1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
3 @include gnus-overrides.texi
5 @setfilename ../../info/message.info
6 @settitle Message Manual
12 This file documents Message, the Emacs message composition mode.
14 Copyright @copyright{} 1996--2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
17 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
18 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
19 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
20 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being ``A GNU Manual'',
21 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
22 is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
24 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
25 modify this GNU manual.''
29 @dircategory Emacs network features
31 * Message: (message). Mail and news composition mode that
40 @title Message Manual (DEVELOPMENT VERSION)
46 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
49 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
63 All message composition from Gnus (both mail and news) takes place in
67 * Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
68 * Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
69 * Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
70 * Compatibility:: Making Message backwards compatible.
71 * Appendices:: More technical things.
72 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
73 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
74 * Key Index:: List of Message mode keys.
77 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following lines:
78 Message is distributed with Gnus. The Gnus distribution
80 corresponding to this manual is Gnus v5.13
86 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message---reply,
87 follow up, forward, cancel---the program (or person) should just put
88 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
89 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
90 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
94 * New Mail Message:: Editing a brand new mail message.
95 * New News Message:: Editing a brand new news message.
96 * Reply:: Replying via mail.
97 * Wide Reply:: Responding to all people via mail.
98 * Followup:: Following up via news.
99 * Canceling News:: Canceling a news article.
100 * Superseding:: Superseding a message.
101 * Forwarding:: Forwarding a message via news or mail.
102 * Resending:: Resending a mail message.
103 * Bouncing:: Bouncing a mail message.
104 * Mailing Lists:: Send mail to mailing lists.
107 You can customize the Message Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
108 customize-apropos RET message-tool-bar}. This feature is only available
111 @node New Mail Message
112 @section New Mail Message
115 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
117 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
118 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
119 are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
122 @node New News Message
123 @section New News Message
126 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
128 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
129 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
130 header. If these are @code{nil}, those two headers will be empty.
136 @findex message-reply
137 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
138 reply to the message in the current buffer.
140 @vindex message-reply-to-function
141 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go
142 (@pxref{Responses}), but you can change the behavior to suit your needs
143 by fiddling with the @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
145 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
146 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
149 (setq message-reply-to-function
151 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
152 (list (cons 'To (mail-fetch-field "sender"))))
157 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
160 As you can see, this function should return a list. In this case, it
161 returns @code{((To . "Whom"))} if it has an opinion as to what the To
162 header should be. If it does not, it should just return @code{nil}, and
163 the normal methods for determining the To header will be used.
165 Each list element should be a cons, where the @sc{car} should be the
166 name of a header (e.g., @code{Cc}) and the @sc{cdr} should be the header
167 value (e.g., @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be
168 inserted into the head of the outgoing mail.
174 @findex message-wide-reply
175 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
176 reply to the message in the current buffer. A @dfn{wide reply} is a
177 reply that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From}
178 (or @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
180 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
181 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
182 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
183 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
184 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
186 @vindex message-dont-reply-to-names
187 Addresses that match the @code{message-dont-reply-to-names} regular
188 expression (or list of regular expressions) will be removed from the
189 @code{Cc} header. A value of @code{nil} means exclude your name only.
191 @vindex message-prune-recipient-rules
192 @code{message-prune-recipient-rules} is used to prune the addresses
193 used when doing a wide reply. It's meant to be used to remove
194 duplicate addresses and the like. It's a list of lists, where the
195 first element is a regexp to match the address to trigger the rule,
196 and the second is a regexp that will be expanded based on the first,
197 to match addresses to be pruned.
199 It's complicated to explain, but it's easy to use.
201 For instance, if you get an email from @samp{foo@@example.org}, but
202 @samp{foo@@zot.example.org} is also in the @code{Cc} list, then your
203 wide reply will go out to both these addresses, since they are unique.
205 To avoid this, do something like the following:
208 (setq message-prune-recipient-rules
209 '(("^\\([^@@]+\\)@@\\(.*\\)" "\\1@@.*[.]\\2")))
212 If, for instance, you want all wide replies that involve messages from
213 @samp{cvs@@example.org} to go to that address, and nowhere else (i.e.,
214 remove all other recipients if @samp{cvs@@example.org} is in the
218 (setq message-prune-recipient-rules
219 '(("cvs@@example.org" ".")))
222 @vindex message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients
223 If @code{message-wide-reply-confirm-recipients} is non-@code{nil} you
224 will be asked to confirm that you want to reply to multiple
225 recipients. The default is @code{nil}.
230 @findex message-followup
231 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
232 followup to the message in the current buffer.
234 @vindex message-followup-to-function
235 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
236 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
237 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
238 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
240 @vindex message-use-followup-to
241 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
242 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
243 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
244 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
245 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
249 @section Canceling News
251 @findex message-cancel-news
252 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
255 @vindex message-cancel-message
256 The value of @code{message-cancel-message} is inserted in the body of
257 the cancel message. The default is @samp{I am canceling my own
261 @vindex message-insert-canlock
263 When Message posts news messages, it inserts @code{Cancel-Lock}
264 headers by default. This is a cryptographic header that ensures that
265 only you can cancel your own messages, which is nice. The downside
266 is that if you lose your @file{.emacs} file (which is where Gnus
267 stores the secret cancel lock password (which is generated
268 automatically the first time you use this feature)), you won't be
269 able to cancel your message. If you want to manage a password yourself,
270 you can put something like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
273 (setq canlock-password "geheimnis"
274 canlock-password-for-verify canlock-password)
277 Whether to insert the header or not is controlled by the
278 @code{message-insert-canlock} variable.
280 Not many news servers respect the @code{Cancel-Lock} header yet, but
281 this is expected to change in the future.
287 @findex message-supersede
288 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
289 supersede the message in the current buffer.
291 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
292 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
293 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is@*
294 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|@*
295 ^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|^X-Trace:\\|^X-Complaints-To:\\|@*
296 Return-Path:\\|^Supersedes:\\|^NNTP-Posting-Date:\\|^X-Trace:\\|@*
297 ^X-Complaints-To:\\|^Cancel-Lock:\\|^Cancel-Key:\\|^X-Hashcash:\\|@*
298 ^X-Payment:\\|^Approved:}.
305 @findex message-forward
306 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
307 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
311 @item message-forward-ignored-headers
312 @vindex message-forward-ignored-headers
313 In non-@code{nil}, all headers that match this regexp will be deleted
314 when forwarding a message.
316 @item message-forward-included-headers
317 @vindex message-forward-included-headers
318 In non-@code{nil}, only headers that match this regexp will be kept
319 when forwarding a message.
321 @item message-make-forward-subject-function
322 @vindex message-make-forward-subject-function
323 A list of functions that are called to generate a subject header for
324 forwarded messages. The subject generated by the previous function is
325 passed into each successive function.
327 The provided functions are:
330 @item message-forward-subject-author-subject
331 @findex message-forward-subject-author-subject
332 Source of article (author or newsgroup), in brackets followed by the
335 @item message-forward-subject-fwd
336 Subject of article with @samp{Fwd:} prepended to it.
339 @item message-wash-forwarded-subjects
340 @vindex message-wash-forwarded-subjects
341 If this variable is @code{t}, the subjects of forwarded messages have
342 the evidence of previous forwards (such as @samp{Fwd:}, @samp{Re:},
343 @samp{(fwd)}) removed before the new subject is
344 constructed. The default value is @code{nil}.
346 @item message-forward-as-mime
347 @vindex message-forward-as-mime
348 If this variable is @code{t} (the default), forwarded messages are
349 included as inline @acronym{MIME} RFC822 parts. If it's @code{nil}, forwarded
350 messages will just be copied inline to the new message, like previous,
351 non @acronym{MIME}-savvy versions of Gnus would do.
353 @item message-forward-before-signature
354 @vindex message-forward-before-signature
355 If non-@code{nil}, put forwarded message before signature, else after.
363 @findex message-resend
364 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
365 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
367 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
368 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
369 be removed before sending the message.
375 @findex message-bounce
376 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
377 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
378 information. A @dfn{bounced message} is typically a mail you've sent
379 out that has been returned by some @code{mailer-daemon} as
382 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
383 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
384 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
385 @samp{^\\(Received\\|Return-Path\\|Delivered-To\\):}.
389 @section Mailing Lists
391 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
392 Sometimes while posting to mailing lists, the poster needs to direct
393 followups to the post to specific places. The Mail-Followup-To (MFT)
394 was created to enable just this. Three example scenarios where this is
399 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
400 sent to just the list, and not the poster as well. This will happen
401 if the poster is already subscribed to the list.
404 A mailing list poster can use MFT to express that responses should be
405 sent to the list and the poster as well. This will happen if the poster
406 is not subscribed to the list.
409 If a message is posted to several mailing lists, MFT may also be used
410 to direct the following discussion to one list only, because
411 discussions that are spread over several lists tend to be fragmented
412 and very difficult to follow.
416 Gnus honors the MFT header in other's messages (i.e., while following
417 up to someone else's post) and also provides support for generating
418 sensible MFT headers for outgoing messages as well.
421 @c * Honoring an MFT post:: What to do when one already exists
422 @c * Composing with a MFT header:: Creating one from scratch.
425 @c @node Composing with a MFT header
426 @subsection Composing a correct MFT header automagically
428 The first step in getting Gnus to automagically generate a MFT header
429 in posts you make is to give Gnus a list of the mailing lists
430 addresses you are subscribed to. You can do this in more than one
431 way. The following variables would come in handy.
435 @vindex message-subscribed-addresses
436 @item message-subscribed-addresses
437 This should be a list of addresses the user is subscribed to. Its
438 default value is @code{nil}. Example:
440 (setq message-subscribed-addresses
441 '("ding@@gnus.org" "bing@@noose.org"))
444 @vindex message-subscribed-regexps
445 @item message-subscribed-regexps
446 This should be a list of regexps denoting the addresses of mailing
447 lists subscribed to. Default value is @code{nil}. Example: If you
448 want to achieve the same result as above:
450 (setq message-subscribed-regexps
451 '("\\(ding@@gnus\\)\\|\\(bing@@noose\\)\\.org")
454 @vindex message-subscribed-address-functions
455 @item message-subscribed-address-functions
456 This can be a list of functions to be called (one at a time!!) to
457 determine the value of MFT headers. It is advisable that these
458 functions not take any arguments. Default value is @code{nil}.
460 There is a pre-defined function in Gnus that is a good candidate for
461 this variable. @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses} is a function
462 that returns a list of addresses corresponding to the groups that have
463 the @code{subscribed} (@pxref{Group Parameters, ,Group Parameters,
464 gnus, The Gnus Manual}) group parameter set to a non-@code{nil} value.
465 This is how you would do it.
468 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
469 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
472 @vindex message-subscribed-address-file
473 @item message-subscribed-address-file
474 You might be one organized human freak and have a list of addresses of
475 all subscribed mailing lists in a separate file! Then you can just
476 set this variable to the name of the file and life would be good.
480 You can use one or more of the above variables. All their values are
481 ``added'' in some way that works :-)
483 Now you are all set. Just start composing a message as you normally do.
484 And just send it; as always. Just before the message is sent out, Gnus'
485 MFT generation thingy kicks in and checks if the message already has a
486 MFT field. If there is one, it is left alone. (Except if it's empty;
487 in that case, the field is removed and is not replaced with an
488 automatically generated one. This lets you disable MFT generation on a
489 per-message basis.) If there is none, then the list of recipient
490 addresses (in the To: and Cc: headers) is checked to see if one of them
491 is a list address you are subscribed to. If none of them is a list
492 address, then no MFT is generated; otherwise, a MFT is added to the
493 other headers and set to the value of all addresses in To: and Cc:
496 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
498 @findex message-goto-mail-followup-to
499 Hm. ``So'', you ask, ``what if I send an email to a list I am not
500 subscribed to? I want my MFT to say that I want an extra copy.'' (This
501 is supposed to be interpreted by others the same way as if there were no
502 MFT, but you can use an explicit MFT to override someone else's
503 to-address group parameter.) The function
504 @code{message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to} might come in
505 handy. It is bound to @kbd{C-c C-f C-a} by default. In any case, you
506 can insert a MFT of your own choice; @kbd{C-c C-f C-m}
507 (@code{message-goto-mail-followup-to}) will help you get started.
509 @c @node Honoring an MFT post
510 @subsection Honoring an MFT post
512 @vindex message-use-mail-followup-to
513 When you followup to a post on a mailing list, and the post has a MFT
514 header, Gnus' action will depend on the value of the variable
515 @code{message-use-mail-followup-to}. This variable can be one of:
519 Always honor MFTs. The To: and Cc: headers in your followup will be
520 derived from the MFT header of the original post. This is the default.
523 Always dishonor MFTs (just ignore the darned thing)
526 Gnus will prompt you for an action.
530 It is considered good netiquette to honor MFT, as it is assumed the
531 fellow who posted a message knows where the followups need to go
538 * Buffer Entry:: Commands after entering a Message buffer.
539 * Header Commands:: Commands for moving headers or changing headers.
540 * Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
541 * Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
542 * MIME:: @acronym{MIME} considerations.
543 * IDNA:: Non-@acronym{ASCII} domain name considerations.
544 * Security:: Signing and encrypting messages.
545 * Various Commands:: Various things.
546 * Sending:: Actually sending the message.
547 * Mail Aliases:: How to use mail aliases.
548 * Spelling:: Having Emacs check your spelling.
553 @section Buffer Entry
557 You most often end up in a Message buffer when responding to some other
558 message of some sort. Message does lots of handling of quoted text, and
559 may remove signatures, reformat the text, or the like---depending on
560 which used settings you're using. Message usually gets things right,
561 but sometimes it stumbles. To help the user unwind these stumblings,
562 Message sets the undo boundary before each major automatic action it
563 takes. If you press the undo key (usually located at @kbd{C-_}) a few
564 times, you will get back the un-edited message you're responding to.
567 @node Header Commands
568 @section Header Commands
570 @subsection Commands for moving to headers
572 These following commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't
573 exist, it will be inserted.
579 @findex describe-mode
580 Describe the message mode.
584 @findex message-goto-to
585 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
589 @findex message-goto-from
590 Go to the @code{From} header (@code{message-goto-from}). (The ``o''
591 in the key binding is for Originator.)
595 @findex message-goto-bcc
596 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
600 @findex message-goto-fcc
601 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
605 @findex message-goto-cc
606 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
610 @findex message-goto-subject
611 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
615 @findex message-goto-reply-to
616 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
620 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
621 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
625 @findex message-goto-distribution
626 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
630 @findex message-goto-followup-to
631 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
635 @findex message-goto-keywords
636 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
640 @findex message-goto-summary
641 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
645 @findex message-insert-or-toggle-importance
646 This inserts the @samp{Importance:} header with a value of
647 @samp{high}. This header is used to signal the importance of the
648 message to the receiver. If the header is already present in the
649 buffer, it cycles between the three valid values according to RFC
650 1376: @samp{low}, @samp{normal} and @samp{high}.
654 @findex message-generate-unsubscribed-mail-followup-to
655 Insert a reasonable @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
656 (@pxref{Mailing Lists}) in a post to an
657 unsubscribed list. When making original posts to a mailing list you are
658 not subscribed to, you have to type in a @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header
659 by hand. The contents, usually, are the addresses of the list and your
660 own address. This function inserts such a header automatically. It
661 fetches the contents of the @samp{To:} header in the current mail
662 buffer, and appends the current @code{user-mail-address}.
664 If the optional argument @code{include-cc} is non-@code{nil}, the
665 addresses in the @samp{Cc:} header are also put into the
666 @samp{Mail-Followup-To:} header.
670 @subsection Commands to change headers
676 @findex message-sort-headers
677 @vindex message-header-format-alist
678 Sort headers according to @code{message-header-format-alist}
679 (@code{message-sort-headers}).
683 @findex message-insert-to
684 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
685 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
686 (@code{message-insert-to}).
690 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
691 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
692 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
693 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
697 @findex message-to-list-only
698 Send a message to the list only. Remove all addresses but the list
699 address from @code{To:} and @code{Cc:} headers.
703 @findex message-insert-disposition-notification-to
704 Insert a request for a disposition
705 notification. (@code{message-insert-disposition-notification-to}).
706 This means that if the recipient supports RFC 2298 she might send you a
707 notification that she received the message.
709 @item M-x message-insert-importance-high
710 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-high
711 @findex message-insert-importance-high
713 Insert an @samp{Importance} header with a value of @samp{high},
714 deleting headers if necessary.
716 @item M-x message-insert-importance-low
717 @kindex M-x message-insert-importance-low
718 @findex message-insert-importance-low
720 Insert an @samp{Importance} header with a value of @samp{low}, deleting
721 headers if necessary.
725 @findex message-change-subject
727 Change the current @samp{Subject} header. Ask for new @samp{Subject}
728 header and append @samp{(was: <Old Subject>)}. The old subject can be
729 stripped on replying, see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}
730 (@pxref{Message Headers}).
734 @findex message-cross-post-followup-to
735 @vindex message-cross-post-default
736 @vindex message-cross-post-note-function
739 Set up the @samp{FollowUp-To} header with a target newsgroup for a
740 cross-post, add that target newsgroup to the @samp{Newsgroups} header if
741 it is not a member of @samp{Newsgroups}, and insert a note in the body.
742 If @code{message-cross-post-default} is @code{nil} or if this command is
743 called with a prefix-argument, only the @samp{FollowUp-To} header will
744 be set but the target newsgroup will not be added to the
745 @samp{Newsgroups} header. The function to insert a note is controlled
746 by the @code{message-cross-post-note-function} variable.
750 @findex message-reduce-to-to-cc
751 Replace contents of @samp{To} header with contents of @samp{Cc}
752 header (or the @samp{Bcc} header, if there is no @samp{Cc} header).
756 @findex message-insert-wide-reply
757 Insert @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers as if you were doing a wide
758 reply even if the message was not made for a wide reply first.
762 @findex message-add-archive-header
763 @vindex message-archive-header
764 @vindex message-archive-note
766 Insert @samp{X-No-Archive: Yes} in the header and a note in the body.
767 The header and the note can be customized using
768 @code{message-archive-header} and @code{message-archive-note}. When
769 called with a prefix argument, ask for a text to insert. If you don't
770 want the note in the body, set @code{message-archive-note} to
782 @findex message-goto-body
783 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
784 (@code{message-goto-body}).
788 @findex message-goto-signature
789 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
793 @findex message-beginning-of-line
794 @vindex message-beginning-of-line
795 If at beginning of header value, go to beginning of line, else go to
796 beginning of header value. (The header value comes after the header
797 name and the colon.) This behavior can be disabled by toggling
798 the variable @code{message-beginning-of-line}.
810 @findex message-yank-original
811 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
812 (@code{message-yank-original}).
816 @findex message-yank-buffer
817 Prompt for a buffer name and yank the contents of that buffer into the
818 message buffer (@code{message-yank-buffer}).
822 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
823 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}). Warning:
824 Can severely mess up the yanked text if its quoting conventions are
825 strange. You'll quickly get a feel for when it's safe, though. Anyway,
826 just remember that @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) is available and you'll be
831 @findex message-insert-signature
832 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
833 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
837 @findex message-insert-headers
838 Insert the message headers (@code{message-insert-headers}).
842 @findex message-mark-inserted-region
843 Mark some region in the current article with enclosing tags. See
844 @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
845 When called with a prefix argument, use slrn style verbatim marks
846 (@samp{#v+} and @samp{#v-}).
850 @findex message-mark-insert-file
851 Insert a file in the current article with enclosing tags.
852 See @code{message-mark-insert-begin} and @code{message-mark-insert-end}.
853 When called with a prefix argument, use slrn style verbatim marks
854 (@samp{#v+} and @samp{#v-}).
866 Message is a @acronym{MIME}-compliant posting agent. The user generally
867 doesn't have to do anything to make the @acronym{MIME} happen---Message will
868 automatically add the @code{Content-Type} and
869 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} headers.
871 @findex mml-attach-file
873 The most typical thing users want to use the multipart things in
874 @acronym{MIME} for is to add ``attachments'' to mail they send out.
875 This can be done with the @kbd{C-c C-a} command (@kbd{M-x mml-attach-file}),
876 which will prompt for a file name and a @acronym{MIME} type.
878 @vindex mml-dnd-protocol-alist
879 @vindex mml-dnd-attach-options
880 If your Emacs supports drag and drop, you can also drop the file in the
881 Message buffer. The variable @code{mml-dnd-protocol-alist} specifies
882 what kind of action is done when you drop a file into the Message
883 buffer. The variable @code{mml-dnd-attach-options} controls which
884 @acronym{MIME} options you want to specify when dropping a file. If it
885 is a list, valid members are @code{type}, @code{description} and
886 @code{disposition}. @code{disposition} implies @code{type}. If it is
887 @code{nil}, don't ask for options. If it is @code{t}, ask the user
888 whether or not to specify options.
890 You can also create arbitrarily complex multiparts using the @acronym{MML}
891 language (@pxref{Composing, , Composing, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
897 @cindex internationalized domain names
898 @cindex non-ascii domain names
900 @acronym{IDNA} is a standard way to encode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain
901 names into a readable @acronym{ASCII} string. The details can be
904 Message is a @acronym{IDNA}-compliant posting agent. The user
905 generally doesn't have to do anything to make the @acronym{IDNA}
906 happen---Message will encode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in @code{From},
907 @code{To}, and @code{Cc} headers automatically.
909 Until @acronym{IDNA} becomes more well known, Message queries you
910 whether @acronym{IDNA} encoding of the domain name really should
911 occur. Some users might not be aware that domain names can contain
912 non-@acronym{ASCII} now, so this gives them a safety net if they accidentally
913 typed a non-@acronym{ASCII} domain name.
915 @vindex message-use-idna
916 The @code{message-use-idna} variable control whether @acronym{IDNA} is
917 used. If the variable is @code{nil} no @acronym{IDNA} encoding will
918 ever happen, if it is set to the symbol @code{ask} the user will be
919 queried, and if set to @code{t} (which is the default if @acronym{IDNA}
920 is fully available) @acronym{IDNA} encoding happens automatically.
922 @findex message-idna-to-ascii-rhs
923 If you want to experiment with the @acronym{IDNA} encoding, you can
924 invoke @kbd{M-x message-idna-to-ascii-rhs RET} in the message buffer
925 to have the non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names encoded while you edit
928 Note that you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU
929 Libidn} installed in order to use this functionality.
941 By default, e-mails are transmitted without any protection around the
942 Internet, which implies that they can be read and changed by lots of
943 different parties. In particular, they are analyzed under bulk
944 surveillance, which violates basic human rights. To defend those
945 rights, digital self-defense is necessary (in addition to legal
946 changes), and encryption and digital signatures are powerful
947 techniques for self-defense. In essence, encryption ensures that
948 only the intended recipient will be able to read a message, while
949 digital signatures make sure that modifications to messages can be
950 detected by the recipient.
952 Nowadays, there are two major incompatible e-mail encryption
953 standards, namely @acronym{OpenPGP} and @acronym{S/MIME}. Both of
954 these standards are implemented by the @uref{https://www.gnupg.org/,
955 GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG)}, which needs to be installed as external
956 software in addition to GNU Emacs. Before you can start to encrypt,
957 decrypt, and sign messages, you need to create a so-called key-pair,
958 which consists of a private key and a public key. Your @emph{public} key
959 (also known as @emph{certificate}, in particular with @acronym{S/MIME}), is
960 used by others (a) to encrypt messages intended for you and (b) to verify
961 digital signatures created by you. In contrast, you use your @emph{private}
962 key (a) to decrypt messages and (b) to sign messages. (You may want to
963 think of your public key as an open safe that you offer to others such
964 that they can deposit messages and lock the door, while your private
965 key corresponds to the opening combination for the safe.)
967 Thus, you need to perform the following steps for e-mail encryption,
968 typically outside Emacs. See, for example, the
969 @uref{https://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/manual.html, The GNU Privacy
970 Handbook} for details covering the standard @acronym{OpenPGP} with
976 Create a key-pair for your own e-mail address.
978 Distribute your public key, e.g., via upload to key servers.
980 Import the public keys for the recipients to which you want to send
984 Whether to use the standard @acronym{OpenPGP} or @acronym{S/MIME} is
985 beyond the scope of this documentation. Actually, you can use one
986 standard for one set of recipients and the other standard for
987 different recipients (depending their preferences or capabilities).
989 In case you are not familiar with all those acronyms: The standard
990 @acronym{OpenPGP} is also called @acronym{PGP} (Pretty Good Privacy).
991 The command line tools offered by @acronym{GnuPG} for
992 @acronym{OpenPGP} are called @command{gpg} and @command{gpg2}, while
993 the one for @acronym{S/MIME} is called @command{gpgsm}. An
994 alternative, but discouraged, tool for @acronym{S/MIME} is
995 @command{openssl}. To make matters worse, e-mail messages can be
996 formed in two different ways with @acronym{OpenPGP}, namely
997 @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/4880) and @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC 2015/3156).
999 The good news, however, is the following: In GNU Emacs, Message
1000 supports all those variants, comes with reasonable defaults that can
1001 be customized according to your needs, and invokes the proper command
1002 line tools behind the scenes for encryption, decryption, as well as
1003 creation and verification of digital signatures.
1005 Message uses the @acronym{MML} language for the creation of signed
1006 and/or encrypted messages as explained in the following.
1010 * Signing and encryption:: Signing and encrypting commands.
1011 * Using S/MIME:: Using S/MIME
1012 * Using OpenPGP:: Using OpenPGP
1013 * Passphrase caching:: How to cache passphrases
1014 * PGP Compatibility:: Compatibility with older implementations
1015 * Encrypt-to-self:: Reading your own encrypted messages
1016 * Bcc Warning:: Do not use encryption with Bcc headers
1019 @node Signing and encryption
1020 @subsection Signing and encrypting commands
1022 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
1023 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
1024 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
1029 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
1031 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
1035 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
1037 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
1041 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime
1043 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
1047 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
1049 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
1053 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
1055 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
1059 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
1061 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
1065 @findex mml-unsecure-message
1066 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
1070 These commands do not immediately sign or encrypt the message, they
1071 merely insert the proper @acronym{MML} secure tag to instruct the
1072 @acronym{MML} engine to perform that operation when the message is
1073 actually sent. They may perform other operations too, such as locating
1074 and retrieving a @acronym{S/MIME} certificate of the person you wish to
1075 send encrypted mail to. When the mml parsing engine converts your
1076 @acronym{MML} into a properly encoded @acronym{MIME} message, the secure
1077 tag will be replaced with either a part or a multipart tag. If your
1078 message contains other mml parts, a multipart tag will be used; if no
1079 other parts are present in your message a single part tag will be used.
1080 This way, message mode will do the Right Thing (TM) with
1081 signed/encrypted multipart messages.
1083 Since signing and especially encryption often is used when sensitive
1084 information is sent, you may want to have some way to ensure that your
1085 mail is actually signed or encrypted. After invoking the above
1086 sign/encrypt commands, it is possible to preview the raw article by
1087 using @kbd{C-u C-c RET P} (@code{mml-preview}). Then you can
1088 verify that your long rant about what your ex-significant other or
1089 whomever actually did with that funny looking person at that strange
1090 party the other night, actually will be sent encrypted.
1092 @emph{Note!} Neither @acronym{PGP/MIME} nor @acronym{S/MIME} encrypt/signs
1093 RFC822 headers. They only operate on the @acronym{MIME} object. Keep this
1094 in mind before sending mail with a sensitive Subject line.
1096 By default, when encrypting a message, Gnus will use the
1097 ``signencrypt'' mode, which means the message is both signed and
1098 encrypted. If you would like to disable this for a particular
1099 message, give the @code{mml-secure-message-encrypt-*} command a prefix
1100 argument, e.g., @kbd{C-u C-c C-m c p}.
1102 Actually using the security commands above is not very difficult. At
1103 least not compared with making sure all involved programs talk with each
1104 other properly. Thus, we now describe what external libraries or
1105 programs are required to make things work, and some small general hints.
1108 @subsection Using S/MIME
1110 @acronym{S/MIME} requires an external implementation, such as
1111 @uref{https://www.gnupg.org/, GNU Privacy Guard} or
1112 @uref{https://www.openssl.org/, OpenSSL}. The default Emacs interface
1113 to the S/MIME implementation is EasyPG (@pxref{Top,,EasyPG Assistant
1114 User's Manual, epa, EasyPG Assistant User's Manual}), which has been
1115 included in Emacs since version 23 and which relies on the command
1116 line tool @command{gpgsm} provided by @acronym{GnuPG}. That tool
1117 implements certificate management, including certificate revocation
1118 and expiry, while such tasks need to be performed manually, if OpenSSL
1121 The choice between EasyPG and OpenSSL is controlled by the variable
1122 @code{mml-smime-use}, which needs to be set to the value @code{epg}
1123 for EasyPG. Depending on your version of Emacs that value may be the
1124 default; if not, you can either customize that variable or place the
1125 following line in your @file{.emacs} file (that line needs to be
1126 placed above other code related to message/gnus/encryption):
1132 Moreover, you may want to customize the variables
1133 @code{mml-default-encrypt-method} and
1134 @code{mml-default-sign-method} to the string @code{"smime"}.
1136 That's all if you want to use S/MIME with EasyPG, and that's the
1137 recommended way of using S/MIME with Message.
1139 If you think about using OpenSSL instead of EasyPG, please read the
1140 BUGS section in the manual for the @command{smime} command coming with
1141 OpenSSL first. If you still want to use OpenSSL, the following
1144 @emph{Note!} The remainder of this section assumes you have a basic
1145 familiarity with modern cryptography, @acronym{S/MIME}, various PKCS
1146 standards, OpenSSL and so on.
1148 The @acronym{S/MIME} support in Message (and @acronym{MML}) can use
1149 OpenSSL@. OpenSSL performs the actual @acronym{S/MIME} sign/encrypt
1150 operations. OpenSSL can be found at @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}.
1151 OpenSSL 0.9.6 and later should work. Version 0.9.5a cannot extract mail
1152 addresses from certificates, and it insert a spurious CR character into
1153 @acronym{MIME} separators so you may wish to avoid it if you would like
1154 to avoid being regarded as someone who send strange mail. (Although by
1155 sending @acronym{S/MIME} messages you've probably already lost that
1158 To be able to send encrypted mail, a personal certificate is not
1159 required. Message (@acronym{MML}) need a certificate for the person to whom you
1160 wish to communicate with though. You're asked for this when you type
1161 @kbd{C-c C-m c s}. Currently there are two ways to retrieve this
1162 certificate, from a local file or from DNS@. If you chose a local
1163 file, it need to contain a X.509 certificate in @acronym{PEM} format.
1164 If you chose DNS, you're asked for the domain name where the
1165 certificate is stored, the default is a good guess. To my belief,
1166 Message (@acronym{MML}) is the first mail agent in the world to support
1167 retrieving @acronym{S/MIME} certificates from DNS, so you're not
1168 likely to find very many certificates out there. At least there
1169 should be one, stored at the domain @code{simon.josefsson.org}. LDAP
1170 is a more popular method of distributing certificates, support for it
1171 is planned. (Meanwhile, you can use @code{ldapsearch} from the
1172 command line to retrieve a certificate into a file and use it.)
1174 As for signing messages, OpenSSL can't perform signing operations
1175 without some kind of configuration. Especially, you need to tell it
1176 where your private key and your certificate is stored. @acronym{MML}
1177 uses an Emacs interface to OpenSSL, aptly named @code{smime.el}, and it
1178 contain a @code{custom} group used for this configuration. So, try
1179 @kbd{M-x customize-group RET smime RET} and look around.
1181 Currently there is no support for talking to a CA (or RA) to create
1182 your own certificate. None is planned either. You need to do this
1183 manually with OpenSSL or using some other program. I used Netscape
1184 and got a free @acronym{S/MIME} certificate from one of the big CA's on the
1185 net. Netscape is able to export your private key and certificate in
1186 PKCS #12 format. Use OpenSSL to convert this into a plain X.509
1187 certificate in PEM format as follows.
1190 $ openssl pkcs12 -in ns.p12 -clcerts -nodes > key+cert.pem
1193 The @file{key+cert.pem} file should be pointed to from the
1194 @code{smime-keys} variable. You should now be able to send signed mail.
1196 @emph{Note!} Your private key is now stored unencrypted in the file,
1197 so take care in handling it. Storing encrypted keys on the disk are
1198 supported, and Gnus will ask you for a passphrase before invoking
1199 OpenSSL@. Read the OpenSSL documentation for how to achieve this. If
1200 you use unencrypted keys (e.g., if they are on a secure storage, or if
1201 you are on a secure single user machine) simply press @code{RET} at
1202 the passphrase prompt.
1205 @subsection Using OpenPGP
1207 Use of OpenPGP requires an external software, such
1208 as @uref{https://www.gnupg.org/, GNU Privacy Guard}. Pre-OpenPGP
1209 implementations such as PGP 2.x and PGP 5.x are also supported. The
1210 default Emacs interface to the PGP implementation is EasyPG
1211 (@pxref{Top,,EasyPG Assistant User's Manual, epa, EasyPG Assistant
1212 User's Manual}), but PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG Manual}) and
1213 Mailcrypt are also supported. @xref{PGP Compatibility}.
1215 As stated earlier, messages encrypted with OpenPGP can be formatted
1216 according to two different standards, namely @acronym{PGP} or
1217 @acronym{PGP/MIME}. The variables
1218 @code{mml-default-encrypt-method} and
1219 @code{mml-default-sign-method} determine which variant to prefer,
1220 @acronym{PGP/MIME} by default.
1222 @node Passphrase caching
1223 @subsection Passphrase caching
1226 Message with EasyPG internally calls GnuPG (the @command{gpg} or
1227 @command{gpgsm} command) to perform
1228 data encryption, and in certain cases (decrypting or signing for
1229 example), @command{gpg}/@command{gpgsm} requires user's passphrase.
1230 Currently the recommended way to supply your passphrase is to use the
1231 @command{gpg-agent} program.
1233 In particular, the @command{gpg-agent} program supports passphrase
1234 caching so that you do not need to enter your passphrase for every
1235 decryption/sign operation. @xref{Agent Options, , , gnupg, Using the
1238 How to use @command{gpg-agent} in Emacs depends on your version of
1239 GnuPG. With GnuPG version 2.1, @command{gpg-agent} is started
1240 automatically if necessary. With older versions you may need to run
1241 the following command from the shell before starting Emacs.
1244 eval `gpg-agent --daemon`
1247 This will invoke @command{gpg-agent} and set the environment variable
1248 @code{GPG_AGENT_INFO} to allow @command{gpg} to communicate with it.
1249 It might be good idea to put this command in your @file{.xsession} or
1250 @file{.bash_profile}. @xref{Invoking GPG-AGENT, , , gnupg, Using the
1253 Once your @command{gpg-agent} is set up, it will ask you for a
1254 passphrase as needed for @command{gpg}. Under the X Window System,
1255 you will see a new passphrase input dialog appear. The dialog is
1256 provided by PIN Entry (the @command{pinentry} command), reasonably
1257 recent versions of which can also cooperate with Emacs on a text
1258 console. If that does not work, you may need to put a passphrase into
1259 gpg-agent's cache beforehand. The following command does the trick.
1262 gpg --use-agent --sign < /dev/null > /dev/null
1265 @node PGP Compatibility
1266 @subsection Compatibility with older implementations
1268 @vindex gpg-temp-directory
1269 Note, if you are using the @code{gpg.el} you must make sure that the
1270 directory specified by @code{gpg-temp-directory} have permissions
1273 Creating your own key is described in detail in the documentation of
1274 your PGP implementation, so we refer to it.
1276 If you have imported your old PGP 2.x key into GnuPG, and want to send
1277 signed and encrypted messages to your fellow PGP 2.x users, you'll
1278 discover that the receiver cannot understand what you send. One
1279 solution is to use PGP 2.x instead (e.g., if you use @code{pgg}, set
1280 @code{pgg-default-scheme} to @code{pgp}). You could also convince your
1281 fellow PGP 2.x users to convert to GnuPG@.
1282 @vindex mml-signencrypt-style-alist
1283 As a final workaround, you can make the sign and encryption work in
1284 two steps; separately sign, then encrypt a message. If you would like
1285 to change this behavior you can customize the
1286 @code{mml-signencrypt-style-alist} variable. For example:
1289 (setq mml-signencrypt-style-alist '(("smime" separate)
1291 ("pgpauto" separate)
1292 ("pgpmime" separate)))
1295 This causes to sign and encrypt in two passes, thus generating a
1296 message that can be understood by PGP version 2.
1298 (Refer to @uref{http://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/pgp2x.html} for more
1299 information about the problem.)
1301 @node Encrypt-to-self
1302 @subsection Encrypt-to-self
1304 By default, messages are encrypted to all recipients (@code{To},
1305 @code{Cc}, @code{Bcc} headers). Thus, you will not be able to decrypt
1306 your own messages. To make sure that messages are also encrypted to
1307 your own key(s), several alternative solutions exist:
1310 Use the @code{encrypt-to} option in the file @file{gpg.conf} (for
1311 OpenPGP) or @file{gpgsm.conf} (for @acronym{S/MIME} with EasyPG).
1312 @xref{Invoking GPG, , , gnupg, Using the GNU Privacy Guard}, or
1313 @xref{Invoking GPGSM, , , gnupg, Using the GNU Privacy Guard}.
1315 Include your own e-mail address (for which you created a key-pair)
1316 among the recipients.
1318 Customize the variable @code{mml-secure-openpgp-encrypt-to-self} (for
1319 OpenPGP) or @code{mml-secure-smime-encrypt-to-self} (for
1320 @acronym{S/MIME} with EasyPG).
1324 @subsection Bcc Warning
1326 The @code{Bcc} header is meant to hide recipients of messages.
1327 However, when encrypted messages are used, the e-mail addresses of all
1328 @code{Bcc}-headers are given away to all recipients without
1329 warning, which is a bug, see
1330 @uref{https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=18718}.
1333 @node Various Commands
1334 @section Various Commands
1340 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
1341 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
1342 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
1343 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
1344 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
1348 @findex message-elide-region
1349 @vindex message-elide-ellipsis
1350 Elide the text between point and mark (@code{message-elide-region}).
1351 The text is killed and replaced with the contents of the variable
1352 @code{message-elide-ellipsis}. The default value is to use an ellipsis
1355 This is a format-spec string, and you can use @samp{%l} to say how
1356 many lines were removed, and @samp{%c} to say how many characters were
1361 @findex message-kill-address
1362 Kill the address under point.
1366 @findex message-kill-to-signature
1367 Kill all the text up to the signature, or if that's missing, up to the
1368 end of the message (@code{message-kill-to-signature}).
1372 @findex message-delete-not-region
1373 Delete all text in the body of the message that is outside the region
1374 (@code{message-delete-not-region}).
1378 @findex message-newline-and-reformat
1379 Insert four newlines, and then reformat if inside quoted text.
1384 > This is some quoted text. And here's more quoted text.
1387 If point is before @samp{And} and you press @kbd{M-RET}, you'll get:
1390 > This is some quoted text.
1394 > And here's more quoted text.
1397 @samp{*} says where point will be placed.
1401 @findex message-rename-buffer
1402 Rename the buffer (@code{message-rename-buffer}). If given a prefix,
1403 prompt for a new buffer name.
1408 @vindex message-tab-body-function
1409 If @code{message-tab-body-function} is non-@code{nil}, execute the
1410 function it specifies. Otherwise use the function bound to @kbd{TAB} in
1411 @code{text-mode-map} or @code{global-map}.
1422 @findex message-send-and-exit
1423 Send the message and bury the current buffer
1424 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
1428 @findex message-send
1429 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
1433 @findex message-dont-send
1434 Bury the message buffer and exit (@code{message-dont-send}).
1438 @findex message-kill-buffer
1439 Kill the message buffer and exit (@code{message-kill-buffer}).
1446 @section Mail Aliases
1447 @cindex mail aliases
1452 @vindex message-mail-alias-type
1453 The @code{message-mail-alias-type} variable controls what type of mail
1454 alias expansion to use. Currently two forms are supported:
1455 @code{mailabbrev} and @code{ecomplete}. If this variable is
1456 @code{nil}, no mail alias expansion will be performed.
1458 @code{mailabbrev} works by parsing the @file{/etc/mailrc} and
1459 @file{~/.mailrc} files. These files look like:
1462 alias lmi "Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@ifi.uio.no>"
1463 alias ding "ding@@ifi.uio.no (ding mailing list)"
1466 After adding lines like this to your @file{~/.mailrc} file, you should
1467 be able to just write @samp{lmi} in the @code{To} or @code{Cc} (and so
1468 on) headers and press @kbd{SPC} to expand the alias.
1470 No expansion will be performed upon sending of the message---all
1471 expansions have to be done explicitly.
1473 If you're using @code{ecomplete}, all addresses from @code{To} and
1474 @code{Cc} headers will automatically be put into the
1475 @file{~/.ecompleterc} file. When you enter text in the @code{To} and
1476 @code{Cc} headers, @code{ecomplete} will check out the values stored
1477 there and ``electrically'' say what completions are possible. To
1478 choose one of these completions, use the @kbd{M-n} command to move
1479 down to the list. Use @kbd{M-n} and @kbd{M-p} to move down and up the
1480 list, and @kbd{RET} to choose a completion.
1485 @findex ispell-message
1487 There are two popular ways to have Emacs spell-check your messages:
1488 @code{ispell} and @code{flyspell}. @code{ispell} is the older and
1489 probably more popular package. You typically first write the message,
1490 and then run the entire thing through @code{ispell} and fix all the
1491 typos. To have this happen automatically when you send a message, put
1492 something like the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
1495 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
1498 @vindex ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1499 If you're in the habit of writing in different languages, this can be
1500 controlled by the @code{ispell-message-dictionary-alist} variable:
1503 (setq ispell-message-dictionary-alist
1504 '(("^Newsgroups:.*\\bde\\." . "deutsch8")
1505 (".*" . "default")))
1508 @code{ispell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1511 The other popular method is using @code{flyspell}. This package checks
1512 your spelling while you're writing, and marks any mis-spelled words in
1515 To use @code{flyspell}, put something like the following in your
1519 (defun my-message-setup-routine ()
1521 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'my-message-setup-routine)
1524 @code{flyspell} depends on having the external @samp{ispell} command
1532 * Message Headers:: General message header stuff.
1533 * Mail Headers:: Customizing mail headers.
1534 * Mail Variables:: Other mail variables.
1535 * News Headers:: Customizing news headers.
1536 * News Variables:: Other news variables.
1537 * Insertion Variables:: Customizing how things are inserted.
1538 * Various Message Variables:: Other message variables.
1539 * Sending Variables:: Variables for sending.
1540 * Message Buffers:: How Message names its buffers.
1541 * Message Actions:: Actions to be performed when exiting.
1545 @node Message Headers
1546 @section Message Headers
1548 Message is quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has to
1549 be---it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send combined
1550 messages, it has to generate all headers itself (instead of letting the
1551 mail/news system do it) to ensure that mail and news copies of messages
1552 look sufficiently similar.
1556 @item message-generate-headers-first
1557 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
1558 If @code{t}, generate all required headers before starting to
1559 compose the message. This can also be a list of headers to generate:
1562 (setq message-generate-headers-first
1566 @vindex message-required-headers
1567 The variables @code{message-required-headers},
1568 @code{message-required-mail-headers} and
1569 @code{message-required-news-headers} specify which headers are
1572 Note that some headers will be removed and re-generated before posting,
1573 because of the variable @code{message-deletable-headers} (see below).
1575 @item message-draft-headers
1576 @vindex message-draft-headers
1577 When running Message from Gnus, the message buffers are associated
1578 with a draft group. @code{message-draft-headers} says which headers
1579 should be generated when a draft is written to the draft group.
1581 @item message-from-style
1582 @vindex message-from-style
1583 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four valid
1588 Just the address---@samp{king@@grassland.com}.
1591 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
1594 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
1597 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
1598 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
1599 @code{angles} anyway.
1603 @item message-deletable-headers
1604 @vindex message-deletable-headers
1605 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Message will be
1606 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
1607 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
1608 to the @file{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
1609 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
1610 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
1611 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
1612 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
1615 @item message-default-headers
1616 @vindex message-default-headers
1617 Header lines to be inserted in outgoing messages before you edit the
1618 message, so you can edit or delete their lines. If set to a string, it
1619 is directly inserted. If set to a function, it is called and its
1622 @item message-subject-re-regexp
1623 @vindex message-subject-re-regexp
1627 Responses to messages have subjects that start with @samp{Re: }. This
1628 is @emph{not} an abbreviation of the English word ``response'', but is
1629 Latin, and means ``in response to''. Some illiterate nincompoops have
1630 failed to grasp this fact, and have ``internationalized'' their software
1631 to use abominations like @samp{Aw: } (``antwort'') or @samp{Sv: }
1632 (``svar'') instead, which is meaningless and evil. However, you may
1633 have to deal with users that use these evil tools, in which case you may
1634 set this variable to a regexp that matches these prefixes. Myself, I
1635 just throw away non-compliant mail.
1637 Here's an example of a value to deal with these headers when
1638 responding to a message:
1641 (setq message-subject-re-regexp
1646 "[Aa][Nn][Tt][Ww]\\.?\\|" ; antw
1648 "[Ff][Ww][Dd]?\\|" ; fwd
1649 "[Oo][Dd][Pp]\\|" ; odp
1651 "[Rr][\311\351][Ff]\\.?\\|" ; ref
1654 "\\(\\[[0-9]*\\]\\)"
1661 @item message-subject-trailing-was-query
1662 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-query
1663 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp
1664 @vindex message-subject-trailing-was-regexp
1665 Controls what to do with trailing @samp{(was: <old subject>)} in subject
1666 lines. If @code{nil}, leave the subject unchanged. If it is the symbol
1667 @code{ask}, query the user what to do. In this case, the subject is
1668 matched against @code{message-subject-trailing-was-ask-regexp}. If
1669 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query} is @code{t}, always strip the
1670 trailing old subject. In this case,
1671 @code{message-subject-trailing-was-regexp} is used.
1673 @item message-alternative-emails
1674 @vindex message-alternative-emails
1675 Regexp matching alternative email addresses. The first address in the
1676 To, Cc or From headers of the original article matching this variable is
1677 used as the From field of outgoing messages, replacing the default From
1680 For example, if you have two secondary email addresses john@@home.net
1681 and john.doe@@work.com and want to use them in the From field when
1682 composing a reply to a message addressed to one of them, you could set
1683 this variable like this:
1686 (setq message-alternative-emails
1687 (regexp-opt '("john@@home.net" "john.doe@@work.com")))
1690 This variable has precedence over posting styles and anything that runs
1691 off @code{message-setup-hook}.
1693 @item message-allow-no-recipients
1694 @vindex message-allow-no-recipients
1695 Specifies what to do when there are no recipients other than
1696 @code{Gcc} or @code{Fcc}. If it is @code{always}, the posting is
1697 allowed. If it is @code{never}, the posting is not allowed. If it is
1698 @code{ask} (the default), you are prompted.
1700 @item message-hidden-headers
1701 @vindex message-hidden-headers
1702 A regexp, a list of regexps, or a list where the first element is
1703 @code{not} and the rest are regexps. It says which headers to keep
1704 hidden when composing a message.
1707 (setq message-hidden-headers
1708 '(not "From" "Subject" "To" "Cc" "Newsgroups"))
1711 Headers are hidden using narrowing, you can use @kbd{M-x widen} to
1712 expose them in the buffer.
1714 @item message-header-synonyms
1715 @vindex message-header-synonyms
1716 A list of lists of header synonyms. E.g., if this list contains a
1717 member list with elements @code{Cc} and @code{To}, then
1718 @code{message-carefully-insert-headers} will not insert a @code{To}
1719 header when the message is already @code{Cc}ed to the recipient.
1725 @section Mail Headers
1728 @item message-required-mail-headers
1729 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
1730 @xref{News Headers}, for the syntax of this variable. It is
1731 @code{(From Subject Date (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID
1732 (optional . User-Agent))} by default.
1734 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
1735 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
1736 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is@*
1737 @samp{^[GF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|^Xref:\\|^X-Draft-From:\\|@*
1738 ^X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information:}.
1740 @item message-default-mail-headers
1741 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
1742 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
1743 buffers that are initialized as mail.
1745 @item message-generate-hashcash
1746 @vindex message-generate-hashcash
1747 Variable that indicates whether @samp{X-Hashcash} headers
1748 should be computed for the message. @xref{Hashcash, ,Hashcash,gnus,
1749 The Gnus Manual}. If @code{opportunistic}, only generate the headers
1750 when it doesn't lead to the user having to wait.
1755 @node Mail Variables
1756 @section Mail Variables
1759 @item message-send-mail-function
1760 @vindex message-send-mail-function
1761 @findex message-send-mail-function
1762 @findex message-send-mail-with-sendmail
1763 @findex message-send-mail-with-mh
1764 @findex message-send-mail-with-qmail
1765 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
1766 @findex smtpmail-send-it
1767 @findex feedmail-send-it
1768 @findex message-send-mail-with-mailclient
1769 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
1770 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, or @code{smtpmail-send-it}
1771 according to the system. Other valid values include
1772 @code{message-send-mail-with-mailclient},
1773 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
1774 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
1777 @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail} pipes your article to the
1778 @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and sending. When your local
1779 system is not configured for sending mail using @code{sendmail}, and you
1780 have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP} server, you can set
1781 @code{message-send-mail-function} to @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make
1782 sure to setup the @code{smtpmail} package correctly. An example:
1785 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
1786 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
1789 To the thing similar to this, there is
1790 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your @acronym{ISP}
1791 requires the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication.
1792 @xref{POP before SMTP, , POP before SMTP, gnus, The Gnus Manual}.
1794 @cindex X-Message-SMTP-Method
1795 If you have a complex @acronym{SMTP} setup, and want some messages to
1796 go via one mail server, and other messages to go through another, you
1797 can use the @samp{X-Message-SMTP-Method} header. These are the
1804 X-Message-SMTP-Method: smtp smtp.fsf.org 587
1807 This will send the message via @samp{smtp.fsf.org}, using port 587.
1810 X-Message-SMTP-Method: smtp smtp.fsf.org 587 other-user
1813 This is the same as the above, but uses @samp{other-user} as the user
1814 name when authenticating. This is handy if you have several
1815 @acronym{SMTP} accounts on the same server.
1820 X-Message-SMTP-Method: sendmail
1823 This will send the message via the locally installed sendmail/exim/etc
1828 @item message-mh-deletable-headers
1829 @vindex message-mh-deletable-headers
1830 Most versions of MH doesn't like being fed messages that contain the
1831 headers in this variable. If this variable is non-@code{nil} (which is
1832 the default), these headers will be removed before mailing when sending
1833 messages via MH@. Set it to @code{nil} if your MH can handle these
1836 @item message-qmail-inject-program
1837 @vindex message-qmail-inject-program
1839 Location of the qmail-inject program.
1841 @item message-qmail-inject-args
1842 @vindex message-qmail-inject-args
1843 Arguments passed to qmail-inject programs.
1844 This should be a list of strings, one string for each argument. It
1845 may also be a function.
1847 E.g., if you wish to set the envelope sender address so that bounces
1848 go to the right place or to deal with listserv's usage of that address, you
1849 might set this variable to @code{'("-f" "you@@some.where")}.
1851 @item message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1852 @vindex message-sendmail-f-is-evil
1854 Non-@code{nil} means don't add @samp{-f username} to the sendmail
1855 command line. Doing so would be even more evil than leaving it out.
1857 @item message-sendmail-envelope-from
1858 @vindex message-sendmail-envelope-from
1859 When @code{message-sendmail-f-is-evil} is @code{nil}, this specifies
1860 the address to use in the @acronym{SMTP} envelope. If it is
1861 @code{nil}, use @code{user-mail-address}. If it is the symbol
1862 @code{header}, use the @samp{From} header of the message.
1864 @item message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1865 @vindex message-mailer-swallows-blank-line
1866 Set this to non-@code{nil} if the system's mailer runs the header and
1867 body together. (This problem exists on SunOS 4 when sendmail is run
1868 in remote mode.) The value should be an expression to test whether
1869 the problem will actually occur.
1871 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
1872 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
1873 @cindex split large message
1874 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial. The lower bound
1875 of message size in characters, beyond which the message should be sent
1876 in several parts. If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), the
1883 @section News Headers
1885 @vindex message-required-news-headers
1886 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
1887 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
1888 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are valid:
1894 @findex user-full-name
1895 @findex user-mail-address
1896 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
1897 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
1898 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
1899 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
1903 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
1907 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
1908 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
1911 @cindex organization
1912 @vindex message-user-organization
1913 @vindex message-user-organization-file
1914 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
1915 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
1916 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if this variable is
1917 @code{t}. This variable can also be a string (in which case this string
1918 will be used), or it can be a function (which will be called with no
1919 parameters and should return a string to be used).
1923 This optional header will be computed by Message.
1927 @vindex message-user-fqdn
1928 @vindex mail-host-address
1929 @vindex user-mail-address
1932 @cindex i-did-not-set--mail-host-address--so-tickle-me
1933 This required header will be generated by Message. A unique ID will be
1934 created based on the date, time, user name (for the local part) and the
1935 domain part. For the domain part, message will look (in this order) at
1936 @code{message-user-fqdn}, @code{system-name}, @code{mail-host-address}
1937 and @code{message-user-mail-address} (i.e., @code{user-mail-address})
1938 until a probably valid fully qualified domain name (FQDN) was found.
1942 This optional header will be filled out according to the
1943 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
1946 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
1947 header of the article being replied to.
1951 @vindex message-expires
1952 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
1953 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
1954 be used unless you know what you're doing.
1957 @cindex Distribution
1958 @vindex message-distribution-function
1959 This optional header is filled out according to the
1960 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
1961 much misunderstood header.
1965 @vindex message-user-path
1966 This extremely optional header should probably never be used.
1967 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
1968 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
1969 @code{Path} header is to look. If it is @code{nil}, use the server name
1970 as the leaf node. If it is a string, use the string. If it is neither
1971 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
1972 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
1975 @cindex Mime-Version
1976 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The @sc{car} of this cons
1977 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
1978 the @sc{cdr} can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
1979 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
1980 take no arguments, and return a string to be inserted. For
1981 instance, if you want to insert @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should
1982 enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")} into the list.
1984 If the list contains a cons where the @sc{car} of the cons is
1985 @code{optional}, the @sc{cdr} of this cons will only be inserted if it is
1988 If you want to delete an entry from this list, the following Lisp
1989 snippet might be useful. Adjust accordingly if you want to remove
1993 (setq message-required-news-headers
1994 (delq 'Message-ID message-required-news-headers))
1997 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
2001 @item message-syntax-checks
2002 @vindex message-syntax-checks
2003 Controls what syntax checks should not be performed on outgoing posts.
2004 To disable checking of long signatures, for instance, add
2007 (signature . disabled)
2017 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
2018 something only moderators should include.
2019 @item continuation-headers
2020 Check whether there are continuation header lines that don't begin with
2023 Check for invalid characters.
2025 Check whether the article is empty.
2026 @item existing-newsgroups
2027 Check whether the newsgroups mentioned in the @code{Newsgroups} and
2028 @code{Followup-To} headers exist.
2030 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
2031 @item illegible-text
2032 Check whether there is any non-printable character in the body.
2033 @item invisible-text
2034 Check whether there is any invisible text in the buffer.
2035 @item long-header-lines
2036 Check for too long header lines.
2039 Check for too long lines in the body.
2041 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks syntactically ok.
2042 @item multiple-headers
2043 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
2045 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
2047 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} header exists and is not empty.
2049 Check whether text follows last quoted portion.
2050 @item repeated-newsgroups
2051 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
2052 contains repeated group names.
2054 Check whether the @code{Reply-To} header looks ok.
2057 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
2060 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
2062 Check whether the domain part of the @code{Message-ID} header looks ok.
2063 @item shorten-followup-to
2064 Check whether to add a @code{Followup-to} header to shorten the number
2065 of groups to post to.
2067 Check the length of the signature.
2069 Check for excessive size.
2071 Check whether the @code{Subject} header exists and is not empty.
2073 Check the subject for commands.
2074 @item valid-newsgroups
2075 Check whether the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-to} headers
2076 are valid syntactically.
2079 All these conditions are checked by default, except for @code{sender}
2080 for which the check is disabled by default if
2081 @code{message-insert-canlock} is non-@code{nil} (@pxref{Canceling News}).
2083 @item message-ignored-news-headers
2084 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
2085 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is@*
2086 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^[BGF]cc:\\|^Resent-Fcc:\\|@*
2087 ^X-Draft-From:\\|^X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information:}.
2089 @item message-default-news-headers
2090 @vindex message-default-news-headers
2091 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
2092 buffers that are initialized as news.
2097 @node News Variables
2098 @section News Variables
2101 @item message-send-news-function
2102 @vindex message-send-news-function
2103 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
2104 @code{message-send-news}.
2106 @item message-post-method
2107 @vindex message-post-method
2108 Gnusish @dfn{select method} (see the Gnus manual for details) used for
2109 posting a prepared news message.
2114 @node Insertion Variables
2115 @section Insertion Variables
2118 @item message-cite-style
2119 @vindex message-cite-style
2120 The overall style to be used when replying to messages. This controls
2121 things like where the reply should be put relative to the original,
2122 how the citation is formatted, where the signature goes, etc.
2124 Value is either @code{nil} (no variable overrides) or a let-style list
2125 of pairs @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} to override default values.
2127 See @code{gnus-posting-styles} to set this variable for specific
2128 groups. Presets to impersonate popular mail agents are available in the
2129 @code{message-cite-style-*} variables.
2131 @item message-cite-reply-position
2132 @vindex message-cite-reply-position
2133 Where the reply should be positioned. Available styles are
2134 @code{traditional} to reply inline, @code{above} for top-posting, and
2135 @code{below} for bottom-posting
2137 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
2138 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
2139 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
2140 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
2143 @item message-cite-prefix-regexp
2144 @vindex message-cite-prefix-regexp
2145 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
2147 @item message-citation-line-function
2148 @vindex message-citation-line-function
2149 @cindex attribution line
2150 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
2151 @code{message-insert-citation-line}, which will lead to citation lines
2155 Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@@usit.uio.no> writes:
2158 @c FIXME: Add 'message-insert-formatted-citation-line' and
2159 @c 'message-citation-line-format'.
2161 Point will be at the beginning of the body of the message when this
2164 Note that Gnus provides a feature where clicking on @samp{writes:} hides the
2165 cited text. If you change the citation line too much, readers of your
2166 messages will have to adjust their Gnus, too. See the variable
2167 @code{gnus-cite-attribution-suffix}. @xref{Article Highlighting, ,
2168 Article Highlighting, gnus, The Gnus Manual}, for details.
2170 @item message-yank-prefix
2171 @vindex message-yank-prefix
2174 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
2175 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
2176 @dfn{yanking}, and each line you yank will have
2177 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it (except for quoted lines
2178 which use @code{message-yank-cited-prefix} and empty lines which use
2179 @code{message-yank-empty-prefix}). The default is @samp{> }.
2181 @item message-yank-cited-prefix
2182 @vindex message-yank-cited-prefix
2186 When yanking text from an article which contains already cited text,
2187 each line will be prefixed with the contents of this variable. The
2188 default is @samp{>}. See also @code{message-yank-prefix}.
2190 @item message-yank-empty-prefix
2191 @vindex message-yank-empty-prefix
2194 When yanking text from an article, each empty line will be prefixed with
2195 the contents of this variable. The default is @samp{>}. You can set
2196 this variable to an empty string to split the cited text into paragraphs
2197 automatically. See also @code{message-yank-prefix}.
2199 @item message-indentation-spaces
2200 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
2201 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
2203 @item message-cite-function
2204 @vindex message-cite-function
2205 @findex message-cite-original
2206 @findex message-cite-original-without-signature
2207 Function for citing an original message. The default is
2208 @code{message-cite-original}, which simply inserts the original message
2209 and prepends @samp{> } to each line.
2210 @code{message-cite-original-without-signature} does the same, but elides
2213 @item message-indent-citation-function
2214 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
2215 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
2216 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
2217 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
2218 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
2220 @item message-mark-insert-begin
2221 @vindex message-mark-insert-begin
2222 String to mark the beginning of some inserted text.
2224 @item message-mark-insert-end
2225 @vindex message-mark-insert-end
2226 String to mark the end of some inserted text.
2228 @item message-signature
2229 @vindex message-signature
2230 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
2231 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
2232 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
2233 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
2234 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
2236 @item message-signature-file
2237 @vindex message-signature-file
2238 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
2239 If a path is specified, the value of
2240 @code{message-signature-directory} is ignored, even if set.
2241 The default is @file{~/.signature}.
2243 @item message-signature-directory
2244 @vindex message-signature-directory
2245 Name of directory containing signature files. Comes in handy if you
2246 have many such files, handled via Gnus posting styles for instance.
2247 If @code{nil} (the default), @code{message-signature-file} is expected
2248 to specify the directory if needed.
2251 @item message-signature-insert-empty-line
2252 @vindex message-signature-insert-empty-line
2253 If @code{t} (the default value) an empty line is inserted before the
2254 signature separator.
2258 Note that RFC1036bis says that a signature should be preceded by the three
2259 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
2260 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
2261 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
2262 that they ruin your beautiful design, like, totally.
2264 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
2265 Including @acronym{ASCII} graphics is an efficient way to get
2266 everybody to believe that you are silly and have nothing important to
2270 @node Various Message Variables
2271 @section Various Message Variables
2274 @item message-default-charset
2275 @vindex message-default-charset
2277 Symbol naming a @acronym{MIME} charset. Non-@acronym{ASCII} characters
2278 in messages are assumed to be encoded using this charset. The default
2279 is @code{iso-8859-1} on non-@sc{mule} Emacsen; otherwise @code{nil},
2280 which means ask the user. (This variable is used only on non-@sc{mule}
2281 Emacsen.) @xref{Charset Translation, , Charset Translation, emacs-mime,
2282 Emacs MIME Manual}, for details on the @sc{mule}-to-@acronym{MIME}
2283 translation process.
2285 @item message-fill-column
2286 @vindex message-fill-column
2288 Local value for the column beyond which automatic line-wrapping should
2289 happen for message buffers. If non-@code{nil} (the default), also turn on
2290 auto-fill in message buffers.
2292 @item message-signature-separator
2293 @vindex message-signature-separator
2294 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
2297 @item mail-header-separator
2298 @vindex mail-header-separator
2299 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
2300 follows this line--} by default.
2302 @item message-directory
2303 @vindex message-directory
2304 Directory used by many mailish things. The default is @file{~/Mail/}.
2305 All other mail file variables are derived from @code{message-directory}.
2307 @item message-auto-save-directory
2308 @vindex message-auto-save-directory
2309 Directory where Message auto-saves buffers if Gnus isn't running. If
2310 @code{nil}, Message won't auto-save. The default is @file{~/Mail/drafts/}.
2312 @item message-signature-setup-hook
2313 @vindex message-signature-setup-hook
2314 Hook run when initializing the message buffer. It is run after the
2315 headers have been inserted but before the signature has been inserted.
2317 @item message-setup-hook
2318 @vindex message-setup-hook
2319 Hook run as the last thing when the message buffer has been initialized,
2320 but before yanked text is inserted.
2322 @item message-header-setup-hook
2323 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
2324 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
2326 For instance, if you're running Gnus and wish to insert a
2327 @samp{Mail-Copies-To} header in all your news articles and all messages
2328 you send to mailing lists, you could do something like the following:
2331 (defun my-message-header-setup-hook ()
2332 (let ((group (or gnus-newsgroup-name "")))
2333 (when (or (message-fetch-field "newsgroups")
2334 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-address)
2335 (gnus-group-find-parameter group 'to-list))
2336 (insert "Mail-Copies-To: never\n"))))
2338 (add-hook 'message-header-setup-hook
2339 'my-message-header-setup-hook)
2342 @item message-send-hook
2343 @vindex message-send-hook
2344 Hook run before sending messages.
2346 If you want to add certain headers before sending, you can use the
2347 @code{message-add-header} function in this hook. For instance:
2348 @findex message-add-header
2351 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-message-add-content)
2352 (defun my-message-add-content ()
2353 (message-add-header "X-In-No-Sense: Nonsense")
2354 (message-add-header "X-Whatever: no"))
2357 This function won't add the header if the header is already present.
2359 @item message-send-mail-hook
2360 @vindex message-send-mail-hook
2361 Hook run before sending mail messages. This hook is run very late:
2362 just before the message is actually sent as mail.
2364 @item message-send-news-hook
2365 @vindex message-send-news-hook
2366 Hook run before sending news messages. This hook is run very late:
2367 just before the message is actually sent as news.
2369 @item message-sent-hook
2370 @vindex message-sent-hook
2371 Hook run after sending messages.
2373 @item message-cancel-hook
2374 @vindex message-cancel-hook
2375 Hook run when canceling news articles.
2377 @item message-mode-syntax-table
2378 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
2379 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
2381 @item message-cite-articles-with-x-no-archive
2382 @vindex message-cite-articles-with-x-no-archive
2383 If non-@code{nil}, don't strip quoted text from articles that have
2384 @samp{X-No-Archive} set. Even if this variable isn't set, you can
2385 undo the stripping by hitting the @code{undo} keystroke.
2387 @item message-strip-special-text-properties
2388 @vindex message-strip-special-text-properties
2389 Emacs has a number of special text properties which can break message
2390 composing in various ways. If this option is set, message will strip
2391 these properties from the message composition buffer. However, some
2392 packages requires these properties to be present in order to work. If
2393 you use one of these packages, turn this option off, and hope the
2394 message composition doesn't break too bad.
2396 @item message-send-method-alist
2397 @vindex message-send-method-alist
2398 @findex message-mail-p
2399 @findex message-news-p
2400 @findex message-send-via-mail
2401 @findex message-send-via-news
2402 Alist of ways to send outgoing messages. Each element has the form:
2405 (@var{type} @var{predicate} @var{function})
2410 A symbol that names the method.
2413 A function called without any parameters to determine whether the
2414 message is a message of type @var{type}. The function will be called in
2415 the buffer where the message is.
2418 A function to be called if @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
2419 @var{function} is called with one parameter---the prefix.
2425 ((news message-news-p message-send-via-news)
2426 (mail message-mail-p message-send-via-mail))
2429 The @code{message-news-p} function returns non-@code{nil} if the message
2430 looks like news, and the @code{message-send-via-news} function sends the
2431 message according to the @code{message-send-news-function} variable
2432 (@pxref{News Variables}). The @code{message-mail-p} function returns
2433 non-@code{nil} if the message looks like mail, and the
2434 @code{message-send-via-mail} function sends the message according to the
2435 @code{message-send-mail-function} variable (@pxref{Mail Variables}).
2437 All the elements in this alist will be tried in order, so a message
2438 containing both a valid @samp{Newsgroups} header and a valid @samp{To}
2439 header, for example, will be sent as news, and then as mail.
2444 @node Sending Variables
2445 @section Sending Variables
2449 @item message-fcc-handler-function
2450 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
2451 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
2452 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
2453 function is @code{message-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
2455 @item message-courtesy-message
2456 @vindex message-courtesy-message
2457 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
2458 the mailed copy. If the string contains the format spec @samp{%s}, the
2459 newsgroups the article has been posted to will be inserted there. If
2460 this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy message will be added.
2461 The default value is @samp{"The following message is a courtesy copy of
2462 an article\\nthat has been posted to %s as well.\\n\\n"}.
2464 @item message-fcc-externalize-attachments
2465 @vindex message-fcc-externalize-attachments
2466 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Fcc copies; if it is
2467 non-@code{nil}, attach local files as external parts.
2469 @item message-interactive
2470 @vindex message-interactive
2471 If non-@code{nil} wait for and display errors when sending a message;
2472 if @code{nil} let the mailer mail back a message to report errors.
2474 @item message-confirm-send
2475 @vindex message-confirm-send
2476 When non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask for confirmation when sending a
2482 @node Message Buffers
2483 @section Message Buffers
2485 Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you
2486 request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't
2487 normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old
2488 message buffers are kept alive.
2491 @item message-generate-new-buffers
2492 @vindex message-generate-new-buffers
2493 Controls whether to create a new message buffer to compose a message.
2494 Valid values include:
2498 Generate the buffer name in the Message way (e.g., *mail*, *news*, *mail
2499 to whom*, *news on group*, etc.)@: and continue editing in the existing
2500 buffer of that name. If there is no such buffer, it will be newly
2505 Create the new buffer with the name generated in the Message way.
2508 Similar to @code{unique} but the buffer name begins with "*unsent ".
2511 Similar to @code{nil} but the buffer name is simpler like *mail
2516 If this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The
2517 type, the To address and the group name (any of these may be
2518 @code{nil}). The function should return the new buffer name.
2521 The default value is @code{unsent}.
2523 @item message-max-buffers
2524 @vindex message-max-buffers
2525 This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are
2526 more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The
2527 default is 10. If this variable is @code{nil}, no old message buffers
2528 will ever be killed.
2530 @item message-send-rename-function
2531 @vindex message-send-rename-function
2532 After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance,
2533 @samp{*reply to Lars*} to @samp{*sent reply to Lars*}. If you don't
2534 like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a
2535 manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can
2539 (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)
2542 @item message-kill-buffer-on-exit
2543 @findex message-kill-buffer-on-exit
2544 If non-@code{nil}, kill the buffer immediately on exit.
2549 @node Message Actions
2550 @section Message Actions
2552 When Message is being used from a news/mail reader, the reader is likely
2553 to want to perform some task after the message has been sent. Perhaps
2554 return to the previous window configuration or mark an article as
2557 @vindex message-kill-actions
2558 @vindex message-postpone-actions
2559 @vindex message-exit-actions
2560 @vindex message-send-actions
2561 The user may exit from the message buffer in various ways. The most
2562 common is @kbd{C-c C-c}, which sends the message and exits. Other
2563 possibilities are @kbd{C-c C-s} which just sends the message, @kbd{C-c
2564 C-d} which postpones the message editing and buries the message buffer,
2565 and @kbd{C-c C-k} which kills the message buffer. Each of these actions
2566 have lists associated with them that contains actions to be executed:
2567 @code{message-send-actions}, @code{message-exit-actions},
2568 @code{message-postpone-actions}, and @code{message-kill-actions}.
2570 Message provides a function to interface with these lists:
2571 @code{message-add-action}. The first parameter is the action to be
2572 added, and the rest of the arguments are which lists to add this action
2573 to. Here's an example from Gnus:
2577 `(set-window-configuration ,(current-window-configuration))
2578 'exit 'postpone 'kill)
2581 This restores the Gnus window configuration when the message buffer is
2582 killed, postponed or exited.
2584 An @dfn{action} can be either: a normal function, or a list where the
2585 @sc{car} is a function and the @sc{cdr} is the list of arguments, or
2586 a form to be @code{eval}ed.
2590 @chapter Compatibility
2591 @cindex compatibility
2593 Message uses virtually only its own variables---older @code{mail-}
2594 variables aren't consulted. To force Message to take those variables
2595 into account, you can put the following in your @file{.emacs} file:
2598 (require 'messcompat)
2601 This will initialize many Message variables from the values in the
2602 corresponding mail variables.
2609 * Responses:: Standard rules for determining where responses go.
2616 To determine where a message is to go, the following algorithm is used
2621 A @dfn{reply} is when you want to respond @emph{just} to the person who
2622 sent the message via mail. There will only be one recipient. To
2623 determine who the recipient will be, the following headers are
2634 A @dfn{wide reply} is a mail response that includes @emph{all} entities
2635 mentioned in the message you are responding to. All mailboxes from the
2636 following headers will be concatenated to form the outgoing
2637 @code{To}/@code{Cc} headers:
2641 (unless there's a @code{Reply-To}, in which case that is used instead).
2648 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will also be included
2649 in the list of mailboxes. If this header is @samp{never}, that means
2650 that the @code{From} (or @code{Reply-To}) mailbox will be suppressed.
2654 A @dfn{followup} is a response sent via news. The following headers
2655 (listed in order of precedence) determine where the response is to be
2666 If a @code{Mail-Copies-To} header is present, it will be used as the
2667 basis of the new @code{Cc} header, except if this header is
2673 @node GNU Free Documentation License
2674 @chapter GNU Free Documentation License
2675 @include doclicense.texi