1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message (Oort) Manual
10 * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
15 @setchapternewpage odd
19 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
21 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
24 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
25 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
26 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
27 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
28 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
29 License'' in the Emacs manual.
31 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
32 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
33 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
35 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
36 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
37 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
38 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
44 @title Message (Oort) Manual
46 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
49 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
50 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
51 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
53 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
54 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
55 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
56 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
57 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
58 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
59 License'' in the Emacs manual.
61 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
62 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
63 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
65 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
66 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
67 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
68 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
77 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
81 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
82 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
83 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
84 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
85 * Appendices:: More technical things.
86 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
87 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
90 This manual corresponds to Oort Message. Message is distributed with
91 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual.
97 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
98 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
99 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
100 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
101 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
105 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
106 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
107 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
108 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
109 * Followup:: Following up via news.
110 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
111 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
112 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
113 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
114 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
118 @node New Mail Message
119 @section New Mail Message
122 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
124 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
125 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
126 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
129 @node New News Message
130 @section New News Message
133 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
135 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
136 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
137 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
143 @findex message-reply
144 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
145 reply to the message in the current buffer.
147 @vindex message-reply-to-function
148 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
149 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
150 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
152 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
153 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
156 (setq message-reply-to-function
158 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
159 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
164 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
167 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
168 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
169 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
172 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
173 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
174 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
175 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
176 the head of the outgoing mail.
182 @findex message-wide-reply
183 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
184 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
185 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
186 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
188 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
189 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
190 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
191 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
192 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
194 @findex message-dont-reply-to-names
195 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
196 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
202 @findex message-followup
203 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
204 followup to the message in the current buffer.
206 @vindex message-followup-to-function
207 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
208 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
209 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
210 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
212 @vindex message-use-followup-to
213 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
214 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
215 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
216 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
217 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
221 @section Canceling News
223 @findex message-cancel-news
224 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
231 @findex message-supersede
232 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
233 supersede the message in the current buffer.
235 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
236 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
237 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
238 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
239 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
246 @findex message-forward
247 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
248 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
252 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
253 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
254 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
256 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
257 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
258 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
259 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
260 passed into each successive function.
262 The provided functions are:
265 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
266 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
267 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
270 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
271 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
274 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
275 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
276 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
277 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
278 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
279 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
281 @item message-forward-as-mime
282 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
283 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
284 included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
285 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
286 non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
293 @findex message-resend
294 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
295 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
297 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
298 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
299 be removed before sending the message. The default is
300 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
306 @findex message-bounce
307 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
308 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
309 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
310 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
313 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
314 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
315 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
316 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
323 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
324 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
325 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
326 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
327 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
328 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
329 * Various Commands:: Various things.
330 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
331 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
332 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
337 @section Buffer Entry
341 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
342 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
343 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
344 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
345 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
346 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
347 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
348 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
351 @node Header Commands
352 @section Header Commands
354 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
361 @findex message-goto-to
362 Describe the message mode.
366 @findex message-goto-to
367 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
371 @findex message-goto-bcc
372 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
376 @findex message-goto-fcc
377 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
381 @findex message-goto-cc
382 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
386 @findex message-goto-subject
387 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
391 @findex message-goto-reply-to
392 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
396 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
397 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
401 @findex message-goto-distribution
402 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
406 @findex message-goto-followup-to
407 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
411 @findex message-goto-keywords
412 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
416 @findex message-goto-summary
417 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
428 @findex message-goto-body
429 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
430 (@code{message-goto-body}).
434 @findex message-goto-signature
435 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
447 @findex message-yank-original
448 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
449 (@code{message-yank-original}).
453 @findex message-yank-buffer
454 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
455 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
459 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
460 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
461 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
462 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
463 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
468 @findex message-insert-signature
469 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
470 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
474 @findex message-insert-headers
475 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
480 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
481 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
482 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
483 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
486 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
487 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
488 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
490 @item message-citation-line-function
491 @vindex message-citation-line-function
492 @cindex attribution line
493 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
494 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
498 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
501 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
504 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
505 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
506 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
507 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
508 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
510 @item message-yank-prefix
511 @vindex message-yank-prefix
514 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
515 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
516 by @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank (except earlier
517 quotes, see @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}) will have
518 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
520 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
521 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
525 The @code{message-yank-prefix} prefix is not used on already cited
526 lines, instead the contents of this variable is used as yank prefix.
527 The default is @samp{>}.
529 @item message-indentation-spaces
530 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
531 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
533 @item message-cite-function
534 @vindex message-cite-function
535 @findex message-cite-original
536 @findex sc-cite-original
537 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
539 Function for citing an original message. The default is
540 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
541 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
542 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
543 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
546 @item message-indent-citation-function
547 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
548 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
549 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
550 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
551 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
553 @item message-signature
554 @vindex message-signature
555 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
556 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
557 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
558 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
559 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
561 @item message-signature-file
562 @vindex message-signature-file
563 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
564 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
568 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
569 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
570 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
571 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
572 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
574 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
575 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
576 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
586 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
587 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
588 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
589 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
591 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
592 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
593 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
594 name and a @sc{mime} type.
596 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
597 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
608 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
609 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently support
610 PGP/MIME and S/MIME. Instructing MML to perform security operations on
611 a MIME part is done using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the
612 @code{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
618 @findex mml-secure-sign-smime
620 Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
624 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
626 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
630 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
632 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
636 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
638 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
642 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
643 merely insert proper MML tags to instruct the MML engine to perform that
644 operation when the message is actually sent. They may perform other
645 operations too, such as locating and retrieving a S/MIME certificate of
646 the person you wish to send encrypted mail to.
648 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
649 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
650 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
651 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
652 using @code{C-u C-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
653 your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
654 did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
655 night, actually will be sent encrypted.
657 @emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
658 They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
659 mail with a sensitive Subject line.
661 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
662 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
663 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
664 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
666 @subsection Using S/MIME
668 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
669 modern cryptography, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
671 The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
672 perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
673 at @code{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work.
674 Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from certificates, and it
675 insert a spurious CR character into MIME separators so you may wish to
676 avoid it if you would like to avoid being regarded as someone who send
677 strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME messages you've probably
678 already lost that contest.)
680 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
681 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
682 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
683 @code{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
684 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
685 it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
686 you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
687 default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
688 agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
689 so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
690 there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
691 LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
692 it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
693 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
695 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
696 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
697 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
698 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
699 a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
700 customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
702 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
703 own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
704 with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
705 free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
706 is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
707 Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
711 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
714 The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
715 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
717 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
720 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
722 PGP/MIME requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
723 Privacy Guard (@code{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an Emacs
724 interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
725 @code{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
726 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
728 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
729 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
731 @node Various Commands
732 @section Various Commands
738 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
739 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
740 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
741 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
742 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
746 @findex message-elide-region
747 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
748 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
749 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
754 @findex message-kill-to-signature
755 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
756 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
760 @findex message-delete-not-region
761 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
762 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
766 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
767 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
772 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
775 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
778 > This is some quoted text.
782 > And here's more quoted text.
785 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
789 @findex message-insert-to
790 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
791 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
792 (@code{message-insert-to}).
796 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
797 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
798 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
799 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
803 @findex message-rename-buffer
804 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
805 prompt for a new buffer name.
816 @findex message-send-and-exit
817 Send the message and bury the current buffer
818 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
823 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
827 @findex message-dont-send
828 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
832 @findex message-kill-buffer
833 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
840 @section Mail Aliases
844 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
845 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
846 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
847 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
848 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
850 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
851 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
854 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
855 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
858 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
859 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
860 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
862 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
863 expansions have to be done explicitly.
869 @findex ispell-message
871 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
872 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
873 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
874 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
875 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
876 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
879 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
882 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
883 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
884 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
887 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
888 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
892 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
895 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
896 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
899 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
903 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
905 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
908 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
916 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
917 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
918 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
919 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
920 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
921 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
922 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
923 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
924 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
928 @node Message Headers
929 @section Message Headers
931 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
932 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
933 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
934 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
935 look sufficiently similar.
939 @item message-generate-headers-first
940 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
941 If non-@code{nil}, generate all required headers before starting to
944 The variables @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
945 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are required.
947 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
948 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
950 @item message-from-style
951 @vindex message-from-style
952 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
957 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
960 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
963 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
966 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
967 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
968 @code{angles} anyway.
972 @item message-deletable-headers
973 @vindex message-deletable-headers
974 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
975 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
976 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
977 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
978 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
979 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
980 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
981 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
984 @item message-default-headers
985 @vindex message-default-headers
986 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
989 @item message-subject-re-regexp
990 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
991 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
992 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
993 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
994 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
995 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
996 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
997 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
998 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
999 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1001 @item message-alternative-emails
1002 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1003 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1004 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1010 @section Mail Headers
1013 @item message-required-mail-headers
1014 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1015 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1016 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1017 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1019 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1020 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1021 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1022 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1024 @item message-default-mail-headers
1025 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1026 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1027 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1032 @node Mail Variables
1033 @section Mail Variables
1036 @item message-send-mail-function
1037 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1038 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1039 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1040 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1041 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1042 @findex feedmail-send-it
1043 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1044 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1045 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1046 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1048 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1049 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1050 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1051 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1052 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1053 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1056 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1057 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1058 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1059 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1060 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1066 @section News Headers
1068 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1069 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1070 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1071 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1077 @findex user-full-name
1078 @findex user-mail-address
1079 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1080 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1081 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1082 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1086 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1090 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1091 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1094 @cindex organization
1095 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1096 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1097 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1098 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1099 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1100 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1104 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1108 @vindex mail-host-address
1111 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1112 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1113 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1114 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1115 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1119 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1120 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1123 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1124 header of the article being replied to.
1128 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1129 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1130 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1133 @cindex Distribution
1134 This optional header is filled out according to the
1135 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1136 much misunderstood header.
1140 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1141 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1142 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1143 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1144 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1145 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1146 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1150 @cindex Mime-Version
1151 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1152 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1153 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1154 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1155 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1156 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1157 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1158 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1159 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1161 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1162 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1165 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1169 @item message-syntax-checks
1170 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1171 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1172 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1175 (signature . disabled)
1184 Check the subject for commands.
1187 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1188 @item multiple-headers
1189 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1192 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1194 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1196 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1199 Check for too long lines.
1201 Check for invalid characters.
1203 Check for excessive size.
1205 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1207 Check the length of the signature.
1210 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1211 something only moderators should include.
1213 Check whether the article is empty.
1214 @item invisible-text
1215 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1217 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1218 @item existing-newsgroups
1219 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1220 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1221 @item valid-newsgroups
1222 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1223 are valid syntactically.
1224 @item repeated-newsgroups
1225 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1226 contains repeated group names.
1227 @item shorten-followup-to
1228 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1229 of groups to post to.
1232 All these conditions are checked by default.
1234 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1235 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1236 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1237 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1239 @item message-default-news-headers
1240 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1241 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1242 buffers that are initialized as news.
1247 @node News Variables
1248 @section News Variables
1251 @item message-send-news-function
1252 @vindex message-send-news-function
1253 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1254 @code{message-send-news}.
1256 @item message-post-method
1257 @vindex message-post-method
1258 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1259 posting a prepared news message.
1264 @node Various Message Variables
1265 @section Various Message Variables
1268 @item message-default-charset
1269 @vindex message-default-charset
1271 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1272 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1273 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1275 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1276 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1277 translation process.
1279 @item message-signature-separator
1280 @vindex message-signature-separator
1281 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1284 @item mail-header-separator
1285 @vindex mail-header-separator
1286 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1287 follows this line--} by default.
1289 @item message-directory
1290 @vindex message-directory
1291 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1293 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1294 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1295 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1296 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1298 @item message-setup-hook
1299 @vindex message-setup-hook
1300 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1301 but before yanked text is inserted.
1303 @item message-header-setup-hook
1304 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1305 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1307 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1308 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1309 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1312 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1313 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1314 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1315 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1316 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1317 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1319 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1320 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1323 @item message-send-hook
1324 @vindex message-send-hook
1325 Hook run before sending messages.
1327 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1328 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1329 @findex message-add-header
1332 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1333 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1334 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1335 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1338 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1340 @item message-send-mail-hook
1341 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1342 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1344 @item message-send-news-hook
1345 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1346 Hook run before sending news messages.
1348 @item message-sent-hook
1349 @vindex message-sent-hook
1350 Hook run after sending messages.
1352 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1353 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1354 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1356 @item message-send-method-alist
1357 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1359 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1362 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1367 A symbol that names the method.
1370 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1371 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1374 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1375 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1379 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1380 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1389 @node Sending Variables
1390 @section Sending Variables
1394 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1395 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1396 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1397 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1398 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1400 @item message-courtesy-message
1401 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1402 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1403 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1404 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1405 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1406 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1407 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
1412 @node Message Buffers
1413 @section Message Buffers
1415 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1416 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1417 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1418 message buffers are kept alive.
1421 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1422 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1423 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1424 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1425 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1426 The function should return the new buffer name.
1428 @item message-max-buffers
1429 @vindex message-max-buffers
1430 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1431 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1432 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1433 will ever be killed.
1435 @item message-send-rename-function
1436 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1437 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1438 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1439 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1440 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1444 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1447 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1448 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1449 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1454 @node Message Actions
1455 @section Message Actions
1457 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1458 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1459 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1462 @vindex message-kill-actions
1463 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1464 @vindex message-exit-actions
1465 @vindex message-send-actions
1466 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1467 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1468 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1469 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1470 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1471 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1472 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1473 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1475 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1476 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1477 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1478 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1482 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1483 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1486 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1487 killed, postponed or exited.
1489 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1490 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1491 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1495 @chapter Compatibility
1496 @cindex compatibility
1498 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1499 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1500 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1503 (require 'messcompat)
1506 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1507 corresponding mail variables.
1514 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1521 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1526 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1527 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1528 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1539 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1540 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1541 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1542 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1546 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1553 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1554 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1555 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1559 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1560 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1571 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1572 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is