diplodocus.org Git - nmh/blob - man/mh-profile.man

   1 .TH MH-PROFILE %manext5% "April 14, 2013" "%nmhversion%"
   2 .\"
   3 .\" %nmhwarning%
   4 .\"
   5 .SH NAME
   6 mh-profile \- user profile customization for nmh message handler
   7 .SH DESCRIPTION
   8 Each user of
   9 .B nmh
  10 is expected to have a file named
  11 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
  12 in his or her home directory.  This file contains
  13 a set of user parameters used by some or all of the
  14 .B nmh
  15 family of programs.  Each entry in the file is of the format
  16 .PP
  17 .RS 5
  18 .IR profile\-component ": " value
  19 .RE
  20 .PP
  21 If the text of profile entry is long, you may extend it across several
  22 real lines by indenting the continuation lines with leading spaces or tabs.
  23 Comments may be introduced by a line starting with `#:':
  24 .PP
  25 .RS 5
  26 .IR # ": "
  27 This is a comment.
  28 .RE
  29 .PP
  30 Blank lines are not permitted in
  31 .IR \&.mh\(ruprofile.
  32 The shell quoting conventions are not available in the
  33 .IR \&.mh\(ruprofile ;
  34 each token is separated by whitespace.
  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
  40 .B nmh
  41 profile or
  42 .B nmh
  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.
  46 .PP
  47 .BR Path :
  48 Mail
  49 .RS 5
  50 Locates
  51 .B nmh
  52 transactions in directory \*(lqMail\*(rq.  This is the
  53 only mandatory profile entry.  (profile, no default)
  54 .RE
  55 .PP
  56 .BR context :
  57 context
  58 .RS 5
  59 Declares the location of the
  60 .B nmh
  61 context file.  This is overridden by the environment variable
  62 .BR $MHCONTEXT .
  63 See the
  64 .B HISTORY
  65 section below.
  66 (profile, default: <nmh\-dir>/context)
  67 .RE
  68 .PP
  69 .BR Current\-Folder :
  70 inbox
  71 .RS 5
  72 Keeps track of the current open folder.
  73 (context, default: folder specified by \*(lqInbox\*(rq)
  74 .RE
  75 .PP
  76 .BR Inbox :
  77 inbox
  78 .RS 5
  79 Defines the name of your default inbox.
  80 (profile, default: inbox)
  81 .RE
  82 .PP
  83 .BR Previous\-Sequence :
  84 .I pseq
  85 .RS 5
  86 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as the `msgs' or
  87 `msg' argument given to any
  88 .B nmh
  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.
  92 Read the
  93 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
  94 man page for the details about this sequence. (profile, no default)
  95 .RE
  96 .PP
  97 .BR Sequence\-Negation :
  98 not
  99 .RS 5
 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
 103 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 104 man page for the details.  (profile, no default)
 105 .RE
 106 .PP
 107 .BR Unseen\-Sequence :
 108 unseen
 109 .RS 5
 110 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as those
 111 messages which are unread.  The commands
 112 .BR inc ,
 113 .BR rcvstore ,
 114 .BR mhshow ,
 115 and
 116 .B show
 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
 121 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 122 man page for the details about this sequence.
 123 (profile, no default)
 124 .RE
 125 .PP
 126 .BR mh\-sequences :
 127 \&.mh\(rusequences
 128 .RS 5
 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)
 132 .RE
 133 .PP
 134 .BI atr\- seq \- folder :
 135 172\0178\-181\0212
 136 .RS 5
 137 Keeps track of the private sequence called \*(lqseq\*(rq in the specified
 138 folder.  Private sequences are generally used for read\-only folders.
 139 See the
 140 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 141 man page for details about private sequences.
 142 (context, no default)
 143 .RE
 144 .PP
 145 .BR Editor :
 146 vi
 147 .RS 5
 148 Defines the editor to be used by the commands
 149 .BR comp ,
 150 .BR dist ,
 151 .BR forw ,
 152 and
 153 .BR repl .
 154 If not set in profile the value will be taken from the VISUAL and
 155 EDITOR environment variables.
 156 (profile, default: vi)
 157 .RE
 158 .PP
 159 .BR Msg\-Protect :
 160 600
 161 .RS 5
 162 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new message files.
 163 See
 164 .IR chmod (1)
 165 for an explanation of the octal number.  Note that some filesystems,
 166 such as FAT32, do not support removal of read file permissions.
 167 (profile, default: 0600)
 168 .RE
 169 .PP
 170 .BR Folder\-Protect :
 171 700
 172 .RS 5
 173 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new folder
 174 directories.  See
 175 .IR chmod (1)
 176 for an explanation of the octal number.
 177 (profile, default: 700)
 178 .RE
 179 .PP
 180 .BR datalocking :
 181 fcntl
 182 .RS 5
 183 The locking algorithm used to lock changes to any
 184 .B nmh
 185 data files, such as sequences or the context.  The locking algorithm is
 186 any one of the following entries:
 187 .PP
 188 .RS 5
 189 .nf
 190 %supported_locks%
 191 .fi
 192 .RE
 193 .PP
 194 Available locking algorithms can vary depending on what is supported by
 195 the operating system.  Note: currently transactional locking is only
 196 supported on public sequences; see
 197 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 198 for more information.
 199 (profile, default: fcntl)
 200 .RE
 201 .PP
 202 .IR program :
 203 .I default switches
 204 .RS 5
 205 Sets default switches to be used whenever the mh program
 206 .I program
 207 is invoked.  For example, one could override the \*(lqEditor:\*(rq profile
 208 component when replying to messages by adding a component such as:
 209 .PP
 210 .RS 5
 211 repl: \-editor /bin/ed
 212 .RE
 213 .PP
 214 (profile, no defaults)
 215 .RE
 216 .PP
 217 .IB lasteditor "-next:"
 218 .I nexteditor
 219 .RS 5
 220 Names \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq to be the default editor after using
 221 \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq.  This takes effect at \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt
 222 in
 223 .BR comp ,
 224 .BR dist ,
 225 .BR forw ,
 226 and
 227 .BR repl .
 228 After editing
 229 the draft with \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq, the default editor is set to be
 230 \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq.  If the user types \*(lqedit\*(rq without any
 231 arguments to \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq, then \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq is used.
 232 (profile, no default)
 233 .RE
 234 .PP
 235 .BR Folder\-Stack :
 236 .I folders
 237 .RS 5
 238 The contents of the folder-stack for the
 239 .B folder
 240 command.
 241 (context, no default)
 242 .RE
 243 .PP
 244 .BR Local\-Mailbox :
 245 Your Username <user@some.host>
 246 .RS 5
 247 Tells the various MH tools what your local mailbox is.  If set, will be used
 248 by the default component files by tools like
 249 .B comp
 250 and
 251 .B repl
 252 to construct your default \*(lqFrom\*(rq header.  The text used here will
 253 be copied exactly to your From: header, so it should already be RFC 822
 254 compliant.  If this is set, the
 255 .B Signature
 256 profile entry is NOT used, so it should include a signature as well.  (profile,
 257 default: userid@local.hostname)
 258 .RE
 259 .PP
 260 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes :
 261 mh@uci\-750a, bug-mh*
 262 .RS 5
 263 Tells
 264 .B repl
 265 and
 266 .B scan
 267 which addresses are really yours.
 268 In this way,
 269 .B repl
 270 knows which addresses should be included in the
 271 reply, and
 272 scan
 273 knows if the message really originated from you.
 274 Addresses must be separated by a comma, and the hostnames listed should
 275 be the \*(lqofficial\*(rq hostnames for the mailboxes you indicate, as
 276 local nicknames for hosts are not replaced with their official site names.
 277 For each address, if a host is not given, then that address on any host is
 278 considered to be you.  In addition, an asterisk (`*') may appear at either
 279 or both ends of the mailbox and host to indicate wild-card matching.
 280 (profile, default: your user-id)
 281 .RE
 282 .PP
 283 .BR Aliasfile :
 284 aliases
 285 .I other-alias
 286 .RS 5
 287 Indicates aliases files for
 288 .BR ali ,
 289 .BR whom ,
 290 and
 291 .BR send .
 292 This may be used instead of the
 293 .B \-alias
 294 .I file
 295 switch.  (profile, no default)
 296 .RE
 297 .PP
 298 .BR Draft\-Folder :
 299 drafts
 300 .RS 5
 301 Indicates a default draft folder for
 302 .BR comp ,
 303 .BR dist ,
 304 .BR forw ,
 305 .BR refile ,
 306 and
 307 .BR repl .
 308 Read the
 309 .IR mh\-draft (5)
 310 man page for details. (profile, no default)
 311 .RE
 312 .PP
 313 .BI digest\-issue\- list :
 314 1
 315 .RS 5
 316 Tells
 317 .B forw
 318 the last issue of the last volume sent for the digest
 319 .IR list .
 320 (context, no default)
 321 .RE
 322 .PP
 323 .BI digest\-volume\- list :
 324 1
 325 .RS 5
 326 Tells
 327 .B forw
 328 the last volume sent for the digest
 329 .IR list .
 330 (context, no default)
 331 .RE
 332 .PP
 333 .BR MailDrop :
 334 \&.mail
 335 .RS 5
 336 Tells
 337 .B inc
 338 your maildrop, if different from the default.  This is
 339 superseded by the environment variable
 340 .BR $MAILDROP .
 341 (profile, default: %mailspool%/$USER)
 342 .RE
 343 .PP
 344 .BR Signature :
 345 RAND MH System (agent: Marshall Rose)
 346 .RS 5
 347 Tells front-end programs such as
 348 .BR comp,
 349 .BR forw,
 350 and
 351 .B repl
 352 your mail signature.  This is superseded by the
 353 environment variable
 354 .BR $SIGNATURE .
 355 If
 356 .B $SIGNATURE
 357 is not set and this profile entry is not present, the \*(lqgcos\*(rq field of
 358 the \fI/etc/passwd\fP file will be used.
 359 Your signature will be added to the address
 360 .B send
 361 puts in the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header; do not include an address in the
 362 signature text.  The \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component
 363 supersedes all of this.  (profile, no default)
 364 .RE
 365 .PP
 366 .BR credentials :
 367 \&legacy
 368 .RS 5
 369 Indicates how the username and password credentials will be retrieved
 370 for access to external servers, such as those that provide SMTP or POP
 371 service.  The supported entry values are \*(lqlegacy\*(rq and
 372 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq.
 373 With \*(lqlegacy\*(rq, or if there is no credentials entry, the
 374 username is the first of:
 375 .PP
 376 .RS 5
 377 1)
 378 .B \-user
 379 switch to
 380 .BR send ,
 381 .BR post ,
 382 .BR whom ,
 383 .BR inc ,
 384 or
 385 .B msgchk
 386 program
 387 .br
 388 2) the login name on the local machine
 389 .RE
 390 .PP
 391 The password for SMTP services is the first of:
 392 .PP
 393 .RS 5
 394 1) password value from matching entry in file named \*(lq.netrc\*(rq
 395 in the user's home directory
 396 .br
 397 2) password obtained by interactively prompting the user
 398 .RE
 399 .PP
 400 The password for POP service when the
 401 .B \-sasl
 402 switch is used with one of these programs is the login name on the
 403 local machine.
 404 .PP
 405 With a
 406 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq
 407 .B credentials
 408 entry, the username is the first of:
 409 .PP
 410 .RS 5
 411 1)
 412 .B \-user
 413 switch to program
 414 .br
 415 2) login name from matching entry in
 416 .I netrc
 417 file
 418 .br
 419 3) value provided by user in response to interactive query
 420 .RE
 421 .PP
 422 Similarly, the password is provided either in the
 423 .I netrc
 424 file or interactively.
 425 .I netrc
 426 can be any valid filename, either absolute or relative to Path or
 427 $HOME.  The
 428 .I netrc
 429 file contains authentication information, for each server,
 430 using a line of the following form.  Replace the words
 431 .IR myserver ,
 432 .IR mylogin ,
 433 and
 434 .I mypassword
 435 with your own account information:
 436 .PP
 437 .RS 5
 438 .B machine
 439 .I myserver
 440 .B login
 441 .I mylogin
 442 .B password
 443 .I mypassword
 444 .RE
 445 .PP
 446 This
 447 .I netrc
 448 file must be owned and readable only by you.
 449 (profile, default: legacy)
 450 .RE
 451 .SS "Process Profile Entries"
 452 The following profile elements are used whenever an
 453 .B nmh
 454 program invokes some other program such as
 455 .BR more .
 456 The
 457 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
 458 can be used to select alternate programs if the
 459 user wishes.  The default values are given in the examples.
 460 .PP
 461 If the profile element contains spaces, the element is split at spaces
 462 into tokens and each token is given as a seperate argument to the
 463 .IR execvp (2)
 464 system call.  If the element contains shell metacharacters then the entire
 465 element is executed using
 466 .BR /bin/sh .
 467 .RE
 468 .PP
 469 .BR buildmimeproc :
 470 %bindir%/mhbuild
 471 .RS 5
 472 This is the program used by
 473 .B whatnow
 474 to process drafts which are MIME composition files.
 475 .RE
 476 .PP
 477 .BR fileproc :
 478 %bindir%/refile
 479 .RS 5
 480 This program is used to refile or link a message to another folder.
 481 It is used by
 482 .B send
 483 to file a copy of a message into a folder given
 484 by a \*(lqFcc:\*(rq field.  It is used by the draft folder facility in
 485 .BR comp ,
 486 .BR dist ,
 487 .BR forw ,
 488 and
 489 .B repl
 490 to refile a draft
 491 message into another folder.  It is used to refile a draft message in
 492 response to the
 493 .B refile
 494 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
 495 .RE
 496 .PP
 497 .BR formatproc :
 498 .RS 5
 499 Program called by
 500 .B mhl
 501 to filter a component when it is tagged with the \*(lqformat\*(rq variable
 502 in the mhl filter.  See
 503 .IR mhl (5)
 504 for more information.
 505 .RE
 506 .PP
 507 .BR incproc :
 508 %bindir%/inc
 509 .RS 5
 510 Program called by
 511 .B mhmail
 512 to incorporate new mail when it
 513 is invoked with no arguments.
 514 .RE
 515 .PP
 516 .BR lproc :
 517 more
 518 .RS 5
 519 This program is used to list the contents of a message in response
 520 to the
 521 .B list
 522 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.  It is
 523 also used by the draft folder facility in
 524 .BR comp ,
 525 .BR dist ,
 526 .BR forw ,
 527 and
 528 .B repl
 529 to display the draft message.
 530 (Note that
 531 .B $PAGER
 532 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
 533 .RE
 534 .PP
 535 .BR mailproc :
 536 %bindir%/mhmail
 537 .RS 5
 538 This is the program used to automatically mail various messages
 539 and notifications.  It is used by
 540 .B conflict
 541 when using the
 542 .B \-mail
 543 option.  It is used by
 544 .B send
 545 to post failure notices.
 546 It is used to retrieve an external-body with access-type `mail-server'
 547 (such as when storing the body with
 548 .BR mhstore ).
 549 .RE
 550 .PP
 551 .BR mhlproc :
 552 %libdir%/mhl
 553 .RS 5
 554 This is the program used to filter messages in various ways.  It
 555 is used by
 556 .B mhshow
 557 to filter and display the message headers
 558 of MIME messages.  When the
 559 .B \-format
 560 or
 561 .B \-filter
 562 option is used
 563 by
 564 .B forw
 565 or
 566 .BR repl ,
 567 the
 568 .I mhlproc
 569 is used to filter the
 570 message that you are forwarding, or to which you are replying.
 571 When the
 572 .B \-filter
 573 option is given to
 574 .BR send ,
 575 the
 576 .I mhlproc
 577 is used to filter the copy of the message
 578 that is sent to \*(lqBcc:\*(rq recipients.
 579 .RE
 580 .PP
 581 .BR moreproc :
 582 more
 583 .RS 5
 584 This is the program used by
 585 .B mhl
 586 to page the
 587 .B mhl
 588 formatted message when displaying to a terminal.  It is also the default
 589 program used by
 590 .B mhshow
 591 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
 592 (Note that
 593 .B $PAGER
 594 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
 595 .RE
 596 .PP
 597 .BR mshproc :
 598 %bindir%/msh
 599 .RS 5
 600 Currently not used.
 601 .RE
 602 .PP
 603 .BR packproc :
 604 %bindir%/packf
 605 .RS 5
 606 Currently not used.
 607 .RE
 608 .PP
 609 .BR postproc :
 610 %libdir%/post
 611 .RS 5
 612 This is the program used by
 613 .BR send ,
 614 .BR mhmail ,
 615 .BR rcvdist ,
 616 and
 617 .B viamail
 618 (used by the
 619 .B sendfiles
 620 shell script) to
 621 post a message to the mail transport system.  It is also called by
 622 .B whom
 623 (called with the switches
 624 .B \-whom
 625 and
 626 .BR \-library )
 627 to do address verification.
 628 .RE
 629 .PP
 630 .BR rmmproc :
 631 none
 632 .RS 5
 633 This is the program used by
 634 .BR rmm ,
 635 .BR refile ,
 636 and
 637 .B mhfixmsg
 638 to delete a message from a folder.
 639 .RE
 640 .PP
 641 .BR sendproc :
 642 %bindir%/send
 643 .RS 5
 644 This is the program to use by
 645 .B whatnow
 646 to actually send the message
 647 .RE
 648 .PP
 649 .BR showmimeproc :
 650 %bindir%/mhshow
 651 .RS 5
 652 This is the program used by
 653 .B show
 654 to process and display non-text (MIME) messages.
 655 .RE
 656 .PP
 657 .BR showproc :
 658 %libdir%/mhl
 659 .RS 5
 660 This is the program used by
 661 .B show
 662 to filter and display text (non-MIME) messages.
 663 .RE
 664 .PP
 665 .BR whatnowproc :
 666 %bindir%/whatnow
 667 .RS 5
 668 This is the program invoked by
 669 .BR comp ,
 670 .BR forw ,
 671 .BR dist ,
 672 and
 673 .B repl
 674 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
 675 .RE
 676 .PP
 677 .BR whomproc :
 678 %bindir%/whom
 679 .RS 5
 680 This is the program used by
 681 .B whatnow
 682 to determine to whom a message would be sent.
 683 .RE
 684 .SS "Environment Variables"
 685 The operation of
 686 .B nmh
 687 and its commands it also controlled by the
 688 presence of certain environment variables.
 689 .PP
 690 Many of these environment variables are used internally by the
 691 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface.  It's amazing all the information
 692 that has to get passed via environment variables to make the
 693 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface look squeaky clean to the
 694 .B nmh
 695 user, isn't it?  The reason for all this is that the
 696 .B nmh
 697 user
 698 can select
 699 .B any
 700 program as the
 701 .IR whatnowproc ,
 702 including
 703 one of the standard shells.  As a result, it's not possible to pass
 704 information via an argument list. The convention is that environment
 705 variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable; those
 706 whose names are lower-case only are used internally by nmh and should
 707 not generally be set by the user.
 708 .PP
 709 .B $MH
 710 .RS 5
 711 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
 712 other than
 713 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
 714 to be read by the
 715 .B nmh
 716 programs
 717 that you invoke.  If the value of
 718 .B $MH
 719 is not absolute, (i.e., does
 720 not begin with a \*(lq/\*(rq), it will be presumed to start from the current
 721 working directory.  This is one of the very few exceptions in
 722 .B nmh
 723 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
 724 .B nmh
 725 directory.
 726 .RE
 727 .PP
 728 .B $MHCONTEXT
 729 .RS 5
 730 With this environment variable, you can specify a
 731 context other than the normal context file (as specified in
 732 the
 733 .B nmh
 734 profile).  As always, unless the value of
 735 .B $MHCONTEXT
 736 is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your
 737 .B nmh
 738 directory.
 739 .RE
 740 .PP
 741 .B $MHBUILD
 742 .RS 5
 743 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 744 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 745 .BR mhbuild ,
 746 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 747 .RE
 748 .PP
 749 .B $MHN
 750 .RS 5
 751 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 752 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 753 .BR mhn ,
 754 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 755 .B mhn
 756 is deprecated, so this support for this variable will
 757 be removed from a future nmh release.
 758 .RE
 759 .PP
 760 .B $MHSHOW
 761 .RS 5
 762 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 763 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 764 .BR mhshow ,
 765 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 766 .RE
 767 .PP
 768 .B $MHSTORE
 769 .RS 5
 770 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 771 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 772 .BR mhstore ,
 773 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 774 .RE
 775 .PP
 776 .B $MAILDROP
 777 .RS 5
 778 This variable tells
 779 .B inc
 780 the default maildrop. This supersedes the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
 781 .RE
 782 .PP
 783 .B $MAILHOST
 784 .RS 5
 785 This variable tells
 786 .B inc
 787 the POP host to query for mail to incorporate.  See the
 788 inc(1) man page for more information.
 789 .RE
 790 .PP
 791 .B $USERNAME_EXTENSION
 792 .RS 5
 793 This variable is for use with username_extension masquerading.  See the
 794 mh-tailor(5) man page.
 795 .RE
 796 .PP
 797 .B $SIGNATURE
 798 .RS 5
 799 This variable tells
 800 .B send
 801 and
 802 .B post
 803 your mail signature. This supersedes the \*(lqSignature\*(rq profile entry,
 804 and is not used when the \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component is set.
 805 .RE
 806 .PP
 807 .B $USER
 808 .RS 5
 809 This variable tells
 810 .B repl
 811 your user name and
 812 .B inc
 813 your default maildrop:  see the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
 814 .RE
 815 .PP
 816 .B $HOME
 817 .RS 5
 818 This variable tells all
 819 .B nmh
 820 programs your home directory
 821 .RE
 822 .PP
 823 .B $TERM
 824 .RS 5
 825 This variable tells
 826 .B nmh
 827 your terminal type.
 828 .PP
 829 The environment variable
 830 .B $TERMCAP
 831 is also consulted.  In particular,
 832 these tell
 833 .B scan
 834 and
 835 .B mhl
 836 how to clear your terminal, and how
 837 many columns wide your terminal is.  They also tell
 838 .B mhl
 839 how many
 840 lines long your terminal screen is.
 841 .RE
 842 .PP
 843 .B $MHMTSCONF
 844 .RS 5
 845 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the
 846 name of the mail transport configuration file to use by
 847 .BR post ,
 848 .BR inc ,
 849 and other programs that interact with the mail transport system,
 850 instead of the default.  See mh-tailor(5).
 851 .RE
 852 .PP
 853 .B $MHMTSUSERCONF
 854 .RS 5
 855 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the name of
 856 a mail transport configuration file to be read in addition to the
 857 default.  See mh-tailor(5).
 858 .RE
 859 .PP
 860 .B $MHTMPDIR
 861 .B $TMPDIR
 862 .B $TMP
 863 .RS 5
 864 These variables are searched, in order, for the directory in which to
 865 create some temporary files.
 866 .RE
 867 .PP
 868 .B $MHLDEBUG
 869 .RS 5
 870 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 871 .B mhl
 872 will emit debugging information.
 873 .RE
 874 .PP
 875 .B $MHPDEBUG
 876 .RS 5
 877 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 878 .B pick
 879 will emit a representation of the search pattern.
 880 .RE
 881 .PP
 882 .B $MHWDEBUG
 883 .RS 5
 884 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 885 .B nmh
 886 commands that use the
 887 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes
 888 profile entry will display debugging information
 889 about the values in that entry.
 890 .RE
 891 .PP
 892 .B $PAGER
 893 .RS 5
 894 If set to a non-null value, this supersedes the value of
 895 the default built-in pager command.
 896 .RE
 897 .PP
 898 .B $editalt
 899 .RS 5
 900 This is the alternate message.
 901 .PP
 902 This is set by
 903 .B dist
 904 and
 905 .B repl
 906 during edit sessions so you can
 907 peruse the message being distributed or replied to.  The message is also
 908 available, when the
 909 .B \-atfile
 910 switch is used,
 911 through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory if
 912 your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
 913 on the same UNIX filesystem, and if your current working directory is
 914 writable.
 915 .RE
 916 .PP
 917 .B $mhdraft
 918 .RS 5
 919 This is the path to the working draft.
 920 .PP
 921 This is set by
 922 .BR comp ,
 923 .BR dist ,
 924 .BR forw ,
 925 and
 926 .B repl
 927 to tell the
 928 .I whatnowproc
 929 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq
 930 questions about.
 931 .RE
 932 .PP
 933 .B $mhaltmsg
 934 .RS 5
 935 .B dist
 936 and
 937 .B repl
 938 set
 939 .B $mhaltmsg
 940 to tell the
 941 .I whatnowproc
 942 about an alternate message associated with the
 943 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
 944 .RE
 945 .PP
 946 .B $mhfolder
 947 .RS 5
 948 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
 949 .PP
 950 This is set by
 951 .B dist
 952 and
 953 .B repl
 954 during edit sessions so you
 955 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
 956 distributed or replied to.  The environment variable
 957 .B $mhfolder
 958 is also set by
 959 .BR show ,
 960 .BR prev ,
 961 and
 962 .B next
 963 for use by
 964 .BR mhl .
 965 .RE
 966 .PP
 967 .B $mhdist
 968 .RS 5
 969 .B dist
 970 sets
 971 .B $mhdist
 972 to tell the
 973 .I whatnowproc
 974 that message re-distribution is occurring.
 975 .RE
 976 .PP
 977 .B $mheditor
 978 .RS 5
 979 This is set by
 980 .BR comp ,
 981 .BR repl ,
 982 .BR forw ,
 983 and
 984 .B dist
 985 to tell the
 986 .I whatnowproc
 987 the user's choice of
 988 editor (unless overridden by
 989 .BR \-noedit ).
 990 .RE
 991 .PP
 992 .B $mhuse
 993 .RS 5
 994 This may be set by
 995 .BR comp .
 996 .RE
 997 .PP
 998 .B $mhmessages
 999 .RS 5
1000 This is set by
1001 .BR dist ,
1002 .BR forw ,
1003 and
1004 .B repl
1005 if annotations are to occur.
1006 .RE
1007 .PP
1008 .B $mhannotate
1009 .RS 5
1010 This is set by
1011 .BR dist ,
1012 .BR forw ,
1013 and
1014 .B repl
1015 if annotations are to occur.
1016 .RE
1017 .PP
1018 .B $mhinplace
1019 .RS 5
1020 This is set by
1021 .BR dist ,
1022 .BR forw ,
1023 and
1024 .B repl
1025 if annotations are to occur.
1026 .RE
1027 .SH FILES
1028 .fc ^ ~
1029 .nf
1030 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName  'u
1031 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
1032 ^or $MH~^Rather than the standard profile
1033 ^<mh\-dir>/context~^The user context
1034 ^or $MHCONTEXT~^Rather than the standard context
1035 ^<folder>/\&.mh\(rusequences~^Public sequences for <folder>
1036 .fi
1037 .SH "SEE ALSO"
1038 .IR environ (5),
1039 .IR mh-sequence (5),
1040 .IR nmh (7)
1041 .SH HISTORY
1042 The
1043 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
1044 contains only static information, which
1045 .B nmh
1046 programs will
1047 .B NOT
1048 update.  Changes in context are made to the
1049 .I context
1050 file kept in the users
1051 .B nmh
1052 directory.
1053 This includes, but is not limited to: the \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry
1054 and all private sequence information.  Public sequence information is
1055 kept in each folder in the file determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq
1056 profile entry (default is
1057 .IR \&.mh\(rusequences ).
1058 .PP
1059 The
1060 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
1061 may override the path of the
1062 .I context
1063 file, by specifying a \*(lqcontext\*(rq entry (this must be in
1064 lower-case).  If the entry is not absolute (does not start with a
1065 \*(lq/\*(rq), then it is interpreted relative to the user's
1066 .B nmh
1067 directory.  As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
1068 private sequences by using different context files.
1069 .SH BUGS
1070 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1071 in the profile as options.  In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1072 command line semantics of all
1073 .B nmh
1074 programs: conflicting switches
1075 (e.g.
1076 .B \-header
1077 and
1078 .BR \-noheader )
1079 may occur more than one time on the
1080 command line, with the last switch taking effect.  Other arguments, such
1081 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
1082 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
1083 the same type.  Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
1084 arguments) in the profile.
1085 .PP
1086 If one finds that an
1087 .B nmh
1088 program is being invoked again and again
1089 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
1090 are a few possible solutions to this problem.  The first is to create a
1091 (soft) link in your
1092 .I $HOME/bin
1093 directory to the
1094 .B nmh
1095 program
1096 of your choice.  By giving this link a different name, you can create
1097 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1098 the
1099 .B nmh
1100 command.  Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1101 which called the
1102 .B nmh
1103 program of your choice with an alternate set
1104 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1105 is preferable to this solution).
1106 .PP
1107 Finally, the
1108 .B csh
1109 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1110 .PP
1111 .RS 5
1112 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1113 .RE
1114 .PP
1115 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1116 give
1117 .B nmh
1118 commands safely.  (Recall that some
1119 .B nmh
1120 commands
1121 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1122 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)