1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message 0.18 Manual
11 @setchapternewpage odd
15 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
17 Copyright (C) 1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
19 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
20 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
21 are preserved on all copies.
24 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
25 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
26 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
27 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
30 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
31 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
32 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
33 permission notice identical to this one.
35 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
36 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
42 @title Message 0.18 Manual
44 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
47 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
48 Copyright @copyright{} 1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
50 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
51 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
52 are preserved on all copies.
54 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
55 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
56 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
57 permission notice identical to this one.
59 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
60 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
70 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
74 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
75 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
76 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
77 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
78 * Appendices:: More technical things.
79 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
80 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
83 This manual corresponds to Message 0.18. Message is distributed with
84 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual
91 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
92 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
93 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
94 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
95 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
99 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
100 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
101 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
102 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
103 * Followup:: Following up via news.
104 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
105 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
106 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
107 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
108 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
112 @node New Mail Message
113 @section New Mail Message
116 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
118 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
119 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
120 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
123 @node New News Message
124 @section New News Message
127 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
129 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
130 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
131 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
137 @findex message-reply
138 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
139 reply to the message in the current buffer.
141 @vindex message-reply-to-function
142 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
143 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
144 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
146 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
147 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
150 (setq message-reply-to-function
152 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
153 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
158 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
161 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
162 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
163 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
166 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
167 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
168 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
169 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
170 the head of the outgoing mail.
176 @findex message-wide-reply
177 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
178 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
179 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
180 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
182 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
183 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
184 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
185 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
186 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
188 @findex rmail-dont-reply-to-names
189 Addresses that match the @code{rmail-dont-reply-to-names} regular
190 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
196 @findex message-followup
197 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
198 followup to the message in the current buffer.
200 @vindex message-followup-to-function
201 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
202 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
203 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
204 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
206 @vindex message-use-followup-to
207 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
208 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
209 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
210 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
211 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
215 @section Canceling News
217 @findex message-cancel-news
218 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
225 @findex message-supersede
226 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
227 supersede the message in the current buffer.
229 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
230 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
231 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
232 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
233 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
240 @findex message-forward
241 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
242 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
246 @item message-forward-start-separator
247 @vindex message-forward-start-separator
248 Delimiter inserted before forwarded messages. The default is@*
249 @samp{------- Start of forwarded message -------\n}.
251 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
252 @item message-forward-end-separator
253 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
254 Delimiter inserted after forwarded messages. The default is@*
255 @samp{------- End of forwarded message -------\n}.
257 @item message-signature-before-forwarded-message
258 @vindex message-signature-before-forwarded-message
259 If this variable is @code{t}, which it is by default, your personal
260 signature will be inserted before the forwarded message. If not, the
261 forwarded message will be inserted first in the new mail.
263 @item message-included-forward-headers
264 @vindex message-included-forward-headers
265 Regexp matching header lines to be included in forwarded messages.
273 @findex message-resend
274 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
275 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
277 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
278 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
279 be removed before sending the message. The default is
280 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
286 @findex message-bounce
287 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
288 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
289 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
290 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
293 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
294 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
295 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
296 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
303 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
304 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
305 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
306 * Various Commands:: Various things.
307 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
308 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
312 @node Header Commands
313 @section Header Commands
315 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
322 @findex message-goto-to
323 Describe the message mode.
327 @findex message-goto-to
328 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
332 @findex message-goto-bcc
333 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
337 @findex message-goto-fcc
338 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
342 @findex message-goto-cc
343 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
347 @findex message-goto-subject
348 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
352 @findex message-goto-reply-to
353 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
357 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
358 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
362 @findex message-goto-distribution
363 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
367 @findex message-goto-followup-to
368 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
372 @findex message-goto-keywords
373 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
377 @findex message-goto-summary
378 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
389 @findex message-goto-body
390 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
391 (@code{message-goto-body}).
395 @findex message-goto-signature
396 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
408 @findex message-yank-original
409 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
410 (@code{message-yank-original}).
414 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
415 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
416 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
417 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
418 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
424 @findex message-insert-signature
425 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
426 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
431 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
432 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
433 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
434 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
437 @item message-citation-line-function
438 @vindex message-citation-line-function
439 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
440 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
444 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
447 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
450 @item message-yank-prefix
451 @vindex message-yank-prefix
454 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
455 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
456 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
457 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
458 If it is @code{nil}, just indent the message.
460 @item message-indentation-spaces
461 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
462 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
464 @item message-cite-function
465 @vindex message-cite-function
466 @findex message-cite-original
467 @findex sc-cite-original
469 Function for citing an original message. The default is
470 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
471 and prepends @samp{> } to each line. You can also set it to
472 @code{sc-cite-original} to use Supercite.
474 @item message-indent-citation-function
475 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
476 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
477 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
478 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
479 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
481 @item message-signature
482 @vindex message-signature
483 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
484 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
485 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
486 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
487 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
489 @item message-signature-file
490 @vindex message-signature-file
491 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
492 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
496 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
497 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
498 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
499 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
500 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
502 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
503 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
504 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
508 @node Various Commands
509 @section Various Commands
515 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
516 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
517 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
518 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
519 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
523 @findex message-elide-region
524 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
525 The text is killed and an ellipsis (@samp{[...]}) will be inserted in
530 @findex message-delete-not-region
531 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
532 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
536 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
537 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
542 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
545 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
548 > This is some quoted text.
552 > And here's more quoted text.
555 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
559 @findex message-insert-to
560 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
561 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
562 (@code{message-insert-to}).
566 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
567 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
568 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
569 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
573 @findex message-rename-buffer
574 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
575 prompt for a new buffer name.
586 @findex message-send-and-exit
587 Send the message and bury the current buffer
588 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
593 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
597 @findex message-dont-send
598 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
602 @findex message-kill-buffer
603 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
610 @section Mail Aliases
614 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
615 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
616 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
617 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
618 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
620 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
621 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
624 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
625 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
628 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
629 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
630 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
632 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
633 expansions have to be done explicitly.
641 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
642 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
643 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
644 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
645 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
646 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
647 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
648 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
649 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
653 @node Message Headers
654 @section Message Headers
656 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
657 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
658 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
659 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
660 look sufficiently similar.
664 @item message-generate-headers-first
665 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
666 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
669 @item message-from-style
670 @vindex message-from-style
671 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four legal
676 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
679 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
682 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
685 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
686 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
687 @code{angles} anyway.
691 @item message-deletable-headers
692 @vindex message-deletable-headers
693 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
694 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
695 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
696 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
697 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
698 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
699 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
700 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
703 @item message-default-headers
704 @vindex message-default-headers
705 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
712 @section Mail Headers
715 @item message-required-mail-headers
716 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
717 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
718 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
719 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
721 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
722 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
723 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
724 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
726 @item message-default-mail-headers
727 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
728 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
729 buffers that are initialized as mail.
735 @section Mail Variables
738 @item message-send-mail-function
739 @vindex message-send-mail-function
740 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
741 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
742 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
744 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
745 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
746 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
747 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
748 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
749 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
756 @section News Headers
758 @vindex message-required-news-headers
759 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
760 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
761 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are legal:
767 @findex user-full-name
768 @findex user-mail-address
769 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
770 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
771 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
772 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
776 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
780 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
781 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
785 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
786 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
787 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
788 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
789 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
790 parameters and should return a string to be used).
794 This optional header will be computed by Message.
798 @vindex mail-host-address
801 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
802 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message will
803 use @code{mail-host-address} as the fully qualified domain name (FQDN)
804 of the machine if that variable is defined. If not, it will use
805 @code{system-name}, which doesn't report a FQDN on some machines --
810 This optional header will be filled out according to the
811 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
814 This optional header will be filled out according to the
815 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
816 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
819 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
820 header of the article being replied to.
824 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
825 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
826 be used unless you know what you're doing.
830 This optional header is filled out according to the
831 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
832 much misunderstood header.
836 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
837 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
838 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
839 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
840 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
841 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
842 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
847 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
848 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
849 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
850 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
851 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
852 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
853 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
854 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
855 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
857 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
858 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
861 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
865 @item message-syntax-checks
866 @vindex message-syntax-checks
867 If non-@code{nil}, Message will attempt to check the legality of the
868 headers, as well as some other stuff, before posting. You can control
869 the granularity of the check by adding or removing elements from this
870 list. Legal elements are:
874 Check the subject for commands.
877 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
878 @item multiple-headers
879 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
882 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
884 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
886 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
889 Check for too long lines.
891 Check for illegal characters.
893 Check for excessive size.
895 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
897 Check the length of the signature.
900 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
901 something only moderators should include.
903 Check whether the article is empty.
905 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
906 @item existing-newsgroups
907 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
908 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
909 @item valid-newsgroups
910 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
911 are valid syntactically.
912 @item repeated-newsgroups
913 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
914 contains repeated group names.
915 @item shorten-followup-to
916 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
917 of groups to post to.
920 All these conditions are checked by default.
922 @item message-ignored-news-headers
923 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
924 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
925 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
927 @item message-default-news-headers
928 @vindex message-default-news-headers
929 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
930 buffers that are initialized as news.
936 @section News Variables
939 @item message-send-news-function
940 @vindex message-send-news-function
941 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
942 @code{message-send-news}.
944 @item message-post-method
945 @vindex message-post-method
946 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
947 posting a prepared news message.
952 @node Various Message Variables
953 @section Various Message Variables
956 @item message-signature-separator
957 @vindex message-signature-separator
958 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
961 @item mail-header-separator
962 @vindex mail-header-separator
963 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
964 follows this line--} by default.
966 @item message-directory
967 @vindex message-directory
968 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
970 @item message-autosave-directory
971 @vindex message-autosave-directory
972 Directory where message buffers will be autosaved to.
974 @item message-signature-setup-hook
975 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
976 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
977 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
979 @item message-setup-hook
980 @vindex message-setup-hook
981 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
982 but before yanked text is inserted.
984 @item message-header-setup-hook
985 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
986 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
988 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
989 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
990 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
993 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
994 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
995 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
996 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
997 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
998 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1000 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1001 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1004 @item message-send-hook
1005 @vindex message-send-hook
1006 Hook run before sending messages.
1008 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1009 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1010 @findex message-add-header
1013 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1014 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1017 "Content-Type: text/plain"
1018 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit"))
1021 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1023 @item message-send-mail-hook
1024 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1025 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1027 @item message-send-news-hook
1028 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1029 Hook run before sending news messages.
1031 @item message-sent-hook
1032 @vindex message-sent-hook
1033 Hook run after sending messages.
1035 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1036 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1037 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1039 @item message-send-method-alist
1040 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1042 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1045 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1050 A symbol that names the method.
1053 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1054 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1057 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1058 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1062 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1063 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1072 @node Sending Variables
1073 @section Sending Variables
1077 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1078 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1079 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1080 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1081 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1083 @item message-courtesy-message
1084 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1085 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1086 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1087 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1088 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1089 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1090 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1095 @node Message Buffers
1096 @section Message Buffers
1098 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1099 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1100 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1101 message buffers are kept alive.
1104 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1105 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1106 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1107 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1108 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1109 The function should return the new buffer name.
1111 @item message-max-buffers
1112 @vindex message-max-buffers
1113 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1114 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1115 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1116 will ever be killed.
1118 @item message-send-rename-function
1119 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1120 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1121 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1122 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1123 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1127 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1130 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1131 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1132 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1137 @node Message Actions
1138 @section Message Actions
1140 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1141 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1142 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1145 @vindex message-kill-actions
1146 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1147 @vindex message-exit-actions
1148 @vindex message-send-actions
1149 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1150 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1151 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1152 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1153 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1154 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1155 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1156 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1158 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1159 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1160 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1161 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1165 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1166 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1169 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1170 killed, postponed or exited.
1172 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1173 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1174 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1178 @chapter Compatibility
1179 @cindex compatibility
1181 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1182 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1183 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1186 (require 'messcompat)
1189 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1190 corresponding mail variables.
1197 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1204 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1209 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1210 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1211 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1222 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1223 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1224 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1225 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1229 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1236 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1237 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1238 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1242 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1243 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1254 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1255 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is