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 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
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.
118 @node New Mail Message
119 @section New Mail Message
122 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
124 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
125 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
126 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
129 @node New News Message
130 @section New News Message
133 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
135 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
136 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
137 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
143 @findex message-reply
144 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
145 reply to the message in the current buffer.
147 @vindex message-reply-to-function
148 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
149 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
150 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
152 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
153 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
156 (setq message-reply-to-function
158 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
159 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
164 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
167 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
168 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
169 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
172 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
173 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
174 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
175 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
176 the head of the outgoing mail.
182 @findex message-wide-reply
183 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
184 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
185 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
186 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
188 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
189 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
190 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
191 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
192 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
194 @findex message-dont-reply-to-names
195 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
196 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
202 @findex message-followup
203 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
204 followup to the message in the current buffer.
206 @vindex message-followup-to-function
207 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
208 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
209 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
210 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
212 @vindex message-use-followup-to
213 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
214 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
215 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
216 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
217 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
221 @section Canceling News
223 @findex message-cancel-news
224 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
231 @findex message-supersede
232 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
233 supersede the message in the current buffer.
235 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
236 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
237 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
238 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
239 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
246 @findex message-forward
247 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
248 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
252 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
253 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
254 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
256 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
257 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
258 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
259 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
260 passed into each successive function.
262 The provided functions are:
265 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
266 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
267 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
270 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
271 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
274 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
275 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
276 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
277 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
278 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
279 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
281 @item message-forward-as-mime
282 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
283 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
284 included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
285 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
286 non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
293 @findex message-resend
294 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
295 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
297 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
298 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
299 be removed before sending the message. The default is
300 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
306 @findex message-bounce
307 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
308 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
309 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
310 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
313 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
314 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
315 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
316 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
323 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
324 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
325 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
326 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
327 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
328 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
329 * Various Commands:: Various things.
330 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
331 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
332 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
337 @section Buffer Entry
341 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
342 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
343 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
344 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
345 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
346 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
347 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
348 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
351 @node Header Commands
352 @section Header Commands
354 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
361 @findex message-goto-to
362 Describe the message mode.
366 @findex message-goto-to
367 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
371 @findex message-goto-bcc
372 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
376 @findex message-goto-fcc
377 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
381 @findex message-goto-cc
382 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
386 @findex message-goto-subject
387 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
391 @findex message-goto-reply-to
392 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
396 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
397 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
401 @findex message-goto-distribution
402 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
406 @findex message-goto-followup-to
407 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
411 @findex message-goto-keywords
412 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
416 @findex message-goto-summary
417 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
428 @findex message-goto-body
429 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
430 (@code{message-goto-body}).
434 @findex message-goto-signature
435 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
447 @findex message-yank-original
448 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
449 (@code{message-yank-original}).
453 @findex message-yank-buffer
454 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
455 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
459 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
460 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
461 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
462 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
463 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
468 @findex message-insert-signature
469 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
470 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
474 @findex message-insert-headers
475 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
480 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
481 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
482 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
483 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
486 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
487 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
488 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
490 @item message-citation-line-function
491 @vindex message-citation-line-function
492 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
493 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
497 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
500 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
503 @item message-yank-prefix
504 @vindex message-yank-prefix
507 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
508 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
509 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
510 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
512 @item message-indentation-spaces
513 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
514 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
516 @item message-cite-function
517 @vindex message-cite-function
518 @findex message-cite-original
519 @findex sc-cite-original
520 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
522 Function for citing an original message. The default is
523 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
524 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
525 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
526 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
529 @item message-indent-citation-function
530 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
531 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
532 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
533 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
534 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
536 @item message-signature
537 @vindex message-signature
538 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
539 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
540 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
541 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
542 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
544 @item message-signature-file
545 @vindex message-signature-file
546 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
547 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
551 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
552 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
553 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
554 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
555 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
557 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
558 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
559 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
569 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
570 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
571 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
572 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
574 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
575 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
576 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
577 name and a @sc{mime} type.
579 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
580 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
591 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
592 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently support
593 PGP/MIME and S/MIME. Instructing MML to perform security operations on
594 a MIME part is done using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the
595 @code{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
601 @findex mml-secure-sign-smime
603 Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
607 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
609 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
613 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
615 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
619 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
621 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
625 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
626 merely insert proper MML tags to instruct the MML engine to perform that
627 operation when the message is actually sent. They may perform other
628 operations too, such as locating and retrieving a S/MIME certificate of
629 the person you wish to send encrypted mail to.
631 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
632 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
633 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
634 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
635 using @code{C-u C-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
636 your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
637 did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
638 night, actually will be sent encrypted.
640 @emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
641 They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
642 mail with a sensitive Subject line.
644 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
645 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
646 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
647 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
649 @subsection Using S/MIME
651 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
652 modern cryptography, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
654 The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
655 perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
656 at @code{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work.
657 Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from certificates, and it
658 insert a spurious CR character into MIME separators so you may wish to
659 avoid it if you would like to avoid being regarded as someone who send
660 strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME messages you've probably
661 already lost that contest.)
663 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
664 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
665 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
666 @code{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
667 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
668 it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
669 you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
670 default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
671 agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
672 so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
673 there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
674 LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
675 it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
676 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
678 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
679 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
680 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
681 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
682 a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
683 customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
685 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
686 own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
687 with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
688 free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
689 is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
690 Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
694 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
697 The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
698 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
700 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
703 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
705 PGP/MIME requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
706 Privacy Guard (@code{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an Emacs
707 interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
708 @code{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
709 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
711 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
712 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
714 @node Various Commands
715 @section Various Commands
721 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
722 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
723 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
724 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
725 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
729 @findex message-elide-region
730 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
731 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
732 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
737 @findex message-kill-to-signature
738 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
739 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
743 @findex message-delete-not-region
744 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
745 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
749 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
750 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
755 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
758 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
761 > This is some quoted text.
765 > And here's more quoted text.
768 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
772 @findex message-insert-to
773 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
774 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
775 (@code{message-insert-to}).
779 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
780 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
781 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
782 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
786 @findex message-rename-buffer
787 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
788 prompt for a new buffer name.
799 @findex message-send-and-exit
800 Send the message and bury the current buffer
801 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
806 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
810 @findex message-dont-send
811 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
815 @findex message-kill-buffer
816 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
823 @section Mail Aliases
827 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
828 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
829 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
830 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
831 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
833 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
834 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
837 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
838 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
841 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
842 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
843 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
845 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
846 expansions have to be done explicitly.
852 @findex ispell-message
854 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
855 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
856 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
857 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
858 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
859 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
862 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
865 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
866 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
867 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
870 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
871 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
875 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
878 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
879 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
882 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
886 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
888 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
891 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
899 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
900 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
901 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
902 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
903 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
904 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
905 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
906 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
907 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
911 @node Message Headers
912 @section Message Headers
914 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
915 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
916 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
917 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
918 look sufficiently similar.
922 @item message-generate-headers-first
923 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
924 If non-@code{nil}, generate all required headers before starting to
927 The variables @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
928 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are required.
930 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
931 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
933 @item message-from-style
934 @vindex message-from-style
935 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
940 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
943 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
946 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
949 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
950 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
951 @code{angles} anyway.
955 @item message-deletable-headers
956 @vindex message-deletable-headers
957 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
958 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
959 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
960 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
961 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
962 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
963 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
964 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
967 @item message-default-headers
968 @vindex message-default-headers
969 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
972 @item message-subject-re-regexp
973 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
974 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
975 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
976 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
977 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
978 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
979 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
980 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
981 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
982 just throw away non-compliant mail.
984 @item message-alternative-emails
985 @vindex message-alternative-emails
986 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
987 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
993 @section Mail Headers
996 @item message-required-mail-headers
997 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
998 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
999 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1000 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1002 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1003 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1004 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1005 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1007 @item message-default-mail-headers
1008 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1009 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1010 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1015 @node Mail Variables
1016 @section Mail Variables
1019 @item message-send-mail-function
1020 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1021 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1022 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
1023 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
1025 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1026 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1027 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1028 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1029 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1030 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1033 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1034 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1035 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1036 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1037 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1043 @section News Headers
1045 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1046 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1047 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1048 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1054 @findex user-full-name
1055 @findex user-mail-address
1056 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1057 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1058 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1059 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1063 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1067 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1068 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1071 @cindex organization
1072 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1073 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1074 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1075 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1076 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1077 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1081 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1085 @vindex mail-host-address
1088 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1089 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1090 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1091 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1092 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1096 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1097 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1100 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1101 header of the article being replied to.
1105 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1106 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1107 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1110 @cindex Distribution
1111 This optional header is filled out according to the
1112 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1113 much misunderstood header.
1117 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1118 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1119 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1120 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1121 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1122 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1123 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1127 @cindex Mime-Version
1128 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1129 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1130 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1131 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1132 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1133 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1134 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1135 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1136 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1138 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1139 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1142 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1146 @item message-syntax-checks
1147 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1148 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1149 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1152 (signature . disabled)
1161 Check the subject for commands.
1164 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1165 @item multiple-headers
1166 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1169 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1171 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1173 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1176 Check for too long lines.
1178 Check for invalid characters.
1180 Check for excessive size.
1182 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1184 Check the length of the signature.
1187 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1188 something only moderators should include.
1190 Check whether the article is empty.
1191 @item invisible-text
1192 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1194 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1195 @item existing-newsgroups
1196 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1197 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1198 @item valid-newsgroups
1199 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1200 are valid syntactically.
1201 @item repeated-newsgroups
1202 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1203 contains repeated group names.
1204 @item shorten-followup-to
1205 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1206 of groups to post to.
1209 All these conditions are checked by default.
1211 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1212 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1213 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1214 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1216 @item message-default-news-headers
1217 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1218 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1219 buffers that are initialized as news.
1224 @node News Variables
1225 @section News Variables
1228 @item message-send-news-function
1229 @vindex message-send-news-function
1230 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1231 @code{message-send-news}.
1233 @item message-post-method
1234 @vindex message-post-method
1235 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1236 posting a prepared news message.
1241 @node Various Message Variables
1242 @section Various Message Variables
1245 @item message-default-charset
1246 @vindex message-default-charset
1248 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1249 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1250 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1252 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1253 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1254 translation process.
1256 @item message-signature-separator
1257 @vindex message-signature-separator
1258 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1261 @item mail-header-separator
1262 @vindex mail-header-separator
1263 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1264 follows this line--} by default.
1266 @item message-directory
1267 @vindex message-directory
1268 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1270 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1271 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1272 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1273 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1275 @item message-setup-hook
1276 @vindex message-setup-hook
1277 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1278 but before yanked text is inserted.
1280 @item message-header-setup-hook
1281 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1282 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1284 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1285 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1286 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1289 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1290 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1291 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1292 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1293 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1294 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1296 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1297 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1300 @item message-send-hook
1301 @vindex message-send-hook
1302 Hook run before sending messages.
1304 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1305 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1306 @findex message-add-header
1309 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1310 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1311 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1312 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1315 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1317 @item message-send-mail-hook
1318 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1319 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1321 @item message-send-news-hook
1322 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1323 Hook run before sending news messages.
1325 @item message-sent-hook
1326 @vindex message-sent-hook
1327 Hook run after sending messages.
1329 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1330 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1331 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1333 @item message-send-method-alist
1334 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1336 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1339 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1344 A symbol that names the method.
1347 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1348 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1351 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1352 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1356 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1357 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1366 @node Sending Variables
1367 @section Sending Variables
1371 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1372 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1373 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1374 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1375 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1377 @item message-courtesy-message
1378 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1379 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1380 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1381 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1382 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1383 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1384 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1389 @node Message Buffers
1390 @section Message Buffers
1392 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1393 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1394 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1395 message buffers are kept alive.
1398 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1399 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1400 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1401 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1402 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1403 The function should return the new buffer name.
1405 @item message-max-buffers
1406 @vindex message-max-buffers
1407 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1408 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1409 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1410 will ever be killed.
1412 @item message-send-rename-function
1413 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1414 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1415 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1416 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1417 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1421 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1424 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1425 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1426 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1431 @node Message Actions
1432 @section Message Actions
1434 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1435 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1436 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1439 @vindex message-kill-actions
1440 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1441 @vindex message-exit-actions
1442 @vindex message-send-actions
1443 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1444 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1445 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1446 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1447 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1448 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1449 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1450 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1452 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1453 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1454 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1455 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1459 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1460 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1463 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1464 killed, postponed or exited.
1466 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1467 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1468 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1472 @chapter Compatibility
1473 @cindex compatibility
1475 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1476 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1477 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1480 (require 'messcompat)
1483 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1484 corresponding mail variables.
1491 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1498 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1503 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1504 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1505 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1516 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1517 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1518 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1519 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1523 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1530 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1531 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1532 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1536 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1537 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1548 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1549 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is