message [plain text]

This is ../info/message, produced by makeinfo version 4.0 from
message.texi.

INFO-DIR-SECTION Emacs
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that goes with Gnus.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being "A GNU Manual",
and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License" in
the Emacs manual.

(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You have freedom to copy and
modify this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development."

This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.

File: message, Node: Top, Next: Interface, Up: (dir)

Message
*******

All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
Message mode buffers.

* Menu:

* Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
* Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
* Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
* Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
* Appendices:: More technical things.
* Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
* Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.

This manual corresponds to Message 5.9.0. Message is distributed
with the Gnus distribution bearing the same version number as this
manual.

File: message, Node: Interface, Next: Commands, Prev: Top, Up: Top

Interface
*********

When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message - reply,
follow up, forward, cancel - the program (or person) should just put
point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
`Message' will then pop up a new `message' mode buffer with appropriate
headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before sending it.

* Menu:

* New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
* New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
* Reply:: Replying via mail.
* Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
* Followup:: Following up via news.
* Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
* Superseding:: Superseding a message.
* Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
* Resending:: Resending a mail message.
* Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.

File: message, Node: New Mail Message, Next: New News Message, Up: Interface

New Mail Message
================

The `message-mail' command pops up a new message buffer.

Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
`To' header and the second as the `Subject' header. If these are
`nil', those two headers will be empty.

File: message, Node: New News Message, Next: Reply, Prev: New Mail Message, Up: Interface

New News Message
================

The `message-news' command pops up a new message buffer.

This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be
used as the `Newsgroups' header and the second as the `Subject' header.
If these are `nil', those two headers will be empty.

File: message, Node: Reply, Next: Wide Reply, Prev: New News Message, Up: Interface

Reply
=====

The `message-reply' function pops up a message buffer that's a reply
to the message in the current buffer.

Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
(*note Responses::), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
by fiddling with the `message-reply-to-function' variable.

If you want the replies to go to the `Sender' instead of the `From',
you could do something like this:

(setq message-reply-to-function
(lambda ()
(cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
(list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
(t
nil))))

This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article
that is being replied to.

As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
just return `nil', and the normal methods for determining the To header
will be used.

This function can also return a list. In that case, each list
element should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
(eg. `Cc') and the cdr should be the header value (eg.
`larsi@ifi.uio.no'). All these headers will be inserted into the head
of the outgoing mail.

File: message, Node: Wide Reply, Next: Followup, Prev: Reply, Up: Interface

Wide Reply
==========

The `message-wide-reply' pops up a message buffer that's a wide
reply to the message in the current buffer. A "wide reply" is a reply
that goes out to all people listed in the `To', `From' (or `Reply-to')
and `Cc' headers.

Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are
to go, but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling
with the `message-wide-reply-to-function'. It is used in the same way
as `message-reply-to-function' (*note Reply::).

Addresses that match the `message-dont-reply-to-names' regular
expression will be removed from the `Cc' header.

File: message, Node: Followup, Next: Canceling News, Prev: Wide Reply, Up: Interface

Followup
========

The `message-followup' command pops up a message buffer that's a
followup to the message in the current buffer.

Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to
go, but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with
the `message-followup-to-function'. It is used in the same way as
`message-reply-to-function' (*note Reply::).

The `message-use-followup-to' variable says what to do about
`Followup-To' headers. If it is `use', always use the value. If it is
`ask' (which is the default), ask whether to use the value. If it is
`t', use the value unless it is `poster'. If it is `nil', don't use
the value.

File: message, Node: Canceling News, Next: Superseding, Prev: Followup, Up: Interface

Canceling News
==============

The `message-cancel-news' command cancels the article in the current
buffer.

File: message, Node: Superseding, Next: Forwarding, Prev: Canceling News, Up: Interface

Superseding
===========

The `message-supersede' command pops up a message buffer that will
supersede the message in the current buffer.

File: message, Node: Forwarding, Next: Resending, Prev: Superseding, Up: Interface

Forwarding
==========

The `message-forward' command pops up a message buffer to forward
the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
news.

`message-forward-ignored-headers'
All headers that match this regexp will be deleted when forwarding
a message.

`message-make-forward-subject-function'
A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header
for forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous
function is passed into each successive function.

The provided functions are:

`message-forward-subject-author-subject'
Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed
by the subject.

`message-forward-subject-fwd'
Subject of article with `Fwd:' prepended to it.

`message-wash-forwarded-subjects'
If this variable is `t', the subjects of forwarded messages have
the evidence of previous forwards (such as `Fwd:', `Re:', `(fwd)')
removed before the new subject is constructed. The default value
is `nil'.

`message-forward-as-mime'
If this variable is `t' (the default), forwarded messages are
included as inline MIME RFC822 parts. If it's `nil', forwarded
messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like
previous, non MIME-savvy versions of gnus would do.

File: message, Node: Resending, Next: Bouncing, Prev: Forwarding, Up: Interface

Resending
=========

The `message-resend' command will prompt the user for an address and
resend the message in the current buffer to that address.

Headers that match the `message-ignored-resent-headers' regexp will
be removed before sending the message. The default is
`^Return-receipt'.

File: message, Node: Bouncing, Prev: Resending, Up: Interface

Bouncing
========

The `message-bounce' command will, if the current buffer contains a
bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
information. A "bounced message" is typically a mail you've sent out
that has been returned by some `mailer-daemon' as undeliverable.

Headers that match the `message-ignored-bounced-headers' regexp will
be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
`^\$Received\\|Return-Path\$:'.

File: message, Node: Commands, Next: Variables, Prev: Interface, Up: Top

Commands
********

* Menu:

* Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
* Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
* Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
* Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
* MIME:: MIME considerations.
* Various Commands:: Various things.
* Sending:: Actually sending the message.
* Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
* Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.

File: message, Node: Buffer Entry, Next: Header Commands, Up: Commands

Buffer Entry
============

You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some
other message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted
text, and may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the
like--depending on which used settings you're using. Message usually
gets things right, but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind
these stumblings, Message sets the undo boundary before each major
automatic action it takes. If you press the undo key (usually located
at `C-_') a few times, you will get back the un-edited message you're
responding to.

File: message, Node: Header Commands, Next: Movement, Prev: Buffer Entry, Up: Commands

Header Commands
===============

All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't
exist, it will be inserted.

`C-c ?'
Describe the message mode.

`C-c C-f C-t'
Go to the `To' header (`message-goto-to').

`C-c C-f C-b'
Go to the `Bcc' header (`message-goto-bcc').

`C-c C-f C-w'
Go to the `Fcc' header (`message-goto-fcc').

`C-c C-f C-c'
Go to the `Cc' header (`message-goto-cc').

`C-c C-f C-s'
Go to the `Subject' header (`message-goto-subject').

`C-c C-f C-r'
Go to the `Reply-To' header (`message-goto-reply-to').

`C-c C-f C-n'
Go to the `Newsgroups' header (`message-goto-newsgroups').

`C-c C-f C-d'
Go to the `Distribution' header (`message-goto-distribution').

`C-c C-f C-f'
Go to the `Followup-To' header (`message-goto-followup-to').

`C-c C-f C-k'
Go to the `Keywords' header (`message-goto-keywords').

`C-c C-f C-u'
Go to the `Summary' header (`message-goto-summary').

File: message, Node: Movement, Next: Insertion, Prev: Header Commands, Up: Commands

Movement
========

`C-c C-b'
Move to the beginning of the body of the message
(`message-goto-body').

`C-c C-i'
Move to the signature of the message (`message-goto-signature').

File: message, Node: Insertion, Next: MIME, Prev: Movement, Up: Commands

Insertion
=========

`C-c C-y'
Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
(`message-yank-original').

`C-c M-C-y'
Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into
the message buffer (`message-yank-buffer').

`C-c C-q'
Fill the yanked message (`message-fill-yanked-message'). Warning:
Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though.
Anyway, just remember that `C-x u' (`undo') is available and
you'll be all right.

`C-c C-w'
Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
(`message-insert-signature').

`C-c M-h'
Insert the message headers (`message-insert-headers').

`message-ignored-cited-headers'
All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
messages. The default is `.', which means that all headers will be
removed.

`message-citation-line-function'
Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
`message-insert-citation-line', which will lead to citation lines
that look like:

Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@usit.uio.no> writes:

Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
function is called.

`message-yank-prefix'
When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally
want to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text
is done by "yanking", and each quoted line you yank will have
`message-yank-prefix' prepended to it. The default is `> '.

`message-indentation-spaces'
Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.

`message-cite-function'
Function for citing an original message. The default is
`message-cite-original', which simply inserts the original message
and prepends `> ' to each line.
`message-cite-original-without-signature' does the same, but elides
the signature. You can also set it to `sc-cite-original' to use
Supercite.

`message-indent-citation-function'
Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
citation between `(point)' and `(mark t)'. And each function
should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.

`message-signature'
String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If `t'
(which is the default), the `message-signature-file' file will be
inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function
will be used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be
used instead. If this variable is `nil', no signature will be
inserted at all.

`message-signature-file'
If non-`nil' the name of a file containing the signature to be
inserted at the end of the buffer. This is ignored if the file
doesn't exist. The default is `~/.signature'.

Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the
three characters `-- ' on a line by themselves. This is to make it
easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.

Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
that you are silly and have nothing important to say.

File: message, Node: MIME, Next: Various Commands, Prev: Insertion, Up: Commands

MIME
====

Message is a MIME-compliant posting agent. The user generally
doesn't have to do anything to make the MIME happen--Message will
automatically add the `Content-Type' and `Content-Transfer-Encoding'
headers.

The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
MIME for is to add "attachments" to mail they send out. This can be
done with the `C-c C-a' command, which will prompt for a file name and
a MIME type.

You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the MML
language (*note Composing: (emacs-mime)Composing.).

File: message, Node: Various Commands, Next: Sending, Prev: MIME, Up: Commands

Various Commands
================

`C-c C-r'
Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
(`message-caesar-buffer-body'). If narrowing is in effect, just
rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says
how many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.

`C-c C-e'
Elide the text between point and mark (`message-elide-region').
The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
`message-elide-ellipsis'. The default value is to use an ellipsis
(`[...]').

`C-c C-z'
Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to
the end of the message (`message-kill-to-signature').

`C-c C-v'
Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the
region (`message-delete-not-region').

`M-RET'
Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.

Here's an example:

> This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.

If point is before `And' and you press `M-RET', you'll get:

> This is some quoted text.

> And here's more quoted text.

`*' says where point will be placed.

`C-c C-t'
Insert a `To' header that contains the `Reply-To' or `From' header
of the message you're following up (`message-insert-to').

`C-c C-n'
Insert a `Newsgroups' header that reflects the `Followup-To' or
`Newsgroups' header of the article you're replying to
(`message-insert-newsgroups').

`C-c M-r'
Rename the buffer (`message-rename-buffer'). If given a prefix,
prompt for a new buffer name.

File: message, Node: Sending, Next: Mail Aliases, Prev: Various Commands, Up: Commands

Sending
=======

`C-c C-c'
Send the message and bury the current buffer
(`message-send-and-exit').

`C-c C-s'
Send the message (`message-send').

`C-c C-d'
Bury the message buffer and exit (`message-dont-send').

`C-c C-k'
Kill the message buffer and exit (`message-kill-buffer').

File: message, Node: Mail Aliases, Next: Spelling, Prev: Sending, Up: Commands

Mail Aliases
============

The `message-mail-alias-type' variable controls what type of mail
alias expansion to use. Currently only one form is supported--Message
uses `mailabbrev' to handle mail aliases. If this variable is `nil',
no mail alias expansion will be performed.

`mailabbrev' works by parsing the `/etc/mailrc' and `~/.mailrc'
files. These files look like:

alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@ifi.uio.no>"
alias ding "ding@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"

After adding lines like this to your `~/.mailrc' file, you should be
able to just write `lmi' in the `To' or `Cc' (and so on) headers and
press `SPC' to expand the alias.

No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message--all
expansions have to be done explicitly.

File: message, Node: Spelling, Prev: Mail Aliases, Up: Commands

Spelling
========

There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
`ispell' and `flyspell'. `ispell' is the older and probably more
popular package. You typically first write the message, and then run
the entire thing through `ispell' and fix all the typos. To have this
happen automatically when you send a message, put something like the
following in your `.emacs' file:

(add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)

If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
controlled by the `ispell-message-dictionary-alist' variable:

(setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
'(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
(".*" . "default")))

`ispell' depends on having the external `ispell' command installed.

The other popular method is using `flyspell'. This package checks
your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
various ways.

To use `flyspell', put something like the following in your `.emacs'
file:

(defun my-message-setup-routine ()
(flyspell-mode 1))
(add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)

`flyspell' depends on having the external `ispell' command installed.

File: message, Node: Variables, Next: Compatibility, Prev: Commands, Up: Top

Variables
*********

* Menu:

* Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
* Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
* Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
* News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
* News Variables:: Other news variables.
* Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
* Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
* Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
* Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.

File: message, Node: Message Headers, Next: Mail Headers, Up: Variables

Message Headers
===============

Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has
to be - it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send
combined messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of
letting the mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies
of messages look sufficiently similar.

`message-generate-headers-first'
If non-`nil', generate all required headers before starting to
compose the message.

The variables `message-required-mail-headers' and
`message-required-news-headers' specify which headers are required.

`message-from-style'
Specifies how `From' headers should look. There are four valid
values:

`nil'
Just the address - `king@grassland.com'.

`parens'
`king@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)'.

`angles'
`Elvis Parsley <king@grassland.com>'.

`default'
Look like `angles' if that doesn't require quoting, and
`parens' if it does. If even `parens' requires quoting, use
`angles' anyway.

`message-deletable-headers'
Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message
will be deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article.
Then you decide to post it again to some other group, you naughty
boy, so you jump back to the `*post-buf*' buffer, edit the
`Newsgroups' line, and ship it off again. By default, this
variable makes sure that the old generated `Message-ID' is
deleted, and a new one generated. If this isn't done, the entire
empire would probably crumble, anarchy would prevail, and cats
would start walking on two legs and rule the world. Allegedly.

`message-default-headers'
This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
buffers.

`message-subject-re-regexp'
Responses to messages have subjects that start with `Re: '. This
is _not_ an abbreviation of the English word "response", but is
Latin, and means "in response to". Some illiterate nincompoops
have failed to grasp this fact, and have "internationalized" their
software to use abonimations like `Aw: ' ("antwort") or `Sv: '
("svar") instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case
you may set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes.
Myself, I just throw away non-compliant mail.

`message-alternative-emails'
A regexp to match the alternative email addresses. The first
matched address (not primary one) is used in the `From' field.

File: message, Node: Mail Headers, Next: Mail Variables, Prev: Message Headers, Up: Variables

Mail Headers
============

`message-required-mail-headers'
*Note News Headers::, for the syntax of this variable. It is
`(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
(optional . User-Agent))' by default.

`message-ignored-mail-headers'
Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
`^[GF]cc:\|^Resent-Fcc:\|^Xref:'.

`message-default-mail-headers'
This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
buffers that are initialized as mail.

File: message, Node: Mail Variables, Next: News Headers, Prev: Mail Headers, Up: Variables

Mail Variables
==============

`message-send-mail-function'
Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
`message-send-mail-with-sendmail'. If you prefer using MH
instead, set this variable to `message-send-mail-with-mh'.

`message-mh-deletable-headers'
Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain
the headers in this variable. If this variable is non-`nil'
(which is the default), these headers will be removed before
mailing when sending messages via MH. Set it to `nil' if your MH
can handle these headers.

`message-send-mail-partially-limit'
The limit on the size of messages sent as `message/partial'. This
is the minimum message size in characters beyond which the message
should be sent in several parts. If it is `nil', the size is
unlimited.

File: message, Node: News Headers, Next: News Variables, Prev: Mail Variables, Up: Variables

News Headers
============

`message-required-news-headers' a list of header symbols. These
headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:

`From'
This required header will be filled out with the result of the
`message-make-from' function, which depends on the
`message-from-style', `user-full-name', `user-mail-address'
variables.

`Subject'
This required header will be prompted for if not present already.

`Newsgroups'
This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be
posted to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.

`Organization'
This optional header will be filled out depending on the
`message-user-organization' variable.
`message-user-organization-file' will be used if this variable is
`t'. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with
no parameters and should return a string to be used).

`Lines'
This optional header will be computed by Message.

`Message-ID'
This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID
will be created based on the date, time, user name and system
name. Message will use `system-name' to determine the name of the
system. If this isn't a fully qualified domain name (FQDN),
Message will use `mail-host-address' as the FQDN of the machine.

`User-Agent'
This optional header will be filled out according to the
`message-newsreader' local variable.

`In-Reply-To'
This optional header is filled out using the `Date' and `From'
header of the article being replied to.

`Expires'
This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
`message-expires' variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
be used unless you know what you're doing.

`Distribution'
This optional header is filled out according to the
`message-distribution-function' variable. It is a deprecated and
much misunderstood header.

`Path'
This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
However, some _very_ old servers require that this header is
present. `message-user-path' further controls how this `Path'
header is to look. If it is `nil', use the server name as the
leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither a
string nor `nil', use the user name only. However, it is highly
unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.

In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this
cons should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header,
and the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value
of this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function
should return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to
insert `Mime-Version: 1.0', you should enter `(Mime-Version . "1.0")'
into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
something like `(X-Yow . yow)' into the list. The function `yow' will
then be called without any arguments.

If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is `optional',
the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is non-`nil'.

Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:

`message-syntax-checks'
Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing
posts. To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add

(signature . disabled)

to this list.

Valid checks are:

`subject-cmsg'
Check the subject for commands.

`sender'
Insert a new `Sender' header if the `From' header looks odd.

`multiple-headers'
Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.

`sendsys'
Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.

`message-id'
Check whether the `Message-ID' looks ok.

`from'
Check whether the `From' header seems nice.

`long-lines'
Check for too long lines.

`control-chars'
Check for invalid characters.

`size'
Check for excessive size.

`new-text'
Check whether there is any new text in the messages.

`signature'
Check the length of the signature.

`approved'
Check whether the article has an `Approved' header, which is
something only moderators should include.

`empty'
Check whether the article is empty.

`invisible-text'
Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.

`empty-headers'
Check whether any of the headers are empty.

`existing-newsgroups'
Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the `Newsgroups' and
`Followup-To' headers exist.

`valid-newsgroups'
Check whether the `Newsgroups' and `Followup-to' headers are
valid syntactically.

`repeated-newsgroups'
Check whether the `Newsgroups' and `Followup-to' headers
contains repeated group names.

`shorten-followup-to'
Check whether to add a `Followup-to' header to shorten the
number of groups to post to.

All these conditions are checked by default.

`message-ignored-news-headers'
Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is
`^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:'.

`message-default-news-headers'
This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
buffers that are initialized as news.

File: message, Node: News Variables, Next: Various Message Variables, Prev: News Headers, Up: Variables

News Variables
==============

`message-send-news-function'
Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
`message-send-news'.

`message-post-method'
Gnusish "select method" (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
posting a prepared news message.

File: message, Node: Various Message Variables, Next: Sending Variables, Prev: News Variables, Up: Variables

Various Message Variables
=========================

`message-default-charset'
Symbol naming a MIME charset. Non-ASCII characters in messages are
assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default is `nil',
which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-MULE
Emacsen. *Note Charset Translation: (emacs-mime)Charset
Translation, for details on the MULE-to-MIME translation process.

`message-signature-separator'
Regexp matching the signature separator. It is `^-- *$' by
default.

`mail-header-separator'
String used to separate the headers from the body. It is `--text
follows this line--' by default.

`message-directory'
Directory used by many mailey things. The default is `~/Mail/'.

`message-signature-setup-hook'
Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
headers have been inserted but before the signature has been
inserted.

`message-setup-hook'
Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been
initialized, but before yanked text is inserted.

`message-header-setup-hook'
Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.

For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
`Mail-Copies-To' header in all your news articles and all messages
you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the
following:

(defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
(let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
(when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
(gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
(gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
(insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))

(add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
'my-message-header-setup-hook)

`message-send-hook'
Hook run before sending messages.

If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
`message-add-header' function in this hook. For instance:

(add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
(defun my-message-add-content ()
(message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
(message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))

This function won't add the header if the header is already
present.

`message-send-mail-hook'
Hook run before sending mail messages.

`message-send-news-hook'
Hook run before sending news messages.

`message-sent-hook'
Hook run after sending messages.

`message-mode-syntax-table'
Syntax table used in message mode buffers.

`message-send-method-alist'
Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form

(TYPE PREDICATE FUNCTION)

TYPE
A symbol that names the method.

PREDICATE
A function called without any parameters to determine whether
the message is a message of type TYPE.

FUNCTION
A function to be called if PREDICATE returns non-`nil'.
FUNCTION is called with one parameter - the prefix.

((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
(mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))

File: message, Node: Sending Variables, Next: Message Buffers, Prev: Various Message Variables, Up: Variables

Sending Variables
=================

`message-fcc-handler-function'
A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
called with the name of the file to store the article in. The
default function is `message-output' which saves in inbox format.

`message-courtesy-message'
When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the
start of the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec
`%s', the newsgroups the article has been posted to will be
inserted there. If this variable is `nil', no such courtesy
message will be added. The default value is `"The following
message is a courtesy copy of an article\nthat has been posted to
%s as well.\n\n"'.

File: message, Node: Message Buffers, Next: Message Actions, Prev: Sending Variables, Up: Variables

Message Buffers
===============

Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
message buffers are kept alive.

`message-generate-new-buffers'
If non-`nil', generate new buffers. The default is `t'. If this
is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type,
the to address and the group name. (Any of these may be `nil'.)
The function should return the new buffer name.

`message-max-buffers'
This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there
are more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be
killed. The default is 10. If this variable is `nil', no old
message buffers will ever be killed.

`message-send-rename-function'
After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
`*reply to Lars*' to `*sent reply to Lars*'. If you don't like
this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all,
you can say:

(setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)

`message-kill-buffer-on-exit'
If non-`nil', kill the buffer immediately on exit.

File: message, Node: Message Actions, Prev: Message Buffers, Up: Variables

Message Actions
===============

When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is
likely to want to perform some task after the message has been sent.
Perhaps return to the previous window configuration or mark an article
as replied.

The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
common is `C-c C-c', which sends the message and exits. Other
possibilities are `C-c C-s' which just sends the message, `C-c C-d'
which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer, and
`C-c C-k' which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions have
lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
`message-send-actions', `message-exit-actions',
`message-postpone-actions', and `message-kill-actions'.

Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
`message-add-action'. The first parameter is the action to be added,
and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action to.
Here's an example from Gnus:

(message-add-action
`(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
'exit 'postpone 'kill)

This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer
is killed, postponed or exited.

An "action" can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
`car' is a function and the `cdr' is the list of arguments, or a form
to be `eval'ed.

File: message, Node: Compatibility, Next: Appendices, Prev: Variables, Up: Top

Compatibility
*************

Message uses virtually only its own variables--older `mail-'
variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
into account, you can put the following in your `.emacs' file:

(require 'messcompat)

This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
corresponding mail variables.

File: message, Node: Appendices, Next: Index, Prev: Compatibility, Up: Top

Appendices
**********

* Menu:

* Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.

File: message, Node: Responses, Up: Appendices

Responses
=========

To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is
used by default.

"reply"
A "reply" is when you want to respond _just_ to the person who
sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
consulted, in turn:

`Reply-To'

`From'

"wide reply"
A "wide reply" is a mail response that includes _all_ entities
mentioned in the message you are responded to. All mailboxes from
the following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
`To'/`Cc' headers:

`From'
(unless there's a `Reply-To', in which case that is used
instead).

`Cc'

`To'
If a `Mail-Copies-To' header is present, it will also be included
in the list of mailboxes. If this header is `never', that means
that the `From' (or `Reply-To') mailbox will be suppressed.

"followup"
A "followup" is a response sent via news. The following headers
(listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to
be sent:

`Followup-To'

`Newsgroups'
If a `Mail-Copies-To' header is present, it will be used as the
basis of the new `Cc' header, except if this header is `never'.

File: message, Node: Index, Next: Key Index, Prev: Appendices, Up: Top

Index
*****

* Menu:

* aliases: Mail Aliases.
* approved: News Headers.
* attachment: MIME.
* charset: Various Message Variables.
* compatibility: Compatibility.
* Distribution: News Headers.
* Expires: News Headers.
* From: News Headers.
* ispell-message: Spelling.
* ispell-message-dictionary-alist: Spelling.
* Lines: News Headers.
* long lines: News Headers.
* mail aliases: Mail Aliases.
* mail-header-separator: Various Message Variables.
* mail-host-address: News Headers.
* message-add-header: Various Message Variables.
* message-alternative-emails: Message Headers.
* message-bounce: Bouncing.
* message-caesar-buffer-body: Various Commands.
* message-cancel-news: Canceling News.
* message-citation-line-function: Insertion.
* message-cite-function: Insertion.
* message-cite-original: Insertion.
* message-cite-original-without-signature: Insertion.
* message-courtesy-message: Sending Variables.
* message-default-charset: Various Message Variables.
* message-default-headers: Message Headers.
* message-default-mail-headers: Mail Headers.
* message-default-news-headers: News Headers.
* message-deletable-headers: Message Headers.
* message-delete-not-region: Various Commands.
* message-directory: Various Message Variables.
* message-dont-reply-to-names: Wide Reply.
* message-dont-send: Sending.
* message-elide-region: Various Commands.
* message-exit-actions: Message Actions.
* message-fcc-handler-function: Sending Variables.
* message-fill-yanked-message: Insertion.
* message-followup: Followup.
* message-followup-to-function: Followup.
* message-forward: Forwarding.
* message-forward-as-mime: Forwarding.
* message-forward-ignored-headers: Forwarding.
* message-forward-subject-author-subject: Forwarding.
* message-from-style: Message Headers.
* message-generate-headers-first: Message Headers.
* message-generate-new-buffers: Message Buffers.
* message-goto-bcc: Header Commands.
* message-goto-body: Movement.
* message-goto-cc: Header Commands.
* message-goto-distribution: Header Commands.
* message-goto-fcc: Header Commands.
* message-goto-followup-to: Header Commands.
* message-goto-keywords: Header Commands.
* message-goto-newsgroups: Header Commands.
* message-goto-reply-to: Header Commands.
* message-goto-signature: Movement.
* message-goto-subject: Header Commands.
* message-goto-summary: Header Commands.
* message-goto-to: Header Commands.
* message-header-setup-hook: Various Message Variables.
* Message-ID: News Headers.
* message-ignored-bounced-headers: Bouncing.
* message-ignored-cited-headers: Insertion.
* message-ignored-mail-headers: Mail Headers.
* message-ignored-news-headers: News Headers.
* message-ignored-resent-headers: Resending.
* message-ignored-supersedes-headers: Superseding.
* message-indent-citation-function: Insertion.
* message-indentation-spaces: Insertion.
* message-insert-headers: Insertion.
* message-insert-newsgroups: Various Commands.
* message-insert-signature: Insertion.
* message-insert-to: Various Commands.
* message-kill-actions: Message Actions.
* message-kill-buffer: Sending.
* message-kill-buffer-on-exit: Message Buffers.
* message-kill-to-signature: Various Commands.
* message-mail: New Mail Message.
* message-mail-alias-type: Mail Aliases.
* message-make-forward-subject-function: Forwarding.
* message-max-buffers: Message Buffers.
* message-mh-deletable-headers: Mail Variables.
* message-mode-syntax-table: Various Message Variables.
* message-news: New News Message.
* message-post-method: News Variables.
* message-postpone-actions: Message Actions.
* message-rename-buffer: Various Commands.
* message-reply: Reply.
* message-reply-to-function: Reply.
* message-required-mail-headers: Mail Headers.
* message-required-news-headers: News Headers.
* message-resend: Resending.
* message-send: Sending.
* message-send-actions: Message Actions.
* message-send-and-exit: Sending.
* message-send-hook: Various Message Variables.
* message-send-mail-function: Mail Variables.
* message-send-mail-hook: Various Message Variables.
* message-send-mail-partially-limit: Mail Variables.
* message-send-method-alist: Various Message Variables.
* message-send-news-function: News Variables.
* message-send-news-hook: Various Message Variables.
* message-send-rename-function: Message Buffers.
* message-sent-hook: Various Message Variables.
* message-setup-hook: Various Message Variables.
* message-signature: Insertion.
* message-signature-file: Insertion.
* message-signature-separator: Various Message Variables.
* message-signature-setup-hook: Various Message Variables.
* message-subject-re-regexp: Message Headers.
* message-supersede: Superseding.
* message-syntax-checks: News Headers.
* message-use-followup-to: Followup.
* message-wash-forwarded-subjects: Forwarding.
* message-wide-reply: Wide Reply.
* message-wide-reply-to-function: Wide Reply.
* message-yank-buffer: Insertion.
* message-yank-original: Insertion.
* message-yank-prefix: Insertion.
* MIME: MIME.
* Mime-Version: News Headers.
* MML: MIME.
* multipart: MIME.
* Newsgroups: News Headers.
* organization: News Headers.
* path: News Headers.
* quoting: Insertion.
* sc-cite-original: Insertion.
* Sender: News Headers.
* sendsys: News Headers.
* spelling: Spelling.
* Subject: News Headers.
* Sun: News Headers.
* Supercite: Insertion.
* system-name: News Headers.
* undo: Buffer Entry.
* User-Agent: News Headers.
* user-full-name: News Headers.
* user-mail-address: News Headers.
* yanking: Insertion.
* yow: News Headers.

File: message, Node: Key Index, Prev: Index, Up: Top

Key Index
*********

* Menu:

* C-_: Buffer Entry.
* C-c ?: Header Commands.
* C-c C-b: Movement.
* C-c C-c: Sending.
* C-c C-d: Sending.
* C-c C-e: Various Commands.
* C-c C-f C-b: Header Commands.
* C-c C-f C-c: Header Commands.
* C-c C-f C-d: Header Commands.
* C-c C-f C-f: Header Commands.
* C-c C-f C-k: Header Commands.
* C-c C-f C-n: Header Commands.
* C-c C-f C-r: Header Commands.
* C-c C-f C-s: Header Commands.
* C-c C-f C-t: Header Commands.
* C-c C-f C-u: Header Commands.
* C-c C-f C-w: Header Commands.
* C-c C-i: Movement.
* C-c C-k: Sending.
* C-c C-n: Various Commands.
* C-c C-q: Insertion.
* C-c C-r: Various Commands.
* C-c C-s: Sending.
* C-c C-t: Various Commands.
* C-c C-v: Various Commands.
* C-c C-w: Insertion.
* C-c C-x: Various Commands.
* C-c C-y: Insertion.
* C-c M-C-y: Insertion.
* C-c M-h: Insertion.
* C-c M-r: Various Commands.
* M-RET: Various Commands.
* message-newline-and-reformat: Various Commands.

Tag Table:
Node: Top1271
Node: Interface1988
Node: New Mail Message2985
Node: New News Message3342
Node: Reply3730
Node: Wide Reply5104
Node: Followup5815
Node: Canceling News6585
Node: Superseding6790
Node: Forwarding7277
Node: Resending8712
Node: Bouncing9097
Node: Commands9624
Node: Buffer Entry10222
Node: Header Commands10888
Node: Movement11949
Node: Insertion12233
Node: MIME15797
Node: Various Commands16450
Node: Sending18170
Node: Mail Aliases18571
Node: Spelling19434
Node: Variables20726
Node: Message Headers21372
Node: Mail Headers24084
Node: Mail Variables24707
Node: News Headers25666
Node: News Variables31427
Node: Various Message Variables31829
Node: Sending Variables35170
Node: Message Buffers36027
Node: Message Actions37457
Node: Compatibility38925
Node: Appendices39367
Node: Responses39556
Node: Index40900
Node: Key Index48954

End Tag Table