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1 \input texinfo @comment -*-texinfo-*-
2 @comment 3.47
3 @comment %**start of header (This is for running Texinfo on a region.)
4 @setfilename ../info/supercite.info
5 @settitle Supercite Version 3.1 User's Manual
6 @iftex
7 @finalout
8 @end iftex
9 @c @setchapternewpage odd % For book style double sided manual.
10 @comment %**end of header (This is for running Texinfo on a region.)
11 @c @smallbook
12 @tex
13 \overfullrule=0pt
14 %\global\baselineskip 30pt % For printing in double spaces
15 @end tex
16 @ifinfo
17 This document describes the Supercite Version 3.1 package for citing and
18 attributing the replies for various GNU Emacs mail and news reading
19 subsystems.
20
21 Copyright @copyright{} 1993 Barry A@. Warsaw
22
23 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
24 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
25 are preserved on all copies.
26
27 @ignore
28 Permission is granted to process this file through TeX and print the
29 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
30 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
31 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
32
33 @end ignore
34 @end ifinfo
35 @c
36 @titlepage
37 @sp 6
38 @center @titlefont{Supercite User's Manual}
39 @sp 2
40 @center @titlefont{Supercite Version 3.1}
41 @sp 4
42 @center Manual Revision: 3.47
43 @center August 1993
44 @sp 5
45 @center Barry A@. Warsaw
46 @center @t{bwarsaw@@cen.com}
47 @center @t{@dots{}!uunet!cen.com!bwarsaw}
48 @page
49 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
50 Copyright @copyright{} 1993 Barry A@. Warsaw
51
52 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
53 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
54 are preserved on all copies.
55
56 @end titlepage
57 @page
58 @ifinfo
59 @node Top, Introduction, (dir), (dir)
60 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
61
62 This document describes the Supercite Version 3.1 package for citing and
63 attributing the replies for various GNU Emacs mail and news reading
64 subsystems. The manual is divided into the following chapters.
65
66 @menu
67 * Introduction::
68 * Citations::
69 * Getting Connected::
70 * Replying and Yanking::
71 * Selecting an Attribution::
72 * Configuring the Citation Engine::
73 * Post-yank Formatting Commands::
74 * Information Keys and the Info Alist::
75 * Reference Headers::
76 * Hints to MUA Authors::
77 * Version 3 Changes::
78 * Thanks and History::
79 * The Supercite Mailing List::
80
81 * Concept Index::
82 * Command Index::
83 * Key Index::
84 * Variable Index::
85 @end menu
86 @end ifinfo
87
88 @node Introduction, Usage Overview, Top, Top
89 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
90 @chapter Introduction
91 @ifinfo
92
93 @end ifinfo
94 Supercite version 3.1 is a GNU Emacs package written entirely in Emacs
95 Lisp. It interfaces to most of the commonly used Emacs mail user agents
96 (@dfn{MUAs}) and news user agents (@dfn{NUAs}), and provides
97 sophisticated facilities for the citing and attributing of message
98 replies. Supercite has a very specific and limited role in the process
99 of composing replies to both USENET network news and electronic mail.
100
101 The preferred way to spell Supercite is with a capital @samp{S},
102 lowercase @samp{upercite}. There are a few alternate spellings out there
103 and I won't be terribly offended if you use them. People often ask
104 though@dots{}
105
106 @ifinfo
107 @menu
108 * Usage Overview::
109 * What Supercite Does Not Do::
110 * What Supercite Does::
111 @end menu
112 @end ifinfo
113
114 @cindex MUA
115 @cindex NUA
116 Supercite is only useful in conjunction with MUAs and NUAs such as VM,
117 GNUS, RMAIL, etc@. (hereafter referred to collectively as MUAs).
118 Supercite is typically called by the MUA after a reply buffer has been
119 setup. Thereafter, Supercite's many commands and formatting styles are
120 available in that reply buffer until the reply is sent. Supercite is
121 re-initialized in each new reply buffer.
122
123 Supercite is currently at major revision 3.1, and is known to work in the
124 following environments:
125
126 @table @asis
127 @item Emacsen:
128 GNU Emacs 18.57 through 18.59, all current FSF Emacs 19,
129 all current Lucid Emacs 19, and Epoch 4.@refill
130
131 @item MUAs:
132 VM 4.37 and beyond (including VM version 5), RMAIL, MH-E 3.7 and
133 beyond, PCMAIL.@refill
134
135 @item NUAs:
136 RNEWS, GNUS 3.12 and beyond, GNEWS.@refill
137
138 @end table
139 For systems with version numbers, all known subsequent versions also
140 work with Supercite. For those systems without version numbers,
141 Supercite probably works with any recently released version. Note that
142 only some of these systems will work with Supercite ``out of the box.''
143 All others must overload interfacing routines to supply the necessary
144 glue. @xref{Getting Connected} for more details.@refill
145
146
147 @node Usage Overview, What Supercite Does Not Do, Introduction, Introduction
148 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
149 @kindex r
150 @kindex f
151 @kindex C-c C-y
152 @cindex yank
153 @cindex cite, citing
154 @cindex attribute, attributing
155 @comment
156 @section Usage Overview
157 @ifinfo
158
159 @end ifinfo
160 Typical usage is as follows. You want to reply or followup to a message
161 in your MUA. You will probably hit @kbd{r} (i.e., ``reply'') or @kbd{f}
162 (i.e., ``forward'') to begin composing the reply. In response, the MUA
163 will create a reply buffer and initialize the outgoing mail headers
164 appropriately. The body of the reply will usually be empty at this
165 point. You now decide that you would like to include part of the
166 original message in your reply. To do this, you @dfn{yank} the original
167 message into the reply buffer, typically with a key stroke such as
168 @kbd{C-c C-y}. This sequence will invoke an MUA-specific function which
169 fills the body of the reply with the original message and then
170 @dfn{attributes} this text to its author. This is called @dfn{citing}
171 and its effect is to prefix every line from the original message with a
172 special text tag. Most MUAs provide some default style of citing; by
173 using Supercite you gain a wider flexibility in the look and style of
174 citations. Supercite's only job is to cite the original message.
175
176 @node What Supercite Does Not Do, What Supercite Does, Usage Overview, Introduction
177 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
178 @section What Supercite Doesn't Do
179 @ifinfo
180
181 @end ifinfo
182 Because of this clear division of labor, there are useful features which
183 are the sole responsibility of the MUA, even though it might seem that
184 Supercite should provide them. For example, many people would like to
185 be able to yank (and cite) only a portion of the original message.
186 Since Supercite only modifies the text it finds in the reply buffer as
187 set up by the MUA, it is the MUA's responsibility to do partial yanking.
188 @xref{Reply Buffer Initialization}.@refill
189
190 @vindex mail-header-separator
191 @comment
192 Another potentially useful thing would be for Supercite to set up the
193 outgoing mail headers with information it gleans from the reply buffer.
194 But by previously agreed upon convention, any text above the
195 @code{mail-header-separator} which separates mail headers from message
196 bodies cannot be modified by Supercite. Supercite, in fact, doesn't
197 know anything about the meaning of these headers, and never ventures
198 outside the designated region. @xref{Hints to MUA Authors} for more
199 details.@refill
200
201 @node What Supercite Does, Citations, What Supercite Does Not Do, Introduction
202 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
203 @findex sc-cite-original
204 @section What Supercite Does
205 @ifinfo
206
207 @end ifinfo
208 Supercite is invoked for the first time on a reply buffer via your MUA's
209 reply or forward command. This command will actually perform citations
210 by calling a hook variable to which Supercite's top-level function
211 @code{sc-cite-original} has been added. When @code{sc-cite-original} is
212 executed, the original message must be set up in a very specific way,
213 but this is handled automatically by the MUA. @xref{Hints to MUA
214 Authors}.@refill
215
216 @cindex info alist
217 The first thing Supercite does, via @code{sc-cite-original}, is to parse
218 through the original message's mail headers. It saves this data in an
219 @dfn{information association list}, or @dfn{info alist}. The information
220 in this list is used in a number of places throughout Supercite.
221 @xref{Information Keys and the Info Alist}.@refill
222
223 @cindex nuking mail headers
224 @cindex reference header
225 After the mail header info is extracted, the headers are optionally
226 removed (@dfn{nuked}) from the reply. Supercite then writes a
227 @dfn{reference header} into the buffer. This reference header is a
228 string carrying details about the citation it is about to perform.
229
230 @cindex modeline
231 Next, Supercite visits each line in the reply, transforming the line
232 according to a customizable ``script''. Lines which were not previously
233 cited in the original message are given a citation, while already cited
234 lines remain untouched, or are coerced to your preferred style.
235 Finally, Supercite installs a keymap into the reply buffer so that you
236 have access to Supercite's post-yank formatting and reciting commands as
237 you subsequently edit your reply. You can tell that Supercite has been
238 installed into the reply buffer because that buffer's modeline will
239 display the minor mode string @samp{SC}.
240
241 @cindex filladapt
242 @cindex gin-mode
243 @vindex fill-prefix
244 @findex fill-paragraph
245 @comment
246 When the original message is cited by @code{sc-cite-original}, it will
247 (optionally) be filled by Supercite. However, if you manually edit the
248 cited text and want to re-fill it, you must use an add-on package such
249 as @cite{filladapt} or @cite{gin-mode}. These packages can recognize
250 Supercited text and will fill them appropriately. Emacs' built-in
251 filling routines, e.g@. @code{fill-paragraph}, do not recognize cited
252 text and will not re-fill them properly because it cannot guess the
253 @code{fill-prefix} being used.
254 @xref{Post-yank Formatting Commands} for details.@refill
255
256 As mentioned above, Supercite provides commands to recite or uncite
257 regions of text in the reply buffer, and commands to perform other
258 beautifications on the cited original text, maintaining consistent and
259 informative citations throughout. Supercite tries to be as configurable
260 as possible to allow for a wide range of personalized citation styles,
261 but it is also immediately useful with the default configuration, once
262 it has been properly connected to your MUA. @xref{Getting Connected}
263 for more details.@refill
264
265 @node Citations, Citation Elements, What Supercite Does, Top
266 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
267 @cindex nested citations
268 @cindex citation
269 @comment
270 @chapter Citations
271 @ifinfo
272
273 @end ifinfo
274 A @dfn{citation} is the acknowledgement of the original author of a mail
275 message in the body of the reply. There are two basic citation styles
276 which Supercite supports. The first, called @dfn{nested citations} is
277 an anonymous form of citation; in other words, an indication is made
278 that the cited line was written by someone @emph{other} that the current
279 message author (i.e., other than you, the person composing the reply),
280 but no reference is made as to the identity of the original author.
281 This style should look familiar since its use on the net is widespread.
282 Here's an example of what a message buffer would look like using nested
283 citations after multiple replies:
284
285 @example
286 >> John originally wrote this
287 >> and this as well
288 > Jane said that John didn't know
289 > what he was talking about
290 And that's what I think too.
291 @end example
292
293 @ifinfo
294 @menu
295 * Citation Elements::
296 * Recognizing Citations::
297 @end menu
298 @end ifinfo
299
300 Note that multiple inclusions of the original messages result in a
301 nesting of the @samp{@code{>}} characters. This can sometimes be quite
302 confusing when many levels of citations are included since it may be
303 difficult or impossible to figure out who actually participated in the
304 thread, and multiple nesting of @samp{@code{>}} characters can sometimes
305 make the message very difficult for the eye to scan.
306
307 @cindex non-nested citations
308 In @dfn{non-nested citations}, each cited line begins with an
309 informative string attributing that line to the original author. Only
310 the first level of attribution will be shown; subsequent citations don't
311 nest the citation strings. The above dialog might look like this when
312 non-nested citations are used:
313
314 @example
315 John> John originally wrote this
316 John> and this as well
317 Jane> Jane said that John didn't know
318 Jane> what he was talking about
319 And that's what I think too.
320 @end example
321
322 Notice here that my inclusion of Jane's inclusion of John's original
323 message did not result in a line cited with @samp{Jane>John>}.
324
325 @vindex sc-nested-citation-p
326 @vindex nested-citation-p (sc-)
327 Supercite supports both styles of citation, and the variable
328 @code{sc-nested-citation-p} controls which style it will use when citing
329 previously uncited text. When this variable is @code{nil} (the default),
330 non-nested citations are used. When non-@code{nil}, nested citations
331 are used.
332
333
334 @node Citation Elements, Recognizing Citations, Citations, Citations
335 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
336 @cindex citation string
337 @comment
338 @section Citation Elements
339 @ifinfo
340
341 @end ifinfo
342 @dfn{Citation strings} are composed of one or more elements. Non-nested
343 citations are composed of four elements, three of which are directly
344 user definable. The elements are concatenated together, in this order:
345
346 @cindex citation leader
347 @vindex citation-leader (sc-)
348 @vindex sc-citation-leader
349 @enumerate
350 @item
351 The @dfn{citation leader}. The citation leader is contained in the
352 variable @code{sc-citation-leader}, and has the default value of a
353 string containing four spaces.
354
355 @cindex attribution string
356 @item
357 The @dfn{attribution string}. This element is supplied automatically by
358 Supercite, based on your preferences and the original message's mail
359 headers, though you may be asked to confirm Supercite's choice.
360 @xref{Selecting an Attribution} for more details.@refill
361
362 @cindex citation delimiter
363 @vindex sc-citation-delimiter
364 @vindex citation-delimiter (sc-)
365 @item
366 The @dfn{citation delimiter}. This string, contained in the variable
367 @code{sc-citation-delimiter} visually separates the citation from the
368 text of the line. This variable has a default value of @code{">"} and
369 for best results, the string should consist of only a single character.
370
371 @cindex citation separator
372 @vindex citation-separator (sc-)
373 @vindex sc-citation-separator
374 @item
375 The @dfn{citation separator}. The citation separator is contained in
376 the variable @code{sc-citation-separator}, and has the default value of
377 a string containing a single space.
378 @end enumerate
379
380 For example, suppose you were using the default values for the above
381 variables, and Supercite provided the attribution string @samp{Jane}.
382 In this case, the composed, non-nested citation string used might be
383 something like
384 @code{@asis{" Jane> "}}.
385 This citation string will be inserted in front of
386 every line in the original message that is not already cited.@refill
387
388 Nested citations, being simpler than non-nested citations, are composed
389 of the same elements, sans the attribution string. Supercite is smart
390 enough to not put additional spaces between citation delimiters for
391 multi-level nested citations.
392
393 @node Recognizing Citations, Getting Connected, Citation Elements, Citations
394 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
395 @section Recognizing Citations
396 @ifinfo
397
398 @end ifinfo
399 Supercite also recognizes citations in the original article, and can
400 transform these already cited lines in a number of ways. This is how
401 Supercite suppresses the multiple citing of non-nested citations.
402 Recognition of cited lines is controlled by variables analogous to those
403 that make up the citation string as mentioned previously.
404
405 @vindex sc-citation-leader-regexp
406 @vindex citation-leader-regexp (sc-)
407 @vindex sc-citation-delimiter-regexp
408 @vindex citation-delimiter-regexp (sc-)
409 @vindex sc-citation-separator-regexp
410 @vindex citation-separator-regexp (sc-)
411 @vindex sc-citation-root-regexp
412 @vindex citation-root-regexp (sc-)
413 @vindex sc-citation-nonnested-root-regexp
414 @vindex citation-nonnested-root-regexp (sc-)
415
416 The variable @code{sc-citation-leader-regexp} describes how citation
417 leaders can look, by default it matches any number of spaces or tabs.
418 Note that since the lisp function @code{looking-at} is used to do the
419 matching, if you change this variable it need not start with a leading
420 @code{"^"}.
421
422 Similarly, the variables @code{sc-citation-delimiter-regexp} and
423 @code{sc-citation-separator-regexp} respectively describe how citation
424 delimiters and separators can look. They follow the same rule as
425 @code{sc-citation-leader-regexp} above.
426
427 When Supercite composes a citation string, it provides the attribution
428 automatically. The analogous variable which handles recognition of the
429 attribution part of citation strings is @code{sc-citation-root-regexp}.
430 This variable describes the attribution root for both nested and
431 non-nested citations. By default it can match zero-to-many alphanumeric
432 characters (also ``.'', ``-'', and ``_''). But in some situations,
433 Supercite has to determine whether it is looking at a nested or
434 non-nested citation. Thus the variable
435 @code{sc-citation-nonnested-root-regexp} is used to describe only
436 non-nested citation roots. It is important to remember that if you
437 change @code{sc-citation-root-regexp} you should always also change
438 @code{sc-citation-nonnested-root-regexp}.@refill
439
440 Nemacs users:@: For best results, try setting
441 @code{sc-citation-root-regexp} to:@refill
442
443 @example
444 "\\([-._a-zA-Z0-9]\\|\\cc\\|\\cC\\|\\ch\\|\\cH\\|\\ck\\|\\cK\\|\\ca\\|\\cg\\|\\cr\\|\\cu\\)*"
445 @end example
446
447 Mule users:@: For best results, try setting
448 @code{sc-citation-root-regexp} to:@refill
449
450 @example
451 "\\([-._a-zA-Z0-9]\\|\\cj\\)*"
452 @end example
453
454 @node Information Keys and the Info Alist, Reference Headers, Miscellaneous Commands, Top
455 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
456 @cindex information keys
457 @cindex Info Alist
458 @cindex information extracted from mail fields
459 @findex sc-mail-field
460 @findex mail-field (sc-)
461 @comment
462 @chapter Information Keys and the Info Alist
463 @ifinfo
464
465 @end ifinfo
466 @dfn{Mail header information keys} are nuggets of information that
467 Supercite extracts from the various mail headers of the original
468 message, placed in the reply buffer by the MUA. Information is kept in
469 the @dfn{Info Alist} as key-value pairs, and can be retrieved for use in
470 various places within Supercite, such as in header rewrite functions and
471 attribution selection. Other bits of data, composed and created by
472 Supercite, are also kept as key-value pairs in this alist. In the case
473 of mail fields, the key is the name of the field, omitting the trailing
474 colon. Info keys are always case insensitive (as are mail headers), and
475 the value for a corresponding key can be retrieved from the alist with
476 the @code{sc-mail-field} function. Thus, if the following fields were
477 present in the original article:@refill
478
479 @example
480 Date:@: 08 April 1991, 17:32:09 EST
481 Subject:@: Better get out your asbestos suit
482 @end example
483
484 @vindex sc-mumble
485 @vindex mumble (sc-)
486 @noindent
487 then, the following lisp constructs return:
488
489 @example
490 (sc-mail-field "date")
491 ==> "08 April 1991, 17:32:09 EST"
492
493 (sc-mail-field "subject")
494 ==> "Better get out your asbestos suit"
495 @end example
496
497 Since the argument to @code{sc-mail-field} can be any string, it is
498 possible that the mail field will not be present on the info alist
499 (possibly because the mail header was not present in the original
500 message). In this case, @code{sc-mail-field} will return the value of
501 the variable @code{sc-mumble}.
502
503 Supercite always places all mail fields found in the yanked original
504 article into the info alist. If possible, Supercite will also places
505 the following keys into the info alist:
506
507 @table @code
508 @cindex sc-attribution info field
509 @cindex attribution info field (sc-)
510 @item "sc-attribution"
511 the selected attribution string.
512
513 @cindex sc-citation info field
514 @cindex citation info field (sc-)
515 @item "sc-citation"
516 the non-nested citation string.
517
518 @cindex sc-from-address info field
519 @cindex from-address info field (sc-)
520 @item "sc-from-address"
521 email address extracted from the @samp{From:@:} field.
522
523 @cindex sc-reply-address info field
524 @cindex reply-address info field (sc-)
525 @item "sc-reply-address"
526 email address extracted from the @samp{Reply-To:@:} field.
527
528 @cindex sc-sender-address info field
529 @cindex sender-address info field (sc-)
530 @item "sc-sender-address"
531 email address extracted from the @samp{Sender:@:} field.
532
533 @cindex sc-emailname info field
534 @cindex emailname info field (sc-)
535 @item "sc-emailname"
536 email terminus extracted from the @samp{From:@:} field.
537
538 @cindex sc-initials info field
539 @cindex initials info field (sc-)
540 @item "sc-initials"
541 the author's initials.
542
543 @cindex sc-author info field
544 @cindex author info field (sc-)
545 @item "sc-author"
546 the author's full name.
547
548 @cindex sc-firstname info field
549 @cindex firstname info field (sc-)
550 @item "sc-firstname"
551 the author's first name.
552
553 @cindex sc-lastname info field
554 @cindex lastname info field (sc-)
555 @item "sc-lastname"
556 the author's last name.
557
558 @cindex sc-middlename-1 info field
559 @cindex middlename-1 info field (sc-)
560 @item "sc-middlename-1"
561 the author's first middle name.
562 @end table
563
564 If the author's name has more than one middle name, they will appear as
565 info keys with the appropriate index (e.g., @code{"sc-middlename-2"},
566 @dots{}). @xref{Selecting an Attribution}.@refill
567
568 @node Reference Headers, The Built-in Header Rewrite Functions, Information Keys and the Info Alist, Top
569 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
570 @cindex reference headers
571 @chapter Reference Headers
572 @ifinfo
573
574 @end ifinfo
575 Supercite will insert an informative @dfn{reference header} at the
576 beginning of the cited body of text, which display more detail about the
577 original article and provides the mapping between the attribution and
578 the original author in non-nested citations. Whereas the citation
579 string usually only contains a portion of the original author's name,
580 the reference header can contain such information as the author's full
581 name, email address, the original article's subject, etc. In fact any
582 information contained in the info alist can be inserted into a reference
583 header.
584
585 @ifinfo
586 @menu
587 * The Built-in Header Rewrite Functions::
588 * Electric References::
589 @end menu
590 @end ifinfo
591
592 @cindex header rewrite functions
593 @vindex sc-rewrite-header-list
594 @vindex rewrite-header-list (sc-)
595 There are a number of built-in @dfn{header rewrite functions} supplied
596 by Supercite, but you can write your own custom header rewrite functions
597 (perhaps using the built-in ones as examples). The variable
598 @code{sc-rewrite-header-list} contains the list of such header rewrite
599 functions. This list is consulted both when inserting the initial
600 reference header, and when displaying @dfn{electric references}.
601 @xref{Electric References}.
602
603 @vindex sc-preferred-header-style
604 @vindex preferred-header-style (sc-)
605 When Supercite is initially run on a reply buffer (via
606 @code{sc-cite-original}), it will automatically call one of these
607 functions. The one it uses is defined in the variable
608 @code{sc-preferred-header-style}. The value of this variable is an
609 integer which is an index into the @code{sc-rewrite-header-list},
610 beginning at zero.
611
612 @node The Built-in Header Rewrite Functions, Electric References, Reference Headers, Reference Headers
613 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
614 @cindex header rewrite functions, built-in
615 @comment
616 @section The Built-in Header Rewrite Functions
617 @ifinfo
618
619 @end ifinfo
620 Below are examples of the various built-in header rewrite functions.
621 Please note the following:@: first, the text which appears in the
622 examples below as @var{infokey} indicates that the corresponding value
623 of the info key from the info alist will be inserted there.
624 (@xref{Information Keys and the Info Alist}). For example, in @code{sc-header-on-said}
625 below, @var{date} and @var{from} correspond to the values of the
626 @samp{Date:@:} and @samp{From:@:} mail headers respectively.@refill
627
628 @vindex sc-reference-tag-string
629 @vindex reference-tag-string (sc-)
630 Also, the string @code{">>>>>"} below is really the value of the
631 variable @code{sc-reference-tag-string}. This variable is used in all
632 built-in header rewrite functions, and you can customize its value to
633 change the tag string globally.
634
635 Finally, the references headers actually written may omit certain parts
636 of the header if the info key associated with @var{infokey} is not
637 present in the info alist. In fact, for all built-in headers, if the
638 @samp{From:@:} field is not present in the mail headers, the entire
639 reference header will be omitted (but this usually signals a serious
640 problem either in your MUA or in Supercite's installation).
641
642 @table @code
643 @findex sc-no-header
644 @findex no-header (sc-)
645 @item sc-no-header
646 This function produces no header. It should be used instead of
647 @code{nil} to produce a blank header. This header can possibly contain
648 a blank line after the @code{mail-header-separator} line.
649
650 @item sc-no-blank-line-or-header
651 @findex sc-no-blank-line-or-header
652 @findex no-blank-line-or-header (sc-)
653 This function is similar to @code{sc-no-header} except that any blank
654 line after the @code{mail-header-separator} line will be removed.
655
656 @item sc-header-on-said
657 @findex sc-header-on-said
658 @findex header-on-said (sc-)
659 @code{>>>>> On @var{date}, @var{from} said:}
660
661 @item sc-header-inarticle-writes
662 @findex sc-header-inarticle-writes
663 @findex header-inarticle-writes (sc-)
664 @code{>>>>> In article @var{message-id}, @var{from} writes:}
665
666 @item sc-header-regarding-adds
667 @findex sc-header-regarding-adds
668 @findex header-regarding-adds (sc-)
669 @code{>>>>> Regarding @var{subject}; @var{from} adds:}
670
671 @item sc-header-attributed-writes
672 @findex sc-header-attributed-writes
673 @findex header-attributed-writes (sc-)
674 @code{>>>>> "@var{sc-attribution}" == @var{sc-author} <@var{sc-reply-address}> writes:}
675
676 @item sc-header-author-writes
677 @findex sc-header-author-writes
678 @findex header-author-writes (sc-)
679 @code{>>>>> @var{sc-author} writes:}
680
681 @item sc-header-verbose
682 @findex sc-header-verbose
683 @findex header-verbose (sc-)
684 @code{>>>>> On @var{date},}@*
685 @code{>>>>> @var{sc-author}}@*
686 @code{>>>>> from the organization of @var{organization}}@*
687 @code{>>>>> who can be reached at:@: @var{sc-reply-address}}@*
688 @code{>>>>> (whose comments are cited below with:@: "@var{sc-cite}")}@*
689 @code{>>>>> had this to say in article @var{message-id}}@*
690 @code{>>>>> in newsgroups @var{newsgroups}}@*
691 @code{>>>>> concerning the subject of @var{subject}}@*
692 @code{>>>>> see @var{references} for more details}
693 @end table
694
695 @node Electric References, Hints to MUA Authors, The Built-in Header Rewrite Functions, Reference Headers
696 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
697 @cindex electric references
698 @section Electric References
699 @ifinfo
700
701 @end ifinfo
702 By default, when Supercite cites the original message for the first
703 time, it just goes ahead and inserts the reference header indexed by
704 @code{sc-preferred-header-style}. However, you may want to select
705 different reference headers based on the type of reply or forwarding you
706 are doing. You may also want to preview the reference header before
707 deciding whether to insert it into the reply buffer or not. Supercite
708 provides an optional @dfn{electric reference} mode which you can drop
709 into to give you this functionality.
710
711 @vindex sc-electric-references-p
712 @vindex electric-references-p (sc-)
713 If the variable @code{sc-electric-references-p} is non-@code{nil},
714 Supercite will bring up an electric reference mode buffer and place you
715 into a recursive edit. The electric reference buffer is read-only, so
716 you cannot directly modify the reference text until you exit electric
717 references and insert the text into the reply buffer. But you can cycle
718 through all the reference header rewrite functions in your
719 @code{sc-rewrite-header-list}.
720
721 You can also set a new preferred header style, jump to any header, or
722 jump to the preferred header. The header will be shown in the electric
723 reference buffer and the header index and function name will appear in
724 the echo area.
725
726 The following commands are available while in electric reference mode
727 (shown here with their default key bindings):
728
729 @table @asis
730 @item @code{sc-eref-next} (@kbd{n})
731 @findex sc-eref-next
732 @findex eref-next (sc-)
733 @kindex n
734 @vindex sc-electric-circular-p
735 @vindex electric-circular-p (sc-)
736 Displays the next reference header in the electric reference buffer. If
737 the variable @code{sc-electric-circular-p} is non-@code{nil}, invoking
738 @code{sc-eref-next} while viewing the last reference header in the list
739 will wrap around to the first header.@refill
740
741 @item @code{sc-eref-prev} (@kbd{p})
742 @findex sc-eref-prev
743 @findex eref-prev (sc-)
744 @kindex p
745 Displays the previous reference header in the electric reference buffer.
746 If the variable @code{sc-electric-circular-p} is non-@code{nil},
747 invoking @code{sc-eref-prev} will wrap around to the last header.@refill
748
749 @item @code{sc-eref-goto} (@kbd{g})
750 @findex sc-eref-goto
751 @findex eref-goto (sc-)
752 @kindex g
753 Goes to a specified reference header. The index (into the
754 @code{sc-rewrite-header-list}) can be specified as a numeric argument to
755 the command. Otherwise, Supercite will query you for the index in the
756 minibuffer.@refill
757
758 @item @code{sc-eref-jump} (@kbd{j})
759 @findex sc-eref-jump
760 @findex eref-jump (sc-)
761 @kindex j
762 Display the preferred reference header, i.e., the one indexed by the current
763 value of @code{sc-preferred-header-style}.
764
765 @item @code{sc-eref-setn} (@kbd{s})
766 @findex sc-eref-setn
767 @findex eref-setn (sc-)
768 @kindex s
769 Set the preferred reference header (i.e.,
770 @code{sc-preferred-header-style}) to the currently displayed header.@refill
771
772 @item @code{sc-eref-exit} (@key{LFD}, @key{RET}, and @key{ESC C-c})
773 @kindex RET
774 @kindex LFD
775 @kindex q
776 @findex sc-eref-exit
777 @findex eref-exit (sc-)
778 Exit from electric reference mode and insert the current header into the
779 reply buffer.@refill
780
781 @item @code{sc-eref-abort} (@kbd{q}, @kbd{x})
782 @findex sc-eref-abort
783 @findex eref-abort (sc-)
784 @kindex x
785 Exit from electric reference mode without inserting the current header.
786 @end table
787
788 @vindex sc-electric-mode-hook
789 @vindex electric-mode-hook (sc-)
790 @noindent
791 Supercite will execute the hook @code{sc-electric-mode-hook} before
792 entering electric reference mode.
793
794 @node Getting Connected, Emacs 19 MUAs, Recognizing Citations, Top
795 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
796 @cindex citation interface specification
797 @chapter Getting Connected
798 @ifinfo
799
800 @end ifinfo
801 Hitting @kbd{C-c C-y} in your MUA's reply buffer yanks and cites the
802 original message into the reply buffer. In reality, the citation of the
803 original message is performed via a call through a configurable hook
804 variable. The name of this variable has been agreed to in advance as
805 part of the @dfn{citation interface specification}. By default this
806 hook variable has a @code{nil} value, which the MUA recognizes to mean,
807 ``use your default citation function''. When you add Supercite's
808 citation function to the hook, thereby giving the variable a
809 non-@code{nil} value, it tells the MUA to run the hook via
810 @code{run-hooks} instead of using the default citation.@refill
811
812 @ifinfo
813 @menu
814 * Emacs 19 MUAs::
815 * Emacs 18 MUAs::
816 * MH-E with any Emacsen::
817 * VM with any Emacsen::
818 * GNEWS with any Emacsen::
819 * Overloading for Non-conforming MUAs::
820 @end menu
821 @end ifinfo
822
823 Early in Supercite's development, the Supercite author, a few MUA
824 authors, and some early Supercite users got together and agreed upon a
825 standard interface between MUAs and citation packages (of which
826 Supercite is currently the only known add-on @t{:-)}. With the recent
827 release of the Free Software Foundation's GNU Emacs 19, the interface
828 has undergone some modification and it is possible that not all MUAs
829 support the new interface yet. Some support only the old interface and
830 some do not support the interface at all. Still, it is possible for all
831 known MUAs to use Supercite, and the following sections will outline the
832 procedures you need to follow.
833
834 To learn exactly how to connect Supercite to the software systems you
835 are using, read the appropriate following sections. For details on the
836 interface specifications, or if you are writing or maintaining an MUA,
837 @pxref{Hints to MUA Authors}.
838
839 @cindex autoload
840 @cindex .emacs file
841 @findex sc-cite-original
842 @findex cite-original (sc-)
843 @findex sc-submit-bug-report
844 @findex submit-bug-report (sc-)
845 The first thing that everyone should do, regardless of the MUA you are
846 using is to set up Emacs so it will load Supercite at the appropriate
847 time. You can either dump Supercite into your Emacs binary (ask your
848 local Emacs guru how to do this if you don't know), or you can set up an
849 @dfn{autoload} for Supercite. To do the latter, put the following in
850 your @file{.emacs} file:
851
852 @example
853 (autoload 'sc-cite-original "supercite" "Supercite 3.1" t)
854 (autoload 'sc-submit-bug-report "supercite" "Supercite 3.1" t)
855 @end example
856
857 @cindex point
858 @cindex mark
859 The function @code{sc-cite-original} is the top-level Supercite function
860 designed to be run from the citation hook. It expects
861 @samp{point} and @samp{mark} to be set around the region to cite, and it
862 expects the original article's mail headers to be present within this
863 region. Note that Supercite @emph{never} touches any text outside this
864 region. Note further that for Emacs 19, the region need not be active
865 for @code{sc-cite-original} to do its job.
866 @xref{Hints to MUA Authors}.@refill
867
868 The other step in the getting connected process is to make sure your
869 MUA calls @code{sc-cite-original} at the right time. As mentioned
870 above, some MUAs handle this differently. Read the sections that follow
871 pertaining to the MUAs you are using.
872
873 @vindex sc-load-hook
874 @vindex load-hook (sc-)
875 @vindex sc-pre-hook
876 @vindex pre-hook (sc-)
877 One final note. After Supercite is loaded into your Emacs session, it
878 runs the hook @code{sc-load-hook}. You can put any customizations into
879 this hook since it is only run once. This will not work, however, if
880 your Emacs maintainer has put Supercite into your dumped Emacs' image.
881 In that case, you can use the @code{sc-pre-hook} variable, but this will
882 get executed every time @code{sc-cite-original} is called. @xref{Reply
883 Buffer Initialization}.@refill
884
885 @node Emacs 19 MUAs, Emacs 18 MUAs, Getting Connected, Getting Connected
886 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
887 @vindex mail-citation-hook
888 @cindex .emacs file
889 @section GNUS, RMAIL, or RNEWS with any Emacs 19
890 @ifinfo
891
892 @end ifinfo
893 These MUAs, distributed with both FSF and Lucid GNU Emacs 19, use Emacs'
894 built-in yanking facility, which provides the citing hook variable
895 @code{mail-citation-hook}. By default, this hook's value is @code{nil},
896 but by adding the following to your @file{.emacs} file, you can tell
897 these MUAs to use Supercite to perform the citing of the original
898 message:
899
900 @example
901 (add-hook 'mail-citation-hook 'sc-cite-original)
902 @end example
903
904 GNUS users may also want to add the following bit of lisp as well. This
905 prevents GNUS from inserting its default attribution header. Otherwise,
906 both GNUS and Supercite will insert an attribution header:
907
908 @example
909 (setq news-reply-header-hook nil)
910 @end example
911
912 Note that the @code{mail-citation-hook} interface described above was
913 not supported in FSF Emacs 19 until version 19.16 and in Lucid Emacs 19
914 until version 19.8. If you are running an earlier version of one of
915 these Emacsen, you will need to either upgrade to the latest version, or
916 use the unsupported @dfn{overloading} feature provided with Supercite.
917 @xref{Overloading for Non-conforming MUAs}.@refill
918
919 @node Emacs 18 MUAs, MH-E with any Emacsen, Emacs 19 MUAs, Getting Connected
920 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
921 @vindex mail-citation-hook
922 @cindex .emacs file
923 @cindex overloading
924 @cindex sendmail.el file
925 @section GNUS, RMAIL, PCMAIL, RNEWS with Emacs 18 or Epoch 4
926 @ifinfo
927
928 @end ifinfo
929 These MUAs use Emacs' built-in yanking and citing routines, contained in
930 the @file{sendmail.el} file. @file{sendmail.el} for Emacs 18, and its
931 derivative Epoch 4, do not know anything about the citation interface
932 required by Supercite. To connect Supercite to any of these MUAs under
933 Emacs 18 or Epoch 4, you should first
934 @pxref{Overloading for Non-conforming MUAs}. Then follow the directions
935 for using these MUAs under Emacs 19.
936 @xref{Emacs 19 MUAs}.@refill
937
938 @cindex add-hook substitute
939 @cindex setq as a substitute for add-hook
940 @findex setq
941 @findex add-hook
942 @cindex sc-unsupp.el file
943 Note that those instructions will tell you to use the function
944 @code{add-hook}. This function is new with Emacs 19 and you will not
945 have it by default if you are running Emacs 18 or Epoch 4. You can
946 either substitute the appropriate call to @code{setq}, or you can use
947 the @code{add-hook} function that is provided in the @file{sc-unsupp.el}
948 file of unsupported Supercite hacks and ideas. Or you can upgrade to
949 some Emacs 19 variant! @t{:-)}@refill
950
951 To use @code{setq} instead of @code{add-hook}, you would, for example,
952 change this:
953
954 @example
955 (add-hook 'mail-citation-hook 'sc-cite-original)
956 @end example
957
958 to:
959
960 @example
961 (setq mail-citation-hook 'sc-cite-original)
962 @end example
963
964 Note the lack of of a single quote on the first argument to @code{setq}.
965
966 @node MH-E with any Emacsen, VM with any Emacsen, Emacs 18 MUAs, Getting Connected
967 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
968 @cindex .emacs file
969 @vindex mh-yank-hooks
970 @findex add-hook
971 @cindex mail-citation-hook
972 @section MH-E with any Emacsen
973 @ifinfo
974
975 @end ifinfo
976 MH-E 4.x conforms to the @code{mail-citation-hook} interface supported
977 by other MUAs. At the time of this writing, MH-E 4.0 has not been
978 released, but if you have it, put this in your @file{.emacs} file to
979 connect Supercite and MH-E 4.x:
980
981 @example
982 (add-hook 'mail-citation-hook 'sc-cite-original)
983 @end example
984
985 Note that if you are using Emacs 18 or Epoch 4, you will not have the
986 @code{add-hook} function. @xref{Emacs 18 MUAs} for details on how to
987 proceed without @code{add-hook}.
988
989 MH-E version 3.x uses a slightly different interface than other MUAs.
990 MH-E provides a hook variable @code{mh-yank-hooks}, but it doesn't act
991 like a hook, and doing an @code{add-hook} will not work.
992
993 To connect Supercite to MH-E 3.x, you should instead add the following
994 to your @code{.emacs} file:
995
996 @example
997 (add-hook 'mh-yank-hooks 'sc-cite-original)
998 @end example
999
1000 @vindex mh-yank-from-start-of-msg
1001 You also need to make sure that MH-E includes all the original mail
1002 headers in the yanked message. The variable that controls this is
1003 @code{mh-yank-from-start-of-msg}. By default, this variable has the
1004 value @code{t}, which tells MH-E to include all the mail headers when
1005 yanking the original message. Before you switched to using Supercite,
1006 you may have set this variable to other values so as not to include the
1007 mail headers in the yanked message. Since Supercite requires these
1008 headers (and cleans them out for you), you need to make sure the value
1009 is @code{t}. This lisp, in your @file{.emacs} file will do the trick:
1010
1011 @example
1012 (setq mh-yank-from-start-of-msg t)
1013 @end example
1014
1015 Note that versions of MH-E before 3.7 did not provide the
1016 @code{mh-yank-hooks} variable. Your only option is to upgrade to MH-E
1017 version 3.7 or later.
1018
1019 @node VM with any Emacsen, GNEWS with any Emacsen, MH-E with any Emacsen, Getting Connected
1020 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1021 @cindex .emacs file
1022 @vindex mail-citation-hook
1023 @vindex mail-yank-hooks
1024 @section VM with any Emacsen
1025 @ifinfo
1026
1027 @end ifinfo
1028 Since release 4.40, VM has supported the citation interface required by
1029 Supercite. But since the interface has changed recently the details of
1030 getting connected differ with the version of VM you are using.
1031
1032 If you are running any release of VM after 4.40, you can add the
1033 following to your @file{.emacs} to connect Supercite with VM:
1034
1035 @example
1036 (add-hook 'mail-yank-hooks 'sc-cite-original)
1037 @end example
1038
1039 Note that if you are using Emacs 18 or Epoch 4, you will not have the
1040 @code{add-hook} function. @xref{Emacs 18 MUAs} for details on how to
1041 proceed without @code{add-hook}.
1042
1043 Since version 5.34, VM has supported the newer @code{mail-citation-hook}
1044 interface, but @code{mail-yank-hooks} is still being supported for
1045 backward compatibility. If you are running a newer version of VM and
1046 you want to maintain consistency with other MUAs, use this bit of code
1047 instead:
1048
1049 @example
1050 (add-hook 'mail-citation-hook 'sc-cite-original)
1051 @end example
1052
1053 @node GNEWS with any Emacsen, Overloading for Non-conforming MUAs, VM with any Emacsen, Getting Connected
1054 @comment node-name, next, previous, up@cindex .emacs file
1055 @vindex news-reply-mode-hook
1056 @findex sc-perform-overloads
1057 @findex perform-overloads (sc-)
1058 @vindex gnews-ready-hook
1059 @section GNEWS with any Emacsen
1060 @ifinfo
1061
1062 @end ifinfo
1063 As far as I know, no version of GNEWS supports the citation interface
1064 required by Supercite. To connect Supercite with GNEWS, please first
1065 @pxref{Overloading for Non-conforming MUAs}.
1066
1067 After you have followed the directions in that section. You should add
1068 the following lisp code to your @file{.emacs} file:
1069
1070 @example
1071 (add-hook 'mail-citation-hook 'sc-cite-original)
1072 @end example
1073
1074 Note that if you are using Emacs 18 or Epoch 4, you will not have the
1075 @code{add-hook} function. @xref{Emacs 18 MUAs} for details on how to
1076 proceed without @code{add-hook}.
1077
1078 @node Overloading for Non-conforming MUAs, Replying and Yanking, GNEWS with any Emacsen, Getting Connected
1079 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1080 @cindex overloading
1081 @cindex sc-oloads.el
1082 @vindex mail-citation-hook
1083 @findex sc-perform-overloads
1084 @cindex .emacs file
1085 @section Overloading for Non-conforming MUAs
1086 @ifinfo
1087
1088 @end ifinfo
1089 As mentioned elsewhere, some MUAs do not provide the necessary hooks to
1090 connect with Supercite. Supercite version 3.1 provides an unsupported
1091 mechanism, called @dfn{overloading} which redefines certain key
1092 functions in the MUA, so that it will call the @code{mail-citation-hook}
1093 variable instead of the MUA's default hard-coded citing routines. Since
1094 most newer versions of the known MUAs support the
1095 @code{mail-citation-hook} variable, it is recommended that you upgrade
1096 if at all possible. But if you can't upgrade, at least you're not out
1097 of luck! Once you set up overloading properly, you should follow the
1098 directions for connecting Supercite to the Emacs 19 MUAs.
1099 @xref{Emacs 19 MUAs}.@refill
1100
1101 @cindex Hyperbole
1102 @vindex hyperb:version
1103 Users of Bob Weiner's Hyperbole package take note. Hyperbole provides
1104 the necessary overloads (and a whole lot more!) and you can potentially
1105 clobber it if you were to load Supercite's overloading after
1106 Hyperbole's. For this reason, Supercite will @emph{not} perform any
1107 overloading if it finds the variable @code{hyperb:version} is
1108 @code{boundp} (i.e. it exists because Hyperbole has been loaded into
1109 your Emacs session). If this is the case, Supercite will display a
1110 warning message in the minibuffer. You should consult the Hyperbole
1111 manual for further details.
1112
1113 Overloading involves the re-definition of the citing function with the
1114 new, @code{mail-citation-hook} savvy version. The function in
1115 @file{sc-oloads.el} that does this is @code{sc-perform-overloads}. This
1116 function is smart enough to only overload the MUA functions when it is
1117 absolutely necessary, based on the version numbers it can figure out.
1118 Also, @code{sc-perform-overloads} will only install the new functions
1119 once. It is also smart enough to do nothing if the MUA is not yet
1120 loaded.@refill
1121
1122 The tricky part is finding the right time and place to perform the
1123 overloading. It must be done after the MUA has been loaded into your
1124 Emacs session, but before the first time you try to yank in a message.
1125 Fortunately, this has been figured out for you.
1126
1127 If you must overload, you should put the following lisp code in your
1128 @file{.emacs} file, to make sure the @file{sc-oloads.el} file gets
1129 loaded at the right time:
1130
1131 @example
1132 (autoload 'sc-perform-overloads "sc-oloads" "Supercite 3.1" t)
1133 @end example
1134
1135 Then you must make sure that the function @code{sc-perform-overloads}
1136 gets run at the right time. For GNUS, put this in your @file{.emacs}
1137 file:
1138
1139 @example
1140 (setq news-reply-mode-hook 'sc-perform-overloads)
1141 (setq mail-setup-hook 'sc-perform-overloads)
1142 @end example
1143
1144 If you are using RNEWS, put this in your @file{.emacs} file:
1145
1146 @vindex news-reply-mode-hook
1147 @example
1148 (setq news-reply-mode-hook 'sc-perform-overloads)
1149 @end example
1150
1151 If you are using RMAIL or PCMAIL, put this in your @file{.emacs} file:
1152
1153 @example
1154 (setq mail-setup-hook 'sc-perform-overloads)
1155 @end example
1156
1157 If you are using GNEWS, put this in your @file{.emacs} file:
1158
1159 @example
1160 (setq news-reply-mode-hook 'sc-perform-overloads)
1161 (setq gnews-ready-hook 'sc-perform-overloads)
1162 @end example
1163
1164 Now go back and follow the directions for getting the Emacs 19 MUAs
1165 connected to Supercite. Be sure to @pxref{Emacs 18 MUAs} on substitutes
1166 for Emacs 19's @code{add-hook} function.@refill
1167
1168 @node Replying and Yanking, Reply Buffer Initialization, Overloading for Non-conforming MUAs, Top
1169 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1170 @chapter Replying and Yanking
1171 @ifinfo
1172
1173 This chapter explains what happens when you reply and yank an original
1174 message from an MUA.
1175
1176 @menu
1177 * Reply Buffer Initialization::
1178 * Filling Cited Text::
1179 @end menu
1180 @end ifinfo
1181 @node Reply Buffer Initialization, Filling Cited Text, Replying and Yanking, Replying and Yanking
1182 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1183 @findex sc-cite-original
1184 @findex cite-original (sc-)
1185 @comment
1186 @section Reply Buffer Initialization
1187 @ifinfo
1188
1189 @end ifinfo
1190 Executing @code{sc-cite-original} performs the following steps as it
1191 initializes the reply buffer:
1192
1193 @enumerate
1194 @item
1195 @vindex sc-pre-hook
1196 @vindex pre-hook (sc-)
1197 @emph{Runs @code{sc-pre-hook}.}
1198 This hook variable is run before @code{sc-cite-original} does any other
1199 work. You could conceivably use this hook to set certain Supercite
1200 variables based on the reply buffer's mode or name (i.e., to do
1201 something different based on whether you are replying or following up to
1202 an article).@refill
1203
1204 @item
1205 @emph{Inserts Supercite's keymap.}
1206 @vindex sc-mode-map-prefix
1207 @vindex mode-map-prefix (sc-)
1208 @kindex C-c C-p
1209 @cindex keymap prefix
1210 Supercite provides a number of commands for performing post-yank
1211 modifications to the reply buffer. These commands are installed on
1212 Supercite's top-level keymap. Since Supercite has to interface with a
1213 wide variety of MUAs, it does not install all of its commands directly
1214 into the reply buffer's keymap. Instead, it puts its commands on a
1215 keymap prefix, then installs this prefix onto the buffer's keymap. What
1216 this means is that you typically have to type more characters to invoke
1217 a Supercite command, but Supercite's keybindings can be made much more
1218 consistent across MUAs.
1219
1220 You can control what key Supercite uses as its keymap prefix by changing
1221 the variable @code{sc-mode-map-prefix}. By default, this variable is
1222 set to @code{C-c C-p}; a finger twister perhaps, but unfortunately the
1223 best default due to the scarcity of available keybindings in many MUAs.
1224
1225 @item
1226 @emph{Turns on Supercite minor mode.}
1227 @cindex modeline
1228 The modeline of the reply buffer should indicate that Supercite is
1229 active in that buffer by displaying the string @samp{SC}.
1230
1231 @item
1232 @emph{Sets the ``Undo Boundary''.}
1233 @cindex undo boundary
1234 Supercite sets an undo boundary before it begins to modify the original
1235 yanked text. This allows you to easily undo Supercite's changes to
1236 affect alternative citing styles.
1237
1238 @item
1239 @emph{Processes the the mail headers.}
1240 @vindex sc-confirm-always-p
1241 @vindex confirm-always-p (sc-)
1242 @vindex sc-mail-warn-if-non-rfc822-p
1243 @vindex mail-warn-if-non-rfc822-p (sc-)
1244 All previously retrieved info key-value pairs are deleted from the info
1245 alist, then the mail headers in the body of the yanked message are
1246 scanned. Info key-value pairs are created for each header found. Also,
1247 such useful information as the author's name and email address are
1248 extracted. If the variable @code{sc-mail-warn-if-non-rfc822-p} is
1249 non-@code{nil}, then Supercite will warn you if it finds a mail header
1250 that does not conform to RFC822. This is rare and indicates a problem
1251 either with your MUA or the original author's MUA, or some MTA (mail
1252 transport agent) along the way.
1253
1254 @vindex sc-nuke-mail-headers
1255 @vindex sc-nuke-mail-header-list
1256 @vindex nuke-mail-headers (sc-)
1257 @vindex nuke-mail-header-list (sc-)
1258 Once the info keys have been extracted from the mail headers, the
1259 headers are nuked from the reply buffer. You can control exactly which
1260 headers are removed or kept, but by default, all headers are removed.
1261
1262 There are two variables which control mail header nuking. The variable
1263 @code{sc-nuke-mail-headers} controls the overall behavior of the header
1264 nuking routines. By setting this variable to @code{'all}, you
1265 automatically nuke all mail headers. Likewise, setting this variable to
1266 @code{'none} inhibits nuking of any mail headers. In between these
1267 extremes, you can tell Supercite to nuke only a specified list of mail
1268 headers by setting this variable to @code{'specified}, or to keep only a
1269 specified list of headers by setting it to @code{'keep}.
1270
1271 If @code{sc-nuke-mail-headers} is set to @code{'specified} or
1272 @code{'keep}, then the variable @code{sc-nuke-mail-header-list} is
1273 consulted for the list of headers to nuke or keep. This variable
1274 contains a list of regular expressions. If the mail header line matches
1275 a regular expression in this list, the header will be nuked or kept.
1276 The line is matched against the regexp using @code{looking-at} rooted at
1277 the beginning of the line.
1278
1279 @vindex sc-blank-lines-after-headers
1280 @vindex blank-lines-after-headers (sc-)
1281 If the variable @code{sc-blank-lines-after-headers} is non-@code{nil},
1282 it contains the number of blank lines remaining in the buffer after mail
1283 headers are nuked. By default, only one blank line is left in the buffer.
1284
1285 @item
1286 @emph{Selects the attribution and citation strings.}
1287 Once the mail headers have been processed, Supercite selects a
1288 attribution string and a citation string which it will use to cite the
1289 original message. @xref{Selecting an Attribution} for details.
1290
1291 @item
1292 @emph{Cites the message body.}
1293 @vindex sc-cite-region-limit
1294 @vindex cite-region-limit (sc-)b
1295 After the selection of the attribution and citation strings, Supercite
1296 cites the original message by inserting the citation string prefix in
1297 front of every uncited line. You may not want Supercite to
1298 automatically cite very long messages however. For example, some email
1299 could contain a smaller header section followed by a huge uuencoded
1300 message. It wouldn't make sense to cite the uuencoded message part when
1301 responding to the original author's short preface. For this reason,
1302 Supercite provides a variable which limits the automatic citation of
1303 long messages to a certain maximum number of lines. The variable is
1304 called @code{sc-cite-region-limit}. If this variable contains an
1305 integer, messages with more lines that this will not be cited at all,
1306 and a warning message will be displayed. Supercite has performed
1307 everything necessary, though, for you to manually cite only the small
1308 portion of the original message that you want to use.
1309
1310 If @code{sc-cite-region-limit} contains a non-@code{nil} value, the
1311 original message will always be cited, regardless of its size. If the
1312 variable contains the value @code{nil}, the region will never be cited
1313 automatically. Use this if you always want to be able to edit and cite
1314 the message manually.
1315
1316 @vindex sc-cite-blank-lines-p
1317 @vindex cite-blank-lines-p (sc-)
1318 The variable @code{sc-cite-blank-lines-p} controls whether blank lines
1319 in the original message should be cited or not. If this variable is
1320 non-@code{nil}, blank lines will be cited just like non-blank lines.
1321 Otherwise, blank lines will be treated as paragraph separators.
1322
1323 Citing of the original message is highly configurable. Supercite's
1324 default setup does a pretty good job of citing many common forms of
1325 previously cited messages. But there are as many citation styles out
1326 there as people on the net, or just about! It would be impossible for
1327 Supercite to anticipate every style in existence, and you probably
1328 wouldn't encounter them all anyway. But you can configure Supercite to
1329 recognize those styles you see often.
1330 @xref{Configuring the Citation Engine} for details.@refill
1331
1332 @item
1333 @emph{Runs @code{sc-post-hook}.}
1334 @vindex sc-post-hook
1335 @vindex post-hook (sc-)
1336 This variable is very similar to @code{sc-pre-hook}, except that it runs
1337 after @code{sc-cite-original} is finished. This hook is provided mostly
1338 for completeness and backward compatibility. Perhaps it could be used to
1339 reset certain variables set in @code{sc-pre-hook}.@refill
1340 @end enumerate
1341
1342 @node Filling Cited Text, Selecting an Attribution, Reply Buffer Initialization, Replying and Yanking
1343 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1344 @cindex filling paragraphs
1345 @vindex sc-auto-fill-region-p
1346 @vindex auto-fill-region-p (sc-)
1347 @cindex filladapt
1348 @cindex gin-mode
1349 @findex sc-setup-filladapt
1350 @findex setup-filladapt (sc-)
1351 @vindex sc-load-hook
1352 @vindex load-hook (sc-)
1353 @section Filling Cited Text
1354 @ifinfo
1355
1356 @end ifinfo
1357 Supercite will automatically fill newly cited text from the original
1358 message unless the variable @code{sc-auto-fill-region-p} has a
1359 @code{nil} value. Supercite will also re-fill paragraphs when you
1360 manually cite or re-cite text.
1361
1362 However, during normal editing, Supercite itself cannot be used to fill
1363 paragraphs. This is a change from version 2. There are other add-on
1364 lisp packages which do filling much better than Supercite ever did. The
1365 two best known are @dfn{filladapt} and @dfn{gin-mode}. Both work well
1366 with Supercite and both are available at the normal Emacs Lisp archive
1367 sites. @dfn{gin-mode} works pretty well out of the box, but if you use
1368 @dfn{filladapt}, you may want to run the function
1369 @code{sc-setup-filladapt} from your @code{sc-load-hook}. This simply
1370 makes @dfn{filladapt} a little more Supercite savvy than its default
1371 setup.
1372
1373 @vindex sc-fixup-whitespace-p
1374 @vindex fixup-whitespace-p (sc-)
1375 Also, Supercite will collapse leading whitespace between the citation
1376 string and the text on a line when the variable
1377 @code{sc-fixup-whitespace-p} is non-@code{nil}. The default value for
1378 this variable is @code{nil}.@refill
1379
1380 @vindex fill-prefix
1381 Its important to understand that Supercite's automatic filling (during
1382 the initial citation of the reply) is very fragile. That is because
1383 figuring out the @code{fill-prefix} for a particular paragraph is a
1384 really hard thing to do automatically. This is especially the case when
1385 the original message contains code or some other text where leading
1386 whitespace is important to preserve. For this reason, many Supercite
1387 users typically run with @code{sc-auto-fill-region-p} (and possibly also
1388 @code{sc-fixup-whitespace-p}) set to @code{nil}. They then manually
1389 fill each cited paragraph in the reply buffer.
1390
1391 I usually run with both these variables containing their default values.
1392 When Supercite's automatic filling breaks on a particular message, I
1393 will use Emacs' undo feature to undo back before the citation was
1394 applied to the original message. Then I'll toggle the variables and
1395 manually cite those paragraphs that I don't want to fill or collapse
1396 whitespace on. @xref{Variable Toggling Shortcuts}.@refill
1397
1398 @kindex C-c C-p C-p
1399 If you find that Supercite's automatic filling is just too fragile for
1400 your tastes, you might consider one of these alternate approaches.
1401 Also, to make life easier, a shortcut function to toggle the state of
1402 both of these variables is provided on the key binding
1403 @kbd{C-c C-p C-p} (with the default value of @code{sc-mode-map-prefix};
1404 @pxref{Post-yank Formatting Commands}).@refill
1405
1406 You will noticed that the minor mode string will
1407 show the state of these variables as qualifier characters. When both
1408 variables are @code{nil}, the Supercite minor mode string will display
1409 @samp{SC}. When just @code{sc-auto-fill-region-p} is non-@code{nil}, the
1410 string will display @samp{SC:f}, and when just
1411 @code{sc-fixup-whitespace-p} is non-@code{nil}, the string will display
1412 @samp{SC:w}. When both variables are non-@code{nil}, the string will
1413 display @samp{SC:fw}. Note that the qualifiers chosen are mnemonics for
1414 the default bindings of the toggling function for each respective
1415 variable.
1416 @xref{Variable Toggling Shortcuts}.@refill
1417
1418 Why are these variables not set to @code{nil} by default? It is because
1419 many users won't manually fill paragraphs that are Supercited, and there
1420 have been widespread complaints on the net about mail and news messages
1421 containing lines greater than about 72 characters. So the default is to
1422 fill cited text.
1423
1424 @node Selecting an Attribution, Attribution Preferences, Filling Cited Text, Top
1425 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1426 @cindex attribution list
1427 @vindex sc-preferred-attribution-list
1428 @vindex preferred-attribution-list (sc-)
1429 @comment
1430 @chapter Selecting an Attribution
1431 @ifinfo
1432
1433 @end ifinfo
1434 As you know, the attribution string is the part of the author's name
1435 that will be used to composed a non-nested citation string. Supercite
1436 scans the various mail headers present in the original article and uses
1437 a number of heuristics to extract strings which it puts into the
1438 @dfn{attribution association list} or @dfn{attribution alist}. This is
1439 analogous, but different than, the info alist previously mentioned. Each
1440 element in the attribution alist is a key-value pair containing such
1441 information as the author's first name, middle names, and last name, the
1442 author's initials, and the author's email terminus.
1443
1444 @ifinfo
1445 @menu
1446 * Attribution Preferences::
1447 * Anonymous Attributions::
1448 * Author Names::
1449 @end menu
1450 @end ifinfo
1451
1452 @node Attribution Preferences, Anonymous Attributions, Selecting an Attribution, Selecting an Attribution
1453 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1454 @section Attribution Preferences
1455 @ifinfo
1456
1457 @end ifinfo
1458 When you cite an original message, you can tell Supercite which part of
1459 the author's name you would prefer it to use as the attribution. The
1460 variable @code{sc-preferred-attribution-list} controls this; it contains
1461 keys which are matched against the attribution alist in the given order.
1462 The first value of a key that produces a non-@code{nil}, non-empty
1463 string match is used as the attribution string, and if no keys match, a
1464 secondary mechanism is used to generate the attribution.
1465 @xref{Anonymous Attributions}.
1466
1467 The following preferences are always available in the attribution alist
1468 (barring error):
1469
1470 @table @code
1471 @item "emailname"
1472 the author's email terminus.
1473
1474 @item "initials"
1475 the author's initials.
1476
1477 @item "firstname"
1478 the author's first name.
1479
1480 @item "lastname"
1481 the author's last name.
1482
1483 @item "middlename-1"
1484 the author's first middle name.
1485
1486 @item "sc-lastchoice"
1487 the last attribution string you have selected. This is useful when you
1488 recite paragraphs in the reply.@refill
1489
1490 @item "sc-consult"
1491 @vindex sc-attrib-selection-list
1492 @vindex attrib-selection-list (sc-)
1493 consults the customizable list @code{sc-attrib-selection-list} which can
1494 be used to select special attributions based on the value of any info
1495 key. See below for details.
1496
1497 @item "x-attribution"
1498 the original author's suggestion for attribution string choice. See below
1499 for details.@refill
1500 @end table
1501
1502 Middle name indexes can be any positive integer greater than zero,
1503 though it is unlikely that many authors will have more than one middle
1504 name, if that many.
1505
1506 At this point, let me digress into a discussion of etiquette. It is my
1507 belief that while the style of the citations is a reflection of the
1508 personal tastes of the replier (i.e., you), the attribution selection is
1509 ultimately the personal choice of the original author. In a sense it is
1510 his or her ``net nickname'', and therefore the author should have some
1511 say in the selection of attribution string. Imagine how you would feel
1512 if someone gave you a nickname that you didn't like?
1513
1514 For this reason, Supercite recognizes a special mail header,
1515 @samp{X-Attribution:}, which if present, tells Supercite the attribution
1516 string preferred by the original author. It is the value of this header
1517 that is associated with the @code{"x-attribution"} key in the
1518 attribution alist. Currently, you can override the preference of this
1519 key by changing @code{sc-preferred-attribution-list}, but that isn't
1520 polite, and in the future Supercite may hard-code this. For now, it is
1521 suggested that if you change the order of the keys in this list, that
1522 @code{"x-attribution"} always be first, or possible second behind only
1523 @code{"sc-lastchoice"}. This latter is the default.
1524
1525 @vindex sc-attrib-selection-list
1526 @vindex attrib-selection-list (sc-)
1527 The value @code{"sc-consult"} in @code{sc-preferred-attribution-list}
1528 has a special meaning during attribution selection. When Supercite
1529 encounters this preference, it begins processing a customizable list of
1530 attributions, contained in the variable @code{sc-attrib-selection-list}.
1531 Each element in this list contains lists of the following form:
1532
1533 @example
1534 @group
1535 (@var{infokey} ((@var{regexp} @. @var{attribution})
1536 (@var{regexp} @. @var{attribution})
1537 (@dots{})))
1538 @end group
1539 @end example
1540
1541 @noindent
1542 @findex sc-mail-field
1543 @findex mail-field (sc-)
1544 where @var{infokey} is a key for @code{sc-mail-field} and @var{regexp}
1545 is a regular expression to match against the @var{infokey}'s value. If
1546 @var{regexp} matches the @var{infokey}'s value, the @var{attribution} is
1547 used as the attribution string. Actually, @var{attribution} can be a
1548 string or a list; if it is a list, it is @code{eval}uated and the return
1549 value (which must be a string), is used as the attribution.
1550
1551 This can be very useful for when you are replying to net acquaintances
1552 who do not use the @samp{X-Attribution:@:} mail header. You may know
1553 what nickname they would prefer to use, and you can set up this list to
1554 match against a specific mail field, e.g., @samp{From:@:}, allowing you
1555 to cite your friend's message with the appropriate attribution.
1556
1557 @node Anonymous Attributions, Author Names, Attribution Preferences, Selecting an Attribution
1558 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1559 @vindex sc-default-author-name
1560 @vindex default-author-name (sc-)
1561 @vindex sc-default-attribution
1562 @vindex default-attribution (sc-)
1563 @comment
1564 @section Anonymous Attributions
1565 @ifinfo
1566
1567 @end ifinfo
1568 When the author's name cannot be found in the @samp{From:@:} mail
1569 header, a fallback author name and attribution string must be supplied.
1570 The fallback author name is contained in the variable
1571 @code{sc-default-author-name} and the fallback attribution string is
1572 contained in the variable @code{sc-default-attribution}. Default values
1573 for these variables are @code{"Anonymous"} and @code{"Anon"},
1574 respectively. Note that in most circumstances, getting the default
1575 author name or attribution is a sign that something is set up
1576 incorrectly.
1577
1578 @vindex sc-use-only-preference-p
1579 @vindex use-only-preference-p (sc-)
1580 Also, if the preferred attribution, which you specified in your
1581 @code{sc-preferred-attribution-alist} variable cannot be found, a
1582 secondary method can be employed to find a valid attribution string. The
1583 variable @code{sc-use-only-preference-p} controls what happens in this
1584 case. If the variable's value is non-@code{nil}, then
1585 @code{sc-default-author-name} and @code{sc-default-attribution} are
1586 used, otherwise, the following steps are taken to find a valid
1587 attribution string, and the first step to return a non-@code{nil},
1588 non-empty string becomes the attribution:@refill
1589
1590 @enumerate
1591 @item
1592 Use the last selected attribution, if there is one.
1593
1594 @item
1595 Use the value of the @code{"x-attribution"} key.
1596
1597 @item
1598 Use the author's first name.
1599
1600 @item
1601 Use the author's last name.
1602
1603 @item
1604 Use the author's initials.
1605
1606 @item
1607 Find the first non-@code{nil}, non-empty attribution string in the
1608 attribution alist.
1609
1610 @item
1611 @code{sc-default-attribution} is used.
1612 @end enumerate
1613
1614 @vindex sc-confirm-always-p
1615 @vindex confirm-always-p (sc-)
1616 Once the attribution string has been automatically selected, a number of
1617 things can happen. If the variable @code{sc-confirm-always-p} is
1618 non-@code{nil}, you are queried for confirmation of the chosen
1619 attribution string. The possible values for completion are those strings
1620 in the attribution alist, however you are not limited to these choices.
1621 You can type any arbitrary string at the confirmation prompt. The string
1622 you enter becomes the value associated with the @code{"sc-lastchoice"}
1623 key in the attribution alist.
1624
1625 @vindex sc-downcase-p
1626 @vindex downcase-p (sc-)
1627 Once an attribution string has been selected, Supercite will force the
1628 string to lower case if the variable @code{sc-downcase-p} is
1629 non-@code{nil}.
1630
1631 @vindex sc-attribs-preselect-hook
1632 @vindex attribs-preselect-hook (sc-)
1633 @vindex sc-attribs-postselect-hook
1634 @vindex attribs-postselect-hook (sc-)
1635
1636 Two hook variables provide even greater control of the attribution
1637 selection process. The hook @code{sc-attribs-preselect-hook} is run
1638 before any attribution is selected. Likewise, the hook
1639 @code{sc-attribs-postselect-hook} is run after the attribution is
1640 selected (and the corresponding citation string is built), but before
1641 these values are committed for use by Supercite. During the
1642 post-selection hook, the local variables @code{attribution} and
1643 @code{citation} are bound to the appropriate strings. By changing these
1644 variables in your hook functions, you change the attribution and
1645 citation strings used by Supercite. One possible use of this would be
1646 to override any automatically derived attribution string when it is only
1647 one character long; e.g. you prefer to use @code{"initials"} but the
1648 author only has one name.@refill
1649
1650 @node Author Names, Configuring the Citation Engine, Anonymous Attributions, Selecting an Attribution
1651 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1652 @cindex author names
1653 @section Author Names
1654 @ifinfo
1655
1656 @end ifinfo
1657 Supercite employs a number of heuristics to decipher the author's name
1658 based on value of the @samp{From:@:} mail field of the original message.
1659 Supercite can recognize almost all of the common @samp{From:@:} field
1660 formats in use. If you encounter a @samp{From:@:} field that Supercite
1661 cannot parse, please report this bug.
1662 @xref{The Supercite Mailing List}.@refill
1663
1664 @vindex sc-titlecue-regexp
1665 @vindex titlecue-regexp (sc-)
1666 There are a number of Supercite variables that control how author names
1667 are extracted from the @samp{From:@:} header. Some headers may contain a
1668 descriptive title as in:
1669
1670 @example
1671 From:@: computer!speedy!doe (John Xavier-Doe -- Decent Hacker)
1672 @end example
1673
1674 Supercite knows which part of the @samp{From:@:} header is email address
1675 and which part is author name, but in this case the string @code{"Decent
1676 Hacker"} is not part of the author's name. You can tell Supercite to
1677 ignore the title, while still recognizing hyphenated names through the
1678 use of a regular expression in the variable @code{sc-titlecue-regexp}.
1679 This variable has the default value of @code{"\\\\s +-+\\\\s +"}. Any
1680 text after this regexp is encountered is ignored as noise.
1681
1682 @vindex sc-name-filter-alist
1683 @vindex name-filter-alist (sc-)
1684 Some @samp{From:@:} headers may contain extra titles in the name fields
1685 not separated by a title cue, but which are nonetheless not part of the
1686 author's name proper. Examples include the titles ``Dr.'', ``Mr.'',
1687 ``Ms.'', ``Jr.'', ``Sr.'', and ``III'' (e.g., Thurston Howe, the Third).
1688 Also, some companies prepend or append the name of the division,
1689 organization, or project on the author's name. All of these titles are
1690 noise which should be ignored. The variable @code{sc-name-filter-alist}
1691 is used for this purpose. As implied by its name, this variable is an
1692 association list, where each element is a cons cell of the form:
1693
1694 @example
1695 (@var{regexp} @. @var{position})
1696 @end example
1697
1698 @noindent
1699 where @var{regexp} is a regular expression that is matched (using
1700 @code{string-match}) against each element of the @samp{From:@:} field's
1701 author name. @var{position} is a position indicator, starting at zero.
1702 Thus to strip out all titles of ``Dr.'', ``Mr.'', etc. from the name,
1703 @code{sc-name-filter-alist} would have an entry such as:
1704
1705 @example
1706 ("^\\(Mr\\|Mrs\\|Ms\\|Dr\\)[.]?$" @. 0)
1707 @end example
1708
1709 @noindent
1710 which only removes them if they appear as the first word in the name.
1711 The position indicator is an integer, or one of the two special symbols
1712 @code{last} or @code{any}. @code{last} always matches against the last
1713 word in the name field, while @code{any} matches against every word in
1714 the name field.
1715
1716 @node Configuring the Citation Engine, Using Regi, Author Names, Top
1717 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1718 @cindex Regi
1719 @cindex frames (Regi)
1720 @cindex entries (Regi)
1721 @chapter Configuring the Citation Engine
1722 @ifinfo
1723
1724 @end ifinfo
1725 At the heart of Supercite is a regular expression interpreting engine
1726 called @dfn{Regi}. Regi operates by interpreting a data structure
1727 called a Regi-frame (or just @dfn{frame}), which is a list of
1728 Regi-entries (or just @dfn{entry}). Each entry contains a predicate,
1729 typically a regular expression, which is matched against a line of text
1730 in the current buffer. If the predicate matches true, an associated
1731 expression is @code{eval}uated. In this way, an entire region of text
1732 can be transformed in an @emph{awk}-like manner. Regi is used
1733 throughout Supercite, from mail header information extraction, to header
1734 nuking, to citing text.
1735
1736 @ifinfo
1737 @menu
1738 * Using Regi::
1739 * Frames You Can Customize::
1740 @end menu
1741 @end ifinfo
1742
1743 While the details of Regi are discussed below (@pxref{Using Regi}), only
1744 those who wish to customize certain aspects of Supercite need concern
1745 themselves with it. It is important to understand though, that any
1746 conceivable citation style that can be described by a regular expression
1747 can be recognized by Supercite. This leads to some interesting
1748 applications. For example, if you regularly recieve email from a
1749 co-worker that uses an uncommon citation style (say one that employs a
1750 @samp{|} or @samp{@}} character at the front of the line), it is
1751 possible for Supercite to recognize this and @emph{coerce} the citation
1752 to your preferred style, for consistency. In theory, it is possible for
1753 Supercite to recognize such things as uuencoded messages or C code and
1754 cite or fill those differently than normal text. None of this is
1755 currently part of Supercite, but contributions are welcome!
1756
1757 @node Using Regi, Frames You Can Customize, Configuring the Citation Engine, Configuring the Citation Engine
1758 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1759 @findex regi-interpret
1760 @findex eval
1761 @findex looking-at
1762 @section Using Regi
1763 @ifinfo
1764
1765 @end ifinfo
1766 Regi works by interpreting frames with the function
1767 @code{regi-interpret}. A frame is a list of arbitrary size where each
1768 element is a entry of the following form:
1769
1770 @example
1771 (@var{pred} @var{func} [@var{negate-p} [@var{case-fold-search}]])
1772 @end example
1773
1774 Regi starts with the first entry in a frame, evaluating the @var{pred}
1775 of that entry against the beginning of the line that @samp{point} is on.
1776 If the @var{pred} evaluates to true (or false if the optional
1777 @var{negate-p} is non-@code{nil}), then the @var{func} for that entry is
1778 @code{eval}uated. How processing continues is determined by the return
1779 value for @var{func}, and is described below. If @var{pred} was false
1780 the next entry in the frame is checked until all entries have been
1781 matched against the current line. If no entry matches, @samp{point} is
1782 moved forward one line and the frame is reset to the first entry.
1783
1784 @var{pred} can be a string, a variable, a list or one of the following
1785 symbols: @code{t}, @code{begin}, @code{end}, or @code{every}. If
1786 @var{pred} is a string, or a variable or list that @code{eval}uates to a
1787 string, it is interpreted as a regular expression. This regexp is
1788 matched against the current line, from the beginning, using
1789 @code{looking-at}. This match folds case if the optional
1790 @var{case-fold-search} is non-@code{nil}. If @var{pred} is not a
1791 string, or does not @code{eval}uate to a string, it is interpreted as a
1792 binary value (@code{nil} or non-@code{nil}).@refill
1793
1794 The four special symbol values for @var{pred} are recognized:
1795
1796 @table @code
1797 @item t
1798 Always produces a true outcome.
1799 @item begin
1800 Always executed before the frame is interpreted. This can be used to
1801 initialize some global variables for example.
1802 @item end
1803 Always executed after frame interpreting is completed. This can be used
1804 to perform any necessary post-processing.
1805 @item every
1806 Executes whenever the frame is reset, usually after the entire frame has
1807 been matched against the current line.
1808 @end table
1809
1810 Note that @var{negate-p} and @var{case-fold-search} are ignored if
1811 @var{pred} is one of these special symbols. Only the first occurance of
1812 each symbol in a frame is used; any duplicates are ignored. Also
1813 note that for performance reasons, the entries associated with these
1814 symbols are removed from the frame during the main interpreting loop.
1815
1816 Your @var{func} can return certain values which control continued Regi
1817 processing. By default, if your @var{func} returns @code{nil} (as it
1818 should be careful to do explicitly), Regi will reset the frame to the
1819 first entry, and advance @samp{point} to the beginning of the next line.
1820 If a list is returned from your function, it can contain any combination
1821 of the following elements:@refill
1822
1823 @table @asis
1824 @item the symbol @code{continue}
1825 This tells Regi to continue processing entries after a match, instead of
1826 reseting the frame and moving @samp{point}. In this way, lines of text
1827 can have multiple matches, but you have to be careful to avoid entering
1828 infinite loops.
1829
1830 @item the symbol @code{abort}
1831 This tells Regi to terminate frame processing. However, any @code{end}
1832 entry is still processed.
1833
1834 @item the list @code{(frame . @var{newframe})}
1835 This tells Regi to substitute @var{newframe} as the frame it is
1836 interpreting. In other words, your @var{func} can modify the Regi frame
1837 on the fly. @var{newframe} can be a variable containing a frame, or it
1838 can be the frame in-lined.@refill
1839
1840 @item the list @code{(step . @var{step})}
1841 Tells Regi to move @var{step} number of lines forward as it continues
1842 processing. By default, Regi moves forward one line. @var{step} can be
1843 zero or negative of course, but watch out for infinite loops.@refill
1844 @end table
1845
1846 During execution of your @var{func}, the following variables will be
1847 temporarily bound to some useful information:@refill
1848
1849 @table @code
1850 @item curline
1851 The current line in the buffer that Regi is @code{looking-at}, as a string.
1852 @item curframe
1853 The current frame being interpreted.
1854 @item curentry
1855 The current frame entry being interpreted.
1856 @end table
1857
1858 @node Frames You Can Customize, Post-yank Formatting Commands, Using Regi, Configuring the Citation Engine
1859 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1860 @vindex sc-nuke-mail-header
1861 @section Frames You Can Customize
1862 @ifinfo
1863
1864 @end ifinfo
1865 As mentioned earlier, Supercite uses various frames to perform
1866 certain jobs such as mail header information extraction and mail header
1867 nuking. However, these frames are not available for you to customize,
1868 except through abstract interfaces such as @code{sc-nuke-mail-header},
1869 et al.
1870
1871 @vindex sc-default-cite-frame
1872 However, the citation frames Supercite uses provide a lot of customizing
1873 power and are thus available to you to change to suit your needs. The
1874 workhorse of citation is the frame contained in the variable
1875 @code{sc-default-cite-frame}. This frame recognizes many situations,
1876 such as blank lines, which it interprets as paragraph separators. It
1877 also recognizes previously cited nested and non-nested citations in the
1878 original message. By default it will coerce non-nested citations into
1879 your preferred citation style, and it will add a level of citation to
1880 nested citations. It will also simply cite uncited lines in your
1881 preferred style.
1882
1883 @cindex unciting
1884 @cindex reciting
1885 @vindex sc-default-uncite-frame
1886 @vindex sc-default-recite-frame
1887 In a similar vein, there are default frames for @dfn{unciting} and
1888 @dfn{reciting}, contained in the variables
1889 @code{sc-default-uncite-frame} and @code{sc-default-recite-frame}
1890 respectively.@refill
1891
1892 As mentioned earlier (@pxref{Recognizing Citations}), citations are
1893 recognized through the values of the regular expressions
1894 @code{sc-citation-root-regexp}, et al. To recognize odd styles, you
1895 could modify these variables, or you could modify the default citing
1896 frame. Alternatively, you could set up association lists of frames for
1897 recognizing specific alternative forms.
1898
1899 @vindex sc-cite-frame-alist
1900 @vindex sc-uncite-frame-alist
1901 @vindex sc-recite-frame-alist
1902 For each of the actions -- citing, unciting, and reciting -- an alist is
1903 consulted to find the frame to use (@code{sc-cite-frame-alist},
1904 @code{sc-uncite-frame-alist}, and @code{sc-recite-frame-alist}
1905 respectively). These frames can contain alists of the form:
1906
1907 @example
1908 ((@var{infokey} (@var{regexp} @. @var{frame}) (@var{regexp} @. @var{frame}) @dots{})
1909 (@var{infokey} (@var{regexp} @. @var{frame}) (@var{regexp} @. @var{frame}) @dots{})
1910 (@dots{}))
1911 @end example
1912
1913 @vindex sc-mail-field
1914 @findex string-match
1915 Where @var{infokey} is a key suitable for @code{sc-mail-field},
1916 @var{regexp} is a regular expression which is @code{string-match}'d
1917 against the value of the @code{sc-mail-field} key, and @var{frame} is
1918 the frame to use if a match occurred. @var{frame} can be a variable
1919 containing a frame or a frame in-lined.@refill
1920
1921 When Supercite is about to cite, uncite, or recite a region, it consults
1922 the appropriate alist and attempts to find a frame to use. If one
1923 is not found from the alist, then the appropriate default frame is used.
1924
1925 @node Post-yank Formatting Commands, Citing Commands, Frames You Can Customize, Top
1926 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1927 @vindex sc-mode-map-prefix
1928 @vindex mode-map-prefix (sc-)
1929 @kindex C-c C-p
1930 @chapter Post-yank Formatting Commands
1931 @ifinfo
1932
1933 @end ifinfo
1934 Once the original message has been yanked into the reply buffer, and
1935 @code{sc-cite-original} has had a chance to do its thing, a number of
1936 useful Supercite commands will be available to you. Since there is wide
1937 variety in the keymaps that MUAs set up in their reply buffers, it is
1938 next to impossible for Supercite to properly sprinkle its commands into
1939 the existing keymap. For this reason Supercite places its commands on a
1940 separate keymap, putting this keymap onto a prefix key in the reply
1941 buffer. You can customize the prefix key Supercite uses by changing the
1942 variable @code{sc-mode-map-prefix}. By default, the
1943 @code{sc-mode-map-prefix} is @kbd{C-c C-p}; granted, not a great choice,
1944 but unfortunately the best general solution so far. In the rest of this
1945 chapter, we'll assume you've installed Supercite's keymap on the default
1946 prefix.@refill
1947
1948 @ifinfo
1949 @menu
1950 * Citing Commands::
1951 * Insertion Commands::
1952 * Variable Toggling Shortcuts::
1953 * Mail Field Commands::
1954 * Miscellaneous Commands::
1955 @end menu
1956 @end ifinfo
1957
1958 @node Citing Commands, Insertion Commands, Post-yank Formatting Commands, Post-yank Formatting Commands
1959 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
1960 @vindex sc-cite-region-limit
1961 @section Commands to Manually Cite, Recite, and Uncite
1962 @ifinfo
1963
1964 @end ifinfo
1965 Probably the three most common post-yank formatting operations that you
1966 will perform will be the manual citing, reciting, and unciting of
1967 regions of text in the reply buffer. Often you may want to recite a
1968 paragraph to use a nickname, or manually cite a message when setting
1969 @code{sc-cite-region-limit} to @code{nil}. The following commands
1970 perform these functions on the region of text between @samp{point} and
1971 @samp{mark}. Each of them sets the @dfn{undo boundary} before modifying
1972 the region so that the command can be undone in the standard Emacs
1973 way.@refill
1974
1975 A quick note about Emacs 19. Unlike in Emacs 18, the region delimited
1976 by @samp{point} and @samp{mark} can have two states. It can be
1977 @dfn{active} or @dfn{inactive}. Although the FSF Emacs 19 and Lucid
1978 Emacs 19 use different terminology and functions, both employ the same
1979 convention such that when the region is inactive, commands that modify
1980 the region should generate an error. The user needs to explicitly
1981 activate the region before successfully executing the command. All
1982 Supercite commands conform to this convention.
1983
1984 Here is the list of Supercite citing commands:
1985
1986 @table @asis
1987 @findex sc-cite-region
1988 @findex cite-region (sc-)
1989 @kindex C-c C-p c
1990 @vindex sc-pre-cite-hook
1991 @vindex pre-cite-hook (sc-)
1992 @vindex sc-confirm-always-p
1993 @vindex confirm-always-p
1994 @kindex C-u
1995 @item @code{sc-cite-region} (@kbd{C-c C-p c})
1996 @comment
1997 This command cites each line in the region of text by interpreting the
1998 selected frame from @code{sc-cite-frame-alist}, or the default citing
1999 frame @code{sc-default-cite-frame}. It runs the hook
2000 @code{sc-pre-cite-hook} before interpreting the frame. With an optional
2001 universal argument (@kbd{C-u}), it temporarily sets
2002 @code{sc-confirm-always-p} to @code{t} so you can confirm the
2003 attribution string for a single manual citing.
2004 @xref{Configuring the Citation Engine}.@refill
2005
2006 @findex sc-uncite-region
2007 @findex uncite-region (sc-)
2008 @kindex C-c C-p u
2009 @item @code{sc-uncite-region} (@kbd{C-c C-p u})
2010 @comment
2011 This command removes any citation strings from the beginning of each
2012 cited line in the region by interpreting the selected frame from
2013 @code{sc-uncite-frame-alist}, or the default unciting frame
2014 @code{sc-default-uncite-frame}. It runs the hook
2015 @code{sc-pre-uncite-hook} before interpreting the frame.
2016 @xref{Configuring the Citation Engine}.@refill
2017
2018 @findex sc-recite-region
2019 @findex recite-region (sc-)
2020 @kindex C-c C-p r
2021 @item @code{sc-recite-region} (@kbd{C-c C-p r})
2022 @comment
2023 This command recites each line the region by interpreting the selected
2024 frame from @code{sc-recite-frame-alist}, or the default reciting frame
2025 @code{sc-default-recite-frame}. It runs the hook
2026 @code{sc-pre-recite-hook} before interpreting the frame.
2027 @xref{Configuring the Citation Engine}.@refill
2028
2029 @vindex sc-confirm-always-p
2030 @vindex confirm-always-p (sc-)
2031 Supercite will always ask you to confirm the attribution when reciting a
2032 region, regardless of the value of @code{sc-confirm-always-p}.
2033 @end table
2034
2035 @node Insertion Commands, Variable Toggling Shortcuts, Citing Commands, Post-yank Formatting Commands
2036 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2037 @section Insertion Commands
2038 @ifinfo
2039
2040 @end ifinfo
2041 These two functions insert various strings into the reply buffer.
2042
2043 @table @asis
2044 @findex sc-insert-reference
2045 @findex insert-reference (sc-)
2046 @kindex C-c C-p w
2047 @item @code{sc-insert-reference} (@kbd{C-c C-p w})
2048 @comment
2049 @vindex sc-preferred-header-style
2050 @vindex preferred-header-style (sc-)
2051 Inserts a reference header into the reply buffer at @samp{point}. With
2052 no arguments, the header indexed by @code{sc-preferred-header-style} is
2053 inserted. An optional numeric argument is the index into
2054 @code{sc-rewrite-header-list} indicating which reference header to
2055 write.@refill
2056
2057 With just the universal argument (@kbd{C-u}), electric reference mode is
2058 entered, regardless of the value of @code{sc-electric-references-p}.
2059
2060 @findex sc-insert-citation
2061 @findex insert-citation (sc-)
2062 @kindex C-c C-p i
2063 @item @code{sc-insert-citation} (@kbd{C-c C-p i})
2064 @comment
2065 Inserts the current citation string at the beginning of the line that
2066 @samp{point} is on. If the line is already cited, Supercite will issue
2067 an error and will not cite the line.
2068 @end table
2069
2070 @node Variable Toggling Shortcuts, Mail Field Commands, Insertion Commands, Post-yank Formatting Commands
2071 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2072 @cindex toggling variables
2073 @section Variable Toggling Shortcuts
2074 @ifinfo
2075
2076 @end ifinfo
2077 Supercite defines a number of commands that make it easier for you to
2078 toggle and set various Supercite variables as you are editing the reply
2079 buffer. For example, you may want to turn off filling or whitespace
2080 cleanup, but only temporarily. These toggling shortcut commands make
2081 this easy to do.
2082
2083 @kindex C-c C-p C-t
2084 Like Supercite commands in general, the toggling commands are placed on
2085 a keymap prefix within the greater Supercite keymap. For the default
2086 value of @code{sc-mode-map-prefix}, this will be
2087 @kbd{C-c C-p C-t}.@refill
2088
2089 The following commands toggle the value of certain Supercite variables
2090 which take only a binary value:
2091
2092 @table @kbd
2093 @item C-c C-p C-t b
2094 Toggles the variable @code{sc-mail-nuke-blank-lines-p}.
2095
2096 @item C-c C-p C-t c
2097 Toggles the variable @code{sc-confirm-always-p}.
2098
2099 @item C-c C-p C-t d
2100 Toggles the variable @code{sc-downcase-p}.
2101
2102 @item C-c C-p C-t e
2103 Toggles the variable @code{sc-electric-references-p}.
2104
2105 @item C-c C-p C-t f
2106 Toggles the variable @code{sc-auto-fill-region-p}.
2107
2108 @item C-c C-p C-t o
2109 Toggles the variable @code{sc-electric-circular-p}.
2110
2111 @item C-c C-p C-t s
2112 Toggles the variable @code{sc-nested-citation-p}.
2113
2114 @item C-c C-p C-t u
2115 Toggles the variable @code{sc-use-only-preferences-p}.
2116
2117 @item C-c C-p C-t w
2118 Toggles the variable @code{sc-fixup-whitespace-p}.
2119 @end table
2120
2121 @findex set-variable
2122 The following commands let you set the value of multi-value variables,
2123 in the same way that Emacs' @code{set-variable} does:
2124
2125 @table @kbd
2126 @item C-c C-p C-t a
2127 Sets the value of the variable @code{sc-preferred-attribution-list}.
2128
2129 @item C-c C-p C-t l
2130 Sets the value of the variable @code{sc-cite-region-limit}.
2131
2132 @item C-c C-p C-t n
2133 Sets the value of the variable @code{sc-mail-nuke-mail-headers}.
2134
2135 @item C-c C-p C-t N
2136 Sets the value of the variable @code{sc-mail-header-nuke-list}.
2137
2138 @item C-c C-p C-t p
2139 Sets the value of the variable @code{sc-preferred-header-style}.
2140 @end table
2141
2142 @kindex C-c C-p C-p
2143 One special command is provided to toggle both
2144 @code{sc-auto-fill-region-p} and @code{sc-fixup-whitespace-p} together.
2145 This is because you typically want to run Supercite with either variable
2146 as @code{nil} or non-@code{nil}. The command to toggle these variables
2147 together is bound on @kbd{C-c C-p C-p}.@refill
2148
2149 Finally, the command @kbd{C-c C-p C-t h} (also @kbd{C-c C-p C-t ?})
2150 brings up a Help message on the toggling keymap.
2151
2152
2153 @node Mail Field Commands, Miscellaneous Commands, Variable Toggling Shortcuts, Post-yank Formatting Commands
2154 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2155 @section Mail Field Commands
2156 @ifinfo
2157
2158 @end ifinfo
2159 These commands allow you to view, modify, add, and delete various bits
2160 of information from the info alist.
2161 @xref{Information Keys and the Info Alist}.@refill
2162
2163 @table @asis
2164 @kindex C-c C-p f
2165 @findex sc-mail-field-query
2166 @findex mail-field-query (sc-)
2167 @kindex C-c C-p f
2168 @item @code{sc-mail-field-query} (@kbd{C-c C-p f})
2169 @comment
2170 Allows you to interactively view, modify, add, and delete info alist
2171 key-value pairs. With no argument, you are prompted (with completion)
2172 for a info key. The value associated with that key is displayed in the
2173 minibuffer. With an argument, this command will first ask if you want
2174 to view, modify, add, or delete an info key. Viewing is identical to
2175 running the command with no arguments.
2176
2177 If you want to modify the value of a key, Supercite will first prompt
2178 you (with completion) for the key of the value you want to change. It
2179 will then put you in the minibuffer with the key's current value so you
2180 can edit the value as you wish. When you hit @key{RET}, the key's value
2181 is changed. For those of you running Emacs 19, minibuffer history is
2182 kept for the values.
2183
2184 If you choose to delete a key-value pair, Supercite will prompt you (with
2185 completion) for the key to delete.
2186
2187 If you choose to add a new key-value pair, Supercite firsts prompts you
2188 for the key to add. Note that completion is turned on for this prompt,
2189 but you can type any key name here, even one that does not yet exist.
2190 After entering the key, Supercite prompts you for the key's value. It
2191 is not an error to enter a key that already exists, but the new value
2192 will override any old value. It will not replace it though; if you
2193 subsequently delete the key-value pair, the old value will reappear.
2194
2195 @findex sc-mail-process-headers
2196 @findex mail-process-headers (sc-)
2197 @kindex C-c C-p g
2198 @item @code{sc-mail-process-headers} (@kbd{C-c C-p g})
2199 @comment
2200 This command lets you re-initialize Supercite's info alist from any set
2201 of mail headers in the region between @samp{point} and @samp{mark}.
2202 This function is especially useful for replying to digest messages where
2203 Supercite will initially set up its information for the digest
2204 originator, but you want to cite each component article with the real
2205 message author. Note that unless an error during processing occurs, any
2206 old information is lost.@refill
2207 @end table
2208
2209 @node Miscellaneous Commands, Information Keys and the Info Alist, Mail Field Commands, Post-yank Formatting Commands
2210 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2211 @section Miscellaneous Commands
2212 @ifinfo
2213
2214 @end ifinfo
2215 @table @asis
2216 @findex sc-open-line
2217 @findex open-line (sc-)
2218 @findex open-line
2219 @kindex C-c C-p o
2220 @item @code{sc-open-line} (@kbd{C-c C-p o})
2221 @comment
2222 Similar to Emacs' standard @code{open-line} commands, but inserts the
2223 citation string in front of the new line. As with @code{open-line},
2224 an optional numeric argument inserts that many new lines.@refill
2225
2226 @findex sc-describe
2227 @findex describe (sc-)
2228 @kindex C-c C-p ?
2229 @kindex C-c C-p h
2230 @item @code{sc-describe} (@kbd{C-c C-p h} and @kbd{C-c C-p ?})
2231 @comment
2232 This function has been obsoleted by the @TeX{}info manual you are now
2233 reading. It is still provided for compatibility, but it will eventually
2234 go away.
2235
2236 @findex sc-version
2237 @findex version (sc-)
2238 @kindex C-c C-p v
2239 @item @code{sc-version} (@kbd{C-c C-p v})
2240 @comment
2241 Echos the version of Supercite you are using. With the optional
2242 universal argument (@kbd{C-u}), this command inserts the version
2243 information into the current buffer.
2244
2245 @findex sc-submit-bug-report
2246 @findex submit-bug-report (sc-)
2247 @kindex C-c C-p C-b
2248 @item @code{sc-submit-bug-report} (@kbd{C-c C-p C-b})
2249 @comment
2250 If you encounter a bug, or wish to suggest an enhancement, use this
2251 command to set up an outgoing mail buffer, with the proper address to
2252 the Supercite maintainer automatically inserted in the @samp{To:@:}
2253 field. This command also inserts information that the Supercite
2254 maintainer can use to recreate your exact setup, making it easier to
2255 verify your bug.
2256 @end table
2257
2258 @node Hints to MUA Authors, Version 3 Changes, Electric References, Top
2259 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2260 @chapter Hints to MUA Authors
2261 @ifinfo
2262
2263 @end ifinfo
2264 In June of 1989, some discussion was held between the various MUA
2265 authors, the Supercite author, and other Supercite users. These
2266 discussions centered around the need for a standard interface between
2267 MUAs and Supercite (or any future Supercite-like packages). This
2268 interface was formally proposed by Martin Neitzel on Fri, 23 Jun 89, in
2269 a mail message to the Supercite mailing list:
2270
2271 @example
2272 Martin> Each news/mail-reader should provide a form of
2273 Martin> mail-yank-original that
2274
2275 Martin> 1: inserts the original message incl. header into the
2276 Martin> reply buffer; no indentation/prefixing is done, the header
2277 Martin> tends to be a "full blown" version rather than to be
2278 Martin> stripped down.
2279
2280 Martin> 2: `point' is at the start of the header, `mark' at the
2281 Martin> end of the message body.
2282
2283 Martin> 3: (run-hooks 'mail-yank-hooks)
2284
2285 Martin> [Supercite] should be run as such a hook and merely
2286 Martin> rewrite the message. This way it isn't anymore
2287 Martin> [Supercite]'s job to gather the original from obscure
2288 Martin> sources. [@dots{}]
2289 @end example
2290
2291 @vindex mail-citation-hook
2292 @vindex mail-yank-hooks
2293 @cindex sendmail.el
2294 @findex mail-yank-original
2295 @findex defvar
2296 This specification was adopted, but with the recent release of FSF GNU
2297 Emacs 19, it has undergone a slight modification. Instead of the
2298 variable @code{mail-yank-hooks}, the new preferred hook variable that
2299 the MUA should provide is @code{mail-citation-hook}.
2300 @code{mail-yank-hooks} can be provided for backward compatibility, but
2301 @code{mail-citation-hook} should always take precedence. Richard
2302 Stallman (of the FSF) suggests that the MUAs should @code{defvar}
2303 @code{mail-citation-hook} to @code{nil} and perform some default citing
2304 when that is the case. Take a look at Emacs 19's @file{sendmail.el}
2305 file, specifically the @code{mail-yank-original} defun for
2306 details.@refill
2307
2308 If you are writing a new MUA package, or maintaining an existing MUA
2309 package, you should make it conform to this interface so that your users
2310 will be able to link Supercite easily and seamlessly. To do this, when
2311 setting up a reply or forward buffer, your MUA should follow these
2312 steps:
2313
2314 @enumerate
2315 @item
2316 Insert the original message, including the mail headers into the reply
2317 buffer. At this point you should not modify the raw text in any way, and
2318 you should place all the original headers into the body of the reply.
2319 This means that many of the mail headers will be duplicated, one copy
2320 above the @code{mail-header-separator} line and one copy below,
2321 however there will probably be more headers below this line.@refill
2322
2323 @item
2324 Set @samp{point} to the beginning of the line containing the first mail
2325 header in the body of the reply. Set @samp{mark} at the end of the
2326 message text. It is very important that the region be set around the
2327 text Supercite is to modify and that the mail headers are within this
2328 region. Supercite will not venture outside the region for any reason,
2329 and anything within the region is fair game, so don't put anything that
2330 @strong{must} remain unchanged inside the region. Further note that for
2331 Emacs 19, the region need not be set active. Supercite will work
2332 properly when the region is inactive, as should any other like-minded
2333 package.@refill
2334
2335 @item
2336 Run the hook @code{mail-citation-hook}. You will probably want to
2337 provide some kind of default citation functions in cases where the user
2338 does not have Supercite installed. By default, your MUA should
2339 @code{defvar} @code{mail-citation-hook} to @code{nil}, and in your
2340 yanking function, check its value. If it finds
2341 @code{mail-citation-hook} to be @code{nil}, it should perform some
2342 default citing behavior. User who want to connect to Supercite then
2343 need only add @code{sc-cite-original} to this list of hooks using
2344 @code{add-hook}.@refill
2345 @end enumerate
2346
2347 If you do all this, your users will not need to overload your routines
2348 to use Supercite, and your MUA will join the ranks of those that conform
2349 to this interface ``out of the box.''
2350
2351 @node Version 3 Changes, Thanks and History, Hints to MUA Authors, Top
2352 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2353 @chapter Version 3 Changes
2354 @ifinfo
2355
2356 @end ifinfo
2357 @cindex sc-unsupp.el file
2358 With version 3, Supercite has undergone an almost complete rewrite, and
2359 has hopefully benefitted in a number of ways, including vast
2360 improvements in the speed of performance, a big reduction in size of the
2361 code and in the use of Emacs resources, and a much cleaner and flexible
2362 internal architecture. The central construct of the info alist, and its
2363 role in Supercite has been expanded, and the other central concept, the
2364 general package Regi, was developed to provide a theoretically unlimited
2365 flexibility.
2366
2367 But most of this work is internal and not of very great importance to the
2368 casual user. There have been some changes at the user-visible level,
2369 but for the most part, the Supercite configuration variables from
2370 version 2 should still be relevant to version 3. Below, I briefly
2371 outline those user-visible things that have changed since version 2. For
2372 details, look to other sections of this manual.
2373
2374 @enumerate
2375 @item
2376 @cindex supercite.el file
2377 @cindex reporter.el file
2378 @cindex regi.el file
2379 @cindex sc.el from version 2
2380 @cindex sc-elec.el from version 2
2381 Supercite proper now comes in a single file, @file{supercite.el}, which
2382 contains everything except the unsupported noodlings, overloading (which
2383 should be more or less obsolete with the release of Emacs 19), and the
2384 general lisp packages @file{reporter.el} and @file{regi.el}. Finally,
2385 the @TeX{}info manual comes in its own file as well. In particular, the
2386 file @file{sc.el} from the version 2 distribution is obsolete, as is the
2387 file @file{sc-elec.el}.
2388
2389 @item
2390 @code{sc-spacify-name-chars} is gone in version 3.
2391
2392 @item
2393 @vindex sc-attrib-selection-list
2394 @vindex attrib-selection-list
2395 @code{sc-nickname-alist} is gone in version 3. The
2396 @code{sc-attrib-selection-list} is a more general construct supporting
2397 the same basic feature.
2398
2399 @item
2400 The version 2 variable @code{sc-preferred-attribution} has been changed
2401 to @code{sc-preferred-attribution-list}, and has been expanded upon to
2402 allow you to specify an ordered list of preferred attributions.
2403
2404 @item
2405 @code{sc-mail-fields-list} has been removed, and header nuking in
2406 general has been greatly improved, giving you wider flexibility in
2407 specifying which headers to keep and remove while presenting a
2408 simplified interface to commonly chosen defaults.
2409
2410 @item
2411 Post-yank paragraph filling has been completely removed from Supercite,
2412 other packages just do it better than Supercite ever would. Supercite
2413 will still fill newly cited paragraphs.
2414
2415 @item
2416 @vindex sc-cite-region-limit
2417 @vindex cite-region-limit
2418 The variable @code{sc-all-but-cite-p} has been replaced by
2419 @code{sc-cite-region-limit}.
2420
2421 @item
2422 Keymap hacking in the reply buffer has been greatly simplified, with, I
2423 believe, little reduction in functionality.
2424
2425 @item
2426 Hacking of the reply buffer's docstring has been completely eliminated.
2427 @end enumerate
2428
2429 @node Thanks and History, The Supercite Mailing List, Version 3 Changes, Top
2430 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2431 @chapter Thanks and History
2432 @ifinfo
2433
2434 @end ifinfo
2435 The Supercite package was derived from its predecessor Superyank 1.11
2436 which was inspired by various bits of code and ideas from Martin Neitzel
2437 and Ashwin Ram. They were the folks who came up with the idea of
2438 non-nested citations and implemented some rough code to provide this
2439 style. Superyank and Supercite version 2 evolved to the point where much
2440 of the attribution selection mechanism was automatic, and features have
2441 been continuously added through the comments and suggestions of the
2442 Supercite mailing list participants. Supercite version 3 represents a
2443 nearly complete rewrite with many of the algorithms and coding styles
2444 being vastly improved. Hopefully Supercite version 3 is faster,
2445 smaller, and much more flexible than its predecessors.
2446
2447 In the version 2 manual I thanked some specific people for their help in
2448 developing Supercite 2. You folks know who you are and your continued
2449 support is greatly appreciated. I wish to thank everyone on the
2450 Supercite mailing list, especially the brave alpha testers, who helped
2451 considerably in testing out the concepts and implementation of Supercite
2452 version 3. Special thanks go out to the MUA and Emacs authors Kyle
2453 Jones, Stephen Gildea, Richard Stallman, and Jamie Zawinski for coming
2454 to a quick agreement on the new @code{mail-citation-hook} interface, and
2455 for adding the magic lisp to their code to support this.
2456
2457 All who have helped and contributed have been greatly appreciated.
2458
2459 @node The Supercite Mailing List, Concept Index, Thanks and History, Top
2460 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2461 @cindex supercite mailing list address
2462 @cindex mailing list address
2463 @chapter The Supercite Mailing List
2464 @ifinfo
2465
2466 @end ifinfo
2467 The author runs a simple mail expanding mailing list for discussion of
2468 issues related to Supercite. This includes enhancement requests, bug
2469 reports, general help questions, etc. To subscribe or unsubscribe to
2470 the mailing list, send a request to the administrative address:
2471
2472 @example
2473 Internet: supercite-request@@anthem.nlm.nih.gov
2474 UUCP: uunet!anthem.nlm.nih.gov!supercite-request
2475 @end example
2476
2477 Please be sure to include the most reliable and shortest (preferably
2478 Internet) address back to you. To post articles to the list, send your
2479 message to this address (you do not need to be a member to post, but be
2480 sure to indicate this in your article or replies may not be CC'd to
2481 you):
2482
2483 @example
2484 Internet: supercite@@anthem.nlm.nih.gov
2485 UUCP: uunet!anthem.nlm.nih.gov!supercite
2486 @end example
2487
2488 If you are sending bug reports, they should go to the following address,
2489 but @emph{please}! use the command @code{sc-submit-bug-report} since it
2490 will be much easier for me to duplicate your problem if you do so. It
2491 will set up a mail buffer automatically with this address on the
2492 @samp{To:@:} line:
2493
2494 @example
2495 Internet: supercite-help@@anthem.nlm.nih.gov
2496 UUCP: uunet!anthem.nlm.nih.gov!supercite-help
2497 @end example
2498
2499 @node Concept Index, Command Index, The Supercite Mailing List, Top
2500 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2501 @unnumbered Concept Index
2502 @printindex cp
2503
2504 @node Command Index, Key Index, Concept Index, Top
2505 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2506 @unnumbered Command Index
2507 @ifinfo
2508
2509 @end ifinfo
2510 Since all supercite commands are prepended with the string
2511 ``@code{sc-}'', each appears under its @code{sc-}@var{command} name and
2512 its @var{command} name.
2513 @iftex
2514 @sp 2
2515 @end iftex
2516 @printindex fn
2517
2518 @node Key Index, Variable Index, Command Index, Top
2519 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2520 @unnumbered Key Index
2521 @printindex ky
2522
2523 @node Variable Index, , Key Index, Top
2524 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
2525 @unnumbered Variable Index
2526 @ifinfo
2527
2528 @end ifinfo
2529 Since all supercite variables are prepended with the string
2530 ``@code{sc-}'', each appears under its @code{sc-}@var{variable} name and
2531 its @var{variable} name.
2532 @iftex
2533 @sp 2
2534 @end iftex
2535 @printindex vr
2536 @summarycontents
2537 @contents
2538 @bye