+.\"
+.\" %nmhwarning%
+.\"
+.TH PROMPTER %manext1% "%nmhdate%" MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
+.SH NAME
+prompter \- prompting editor front-end for nmh
+.SH SYNOPSIS
+.HP 5
+.na
+.B prompter
+.RB [ \-erase
+.IR chr ]
+.RB [ \-kill
+.IR chr ]
+.RB [ \-prepend " | " \-noprepend ]
+.RB [ \-rapid " | " \-norapid ]
+.RB [ \-doteof " | " \-nodoteof ]
+.I file
+.RB [ \-version ]
+.RB [ \-help ]
+.fi
+.SH DESCRIPTION
+.B Prompter
+is an editor front\-end for
+.B nmh
+which allows rapid
+composition of messages. This program is not normally invoked directly by
+users but takes the place of an editor and acts as an editor front\-end.
+It operates on an RFC\-822 style message draft skeleton specified by
+.IR file ,
+normally provided by the
+.B nmh
+commands
+.BR comp ,
+.BR dist ,
+.BR forw ,
+or
+.BR repl .
+.PP
+.B Prompter
+is particularly useful when composing messages over slow
+network or modem lines. It is an
+.B nmh program in that it can have
+its own profile entry with switches, but it is not invoked directly by
+the user. The commands
+.BR comp ,
+.BR dist ,
+.BR forw ,
+and
+.B repl
+invoke
+.B prompter as an editor, either when invoked with
+.B \-editor
+.IR prompter ,
+or by the profile entry \*(lqEditor:\ prompter\*(rq,
+or when given the command
+.B edit
+.B prompter
+at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
+.PP
+For each empty component
+.B prompter finds in the draft, the user
+is prompted for a response; A <RETURN> will cause the whole component
+to be left out. Otherwise, a `\\' preceding a <RETURN> will continue
+the response on the next line, allowing for multiline components.
+Continuation lines
+.B must
+begin with a space or tab.
+.PP
+Each non\-empty component is copied to the draft and displayed on the
+terminal.
+.PP
+The start of the message body is denoted by a blank line or a line
+of dashes. If the body is non\-empty, the prompt, which isn't written
+to the file, is
+.PP
+.RS 5
+--------Enter additional text
+.RE
+.PP
+or (if
+.B \-prepend
+was given)
+.PP
+.RS 5
+--------Enter initial text
+.RE
+.PP
+Message\-body typing is terminated with an end\-of\-file (usually
+CTRL\-D). With the
+.B \-doteof
+switch, a period on a line all by itself
+also signifies end\-of\-file. At this point control is returned to
+the calling program, where the user is asked \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq.
+See
+.B whatnow (1)
+for the valid options to this query.
+.PP
+By using the
+.B \-prepend
+switch, the user can add type\-in to the
+beginning of the message body and have the rest of the body follow.
+This is useful for the
+.B forw
+command.
+.PP
+By using the
+.B \-rapid
+switch, if the draft already contains text in
+the message\-body, it is not displayed on the user's terminal. This is
+useful for low\-speed terminals.
+.PP
+The line editing characters for kill and erase may be specified by the
+user via the arguments
+.B \-kill
+.I chr
+and
+.B \-erase
+.IR chr ,
+where
+.I chr
+may be a character; or `\\nnn', where \*(lqnnn\*(rq is the octal value for
+the character.
+.PP
+An interrupt (usually CTRL\-C) during component typing will abort
+.B prompter
+and the
+.B nmh
+command that invoked it. An interrupt
+during message\-body typing is equivalent to CTRL\-D, for historical
+reasons. This means that
+.B prompter
+should finish up and exit.
+.PP
+The first non\-flag argument to
+.B prompter is taken as the name of
+the draft file, and subsequent non\-flag arguments are ignored.
+.\" (\fIRepl\fR invokes editors with two file arguments:
+.\" the draft file name and the replied\-to message file name.)
+
+.SH FILES
+.fc ^ ~
+.nf
+.ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
+^$HOME/.mmh/profile~^The user profile
+^/tmp/prompter*~^Temporary copy of message
+.fi
+
+.SH "PROFILE COMPONENTS"
+.fc ^ ~
+.nf
+.ta 2.4i
+.ta \w'ExtraBigProfileName 'u
+prompter\-next: To name the editor to be used on exit from .B prompter
+^Msg\-Protect:~^To set mode when creating a new draft
+.fi
+
+.SH "SEE ALSO"
+comp(1), dist(1), forw(1), repl(1), whatnow(1)
+
+.SH DEFAULTS
+.nf
+.RB ` \-prepend '
+.RB ` \-norapid '
+.RB ` \-nodoteof '
+.fi
+
+.SH CONTEXT
+None
+
+.SH "HELPFUL HINTS"
+The
+.B \-rapid
+option is particularly useful with
+.BR forw ,
+and
+.B \-noprepend
+is useful with
+.B comp
+.BR \-use .
+.PP
+The user may wish to link
+.B prompter under several names (e.g.,
+\*(lqrapid\*(rq) and give appropriate switches in the profile entries
+under these names (e.g., \*(lqrapid: -rapid\*(rq). This facilitates
+invoking prompter differently for different
+.B nmh
+commands (e.g.,
+\*(lqforw: -editor rapid\*(rq).
+
+.SH BUGS
+.B Prompter
+uses
+.BR stdio (3),
+so it will lose if you edit files with nulls in them.
projects / mmh / blobdiff