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   1 .TH MH-PROFILE %manext5% "April 18, 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 .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 separate 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 send
 541 to post failure notices.
 542 It is used to retrieve an external-body with access-type `mail-server'
 543 (such as when storing the body with
 544 .BR mhstore ).
 545 .RE
 546 .PP
 547 .BR mhlproc :
 548 %libdir%/mhl
 549 .RS 5
 550 This is the program used to filter messages in various ways.  It
 551 is used by
 552 .B mhshow
 553 to filter and display the message headers
 554 of MIME messages.  When the
 555 .B \-format
 556 or
 557 .B \-filter
 558 option is used
 559 by
 560 .B forw
 561 or
 562 .BR repl ,
 563 the
 564 .I mhlproc
 565 is used to filter the
 566 message that you are forwarding, or to which you are replying.
 567 When the
 568 .B \-filter
 569 option is given to
 570 .BR send ,
 571 the
 572 .I mhlproc
 573 is used to filter the copy of the message
 574 that is sent to \*(lqBcc:\*(rq recipients.
 575 .RE
 576 .PP
 577 .BR moreproc :
 578 more
 579 .RS 5
 580 This is the program used by
 581 .B mhl
 582 to page the
 583 .B mhl
 584 formatted message when displaying to a terminal.  It is also the default
 585 program used by
 586 .B mhshow
 587 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
 588 (Note that
 589 .B $PAGER
 590 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
 591 .RE
 592 .PP
 593 .BR packproc :
 594 %bindir%/packf
 595 .RS 5
 596 Currently not used.
 597 .RE
 598 .PP
 599 .BR postproc :
 600 %libdir%/post
 601 .RS 5
 602 This is the program used by
 603 .BR send ,
 604 .BR mhmail ,
 605 .BR rcvdist ,
 606 and
 607 .B viamail
 608 (used by the
 609 .B sendfiles
 610 shell script) to
 611 post a message to the mail transport system.  It is also called by
 612 .B whom
 613 (called with the switches
 614 .B \-whom
 615 and
 616 .BR \-library )
 617 to do address verification.
 618 .RE
 619 .PP
 620 .BR rmmproc :
 621 none
 622 .RS 5
 623 This is the program used by
 624 .BR rmm ,
 625 .BR refile ,
 626 and
 627 .B mhfixmsg
 628 to delete a message from a folder.
 629 .RE
 630 .PP
 631 .BR sendproc :
 632 %bindir%/send
 633 .RS 5
 634 This is the program to use by
 635 .B whatnow
 636 to actually send the message
 637 .RE
 638 .PP
 639 .BR showmimeproc :
 640 %bindir%/mhshow
 641 .RS 5
 642 This is the program used by
 643 .B show
 644 to process and display non-text (MIME) messages.
 645 .RE
 646 .PP
 647 .BR showproc :
 648 %libdir%/mhl
 649 .RS 5
 650 This is the program used by
 651 .B show
 652 to filter and display text (non-MIME) messages.
 653 .RE
 654 .PP
 655 .BR whatnowproc :
 656 %bindir%/whatnow
 657 .RS 5
 658 This is the program invoked by
 659 .BR comp ,
 660 .BR forw ,
 661 .BR dist ,
 662 and
 663 .B repl
 664 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
 665 .RE
 666 .PP
 667 .BR whomproc :
 668 %bindir%/whom
 669 .RS 5
 670 This is the program used by
 671 .B whatnow
 672 to determine to whom a message would be sent.
 673 .RE
 674 .SS "Profile Lookup"
 675 Some
 676 .B nmh
 677 programs will look in more than just the user's
 678 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
 679 for profile entries.  In particular,
 680 .BR mhbuild ,
 681 .BR mhshow ,
 682 .BR mhstore ,
 683 and
 684 .BR mhn
 685 will also all look in a file specified by a program-specific
 686 environment variable (see below), and after that in
 687 the system-installed profile (%etcdir%/mhn.defaults).  (The
 688 .B mhfixmsg
 689 program is similar, but doesn't consult an environment variable.)
 690 The first match found for a particular component will be used,
 691 allowing user-supplied entries to override those that are system-supplied.
 692 A profile component with a blank value field will "hide" any later
 693 occurrences of the component, and will make the entry appear to be
 694 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 this 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 .RE
 891 .PP
 892 .B $MHWDEBUG
 893 .RS 5
 894 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 895 .B nmh
 896 commands that use the
 897 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes
 898 profile entry will display debugging information
 899 about the values in that entry.
 900 .RE
 901 .PP
 902 .B $PAGER
 903 .RS 5
 904 If set to a non-null value, this supersedes the value of
 905 the default built-in pager command.
 906 .RE
 907 .PP
 908 .B $editalt
 909 .RS 5
 910 This is the alternate message.
 911 .PP
 912 This is set by
 913 .B dist
 914 and
 915 .B repl
 916 during edit sessions so you can
 917 peruse the message being distributed or replied to.  The message is also
 918 available, when the
 919 .B \-atfile
 920 switch is used,
 921 through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory if
 922 your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
 923 on the same UNIX filesystem, and if your current working directory is
 924 writable.
 925 .RE
 926 .PP
 927 .B $mhdraft
 928 .RS 5
 929 This is the path to the working draft.
 930 .PP
 931 This is set by
 932 .BR comp ,
 933 .BR dist ,
 934 .BR forw ,
 935 and
 936 .B repl
 937 to tell the
 938 .I whatnowproc
 939 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq
 940 questions about.
 941 .RE
 942 .PP
 943 .B $mhaltmsg
 944 .RS 5
 945 .B dist
 946 and
 947 .B repl
 948 set
 949 .B $mhaltmsg
 950 to tell the
 951 .I whatnowproc
 952 about an alternate message associated with the
 953 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
 954 .RE
 955 .PP
 956 .B $mhfolder
 957 .RS 5
 958 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
 959 .PP
 960 This is set by
 961 .B dist
 962 and
 963 .B repl
 964 during edit sessions so you
 965 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
 966 distributed or replied to.  The environment variable
 967 .B $mhfolder
 968 is also set by
 969 .BR show ,
 970 .BR prev ,
 971 and
 972 .B next
 973 for use by
 974 .BR mhl .
 975 .RE
 976 .PP
 977 .B $mhdist
 978 .RS 5
 979 .B dist
 980 sets
 981 .B $mhdist
 982 to tell the
 983 .I whatnowproc
 984 that message re-distribution is occurring.
 985 .RE
 986 .PP
 987 .B $mheditor
 988 .RS 5
 989 This is set by
 990 .BR comp ,
 991 .BR repl ,
 992 .BR forw ,
 993 and
 994 .B dist
 995 to tell the
 996 .I whatnowproc
 997 the user's choice of
 998 editor (unless overridden by
 999 .BR \-noedit ).
1000 .RE
1001 .PP
1002 .B $mhuse
1003 .RS 5
1004 This may be set by
1005 .BR comp .
1006 .RE
1007 .PP
1008 .B $mhmessages
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 $mhannotate
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 .PP
1028 .B $mhinplace
1029 .RS 5
1030 This is set by
1031 .BR dist ,
1032 .BR forw ,
1033 and
1034 .B repl
1035 if annotations are to occur.
1036 .RE
1037 .SH FILES
1038 .fc ^ ~
1039 .nf
1040 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName  'u
1041 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
1042 ^or $MH~^Rather than the standard profile
1043 ^<mh\-dir>/context~^The user context
1044 ^or $MHCONTEXT~^Rather than the standard context
1045 ^<folder>/\&.mh\(rusequences~^Public sequences for <folder>
1046 .fi
1047 .SH "SEE ALSO"
1048 .IR environ (5),
1049 .IR mh-sequence (5),
1050 .IR nmh (7)
1051 .SH HISTORY
1052 The
1053 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
1054 contains only static information, which
1055 .B nmh
1056 programs will
1057 .B NOT
1058 update.  Changes in context are made to the
1059 .I context
1060 file kept in the users
1061 .B nmh
1062 directory.
1063 This includes, but is not limited to: the \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry
1064 and all private sequence information.  Public sequence information is
1065 kept in each folder in the file determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq
1066 profile entry (default is
1067 .IR \&.mh\(rusequences ).
1068 .PP
1069 The
1070 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
1071 may override the path of the
1072 .I context
1073 file, by specifying a \*(lqcontext\*(rq entry (this must be in
1074 lower-case).  If the entry is not absolute (does not start with a
1075 \*(lq/\*(rq), then it is interpreted relative to the user's
1076 .B nmh
1077 directory.  As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
1078 private sequences by using different context files.
1079 .SH BUGS
1080 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1081 in the profile as options.  In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1082 command line semantics of all
1083 .B nmh
1084 programs: conflicting switches
1085 (e.g.
1086 .B \-header
1087 and
1088 .BR \-noheader )
1089 may occur more than one time on the
1090 command line, with the last switch taking effect.  Other arguments, such
1091 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
1092 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
1093 the same type.  Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
1094 arguments) in the profile.
1095 .PP
1096 If one finds that an
1097 .B nmh
1098 program is being invoked again and again
1099 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
1100 are a few possible solutions to this problem.  The first is to create a
1101 (soft) link in your
1102 .I $HOME/bin
1103 directory to the
1104 .B nmh
1105 program
1106 of your choice.  By giving this link a different name, you can create
1107 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1108 the
1109 .B nmh
1110 command.  Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1111 which called the
1112 .B nmh
1113 program of your choice with an alternate set
1114 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1115 is preferable to this solution).
1116 .PP
1117 Finally, the
1118 .B csh
1119 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1120 .PP
1121 .RS 5
1122 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1123 .RE
1124 .PP
1125 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1126 give
1127 .B nmh
1128 commands safely.  (Recall that some
1129 .B nmh
1130 commands
1131 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1132 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)