.\"
.\" %nmhwarning%
.\"
.TH FORW %manext1% "%nmhdate%" MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
.SH NAME
forw \- forward messages
.SH SYNOPSIS
.HP 5
.na
.B forw
.RI [ +folder ]
.RI [ msgs ]
.RB [ \-annotate " | " \-noannotate ]
.RB [ \-form
.IR formfile ]
.RB [ \-format " | " \-noformat ]
.RB [ \-filter
.IR filterfile ]
.RB [ \-mime " | " \-nomime ]
.RB [ \-editor
.IR editor ]
.RB [ \-noedit ]
.RB [ \-whatnowproc
.IR program ]
.RB [ \-nowhatnowproc ]
.RB [ \-build ]
.RB [ \-file
.IR msgfile ]
.RB [ \-version ]
.RB [ \-help ]
.PP
.HP 5
.B forw
.RI [ +folder ]
.RI [ msgs ]
.RB [ \-digest
.IR list ]
.RB [ \-issue
.IR number ]
.RB [ \-volume
.IR number ]
[other\ switches\ for\
.BR forw ]
.RB [ \-version ]
.RB [ \-help ]
.ad
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B Forw
may be used to prepare a message containing other messages.
.PP
It constructs the new message from a forms (components) file, with a
body composed of the message(s) to be forwarded.  An editor is invoked
as in
.BR comp ,
and after editing is complete, the user is prompted
before the message is sent.
.PP
The default message form contains the following elements:
.PP
.RS 5
.nf
%forwcomps%
.fi
.RE
.PP
If a file named
.RI \*(lq forwcomps \*(rq
exists in the user's mmh directory,
it will be used instead of this default form.  You may also specify an
alternate forms file with the switch
.B \-form
.IR formfile .
.PP
If the
.B \-annotate
switch is given, each message being forwarded will
be annotated with the line:
.PP
.RS 5
.nf
Forwarded:\ date
.fi
.RE
.PP
This annotation will be done only if the message is sent directly from
.BR forw .
If the message is not sent immediately from
.BR forw ,
.RB \*(lq comp
.BR \-use \*(rq
may be used to re\-edit and send the constructed
message, but the annotations won't take place.  Annotations
are always done inplace in order to preserve any links to the message.
.PP
See
.BR comp (1)
for a description of the
.B \-editor
and
.B \-noedit
switches.
.PP
Although
.B forw
uses a forms (components) file to direct it how to
construct the beginning of the draft, it uses a message filter file to
direct it as to how each forwarded message should be formatted in the
body of the draft.  The filter file for \fIforw\fR should be a standard
form file for
.BR mhl ,
as
.B forw
will invoke
.B mhl
to filter (re\-format) the forwarded messages prior to being output to
the body of the draft.
.PP
The switches
.BR \-noformat ,
.BR \-format ,
and
.B \-filter
.I filterfile
specify which message filter file to use.
.PP
If
.B \-noformat
is specified (this is the default), then each forwarded
message is output into the draft exactly as it appears with no
.B mhl
filtering.
.PP
If
.B \-format
is specified, then a default message filter file is used.
This default message filter should be adequate for most users.
This default filter
.RI \*(lq mhl.forward \*(rq
is:
.PP
.RS 5
.nf
%mhl_forward%
.fi
.RE
.PP
If a file named
.RI \*(lq mhl.forward \*(rq
exists in the user's mmh
directory, it will be used instead of this form.  You may specify an
alternate message filter file with the switch
.B \-filter
.IR filterfile .
.PP
Each forwarded message is separated with an encapsulation delimiter.
By default, any dashes in the first column of the forwarded messages
will be prepended with `\-\ ' so that when received, the message is
suitable for bursting by
.BR burst .
This follows the Internet RFC\-934 guidelines.
.PP
For users of
.BR prompter ,
by specifying
.BR prompter 's
.B \-prepend
switch in the
.I .mmh/profile
file, any commentary text is entered
before the forwarded messages.  (A major win!)
.PP
To use the MIME rules for encapsulation, specify the
.B \-mime
switch. This directs
.B forw
to generate an attachment header field.
.B send
will care for everything else.
.PP
The
.B \-editor
.I editor
switch indicates the editor to use for the
initial edit.  Upon exiting from the editor,
.B comp
will invoke the
.B whatnow
program.  See
.BR whatnow (1)
for a discussion of
available options.  The invocation of this program can be inhibited
by using the
.B \-nowhatnowproc
switch.  (In truth of fact, it is
the
.I whatnow
program which starts the initial edit.  Hence,
.B \-nowhatnowproc
will prevent any edit from occurring.)
.PP
The
.B \-build
switch is intended to be used by the Emacs mh-e interface to
.BR nmh ,
and is only present if
.B nmh
was compiled with support for mh-e. It implies
.BR \-nowhatnowproc .
It causes a file `draft' in the mail storage root
to be created, containing the draft message that would normally be presented
to the user for editing.
No mail is actually sent. Note that this switch is not guaranteed to
be present or to have the same effects in future versions of
.BR nmh :
it is documented here only for completeness.
.PP
The
.B \-file
.I msgfile
switch specifies the message to be forwarded as an
exact filename rather than as an
.B nmh
folder and message number. It is
intended to be used by the
.B msh
interface to
.BR nmh .
This switch implies
.BR \-noannotate .
The forwarded message is simply
copied verbatim into the draft; the processing implied by
the
.BR \-filter ,
.BR \-mime ,
and
.B \-digest
switches is bypassed, and the usual leading and
trailing 'Forwarded Message' delimiters are not added.
The same caveats apply to this option as to the
.B \-build
switch.
.PP
The
.B \-digest
.IR list ,
.B \-issue
.IR number ,
and
.B \-volume
.I number
switches implement a digest facility for
.BR nmh .
Specifying these switches enables and/or overloads the following escapes:
.PP
.RS 5
.nf
.ta \w'Component  'u +\w'Escape  'u +\w'Returns  'u
.I Type	Escape	Returns	Description
component	digest	string	Argument to `\-digest'
function	cur	integer	Argument to `\-volume'
function	msg	integer	Argument to `\-issue'
.fi
.RE
.PP
Consult the
.I "Advanced Features"
section of the
.B nmh
User's Manual for more information on making digests.

.SH FILES
.fc ^ ~
.nf
.ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName  'u
^%etcdir%/forwcomps~^The standard message skeleton
^or $HOME/.mmh/forwcomps~^Rather than the standard skeleton
^%etcdir%/digestcomps~^The message skeleton if `\-digest' is given
^or $HOME/.mmh/digestcomps~^Rather than the standard skeleton
^%etcdir%/mhl.forward~^The standard message filter
^or $HOME/.mmh/mhl.forward~^Rather than the standard filter
^$HOME/.mmh/profile~^The user profile
^+drafts~^The draft folder
.fi

.SH "PROFILE COMPONENTS"
.fc ^ ~
.nf
.ta 2.4i
.ta \w'ExtraBigProfileName  'u
^Path:~^To determine the user's mail storage
^Current\-Folder:~^To find the default current folder
^Draft\-Folder:~^To set the default draft\-folder
^Editor:~^To override the default editor
^Msg\-Protect:~^To set mode when creating a new message (draft)
^fileproc:~^Program to refile the message
^mhlproc:~^Program to filter messages being forwarded
^whatnowproc:~^Program to ask the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq questions
.fi

.SH "SEE ALSO"
mhbuild(1), comp(1), repl(1), send(1), whatnow(1), mh\-format(5),
.I "Proposed Standard for Message Encapsulation"
(RFC\-934)

.SH DEFAULTS
.nf
.RB ` +folder "' defaults to the current folder"
.RB ` msgs "' defaults to cur"
.RB ` \-noannotate '
.RB ` \-noformat '
.RB ` \-nomime '
.fi

.SH CONTEXT
If a folder is given, it will become the current folder.
The first message forwarded will become the current message.

.SH BUGS
If
.I whatnowproc
is
.BR whatnow ,
then
.B forw
uses a built\-in
.BR whatnow ,
it does not actually run the
.B whatnow
program.
Hence, if you define your own
.IR whatnowproc ,
don't call it
.B whatnow
since
.B forw
won't run it.
.PP
When
.B forw
is told to annotate the messages it forwards, it
doesn't actually annotate them until the draft is successfully sent.
If from the
.IR whatnowproc ,
you
.B push
instead of
.BR send ,
it's possible to confuse
.B forw
by re\-ordering the file (e.g. by using
.RB \*(lq folder
.BR \-pack \*(rq)
before the message is successfully sent.
.B Dist
and
.B repl
don't have this problem.