-.\"
+.TH MHMAIL %manext1% 2012-07-01 "%nmhversion%"
+.
.\" %nmhwarning%
-.\"
-.TH MHMAIL %manext1% "%nmhdate%" MH.6.8 [%nmhversion%]
+.
.SH NAME
-mhmail \- send or read mail
+mhmail \- send or read mail non-interactively with nmh
.SH SYNOPSIS
.HP 5
.na
.B mhmail
-.RI [ addrs
-\&...]
+.RB [ \-help ]
+.RB [ \-version ]
+.RB [ \-to ]
+.I addrs
+\&...
+.RB [ \-attach
+.IR file ]
.RB [ \-body
.IR text ]
.RB [ \-cc
\&...]
.RB [ \-from
.IR addr ]
+.RB [ \-headerfield
+.IR name:value ]
.RB [ \-subject
.IR subject ]
-.RB [ \-version ]
-.RB [ \-help ]
+.RB [ \-resent ]
+[switches\ for
+.I post
+\&... |
+.B \-profile
+[switches\ for
+.I send
+\&...]]
+.RB [ \-send " | " \-nosend ]
+.HP 5
+.B mhmail
+with no arguments is equivalent to
+.B inc
.ad
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B mhmail
-is intended as a replacement for the standard Berkeley
-mail program
+is intended as a replacement, compatible with
+.BR nmh ,
+for the standard Berkeley mail program
.RB ( mail
or
-.BR mailx ),
-which is compatible with
-.BR nmh .
-This program is intended for the use of programs such as
+.BR mailx ).
+.B nmh
+is intended for the use of programs such as
.BR cron ,
-which expect to send mail automatically to various
-users. It is also used by various
+which expect to send mail automatically. It is also used by some
.B nmh
-commands to mail various
-error notifications. Although
+commands to mail error notifications. Although
.B mhmail
-can be used interactively,
-it is recommended that
+can be used interactively, it is recommended that
.B comp
and
.B send
-be used instead to send messages.
+be used instead, to send messages.
.PP
-When invoked without arguments, it simply invokes
+When invoked without arguments,
+.B mhmail
+simply invokes
.B inc
-to incorporate new messages from the user's maildrop. When one or more users
-is specified, a message is read from the standard input and spooled to
-a temporary file.
+to incorporate new messages from the user's mail drop.
+.PP
+When one or more addresses are specified, a message is read from the
+standard input and spooled to a temporary file.
.B mhmail
then invokes
-.B post
-with the
-name of the temporary file as its argument to deliver the message to
-the specified user.
+by default, with the name of the temporary file as its argument, to
+by default, with the name of the temporary file as its argument to
+deliver the message to the specified address.
.PP
The
.B \-subject
-.I subject
-switch can be used to specify the
+switch can be used to specify the \*(lqSubject:\*(rq field of the message.
\*(lqSubject:\*(rq field of the message.
.PP
+The
+.B \-resent
+switch indicates that the message body is a fully formed message that
+will be resent, as
+.B dist
+would do. For example:
+.PP
+.RS 5
+.nf
+mhmail u2@example.com -resent < `mhpath cur`
+.fi
+.RE
+.PP
By default,
.B mhmail
-will read the message to be sent from the
-standard input. You can specify the text of the message at the command
+will read the message to be sent from the standard input.
+You can specify the text of the message at the command
line with the
.B \-body
.I text
-switch. If the standard input has zero
-length,
+switch. If the standard input has zero length,
.B mhmail
-will not send the message. You can use the switch
+will not send the message and return with status 1. You can use the switch
.B \-body
\*(lq\*(rq to force an empty message.
.PP
Normally, addresses appearing as arguments are put in the \*(lqTo:\*(rq
-field. If the
+field. At least one such address is required when sending a message,
+i.e., if any other switches are supplied. If the
.B \-cc
-switch is used, all addresses following it are
-placed in the \*(lqcc:\*(rq field.
+switch is used, all addresses following it, even if there are
+intervening switches other than
+.BR \-to ,
+are placed in the \*(lqcc:\*(rq field. The optional
+.B \-to
+switch can appear in front of any addresses to signify their placement
+in the \*(lqTo:\*(rq field. The
+.B \-to
+and
+.B \-cc
+switches may be given multiple times.
.PP
By using
.B \-from
.IR addr ,
-you can specify the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header of
-the draft. If no
+you can specify the \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header of the draft. If no
.B \-from
switch is used when sending,
.B mhmail
-will supply a \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header field using the sender's local mailbox.
+will supply a \*(lqFrom:\*(rq header field using the sender's local mailbox,
+see
+.I localmbox
+in
+.IR mh-format (5).
Naturally,
.B post
-will fill\-in the \*(lqSender:\*(rq
-header correctly.
-
+will fill in the \*(lqSender:\*(rq header correctly.
+.PP
+The
+.B \-headerfield
+.I name:value
+switch adds a header field with the specified name and value to the
+message. (The
+.I value
+is called the
+.I field body
+in RFC 2822, but that's too easily confused with the message body.)
+There need not be a space after the colon that separates the
+name and value in the argument to this switch. It is usually best to
+enclose the argument in quotes to protect it from the shell. The
+.B \-headerfield
+switch may be given multiple times to add multiple header fields,
+for example,
+.PP
+.RS 5
+.nf
+mhmail -from sender@example.com \\
+-headerfield 'MIME-Version:1.0' \\
+-headerfield 'Content-Type:text/plain; charset=utf-8' \\
+-headerfield 'Content-Transfer-Encoding:8bit' \\
+recipient@example.com
+.fi
+.RE
+.PP
+Note about this example: the
+.B \-attach
+switch causes
+.I MIME-Version
+and
+.I Content-Type
+headers to be added to the message.
+.PP
+The
+.B \-profile
+switch instructs
+.B mhmail
+to use
+.B send
+instead of
+.B post
+to send the message. This allows use of the user's context and aliases.
+.PP
+The
+.B \-attach
+.I file
+switch attaches the specified file to the message. Use of
+.B \-attach
+enables
+.B \-profile
+because
+.B mhmail
+uses
+.B send
+to handle the attachment. It is usually best to enclose the argument
+in quotes to protect it from the shell. The
+.B \-attach
+switch may be given multiple times to add multiple attachments.
+.PP
+The
+.B \-nosend
+option shows the draft file that would be posted/sent on the command's
+standard output but does not post or send it.
+.B \-send
+provides the default behavior of posting or sending the message. It
+can be used to disable
+.BR \-nosend ,
+for example, when using a shell alias.
+.PP
+All other switches are passed to
+.B post
+if
+.B \-profile
+is not used, or
+.B send
+if
+.B \-profile
+is used.
.SH FILES
.fc ^ ~
.nf
-.ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
-^%bindir%/inc~^Program to incorporate maildrop into folder
-^%libdir%/post~^Program to deliver a message
+.ta \w'%nmhetcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u
+^%bindir%/inc~^Program to incorporate mail drop into folder
+^%nmhlibexecdir%/post~^Program to deliver a message
^/tmp/mhmail*~^Temporary copy of message
.fi
-
.SH "SEE ALSO"
-inc(1), post(8)
-
+.IR dist (1),
+.IR send (1),
+.IR mh-format (5),
+.IR send (1),
+.IR post (8)
.SH DEFAULTS
-None
-
+.nf
+.RB ` "\-from localmbox" '
+.RB ` \-profile "' is enabled by default only with " \-attach
+.RB ` \-send '
+.fi
.SH CONTEXT
If
.B inc
is invoked, then
.BR inc 's
-context changes occur.
+context changes occur. With the
+.B \-profile
+switch, the context of
+.B send
+is used.
+.B mhmail
+does not read the context file itself, so an entry for it will be
+ignored.
projects / nmh / blobdiff