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1
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2 @node Sending Mail, Reading Mail, Picture, Top
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3 @chapter Sending Mail
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4 @cindex mail
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5 @cindex message
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6
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7 To send a message in Emacs, start by typing the command (@kbd{C-x m})
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8 to select and initialize the @samp{*mail*} buffer. You can then edit the text
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9 and headers of the message in the mail buffer, and type the command
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10 (@kbd{C-c C-c}) to send the message.
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11
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12 @table @kbd
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13 @item C-x m
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14 Begin composing a message to send (@code{mail}).
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15 @item C-x 4 m
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16 Likewise, but display the message in another window
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17 (@code{mail-other-window}).
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18 @item C-c C-c
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19 In Mail mode, send the message and switch to another buffer
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20 (@code{mail-send-and-exit}).
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21 @end table
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22
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23 @kindex C-x m
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24 @findex mail
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25 @kindex C-x 4 m
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26 @findex mail-other-window
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27 The command @kbd{C-x m} (@code{mail}) selects a buffer named
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28 @samp{*mail*} and initializes it with the skeleton of an outgoing message.
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29 @kbd{C-x 4 m} (@code{mail-other-window}) selects the @samp{*mail*} buffer
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30 in a different window, leaving the previous current buffer visible.@refill
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31
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32 Because the buffer for mail composition is an ordinary Emacs buffer, you can
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33 switch to other buffers while in the middle of composing mail, and switch
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34 back later (or never). If you use the @kbd{C-x m} command again when you
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35 have been composing another message but have not sent it, a new mail
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36 buffer will be created; in this way, you can compose multiple messages
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37 at once. You can switch back to and complete an unsent message by using
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38 the normal buffer selection mechanisms.
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39
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40 @kbd{C-u C-x m} is another way to switch back to a message in progress:
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41 it will search for an existing, unsent mail message buffer and select it.
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42
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43 @menu
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44 * Format: Mail Format. Format of the mail being composed.
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45 * Headers: Mail Headers. Details of allowed mail header fields.
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46 * Mode: Mail Mode. Special commands for editing mail being composed.
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47 @end menu
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48
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49 @node Mail Format, Mail Headers, Sending Mail, Sending Mail
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50 @section The Format of the Mail Buffer
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51
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52 In addition to the @dfn{text} or contents, a message has @dfn{header
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53 fields}, which say who sent it, when, to whom, why, and so on. Some header
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54 fields, such as the date and sender, are created automatically after the
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55 message is sent. Others, such as the recipient names, must be specified by
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56 you in order to send the message properly.
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57
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58 Mail mode provides a few commands to help you edit some header fields,
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59 and some are preinitialized in the buffer automatically at times. You can
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60 insert or edit any header fields using ordinary editing commands.
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61
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62 The line in the buffer that says:
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63
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64 @example
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65 --text follows this line--
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66 @end example
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67
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68 @vindex mail-header-separator
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69 @noindent
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70 is a special delimiter that separates the headers you have specified from
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71 the text. Whatever follows this line is the text of the message; the
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72 headers precede it. The delimiter line itself does not appear in the
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73 message actually sent. The text used for the delimiter line is controlled
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74 by the variable @code{mail-header-separator}.
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75
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76 Here is an example of what the headers and text in the @samp{*mail*} buffer
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77 might look like.
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78
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79 @example
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80 To: rms@@mc
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81 CC: mly@@mc, rg@@oz
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82 Subject: The XEmacs User's Manual
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83 --Text follows this line--
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84 Please ignore this message.
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85 @end example
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86
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87 @node Mail Headers, Mail Mode, Mail Format, Sending Mail
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88 @section Mail Header Fields
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89 @cindex headers (of mail message)
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90
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91 There are several header fields you can use in the @samp{*mail*} buffer.
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92 Each header field starts with a field name at the beginning of a line,
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93 terminated by a colon. It does not matter whether you use upper or lower
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94 case in the field name. After the colon and optional whitespace comes the
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95 contents of the field.
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96
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97 @table @samp
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98 @item To
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99 This field contains the mailing addresses of the message.
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100
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101 @item Subject
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102 The contents of the @samp{Subject} field should be a piece of text that
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103 says what the message is about. Subject fields are useful because most
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104 mail-reading programs can provide a summary of messages, listing the
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105 subject of each message but not its text.
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106
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107 @item CC
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108 This field contains additional mailing addresses to send the message
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109 to, but whose readers should not regard the message as addressed to
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110 them.
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111
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112 @item BCC
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113 This field contains additional mailing addresses to send the message
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114 to, but which should not appear in the header of the message actually
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115 sent.
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116
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117 @item FCC
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118 This field contains the name of one file (in Unix mail file format) to
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119 which a copy of the message should be appended when the message is
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120 sent.
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121
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122 @item From
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123 Use the @samp{From} field to say who you are, when the account you are
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124 using to send the mail is not your own. The contents of the
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125 @samp{From} field should be a valid mailing address, since replies
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126 will normally go there.
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127
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128 @item Reply-To
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129 Use the @samp{Reply-To} field to direct replies to a different
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130 address, not your own. @samp{From} and
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131 @samp{Reply-To} have the same effect on where replies go, but they convey a
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132 different meaning to the person who reads the message.
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133
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134 @item In-Reply-To
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135 This field contains a piece of text describing a message you are
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136 replying to. Some mail systems can use the information to correlate
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137 related pieces of mail. This field is normally filled in by your mail
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138 handling package when you are replying to a message and you never need
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139 to think about it.
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140 @end table
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141
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142 @noindent
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143 The @samp{To}, @samp{CC}, @samp{BCC} and @samp{FCC} fields can appear
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144 any number of times, to specify many places to send the message.
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145
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146 @noindent
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147 The @samp{To}, @samp{CC}, and @samp{BCC}, fields can have continuation
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148 lines. All the lines starting with whitespace, following the line on
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149 which the field starts, are considered part of the field. For
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150 example,@refill
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151
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152 @example
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153 To: foo@@here, this@@there,
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154 me@@gnu.cambridge.mass.usa.earth.spiral3281
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155 @end example
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156
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157 @noindent
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158 @vindex mail-abbrev-mailrc-file
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159 If you have a @file{~/.mailrc} file, Emacs scans it for mail aliases the
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160 first time you try to send mail in an Emacs session. Emacs expands
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161 aliases found in the @samp{To}, @samp{CC}, and @samp{BCC} fields where
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162 appropriate. You can set the variable @code{mail-abbrev-mailrc-file} to
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163 the name of the file with mail aliases. If @code{nil}, @file{~/.mailrc}
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164 is used.
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165
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166 @cindex .mailrc file
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167 Your @file{.mailrc} file ensures that word-abbrevs are defined for each
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168 of your mail aliases when point is in a @samp{To}, @samp{CC},
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169 @samp{BCC}, or @samp{From} field. The aliases are defined in your
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170 @file{.mailrc} file or in a file specified by the @b{MAILRC}
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171 environment variable if it exists. Your mail aliases expand any time
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172 you type a word-delimiter at the end of an abbreviation.
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173
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174 In this version of Emacs, what you see is what you get: in contrast to
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175 some other versions, no abbreviations are expanded after you have sent the
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176 mail. This means you don't suffer the annoyance of having the system do
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440
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177 things behind your back---if the system rewrites an address you typed,
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428
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178 you know it immediately, instead of after the mail has been sent and
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179 it's too late to do anything about it. For example, you will never
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180 again be in trouble because you forgot to delete an old alias from your
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181 @file{.mailrc} and a new local user is given a userid which conflicts
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182 with one of your aliases.
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183
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184 @vindex mail-abbrev-mode-regexp
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185 Your mail alias abbrevs are in effect only when point is in an
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186 appropriate header field. The mail aliases will not expand in the body
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187 of the message, or in other header fields. The default mode-specific
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188 abbrev table @code{mail-mode-abbrev-table} is used instead if defined.
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189 That means if you have been using mail-mode specific abbrevs, this code
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190 will not adversely affect you. You can control which header fields the
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191 abbrevs are used in by changing the variable @code{mail-abbrev-mode-regexp}.
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192
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193 If auto-fill mode is on, abbrevs wrap at commas instead of at word
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194 boundaries, and header continuation lines will be properly indented.
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195
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196 @findex mail-interactive-insert-alias
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197 You can also insert a mail alias with @code{mail-interactive-insert-alias}.
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198 This function, which is bound to @kbd{C-c C-a}, prompts you for an alias
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199 (with completion) and inserts its expansion at point.
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200
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201 In this version of Emacs, it is possible to have lines like the
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202 following in your @file{.mailrc} file:
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203
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204 @example
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205 alias someone "John Doe <doe@@quux.com>"
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206 @end example
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207
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208 That is, if you want an address to have embedded spaces, simply surround
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209 it with double-quotes. The quotes are necessary because the format of
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210 the @file{.mailrc} file uses spaces as address delimiters.
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211
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212 Aliases in the @file{.mailrc} file may be nested. For example, assume
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213 you define aliases like:
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214 @example
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215 alias group1 fred ethel
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216 alias group2 larry curly moe
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217 alias everybody group1 group2
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218 @end example
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219
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220 When you now type @samp{everybody} on the @samp{To} line, it will expand to:
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221 @example
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222 fred, ethyl, larry, curly, moe
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223 @end example
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224
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225 Aliases may contain forward references; the alias of @samp{everybody} in the
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226 example above can precede the aliases of @samp{group1} and @samp{group2}.
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227
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228 In this version of Emacs, you can use the @code{source} @file{.mailrc} command
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229 for reading aliases from some other file as well.
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230
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231 Aliases may contain hyphens, as in @code{"alias foo-bar foo@@bar"}, even
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232 though word-abbrevs normally cannot contain hyphens.
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233
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234 To read in the contents of another @file{.mailrc}-type file from Emacs, use the
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235 command @code{M-x merge-mail-aliases}. The @code{rebuild-mail-aliases}
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236 command is similar, but deletes existing aliases first.
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237
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442
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238 @vindex mail-alias-separator-string
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428
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239 If you want multiple addresses separated by a string other than @samp{,}
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442
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240 (a comma), then set the variable @code{mail-alias-separator-string} to
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428
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241 it. This has to be a comma bracketed by whitespace if you want any kind
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242 of reasonable behavior.
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243
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244 @vindex mail-archive-file-name
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245 If the variable @code{mail-archive-file-name} is non-@code{nil}, it
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246 should be a string naming a file. Each time you start to edit a message
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247 to send, an @samp{FCC} field is entered for that file. Unless you
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248 remove the @samp{FCC} field, every message is written into that
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249 file when it is sent.
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250
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251 @node Mail Mode,, Mail Headers, Sending Mail
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252 @section Mail Mode
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253
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254 The major mode used in the @samp{*mail*} buffer is Mail mode. Mail
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255 mode is similar to Text mode, but several commands are provided on
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256 the @kbd{C-c} prefix. These commands all deal specifically with
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257 editing or sending the message.
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258
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259 @table @kbd
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260 @item C-c C-s
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261 Send the message, and leave the @samp{*mail*} buffer selected
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262 (@code{mail-send}).
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263 @item C-c C-c
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264 Send the message, and select some other buffer (@code{mail-send-and-exit}).
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265 @item C-c C-f C-t
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266 Move to the @samp{To} header field, creating one if there is none
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267 (@code{mail-to}).
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268 @item C-c C-f C-s
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269 Move to the @samp{Subject} header field, creating one if there is
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270 none (@code{mail-subject}).
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271 @item C-c C-f C-c
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272 Move to the @samp{CC} header field, creating one if there is none
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273 (@code{mail-cc}).
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274 @item C-c C-w
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275 Insert the file @file{~/.signature} at the end of the message text
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276 (@code{mail-signature}).
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277 @item C-c C-y
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278 Yank the selected message (@code{mail-yank-original}).
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279 @item C-c C-q
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280 Fill all paragraphs of yanked old messages, each individually
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281 (@code{mail-fill-yanked-message}).
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282 @item @key{button3}
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283 Pops up a menu of useful mail-mode commands.
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284 @end table
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285
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286 @kindex C-c C-s (Mail mode)
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287 @kindex C-c C-c (Mail mode)
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288 @findex mail-send
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289 @findex mail-send-and-exit
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290 There are two ways to send a message. @kbd{C-c C-c}
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291 (@code{mail-send-and-exit}) is the usual way to send the message. It
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292 sends the message and then deletes the window (if there is another
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293 window) or switches to another buffer. It puts the @samp{*mail*} buffer
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294 at the lowest priority for automatic reselection, since you are finished
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295 with using it. @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{mail-send}) sends the
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296 message and marks the @samp{*mail*} buffer unmodified, but leaves that
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297 buffer selected so that you can modify the message (perhaps with new
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298 recipients) and send it again.
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299
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300 @kindex C-c C-f C-t (Mail mode)
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301 @findex mail-to
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302 @kindex C-c C-f C-s (Mail mode)
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303 @findex mail-subject
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304 @kindex C-c C-f C-c (Mail mode)
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305 @findex mail-cc
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306 Mail mode provides some other special commands that are useful for
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307 editing the headers and text of the message before you send it. There are
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308 three commands defined to move point to particular header fields, all based
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309 on the prefix @kbd{C-c C-f} (@samp{C-f} is for ``field''). They are
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310 @kbd{C-c C-f C-t} (@code{mail-to}) to move to the @samp{To} field, @kbd{C-c
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311 C-f C-s} (@code{mail-subject}) for the @samp{Subject} field, and @kbd{C-c
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312 C-f C-c} (@code{mail-cc}) for the @samp{CC} field. These fields have
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313 special motion commands because they are edited most frequently.
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314
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315
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316 @kindex C-c C-w (Mail mode)
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317 @findex mail-signature
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318 @kbd{C-c C-w} (@code{mail-signature}) adds a standard piece of text at
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319 the end of the message to say more about who you are. The text comes
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320 from the file @file{.signature} in your home directory.
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321
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322 @kindex C-c C-y (Mail mode)
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323 @findex mail-yank-original
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324 When you use an Rmail command to send mail from the Rmail mail reader,
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325 you can use @kbd{C-c C-y} @code{mail-yank-original} inside the
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326 @samp{*mail*} buffer to insert the
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327 text of the message you are replying to. Normally Rmail indents each line
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328 of that message four spaces and eliminates most header fields. A
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329 numeric argument specifies the number of spaces to indent. An argument
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330 of just @kbd{C-u} says not to indent at all and not to eliminate
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331 anything. @kbd{C-c C-y} always uses the current message from the
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332 @samp{RMAIL} buffer, so you can insert several old messages by selecting
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333 one in @samp{RMAIL}, switching to @samp{*mail*} and yanking it, then
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334 switching back to @samp{RMAIL} to select another.@refill
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335
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336 @kindex C-c C-q (Mail mode)
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337 @findex mail-fill-yanked-message
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338 After using @kbd{C-c C-y}, you can use the command @kbd{C-c C-q}
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339 (@code{mail-fill-yanked-message}) to fill the paragraphs of the yanked
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340 old message or messages. One use of @kbd{C-c C-q} fills all such
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341 paragraphs, each one separately.
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342
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343 Clicking the right mouse button in a mail buffer pops up a menu of
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344 the above commands, for easy access.
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345
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346 @vindex mail-mode-hook
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347 Turning on Mail mode (which @kbd{C-x m} does automatically) calls the
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348 value of @code{text-mode-hook}, if it is not void or @code{nil}, and
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349 then calls the value of @code{mail-mode-hook} if that is not void or
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350 @code{nil}.
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