1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message (Oort) Manual
10 * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
15 @setchapternewpage odd
19 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
21 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 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.
115 * Mailing Lists:: Send mail to mailing lists.
119 @node New Mail Message
120 @section New Mail Message
123 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
125 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
126 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
127 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
130 @node New News Message
131 @section New News Message
134 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
136 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
137 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
138 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
144 @findex message-reply
145 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
146 reply to the message in the current buffer.
148 @vindex message-reply-to-function
149 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
150 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
151 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
153 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
154 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
157 (setq message-reply-to-function
159 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
160 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
165 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
168 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
169 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
170 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
173 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
174 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
175 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
176 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
177 the head of the outgoing mail.
183 @findex message-wide-reply
184 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
185 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
186 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
187 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
189 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
190 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
191 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
192 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
193 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
195 @findex message-dont-reply-to-names
196 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
197 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
203 @findex message-followup
204 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
205 followup to the message in the current buffer.
207 @vindex message-followup-to-function
208 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
209 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
210 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
211 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
213 @vindex message-use-followup-to
214 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
215 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
216 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
217 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
218 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
222 @section Canceling News
224 @findex message-cancel-news
225 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
232 @findex message-supersede
233 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
234 supersede the message in the current buffer.
236 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
237 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
238 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
239 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
240 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
247 @findex message-forward
248 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
249 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
253 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
254 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
255 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
257 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
258 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
259 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
260 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
261 passed into each successive function.
263 The provided functions are:
266 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
267 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
268 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
271 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
272 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
275 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
276 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
277 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
278 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
279 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
280 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
282 @item message-forward-as-mime
283 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
284 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
285 included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
286 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
287 non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
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\\):}.
321 @section Mailing Lists
323 Sometimes while posting to mailing lists, the poster needs to direct
324 followups to the post to specific places. The Mail-Followup-To (MFT)
325 was created to enable just this. Two example scenarios where this is
330 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
331 sent to just the list, and not the poster as well. This will happen
332 if the poster is already subscribed to the list.
335 If a message is posted to several mailing lists, MFT may also be used
336 to direct the following discussion to one list only, because
337 discussions that are spread over several lists tend to be fragmented
338 and very difficult to follow.
342 Gnus honors the MFT header in other's messages (i.e. while following
343 up to someone else's post) and also provides support for generating
344 sensible MFT headers for outgoing messages as well.
347 @c * Honoring an MFT post:: What to do when one already exists
348 @c * Composing with a MFT header:: Creating one from scratch.
351 @c @node Composing with a MFT header
352 @subsection Composing a correct MFT header automagically
354 The first step in getting Gnus to automagically generate a MFT header
355 in posts you make is to give Gnus a list of the mailing lists
356 addresses you are subscribed to. You can do this in more than one
357 way. The following variables would come in handy.
361 @item message-subscribed-addresses
362 This should be a list of addresses the user is subscribed to. Its
363 default value is @code{nil}. Example:
365 (setq message-subscribed-addresses
366 '("ding@@gnus.org" "bing@@noose.org"))
369 @item message-subscribed-regexps
370 This should be a list of regexps denoting the addresses of mailing
371 lists subscribed to. Default value is @code{nil}. Example: If you
372 want to achieve the same result as above:
374 (setq message-subscribed-regexps
375 '("[bd]ing@@\\(gnus\\|noose\\)\\.org"))
378 @item message-subscribed-address-functions
379 This can be a list of functions to be called (one at a time!!) to
380 determine the value of MFT headers. It is advisable that these
381 functions not take any arguments. Default value is @code{nil}.
383 @item message-subscribed-address-file
384 You might be one organised human freak and have a list of addresses of
385 all subscribed mailing lists in a separate file! Then you can just
386 set this variable to the name of the file and life would be good.
390 You can use one or more of the above variables. All their values are
391 ``added'' in some way that works :-)
393 Now you are all set. Just start composing a message as you normally
394 do. And just send it; as always. Just before the message is sent
395 out, Gnus' MFT generation thingy kicks in and checks if the message
396 already has a MFT header. If there is one, the header is left alone.
397 If not then the list of recipient addresses (in the To: and Cc:
398 headers) is checked to see if one of them is a list address you are
399 subscribed to. If none of them is a list address, then no MFT is
400 generated; otherwise, a MFT is added to the other headers and set to
401 the value of all addresses in To: and Cc:
403 Hm. ``So'', you ask, ``what if I send an email to a list I am not
404 subscribed to?'' Well, the kind folks at Gnus Towers are working on a
405 database of all known mailing list addresses that can be used for this
406 purpose. Till then, you could, like, insert a MFT header manually,
407 with the help of @kbd{C-c C-f m} !!
409 @c @node Honoring an MFT post
410 @subsection Honoring an MFT post
412 When you followup to a post on a mailing list, and the post has a MFT
413 header, Gnus' action will depend on the value of the variable
414 @code{message-use-mail-followup-to}. This variable can be one of:
418 Always honor MFTs. The To: and Cc: headers in your followup will be
419 derived from the MFT header of the original post.
422 Always dishonor MFTs (just ignore the darned thing)
425 Gnus will prompt you for an action. This is the default.
429 It is considered good nettiquette to honor MFT, as it is assumed the
430 fellow who posted a message knows where the followups need to go
437 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
438 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
439 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
440 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
441 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
442 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
443 * Various Commands:: Various things.
444 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
445 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
446 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
451 @section Buffer Entry
455 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
456 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
457 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
458 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
459 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
460 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
461 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
462 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
465 @node Header Commands
466 @section Header Commands
468 All these commands move to the header in question (except for the
469 @samp{Importance:} related commands). If it doesn't exist, it will be
476 @findex describe-mode
477 Describe the message mode.
481 @findex message-goto-to
482 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
486 @findex message-goto-from
487 Go to the @code{From} header (@code{message-goto-from}). (The ``o''
488 in the key binding is for Originator.)
492 @findex message-goto-bcc
493 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
497 @findex message-goto-fcc
498 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
502 @findex message-goto-cc
503 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
507 @findex message-goto-subject
508 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
512 @findex message-goto-reply-to
513 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
517 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
518 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
522 @findex message-goto-distribution
523 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
527 @findex message-goto-followup-to
528 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
532 @findex message-goto-keywords
533 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
537 @findex message-goto-summary
538 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
542 @findex message-insert-or-toggle-importance
543 This inserts the @samp{Importance:} header with a value of
544 @samp{high}. This header is used to signal the importance of the
545 message to the receiver. If the header is already present in the
546 buffer, it cycles between the three valid values according to RFC
547 1376: @samp{low}, @samp{normal} and @samp{high}.
549 @item M-x message-insert-importance-high
550 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-high
551 @findex message-insert-importance-high
552 Insert a @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{high},
553 deleting headers if necessary.
555 @item M-x message-insert-importance-low
556 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-low
557 @findex message-insert-importance-low
558 Insert a @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{low},
559 deleting headers if necessary.
570 @findex message-goto-body
571 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
572 (@code{message-goto-body}).
576 @findex message-goto-signature
577 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
581 @findex message-beginning-of-line
582 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
583 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
596 @findex message-yank-original
597 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
598 (@code{message-yank-original}).
602 @findex message-yank-buffer
603 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
604 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
608 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
609 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
610 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
611 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
612 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
617 @findex message-insert-signature
618 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
619 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
623 @findex message-insert-headers
624 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
628 @findex message-insert-disposition-notification-to
629 Insert a request for a disposition
630 notification. (@code{message-insert-disposition-notification-to}).
631 This means that if the recipient support RFC 2298 she might send you a
632 notification that she received the message.
644 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
645 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
646 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
647 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
649 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
650 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
651 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
652 name and a @sc{mime} type.
654 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
655 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
668 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
669 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently
670 support PGP (RFC 1991), PGP/MIME (RFC 2015/3156) and S/MIME.
671 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a MIME part is done
672 using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @code{C-c C-m
673 c} key map for encryption, as follows.
679 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
681 Digitally sign current message using S/MIME.
685 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
687 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
691 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
693 Digitally sign current message using PGP/MIME.
697 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
699 Digitally encrypt current message using S/MIME.
703 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
705 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
709 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
711 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP/MIME.
715 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
716 merely insert the proper MML secure tag to instruct the MML engine to
717 perform that operation when the message is actually sent. They may
718 perform other operations too, such as locating and retrieving a S/MIME
719 certificate of the person you wish to send encrypted mail to. When the
720 mml parsing engine converts your MML into a properly encoded MIME
721 message, the secure tag will be replaced with either a part or a
722 multipart tag. If your message contains other mml parts, a multipart
723 tag will be used; if no other parts are present in your message a single
724 part tag will be used. This way, message mode will do the Right Thing
725 (TM) with signed/encrypted multipart messages.
727 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
728 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
729 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
730 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
731 using @code{C-u C-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
732 your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
733 did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
734 night, actually will be sent encrypted.
736 @emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
737 They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
738 mail with a sensitive Subject line.
740 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
741 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
742 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
743 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
745 @subsection Using S/MIME
747 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
748 modern cryptography, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
750 The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
751 perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
752 at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work.
753 Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from certificates, and it
754 insert a spurious CR character into MIME separators so you may wish to
755 avoid it if you would like to avoid being regarded as someone who send
756 strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME messages you've probably
757 already lost that contest.)
759 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
760 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
761 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
762 @code{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
763 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
764 it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
765 you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
766 default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
767 agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
768 so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
769 there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
770 LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
771 it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
772 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
774 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
775 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
776 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
777 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
778 a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
779 customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
781 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
782 own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
783 with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
784 free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
785 is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
786 Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
790 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
793 The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
794 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
796 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
799 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
801 PGP/MIME requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
802 Privacy Guard (@uref{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an Emacs
803 interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
804 @uref{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
805 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
807 @vindex gpg-temp-directory
808 Note, if you are using the @code{gpg.el} you must make sure that the
809 path specified by @code{gpg-temp-directory} have permissions 0700.
811 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
812 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
814 @node Various Commands
815 @section Various Commands
821 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
822 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
823 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
824 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
825 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
829 @findex message-elide-region
830 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
831 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
832 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
837 @findex message-kill-to-signature
838 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
839 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
843 @findex message-delete-not-region
844 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
845 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
849 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
850 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
855 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
858 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
861 > This is some quoted text.
865 > And here's more quoted text.
868 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
872 @findex message-insert-to
873 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
874 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
875 (@code{message-insert-to}).
879 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
880 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
881 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
882 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
886 @findex message-rename-buffer
887 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
888 prompt for a new buffer name.
899 @findex message-send-and-exit
900 Send the message and bury the current buffer
901 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
906 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
910 @findex message-dont-send
911 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
915 @findex message-kill-buffer
916 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
923 @section Mail Aliases
927 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
928 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
929 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
930 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
931 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
933 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
934 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
937 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
938 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
941 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
942 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
943 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
945 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
946 expansions have to be done explicitly.
952 @findex ispell-message
954 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
955 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
956 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
957 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
958 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
959 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
962 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
965 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
966 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
967 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
970 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
971 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
975 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
978 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
979 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
982 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
986 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
988 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
991 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
999 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
1000 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
1001 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
1002 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
1003 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
1004 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
1005 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
1006 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
1007 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
1008 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
1012 @node Message Headers
1013 @section Message Headers
1015 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
1016 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
1017 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
1018 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
1019 look sufficiently similar.
1023 @item message-generate-headers-first
1024 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
1025 If non-@code{nil}, generate all required headers before starting to
1026 compose the message.
1028 The variables @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
1029 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are required.
1031 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
1032 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
1034 @item message-from-style
1035 @vindex message-from-style
1036 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
1041 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
1044 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
1047 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
1050 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
1051 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
1052 @code{angles} anyway.
1056 @item message-deletable-headers
1057 @vindex message-deletable-headers
1058 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
1059 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
1060 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1061 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1062 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1063 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1064 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1065 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1068 @item message-default-headers
1069 @vindex message-default-headers
1070 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1073 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1074 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1078 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1079 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1080 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1081 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1082 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1083 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1084 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1085 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1086 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1088 Here's an example of a value to deal with these headers when
1089 responding to a message:
1092 (setq message-subject-re-regexp
1093 "^\\(\\(\\([Rr][Ee]\\|[Ss][Vv]\\|[Aa][Ww]\\): *\\)+\\))
1096 @item message-alternative-emails
1097 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1098 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1099 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1105 @section Mail Headers
1108 @item message-required-mail-headers
1109 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1110 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1111 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1112 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1114 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1115 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1116 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1117 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1119 @item message-default-mail-headers
1120 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1121 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1122 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1127 @node Mail Variables
1128 @section Mail Variables
1131 @item message-send-mail-function
1132 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1133 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1134 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1135 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1136 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1137 @findex feedmail-send-it
1138 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1139 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1140 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1141 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1143 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1144 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1145 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1146 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1147 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1148 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1151 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1152 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1153 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1154 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1155 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1161 @section News Headers
1163 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1164 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1165 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1166 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1172 @findex user-full-name
1173 @findex user-mail-address
1174 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1175 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1176 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1177 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1181 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1185 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1186 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1189 @cindex organization
1190 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1191 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1192 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1193 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1194 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1195 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1199 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1203 @vindex mail-host-address
1206 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1207 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1208 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1209 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1210 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1214 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1215 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1218 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1219 header of the article being replied to.
1223 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1224 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1225 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1228 @cindex Distribution
1229 This optional header is filled out according to the
1230 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1231 much misunderstood header.
1235 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1236 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1237 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1238 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1239 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1240 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1241 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1245 @cindex Mime-Version
1246 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1247 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1248 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1249 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1250 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1251 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1252 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1253 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1254 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1256 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1257 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1260 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1264 @item message-syntax-checks
1265 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1266 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1267 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1270 (signature . disabled)
1279 Check the subject for commands.
1282 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1283 @item multiple-headers
1284 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1287 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1289 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1291 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1294 Check for too long lines.
1296 Check for invalid characters.
1298 Check for excessive size.
1300 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1302 Check the length of the signature.
1305 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1306 something only moderators should include.
1308 Check whether the article is empty.
1309 @item invisible-text
1310 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1312 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1313 @item existing-newsgroups
1314 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1315 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1316 @item valid-newsgroups
1317 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1318 are valid syntactically.
1319 @item repeated-newsgroups
1320 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1321 contains repeated group names.
1322 @item shorten-followup-to
1323 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1324 of groups to post to.
1327 All these conditions are checked by default.
1329 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1330 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1331 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1332 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1334 @item message-default-news-headers
1335 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1336 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1337 buffers that are initialized as news.
1342 @node News Variables
1343 @section News Variables
1346 @item message-send-news-function
1347 @vindex message-send-news-function
1348 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1349 @code{message-send-news}.
1351 @item message-post-method
1352 @vindex message-post-method
1353 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1354 posting a prepared news message.
1359 @node Insertion Variables
1360 @section Insertion Variables
1363 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
1364 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
1365 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
1366 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
1369 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
1370 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
1371 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
1373 @item message-citation-line-function
1374 @vindex message-citation-line-function
1375 @cindex attribution line
1376 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
1377 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
1381 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
1384 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
1387 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
1388 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
1389 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
1390 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
1391 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
1393 @item message-yank-prefix
1394 @vindex message-yank-prefix
1397 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
1398 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
1399 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
1400 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
1401 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
1404 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
1405 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
1409 When yanking text from a article which contains no text or already
1410 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
1411 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
1412 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
1414 @item message-indentation-spaces
1415 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
1416 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
1418 @item message-cite-function
1419 @vindex message-cite-function
1420 @findex message-cite-original
1421 @findex sc-cite-original
1422 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
1424 Function for citing an original message. The default is
1425 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
1426 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
1427 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
1428 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
1431 @item message-indent-citation-function
1432 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
1433 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
1434 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
1435 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
1436 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
1438 @item message-signature
1439 @vindex message-signature
1440 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
1441 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
1442 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
1443 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
1444 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
1446 @item message-signature-file
1447 @vindex message-signature-file
1448 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
1449 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
1453 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
1454 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
1455 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
1456 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
1457 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
1459 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
1460 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
1461 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
1464 @node Various Message Variables
1465 @section Various Message Variables
1468 @item message-default-charset
1469 @vindex message-default-charset
1471 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1472 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1473 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1475 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1476 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1477 translation process.
1479 @item message-signature-separator
1480 @vindex message-signature-separator
1481 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1484 @item mail-header-separator
1485 @vindex mail-header-separator
1486 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1487 follows this line--} by default.
1489 @item message-directory
1490 @vindex message-directory
1491 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1493 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1494 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1495 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1496 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1498 @item message-setup-hook
1499 @vindex message-setup-hook
1500 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1501 but before yanked text is inserted.
1503 @item message-header-setup-hook
1504 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1505 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1507 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1508 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1509 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1512 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1513 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1514 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1515 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1516 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1517 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1519 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1520 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1523 @item message-send-hook
1524 @vindex message-send-hook
1525 Hook run before sending messages.
1527 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1528 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1529 @findex message-add-header
1532 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1533 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1534 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1535 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1538 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1540 @item message-send-mail-hook
1541 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1542 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1544 @item message-send-news-hook
1545 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1546 Hook run before sending news messages.
1548 @item message-sent-hook
1549 @vindex message-sent-hook
1550 Hook run after sending messages.
1552 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1553 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1554 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1556 @item message-send-method-alist
1557 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1559 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1562 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1567 A symbol that names the method.
1570 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1571 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1574 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1575 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1579 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1580 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1589 @node Sending Variables
1590 @section Sending Variables
1594 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1595 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1596 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1597 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1598 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1600 @item message-courtesy-message
1601 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1602 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1603 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1604 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1605 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1606 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1607 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
1612 @node Message Buffers
1613 @section Message Buffers
1615 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1616 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1617 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1618 message buffers are kept alive.
1621 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1622 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1623 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1624 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1625 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1626 The function should return the new buffer name.
1628 @item message-max-buffers
1629 @vindex message-max-buffers
1630 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1631 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1632 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1633 will ever be killed.
1635 @item message-send-rename-function
1636 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1637 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1638 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1639 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1640 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1644 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1647 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1648 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1649 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1654 @node Message Actions
1655 @section Message Actions
1657 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1658 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1659 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1662 @vindex message-kill-actions
1663 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1664 @vindex message-exit-actions
1665 @vindex message-send-actions
1666 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1667 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1668 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1669 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1670 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1671 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1672 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1673 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1675 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1676 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1677 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1678 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1682 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1683 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1686 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1687 killed, postponed or exited.
1689 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1690 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1691 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1695 @chapter Compatibility
1696 @cindex compatibility
1698 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1699 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1700 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1703 (require 'messcompat)
1706 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1707 corresponding mail variables.
1714 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1721 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1726 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1727 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1728 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1739 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1740 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1741 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1742 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1746 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1753 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1754 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1755 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1759 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1760 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1771 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1772 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is