4 .TH PROMPTER %manext1% "%nmhdate%" MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
6 prompter \- prompting editor front-end for nmh
15 .RB [ \-prepend " | " \-noprepend ]
16 .RB [ \-rapid " | " \-norapid ]
17 .RB [ \-doteof " | " \-nodoteof ]
24 is an editor front\-end for
27 composition of messages. This program is not normally invoked directly by
28 users but takes the place of an editor and acts as an editor front\-end.
29 It operates on an RFC\-822 style message draft skeleton specified by
31 normally provided by the
41 is particularly useful when composing messages over slow
42 network or modem lines. It is an
43 .B nmh program in that it can have
44 its own profile entry with switches, but it is not invoked directly by
45 the user. The commands
52 .B prompter as an editor, either when invoked with
55 or by the profile entry \*(lqEditor:\ prompter\*(rq,
56 or when given the command
59 at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
61 For each empty component
62 .B prompter finds in the draft, the user
63 is prompted for a response; A <RETURN> will cause the whole component
64 to be left out. Otherwise, a `\\' preceding a <RETURN> will continue
65 the response on the next line, allowing for multiline components.
68 begin with a space or tab.
70 Each non\-empty component is copied to the draft and displayed on the
73 The start of the message body is denoted by a blank line or a line
74 of dashes. If the body is non\-empty, the prompt, which isn't written
78 --------Enter additional text
86 --------Enter initial text
89 Message\-body typing is terminated with an end\-of\-file (usually
92 switch, a period on a line all by itself
93 also signifies end\-of\-file. At this point control is returned to
94 the calling program, where the user is asked \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq.
97 for the valid options to this query.
101 switch, the user can add type\-in to the
102 beginning of the message body and have the rest of the body follow.
103 This is useful for the
109 switch, if the draft already contains text in
110 the message\-body, it is not displayed on the user's terminal. This is
111 useful for low\-speed terminals.
113 The line editing characters for kill and erase may be specified by the
114 user via the arguments
122 may be a character; or `\\nnn', where \*(lqnnn\*(rq is the octal value for
125 An interrupt (usually CTRL\-C) during component typing will abort
129 command that invoked it. An interrupt
130 during message\-body typing is equivalent to CTRL\-D, for historical
131 reasons. This means that
133 should finish up and exit.
135 The first non\-flag argument to
136 .B prompter is taken as the name of
137 the draft file, and subsequent non\-flag arguments are ignored.
138 .\" (\fIRepl\fR invokes editors with two file arguments:
139 .\" the draft file name and the replied\-to message file name.)
144 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
145 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
146 ^/tmp/prompter*~^Temporary copy of message
149 .SH "PROFILE COMPONENTS"
153 .ta \w'ExtraBigProfileName 'u
154 prompter\-next: To name the editor to be used on exit from .B prompter
155 ^Msg\-Protect:~^To set mode when creating a new draft
159 comp(1), dist(1), forw(1), repl(1), whatnow(1)
174 option is particularly useful with
182 The user may wish to link
183 .B prompter under several names (e.g.,
184 \*(lqrapid\*(rq) and give appropriate switches in the profile entries
185 under these names (e.g., \*(lqrapid: -rapid\*(rq). This facilitates
186 invoking prompter differently for different
189 \*(lqforw: -editor rapid\*(rq).
195 so it will lose if you edit files with nulls in them.