1 .TH MH-PROFILE %manext5% "April 14, 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)
381 Indicates how the username and password credentials will be retrieved
382 for access to external servers, such as those that provide SMTP or POP
383 service. The supported entry values are \*(lqlegacy\*(rq and
384 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq.
385 With \*(lqlegacy\*(rq, or if there is no credentials entry, the
386 username is the first of:
400 2) the login name on the local machine
403 The password for SMTP services is the first of:
406 1) password value from matching entry in file named \*(lq.netrc\*(rq
407 in the user's home directory
409 2) password obtained by interactively prompting the user
412 The password for POP service when the
414 switch is used with one of these programs is the login name on the
418 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq
420 entry, the username is the first of:
427 2) login name from matching entry in
431 3) value provided by user in response to interactive query
434 Similarly, the password is provided either in the
436 file or interactively.
438 can be any valid filename, either absolute or relative to Path or
441 file contains authentication information, for each server,
442 using a line of the following form. Replace the words
447 with your own account information:
460 file must be owned and readable only by you.
461 (profile, default: legacy)
463 .SS "Process Profile Entries"
464 The following profile elements are used whenever an
466 program invokes some other program such as
470 can be used to select alternate programs if the
471 user wishes. The default values are given in the examples.
473 If the profile element contains spaces, the element is split at spaces
474 into tokens and each token is given as a seperate argument to the
476 system call. If the element contains shell metacharacters then the entire
477 element is executed using
484 This is the program used by
486 to process drafts which are MIME composition files.
492 This program is used to refile or link a message to another folder.
495 to file a copy of a message into a folder given
496 by a \*(lqFcc:\*(rq field. It is used by the draft folder facility in
503 message into another folder. It is used to refile a draft message in
506 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
513 to filter a component when it is tagged with the \*(lqformat\*(rq variable
514 in the mhl filter. See
516 for more information.
524 to incorporate new mail when it
525 is invoked with no arguments.
531 This program is used to list the contents of a message in response
534 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt. It is
535 also used by the draft folder facility in
541 to display the draft message.
544 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
550 This is the program used to automatically mail various messages
551 and notifications. It is used by
555 option. It is used by
557 to post failure notices.
558 It is used to retrieve an external-body with access-type `mail-server'
559 (such as when storing the body with
566 This is the program used to filter messages in various ways. It
569 to filter and display the message headers
570 of MIME messages. When the
581 is used to filter the
582 message that you are forwarding, or to which you are replying.
589 is used to filter the copy of the message
590 that is sent to \*(lqBcc:\*(rq recipients.
596 This is the program used by
600 formatted message when displaying to a terminal. It is also the default
603 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
606 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
624 This is the program used by
633 post a message to the mail transport system. It is also called by
635 (called with the switches
639 to do address verification.
645 This is the program used by
650 to delete a message from a folder.
656 This is the program to use by
658 to actually send the message
664 This is the program used by
666 to process and display non-text (MIME) messages.
672 This is the program used by
674 to filter and display text (non-MIME) messages.
680 This is the program invoked by
686 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
692 This is the program used by
694 to determine to whom a message would be sent.
696 .SS "Environment Variables"
699 and its commands it also controlled by the
700 presence of certain environment variables.
702 Many of these environment variables are used internally by the
703 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface. It's amazing all the information
704 that has to get passed via environment variables to make the
705 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface look squeaky clean to the
707 user, isn't it? The reason for all this is that the
715 one of the standard shells. As a result, it's not possible to pass
716 information via an argument list. The convention is that environment
717 variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable; those
718 whose names are lower-case only are used internally by nmh and should
719 not generally be set by the user.
723 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
729 that you invoke. If the value of
731 is not absolute, (i.e., does
732 not begin with a \*(lq/\*(rq), it will be presumed to start from the current
733 working directory. This is one of the very few exceptions in
735 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
742 With this environment variable, you can specify a
743 context other than the normal context file (as specified in
746 profile). As always, unless the value of
748 is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your
755 With this environment variable, you can specify an
756 additional user profile (file) to be read by
758 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
763 With this environment variable, you can specify an
764 additional user profile (file) to be read by
766 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
768 is deprecated, so this support for this variable will
769 be removed from a future nmh release.
774 With this environment variable, you can specify an
775 additional user profile (file) to be read by
777 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
782 With this environment variable, you can specify an
783 additional user profile (file) to be read by
785 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
790 With this environment variable, you can specify
791 the native character set you are using. You must be able to display
792 this character set on your terminal.
794 This variable is checked to see if a RFC-2047 header field should be
807 be called, since showmimeproc will be called if a text message uses
808 a character set that doesn't match
813 for matches against the charset parameter
814 of text contents to decide it the text content can be displayed
815 without modifications to your terminal. This variable is checked by
817 to decide what character set to specify in the charset
818 parameter of text contents containing 8\-bit characters.
820 When decoding text in such an alternate character set,
822 must be able to determine which characters are alphabetic, which
823 are control characters, etc. For many operating systems, this
824 will require enabling the support for locales (such as setting
825 the environment variable
834 the default maildrop. This supersedes the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
841 the POP host to query for mail to incorporate. See the
842 inc(1) man page for more information.
845 .B $USERNAME_EXTENSION
847 This variable is for use with username_extension masquerading. See the
848 mh-tailor(5) man page.
857 your mail signature. This supersedes the \*(lqSignature\*(rq profile entry,
858 and is not used when the \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component is set.
867 your default maildrop: see the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
872 This variable tells all
874 programs your home directory
883 The environment variable
885 is also consulted. In particular,
890 how to clear your terminal, and how
891 many columns wide your terminal is. They also tell
894 lines long your terminal screen is.
899 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the
900 name of the mail transport configuration file to use by
903 and other programs that interact with the mail transport system,
904 instead of the default. See mh-tailor(5).
909 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the name of
910 a mail transport configuration file to be read in addition to the
911 default. See mh-tailor(5).
918 These variables are searched, in order, for the directory in which to
919 create some temporary files.
924 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
926 will emit debugging information.
931 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
933 will emit a representation of the search pattern.
938 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
940 commands that use the
941 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes
942 profile entry will display debugging information
943 about the values in that entry.
948 If set to a non-null value, this supersedes the value of
949 the default built-in pager command.
954 This is the alternate message.
960 during edit sessions so you can
961 peruse the message being distributed or replied to. The message is also
965 through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory if
966 your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
967 on the same UNIX filesystem, and if your current working directory is
973 This is the path to the working draft.
983 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq
996 about an alternate message associated with the
997 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
1002 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
1008 during edit sessions so you
1009 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
1010 distributed or replied to. The environment variable
1028 that message re-distribution is occurring.
1041 the user's choice of
1042 editor (unless overridden by
1059 if annotations are to occur.
1069 if annotations are to occur.
1079 if annotations are to occur.
1084 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
1085 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
1086 ^or $MH~^Rather than the standard profile
1087 ^<mh\-dir>/context~^The user context
1088 ^or $MHCONTEXT~^Rather than the standard context
1089 ^<folder>/\&.mh\(rusequences~^Public sequences for <folder>
1093 .IR mh-sequence (5),
1098 contains only static information, which
1102 update. Changes in context are made to the
1104 file kept in the users
1107 This includes, but is not limited to: the \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry
1108 and all private sequence information. Public sequence information is
1109 kept in each folder in the file determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq
1110 profile entry (default is
1111 .IR \&.mh\(rusequences ).
1115 may override the path of the
1117 file, by specifying a \*(lqcontext\*(rq entry (this must be in
1118 lower-case). If the entry is not absolute (does not start with a
1119 \*(lq/\*(rq), then it is interpreted relative to the user's
1121 directory. As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
1122 private sequences by using different context files.
1124 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1125 in the profile as options. In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1126 command line semantics of all
1128 programs: conflicting switches
1133 may occur more than one time on the
1134 command line, with the last switch taking effect. Other arguments, such
1135 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
1136 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
1137 the same type. Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
1138 arguments) in the profile.
1140 If one finds that an
1142 program is being invoked again and again
1143 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
1144 are a few possible solutions to this problem. The first is to create a
1150 of your choice. By giving this link a different name, you can create
1151 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1154 command. Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1157 program of your choice with an alternate set
1158 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1159 is preferable to this solution).
1163 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1166 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1169 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1172 commands safely. (Recall that some
1175 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1176 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)
projects / nmh / blob