1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message 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, 2004
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.
47 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
50 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 Copyright @copyright{} 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
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 Message v5.10.6. Message is distributed
92 with the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this
99 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
100 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
101 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
102 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
103 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
107 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
108 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
109 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
110 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
111 * Followup:: Following up via news.
112 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
113 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
114 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
115 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
116 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
117 * Mailing Lists:: Send mail to mailing lists.
121 @node New Mail Message
122 @section New Mail Message
125 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
127 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
128 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
129 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
132 @node New News Message
133 @section New News Message
136 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
138 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
139 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
140 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
146 @findex message-reply
147 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
148 reply to the message in the current buffer.
150 @vindex message-reply-to-function
151 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
152 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
153 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
155 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
156 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
159 (setq message-reply-to-function
161 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
162 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
167 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
170 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
171 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
172 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
175 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
176 should be a cons, where the @sc{car} should be the name of a header
177 (e.g. @code{Cc}) and the @sc{cdr} should be the header value
178 (e.g. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
179 the head of the outgoing mail.
185 @findex message-wide-reply
186 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
187 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
188 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
189 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
191 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
192 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
193 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
194 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
195 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
197 @vindex message-dont-reply-to-names
198 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
199 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
201 @vindex message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients
202 If @code{message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients} is non-@code{nil} you
203 will be asked to confirm that you want to reply to multiple
204 recipients. The default is @code{nil}.
209 @findex message-followup
210 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
211 followup to the message in the current buffer.
213 @vindex message-followup-to-function
214 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
215 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
216 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
217 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
219 @vindex message-use-followup-to
220 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
221 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
222 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
223 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
224 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
228 @section Canceling News
230 @findex message-cancel-news
231 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
234 @vindex message-cancel-message
235 The value of @code{message-cancel-message} is inserted in the body of
236 the cancel message. The default is @samp{I am canceling my own
240 @vindex message-insert-canlock
242 When Message posts news messages, it inserts @code{Cancel-Lock}
243 headers by default. This is a cryptographic header that ensures that
244 only you can cancel your own messages, which is nice. The downside
245 is that if you lose your @file{.emacs} file (which is where Gnus
246 stores the secret cancel lock password (which is generated
247 automatically the first time you use this feature)), you won't be
248 able to cancel your message.
250 Whether to insert the header or not is controlled by the
251 @code{message-insert-canlock} variable.
253 Not many news servers respect the @code{Cancel-Lock} header yet, but
254 this is expected to change in the future.
260 @findex message-supersede
261 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
262 supersede the message in the current buffer.
264 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
265 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
266 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
267 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
268 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
275 @findex message-forward
276 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
277 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
281 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
282 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
283 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
285 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
286 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
287 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
288 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
289 passed into each successive function.
291 The provided functions are:
294 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
295 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
296 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
299 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
300 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
303 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
304 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
305 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
306 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
307 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
308 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
310 @item message-forward-as-mime
311 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
312 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
313 included as inline @acronym{MIME} RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
314 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
315 non @acronym{MIME}-savvy versions of Gnus would do.
317 @item message-forward-before-signature
318 @vindex message-forward-before-signature
319 If non-@code{nil}, put forwarded message before signature, else after.
327 @findex message-resend
328 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
329 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
331 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
332 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
333 be removed before sending the message. The default is
334 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
340 @findex message-bounce
341 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
342 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
343 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
344 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
347 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
348 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
349 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
350 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
354 @section Mailing Lists
356 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
357 Sometimes while posting to mailing lists, the poster needs to direct
358 followups to the post to specific places. The Mail-Followup-To (MFT)
359 was created to enable just this. Two example scenarios where this is
364 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
365 sent to just the list, and not the poster as well. This will happen
366 if the poster is already subscribed to the list.
369 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
370 sent to the list and the poster as well. This will happen if the poster
371 is not subscribed to the list.
374 If a message is posted to several mailing lists, MFT may also be used
375 to direct the following discussion to one list only, because
376 discussions that are spread over several lists tend to be fragmented
377 and very difficult to follow.
381 Gnus honors the MFT header in other's messages (i.e. while following
382 up to someone else's post) and also provides support for generating
383 sensible MFT headers for outgoing messages as well.
386 @c * Honoring an MFT post:: What to do when one already exists
387 @c * Composing with a MFT header:: Creating one from scratch.
390 @c @node Composing with a MFT header
391 @subsection Composing a correct MFT header automagically
393 The first step in getting Gnus to automagically generate a MFT header
394 in posts you make is to give Gnus a list of the mailing lists
395 addresses you are subscribed to. You can do this in more than one
396 way. The following variables would come in handy.
400 @vindex message-subscribed-addresses
401 @item message-subscribed-addresses
402 This should be a list of addresses the user is subscribed to. Its
403 default value is @code{nil}. Example:
405 (setq message-subscribed-addresses
406 '("ding@@gnus.org" "bing@@noose.org"))
409 @vindex message-subscribed-regexps
410 @item message-subscribed-regexps
411 This should be a list of regexps denoting the addresses of mailing
412 lists subscribed to. Default value is @code{nil}. Example: If you
413 want to achieve the same result as above:
415 (setq message-subscribed-regexps
416 '("\\(ding@@gnus\\)\\|\\(bing@@noose\\)\\.org")
419 @vindex message-subscribed-address-functions
420 @item message-subscribed-address-functions
421 This can be a list of functions to be called (one at a time!!) to
422 determine the value of MFT headers. It is advisable that these
423 functions not take any arguments. Default value is @code{nil}.
425 There is a pre-defined function in Gnus that is a good candidate for
426 this variable. @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses} is a function
427 that returns a list of addresses corresponding to the groups that have
428 the @code{subscribed} (@pxref{Group Parameters, ,Group Parameters,
429 gnus, The Gnus Manual}) group parameter set to a non-@code{nil} value.
430 This is how you would do it.
433 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
434 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
437 @vindex message-subscribed-address-file
438 @item message-subscribed-address-file
439 You might be one organised human freak and have a list of addresses of
440 all subscribed mailing lists in a separate file! Then you can just
441 set this variable to the name of the file and life would be good.
445 You can use one or more of the above variables. All their values are
446 ``added'' in some way that works :-)
448 Now you are all set. Just start composing a message as you normally do.
449 And just send it; as always. Just before the message is sent out, Gnus'
450 MFT generation thingy kicks in and checks if the message already has a
451 MFT field. If there is one, it is left alone. (Except if it's empty -
452 in that case, the field is removed and is not replaced with an
453 automatically generated one. This lets you disable MFT generation on a
454 per-message basis.) If there is none, then the list of recipient
455 addresses (in the To: and Cc: headers) is checked to see if one of them
456 is a list address you are subscribed to. If none of them is a list
457 address, then no MFT is generated; otherwise, a MFT is added to the
458 other headers and set to the value of all addresses in To: and Cc:
461 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
463 @findex message-goto-mail-followup-to
464 Hm. ``So'', you ask, ``what if I send an email to a list I am not
465 subscribed to? I want my MFT to say that I want an extra copy.'' (This
466 is supposed to be interpreted by others the same way as if there were no
467 MFT, but you can use an explicit MFT to override someone else's
468 to-address group parameter.) The function
469 @code{message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to} might come in
470 handy. It is bound to @kbd{C-c C-f C-a} by default. In any case, you
471 can insert a MFT of your own choice; @kbd{C-c C-f C-m}
472 (@code{message-goto-mail-followup-to}) will help you get started.
474 @c @node Honoring an MFT post
475 @subsection Honoring an MFT post
477 @vindex message-use-mail-followup-to
478 When you followup to a post on a mailing list, and the post has a MFT
479 header, Gnus' action will depend on the value of the variable
480 @code{message-use-mail-followup-to}. This variable can be one of:
484 Always honor MFTs. The To: and Cc: headers in your followup will be
485 derived from the MFT header of the original post. This is the default.
488 Always dishonor MFTs (just ignore the darned thing)
491 Gnus will prompt you for an action.
495 It is considered good netiquette to honor MFT, as it is assumed the
496 fellow who posted a message knows where the followups need to go
503 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
504 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving headers or changing headers.
505 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
506 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
507 * MIME:: @acronym{MIME} considerations.
508 * IDNA:: Non-@acronym{ASCII} domain name considerations.
509 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
510 * Various Commands:: Various things.
511 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
512 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
513 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
518 @section Buffer Entry
522 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
523 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
524 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
525 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
526 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
527 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
528 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
529 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
532 @node Header Commands
533 @section Header Commands
535 @subsection Commands for moving to headers
537 These following commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't
538 exist, it will be inserted.
544 @findex describe-mode
545 Describe the message mode.
549 @findex message-goto-to
550 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
554 @findex message-goto-from
555 Go to the @code{From} header (@code{message-goto-from}). (The ``o''
556 in the key binding is for Originator.)
560 @findex message-goto-bcc
561 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
565 @findex message-goto-fcc
566 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
570 @findex message-goto-cc
571 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
575 @findex message-goto-subject
576 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
580 @findex message-goto-reply-to
581 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
585 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
586 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
590 @findex message-goto-distribution
591 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
595 @findex message-goto-followup-to
596 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
600 @findex message-goto-keywords
601 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
605 @findex message-goto-summary
606 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
610 @findex message-insert-or-toggle-importance
611 This inserts the @samp{Importance:} header with a value of
612 @samp{high}. This header is used to signal the importance of the
613 message to the receiver. If the header is already present in the
614 buffer, it cycles between the three valid values according to RFC
615 1376: @samp{low}, @samp{normal} and @samp{high}.
619 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
620 Insert a reasonable @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
621 (@pxref{Mailing Lists}) in a post to an
622 unsubscribed list. When making original posts to a mailing list you are
623 not subscribed to, you have to type in a @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
624 by hand. The contents, usually, are the addresses of the list and your
625 own address. This function inserts such a header automatically. It
626 fetches the contents of the @samp{To:} header in the current mail
627 buffer, and appends the current @code{user-mail-address}.
629 If the optional argument @code{include-cc} is non-@code{nil}, the
630 addresses in the @samp{Cc:} header are also put into the
631 @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header.
635 @subsection Commands to change headers
641 @findex message-sort-headers
642 @vindex message-header-format-alist
643 Sort headers according to @code{message-header-format-alist}
644 (@code{message-sort-headers}).
648 @findex message-insert-to
649 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
650 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
651 (@code{message-insert-to}).
655 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
656 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
657 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
658 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
662 @findex message-to-list-only
663 Send a message to the list only. Remove all addresses but the list
664 address from @code{To:} and @code{Cc:} headers.
668 @findex message-insert-disposition-notification-to
669 Insert a request for a disposition
670 notification. (@code{message-insert-disposition-notification-to}).
671 This means that if the recipient support RFC 2298 she might send you a
672 notification that she received the message.
674 @item M-x message-insert-importance-high
675 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-high
676 @findex message-insert-importance-high
678 Insert an @samp{Importance} header with a value of @samp{high},
679 deleting headers if necessary.
681 @item M-x message-insert-importance-low
682 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-low
683 @findex message-insert-importance-low
685 Insert an @samp{Importance} header with a value of @samp{low}, deleting
686 headers if necessary.
690 @findex message-change-subject
692 Change the current @samp{Subject} header. Ask for new @samp{Subject}
693 header and append @samp{(was: <Old Subject>)}. The old subject can be
694 stripped on replying, see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}
695 (@pxref{Message Headers}).
699 @findex message-cross-post-followup-to
700 @vindex message-cross-post-default
703 Ask for an additional @samp{Newsgroups} and @samp{FollowUp-To} for a
704 cross-post. @code{message-cross-post-followup-to} mangles
705 @samp{FollowUp-To} and @samp{Newsgroups} header to point to group.
706 If @code{message-cross-post-default} is @code{nil} or if called with a
707 prefix-argument @samp{Follow-Up} is set, but the message is not
712 @findex message-reduce-to-to-cc
713 Replace contents of @samp{To} header with contents of @samp{Cc} or
718 @findex message-insert-wide-reply
719 Insert @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers as if you were doing a wide
724 @findex message-add-archive-header
725 @vindex message-archive-header
726 @vindex message-archive-note
728 Insert @samp{X-No-Archive: Yes} in the header and a note in the body.
729 The header and the note can be customized using
730 @code{message-archive-header} and @code{message-archive-note}. When
731 called with a prefix argument, ask for a text to insert. If you don't
732 want the note in the body, set @code{message-archive-note} to
744 @findex message-goto-body
745 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
746 (@code{message-goto-body}).
750 @findex message-goto-signature
751 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
755 @findex message-beginning-of-line
756 @vindex message-beginning-of-line
757 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
758 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
759 name and the colon.) This behaviour can be disabled by toggling
760 the variable @code{message-beginning-of-line}.
772 @findex message-yank-original
773 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
774 (@code{message-yank-original}).
778 @findex message-yank-buffer
779 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
780 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
784 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
785 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
786 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
787 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
788 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
793 @findex message-insert-signature
794 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
795 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
799 @findex message-insert-headers
800 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
804 @findex message-mark-inserted-region
805 Mark some region in the current article with enclosing tags.
806 See @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
810 @findex message-mark-insert-file
811 Insert a file in the current article with enclosing tags.
812 See @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
824 Message is a @acronym{MIME}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
825 doesn't have to do anything to make the @acronym{MIME} happen---Message will
826 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
827 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
829 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
830 @acronym{MIME} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out.
831 This can be done with the @kbd{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for
832 a file name and a @acronym{MIME} type. If your Emacs supports drag
833 and drop, you can also drop the file in the Message buffer.
835 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the @acronym{MML}
836 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
842 @cindex internationalized domain names
843 @cindex non-ascii domain names
845 Message is a @acronym{IDNA}-compliant posting agent. The user
846 generally doesn't have to do anything to make the @acronym{IDNA}
847 happen---Message will encode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in @code{From},
848 @code{To}, and @code{Cc} headers automatically.
850 Until @acronym{IDNA} becomes more well known, Message queries you
851 whether @acronym{IDNA} encoding of the domain name really should
852 occur. Some users might not be aware that domain names can contain
853 non-@acronym{ASCII} now, so this gives them a safety net if they accidently
854 typed a non-@acronym{ASCII} domain name.
856 @vindex message-use-idna
857 The @code{message-use-idna} variable control whether @acronym{IDNA} is
858 used. If the variable is @code{nil} no @acronym{IDNA} encoding will
859 ever happen, if it is set to the symbol @code{ask} the user will be
860 queried (the default), and if set to @code{t} @acronym{IDNA} encoding
861 happens automatically.
863 @findex message-idna-to-ascii-rhs
864 If you want to experiment with the @acronym{IDNA} encoding, you can
865 invoke @kbd{M-x message-idna-to-ascii-rhs RET} in the message buffer
866 to have the non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names encoded while you edit the message.
868 Note that you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU
869 Libidn} installed in order to use this functionality.
881 Using the @acronym{MML} language, Message is able to create digitally
882 signed and digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather
883 @acronym{MML}) currently support @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991),
884 @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME}. Instructing
885 @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a @acronym{MIME} part is
886 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m
887 c} key map for encryption, as follows.
893 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
895 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
899 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
901 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
905 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime
907 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
911 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
913 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
917 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
919 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
923 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
925 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
929 @findex mml-unsecure-message
930 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
934 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
935 merely insert the proper @acronym{MML} secure tag to instruct the
936 @acronym{MML} engine to perform that operation when the message is
937 actually sent. They may perform other operations too, such as locating
938 and retrieving a @acronym{S/MIME} certificate of the person you wish to
939 send encrypted mail to. When the mml parsing engine converts your
940 @acronym{MML} into a properly encoded @acronym{MIME} message, the secure
941 tag will be replaced with either a part or a multipart tag. If your
942 message contains other mml parts, a multipart tag will be used; if no
943 other parts are present in your message a single part tag will be used.
944 This way, message mode will do the Right Thing (TM) with
945 signed/encrypted multipart messages.
947 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
948 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
949 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
950 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
951 using @kbd{C-u C-c RET P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can
952 verify that your long rant about what your ex-significant other or
953 whomever actually did with that funny looking person at that strange
954 party the other night, actually will be sent encrypted.
956 @emph{Note!} Neither @acronym{PGP/MIME} nor @acronym{S/MIME} encrypt/signs
957 RFC822 headers. They only operate on the @acronym{MIME} object. Keep this
958 in mind before sending mail with a sensitive Subject line.
960 By default, when encrypting a message, Gnus will use the
961 ``signencrypt'' mode, which means the message is both signed and
962 encrypted. If you would like to disable this for a particular
963 message, give the @code{mml-secure-message-encrypt-*} command a prefix
964 argument, e.g., @kbd{C-u C-c C-m c p}.
966 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
967 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
968 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
969 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
971 @subsection Using S/MIME
973 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
974 modern cryptography, @acronym{S/MIME}, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and
977 The @acronym{S/MIME} support in Message (and @acronym{MML}) require
978 OpenSSL. OpenSSL performs the actual @acronym{S/MIME} sign/encrypt
979 operations. OpenSSL can be found at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}.
980 OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work. Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail
981 addresses from certificates, and it insert a spurious CR character into
982 @acronym{MIME} separators so you may wish to avoid it if you would like
983 to avoid being regarded as someone who send strange mail. (Although by
984 sending @acronym{S/MIME} messages you've probably already lost that
987 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
988 required. Message (@acronym{MML}) need a certificate for the person to whom you
989 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
990 @kbd{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
991 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local
992 file, it need to contain a X.509 certificate in @acronym{PEM} format.
993 If you chose DNS, you're asked for the domain name where the
994 certificate is stored, the default is a good guess. To my belief,
995 Message (@acronym{MML}) is the first mail agent in the world to support
996 retrieving @acronym{S/MIME} certificates from DNS, so you're not
997 likely to find very many certificates out there. At least there
998 should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}. LDAP
999 is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for it
1000 is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
1001 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
1003 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
1004 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
1005 where your private key and your certificate is stored. @acronym{MML}
1006 uses an Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it
1007 contain a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try
1008 @kbd{M-x customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
1010 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create
1011 your own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this
1012 manually with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape
1013 and got a free @acronym{S/MIME} certificate from one of the big CA's on the
1014 net. Netscape is able to export your private key and certificate in
1015 PKCS #12 format. Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509
1016 certificate in PEM format as follows.
1019 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
1022 The @file{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
1023 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
1025 @emph{Note!} Your private key is now stored unencrypted in the file,
1026 so take care in handling it. Storing encrypted keys on the disk are
1027 supported, and Gnus will ask you for a passphrase before invoking
1028 OpenSSL. Read the OpenSSL documentation for how to achieve this. If
1029 you use unencrypted keys (e.g., if they are on a secure storage, or if
1030 you are on a secure single user machine) simply press @code{RET} at
1031 the passphrase prompt.
1033 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
1035 @acronym{PGP/MIME} requires an external OpenPGP implementation, such
1036 as @uref{http://www.gnupg.org/, GNU Privacy Guard}. Pre-OpenPGP
1037 implementations such as PGP 2.x and PGP 5.x are also supported. One
1038 Emacs interface to the PGP implementations, PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG,
1039 pgg, PGG Manual}), is included, but Mailcrypt and Florian Weimer's
1040 @code{gpg.el} are also supported.
1042 @vindex gpg-temp-directory
1043 Note, if you are using the @code{gpg.el} you must make sure that the
1044 directory specified by @code{gpg-temp-directory} have permissions
1047 Creating your own key is described in detail in the documentation of
1048 your PGP implementation, so we refer to it.
1050 If you have imported your old PGP 2.x key into GnuPG, and want to send
1051 signed and encrypted messages to your fellow PGP 2.x users, you'll
1052 discover that the receiver cannot understand what you send. One
1053 solution is to use PGP 2.x instead (i.e., if you use @code{pgg}, set
1054 @code{pgg-default-scheme} to @code{pgp}). If you do want to use
1055 GnuPG, you can use a compatibility script called @code{gpg-2comp}
1057 @uref{http://muppet.faveve.uni-stuttgart.de/~gero/gpg-2comp/}. You
1058 could also convince your fellow PGP 2.x users to convert to GnuPG.
1059 @vindex mml-signencrypt-style-alist
1060 As a final workaround, you can make the sign and encryption work in
1061 two steps; separately sign, then encrypt a message. If you would like
1062 to change this behavior you can customize the
1063 @code{mml-signencrypt-style-alist} variable. For example:
1066 (setq mml-signencrypt-style-alist '(("smime" separate)
1068 ("pgpauto" separate)
1069 ("pgpmime" separate)))
1072 This causes to sign and encrypt in two passes, thus generating a
1073 message that can be understood by PGP version 2.
1075 (Refer to @uref{http://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/pgp2x.html} for more
1076 information about the problem.)
1078 @node Various Commands
1079 @section Various Commands
1085 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
1086 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
1087 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
1088 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
1089 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
1093 @findex message-elide-region
1094 @vindex message-elide-ellipsis
1095 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
1096 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
1097 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
1102 @findex message-kill-to-signature
1103 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
1104 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
1108 @findex message-delete-not-region
1109 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
1110 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
1114 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
1115 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
1120 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
1123 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
1126 > This is some quoted text.
1130 > And here's more quoted text.
1133 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
1137 @findex message-rename-buffer
1138 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
1139 prompt for a new buffer name.
1144 @vindex message-tab-body-function
1145 If non-@code{nil} execute the function specified in
1146 @code{message-tab-body-function}. Otherwise use the function bound to
1147 @kbd{TAB} in @code{text-mode-map} or @code{global-map}.
1158 @findex message-send-and-exit
1159 Send the message and bury the current buffer
1160 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
1164 @findex message-send
1165 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
1169 @findex message-dont-send
1170 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
1174 @findex message-kill-buffer
1175 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
1182 @section Mail Aliases
1183 @cindex mail aliases
1186 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
1187 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
1188 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
1189 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
1190 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
1192 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
1193 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
1196 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
1197 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
1200 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
1201 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
1202 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
1204 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
1205 expansions have to be done explicitly.
1211 @findex ispell-message
1213 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
1214 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
1215 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
1216 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
1217 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
1218 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
1221 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
1224 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1225 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
1226 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
1229 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1230 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
1231 (".*" . "default")))
1234 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1237 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
1238 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
1241 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
1245 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
1247 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
1250 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1258 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
1259 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
1260 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
1261 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
1262 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
1263 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
1264 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
1265 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
1266 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
1267 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
1271 @node Message Headers
1272 @section Message Headers
1274 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
1275 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
1276 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
1277 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
1278 look sufficiently similar.
1282 @item message-generate-headers-first
1283 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
1284 If @code{t}, generate all required headers before starting to
1285 compose the message. This can also be a list of headers to generate:
1288 (setq message-generate-headers-first
1292 @vindex message-required-headers
1293 The variables @code{message-required-headers},
1294 @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
1295 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are
1298 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
1299 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
1301 @item message-draft-headers
1302 @vindex message-draft-headers
1303 When running Message from Gnus, the message buffers are associated
1304 with a draft group. @code{message-draft-headers} says which headers
1305 should be generated when a draft is written to the draft group.
1307 @item message-from-style
1308 @vindex message-from-style
1309 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
1314 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
1317 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
1320 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
1323 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
1324 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
1325 @code{angles} anyway.
1329 @item message-deletable-headers
1330 @vindex message-deletable-headers
1331 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
1332 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
1333 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1334 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1335 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1336 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1337 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1338 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1341 @item message-default-headers
1342 @vindex message-default-headers
1343 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1346 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1347 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1351 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1352 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1353 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1354 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1355 to use abominations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1356 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1357 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1358 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1359 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1361 Here's an example of a value to deal with these headers when
1362 responding to a message:
1365 (setq message-subject-re-regexp
1370 "[Aa][Nn][Tt][Ww]\\.?\\|" ; antw
1372 "[Ff][Ww][Dd]?\\|" ; fwd
1373 "[Oo][Dd][Pp]\\|" ; odp
1375 "[Rr][\311\351][Ff]\\.?\\|" ; ref
1378 "\\(\\[[0-9]*\\]\\)"
1385 @item message-subject-trailing-was-query
1386 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-query
1387 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp
1388 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-regexp
1389 Controls what to do with trailing @samp{(was: <old subject>)} in subject
1390 lines. If @code{nil}, leave the subject unchanged. If it is the symbol
1391 @code{ask}, query the user what do do. In this case, the subject is
1392 matched against @code{message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp}. If
1393 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query} is t, always strip the
1394 trailing old subject. In this case,
1395 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-regexp} is used.
1397 @item message-alternative-emails
1398 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1399 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
1400 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
1402 @item message-allow-no-recipients
1403 @vindex message-allow-no-recipients
1404 Specifies what to do when there are no recipients other than
1405 @code{Gcc} or @code{Fcc}. If it is @code{always}, the posting is
1406 allowed. If it is @code{never}, the posting is not allowed. If it is
1407 @code{ask} (the default), you are prompted.
1409 @item message-hidden-headers
1410 @vindex message-hidden-headers
1411 A regexp, a list of regexps, or a list where the first element is
1412 @code{not} and the rest are regexps. It says which headers to keep
1413 hidden when composing a message.
1416 (setq message-hidden-headers
1417 '(not "From" "Subject" "To" "Cc" "Newsgroups"))
1420 @item message-header-synonyms
1421 @vindex message-header-synonyms
1422 A list of lists of header synonyms. E.g., if this list contains a
1423 member list with elements @code{Cc} and @code{To}, then
1424 @code{message-carefully-insert-headers} will not insert a @code{To}
1425 header when the message is already @code{Cc}ed to the recipient.
1431 @section Mail Headers
1434 @item message-required-mail-headers
1435 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1436 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1437 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
1438 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1440 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1441 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1442 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
1443 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1445 @item message-default-mail-headers
1446 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1447 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1448 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1453 @node Mail Variables
1454 @section Mail Variables
1457 @item message-send-mail-function
1458 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1459 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1460 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1461 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1462 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
1463 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1464 @findex feedmail-send-it
1465 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1466 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. Other valid values include
1467 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1468 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}, @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
1469 @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1471 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1472 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1473 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1474 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1475 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1476 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1479 @item message-qmail-inject-program
1480 @vindex message-qmail-inject-program
1482 Location of the qmail-inject program.
1484 @item message-qmail-inject-args
1485 @vindex message-qmail-inject-args
1486 Arguments passed to qmail-inject programs.
1487 This should be a list of strings, one string for each argument. It
1488 may also be a function.
1490 For e.g., if you wish to set the envelope sender address so that bounces
1491 go to the right place or to deal with listserv's usage of that address, you
1492 might set this variable to @code{'("-f" "you@@some.where")}.
1494 @item message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1495 @vindex message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1497 Non-@code{nil} means don't add @samp{-f username} to the sendmail
1498 command line. Doing so would be even more evil than leaving it out.
1500 @item message-sendmail-envelope-from
1501 @vindex message-sendmail-envelope-from
1502 When @code{message-sendmail-f-is-evil} is @code{nil}, this specifies
1503 the address to use in the @acronym{SMTP} envelope. If it is
1504 @code{nil}, use @code{user-mail-address}. If it is the symbol
1505 @code{header}, use the @samp{From} header of the message.
1507 @item message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1508 @vindex message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1509 Set this to non-@code{nil} if the system's mailer runs the header and
1510 body together. (This problem exists on SunOS 4 when sendmail is run
1511 in remote mode.) The value should be an expression to test whether
1512 the problem will actually occur.
1514 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1515 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1516 @cindex split large message
1517 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial. The lower bound
1518 of message size in characters, beyond which the message should be sent
1519 in several parts. If it is @code{nil}, the size is unlimited.
1525 @section News Headers
1527 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1528 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1529 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1530 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1536 @findex user-full-name
1537 @findex user-mail-address
1538 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1539 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1540 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1541 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1545 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1549 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1550 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1553 @cindex organization
1554 @vindex message-user-organization
1555 @vindex message-user-organization-file
1556 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1557 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1558 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1559 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1560 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1561 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1565 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1569 @vindex message-user-fqdn
1570 @vindex mail-host-address
1571 @vindex user-mail-address
1574 @cindex i-did-not-set--mail-host-address--so-tickle-me
1575 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1576 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. For the
1577 domain part, message will look (in this order) at
1578 @code{message-user-fqdn}, @code{system-name}, @code{mail-host-address}
1579 and @code{message-user-mail-address} (i.e. @code{user-mail-address})
1580 until a probably valid fully qualified domain name (FQDN) was found.
1584 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1585 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1588 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1589 header of the article being replied to.
1593 @vindex message-expires
1594 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1595 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1596 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1599 @cindex Distribution
1600 @vindex message-distribution-function
1601 This optional header is filled out according to the
1602 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1603 much misunderstood header.
1607 @vindex message-user-path
1608 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1609 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1610 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1611 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1612 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1613 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1614 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1618 @cindex Mime-Version
1619 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The @sc{car} of this cons
1620 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1621 the @sc{cdr} can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1622 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1623 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1624 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1625 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1626 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1627 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1629 If the list contains a cons where the @sc{car} of the cons is
1630 @code{optional}, the @sc{cdr} of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1633 If you want to delete an entry from this list, the following Lisp
1634 snippet might be useful. Adjust accordingly if you want to remove
1638 (setq message-required-news-headers
1639 (delq 'Message-ID message-required-news-headers))
1642 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1646 @item message-syntax-checks
1647 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1648 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1649 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1652 (signature . disabled)
1661 Check the subject for commands.
1664 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1665 @item multiple-headers
1666 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1669 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1671 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1673 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1676 Check for too long lines.
1678 Check for invalid characters.
1680 Check for excessive size.
1682 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1684 Check the length of the signature.
1687 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1688 something only moderators should include.
1690 Check whether the article is empty.
1691 @item invisible-text
1692 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1694 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1695 @item existing-newsgroups
1696 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1697 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1698 @item valid-newsgroups
1699 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1700 are valid syntactically.
1701 @item repeated-newsgroups
1702 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1703 contains repeated group names.
1704 @item shorten-followup-to
1705 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1706 of groups to post to.
1709 All these conditions are checked by default.
1711 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1712 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1713 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1714 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^X-Draft-From:}.
1716 @item message-default-news-headers
1717 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1718 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1719 buffers that are initialized as news.
1724 @node News Variables
1725 @section News Variables
1728 @item message-send-news-function
1729 @vindex message-send-news-function
1730 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1731 @code{message-send-news}.
1733 @item message-post-method
1734 @vindex message-post-method
1735 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1736 posting a prepared news message.
1741 @node Insertion Variables
1742 @section Insertion Variables
1745 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
1746 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
1747 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
1748 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
1751 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
1752 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
1753 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
1755 @item message-citation-line-function
1756 @vindex message-citation-line-function
1757 @cindex attribution line
1758 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
1759 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
1763 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
1766 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
1769 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on `writes:' hides the
1770 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
1771 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
1772 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
1773 Article Highlighting, gnus, The Gnus Manual}, for details.
1775 @item message-yank-prefix
1776 @vindex message-yank-prefix
1779 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
1780 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done
1781 by @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
1782 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted and
1783 empty lines which uses @code{message-yank-cited-prefix}). The default
1786 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
1787 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
1791 When yanking text from an article which contains no text or already
1792 cited text, each line will be prefixed with the contents of this
1793 variable. The default is @samp{>}. See also
1794 @code{message-yank-prefix}.
1796 @item message-indentation-spaces
1797 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
1798 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
1800 @item message-cite-function
1801 @vindex message-cite-function
1802 @findex message-cite-original
1803 @findex sc-cite-original
1804 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
1806 Function for citing an original message. The default is
1807 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
1808 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
1809 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
1810 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
1813 @item message-indent-citation-function
1814 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
1815 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
1816 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
1817 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
1818 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
1820 @item message-mark-insert-begin
1821 @vindex message-mark-insert-begin
1822 String to mark the beginning of some inserted text.
1824 @item message-mark-insert-end
1825 @vindex message-mark-insert-end
1826 String to mark the end of some inserted text.
1828 @item message-signature
1829 @vindex message-signature
1830 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
1831 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
1832 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
1833 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
1834 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
1836 @item message-signature-file
1837 @vindex message-signature-file
1838 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
1839 The default is @file{~/.signature}.
1841 @item message-signature-insert-empty-line
1842 @vindex message-signature-insert-empty-line
1843 If @code{t} (the default value) an empty line is inserted before the
1844 signature separator.
1848 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
1849 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
1850 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
1851 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
1852 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
1854 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
1855 Including @acronym{ASCII} graphics is an efficient way to get
1856 everybody to believe that you are silly and have nothing important to
1860 @node Various Message Variables
1861 @section Various Message Variables
1864 @item message-default-charset
1865 @vindex message-default-charset
1867 Symbol naming a @acronym{MIME} charset. Non-@acronym{ASCII}
1868 characters in messages are assumed to be encoded using this charset.
1869 The default is @code{nil}, which means ask the user. (This variable
1870 is used only on non-@sc{mule} Emacsen. @xref{Charset Translation, ,
1871 Charset Translation, emacs-mime, Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on
1872 the @sc{mule}-to-@acronym{MIME} translation process.
1874 @item message-signature-separator
1875 @vindex message-signature-separator
1876 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1879 @item mail-header-separator
1880 @vindex mail-header-separator
1881 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1882 follows this line--} by default.
1884 @item message-directory
1885 @vindex message-directory
1886 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1888 @item message-auto-save-directory
1889 @vindex message-auto-save-directory
1890 Directory where Message auto-saves buffers if Gnus isn't running. If
1891 @code{nil}, Message won't auto-save. The default is @file{~/Mail/drafts/}.
1893 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1894 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1895 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1896 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1898 @item message-setup-hook
1899 @vindex message-setup-hook
1900 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1901 but before yanked text is inserted.
1903 @item message-header-setup-hook
1904 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1905 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1907 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1908 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1909 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1912 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1913 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1914 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1915 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1916 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1917 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1919 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1920 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1923 @item message-send-hook
1924 @vindex message-send-hook
1925 Hook run before sending messages.
1927 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1928 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1929 @findex message-add-header
1932 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1933 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1934 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
1935 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
1938 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1940 @item message-send-mail-hook
1941 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1942 Hook run before sending mail messages. This hook is run very late --
1943 just before the message is actually sent as mail.
1945 @item message-send-news-hook
1946 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1947 Hook run before sending news messages. This hook is run very late --
1948 just before the message is actually sent as news.
1950 @item message-sent-hook
1951 @vindex message-sent-hook
1952 Hook run after sending messages.
1954 @item message-cancel-hook
1955 @vindex message-cancel-hook
1956 Hook run when canceling news articles.
1958 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1959 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1960 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1962 @item message-strip-special-text-properties
1963 @vindex message-strip-special-text-properties
1964 Emacs has a number of special text properties which can break message
1965 composing in various ways. If this option is set, message will strip
1966 these properties from the message composition buffer. However, some
1967 packages requires these properties to be present in order to work. If
1968 you use one of these packages, turn this option off, and hope the
1969 message composition doesn't break too bad.
1971 @item message-send-method-alist
1972 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1974 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1977 (@var{type} @var{predicate} @var{function})
1982 A symbol that names the method.
1985 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1986 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1989 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1990 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1994 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1995 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
2004 @node Sending Variables
2005 @section Sending Variables
2009 @item message-fcc-handler-function
2010 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
2011 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
2012 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
2013 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
2015 @item message-courtesy-message
2016 @vindex message-courtesy-message
2017 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
2018 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
2019 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
2020 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
2021 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
2022 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
2024 @item message-fcc-externalize-attachments
2025 @vindex message-fcc-externalize-attachments
2026 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Fcc copies; if it is
2027 non-@code{nil}, attach local files as external parts.
2029 @item message-interactive
2030 @vindex message-interactive
2031 If non-@code{nil} wait for and display errors when sending a message;
2032 if @code{nil} let the mailer mail back a message to report errors.
2037 @node Message Buffers
2038 @section Message Buffers
2040 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
2041 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
2042 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
2043 message buffers are kept alive.
2046 @item message-generate-new-buffers
2047 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
2048 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
2049 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
2050 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
2051 The function should return the new buffer name.
2053 @item message-max-buffers
2054 @vindex message-max-buffers
2055 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
2056 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
2057 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
2058 will ever be killed.
2060 @item message-send-rename-function
2061 @vindex message-send-rename-function
2062 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
2063 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
2064 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
2065 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
2069 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
2072 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
2073 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
2074 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
2079 @node Message Actions
2080 @section Message Actions
2082 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
2083 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
2084 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
2087 @vindex message-kill-actions
2088 @vindex message-postpone-actions
2089 @vindex message-exit-actions
2090 @vindex message-send-actions
2091 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
2092 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
2093 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
2094 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
2095 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
2096 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
2097 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
2098 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
2100 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
2101 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
2102 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
2103 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
2107 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
2108 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
2111 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
2112 killed, postponed or exited.
2114 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
2115 @sc{car} is a function and the @sc{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
2116 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
2120 @chapter Compatibility
2121 @cindex compatibility
2123 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
2124 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
2125 into account, you can put the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
2128 (require 'messcompat)
2131 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
2132 corresponding mail variables.
2139 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
2146 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
2151 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
2152 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
2153 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
2164 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
2165 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
2166 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
2167 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
2171 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
2178 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
2179 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
2180 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
2184 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
2185 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
2196 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
2197 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is