+++ /dev/null
-.\"
-.\" %nmhwarning%
-.\"
-.TH MH-SEQUENCE %manext5% "%nmhdate%" MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
-.SH NAME
-mh-sequence \- sequence specification for nmh message system
-.SH SYNOPSIS
-most
-.B nmh
-commands
-.SH DESCRIPTION
-A sequence (or sequence set) is a symbolic name representing a
-message or collection of messages.
-.B nmh
-has several internally
-defined sequences, as well as allowing users to define their own
-sequences.
-
-.SS "Message Specification and Pre\-Defined Message Sequences"
-Most
-.B nmh
-commands accept a `msg' or `msgs' specification, where
-`msg' indicates one message and `msgs' indicates one or more messages.
-To designate a message, you may use either its number (e.g., 1, 10, 234)
-or one of these \*(lqreserved\*(rq message names:
-.PP
-.RS 5
-.nf
-.ta +\w'\fIName\fP 'u
-.I Name Description
-first the first message in the folder
-last the last message in the folder
-cur the most recently accessed message
-prev the message numerically preceding \*(lqcur\*(rq
-next the message numerically following \*(lqcur\*(rq
-.fi
-.RE
-.PP
-In commands that take a `msg' argument, the default is \*(lqcur\*(rq.
-As a shorthand, \*(lq\&.\*(rq is equivalent to \*(lqcur\*(rq.
-.PP
-For example: In a folder containing five messages numbered 5, 10, 94, 177
-and 325, \*(lqfirst\*(rq is 5 and \*(lqlast\*(rq is 325. If \*(lqcur\*(rq
-is 94, then \*(lqprev\*(rq is 10 and \*(lqnext\*(rq is 177.
-.PP
-The word `msgs' indicates that one or more messages may be specified.
-Such a specification consists of one message designation or of several
-message designations separated by spaces. A message designation consists
-either of a message name as defined above, or a message range.
-.PP
-A message range is specified as \*(lqname1\-name2\*(rq or
-\*(lqname:n\*(rq, where `name', `name1' and `name2' are message names,
-and `n' is an integer.
-.PP
-The specification \*(lqname1\-name2\*(rq designates all currently existing
-messages from `name1' to `name2' inclusive. The \*(lqreserved\*(rq
-message name \*(lqall\*(rq is a shorthand for the message range
-\*(lqfirst\-last\*(rq.
-.PP
-The specification \*(lqname:n\*(rq designates up to `n' messages.
-These messages start with `name' if `name' is a message number or one of
-the reserved names \*(lqfirst\*(rq \*(lqcur\*(rq, or \*(lqnext\*(rq, The
-messages end with `name' if `name' is \*(lqprev\*(rq or \*(lqlast\*(rq.
-The interpretation of `n' may be overridden by preceding `n' with a
-plus or minus sign; `+n' always means up to `n' messages starting with
-`name', and `\-n' always means up to `n' messages ending with `name'.
-.PP
-In commands which accept a `msgs' argument, the default is either
-\*(lqcur\*(rq or \*(lqall\*(rq, depending on which makes more sense
-for each command (see the individual man pages for details). Repeated
-specifications of the same message have the same effect as a single
-specification of the message.
-.PP
-There is also a special \*(lqreserved\*(rq message name \*(lqnew\*(rq
-which is used by the
-.B mhpath
-command.
-
-.SS "User\-Defined Message Sequences"
-In addition to the \*(lqreserved\*(rq (pre-defined) message names given
-above,
-.B nmh
-supports user-defined sequence names. User-defined
-sequences allow the
-.B nmh
-user a tremendous amount of power in dealing
-with groups of messages in the same folder by allowing the user to bind
-a group of messages to a meaningful symbolic name.
-.PP
-The name used to denote a message sequence must consist of an alphabetic
-character followed by zero or more alphanumeric characters, and can not
-be one of the \*(lqreserved\*(rq message names above. After defining a
-sequence, it can be used wherever an
-.B nmh
-command expects a `msg' or
-`msgs' argument.
-.PP
-Some forms of message ranges are allowed with user-defined sequences.
-The specification \*(lqname:n\*(rq may be used, and it designates up
-to the first `n' messages (or last `n' messages for `\-n') which are
-elements of the user-defined sequence `name'.
-.PP
-The specifications \*(lqname:next\*(rq and \*(lqname:prev\*(rq may also
-be used, and they designate the next or previous message (relative to the
-current message) which is an element of the user-defined sequence `name'.
-The specifications \*(lqname:first\*(rq and \*(lqname:last\*(rq are
-equivalent to \*(lqname:1\*(rq and \*(lqname:\-1\*(rq, respectively. The
-specification \*(lqname:cur\*(rq is not allowed (use just \*(lqcur\*(rq
-instead). The syntax of these message range specifications is subject
-to change in the future.
-.PP
-User-defined sequence names are specific to each folder. They are
-defined using the
-.B pick
-and
-.B mark
-commands.
-.PP
-.SS "Public and Private User-Defined Sequences"
-There are two varieties of user-defined sequences:
-public and private. Public sequences of a folder are accessible to any
-.B nmh
-user that can read that folder. They are kept in each folder
-in the file determined by the \*(lqMh\-Sequences\*(rq profile entry
-(default is
-.IR \&.mh_sequences ).
-Private sequences are accessible
-only to the
-.B nmh
-user that defined those sequences and are kept in
-the user's
-.B nmh
-context file.
-.PP
-In general, the commands that create sequences (such as
-.B pick
-and
-.BR mark )
-will create public sequences if the folder for which
-the sequences are being defined is writable by the
-.B nmh
-user.
-For most commands, this can be overridden by using the switches
-.B \-public
-and
-.BR \-private .
-But if the folder is read\-only, or if
-the \*(lqMh\-Sequences\*(rq profile entry is defined but empty, then
-\fIprivate\fR sequences will be created instead.
-
-.SS "Sequence Negation"
-.B Nmh
-provides the ability to select all messages not elements of a
-user-defined sequence. To do this, the user should define the entry
-\*(lqSequence\-Negation\*(rq in the
-.B nmh
-profile file; its value
-may be any string. This string is then used to preface an existing
-user-defined sequence name. This specification then refers to those
-messages not elements of the specified sequence name. For example, if
-the profile entry is:
-.PP
-.RS 5
-Sequence\-Negation: not
-.RE
-.PP
-then anytime an
-.B nmh
-command is given \*(lqnotfoo\*(rq as a `msg' or
-`msgs' argument, it would substitute all messages that are not elements
-of the sequence \*(lqfoo\*(rq.
-.PP
-Obviously, the user should beware of defining sequences with names that
-begin with the value of the \*(lqSequence\-Negation\*(rq profile entry.
-
-.SS "The Previous Sequence"
-.B Nmh
-provides the ability to remember the `msgs' or `msg' argument
-last given to an
-.B nmh
-command. The entry \*(lqPrevious\-Sequence\*(rq
-should be defined in the
-.B nmh
-profile; its value should be a sequence
-name or multiple sequence names separated by spaces. If this entry
-is defined, when when an
-.B nmh
-command finishes, it will define the
-sequence(s) named in the value of this entry to be those messages that
-were specified to the command. Hence, a profile entry of
-.PP
-.RS 5
-Previous\-Sequence: pseq
-.RE
-.PP
-directs any
-.B nmh
-command that accepts a `msg' or `msgs' argument to
-define the sequence \*(lqpseq\*(rq as those messages when it finishes.
-.PP
-.BR Note :
-there can be a performance penalty in using the
-\*(lqPrevious\-Sequence\*(rq facility. If it is used,
-.B all
-.B nmh
-programs have to write the sequence information to the
-.I \&.mh_sequences
-file for the folder each time they run. If the
-\*(lqPrevious\-Sequence\*(rq profile entry is not included, only
-.B pick
-and
-.B mark
-will write to the
-.B \&.mh_sequences
-file.
-
-.SS "The Unseen Sequence"
-Finally, many users like to indicate which messages have not been
-previously seen by them. The commands
-.BR inc ,
-.BR rcvstore ,
-.BR show ,
-.BR mhshow ,
-and
-.B flist
-honor the profile entry
-\*(lqUnseen\-Sequence\*(rq to support this activity. This entry
-in the
-.I .mmh/profile
-should be defined as one or more sequence
-names separated by spaces. If there is a value for
-\*(lqUnseen\-Sequence\*(rq in the profile, then whenever new messages
-are placed in a folder (using
-.B inc
-or
-.BR rcvstore ),
-the new messages will also be added to all the sequences named in this
-profile entry. For example, a profile entry of
-.PP
-.RS 5
-Unseen\-Sequence: unseen
-.RE
-.PP
-directs
-.B inc
-to add new messages to the sequence \*(lqunseen\*(rq.
-Unlike the behavior of the \*(lqPrevious\-Sequence\*(rq entry in the
-profile, however, the sequence(s) will
-.B not
-be zeroed by
-.BR inc .
-.PP
-Similarly, whenever
-.BR show ,
-.BR mhshow ,
-.BR next ,
-or
-.B prev
-displays a message, that message will be removed from
-any sequences named by the \*(lqUnseen\-Sequence\*(rq entry in the
-profile.
-
-.SH FILES
-.fc ^ ~
-.nf
-.ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
-^$HOME/.mmh/profile~^The user profile
-^$HOME/.mmh/context~^The user context
-^<folder>/\&.mh_sequences~^File for public sequences
-.fi
-
-.SH "PROFILE COMPONENTS"
-.fc ^ ~
-.nf
-.ta 2.4i
-.ta \w'ExtraBigProfileName 'u
-^Mh-Sequences:~^Name of file to store public sequences
-^Sequence\-Negation:~^To designate messages not in a sequence
-^Previous\-Sequence:~^The last message specification given
-^Unseen\-Sequence:~^Those messages not yet seen by the user
-.fi
-
-.SH "SEE ALSO"
-flist(1), mark(1), pick(1), mh-profile(5)
-
-.SH DEFAULTS
-None
projects / mmh / blobdiff