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   1 .TH MH-PROFILE %manext5% 2016-10-19 "%nmhversion%"
   2 .
   3 .\" %nmhwarning%
   4 .
   5 .SH NAME
   6 mh-profile \- user 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\-profile
  12 in their home directory.  This file contains
  13 a set of user parameters used by 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 a 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\-profile .
  32 Shell quoting conventions are not available; each token is separated
  33 by whitespace.
  34 .SS "Standard Profile Entries"
  35 The possible profile components are exemplified below.  The only mandatory
  36 entry is `Path:'.  The others are optional; some have default values if
  37 they are not present.  In the notation used below, (profile, default)
  38 indicates whether the information is kept in the user's
  39 .B nmh
  40 profile or
  41 .B nmh
  42 context, and indicates what the default value is.  Note that a profile
  43 component can only appear once.  Multiple appearances will trigger a
  44 warning that all appearances after the first are ignored.
  45 .PP
  46 Some MH programs, including
  47 .BR mhbuild ,
  48 .BR mhshow ,
  49 and
  50 .BR mhstore ,
  51 have specific profile components that are described in their respective
  52 man pages.  Each component name specific to these programs begins with
  53 the name of the program and is followed by a dash.
  54 .PP
  55 .BR Path :
  56 Mail
  57 .RS 5
  58 Locates
  59 .B nmh
  60 transactions in directory \*(lqMail\*(rq.  This is the
  61 only mandatory profile entry.  (profile, no default)
  62 .RE
  63 .PP
  64 .BR locale :
  65 locale
  66 .RS 5
  67 Set the locale for all
  68 .B nmh
  69 programs except
  70 .BR post ,
  71 .BR install-mh ,
  72 and
  73 .BR slocal .
  74 See the LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG variables in the "ENVIRONMENT"
  75 section below for a reference on how the locale is set if this profile
  76 component is not used.
  77 .RE
  78 .PP
  79 .BR context :
  80 context
  81 .RS 5
  82 Declares the location of the
  83 .B nmh
  84 context file.  This can be overridden by the environment variable
  85 MHCONTEXT.
  86 See the
  87 .B HISTORY
  88 section below.
  89 (profile, default: <nmh-dir>/context)
  90 .RE
  91 .PP
  92 .BR Current\-Folder :
  93 inbox
  94 .RS 5
  95 Keeps track of the current open folder.
  96 (context, default: folder specified by \*(lqInbox\*(rq)
  97 .RE
  98 .PP
  99 .BR Inbox :
 100 inbox
 101 .RS 5
 102 Defines the name of the default inbox.
 103 (profile, default: inbox)
 104 .RE
 105 .PP
 106 .BR Previous\-Sequence :
 107 .I pseq
 108 .RS 5
 109 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as the `msgs' or
 110 `msg' argument given to any
 111 .B nmh
 112 command.  If not present or empty,
 113 no such sequences are defined.  Otherwise, for each name given, the
 114 sequence is first zeroed and then each message is added to the sequence.
 115 Read
 116 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 117 for the details about this sequence.  (profile, no default)
 118 .RE
 119 .PP
 120 .BR Sequence\-Negation :
 121 not
 122 .RS 5
 123 Defines the string which, when prefixed to a sequence name, negates
 124 that sequence.  Hence, \*(lqnotseen\*(rq means all those messages that
 125 are not a member of the sequence \*(lqseen\*(rq.  Read
 126 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 127 for the details.  (profile, no default)
 128 .RE
 129 .PP
 130 .BR Unseen\-Sequence :
 131 unseen
 132 .RS 5
 133 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as those
 134 messages which are unread.  The commands
 135 .BR inc ,
 136 .BR rcvstore ,
 137 .BR mhshow ,
 138 and
 139 .B show
 140 will add or remove messages from these
 141 sequences when they are incorporated or read.  If not present or
 142 empty, no such sequences are defined.  Otherwise, each message is
 143 added to, or removed from, each sequence name given.  Read
 144 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 145 for the details about this sequence.
 146 (profile, no default)
 147 .RE
 148 .PP
 149 .BR mh\-sequences :
 150 \&.mh\-sequences
 151 .RS 5
 152 The name of the file in each folder which defines public sequences.
 153 To disable the use of public sequences, leave the value portion of this
 154 entry blank.  (profile, default: \&.mh\-sequences)
 155 .RE
 156 .PP
 157 .BI atr\- seq \- folder :
 158 172\0178\-181\0212
 159 .RS 5
 160 Keeps track of the private sequence called \*(lqseq\*(rq in the specified
 161 folder.  Private sequences are generally used for read-only folders.
 162 See
 163 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 164 for details about private sequences.
 165 (context, no default)
 166 .RE
 167 .PP
 168 .BR Editor :
 169 vi
 170 .RS 5
 171 Defines the editor to be used by the commands
 172 .BR comp ,
 173 .BR dist ,
 174 .BR forw ,
 175 and
 176 .BR repl .
 177 If not set, the value will be taken from the VISUAL and EDITOR environment
 178 variables.  (profile, default: vi)
 179 .RE
 180 .PP
 181 .BR Msg\-Protect :
 182 600
 183 .RS 5
 184 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new message files.
 185 See
 186 .IR chmod (1)
 187 for an explanation of the octal number.  Note that some filesystems,
 188 such as FAT32, do not support removal of read file permissions.
 189 (profile, default: 0600)
 190 .RE
 191 .PP
 192 .BR Folder\-Protect :
 193 700
 194 .RS 5
 195 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new folder
 196 directories.  See
 197 .IR chmod (1)
 198 for an explanation of the octal number.
 199 (profile, default: 700)
 200 .RE
 201 .PP
 202 .BR datalocking :
 203 fcntl
 204 .RS 5
 205 The locking algorithm used to lock changes to any
 206 .B nmh
 207 data files, such as sequences or context.  The locking algorithm is
 208 any one of the following entries:
 209 .PP
 210 .RS 5
 211 .nf
 212 %supported_locks%
 213 .fi
 214 .RE
 215 .PP
 216 Available locking algorithms can vary depending on the operating system.
 217 Note: currently, transactional locking is only supported on public sequences; see
 218 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 219 for more information.
 220 (profile, default: fcntl)
 221 .RE
 222 .PP
 223 .IR program :
 224 .I default switches
 225 .RS 5
 226 Sets default switches to be used whenever the mh program
 227 .I program
 228 is invoked.  For example, one could override the \*(lqEditor:\*(rq profile
 229 component when replying to messages by adding a component such as:
 230 .PP
 231 .RS 5
 232 repl: \-editor /bin/ed
 233 .RE
 234 .PP
 235 (profile, no defaults)
 236 .RE
 237 .PP
 238 .IB lasteditor "-next:"
 239 .I nexteditor
 240 .RS 5
 241 Names \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq to be the default editor after using
 242 \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq.  This takes effect at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt
 243 in
 244 .BR comp ,
 245 .BR dist ,
 246 .BR forw ,
 247 and
 248 .BR repl .
 249 After editing the draft with \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq, the default editor is
 250 set to be \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq.  If the user types \*(lqedit\*(rq without
 251 any arguments to \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq, then \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq is used.
 252 (profile, no default)
 253 .RE
 254 .PP
 255 .BR Folder\-Stack :
 256 .I folders
 257 .RS 5
 258 The contents of the folder-stack for the
 259 .B folder
 260 command.
 261 (context, no default)
 262 .RE
 263 .PP
 264 .BR Local\-Mailbox :
 265 Your Username <user@some.host>
 266 .RS 5
 267 Tells the MH programs what your local mailbox is.  If set, it will be used
 268 by the default component files by programs like
 269 .B comp
 270 and
 271 .B repl
 272 to construct your default \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header.  The text used here will
 273 be copied exactly to your \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header, so it should already be RFC
 274 822 compliant.  If this is set, the
 275 .B Signature
 276 profile entry is
 277 .I not
 278 used, so it should include a signature as well.  (profile,
 279 default: userid@local.hostname)
 280 .RE
 281 .PP
 282 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes :
 283 mh@uci\-750a, bug-mh*
 284 .RS 5
 285 Tells
 286 .B repl
 287 and
 288 .B scan
 289 which additional addresses are yours.  In this way,
 290 .B repl
 291 knows which addresses should be included in the reply, and
 292 .B scan
 293 knows if a message originated from you.  Addresses must be separated by a comma,
 294 and the hostnames listed should be the \*(lqofficial\*(rq hostnames for the
 295 mailboxes you indicate, as local nicknames for hosts are not replaced with
 296 their official site names.  For each address, if a host is not given, then
 297 that address on any host is considered to be you.  In addition, an asterisk
 298 (`*') may appear at either or both ends of the mailbox and host to indicate
 299 wild-card matching.  (profile, default: your user-id)
 300 .RE
 301 .PP
 302 .BR Aliasfile :
 303 aliases
 304 .I other-aliases
 305 .RS 5
 306 Indicates alias files for
 307 .BR ali ,
 308 .BR whom ,
 309 and
 310 .BR send .
 311 This may be used instead of the
 312 .B \-alias
 313 .I file
 314 switch.  (profile, no default)
 315 .RE
 316 .PP
 317 .BR Draft\-Folder :
 318 drafts
 319 .RS 5
 320 Indicates a default draft folder for
 321 .BR comp ,
 322 .BR dist ,
 323 .BR forw ,
 324 .BR refile ,
 325 and
 326 .BR repl .
 327 Read
 328 .IR mh\-draft (5)
 329 for details.  (profile, no default)
 330 .RE
 331 .PP
 332 .BI digest\-issue\- list :
 333 1
 334 .RS 5
 335 Tells
 336 .B forw
 337 the last issue of the last volume sent for the digest
 338 .IR list .
 339 (context, no default)
 340 .RE
 341 .PP
 342 .BI digest\-volume\- list :
 343 1
 344 .RS 5
 345 Tells
 346 .B forw
 347 the last volume sent for the digest
 348 .IR list .
 349 (context, no default)
 350 .RE
 351 .PP
 352 .BR MailDrop :
 353 \&.mail
 354 .RS 5
 355 Tells
 356 .B inc
 357 your mail drop, if different from the default.  This is
 358 superseded by the environment variable MAILDROP.
 359 (profile, default: %mailspool%/$USER)
 360 .RE
 361 .PP
 362 .BR Signature :
 363 RAND MH System (agent: Marshall Rose)
 364 .RS 5
 365 Tells front-end programs such as
 366 .BR comp ,
 367 .BR forw ,
 368 and
 369 .B repl
 370 your mail signature.  (This is not to be confused with a .signature
 371 that might be appended to mails.) This is superseded by the environment
 372 variable SIGNATURE.  If SIGNATURE is not set and this profile entry is
 373 not present, the \*(lqgcos\*(rq field of the \fI/etc/passwd\fP file
 374 will be used.  Your signature will be added to the address
 375 .B send
 376 puts in the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header; do not include an address in the
 377 signature text.  The \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component
 378 supersedes all of this.  (profile, no default)
 379 .RE
 380 .PP
 381 .BR credentials :
 382 legacy
 383 .RS 5
 384 Indicates how the username and password credentials will be retrieved
 385 for access to external servers, such as those that provide SMTP or POP
 386 service.  The supported entry values are \*(lqlegacy\*(rq,
 387 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq,
 388 and
 389 .RI \*(lqfile\-nopermcheck: netrc \*(rq.
 390 With \*(lqlegacy\*(rq, or if there is no credentials entry, the
 391 username is the first of:
 392 .RS 5
 393 .TP 5
 394 .PD 0
 395 1)
 396 .B \-user
 397 switch to
 398 .BR inc ,
 399 .BR msgchk ,
 400 .BR post ,
 401 .BR send ,
 402 or
 403 .B whom
 404 program
 405 .TP
 406 2)
 407 the login name on the local machine
 408 .PD
 409 .RE
 410 .PP
 411 The password for SMTP services is the first of:
 412 .RS 5
 413 .TP 5
 414 .PD 0
 415 1)
 416 password value from matching entry in file named \*(lq.netrc\*(rq
 417 in the user's home directory
 418 .TP
 419 2)
 420 password obtained by interactively prompting the user
 421 .PD
 422 .RE
 423 .PP
 424 The password for POP service when the
 425 .B \-sasl
 426 switch is used with one of these programs is the login name on the
 427 local machine.
 428 .PP
 429 With a
 430 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq
 431 .B credentials
 432 entry, the username is the first of:
 433 .RS 5
 434 .PD 0
 435 .TP 5
 436 1)
 437 .B \-user
 438 switch to program
 439 .TP 5
 440 2)
 441 login name from matching entry in
 442 .I netrc
 443 file
 444 .TP 5
 445 3)
 446 value provided by user in response to interactive query
 447 .PD
 448 .RE
 449 .PP
 450 Similarly, the password is provided either in the
 451 .I netrc
 452 file or interactively.
 453 .I netrc
 454 can be any valid filename, either absolute or relative to Path or
 455 $HOME.  The
 456 .I netrc
 457 file contains authentication information, for each server,
 458 using a line of the following form.  (Replace
 459 .IR myserver ,
 460 .IR mylogin ,
 461 and
 462 .I mypassword
 463 with your own account information.)
 464 .PP
 465 .RS 5
 466 .B machine
 467 .I myserver
 468 .B login
 469 .I mylogin
 470 .B password
 471 .I mypassword
 472 .RE
 473 .PP
 474 This
 475 .I netrc
 476 file must be owned and readable only by you.
 477 .PP
 478 The
 479 .RI \*(lqfile\-nopermcheck: netrc \*(rq
 480 .B credentials
 481 entry is identical in behavior to the \*(lqfile\*(rq entry, with the
 482 exception that the permission checks done by
 483 \*(lqfile\*(rq are not performed.  This entry should be used with
 484 caution and only when absolutely necessary.
 485 (profile, default: legacy)
 486 .RE
 487 .PP
 488 .BR Welcome :
 489 disable
 490 .RS 5
 491 If the Welcome component is not present, or its value is not
 492 .RI \*(lq disable \*(rq,
 493 a welcome message will be displayed the first time that an interactive
 494 .B nmh
 495 program is run after updating the
 496 .B nmh
 497 installation.
 498 The user must press the Enter key to continue.
 499 .PP
 500 If the MHCONTEXT environment variable is set and non-empty (and
 501 the Welcome component is not
 502 .RI \*(lq disable \*(rq),
 503 the welcome message is only displayed if the context file contains a version
 504 reference, and that reference is older than the installed
 505 .B nmh
 506 version.  The version reference is of the form:
 507 .PP
 508 .RS 5
 509 .nf
 510 Version: %nmhversion%
 511 .fi
 512 .RE
 513 .SS "Process Profile Entries"
 514 The following profile elements are used whenever an
 515 .B nmh
 516 program invokes some other program, such as
 517 .BR more .
 518 The
 519 .I \&.mh\-profile
 520 can be used to select alternate programs if the user wishes.
 521 The default values are given in the examples.
 522 .PP
 523 If the profile element contains spaces, the element is split at spaces
 524 into tokens and each token is given as a separate argument to the
 525 .IR execvp (2)
 526 system call.  If the element contains shell metacharacters then the entire
 527 element is executed using
 528 .BR /bin/sh .
 529 .PP
 530 .BR buildmimeproc :
 531 %bindir%/mhbuild
 532 .RS 5
 533 This is the program used by
 534 .B whatnow
 535 to process drafts which are MIME composition files.
 536 .RE
 537 .PP
 538 .BR fileproc :
 539 %bindir%/refile
 540 .RS 5
 541 This program is used to refile or link a message to another folder.
 542 It is used by
 543 .B send
 544 to file a copy of a message into a folder given
 545 by a \*(lqFcc:\*(rq field.  It is used by the draft folder facility in
 546 .BR comp ,
 547 .BR dist ,
 548 .BR forw ,
 549 and
 550 .B repl
 551 to refile a draft
 552 message into another folder.  It is used to refile a draft message in
 553 response to the
 554 .B refile
 555 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
 556 .RE
 557 .PP
 558 .BR formatproc :
 559 .RS 5
 560 Program called by
 561 .B mhl
 562 to filter a component when it is tagged with the \*(lqformat\*(rq variable
 563 in the mhl filter.  See
 564 .IR mhl (5)
 565 for more information.
 566 .RE
 567 .PP
 568 .BR incproc :
 569 %bindir%/inc
 570 .RS 5
 571 Program called by
 572 .B mhmail
 573 to incorporate new mail when it
 574 is invoked with no arguments.
 575 .RE
 576 .PP
 577 .BR lproc :
 578 more
 579 .RS 5
 580 This program is used to list the contents of a message in response
 581 to the
 582 .B list
 583 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.  It is
 584 also used by the draft folder facility in
 585 .BR comp ,
 586 .BR dist ,
 587 .BR forw ,
 588 and
 589 .B repl
 590 to display the draft message.
 591 (Note that
 592 the environment variable PAGER
 593 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
 594 .RE
 595 .PP
 596 .BR mailproc :
 597 %bindir%/mhmail
 598 .RS 5
 599 This is the program used to automatically mail various messages
 600 and notifications.  It is used by
 601 .B send
 602 to post failure notices.
 603 It is used to retrieve an external-body with access-type `mail-server'
 604 (such as when storing the body with
 605 .BR mhstore ).
 606 .RE
 607 .PP
 608 .BR mhlproc :
 609 %nmhlibexecdir%/mhl
 610 .RS 5
 611 This is the program used to filter messages in various ways.  It
 612 is used by
 613 .B mhshow
 614 to filter and display the message headers
 615 of MIME messages.  When the
 616 .B \-format
 617 or
 618 .B \-filter
 619 option is used
 620 by
 621 .B forw
 622 or
 623 .BR repl ,
 624 the
 625 .I mhlproc
 626 is used to filter the
 627 message that you are forwarding, or to which you are replying.
 628 When the
 629 .B \-filter
 630 option is given to
 631 .BR send ,
 632 the
 633 .I mhlproc
 634 is used to filter the copy of the message
 635 that is sent to \*(lqBcc:\*(rq recipients.
 636 .RE
 637 .PP
 638 .BR moreproc :
 639 more
 640 .RS 5
 641 This is the program used by
 642 .B mhl
 643 to page the
 644 .B mhl
 645 formatted message when displaying to a terminal.  It is also the default
 646 program used by
 647 .B mhshow
 648 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
 649 (Note that
 650 the environment variable PAGER
 651 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
 652 .RE
 653 .PP
 654 .BR packproc :
 655 %bindir%/packf
 656 .RS 5
 657 Currently not used.
 658 .RE
 659 .PP
 660 .BR postproc :
 661 %nmhlibexecdir%/post
 662 .RS 5
 663 This is the program used by
 664 .BR send ,
 665 .BR mhmail ,
 666 .BR rcvdist ,
 667 and
 668 .B viamail
 669 (used by the
 670 .B sendfiles
 671 shell script) to
 672 post a message to the mail transport system.  It is also called by
 673 .B whom
 674 (called with the switches
 675 .B \-whom
 676 and
 677 .BR \-library )
 678 to do address verification.
 679 .RE
 680 .PP
 681 .BR rmmproc :
 682 none
 683 .RS 5
 684 This is the program used by
 685 .BR rmm ,
 686 .BR refile ,
 687 and
 688 .B mhfixmsg
 689 to delete a message from a folder.
 690 .RE
 691 .PP
 692 .BR sendproc :
 693 %bindir%/send
 694 .RS 5
 695 This is the program used by
 696 .B whatnow
 697 to actually send the message
 698 .RE
 699 .PP
 700 .BR showmimeproc :
 701 %bindir%/mhshow
 702 .RS 5
 703 This is the program used by
 704 .B show
 705 to process and display non-text (MIME) messages.
 706 .RE
 707 .PP
 708 .BR showproc :
 709 %nmhlibexecdir%/mhl
 710 .RS 5
 711 This is the program used by
 712 .B show
 713 to filter and display text (non-MIME) messages.
 714 .RE
 715 .PP
 716 .BR whatnowproc :
 717 %bindir%/whatnow
 718 .RS 5
 719 This is the program invoked by
 720 .BR comp ,
 721 .BR dist ,
 722 .BR forw ,
 723 and
 724 .B repl
 725 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
 726 .RE
 727 .PP
 728 .BR whomproc :
 729 %bindir%/whom
 730 .RS 5
 731 This is the program used by
 732 .B whatnow
 733 to determine to whom a message would be sent.
 734 .RE
 735 .SS "Profile Lookup"
 736 After consulting .mh_profile, some programs read an optional profile
 737 specified by a program-specific environment variable, and then the
 738 system-wide profile %nmhetcdir%/mhn.defaults.
 739 These programs are
 740 .BR mhbuild ,
 741 .BR mhshow ,
 742 .BR mhstore ,
 743 and
 744 .BR mhn .
 745 .B mhfixmsg
 746 is similar, but has no optional profile.
 747 .PP
 748 The first occurrence of a component is used, e.g.\& .mh_profile's
 749 trumps $MHSHOW's.  A component with no value still stops further
 750 occurrences being used, but is considered absent.
 751 .PP
 752 The
 753 .I \&.mh\-profile
 754 contains only static information, which
 755 .B nmh
 756 programs will
 757 .I not
 758 update.  Changes in context are made to the
 759 .I context
 760 file kept in the users
 761 .B nmh
 762 directory.  This includes, but is not limited to: the
 763 \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry and all private sequence information.
 764 Public sequence information is kept in each folder in the file
 765 determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq profile entry (default is
 766 .IR \&.mh\-sequences ).
 767 .PP
 768 The
 769 .I \&.mh\-profile
 770 may override the path of the
 771 .I context
 772 file, by specifying a \*(lqcontext\*(rq entry (this must be in
 773 lower-case).  If the entry is not absolute (does not start with a
 774 \*(lq/\*(rq), then it is interpreted relative to the user's
 775 .B nmh
 776 directory.  As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
 777 private sequences by using different context files.
 778 .SH ENVIRONMENT
 779 The operation of
 780 .B nmh
 781 and its commands it also controlled by the
 782 presence of certain environment variables.
 783 .PP
 784 Many of these environment variables are used internally by the
 785 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface.  It's amazing all the information
 786 that has to get passed via environment variables to make the
 787 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface look squeaky clean to the
 788 .B nmh
 789 user, isn't it?  The reason for all this is that the
 790 .B nmh
 791 user can select any program as the
 792 .IR whatnowproc ,
 793 including one of the standard shells.  As a result, it's not possible
 794 to pass information via an argument list.  The convention is that
 795 environment variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable;
 796 those whose names are lower-case only are used internally by nmh and
 797 should not generally be set by the user.
 798 .TP
 799 LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG
 800 These variables are used to set the locale, see locale(1).
 801 The \*(lqlocale\*(rq profile entry supersedes these.
 802 .TP
 803 MAILDROP
 804 This variable tells
 805 .B inc
 806 the default mail drop.  This supersedes the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq
 807 profile entry.
 808 .TP
 809 MAILHOST
 810 This variable tells
 811 .B inc
 812 the POP host to query for mail to incorporate.  See
 813 .IR inc (1)
 814 for more information.
 815 .TP
 816 MH
 817 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
 818 other than
 819 .I \&.mh\-profile
 820 to be read by the
 821 .B nmh
 822 programs that you invoke.  If the value of MH is not absolute,
 823 (i.e., does not begin with a \*(lq/\*(rq), it will be presumed
 824 to start from the current working directory.  This is one of the
 825 very few exceptions in
 826 .B nmh
 827 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
 828 .B nmh
 829 directory.
 830 .TP
 831 MHBUILD
 832 With this environment variable, you can specify an additional user profile
 833 (file) to be read by
 834 .BR mhbuild ,
 835 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 836 .TP
 837 MHCONTEXT
 838 With this environment variable, you can specify a context other than the
 839 normal context file (as specified in the
 840 .B nmh
 841 profile).  As usual, unless the value of MHCONTEXT is absolute, it will
 842 be presumed to start from your
 843 .B nmh
 844 directory.
 845 .TP
 846 MHLDEBUG
 847 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 848 .B mhl
 849 will emit debugging information.
 850 .TP
 851 MHMTSCONF
 852 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the
 853 name of the mail transport configuration file to use by
 854 .BR inc ,
 855 .BR post ,
 856 and other programs that interact with the mail transport system,
 857 instead of the default.  See
 858 .IR mh-tailor (5).
 859 .TP
 860 MHMTSUSERCONF
 861 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the name of
 862 a mail transport configuration file to be read in addition to the
 863 default.  See
 864 .IR mh-tailor (5).
 865 .TP
 866 MHN
 867 With this environment variable, you can specify an additional user
 868 profile (file) to be read by
 869 .BR mhn ,
 870 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 871 .B mhn
 872 is deprecated, so support for this variable will be removed from a
 873 future nmh release.
 874 .TP
 875 MHSHOW
 876 With this environment variable, you can specify an additional user
 877 profile (file) to be read by
 878 .BR mhshow ,
 879 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 880 .TP
 881 MHSTORE
 882 With this environment variable, you can specify an additional user
 883 profile (file) to be read by
 884 .BR mhstore ,
 885 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 886 .TP
 887 MHTMPDIR, TMPDIR
 888 These variables are searched, in order, for the directory in which to
 889 create some temporary files.
 890 MHTMPDIR is deprecated and will be removed in a future release of nmh.
 891 .TP
 892 MHWDEBUG
 893 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 894 .B nmh
 895 commands that use the
 896 .B Alternate\-Mailboxes
 897 profile entry will display debugging information about the values in
 898 that entry.
 899 .TP
 900 PAGER
 901 If set to a non-null value, this supersedes the value of the default
 902 built-in pager command.
 903 .TP
 904 SIGNATURE
 905 This variable tells
 906 .B send
 907 and
 908 .B post
 909 your mail signature.  This supersedes the \*(lqSignature\*(rq profile entry,
 910 and is not used when the \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component is set.
 911 .TP
 912 USER
 913 This variable tells
 914 .B repl
 915 your user name and
 916 .B inc
 917 your default mail drop:  see the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
 918 .TP
 919 USERNAME_EXTENSION
 920 This variable is for use with username_extension masquerading.  See
 921 .IR mh-tailor (5).
 922 .TP
 923 editalt
 924 This is the alternate message.  This is set by
 925 .B dist
 926 and
 927 .B repl
 928 during edit sessions so you can peruse the message being distributed or
 929 replied to.  The message is also available, when the
 930 .B \-atfile
 931 switch is used, through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory
 932 if your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
 933 on the same Unix filesystem, and if your current working directory is
 934 writable.
 935 .TP
 936 mhaltmsg
 937 .B dist
 938 and
 939 .B repl
 940 set mhaltmsg to tell the
 941 .I whatnowproc
 942 about an alternate message associated with the
 943 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
 944 .TP
 945 mhannotate
 946 This is set by
 947 .BR dist ,
 948 .BR forw ,
 949 and
 950 .B repl
 951 if annotations are to occur.
 952 .TP
 953 mhdist
 954 .B dist
 955 sets mhdist to tell the
 956 .I whatnowproc
 957 that message re-distribution is occurring.
 958 .TP
 959 mhdraft
 960 This is the path to the working draft.  It is set by
 961 .BR comp ,
 962 .BR dist ,
 963 .BR forw ,
 964 and
 965 .B repl
 966 to tell the
 967 .I whatnowproc
 968 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq questions about.
 969 .TP
 970 mheditor
 971 This is set by
 972 .BR comp ,
 973 .BR repl ,
 974 .BR forw ,
 975 and
 976 .B dist
 977 to tell the
 978 .I whatnowproc
 979 the user's choice of editor (unless overridden by
 980 .BR \-noedit ).
 981 .TP
 982 mhfolder
 983 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
 984 It is set by
 985 .B dist
 986 and
 987 .B repl
 988 during edit sessions so you can peruse other messages in the current
 989 folder besides the one being distributed or replied to.
 990 The environment variable mhfolder is also set by
 991 .BR next ,
 992 .BR prev ,
 993 and
 994 .B show
 995 for use by
 996 .BR mhl .
 997 .TP
 998 mhinplace
 999 This is set by
1000 .BR dist ,
1001 .BR forw ,
1002 and
1003 .B repl
1004 if annotations are to occur.
1005 .TP
1006 mhmessages
1007 This is set by
1008 .BR dist ,
1009 .BR forw ,
1010 and
1011 .B repl
1012 if annotations are to occur.
1013 .TP
1014 mhuse
1015 This may be set by
1016 .BR comp .
1017 .SH FILES
1018 .PD 0
1019 .TP 20
1020 $HOME/.mh\-profile
1021 The user's profile.
1022 .TP
1023 <mh-dir>/context
1024 The user's context
1025 .TP
1026 <folder>/.mh\-sequences
1027 Public sequences for <folder>.
1028 .PD
1029 .SH "SEE ALSO"
1030 .IR mhbuild (1),
1031 .IR mhshow (1),
1032 .IR mhstore (1),
1033 .IR mh-sequence (5),
1034 .IR nmh (7)
1035 .SH BUGS
1036 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1037 in the profile as options.  In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1038 the command line semantics of all
1039 .B nmh
1040 programs: conflicting switches
1041 (e.g.
1042 .B \-header
1043 and
1044 .BR \-noheader )
1045 may occur more than one time on the command line, with the last switch
1046 taking effect.  Other arguments, such as message sequences, filenames
1047 and folders, are always remembered on the invocation line and are not
1048 superseded by following arguments of the same type.
1049 Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their arguments) in the profile.
1050 .PP
1051 If one finds that an
1052 .B nmh
1053 program is being invoked again and again with the same arguments, and those
1054 arguments aren't switches, then there are a few possible solutions to this
1055 problem.  The first is to create a (soft) link in your
1056 .I $HOME/bin
1057 directory to the
1058 .B nmh
1059 program of your choice.  By giving this link a different name, you can create
1060 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1061 the
1062 .B nmh
1063 command.  Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1064 which called the
1065 .B nmh
1066 program of your choice with an alternate set
1067 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1068 is preferable to this solution).
1069 .PP
1070 Finally, the
1071 .B csh
1072 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1073 .PP
1074 .RS 5
1075 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1076 .RE
1077 .PP
1078 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1079 give
1080 .B nmh
1081 commands safely.  (Recall that some
1082 .B nmh
1083 commands
1084 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1085 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)