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
730 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
732 PGP/MIME requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
733 Privacy Guard (@code{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an Emacs
734 interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
735 @code{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
736 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
738 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
739 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
741 @node Various Commands
742 @section Various Commands
748 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
749 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
750 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
751 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
752 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
756 @findex message-elide-region
757 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
758 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
759 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
764 @findex message-kill-to-signature
765 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
766 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
770 @findex message-delete-not-region
771 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
772 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
776 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
777 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
782 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
785 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
788 > This is some quoted text.
792 > And here's more quoted text.
795 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
799 @findex message-insert-to
800 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
801 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
802 (@code{message-insert-to}).
806 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
807 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
808 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
809 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
813 @findex message-rename-buffer
814 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
815 prompt for a new buffer name.
826 @findex message-send-and-exit
827 Send the message and bury the current buffer
828 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
833 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
837 @findex message-dont-send
838 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
842 @findex message-kill-buffer
843 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
850 @section Mail Aliases
854 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
855 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
856 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
857 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
858 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
860 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
861 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
864 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
865 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
868 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
869 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
870 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
872 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
873 expansions have to be done explicitly.
879 @findex ispell-message
881 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
882 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
883 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
884 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
885 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
886 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
889 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
892 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
893 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
894 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
897 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
898 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
902 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
905 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
906 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
909 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
913 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
915 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
918 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
926 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
927 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
928 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
929 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
930 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
931 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
932 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
933 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
934 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
938 @node Message Headers
939 @section Message Headers
941 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
942 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
943 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
944 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
945 look sufficiently similar.
949 @item message-generate-headers-first
950 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
951 If non-@code{nil}, generate all required headers before starting to
954 The variables @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
955 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are required.
957 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
958 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
960 @item message-from-style
961 @vindex message-from-style
962 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
967 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
970 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
973 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
976 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
977 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
978 @code{angles} anyway.
982 @item message-deletable-headers
983 @vindex message-deletable-headers
984 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
985 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
986 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
987 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
988 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
989 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
990 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
991 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
994 @item message-default-headers
995 @vindex message-default-headers
996 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
999 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1000 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1001 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1002 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1003 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1004 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1005 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1006 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1007 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1008 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1009 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1011 @item message-alternative-emails
1012 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1013 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1014 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1020 @section Mail Headers
1023 @item message-required-mail-headers
1024 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1025 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1026 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1027 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1029 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1030 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1031 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1032 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1034 @item message-default-mail-headers
1035 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1036 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1037 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1042 @node Mail Variables
1043 @section Mail Variables
1046 @item message-send-mail-function
1047 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1048 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1049 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
1050 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
1052 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1053 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1054 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1055 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1056 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1057 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1060 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1061 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1062 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1063 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1064 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1070 @section News Headers
1072 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1073 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1074 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1075 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1081 @findex user-full-name
1082 @findex user-mail-address
1083 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1084 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1085 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1086 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1090 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1094 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1095 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1098 @cindex organization
1099 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1100 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1101 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1102 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1103 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1104 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1108 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1112 @vindex mail-host-address
1115 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1116 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1117 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1118 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1119 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1123 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1124 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1127 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1128 header of the article being replied to.
1132 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1133 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1134 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1137 @cindex Distribution
1138 This optional header is filled out according to the
1139 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1140 much misunderstood header.
1144 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1145 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1146 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1147 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1148 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1149 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1150 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1154 @cindex Mime-Version
1155 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1156 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1157 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1158 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1159 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1160 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1161 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1162 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1163 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1165 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1166 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1169 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1173 @item message-syntax-checks
1174 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1175 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1176 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1179 (signature . disabled)
1188 Check the subject for commands.
1191 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1192 @item multiple-headers
1193 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1196 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1198 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1200 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1203 Check for too long lines.
1205 Check for invalid characters.
1207 Check for excessive size.
1209 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1211 Check the length of the signature.
1214 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1215 something only moderators should include.
1217 Check whether the article is empty.
1218 @item invisible-text
1219 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1221 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1222 @item existing-newsgroups
1223 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1224 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1225 @item valid-newsgroups
1226 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1227 are valid syntactically.
1228 @item repeated-newsgroups
1229 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1230 contains repeated group names.
1231 @item shorten-followup-to
1232 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1233 of groups to post to.
1236 All these conditions are checked by default.
1238 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1239 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1240 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1241 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1243 @item message-default-news-headers
1244 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1245 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1246 buffers that are initialized as news.
1251 @node News Variables
1252 @section News Variables
1255 @item message-send-news-function
1256 @vindex message-send-news-function
1257 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1258 @code{message-send-news}.
1260 @item message-post-method
1261 @vindex message-post-method
1262 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1263 posting a prepared news message.
1268 @node Various Message Variables
1269 @section Various Message Variables
1272 @item message-default-charset
1273 @vindex message-default-charset
1275 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1276 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1277 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1279 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1280 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1281 translation process.
1283 @item message-signature-separator
1284 @vindex message-signature-separator
1285 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1288 @item mail-header-separator
1289 @vindex mail-header-separator
1290 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1291 follows this line--} by default.
1293 @item message-directory
1294 @vindex message-directory
1295 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1297 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1298 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1299 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1300 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1302 @item message-setup-hook
1303 @vindex message-setup-hook
1304 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1305 but before yanked text is inserted.
1307 @item message-header-setup-hook
1308 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1309 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1311 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1312 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1313 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1316 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1317 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1318 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1319 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1320 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1321 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1323 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1324 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1327 @item message-send-hook
1328 @vindex message-send-hook
1329 Hook run before sending messages.
1331 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1332 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1333 @findex message-add-header
1336 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1337 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1338 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1339 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1342 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1344 @item message-send-mail-hook
1345 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1346 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1348 @item message-send-news-hook
1349 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1350 Hook run before sending news messages.
1352 @item message-sent-hook
1353 @vindex message-sent-hook
1354 Hook run after sending messages.
1356 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1357 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1358 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1360 @item message-send-method-alist
1361 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1363 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1366 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1371 A symbol that names the method.
1374 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1375 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1378 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1379 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1383 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1384 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1393 @node Sending Variables
1394 @section Sending Variables
1398 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1399 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1400 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1401 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1402 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1404 @item message-courtesy-message
1405 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1406 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1407 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1408 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1409 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1410 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1411 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1416 @node Message Buffers
1417 @section Message Buffers
1419 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1420 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1421 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1422 message buffers are kept alive.
1425 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1426 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1427 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1428 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1429 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1430 The function should return the new buffer name.
1432 @item message-use-multi-frames
1433 @vindex message-use-multi-frames
1434 If non-@code{nil}, generate new frames. The default is @code{nil}.
1436 @item message-delete-frame-on-exit
1437 @vindex message-delete-frame-on-exit
1438 The @code{message-delete-frame-on-exit} variable says whether to delete
1439 the frame after sending the message or killing the message buffer. If it
1440 is @code{nil} (which is the default), don't delete the frame. If it is
1441 @code{ask}, ask wheter to delete the frame. If it is @code{t}, always
1444 @item message-max-buffers
1445 @vindex message-max-buffers
1446 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1447 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1448 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1449 will ever be killed.
1451 @item message-send-rename-function
1452 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1453 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1454 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1455 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1456 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1460 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1463 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1464 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1465 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1470 @node Message Actions
1471 @section Message Actions
1473 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1474 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1475 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1478 @vindex message-kill-actions
1479 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1480 @vindex message-exit-actions
1481 @vindex message-send-actions
1482 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1483 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1484 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1485 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1486 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1487 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1488 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1489 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1491 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1492 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1493 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1494 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1498 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1499 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1502 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1503 killed, postponed or exited.
1505 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1506 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1507 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1511 @chapter Compatibility
1512 @cindex compatibility
1514 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1515 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1516 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1519 (require 'messcompat)
1522 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1523 corresponding mail variables.
1530 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1537 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1542 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1543 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1544 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1555 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1556 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1557 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1558 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1562 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1569 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1570 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1571 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1575 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1576 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1587 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1588 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is