1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message (Oort) Manual
10 * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
15 @setchapternewpage odd
19 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
21 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
24 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
25 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
26 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
27 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
28 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
29 License'' in the Emacs manual.
31 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
32 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
33 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
35 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
36 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
37 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
38 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
44 @title Message (Oort) Manual
46 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
49 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
50 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
51 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
53 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
54 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
55 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
56 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
57 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
58 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
59 License'' in the Emacs manual.
61 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
62 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
63 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
65 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
66 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
67 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
68 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
77 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
81 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
82 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
83 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
84 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
85 * Appendices:: More technical things.
86 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
87 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
90 This manual corresponds to Oort Message. Message is distributed with
91 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual.
97 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
98 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
99 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
100 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
101 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
105 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
106 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
107 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
108 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
109 * Followup:: Following up via news.
110 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
111 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
112 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
113 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
114 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
118 @node New Mail Message
119 @section New Mail Message
122 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
124 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
125 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
126 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
129 @node New News Message
130 @section New News Message
133 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
135 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
136 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
137 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
143 @findex message-reply
144 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
145 reply to the message in the current buffer.
147 @vindex message-reply-to-function
148 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
149 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
150 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
152 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
153 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
156 (setq message-reply-to-function
158 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
159 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
164 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
167 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
168 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
169 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
172 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
173 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
174 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
175 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
176 the head of the outgoing mail.
182 @findex message-wide-reply
183 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
184 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
185 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
186 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
188 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
189 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
190 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
191 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
192 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
194 @findex message-dont-reply-to-names
195 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
196 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
202 @findex message-followup
203 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
204 followup to the message in the current buffer.
206 @vindex message-followup-to-function
207 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
208 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
209 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
210 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
212 @vindex message-use-followup-to
213 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
214 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
215 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
216 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
217 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
221 @section Canceling News
223 @findex message-cancel-news
224 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
231 @findex message-supersede
232 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
233 supersede the message in the current buffer.
235 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
236 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
237 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
238 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
239 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
246 @findex message-forward
247 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
248 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
252 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
253 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
254 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
256 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
257 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
258 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
259 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
260 passed into each successive function.
262 The provided functions are:
265 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
266 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
267 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
270 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
271 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
274 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
275 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
276 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
277 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
278 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
279 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
281 @item message-forward-as-mime
282 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
283 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
284 included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
285 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
286 non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
293 @findex message-resend
294 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
295 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
297 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
298 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
299 be removed before sending the message. The default is
300 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
306 @findex message-bounce
307 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
308 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
309 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
310 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
313 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
314 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
315 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
316 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
323 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
324 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
325 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
326 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
327 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
328 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
329 * Various Commands:: Various things.
330 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
331 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
332 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
337 @section Buffer Entry
341 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
342 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
343 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
344 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
345 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
346 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
347 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
348 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
351 @node Header Commands
352 @section Header Commands
354 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
361 @findex message-goto-to
362 Describe the message mode.
366 @findex message-goto-to
367 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
371 @findex message-goto-bcc
372 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
376 @findex message-goto-fcc
377 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
381 @findex message-goto-cc
382 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
386 @findex message-goto-subject
387 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
391 @findex message-goto-reply-to
392 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
396 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
397 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
401 @findex message-goto-distribution
402 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
406 @findex message-goto-followup-to
407 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
411 @findex message-goto-keywords
412 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
416 @findex message-goto-summary
417 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
428 @findex message-goto-body
429 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
430 (@code{message-goto-body}).
434 @findex message-goto-signature
435 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
447 @findex message-yank-original
448 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
449 (@code{message-yank-original}).
453 @findex message-yank-buffer
454 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
455 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
459 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
460 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
461 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
462 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
463 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
468 @findex message-insert-signature
469 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
470 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
474 @findex message-insert-headers
475 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
480 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
481 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
482 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
483 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
486 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
487 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
488 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
490 @item message-citation-line-function
491 @vindex message-citation-line-function
492 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
493 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
497 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
500 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
503 @item message-yank-prefix
504 @vindex message-yank-prefix
507 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
508 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
509 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
510 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
512 @item message-indentation-spaces
513 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
514 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
516 @item message-cite-function
517 @vindex message-cite-function
518 @findex message-cite-original
519 @findex sc-cite-original
520 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
522 Function for citing an original message. The default is
523 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
524 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
525 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
526 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
529 @item message-indent-citation-function
530 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
531 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
532 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
533 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
534 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
536 @item message-signature
537 @vindex message-signature
538 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
539 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
540 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
541 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
542 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
544 @item message-signature-file
545 @vindex message-signature-file
546 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
547 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
551 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
552 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
553 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
554 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
555 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
557 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
558 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
559 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
569 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
570 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
571 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
572 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
574 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
575 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
576 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
577 name and a @sc{mime} type.
579 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
580 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
591 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
592 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently support
593 PGP/MIME and S/MIME. Instructing MML to perform security operations on
594 a MIME part is done using the @code{M-m s} key map for signing and the
595 @code{M-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
601 @findex mml-secure-sign-smime
603 Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
607 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
609 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
613 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
615 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
619 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
621 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
625 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
626 merely insert proper MML tags to instruct the MML engine to perform that
627 operation when the message is actually sent. They may perform other
628 operations too, such as locating and retrieving a S/MIME certificate of
629 the person you wish to send encrypted mail to.
631 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
632 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
633 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
634 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
635 using @code{C-u M-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
636 your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
637 did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
638 night, actually will be sent encrypted.
640 @emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
641 They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
642 mail with a sensitive Subject line.
644 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
645 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
646 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
647 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
649 @subsection Using S/MIME
651 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
652 modern cryptography, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
654 The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
655 perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
656 at @code{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.5a and later should
657 work. However, version 0.9.5a insert a spurious CR character into MIME
658 separators so you may wish to avoid it if you would like to avoid being
659 regarded as someone who send strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME
660 messages you've probably already lost that contest.)
662 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
663 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
664 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
665 @code{M-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
666 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
667 it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
668 you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
669 default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
670 agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
671 so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
672 there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
673 LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
674 it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
675 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
677 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
678 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
679 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
680 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
681 a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
682 customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
684 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
685 own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
686 with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
687 free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
688 is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
689 Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
693 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
696 The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
697 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
699 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
702 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
704 PGP/MIME require an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU Privacy
705 Guard (@code{http://www.gnupg.org/}. It also require a Emacs interface
706 to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
707 @code{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
708 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
710 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
711 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
713 @node Various Commands
714 @section Various Commands
720 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
721 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
722 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
723 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
724 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
728 @findex message-elide-region
729 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
730 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
731 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
736 @findex message-kill-to-signature
737 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
738 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
742 @findex message-delete-not-region
743 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
744 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
748 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
749 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
754 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
757 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
760 > This is some quoted text.
764 > And here's more quoted text.
767 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
771 @findex message-insert-to
772 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
773 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
774 (@code{message-insert-to}).
778 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
779 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
780 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
781 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
785 @findex message-rename-buffer
786 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
787 prompt for a new buffer name.
798 @findex message-send-and-exit
799 Send the message and bury the current buffer
800 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
805 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
809 @findex message-dont-send
810 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
814 @findex message-kill-buffer
815 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
822 @section Mail Aliases
826 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
827 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
828 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
829 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
830 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
832 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
833 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
836 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
837 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
840 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
841 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
842 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
844 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
845 expansions have to be done explicitly.
851 @findex ispell-message
853 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
854 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
855 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
856 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
857 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
858 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
861 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
864 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
865 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
866 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
869 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
870 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
874 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
877 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
878 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
881 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
885 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
887 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
890 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
898 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
899 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
900 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
901 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
902 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
903 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
904 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
905 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
906 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
910 @node Message Headers
911 @section Message Headers
913 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
914 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
915 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
916 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
917 look sufficiently similar.
921 @item message-generate-headers-first
922 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
923 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
926 @item message-from-style
927 @vindex message-from-style
928 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
933 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
936 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
939 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
942 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
943 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
944 @code{angles} anyway.
948 @item message-deletable-headers
949 @vindex message-deletable-headers
950 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
951 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
952 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
953 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
954 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
955 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
956 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
957 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
960 @item message-default-headers
961 @vindex message-default-headers
962 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
965 @item message-subject-re-regexp
966 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
967 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
968 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
969 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
970 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
971 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
972 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
973 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
974 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
975 just throw away non-compliant mail.
977 @item message-alternative-emails
978 @vindex message-alternative-emails
979 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
980 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
986 @section Mail Headers
989 @item message-required-mail-headers
990 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
991 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
992 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
993 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
995 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
996 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
997 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
998 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
1000 @item message-default-mail-headers
1001 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1002 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1003 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1008 @node Mail Variables
1009 @section Mail Variables
1012 @item message-send-mail-function
1013 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1014 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1015 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
1016 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
1018 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1019 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1020 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1021 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1022 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1023 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1030 @section News Headers
1032 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1033 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1034 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1035 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1041 @findex user-full-name
1042 @findex user-mail-address
1043 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1044 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1045 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1046 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1050 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1054 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1055 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1058 @cindex organization
1059 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1060 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1061 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1062 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1063 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1064 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1068 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1072 @vindex mail-host-address
1075 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1076 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1077 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1078 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1079 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1082 @cindex X-Newsreader
1083 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1084 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1087 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1088 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
1089 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
1092 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1093 header of the article being replied to.
1097 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1098 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1099 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1102 @cindex Distribution
1103 This optional header is filled out according to the
1104 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1105 much misunderstood header.
1109 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1110 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1111 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1112 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1113 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1114 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1115 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1119 @cindex Mime-Version
1120 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1121 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1122 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1123 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1124 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1125 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1126 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1127 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1128 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1130 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1131 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1134 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1138 @item message-syntax-checks
1139 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1140 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1141 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1144 (signature . disabled)
1153 Check the subject for commands.
1156 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1157 @item multiple-headers
1158 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1161 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1163 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1165 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1168 Check for too long lines.
1170 Check for invalid characters.
1172 Check for excessive size.
1174 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1176 Check the length of the signature.
1179 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1180 something only moderators should include.
1182 Check whether the article is empty.
1183 @item invisible-text
1184 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1186 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1187 @item existing-newsgroups
1188 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1189 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1190 @item valid-newsgroups
1191 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1192 are valid syntactically.
1193 @item repeated-newsgroups
1194 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1195 contains repeated group names.
1196 @item shorten-followup-to
1197 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1198 of groups to post to.
1201 All these conditions are checked by default.
1203 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1204 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1205 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1206 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
1208 @item message-default-news-headers
1209 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1210 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1211 buffers that are initialized as news.
1216 @node News Variables
1217 @section News Variables
1220 @item message-send-news-function
1221 @vindex message-send-news-function
1222 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1223 @code{message-send-news}.
1225 @item message-post-method
1226 @vindex message-post-method
1227 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1228 posting a prepared news message.
1233 @node Various Message Variables
1234 @section Various Message Variables
1237 @item message-default-charset
1238 @vindex message-default-charset
1240 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1241 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1242 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1244 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1245 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1246 translation process.
1248 @item message-signature-separator
1249 @vindex message-signature-separator
1250 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1253 @item mail-header-separator
1254 @vindex mail-header-separator
1255 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1256 follows this line--} by default.
1258 @item message-directory
1259 @vindex message-directory
1260 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1262 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1263 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1264 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1265 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1267 @item message-setup-hook
1268 @vindex message-setup-hook
1269 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1270 but before yanked text is inserted.
1272 @item message-header-setup-hook
1273 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1274 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1276 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1277 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1278 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1281 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1282 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1283 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1284 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1285 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1286 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1288 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1289 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1292 @item message-send-hook
1293 @vindex message-send-hook
1294 Hook run before sending messages.
1296 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1297 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1298 @findex message-add-header
1301 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1302 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1304 "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense"
1308 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1310 @item message-send-mail-hook
1311 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1312 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1314 @item message-send-news-hook
1315 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1316 Hook run before sending news messages.
1318 @item message-sent-hook
1319 @vindex message-sent-hook
1320 Hook run after sending messages.
1322 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1323 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1324 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1326 @item message-send-method-alist
1327 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1329 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1332 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1337 A symbol that names the method.
1340 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1341 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1344 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1345 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1349 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1350 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1359 @node Sending Variables
1360 @section Sending Variables
1364 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1365 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1366 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1367 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1368 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1370 @item message-courtesy-message
1371 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1372 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1373 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1374 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1375 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1376 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1377 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1382 @node Message Buffers
1383 @section Message Buffers
1385 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1386 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1387 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1388 message buffers are kept alive.
1391 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1392 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1393 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1394 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1395 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1396 The function should return the new buffer name.
1398 @item message-max-buffers
1399 @vindex message-max-buffers
1400 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1401 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1402 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1403 will ever be killed.
1405 @item message-send-rename-function
1406 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1407 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1408 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1409 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1410 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1414 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1417 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1418 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1419 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1424 @node Message Actions
1425 @section Message Actions
1427 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1428 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1429 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1432 @vindex message-kill-actions
1433 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1434 @vindex message-exit-actions
1435 @vindex message-send-actions
1436 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1437 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1438 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1439 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1440 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1441 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1442 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1443 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1445 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1446 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1447 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1448 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1452 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1453 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1456 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1457 killed, postponed or exited.
1459 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1460 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1461 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1465 @chapter Compatibility
1466 @cindex compatibility
1468 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1469 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1470 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1473 (require 'messcompat)
1476 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1477 corresponding mail variables.
1484 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1491 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1496 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1497 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1498 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1509 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1510 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1511 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1512 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1516 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1523 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1524 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1525 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1529 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1530 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1541 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1542 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is