6. Copying Messages Out to Files

o file RET

Append a copy of the current message to the file file, writing it in Rmail file format (rmail-output-to-rmail-file).

C-o file RET

Append a copy of the current message to the file file, writing it in Unix mail file format (rmail-output).

If an Rmail file has no inboxes, use explicit o commands to write Rmail files.

o (rmail-output-to-rmail-file) appends the current message in Rmail format to the end of a specified file. This is the best command to use to move messages between Rmail files. If you are currently visiting the other Rmail file, copying is done into the other file's Emacs buffer instead. You should eventually save the buffer on disk.

The C-o (rmail-output) command in Rmail appends a copy of the current message to a specified file, in Unix mail file format. This is useful for moving messages into files to be read by other mail processors that do not understand Rmail format.

Copying a message with o or C-o gives the original copy of the message the `filed' attribute. `filed' appears in the mode line when such a message is current.

Normally you should use only o to output messages to other Rmail files, never C-o. But it is also safe if you always use C-o, never o. When a file is visited in Rmail, the last message is checked, and if it is in Unix format, the entire file is scanned and all Unix-format messages are converted to Rmail format. (The reason for checking the last message is that scanning the file is slow and most Rmail files have only Rmail format messages.) If you use C-o consistently, the last message is guaranteed to be in Unix format, so Rmail will convert all messages properly.

When you and other users want to append mail to the same file, you probably always want to use C-o instead of o. Other mail processors may not know Rmail format but will know Unix format.

In any case, always use o to add to an Rmail file that is being visited in Rmail. Adding messages with C-o to the actual disk file will trigger a "simultaneous editing" warning when you ask to save the Emacs buffer, and the messages will be lost if you do save.

This document was generated by XEmacs shared group account on December, 19 2009 using texi2html 1.65.