diplodocus.org Git - nmh/blob - man/mh-mail.man

   1 .TH MH-MAIL %manext5% "July 9, 2012" "%nmhversion%"
   2 .\"
   3 .\" %nmhwarning%
   4 .\"
   5 .SH NAME
   6 mh-mail \- message format for nmh message system
   7 .SH DESCRIPTION
   8 .B nmh
   9 processes messages in a particular format.  It should be noted
  10 that although neither Bell nor Berkeley mailers produce message files
  11 in the format that
  12 .B nmh
  13 prefers,
  14 .B nmh
  15 can read message files in that antiquated format.
  16 .PP
  17 Each user possesses a mail drop box which initially receives all messages
  18 processed by
  19 .BR post .
  20 .B Inc
  21 will read from that drop
  22 box and incorporate the new messages found there into the user's own
  23 mail folders (typically
  24 .RI \*(lq +inbox \*(rq).
  25 The mail drop box consists of one or more messages.
  26 .PP
  27 Messages are expected to consist of lines of text.  Graphics and binary
  28 data are not handled.  No data compression is accepted.  All text is
  29 clear ASCII 7-bit data.
  30 .PP
  31 The general \*(lqmemo\*(rq framework of RFC 822 is used.  A message
  32 consists of a block of information in a rigid format, followed by
  33 general text with no specified format.  The rigidly formatted first
  34 part of a message is called the header, and the free-format portion is
  35 called the body.  The header must always exist, but the body is optional.
  36 These parts are separated by an empty line, i.e., two consecutive newline
  37 characters.  Within
  38 .BR nmh ,
  39 the header and body may be separated by a line consisting of dashes:
  40 .PP
  41 .RS 5
  42 .nf
  43 From: Local Mailbox <user@example.com>
  44 To:
  45 cc:
  46 Fcc: +outbox
  47 Subject:
  48 .fi
  49 .RE
  50 .PP
  51 The header is composed of one or more header items.  Each header item can
  52 be viewed as a single logical line of ASCII characters.  If the text of
  53 a header item extends across several real lines, the continuation lines
  54 are indicated by leading spaces or tabs.
  55 .PP
  56 Each header item is called a component and is composed of a keyword or
  57 name, along with associated text.  The keyword begins at the left margin,
  58 may NOT contain spaces or tabs, may not exceed 63 characters (as specified
  59 by RFC 822), and is terminated by a colon (`:').  Certain components
  60 (as identified by their keywords) must follow rigidly defined formats
  61 in their text portions.
  62 .PP
  63 The text for most formatted components (e.g., \*(lqDate:\*(rq and
  64 \*(lqMessage\-Id:\*(rq) is produced automatically.  The only ones entered
  65 by the user are address fields such as \*(lqTo:\*(rq, \*(lqcc:\*(rq,
  66 etc.  Internet addresses are assigned mailbox names and host computer
  67 specifications.  The rough format is \*(lqlocal@domain\*(rq, such as
  68 \*(lqMH@UCI\*(rq, or \*(lqMH@UCI\-ICSA.ARPA\*(rq.  Multiple addresses
  69 are separated by commas.  A missing host/domain is assumed to be the
  70 local host/domain.
  71 .PP
  72 As mentioned above, a blank line (or a line of dashes) signals that all
  73 following text up to the end of the file is the body.  No formatting is
  74 expected or enforced within the body.
  75 .PP
  76 Following is a list of header components that are considered
  77 meaningful to various
  78 .B nmh
  79 programs.
  80 .PP
  81 .BR Date :
  82 .RS 5
  83 Added by
  84 .BR post ,
  85 contains date and time of the message's entry
  86 into the mail transport system.
  87 .RE
  88 .PP
  89 .BR From :
  90 .RS 5
  91 This header is filled in by default with the system's idea of the user's local
  92 mailbox.  This can be changed with the
  93 .B Local\-Mailbox
  94 profile entry.  It
  95 contains the address of the author or authors
  96 (may be more than one if a \*(lqSender:\*(rq field is present).  For a
  97 standard reply (using
  98 .BR repl ),
  99 the reply address is constructed by
 100 checking the following headers (in this order): \*(lqMail-Reply\-To:\*(rq,
 101 \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqFrom:\*(rq, \*(lqSender:\*(rq.
 102 A \*(lqFrom:\*(rq
 103 header MUST exist when the message is sent to
 104 .BR post,
 105 otherwise the message will be rejected.
 106 .RE
 107 .PP
 108 .BR Mail\-Reply\-To :
 109 .RS 5
 110 For a standard reply (using
 111 .BR repl ),
 112 the reply address is
 113 constructed by checking the following headers (in this order):
 114 \*(lqMail-Reply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqFrom:\*(rq,
 115 \*(lqSender:\*(rq.
 116 .RE
 117 .PP
 118 .BR Mail\-Followup\-To :
 119 .RS 5
 120 When making a \*(lqgroup\*(rq reply (using
 121 .B repl
 122 .BR \-group ),
 123 any addresses in this field will take precedence, and no other reply address
 124 will be added to the draft.  If this header is not available, then the
 125 return addresses will be constructed from the \*(lqMail-Reply\-To:\*(rq,
 126 or \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq, or \*(lqFrom:\*(rq, along with adding the
 127 addresses from the headers \*(lqTo:\*(rq, \*(lqcc:\*(rq, as well as
 128 adding your personal address.
 129 .RE
 130 .PP
 131 .BR Reply\-To :
 132 .RS 5
 133 For a standard reply (using
 134 .BR repl ),
 135 the reply address is
 136 constructed by checking the following headers (in this order):
 137 \*(lqMail-Reply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqFrom:\*(rq,
 138 \*(lqSender:\*(rq.
 139 .RE
 140 .PP
 141 .BR Sender :
 142 .RS 5
 143 Required by
 144 .B post
 145 in the event that the message has multiple addresses on the
 146 \*(lqFrom:\*(rq line.  It is otherwise optional.  This line should
 147 contain the address of the actual
 148 sender.
 149 .RE
 150 .PP
 151 .BR To :
 152 .RS 5
 153 Contains addresses of primary recipients.
 154 .RE
 155 .PP
 156 .BR cc :
 157 .RS 5
 158 Contains addresses of secondary recipients.
 159 .RE
 160 .PP
 161 .BR Bcc :
 162 .RS 5
 163 Still more recipients.  However, the \*(lqBcc:\*(rq line is not
 164 copied onto the message as delivered, so these recipients are not
 165 listed.
 166 .B nmh
 167 uses an encapsulation method for blind copies, see
 168 .IR send (1).
 169 .RE
 170 .PP
 171 .BR Dcc :
 172 .RS 5
 173 Still more recipients.  However, the \*(lqDcc:\*(rq line is not
 174 copied onto the messages as delivered.  Recipients on the \*(lqDcc:\*(rq
 175 line receive the same messsage as recipients on the \*(lqTo:\*(rq and
 176 \*(lqcc:\*(rq lines.  See
 177 .IR send (1)
 178 for more details.
 179 .B Dcc
 180 is not supported with the
 181 .B sendmail/pipe
 182 mail transport method.
 183 .RE
 184 .PP
 185 .BR Fcc :
 186 .RS 5
 187 Causes
 188 .B post
 189 to copy the message into the specified folder for the sender,
 190 if the message was successfully given to the transport system.
 191 .RE
 192 .PP
 193 .BR Message\-ID :
 194 .RS 5
 195 A unique message identifier added by
 196 .B post
 197 if the
 198 .B \-msgid
 199 flag is set.
 200 .RE
 201 .PP
 202 .BR Subject :
 203 .RS 5
 204 Sender's commentary.  It is displayed by
 205 .BR scan .
 206 .RE
 207 .PP
 208 .BR In\-Reply\-To :
 209 .RS 5
 210 A commentary line added by
 211 .B repl
 212 when replying to a message.
 213 .RE
 214 .PP
 215 .BR Resent\-Date :
 216 .RS 5
 217 Added when redistributing a message by
 218 .BR post .
 219 .RE
 220 .PP
 221 .BR Resent\-From :
 222 .RS 5
 223 Added when redistributing a message by
 224 .BR post .
 225 .RE
 226 .PP
 227 .BR Resent\-To:
 228 .RS 5
 229 New recipients for a message resent by
 230 .BR dist .
 231 .RE
 232 .PP
 233 .BR Resent\-cc :
 234 .RS 5
 235 Still more recipients. See \*(lqcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 236 .RE
 237 .PP
 238 .BR Resent\-Bcc :
 239 .RS 5
 240 Even more recipients. See \*(lqBcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 241 .RE
 242 .PP
 243 .BR Resent\-Fcc :
 244 .RS 5
 245 Copy resent message into a folder.
 246 See \*(lqFcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 247 .RE
 248 .PP
 249 .BR Resent\-Message\-Id :
 250 .RS 5
 251 A unique identifier glued on by
 252 .B post
 253 if the
 254 .B \-msgid
 255 flag is set.
 256 See \*(lqMessage\-Id:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 257 .RE
 258 .PP
 259 .BR Resent :
 260 .RS 5
 261 Annotation for
 262 .B dist
 263 under the
 264 .B \-annotate
 265 option.
 266 .RE
 267 .PP
 268 .BR Forwarded :
 269 .RS 5
 270 Annotation for
 271 .B forw
 272 under the
 273 .B \-annotate
 274 option.
 275 .RE
 276 .PP
 277 .BR Replied :
 278 .RS 5
 279 Annotation for
 280 .B repl
 281 under the
 282 .B \-annotate
 283 option.
 284 .RE
 285 .SH FILES
 286 .fc ^ ~
 287 .nf
 288 .ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName  'u
 289 ^%mailspool%/$USER~^Location of mail drop
 290 .fi
 291 .SH "SEE ALSO"
 292 .I
 293 Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages
 294 (RFC 822)
 295 .SH CONTEXT
 296 None