Factor trim format function out

[mmh] / man / mhmail.man1

diff --git a/man/mhmail.man1 b/man/mhmail.man1
index ce298d7..2de3fcb 100644 (file)
--- a/man/mhmail.man1
+++ b/man/mhmail.man1
@@ -3,47 +3,39 @@
 .\"
 .TH MHMAIL %manext1% "%nmhdate%" MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
 .SH NAME
-mhmail \- send mail
+mhmail \- send mail (mailx replacement)
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .HP 5
 .na
 .B mhmail
 .IR addrs ...
-.RB [ \-body
-.IR text ]
 .RB [ \-cc
 .IR addrs ...]
 .RB [ \-from
 .IR addr ]
 .RB [ \-subject
 .IR subject ]
+.RB [ \-bodytext
+.IR text ]
 .RB [ \-Version ]
 .RB [ \-help ]
 .ad
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .B mhmail
-is intended as an
-.BR mmh -compatible
-replacement for the standard Berkeley
-mail program
+is inspired by the standard Berkeley mail program
 .RB ( mail
 or
 .BR mailx ).
-This program is intended for the use of programs such as
-.BR cron ,
-which expect to send mail automatically to various
-addresses.  It is also used by various
-.B nmh
-commands to mail various
-error notifications.
-Although
-.B mhmail
-can be used interactively,
-it is recommended that
+It should not be seen as a drop-in replacement for these programs,
+but rather as a more convenient alternative to
+.B comp
+for non-interactive use.
+For interactive use,
 .B comp
 and
 .B send
-be used instead to send messages.
+are recommended over
+.BR mhmail .
 .PP
 When one or more addresses
 are specified, a message is read from the standard input and spooled to
@@ -64,35 +56,42 @@ The
 .B \-subject
 .I subject
 switch can be used to specify the
-\*(lqSubject:\*(rq field of the message.
+`Subject:' field of the message.
 .PP
 By default,
 .B mhmail
 will read the message to be sent from the
-standard input.  You can specify the text of the message at the command
+standard input.
+The message is terminated by either end-of-file or by a single period
+alone on a line. This is compatible to
+.B mail
+and
+.BR mailx .
+Alternatively, you can specify the text of the message at the command
 line with the
-.B \-body
+.B \-bodytext
 .I text
-switch.  If the standard input has zero
-length,
+switch.
+.PP
+If the standard input has zero length,
 .B mhmail
-will not send the message.  You can use the switch
-.B \-body
-\*(lq\*(rq to force an empty message.
+will not send the message.  You can use
+.B \-bodytext
+"" to force an empty message.
 .PP
-Normally, addresses appearing as arguments are put in the \*(lqTo:\*(rq
+Normally, addresses appearing as arguments are put in the `To:'
 field.  If the
 .B \-cc
 switch is used, all addresses following it are
-placed in the \*(lqCc:\*(rq field.
+placed in the `Cc:' field.
 .PP
 By using
 .B \-from
 .IR addr ,
-you can specify the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header of
+you can specify the `From:' header of
 the draft.  Naturally,
 .B post
-will fill\-in the \*(lqSender:\*(rq
+will fill\-in the `Sender:'
 header correctly.
 
 .SH FILES
@@ -110,3 +109,34 @@ None
 
 .SH CONTEXT
 None
+
+.SH HISTORY
+.B mhmail
+was intended as a replacement for the standard Berkeley
+mail program
+.RB ( mail
+or
+.BR mailx ),
+which is compatible with
+.BR mmh .
+This program was intended for the use of programs such as
+.BR cron ,
+which expect to send mail automatically to various
+addresses.  It was also used by various
+.B mmh
+commands to mail various error notifications.
+.PP
+When invoked without arguments, it had once simply invoked
+.B inc
+to incorporate new messages from the user's maildrop.
+It does this no longer.
+
+.SH BUGS
+.B mhmail
+should no longer try to replace
+.BR mailx ,
+but become a mail sending front-end to
+.B comp
+or
+.BR send ,
+which is more convenient in some situations.