+.TH MHBUILD %manext1% "December 14, 2014" "%nmhversion%"
.\"
.\" %nmhwarning%
-.\" $Id$
.\"
-.TH MHBUILD %manext1% "%nmhdate%" MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
.SH NAME
mhbuild \- translate MIME composition draft
.SH SYNOPSIS
.HP 5
.B mhbuild
.I file
+.RB [ \-auto " | " \-noauto ]
.RB [ \-list " | " \-nolist ]
.RB [ \-realsize " | " \-norealsize ]
.RB [ \-headers " | " \-noheaders ]
-.RB [ \-ebcdicsafe " | " \-noebcdicsafe ]
+.RB [ \-directives " | " \-nodirectives ]
.RB [ \-rfc934mode " | " \-norfc934mode ]
+.RB [ \-contentid " | " \-nocontentid ]
.RB [ \-verbose " | " \-noverbose ]
+.RB [ \-disposition " | " \-nodisposition ]
.RB [ \-check " | " \-nocheck ]
+.RB [ \-headerencoding
+.IR encoding\-algorithm
+.RB " | " \-autoheaderencoding ]
+.RB [ \-maxunencoded
+.IR line\-length ]
+.RB [ \-dist ]
.RB [ \-version ]
.RB [ \-help ]
.ad
a valid MIME message.
.PP
.B mhbuild
-creates multi-media messages as specified in RFC\-2045
-thru RFC\-2049. Currently
-.B mhbuild
-only supports encodings in
-message bodies, and does not support the encoding of message headers as
-specified in RFC\-2047.
+creates multi-media messages as specified in RFC 2045
+to RFC 2049. This includes the encoding of message headers as specified
+by RFC 2047, and the encoding of MIME parameters as specified in RFC 2231.
.PP
If you specify the name of the composition file as \*(lq-\*(rq,
then
is present, then the listing will show any \*(lqextra\*(rq information
that is present in the message, such as comments in the
\*(lqContent-Type\*(rq header.
+.PP
+If the
+.B \-disposition
+switch is present, then the listing will show any relevant information from
+the \*(lqContent-Disposition\*(rq header.
+.SS "Simplified Attachment Interface"
+For users who wish to simply attach files to text content,
+.B mhbuild
+will scan the composition file for \*(lqAttach\*(rq headers. An
+\*(lqAttach\*(rq header contains a filename that will be appended to the
+message using normal MIME encapsulation rules. One filename is allowed
+per \*(lqAttach\*(rq header, but multiple \*(lqAttach\*(rq headers are
+allowed ber composition file.
+.PP
+These files will be appended after any other MIME content, including any
+content specified by
+.B mhbuild
+directives (see below). See
+.IR send (1)
+for more details.
+.PP
+By default, the Content-Disposition will be \*(lqattachment\*(rq.
+.B mhbuild
+looks for user profile and mhn.defaults entries of the form
+.PP
+.RS 5
+mhbuild-disposition-<type>/<subtype>
+.RE
+or
+.RS 5
+mhbuild-disposition-<type>
+.RE
+.PP
+to supply the disposition value. The only supported values are
+.I attachment
+and
+.IR inline.
+.SS "Convert Interface"
+.nr item 1 1
+The \*(lqconvert\*(rq interface is a powerful mechanism that supports
+replying to MIME messages. These placeholders are used in the following
+description:
+.IP TYPE
+content type/subtype
+.IP CONVERTER
+external program, and any fixed arguments, to convert content, such as
+from a request to a reply
+.IP ARGSTRING
+arguments to pass from
+.B repl
+to
+.I CONVERTER
+.IP FILE
+full path of message being replied to
+.PP
+.RE
+The convert support is based on pseudoheaders of the form
+.PP
+.RS 5
+ Nmh-mhbuild-file-TYPE: FILE
+ Nmh-mhbuild-args-TYPE: ARGSTRING
+.RE
+.PP
+in the draft. For each such pseudoheader, mhbuild looks in the
+profile and mhn.defaults for this corresponding TYPE entry to find the
+converter that supports it:
+.PP
+.RS 5
+.RI mhbuild-convert- TYPE :
+.I CONVERTER
+.RE
+.PP
+It's a fatal error if no such entry is found for TYPE. An empty
+entry, e.g.,
+.PP
+.RS 5
+mhbuild-convert-text/html:
+.RE
+.PP
+excludes parts of that TYPE from the draft. The mhn.defaults file
+contains default
+.B mhbuild-convert-text/html
+and
+.BR mhbuild-convert-text/plain
+entries. Profile entries can be used to override corresponding
+mhn.defaults entries, as usual.
+.PP
+For each
+.I TYPE
+part in
+.IR FILE ,
+.B mhbuild
+runs
+.I CONVERTER ARGSTRING
+on the content of the part.
+.PP
+Each part in
+.I FILE
+that has no corresponding TYPE entry in the profile or mhn.defaults is
+excluded from the draft; the user can include them using mhbuild
+directives as usual.
+.PP
+.B repl
+inserts Nmh-mhbuild-text/html: and Nmh-mhbuild-text/plain:
+pseudoheaders in every draft. The user can prevent insertion of
+content parts of either of those types by putting corresponding empty
+entries in their profile.
+.PP
+Only the highest precedence alternative with a supported
+.I TYPE
+of a multipart/alternative part is used.
+.PP
+mhn.defaults.sh selects the text/html-to-text/plain converter at
+install time. It includes
+.BR iconv "(1),"
+and
+.BR par (1)
+or
+.BR fmt "(1),"
+in the pipeline only if found.
+.PP
+Some content types require the addition of parameters to the
+Content-Type header, such as
+.I method=REPLY
+for text/calendar. mhbuild looks for a Content-Type header, followed
+by a blank line, at the beginning of the converter output. If one is
+found, it is used for the corresponding part in the reply draft.
+.PP
+The \*(lqconvert\*(rq interface doesn't support different
+.IR ARGSTRING s
+or different converters for different parts of the same
+.IR TYPE .
+That would require associating parts by part number with the
+.IR ARGSTRING s
+or converters. Instead, that can be done (currently, without using
+the convert support), with
+.B mhbuild
+directives as described below, e.g.,
+.PP
+.RS 5
+#text/html; charset=utf-8 *8bit | mhstore -noverbose -part 42.7 -outfile - | w3m -dump -cols 64 -T text/html -O utf-8
+.RE
+.PP
+The only way to mix
+.B convert
+pseudoheaders and mhbuild directives is to insert the directives before
+.B mhbuild
+is run, which is typically done by entering
+.I mime
+at the \*(lqWhat now?\*(rq prompt, or with an
+.B \-editor mhbuild
+switch.
+.PP
+These (optional) setup steps can make the convert support
+easier to use:
+.IP \n[item]. 3
+If the
+.BR par (1)
+program is installed on your system, it will be set by default
+(in mhn.defaults) to filter the converter output. It helps to
+set the
+.B $PARINIT
+environment variable, as described in its man page.
+.IP \n+[item]. 3
+Add this line to your profile:
+.PP
+.RS 5
+.nf
+mhbuild-next: $EDITOR
+.fi
+.RE
+.PP
+.RS 3
+assuming that your EDTIOR environment variable is set; if not, replace
+$EDITOR with the name of your editor. Without that profile entry, a
+response of \*(lqe[dit]\*(rq at the What now? prompt will require
+specification of your editor if an
+.B \-editor mhbuild
+switch is used.
+.RE
+.IP \n+[item]. 3
+If using
+.BR repl ,
+source the Bourne-shell compatible functions in
+%docdir%/contrib/replaliases. That script also sets the
+.B $PARINIT
+environment variable if it was not set.
+.RE
+.PP
.SS "Translating the Composition File"
.B mhbuild
is essentially a filter to aid in the composition of MIME
.fi
.RE
.PP
-There are four kinds of directives: \*(lqtype\*(rq directives, which
+There are five kinds of directives: \*(lqtype\*(rq directives, which
name the type and subtype of the content; \*(lqexternal-type\*(rq
directives, which also name the type and subtype of the content; the
\*(lqmessage\*(rq directive (#forw), which is used to forward one or
-more messages; and, the \*(lqbegin\*(rq directive (#begin), which is
-used to create a multipart content.
+more messages; the \*(lqbegin\*(rq directive (#begin), which is
+used to create a multipart content; and the \*(lqon/off/pop\*(rq
+directives (#on, #off, #pop) which control whether any other
+directives are honored at all.
+.PP
+The
+.B \-directives
+switch allows control over whether mhbuild will honor any of the
+\*(lq#\*(rq-directives. This can also be affected with the #on or
+#off directives, and #pop, which restores the state of processing to
+that preceding the most recent #on or #off. (The #on, #off, and #pop
+directives are always honored, of course.) This allows inclusion of
+plain text which looks like mhbuild directives, without causing
+errors:
+.PP
+.RS 5
+.nf
+#off
+#include <stdio.h>
+printf("Hello, World!");
+#pop
+.fi
+.RE
+.PP
+Currently the stack depth for the #on/off/pop directives is 32.
.PP
The \*(lqtype\*(rq directive is used to directly specify the type and
subtype of a content. You may only specify discrete types in this manner
type=tar; \\
conversions=compress \\
[this is the nmh distribution] \\
+ {attachment; filename="nmh.tar.gz"} \\
name="nmh.tar.gz"; \\
directory="/pub/nmh"; \\
site="ftp.math.gatech.edu"; \\
You must give a description string to separate the content parameters
from the external-parameters (although this string may be empty).
This description string is specified by enclosing it within
-\*(lq[]\*(rq.
+\*(lq[]\*(rq. A disposition string, to appear in a
+\*(lqContent-Disposition\*(rq header, may appear in the optional
+\*(lq{}\*(rq.
.PP
These parameters are of the form:
.PP
.RS 5
.nf
.ta \w'access-type= 'u
-access-type= usually \fIanon-ftp\fR or \fImail-server\fR
+access-type= usually \fIanon-ftp\fR, \fImail-server\fR, or \fIurl\fR
name= filename
permission= read-only or read-write
site= hostname
server= mailbox
subject= subject to send
body= command to send for retrieval
+url= URL of content
.fi
.RE
.PP
+A mimimum \*(lqexternal\-type\*(rq directive for the
+.B url
+.I access\-type
+would be as follows:
+.PP
+.RS 3
+.nf
+#@application/octet-stream [] access-type=url; \\
+ url="http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/nmh/nmh-1.5.tar.gz"
+.fi
+.RE
+.PP
+Any long URLs will be wrapped according to RFC 2231 rules.
+.PP
The \*(lqmessage\*(rq directive (#forw) is used to specify a message or
group of messages to include. You may optionally specify the name of
the folder and which messages are to be forwarded. If a folder is not
is similar to the
.B forw
command, except that the former uses
-the MIME rules for encapsulation rather than those specified in RFC\-934.
+the MIME rules for encapsulation rather than those specified in RFC 934.
For example,
.PP
.RS 5
.B mhbuild
should attempt to utilize the MIME encapsulation rules
in such a way that the \*(lqmultipart/digest\*(rq that is created
-is (mostly) compatible with the encapsulation specified in RFC\-934.
-If given, then RFC\-934 compliant user-agents should be able to burst the
+is (mostly) compatible with the encapsulation specified in RFC 934.
+If given, then RFC 934 compliant user-agents should be able to burst the
message on reception\0--\0providing that the messages being encapsulated
do not contain encapsulated messages themselves. The drawback of this
approach is that the encapsulations are generated by placing an extra
.fi
.RE
.PP
+Similarly, a disposition string may optionally be provided between
+\*(lq{\*(rq and \*(lq}\*(rq characters; it will be copied into the
+\*(lqContent-Disposition\*(rq header when the directive is processed.
+If a disposition string is provided that does not contain a filename
+parameter, and a filename is provided in the directive, it will be
+added to the \*(lqContent-Disposition\*(rq header. For example, the
+following directive:
+.PP
+.RS 5
+.nf
+#text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 <>{attachment} /tmp/summary.txt
+.fi
+.RE
+.PP
+creates these message part headers:
+.PP
+.RS 5
+.nf
+Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
+Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="summary.txt"
+.fi
+.RE
+.PP
By default,
.B mhbuild
-will generate a unique \*(lqContent-ID:\*(rq for
-each directive; however, the user may override this by defining the ID
-using the \*(lq<\*(rq and \*(lq>\*(rq characters.
+will generate a unique \*(lqContent-ID:\*(rq for each directive,
+corresponding to each message part; however, the user may override
+this by defining the ID using the \*(lq<\*(rq and \*(lq>\*(rq
+characters. The
+.B \-nocontentid
+switch suppresses creation of all \*(lqContent-ID:\*(rq headers,
+even in the top level of the message.
+.PP
+Normally
+.B mhbuild
+will choose an appropriate Content\-Transfer\-Encoding based on the content
+and the MIME Content\-Type. However, you can override that in an
+.B mhbuild
+directive by specifying \*(lq*\*(rq and the encoding. Acceptable encoding
+values are \*(lq8bit\*(rq, \*(lqqp\*(rq (for quoted\-printable), and
+\*(lqb64\*(rq (for base64 encoding). It should be noted that undesired
+results may occur if 8bit or quoted\-printable is selected for binary
+content, due to the translation between Unix line endings and the line
+endings use by the mail transport system.
.PP
In addition to the various directives, plaintext can be present.
Plaintext is gathered, until a directive is found or the draft is
high bit set) and the character set is not specified as above, then
.B mhbuild
will assume the character set is of the type given by the
-environment variable MM_CHARSET. If this environment variable is not
+standard
+.IR locale (1)
+environment variables. If these environment variables are not
set, then the character set will be labeled as \*(lqx-unknown\*(rq.
.PP
If a text content contains only 7\-bit characters and the character set
is not specified as above, then the character set will be labeled as
\*(lqus-ascii\*(rq.
.PP
+By default text content with the high bit set is encoded with a 8bit
+Content\-Transfer\-Encoding. If the text has lines longer than the value
+of
+.B \-maxunencoded
+(which defaults to 78) then the text is encoded using the quoted\-printable
+encoding.
+.PP
+The
+.B \-headerencoding
+switch will indicate which algorithm to use when encoding any message headers
+that contain 8\-bit characters. The valid arguments are
+.I base64
+for based\-64 encoding and
+.I quoted
+for quoted\-printable encoding. The
+.B \-autoheaderencoding
+switch will instruct
+.B mhbuild
+to automatically pick the algorithm that results in a shorter encoded string.
+.PP
Putting this all together,
here is an example of a more complicated message draft. The
following draft will expand into a multipart/mixed message
.RE
.SS "Integrity Check"
If
-.B Imhbuild
+.B mhbuild
is given the
.B \-check
-switch, then it will also associate
-an integrity check with each \*(lqleaf\*(rq content. This will add a
-Content-MD5 header field to the content, along with the md5 sum of the
-unencoded contents. This may be used by the receiver of the message to
-verify that the contents of the message were not changed in transport.
-
+switch, then it will also associate an integrity check with each
+\*(lqleaf\*(rq content. This will add a Content-MD5 header field to
+the content, along with the md5 sum of the unencoded contents, per RFC
+1864. This may be used by the receiver of the message to verify that
+the contents of the message were not changed in transport.
.SS "Transfer Encodings"
After
.B mhbuild
a transfer encoding, even it the content contains only 7\-bit data. This
is to increase the likelihood that the content is not changed while in
transport.
-.PP
-The switch
-.B \-ebcdicsafe
-will cause
-.B mhbuild
-to slightly change
-the way in which it performs the \*(lqquoted-printable\*(rq transfer
-encoding. Along with encoding 8\-bit characters, it will now also encode
-certain common punctuation characters as well. This slightly reduces the
-readability of the message, but allows the message to pass more reliably
-through mail gateways which involve the EBCDIC character encoding.
-
.SS "Invoking mhbuild"
Typically,
.B mhbuild
- is invoked by the
+is invoked by the
.B whatnow
program. This
command will expect the body of the draft to be formatted as an
.B mhbuild
to translate the composition file into MIME format.
.PP
-It is also possible to have the
-.B whatnow
-program invoke
+Normally it is an error to invoke
.B mhbuild
-automatically when a message is sent. To do this, you must add the line
-.PP
-.RS 5
-automimeproc: 1
-.RE
-.PP
-to your
-.I \&.mh\(ruprofile
-file.
+on file that already in MIME format. The
+.B \-auto
+switch will cause
+.B mhbuild
+to exit without error if the input file already has valid MIME headers.
+The use of
+.B \-auto
+also enables the
+.B \-nodirectives
+switch.
.PP
Finally, you should consider adding this line to your profile:
.PP
.RE
.PP
will work as you expect.
-
+.PP
+The
+.B \-dist
+switch is intended to be used by
+.BR dist .
+It will cause mhbuild to not generate any MIME headers in the composition
+file (such as \*(lqMIME-Version\*(rq or \*(lqContent-Type\*(rq), but it
+will still encode message headers according to RFC 2047.
.SS "User Environment"
Because the environment in which
.B mhbuild
.PP
Finally,
.B mhbuild
-will attempt to consult a global
-.B mhbuild
-user profile, e.g.,
+will attempt to consult
.PP
.RS 5
-%etcdir%/mhn.defaults
+%nmhetcdir%/mhn.defaults
.RE
.PP
if it exists.
-
+.PP
+See "Profile Lookup" in
+.IR mh-profile (5)
+for the profile search order, and for how duplicate entries are treated.
.SS "Syntax of Composition Files"
The following is the formal syntax of a
.B mhbuild
[ "(" comment ")" ]
[ "<" id ">" ]
[ "[" description "]" ]
+ [ "{" disposition "}" ]
+ [ "*8bit" | "*qp" | "*b64" ]
[ filename ]
EOL
[ "(" comment ")" ]
[ "<" id ">" ]
[ "[" description "]" ]
+ [ "{" disposition "}" ]
+ [ "*8bit" | "*qp" | "*b64" ]
external-parameters
EOL
| "#forw"
[ "<" id ">" ]
[ "[" description "]" ]
+ [ "{" disposition "}" ]
[ "+"folder ] [ 0*msg ]
EOL
| "#begin"
[ "<" id ">" ]
[ "[" description "]" ]
+ [ "{" disposition "}" ]
[ "alternative"
| "parallel"
| something-else ]
0*(";" attribute "=" value)
[ "(" comment ")" ]
[ "[" description "]" ]
+ [ "{" disposition "}" ]
+ [ "*8bit" | "*qp" | "*b64" ]
EOL
1*line
[ "#" EOL ]
| text EOL
.fi
.RE
-.PP
-
.SH FILES
+.B mhbuild
+looks for additional user profile files and mhn.defaults in multiple
+locations: absolute pathnames are accessed directly, tilde expansion
+is done on usernames, and files are searched for in the user's
+.I Mail
+directory as specified in their profile. If not found there, the directory
+.RI \*(lq %nmhetcdir% \*(rq
+is checked.
+.PP
.fc ^ ~
.nf
-.ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
+.ta \w'%nmhetcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
^$MHBUILD~^Additional profile entries
-^%etcdir%/mhn.defaults~^System default MIME profile entries
+^%nmhetcdir%/mhn.defaults~^System default MIME profile entries
.fi
-
.SH "PROFILE COMPONENTS"
.fc ^ ~
.nf
^Current\-Folder:~^To find the default current folder
^mhbuild-compose-<type>*~^Template for composing contents
.fi
-
.SH "SEE ALSO"
-mhlist(1), mhshow(1), mhstore(1),
-.br
+.IR mhlist (1),
+.IR mhshow (1),
+.IR mhstore (1),
+.IR fmt (1),
+.IR iconv (1),
+.IR par (1)
+.PP
.I "Proposed Standard for Message Encapsulation"
-(RFC\-934),
-.br
+(RFC 934),
+.PP
+.I "The Content-MD5 Header Field"
+(RFC 1864),
+.PP
.I "Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"
-(RFC\-2045),
-.br
+(RFC 2045),
+.PP
.I "Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types"
-(RFC\-2046),
-.br
+(RFC 2046),
+.PP
.I "Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Three: Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text"
-(RFC\-2047),
-.br
+(RFC 2047),
+.PP
.I "Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Four: Registration Procedures"
-(RFC\-2048),
-.br
+(RFC 2048),
+.PP
.I "Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Five: Conformance Criteria and Examples"
-(RFC\-2049)
-
+(RFC 2049),
+.PP
+.I "Definition of the URL MIME External-Body Access-Type"
+(RFC 2017),
+.PP
+.I "MIME Parameter Value and Encoded Word Extensions: Character Sets, Languages, and Continuations"
+(RFC 2231)
.SH DEFAULTS
.nf
.RB ` \-headers '
.RB ` \-realsize '
.RB ` \-norfc934mode '
+.RB ` \-contentid '
.RB ` \-nocheck '
-.RB ` \-noebcdicsafe '
.RB ` \-noverbose '
+.RB ` \-nodisposition '
+.RB ` \-autoheaderencoding '
+.RB ` "\-maxunencoded\ 78"'
.fi
-
-.SH CONTEXT
-If a folder is given, it will become the current folder. The last
-message selected will become the current message.
projects / nmh / blobdiff