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 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}).
439 @findex message-beginning-of-line
440 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
441 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
454 @findex message-yank-original
455 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
456 (@code{message-yank-original}).
460 @findex message-yank-buffer
461 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
462 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
466 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
467 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
468 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
469 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
470 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
475 @findex message-insert-signature
476 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
477 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
481 @findex message-insert-headers
482 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
486 @findex message-insert-or-toggle-importance
487 This inserts the @samp{Importance:} header with a value of
488 @samp{high}. This header is used to signal the importance of the
489 message to the receiver. If the header is already present in the
490 buffer, it cycles between the three valid values according to RFC
491 1376: @samp{low}, @samp{normal} and @samp{high}.
493 @item M-x message-insert-importance-high
494 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-high
495 @findex message-insert-importance-high
496 Insert a @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{high},
497 deleting headers if necessary.
499 @item M-x message-insert-importance-low
500 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-low
501 @findex message-insert-importance-low
502 Insert a @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{low},
503 deleting headers if necessary.
515 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
516 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
517 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
518 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
520 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
521 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
522 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
523 name and a @sc{mime} type.
525 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
526 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
538 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
539 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently
540 support PGP (RFC 1991), PGP/MIME (RFC 2015/3156) and S/MIME.
541 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a MIME part is done
542 using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @code{C-c C-m
543 c} key map for encryption, as follows.
549 @findex mml-secure-sign-smime
551 Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
555 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
557 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP.
561 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
563 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
567 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
569 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
573 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgp
575 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP.
579 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
581 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
585 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
586 merely insert proper MML tags to instruct the MML engine to perform that
587 operation when the message is actually sent. They may perform other
588 operations too, such as locating and retrieving a S/MIME certificate of
589 the person you wish to send encrypted mail to.
591 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
592 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
593 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
594 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
595 using @code{C-u C-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
596 your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
597 did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
598 night, actually will be sent encrypted.
600 @emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
601 They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
602 mail with a sensitive Subject line.
604 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
605 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
606 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
607 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
609 @subsection Using S/MIME
611 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
612 modern cryptography, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
614 The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
615 perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
616 at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work.
617 Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from certificates, and it
618 insert a spurious CR character into MIME separators so you may wish to
619 avoid it if you would like to avoid being regarded as someone who send
620 strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME messages you've probably
621 already lost that contest.)
623 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
624 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
625 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
626 @code{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
627 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
628 it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
629 you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
630 default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
631 agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
632 so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
633 there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
634 LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
635 it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
636 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
638 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
639 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
640 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
641 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
642 a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
643 customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
645 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
646 own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
647 with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
648 free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
649 is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
650 Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
654 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
657 The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
658 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
660 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
663 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
665 PGP/MIME requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
666 Privacy Guard (@uref{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an Emacs
667 interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
668 @uref{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
669 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
671 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
672 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
674 @node Various Commands
675 @section Various Commands
681 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
682 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
683 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
684 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
685 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
689 @findex message-elide-region
690 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
691 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
692 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
697 @findex message-kill-to-signature
698 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
699 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
703 @findex message-delete-not-region
704 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
705 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
709 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
710 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
715 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
718 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
721 > This is some quoted text.
725 > And here's more quoted text.
728 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
732 @findex message-insert-to
733 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
734 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
735 (@code{message-insert-to}).
739 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
740 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
741 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
742 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
746 @findex message-rename-buffer
747 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
748 prompt for a new buffer name.
759 @findex message-send-and-exit
760 Send the message and bury the current buffer
761 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
766 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
770 @findex message-dont-send
771 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
775 @findex message-kill-buffer
776 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
783 @section Mail Aliases
787 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
788 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
789 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
790 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
791 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
793 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
794 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
797 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
798 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
801 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
802 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
803 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
805 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
806 expansions have to be done explicitly.
812 @findex ispell-message
814 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
815 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
816 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
817 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
818 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
819 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
822 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
825 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
826 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
827 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
830 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
831 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
835 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
838 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
839 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
842 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
846 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
848 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
851 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
859 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
860 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
861 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
862 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
863 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
864 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
865 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
866 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
867 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
868 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
872 @node Message Headers
873 @section Message Headers
875 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
876 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
877 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
878 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
879 look sufficiently similar.
883 @item message-generate-headers-first
884 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
885 If non-@code{nil}, generate all required headers before starting to
888 The variables @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
889 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are required.
891 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
892 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
894 @item message-from-style
895 @vindex message-from-style
896 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
901 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
904 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
907 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
910 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
911 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
912 @code{angles} anyway.
916 @item message-deletable-headers
917 @vindex message-deletable-headers
918 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
919 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
920 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
921 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
922 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
923 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
924 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
925 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
928 @item message-default-headers
929 @vindex message-default-headers
930 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
933 @item message-subject-re-regexp
934 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
935 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
936 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
937 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
938 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
939 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
940 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
941 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
942 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
943 just throw away non-compliant mail.
945 @item message-alternative-emails
946 @vindex message-alternative-emails
947 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
948 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
954 @section Mail Headers
957 @item message-required-mail-headers
958 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
959 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
960 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
961 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
963 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
964 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
965 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
966 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
968 @item message-default-mail-headers
969 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
970 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
971 buffers that are initialized as mail.
977 @section Mail Variables
980 @item message-send-mail-function
981 @vindex message-send-mail-function
982 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
983 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
984 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
985 @findex smtpmail-send-it
986 @findex feedmail-send-it
987 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
988 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
989 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
990 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
992 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
993 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
994 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
995 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
996 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
997 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1000 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1001 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1002 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1003 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1004 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1010 @section News Headers
1012 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1013 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1014 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1015 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1021 @findex user-full-name
1022 @findex user-mail-address
1023 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1024 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1025 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1026 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1030 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1034 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1035 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1038 @cindex organization
1039 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1040 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1041 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1042 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1043 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1044 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1048 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1052 @vindex mail-host-address
1055 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1056 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1057 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1058 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1059 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1063 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1064 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1067 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1068 header of the article being replied to.
1072 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1073 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1074 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1077 @cindex Distribution
1078 This optional header is filled out according to the
1079 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1080 much misunderstood header.
1084 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1085 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1086 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1087 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1088 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1089 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1090 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1094 @cindex Mime-Version
1095 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1096 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1097 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1098 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1099 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1100 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1101 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1102 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1103 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1105 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1106 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1109 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1113 @item message-syntax-checks
1114 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1115 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1116 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1119 (signature . disabled)
1128 Check the subject for commands.
1131 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1132 @item multiple-headers
1133 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1136 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1138 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1140 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1143 Check for too long lines.
1145 Check for invalid characters.
1147 Check for excessive size.
1149 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1151 Check the length of the signature.
1154 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1155 something only moderators should include.
1157 Check whether the article is empty.
1158 @item invisible-text
1159 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1161 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1162 @item existing-newsgroups
1163 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1164 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1165 @item valid-newsgroups
1166 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1167 are valid syntactically.
1168 @item repeated-newsgroups
1169 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1170 contains repeated group names.
1171 @item shorten-followup-to
1172 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1173 of groups to post to.
1176 All these conditions are checked by default.
1178 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1179 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1180 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1181 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1183 @item message-default-news-headers
1184 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1185 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1186 buffers that are initialized as news.
1191 @node News Variables
1192 @section News Variables
1195 @item message-send-news-function
1196 @vindex message-send-news-function
1197 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1198 @code{message-send-news}.
1200 @item message-post-method
1201 @vindex message-post-method
1202 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1203 posting a prepared news message.
1208 @node Insertion Variables
1209 @section Insertion Variables
1212 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
1213 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
1214 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
1215 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
1218 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
1219 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
1220 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
1222 @item message-citation-line-function
1223 @vindex message-citation-line-function
1224 @cindex attribution line
1225 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
1226 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
1230 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
1233 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
1236 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
1237 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
1238 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
1239 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
1240 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
1242 @item message-yank-prefix
1243 @vindex message-yank-prefix
1246 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
1247 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
1248 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
1249 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
1250 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
1253 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
1254 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
1258 When yanking text from a article which contains no text or already
1259 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
1260 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
1261 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
1263 @item message-indentation-spaces
1264 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
1265 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
1267 @item message-cite-function
1268 @vindex message-cite-function
1269 @findex message-cite-original
1270 @findex sc-cite-original
1271 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
1273 Function for citing an original message. The default is
1274 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
1275 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
1276 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
1277 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
1280 @item message-indent-citation-function
1281 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
1282 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
1283 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
1284 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
1285 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
1287 @item message-signature
1288 @vindex message-signature
1289 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
1290 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
1291 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
1292 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
1293 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
1295 @item message-signature-file
1296 @vindex message-signature-file
1297 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
1298 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
1302 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
1303 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
1304 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
1305 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
1306 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
1308 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
1309 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
1310 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
1313 @node Various Message Variables
1314 @section Various Message Variables
1317 @item message-default-charset
1318 @vindex message-default-charset
1320 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1321 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1322 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1324 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1325 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1326 translation process.
1328 @item message-signature-separator
1329 @vindex message-signature-separator
1330 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1333 @item mail-header-separator
1334 @vindex mail-header-separator
1335 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1336 follows this line--} by default.
1338 @item message-directory
1339 @vindex message-directory
1340 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1342 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1343 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1344 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1345 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1347 @item message-setup-hook
1348 @vindex message-setup-hook
1349 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1350 but before yanked text is inserted.
1352 @item message-header-setup-hook
1353 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1354 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1356 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1357 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1358 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1361 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1362 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1363 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1364 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1365 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1366 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1368 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1369 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1372 @item message-send-hook
1373 @vindex message-send-hook
1374 Hook run before sending messages.
1376 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1377 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1378 @findex message-add-header
1381 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1382 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1383 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1384 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1387 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1389 @item message-send-mail-hook
1390 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1391 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1393 @item message-send-news-hook
1394 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1395 Hook run before sending news messages.
1397 @item message-sent-hook
1398 @vindex message-sent-hook
1399 Hook run after sending messages.
1401 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1402 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1403 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1405 @item message-send-method-alist
1406 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1408 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1411 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1416 A symbol that names the method.
1419 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1420 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1423 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1424 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1428 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1429 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1438 @node Sending Variables
1439 @section Sending Variables
1443 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1444 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1445 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1446 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1447 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1449 @item message-courtesy-message
1450 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1451 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1452 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1453 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1454 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1455 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1456 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
1461 @node Message Buffers
1462 @section Message Buffers
1464 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1465 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1466 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1467 message buffers are kept alive.
1470 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1471 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1472 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1473 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1474 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1475 The function should return the new buffer name.
1477 @item message-max-buffers
1478 @vindex message-max-buffers
1479 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1480 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1481 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1482 will ever be killed.
1484 @item message-send-rename-function
1485 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1486 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1487 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1488 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1489 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1493 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1496 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1497 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1498 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1503 @node Message Actions
1504 @section Message Actions
1506 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1507 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1508 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1511 @vindex message-kill-actions
1512 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1513 @vindex message-exit-actions
1514 @vindex message-send-actions
1515 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1516 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1517 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1518 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1519 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1520 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1521 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1522 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1524 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1525 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1526 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1527 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1531 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1532 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1535 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1536 killed, postponed or exited.
1538 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1539 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1540 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1544 @chapter Compatibility
1545 @cindex compatibility
1547 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1548 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1549 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1552 (require 'messcompat)
1555 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1556 corresponding mail variables.
1563 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1570 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1575 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1576 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1577 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1588 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1589 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1590 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1591 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1595 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1602 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1603 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1604 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1608 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1609 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1620 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1621 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is