1 .TH MH-PROFILE %manext5% "December 21, 2014" "%nmhversion%"
6 mh-profile \- user profile customization for nmh message handler
10 is expected to have a file named
12 in his or her home directory. This file contains
13 a set of user parameters used by some or all of the
15 family of programs. Each entry in the file is of the format
18 .IR profile\-component ": " value
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 `#:':
30 Blank lines are not permitted in
32 The shell quoting conventions are not available in the
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
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.
47 Some MH programs, including
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.
61 transactions in directory \*(lqMail\*(rq. This is the
62 only mandatory profile entry. (profile, no default)
68 Declares the location of the
70 context file. This is overridden by the environment variable
75 (profile, default: <nmh\-dir>/context)
81 Keeps track of the current open folder.
82 (context, default: folder specified by \*(lqInbox\*(rq)
88 Defines the name of your default inbox.
89 (profile, default: inbox)
92 .BR Previous\-Sequence :
95 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as the `msgs' or
96 `msg' argument given to any
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.
103 man page for the details about this sequence. (profile, no default)
106 .BR Sequence\-Negation :
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
113 man page for the details. (profile, no default)
116 .BR Unseen\-Sequence :
119 Names the sequence or sequences which should be defined as those
120 messages which are unread. The commands
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
131 man page for the details about this sequence.
132 (profile, no default)
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)
143 .BI atr\- seq \- folder :
146 Keeps track of the private sequence called \*(lqseq\*(rq in the specified
147 folder. Private sequences are generally used for read\-only folders.
150 man page for details about private sequences.
151 (context, no default)
157 Defines the editor to be used by the commands
163 If not set in profile the value will be taken from the VISUAL and
164 EDITOR environment variables.
165 (profile, default: vi)
171 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new message files.
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)
179 .BR Folder\-Protect :
182 An octal number which defines the permission bits for new folder
185 for an explanation of the octal number.
186 (profile, default: 700)
192 The locking algorithm used to lock changes to any
194 data files, such as sequences or the context. The locking algorithm is
195 any one of the following entries:
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
207 for more information.
208 (profile, default: fcntl)
214 Sets default switches to be used whenever the mh 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:
220 repl: \-editor /bin/ed
223 (profile, no defaults)
226 .IB lasteditor "-next:"
229 Names \*(lqnexteditor\*(rq to be the default editor after using
230 \*(lqlasteditor\*(rq. This takes effect at \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt
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)
247 The contents of the folder-stack for the
250 (context, no default)
254 Your Username <user@some.host>
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
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
265 profile entry is NOT used, so it should include a signature as well. (profile,
266 default: userid@local.hostname)
269 .BR Alternate\-Mailboxes :
270 mh@uci\-750a, bug-mh*
276 which addresses are really yours.
279 knows which addresses should be included in the
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)
296 Indicates aliases files for
301 This may be used instead of the
304 switch. (profile, no default)
310 Indicates a default draft folder for
319 man page for details. (profile, no default)
322 .BI digest\-issue\- list :
327 the last issue of the last volume sent for the digest
329 (context, no default)
332 .BI digest\-volume\- list :
337 the last volume sent for the digest
339 (context, no default)
347 your maildrop, if different from the default. This is
348 superseded by the environment variable
350 (profile, default: %mailspool%/$USER)
354 RAND MH System (agent: Marshall Rose)
356 Tells front-end programs such as
361 your mail signature. This is superseded by the
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
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)
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 and
381 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq.
382 With \*(lqlegacy\*(rq, or if there is no credentials entry, the
383 username is the first of:
399 the login name on the local machine
403 The password for SMTP services is the first of:
408 password value from matching entry in file named \*(lq.netrc\*(rq
409 in the user's home directory
412 password obtained by interactively prompting the user
416 The password for POP service when the
418 switch is used with one of these programs is the login name on the
422 .RI \*(lqfile: netrc \*(rq
424 entry, the username is the first of:
433 login name from matching entry in
438 value provided by user in response to interactive query
442 Similarly, the password is provided either in the
444 file or interactively.
446 can be any valid filename, either absolute or relative to Path or
449 file contains authentication information, for each server,
450 using a line of the following form. Replace the words
455 with your own account information:
468 file must be owned and readable only by you.
469 (profile, default: legacy)
471 .SS "Process Profile Entries"
472 The following profile elements are used whenever an
474 program invokes some other program such as
478 can be used to select alternate programs if the
479 user wishes. The default values are given in the examples.
481 If the profile element contains spaces, the element is split at spaces
482 into tokens and each token is given as a separate argument to the
484 system call. If the element contains shell metacharacters then the entire
485 element is executed using
492 This is the program used by
494 to process drafts which are MIME composition files.
500 This program is used to refile or link a message to another folder.
503 to file a copy of a message into a folder given
504 by a \*(lqFcc:\*(rq field. It is used by the draft folder facility in
511 message into another folder. It is used to refile a draft message in
514 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt.
521 to filter a component when it is tagged with the \*(lqformat\*(rq variable
522 in the mhl filter. See
524 for more information.
532 to incorporate new mail when it
533 is invoked with no arguments.
539 This program is used to list the contents of a message in response
542 directive at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt. It is
543 also used by the draft folder facility in
549 to display the draft message.
551 the environment variable PAGER
552 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
558 This is the program used to automatically mail various messages
559 and notifications. It is used by
561 to post failure notices.
562 It is used to retrieve an external-body with access-type `mail-server'
563 (such as when storing the body with
570 This is the program used to filter messages in various ways. It
573 to filter and display the message headers
574 of MIME messages. When the
585 is used to filter the
586 message that you are forwarding, or to which you are replying.
593 is used to filter the copy of the message
594 that is sent to \*(lqBcc:\*(rq recipients.
600 This is the program used by
604 formatted message when displaying to a terminal. It is also the default
607 to display message bodies (or message parts) of type text/plain.
609 the vivironment variable PAGER
610 supersedes the default built-in pager command.)
622 This is the program used by
631 post a message to the mail transport system. It is also called by
633 (called with the switches
637 to do address verification.
643 This is the program used by
648 to delete a message from a folder.
654 This is the program to use by
656 to actually send the message
662 This is the program used by
664 to process and display non-text (MIME) messages.
670 This is the program used by
672 to filter and display text (non-MIME) messages.
678 This is the program invoked by
684 to query about the disposition of a composed draft message.
690 This is the program used by
692 to determine to whom a message would be sent.
695 After consulting .mh_profile,
696 some programs read an optional profile specified by a
697 program-specific environment variable,
698 and then the system-wide profile %nmhetcdir%/mhn.defaults.
706 is similar, but has no optional profile.
708 The first occurrence of a component is used,
709 e.g.\& .mh_profile's trumps $MHSHOW's.
710 A component with no value still stops further occurrences being used,
711 but is considered absent.
715 contains only static information, which
719 update. Changes in context are made to the
721 file kept in the users
724 This includes, but is not limited to: the \*(lqCurrent\-Folder\*(rq entry
725 and all private sequence information. Public sequence information is
726 kept in each folder in the file determined by the \*(lqmh\-sequences\*(rq
727 profile entry (default is
728 .IR \&.mh\-sequences ).
732 may override the path of the
734 file, by specifying a \*(lqcontext\*(rq entry (this must be in
735 lower-case). If the entry is not absolute (does not start with a
736 \*(lq/\*(rq), then it is interpreted relative to the user's
738 directory. As a result, you can actually have more than one set of
739 private sequences by using different context files.
743 and its commands it also controlled by the
744 presence of certain environment variables.
746 Many of these environment variables are used internally by the
747 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface. It's amazing all the information
748 that has to get passed via environment variables to make the
749 \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq interface look squeaky clean to the
751 user, isn't it? The reason for all this is that the
759 one of the standard shells. As a result, it's not possible to pass
760 information via an argument list. The convention is that environment
761 variables whose names are all upper-case are user-settable; those
762 whose names are lower-case only are used internally by nmh and should
763 not generally be set by the user.
768 the default maildrop. This supersedes the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
773 the POP host to query for mail to incorporate. See the
775 man page for more information.
778 With this environment variable, you can specify a profile
784 that you invoke. If the value of
786 is not absolute, (i.e., does
787 not begin with a \*(lq/\*(rq), it will be presumed to start from the current
788 working directory. This is one of the very few exceptions in
790 where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's
795 With this environment variable, you can specify an
796 additional user profile (file) to be read by
798 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
801 With this environment variable, you can specify a
802 context other than the normal context file (as specified in
805 profile). As always, unless the value of
807 is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your
812 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
814 will emit debugging information.
817 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the
818 name of the mail transport configuration file to use by
821 and other programs that interact with the mail transport system,
822 instead of the default. See
826 If this variable is set to a non-null value, it specifies the name of
827 a mail transport configuration file to be read in addition to the
832 With this environment variable, you can specify an
833 additional user profile (file) to be read by
835 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
837 is deprecated, so support for this variable will
838 be removed from a future nmh release.
841 With this environment variable, you can specify an
842 additional user profile (file) to be read by
844 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
847 With this environment variable, you can specify an
848 additional user profile (file) to be read by
850 in addition to the mhn.defaults profile.
853 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
855 will emit a representation of the search pattern.
857 is deprecated, so support for this variable will
858 be removed from a future nmh release. Instead,
865 These variables are searched, in order, for the directory in which to
866 create some temporary files.
869 If this variable is set to a non-null value,
871 commands that use the
872 .B Alternate\-Mailboxes
873 profile entry will display debugging information
874 about the values in that entry.
877 If set to a non-null value, this supersedes the value of
878 the default built-in pager command.
885 your mail signature. This supersedes the \*(lqSignature\*(rq profile entry,
886 and is not used when the \*(lqLocal\-Mailbox\*(rq profile component is set.
893 your default maildrop: see the \*(lqMailDrop\*(rq profile entry.
896 This variable is for use with username_extension masquerading. See the
901 This is the alternate message.
906 during edit sessions so you can
907 peruse the message being distributed or replied to. The message is also
911 through a link called \*(lq@\*(rq in the current directory if
912 your current working directory and the folder the message lives in are
913 on the same UNIX filesystem, and if your current working directory is
924 about an alternate message associated with the
925 draft (the message being distributed or replied to).
933 if annotations are to occur.
941 that message re-distribution is occurring.
944 This is the path to the working draft.
953 which file to ask \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq
966 editor (unless overridden by
970 This is the folder containing the alternate message.
975 during edit sessions so you
976 can peruse other messages in the current folder besides the one being
977 distributed or replied to. The environment variable
993 if annotations are to occur.
1001 if annotations are to occur.
1009 $HOME/\&.mh\-profile
1015 <folder>/\&.mh\-sequences
1016 Public sequences for <folder>.
1022 .IR mh-sequence (5),
1025 There is some question as to what kind of arguments should be placed
1026 in the profile as options. In order to provide a clear answer, recall
1027 command line semantics of all
1029 programs: conflicting switches
1034 may occur more than one time on the
1035 command line, with the last switch taking effect. Other arguments, such
1036 as message sequences, filenames and folders, are always remembered on
1037 the invocation line and are not superseded by following arguments of
1038 the same type. Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their
1039 arguments) in the profile.
1041 If one finds that an
1043 program is being invoked again and again
1044 with the same arguments, and those arguments aren't switches, then there
1045 are a few possible solutions to this problem. The first is to create a
1051 of your choice. By giving this link a different name, you can create
1052 a new entry in your profile and use an alternate set of defaults for
1055 command. Similarly, you could create a small shell script
1058 program of your choice with an alternate set
1059 of invocation line switches (using links and an alternate profile entry
1060 is preferable to this solution).
1064 user could create an alias for the command of the form:
1067 alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'
1070 In this way, the user can avoid lengthy type-in to the shell, and still
1073 commands safely. (Recall that some
1076 invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read, meaning that
1077 aliases are disregarded beyond an initial command invocation)
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