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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 After consulting .mh_profile,
 676 some programs read an optional profile specified by a
 677 program-specific environment variable,
 678 and then the system-wide profile %etcdir%/mhn.defaults.
 679 These programs are mhbuild, mhshow, mhstore, and mhn.
 680 mhfixmsg is similar, but has no optional profile.
 681
 682 The first occurrence of a component is used,
 683 e.g.\& .mh_profile's trumps $MHSHOW's.
 684 A component with no value still stops further occurrences being used,
 685 but is considered absent.
 686 .SS "Environment Variables"
 687 The operation of
 688 .B nmh
 689 and its commands it also controlled by the
 690 presence of certain environment variables.
 691 .PP
 692 Many of these environment variables are used internally by the
 693 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface.  It's amazing all the information
 694 that has to get passed via environment variables to make the
 695 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface look squeaky clean to the
 696 .B nmh
 697 user, isn't it?  The reason for all this is that the
 698 .B nmh
 699 user
 700 can select
 701 .B any
 702 program as the
 703 .IR whatnowproc ,
 704 including
 705 one of the standard shells.  As a result, it's not possible to pass
 706 information via an argument list. The convention is that environment
 707 variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable; those
 708 whose names are lower-case only are used internally by nmh and should
 709 not generally be set by the user.
 710 .PP
 711 .B $MH
 712 .RS 5
 713 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
 714 other than
 715 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
 716 to be read by the
 717 .B nmh
 718 programs
 719 that you invoke.  If the value of
 720 .B $MH
 721 is not absolute, (i.e., does
 722 not begin with a \*(lq/\*(rq), it will be presumed to start from the current
 723 working directory.  This is one of the very few exceptions in
 724 .B nmh
 725 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
 726 .B nmh
 727 directory.
 728 .RE
 729 .PP
 730 .B $MHCONTEXT
 731 .RS 5
 732 With this environment variable, you can specify a
 733 context other than the normal context file (as specified in
 734 the
 735 .B nmh
 736 profile).  As always, unless the value of
 737 .B $MHCONTEXT
 738 is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your
 739 .B nmh
 740 directory.
 741 .RE
 742 .PP
 743 .B $MHBUILD
 744 .RS 5
 745 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 746 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 747 .BR mhbuild ,
 748 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 749 .RE
 750 .PP
 751 .B $MHN
 752 .RS 5
 753 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 754 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 755 .BR mhn ,
 756 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 757 .B mhn
 758 is deprecated, so this support for this variable will
 759 be removed from a future nmh release.
 760 .RE
 761 .PP
 762 .B $MHSHOW
 763 .RS 5
 764 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 765 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 766 .BR mhshow ,
 767 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 768 .RE
 769 .PP
 770 .B $MHSTORE
 771 .RS 5
 772 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 773 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 774 .BR mhstore ,
 775 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 776 .RE
 777 .PP
 778 .B $MAILDROP
 779 .RS 5
 780 This variable tells
 781 .B inc
 782 the default maildrop. This supersedes the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
 783 .RE
 784 .PP
 785 .B $MAILHOST
 786 .RS 5
 787 This variable tells
 788 .B inc
 789 the POP host to query for mail to incorporate.  See the
 790 inc(1) man page for more information.
 791 .RE
 792 .PP
 793 .B $USERNAME_EXTENSION
 794 .RS 5
 795 This variable is for use with username_extension masquerading.  See the
 796 mh-tailor(5) man page.
 797 .RE
 798 .PP
 799 .B $SIGNATURE
 800 .RS 5
 801 This variable tells
 802 .B send
 803 and
 804 .B post
 805 your mail signature. This supersedes the \*(lqSignature\*(rq profile entry,
 806 and is not used when the \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component is set.
 807 .RE
 808 .PP
 809 .B $USER
 810 .RS 5
 811 This variable tells
 812 .B repl
 813 your user name and
 814 .B inc
 815 your default maildrop:  see the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
 816 .RE
 817 .PP
 818 .B $HOME
 819 .RS 5
 820 This variable tells all
 821 .B nmh
 822 programs your home directory
 823 .RE
 824 .PP
 825 .B $TERM
 826 .RS 5
 827 This variable tells
 828 .B nmh
 829 your terminal type.
 830 .PP
 831 The environment variable
 832 .B $TERMCAP
 833 is also consulted.  In particular,
 834 these tell
 835 .B scan
 836 and
 837 .B mhl
 838 how to clear your terminal, and how
 839 many columns wide your terminal is.  They also tell
 840 .B mhl
 841 how many
 842 lines long your terminal screen is.
 843 .RE
 844 .PP
 845 .B $MHMTSCONF
 846 .RS 5
 847 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the
 848 name of the mail transport configuration file to use by
 849 .BR post ,
 850 .BR inc ,
 851 and other programs that interact with the mail transport system,
 852 instead of the default.  See mh-tailor(5).
 853 .RE
 854 .PP
 855 .B $MHMTSUSERCONF
 856 .RS 5
 857 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the name of
 858 a mail transport configuration file to be read in addition to the
 859 default.  See mh-tailor(5).
 860 .RE
 861 .PP
 862 .B $MHTMPDIR
 863 .B $TMPDIR
 864 .RS 5
 865 These variables are searched, in order, for the directory in which to
 866 create some temporary files.
 867 .RE
 868 .PP
 869 .B $MHLDEBUG
 870 .RS 5
 871 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 872 .B mhl
 873 will emit debugging information.
 874 .RE
 875 .PP
 876 .B $MHPDEBUG
 877 .RS 5
 878 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 879 .B pick
 880 will emit a representation of the search pattern.
 881 .B $MHPDEBUG
 882 is deprecated, so support for this variable will
 883 be removed from a future nmh release.  Instead,
 884 .B pick
 885 now supports a
 886 .B \-debug
 887 switch.
 888 .RE
 889 .PP
 890 .B $MHWDEBUG
 891 .RS 5
 892 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 893 .B nmh
 894 commands that use the
 895 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes
 896 profile entry will display debugging information
 897 about the values in that entry.
 898 .RE
 899 .PP
 900 .B $PAGER
 901 .RS 5
 902 If set to a non-null value, this supersedes the value of
 903 the default built-in pager command.
 904 .RE
 905 .PP
 906 .B $editalt
 907 .RS 5
 908 This is the alternate message.
 909 .PP
 910 This is set by
 911 .B dist
 912 and
 913 .B repl
 914 during edit sessions so you can
 915 peruse the message being distributed or replied to.  The message is also
 916 available, when the
 917 .B \-atfile
 918 switch is used,
 919 through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory if
 920 your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
 921 on the same UNIX filesystem, and if your current working directory is
 922 writable.
 923 .RE
 924 .PP
 925 .B $mhdraft
 926 .RS 5
 927 This is the path to the working draft.
 928 .PP
 929 This is set by
 930 .BR comp ,
 931 .BR dist ,
 932 .BR forw ,
 933 and
 934 .B repl
 935 to tell the
 936 .I whatnowproc
 937 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq
 938 questions about.
 939 .RE
 940 .PP
 941 .B $mhaltmsg
 942 .RS 5
 943 .B dist
 944 and
 945 .B repl
 946 set
 947 .B $mhaltmsg
 948 to tell the
 949 .I whatnowproc
 950 about an alternate message associated with the
 951 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
 952 .RE
 953 .PP
 954 .B $mhfolder
 955 .RS 5
 956 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
 957 .PP
 958 This is set by
 959 .B dist
 960 and
 961 .B repl
 962 during edit sessions so you
 963 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
 964 distributed or replied to.  The environment variable
 965 .B $mhfolder
 966 is also set by
 967 .BR show ,
 968 .BR prev ,
 969 and
 970 .B next
 971 for use by
 972 .BR mhl .
 973 .RE
 974 .PP
 975 .B $mhdist
 976 .RS 5
 977 .B dist
 978 sets
 979 .B $mhdist
 980 to tell the
 981 .I whatnowproc
 982 that message re-distribution is occurring.
 983 .RE
 984 .PP
 985 .B $mheditor
 986 .RS 5
 987 This is set by
 988 .BR comp ,
 989 .BR repl ,
 990 .BR forw ,
 991 and
 992 .B dist
 993 to tell the
 994 .I whatnowproc
 995 the user's choice of
 996 editor (unless overridden by
 997 .BR \-noedit ).
 998 .RE
 999 .PP
1000 .B $mhuse
1001 .RS 5
1002 This may be set by
1003 .BR comp .
1004 .RE
1005 .PP
1006 .B $mhmessages
1007 .RS 5
1008 This is set by
1009 .BR dist ,
1010 .BR forw ,
1011 and
1012 .B repl
1013 if annotations are to occur.
1014 .RE
1015 .PP
1016 .B $mhannotate
1017 .RS 5
1018 This is set by
1019 .BR dist ,
1020 .BR forw ,
1021 and
1022 .B repl
1023 if annotations are to occur.
1024 .RE
1025 .PP
1026 .B $mhinplace
1027 .RS 5
1028 This is set by
1029 .BR dist ,
1030 .BR forw ,
1031 and
1032 .B repl
1033 if annotations are to occur.
1034 .RE
1035 .SH FILES
1036 .fc ^ ~
1037 .nf
1038 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName  'u
1039 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
1040 ^or $MH~^Rather than the standard profile
1041 ^<mh\-dir>/context~^The user context
1042 ^or $MHCONTEXT~^Rather than the standard context
1043 ^<folder>/\&.mh\(rusequences~^Public sequences for <folder>
1044 .fi
1045 .SH "SEE ALSO"
1046 .IR environ (5),
1047 .IR mh-sequence (5),
1048 .IR nmh (7)
1049 .SH HISTORY
1050 The
1051 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
1052 contains only static information, which
1053 .B nmh
1054 programs will
1055 .B NOT
1056 update.  Changes in context are made to the
1057 .I context
1058 file kept in the users
1059 .B nmh
1060 directory.
1061 This includes, but is not limited to: the \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry
1062 and all private sequence information.  Public sequence information is
1063 kept in each folder in the file determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq
1064 profile entry (default is
1065 .IR \&.mh\(rusequences ).
1066 .PP
1067 The
1068 .I \&.mh\(ruprofile
1069 may override the path of the
1070 .I context
1071 file, by specifying a \*(lqcontext\*(rq entry (this must be in
1072 lower-case).  If the entry is not absolute (does not start with a
1073 \*(lq/\*(rq), then it is interpreted relative to the user's
1074 .B nmh
1075 directory.  As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
1076 private sequences by using different context files.
1077 .SH BUGS
1078 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1079 in the profile as options.  In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1080 command line semantics of all
1081 .B nmh
1082 programs: conflicting switches
1083 (e.g.
1084 .B \-header
1085 and
1086 .BR \-noheader )
1087 may occur more than one time on the
1088 command line, with the last switch taking effect.  Other arguments, such
1089 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
1090 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
1091 the same type.  Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
1092 arguments) in the profile.
1093 .PP
1094 If one finds that an
1095 .B nmh
1096 program is being invoked again and again
1097 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
1098 are a few possible solutions to this problem.  The first is to create a
1099 (soft) link in your
1100 .I $HOME/bin
1101 directory to the
1102 .B nmh
1103 program
1104 of your choice.  By giving this link a different name, you can create
1105 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1106 the
1107 .B nmh
1108 command.  Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1109 which called the
1110 .B nmh
1111 program of your choice with an alternate set
1112 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1113 is preferable to this solution).
1114 .PP
1115 Finally, the
1116 .B csh
1117 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1118 .PP
1119 .RS 5
1120 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1121 .RE
1122 .PP
1123 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1124 give
1125 .B nmh
1126 commands safely.  (Recall that some
1127 .B nmh
1128 commands
1129 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1130 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)