4 .TH MHSTORE %manext1% "%nmhdate%" MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
6 mhstore \- store contents of MIME messages into files
21 .RB [ \-auto " | " \-noauto ]
28 command allows you to store the contents of a
29 collection of MIME (multi-media) messages into files or other
33 manipulates multi-media messages as specified in
34 RFC\-2045 thru RFC\-2049.
38 will store all the parts of each message.
39 Each part will be store in a separate file. The header fields of
40 the message are not stored. By using the
44 switches, you may limit the scope of
47 subparts (of a multipart content) and/or particular content types.
55 file as the source message, rather than a message from a folder.
56 If you specify this file as `-', then
59 accept the source message on the standard input. Note that the
60 file, or input from standard input should be a validly formatted
61 message, just like any other
65 be in mail drop format (to convert a file in mail drop format to
71 A part specification consists of a series of numbers separated by
72 dots. For example, in a multipart content containing three parts,
73 these would be named as 1, 2, and 3, respectively. If part 2 was
74 also a multipart content containing two parts, these would be named
75 as 2.1 and 2.2, respectively. Note that the
78 effective for only messages containing a multipart content. If a
79 message has some other kind of content, or if the part is itself
80 another multipart content, the
82 switch will not prevent
83 the content from being acted upon.
85 A content specification consists of a content type and a subtype.
86 The initial list of `standard' content types and subtypes
87 can be found in RFC\-2046.
89 A list of commonly used contents is briefly reproduced here:
97 multipart mixed, alternative, digest, parallel
98 message rfc822, partial, external-body
99 application octet-stream, postscript
106 A legal MIME message must contain a subtype specification.
108 To specify a content, regardless of its subtype, just use the name
109 of the content, e.g., `audio'. To specify a specific
110 subtype, separate the two with a slash, e.g., `audio/basic'.
111 Note that regardless of the values given to the
114 a multipart content (of any subtype listed above) is always acted
116 .SS "Storing the Contents"
119 will store the contents of the named messages in
120 `native' (decoded) format. Two things must be determined:
121 the directory to store the content, and the filenames.
123 By default (or if the
127 uses filename information, contained in the message, if available.
128 (This information should be specified
129 as the attribute `name=filename' in the `Content-Type' header
130 for the content you are storing.)
131 Only the basename of this filename is considered.
132 If it begins with the character '.', '|', or '!',
133 or if it contains the character '%', automatic naming won't happen for
134 security reasons. (See below for the fall-back.)
137 written in the directory given by the `nmh-storage' profile
144 (Note that `nmh-storage' is relative to the folder that contains
146 If this entry isn't present,
147 the current working directory is used.
148 Attachments will get stored in either the `nmh-storage' or the current working
149 directory \(en in no case elsewhere.
150 Existing files get silently overwritten.
154 switch is given (or a filename is being ignored for security reasons) then
156 will look in the user's profile for a
157 `formatting string' to determine how the different contents
158 should be stored. First,
160 will look for an entry of
164 mhstore-store-<type>/<subtype>
167 to determine the formatting string. If this isn't found,
169 will look for an entry of the form:
175 to determine the formatting string.
177 If the formatting string starts with a `+' character, then
178 content is stored in the named folder. A formatting string consisting
179 solely of a `+' character is interpreted to be the current
182 If the formatting string consists solely of a `\-' character,
183 then the content is sent to the standard output.
185 If the formatting string starts with a '|', then the display string
186 will represent a command for
188 to execute which should
189 ultimately store the content. The content will be passed to the
190 standard input of the command. Before the command is executed,
192 will change to the appropriate directory, and any
193 escapes (given below) in the display string will be expanded.
195 Otherwise the formatting string will represent a pathname in which
196 to store the content. If the formatting string starts with a '/',
197 then the content will be stored in the full path given, else the
198 file name will be relative to either the value of `nmh-storage',
199 if set, or the current working directory.
200 Existing files get silently overwritten.
202 A command or pathname formatting string may contain the following
203 escapes. If the content isn't part of a multipart (of any subtype
204 listed above) content, the p-escapes are ignored.
209 %a Parameters from Content-type (only valid with command)
210 %m Insert message number
211 %P Insert part number with leading dot
212 %p Insert part number without leading dot
213 %t Insert content type
214 %s Insert content subtype
215 %% Insert character %
219 If no formatting string is found,
221 will check to see if the content is a message. If
224 will use the value `+'. As a last resort,
226 will use the value `%m%P.%s'.
228 Example profile entries might be:
232 mhstore-store-text: %m%P.txt
233 mhstore-store-text: +inbox
234 mhstore-store-message/partial: +
235 mhstore-store-audio/basic: | raw2audio \-e ulaw \-s 8000 \-c 1 > %m%P.au
236 mhstore-store-image/jpeg: %m%P.jpg
237 mhstore-store-application/PostScript: %m%P.ps
241 .SS "Reassembling Messages of Type message/partial"
243 is also able to reassemble messages that have been
244 split into multiple messages of type `message/partial'.
246 When asked to store a content containing a partial message,
248 will try to locate all of the portions and combine
249 them accordingly. The default is to store the combined parts as
250 a new message in the current folder, although this can be changed
251 using formatting strings as discussed above. Thus, if someone has
252 sent you a message in several parts (such as the output from
254 you can easily reassemble them all into a single
255 message in the following fashion:
260 msg part type/subtype size description
261 5 message/partial 47K part 1 of 4
262 6 message/partial 47K part 2 of 4
263 7 message/partial 47K part 3 of 4
264 8 message/partial 18K part 4 of 4
266 reassembling partials 5,6,7,8 to folder inbox as message 9
268 msg part type/subtype size description
269 9 application/octet-stream 118K
270 (extract with uncompress | tar xvpf -)
276 This will store exactly one message, containing the sum of the
277 parts. It doesn't matter whether the partials are specified in
280 will sort the partials, so that they
281 are combined in the correct order. But if
284 locate every partial necessary to reassemble the message, it will
287 .SS "External Access"
289 does not automatically retrieve message/external-body parts (anymore),
290 but prints the relevant information to enable the user to retrieve
292 .SS "User Environment"
293 Because the display environment in which
295 operates may vary for
298 will look for the environment variable
300 If present, this specifies the name of an additional
301 user profile which should be read. Hence, when a user logs in on a
302 particular machine, this environment variable should be set to
303 refer to a file containing definitions useful for that machine.
306 will attempt to consult one other additional
310 %etcdir%/mhn.defaults
313 which is created automatically during
320 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
321 ^$HOME/.mmh/profile~^The user profile
322 ^$MHSTORE~^Additional profile entries
323 ^%etcdir%/mhn.defaults~^System default MIME profile entries
326 .SH "PROFILE COMPONENTS"
330 .ta \w'ExtraBigProfileName 'u
331 ^Path:~^To determine the user's mail storage
332 ^Current\-Folder:~^To find the default current folder
333 ^nmh-storage~^Directory to store contents
334 ^mhstore-store-<type>*~^Template for storing contents
338 mhbuild(1), mhlist(1), show(1), sendfiles(1)
342 .RB ` +folder "' defaults to the current folder"
343 .RB ` msgs "' defaults to the current message"
347 If a folder is given, it will become the current folder. The last
348 message selected will become the current message.
351 Partial messages contained within a multipart content are not reassembled.
353 Existing files get silently overwritten.
projects / mmh / blob