11. Digest Messages

A digest message is a message which exists to contain and carry several other messages. Digests are used on moderated mailing lists. All messages that arrive for the list during a period of time, such as one day, are put inside a single digest which is then sent to the subscribers. Transmitting the single digest uses much less computer time than transmitting the individual messages even though the total size is the same, because the per-message overhead in network mail transmission is considerable.

When you receive a digest message, the most convenient way to read it is to undigestify it: to turn it back into many individual messages. You can then read and delete the individual messages as it suits you.

To undigestify a message, select it and then type M-x undigestify-rmail-message. This copies each submessage as a separate Rmail message and inserts them all following the digest. The digest message itself is flagged as deleted.

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