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(emacs)Rmail Reply

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Sending Replies
===============

   Rmail has several commands that use Mail mode to send outgoing mail.
Note: Sending Mail, for information on using Mail mode, including
certain features meant to work with Rmail.  What this section documents
are the special commands of Rmail for entering Mail mode.  Note that the
usual keys for sending mail--`C-x m', `C-x 4 m', and `C-x 5 m'--are
available in Rmail mode and work just as they usually do.

`m'
     Send a message (`rmail-mail').

`c'
     Continue editing the already started outgoing message
     (`rmail-continue').

`r'
     Send a reply to the current Rmail message (`rmail-reply').

`f'
     Forward the current message to other users (`rmail-forward').

`C-u f'
     Resend the current message to other users (`rmail-resend').

`M-m'
     Try sending a bounced message a second time
     (`rmail-retry-failure').

   The most common reason to send a message while in Rmail is to reply
to the message you are reading.  To do this, type `r' (`rmail-reply').
This displays the `*mail*' buffer in another window, much like `C-x 4
m', but preinitializes the `Subject', `To', `CC' and `In-reply-to'
header fields based on the message you are replying to.  The `To' field
starts out as the address of the person who sent the message you
received, and the `CC' field starts out with all the other recipients
of that message.

   You can exclude certain recipients from being placed automatically in
the `CC', using the variable `rmail-dont-reply-to-names'.  Its value
should be a regular expression (as a string); any recipient that the
regular expression matches, is excluded from the `CC' field.  The
default value matches your own name, and any name starting with
`info-'.  (Those names are excluded because there is a convention of
using them for large mailing lists to broadcast announcements.)

   To omit the `CC' field completely for a particular reply, enter the
reply command with a numeric argument: `C-u r' or `1 r'.

   Once the `*mail*' buffer has been initialized, editing and sending
the mail goes as usual (Note: Sending Mail).  You can edit the
presupplied header fields if they are not right for you.  You can also
use the commands of Mail mode (Note: Mail Mode), including `C-c C-y'
which yanks in the message that you are replying to.  You can switch to
the Rmail buffer, select a different message there, switch back, and
yank the new current message.

   Sometimes a message does not reach its destination.  Mailers usually
send the failed message back to you, enclosed in a "failure message".
The Rmail command `M-m' (`rmail-retry-failure') prepares to send the
same message a second time: it sets up a `*mail*' buffer with the same
text and header fields as before.  If you type `C-c C-c' right away,
you send the message again exactly the same as the first time.
Alternatively, you can edit the text or headers and then send it.  The
variable `rmail-retry-ignored-headers', in the same format as
`rmail-ignored-headers' (Note: Rmail Display), controls which headers
are stripped from the failed message when retrying it.

   Another frequent reason to send mail in Rmail is to "forward" the
current message to other users.  `f' (`rmail-forward') makes this easy
by preinitializing the `*mail*' buffer with the current message as the
text, and a subject designating a forwarded message.  All you have to
do is fill in the recipients and send.  When you forward a message,
recipients get a message which is "from" you, and which has the
original message in its contents.

   Forwarding a message encloses it between two delimiter lines.  It
also modifies every line that starts with a dash, by inserting `- ' at
the start of the line.  When you receive a forwarded message, if it
contains something besides ordinary text--for example, program source
code--you might find it useful to undo that transformation.  You can do
this by selecting the forwarded message and typing `M-x
unforward-rmail-message'.  This command extracts the original forwarded
message, deleting the inserted `- ' strings, and inserts it into the
Rmail file as a separate message immediately following the current one.

   "Resending" is an alternative similar to forwarding; the difference
is that resending sends a message that is "from" the original sender,
just as it reached you--with a few added header fields `Resent-From'
and `Resent-To' to indicate that it came via you.  To resend a message
in Rmail, use `C-u f'.  (`f' runs `rmail-forward', which is programmed
to invoke `rmail-resend' if you provide a numeric argument.)

   The `m' (`rmail-mail') command is used to start editing an outgoing
message that is not a reply.  It leaves the header fields empty.  Its
only difference from `C-x 4 m' is that it makes the Rmail buffer
accessible for `C-c C-y', just as `r' does.  Thus, `m' can be used to
reply to or forward a message; it can do anything `r' or `f' can do.

   The `c' (`rmail-continue') command resumes editing the `*mail*'
buffer, to finish editing an outgoing message you were already
composing, or to alter a message you have sent.

   If you set the variable `rmail-mail-new-frame' to a non-`nil' value,
then all the Rmail commands to start sending a message create a new
frame to edit it in.  This frame is deleted when you send the message,
or when you use the `Cancel' item in the `Mail' menu.

   All the Rmail commands to send a message use the mail-composition
method that you have chosen (Note: Mail Methods).