3.9 Message Buffers

Message will generate new buffers with unique buffer names when you request a message buffer. When you send the message, the buffer isn't normally killed off. Its name is changed and a certain number of old message buffers are kept alive.

message-generate-new-buffers

Controls whether to create a new message buffer to compose a message. Valid values include:

nil

Generate the buffer name in the Message way (e.g., *mail*, *news*, *mail to whom*, *news on group*, etc.) and continue editing in the existing buffer of that name. If there is no such buffer, it will be newly created.

unique

t

Create the new buffer with the name generated in the Message way. This is the default.

unsent

Similar to unique but the buffer name begins with "*unsent ".

standard

Similar to nil but the buffer name is simpler like *mail message*.

function

If this is a function, call that function with three parameters: The type, the To address and the group name (any of these may be nil). The function should return the new buffer name.

The default value is unique.

message-max-buffers

This variable says how many old message buffers to keep. If there are more message buffers than this, the oldest buffer will be killed. The default is 10. If this variable is nil, no old message buffers will ever be killed.

message-send-rename-function

After sending a message, the buffer is renamed from, for instance, ‘*reply to Lars*’ to ‘*sent reply to Lars*’. If you don't like this, set this variable to a function that renames the buffer in a manner you like. If you don't want to rename the buffer at all, you can say:

          (setq message-send-rename-function 'ignore)

message-kill-buffer-on-exit

If non-nil, kill the buffer immediately on exit.