4 .TH MH-PROFILE %manext5% "%nmhdate%" MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
6 mh-profile \- user profile customization for mmh message handler
14 is expected to have a file named
16 in his or her home directory. This file contains
17 a set of user parameters used by some or all of the
19 family of programs. Each entry in the file is of the format
22 .IR Profile\-Component ": " value
25 If the text of profile entry is long, you may extend it across several
26 real lines by indenting the continuation lines with leading spaces or tabs.
28 .SS "Standard Profile Entries"
29 The possible profile components are exemplified below. The only mandatory
30 entry is `Path:'. The others are optional; some have default values if
31 they are not present. In the notation used below, (profile, default)
32 indicates whether the information is kept in the user's
36 context, and indicates what the default value is.
41 Sets the user's mail storage to `Mail'. 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: $HOME/.mmh/context)
61 Keeps track of the current open folder.
62 (context, default: folder specified by `Inbox')
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, `!foo' means all those messages that
91 are not a member of the sequence `foo'.
92 To deactivate this mechanism, define Sequence\-Negation to an empty value.
95 man page for the details. (profile, default: !)
98 .BR Unseen\-Sequence :
101 Names the sequence or sequences which shall contain any unread messages.
107 will add or remove messages from these
108 sequences when they are incorporated or read. If defined with an empty
109 value, no such sequences are defined. Otherwise, each message is
110 added to, or removed from, each sequence name given. Read the
112 man page for the details about this sequence.
113 (profile, default: u)
119 The name of the file in each folder which defines public sequences.
120 To disable the use of public sequences, leave the value portion of this
121 entry blank. (profile, default: \&.mh_sequences)
124 .BI atr\- seq \- folder :
127 Keeps track of the private sequence called `seq' in the specified
128 folder. Private sequences are generally used for read\-only folders.
131 man page for details about private sequences.
132 (context, no default)
138 Defines the editor to be used by the commands
144 This profile entry overrides the $VISUAL and $EDITOR environment variables,
145 but gets overridden by the $MMHEDITOR environment variabel.
146 (profile, default: vi)
152 This is the program used by
156 formatted message when displaying to a terminal. It is also the default
159 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
160 This profile entry overrides the $PAGER environment variable, but gets
161 overridden by the $MMHPAGER environment variable.
162 (profile, default: more)
173 (profile, default: %sendmailpath%)
179 The prefix that is prepended to the name of message files when they
180 are backup'd for some reason.
182 for instance, does this.
183 Note: rmm does NOT anymore use the backup prefix.
184 It should typically be set to `,' or `#'.
185 (profile, default: `,')
188 .BR Attachment-Header :
191 The (pseudo) header in draft messages, that contains files to be attached
192 to the message on sending.
193 If you like to type a lot, name it `X-MH-Attachment'.
194 (profile, default: `Attach')
197 .BR Mime-Type-Query :
200 A command that prints the MIME type of a file.
201 The file name gets appended to the command line.
202 Note: Older GNU versions of file(1) won't generate the desired
203 output. GNU file-4.26, for instance, omits a required semicolon.
204 GNU file-5.04 is known to work. Non-GNU version likely need different
205 options or don't provide this function at all. Alternatively, you can use
206 .BR print\-mimetype ,
207 which is part of mmh, but guesses MIME types by file name extensions only.
213 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new message files.
216 for an explanation of the octal number.
217 (profile, default: 0600)
220 .BR Folder\-Protect :
223 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new folder
226 for an explanation of the octal number.
227 (profile, default: 0700)
233 Sets default switches to be used whenever the mmh program
235 is invoked. For example, one could override the `Editor:' profile
236 component when replying to messages by adding a component such as:
239 repl: \-editor /bin/ed
242 (profile, no defaults)
245 .IB lasteditor "-next:"
248 Names `nexteditor' to be the default editor after using
249 `lasteditor'. This takes effect at `What now?' prompt
257 the draft with `lasteditor', the default editor is set to be
258 `nexteditor'. If the user types `edit' without any
259 arguments to `What now?', then `nexteditor' is used.
260 (profile, no default)
266 The contents of the folder-stack for the
269 (context, no default)
272 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes :
273 mh@uci\-750a, bug-mh*
279 which addresses are really yours.
282 knows which addresses should be included in the
285 knows if the message really originated from you.
286 Addresses must be separated by a comma, and the hostnames listed should
287 be the `official' hostnames for the mailboxes you indicate, as
288 local nicknames for hosts are not replaced with their official site names.
289 For each address, if a host is not given, then that address on any host is
290 considered to be you. In addition, an asterisk (`*') may appear at either
291 or both ends of the mailbox and host to indicate wild-card matching.
292 (profile, default: your user-id)
299 Indicates aliases files for
303 This may be used instead of the
306 switch. (profile, no default)
312 Changes the default draft folder. Read the
314 man page for details. (profile, default: +drafts)
320 Changes the default folder for removed messages. Read the
322 man page for details.
323 (profile, default: +trash)
326 .BI digest\-issue\- list :
331 the last issue of the last volume sent for the digest
333 (context, no default)
336 .BI digest\-volume\- list :
341 the last volume sent for the digest
343 (context, no default)
351 your maildrop, if different from the default. This is
352 superseded by the environment variable
354 (profile, default: %mailspool%/$USER)
358 RAND MH System (agent: Marshall Rose)
362 your mail signature. This is superseded by the
367 is not set and this profile entry is not present, the `gcos' field of
368 the \fI/etc/passwd\fP file will be used.
369 Your signature will be added to the address
371 puts in the `From:' header; do not include an address in the
372 signature text. (profile, no default)
375 .SS "Process Profile Entries"
376 The following profile elements are used whenever an
378 program invokes some other program such as
380 The profile can be used to select alternate programs if the
381 user wishes. The default values are given in the examples.
387 This program is used to list the contents of a message in response
392 directive at the `What now?' prompt.
393 The absolute pathname of the message to list will be appended to
394 the command line given.
400 This is the program invoked by
406 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
409 .SS "Environment Variables"
412 and its commands it also controlled by the
413 presence of certain environment variables.
415 Many of these environment variables are used internally by the
416 `What now?' interface. It's amazing all the information
417 that has to get passed via environment variables to make the
418 `What now?' interface look squeaky clean to the
420 user, isn't it? The reason for all this is that the
428 one of the standard shells. As a result, it's not possible to pass
429 information via an argument list. The convention is that environment
430 variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable; those
431 whose names are lower-case only are used internally by mmh and should
432 not generally be set by the user.
436 option was set during
439 if this environment variable is set, then if the commands
444 are not given any `msgs'
445 arguments, then they will default to using the file indicated by
447 This is useful for getting the default behavior
448 supplied by the default
453 With this environment variable, you can specify an alternative
454 mmh directory. Personal mmh configuration files are located relative to
456 Non-absolute values are relative to the home directory.
457 This is one of the very few exceptions in
459 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
465 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
467 .I $HOME/.mmh/profile
471 that you invoke. If the value of
473 is not absolute, it will be presumed to start from the mmh directory.
478 With this environment variable, you can specify a
479 context other than the normal context file (as specified in
480 the profile). As always, unless the value of
482 is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your mmh directory.
487 With this environment variable, you can specify
488 the native character set you are using. You must be able to display
489 this character set on your terminal.
491 This variable is checked to see if a RFC-2047 header field should be
504 be called, since showmimeproc will be called if a text message uses
505 a character set that doesn't match
510 for matches against the charset parameter
511 of text contents to decide it the text content can be displayed
512 without modifications to your terminal. This variable is checked by
514 to decide what character set to specify in the charset
515 parameter of text contents containing 8\-bit characters.
517 When decoding text in such an alternate character set,
519 must be able to determine which characters are alphabetic, which
520 are control characters, etc. For many operating systems, this
521 will require enabling the support for locales (such as setting
522 the environment variable
531 the default maildrop. This supersedes the `MailDrop' profile entry.
540 your mail signature. This supersedes the `Signature' profile entry.
545 This variable tells all
547 programs your home directory
554 the default shell to run
563 These variables (in descending priority) define the default editor to use.
570 These variables (in descending priority) define the default pager to use.
579 The environment variable
581 is also consulted. In particular,
586 how many columns wide your terminal is. They also tell
589 lines long your terminal screen is.
594 This is the path to the working draft.
604 which file to ask `What now?'
617 about an alternate message associated with the
618 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
619 It is also set during edit sessions so you can peruse the
620 message being distributed or replied to.
621 This variable replaces the older
624 There used to be a link named `@' in the working directory, pointing
625 to the alternate message, there is no such link anymore.
635 that message re-distribution is occurring.
649 editor (unless overridden by
666 if annotations are to occur.
676 if annotations are to occur.
681 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
687 during edit sessions so you
688 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
689 distributed or replied to.
695 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
696 ^$HOME/.mmh~^The user's mmh directory
697 ^or $MMH~^Rather than the standard mmh directory
698 ^$HOME/.mmh/profile~^The user's profile
699 ^or $MMHP~^Rather than the standard profile
700 ^$HOME/.mmh/context~^The user's context
701 ^or $MMHC~^Rather than the standard context
702 ^<folder>/.mh_sequences~^Public sequences for <folder>
706 nmh(1), environ(5), mh-sequence(7)
710 .I $HOME/.mmh/profile
711 contains only static information, which
715 update. Changes in context are made to the
716 .I $HOME/.mmh/context
718 This includes, but is not limited to: the `Current\-Folder' entry
719 and all private sequence information. Public sequence information is
720 kept in each folder in the file determined by the `Mh\-Sequences'
721 profile entry (default is
722 .IR \&.mh_sequences ).
724 The profile may override the path of the
726 file, by specifying a `Context' entry.
727 As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
728 private sequences by using different context files.
731 The shell quoting conventions are not available in the profile.
732 Each token is separated by whitespace.
734 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
735 in the profile as options. In order to provide a clear answer, recall
736 command line semantics of all
738 programs: conflicting switches
743 may occur more than one time on the
744 command line, with the last switch taking effect. Other arguments, such
745 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
746 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
747 the same type. Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
748 arguments) in the profile.
752 program is being invoked again and again
753 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
754 are a few possible solutions to this problem. The first is to create a
760 of your choice. By giving this link a different name, you can create
761 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
764 command. Similarly, you could create a small shell script
767 program of your choice with an alternate set
768 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
769 is preferable to this solution).
773 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
776 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
779 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
782 commands safely. (Recall that some
785 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
786 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)
projects / mmh / blob