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, 2003
22 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
24 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
25 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
26 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
27 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
28 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
29 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
30 License'' in the Emacs manual.
32 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
33 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
34 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
36 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
37 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
38 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
39 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
45 @title Message (Oort) Manual
47 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
50 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
52 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
54 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
55 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
56 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
57 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
58 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
59 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
60 License'' in the Emacs manual.
62 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
63 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
64 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
66 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
67 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
68 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
69 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
78 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
82 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
83 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
84 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
85 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
86 * Appendices:: More technical things.
87 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
88 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
91 This manual corresponds to Oort Message. Message is distributed with
92 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual.
98 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
99 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
100 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
101 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
102 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
106 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
107 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
108 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
109 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
110 * Followup:: Following up via news.
111 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
112 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
113 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
114 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
115 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
116 * Mailing Lists:: Send mail to mailing lists.
120 @node New Mail Message
121 @section New Mail Message
124 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
126 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
127 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
128 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
131 @node New News Message
132 @section New News Message
135 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
137 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
138 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
139 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
145 @findex message-reply
146 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
147 reply to the message in the current buffer.
149 @vindex message-reply-to-function
150 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
151 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
152 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
154 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
155 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
158 (setq message-reply-to-function
160 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
161 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
166 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
169 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
170 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
171 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
174 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
175 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
176 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
177 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
178 the head of the outgoing mail.
184 @findex message-wide-reply
185 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
186 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
187 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
188 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
190 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
191 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
192 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
193 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
194 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
196 @vindex message-dont-reply-to-names
197 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
198 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
200 @vindex message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients
201 If @code{message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients} is non-@code{nil} you
202 will be asked to confirm that you want to reply to multiple
203 recipients. The default is @code{nil}.
208 @findex message-followup
209 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
210 followup to the message in the current buffer.
212 @vindex message-followup-to-function
213 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
214 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
215 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
216 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
218 @vindex message-use-followup-to
219 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
220 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
221 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
222 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
223 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
227 @section Canceling News
229 @findex message-cancel-news
230 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
233 @vindex message-cancel-message
234 The value of @code{message-cancel-message} is inserted in the body of
235 the cancel message. The default is @samp{I am canceling my own
242 @findex message-supersede
243 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
244 supersede the message in the current buffer.
246 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
247 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
248 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
249 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
250 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
257 @findex message-forward
258 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
259 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
263 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
264 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
265 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
267 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
268 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
269 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
270 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
271 passed into each successive function.
273 The provided functions are:
276 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
277 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
278 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
281 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
282 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
285 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
286 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
287 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
288 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
289 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
290 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
292 @item message-forward-as-mime
293 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
294 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
295 included as inline @sc{mime} RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
296 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
297 non @sc{mime}-savvy versions of gnus would do.
299 @item message-forward-before-signature
300 @vindex message-forward-before-signature
301 If non-@code{nil}, put forwarded message before signature, else after.
309 @findex message-resend
310 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
311 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
313 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
314 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
315 be removed before sending the message. The default is
316 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
322 @findex message-bounce
323 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
324 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
325 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
326 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
329 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
330 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
331 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
332 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
336 @section Mailing Lists
338 Sometimes while posting to mailing lists, the poster needs to direct
339 followups to the post to specific places. The Mail-Followup-To (MFT)
340 was created to enable just this. Two example scenarios where this is
345 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
346 sent to just the list, and not the poster as well. This will happen
347 if the poster is already subscribed to the list.
350 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
351 sent to the list and the poster as well. This will happen if the poster
352 is not subscribed to the list.
355 If a message is posted to several mailing lists, MFT may also be used
356 to direct the following discussion to one list only, because
357 discussions that are spread over several lists tend to be fragmented
358 and very difficult to follow.
362 Gnus honors the MFT header in other's messages (i.e. while following
363 up to someone else's post) and also provides support for generating
364 sensible MFT headers for outgoing messages as well.
367 @c * Honoring an MFT post:: What to do when one already exists
368 @c * Composing with a MFT header:: Creating one from scratch.
371 @c @node Composing with a MFT header
372 @subsection Composing a correct MFT header automagically
374 The first step in getting Gnus to automagically generate a MFT header
375 in posts you make is to give Gnus a list of the mailing lists
376 addresses you are subscribed to. You can do this in more than one
377 way. The following variables would come in handy.
381 @vindex message-subscribed-addresses
382 @item message-subscribed-addresses
383 This should be a list of addresses the user is subscribed to. Its
384 default value is @code{nil}. Example:
386 (setq message-subscribed-addresses
387 '("ding@@gnus.org" "bing@@noose.org"))
390 @vindex message-subscribed-regexps
391 @item message-subscribed-regexps
392 This should be a list of regexps denoting the addresses of mailing
393 lists subscribed to. Default value is @code{nil}. Example: If you
394 want to achieve the same result as above:
396 (setq message-subscribed-regexps
397 '("\\(ding@@gnus\\)\\|\\(bing@@noose\\)\\.org")
400 @vindex message-subscribed-address-functions
401 @item message-subscribed-address-functions
402 This can be a list of functions to be called (one at a time!!) to
403 determine the value of MFT headers. It is advisable that these
404 functions not take any arguments. Default value is @code{nil}.
406 There is a pre-defined function in Gnus that is a good candidate for
407 this variable. @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses} is a function
408 that returns a list of addresses corresponding to the groups that have
409 the @code{subscribed} (@pxref{(gnus)subscribed})
410 group parameter set to a non-nil value. This is how you would do it.
413 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
414 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
417 @vindex message-subscribed-address-file
418 @item message-subscribed-address-file
419 You might be one organised human freak and have a list of addresses of
420 all subscribed mailing lists in a separate file! Then you can just
421 set this variable to the name of the file and life would be good.
425 You can use one or more of the above variables. All their values are
426 ``added'' in some way that works :-)
428 Now you are all set. Just start composing a message as you normally do.
429 And just send it; as always. Just before the message is sent out, Gnus'
430 MFT generation thingy kicks in and checks if the message already has a
431 MFT field. If there is one, it is left alone. (Except if it's empty -
432 in that case, the field is removed and is not replaced with an
433 automatically generated one. This lets you disable MFT generation on a
434 per-message basis.) If there is none, then the list of recipient
435 addresses (in the To: and Cc: headers) is checked to see if one of them
436 is a list address you are subscribed to. If none of them is a list
437 address, then no MFT is generated; otherwise, a MFT is added to the
438 other headers and set to the value of all addresses in To: and Cc:
441 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
443 @findex message-goto-mail-followup-to
444 Hm. ``So'', you ask, ``what if I send an email to a list I am not
445 subscribed to? I want my MFT to say that I want an extra copy.'' (This
446 is supposed to be interpreted by others the same way as if there were no
447 MFT, but you can use an explicit MFT to override someone else's
448 to-address group parameter.) The function
449 @code{message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to} might come in
450 handy. It is bound to @kbd{C-c C-f C-a} by default. In any case, you
451 can insert a MFT of your own choice; @kbd{C-c C-f C-m}
452 (@code{message-goto-mail-followup-to}) will help you get started.
454 @c @node Honoring an MFT post
455 @subsection Honoring an MFT post
457 @vindex message-use-mail-followup-to
458 When you followup to a post on a mailing list, and the post has a MFT
459 header, Gnus' action will depend on the value of the variable
460 @code{message-use-mail-followup-to}. This variable can be one of:
464 Always honor MFTs. The To: and Cc: headers in your followup will be
465 derived from the MFT header of the original post. This is the default.
468 Always dishonor MFTs (just ignore the darned thing)
471 Gnus will prompt you for an action.
475 It is considered good nettiquette to honor MFT, as it is assumed the
476 fellow who posted a message knows where the followups need to go
483 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
484 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving headers or changing headers.
485 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
486 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
487 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
488 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
489 * Various Commands:: Various things.
490 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
491 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
492 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
497 @section Buffer Entry
501 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
502 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
503 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
504 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
505 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
506 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
507 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
508 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
511 @node Header Commands
512 @section Header Commands
514 @subsection Commands for moving to headers
516 These following commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't
517 exist, it will be inserted.
523 @findex describe-mode
524 Describe the message mode.
528 @findex message-goto-to
529 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
533 @findex message-goto-from
534 Go to the @code{From} header (@code{message-goto-from}). (The ``o''
535 in the key binding is for Originator.)
539 @findex message-goto-bcc
540 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
544 @findex message-goto-fcc
545 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
549 @findex message-goto-cc
550 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
554 @findex message-goto-subject
555 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
559 @findex message-goto-reply-to
560 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
564 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
565 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
569 @findex message-goto-distribution
570 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
574 @findex message-goto-followup-to
575 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
579 @findex message-goto-keywords
580 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
584 @findex message-goto-summary
585 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
589 @findex message-insert-or-toggle-importance
590 This inserts the @samp{Importance:} header with a value of
591 @samp{high}. This header is used to signal the importance of the
592 message to the receiver. If the header is already present in the
593 buffer, it cycles between the three valid values according to RFC
594 1376: @samp{low}, @samp{normal} and @samp{high}.
598 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
599 Insert a reasonable @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
600 (@pxref{Mailing Lists}) in a post to an
601 unsubscribed list. When making original posts to a mailing list you are
602 not subscribed to, you have to type in a @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
603 by hand. The contents, usually, are the addresses of the list and your
604 own address. This function inserts such a header automatically. It
605 fetches the contents of the @samp{To:} header in the current mail
606 buffer, and appends the current @code{user-mail-address}.
608 If the optional argument @code{include-cc} is non-nil, the addresses in
609 the @samp{Cc:} header are also put into the @samp{Mail-Followup-To:}
614 @subsection Commands to change headers
620 @findex message-sort-headers
621 @vindex message-header-format-alist
622 Sort headers according to @code{message-header-format-alist}
623 (@code{message-sort-headers}).
627 @findex message-insert-to
628 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
629 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
630 (@code{message-insert-to}).
634 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
635 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
636 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
637 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
641 @findex message-to-list-only
642 Send a message to the list only. Remove all addresses but the list
643 address from @code{To:} and @code{Cc:} headers.
647 @findex message-insert-disposition-notification-to
648 Insert a request for a disposition
649 notification. (@code{message-insert-disposition-notification-to}).
650 This means that if the recipient support RFC 2298 she might send you a
651 notification that she received the message.
653 @item M-x message-insert-importance-high
654 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-high
655 @findex message-insert-importance-high
657 Insert an @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{high},
658 deleting headers if necessary.
660 @item M-x message-insert-importance-low
661 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-low
662 @findex message-insert-importance-low
664 Insert an @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{low}, deleting
665 headers if necessary.
669 @findex message-change-subject
671 Change the current @samp{Subject:} header. Ask for new @samp{Subject:}
672 header and append @code{(was: <Old Subject>)}. The old subject can be
673 stripped on replying, see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}
674 (@pxref{Message Headers}).
678 @findex message-cross-post-followup-to
679 @vindex message-cross-post-default
682 Ask for an additional @samp{Newsgroups:} and @samp{FollowUp-To:} for a
683 cross-post. @code{message-cross-post-followup-to} mangles
684 @samp{FollowUp-To:} and @samp{Newsgroups:} header to point to group.
685 If @code{message-cross-post-default} is @code{nil} or if called with a
686 prefix-argument @samp{Follow-Up:} is set, but the message is not
691 @findex message-reduce-to-to-cc
692 Replace contents of @samp{To:} header with contents of @samp{Cc:} or
697 @findex message-add-archive-header
698 @vindex message-archive-header
699 @vindex message-archive-note
701 Insert @samp{X-No-Archive: Yes} in the header and a note in the body.
702 The header and the note can be customized using
703 @code{message-archive-header} and @code{message-archive-note}. When
704 called with a prefix argument, ask for a text to insert. If you don't
705 want the note in the body, set @code{message-archive-note} to
717 @findex message-goto-body
718 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
719 (@code{message-goto-body}).
723 @findex message-goto-signature
724 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
728 @findex message-beginning-of-line
729 @vindex message-beginning-of-line
730 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
731 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
732 name and the colon.) This behaviour can be disabled by toggling
733 the variable @code{message-beginning-of-line}.
745 @findex message-yank-original
746 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
747 (@code{message-yank-original}).
751 @findex message-yank-buffer
752 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
753 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
757 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
758 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
759 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
760 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
761 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
766 @findex message-insert-signature
767 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
768 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
772 @findex message-insert-headers
773 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
777 @findex message-mark-inserted-region
778 Mark some region in the current article with enclosing tags.
779 See @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
783 @findex message-mark-insert-file
784 Insert a file in the current article with enclosing tags.
785 See @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
797 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
798 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
799 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
800 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
802 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
803 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
804 be done with the @kbd{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
805 name and a @sc{mime} type.
807 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
808 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
821 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
822 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently
823 support PGP (RFC 1991), @sc{pgp/mime} (RFC 2015/3156) and @sc{s/mime}.
824 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
825 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
826 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
832 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
834 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
838 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
840 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
844 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime
846 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
850 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
852 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
856 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
858 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
862 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
864 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
868 @findex mml-unsecure-message
869 Remove security related MML tags from message.
873 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
874 merely insert the proper MML secure tag to instruct the MML engine to
875 perform that operation when the message is actually sent. They may
876 perform other operations too, such as locating and retrieving a
877 @sc{s/mime} certificate of the person you wish to send encrypted mail
878 to. When the mml parsing engine converts your MML into a properly
879 encoded @sc{mime} message, the secure tag will be replaced with either
880 a part or a multipart tag. If your message contains other mml parts,
881 a multipart tag will be used; if no other parts are present in your
882 message a single part tag will be used. This way, message mode will
883 do the Right Thing (TM) with signed/encrypted multipart messages.
885 @vindex mml-signencrypt-style-alist
886 By default, when encrypting a message, Gnus will use the "signencrypt"
887 mode. If you would like to disable this for a particular message,
888 give the mml-secure-message-encrypt-* command a prefix argument. (for
889 example, C-u C-c C-m c p). Additionally, by default Gnus will
890 separately sign, then encrypt a message which has the mode
891 signencrypt. If you would like to change this behavior you can
892 customize the @code{mml-signencrypt-style-alist} variable. For
897 (setq mml-signencrypt-style-alist '(("smime" combined)
899 ("pgpmime" combined)))
902 Will cause Gnus to sign and encrypt in one pass, thus generating a
903 single signed and encrypted part. Note that combined sign and encrypt
904 does not work with all supported OpenPGP implementations (in
905 particular, PGP version 2 do not support this).
907 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
908 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
909 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
910 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
911 using @kbd{C-u C-c RET P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can
912 verify that your long rant about what your ex-significant other or
913 whomever actually did with that funny looking person at that strange
914 party the other night, actually will be sent encrypted.
916 @emph{Note!} Neither @sc{pgp/mime} nor @sc{s/mime} encrypt/signs
917 RFC822 headers. They only operate on the @sc{mime} object. Keep this
918 in mind before sending mail with a sensitive Subject line.
920 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
921 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
922 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
923 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
925 @subsection Using S/MIME
927 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
928 modern cryptography, @sc{s/mime}, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and
931 The @sc{s/mime} support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
932 perform the actual @sc{s/mime} sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can
933 be found at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later
934 should work. Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from
935 certificates, and it insert a spurious CR character into @sc{mime}
936 separators so you may wish to avoid it if you would like to avoid
937 being regarded as someone who send strange mail. (Although by sending
938 @sc{s/mime} messages you've probably already lost that contest.)
940 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
941 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
942 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
943 @kbd{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
944 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local
945 file, it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you
946 chose DNS, you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is
947 stored, the default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is
948 the first mail agent in the world to support retrieving @sc{s/mime}
949 certificates from DNS, so you're not likely to find very many
950 certificates out there. At least there should be one, stored at the
951 domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}. LDAP is a more popular method of
952 distributing certificates, support for it is planned. (Meanwhile, you
953 can use @code{ldapsearch} from the command line to retrieve a
954 certificate into a file and use it.)
956 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
957 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
958 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
959 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it
960 contain a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try
961 @kbd{M-x customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
963 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create
964 your own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this
965 manually with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape
966 and got a free @sc{s/mime} certificate from one of the big CA's on the
967 net. Netscape is able to export your private key and certificate in
968 PKCS #12 format. Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509
969 certificate in PEM format as follows.
972 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
975 The @file{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
976 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
978 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
981 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
983 @sc{pgp/mime} requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
984 Privacy Guard (@uref{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an
985 Emacs interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
986 @uref{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
987 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
989 @vindex gpg-temp-directory
990 Note, if you are using the @code{gpg.el} you must make sure that the
991 path specified by @code{gpg-temp-directory} have permissions 0700.
993 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
994 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
996 @node Various Commands
997 @section Various Commands
1003 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
1004 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
1005 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
1006 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
1007 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
1011 @findex message-elide-region
1012 @vindex message-elide-ellipsis
1013 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
1014 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
1015 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
1020 @findex message-kill-to-signature
1021 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
1022 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
1026 @findex message-delete-not-region
1027 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
1028 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
1032 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
1033 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
1038 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
1041 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
1044 > This is some quoted text.
1048 > And here's more quoted text.
1051 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
1055 @findex message-rename-buffer
1056 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
1057 prompt for a new buffer name.
1062 @vindex message-tab-body-function
1063 If non-@code{nil} execute the function specified in
1064 @code{message-tab-body-function}. Otherwise use the function bound to
1065 @kbd{TAB} in @code{text-mode-map} or @code{global-map}.
1076 @findex message-send-and-exit
1077 Send the message and bury the current buffer
1078 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
1082 @findex message-send
1083 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
1087 @findex message-dont-send
1088 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
1092 @findex message-kill-buffer
1093 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
1100 @section Mail Aliases
1101 @cindex mail aliases
1104 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
1105 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
1106 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
1107 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
1108 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
1110 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
1111 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
1114 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
1115 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
1118 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
1119 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
1120 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
1122 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
1123 expansions have to be done explicitly.
1129 @findex ispell-message
1131 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
1132 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
1133 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
1134 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
1135 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
1136 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
1139 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
1142 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1143 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
1144 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
1147 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1148 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
1149 (".*" . "default")))
1152 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1155 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
1156 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
1159 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
1163 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
1165 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
1168 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1176 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
1177 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
1178 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
1179 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
1180 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
1181 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
1182 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
1183 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
1184 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
1185 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
1189 @node Message Headers
1190 @section Message Headers
1192 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
1193 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
1194 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
1195 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
1196 look sufficiently similar.
1200 @item message-generate-headers-first
1201 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
1202 If @code{t}, generate all required headers before starting to
1203 compose the message. This can also be a list of headers to generate:
1206 (setq message-generate-headers-first
1210 @vindex message-required-headers
1211 The variables @code{message-required-headers},
1212 @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
1213 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are
1216 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
1217 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
1219 @item message-draft-headers
1220 @vindex message-draft-headers
1221 When running Message from Gnus, the message buffers are associated
1222 with a draft group. @code{message-draft-headers} says which headers
1223 should be generated when a draft is written to the draft group.
1225 @item message-from-style
1226 @vindex message-from-style
1227 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
1232 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
1235 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
1238 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
1241 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
1242 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
1243 @code{angles} anyway.
1247 @item message-deletable-headers
1248 @vindex message-deletable-headers
1249 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
1250 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
1251 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1252 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1253 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1254 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1255 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1256 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1259 @item message-default-headers
1260 @vindex message-default-headers
1261 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1264 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1265 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1269 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1270 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1271 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1272 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1273 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1274 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1275 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1276 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1277 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1279 Here's an example of a value to deal with these headers when
1280 responding to a message:
1283 (setq message-subject-re-regexp
1284 "^\\(\\(\\([Rr][Ee]\\|[Ss][Vv]\\|[Aa][Ww]\\): *\\)+\\)")
1287 @item message-subject-trailing-was-query
1288 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-query
1289 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp
1290 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-regexp
1291 Controls what to do with trailing @samp{(was: <old subject>)} in subject
1292 lines. If @code{nil}, leave the subject unchanged. If it is the symbol
1293 @code{ask}, query the user what do do. In this case, the subject is
1294 matched against @code{message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp}. If
1295 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query} is t, always strip the
1296 trailing old subject. In this case,
1297 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-regexp} is used.
1299 @item message-alternative-emails
1300 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1301 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1302 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1304 @item message-allow-no-recipients
1305 @vindex message-allow-no-recipients
1306 Specifies what to do when there are no recipients other than
1307 @code{Gcc} or @code{Fcc}. If it is @code{always}, the posting is
1308 allowed. If it is @code{never}, the posting is not allowed. If it is
1309 @code{ask} (the default), you are prompted.
1315 @section Mail Headers
1318 @item message-required-mail-headers
1319 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1320 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1321 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1322 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1324 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1325 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1326 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1327 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1329 @item message-default-mail-headers
1330 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1331 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1332 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1337 @node Mail Variables
1338 @section Mail Variables
1341 @item message-send-mail-function
1342 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1343 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1344 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1345 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1346 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
1347 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1348 @findex feedmail-send-it
1349 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1350 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1351 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1352 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}, @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
1353 @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1355 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1356 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1357 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1358 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1359 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1360 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1363 @item message-qmail-inject-program
1364 @vindex message-qmail-inject-program
1366 Location of the qmail-inject program.
1368 @item message-qmail-inject-args
1369 @vindex message-qmail-inject-args
1370 Arguments passed to qmail-inject programs.
1371 This should be a list of strings, one string for each argument. It
1372 may also be a function.
1374 For e.g., if you wish to set the envelope sender address so that bounces
1375 go to the right place or to deal with listserv's usage of that address, you
1376 might set this variable to @code{'("-f" "you@@some.where")}.
1378 @item message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1379 @vindex message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1381 Non-@code{nil} means don't add @samp{-f username} to the sendmail
1382 command line. Doing so would be even more evil than leaving it out.
1384 @item message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1385 @vindex message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1386 Set this to non-@code{nil} if the system's mailer runs the header and
1387 body together. (This problem exists on Sunos 4 when sendmail is run
1388 in remote mode.) The value should be an expression to test whether
1389 the problem will actually occur.
1391 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1392 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1393 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1394 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1395 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1401 @section News Headers
1403 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1404 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1405 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1406 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1412 @findex user-full-name
1413 @findex user-mail-address
1414 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1415 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1416 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1417 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1421 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1425 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1426 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1429 @cindex organization
1430 @vindex message-user-organization
1431 @vindex message-user-organization-file
1432 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1433 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1434 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1435 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1436 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1437 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1441 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1445 @vindex mail-host-address
1448 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1449 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1450 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1451 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1452 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1456 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1457 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1460 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1461 header of the article being replied to.
1465 @vindex message-expires
1466 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1467 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1468 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1471 @cindex Distribution
1472 @vindex message-distribution-function
1473 This optional header is filled out according to the
1474 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1475 much misunderstood header.
1479 @vindex message-user-path
1480 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1481 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1482 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1483 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1484 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1485 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1486 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1490 @cindex Mime-Version
1491 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1492 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1493 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1494 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1495 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1496 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1497 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1498 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1499 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1501 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1502 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1505 If you want to delete an entry from this list, the following Lisp
1506 snippet might be useful. Adjust accordingly if you want to remove
1510 (setq message-required-news-headers
1511 (delq 'Message-ID message-required-news-headers))
1514 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1518 @item message-syntax-checks
1519 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1520 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1521 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1524 (signature . disabled)
1533 Check the subject for commands.
1536 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1537 @item multiple-headers
1538 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1541 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1543 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1545 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1548 Check for too long lines.
1550 Check for invalid characters.
1552 Check for excessive size.
1554 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1556 Check the length of the signature.
1559 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1560 something only moderators should include.
1562 Check whether the article is empty.
1563 @item invisible-text
1564 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1566 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1567 @item existing-newsgroups
1568 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1569 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1570 @item valid-newsgroups
1571 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1572 are valid syntactically.
1573 @item repeated-newsgroups
1574 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1575 contains repeated group names.
1576 @item shorten-followup-to
1577 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1578 of groups to post to.
1581 All these conditions are checked by default.
1583 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1584 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1585 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1586 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1588 @item message-default-news-headers
1589 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1590 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1591 buffers that are initialized as news.
1596 @node News Variables
1597 @section News Variables
1600 @item message-send-news-function
1601 @vindex message-send-news-function
1602 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1603 @code{message-send-news}.
1605 @item message-post-method
1606 @vindex message-post-method
1607 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1608 posting a prepared news message.
1613 @node Insertion Variables
1614 @section Insertion Variables
1617 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
1618 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
1619 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
1620 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
1623 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
1624 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
1625 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
1627 @item message-citation-line-function
1628 @vindex message-citation-line-function
1629 @cindex attribution line
1630 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
1631 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
1635 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
1638 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
1641 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
1642 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
1643 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
1644 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
1645 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
1647 @item message-yank-prefix
1648 @vindex message-yank-prefix
1651 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
1652 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
1653 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
1654 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
1655 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
1658 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
1659 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
1663 When yanking text from a article which contains no text or already
1664 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
1665 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
1666 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
1668 @item message-indentation-spaces
1669 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
1670 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
1672 @item message-cite-function
1673 @vindex message-cite-function
1674 @findex message-cite-original
1675 @findex sc-cite-original
1676 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
1678 Function for citing an original message. The default is
1679 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
1680 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
1681 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
1682 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
1685 @item message-indent-citation-function
1686 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
1687 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
1688 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
1689 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
1690 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
1692 @item message-mark-insert-begin
1693 @vindex message-mark-insert-begin
1694 String to mark the beginning of some inserted text.
1696 @item message-mark-insert-end
1697 @vindex message-mark-insert-end
1698 String to mark the end of some inserted text.
1700 @item message-signature
1701 @vindex message-signature
1702 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
1703 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
1704 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
1705 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
1706 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
1708 @item message-signature-file
1709 @vindex message-signature-file
1710 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
1711 The default is @file{~/.signature}.
1713 @item message-signature-insert-empty-line
1714 @vindex message-signature-insert-empty-line
1715 If @code{t} (the default value) an empty line is inserted before the
1716 signature separator.
1720 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
1721 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
1722 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
1723 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
1724 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
1726 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
1727 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
1728 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
1731 @node Various Message Variables
1732 @section Various Message Variables
1735 @item message-default-charset
1736 @vindex message-default-charset
1738 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1739 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1740 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1742 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1743 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1744 translation process.
1746 @item message-signature-separator
1747 @vindex message-signature-separator
1748 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1751 @item mail-header-separator
1752 @vindex mail-header-separator
1753 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1754 follows this line--} by default.
1756 @item message-directory
1757 @vindex message-directory
1758 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1760 @item message-auto-save-directory
1761 @vindex message-auto-save-directory
1762 Directory where Message auto-saves buffers if Gnus isn't running. If
1763 @code{nil}, Message won't auto-save. The default is @file{~/Mail/drafts/}.
1765 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1766 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1767 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1768 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1770 @item message-setup-hook
1771 @vindex message-setup-hook
1772 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1773 but before yanked text is inserted.
1775 @item message-header-setup-hook
1776 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1777 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1779 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1780 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1781 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1784 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1785 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1786 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1787 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1788 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1789 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1791 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1792 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1795 @item message-send-hook
1796 @vindex message-send-hook
1797 Hook run before sending messages.
1799 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1800 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1801 @findex message-add-header
1804 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1805 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1806 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1807 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1810 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1812 @item message-send-mail-hook
1813 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1814 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1816 @item message-send-news-hook
1817 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1818 Hook run before sending news messages.
1820 @item message-sent-hook
1821 @vindex message-sent-hook
1822 Hook run after sending messages.
1824 @item message-cancel-hook
1825 @vindex message-cancel-hook
1826 Hook run when cancelling news articles.
1828 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1829 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1830 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1832 @item message-strip-special-text-properties
1833 @vindex message-strip-special-text-properties
1834 Emacs has a number of special text properties which can break message
1835 composing in various ways. If this option is set, message will strip
1836 these properties from the message composition buffer. However, some
1837 packages requires these properties to be present in order to work. If
1838 you use one of these packages, turn this option off, and hope the
1839 message composition doesn't break too bad.
1841 @item message-send-method-alist
1842 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1844 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1847 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1852 A symbol that names the method.
1855 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1856 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1859 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1860 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1864 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1865 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1874 @node Sending Variables
1875 @section Sending Variables
1879 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1880 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1881 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1882 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1883 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1885 @item message-courtesy-message
1886 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1887 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1888 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1889 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1890 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1891 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1892 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
1894 @item message-fcc-externalize-attachments
1895 @vindex message-fcc-externalize-attachments
1896 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Fcc copies; if it is
1897 non-@code{nil}, attach local files as external parts.
1899 @item message-interactive
1900 @vindex message-interactive
1901 If non-@code{nil} wait for and display errors when sending a message;
1902 if @code{nil} let the mailer mail back a message to report errors.
1907 @node Message Buffers
1908 @section Message Buffers
1910 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1911 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1912 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1913 message buffers are kept alive.
1916 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1917 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1918 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1919 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1920 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1921 The function should return the new buffer name.
1923 @item message-max-buffers
1924 @vindex message-max-buffers
1925 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1926 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1927 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1928 will ever be killed.
1930 @item message-send-rename-function
1931 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1932 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1933 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1934 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1935 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1939 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1942 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1943 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1944 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1949 @node Message Actions
1950 @section Message Actions
1952 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1953 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1954 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1957 @vindex message-kill-actions
1958 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1959 @vindex message-exit-actions
1960 @vindex message-send-actions
1961 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1962 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1963 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1964 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1965 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1966 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1967 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1968 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1970 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1971 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1972 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1973 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1977 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1978 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1981 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1982 killed, postponed or exited.
1984 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1985 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1986 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1990 @chapter Compatibility
1991 @cindex compatibility
1993 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1994 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1995 into account, you can put the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
1998 (require 'messcompat)
2001 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
2002 corresponding mail variables.
2009 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
2016 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
2021 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
2022 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
2023 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
2034 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
2035 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
2036 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
2037 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
2041 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
2048 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
2049 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
2050 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
2054 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
2055 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
2066 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
2067 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is