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.
25 Comments may be introduced by a line starting with `#:':
32 Blank lines are not permitted in
35 .SS "Standard Profile Entries"
36 The possible profile components are exemplified below. The only mandatory
37 entry is `Path:'. The others are optional; some have default values if
38 they are not present. In the notation used below, (profile, default)
39 indicates whether the information is kept in the user's
43 context, and indicates what the default value is. Note that a profile
44 component can only appear once. Multiple appearances with trigger a
45 warning that all appearances after the first are ignored.
52 transactions in directory \*(lqMail\*(rq. This is the
53 only mandatory profile entry. (profile, no default)
59 Declares the location of the
61 context file. This is overridden by the environment variable
66 (profile, default: <nmh\-dir>/context)
72 Keeps track of the current open folder.
73 (context, default: folder specified by \*(lqInbox\*(rq)
79 Defines the name of your default inbox.
80 (profile, default: inbox)
83 .BR Previous\-Sequence :
86 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as the `msgs' or
87 `msg' argument given to any
89 command. If not present or empty,
90 no such sequences are defined. Otherwise, for each name given, the
91 sequence is first zero'd and then each message is added to the sequence.
94 man page for the details about this sequence. (profile, no default)
97 .BR Sequence\-Negation :
100 Defines the string which, when prefixed to a sequence name, negates
101 that sequence. Hence, \*(lqnotseen\*(rq means all those messages that
102 are not a member of the sequence \*(lqseen\*(rq. Read the
104 man page for the details. (profile, no default)
107 .BR Unseen\-Sequence :
110 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as those
111 messages which are unread. The commands
117 will add or remove messages from these
118 sequences when they are incorporated or read. If not present or
119 empty, no such sequences are defined. Otherwise, each message is
120 added to, or removed from, each sequence name given. Read the
122 man page for the details about this sequence.
123 (profile, no default)
129 The name of the file in each folder which defines public sequences.
130 To disable the use of public sequences, leave the value portion of this
131 entry blank. (profile, default: \&.mh\(rusequences)
134 .BI atr\- seq \- folder :
137 Keeps track of the private sequence called \*(lqseq\*(rq in the specified
138 folder. Private sequences are generally used for read\-only folders.
141 man page for details about private sequences.
142 (context, no default)
148 Defines the editor to be used by the commands
154 (profile, default: %default_editor%)
159 If defined and set to 1, then the
161 program will automatically
162 invoke the buildmimeproc (discussed below) to process each message as a MIME
163 composition draft before it is sent.
164 (profile, no default)
170 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new message files.
173 for an explanation of the octal number. Note that some filesystems,
174 such as FAT32, do not support removal of read file permissions.
175 (profile, default: 0600)
178 .BR Folder\-Protect :
181 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new folder
184 for an explanation of the octal number.
185 (profile, default: 700)
191 Sets default switches to be used whenever the mh program
193 is invoked. For example, one could override the \*(lqEditor:\*(rq profile
194 component when replying to messages by adding a component such as:
197 repl: \-editor /bin/ed
200 (profile, no defaults)
203 .IB lasteditor "-next:"
206 Names \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq to be the default editor after using
207 \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq. This takes effect at \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt
215 the draft with \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq, the default editor is set to be
216 \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq. If the user types \*(lqedit\*(rq without any
217 arguments to \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq, then \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq is used.
218 (profile, no default)
224 The contents of the folder-stack for the
227 (context, no default)
231 Your Username <user@some.host>
233 Tells the various MH tools what your local mailbox is. If set, will be used
234 by the default component files by tools like
238 to construct your default \*(lqFrom\*(rq header. The text used here will
239 be copied exactly to your From: header, so it should already be RFC-822
240 compliant. If this is set, the
242 profile entry is NOT used, so it should include a signature as well. (profile,
243 default: userid@local.hostname)
246 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes :
247 mh@uci\-750a, bug-mh*
253 which addresses are really yours.
256 knows which addresses should be included in the
259 knows if the message really originated from you.
260 Addresses must be separated by a comma, and the hostnames listed should
261 be the \*(lqofficial\*(rq hostnames for the mailboxes you indicate, as
262 local nicknames for hosts are not replaced with their official site names.
263 For each address, if a host is not given, then that address on any host is
264 considered to be you. In addition, an asterisk (`*') may appear at either
265 or both ends of the mailbox and host to indicate wild-card matching.
266 (profile, default: your user-id)
273 Indicates aliases files for
278 This may be used instead of the
281 switch. (profile, no default)
287 Indicates a default draft folder for
296 man page for details. (profile, no default)
299 .BI digest\-issue\- list :
304 the last issue of the last volume sent for the digest
306 (context, no default)
309 .BI digest\-volume\- list :
314 the last volume sent for the digest
316 (context, no default)
324 your maildrop, if different from the default. This is
325 superseded by the environment variable
327 (profile, default: %mailspool%/$USER)
331 RAND MH System (agent: Marshall Rose)
333 Tells front-end programs such as
338 your mail signature. This is superseded by the
343 is not set and this profile entry is not present, the \*(lqgcos\*(rq field of
344 the \fI/etc/passwd\fP file will be used.
345 Your signature will be added to the address
347 puts in the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header; do not include an address in the
348 signature text. The \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component
349 supersedes all of this. (profile, no default)
352 .SS "Process Profile Entries"
353 The following profile elements are used whenever an
355 program invokes some other program such as
359 can be used to select alternate programs if the
360 user wishes. The default values are given in the examples.
366 This is the program used by
368 to process drafts which are MIME composition files.
374 This program is used to refile or link a message to another folder.
377 to file a copy of a message into a folder given
378 by a \*(lqFcc:\*(rq field. It is used by the draft folder facility in
385 message into another folder. It is used to refile a draft message in
388 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
395 to filter a component when it is tagged with the \*(lqformat\*(rq variable
396 in the mhl filter. See
398 for more information.
406 to incorporate new mail when it
407 is invoked with no arguments.
413 This program is called to initialize the environment for
421 This program is used to list the contents of a message in response
424 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt. It is
425 also used by the draft folder facility in
431 to display the draft message.
434 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
440 This is the program used to automatically mail various messages
441 and notifications. It is used by
445 option. It is used by
447 to post failure notices.
448 It is used to retrieve an external-body with access-type `mail-server'
449 (such as when storing the body with
456 This is the program used to filter messages in various ways. It
459 to filter and display the message headers
460 of MIME messages. When the
471 is used to filter the
472 message that you are forwarding, or to which you are replying.
479 is used to filter the copy of the message
480 that is sent to \*(lqBcc:\*(rq recipients.
486 This is the program used by
490 formatted message when displaying to a terminal. It is also the default
493 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
496 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
514 This is the program used by
523 post a message to the mail transport system. It is also called by
525 (called with the switches
529 to do address verification.
535 This is the program used by
539 to delete a message from a folder.
545 This is the program to use by
547 to actually send the message
553 This is the program used by
555 to process and display non-text (MIME) messages.
561 This is the program used by
563 to filter and display text (non-MIME) messages.
569 This is the program invoked by
575 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
581 This is the program used by
583 to determine to whom a message would be sent.
586 .SS "Environment Variables"
589 and its commands it also controlled by the
590 presence of certain environment variables.
592 Many of these environment variables are used internally by the
593 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface. It's amazing all the information
594 that has to get passed via environment variables to make the
595 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface look squeaky clean to the
597 user, isn't it? The reason for all this is that the
605 one of the standard shells. As a result, it's not possible to pass
606 information via an argument list. The convention is that environment
607 variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable; those
608 whose names are lower-case only are used internally by nmh and should
609 not generally be set by the user.
613 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
619 that you invoke. If the value of
621 is not absolute, (i.e., does
622 not begin with a \*(lq/\*(rq), it will be presumed to start from the current
623 working directory. This is one of the very few exceptions in
625 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
632 With this environment variable, you can specify a
633 context other than the normal context file (as specified in
636 profile). As always, unless the value of
638 is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your
645 With this environment variable, you can specify an
646 additional user profile (file) to be read by
648 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
653 With this environment variable, you can specify an
654 additional user profile (file) to be read by
656 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
658 is deprecated, so this support for this variable will
659 be removed from a future nmh release.
664 With this environment variable, you can specify an
665 additional user profile (file) to be read by
667 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
672 With this environment variable, you can specify an
673 additional user profile (file) to be read by
675 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
680 With this environment variable, you can specify
681 the native character set you are using. You must be able to display
682 this character set on your terminal.
684 This variable is checked to see if a RFC-2047 header field should be
697 be called, since showmimeproc will be called if a text message uses
698 a character set that doesn't match
703 for matches against the charset parameter
704 of text contents to decide it the text content can be displayed
705 without modifications to your terminal. This variable is checked by
707 to decide what character set to specify in the charset
708 parameter of text contents containing 8\-bit characters.
710 When decoding text in such an alternate character set,
712 must be able to determine which characters are alphabetic, which
713 are control characters, etc. For many operating systems, this
714 will require enabling the support for locales (such as setting
715 the environment variable
724 the default maildrop. This supersedes the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
731 the POP host to query for mail to incorporate. See the
732 inc(1) man page for more information.
735 .B $USERNAME_EXTENSION
737 This variable is for use with username_extension masquerading. See the
738 mh-tailor(5) man page.
747 your mail signature. This supersedes the \*(lqSignature\*(rq profile entry,
748 and is not used when the \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component is set.
757 your default maildrop: see the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
762 This variable tells all
764 programs your home directory
773 The environment variable
775 is also consulted. In particular,
780 how to clear your terminal, and how
781 many columns wide your terminal is. They also tell
784 lines long your terminal screen is.
789 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the
790 name of the mail transport configuration file to use by
793 and other programs that interact with the mail transport system,
794 instead of the default. See mh-tailor(5).
799 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the name of
800 a mail transport configuration file to be read in addition to the
801 default. See mh-tailor(5).
808 These variables are searched, in order, for the directory in which to
809 create some temporary files.
814 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
816 will emit debugging information.
821 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
823 will emit a representation of the search pattern.
828 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
830 commands that use the
831 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes
832 profile entry will display debugging information
833 about the values in that entry.
838 If set to a non-null value, this supersedes the value of
839 the default built-in pager command.
844 This is the alternate message.
850 during edit sessions so you can
851 peruse the message being distributed or replied to. The message is also
852 available through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory if
853 your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
854 on the same UNIX filesystem.
859 This is the path to the working draft.
869 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq
882 about an alternate message associated with the
883 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
888 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
894 during edit sessions so you
895 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
896 distributed or replied to. The environment variable
914 that message re-distribution is occurring.
928 editor (unless overridden by
945 if annotations are to occur.
955 if annotations are to occur.
965 if annotations are to occur.
971 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
972 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
973 ^or $MH~^Rather than the standard profile
974 ^<mh\-dir>/context~^The user context
975 ^or $MHCONTEXT~^Rather than the standard context
976 ^<folder>/\&.mh\(rusequences~^Public sequences for <folder>
980 nmh(7), environ(5), mh-sequence(5)
985 contains only static information, which
989 update. Changes in context are made to the
991 file kept in the users
994 This includes, but is not limited to: the \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry
995 and all private sequence information. Public sequence information is
996 kept in each folder in the file determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq
997 profile entry (default is
998 .IR \&.mh\(rusequences ).
1002 may override the path of the
1004 file, by specifying a \*(lqcontext\*(rq entry (this must be in
1005 lower-case). If the entry is not absolute (does not start with a
1006 \*(lq/\*(rq), then it is interpreted relative to the user's
1008 directory. As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
1009 private sequences by using different context files.
1012 The shell quoting conventions are not available in the
1013 .IR \&.mh\(ruprofile .
1014 Each token is separated by whitespace.
1016 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1017 in the profile as options. In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1018 command line semantics of all
1020 programs: conflicting switches
1025 may occur more than one time on the
1026 command line, with the last switch taking effect. Other arguments, such
1027 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
1028 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
1029 the same type. Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
1030 arguments) in the profile.
1032 If one finds that an
1034 program is being invoked again and again
1035 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
1036 are a few possible solutions to this problem. The first is to create a
1042 of your choice. By giving this link a different name, you can create
1043 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1046 command. Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1049 program of your choice with an alternate set
1050 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1051 is preferable to this solution).
1055 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1058 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1061 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1064 commands safely. (Recall that some
1067 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1068 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)
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