1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message (Oort) Manual
10 * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
15 @setchapternewpage odd
19 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
21 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
24 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
25 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
26 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
27 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
28 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
29 License'' in the Emacs manual.
31 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
32 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
33 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
35 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
36 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
37 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
38 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
44 @title Message (Oort) Manual
46 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
49 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
50 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
51 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
53 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
54 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
55 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
56 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
57 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
58 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
59 License'' in the Emacs manual.
61 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
62 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
63 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
65 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
66 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
67 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
68 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
77 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
81 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
82 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
83 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
84 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
85 * Appendices:: More technical things.
86 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
87 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
90 This manual corresponds to Oort Message. Message is distributed with
91 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual.
97 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
98 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
99 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
100 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
101 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
105 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
106 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
107 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
108 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
109 * Followup:: Following up via news.
110 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
111 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
112 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
113 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
114 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
118 @node New Mail Message
119 @section New Mail Message
122 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
124 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
125 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
126 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
129 @node New News Message
130 @section New News Message
133 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
135 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
136 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
137 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
143 @findex message-reply
144 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
145 reply to the message in the current buffer.
147 @vindex message-reply-to-function
148 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
149 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
150 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
152 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
153 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
156 (setq message-reply-to-function
158 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
159 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
164 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
167 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
168 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
169 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
172 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
173 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
174 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
175 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
176 the head of the outgoing mail.
182 @findex message-wide-reply
183 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
184 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
185 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
186 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
188 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
189 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
190 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
191 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
192 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
194 @findex message-dont-reply-to-names
195 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
196 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
202 @findex message-followup
203 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
204 followup to the message in the current buffer.
206 @vindex message-followup-to-function
207 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
208 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
209 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
210 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
212 @vindex message-use-followup-to
213 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
214 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
215 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
216 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
217 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
221 @section Canceling News
223 @findex message-cancel-news
224 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
231 @findex message-supersede
232 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
233 supersede the message in the current buffer.
235 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
236 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
237 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
238 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
239 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
246 @findex message-forward
247 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
248 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
252 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
253 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
254 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
256 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
257 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
258 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
259 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
260 passed into each successive function.
262 The provided functions are:
265 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
266 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
267 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
270 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
271 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
274 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
275 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
276 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
277 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
278 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
279 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
281 @item message-forward-as-mime
282 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
283 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
284 included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
285 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
286 non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
293 @findex message-resend
294 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
295 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
297 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
298 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
299 be removed before sending the message. The default is
300 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
306 @findex message-bounce
307 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
308 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
309 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
310 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
313 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
314 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
315 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
316 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
323 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
324 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
325 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
326 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
327 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
328 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
329 * Various Commands:: Various things.
330 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
331 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
332 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
337 @section Buffer Entry
341 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
342 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
343 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
344 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
345 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
346 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
347 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
348 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
351 @node Header Commands
352 @section Header Commands
354 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
361 @findex message-goto-to
362 Describe the message mode.
366 @findex message-goto-to
367 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
371 @findex message-goto-bcc
372 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
376 @findex message-goto-fcc
377 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
381 @findex message-goto-cc
382 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
386 @findex message-goto-subject
387 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
391 @findex message-goto-reply-to
392 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
396 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
397 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
401 @findex message-goto-distribution
402 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
406 @findex message-goto-followup-to
407 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
411 @findex message-goto-keywords
412 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
416 @findex message-goto-summary
417 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
428 @findex message-goto-body
429 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
430 (@code{message-goto-body}).
434 @findex message-goto-signature
435 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
439 @findex message-beginning-of-line
440 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
441 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
454 @findex message-yank-original
455 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
456 (@code{message-yank-original}).
460 @findex message-yank-buffer
461 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
462 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
466 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
467 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
468 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
469 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
470 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
475 @findex message-insert-signature
476 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
477 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
481 @findex message-insert-headers
482 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
487 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
488 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
489 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
490 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
493 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
494 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
495 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
497 @item message-citation-line-function
498 @vindex message-citation-line-function
499 @cindex attribution line
500 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
501 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
505 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
508 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
511 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
512 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
513 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
514 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
515 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
517 @item message-yank-prefix
518 @vindex message-yank-prefix
521 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
522 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
523 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
524 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
525 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
528 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
529 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
533 When yanking text from a article which contains no text or already
534 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
535 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
536 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
538 @item message-indentation-spaces
539 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
540 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
542 @item message-cite-function
543 @vindex message-cite-function
544 @findex message-cite-original
545 @findex sc-cite-original
546 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
548 Function for citing an original message. The default is
549 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
550 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
551 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
552 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
555 @item message-indent-citation-function
556 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
557 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
558 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
559 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
560 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
562 @item message-signature
563 @vindex message-signature
564 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
565 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
566 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
567 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
568 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
570 @item message-signature-file
571 @vindex message-signature-file
572 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
573 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
577 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
578 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
579 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
580 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
581 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
583 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
584 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
585 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
595 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
596 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
597 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
598 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
600 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
601 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
602 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
603 name and a @sc{mime} type.
605 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
606 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
618 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
619 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently
620 support PGP (RFC 1991), PGP/MIME (RFC 2015/3156) and S/MIME.
621 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a MIME part is done
622 using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @code{C-c C-m
623 c} key map for encryption, as follows.
629 @findex mml-secure-sign-smime
631 Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
635 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
637 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP.
641 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
643 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
647 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
649 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
653 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgp
655 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP.
659 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
661 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
665 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
666 merely insert proper MML tags to instruct the MML engine to perform that
667 operation when the message is actually sent. They may perform other
668 operations too, such as locating and retrieving a S/MIME certificate of
669 the person you wish to send encrypted mail to.
671 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
672 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
673 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
674 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
675 using @code{C-u C-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
676 your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
677 did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
678 night, actually will be sent encrypted.
680 @emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
681 They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
682 mail with a sensitive Subject line.
684 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
685 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
686 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
687 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
689 @subsection Using S/MIME
691 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
692 modern cryptography, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
694 The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
695 perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
696 at @code{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work.
697 Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from certificates, and it
698 insert a spurious CR character into MIME separators so you may wish to
699 avoid it if you would like to avoid being regarded as someone who send
700 strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME messages you've probably
701 already lost that contest.)
703 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
704 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
705 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
706 @code{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
707 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
708 it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
709 you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
710 default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
711 agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
712 so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
713 there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
714 LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
715 it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
716 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
718 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
719 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
720 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
721 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
722 a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
723 customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
725 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
726 own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
727 with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
728 free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
729 is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
730 Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
734 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
737 The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
738 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
740 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
743 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
745 PGP/MIME requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
746 Privacy Guard (@code{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an Emacs
747 interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
748 @code{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
749 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
751 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
752 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
754 @node Various Commands
755 @section Various Commands
761 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
762 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
763 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
764 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
765 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
769 @findex message-elide-region
770 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
771 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
772 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
777 @findex message-kill-to-signature
778 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
779 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
783 @findex message-delete-not-region
784 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
785 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
789 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
790 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
795 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
798 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
801 > This is some quoted text.
805 > And here's more quoted text.
808 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
812 @findex message-insert-to
813 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
814 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
815 (@code{message-insert-to}).
819 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
820 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
821 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
822 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
826 @findex message-rename-buffer
827 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
828 prompt for a new buffer name.
839 @findex message-send-and-exit
840 Send the message and bury the current buffer
841 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
846 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
850 @findex message-dont-send
851 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
855 @findex message-kill-buffer
856 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
863 @section Mail Aliases
867 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
868 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
869 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
870 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
871 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
873 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
874 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
877 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
878 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
881 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
882 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
883 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
885 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
886 expansions have to be done explicitly.
892 @findex ispell-message
894 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
895 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
896 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
897 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
898 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
899 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
902 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
905 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
906 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
907 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
910 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
911 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
915 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
918 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
919 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
922 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
926 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
928 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
931 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
939 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
940 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
941 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
942 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
943 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
944 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
945 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
946 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
947 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
951 @node Message Headers
952 @section Message Headers
954 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
955 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
956 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
957 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
958 look sufficiently similar.
962 @item message-generate-headers-first
963 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
964 If non-@code{nil}, generate all required headers before starting to
967 The variables @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
968 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are required.
970 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
971 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
973 @item message-from-style
974 @vindex message-from-style
975 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
980 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
983 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
986 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
989 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
990 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
991 @code{angles} anyway.
995 @item message-deletable-headers
996 @vindex message-deletable-headers
997 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
998 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
999 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1000 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1001 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1002 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1003 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1004 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1007 @item message-default-headers
1008 @vindex message-default-headers
1009 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1012 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1013 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1014 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1015 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1016 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1017 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1018 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1019 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1020 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1021 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1022 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1024 @item message-alternative-emails
1025 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1026 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1027 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1033 @section Mail Headers
1036 @item message-required-mail-headers
1037 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1038 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1039 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1040 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1042 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1043 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1044 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1045 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1047 @item message-default-mail-headers
1048 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1049 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1050 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1055 @node Mail Variables
1056 @section Mail Variables
1059 @item message-send-mail-function
1060 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1061 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1062 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1063 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1064 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1065 @findex feedmail-send-it
1066 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1067 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1068 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1069 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1071 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1072 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1073 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1074 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1075 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1076 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1079 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1080 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1081 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1082 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1083 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1089 @section News Headers
1091 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1092 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1093 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1094 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1100 @findex user-full-name
1101 @findex user-mail-address
1102 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1103 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1104 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1105 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1109 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1113 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1114 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1117 @cindex organization
1118 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1119 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1120 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1121 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1122 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1123 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1127 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1131 @vindex mail-host-address
1134 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1135 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1136 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1137 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1138 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1142 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1143 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1146 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1147 header of the article being replied to.
1151 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1152 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1153 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1156 @cindex Distribution
1157 This optional header is filled out according to the
1158 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1159 much misunderstood header.
1163 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1164 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1165 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1166 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1167 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1168 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1169 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1173 @cindex Mime-Version
1174 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1175 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1176 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1177 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1178 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1179 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1180 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1181 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1182 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1184 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1185 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1188 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1192 @item message-syntax-checks
1193 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1194 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1195 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1198 (signature . disabled)
1207 Check the subject for commands.
1210 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1211 @item multiple-headers
1212 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1215 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1217 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1219 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1222 Check for too long lines.
1224 Check for invalid characters.
1226 Check for excessive size.
1228 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1230 Check the length of the signature.
1233 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1234 something only moderators should include.
1236 Check whether the article is empty.
1237 @item invisible-text
1238 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1240 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1241 @item existing-newsgroups
1242 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1243 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1244 @item valid-newsgroups
1245 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1246 are valid syntactically.
1247 @item repeated-newsgroups
1248 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1249 contains repeated group names.
1250 @item shorten-followup-to
1251 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1252 of groups to post to.
1255 All these conditions are checked by default.
1257 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1258 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1259 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1260 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1262 @item message-default-news-headers
1263 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1264 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1265 buffers that are initialized as news.
1270 @node News Variables
1271 @section News Variables
1274 @item message-send-news-function
1275 @vindex message-send-news-function
1276 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1277 @code{message-send-news}.
1279 @item message-post-method
1280 @vindex message-post-method
1281 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1282 posting a prepared news message.
1287 @node Various Message Variables
1288 @section Various Message Variables
1291 @item message-default-charset
1292 @vindex message-default-charset
1294 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1295 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1296 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1298 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1299 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1300 translation process.
1302 @item message-signature-separator
1303 @vindex message-signature-separator
1304 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1307 @item mail-header-separator
1308 @vindex mail-header-separator
1309 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1310 follows this line--} by default.
1312 @item message-directory
1313 @vindex message-directory
1314 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1316 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1317 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1318 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1319 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1321 @item message-setup-hook
1322 @vindex message-setup-hook
1323 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1324 but before yanked text is inserted.
1326 @item message-header-setup-hook
1327 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1328 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1330 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1331 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1332 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1335 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1336 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1337 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1338 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1339 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1340 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1342 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1343 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1346 @item message-send-hook
1347 @vindex message-send-hook
1348 Hook run before sending messages.
1350 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1351 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1352 @findex message-add-header
1355 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1356 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1357 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1358 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1361 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1363 @item message-send-mail-hook
1364 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1365 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1367 @item message-send-news-hook
1368 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1369 Hook run before sending news messages.
1371 @item message-sent-hook
1372 @vindex message-sent-hook
1373 Hook run after sending messages.
1375 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1376 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1377 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1379 @item message-send-method-alist
1380 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1382 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1385 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1390 A symbol that names the method.
1393 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1394 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1397 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1398 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1402 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1403 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1412 @node Sending Variables
1413 @section Sending Variables
1417 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1418 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1419 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1420 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1421 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1423 @item message-courtesy-message
1424 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1425 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1426 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1427 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1428 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1429 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1430 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
1435 @node Message Buffers
1436 @section Message Buffers
1438 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1439 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1440 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1441 message buffers are kept alive.
1444 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1445 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1446 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1447 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1448 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1449 The function should return the new buffer name.
1451 @item message-max-buffers
1452 @vindex message-max-buffers
1453 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1454 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1455 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1456 will ever be killed.
1458 @item message-send-rename-function
1459 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1460 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1461 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1462 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1463 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1467 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1470 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1471 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1472 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1477 @node Message Actions
1478 @section Message Actions
1480 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1481 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1482 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1485 @vindex message-kill-actions
1486 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1487 @vindex message-exit-actions
1488 @vindex message-send-actions
1489 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1490 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1491 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1492 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1493 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1494 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1495 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1496 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1498 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1499 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1500 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1501 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1505 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1506 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1509 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1510 killed, postponed or exited.
1512 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1513 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1514 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1518 @chapter Compatibility
1519 @cindex compatibility
1521 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1522 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1523 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1526 (require 'messcompat)
1529 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1530 corresponding mail variables.
1537 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1544 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1549 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1550 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1551 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1562 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1563 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1564 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1565 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1569 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1576 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1577 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1578 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1582 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1583 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1594 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1595 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is