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   1 .TH MH-PROFILE %manext5% "December 21, 2014" "%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 Some MH programs, including
  48 .BR mhbuild ,
  49 .BR mhshow ,
  50 and
  51 .BR mhstore ,
  52 have specific profile components that are described in their respective
  53 man pages.  Each component name begins with the name of the program and
  54 is followed by a dash.
  55 .PP
  56 .BR Path :
  57 Mail
  58 .RS 5
  59 Locates
  60 .B nmh
  61 transactions in directory \*(lqMail\*(rq.  This is the
  62 only mandatory profile entry.  (profile, no default)
  63 .RE
  64 .PP
  65 .BR context :
  66 context
  67 .RS 5
  68 Declares the location of the
  69 .B nmh
  70 context file.  This is overridden by the environment variable
  71 .BR $MHCONTEXT .
  72 See the
  73 .B HISTORY
  74 section below.
  75 (profile, default: <nmh\-dir>/context)
  76 .RE
  77 .PP
  78 .BR Current\-Folder :
  79 inbox
  80 .RS 5
  81 Keeps track of the current open folder.
  82 (context, default: folder specified by \*(lqInbox\*(rq)
  83 .RE
  84 .PP
  85 .BR Inbox :
  86 inbox
  87 .RS 5
  88 Defines the name of your default inbox.
  89 (profile, default: inbox)
  90 .RE
  91 .PP
  92 .BR Previous\-Sequence :
  93 .I pseq
  94 .RS 5
  95 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as the `msgs' or
  96 `msg' argument given to any
  97 .B nmh
  98 command.  If not present or empty,
  99 no such sequences are defined.  Otherwise, for each name given, the
 100 sequence is first zero'd and then each message is added to the sequence.
 101 Read the
 102 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 103 man page for the details about this sequence. (profile, no default)
 104 .RE
 105 .PP
 106 .BR Sequence\-Negation :
 107 not
 108 .RS 5
 109 Defines the string which, when prefixed to a sequence name, negates
 110 that sequence.  Hence, \*(lqnotseen\*(rq means all those messages that
 111 are not a member of the sequence \*(lqseen\*(rq.  Read the
 112 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 113 man page for the details.  (profile, no default)
 114 .RE
 115 .PP
 116 .BR Unseen\-Sequence :
 117 unseen
 118 .RS 5
 119 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as those
 120 messages which are unread.  The commands
 121 .BR inc ,
 122 .BR rcvstore ,
 123 .BR mhshow ,
 124 and
 125 .B show
 126 will add or remove messages from these
 127 sequences when they are incorporated or read.  If not present or
 128 empty, no such sequences are defined.  Otherwise, each message is
 129 added to, or removed from, each sequence name given.  Read the
 130 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 131 man page for the details about this sequence.
 132 (profile, no default)
 133 .RE
 134 .PP
 135 .BR mh\-sequences :
 136 \&.mh\(rusequences
 137 .RS 5
 138 The name of the file in each folder which defines public sequences.
 139 To disable the use of public sequences, leave the value portion of this
 140 entry blank.  (profile, default: \&.mh\(rusequences)
 141 .RE
 142 .PP
 143 .BI atr\- seq \- folder :
 144 172\0178\-181\0212
 145 .RS 5
 146 Keeps track of the private sequence called \*(lqseq\*(rq in the specified
 147 folder.  Private sequences are generally used for read\-only folders.
 148 See the
 149 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 150 man page for details about private sequences.
 151 (context, no default)
 152 .RE
 153 .PP
 154 .BR Editor :
 155 vi
 156 .RS 5
 157 Defines the editor to be used by the commands
 158 .BR comp ,
 159 .BR dist ,
 160 .BR forw ,
 161 and
 162 .BR repl .
 163 If not set in profile the value will be taken from the VISUAL and
 164 EDITOR environment variables.
 165 (profile, default: vi)
 166 .RE
 167 .PP
 168 .BR Msg\-Protect :
 169 600
 170 .RS 5
 171 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new message files.
 172 See
 173 .IR chmod (1)
 174 for an explanation of the octal number.  Note that some filesystems,
 175 such as FAT32, do not support removal of read file permissions.
 176 (profile, default: 0600)
 177 .RE
 178 .PP
 179 .BR Folder\-Protect :
 180 700
 181 .RS 5
 182 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new folder
 183 directories.  See
 184 .IR chmod (1)
 185 for an explanation of the octal number.
 186 (profile, default: 700)
 187 .RE
 188 .PP
 189 .BR datalocking :
 190 fcntl
 191 .RS 5
 192 The locking algorithm used to lock changes to any
 193 .B nmh
 194 data files, such as sequences or the context.  The locking algorithm is
 195 any one of the following entries:
 196 .PP
 197 .RS 5
 198 .nf
 199 %supported_locks%
 200 .fi
 201 .RE
 202 .PP
 203 Available locking algorithms can vary depending on what is supported by
 204 the operating system.  Note: currently transactional locking is only
 205 supported on public sequences; see
 206 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 207 for more information.
 208 (profile, default: fcntl)
 209 .RE
 210 .PP
 211 .IR program :
 212 .I default switches
 213 .RS 5
 214 Sets default switches to be used whenever the mh program
 215 .I program
 216 is invoked.  For example, one could override the \*(lqEditor:\*(rq profile
 217 component when replying to messages by adding a component such as:
 218 .PP
 219 .RS 5
 220 repl: \-editor /bin/ed
 221 .RE
 222 .PP
 223 (profile, no defaults)
 224 .RE
 225 .PP
 226 .IB lasteditor "-next:"
 227 .I nexteditor
 228 .RS 5
 229 Names \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq to be the default editor after using
 230 \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq.  This takes effect at \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt
 231 in
 232 .BR comp ,
 233 .BR dist ,
 234 .BR forw ,
 235 and
 236 .BR repl .
 237 After editing
 238 the draft with \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq, the default editor is set to be
 239 \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq.  If the user types \*(lqedit\*(rq without any
 240 arguments to \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq, then \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq is used.
 241 (profile, no default)
 242 .RE
 243 .PP
 244 .BR Folder\-Stack :
 245 .I folders
 246 .RS 5
 247 The contents of the folder-stack for the
 248 .B folder
 249 command.
 250 (context, no default)
 251 .RE
 252 .PP
 253 .BR Local\-Mailbox :
 254 Your Username <user@some.host>
 255 .RS 5
 256 Tells the various MH tools what your local mailbox is.  If set, will be used
 257 by the default component files by tools like
 258 .B comp
 259 and
 260 .B repl
 261 to construct your default \*(lqFrom\*(rq header.  The text used here will
 262 be copied exactly to your From: header, so it should already be RFC 822
 263 compliant.  If this is set, the
 264 .B Signature
 265 profile entry is NOT used, so it should include a signature as well.  (profile,
 266 default: userid@local.hostname)
 267 .RE
 268 .PP
 269 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes :
 270 mh@uci\-750a, bug-mh*
 271 .RS 5
 272 Tells
 273 .B repl
 274 and
 275 .B scan
 276 which addresses are really yours.
 277 In this way,
 278 .B repl
 279 knows which addresses should be included in the
 280 reply, and
 281 scan
 282 knows if the message really originated from you.
 283 Addresses must be separated by a comma, and the hostnames listed should
 284 be the \*(lqofficial\*(rq hostnames for the mailboxes you indicate, as
 285 local nicknames for hosts are not replaced with their official site names.
 286 For each address, if a host is not given, then that address on any host is
 287 considered to be you.  In addition, an asterisk (`*') may appear at either
 288 or both ends of the mailbox and host to indicate wild-card matching.
 289 (profile, default: your user-id)
 290 .RE
 291 .PP
 292 .BR Aliasfile :
 293 aliases
 294 .I other-alias
 295 .RS 5
 296 Indicates aliases files for
 297 .BR ali ,
 298 .BR whom ,
 299 and
 300 .BR send .
 301 This may be used instead of the
 302 .B \-alias
 303 .I file
 304 switch.  (profile, no default)
 305 .RE
 306 .PP
 307 .BR Draft\-Folder :
 308 drafts
 309 .RS 5
 310 Indicates a default draft folder for
 311 .BR comp ,
 312 .BR dist ,
 313 .BR forw ,
 314 .BR refile ,
 315 and
 316 .BR repl .
 317 Read the
 318 .IR mh\-draft (5)
 319 man page for details. (profile, no default)
 320 .RE
 321 .PP
 322 .BI digest\-issue\- list :
 323 1
 324 .RS 5
 325 Tells
 326 .B forw
 327 the last issue of the last volume sent for the digest
 328 .IR list .
 329 (context, no default)
 330 .RE
 331 .PP
 332 .BI digest\-volume\- list :
 333 1
 334 .RS 5
 335 Tells
 336 .B forw
 337 the last volume sent for the digest
 338 .IR list .
 339 (context, no default)
 340 .RE
 341 .PP
 342 .BR MailDrop :
 343 \&.mail
 344 .RS 5
 345 Tells
 346 .B inc
 347 your maildrop, if different from the default.  This is
 348 superseded by the environment variable
 349 .BR $MAILDROP .
 350 (profile, default: %mailspool%/$USER)
 351 .RE
 352 .PP
 353 .BR Signature :
 354 RAND MH System (agent: Marshall Rose)
 355 .RS 5
 356 Tells front-end programs such as
 357 .BR comp,
 358 .BR forw,
 359 and
 360 .B repl
 361 your mail signature.  This is superseded by the
 362 environment variable
 363 .BR $SIGNATURE .
 364 If
 365 .B $SIGNATURE
 366 is not set and this profile entry is not present, the \*(lqgcos\*(rq field of
 367 the \fI/etc/passwd\fP file will be used.
 368 Your signature will be added to the address
 369 .B send
 370 puts in the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header; do not include an address in the
 371 signature text.  The \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component
 372 supersedes all of this.  (profile, no default)
 373 .RE
 374 .PP
 375 .BR credentials :
 376 \&legacy
 377 .RS 5
 378 Indicates how the username and password credentials will be retrieved
 379 for access to external servers, such as those that provide SMTP or POP
 380 service.  The supported entry values are \*(lqlegacy\*(rq and
 381 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq.
 382 With \*(lqlegacy\*(rq, or if there is no credentials entry, the
 383 username is the first of:
 384 .PP
 385 .RS 5
 386 1)
 387 .B \-user
 388 switch to
 389 .BR send ,
 390 .BR post ,
 391 .BR whom ,
 392 .BR inc ,
 393 or
 394 .B msgchk
 395 program
 396 .br
 397 2) the login name on the local machine
 398 .RE
 399 .PP
 400 The password for SMTP services is the first of:
 401 .PP
 402 .RS 5
 403 1) password value from matching entry in file named \*(lq.netrc\*(rq
 404 in the user's home directory
 405 .br
 406 2) password obtained by interactively prompting the user
 407 .RE
 408 .PP
 409 The password for POP service when the
 410 .B \-sasl
 411 switch is used with one of these programs is the login name on the
 412 local machine.
 413 .PP
 414 With a
 415 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq
 416 .B credentials
 417 entry, the username is the first of:
 418 .PP
 419 .RS 5
 420 1)
 421 .B \-user
 422 switch to program
 423 .br
 424 2) login name from matching entry in
 425 .I netrc
 426 file
 427 .br
 428 3) value provided by user in response to interactive query
 429 .RE
 430 .PP
 431 Similarly, the password is provided either in the
 432 .I netrc
 433 file or interactively.
 434 .I netrc
 435 can be any valid filename, either absolute or relative to Path or
 436 $HOME.  The
 437 .I netrc
 438 file contains authentication information, for each server,
 439 using a line of the following form.  Replace the words
 440 .IR myserver ,
 441 .IR mylogin ,
 442 and
 443 .I mypassword
 444 with your own account information:
 445 .PP
 446 .RS 5
 447 .B machine
 448 .I myserver
 449 .B login
 450 .I mylogin
 451 .B password
 452 .I mypassword
 453 .RE
 454 .PP
 455 This
 456 .I netrc
 457 file must be owned and readable only by you.
 458 (profile, default: legacy)
 459 .RE
 460 .SS "Process Profile Entries"
 461 The following profile elements are used whenever an
 462 .B nmh
 463 program invokes some other program such as
 464 .BR more .
 465 The
 466 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
 467 can be used to select alternate programs if the
 468 user wishes.  The default values are given in the examples.
 469 .PP
 470 If the profile element contains spaces, the element is split at spaces
 471 into tokens and each token is given as a separate argument to the
 472 .IR execvp (2)
 473 system call.  If the element contains shell metacharacters then the entire
 474 element is executed using
 475 .BR /bin/sh .
 476 .RE
 477 .PP
 478 .BR buildmimeproc :
 479 %bindir%/mhbuild
 480 .RS 5
 481 This is the program used by
 482 .B whatnow
 483 to process drafts which are MIME composition files.
 484 .RE
 485 .PP
 486 .BR fileproc :
 487 %bindir%/refile
 488 .RS 5
 489 This program is used to refile or link a message to another folder.
 490 It is used by
 491 .B send
 492 to file a copy of a message into a folder given
 493 by a \*(lqFcc:\*(rq field.  It is used by the draft folder facility in
 494 .BR comp ,
 495 .BR dist ,
 496 .BR forw ,
 497 and
 498 .B repl
 499 to refile a draft
 500 message into another folder.  It is used to refile a draft message in
 501 response to the
 502 .B refile
 503 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
 504 .RE
 505 .PP
 506 .BR formatproc :
 507 .RS 5
 508 Program called by
 509 .B mhl
 510 to filter a component when it is tagged with the \*(lqformat\*(rq variable
 511 in the mhl filter.  See
 512 .IR mhl (5)
 513 for more information.
 514 .RE
 515 .PP
 516 .BR incproc :
 517 %bindir%/inc
 518 .RS 5
 519 Program called by
 520 .B mhmail
 521 to incorporate new mail when it
 522 is invoked with no arguments.
 523 .RE
 524 .PP
 525 .BR lproc :
 526 more
 527 .RS 5
 528 This program is used to list the contents of a message in response
 529 to the
 530 .B list
 531 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.  It is
 532 also used by the draft folder facility in
 533 .BR comp ,
 534 .BR dist ,
 535 .BR forw ,
 536 and
 537 .B repl
 538 to display the draft message.
 539 (Note that
 540 .B $PAGER
 541 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
 542 .RE
 543 .PP
 544 .BR mailproc :
 545 %bindir%/mhmail
 546 .RS 5
 547 This is the program used to automatically mail various messages
 548 and notifications.  It is used by
 549 .B send
 550 to post failure notices.
 551 It is used to retrieve an external-body with access-type `mail-server'
 552 (such as when storing the body with
 553 .BR mhstore ).
 554 .RE
 555 .PP
 556 .BR mhlproc :
 557 %nmhlibexecdir%/mhl
 558 .RS 5
 559 This is the program used to filter messages in various ways.  It
 560 is used by
 561 .B mhshow
 562 to filter and display the message headers
 563 of MIME messages.  When the
 564 .B \-format
 565 or
 566 .B \-filter
 567 option is used
 568 by
 569 .B forw
 570 or
 571 .BR repl ,
 572 the
 573 .I mhlproc
 574 is used to filter the
 575 message that you are forwarding, or to which you are replying.
 576 When the
 577 .B \-filter
 578 option is given to
 579 .BR send ,
 580 the
 581 .I mhlproc
 582 is used to filter the copy of the message
 583 that is sent to \*(lqBcc:\*(rq recipients.
 584 .RE
 585 .PP
 586 .BR moreproc :
 587 more
 588 .RS 5
 589 This is the program used by
 590 .B mhl
 591 to page the
 592 .B mhl
 593 formatted message when displaying to a terminal.  It is also the default
 594 program used by
 595 .B mhshow
 596 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
 597 (Note that
 598 .B $PAGER
 599 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
 600 .RE
 601 .PP
 602 .BR packproc :
 603 %bindir%/packf
 604 .RS 5
 605 Currently not used.
 606 .RE
 607 .PP
 608 .BR postproc :
 609 %nmhlibexecdir%/post
 610 .RS 5
 611 This is the program used by
 612 .BR send ,
 613 .BR mhmail ,
 614 .BR rcvdist ,
 615 and
 616 .B viamail
 617 (used by the
 618 .B sendfiles
 619 shell script) to
 620 post a message to the mail transport system.  It is also called by
 621 .B whom
 622 (called with the switches
 623 .B \-whom
 624 and
 625 .BR \-library )
 626 to do address verification.
 627 .RE
 628 .PP
 629 .BR rmmproc :
 630 none
 631 .RS 5
 632 This is the program used by
 633 .BR rmm ,
 634 .BR refile ,
 635 and
 636 .B mhfixmsg
 637 to delete a message from a folder.
 638 .RE
 639 .PP
 640 .BR sendproc :
 641 %bindir%/send
 642 .RS 5
 643 This is the program to use by
 644 .B whatnow
 645 to actually send the message
 646 .RE
 647 .PP
 648 .BR showmimeproc :
 649 %bindir%/mhshow
 650 .RS 5
 651 This is the program used by
 652 .B show
 653 to process and display non-text (MIME) messages.
 654 .RE
 655 .PP
 656 .BR showproc :
 657 %nmhlibexecdir%/mhl
 658 .RS 5
 659 This is the program used by
 660 .B show
 661 to filter and display text (non-MIME) messages.
 662 .RE
 663 .PP
 664 .BR whatnowproc :
 665 %bindir%/whatnow
 666 .RS 5
 667 This is the program invoked by
 668 .BR comp ,
 669 .BR forw ,
 670 .BR dist ,
 671 and
 672 .B repl
 673 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
 674 .RE
 675 .PP
 676 .BR whomproc :
 677 %bindir%/whom
 678 .RS 5
 679 This is the program used by
 680 .B whatnow
 681 to determine to whom a message would be sent.
 682 .RE
 683 .SS "Profile Lookup"
 684 After consulting .mh_profile,
 685 some programs read an optional profile specified by a
 686 program-specific environment variable,
 687 and then the system-wide profile %nmhetcdir%/mhn.defaults.
 688 These programs are mhbuild, mhshow, mhstore, and mhn.
 689 mhfixmsg is similar, but has no optional profile.
 690
 691 The first occurrence of a component is used,
 692 e.g.\& .mh_profile's trumps $MHSHOW's.
 693 A component with no value still stops further occurrences being used,
 694 but is considered absent.
 695 .SS "Environment Variables"
 696 The operation of
 697 .B nmh
 698 and its commands it also controlled by the
 699 presence of certain environment variables.
 700 .PP
 701 Many of these environment variables are used internally by the
 702 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface.  It's amazing all the information
 703 that has to get passed via environment variables to make the
 704 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface look squeaky clean to the
 705 .B nmh
 706 user, isn't it?  The reason for all this is that the
 707 .B nmh
 708 user
 709 can select
 710 .B any
 711 program as the
 712 .IR whatnowproc ,
 713 including
 714 one of the standard shells.  As a result, it's not possible to pass
 715 information via an argument list. The convention is that environment
 716 variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable; those
 717 whose names are lower-case only are used internally by nmh and should
 718 not generally be set by the user.
 719 .PP
 720 .B $MH
 721 .RS 5
 722 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
 723 other than
 724 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
 725 to be read by the
 726 .B nmh
 727 programs
 728 that you invoke.  If the value of
 729 .B $MH
 730 is not absolute, (i.e., does
 731 not begin with a \*(lq/\*(rq), it will be presumed to start from the current
 732 working directory.  This is one of the very few exceptions in
 733 .B nmh
 734 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
 735 .B nmh
 736 directory.
 737 .RE
 738 .PP
 739 .B $MHCONTEXT
 740 .RS 5
 741 With this environment variable, you can specify a
 742 context other than the normal context file (as specified in
 743 the
 744 .B nmh
 745 profile).  As always, unless the value of
 746 .B $MHCONTEXT
 747 is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your
 748 .B nmh
 749 directory.
 750 .RE
 751 .PP
 752 .B $MHBUILD
 753 .RS 5
 754 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 755 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 756 .BR mhbuild ,
 757 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 758 .RE
 759 .PP
 760 .B $MHN
 761 .RS 5
 762 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 763 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 764 .BR mhn ,
 765 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 766 .B mhn
 767 is deprecated, so support for this variable will
 768 be removed from a future nmh release.
 769 .RE
 770 .PP
 771 .B $MHSHOW
 772 .RS 5
 773 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 774 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 775 .BR mhshow ,
 776 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 777 .RE
 778 .PP
 779 .B $MHSTORE
 780 .RS 5
 781 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 782 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 783 .BR mhstore ,
 784 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 785 .RE
 786 .PP
 787 .B $MAILDROP
 788 .RS 5
 789 This variable tells
 790 .B inc
 791 the default maildrop. This supersedes the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
 792 .RE
 793 .PP
 794 .B $MAILHOST
 795 .RS 5
 796 This variable tells
 797 .B inc
 798 the POP host to query for mail to incorporate.  See the
 799 inc(1) man page for more information.
 800 .RE
 801 .PP
 802 .B $USERNAME_EXTENSION
 803 .RS 5
 804 This variable is for use with username_extension masquerading.  See the
 805 mh-tailor(5) man page.
 806 .RE
 807 .PP
 808 .B $SIGNATURE
 809 .RS 5
 810 This variable tells
 811 .B send
 812 and
 813 .B post
 814 your mail signature. This supersedes the \*(lqSignature\*(rq profile entry,
 815 and is not used when the \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component is set.
 816 .RE
 817 .PP
 818 .B $USER
 819 .RS 5
 820 This variable tells
 821 .B repl
 822 your user name and
 823 .B inc
 824 your default maildrop:  see the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
 825 .RE
 826 .PP
 827 .B $HOME
 828 .RS 5
 829 This variable tells all
 830 .B nmh
 831 programs your home directory
 832 .RE
 833 .PP
 834 .B $TERM
 835 .RS 5
 836 This variable tells
 837 .B nmh
 838 your terminal type.
 839 .PP
 840 The environment variable
 841 .B $TERMCAP
 842 is also consulted.  In particular,
 843 these tell
 844 .B scan
 845 and
 846 .B mhl
 847 how to clear your terminal, and how
 848 many columns wide your terminal is.  They also tell
 849 .B mhl
 850 how many
 851 lines long your terminal screen is.
 852 .RE
 853 .PP
 854 .B $MHMTSCONF
 855 .RS 5
 856 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the
 857 name of the mail transport configuration file to use by
 858 .BR post ,
 859 .BR inc ,
 860 and other programs that interact with the mail transport system,
 861 instead of the default.  See mh-tailor(5).
 862 .RE
 863 .PP
 864 .B $MHMTSUSERCONF
 865 .RS 5
 866 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the name of
 867 a mail transport configuration file to be read in addition to the
 868 default.  See mh-tailor(5).
 869 .RE
 870 .PP
 871 .B $MHTMPDIR
 872 .B $TMPDIR
 873 .RS 5
 874 These variables are searched, in order, for the directory in which to
 875 create some temporary files.
 876 .RE
 877 .PP
 878 .B $MHLDEBUG
 879 .RS 5
 880 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 881 .B mhl
 882 will emit debugging information.
 883 .RE
 884 .PP
 885 .B $MHPDEBUG
 886 .RS 5
 887 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 888 .B pick
 889 will emit a representation of the search pattern.
 890 .B $MHPDEBUG
 891 is deprecated, so support for this variable will
 892 be removed from a future nmh release.  Instead,
 893 .B pick
 894 now supports a
 895 .B \-debug
 896 switch.
 897 .RE
 898 .PP
 899 .B $MHWDEBUG
 900 .RS 5
 901 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 902 .B nmh
 903 commands that use the
 904 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes
 905 profile entry will display debugging information
 906 about the values in that entry.
 907 .RE
 908 .PP
 909 .B $PAGER
 910 .RS 5
 911 If set to a non-null value, this supersedes the value of
 912 the default built-in pager command.
 913 .RE
 914 .PP
 915 .B $editalt
 916 .RS 5
 917 This is the alternate message.
 918 .PP
 919 This is set by
 920 .B dist
 921 and
 922 .B repl
 923 during edit sessions so you can
 924 peruse the message being distributed or replied to.  The message is also
 925 available, when the
 926 .B \-atfile
 927 switch is used,
 928 through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory if
 929 your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
 930 on the same UNIX filesystem, and if your current working directory is
 931 writable.
 932 .RE
 933 .PP
 934 .B $mhdraft
 935 .RS 5
 936 This is the path to the working draft.
 937 .PP
 938 This is set by
 939 .BR comp ,
 940 .BR dist ,
 941 .BR forw ,
 942 and
 943 .B repl
 944 to tell the
 945 .I whatnowproc
 946 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq
 947 questions about.
 948 .RE
 949 .PP
 950 .B $mhaltmsg
 951 .RS 5
 952 .B dist
 953 and
 954 .B repl
 955 set
 956 .B $mhaltmsg
 957 to tell the
 958 .I whatnowproc
 959 about an alternate message associated with the
 960 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
 961 .RE
 962 .PP
 963 .B $mhfolder
 964 .RS 5
 965 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
 966 .PP
 967 This is set by
 968 .B dist
 969 and
 970 .B repl
 971 during edit sessions so you
 972 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
 973 distributed or replied to.  The environment variable
 974 .B $mhfolder
 975 is also set by
 976 .BR show ,
 977 .BR prev ,
 978 and
 979 .B next
 980 for use by
 981 .BR mhl .
 982 .RE
 983 .PP
 984 .B $mhdist
 985 .RS 5
 986 .B dist
 987 sets
 988 .B $mhdist
 989 to tell the
 990 .I whatnowproc
 991 that message re-distribution is occurring.
 992 .RE
 993 .PP
 994 .B $mheditor
 995 .RS 5
 996 This is set by
 997 .BR comp ,
 998 .BR repl ,
 999 .BR forw ,
1000 and
1001 .B dist
1002 to tell the
1003 .I whatnowproc
1004 the user's choice of
1005 editor (unless overridden by
1006 .BR \-noedit ).
1007 .RE
1008 .PP
1009 .B $mhuse
1010 .RS 5
1011 This may be set by
1012 .BR comp .
1013 .RE
1014 .PP
1015 .B $mhmessages
1016 .RS 5
1017 This is set by
1018 .BR dist ,
1019 .BR forw ,
1020 and
1021 .B repl
1022 if annotations are to occur.
1023 .RE
1024 .PP
1025 .B $mhannotate
1026 .RS 5
1027 This is set by
1028 .BR dist ,
1029 .BR forw ,
1030 and
1031 .B repl
1032 if annotations are to occur.
1033 .RE
1034 .PP
1035 .B $mhinplace
1036 .RS 5
1037 This is set by
1038 .BR dist ,
1039 .BR forw ,
1040 and
1041 .B repl
1042 if annotations are to occur.
1043 .RE
1044 .SH FILES
1045 .fc ^ ~
1046 .nf
1047 .ta \w'%nmhetcdir%/ExtraBigFileName  'u
1048 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
1049 ^or $MH~^Rather than the standard profile
1050 ^<mh\-dir>/context~^The user context
1051 ^or $MHCONTEXT~^Rather than the standard context
1052 ^<folder>/\&.mh\(rusequences~^Public sequences for <folder>
1053 .fi
1054 .SH "SEE ALSO"
1055 .IR environ (5),
1056 .IR mh-sequence (5),
1057 .IR mhbuild (1),
1058 .IR mhshow (1),
1059 .IR mhstore (1),
1060 .IR nmh (7)
1061 .SH HISTORY
1062 The
1063 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
1064 contains only static information, which
1065 .B nmh
1066 programs will
1067 .B NOT
1068 update.  Changes in context are made to the
1069 .I context
1070 file kept in the users
1071 .B nmh
1072 directory.
1073 This includes, but is not limited to: the \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry
1074 and all private sequence information.  Public sequence information is
1075 kept in each folder in the file determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq
1076 profile entry (default is
1077 .IR \&.mh\(rusequences ).
1078 .PP
1079 The
1080 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
1081 may override the path of the
1082 .I context
1083 file, by specifying a \*(lqcontext\*(rq entry (this must be in
1084 lower-case).  If the entry is not absolute (does not start with a
1085 \*(lq/\*(rq), then it is interpreted relative to the user's
1086 .B nmh
1087 directory.  As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
1088 private sequences by using different context files.
1089 .SH BUGS
1090 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1091 in the profile as options.  In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1092 command line semantics of all
1093 .B nmh
1094 programs: conflicting switches
1095 (e.g.
1096 .B \-header
1097 and
1098 .BR \-noheader )
1099 may occur more than one time on the
1100 command line, with the last switch taking effect.  Other arguments, such
1101 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
1102 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
1103 the same type.  Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
1104 arguments) in the profile.
1105 .PP
1106 If one finds that an
1107 .B nmh
1108 program is being invoked again and again
1109 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
1110 are a few possible solutions to this problem.  The first is to create a
1111 (soft) link in your
1112 .I $HOME/bin
1113 directory to the
1114 .B nmh
1115 program
1116 of your choice.  By giving this link a different name, you can create
1117 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1118 the
1119 .B nmh
1120 command.  Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1121 which called the
1122 .B nmh
1123 program of your choice with an alternate set
1124 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1125 is preferable to this solution).
1126 .PP
1127 Finally, the
1128 .B csh
1129 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1130 .PP
1131 .RS 5
1132 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1133 .RE
1134 .PP
1135 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1136 give
1137 .B nmh
1138 commands safely.  (Recall that some
1139 .B nmh
1140 commands
1141 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1142 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)