1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
3 @setfilename message.info
4 @settitle Message Manual
11 @setchapternewpage odd
15 This file documents Messa, the Emacs message composition mode.
17 Copyright (C) 1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
19 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
20 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
21 are preserved on all copies.
24 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
25 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
26 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
27 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
30 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
31 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
32 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
33 permission notice identical to this one.
35 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
36 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
44 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
47 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
48 Copyright @copyright{} 1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
50 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
51 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
52 are preserved on all copies.
54 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
55 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
56 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
57 permission notice identical to this one.
59 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
60 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
70 All message composition (both mail and news) takes place in Message mode
74 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
75 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
76 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
77 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
78 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
85 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
86 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
87 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
88 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
89 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
93 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
94 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
95 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
96 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
97 * Followup:: Following up via news.
98 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
99 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
100 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
101 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
102 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
106 @node New Mail Message
107 @section New Mail Message
110 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
112 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
113 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
114 aren't present, those two headers will be empty.
117 @node New News Message
118 @section New News Message
121 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
123 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
124 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
125 header. If these aren't present, those two headers will be empty.
131 @findex message-reply
132 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
133 reply to the message in the current buffer.
135 @vindex message-reply-to-function
136 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go,
137 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
138 @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
140 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
141 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
144 (setq message-reply-to-function
146 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
147 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
152 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
155 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
156 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
157 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
160 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
161 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
162 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
163 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
164 the head of the outgoing mail.
170 @findex message-wide-reply
171 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
172 reply to the message in the current buffer.
174 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
175 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
176 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
177 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
178 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
184 @findex message-followup
185 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
186 followup to the message in the current buffer.
188 @vindex message-followup-to-function
189 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
190 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
191 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
192 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
194 @vindex message-use-followup-to
195 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
196 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
197 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
198 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
199 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
203 @section Canceling News
205 @findex message-cancel-news
206 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
213 @findex message-supersede
214 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
215 supersede the message in the current buffer.
217 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
218 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
219 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is
220 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:}.
227 @findex message-forward
228 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
229 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
233 @item message-forward-start-separator
234 @vindex message-forward-start-separator
235 Delimiter inserted before forwarded messages. The default is
236 @samp{------- Start of forwarded message -------\n}.
238 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
239 @item message-forward-end-separator
240 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
241 Delimiter inserted after forwarded messages. The default is
242 @samp{------- End of forwarded message -------\n}.
244 @item message-signature-before-forwarded-message
245 @vindex message-signature-before-forwarded-message
246 If this variable is @code{t}, which it is by default, your personal
247 signature will be inserted before the forwarded message. If not, the
248 forwarded message will be inserted first in the new mail.
250 @item message-forward-included-headers
251 @vindex message-forward-included-headers
252 Regexp matching header lines to be included in forwarded messages.
260 @findex message-resend
261 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
262 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
264 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
265 Headers the match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
266 be removed before sending the message. The default is
267 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
273 @findex message-bounce
274 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
275 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
278 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
279 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
280 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
288 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
289 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
290 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
291 * Various Commands:: Various things.
292 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
296 @node Header Commands
297 @section Header Commands
299 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
306 @findex message-goto-to
307 Describe the message mode.
311 @findex message-goto-to
312 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
316 @findex message-goto-bcc
317 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
321 @findex message-goto-fcc
322 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
326 @findex message-goto-cc
327 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
331 @findex message-goto-subject
332 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
336 @findex message-goto-reply-to
337 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
341 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
342 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
346 @findex message-goto-distribution
347 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
351 @findex message-goto-followup-to
352 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
356 @findex message-goto-keywords
357 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
361 @findex message-goto-summary
362 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
373 @findex message-goto-body
374 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
375 (@code{message-goto-body}).
379 @findex message-goto-signature
380 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
392 @findex message-yank-original
393 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
394 (@code{message-yank-original}).
398 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
399 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}).
403 @findex message-insert-signature
404 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
405 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
410 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
411 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
412 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
413 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
416 @item message-citation-line-function
417 @vindex message-citation-line-function
418 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
419 @code{message-insert-citation-line}.
421 @item message-yank-prefix
422 @vindex message-yank-prefix
425 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
426 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
427 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
428 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
429 If it is @code{nil}, just indent the message.
431 @item message-indentation-spaces
432 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
433 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
435 @item message-cite-function
436 @vindex message-cite-function
437 @findex message-cite-original
438 @findex sc-cite-original
440 Function for citing an original message. The default is
441 @code{message-cite-original}. You can also set it to
442 @code{sc-cite-original} to use SuperCite.
444 @item message-indent-citation-function
445 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
446 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
447 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
448 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
449 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
451 @item message-signature
452 @vindex message-signature
453 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
454 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
455 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
456 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
457 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
459 @item message-signature-file
460 @vindex message-signature-file
461 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
462 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
466 Note that RFC1036 says that a signature should be preceded by the three
467 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
468 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
469 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
470 that they ruin you beautiful design, like, totally.
472 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
473 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
474 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
478 @node Various Commands
479 @section Various Commands
485 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
486 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
487 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
488 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
489 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
493 @findex message-insert-to
494 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
495 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
496 (@code{message-insert-to}).
500 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
501 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
502 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
503 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
507 @findex message-rename-buffer
508 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
509 prompt for a new buffer name.
520 @findex message-send-and-exit
521 Send the message and bury the current buffer
522 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
527 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
531 @findex message-dont-send
532 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
536 @findex message-kill-buffer
537 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
546 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
547 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
548 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
549 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
550 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
551 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
552 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
553 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
557 @node Message Headers
558 @section Message Headers
560 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has
561 to be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send
562 combined messages, it has to generate all headers itself to ensure that
563 mail and news copies of messages look sufficiently similar.
567 @item message-generate-headers-first
568 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
569 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
572 @item message-from-style
573 @vindex message-from-style
574 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four legal
579 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
582 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
585 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
588 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
589 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
590 @code{angles} anyway.
594 @item message-deletable-headers
595 @vindex message-deletable-headers
596 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
597 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
598 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
599 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
600 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
601 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
602 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
603 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
606 @item message-default-headers
607 @vindex message-default-headers
608 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
615 @section Mail Headers
618 @item message-required-mail-headers
619 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
620 See @pxref{News Headers} for the syntax of this variable. It is
621 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
622 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
624 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
625 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
626 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
627 @samp{^Gcc:\\|^Fcc:}.
629 @item message-default-mail-headers
630 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
631 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
632 buffers that are initialized as mail.
638 @section Mail Variables
641 @item message-send-mail-function
642 @vindex message-send-mail-function
643 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
644 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
645 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
651 @section News Headers
653 @vindex message-required-news-headers
654 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
655 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
656 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are legal:
662 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
663 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
664 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
665 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
669 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
673 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
674 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
678 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
679 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
680 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if that variable is
685 This optional header will be computed by Message.
689 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
690 created based on date, time, user name and system name.
694 This optional header will be filled out according to the
695 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
698 This optional header will be filled out according to the
699 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
700 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
703 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
704 header of the article being replied.
708 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
709 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
710 be used unless you know what you're doing.
714 This optional header is filled out according to the
715 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
716 much misunderstood header.
720 This extremely optional header should probably not ever be used.
721 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
722 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
723 @code{Path} header is to look. If is is @code{nil}, the the server name
724 as the leaf node. If is is a string, use the string. If it is neither
725 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
726 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
731 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
732 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
733 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
734 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
735 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
736 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
737 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
738 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
739 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
741 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
742 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
745 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
749 @item message-syntax-checks
750 @vindex message-syntax-checks
751 If non-@code{nil}, message will attempt to check the legality of the
752 headers, as well as some other stuff, before posting. You can control
753 the granularity of the check by adding or removing elements from this
754 list. Legal elements are:
758 Check the subject for commands.
761 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
762 @item multiple-headers
763 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
766 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
768 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
770 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
773 Check for too long lines.
775 Check for illegal characters.
777 Check for excessive size.
779 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
781 Check the length of the signature.
784 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
785 something only moderators should include.
787 Check whether the article is empty.
789 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
790 @item existing-newsgroups
791 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the Newsgroups and
792 Followup-To headers exist.
793 @item valid-newsgroups
794 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
795 are valid syntactially.
798 All these conditions are checked by default.
800 @item message-ignored-news-headers
801 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
802 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is
803 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Bcc:\\|^Gcc:\\|^Fcc:}.
805 @item message-default-news-headers
806 @vindex message-default-news-headers
807 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
808 buffers that are initialized as news.
814 @section News Variables
817 @item message-send-news-function
818 @vindex message-send-news-function
819 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
820 @code{message-send-news}.
822 @item message-post-method
823 @vindex message-post-method
824 Method used for posting a prepared news message.
829 @node Various Message Variables
830 @section Various Message Variables
833 @item message-signature-separator
834 @vindex message-signature-separator
835 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
838 @item mail-header-separator
839 @vindex mail-header-separator
840 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
841 follows this line--} by default.
843 @item message-directory
844 @vindex message-directory
845 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
847 @item message-autosave-directory
848 @vindex message-autosave-directory
849 Directory where message buffers will be autosaved to.
851 @item message-setup-hook
852 @vindex message-setup-hook
853 Hook run when the message buffer has been initialized.
855 @item message-header-setup-hook
856 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
857 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
859 @item message-send-hook
860 @vindex message-send-hook
861 Hook run before sending messages.
863 @item message-sent-hook
864 @vindex message-sent-hook
865 Hook run after sending messages.
867 @item message-mode-syntax-table
868 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
869 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
875 @node Sending Variables
876 @section Sending Variables
880 @item message-fcc-handler-function
881 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
882 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
883 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
884 function is @code{rmail-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
886 @item message-courtesy-message
887 @vindex message-courtesy-message
888 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
889 the mailed copy. If this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy
890 message will be added.
895 @node Message Actions
896 @section Message Actions
898 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
899 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
900 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
903 @vindex message-kill-actions
904 @vindex message-postpone-actions
905 @vindex message-exit-actions
906 @vindex message-send-actions
907 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
908 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
909 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
910 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
911 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
912 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
913 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
914 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
916 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
917 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
918 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
919 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
923 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
924 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
927 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
928 killed, postponed or exited.
930 An @dfn{action} can be either a normal function; or a list where the
931 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments; or
932 a form to be @code{eval}ed.