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
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 MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
286 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
287 non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
294 @findex message-resend
295 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
296 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
298 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
299 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
300 be removed before sending the message. The default is
301 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
307 @findex message-bounce
308 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
309 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
310 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
311 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
314 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
315 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
316 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
317 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
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 @code{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), PGP/MIME (RFC 2015/3156) and S/MIME.
686 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a MIME part is done
687 using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @code{C-c C-m
688 c} key map for encryption, as follows.
694 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
696 Digitally sign current message using S/MIME.
700 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
702 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
706 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
708 Digitally sign current message using PGP/MIME.
712 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
714 Digitally encrypt current message using 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 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 S/MIME
734 certificate of the person you wish to send encrypted mail to. When the
735 mml parsing engine converts your MML into a properly encoded MIME
736 message, the secure tag will be replaced with either a part or a
737 multipart tag. If your message contains other mml parts, a multipart
738 tag will be used; if no other parts are present in your message a single
739 part tag will be used. This way, message mode will do the Right Thing
740 (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 @code{C-u C-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
747 your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
748 did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
749 night, actually will be sent encrypted.
751 @emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
752 They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
753 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, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
765 The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
766 perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
767 at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work.
768 Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from certificates, and it
769 insert a spurious CR character into MIME separators so you may wish to
770 avoid it if you would like to avoid being regarded as someone who send
771 strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME messages you've probably
772 already lost that contest.)
774 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
775 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
776 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
777 @code{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
778 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
779 it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
780 you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
781 default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
782 agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
783 so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
784 there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
785 LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
786 it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
787 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
789 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
790 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
791 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
792 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
793 a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
794 customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
796 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
797 own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
798 with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
799 free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
800 is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
801 Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
805 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
808 The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
809 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
811 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
814 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
816 PGP/MIME requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
817 Privacy Guard (@uref{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an Emacs
818 interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
819 @uref{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
820 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
822 @vindex gpg-temp-directory
823 Note, if you are using the @code{gpg.el} you must make sure that the
824 path specified by @code{gpg-temp-directory} have permissions 0700.
826 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
827 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
829 @node Various Commands
830 @section Various Commands
836 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
837 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
838 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
839 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
840 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
844 @findex message-elide-region
845 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
846 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
847 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
852 @findex message-kill-to-signature
853 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
854 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
858 @findex message-delete-not-region
859 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
860 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
864 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
865 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
870 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
873 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
876 > This is some quoted text.
880 > And here's more quoted text.
883 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
887 @findex message-insert-to
888 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
889 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
890 (@code{message-insert-to}).
894 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
895 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
896 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
897 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
901 @findex message-rename-buffer
902 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
903 prompt for a new buffer name.
914 @findex message-send-and-exit
915 Send the message and bury the current buffer
916 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
921 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
925 @findex message-dont-send
926 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
930 @findex message-kill-buffer
931 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
938 @section Mail Aliases
942 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
943 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
944 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
945 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
946 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
948 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
949 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
952 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
953 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
956 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
957 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
958 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
960 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
961 expansions have to be done explicitly.
967 @findex ispell-message
969 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
970 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
971 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
972 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
973 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
974 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
977 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
980 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
981 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
982 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
985 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
986 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
990 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
993 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
994 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
997 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
1001 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
1003 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
1006 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1014 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
1015 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
1016 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
1017 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
1018 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
1019 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
1020 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
1021 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
1022 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
1023 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
1027 @node Message Headers
1028 @section Message Headers
1030 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
1031 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
1032 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
1033 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
1034 look sufficiently similar.
1038 @item message-generate-headers-first
1039 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
1040 If non-@code{nil}, generate all required headers before starting to
1041 compose the message.
1043 The variables @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
1044 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are required.
1046 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
1047 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
1049 @item message-from-style
1050 @vindex message-from-style
1051 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
1056 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
1059 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
1062 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
1065 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
1066 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
1067 @code{angles} anyway.
1071 @item message-deletable-headers
1072 @vindex message-deletable-headers
1073 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
1074 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
1075 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1076 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1077 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1078 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1079 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1080 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1083 @item message-default-headers
1084 @vindex message-default-headers
1085 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1088 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1089 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1093 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1094 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1095 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1096 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1097 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1098 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1099 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1100 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1101 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1103 Here's an example of a value to deal with these headers when
1104 responding to a message:
1107 (setq message-subject-re-regexp
1108 "^\\(\\(\\([Rr][Ee]\\|[Ss][Vv]\\|[Aa][Ww]\\): *\\)+\\))
1111 @item message-alternative-emails
1112 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1113 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1114 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1120 @section Mail Headers
1123 @item message-required-mail-headers
1124 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1125 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1126 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1127 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1129 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1130 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1131 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1132 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1134 @item message-default-mail-headers
1135 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1136 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1137 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1142 @node Mail Variables
1143 @section Mail Variables
1146 @item message-send-mail-function
1147 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1148 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1149 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1150 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1151 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1152 @findex feedmail-send-it
1153 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1154 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1155 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1156 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1158 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1159 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1160 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1161 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1162 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1163 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1166 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1167 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1168 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1169 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1170 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1176 @section News Headers
1178 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1179 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1180 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1181 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1187 @findex user-full-name
1188 @findex user-mail-address
1189 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1190 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1191 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1192 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1196 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1200 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1201 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1204 @cindex organization
1205 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1206 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1207 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1208 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1209 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1210 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1214 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1218 @vindex mail-host-address
1221 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1222 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1223 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1224 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1225 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1229 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1230 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1233 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1234 header of the article being replied to.
1238 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1239 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1240 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1243 @cindex Distribution
1244 This optional header is filled out according to the
1245 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1246 much misunderstood header.
1250 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1251 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1252 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1253 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1254 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1255 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1256 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1260 @cindex Mime-Version
1261 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1262 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1263 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1264 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1265 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1266 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1267 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1268 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1269 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1271 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1272 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1275 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1279 @item message-syntax-checks
1280 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1281 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1282 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1285 (signature . disabled)
1294 Check the subject for commands.
1297 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1298 @item multiple-headers
1299 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1302 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1304 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1306 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1309 Check for too long lines.
1311 Check for invalid characters.
1313 Check for excessive size.
1315 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1317 Check the length of the signature.
1320 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1321 something only moderators should include.
1323 Check whether the article is empty.
1324 @item invisible-text
1325 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1327 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1328 @item existing-newsgroups
1329 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1330 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1331 @item valid-newsgroups
1332 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1333 are valid syntactically.
1334 @item repeated-newsgroups
1335 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1336 contains repeated group names.
1337 @item shorten-followup-to
1338 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1339 of groups to post to.
1342 All these conditions are checked by default.
1344 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1345 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1346 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1347 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1349 @item message-default-news-headers
1350 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1351 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1352 buffers that are initialized as news.
1357 @node News Variables
1358 @section News Variables
1361 @item message-send-news-function
1362 @vindex message-send-news-function
1363 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1364 @code{message-send-news}.
1366 @item message-post-method
1367 @vindex message-post-method
1368 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1369 posting a prepared news message.
1374 @node Insertion Variables
1375 @section Insertion Variables
1378 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
1379 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
1380 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
1381 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
1384 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
1385 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
1386 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
1388 @item message-citation-line-function
1389 @vindex message-citation-line-function
1390 @cindex attribution line
1391 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
1392 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
1396 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
1399 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
1402 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
1403 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
1404 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
1405 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
1406 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
1408 @item message-yank-prefix
1409 @vindex message-yank-prefix
1412 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
1413 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
1414 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
1415 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
1416 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
1419 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
1420 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
1424 When yanking text from a article which contains no text or already
1425 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
1426 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
1427 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
1429 @item message-indentation-spaces
1430 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
1431 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
1433 @item message-cite-function
1434 @vindex message-cite-function
1435 @findex message-cite-original
1436 @findex sc-cite-original
1437 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
1439 Function for citing an original message. The default is
1440 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
1441 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
1442 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
1443 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
1446 @item message-indent-citation-function
1447 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
1448 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
1449 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
1450 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
1451 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
1453 @item message-signature
1454 @vindex message-signature
1455 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
1456 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
1457 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
1458 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
1459 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
1461 @item message-signature-file
1462 @vindex message-signature-file
1463 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
1464 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
1468 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
1469 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
1470 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
1471 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
1472 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
1474 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
1475 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
1476 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
1479 @node Various Message Variables
1480 @section Various Message Variables
1483 @item message-default-charset
1484 @vindex message-default-charset
1486 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1487 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1488 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1490 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1491 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1492 translation process.
1494 @item message-signature-separator
1495 @vindex message-signature-separator
1496 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1499 @item mail-header-separator
1500 @vindex mail-header-separator
1501 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1502 follows this line--} by default.
1504 @item message-directory
1505 @vindex message-directory
1506 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1508 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1509 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1510 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1511 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1513 @item message-setup-hook
1514 @vindex message-setup-hook
1515 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1516 but before yanked text is inserted.
1518 @item message-header-setup-hook
1519 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1520 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1522 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1523 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1524 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1527 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1528 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1529 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1530 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1531 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1532 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1534 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1535 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1538 @item message-send-hook
1539 @vindex message-send-hook
1540 Hook run before sending messages.
1542 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1543 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1544 @findex message-add-header
1547 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1548 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1549 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1550 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1553 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1555 @item message-send-mail-hook
1556 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1557 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1559 @item message-send-news-hook
1560 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1561 Hook run before sending news messages.
1563 @item message-sent-hook
1564 @vindex message-sent-hook
1565 Hook run after sending messages.
1567 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1568 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1569 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1571 @item message-send-method-alist
1572 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1574 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1577 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1582 A symbol that names the method.
1585 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1586 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1589 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1590 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1594 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1595 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1604 @node Sending Variables
1605 @section Sending Variables
1609 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1610 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1611 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1612 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1613 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1615 @item message-courtesy-message
1616 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1617 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1618 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1619 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1620 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1621 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1622 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
1627 @node Message Buffers
1628 @section Message Buffers
1630 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1631 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1632 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1633 message buffers are kept alive.
1636 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1637 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1638 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1639 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1640 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1641 The function should return the new buffer name.
1643 @item message-max-buffers
1644 @vindex message-max-buffers
1645 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1646 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1647 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1648 will ever be killed.
1650 @item message-send-rename-function
1651 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1652 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1653 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1654 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1655 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1659 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1662 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1663 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1664 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1669 @node Message Actions
1670 @section Message Actions
1672 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1673 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1674 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1677 @vindex message-kill-actions
1678 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1679 @vindex message-exit-actions
1680 @vindex message-send-actions
1681 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1682 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1683 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1684 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1685 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1686 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1687 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1688 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1690 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1691 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1692 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1693 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1697 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1698 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1701 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1702 killed, postponed or exited.
1704 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1705 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1706 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1710 @chapter Compatibility
1711 @cindex compatibility
1713 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1714 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1715 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1718 (require 'messcompat)
1721 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1722 corresponding mail variables.
1729 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1736 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1741 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1742 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1743 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1754 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1755 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1756 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1757 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1761 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1768 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1769 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1770 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1774 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1775 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1786 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1787 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is