Mercurial > hg > xemacs-beta

comparison man/xemacs/sending.texi @ 0:376386a54a3c r19-14

Find changesets by keywords (author, files, the commit message), revision number or hash, or revset expression.
Import from CVS: tag r19-14
author cvs
date Mon, 13 Aug 2007 08:45:50 +0200
parents
children ec9a17fef872
comparison
equal deleted inserted replaced
-1:000000000000 0:376386a54a3c
1
2 @node Sending Mail, Reading Mail, Picture, Top
3 @chapter Sending Mail
4 @cindex mail
5 @cindex message
6
7 To send a message in Emacs, start by typing the command (@kbd{C-x m})
8 to select and initialize the @samp{*mail*} buffer. You can then edit the text
9 and headers of the message in the mail buffer, and type the command
10 (@kbd{C-c C-c}) to send the message.
11
12 @table @kbd
13 @item C-x m
14 Begin composing a message to send (@code{mail}).
15 @item C-x 4 m
16 Likewise, but display the message in another window
17 (@code{mail-other-window}).
18 @item C-c C-c
19 In Mail mode, send the message and switch to another buffer
20 (@code{mail-send-and-exit}).
21 @end table
22
23 @kindex C-x m
24 @findex mail
25 @kindex C-x 4 m
26 @findex mail-other-window
27 The command @kbd{C-x m} (@code{mail}) selects a buffer named
28 @samp{*mail*} and initializes it with the skeleton of an outgoing message.
29 @kbd{C-x 4 m} (@code{mail-other-window}) selects the @samp{*mail*} buffer
30 in a different window, leaving the previous current buffer visible.@refill
31
32 Because the buffer for mail composition is an ordinary Emacs buffer, you can
33 switch to other buffers while in the middle of composing mail, and switch
34 back later (or never). If you use the @kbd{C-x m} command again when you
35 have been composing another message but have not sent it, a new mail
36 buffer will be created; in this way, you can compose multiple messages
37 at once. You can switch back to and complete an unsent message by using
38 the normal buffer selection mechanisms.
39
40 @kbd{C-u C-x m} is another way to switch back to a message in progress:
41 it will search for an existing, unsent mail message buffer and select it.
42
43 @menu
44 * Format: Mail Format. Format of the mail being composed.
45 * Headers: Mail Headers. Details of allowed mail header fields.
46 * Mode: Mail Mode. Special commands for editing mail being composed.
47 @end menu
48
49 @node Mail Format, Mail Headers, Sending Mail, Sending Mail
50 @section The Format of the Mail Buffer
51
52 In addition to the @dfn{text} or contents, a message has @dfn{header
53 fields}, which say who sent it, when, to whom, why, and so on. Some header
54 fields, such as the date and sender, are created automatically after the
55 message is sent. Others, such as the recipient names, must be specified by
56 you in order to send the message properly.
57
58 Mail mode provides a few commands to help you edit some header fields,
59 and some are preinitialized in the buffer automatically at times. You can
60 insert or edit any header fields using ordinary editing commands.
61
62 The line in the buffer that says:
63
64 @example
65 --text follows this line--
66 @end example
67
68 @vindex mail-header-separator
69 @noindent
70 is a special delimiter that separates the headers you have specified from
71 the text. Whatever follows this line is the text of the message; the
72 headers precede it. The delimiter line itself does not appear in the
73 message actually sent. The text used for the delimiter line is controlled
74 by the variable @code{mail-header-separator}.
75
76 Here is an example of what the headers and text in the @samp{*mail*} buffer
77 might look like.
78
79 @example
80 To: rms@@mc
81 CC: mly@@mc, rg@@oz
82 Subject: The XEmacs User's Manual
83 --Text follows this line--
84 Please ignore this message.
85 @end example
86
87 @node Mail Headers, Mail Mode, Mail Format, Sending Mail
88 @section Mail Header Fields
89 @cindex headers (of mail message)
90
91 There are several header fields you can use in the @samp{*mail*} buffer.
92 Each header field starts with a field name at the beginning of a line,
93 terminated by a colon. It does not matter whether you use upper or lower
94 case in the field name. After the colon and optional whitespace comes the
95 contents of the field.
96
97 @table @samp
98 @item To
99 This field contains the mailing addresses of the message.
100
101 @item Subject
102 The contents of the @samp{Subject} field should be a piece of text that
103 says what the message is about. Subject fields are useful because most
104 mail-reading programs can provide a summary of messages, listing the
105 subject of each message but not its text.
106
107 @item CC
108 This field contains additional mailing addresses to send the message
109 to, but whose readers should not regard the message as addressed to
110 them.
111
112 @item BCC
113 This field contains additional mailing addresses to send the message
114 to, but which should not appear in the header of the message actually
115 sent.
116
117 @item FCC
118 This field contains the name of one file (in Unix mail file format) to
119 which a copy of the message should be appended when the message is
120 sent.
121
122 @item From
123 Use the @samp{From} field to say who you are, when the account you are
124 using to send the mail is not your own. The contents of the
125 @samp{From} field should be a valid mailing address, since replies
126 will normally go there.
127
128 @item Reply-To
129 Use the @samp{Reply-To} field to direct replies to a different
130 address, not your own. @samp{From} and
131 @samp{Reply-To} have the same effect on where replies go, but they convey a
132 different meaning to the person who reads the message.
133
134 @item In-Reply-To
135 This field contains a piece of text describing a message you are
136 replying to. Some mail systems can use the information to correlate
137 related pieces of mail. This field is normally filled in by your mail
138 handling package when you are replying to a message and you never need
139 to think about it.
140 @end table
141
142 @noindent
143 The @samp{To}, @samp{CC}, @samp{BCC} and @samp{FCC} fields can appear
144 any number of times, to specify many places to send the message.
145
146 @noindent
147 The @samp{To}, @samp{CC}, and @samp{BCC}, fields can have continuation
148 lines. All the lines starting with whitespace, following the line on
149 which the field starts, are considered part of the field. For
150 example,@refill
151
152 @example
153 To: foo@@here, this@@there,
154 me@@gnu.cambridge.mass.usa.earth.spiral3281
155 @end example
156
157 @noindent
158 @vindex mail-abbrev-mailrc-file
159 If you have a @file{~/.mailrc} file, Emacs scans it for mail aliases the
160 first time you try to send mail in an Emacs session. Emacs expands
161 aliases found in the @samp{To}, @samp{CC}, and @samp{BCC} fields where
162 appropriate. You can set the variable @code{mail-abbrev-mailrc-file} to
163 the name of the file with mail aliases. If @code{nil}, @file{~/.mailrc}
164 is used.
165
166 @cindex .mailrc file
167 Your @file{.mailrc} file ensures that word-abbrevs are defined for each
168 of your mail aliases when point is in a @samp{To}, @samp{CC},
169 @samp{BCC}, or @samp{From} field. The aliases are defined in your
170 @file{.mailrc} file or in a file specified by the @b{MAILRC}
171 environment variable if it exists. Your mail aliases expand any time
172 you type a word-delimiter at the end of an abbreviation.
173
174 In this version of Emacs, what you see is what you get: in contrast to
175 some other versions, no abbreviations are expanded after you have sent the
176 mail. This means you don't suffer the annoyance of having the system do
177 things behind your back --- if the system rewrites an address you typed,
178 you know it immediately, instead of after the mail has been sent and
179 it's too late to do anything about it. For example, you will never
180 again be in trouble because you forgot to delete an old alias from your
181 @file{.mailrc} and a new local user is given a userid which conflicts
182 with one of your aliases.
183
184 @vindex mail-abbrev-mode-regexp
185 Your mail alias abbrevs are in effect only when point is in an
186 appropriate header field. The mail aliases will not expand in the body
187 of the message, or in other header fields. The default mode-specific
188 abbrev table @code{mail-mode-abbrev-table} is used instead if defined.
189 That means if you have been using mail-mode specific abbrevs, this code
190 will not adversely affect you. You can control which header fields the
191 abbrevs are used in by changing the variable @code{mail-abbrev-mode-regexp}.
192
193 If auto-fill mode is on, abbrevs wrap at commas instead of at word
194 boundaries, and header continuation lines will be properly indented.
195
196 @findex mail-interactive-insert-alias
197 You can also insert a mail alias with @code{mail-interactive-insert-alias}.
198 This function, which is bound to @kbd{C-c C-a}, prompts you for an alias
199 (with completion) and inserts its expansion at point.
200
201 In this version of Emacs, it is possible to have lines like the
202 following in your @file{.mailrc} file:
203
204 @example
205 alias someone "John Doe <doe@@quux.com>"
206 @end example
207
208 That is, if you want an address to have embedded spaces, simply surround
209 it with double-quotes. The quotes are necessary because the format of
210 the @file{.mailrc} file uses spaces as address delimiters.
211
212 Aliases in the @file{.mailrc} file may be nested. For example, assume
213 you define aliases like:
214 @example
215 alias group1 fred ethel
216 alias group2 larry curly moe
217 alias everybody group1 group2
218 @end example
219
220 When you now type @samp{everybody} on the @samp{To} line, it will expand to:
221 @example
222 fred, ethyl, larry, curly, moe
223 @end example
224
225 Aliases may contain forward references; the alias of @samp{everybody} in the
226 example above can preceed the aliases of @samp{group1} and @samp{group2}.
227
228 In this version of Emacs, you can use the @code{source} @file{.mailrc} command
229 for reading aliases from some other file as well.
230
231 Aliases may contain hyphens, as in @code{"alias foo-bar foo@@bar"}, even
232 though word-abbrevs normally cannot contain hyphens.
233
234 To read in the contents of another @file{.mailrc}-type file from Emacs, use the
235 command @code{M-x merge-mail-aliases}. The @code{rebuild-mail-aliases}
236 command is similar, but deletes existing aliases first.
237
238 @vindex mail-alias-seperator-string
239 If you want multiple addresses separated by a string other than @samp{,}
240 (a comma), then set the variable @code{mail-alias-seperator-string} to
241 it. This has to be a comma bracketed by whitespace if you want any kind
242 of reasonable behavior.
243
244 @vindex mail-archive-file-name
245 If the variable @code{mail-archive-file-name} is non-@code{nil}, it
246 should be a string naming a file. Each time you start to edit a message
247 to send, an @samp{FCC} field is entered for that file. Unless you
248 remove the @samp{FCC} field, every message is written into that
249 file when it is sent.
250
251 @node Mail Mode,, Mail Headers, Sending Mail
252 @section Mail Mode
253
254 The major mode used in the @samp{*mail*} buffer is Mail mode. Mail
255 mode is similar to Text mode, but several commands are provided on
256 the @kbd{C-c} prefix. These commands all deal specifically with
257 editing or sending the message.
258
259 @table @kbd
260 @item C-c C-s
261 Send the message, and leave the @samp{*mail*} buffer selected
262 (@code{mail-send}).
263 @item C-c C-c
264 Send the message, and select some other buffer (@code{mail-send-and-exit}).
265 @item C-c C-f C-t
266 Move to the @samp{To} header field, creating one if there is none
267 (@code{mail-to}).
268 @item C-c C-f C-s
269 Move to the @samp{Subject} header field, creating one if there is
270 none (@code{mail-subject}).
271 @item C-c C-f C-c
272 Move to the @samp{CC} header field, creating one if there is none
273 (@code{mail-cc}).
274 @item C-c C-w
275 Insert the file @file{~/.signature} at the end of the message text
276 (@code{mail-signature}).
277 @item C-c C-y
278 Yank the selected message (@code{mail-yank-original}).
279 @item C-c C-q
280 Fill all paragraphs of yanked old messages, each individually
281 (@code{mail-fill-yanked-message}).
282 @item @key{button3}
283 Pops up a menu of useful mail-mode commands.
284 @end table
285
286 @kindex C-c C-s (Mail mode)
287 @kindex C-c C-c (Mail mode)
288 @findex mail-send
289 @findex mail-send-and-exit
290 There are two ways to send a message. @kbd{C-c C-c}
291 (@code{mail-send-and-exit}) is the usual way to send the message. It
292 sends the message and then deletes the window (if there is another
293 window) or switches to another buffer. It puts the @samp{*mail*} buffer
294 at the lowest priority for automatic reselection, since you are finished
295 with using it. @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{mail-send}) sends the
296 message and marks the @samp{*mail*} buffer unmodified, but leaves that
297 buffer selected so that you can modify the message (perhaps with new
298 recipients) and send it again.
299
300 @kindex C-c C-f C-t (Mail mode)
301 @findex mail-to
302 @kindex C-c C-f C-s (Mail mode)
303 @findex mail-subject
304 @kindex C-c C-f C-c (Mail mode)
305 @findex mail-cc
306 Mail mode provides some other special commands that are useful for
307 editing the headers and text of the message before you send it. There are
308 three commands defined to move point to particular header fields, all based
309 on the prefix @kbd{C-c C-f} (@samp{C-f} is for ``field''). They are
310 @kbd{C-c C-f C-t} (@code{mail-to}) to move to the @samp{To} field, @kbd{C-c
311 C-f C-s} (@code{mail-subject}) for the @samp{Subject} field, and @kbd{C-c
312 C-f C-c} (@code{mail-cc}) for the @samp{CC} field. These fields have
313 special motion commands because they are edited most frequently.
314
315
316 @kindex C-c C-w (Mail mode)
317 @findex mail-signature
318 @kbd{C-c C-w} (@code{mail-signature}) adds a standard piece of text at
319 the end of the message to say more about who you are. The text comes
320 from the file @file{.signature} in your home directory.
321
322 @kindex C-c C-y (Mail mode)
323 @findex mail-yank-original
324 When you use an Rmail command to send mail from the Rmail mail reader,
325 you can use @kbd{C-c C-y} @code{mail-yank-original} inside the
326 @samp{*mail*} buffer to insert the
327 text of the message you are replying to. Normally Rmail indents each line
328 of that message four spaces and eliminates most header fields. A
329 numeric argument specifies the number of spaces to indent. An argument
330 of just @kbd{C-u} says not to indent at all and not to eliminate
331 anything. @kbd{C-c C-y} always uses the current message from the
332 @samp{RMAIL} buffer, so you can insert several old messages by selecting
333 one in @samp{RMAIL}, switching to @samp{*mail*} and yanking it, then
334 switching back to @samp{RMAIL} to select another.@refill
335
336 @kindex C-c C-q (Mail mode)
337 @findex mail-fill-yanked-message
338 After using @kbd{C-c C-y}, you can use the command @kbd{C-c C-q}
339 (@code{mail-fill-yanked-message}) to fill the paragraphs of the yanked
340 old message or messages. One use of @kbd{C-c C-q} fills all such
341 paragraphs, each one separately.
342
343 Clicking the right mouse button in a mail buffer pops up a menu of
344 the above commands, for easy access.
345
346 @vindex mail-mode-hook
347 Turning on Mail mode (which @kbd{C-x m} does automatically) calls the
348 value of @code{text-mode-hook}, if it is not void or @code{nil}, and
349 then calls the value of @code{mail-mode-hook} if that is not void or
350 @code{nil}.