4 .TH MH-PROFILE %manext5% "%nmhdate%" MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
6 mh-profile \- user profile customization for nmh message handler
8 .I $HOME/.mh\(ruprofile
12 is expected to have a file named
14 in his or her home directory. This file contains
15 a set of user parameters used by some or all of the
17 family of programs. Each entry in the file is of the format
20 .IR profile\-component ": " value
23 If the text of profile entry is long, you may extend it across several
24 real lines by indenting the continuation lines with leading spaces or tabs.
26 .SS "Standard Profile Entries"
27 The possible profile components are exemplified below. The only mandatory
28 entry is `Path:'. The others are optional; some have default values if
29 they are not present. In the notation used below, (profile, default)
30 indicates whether the information is kept in the user's
34 context, and indicates what the default value is.
41 transactions in directory \*(lqMail\*(rq. This is the
42 only mandatory profile entry. (profile, no default)
48 Declares the location of the
50 context file. This is overridden by the environment variable
55 (profile, default: <nmh\-dir>/context)
61 Keeps track of the current open folder.
62 (context, default: folder specified by \*(lqInbox\*(rq)
68 Defines the name of your default inbox.
69 (profile, default: inbox)
72 .BR Previous\-Sequence :
75 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as the `msgs' or
76 `msg' argument given to any
78 command. If not present or empty,
79 no such sequences are defined. Otherwise, for each name given, the
80 sequence is first zero'd and then each message is added to the sequence.
83 man page for the details about this sequence. (profile, no default)
86 .BR Sequence\-Negation :
89 Defines the string which, when prefixed to a sequence name, negates
90 that sequence. Hence, \*(lqnotseen\*(rq means all those messages that
91 are not a member of the sequence \*(lqseen\*(rq. Read the
93 man page for the details. (profile, no default)
96 .BR Unseen\-Sequence :
99 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as those
100 messages which are unread. The commands
106 will add or remove messages from these
107 sequences when they are incorporated or read. If not present or
108 empty, no such sequences are defined. Otherwise, each message is
109 added to, or removed from, each sequence name given. Read the
111 man page for the details about this sequence.
112 (profile, no default)
118 The name of the file in each folder which defines public sequences.
119 To disable the use of public sequences, leave the value portion of this
120 entry blank. (profile, default: \&.mh\(rusequences)
123 .BI atr\- seq \- folder :
126 Keeps track of the private sequence called \*(lqseq\*(rq in the specified
127 folder. Private sequences are generally used for read\-only folders.
130 man page for details about private sequences.
131 (context, no default)
137 Defines the editor to be used by the commands
143 (profile, default: %default_editor%)
148 If defined and set to 1, then the
150 program will automatically
151 invoke the buildmimeproc (discussed below) to process each message as a MIME
152 composition draft before it is sent.
153 (profile, no default)
159 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new message files.
162 for an explanation of the octal number.
163 (profile, default: 0600)
166 .BR Folder\-Protect :
169 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new folder
172 for an explanation of the octal number.
173 (profile, default: 700)
179 Sets default switches to be used whenever the mh program
181 is invoked. For example, one could override the \*(lqEditor:\*(rq profile
182 component when replying to messages by adding a component such as:
185 repl: \-editor /bin/ed
188 (profile, no defaults)
191 .IB lasteditor "-next:"
194 Names \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq to be the default editor after using
195 \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq. This takes effect at \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt
203 the draft with \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq, the default editor is set to be
204 \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq. If the user types \*(lqedit\*(rq without any
205 arguments to \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq, then \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq is used.
206 (profile, no default)
212 The contents of the folder-stack for the
215 (context, no default)
218 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes :
219 mh@uci\-750a, bug-mh*
225 which addresses are really yours.
228 knows which addresses should be included in the
231 knows if the message really originated from you.
232 Addresses must be separated by a comma, and the hostnames listed should
233 be the \*(lqofficial\*(rq hostnames for the mailboxes you indicate, as
234 local nicknames for hosts are not replaced with their official site names.
235 For each address, if a host is not given, then that address on any host is
236 considered to be you. In addition, an asterisk (`*') may appear at either
237 or both ends of the mailbox and host to indicate wild-card matching.
238 (profile, default: your user-id)
245 Indicates aliases files for
250 This may be used instead of the
253 switch. (profile, no default)
259 Indicates a default draft folder for
267 man page for details. (profile, no default)
270 .BI digest\-issue\- list :
275 the last issue of the last volume sent for the digest
277 (context, no default)
280 .BI digest\-volume\- list :
285 the last volume sent for the digest
287 (context, no default)
295 your maildrop, if different from the default. This is
296 superseded by the environment variable
298 (profile, default: %mailspool%/$USER)
302 RAND MH System (agent: Marshall Rose)
306 your mail signature. This is superseded by the
311 is not set and this profile entry is not present, the \*(lqgcos\*(rq field of
312 the \fI/etc/passwd\fP file will be used.
313 Your signature will be added to the address
315 puts in the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header; do not include an address in the
316 signature text. (profile, no default)
319 .SS "Process Profile Entries"
320 The following profile elements are used whenever an
322 program invokes some other program such as
326 can be used to select alternate programs if the
327 user wishes. The default values are given in the examples.
333 This is the program used by
335 to process drafts which are MIME composition files.
341 This program is used to refile or link a message to another folder.
344 to file a copy of a message into a folder given
345 by a \*(lqFcc:\*(rq field. It is used by the draft folder facility in
352 message into another folder. It is used to refile a draft message in
355 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
362 to filter a component when it is tagged with the \*(lqformat\*(rq variable
363 in the mhl filter. See
365 for more information.
373 to incorporate new mail when it
374 is invoked with no arguments.
380 This program is called to initialize the environment for
388 This program is used to list the contents of a message in response
391 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt. It is
392 also used by the draft folder facility in
398 to display the draft message.
404 This is the program used to automatically mail various messages
405 and notifications. It is used by
409 option. It is used by
411 to post failure notices.
412 It is used to retrieve an external-body with access-type `mail-server'
413 (such as when storing the body with
420 This is the program used to filter messages in various ways. It
423 to filter and display the message headers
424 of MIME messages. When the
435 is used to filter the
436 message that you are forwarding, or to which you are replying.
443 is used to filter the copy of the message
444 that is sent to \*(lqBcc:\*(rq recipients.
450 This is the program used by
454 formatted message when displaying to a terminal. It is also the default
457 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
475 This is the program used by
484 post a message to the mail transport system. It is also called by
486 (called with the switches
490 to do address verification.
496 This is the program used by
500 to delete a message from a folder.
512 This is the program to use by
514 to actually send the message
520 This is the program used by
522 to process and display non-text (MIME) messages.
528 This is the program used by
530 to filter and display text (non-MIME) messages.
536 This is the program invoked by
542 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
548 This is the program used by
550 to determine to whom a message would be sent.
553 .SS "Environment Variables"
556 and its commands it also controlled by the
557 presence of certain environment variables.
559 Many of these environment variables are used internally by the
560 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface. It's amazing all the information
561 that has to get passed via environment variables to make the
562 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface look squeaky clean to the
564 user, isn't it? The reason for all this is that the
572 one of the standard shells. As a result, it's not possible to pass
573 information via an argument list. The convention is that environment
574 variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable; those
575 whose names are lower-case only are used internally by nmh and should
576 not generally be set by the user.
580 option was set during
583 if this environment variable is set, then if the commands
589 are not given any `msgs'
590 arguments, then they will default to using the file indicated by
592 This is useful for getting the default behavior
593 supplied by the default
598 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
604 that you invoke. If the value of
606 is not absolute, (i.e., does
607 not begin with a \*(lq/\*(rq), it will be presumed to start from the current
608 working directory. This is one of the very few exceptions in
610 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
617 With this environment variable, you can specify a
618 context other than the normal context file (as specified in
621 profile). As always, unless the value of
623 is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your
630 With this environment variable, you can specify an
631 additional user profile (file) to be read by
633 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
638 With this environment variable, you can specify an
639 additional user profile (file) to be read by
641 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
643 is deprecated, so this support for this variable will
644 be removed from a future nmh release.
649 With this environment variable, you can specify an
650 additional user profile (file) to be read by
652 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
657 With this environment variable, you can specify an
658 additional user profile (file) to be read by
660 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
665 With this environment variable, you can specify
666 the native character set you are using. You must be able to display
667 this character set on your terminal.
669 This variable is checked to see if a RFC-2047 header field should be
682 be called, since showmimeproc will be called if a text message uses
683 a character set that doesn't match
688 for matches against the charset parameter
689 of text contents to decide it the text content can be displayed
690 without modifications to your terminal. This variable is checked by
692 to decide what character set to specify in the charset
693 parameter of text contents containing 8\-bit characters.
695 When decoding text in such an alternate character set,
697 must be able to determine which characters are alphabetic, which
698 are control characters, etc. For many operating systems, this
699 will require enabling the support for locales (such as setting
700 the environment variable
707 If this variable is set,
709 will next test for MIME messages. This mechanism is obsolete;
721 the default maildrop. This supersedes the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
728 the POP host to query for mail to incorporate. See the
729 inc(1) man page for more information.
732 .B $USERNAME_EXTENSION
734 This variable is for use with username_extension masquerading. See the
735 mh-tailor(5) man page.
744 your mail signature. This supersedes the \*(lqSignature\*(rq profile entry.
753 your default maildrop: see the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
758 This variable tells all
760 programs your home directory
769 The environment variable
771 is also consulted. In particular,
776 how to clear your terminal, and how
777 many columns wide your terminal is. They also tell
780 lines long your terminal screen is.
785 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the
786 name of the mail transport configuration file to use by
789 and other programs that interact with the mail transport system,
790 instead of the default. See mh-tailor(5).
795 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the name of
796 a mail transport configuration file to be read in addition to the
797 default. See mh-tailor(5).
804 These variables are searched, in order, for the directory in which to
805 create some temporary files.
810 Setting this variable is set to 1 has the same effect as specifying
820 OBSOLETE: will be removed in a future version of nmh.
825 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
827 will emit debugging information.
832 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
834 will emit a representation of the search pattern.
839 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
843 will display their interaction with the POP server.
844 This mechanism is obsolete; use the
851 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
853 commands that use the
854 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes
855 profile entry will display debugging information
856 about the values in that entry.
861 This is the alternate message.
867 during edit sessions so you can
868 peruse the message being distributed or replied to. The message is also
869 available through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory if
870 your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
871 on the same UNIX filesystem.
876 This is the path to the working draft.
886 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq
899 about an alternate message associated with the
900 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
905 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
911 during edit sessions so you
912 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
913 distributed or replied to. The environment variable
931 that message re-distribution is occurring.
945 editor (unless overridden by
962 if annotations are to occur.
972 if annotations are to occur.
982 if annotations are to occur.
988 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
989 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
990 ^or $MH~^Rather than the standard profile
991 ^<mh\-dir>/context~^The user context
992 ^or $MHCONTEXT~^Rather than the standard context
993 ^<folder>/\&.mh\(rusequences~^Public sequences for <folder>
997 nmh(1), environ(5), mh-sequence(5)
1002 contains only static information, which
1006 update. Changes in context are made to the
1008 file kept in the users
1011 This includes, but is not limited to: the \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry
1012 and all private sequence information. Public sequence information is
1013 kept in each folder in the file determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq
1014 profile entry (default is
1015 .IR \&.mh\(rusequences ).
1019 may override the path of the
1021 file, by specifying a \*(lqcontext\*(rq entry (this must be in
1022 lower-case). If the entry is not absolute (does not start with a
1023 \*(lq/\*(rq), then it is interpreted relative to the user's
1025 directory. As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
1026 private sequences by using different context files.
1029 The shell quoting conventions are not available in the
1030 .IR \&.mh\(ruprofile .
1031 Each token is separated by whitespace.
1033 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1034 in the profile as options. In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1035 command line semantics of all
1037 programs: conflicting switches
1042 may occur more than one time on the
1043 command line, with the last switch taking effect. Other arguments, such
1044 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
1045 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
1046 the same type. Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
1047 arguments) in the profile.
1049 If one finds that an
1051 program is being invoked again and again
1052 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
1053 are a few possible solutions to this problem. The first is to create a
1059 of your choice. By giving this link a different name, you can create
1060 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1063 command. Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1066 program of your choice with an alternate set
1067 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1068 is preferable to this solution).
1072 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1075 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1078 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1081 commands safely. (Recall that some
1084 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1085 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)
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