1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Message 5.8.7 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) 1996,97,98,99,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
24 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
25 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
26 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
27 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
28 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
29 License'' in the Emacs manual.
31 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
32 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
33 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
35 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
36 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
37 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
38 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
44 @title Message 5.8.7 Manual
46 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
49 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
50 Copyright @copyright{} 1996,97,98,99,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
52 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
53 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
54 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
55 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
56 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
57 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
58 License'' in the Emacs manual.
60 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
61 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
62 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
64 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
65 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
66 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
67 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
76 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
80 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
81 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
82 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
83 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
84 * Appendices:: More technical things.
85 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
86 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
89 This manual corresponds to Message 5.8.7. Message is distributed with
90 the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this manual.
96 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
97 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
98 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
99 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
100 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
104 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
105 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
106 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
107 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
108 * Followup:: Following up via news.
109 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
110 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
111 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
112 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
113 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
117 @node New Mail Message
118 @section New Mail Message
121 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
123 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
124 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
125 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
128 @node New News Message
129 @section New News Message
132 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
134 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
135 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
136 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
142 @findex message-reply
143 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
144 reply to the message in the current buffer.
146 @vindex message-reply-to-function
147 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
148 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
149 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
151 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
152 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
155 (setq message-reply-to-function
157 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
158 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
163 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
166 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
167 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
168 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
171 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
172 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
173 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
174 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
175 the head of the outgoing mail.
181 @findex message-wide-reply
182 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
183 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
184 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
185 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
187 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
188 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
189 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
190 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
191 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
193 @findex message-dont-reply-to-names
194 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
195 expression will be removed from the @code{Cc} header.
201 @findex message-followup
202 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
203 followup to the message in the current buffer.
205 @vindex message-followup-to-function
206 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
207 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
208 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
209 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
211 @vindex message-use-followup-to
212 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
213 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
214 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
215 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
216 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
220 @section Canceling News
222 @findex message-cancel-news
223 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
230 @findex message-supersede
231 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
232 supersede the message in the current buffer.
234 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
235 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
236 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
237 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
238 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:}.
245 @findex message-forward
246 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
247 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
251 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
252 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
253 All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding a message.
255 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
256 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
257 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
258 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
259 passed into each successive function.
261 The provided functions are:
264 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
265 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
266 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
269 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
270 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
273 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
274 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
275 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
276 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
277 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
278 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
280 @item message-forward-as-mime
281 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
282 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
283 included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
284 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
285 non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.
292 @findex message-resend
293 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
294 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
296 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
297 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
298 be removed before sending the message. The default is
299 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
305 @findex message-bounce
306 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
307 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
308 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
309 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
312 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
313 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
314 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
315 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\):}.
322 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
323 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
324 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
325 * MIME:: @sc{mime} considerations.
326 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
327 * Various Commands:: Various things.
328 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
329 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
333 @node Header Commands
334 @section Header Commands
336 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
343 @findex message-goto-to
344 Describe the message mode.
348 @findex message-goto-to
349 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
353 @findex message-goto-bcc
354 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
358 @findex message-goto-fcc
359 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
363 @findex message-goto-cc
364 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
368 @findex message-goto-subject
369 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
373 @findex message-goto-reply-to
374 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
378 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
379 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
383 @findex message-goto-distribution
384 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
388 @findex message-goto-followup-to
389 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
393 @findex message-goto-keywords
394 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
398 @findex message-goto-summary
399 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
410 @findex message-goto-body
411 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
412 (@code{message-goto-body}).
416 @findex message-goto-signature
417 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
429 @findex message-yank-original
430 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
431 (@code{message-yank-original}).
435 @findex message-yank-buffer
436 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
437 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
441 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
442 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
443 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
444 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
445 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
450 @findex message-insert-signature
451 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
452 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
456 @findex message-insert-headers
457 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
462 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
463 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
464 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
465 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
468 @item message-citation-line-function
469 @vindex message-citation-line-function
470 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
471 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
475 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
478 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
481 @item message-yank-prefix
482 @vindex message-yank-prefix
485 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
486 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
487 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
488 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
490 @item message-indentation-spaces
491 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
492 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
494 @item message-cite-function
495 @vindex message-cite-function
496 @findex message-cite-original
497 @findex sc-cite-original
498 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
500 Function for citing an original message. The default is
501 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
502 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
503 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
504 the signature. You can also set it to @code{sc-cite-original} to use
507 @item message-indent-citation-function
508 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
509 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
510 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
511 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
512 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
514 @item message-signature
515 @vindex message-signature
516 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
517 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
518 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
519 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
520 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
522 @item message-signature-file
523 @vindex message-signature-file
524 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
525 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
529 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
530 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
531 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
532 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
533 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
535 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
536 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
537 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
547 Message is a @sc{mime}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
548 doesn't have to do anything to make the @sc{mime} happen---Message will
549 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
550 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
552 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
553 @sc{mime} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out. This can
554 be done with the @code{C-c C-a} command, which will prompt for a file
555 name and a @sc{mime} type.
557 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
558 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
569 Using the MML language, Message is able to create digitally signed and
570 digitally encrypted messages. Message (or rather MML) currently support
571 PGP/MIME and S/MIME. Instructing MML to perform security operations on
572 a MIME part is done using the @code{M-m s} key map for signing and the
573 @code{M-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
579 @findex mml-secure-sign-smime
581 Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
585 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
587 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
591 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
593 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
597 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
599 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
603 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
604 merely insert proper MML tags to instruct the MML engine to perform that
605 operation when the message is actually sent. They may perform other
606 operations too, such as locating and retrieving a S/MIME certificate of
607 the person you wish to send encrypted mail to.
609 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
610 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
611 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
612 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
613 using @code{C-u M-m P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can verify that
614 your long rant about what your ex-significant other or whomever actually
615 did with that funny looking person at that strange party the other
616 night, actually will be sent encrypted.
618 @emph{Note!} Neither PGP/MIME nor S/MIME encrypt/signs RFC822 headers.
619 They only operate on the MIME object. Keep this in mind before sending
620 mail with a sensitive Subject line.
622 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
623 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
624 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
625 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
627 @subsection Using S/MIME
629 @emph{Note!} This section assume you have a basic familiarity with
630 modern cryptography, S/MIME, various PKCS standards, OpenSSL and so on.
632 The S/MIME support in Message (and MML) require OpenSSL. OpenSSL
633 perform the actual S/MIME sign/encrypt operations. OpenSSL can be found
634 at @code{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL 0.9.5a and later should
635 work. However, version 0.9.5a insert a spurious CR character into MIME
636 separators so you may wish to avoid it if you would like to avoid being
637 regarded as someone who send strange mail. (Although by sending S/MIME
638 messages you've probably already lost that contest.)
640 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
641 required. Message (MML) need a certificate for the person to whom you
642 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
643 @code{M-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
644 certificate, from a local file or from DNS. If you chose a local file,
645 it need to contain a X.509 certificate in PEM format. If you chose DNS,
646 you're asked for the domain name where the certificate is stored, the
647 default is a good guess. To my belief, Message (MML) is the first mail
648 agent in the world to support retrieving S/MIME certificates from DNS,
649 so you're not likely to find very many certificates out there. At least
650 there should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}.
651 LDAP is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for
652 it is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
653 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
655 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
656 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
657 where your private key and your certificate is stored. MML uses an
658 Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it contain
659 a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try @code{M-x
660 customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
662 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create your
663 own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this manually
664 with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape and got a
665 free S/MIME certificate from one of the big CA's on the net. Netscape
666 is able to export your private key and certificate in PKCS #12 format.
667 Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509 certificate in PEM format
671 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
674 The @code{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
675 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
677 @emph{Note!} Your private key is store unencrypted in the file, so take
680 @subsection Using PGP/MIME
682 PGP/MIME require an external PGP implementation, such as GNU Privacy
683 Gaurd (@code{http://www.gnupg.org/}. It also require a Emacs interface
684 to it, such as Mailcrypt (available from
685 @code{http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html}) or
686 Florian Weimer's @code{gpg.el}.
688 Creating your own PGP key is described in detail in various PGP
689 documentation, so we refer to it.
691 @node Various Commands
692 @section Various Commands
698 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
699 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
700 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
701 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
702 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
706 @findex message-elide-region
707 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
708 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
709 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
714 @findex message-kill-to-signature
715 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
716 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
720 @findex message-delete-not-region
721 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
722 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
726 @kindex message-newline-and-reformat
727 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
732 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
735 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
738 > This is some quoted text.
742 > And here's more quoted text.
745 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
749 @findex message-insert-to
750 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
751 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
752 (@code{message-insert-to}).
756 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
757 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
758 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
759 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
763 @findex message-rename-buffer
764 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
765 prompt for a new buffer name.
776 @findex message-send-and-exit
777 Send the message and bury the current buffer
778 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
783 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
787 @findex message-dont-send
788 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
792 @findex message-kill-buffer
793 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
800 @section Mail Aliases
804 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
805 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
806 alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported---Message
807 uses @code{mailabbrev} to handle mail aliases. If this variable is
808 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
810 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
811 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
814 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
815 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
818 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
819 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
820 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
822 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
823 expansions have to be done explicitly.
831 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
832 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
833 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
834 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
835 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
836 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
837 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
838 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
839 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
843 @node Message Headers
844 @section Message Headers
846 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
847 be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
848 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
849 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
850 look sufficiently similar.
854 @item message-generate-headers-first
855 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
856 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
859 @item message-from-style
860 @vindex message-from-style
861 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
866 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
869 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
872 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
875 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
876 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
877 @code{angles} anyway.
881 @item message-deletable-headers
882 @vindex message-deletable-headers
883 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
884 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
885 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
886 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
887 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
888 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
889 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
890 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
893 @item message-default-headers
894 @vindex message-default-headers
895 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
898 @item message-subject-re-regexp
899 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
900 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
901 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but in
902 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
903 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
904 to use abonimations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
905 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
906 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
907 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
908 just throw away non-compliant mail.
910 @item message-alternative-emails
911 @vindex message-alternative-emails
912 A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first matched
913 address (not primary one) is used in the @code{From} field.
919 @section Mail Headers
922 @item message-required-mail-headers
923 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
924 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
925 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
926 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
928 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
929 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
930 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
931 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
933 @item message-default-mail-headers
934 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
935 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
936 buffers that are initialized as mail.
942 @section Mail Variables
945 @item message-send-mail-function
946 @vindex message-send-mail-function
947 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
948 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}. If you prefer using MH
949 instead, set this variable to @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}.
951 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
952 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
953 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
954 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
955 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
956 messages via MH. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
963 @section News Headers
965 @vindex message-required-news-headers
966 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
967 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
968 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
974 @findex user-full-name
975 @findex user-mail-address
976 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
977 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
978 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
979 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
983 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
987 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
988 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
992 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
993 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
994 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
995 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
996 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
997 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1001 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1005 @vindex mail-host-address
1008 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1009 created based on the date, time, user name and system name. Message
1010 will use @code{system-name} to determine the name of the system. If
1011 this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), Message will use
1012 @code{mail-host-address} as the FQDN of the machine.
1015 @cindex X-Newsreader
1016 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1017 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1020 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1021 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
1022 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
1025 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1026 header of the article being replied to.
1030 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1031 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1032 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1035 @cindex Distribution
1036 This optional header is filled out according to the
1037 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1038 much misunderstood header.
1042 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1043 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1044 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1045 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1046 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1047 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1048 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1052 @cindex Mime-Version
1053 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
1054 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1055 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1056 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1057 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
1058 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
1059 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
1060 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
1061 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
1063 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
1064 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1067 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
1071 @item message-syntax-checks
1072 @vindex message-syntax-checks
1073 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
1074 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
1077 (signature . disabled)
1086 Check the subject for commands.
1089 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
1090 @item multiple-headers
1091 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
1094 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
1096 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
1098 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
1101 Check for too long lines.
1103 Check for invalid characters.
1105 Check for excessive size.
1107 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
1109 Check the length of the signature.
1112 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
1113 something only moderators should include.
1115 Check whether the article is empty.
1116 @item invisible-text
1117 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
1119 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
1120 @item existing-newsgroups
1121 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
1122 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
1123 @item valid-newsgroups
1124 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1125 are valid syntactically.
1126 @item repeated-newsgroups
1127 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
1128 contains repeated group names.
1129 @item shorten-followup-to
1130 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
1131 of groups to post to.
1134 All these conditions are checked by default.
1136 @item message-ignored-news-headers
1137 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
1138 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
1139 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:}.
1141 @item message-default-news-headers
1142 @vindex message-default-news-headers
1143 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1144 buffers that are initialized as news.
1149 @node News Variables
1150 @section News Variables
1153 @item message-send-news-function
1154 @vindex message-send-news-function
1155 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
1156 @code{message-send-news}.
1158 @item message-post-method
1159 @vindex message-post-method
1160 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
1161 posting a prepared news message.
1166 @node Various Message Variables
1167 @section Various Message Variables
1170 @item message-default-charset
1171 @vindex message-default-charset
1173 Symbol naming a @sc{mime} charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
1174 assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is @code{nil},
1175 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
1177 @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
1178 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@sc{mime}
1179 translation process.
1181 @item message-signature-separator
1182 @vindex message-signature-separator
1183 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
1186 @item mail-header-separator
1187 @vindex mail-header-separator
1188 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
1189 follows this line--} by default.
1191 @item message-directory
1192 @vindex message-directory
1193 Directory used by many mailey things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
1195 @item message-signature-setup-hook
1196 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
1197 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
1198 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
1200 @item message-setup-hook
1201 @vindex message-setup-hook
1202 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
1203 but before yanked text is inserted.
1205 @item message-header-setup-hook
1206 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
1207 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
1209 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
1210 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
1211 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
1214 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
1215 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
1216 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
1217 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
1218 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
1219 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
1221 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
1222 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
1225 @item message-send-hook
1226 @vindex message-send-hook
1227 Hook run before sending messages.
1229 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
1230 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
1231 @findex message-add-header
1234 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
1235 (defun my-message-add-content ()
1237 "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense"
1241 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
1243 @item message-send-mail-hook
1244 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
1245 Hook run before sending mail messages.
1247 @item message-send-news-hook
1248 @vindex message-send-news-hook
1249 Hook run before sending news messages.
1251 @item message-sent-hook
1252 @vindex message-sent-hook
1253 Hook run after sending messages.
1255 @item message-mode-syntax-table
1256 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
1257 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
1259 @item message-send-method-alist
1260 @vindex message-send-method-alist
1262 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form
1265 (TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)
1270 A symbol that names the method.
1273 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
1274 message is a message of type @var{type}.
1277 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
1278 @var{function} is called with one parameter -- the prefix.
1282 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
1283 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
1292 @node Sending Variables
1293 @section Sending Variables
1297 @item message-fcc-handler-function
1298 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
1299 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
1300 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
1301 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
1303 @item message-courtesy-message
1304 @vindex message-courtesy-message
1305 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
1306 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
1307 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
1308 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
1309 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
1310 an article\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\n\n"}.
1315 @node Message Buffers
1316 @section Message Buffers
1318 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
1319 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
1320 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
1321 message buffers are kept alive.
1324 @item message-generate-new-buffers
1325 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
1326 If non-@code{nil}, generate new buffers. The default is @code{t}. If
1327 this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
1328 the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be @code{nil}.)
1329 The function should return the new buffer name.
1331 @item message-max-buffers
1332 @vindex message-max-buffers
1333 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
1334 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
1335 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
1336 will ever be killed.
1338 @item message-send-rename-function
1339 @vindex message-send-rename-function
1340 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
1341 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
1342 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
1343 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
1347 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
1350 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1351 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
1352 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
1357 @node Message Actions
1358 @section Message Actions
1360 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
1361 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
1362 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
1365 @vindex message-kill-actions
1366 @vindex message-postpone-actions
1367 @vindex message-exit-actions
1368 @vindex message-send-actions
1369 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
1370 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
1371 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
1372 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
1373 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
1374 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
1375 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
1376 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
1378 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
1379 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
1380 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
1381 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
1385 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
1386 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
1389 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
1390 killed, postponed or exited.
1392 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
1393 @code{car} is a function and the @code{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
1394 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
1398 @chapter Compatibility
1399 @cindex compatibility
1401 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
1402 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
1403 into account, you can put the following in your @code{.emacs} file:
1406 (require 'messcompat)
1409 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
1410 corresponding mail variables.
1417 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
1424 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
1429 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
1430 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
1431 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
1442 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
1443 mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from the
1444 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
1445 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
1449 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
1456 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
1457 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
1458 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
1462 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
1463 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
1474 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
1475 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is