1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message 0.27 Manual
11 @setchapternewpage odd
15 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
17 Copyright (C) 1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
19 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
20 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
21 are preserved on all copies.
24 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
25 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
26 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
27 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
30 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
31 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
32 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
33 permission notice identical to this one.
35 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
36 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
42 @title Message 0.27 Manual
44 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
47 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
48 Copyright @copyright{} 1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
50 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
51 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
52 are preserved on all copies.
54 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
55 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
56 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
57 permission notice identical to this one.
59 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
60 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
70 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
74 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
75 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
76 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
77 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
78 * Appendices:: More technical things.
79 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
80 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
83 This manual corresponds to Message 0.27. Message is distributed with
84 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual
91 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
92 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
93 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
94 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
95 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
99 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
100 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
101 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
102 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
103 * Followup:: Following up via news.
104 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
105 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
106 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
107 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
108 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
112 @node New Mail Message
113 @section New Mail Message
116 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
118 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
119 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
120 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
123 @node New News Message
124 @section New News Message
127 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
129 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
130 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
131 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
137 @findex message-reply
138 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
139 reply to the message in the current buffer.
141 @vindex message-reply-to-function
142 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
143 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
144 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
146 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
147 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
150 (setq message-reply-to-function
152 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
153 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
158 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
161 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
162 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
163 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
166 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
167 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
168 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
169 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
170 the head of the outgoing mail.
176 @findex message-wide-reply
177 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
178 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
179 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
180 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
182 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
183 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
184 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
185 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
186 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
188 @findex rmail-dont-reply-to-names
189 Addresses that match the @code{rmail-dont-reply-to-names} regular
190 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
196 @findex message-followup
197 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
198 followup to the message in the current buffer.
200 @vindex message-followup-to-function
201 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
202 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
203 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
204 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
206 @vindex message-use-followup-to
207 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
208 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
209 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
210 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
211 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
215 @section Canceling News
217 @findex message-cancel-news
218 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
225 @findex message-supersede
226 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
227 supersede the message in the current buffer.
229 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
230 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
231 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
232 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
233 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
240 @findex message-forward
241 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
242 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
246 @item message-forward-start-separator
247 @vindex message-forward-start-separator
248 Delimiter inserted before forwarded messages. The default is@*
249 @samp{------- Start of forwarded message -------\n}.
251 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
252 @item message-forward-end-separator
253 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
254 Delimiter inserted after forwarded messages. The default is@*
255 @samp{------- End of forwarded message -------\n}.
257 @item message-signature-before-forwarded-message
258 @vindex message-signature-before-forwarded-message
259 If this variable is @code{t}, which it is by default, your personal
260 signature will be inserted before the forwarded message. If not, the
261 forwarded message will be inserted first in the new mail.
263 @item message-included-forward-headers
264 @vindex message-included-forward-headers
265 Regexp matching header lines to be included in forwarded messages.
273 @findex message-resend
274 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
275 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
277 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
278 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
279 be removed before sending the message. The default is
280 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
286 @findex message-bounce
287 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
288 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
289 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
290 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
293 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
294 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
295 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
296 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
303 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
304 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
305 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
306 * Various Commands:: Various things.
307 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
308 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
312 @node Header Commands
313 @section Header Commands
315 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
322 @findex message-goto-to
323 Describe the message mode.
327 @findex message-goto-to
328 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
332 @findex message-goto-bcc
333 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
337 @findex message-goto-fcc
338 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
342 @findex message-goto-cc
343 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
347 @findex message-goto-subject
348 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
352 @findex message-goto-reply-to
353 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
357 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
358 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
362 @findex message-goto-distribution
363 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
367 @findex message-goto-followup-to
368 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
372 @findex message-goto-keywords
373 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
377 @findex message-goto-summary
378 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
389 @findex message-goto-body
390 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
391 (@code{message-goto-body}).
395 @findex message-goto-signature
396 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
408 @findex message-yank-original
409 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
410 (@code{message-yank-original}).
414 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
415 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
416 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
417 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
418 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
424 @findex message-insert-signature
425 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
426 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
431 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
432 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
433 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
434 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
437 @item message-citation-line-function
438 @vindex message-citation-line-function
439 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
440 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
444 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
447 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
450 @item message-yank-prefix
451 @vindex message-yank-prefix
454 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
455 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
456 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
457 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
458 If it is @code{nil}, just indent the message.
460 @item message-indentation-spaces
461 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
462 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
464 @item message-cite-function
465 @vindex message-cite-function
466 @findex message-cite-original
467 @findex sc-cite-original
468 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
470 Function for citing an original message. The default is
471 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
472 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
473 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
474 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
477 @item message-indent-citation-function
478 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
479 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
480 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
481 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
482 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
484 @item message-signature
485 @vindex message-signature
486 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
487 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
488 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
489 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
490 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
492 @item message-signature-file
493 @vindex message-signature-file
494 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
495 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
499 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
500 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
501 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
502 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
503 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
505 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
506 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
507 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
511 @node Various Commands
512 @section Various Commands
518 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
519 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
520 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
521 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
522 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
526 @findex message-elide-region
527 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
528 The text is killed and an ellipsis (@samp{[...]}) will be inserted in
533 @findex message-kill-to-signature
534 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
535 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
539 @findex message-delete-not-region
540 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
541 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
545 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
546 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
551 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
554 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
557 > This is some quoted text.
561 > And here's more quoted text.
564 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
568 @findex message-insert-to
569 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
570 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
571 (@code{message-insert-to}).
575 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
576 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
577 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
578 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
582 @findex message-rename-buffer
583 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
584 prompt for a new buffer name.
595 @findex message-send-and-exit
596 Send the message and bury the current buffer
597 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
602 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
606 @findex message-dont-send
607 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
611 @findex message-kill-buffer
612 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
619 @section Mail Aliases
623 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
624 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
625 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
626 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
627 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
629 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
630 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
633 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
634 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
637 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
638 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
639 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
641 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
642 expansions have to be done explicitly.
650 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
651 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
652 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
653 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
654 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
655 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
656 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
657 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
658 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
662 @node Message Headers
663 @section Message Headers
665 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
666 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
667 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
668 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
669 look sufficiently similar.
673 @item message-generate-headers-first
674 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
675 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
678 @item message-from-style
679 @vindex message-from-style
680 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four legal
685 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
688 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
691 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
694 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
695 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
696 @code{angles} anyway.
700 @item message-deletable-headers
701 @vindex message-deletable-headers
702 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
703 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
704 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
705 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
706 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
707 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
708 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
709 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
712 @item message-default-headers
713 @vindex message-default-headers
714 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
721 @section Mail Headers
724 @item message-required-mail-headers
725 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
726 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
727 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
728 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
730 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
731 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
732 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
733 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
735 @item message-default-mail-headers
736 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
737 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
738 buffers that are initialized as mail.
744 @section Mail Variables
747 @item message-send-mail-function
748 @vindex message-send-mail-function
749 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
750 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
751 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
753 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
754 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
755 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
756 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
757 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
758 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
765 @section News Headers
767 @vindex message-required-news-headers
768 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
769 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
770 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are legal:
776 @findex user-full-name
777 @findex user-mail-address
778 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
779 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
780 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
781 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
785 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
789 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
790 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
794 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
795 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
796 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
797 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
798 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
799 parameters and should return a string to be used).
803 This optional header will be computed by Message.
807 @vindex mail-host-address
810 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
811 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message will
812 use @code{mail-host-address} as the fully qualified domain name (FQDN)
813 of the machine if that variable is defined. If not, it will use
814 @code{system-name}, which doesn't report a FQDN on some machines --
819 This optional header will be filled out according to the
820 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
823 This optional header will be filled out according to the
824 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
825 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
828 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
829 header of the article being replied to.
833 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
834 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
835 be used unless you know what you're doing.
839 This optional header is filled out according to the
840 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
841 much misunderstood header.
845 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
846 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
847 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
848 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
849 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
850 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
851 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
856 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
857 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
858 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
859 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
860 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
861 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
862 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
863 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
864 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
866 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
867 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
870 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
874 @item message-syntax-checks
875 @vindex message-syntax-checks
876 If non-@code{nil}, Message will attempt to check the legality of the
877 headers, as well as some other stuff, before posting. You can control
878 the granularity of the check by adding or removing elements from this
879 list. Legal elements are:
883 Check the subject for commands.
886 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
887 @item multiple-headers
888 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
891 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
893 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
895 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
898 Check for too long lines.
900 Check for illegal characters.
902 Check for excessive size.
904 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
906 Check the length of the signature.
909 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
910 something only moderators should include.
912 Check whether the article is empty.
914 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
915 @item existing-newsgroups
916 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
917 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
918 @item valid-newsgroups
919 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
920 are valid syntactically.
921 @item repeated-newsgroups
922 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
923 contains repeated group names.
924 @item shorten-followup-to
925 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
926 of groups to post to.
929 All these conditions are checked by default.
931 @item message-ignored-news-headers
932 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
933 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
934 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
936 @item message-default-news-headers
937 @vindex message-default-news-headers
938 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
939 buffers that are initialized as news.
945 @section News Variables
948 @item message-send-news-function
949 @vindex message-send-news-function
950 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
951 @code{message-send-news}.
953 @item message-post-method
954 @vindex message-post-method
955 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
956 posting a prepared news message.
961 @node Various Message Variables
962 @section Various Message Variables
965 @item message-signature-separator
966 @vindex message-signature-separator
967 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
970 @item mail-header-separator
971 @vindex mail-header-separator
972 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
973 follows this line--} by default.
975 @item message-directory
976 @vindex message-directory
977 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
979 @item message-autosave-directory
980 @vindex message-autosave-directory
981 Directory where message buffers will be autosaved to.
983 @item message-signature-setup-hook
984 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
985 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
986 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
988 @item message-setup-hook
989 @vindex message-setup-hook
990 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
991 but before yanked text is inserted.
993 @item message-header-setup-hook
994 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
995 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
997 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
998 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
999 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1002 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1003 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1004 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1005 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1006 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1007 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1009 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1010 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1013 @item message-send-hook
1014 @vindex message-send-hook
1015 Hook run before sending messages.
1017 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1018 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1019 @findex message-add-header
1022 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1023 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1026 "Content-Type: text/plain"
1027 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit"))
1030 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1032 @item message-send-mail-hook
1033 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1034 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1036 @item message-send-news-hook
1037 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1038 Hook run before sending news messages.
1040 @item message-sent-hook
1041 @vindex message-sent-hook
1042 Hook run after sending messages.
1044 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1045 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1046 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1048 @item message-send-method-alist
1049 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1051 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1054 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1059 A symbol that names the method.
1062 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1063 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1066 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1067 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1071 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1072 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1081 @node Sending Variables
1082 @section Sending Variables
1086 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1087 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1088 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1089 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1090 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1092 @item message-courtesy-message
1093 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1094 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1095 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1096 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1097 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1098 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1099 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1104 @node Message Buffers
1105 @section Message Buffers
1107 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1108 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1109 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1110 message buffers are kept alive.
1113 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1114 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1115 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1116 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1117 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1118 The function should return the new buffer name.
1120 @item message-max-buffers
1121 @vindex message-max-buffers
1122 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1123 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1124 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1125 will ever be killed.
1127 @item message-send-rename-function
1128 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1129 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1130 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1131 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1132 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1136 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1139 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1140 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1141 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1146 @node Message Actions
1147 @section Message Actions
1149 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1150 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1151 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1154 @vindex message-kill-actions
1155 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1156 @vindex message-exit-actions
1157 @vindex message-send-actions
1158 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1159 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1160 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1161 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1162 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1163 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1164 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1165 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1167 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1168 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1169 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1170 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1174 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1175 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1178 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1179 killed, postponed or exited.
1181 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1182 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1183 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1187 @chapter Compatibility
1188 @cindex compatibility
1190 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1191 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1192 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1195 (require 'messcompat)
1198 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1199 corresponding mail variables.
1206 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1213 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1218 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1219 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1220 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1231 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1232 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1233 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1234 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1238 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1245 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1246 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1247 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1251 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1252 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1263 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1264 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is