1 .TH MH-PROFILE %manext5% "March 18, 2013" "%nmhversion%"
6 mh-profile \- user profile customization for nmh message handler
8 .I $HOME/.mh\(ruprofile
12 is expected to have a file named
14 in his or her home directory. This file contains
15 a set of user parameters used by some or all of the
17 family of programs. Each entry in the file is of the format
20 .IR profile\-component ": " value
23 If the text of profile entry is long, you may extend it across several
24 real lines by indenting the continuation lines with leading spaces or tabs.
25 Comments may be introduced by a line starting with `#:':
32 Blank lines are not permitted in
34 The shell quoting conventions are not available in the
35 .IR \&.mh\(ruprofile ;
36 each token is separated by whitespace.
37 .SS "Standard Profile Entries"
38 The possible profile components are exemplified below. The only mandatory
39 entry is `Path:'. The others are optional; some have default values if
40 they are not present. In the notation used below, (profile, default)
41 indicates whether the information is kept in the user's
45 context, and indicates what the default value is. Note that a profile
46 component can only appear once. Multiple appearances with trigger a
47 warning that all appearances after the first are ignored.
54 transactions in directory \*(lqMail\*(rq. This is the
55 only mandatory profile entry. (profile, no default)
61 Declares the location of the
63 context file. This is overridden by the environment variable
68 (profile, default: <nmh\-dir>/context)
74 Keeps track of the current open folder.
75 (context, default: folder specified by \*(lqInbox\*(rq)
81 Defines the name of your default inbox.
82 (profile, default: inbox)
85 .BR Previous\-Sequence :
88 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as the `msgs' or
89 `msg' argument given to any
91 command. If not present or empty,
92 no such sequences are defined. Otherwise, for each name given, the
93 sequence is first zero'd and then each message is added to the sequence.
96 man page for the details about this sequence. (profile, no default)
99 .BR Sequence\-Negation :
102 Defines the string which, when prefixed to a sequence name, negates
103 that sequence. Hence, \*(lqnotseen\*(rq means all those messages that
104 are not a member of the sequence \*(lqseen\*(rq. Read the
106 man page for the details. (profile, no default)
109 .BR Unseen\-Sequence :
112 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as those
113 messages which are unread. The commands
119 will add or remove messages from these
120 sequences when they are incorporated or read. If not present or
121 empty, no such sequences are defined. Otherwise, each message is
122 added to, or removed from, each sequence name given. Read the
124 man page for the details about this sequence.
125 (profile, no default)
131 The name of the file in each folder which defines public sequences.
132 To disable the use of public sequences, leave the value portion of this
133 entry blank. (profile, default: \&.mh\(rusequences)
136 .BI atr\- seq \- folder :
139 Keeps track of the private sequence called \*(lqseq\*(rq in the specified
140 folder. Private sequences are generally used for read\-only folders.
143 man page for details about private sequences.
144 (context, no default)
150 Defines the editor to be used by the commands
156 If not set in profile the value will be taken from the VISUAL and
157 EDITOR environment variables.
158 (profile, default: vi)
163 If defined and set to 1, then the
165 program will automatically
166 invoke the buildmimeproc (discussed below) to process each message as a MIME
167 composition draft before it is sent.
168 (profile, no default)
174 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new message files.
177 for an explanation of the octal number. Note that some filesystems,
178 such as FAT32, do not support removal of read file permissions.
179 (profile, default: 0600)
182 .BR Folder\-Protect :
185 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new folder
188 for an explanation of the octal number.
189 (profile, default: 700)
195 The locking algorithm used to lock changes to any
197 data files, such as sequences or the context. The locking algorithm is
198 any one of the following entries:
206 Available locking algorithms can vary depending on what is supported by
207 the operating system. Note: currently transactional locking is only
208 supported on public sequences; see
210 for more information.
211 (profile, default: fcntl)
217 Sets default switches to be used whenever the mh program
219 is invoked. For example, one could override the \*(lqEditor:\*(rq profile
220 component when replying to messages by adding a component such as:
223 repl: \-editor /bin/ed
226 (profile, no defaults)
229 .IB lasteditor "-next:"
232 Names \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq to be the default editor after using
233 \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq. This takes effect at \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt
241 the draft with \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq, the default editor is set to be
242 \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq. If the user types \*(lqedit\*(rq without any
243 arguments to \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq, then \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq is used.
244 (profile, no default)
250 The contents of the folder-stack for the
253 (context, no default)
257 Your Username <user@some.host>
259 Tells the various MH tools what your local mailbox is. If set, will be used
260 by the default component files by tools like
264 to construct your default \*(lqFrom\*(rq header. The text used here will
265 be copied exactly to your From: header, so it should already be RFC-822
266 compliant. If this is set, the
268 profile entry is NOT used, so it should include a signature as well. (profile,
269 default: userid@local.hostname)
272 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes :
273 mh@uci\-750a, bug-mh*
279 which addresses are really yours.
282 knows which addresses should be included in the
285 knows if the message really originated from you.
286 Addresses must be separated by a comma, and the hostnames listed should
287 be the \*(lqofficial\*(rq hostnames for the mailboxes you indicate, as
288 local nicknames for hosts are not replaced with their official site names.
289 For each address, if a host is not given, then that address on any host is
290 considered to be you. In addition, an asterisk (`*') may appear at either
291 or both ends of the mailbox and host to indicate wild-card matching.
292 (profile, default: your user-id)
299 Indicates aliases files for
304 This may be used instead of the
307 switch. (profile, no default)
313 Indicates a default draft folder for
322 man page for details. (profile, no default)
325 .BI digest\-issue\- list :
330 the last issue of the last volume sent for the digest
332 (context, no default)
335 .BI digest\-volume\- list :
340 the last volume sent for the digest
342 (context, no default)
350 your maildrop, if different from the default. This is
351 superseded by the environment variable
353 (profile, default: %mailspool%/$USER)
357 RAND MH System (agent: Marshall Rose)
359 Tells front-end programs such as
364 your mail signature. This is superseded by the
369 is not set and this profile entry is not present, the \*(lqgcos\*(rq field of
370 the \fI/etc/passwd\fP file will be used.
371 Your signature will be added to the address
373 puts in the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header; do not include an address in the
374 signature text. The \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component
375 supersedes all of this. (profile, no default)
377 .SS "Process Profile Entries"
378 The following profile elements are used whenever an
380 program invokes some other program such as
384 can be used to select alternate programs if the
385 user wishes. The default values are given in the examples.
387 If the profile element contains spaces, the element is split at spaces
388 into tokens and each token is given as a seperate argument to the
390 system call. If the element contains shell metacharacters then the entire
391 element is executed using
398 This is the program used by
400 to process drafts which are MIME composition files.
406 This program is used to refile or link a message to another folder.
409 to file a copy of a message into a folder given
410 by a \*(lqFcc:\*(rq field. It is used by the draft folder facility in
417 message into another folder. It is used to refile a draft message in
420 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
427 to filter a component when it is tagged with the \*(lqformat\*(rq variable
428 in the mhl filter. See
430 for more information.
438 to incorporate new mail when it
439 is invoked with no arguments.
445 This program is used to list the contents of a message in response
448 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt. It is
449 also used by the draft folder facility in
455 to display the draft message.
458 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
464 This is the program used to automatically mail various messages
465 and notifications. It is used by
469 option. It is used by
471 to post failure notices.
472 It is used to retrieve an external-body with access-type `mail-server'
473 (such as when storing the body with
480 This is the program used to filter messages in various ways. It
483 to filter and display the message headers
484 of MIME messages. When the
495 is used to filter the
496 message that you are forwarding, or to which you are replying.
503 is used to filter the copy of the message
504 that is sent to \*(lqBcc:\*(rq recipients.
510 This is the program used by
514 formatted message when displaying to a terminal. It is also the default
517 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
520 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
538 This is the program used by
547 post a message to the mail transport system. It is also called by
549 (called with the switches
553 to do address verification.
559 This is the program used by
564 to delete a message from a folder.
570 This is the program to use by
572 to actually send the message
578 This is the program used by
580 to process and display non-text (MIME) messages.
586 This is the program used by
588 to filter and display text (non-MIME) messages.
594 This is the program invoked by
600 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
606 This is the program used by
608 to determine to whom a message would be sent.
610 .SS "Environment Variables"
613 and its commands it also controlled by the
614 presence of certain environment variables.
616 Many of these environment variables are used internally by the
617 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface. It's amazing all the information
618 that has to get passed via environment variables to make the
619 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface look squeaky clean to the
621 user, isn't it? The reason for all this is that the
629 one of the standard shells. As a result, it's not possible to pass
630 information via an argument list. The convention is that environment
631 variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable; those
632 whose names are lower-case only are used internally by nmh and should
633 not generally be set by the user.
637 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
643 that you invoke. If the value of
645 is not absolute, (i.e., does
646 not begin with a \*(lq/\*(rq), it will be presumed to start from the current
647 working directory. This is one of the very few exceptions in
649 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
656 With this environment variable, you can specify a
657 context other than the normal context file (as specified in
660 profile). As always, unless the value of
662 is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your
669 With this environment variable, you can specify an
670 additional user profile (file) to be read by
672 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
677 With this environment variable, you can specify an
678 additional user profile (file) to be read by
680 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
682 is deprecated, so this support for this variable will
683 be removed from a future nmh release.
688 With this environment variable, you can specify an
689 additional user profile (file) to be read by
691 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
696 With this environment variable, you can specify an
697 additional user profile (file) to be read by
699 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
704 With this environment variable, you can specify
705 the native character set you are using. You must be able to display
706 this character set on your terminal.
708 This variable is checked to see if a RFC-2047 header field should be
721 be called, since showmimeproc will be called if a text message uses
722 a character set that doesn't match
727 for matches against the charset parameter
728 of text contents to decide it the text content can be displayed
729 without modifications to your terminal. This variable is checked by
731 to decide what character set to specify in the charset
732 parameter of text contents containing 8\-bit characters.
734 When decoding text in such an alternate character set,
736 must be able to determine which characters are alphabetic, which
737 are control characters, etc. For many operating systems, this
738 will require enabling the support for locales (such as setting
739 the environment variable
748 the default maildrop. This supersedes the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
755 the POP host to query for mail to incorporate. See the
756 inc(1) man page for more information.
759 .B $USERNAME_EXTENSION
761 This variable is for use with username_extension masquerading. See the
762 mh-tailor(5) man page.
771 your mail signature. This supersedes the \*(lqSignature\*(rq profile entry,
772 and is not used when the \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component is set.
781 your default maildrop: see the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
786 This variable tells all
788 programs your home directory
797 The environment variable
799 is also consulted. In particular,
804 how to clear your terminal, and how
805 many columns wide your terminal is. They also tell
808 lines long your terminal screen is.
813 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the
814 name of the mail transport configuration file to use by
817 and other programs that interact with the mail transport system,
818 instead of the default. See mh-tailor(5).
823 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the name of
824 a mail transport configuration file to be read in addition to the
825 default. See mh-tailor(5).
832 These variables are searched, in order, for the directory in which to
833 create some temporary files.
838 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
840 will emit debugging information.
845 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
847 will emit a representation of the search pattern.
852 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
854 commands that use the
855 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes
856 profile entry will display debugging information
857 about the values in that entry.
862 If set to a non-null value, this supersedes the value of
863 the default built-in pager command.
868 This is the alternate message.
874 during edit sessions so you can
875 peruse the message being distributed or replied to. The message is also
879 through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory if
880 your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
881 on the same UNIX filesystem, and if your current working directory is
887 This is the path to the working draft.
897 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq
910 about an alternate message associated with the
911 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
916 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
922 during edit sessions so you
923 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
924 distributed or replied to. The environment variable
942 that message re-distribution is occurring.
956 editor (unless overridden by
973 if annotations are to occur.
983 if annotations are to occur.
993 if annotations are to occur.
998 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
999 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
1000 ^or $MH~^Rather than the standard profile
1001 ^<mh\-dir>/context~^The user context
1002 ^or $MHCONTEXT~^Rather than the standard context
1003 ^<folder>/\&.mh\(rusequences~^Public sequences for <folder>
1007 .IR mh-sequence (5),
1012 contains only static information, which
1016 update. Changes in context are made to the
1018 file kept in the users
1021 This includes, but is not limited to: the \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry
1022 and all private sequence information. Public sequence information is
1023 kept in each folder in the file determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq
1024 profile entry (default is
1025 .IR \&.mh\(rusequences ).
1029 may override the path of the
1031 file, by specifying a \*(lqcontext\*(rq entry (this must be in
1032 lower-case). If the entry is not absolute (does not start with a
1033 \*(lq/\*(rq), then it is interpreted relative to the user's
1035 directory. As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
1036 private sequences by using different context files.
1038 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1039 in the profile as options. In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1040 command line semantics of all
1042 programs: conflicting switches
1047 may occur more than one time on the
1048 command line, with the last switch taking effect. Other arguments, such
1049 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
1050 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
1051 the same type. Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
1052 arguments) in the profile.
1054 If one finds that an
1056 program is being invoked again and again
1057 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
1058 are a few possible solutions to this problem. The first is to create a
1064 of your choice. By giving this link a different name, you can create
1065 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1068 command. Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1071 program of your choice with an alternate set
1072 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1073 is preferable to this solution).
1077 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1080 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1083 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1086 commands safely. (Recall that some
1089 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1090 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)
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