1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message (Oort) 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, 2001, 2002 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 Message (Oort) Manual
46 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
49 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
50 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
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 Oort Message. Message is distributed with
91 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual.
97 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
98 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
99 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
100 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
101 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
105 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
106 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
107 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
108 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
109 * Followup:: Following up via news.
110 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
111 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
112 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
113 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
114 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
115 * Mailing Lists:: Send mail to mailing lists.
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 @sc{mime} RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
286 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
287 non @sc{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\\):}.
321 @section Mailing Lists
323 Sometimes while posting to mailing lists, the poster needs to direct
324 followups to the post to specific places. The Mail-Followup-To (MFT)
325 was created to enable just this. Two example scenarios where this is
330 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
331 sent to just the list, and not the poster as well. This will happen
332 if the poster is already subscribed to the list.
335 If a message is posted to several mailing lists, MFT may also be used
336 to direct the following discussion to one list only, because
337 discussions that are spread over several lists tend to be fragmented
338 and very difficult to follow.
342 Gnus honors the MFT header in other's messages (i.e. while following
343 up to someone else's post) and also provides support for generating
344 sensible MFT headers for outgoing messages as well.
347 @c * Honoring an MFT post:: What to do when one already exists
348 @c * Composing with a MFT header:: Creating one from scratch.
351 @c @node Composing with a MFT header
352 @subsection Composing a correct MFT header automagically
354 The first step in getting Gnus to automagically generate a MFT header
355 in posts you make is to give Gnus a list of the mailing lists
356 addresses you are subscribed to. You can do this in more than one
357 way. The following variables would come in handy.
361 @vindex message-subscribed-addresses
362 @item message-subscribed-addresses
363 This should be a list of addresses the user is subscribed to. Its
364 default value is @code{nil}. Example:
366 (setq message-subscribed-addresses
367 '("ding@@gnus.org" "bing@@noose.org"))
370 @vindex message-subscribed-regexps
371 @item message-subscribed-regexps
372 This should be a list of regexps denoting the addresses of mailing
373 lists subscribed to. Default value is @code{nil}. Example: If you
374 want to achieve the same result as above:
376 (setq message-subscribed-regexps
377 '("\\(ding@@gnus\\)\\|\\(bing@@noose\\)\\.org")
380 @vindex message-subscribed-address-functions
381 @item message-subscribed-address-functions
382 This can be a list of functions to be called (one at a time!!) to
383 determine the value of MFT headers. It is advisable that these
384 functions not take any arguments. Default value is @code{nil}.
386 There is a pre-defined function in Gnus that is a good candidate for
387 this variable. @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses} is a function
388 that returns a list of addresses corresponding to the groups that have
389 the @code{subscribed} (@pxref{(gnus)subscribed})
390 group parameter set to a non-nil value. This is how you would do it.
393 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
394 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
397 @item message-subscribed-address-file
398 You might be one organised human freak and have a list of addresses of
399 all subscribed mailing lists in a separate file! Then you can just
400 set this variable to the name of the file and life would be good.
404 You can use one or more of the above variables. All their values are
405 ``added'' in some way that works :-)
407 Now you are all set. Just start composing a message as you normally
408 do. And just send it; as always. Just before the message is sent
409 out, Gnus' MFT generation thingy kicks in and checks if the message
410 already has a MFT header. If there is one, the header is left alone.
411 If not then the list of recipient addresses (in the To: and Cc:
412 headers) is checked to see if one of them is a list address you are
413 subscribed to. If none of them is a list address, then no MFT is
414 generated; otherwise, a MFT is added to the other headers and set to
415 the value of all addresses in To: and Cc:
417 Hm. ``So'', you ask, ``what if I send an email to a list I am not
418 subscribed to?'' Well, the kind folks at Gnus Towers are working on a
419 database of all known mailing list addresses that can be used for this
420 purpose. Till then, you could, like, insert a MFT header manually,
421 with the help of @kbd{C-c C-f C-m} !!
423 @c @node Honoring an MFT post
424 @subsection Honoring an MFT post
426 @vindex message-use-mail-followup-to
427 When you followup to a post on a mailing list, and the post has a MFT
428 header, Gnus' action will depend on the value of the variable
429 @code{message-use-mail-followup-to}. This variable can be one of:
433 Always honor MFTs. The To: and Cc: headers in your followup will be
434 derived from the MFT header of the original post.
437 Always dishonor MFTs (just ignore the darned thing)
440 Gnus will prompt you for an action. This is the default.
444 It is considered good nettiquette to honor MFT, as it is assumed the
445 fellow who posted a message knows where the followups need to go
452 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
453 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
454 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
455 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
456 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
457 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
458 * Various Commands:: Various things.
459 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
460 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
461 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
466 @section Buffer Entry
470 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
471 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
472 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
473 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
474 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
475 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
476 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
477 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
480 @node Header Commands
481 @section Header Commands
483 All these commands move to the header in question (except for the
484 @samp{Importance:} related commands). If it doesn't exist, it will be
491 @findex describe-mode
492 Describe the message mode.
496 @findex message-goto-to
497 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
501 @findex message-goto-from
502 Go to the @code{From} header (@code{message-goto-from}). (The ``o''
503 in the key binding is for Originator.)
507 @findex message-goto-bcc
508 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
512 @findex message-goto-fcc
513 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
517 @findex message-goto-cc
518 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
522 @findex message-goto-subject
523 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
527 @findex message-goto-reply-to
528 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
532 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
533 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
537 @findex message-goto-distribution
538 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
542 @findex message-goto-followup-to
543 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
547 @findex message-goto-keywords
548 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
552 @findex message-goto-summary
553 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
557 @findex message-insert-or-toggle-importance
558 This inserts the @samp{Importance:} header with a value of
559 @samp{high}. This header is used to signal the importance of the
560 message to the receiver. If the header is already present in the
561 buffer, it cycles between the three valid values according to RFC
562 1376: @samp{low}, @samp{normal} and @samp{high}.
564 @item M-x message-insert-importance-high
565 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-high
566 @findex message-insert-importance-high
567 Insert a @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{high},
568 deleting headers if necessary.
570 @item M-x message-insert-importance-low
571 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-low
572 @findex message-insert-importance-low
573 Insert a @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{low},
574 deleting headers if necessary.
585 @findex message-goto-body
586 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
587 (@code{message-goto-body}).
591 @findex message-goto-signature
592 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
596 @findex message-beginning-of-line
597 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
598 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
611 @findex message-yank-original
612 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
613 (@code{message-yank-original}).
617 @findex message-yank-buffer
618 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
619 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
623 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
624 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
625 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
626 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
627 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
632 @findex message-insert-signature
633 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
634 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
638 @findex message-insert-headers
639 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
643 @findex message-insert-disposition-notification-to
644 Insert a request for a disposition
645 notification. (@code{message-insert-disposition-notification-to}).
646 This means that if the recipient support RFC 2298 she might send you a
647 notification that she received the message.
659 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
660 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
661 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
662 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
664 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
665 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
666 be done with the @kbd{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
667 name and a @sc{mime} type.
669 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
670 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
683 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
684 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently
685 support PGP (RFC 1991), @sc{pgp/mime} (RFC 2015/3156) and @sc{s/mime}.
686 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
687 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
688 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
694 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
696 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
700 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
702 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
706 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime
708 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
712 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
714 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
718 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
720 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
724 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
726 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
730 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
731 merely insert the proper MML secure tag to instruct the MML engine to
732 perform that operation when the message is actually sent. They may
733 perform other operations too, such as locating and retrieving a
734 @sc{s/mime} certificate of the person you wish to send encrypted mail
735 to. When the mml parsing engine converts your MML into a properly
736 encoded @sc{mime} message, the secure tag will be replaced with either
737 a part or a multipart tag. If your message contains other mml parts,
738 a multipart tag will be used; if no other parts are present in your
739 message a single part tag will be used. This way, message mode will
740 do the Right Thing (TM) with signed/encrypted multipart messages.
742 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
743 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
744 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
745 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
746 using @kbd{C-u C-c RET P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can
747 verify that your long rant about what your ex-significant other or
748 whomever actually did with that funny looking person at that strange
749 party the other night, actually will be sent encrypted.
751 @emph{Note!} Neither @sc{pgp/mime} nor @sc{s/mime} encrypt/signs
752 RFC822 headers. They only operate on the @sc{mime} object. Keep this
753 in mind before sending mail with a sensitive Subject line.
755 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
756 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
757 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
758 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
760 @subsection Using S/MIME
762 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
763 modern cryptography, @sc{s/mime}, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and
766 The @sc{s/mime} support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
767 perform the actual @sc{s/mime} sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can
768 be found at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later
769 should work. Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from
770 certificates, and it insert a spurious CR character into @sc{mime}
771 separators so you may wish to avoid it if you would like to avoid
772 being regarded as someone who send strange mail. (Although by sending
773 @sc{s/mime} messages you've probably already lost that contest.)
775 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
776 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
777 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
778 @kbd{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
779 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local
780 file, it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you
781 chose DNS, you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is
782 stored, the default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is
783 the first mail agent in the world to support retrieving @sc{s/mime}
784 certificates from DNS, so you're not likely to find very many
785 certificates out there. At least there should be one, stored at the
786 domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}. LDAP is a more popular method of
787 distributing certificates, support for it is planned. (Meanwhile, you
788 can use @code{ldapsearch} from the command line to retrieve a
789 certificate into a file and use it.)
791 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
792 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
793 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
794 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it
795 contain a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try
796 @kbd{M-x customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
798 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create
799 your own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this
800 manually with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape
801 and got a free @sc{s/mime} certificate from one of the big CA's on the
802 net. Netscape is able to export your private key and certificate in
803 PKCS #12 format. Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509
804 certificate in PEM format as follows.
807 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
810 The @file{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
811 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
813 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
816 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
818 @sc{pgp/mime} requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
819 Privacy Guard (@uref{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an
820 Emacs interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
821 @uref{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
822 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
824 @vindex gpg-temp-directory
825 Note, if you are using the @code{gpg.el} you must make sure that the
826 path specified by @code{gpg-temp-directory} have permissions 0700.
828 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
829 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
831 @node Various Commands
832 @section Various Commands
838 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
839 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
840 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
841 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
842 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
846 @findex message-elide-region
847 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
848 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
849 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
854 @findex message-kill-to-signature
855 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
856 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
860 @findex message-delete-not-region
861 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
862 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
866 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
867 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
872 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
875 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
878 > This is some quoted text.
882 > And here's more quoted text.
885 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
889 @findex message-insert-to
890 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
891 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
892 (@code{message-insert-to}).
896 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
897 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
898 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
899 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
903 @findex message-rename-buffer
904 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
905 prompt for a new buffer name.
916 @findex message-send-and-exit
917 Send the message and bury the current buffer
918 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
923 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
927 @findex message-dont-send
928 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
932 @findex message-kill-buffer
933 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
940 @section Mail Aliases
944 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
945 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
946 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
947 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
948 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
950 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
951 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
954 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
955 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
958 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
959 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
960 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
962 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
963 expansions have to be done explicitly.
969 @findex ispell-message
971 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
972 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
973 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
974 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
975 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
976 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
979 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
982 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
983 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
984 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
987 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
988 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
992 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
995 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
996 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
999 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
1003 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
1005 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
1008 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1016 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
1017 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
1018 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
1019 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
1020 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
1021 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
1022 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
1023 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
1024 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
1025 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
1029 @node Message Headers
1030 @section Message Headers
1032 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
1033 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
1034 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
1035 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
1036 look sufficiently similar.
1040 @item message-generate-headers-first
1041 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
1042 If non-@code{nil}, generate all required headers before starting to
1043 compose the message.
1045 The variables @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
1046 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are required.
1048 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
1049 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
1051 @item message-from-style
1052 @vindex message-from-style
1053 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
1058 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
1061 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
1064 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
1067 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
1068 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
1069 @code{angles} anyway.
1073 @item message-deletable-headers
1074 @vindex message-deletable-headers
1075 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
1076 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
1077 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1078 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1079 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1080 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1081 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1082 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1085 @item message-default-headers
1086 @vindex message-default-headers
1087 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1090 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1091 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1095 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1096 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1097 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1098 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1099 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1100 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1101 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1102 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1103 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1105 Here's an example of a value to deal with these headers when
1106 responding to a message:
1109 (setq message-subject-re-regexp
1110 "^\\(\\(\\([Rr][Ee]\\|[Ss][Vv]\\|[Aa][Ww]\\): *\\)+\\))
1113 @item message-alternative-emails
1114 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1115 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1116 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1122 @section Mail Headers
1125 @item message-required-mail-headers
1126 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1127 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1128 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1129 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1131 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1132 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1133 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1134 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1136 @item message-default-mail-headers
1137 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1138 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1139 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1144 @node Mail Variables
1145 @section Mail Variables
1148 @item message-send-mail-function
1149 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1150 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1151 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1152 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1153 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1154 @findex feedmail-send-it
1155 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1156 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1157 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1158 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1160 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1161 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1162 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1163 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1164 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1165 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1168 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1169 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1170 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1171 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1172 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1178 @section News Headers
1180 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1181 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1182 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1183 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1189 @findex user-full-name
1190 @findex user-mail-address
1191 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1192 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1193 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1194 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1198 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1202 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1203 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1206 @cindex organization
1207 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1208 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1209 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1210 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1211 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1212 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1216 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1220 @vindex mail-host-address
1223 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1224 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1225 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1226 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1227 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1231 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1232 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1235 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1236 header of the article being replied to.
1240 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1241 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1242 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1245 @cindex Distribution
1246 This optional header is filled out according to the
1247 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1248 much misunderstood header.
1252 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1253 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1254 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1255 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1256 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1257 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1258 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1262 @cindex Mime-Version
1263 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1264 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1265 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1266 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1267 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1268 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1269 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1270 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1271 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1273 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1274 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1277 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1281 @item message-syntax-checks
1282 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1283 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1284 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1287 (signature . disabled)
1296 Check the subject for commands.
1299 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1300 @item multiple-headers
1301 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1304 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1306 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1308 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1311 Check for too long lines.
1313 Check for invalid characters.
1315 Check for excessive size.
1317 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1319 Check the length of the signature.
1322 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1323 something only moderators should include.
1325 Check whether the article is empty.
1326 @item invisible-text
1327 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1329 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1330 @item existing-newsgroups
1331 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1332 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1333 @item valid-newsgroups
1334 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1335 are valid syntactically.
1336 @item repeated-newsgroups
1337 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1338 contains repeated group names.
1339 @item shorten-followup-to
1340 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1341 of groups to post to.
1344 All these conditions are checked by default.
1346 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1347 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1348 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1349 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1351 @item message-default-news-headers
1352 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1353 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1354 buffers that are initialized as news.
1359 @node News Variables
1360 @section News Variables
1363 @item message-send-news-function
1364 @vindex message-send-news-function
1365 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1366 @code{message-send-news}.
1368 @item message-post-method
1369 @vindex message-post-method
1370 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1371 posting a prepared news message.
1376 @node Insertion Variables
1377 @section Insertion Variables
1380 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
1381 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
1382 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
1383 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
1386 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
1387 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
1388 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
1390 @item message-citation-line-function
1391 @vindex message-citation-line-function
1392 @cindex attribution line
1393 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
1394 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
1398 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
1401 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
1404 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
1405 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
1406 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
1407 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
1408 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
1410 @item message-yank-prefix
1411 @vindex message-yank-prefix
1414 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
1415 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
1416 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
1417 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
1418 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
1421 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
1422 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
1426 When yanking text from a article which contains no text or already
1427 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
1428 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
1429 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
1431 @item message-indentation-spaces
1432 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
1433 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
1435 @item message-cite-function
1436 @vindex message-cite-function
1437 @findex message-cite-original
1438 @findex sc-cite-original
1439 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
1441 Function for citing an original message. The default is
1442 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
1443 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
1444 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
1445 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
1448 @item message-indent-citation-function
1449 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
1450 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
1451 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
1452 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
1453 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
1455 @item message-signature
1456 @vindex message-signature
1457 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
1458 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
1459 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
1460 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
1461 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
1463 @item message-signature-file
1464 @vindex message-signature-file
1465 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
1466 The default is @file{~/.signature}.
1470 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
1471 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
1472 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
1473 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
1474 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
1476 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
1477 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
1478 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
1481 @node Various Message Variables
1482 @section Various Message Variables
1485 @item message-default-charset
1486 @vindex message-default-charset
1488 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1489 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1490 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1492 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1493 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1494 translation process.
1496 @item message-signature-separator
1497 @vindex message-signature-separator
1498 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1501 @item mail-header-separator
1502 @vindex mail-header-separator
1503 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1504 follows this line--} by default.
1506 @item message-directory
1507 @vindex message-directory
1508 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1510 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1511 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1512 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1513 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1515 @item message-setup-hook
1516 @vindex message-setup-hook
1517 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1518 but before yanked text is inserted.
1520 @item message-header-setup-hook
1521 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1522 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1524 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1525 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1526 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1529 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1530 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1531 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1532 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1533 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1534 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1536 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1537 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1540 @item message-send-hook
1541 @vindex message-send-hook
1542 Hook run before sending messages.
1544 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1545 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1546 @findex message-add-header
1549 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1550 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1551 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1552 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1555 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1557 @item message-send-mail-hook
1558 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1559 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1561 @item message-send-news-hook
1562 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1563 Hook run before sending news messages.
1565 @item message-sent-hook
1566 @vindex message-sent-hook
1567 Hook run after sending messages.
1569 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1570 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1571 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1573 @item message-send-method-alist
1574 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1576 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1579 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1584 A symbol that names the method.
1587 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1588 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1591 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1592 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1596 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1597 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1606 @node Sending Variables
1607 @section Sending Variables
1611 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1612 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1613 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1614 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1615 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1617 @item message-courtesy-message
1618 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1619 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1620 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1621 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1622 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1623 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1624 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
1626 @item message-fcc-externalize-attachments
1627 @vindex message-gcc-externalize-attachments
1628 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Fcc copies; if it is
1629 non-@code{nil}, attach local files as external parts.
1634 @node Message Buffers
1635 @section Message Buffers
1637 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1638 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1639 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1640 message buffers are kept alive.
1643 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1644 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1645 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1646 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1647 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1648 The function should return the new buffer name.
1650 @item message-max-buffers
1651 @vindex message-max-buffers
1652 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1653 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1654 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1655 will ever be killed.
1657 @item message-send-rename-function
1658 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1659 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1660 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1661 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1662 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1666 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1669 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1670 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1671 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1676 @node Message Actions
1677 @section Message Actions
1679 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1680 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1681 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1684 @vindex message-kill-actions
1685 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1686 @vindex message-exit-actions
1687 @vindex message-send-actions
1688 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1689 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1690 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1691 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1692 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1693 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1694 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1695 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1697 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1698 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1699 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1700 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1704 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1705 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1708 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1709 killed, postponed or exited.
1711 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1712 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1713 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1717 @chapter Compatibility
1718 @cindex compatibility
1720 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1721 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1722 into account, you can put the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
1725 (require 'messcompat)
1728 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1729 corresponding mail variables.
1736 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1743 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1748 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1749 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1750 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1761 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1762 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1763 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1764 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1768 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1775 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1776 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1777 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1781 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1782 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1793 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1794 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is