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

   1 .TH MH-MAIL %manext5% 2014-01-08 "%nmhversion%"
   2 .
   3 .\" %nmhwarning%
   4 .
   5 .SH NAME
   6 mh-mail \- message format for nmh message system
   7 .SH DESCRIPTION
   8 .B nmh
   9 processes messages in a particular format.  It should be noted
  10 that although neither Bell nor Berkeley mailers produce message files
  11 in the format that
  12 .B nmh
  13 prefers,
  14 .B nmh
  15 can read message files in that format.
  16 .PP
  17 Each user possesses a mail drop which initially receives all messages
  18 processed by
  19 .BR post .
  20 .B inc
  21 will read from that mail drop and incorporate new messages found there
  22 into the user's own mail folders (typically
  23 .RI \*(lq +inbox \*(rq).
  24 The mail drop consists of one or more messages.
  25 .PP
  26 Messages are expected to consist of lines of text.  Graphics and binary
  27 data are not handled.  No data compression is accepted.  All text is
  28 clear ASCII 7-bit data.
  29 .PP
  30 The general \*(lqmemo\*(rq framework of RFC 822 is used.  A message
  31 consists of a block of information in a rigid format, followed by
  32 general text with no specified format.  The rigidly formatted first
  33 part of a message is called the header, and the free-format portion is
  34 called the body.  The header must always exist, but the body is optional.
  35 These parts are separated by an empty line, i.e., two consecutive newline
  36 characters.  Within
  37 .BR nmh ,
  38 the header and body may be separated by a line consisting of dashes:
  39 .PP
  40 .RS 5
  41 .nf
  42 From: Local Mailbox <user@example.com>
  43 To:
  44 cc:
  45 Fcc: +outbox
  46 Subject:
  47 .fi
  48 .RE
  49 .PP
  50 The header is composed of one or more header items.  Each header item can
  51 be viewed as a single logical line of ASCII characters.  If the text of
  52 a header item extends across several real lines, the continuation lines
  53 are indicated by leading spaces or tabs.
  54 .PP
  55 Each header item is called a component and is composed of a keyword or
  56 name, along with associated text.  The keyword begins at the left margin,
  57 may NOT contain spaces or tabs, may not exceed 63 characters (as specified
  58 by RFC 822), and is terminated by a colon (`:').  Certain components
  59 (as identified by their keywords) must follow rigidly defined formats
  60 in their text portions.
  61 .PP
  62 The text for most formatted components (e.g., \*(lqDate:\*(rq and
  63 \*(lqMessage\-Id:\*(rq) is produced automatically.  The only ones entered
  64 by the user are address fields such as \*(lqTo:\*(rq, \*(lqcc:\*(rq,
  65 etc.  Internet addresses are assigned mailbox names and host computer
  66 specifications.  The rough format is \*(lqlocal@domain\*(rq, such as
  67 \*(lqMH@UCI\*(rq, or \*(lqMH@UCI\-ICSA.ARPA\*(rq.  Multiple addresses
  68 are separated by commas.  A missing host/domain is assumed to be the
  69 local host/domain.
  70 .PP
  71 As mentioned above, a blank line (or a line of dashes) signals that all
  72 following text up to the end of the file is the body.  No formatting is
  73 expected or enforced within the body.
  74 .PP
  75 Following is a list of header components that are considered
  76 meaningful to various
  77 .B nmh
  78 programs.
  79 .PP
  80 .BR Date :
  81 .RS 5
  82 Added by
  83 .BR post ,
  84 contains date and time of the message's entry into the mail transport system.
  85 .RE
  86 .PP
  87 .BR From :
  88 .RS 5
  89 This header is filled in by default with the system's idea of the user's local
  90 mailbox.  This can be changed with the
  91 .B Local\-Mailbox
  92 profile entry.
  93 It contains the address of the author or authors (may be more than one if a
  94 \*(lqSender:\*(rq field is present).  For a standard reply (using
  95 .BR repl ),
  96 the reply address is constructed by checking the following headers (in this
  97 order): \*(lqMail-Reply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqFrom:\*(rq,
  98 \*(lqSender:\*(rq.  A \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header MUST exist when the message is
  99 sent to
 100 .BR post,
 101 otherwise the message will be rejected.
 102 .RE
 103 .PP
 104 .BR Envelope\-From :
 105 .RS 5
 106 Used by
 107 .B post
 108 to specify a value for the sender's envelope address to the mail transport
 109 system.  If omitted,
 110 .B post
 111 will use the value of the \*(lqSender:\*(rq or the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header.
 112 See
 113 .IR send (1)
 114 for more details.
 115 .RE
 116 .PP
 117 .BR Mail\-Reply\-To :
 118 .RS 5
 119 For a standard reply (using
 120 .BR repl ),
 121 the reply address is constructed by checking the following headers
 122 (in this order): \*(lqMail-Reply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq,
 123 \*(lqFrom:\*(rq, \*(lqSender:\*(rq.
 124 .RE
 125 .PP
 126 .BR Mail\-Followup\-To :
 127 .RS 5
 128 When making a \*(lqgroup\*(rq reply (using
 129 .B repl
 130 .BR \-group ),
 131 any addresses in this field will take precedence, and no other reply address
 132 will be added to the draft.  If this header is not available, then the
 133 return addresses will be constructed from the \*(lqMail-Reply\-To:\*(rq,
 134 or \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq, or \*(lqFrom:\*(rq, along with adding the
 135 addresses from the headers \*(lqTo:\*(rq, \*(lqcc:\*(rq, as well as
 136 adding your personal address.
 137 .RE
 138 .PP
 139 .BR Reply\-To :
 140 .RS 5
 141 For a standard reply (using
 142 .BR repl ),
 143 the reply address is
 144 constructed by checking the following headers (in this order):
 145 \*(lqMail-Reply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqFrom:\*(rq,
 146 \*(lqSender:\*(rq.
 147 .RE
 148 .PP
 149 .BR Sender :
 150 .RS 5
 151 Required by
 152 .B post
 153 in the event that the message has multiple addresses on the
 154 \*(lqFrom:\*(rq line.  It is otherwise optional.  This line should
 155 contain the address of the actual sender.
 156 .RE
 157 .PP
 158 .BR To :
 159 .RS 5
 160 Contains addresses of primary recipients.
 161 .RE
 162 .PP
 163 .BR cc :
 164 .RS 5
 165 Contains addresses of secondary recipients.
 166 .RE
 167 .PP
 168 .BR Bcc :
 169 .RS 5
 170 Still more recipients.  However, the \*(lqBcc:\*(rq line is not
 171 copied onto the message as delivered, so these recipients are not
 172 listed.
 173 .B nmh
 174 uses an encapsulation method for blind copies, see
 175 .IR send (1).
 176 .RE
 177 .PP
 178 .BR Dcc :
 179 .RS 5
 180 Still more recipients.  However, the \*(lqDcc:\*(rq line is not
 181 copied onto the messages as delivered.  Recipients on the \*(lqDcc:\*(rq
 182 line receive the same message as recipients on the \*(lqTo:\*(rq and
 183 \*(lqcc:\*(rq lines.  See
 184 .IR send (1)
 185 for more details.
 186 .B Dcc
 187 is not supported with the
 188 .B sendmail/pipe
 189 mail transport method.
 190 .RE
 191 .PP
 192 .BR Fcc :
 193 .RS 5
 194 Causes
 195 .B post
 196 to copy the message into the specified folder for the sender,
 197 if the message was successfully given to the transport system.
 198 .RE
 199 .PP
 200 .BR Message\-ID :
 201 .RS 5
 202 A unique message identifier added by
 203 .B post
 204 if the
 205 .B \-msgid
 206 flag is set.
 207 .RE
 208 .PP
 209 .BR Subject :
 210 .RS 5
 211 Sender's commentary.  It is displayed by
 212 .BR scan .
 213 .RE
 214 .PP
 215 .BR In\-Reply\-To :
 216 .RS 5
 217 A commentary line added by
 218 .B repl
 219 when replying to a message.
 220 .RE
 221 .PP
 222 .BR Resent\-Date :
 223 .RS 5
 224 Added when redistributing a message by
 225 .BR post .
 226 .RE
 227 .PP
 228 .BR Resent\-From :
 229 .RS 5
 230 Used instead of the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header when
 231 .B post
 232 redistributes a message.  See \*(lqFrom:\*(rq.
 233 .RE
 234 .PP
 235 .BR Resent\-To:
 236 .RS 5
 237 New recipients for a message resent by
 238 .BR dist .
 239 .RE
 240 .PP
 241 .BR Resent\-cc :
 242 .RS 5
 243 Still more recipients.  See \*(lqcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 244 .RE
 245 .PP
 246 .BR Resent\-Bcc :
 247 .RS 5
 248 Even more recipients.  See \*(lqBcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 249 .RE
 250 .PP
 251 .BR Resent\-Fcc :
 252 .RS 5
 253 Copy resent message into a folder.
 254 See \*(lqFcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 255 .RE
 256 .PP
 257 .BR Resent\-Message\-Id :
 258 .RS 5
 259 A unique identifier glued on by
 260 .B post
 261 if the
 262 .B \-msgid
 263 flag is set.
 264 See \*(lqMessage\-Id:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 265 .RE
 266 .PP
 267 .BR Resent :
 268 .RS 5
 269 Annotation for
 270 .B dist
 271 under the
 272 .B \-annotate
 273 option.
 274 .RE
 275 .PP
 276 .BR Forwarded :
 277 .RS 5
 278 Annotation for
 279 .B forw
 280 under the
 281 .B \-annotate
 282 option.
 283 .RE
 284 .PP
 285 .BR Replied :
 286 .RS 5
 287 Annotation for
 288 .B repl
 289 under the
 290 .B \-annotate
 291 option.
 292 .RE
 293 .PP
 294 .BR Attach :
 295 .RS 5
 296 Used by
 297 .B mhbuild
 298 to specify a filename to attach to this message.  See
 299 .IR mhbuild (1)
 300 for more information.
 301 .RE
 302 .SH FILES
 303 .TP 20
 304 %mailspool%/$USER
 305 Location of mail drop.
 306 .SH "SEE ALSO"
 307 .I
 308 Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages
 309 (RFC 822)
 310 .SH CONTEXT
 311 None