1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message 5.8.7 Manual
9 @c * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
14 @setchapternewpage odd
18 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
20 Copyright (C) 1996,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
23 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
24 are preserved on all copies.
27 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
28 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
29 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
30 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
33 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
34 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
35 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
36 permission notice identical to this one.
38 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
39 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
45 @title Message 5.8.7 Manual
47 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
50 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 Copyright @copyright{} 1996,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
53 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
54 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
55 are preserved on all copies.
57 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
58 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
59 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
60 permission notice identical to this one.
62 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
63 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
73 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
77 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
78 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
79 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
80 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
81 * Appendices:: More technical things.
82 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
83 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
86 This manual corresponds to Message 5.8.7. Message is distributed with
87 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual.
93 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
94 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
95 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
96 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
97 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
101 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
102 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
103 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
104 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
105 * Followup:: Following up via news.
106 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
107 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
108 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
109 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
110 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
114 @node New Mail Message
115 @section New Mail Message
118 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
120 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
121 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
122 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
125 @node New News Message
126 @section New News Message
129 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
131 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
132 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
133 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
139 @findex message-reply
140 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
141 reply to the message in the current buffer.
143 @vindex message-reply-to-function
144 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
145 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
146 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
148 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
149 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
152 (setq message-reply-to-function
154 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
155 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
160 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
163 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
164 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
165 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
168 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
169 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
170 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
171 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
172 the head of the outgoing mail.
178 @findex message-wide-reply
179 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
180 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
181 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
182 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
184 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
185 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
186 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
187 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
188 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
190 @findex message-dont-reply-to-names
191 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
192 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
198 @findex message-followup
199 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
200 followup to the message in the current buffer.
202 @vindex message-followup-to-function
203 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
204 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
205 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
206 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
208 @vindex message-use-followup-to
209 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
210 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
211 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
212 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
213 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
217 @section Canceling News
219 @findex message-cancel-news
220 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
227 @findex message-supersede
228 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
229 supersede the message in the current buffer.
231 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
232 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
233 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
234 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
235 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
242 @findex message-forward
243 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
244 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
248 @item message-ignored-forward-headers
249 @vindex message-ignored-forward-headers
250 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
252 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
253 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
254 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
255 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
256 passed into each successive function.
258 The provided functions are:
261 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
262 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
263 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
266 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
267 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
270 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
271 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
272 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
273 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
274 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
275 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
277 @item message-forward-as-mime
278 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
279 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
280 included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
281 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
282 non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
289 @findex message-resend
290 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
291 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
293 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
294 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
295 be removed before sending the message. The default is
296 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
302 @findex message-bounce
303 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
304 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
305 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
306 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
309 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
310 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
311 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
312 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
319 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
320 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
321 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
322 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
323 * Various Commands:: Various things.
324 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
325 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
329 @node Header Commands
330 @section Header Commands
332 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
339 @findex message-goto-to
340 Describe the message mode.
344 @findex message-goto-to
345 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
349 @findex message-goto-bcc
350 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
354 @findex message-goto-fcc
355 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
359 @findex message-goto-cc
360 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
364 @findex message-goto-subject
365 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
369 @findex message-goto-reply-to
370 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
374 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
375 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
379 @findex message-goto-distribution
380 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
384 @findex message-goto-followup-to
385 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
389 @findex message-goto-keywords
390 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
394 @findex message-goto-summary
395 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
406 @findex message-goto-body
407 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
408 (@code{message-goto-body}).
412 @findex message-goto-signature
413 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
425 @findex message-yank-original
426 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
427 (@code{message-yank-original}).
431 @findex message-yank-buffer
432 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
433 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
437 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
438 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
439 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
440 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
441 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
446 @findex message-insert-signature
447 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
448 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
452 @findex message-insert-headers
453 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
458 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
459 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
460 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
461 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
464 @item message-citation-line-function
465 @vindex message-citation-line-function
466 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
467 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
471 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
474 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
477 @item message-yank-prefix
478 @vindex message-yank-prefix
481 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
482 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
483 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
484 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
486 @item message-indentation-spaces
487 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
488 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
490 @item message-cite-function
491 @vindex message-cite-function
492 @findex message-cite-original
493 @findex sc-cite-original
494 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
496 Function for citing an original message. The default is
497 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
498 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
499 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
500 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
503 @item message-indent-citation-function
504 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
505 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
506 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
507 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
508 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
510 @item message-signature
511 @vindex message-signature
512 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
513 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
514 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
515 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
516 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
518 @item message-signature-file
519 @vindex message-signature-file
520 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
521 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
525 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
526 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
527 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
528 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
529 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
531 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
532 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
533 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
543 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
544 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
545 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
546 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
548 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
549 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
550 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
551 name and a @sc{mime} type.
553 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
554 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
558 @node Various Commands
559 @section Various Commands
565 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
566 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
567 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
568 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
569 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
573 @findex message-elide-region
574 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
575 The text is killed and an ellipsis (@samp{[...]}) will be inserted in
580 @findex message-kill-to-signature
581 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
582 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
586 @findex message-delete-not-region
587 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
588 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
592 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
593 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
598 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
601 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
604 > This is some quoted text.
608 > And here's more quoted text.
611 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
615 @findex message-insert-to
616 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
617 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
618 (@code{message-insert-to}).
622 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
623 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
624 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
625 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
629 @findex message-rename-buffer
630 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
631 prompt for a new buffer name.
642 @findex message-send-and-exit
643 Send the message and bury the current buffer
644 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
649 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
653 @findex message-dont-send
654 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
658 @findex message-kill-buffer
659 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
666 @section Mail Aliases
670 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
671 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
672 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
673 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
674 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
676 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
677 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
680 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
681 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
684 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
685 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
686 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
688 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
689 expansions have to be done explicitly.
697 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
698 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
699 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
700 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
701 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
702 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
703 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
704 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
705 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
709 @node Message Headers
710 @section Message Headers
712 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
713 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
714 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
715 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
716 look sufficiently similar.
720 @item message-generate-headers-first
721 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
722 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
725 @item message-from-style
726 @vindex message-from-style
727 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
732 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
735 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
738 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
741 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
742 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
743 @code{angles} anyway.
747 @item message-deletable-headers
748 @vindex message-deletable-headers
749 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
750 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
751 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
752 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
753 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
754 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
755 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
756 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
759 @item message-default-headers
760 @vindex message-default-headers
761 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
764 @item message-subject-re-regexp
765 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
766 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
767 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but in
768 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
769 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
770 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
771 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
772 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
773 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
774 just throw away non-compliant mail.
780 @section Mail Headers
783 @item message-required-mail-headers
784 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
785 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
786 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
787 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
789 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
790 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
791 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
792 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
794 @item message-default-mail-headers
795 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
796 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
797 buffers that are initialized as mail.
803 @section Mail Variables
806 @item message-send-mail-function
807 @vindex message-send-mail-function
808 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
809 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
810 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
812 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
813 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
814 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
815 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
816 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
817 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
824 @section News Headers
826 @vindex message-required-news-headers
827 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
828 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
829 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
835 @findex user-full-name
836 @findex user-mail-address
837 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
838 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
839 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
840 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
844 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
848 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
849 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
853 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
854 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
855 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
856 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
857 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
858 parameters and should return a string to be used).
862 This optional header will be computed by Message.
866 @vindex mail-host-address
869 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
870 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
871 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
872 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
873 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
877 This optional header will be filled out according to the
878 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
881 This optional header will be filled out according to the
882 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
883 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
886 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
887 header of the article being replied to.
891 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
892 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
893 be used unless you know what you're doing.
897 This optional header is filled out according to the
898 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
899 much misunderstood header.
903 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
904 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
905 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
906 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
907 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
908 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
909 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
914 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
915 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
916 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
917 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
918 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
919 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
920 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
921 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
922 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
924 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
925 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
928 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
932 @item message-syntax-checks
933 @vindex message-syntax-checks
934 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
935 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
938 (signature . disabled)
947 Check the subject for commands.
950 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
951 @item multiple-headers
952 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
955 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
957 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
959 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
962 Check for too long lines.
964 Check for invalid characters.
966 Check for excessive size.
968 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
970 Check the length of the signature.
973 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
974 something only moderators should include.
976 Check whether the article is empty.
978 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
980 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
981 @item existing-newsgroups
982 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
983 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
984 @item valid-newsgroups
985 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
986 are valid syntactically.
987 @item repeated-newsgroups
988 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
989 contains repeated group names.
990 @item shorten-followup-to
991 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
992 of groups to post to.
995 All these conditions are checked by default.
997 @item message-ignored-news-headers
998 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
999 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1000 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
1002 @item message-default-news-headers
1003 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1004 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1005 buffers that are initialized as news.
1010 @node News Variables
1011 @section News Variables
1014 @item message-send-news-function
1015 @vindex message-send-news-function
1016 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1017 @code{message-send-news}.
1019 @item message-post-method
1020 @vindex message-post-method
1021 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1022 posting a prepared news message.
1027 @node Various Message Variables
1028 @section Various Message Variables
1031 @item message-default-charset
1032 @vindex message-default-charset
1034 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1035 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1036 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1038 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1039 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1040 translation process.
1042 @item message-signature-separator
1043 @vindex message-signature-separator
1044 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1047 @item mail-header-separator
1048 @vindex mail-header-separator
1049 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1050 follows this line--} by default.
1052 @item message-directory
1053 @vindex message-directory
1054 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1056 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1057 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1058 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1059 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1061 @item message-setup-hook
1062 @vindex message-setup-hook
1063 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1064 but before yanked text is inserted.
1066 @item message-header-setup-hook
1067 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1068 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1070 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1071 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1072 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1075 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1076 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1077 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1078 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1079 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1080 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1082 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1083 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1086 @item message-send-hook
1087 @vindex message-send-hook
1088 Hook run before sending messages.
1090 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1091 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1092 @findex message-add-header
1095 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1096 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1098 "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense"
1102 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1104 @item message-send-mail-hook
1105 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1106 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1108 @item message-send-news-hook
1109 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1110 Hook run before sending news messages.
1112 @item message-sent-hook
1113 @vindex message-sent-hook
1114 Hook run after sending messages.
1116 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1117 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1118 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1120 @item message-send-method-alist
1121 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1123 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1126 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1131 A symbol that names the method.
1134 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1135 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1138 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1139 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1143 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1144 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1153 @node Sending Variables
1154 @section Sending Variables
1158 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1159 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1160 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1161 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1162 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1164 @item message-courtesy-message
1165 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1166 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1167 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1168 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1169 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1170 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1171 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1176 @node Message Buffers
1177 @section Message Buffers
1179 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1180 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1181 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1182 message buffers are kept alive.
1185 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1186 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1187 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1188 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1189 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1190 The function should return the new buffer name.
1192 @item message-max-buffers
1193 @vindex message-max-buffers
1194 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1195 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1196 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1197 will ever be killed.
1199 @item message-send-rename-function
1200 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1201 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1202 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1203 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1204 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1208 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1211 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1212 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1213 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1218 @node Message Actions
1219 @section Message Actions
1221 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1222 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1223 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1226 @vindex message-kill-actions
1227 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1228 @vindex message-exit-actions
1229 @vindex message-send-actions
1230 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1231 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1232 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1233 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1234 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1235 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1236 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1237 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1239 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1240 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1241 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1242 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1246 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1247 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1250 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1251 killed, postponed or exited.
1253 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1254 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1255 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1259 @chapter Compatibility
1260 @cindex compatibility
1262 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1263 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1264 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1267 (require 'messcompat)
1270 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1271 corresponding mail variables.
1278 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1285 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1290 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1291 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1292 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1303 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1304 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1305 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1306 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1310 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1317 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1318 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1319 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1323 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1324 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1335 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1336 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is