1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message (Oort) Manual
10 * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
15 @setchapternewpage odd
19 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
21 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
24 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
25 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
26 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
27 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
28 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
29 License'' in the Emacs manual.
31 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
32 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
33 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
35 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
36 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
37 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
38 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
44 @title Message (Oort) Manual
46 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
49 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
50 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
51 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
53 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
54 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
55 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
56 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
57 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
58 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
59 License'' in the Emacs manual.
61 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
62 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
63 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
65 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
66 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
67 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
68 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
77 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
81 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
82 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
83 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
84 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
85 * Appendices:: More technical things.
86 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
87 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
90 This manual corresponds to Oort Message. Message is distributed with
91 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual.
97 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
98 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
99 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
100 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
101 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
105 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
106 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
107 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
108 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
109 * Followup:: Following up via news.
110 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
111 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
112 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
113 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
114 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
115 * Mailing Lists:: Send mail to mailing lists.
119 @node New Mail Message
120 @section New Mail Message
123 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
125 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
126 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
127 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
130 @node New News Message
131 @section New News Message
134 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
136 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
137 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
138 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
144 @findex message-reply
145 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
146 reply to the message in the current buffer.
148 @vindex message-reply-to-function
149 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
150 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
151 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
153 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
154 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
157 (setq message-reply-to-function
159 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
160 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
165 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
168 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
169 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
170 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
173 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
174 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
175 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
176 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
177 the head of the outgoing mail.
183 @findex message-wide-reply
184 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
185 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
186 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
187 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
189 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
190 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
191 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
192 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
193 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
195 @vindex message-dont-reply-to-names
196 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
197 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
199 @vindex message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients
200 If @code{message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients} is non-@code{nil} you
201 will be asked to confirm that you want to reply to multiple
202 recipients. The default is @code{nil}.
207 @findex message-followup
208 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
209 followup to the message in the current buffer.
211 @vindex message-followup-to-function
212 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
213 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
214 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
215 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
217 @vindex message-use-followup-to
218 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
219 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
220 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
221 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
222 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
226 @section Canceling News
228 @findex message-cancel-news
229 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
232 @vindex message-cancel-message
233 The value of @code{message-cancel-message} is inserted in the body of
234 the cancel message. The default is @samp{I am canceling my own
241 @findex message-supersede
242 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
243 supersede the message in the current buffer.
245 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
246 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
247 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
248 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
249 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
256 @findex message-forward
257 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
258 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
262 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
263 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
264 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
266 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
267 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
268 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
269 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
270 passed into each successive function.
272 The provided functions are:
275 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
276 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
277 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
280 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
281 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
284 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
285 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
286 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
287 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
288 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
289 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
291 @item message-forward-as-mime
292 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
293 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
294 included as inline @sc{mime} RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
295 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
296 non @sc{mime}-savvy versions of gnus would do.
298 @item message-forward-before-signature
299 @vindex message-forward-before-signature
300 If non-@code{nil}, put forwarded message before signature, else after.
308 @findex message-resend
309 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
310 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
312 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
313 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
314 be removed before sending the message. The default is
315 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
321 @findex message-bounce
322 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
323 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
324 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
325 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
328 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
329 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
330 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
331 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
335 @section Mailing Lists
337 Sometimes while posting to mailing lists, the poster needs to direct
338 followups to the post to specific places. The Mail-Followup-To (MFT)
339 was created to enable just this. Two example scenarios where this is
344 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
345 sent to just the list, and not the poster as well. This will happen
346 if the poster is already subscribed to the list.
349 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
350 sent to the list and the poster as well. This will happen if the poster
351 is not subscribed to the list.
354 If a message is posted to several mailing lists, MFT may also be used
355 to direct the following discussion to one list only, because
356 discussions that are spread over several lists tend to be fragmented
357 and very difficult to follow.
361 Gnus honors the MFT header in other's messages (i.e. while following
362 up to someone else's post) and also provides support for generating
363 sensible MFT headers for outgoing messages as well.
366 @c * Honoring an MFT post:: What to do when one already exists
367 @c * Composing with a MFT header:: Creating one from scratch.
370 @c @node Composing with a MFT header
371 @subsection Composing a correct MFT header automagically
373 The first step in getting Gnus to automagically generate a MFT header
374 in posts you make is to give Gnus a list of the mailing lists
375 addresses you are subscribed to. You can do this in more than one
376 way. The following variables would come in handy.
380 @vindex message-subscribed-addresses
381 @item message-subscribed-addresses
382 This should be a list of addresses the user is subscribed to. Its
383 default value is @code{nil}. Example:
385 (setq message-subscribed-addresses
386 '("ding@@gnus.org" "bing@@noose.org"))
389 @vindex message-subscribed-regexps
390 @item message-subscribed-regexps
391 This should be a list of regexps denoting the addresses of mailing
392 lists subscribed to. Default value is @code{nil}. Example: If you
393 want to achieve the same result as above:
395 (setq message-subscribed-regexps
396 '("\\(ding@@gnus\\)\\|\\(bing@@noose\\)\\.org")
399 @vindex message-subscribed-address-functions
400 @item message-subscribed-address-functions
401 This can be a list of functions to be called (one at a time!!) to
402 determine the value of MFT headers. It is advisable that these
403 functions not take any arguments. Default value is @code{nil}.
405 There is a pre-defined function in Gnus that is a good candidate for
406 this variable. @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses} is a function
407 that returns a list of addresses corresponding to the groups that have
408 the @code{subscribed} (@pxref{(gnus)subscribed})
409 group parameter set to a non-nil value. This is how you would do it.
412 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
413 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
416 @vindex message-subscribed-address-file
417 @item message-subscribed-address-file
418 You might be one organised human freak and have a list of addresses of
419 all subscribed mailing lists in a separate file! Then you can just
420 set this variable to the name of the file and life would be good.
424 You can use one or more of the above variables. All their values are
425 ``added'' in some way that works :-)
427 Now you are all set. Just start composing a message as you normally do.
428 And just send it; as always. Just before the message is sent out, Gnus'
429 MFT generation thingy kicks in and checks if the message already has a
430 MFT field. If there is one, it is left alone. (Except if it's empty -
431 in that case, the field is removed and is not replaced with an
432 automatically generated one. This lets you disable MFT generation on a
433 per-message basis.) If there is none, then the list of recipient
434 addresses (in the To: and Cc: headers) is checked to see if one of them
435 is a list address you are subscribed to. If none of them is a list
436 address, then no MFT is generated; otherwise, a MFT is added to the
437 other headers and set to the value of all addresses in To: and Cc:
440 @findex message-goto-mail-followup-to
441 Hm. ``So'', you ask, ``what if I send an email to a list I am not
442 subscribed to? I want my MFT to say that I want an extra copy.'' (This
443 is supposed to be interpreted by others the same way as if there were no
444 MFT, but you can use an explicit MFT to override someone else's
445 to-address group parameter.) Well, the kind folks at Gnus Towers are
446 working on a database of all known mailing list addresses that can be
447 used for this purpose. Till then, you could, like, insert a MFT header
448 manually, with the help of @kbd{C-c C-f C-m} (@code{message-goto-mail-followup-to})!!
450 @c @node Honoring an MFT post
451 @subsection Honoring an MFT post
453 @vindex message-use-mail-followup-to
454 When you followup to a post on a mailing list, and the post has a MFT
455 header, Gnus' action will depend on the value of the variable
456 @code{message-use-mail-followup-to}. This variable can be one of:
460 Always honor MFTs. The To: and Cc: headers in your followup will be
461 derived from the MFT header of the original post. This is the default.
464 Always dishonor MFTs (just ignore the darned thing)
467 Gnus will prompt you for an action.
471 It is considered good nettiquette to honor MFT, as it is assumed the
472 fellow who posted a message knows where the followups need to go
479 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
480 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
481 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
482 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
483 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
484 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
485 * Various Commands:: Various things.
486 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
487 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
488 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
493 @section Buffer Entry
497 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
498 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
499 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
500 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
501 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
502 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
503 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
504 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
507 @node Header Commands
508 @section Header Commands
510 All these commands move to the header in question (except for the
511 @samp{Importance:} related commands). If it doesn't exist, it will be
518 @findex describe-mode
519 Describe the message mode.
523 @findex message-goto-to
524 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
528 @findex message-goto-from
529 Go to the @code{From} header (@code{message-goto-from}). (The ``o''
530 in the key binding is for Originator.)
534 @findex message-goto-bcc
535 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
539 @findex message-goto-fcc
540 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
544 @findex message-goto-cc
545 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
549 @findex message-goto-subject
550 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
554 @findex message-goto-reply-to
555 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
559 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
560 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
564 @findex message-goto-distribution
565 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
569 @findex message-goto-followup-to
570 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
574 @findex message-goto-keywords
575 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
579 @findex message-goto-summary
580 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
584 @findex message-insert-or-toggle-importance
585 This inserts the @samp{Importance:} header with a value of
586 @samp{high}. This header is used to signal the importance of the
587 message to the receiver. If the header is already present in the
588 buffer, it cycles between the three valid values according to RFC
589 1376: @samp{low}, @samp{normal} and @samp{high}.
591 @item M-x message-insert-importance-high
592 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-high
593 @findex message-insert-importance-high
594 Insert a @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{high},
595 deleting headers if necessary.
597 @item M-x message-insert-importance-low
598 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-low
599 @findex message-insert-importance-low
600 Insert a @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{low},
601 deleting headers if necessary.
612 @findex message-goto-body
613 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
614 (@code{message-goto-body}).
618 @findex message-goto-signature
619 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
623 @findex message-beginning-of-line
624 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
625 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
638 @findex message-yank-original
639 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
640 (@code{message-yank-original}).
644 @findex message-yank-buffer
645 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
646 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
650 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
651 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
652 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
653 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
654 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
659 @findex message-insert-signature
660 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
661 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
665 @findex message-insert-headers
666 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
670 @findex message-insert-disposition-notification-to
671 Insert a request for a disposition
672 notification. (@code{message-insert-disposition-notification-to}).
673 This means that if the recipient support RFC 2298 she might send you a
674 notification that she received the message.
686 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
687 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
688 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
689 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
691 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
692 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
693 be done with the @kbd{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
694 name and a @sc{mime} type.
696 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
697 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
710 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
711 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently
712 support PGP (RFC 1991), @sc{pgp/mime} (RFC 2015/3156) and @sc{s/mime}.
713 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
714 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
715 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
721 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
723 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
727 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
729 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
733 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime
735 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
739 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
741 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
745 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
747 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
751 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
753 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
757 @findex mml-unsecure-message
758 Remove security related MML tags from message.
762 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
763 merely insert the proper MML secure tag to instruct the MML engine to
764 perform that operation when the message is actually sent. They may
765 perform other operations too, such as locating and retrieving a
766 @sc{s/mime} certificate of the person you wish to send encrypted mail
767 to. When the mml parsing engine converts your MML into a properly
768 encoded @sc{mime} message, the secure tag will be replaced with either
769 a part or a multipart tag. If your message contains other mml parts,
770 a multipart tag will be used; if no other parts are present in your
771 message a single part tag will be used. This way, message mode will
772 do the Right Thing (TM) with signed/encrypted multipart messages.
774 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
775 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
776 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
777 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
778 using @kbd{C-u C-c RET P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can
779 verify that your long rant about what your ex-significant other or
780 whomever actually did with that funny looking person at that strange
781 party the other night, actually will be sent encrypted.
783 @emph{Note!} Neither @sc{pgp/mime} nor @sc{s/mime} encrypt/signs
784 RFC822 headers. They only operate on the @sc{mime} object. Keep this
785 in mind before sending mail with a sensitive Subject line.
787 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
788 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
789 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
790 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
792 @subsection Using S/MIME
794 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
795 modern cryptography, @sc{s/mime}, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and
798 The @sc{s/mime} support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
799 perform the actual @sc{s/mime} sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can
800 be found at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later
801 should work. Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from
802 certificates, and it insert a spurious CR character into @sc{mime}
803 separators so you may wish to avoid it if you would like to avoid
804 being regarded as someone who send strange mail. (Although by sending
805 @sc{s/mime} messages you've probably already lost that contest.)
807 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
808 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
809 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
810 @kbd{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
811 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local
812 file, it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you
813 chose DNS, you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is
814 stored, the default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is
815 the first mail agent in the world to support retrieving @sc{s/mime}
816 certificates from DNS, so you're not likely to find very many
817 certificates out there. At least there should be one, stored at the
818 domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}. LDAP is a more popular method of
819 distributing certificates, support for it is planned. (Meanwhile, you
820 can use @code{ldapsearch} from the command line to retrieve a
821 certificate into a file and use it.)
823 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
824 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
825 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
826 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it
827 contain a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try
828 @kbd{M-x customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
830 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create
831 your own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this
832 manually with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape
833 and got a free @sc{s/mime} certificate from one of the big CA's on the
834 net. Netscape is able to export your private key and certificate in
835 PKCS #12 format. Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509
836 certificate in PEM format as follows.
839 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
842 The @file{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
843 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
845 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
848 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
850 @sc{pgp/mime} requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
851 Privacy Guard (@uref{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an
852 Emacs interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
853 @uref{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
854 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
856 @vindex gpg-temp-directory
857 Note, if you are using the @code{gpg.el} you must make sure that the
858 path specified by @code{gpg-temp-directory} have permissions 0700.
860 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
861 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
863 @node Various Commands
864 @section Various Commands
870 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
871 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
872 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
873 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
874 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
878 @findex message-elide-region
879 @vindex message-elide-ellipsis
880 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
881 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
882 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
887 @findex message-kill-to-signature
888 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
889 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
893 @findex message-delete-not-region
894 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
895 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
899 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
900 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
905 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
908 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
911 > This is some quoted text.
915 > And here's more quoted text.
918 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
922 @findex message-insert-to
923 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
924 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
925 (@code{message-insert-to}).
929 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
930 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
931 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
932 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
936 @findex message-sort-headers
937 @vindex message-header-format-alist
938 Sort headers according to @code{message-header-format-alist}
939 (@code{message-sort-headers}).
943 @findex message-rename-buffer
944 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
945 prompt for a new buffer name.
956 @findex message-send-and-exit
957 Send the message and bury the current buffer
958 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
963 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
967 @findex message-dont-send
968 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
972 @findex message-kill-buffer
973 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
980 @section Mail Aliases
984 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
985 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
986 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
987 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
988 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
990 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
991 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
994 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
995 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
998 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
999 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
1000 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
1002 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
1003 expansions have to be done explicitly.
1009 @findex ispell-message
1011 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
1012 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
1013 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
1014 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
1015 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
1016 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
1019 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
1022 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1023 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
1024 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
1027 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1028 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
1029 (".*" . "default")))
1032 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1035 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
1036 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
1039 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
1043 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
1045 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
1048 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1056 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
1057 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
1058 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
1059 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
1060 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
1061 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
1062 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
1063 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
1064 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
1065 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
1069 @node Message Headers
1070 @section Message Headers
1072 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
1073 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
1074 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
1075 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
1076 look sufficiently similar.
1080 @item message-generate-headers-first
1081 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
1082 If non-@code{nil}, generate all required headers before starting to
1083 compose the message.
1085 The variables @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
1086 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are required.
1088 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
1089 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
1091 @item message-from-style
1092 @vindex message-from-style
1093 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
1098 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
1101 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
1104 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
1107 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
1108 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
1109 @code{angles} anyway.
1113 @item message-deletable-headers
1114 @vindex message-deletable-headers
1115 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
1116 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
1117 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1118 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1119 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1120 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1121 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1122 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1125 @item message-default-headers
1126 @vindex message-default-headers
1127 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1130 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1131 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1135 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1136 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1137 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1138 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1139 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1140 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1141 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1142 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1143 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1145 Here's an example of a value to deal with these headers when
1146 responding to a message:
1149 (setq message-subject-re-regexp
1150 "^\\(\\(\\([Rr][Ee]\\|[Ss][Vv]\\|[Aa][Ww]\\): *\\)+\\))
1153 @item message-alternative-emails
1154 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1155 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1156 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1162 @section Mail Headers
1165 @item message-required-mail-headers
1166 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1167 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1168 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1169 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1171 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1172 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1173 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1174 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1176 @item message-default-mail-headers
1177 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1178 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1179 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1184 @node Mail Variables
1185 @section Mail Variables
1188 @item message-send-mail-function
1189 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1190 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1191 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1192 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1193 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1194 @findex feedmail-send-it
1195 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1196 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1197 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1198 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1200 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1201 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1202 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1203 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1204 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1205 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1208 @item message-qmail-inject-program
1209 @vindex message-qmail-inject-program
1211 Location of the qmail-inject program.
1213 @item message-qmail-inject-args
1214 @vindex message-qmail-inject-args
1215 Arguments passed to qmail-inject programs.
1216 This should be a list of strings, one string for each argument. It
1217 may also be a function.
1219 For e.g., if you wish to set the envelope sender address so that bounces
1220 go to the right place or to deal with listserv's usage of that address, you
1221 might set this variable to @code{'("-f" "you@@some.where")}.
1223 @item message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1224 @vindex message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1226 Non-@code{nil} means don't add @samp{-f username} to the sendmail
1227 command line. Doing so would be even more evil than leaving it out.
1229 @item message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1230 @vindex message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1231 Set this to non-@code{nil} if the system's mailer runs the header and
1232 body together. (This problem exists on Sunos 4 when sendmail is run
1233 in remote mode.) The value should be an expression to test whether
1234 the problem will actually occur.
1236 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1237 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1238 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1239 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1240 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1246 @section News Headers
1248 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1249 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1250 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1251 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1257 @findex user-full-name
1258 @findex user-mail-address
1259 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1260 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1261 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1262 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1266 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1270 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1271 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1274 @cindex organization
1275 @vindex message-user-organization
1276 @vindex message-user-organization-file
1277 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1278 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1279 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1280 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1281 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1282 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1286 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1290 @vindex mail-host-address
1293 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1294 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1295 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1296 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1297 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1301 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1302 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1305 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1306 header of the article being replied to.
1310 @vindex message-expires
1311 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1312 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1313 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1316 @cindex Distribution
1317 @vindex message-distribution-function
1318 This optional header is filled out according to the
1319 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1320 much misunderstood header.
1324 @vindex message-user-path
1325 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1326 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1327 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1328 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1329 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1330 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1331 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1335 @cindex Mime-Version
1336 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1337 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1338 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1339 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1340 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1341 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1342 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1343 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1344 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1346 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1347 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1350 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1354 @item message-syntax-checks
1355 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1356 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1357 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1360 (signature . disabled)
1369 Check the subject for commands.
1372 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1373 @item multiple-headers
1374 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1377 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1379 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1381 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1384 Check for too long lines.
1386 Check for invalid characters.
1388 Check for excessive size.
1390 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1392 Check the length of the signature.
1395 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1396 something only moderators should include.
1398 Check whether the article is empty.
1399 @item invisible-text
1400 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1402 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1403 @item existing-newsgroups
1404 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1405 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1406 @item valid-newsgroups
1407 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1408 are valid syntactically.
1409 @item repeated-newsgroups
1410 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1411 contains repeated group names.
1412 @item shorten-followup-to
1413 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1414 of groups to post to.
1417 All these conditions are checked by default.
1419 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1420 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1421 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1422 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1424 @item message-default-news-headers
1425 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1426 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1427 buffers that are initialized as news.
1432 @node News Variables
1433 @section News Variables
1436 @item message-send-news-function
1437 @vindex message-send-news-function
1438 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1439 @code{message-send-news}.
1441 @item message-post-method
1442 @vindex message-post-method
1443 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1444 posting a prepared news message.
1449 @node Insertion Variables
1450 @section Insertion Variables
1453 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
1454 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
1455 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
1456 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
1459 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
1460 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
1461 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
1463 @item message-citation-line-function
1464 @vindex message-citation-line-function
1465 @cindex attribution line
1466 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
1467 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
1471 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
1474 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
1477 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
1478 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
1479 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
1480 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
1481 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
1483 @item message-yank-prefix
1484 @vindex message-yank-prefix
1487 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
1488 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
1489 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
1490 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
1491 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
1494 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
1495 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
1499 When yanking text from a article which contains no text or already
1500 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
1501 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
1502 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
1504 @item message-indentation-spaces
1505 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
1506 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
1508 @item message-cite-function
1509 @vindex message-cite-function
1510 @findex message-cite-original
1511 @findex sc-cite-original
1512 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
1514 Function for citing an original message. The default is
1515 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
1516 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
1517 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
1518 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
1521 @item message-indent-citation-function
1522 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
1523 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
1524 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
1525 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
1526 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
1528 @item message-signature
1529 @vindex message-signature
1530 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
1531 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
1532 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
1533 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
1534 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
1536 @item message-signature-file
1537 @vindex message-signature-file
1538 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
1539 The default is @file{~/.signature}.
1543 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
1544 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
1545 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
1546 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
1547 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
1549 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
1550 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
1551 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
1554 @node Various Message Variables
1555 @section Various Message Variables
1558 @item message-default-charset
1559 @vindex message-default-charset
1561 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1562 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1563 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1565 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1566 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1567 translation process.
1569 @item message-signature-separator
1570 @vindex message-signature-separator
1571 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1574 @item mail-header-separator
1575 @vindex mail-header-separator
1576 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1577 follows this line--} by default.
1579 @item message-directory
1580 @vindex message-directory
1581 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1583 @item message-auto-save-directory
1584 @vindex message-auto-save-directory
1585 Directory where Message auto-saves buffers if Gnus isn't running. If
1586 @code{nil}, Message won't auto-save. The default is @file{~/Mail/drafts/}.
1588 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1589 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1590 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1591 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1593 @item message-setup-hook
1594 @vindex message-setup-hook
1595 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1596 but before yanked text is inserted.
1598 @item message-header-setup-hook
1599 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1600 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1602 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1603 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1604 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1607 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1608 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1609 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1610 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1611 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1612 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1614 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1615 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1618 @item message-send-hook
1619 @vindex message-send-hook
1620 Hook run before sending messages.
1622 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1623 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1624 @findex message-add-header
1627 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1628 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1629 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1630 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1633 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1635 @item message-send-mail-hook
1636 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1637 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1639 @item message-send-news-hook
1640 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1641 Hook run before sending news messages.
1643 @item message-sent-hook
1644 @vindex message-sent-hook
1645 Hook run after sending messages.
1647 @item message-cancel-hook
1648 @vindex message-cancel-hook
1649 Hook run when cancelling news articles.
1651 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1652 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1653 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1655 @item message-strip-special-text-properties
1656 @vindex message-strip-special-text-properties
1657 Emacs has a number of special text properties which can break message
1658 composing in various ways. If this option is set, message will strip
1659 these properties from the message composition buffer. However, some
1660 packages requires these properties to be present in order to work. If
1661 you use one of these packages, turn this option off, and hope the
1662 message composition doesn't break too bad.
1664 @item message-send-method-alist
1665 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1667 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1670 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1675 A symbol that names the method.
1678 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1679 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1682 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1683 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1687 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1688 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1697 @node Sending Variables
1698 @section Sending Variables
1702 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1703 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1704 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1705 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1706 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1708 @item message-courtesy-message
1709 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1710 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1711 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1712 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1713 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1714 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1715 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
1717 @item message-fcc-externalize-attachments
1718 @vindex message-fcc-externalize-attachments
1719 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Fcc copies; if it is
1720 non-@code{nil}, attach local files as external parts.
1722 @item message-interactive
1723 @vindex message-interactive
1724 If non-@code{nil} wait for and display errors when sending a message;
1725 if @code{nil} let the mailer mail back a message to report errors.
1730 @node Message Buffers
1731 @section Message Buffers
1733 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1734 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1735 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1736 message buffers are kept alive.
1739 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1740 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1741 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1742 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1743 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1744 The function should return the new buffer name.
1746 @item message-max-buffers
1747 @vindex message-max-buffers
1748 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1749 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1750 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1751 will ever be killed.
1753 @item message-send-rename-function
1754 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1755 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1756 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1757 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1758 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1762 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1765 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1766 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1767 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1772 @node Message Actions
1773 @section Message Actions
1775 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1776 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1777 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1780 @vindex message-kill-actions
1781 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1782 @vindex message-exit-actions
1783 @vindex message-send-actions
1784 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1785 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1786 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1787 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1788 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1789 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1790 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1791 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1793 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1794 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1795 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1796 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1800 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1801 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1804 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1805 killed, postponed or exited.
1807 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1808 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1809 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1813 @chapter Compatibility
1814 @cindex compatibility
1816 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1817 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1818 into account, you can put the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
1821 (require 'messcompat)
1824 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1825 corresponding mail variables.
1832 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1839 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1844 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1845 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1846 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1857 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1858 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1859 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1860 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1864 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1871 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1872 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1873 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1877 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1878 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1889 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1890 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is