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(emacs)Mail Format


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The Format of the Mail Buffer
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   In addition to the "text" or "body", a message has "header fields"
which say who sent it, when, to whom, why, and so on.  Some header
fields, such as `Date' and `Sender', are created automatically when you
send the message.  Others, such as the recipient names, must be
specified by you in order to send the message properly.

   Mail mode provides a few commands to help you edit some header
fields, and some are preinitialized in the buffer automatically at
times.  You can insert and edit header fields using ordinary editing
commands.

   The line in the buffer that says

     --text follows this line--

is a special delimiter that separates the headers you have specified
from the text.  Whatever follows this line is the text of the message;
the headers precede it.  The delimiter line itself does not appear in
the message actually sent.  The text used for the delimiter line is
controlled by the variable `mail-header-separator'.

   Here is an example of what the headers and text in the mail buffer
might look like.

     To: gnu@gnu.org
     CC: lungfish@spam.org, byob@spam.org
     Subject: The Emacs Manual
     --Text follows this line--
     Please ignore this message.


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