1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message (Oort) Manual
10 * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
15 @setchapternewpage odd
19 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
21 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
22 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
24 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
25 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
26 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
27 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
28 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
29 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
30 License'' in the Emacs manual.
32 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
33 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
34 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
36 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
37 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
38 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
39 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
45 @title Message (Oort) Manual
47 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
50 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
52 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
54 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
55 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
56 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
57 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
58 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
59 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
60 License'' in the Emacs manual.
62 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
63 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
64 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
66 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
67 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
68 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
69 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
78 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
82 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
83 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
84 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
85 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
86 * Appendices:: More technical things.
87 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
88 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
91 This manual corresponds to Oort Message. Message is distributed with
92 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual.
98 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
99 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
100 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
101 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
102 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
106 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
107 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
108 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
109 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
110 * Followup:: Following up via news.
111 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
112 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
113 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
114 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
115 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
116 * Mailing Lists:: Send mail to mailing lists.
120 @node New Mail Message
121 @section New Mail Message
124 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
126 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
127 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
128 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
131 @node New News Message
132 @section New News Message
135 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
137 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
138 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
139 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
145 @findex message-reply
146 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
147 reply to the message in the current buffer.
149 @vindex message-reply-to-function
150 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
151 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
152 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
154 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
155 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
158 (setq message-reply-to-function
160 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
161 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
166 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
169 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
170 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
171 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
174 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
175 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
176 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
177 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
178 the head of the outgoing mail.
184 @findex message-wide-reply
185 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
186 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
187 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
188 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
190 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
191 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
192 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
193 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
194 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
196 @vindex message-dont-reply-to-names
197 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
198 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
200 @vindex message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients
201 If @code{message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients} is non-@code{nil} you
202 will be asked to confirm that you want to reply to multiple
203 recipients. The default is @code{nil}.
208 @findex message-followup
209 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
210 followup to the message in the current buffer.
212 @vindex message-followup-to-function
213 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
214 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
215 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
216 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
218 @vindex message-use-followup-to
219 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
220 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
221 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
222 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
223 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
227 @section Canceling News
229 @findex message-cancel-news
230 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
233 @vindex message-cancel-message
234 The value of @code{message-cancel-message} is inserted in the body of
235 the cancel message. The default is @samp{I am canceling my own
239 @vindex message-insert-canlock
241 When Message posts news messages, it inserts @code{Cancel-Lock}
242 headers by default. This is a cryptographic header that ensures that
243 only you can cancel your own messages, which is nice. The downside
244 is that if you lose your @file{.emacs} file (which is where Gnus
245 stores the secret cancel lock password (which is generated
246 automatically the first time you use this feature)), you won't be
247 able to cancel your message.
249 Whether to insert the header or not is controlled by the
250 @code{message-insert-canlock} variable.
252 Not many news servers respect the @code{Cancel-Lock} header yet, but
253 this is expected to change in the future.
259 @findex message-supersede
260 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
261 supersede the message in the current buffer.
263 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
264 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
265 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
266 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
267 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
274 @findex message-forward
275 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
276 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
280 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
281 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
282 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
284 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
285 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
286 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
287 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
288 passed into each successive function.
290 The provided functions are:
293 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
294 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
295 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
298 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
299 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
302 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
303 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
304 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
305 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
306 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
307 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
309 @item message-forward-as-mime
310 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
311 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
312 included as inline @sc{mime} RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
313 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
314 non @sc{mime}-savvy versions of gnus would do.
316 @item message-forward-before-signature
317 @vindex message-forward-before-signature
318 If non-@code{nil}, put forwarded message before signature, else after.
326 @findex message-resend
327 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
328 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
330 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
331 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
332 be removed before sending the message. The default is
333 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
339 @findex message-bounce
340 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
341 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
342 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
343 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
346 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
347 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
348 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
349 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
353 @section Mailing Lists
355 Sometimes while posting to mailing lists, the poster needs to direct
356 followups to the post to specific places. The Mail-Followup-To (MFT)
357 was created to enable just this. Two example scenarios where this is
362 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
363 sent to just the list, and not the poster as well. This will happen
364 if the poster is already subscribed to the list.
367 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
368 sent to the list and the poster as well. This will happen if the poster
369 is not subscribed to the list.
372 If a message is posted to several mailing lists, MFT may also be used
373 to direct the following discussion to one list only, because
374 discussions that are spread over several lists tend to be fragmented
375 and very difficult to follow.
379 Gnus honors the MFT header in other's messages (i.e. while following
380 up to someone else's post) and also provides support for generating
381 sensible MFT headers for outgoing messages as well.
384 @c * Honoring an MFT post:: What to do when one already exists
385 @c * Composing with a MFT header:: Creating one from scratch.
388 @c @node Composing with a MFT header
389 @subsection Composing a correct MFT header automagically
391 The first step in getting Gnus to automagically generate a MFT header
392 in posts you make is to give Gnus a list of the mailing lists
393 addresses you are subscribed to. You can do this in more than one
394 way. The following variables would come in handy.
398 @vindex message-subscribed-addresses
399 @item message-subscribed-addresses
400 This should be a list of addresses the user is subscribed to. Its
401 default value is @code{nil}. Example:
403 (setq message-subscribed-addresses
404 '("ding@@gnus.org" "bing@@noose.org"))
407 @vindex message-subscribed-regexps
408 @item message-subscribed-regexps
409 This should be a list of regexps denoting the addresses of mailing
410 lists subscribed to. Default value is @code{nil}. Example: If you
411 want to achieve the same result as above:
413 (setq message-subscribed-regexps
414 '("\\(ding@@gnus\\)\\|\\(bing@@noose\\)\\.org")
417 @vindex message-subscribed-address-functions
418 @item message-subscribed-address-functions
419 This can be a list of functions to be called (one at a time!!) to
420 determine the value of MFT headers. It is advisable that these
421 functions not take any arguments. Default value is @code{nil}.
423 There is a pre-defined function in Gnus that is a good candidate for
424 this variable. @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses} is a function
425 that returns a list of addresses corresponding to the groups that have
426 the @code{subscribed} (@pxref{(gnus)subscribed})
427 group parameter set to a non-nil value. This is how you would do it.
430 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
431 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
434 @vindex message-subscribed-address-file
435 @item message-subscribed-address-file
436 You might be one organised human freak and have a list of addresses of
437 all subscribed mailing lists in a separate file! Then you can just
438 set this variable to the name of the file and life would be good.
442 You can use one or more of the above variables. All their values are
443 ``added'' in some way that works :-)
445 Now you are all set. Just start composing a message as you normally do.
446 And just send it; as always. Just before the message is sent out, Gnus'
447 MFT generation thingy kicks in and checks if the message already has a
448 MFT field. If there is one, it is left alone. (Except if it's empty -
449 in that case, the field is removed and is not replaced with an
450 automatically generated one. This lets you disable MFT generation on a
451 per-message basis.) If there is none, then the list of recipient
452 addresses (in the To: and Cc: headers) is checked to see if one of them
453 is a list address you are subscribed to. If none of them is a list
454 address, then no MFT is generated; otherwise, a MFT is added to the
455 other headers and set to the value of all addresses in To: and Cc:
458 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
460 @findex message-goto-mail-followup-to
461 Hm. ``So'', you ask, ``what if I send an email to a list I am not
462 subscribed to? I want my MFT to say that I want an extra copy.'' (This
463 is supposed to be interpreted by others the same way as if there were no
464 MFT, but you can use an explicit MFT to override someone else's
465 to-address group parameter.) The function
466 @code{message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to} might come in
467 handy. It is bound to @kbd{C-c C-f C-a} by default. In any case, you
468 can insert a MFT of your own choice; @kbd{C-c C-f C-m}
469 (@code{message-goto-mail-followup-to}) will help you get started.
471 @c @node Honoring an MFT post
472 @subsection Honoring an MFT post
474 @vindex message-use-mail-followup-to
475 When you followup to a post on a mailing list, and the post has a MFT
476 header, Gnus' action will depend on the value of the variable
477 @code{message-use-mail-followup-to}. This variable can be one of:
481 Always honor MFTs. The To: and Cc: headers in your followup will be
482 derived from the MFT header of the original post. This is the default.
485 Always dishonor MFTs (just ignore the darned thing)
488 Gnus will prompt you for an action.
492 It is considered good nettiquette to honor MFT, as it is assumed the
493 fellow who posted a message knows where the followups need to go
500 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
501 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving headers or changing headers.
502 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
503 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
504 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
505 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
506 * Various Commands:: Various things.
507 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
508 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
509 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
514 @section Buffer Entry
518 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
519 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
520 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
521 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
522 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
523 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
524 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
525 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
528 @node Header Commands
529 @section Header Commands
531 @subsection Commands for moving to headers
533 These following commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't
534 exist, it will be inserted.
540 @findex describe-mode
541 Describe the message mode.
545 @findex message-goto-to
546 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
550 @findex message-goto-from
551 Go to the @code{From} header (@code{message-goto-from}). (The ``o''
552 in the key binding is for Originator.)
556 @findex message-goto-bcc
557 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
561 @findex message-goto-fcc
562 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
566 @findex message-goto-cc
567 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
571 @findex message-goto-subject
572 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
576 @findex message-goto-reply-to
577 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
581 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
582 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
586 @findex message-goto-distribution
587 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
591 @findex message-goto-followup-to
592 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
596 @findex message-goto-keywords
597 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
601 @findex message-goto-summary
602 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
606 @findex message-insert-or-toggle-importance
607 This inserts the @samp{Importance:} header with a value of
608 @samp{high}. This header is used to signal the importance of the
609 message to the receiver. If the header is already present in the
610 buffer, it cycles between the three valid values according to RFC
611 1376: @samp{low}, @samp{normal} and @samp{high}.
615 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
616 Insert a reasonable @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
617 (@pxref{Mailing Lists}) in a post to an
618 unsubscribed list. When making original posts to a mailing list you are
619 not subscribed to, you have to type in a @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
620 by hand. The contents, usually, are the addresses of the list and your
621 own address. This function inserts such a header automatically. It
622 fetches the contents of the @samp{To:} header in the current mail
623 buffer, and appends the current @code{user-mail-address}.
625 If the optional argument @code{include-cc} is non-nil, the addresses in
626 the @samp{Cc:} header are also put into the @samp{Mail-Followup-To:}
631 @subsection Commands to change headers
637 @findex message-sort-headers
638 @vindex message-header-format-alist
639 Sort headers according to @code{message-header-format-alist}
640 (@code{message-sort-headers}).
644 @findex message-insert-to
645 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
646 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
647 (@code{message-insert-to}).
651 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
652 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
653 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
654 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
658 @findex message-to-list-only
659 Send a message to the list only. Remove all addresses but the list
660 address from @code{To:} and @code{Cc:} headers.
664 @findex message-insert-disposition-notification-to
665 Insert a request for a disposition
666 notification. (@code{message-insert-disposition-notification-to}).
667 This means that if the recipient support RFC 2298 she might send you a
668 notification that she received the message.
670 @item M-x message-insert-importance-high
671 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-high
672 @findex message-insert-importance-high
674 Insert an @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{high},
675 deleting headers if necessary.
677 @item M-x message-insert-importance-low
678 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-low
679 @findex message-insert-importance-low
681 Insert an @samp{Importance:} header with a value of @samp{low}, deleting
682 headers if necessary.
686 @findex message-change-subject
688 Change the current @samp{Subject:} header. Ask for new @samp{Subject:}
689 header and append @code{(was: <Old Subject>)}. The old subject can be
690 stripped on replying, see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}
691 (@pxref{Message Headers}).
695 @findex message-cross-post-followup-to
696 @vindex message-cross-post-default
699 Ask for an additional @samp{Newsgroups:} and @samp{FollowUp-To:} for a
700 cross-post. @code{message-cross-post-followup-to} mangles
701 @samp{FollowUp-To:} and @samp{Newsgroups:} header to point to group.
702 If @code{message-cross-post-default} is @code{nil} or if called with a
703 prefix-argument @samp{Follow-Up:} is set, but the message is not
708 @findex message-reduce-to-to-cc
709 Replace contents of @samp{To:} header with contents of @samp{Cc:} or
714 @findex message-add-archive-header
715 @vindex message-archive-header
716 @vindex message-archive-note
718 Insert @samp{X-No-Archive: Yes} in the header and a note in the body.
719 The header and the note can be customized using
720 @code{message-archive-header} and @code{message-archive-note}. When
721 called with a prefix argument, ask for a text to insert. If you don't
722 want the note in the body, set @code{message-archive-note} to
734 @findex message-goto-body
735 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
736 (@code{message-goto-body}).
740 @findex message-goto-signature
741 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
745 @findex message-beginning-of-line
746 @vindex message-beginning-of-line
747 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
748 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
749 name and the colon.) This behaviour can be disabled by toggling
750 the variable @code{message-beginning-of-line}.
762 @findex message-yank-original
763 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
764 (@code{message-yank-original}).
768 @findex message-yank-buffer
769 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
770 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
774 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
775 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
776 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
777 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
778 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
783 @findex message-insert-signature
784 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
785 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
789 @findex message-insert-headers
790 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
794 @findex message-mark-inserted-region
795 Mark some region in the current article with enclosing tags.
796 See @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
800 @findex message-mark-insert-file
801 Insert a file in the current article with enclosing tags.
802 See @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
814 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
815 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
816 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
817 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
819 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
820 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
821 be done with the @kbd{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
822 name and a @sc{mime} type.
824 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
825 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
838 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
839 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently
840 support PGP (RFC 1991), @sc{pgp/mime} (RFC 2015/3156) and @sc{s/mime}.
841 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
842 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
843 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
849 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
851 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
855 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
857 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
861 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime
863 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
867 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
869 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
873 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
875 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
879 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
881 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
885 @findex mml-unsecure-message
886 Remove security related MML tags from message.
890 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
891 merely insert the proper MML secure tag to instruct the MML engine to
892 perform that operation when the message is actually sent. They may
893 perform other operations too, such as locating and retrieving a
894 @sc{s/mime} certificate of the person you wish to send encrypted mail
895 to. When the mml parsing engine converts your MML into a properly
896 encoded @sc{mime} message, the secure tag will be replaced with either
897 a part or a multipart tag. If your message contains other mml parts,
898 a multipart tag will be used; if no other parts are present in your
899 message a single part tag will be used. This way, message mode will
900 do the Right Thing (TM) with signed/encrypted multipart messages.
902 @vindex mml-signencrypt-style-alist
903 By default, when encrypting a message, Gnus will use the "signencrypt"
904 mode. If you would like to disable this for a particular message,
905 give the mml-secure-message-encrypt-* command a prefix argument. (for
906 example, C-u C-c C-m c p). Additionally, by default Gnus will
907 separately sign, then encrypt a message which has the mode
908 signencrypt. If you would like to change this behavior you can
909 customize the @code{mml-signencrypt-style-alist} variable. For
914 (setq mml-signencrypt-style-alist '(("smime" combined)
916 ("pgpmime" combined)))
919 Will cause Gnus to sign and encrypt in one pass, thus generating a
920 single signed and encrypted part. Note that combined sign and encrypt
921 does not work with all supported OpenPGP implementations (in
922 particular, PGP version 2 do not support this).
924 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
925 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
926 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
927 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
928 using @kbd{C-u C-c RET P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can
929 verify that your long rant about what your ex-significant other or
930 whomever actually did with that funny looking person at that strange
931 party the other night, actually will be sent encrypted.
933 @emph{Note!} Neither @sc{pgp/mime} nor @sc{s/mime} encrypt/signs
934 RFC822 headers. They only operate on the @sc{mime} object. Keep this
935 in mind before sending mail with a sensitive Subject line.
937 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
938 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
939 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
940 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
942 @subsection Using S/MIME
944 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
945 modern cryptography, @sc{s/mime}, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and
948 The @sc{s/mime} support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
949 perform the actual @sc{s/mime} sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can
950 be found at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later
951 should work. Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail addresses from
952 certificates, and it insert a spurious CR character into @sc{mime}
953 separators so you may wish to avoid it if you would like to avoid
954 being regarded as someone who send strange mail. (Although by sending
955 @sc{s/mime} messages you've probably already lost that contest.)
957 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
958 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
959 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
960 @kbd{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
961 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local
962 file, it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you
963 chose DNS, you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is
964 stored, the default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is
965 the first mail agent in the world to support retrieving @sc{s/mime}
966 certificates from DNS, so you're not likely to find very many
967 certificates out there. At least there should be one, stored at the
968 domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}. LDAP is a more popular method of
969 distributing certificates, support for it is planned. (Meanwhile, you
970 can use @code{ldapsearch} from the command line to retrieve a
971 certificate into a file and use it.)
973 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
974 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
975 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
976 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it
977 contain a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try
978 @kbd{M-x customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
980 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create
981 your own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this
982 manually with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape
983 and got a free @sc{s/mime} certificate from one of the big CA's on the
984 net. Netscape is able to export your private key and certificate in
985 PKCS #12 format. Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509
986 certificate in PEM format as follows.
989 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
992 The @file{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
993 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
995 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
998 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
1000 @sc{pgp/mime} requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such as GNU
1001 Privacy Guard (@uref{http://www.gnupg.org/}). It also requires an
1002 Emacs interface to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
1003 @uref{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
1004 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
1006 @vindex gpg-temp-directory
1007 Note, if you are using the @code{gpg.el} you must make sure that the
1008 path specified by @code{gpg-temp-directory} have permissions 0700.
1010 Creating your own OpenPGP key is described in detail in the
1011 documentation of your OpenPGP implementation, so we refer to it.
1013 @node Various Commands
1014 @section Various Commands
1020 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
1021 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
1022 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
1023 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
1024 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
1028 @findex message-elide-region
1029 @vindex message-elide-ellipsis
1030 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
1031 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
1032 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
1037 @findex message-kill-to-signature
1038 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
1039 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
1043 @findex message-delete-not-region
1044 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
1045 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
1049 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
1050 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
1055 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
1058 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
1061 > This is some quoted text.
1065 > And here's more quoted text.
1068 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
1072 @findex message-rename-buffer
1073 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
1074 prompt for a new buffer name.
1079 @vindex message-tab-body-function
1080 If non-@code{nil} execute the function specified in
1081 @code{message-tab-body-function}. Otherwise use the function bound to
1082 @kbd{TAB} in @code{text-mode-map} or @code{global-map}.
1093 @findex message-send-and-exit
1094 Send the message and bury the current buffer
1095 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
1099 @findex message-send
1100 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
1104 @findex message-dont-send
1105 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
1109 @findex message-kill-buffer
1110 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
1117 @section Mail Aliases
1118 @cindex mail aliases
1121 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
1122 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
1123 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
1124 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
1125 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
1127 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
1128 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
1131 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
1132 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
1135 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
1136 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
1137 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
1139 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
1140 expansions have to be done explicitly.
1146 @findex ispell-message
1148 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
1149 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
1150 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
1151 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
1152 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
1153 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
1156 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
1159 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1160 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
1161 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
1164 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1165 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
1166 (".*" . "default")))
1169 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1172 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
1173 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
1176 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
1180 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
1182 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
1185 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1193 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
1194 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
1195 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
1196 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
1197 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
1198 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
1199 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
1200 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
1201 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
1202 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
1206 @node Message Headers
1207 @section Message Headers
1209 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
1210 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
1211 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
1212 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
1213 look sufficiently similar.
1217 @item message-generate-headers-first
1218 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
1219 If @code{t}, generate all required headers before starting to
1220 compose the message. This can also be a list of headers to generate:
1223 (setq message-generate-headers-first
1227 @vindex message-required-headers
1228 The variables @code{message-required-headers},
1229 @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
1230 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are
1233 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
1234 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
1236 @item message-draft-headers
1237 @vindex message-draft-headers
1238 When running Message from Gnus, the message buffers are associated
1239 with a draft group. @code{message-draft-headers} says which headers
1240 should be generated when a draft is written to the draft group.
1242 @item message-from-style
1243 @vindex message-from-style
1244 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
1249 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
1252 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
1255 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
1258 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
1259 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
1260 @code{angles} anyway.
1264 @item message-deletable-headers
1265 @vindex message-deletable-headers
1266 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
1267 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
1268 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1269 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1270 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1271 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1272 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1273 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1276 @item message-default-headers
1277 @vindex message-default-headers
1278 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1281 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1282 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1286 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1287 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1288 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1289 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1290 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1291 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1292 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1293 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1294 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1296 Here's an example of a value to deal with these headers when
1297 responding to a message:
1300 (setq message-subject-re-regexp
1301 "^\\(\\(\\([Rr][Ee]\\|[Ss][Vv]\\|[Aa][Ww]\\): *\\)+\\)")
1304 @item message-subject-trailing-was-query
1305 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-query
1306 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp
1307 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-regexp
1308 Controls what to do with trailing @samp{(was: <old subject>)} in subject
1309 lines. If @code{nil}, leave the subject unchanged. If it is the symbol
1310 @code{ask}, query the user what do do. In this case, the subject is
1311 matched against @code{message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp}. If
1312 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query} is t, always strip the
1313 trailing old subject. In this case,
1314 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-regexp} is used.
1316 @item message-alternative-emails
1317 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1318 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1319 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1321 @item message-allow-no-recipients
1322 @vindex message-allow-no-recipients
1323 Specifies what to do when there are no recipients other than
1324 @code{Gcc} or @code{Fcc}. If it is @code{always}, the posting is
1325 allowed. If it is @code{never}, the posting is not allowed. If it is
1326 @code{ask} (the default), you are prompted.
1332 @section Mail Headers
1335 @item message-required-mail-headers
1336 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1337 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1338 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1339 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1341 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1342 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1343 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1344 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1346 @item message-default-mail-headers
1347 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1348 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1349 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1354 @node Mail Variables
1355 @section Mail Variables
1358 @item message-send-mail-function
1359 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1360 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1361 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1362 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1363 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
1364 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1365 @findex feedmail-send-it
1366 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1367 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1368 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1369 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}, @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
1370 @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1372 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1373 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1374 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1375 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1376 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1377 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1380 @item message-qmail-inject-program
1381 @vindex message-qmail-inject-program
1383 Location of the qmail-inject program.
1385 @item message-qmail-inject-args
1386 @vindex message-qmail-inject-args
1387 Arguments passed to qmail-inject programs.
1388 This should be a list of strings, one string for each argument. It
1389 may also be a function.
1391 For e.g., if you wish to set the envelope sender address so that bounces
1392 go to the right place or to deal with listserv's usage of that address, you
1393 might set this variable to @code{'("-f" "you@@some.where")}.
1395 @item message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1396 @vindex message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1398 Non-@code{nil} means don't add @samp{-f username} to the sendmail
1399 command line. Doing so would be even more evil than leaving it out.
1401 @item message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1402 @vindex message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1403 Set this to non-@code{nil} if the system's mailer runs the header and
1404 body together. (This problem exists on Sunos 4 when sendmail is run
1405 in remote mode.) The value should be an expression to test whether
1406 the problem will actually occur.
1408 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1409 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1410 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
1411 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
1412 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
1418 @section News Headers
1420 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1421 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1422 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1423 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1429 @findex user-full-name
1430 @findex user-mail-address
1431 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1432 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1433 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1434 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1438 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1442 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1443 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1446 @cindex organization
1447 @vindex message-user-organization
1448 @vindex message-user-organization-file
1449 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1450 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1451 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1452 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1453 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1454 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1458 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1462 @vindex mail-host-address
1465 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1466 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1467 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1468 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1469 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1473 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1474 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1477 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1478 header of the article being replied to.
1482 @vindex message-expires
1483 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1484 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1485 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1488 @cindex Distribution
1489 @vindex message-distribution-function
1490 This optional header is filled out according to the
1491 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1492 much misunderstood header.
1496 @vindex message-user-path
1497 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1498 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1499 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1500 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1501 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1502 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1503 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1507 @cindex Mime-Version
1508 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1509 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1510 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1511 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1512 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1513 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1514 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1515 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1516 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1518 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1519 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1522 If you want to delete an entry from this list, the following Lisp
1523 snippet might be useful. Adjust accordingly if you want to remove
1527 (setq message-required-news-headers
1528 (delq 'Message-ID message-required-news-headers))
1531 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1535 @item message-syntax-checks
1536 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1537 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1538 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1541 (signature . disabled)
1550 Check the subject for commands.
1553 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1554 @item multiple-headers
1555 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1558 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1560 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1562 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1565 Check for too long lines.
1567 Check for invalid characters.
1569 Check for excessive size.
1571 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1573 Check the length of the signature.
1576 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1577 something only moderators should include.
1579 Check whether the article is empty.
1580 @item invisible-text
1581 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1583 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1584 @item existing-newsgroups
1585 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1586 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1587 @item valid-newsgroups
1588 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1589 are valid syntactically.
1590 @item repeated-newsgroups
1591 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1592 contains repeated group names.
1593 @item shorten-followup-to
1594 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1595 of groups to post to.
1598 All these conditions are checked by default.
1600 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1601 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1602 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1603 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1605 @item message-default-news-headers
1606 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1607 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1608 buffers that are initialized as news.
1613 @node News Variables
1614 @section News Variables
1617 @item message-send-news-function
1618 @vindex message-send-news-function
1619 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1620 @code{message-send-news}.
1622 @item message-post-method
1623 @vindex message-post-method
1624 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1625 posting a prepared news message.
1630 @node Insertion Variables
1631 @section Insertion Variables
1634 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
1635 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
1636 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
1637 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
1640 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
1641 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
1642 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
1644 @item message-citation-line-function
1645 @vindex message-citation-line-function
1646 @cindex attribution line
1647 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
1648 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
1652 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
1655 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
1658 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
1659 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
1660 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
1661 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
1662 Article Highlighting, gnus}, for details.
1664 @item message-yank-prefix
1665 @vindex message-yank-prefix
1668 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
1669 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
1670 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
1671 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
1672 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
1675 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
1676 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
1680 When yanking text from a article which contains no text or already
1681 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
1682 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
1683 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
1685 @item message-indentation-spaces
1686 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
1687 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
1689 @item message-cite-function
1690 @vindex message-cite-function
1691 @findex message-cite-original
1692 @findex sc-cite-original
1693 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
1695 Function for citing an original message. The default is
1696 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
1697 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
1698 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
1699 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
1702 @item message-indent-citation-function
1703 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
1704 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
1705 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
1706 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
1707 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
1709 @item message-mark-insert-begin
1710 @vindex message-mark-insert-begin
1711 String to mark the beginning of some inserted text.
1713 @item message-mark-insert-end
1714 @vindex message-mark-insert-end
1715 String to mark the end of some inserted text.
1717 @item message-signature
1718 @vindex message-signature
1719 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
1720 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
1721 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
1722 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
1723 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
1725 @item message-signature-file
1726 @vindex message-signature-file
1727 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
1728 The default is @file{~/.signature}.
1730 @item message-signature-insert-empty-line
1731 @vindex message-signature-insert-empty-line
1732 If @code{t} (the default value) an empty line is inserted before the
1733 signature separator.
1737 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
1738 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
1739 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
1740 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
1741 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
1743 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
1744 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
1745 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
1748 @node Various Message Variables
1749 @section Various Message Variables
1752 @item message-default-charset
1753 @vindex message-default-charset
1755 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1756 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1757 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1759 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1760 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1761 translation process.
1763 @item message-signature-separator
1764 @vindex message-signature-separator
1765 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1768 @item mail-header-separator
1769 @vindex mail-header-separator
1770 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1771 follows this line--} by default.
1773 @item message-directory
1774 @vindex message-directory
1775 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1777 @item message-auto-save-directory
1778 @vindex message-auto-save-directory
1779 Directory where Message auto-saves buffers if Gnus isn't running. If
1780 @code{nil}, Message won't auto-save. The default is @file{~/Mail/drafts/}.
1782 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1783 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1784 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1785 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1787 @item message-setup-hook
1788 @vindex message-setup-hook
1789 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1790 but before yanked text is inserted.
1792 @item message-header-setup-hook
1793 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1794 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1796 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1797 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1798 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1801 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1802 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1803 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1804 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1805 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1806 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1808 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1809 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1812 @item message-send-hook
1813 @vindex message-send-hook
1814 Hook run before sending messages.
1816 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1817 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1818 @findex message-add-header
1821 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1822 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1823 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1824 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1827 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1829 @item message-send-mail-hook
1830 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1831 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1833 @item message-send-news-hook
1834 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1835 Hook run before sending news messages.
1837 @item message-sent-hook
1838 @vindex message-sent-hook
1839 Hook run after sending messages.
1841 @item message-cancel-hook
1842 @vindex message-cancel-hook
1843 Hook run when cancelling news articles.
1845 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1846 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1847 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1849 @item message-strip-special-text-properties
1850 @vindex message-strip-special-text-properties
1851 Emacs has a number of special text properties which can break message
1852 composing in various ways. If this option is set, message will strip
1853 these properties from the message composition buffer. However, some
1854 packages requires these properties to be present in order to work. If
1855 you use one of these packages, turn this option off, and hope the
1856 message composition doesn't break too bad.
1858 @item message-send-method-alist
1859 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1861 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1864 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1869 A symbol that names the method.
1872 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1873 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1876 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1877 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1881 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1882 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1891 @node Sending Variables
1892 @section Sending Variables
1896 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1897 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1898 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1899 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1900 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1902 @item message-courtesy-message
1903 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1904 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1905 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1906 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1907 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1908 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1909 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
1911 @item message-fcc-externalize-attachments
1912 @vindex message-fcc-externalize-attachments
1913 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Fcc copies; if it is
1914 non-@code{nil}, attach local files as external parts.
1916 @item message-interactive
1917 @vindex message-interactive
1918 If non-@code{nil} wait for and display errors when sending a message;
1919 if @code{nil} let the mailer mail back a message to report errors.
1924 @node Message Buffers
1925 @section Message Buffers
1927 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1928 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1929 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1930 message buffers are kept alive.
1933 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1934 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1935 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1936 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1937 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1938 The function should return the new buffer name.
1940 @item message-max-buffers
1941 @vindex message-max-buffers
1942 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1943 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1944 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1945 will ever be killed.
1947 @item message-send-rename-function
1948 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1949 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1950 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1951 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1952 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1956 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1959 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1960 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1961 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1966 @node Message Actions
1967 @section Message Actions
1969 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1970 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1971 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1974 @vindex message-kill-actions
1975 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1976 @vindex message-exit-actions
1977 @vindex message-send-actions
1978 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1979 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1980 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1981 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1982 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1983 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1984 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1985 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1987 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1988 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1989 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1990 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1994 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1995 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1998 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1999 killed, postponed or exited.
2001 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
2002 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
2003 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
2007 @chapter Compatibility
2008 @cindex compatibility
2010 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
2011 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
2012 into account, you can put the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
2015 (require 'messcompat)
2018 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
2019 corresponding mail variables.
2026 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
2033 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
2038 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
2039 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
2040 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
2051 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
2052 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
2053 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
2054 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
2058 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
2065 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
2066 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
2067 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
2071 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
2072 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
2083 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
2084 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is