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

   1 .TH MH-MAIL %manext5% "January 8, 2014" "%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 Envelope\-From :
 109 .RS 5
 110 Used by
 111 .B post
 112 to specify a value for the sender's envelope address to the mail transport
 113 system.  If omitted,
 114 .B post
 115 will use the value of the \*(lqSender:\*(rq or the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header.
 116 See
 117 .IR send (1)
 118 for more details.
 119 .RE
 120 .PP
 121 .BR Mail\-Reply\-To :
 122 .RS 5
 123 For a standard reply (using
 124 .BR repl ),
 125 the reply address is
 126 constructed by checking the following headers (in this order):
 127 \*(lqMail-Reply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqFrom:\*(rq,
 128 \*(lqSender:\*(rq.
 129 .RE
 130 .PP
 131 .BR Mail\-Followup\-To :
 132 .RS 5
 133 When making a \*(lqgroup\*(rq reply (using
 134 .B repl
 135 .BR \-group ),
 136 any addresses in this field will take precedence, and no other reply address
 137 will be added to the draft.  If this header is not available, then the
 138 return addresses will be constructed from the \*(lqMail-Reply\-To:\*(rq,
 139 or \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq, or \*(lqFrom:\*(rq, along with adding the
 140 addresses from the headers \*(lqTo:\*(rq, \*(lqcc:\*(rq, as well as
 141 adding your personal address.
 142 .RE
 143 .PP
 144 .BR Reply\-To :
 145 .RS 5
 146 For a standard reply (using
 147 .BR repl ),
 148 the reply address is
 149 constructed by checking the following headers (in this order):
 150 \*(lqMail-Reply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq, \*(lqFrom:\*(rq,
 151 \*(lqSender:\*(rq.
 152 .RE
 153 .PP
 154 .BR Sender :
 155 .RS 5
 156 Required by
 157 .B post
 158 in the event that the message has multiple addresses on the
 159 \*(lqFrom:\*(rq line.  It is otherwise optional.  This line should
 160 contain the address of the actual
 161 sender.
 162 .RE
 163 .PP
 164 .BR To :
 165 .RS 5
 166 Contains addresses of primary recipients.
 167 .RE
 168 .PP
 169 .BR cc :
 170 .RS 5
 171 Contains addresses of secondary recipients.
 172 .RE
 173 .PP
 174 .BR Bcc :
 175 .RS 5
 176 Still more recipients.  However, the \*(lqBcc:\*(rq line is not
 177 copied onto the message as delivered, so these recipients are not
 178 listed.
 179 .B nmh
 180 uses an encapsulation method for blind copies, see
 181 .IR send (1).
 182 .RE
 183 .PP
 184 .BR Dcc :
 185 .RS 5
 186 Still more recipients.  However, the \*(lqDcc:\*(rq line is not
 187 copied onto the messages as delivered.  Recipients on the \*(lqDcc:\*(rq
 188 line receive the same message as recipients on the \*(lqTo:\*(rq and
 189 \*(lqcc:\*(rq lines.  See
 190 .IR send (1)
 191 for more details.
 192 .B Dcc
 193 is not supported with the
 194 .B sendmail/pipe
 195 mail transport method.
 196 .RE
 197 .PP
 198 .BR Fcc :
 199 .RS 5
 200 Causes
 201 .B post
 202 to copy the message into the specified folder for the sender,
 203 if the message was successfully given to the transport system.
 204 .RE
 205 .PP
 206 .BR Message\-ID :
 207 .RS 5
 208 A unique message identifier added by
 209 .B post
 210 if the
 211 .B \-msgid
 212 flag is set.
 213 .RE
 214 .PP
 215 .BR Subject :
 216 .RS 5
 217 Sender's commentary.  It is displayed by
 218 .BR scan .
 219 .RE
 220 .PP
 221 .BR In\-Reply\-To :
 222 .RS 5
 223 A commentary line added by
 224 .B repl
 225 when replying to a message.
 226 .RE
 227 .PP
 228 .BR Resent\-Date :
 229 .RS 5
 230 Added when redistributing a message by
 231 .BR post .
 232 .RE
 233 .PP
 234 .BR Resent\-From :
 235 .RS 5
 236 Used instead of the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header when
 237 .B post
 238 redistributes a message.  See \*(lqFrom:\*(rq for more information about
 239 this header is used.
 240 .RE
 241 .PP
 242 .BR Resent\-To:
 243 .RS 5
 244 New recipients for a message resent by
 245 .BR dist .
 246 .RE
 247 .PP
 248 .BR Resent\-cc :
 249 .RS 5
 250 Still more recipients.  See \*(lqcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 251 .RE
 252 .PP
 253 .BR Resent\-Bcc :
 254 .RS 5
 255 Even more recipients.  See \*(lqBcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 256 .RE
 257 .PP
 258 .BR Resent\-Fcc :
 259 .RS 5
 260 Copy resent message into a folder.
 261 See \*(lqFcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 262 .RE
 263 .PP
 264 .BR Resent\-Message\-Id :
 265 .RS 5
 266 A unique identifier glued on by
 267 .B post
 268 if the
 269 .B \-msgid
 270 flag is set.
 271 See \*(lqMessage\-Id:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
 272 .RE
 273 .PP
 274 .BR Resent :
 275 .RS 5
 276 Annotation for
 277 .B dist
 278 under the
 279 .B \-annotate
 280 option.
 281 .RE
 282 .PP
 283 .BR Forwarded :
 284 .RS 5
 285 Annotation for
 286 .B forw
 287 under the
 288 .B \-annotate
 289 option.
 290 .RE
 291 .PP
 292 .BR Replied :
 293 .RS 5
 294 Annotation for
 295 .B repl
 296 under the
 297 .B \-annotate
 298 option.
 299 .RE
 300 .PP
 301 .BR Attach :
 302 .RS 5
 303 Used by
 304 .B mhbuild
 305 to specify a filename to attach to this message.  See
 306 .IR mhbuild (1)
 307 for more information.
 308 .RE
 309 .SH FILES
 310 .TP 20
 311 %mailspool%/$USER
 312 Location of mail drop.
 313 .SH "SEE ALSO"
 314 .I
 315 Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages
 316 (RFC 822)
 317 .SH CONTEXT
 318 None