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   1 .TH MH-PROFILE %manext5% "September 29, 2016" "%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\-profile
  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\-profile.
  32 The shell quoting conventions are not available in the
  33 .IR \&.mh\-profile ;
  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 Some MH programs, including
  48 .BR mhbuild ,
  49 .BR mhshow ,
  50 and
  51 .BR mhstore ,
  52 have specific profile components that are described in their respective
  53 man pages.  Each component name begins with the name of the program and
  54 is followed by a dash.
  55 .PP
  56 .BR Path :
  57 Mail
  58 .RS 5
  59 Locates
  60 .B nmh
  61 transactions in directory \*(lqMail\*(rq.  This is the
  62 only mandatory profile entry.  (profile, no default)
  63 .RE
  64 .PP
  65 .BR context :
  66 context
  67 .RS 5
  68 Declares the location of the
  69 .B nmh
  70 context file.  This is overridden by the environment variable
  71 MHCONTEXT.
  72 See the
  73 .B HISTORY
  74 section below.
  75 (profile, default: <nmh\-dir>/context)
  76 .RE
  77 .PP
  78 .BR Current\-Folder :
  79 inbox
  80 .RS 5
  81 Keeps track of the current open folder.
  82 (context, default: folder specified by \*(lqInbox\*(rq)
  83 .RE
  84 .PP
  85 .BR Inbox :
  86 inbox
  87 .RS 5
  88 Defines the name of your default inbox.
  89 (profile, default: inbox)
  90 .RE
  91 .PP
  92 .BR Previous\-Sequence :
  93 .I pseq
  94 .RS 5
  95 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as the `msgs' or
  96 `msg' argument given to any
  97 .B nmh
  98 command.  If not present or empty,
  99 no such sequences are defined.  Otherwise, for each name given, the
 100 sequence is first zero'd and then each message is added to the sequence.
 101 Read the
 102 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 103 man page for the details about this sequence.  (profile, no default)
 104 .RE
 105 .PP
 106 .BR Sequence\-Negation :
 107 not
 108 .RS 5
 109 Defines the string which, when prefixed to a sequence name, negates
 110 that sequence.  Hence, \*(lqnotseen\*(rq means all those messages that
 111 are not a member of the sequence \*(lqseen\*(rq.  Read the
 112 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 113 man page for the details.  (profile, no default)
 114 .RE
 115 .PP
 116 .BR Unseen\-Sequence :
 117 unseen
 118 .RS 5
 119 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as those
 120 messages which are unread.  The commands
 121 .BR inc ,
 122 .BR rcvstore ,
 123 .BR mhshow ,
 124 and
 125 .B show
 126 will add or remove messages from these
 127 sequences when they are incorporated or read.  If not present or
 128 empty, no such sequences are defined.  Otherwise, each message is
 129 added to, or removed from, each sequence name given.  Read the
 130 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 131 man page for the details about this sequence.
 132 (profile, no default)
 133 .RE
 134 .PP
 135 .BR mh\-sequences :
 136 \&.mh\-sequences
 137 .RS 5
 138 The name of the file in each folder which defines public sequences.
 139 To disable the use of public sequences, leave the value portion of this
 140 entry blank.  (profile, default: \&.mh\-sequences)
 141 .RE
 142 .PP
 143 .BI atr\- seq \- folder :
 144 172\0178\-181\0212
 145 .RS 5
 146 Keeps track of the private sequence called \*(lqseq\*(rq in the specified
 147 folder.  Private sequences are generally used for read\-only folders.
 148 See the
 149 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 150 man page for details about private sequences.
 151 (context, no default)
 152 .RE
 153 .PP
 154 .BR Editor :
 155 vi
 156 .RS 5
 157 Defines the editor to be used by the commands
 158 .BR comp ,
 159 .BR dist ,
 160 .BR forw ,
 161 and
 162 .BR repl .
 163 If not set in profile the value will be taken from the VISUAL and
 164 EDITOR environment variables.
 165 (profile, default: vi)
 166 .RE
 167 .PP
 168 .BR Msg\-Protect :
 169 600
 170 .RS 5
 171 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new message files.
 172 See
 173 .IR chmod (1)
 174 for an explanation of the octal number.  Note that some filesystems,
 175 such as FAT32, do not support removal of read file permissions.
 176 (profile, default: 0600)
 177 .RE
 178 .PP
 179 .BR Folder\-Protect :
 180 700
 181 .RS 5
 182 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new folder
 183 directories.  See
 184 .IR chmod (1)
 185 for an explanation of the octal number.
 186 (profile, default: 700)
 187 .RE
 188 .PP
 189 .BR datalocking :
 190 fcntl
 191 .RS 5
 192 The locking algorithm used to lock changes to any
 193 .B nmh
 194 data files, such as sequences or the context.  The locking algorithm is
 195 any one of the following entries:
 196 .PP
 197 .RS 5
 198 .nf
 199 %supported_locks%
 200 .fi
 201 .RE
 202 .PP
 203 Available locking algorithms can vary depending on what is supported by
 204 the operating system.  Note: currently transactional locking is only
 205 supported on public sequences; see
 206 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
 207 for more information.
 208 (profile, default: fcntl)
 209 .RE
 210 .PP
 211 .IR program :
 212 .I default switches
 213 .RS 5
 214 Sets default switches to be used whenever the mh program
 215 .I program
 216 is invoked.  For example, one could override the \*(lqEditor:\*(rq profile
 217 component when replying to messages by adding a component such as:
 218 .PP
 219 .RS 5
 220 repl: \-editor /bin/ed
 221 .RE
 222 .PP
 223 (profile, no defaults)
 224 .RE
 225 .PP
 226 .IB lasteditor "-next:"
 227 .I nexteditor
 228 .RS 5
 229 Names \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq to be the default editor after using
 230 \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq.  This takes effect at \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt
 231 in
 232 .BR comp ,
 233 .BR dist ,
 234 .BR forw ,
 235 and
 236 .BR repl .
 237 After editing
 238 the draft with \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq, the default editor is set to be
 239 \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq.  If the user types \*(lqedit\*(rq without any
 240 arguments to \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq, then \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq is used.
 241 (profile, no default)
 242 .RE
 243 .PP
 244 .BR Folder\-Stack :
 245 .I folders
 246 .RS 5
 247 The contents of the folder-stack for the
 248 .B folder
 249 command.
 250 (context, no default)
 251 .RE
 252 .PP
 253 .BR Local\-Mailbox :
 254 Your Username <user@some.host>
 255 .RS 5
 256 Tells the various MH tools what your local mailbox is.  If set, will be used
 257 by the default component files by tools like
 258 .B comp
 259 and
 260 .B repl
 261 to construct your default \*(lqFrom\*(rq header.  The text used here will
 262 be copied exactly to your From: header, so it should already be RFC 822
 263 compliant.  If this is set, the
 264 .B Signature
 265 profile entry is NOT used, so it should include a signature as well.  (profile,
 266 default: userid@local.hostname)
 267 .RE
 268 .PP
 269 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes :
 270 mh@uci\-750a, bug-mh*
 271 .RS 5
 272 Tells
 273 .B repl
 274 and
 275 .B scan
 276 which addresses are really yours.
 277 In this way,
 278 .B repl
 279 knows which addresses should be included in the
 280 reply, and
 281 scan
 282 knows if the message really originated from you.
 283 Addresses must be separated by a comma, and the hostnames listed should
 284 be the \*(lqofficial\*(rq hostnames for the mailboxes you indicate, as
 285 local nicknames for hosts are not replaced with their official site names.
 286 For each address, if a host is not given, then that address on any host is
 287 considered to be you.  In addition, an asterisk (`*') may appear at either
 288 or both ends of the mailbox and host to indicate wild-card matching.
 289 (profile, default: your user-id)
 290 .RE
 291 .PP
 292 .BR Aliasfile :
 293 aliases
 294 .I other-alias
 295 .RS 5
 296 Indicates aliases files for
 297 .BR ali ,
 298 .BR whom ,
 299 and
 300 .BR send .
 301 This may be used instead of the
 302 .B \-alias
 303 .I file
 304 switch.  (profile, no default)
 305 .RE
 306 .PP
 307 .BR Draft\-Folder :
 308 drafts
 309 .RS 5
 310 Indicates a default draft folder for
 311 .BR comp ,
 312 .BR dist ,
 313 .BR forw ,
 314 .BR refile ,
 315 and
 316 .BR repl .
 317 Read the
 318 .IR mh\-draft (5)
 319 man page for details.  (profile, no default)
 320 .RE
 321 .PP
 322 .BI digest\-issue\- list :
 323 1
 324 .RS 5
 325 Tells
 326 .B forw
 327 the last issue of the last volume sent for the digest
 328 .IR list .
 329 (context, no default)
 330 .RE
 331 .PP
 332 .BI digest\-volume\- list :
 333 1
 334 .RS 5
 335 Tells
 336 .B forw
 337 the last volume sent for the digest
 338 .IR list .
 339 (context, no default)
 340 .RE
 341 .PP
 342 .BR MailDrop :
 343 \&.mail
 344 .RS 5
 345 Tells
 346 .B inc
 347 your maildrop, if different from the default.  This is
 348 superseded by the environment variable
 349 MAILDROP.
 350 (profile, default: %mailspool%/$USER)
 351 .RE
 352 .PP
 353 .BR Signature :
 354 RAND MH System (agent: Marshall Rose)
 355 .RS 5
 356 Tells front-end programs such as
 357 .BR comp,
 358 .BR forw,
 359 and
 360 .B repl
 361 your mail signature.  This is superseded by the
 362 environment variable
 363 SIGNATURE .
 364 If
 365 SIGNATURE
 366 is not set and this profile entry is not present, the \*(lqgcos\*(rq field of
 367 the \fI/etc/passwd\fP file will be used.
 368 Your signature will be added to the address
 369 .B send
 370 puts in the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header; do not include an address in the
 371 signature text.  The \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component
 372 supersedes all of this.  (profile, no default)
 373 .RE
 374 .PP
 375 .BR credentials :
 376 \&legacy
 377 .RS 5
 378 Indicates how the username and password credentials will be retrieved
 379 for access to external servers, such as those that provide SMTP or POP
 380 service.  The supported entry values are \*(lqlegacy\*(rq,
 381 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq,
 382 and
 383 .RI \*(lqfile\-nopermcheck: netrc \*(rq.
 384 With \*(lqlegacy\*(rq, or if there is no credentials entry, the
 385 username is the first of:
 386 .RS 5
 387 .TP 5
 388 .PD 0
 389 1)
 390 .B \-user
 391 switch to
 392 .BR send ,
 393 .BR post ,
 394 .BR whom ,
 395 .BR inc ,
 396 or
 397 .B msgchk
 398 program
 399 .TP
 400 2)
 401 the login name on the local machine
 402 .PD
 403 .RE
 404 .PP
 405 The password for SMTP services is the first of:
 406 .RS 5
 407 .TP 5
 408 .PD 0
 409 1)
 410 password value from matching entry in file named \*(lq.netrc\*(rq
 411 in the user's home directory
 412 .TP
 413 2)
 414 password obtained by interactively prompting the user
 415 .PD
 416 .RE
 417 .PP
 418 The password for POP service when the
 419 .B \-sasl
 420 switch is used with one of these programs is the login name on the
 421 local machine.
 422 .PP
 423 With a
 424 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq
 425 .B credentials
 426 entry, the username is the first of:
 427 .RS 5
 428 .PD 0
 429 .TP 5
 430 1)
 431 .B \-user
 432 switch to program
 433 .TP 5
 434 2)
 435 login name from matching entry in
 436 .I netrc
 437 file
 438 .TP 5
 439 3)
 440 value provided by user in response to interactive query
 441 .PD
 442 .RE
 443 .PP
 444 Similarly, the password is provided either in the
 445 .I netrc
 446 file or interactively.
 447 .I netrc
 448 can be any valid filename, either absolute or relative to Path or
 449 $HOME.  The
 450 .I netrc
 451 file contains authentication information, for each server,
 452 using a line of the following form.  Replace the words
 453 .IR myserver ,
 454 .IR mylogin ,
 455 and
 456 .I mypassword
 457 with your own account information:
 458 .PP
 459 .RS 5
 460 .B machine
 461 .I myserver
 462 .B login
 463 .I mylogin
 464 .B password
 465 .I mypassword
 466 .RE
 467 .PP
 468 This
 469 .I netrc
 470 file must be owned and readable only by you.
 471 .PP
 472 The
 473 .RI \*(lqfile\-nopermcheck: netrc \*(rq
 474 .B credentials
 475 entry is identical in behavior to the \*(lqfile\*(rq entry, with the
 476 exception that the permission checks done by
 477 \*(lqfile\*(rq are not performed.  This entry should be used with
 478 caution and only when absolutely necessary.
 479 (profile, default: legacy)
 480 .RE
 481 .PP
 482 .BR Welcome :
 483 disable
 484 .RS 5
 485 If the Welcome component is not present, or its value is not
 486 .RI \*(lq disable \*(rq,
 487 a welcome message will be displayed the first time that an interactive
 488 .B nmh
 489 program is run after updating the
 490 .B nmh
 491 installation.
 492 The user must press the Enter key to continue.
 493 .PP
 494 If the MHCONTEXT environment variable is set and non-empty (and
 495 the Welcome component is not
 496 .RI \*(lq disable \*(rq),
 497 the welcome message is only displayed if the context file contains a version
 498 reference, and that reference is older than the installed
 499 .B nmh
 500 version.  The version reference is of the form:
 501 .PP
 502 .RS 5
 503 .nf
 504 Version: %nmhversion%
 505 .fi
 506 .RE
 507 .PP
 508 .RE
 509 .SS "Process Profile Entries"
 510 The following profile elements are used whenever an
 511 .B nmh
 512 program invokes some other program such as
 513 .BR more .
 514 The
 515 .I \&.mh\-profile
 516 can be used to select alternate programs if the
 517 user wishes.  The default values are given in the examples.
 518 .PP
 519 If the profile element contains spaces, the element is split at spaces
 520 into tokens and each token is given as a separate argument to the
 521 .IR execvp (2)
 522 system call.  If the element contains shell metacharacters then the entire
 523 element is executed using
 524 .BR /bin/sh .
 525 .RE
 526 .PP
 527 .BR buildmimeproc :
 528 %bindir%/mhbuild
 529 .RS 5
 530 This is the program used by
 531 .B whatnow
 532 to process drafts which are MIME composition files.
 533 .RE
 534 .PP
 535 .BR fileproc :
 536 %bindir%/refile
 537 .RS 5
 538 This program is used to refile or link a message to another folder.
 539 It is used by
 540 .B send
 541 to file a copy of a message into a folder given
 542 by a \*(lqFcc:\*(rq field.  It is used by the draft folder facility in
 543 .BR comp ,
 544 .BR dist ,
 545 .BR forw ,
 546 and
 547 .B repl
 548 to refile a draft
 549 message into another folder.  It is used to refile a draft message in
 550 response to the
 551 .B refile
 552 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
 553 .RE
 554 .PP
 555 .BR formatproc :
 556 .RS 5
 557 Program called by
 558 .B mhl
 559 to filter a component when it is tagged with the \*(lqformat\*(rq variable
 560 in the mhl filter.  See
 561 .IR mhl (5)
 562 for more information.
 563 .RE
 564 .PP
 565 .BR incproc :
 566 %bindir%/inc
 567 .RS 5
 568 Program called by
 569 .B mhmail
 570 to incorporate new mail when it
 571 is invoked with no arguments.
 572 .RE
 573 .PP
 574 .BR lproc :
 575 more
 576 .RS 5
 577 This program is used to list the contents of a message in response
 578 to the
 579 .B list
 580 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.  It is
 581 also used by the draft folder facility in
 582 .BR comp ,
 583 .BR dist ,
 584 .BR forw ,
 585 and
 586 .B repl
 587 to display the draft message.
 588 (Note that
 589 the environment variable PAGER
 590 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
 591 .RE
 592 .PP
 593 .BR mailproc :
 594 %bindir%/mhmail
 595 .RS 5
 596 This is the program used to automatically mail various messages
 597 and notifications.  It is used by
 598 .B send
 599 to post failure notices.
 600 It is used to retrieve an external-body with access-type `mail-server'
 601 (such as when storing the body with
 602 .BR mhstore ).
 603 .RE
 604 .PP
 605 .BR mhlproc :
 606 %nmhlibexecdir%/mhl
 607 .RS 5
 608 This is the program used to filter messages in various ways.  It
 609 is used by
 610 .B mhshow
 611 to filter and display the message headers
 612 of MIME messages.  When the
 613 .B \-format
 614 or
 615 .B \-filter
 616 option is used
 617 by
 618 .B forw
 619 or
 620 .BR repl ,
 621 the
 622 .I mhlproc
 623 is used to filter the
 624 message that you are forwarding, or to which you are replying.
 625 When the
 626 .B \-filter
 627 option is given to
 628 .BR send ,
 629 the
 630 .I mhlproc
 631 is used to filter the copy of the message
 632 that is sent to \*(lqBcc:\*(rq recipients.
 633 .RE
 634 .PP
 635 .BR moreproc :
 636 more
 637 .RS 5
 638 This is the program used by
 639 .B mhl
 640 to page the
 641 .B mhl
 642 formatted message when displaying to a terminal.  It is also the default
 643 program used by
 644 .B mhshow
 645 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
 646 (Note that
 647 the vivironment variable PAGER
 648 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
 649 .RE
 650 .PP
 651 .BR packproc :
 652 %bindir%/packf
 653 .RS 5
 654 Currently not used.
 655 .RE
 656 .PP
 657 .BR postproc :
 658 %nmhlibexecdir%/post
 659 .RS 5
 660 This is the program used by
 661 .BR send ,
 662 .BR mhmail ,
 663 .BR rcvdist ,
 664 and
 665 .B viamail
 666 (used by the
 667 .B sendfiles
 668 shell script) to
 669 post a message to the mail transport system.  It is also called by
 670 .B whom
 671 (called with the switches
 672 .B \-whom
 673 and
 674 .BR \-library )
 675 to do address verification.
 676 .RE
 677 .PP
 678 .BR rmmproc :
 679 none
 680 .RS 5
 681 This is the program used by
 682 .BR rmm ,
 683 .BR refile ,
 684 and
 685 .B mhfixmsg
 686 to delete a message from a folder.
 687 .RE
 688 .PP
 689 .BR sendproc :
 690 %bindir%/send
 691 .RS 5
 692 This is the program to use by
 693 .B whatnow
 694 to actually send the message
 695 .RE
 696 .PP
 697 .BR showmimeproc :
 698 %bindir%/mhshow
 699 .RS 5
 700 This is the program used by
 701 .B show
 702 to process and display non-text (MIME) messages.
 703 .RE
 704 .PP
 705 .BR showproc :
 706 %nmhlibexecdir%/mhl
 707 .RS 5
 708 This is the program used by
 709 .B show
 710 to filter and display text (non-MIME) messages.
 711 .RE
 712 .PP
 713 .BR whatnowproc :
 714 %bindir%/whatnow
 715 .RS 5
 716 This is the program invoked by
 717 .BR comp ,
 718 .BR forw ,
 719 .BR dist ,
 720 and
 721 .B repl
 722 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
 723 .RE
 724 .PP
 725 .BR whomproc :
 726 %bindir%/whom
 727 .RS 5
 728 This is the program used by
 729 .B whatnow
 730 to determine to whom a message would be sent.
 731 .RE
 732 .SS "Profile Lookup"
 733 After consulting .mh_profile,
 734 some programs read an optional profile specified by a
 735 program-specific environment variable,
 736 and then the system-wide profile %nmhetcdir%/mhn.defaults.
 737 These programs are
 738 .BR mhbuild ,
 739 .BR mhshow ,
 740 .BR mhstore ,
 741 and
 742 .BR mhn .
 743 .B mhfixmsg
 744 is similar, but has no optional profile.
 745 .sp
 746 The first occurrence of a component is used,
 747 e.g.\& .mh_profile's trumps $MHSHOW's.
 748 A component with no value still stops further occurrences being used,
 749 but is considered absent.
 750 .PP
 751 The
 752 .I \&.mh\-profile
 753 contains only static information, which
 754 .B nmh
 755 programs will
 756 .B NOT
 757 update.  Changes in context are made to the
 758 .I context
 759 file kept in the users
 760 .B nmh
 761 directory.
 762 This includes, but is not limited to: the \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry
 763 and all private sequence information.  Public sequence information is
 764 kept in each folder in the file determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq
 765 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
 792 can select
 793 any
 794 program as the
 795 .IR whatnowproc ,
 796 including
 797 one of the standard shells.  As a result, it's not possible to pass
 798 information via an argument list.  The convention is that environment
 799 variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable; those
 800 whose names are lower-case only are used internally by nmh and should
 801 not generally be set by the user.
 802 .TP
 803 MAILDROP
 804 This variable tells
 805 .B inc
 806 the default maildrop.  This supersedes the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
 807 .TP
 808 MAILHOST
 809 This variable tells
 810 .B inc
 811 the POP host to query for mail to incorporate.  See the
 812 .IR inc (1)
 813 man page for more information.
 814 .TP
 815 MH
 816 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
 817 other than
 818 .I \&.mh\-profile
 819 to be read by the
 820 .B nmh
 821 programs
 822 that you invoke.  If the value of
 823 MH
 824 is not absolute, (i.e., does
 825 not begin with a \*(lq/\*(rq), it will be presumed to start from the current
 826 working directory.  This is one of the very few exceptions in
 827 .B nmh
 828 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
 829 .B nmh
 830 directory.
 831 .TP
 832 MHBUILD
 833 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 834 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 835 .BR mhbuild ,
 836 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 837 .TP
 838 MHCONTEXT
 839 With this environment variable, you can specify a
 840 context other than the normal context file (as specified in
 841 the
 842 .B nmh
 843 profile).  As always, unless the value of
 844 MHCONTEXT
 845 is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your
 846 .B nmh
 847 directory.
 848 .TP
 849 MHLDEBUG
 850 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 851 .B mhl
 852 will emit debugging information.
 853 .TP
 854 MHMTSCONF
 855 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the
 856 name of the mail transport configuration file to use by
 857 .BR post ,
 858 .BR inc ,
 859 and other programs that interact with the mail transport system,
 860 instead of the default.  See
 861 .IR mh-tailor (5).
 862 .TP
 863 MHMTSUSERCONF
 864 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the name of
 865 a mail transport configuration file to be read in addition to the
 866 default.  See
 867 .IR mh-tailor (5).
 868 .TP
 869 MHN
 870 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 871 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 872 .BR mhn ,
 873 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 874 .B mhn
 875 is deprecated, so support for this variable will
 876 be removed from a future nmh release.
 877 .TP
 878 MHSHOW
 879 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 880 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 881 .BR mhshow ,
 882 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 883 .TP
 884 MHSTORE
 885 With this environment variable, you can specify an
 886 additional user profile (file) to be read by
 887 .BR mhstore ,
 888 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
 889 .TP
 890 MHPDEBUG
 891 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 892 .B pick
 893 will emit a representation of the search pattern.
 894 MHPDEBUG
 895 is deprecated, so support for this variable will
 896 be removed from a future nmh release.  Instead,
 897 .B pick
 898 now supports a
 899 .B \-debug
 900 switch.
 901 .TP
 902 MHTMPDIR, TMPDIR
 903 These variables are searched, in order, for the directory in which to
 904 create some temporary files.
 905 .TP
 906 MHWDEBUG
 907 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
 908 .B nmh
 909 commands that use the
 910 .B Alternate\-Mailboxes
 911 profile entry will display debugging information
 912 about the values in that entry.
 913 .TP
 914 PAGER
 915 If set to a non-null value, this supersedes the value of
 916 the default built-in pager command.
 917 .TP
 918 SIGNATURE
 919 This variable tells
 920 .B send
 921 and
 922 .B post
 923 your mail signature.  This supersedes the \*(lqSignature\*(rq profile entry,
 924 and is not used when the \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component is set.
 925 .TP
 926 USER
 927 This variable tells
 928 .B repl
 929 your user name and
 930 .B inc
 931 your default maildrop:  see the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
 932 .TP
 933 USERNAME_EXTENSION
 934 This variable is for use with username_extension masquerading.  See the
 935 .IR mh-tailor (5)
 936 man page.
 937 .TP
 938 editalt
 939 This is the alternate message.
 940 This is set by
 941 .B dist
 942 and
 943 .B repl
 944 during edit sessions so you can
 945 peruse the message being distributed or replied to.  The message is also
 946 available, when the
 947 .B \-atfile
 948 switch is used,
 949 through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory if
 950 your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
 951 on the same UNIX filesystem, and if your current working directory is
 952 writable.
 953 .TP
 954 mhaltmsg
 955 .B dist
 956 and
 957 .B repl
 958 set
 959 mhaltmsg
 960 to tell the
 961 .I whatnowproc
 962 about an alternate message associated with the
 963 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
 964 .TP
 965 mhannotate
 966 This is set by
 967 .BR dist ,
 968 .BR forw ,
 969 and
 970 .B repl
 971 if annotations are to occur.
 972 .TP
 973 mhdist
 974 .B dist
 975 sets
 976 mhdist
 977 to tell the
 978 .I whatnowproc
 979 that message re-distribution is occurring.
 980 .TP
 981 mhdraft
 982 This is the path to the working draft.
 983 It is set by
 984 .BR comp ,
 985 .BR dist ,
 986 .BR forw ,
 987 and
 988 .B repl
 989 to tell the
 990 .I whatnowproc
 991 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq
 992 questions about.
 993 .TP
 994 mheditor
 995 This is set by
 996 .BR comp ,
 997 .BR repl ,
 998 .BR forw ,
 999 and
1000 .B dist
1001 to tell the
1002 .I whatnowproc
1003 the user's choice of
1004 editor (unless overridden by
1005 .BR \-noedit ).
1006 .TP
1007 mhfolder
1008 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
1009 It is set by
1010 .B dist
1011 and
1012 .B repl
1013 during edit sessions so you
1014 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
1015 distributed or replied to.  The environment variable
1016 mhfolder
1017 is also set by
1018 .BR show ,
1019 .BR prev ,
1020 and
1021 .B next
1022 for use by
1023 .BR mhl .
1024 .TP
1025 mhinplace
1026 This is set by
1027 .BR dist ,
1028 .BR forw ,
1029 and
1030 .B repl
1031 if annotations are to occur.
1032 .TP
1033 mhmessages
1034 This is set by
1035 .BR dist ,
1036 .BR forw ,
1037 and
1038 .B repl
1039 if annotations are to occur.
1040 .TP
1041 mhuse
1042 This may be set by
1043 .BR comp .
1044 .SH FILES
1045 .PD 0
1046 .TP 20
1047 $HOME/\&.mh\-profile
1048 The user's profile.
1049 .TP
1050 <mh\-dir>/context
1051 The user's context
1052 .TP
1053 <folder>/\&.mh\-sequences
1054 Public sequences for <folder>.
1055 .PD
1056 .SH "SEE ALSO"
1057 .IR mhbuild (1),
1058 .IR mhshow (1),
1059 .IR mhstore (1),
1060 .IR mh-sequence (5),
1061 .IR nmh (7)
1062 .SH BUGS
1063 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1064 in the profile as options.  In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1065 command line semantics of all
1066 .B nmh
1067 programs: conflicting switches
1068 (e.g.
1069 .B \-header
1070 and
1071 .BR \-noheader )
1072 may occur more than one time on the
1073 command line, with the last switch taking effect.  Other arguments, such
1074 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
1075 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
1076 the same type.  Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
1077 arguments) in the profile.
1078 .PP
1079 If one finds that an
1080 .B nmh
1081 program is being invoked again and again
1082 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
1083 are a few possible solutions to this problem.  The first is to create a
1084 (soft) link in your
1085 .I $HOME/bin
1086 directory to the
1087 .B nmh
1088 program
1089 of your choice.  By giving this link a different name, you can create
1090 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1091 the
1092 .B nmh
1093 command.  Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1094 which called the
1095 .B nmh
1096 program of your choice with an alternate set
1097 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1098 is preferable to this solution).
1099 .PP
1100 Finally, the
1101 .B csh
1102 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1103 .PP
1104 .RS 5
1105 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1106 .RE
1107 .PP
1108 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1109 give
1110 .B nmh
1111 commands safely.  (Recall that some
1112 .B nmh
1113 commands
1114 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1115 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)