1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message 5.6.33 Manual
9 @c * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
14 @setchapternewpage odd
18 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
20 Copyright (C) 1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
23 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
24 are preserved on all copies.
27 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
28 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
29 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
30 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
33 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
34 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
35 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
36 permission notice identical to this one.
38 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
39 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
45 @title Message 5.6.33 Manual
47 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
50 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 Copyright @copyright{} 1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
53 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
54 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
55 are preserved on all copies.
57 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
58 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
59 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
60 permission notice identical to this one.
62 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
63 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
73 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
77 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
78 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
79 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
80 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
81 * Appendices:: More technical things.
82 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
83 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
86 This manual corresponds to Message 5.6.33. Message is distributed with
87 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual
94 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
95 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
96 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
97 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
98 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
102 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
103 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
104 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
105 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
106 * Followup:: Following up via news.
107 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
108 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
109 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
110 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
111 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
115 @node New Mail Message
116 @section New Mail Message
119 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
121 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
122 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
123 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
126 @node New News Message
127 @section New News Message
130 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
132 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
133 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
134 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
140 @findex message-reply
141 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
142 reply to the message in the current buffer.
144 @vindex message-reply-to-function
145 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
146 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
147 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
149 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
150 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
153 (setq message-reply-to-function
155 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
156 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
161 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
164 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
165 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
166 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
169 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
170 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
171 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
172 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
173 the head of the outgoing mail.
179 @findex message-wide-reply
180 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
181 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
182 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
183 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
185 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
186 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
187 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
188 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
189 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
191 @findex rmail-dont-reply-to-names
192 Addresses that match the @code{rmail-dont-reply-to-names} regular
193 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
199 @findex message-followup
200 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
201 followup to the message in the current buffer.
203 @vindex message-followup-to-function
204 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
205 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
206 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
207 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
209 @vindex message-use-followup-to
210 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
211 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
212 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
213 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
214 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
218 @section Canceling News
220 @findex message-cancel-news
221 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
228 @findex message-supersede
229 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
230 supersede the message in the current buffer.
232 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
233 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
234 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
235 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
236 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
243 @findex message-forward
244 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
245 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
249 @item message-forward-start-separator
250 @vindex message-forward-start-separator
251 Delimiter inserted before forwarded messages. The default is@*
252 @samp{------- Start of forwarded message -------\n}.
254 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
255 @item message-forward-end-separator
256 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
257 Delimiter inserted after forwarded messages. The default is@*
258 @samp{------- End of forwarded message -------\n}.
260 @item message-signature-before-forwarded-message
261 @vindex message-signature-before-forwarded-message
262 If this variable is @code{t}, which it is by default, your personal
263 signature will be inserted before the forwarded message. If not, the
264 forwarded message will be inserted first in the new mail.
266 @item message-included-forward-headers
267 @vindex message-included-forward-headers
268 Regexp matching header lines to be included in forwarded messages.
270 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
271 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
272 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
273 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
274 passed into each successive function.
276 The provided functions are:
279 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
280 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
281 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
284 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
285 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
294 @findex message-resend
295 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
296 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
298 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
299 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
300 be removed before sending the message. The default is
301 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
307 @findex message-bounce
308 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
309 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
310 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
311 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
314 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
315 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
316 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
317 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
324 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
325 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
326 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
327 * Various Commands:: Various things.
328 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
329 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
333 @node Header Commands
334 @section Header Commands
336 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
343 @findex message-goto-to
344 Describe the message mode.
348 @findex message-goto-to
349 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
353 @findex message-goto-bcc
354 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
358 @findex message-goto-fcc
359 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
363 @findex message-goto-cc
364 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
368 @findex message-goto-subject
369 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
373 @findex message-goto-reply-to
374 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
378 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
379 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
383 @findex message-goto-distribution
384 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
388 @findex message-goto-followup-to
389 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
393 @findex message-goto-keywords
394 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
398 @findex message-goto-summary
399 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
410 @findex message-goto-body
411 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
412 (@code{message-goto-body}).
416 @findex message-goto-signature
417 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
429 @findex message-yank-original
430 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
431 (@code{message-yank-original}).
435 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
436 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
437 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
438 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
439 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
445 @findex message-insert-signature
446 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
447 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
452 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
453 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
454 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
455 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
458 @item message-citation-line-function
459 @vindex message-citation-line-function
460 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
461 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
465 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
468 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
471 @item message-yank-prefix
472 @vindex message-yank-prefix
475 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
476 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
477 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
478 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
479 If it is @code{nil}, just indent the message.
481 @item message-indentation-spaces
482 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
483 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
485 @item message-cite-function
486 @vindex message-cite-function
487 @findex message-cite-original
488 @findex sc-cite-original
489 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
491 Function for citing an original message. The default is
492 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
493 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
494 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
495 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
498 @item message-indent-citation-function
499 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
500 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
501 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
502 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
503 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
505 @item message-signature
506 @vindex message-signature
507 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
508 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
509 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
510 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
511 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
513 @item message-signature-file
514 @vindex message-signature-file
515 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
516 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
520 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
521 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
522 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
523 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
524 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
526 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
527 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
528 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
532 @node Various Commands
533 @section Various Commands
539 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
540 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
541 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
542 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
543 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
547 @findex message-elide-region
548 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
549 The text is killed and an ellipsis (@samp{[...]}) will be inserted in
554 @findex message-kill-to-signature
555 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
556 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
560 @findex message-delete-not-region
561 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
562 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
566 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
567 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
572 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
575 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
578 > This is some quoted text.
582 > And here's more quoted text.
585 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
589 @findex message-insert-to
590 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
591 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
592 (@code{message-insert-to}).
596 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
597 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
598 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
599 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
603 @findex message-rename-buffer
604 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
605 prompt for a new buffer name.
616 @findex message-send-and-exit
617 Send the message and bury the current buffer
618 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
623 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
627 @findex message-dont-send
628 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
632 @findex message-kill-buffer
633 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
640 @section Mail Aliases
644 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
645 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
646 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
647 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
648 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
650 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
651 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
654 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
655 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
658 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
659 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
660 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
662 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
663 expansions have to be done explicitly.
671 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
672 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
673 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
674 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
675 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
676 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
677 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
678 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
679 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
683 @node Message Headers
684 @section Message Headers
686 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
687 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
688 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
689 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
690 look sufficiently similar.
694 @item message-generate-headers-first
695 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
696 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
699 @item message-from-style
700 @vindex message-from-style
701 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
706 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
709 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
712 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
715 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
716 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
717 @code{angles} anyway.
721 @item message-deletable-headers
722 @vindex message-deletable-headers
723 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
724 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
725 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
726 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
727 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
728 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
729 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
730 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
733 @item message-default-headers
734 @vindex message-default-headers
735 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
738 @item message-subject-re-regexp
739 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
740 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
741 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but in
742 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
743 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
744 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
745 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
746 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
747 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
748 just throw away non-compliant mail.
754 @section Mail Headers
757 @item message-required-mail-headers
758 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
759 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
760 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
761 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
763 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
764 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
765 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
766 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
768 @item message-default-mail-headers
769 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
770 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
771 buffers that are initialized as mail.
777 @section Mail Variables
780 @item message-send-mail-function
781 @vindex message-send-mail-function
782 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
783 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
784 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
786 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
787 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
788 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
789 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
790 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
791 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
798 @section News Headers
800 @vindex message-required-news-headers
801 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
802 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
803 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
809 @findex user-full-name
810 @findex user-mail-address
811 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
812 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
813 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
814 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
818 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
822 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
823 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
827 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
828 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
829 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
830 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
831 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
832 parameters and should return a string to be used).
836 This optional header will be computed by Message.
840 @vindex mail-host-address
843 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
844 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message will
845 use @code{mail-host-address} as the fully qualified domain name (FQDN)
846 of the machine if that variable is defined. If not, it will use
847 @code{system-name}, which doesn't report a FQDN on some machines --
852 This optional header will be filled out according to the
853 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
856 This optional header will be filled out according to the
857 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
858 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
861 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
862 header of the article being replied to.
866 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
867 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
868 be used unless you know what you're doing.
872 This optional header is filled out according to the
873 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
874 much misunderstood header.
878 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
879 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
880 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
881 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
882 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
883 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
884 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
889 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
890 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
891 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
892 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
893 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
894 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
895 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
896 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
897 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
899 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
900 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
903 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
907 @item message-syntax-checks
908 @vindex message-syntax-checks
909 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
910 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
913 (signature . disabled)
922 Check the subject for commands.
925 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
926 @item multiple-headers
927 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
930 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
932 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
934 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
937 Check for too long lines.
939 Check for invalid characters.
941 Check for excessive size.
943 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
945 Check the length of the signature.
948 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
949 something only moderators should include.
951 Check whether the article is empty.
953 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
954 @item existing-newsgroups
955 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
956 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
957 @item valid-newsgroups
958 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
959 are valid syntactically.
960 @item repeated-newsgroups
961 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
962 contains repeated group names.
963 @item shorten-followup-to
964 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
965 of groups to post to.
968 All these conditions are checked by default.
970 @item message-ignored-news-headers
971 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
972 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
973 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
975 @item message-default-news-headers
976 @vindex message-default-news-headers
977 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
978 buffers that are initialized as news.
984 @section News Variables
987 @item message-send-news-function
988 @vindex message-send-news-function
989 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
990 @code{message-send-news}.
992 @item message-post-method
993 @vindex message-post-method
994 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
995 posting a prepared news message.
1000 @node Various Message Variables
1001 @section Various Message Variables
1004 @item message-signature-separator
1005 @vindex message-signature-separator
1006 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1009 @item mail-header-separator
1010 @vindex mail-header-separator
1011 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1012 follows this line--} by default.
1014 @item message-directory
1015 @vindex message-directory
1016 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1018 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1019 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1020 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1021 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1023 @item message-setup-hook
1024 @vindex message-setup-hook
1025 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1026 but before yanked text is inserted.
1028 @item message-header-setup-hook
1029 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1030 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1032 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1033 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1034 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1037 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1038 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1039 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1040 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1041 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1042 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1044 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1045 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1048 @item message-send-hook
1049 @vindex message-send-hook
1050 Hook run before sending messages.
1052 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1053 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1054 @findex message-add-header
1057 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1058 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1061 "Content-Type: text/plain"
1062 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit"))
1065 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1067 @item message-send-mail-hook
1068 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1069 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1071 @item message-send-news-hook
1072 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1073 Hook run before sending news messages.
1075 @item message-sent-hook
1076 @vindex message-sent-hook
1077 Hook run after sending messages.
1079 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1080 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1081 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1083 @item message-send-method-alist
1084 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1086 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1089 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1094 A symbol that names the method.
1097 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1098 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1101 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1102 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1106 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1107 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1116 @node Sending Variables
1117 @section Sending Variables
1121 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1122 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1123 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1124 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1125 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1127 @item message-courtesy-message
1128 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1129 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1130 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1131 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1132 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1133 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1134 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1139 @node Message Buffers
1140 @section Message Buffers
1142 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1143 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1144 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1145 message buffers are kept alive.
1148 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1149 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1150 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1151 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1152 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1153 The function should return the new buffer name.
1155 @item message-max-buffers
1156 @vindex message-max-buffers
1157 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1158 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1159 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1160 will ever be killed.
1162 @item message-send-rename-function
1163 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1164 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1165 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1166 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1167 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1171 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1174 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1175 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1176 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1181 @node Message Actions
1182 @section Message Actions
1184 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1185 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1186 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1189 @vindex message-kill-actions
1190 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1191 @vindex message-exit-actions
1192 @vindex message-send-actions
1193 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1194 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1195 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1196 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1197 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1198 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1199 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1200 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1202 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1203 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1204 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1205 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1209 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1210 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1213 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1214 killed, postponed or exited.
1216 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1217 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1218 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1222 @chapter Compatibility
1223 @cindex compatibility
1225 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1226 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1227 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1230 (require 'messcompat)
1233 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1234 corresponding mail variables.
1241 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1248 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1253 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1254 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1255 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1266 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1267 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1268 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1269 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1273 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1280 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1281 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1282 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1286 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1287 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1298 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1299 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is