X-Git-Url: https://diplodocus.org/git/nmh/blobdiff_plain/17932f7aea1c21cf17738f47996345d9d0a6ce51..7f7335d8a403574f3be2ccd610f1a5d9dc2fa3b2:/man/mh-sequence.man?ds=inline diff --git a/man/mh-sequence.man b/man/mh-sequence.man index c47b02b7..4b1e1920 100644 --- a/man/mh-sequence.man +++ b/man/mh-sequence.man @@ -1,13 +1,9 @@ -.TH MH-SEQUENCE %manext5% "January 9, 2001" "%nmhversion%" +.TH MH-SEQUENCE %manext5% "June 11, 2013" "%nmhversion%" .\" .\" %nmhwarning% .\" .SH NAME mh-sequence \- sequence specification for nmh message system -.SH SYNOPSIS -most -.B nmh -commands .SH DESCRIPTION A sequence (or sequence set) is a symbolic name representing a message or collection of messages. @@ -24,16 +20,24 @@ To designate a message, you may use either its number (e.g., 1, 10, 234) or one of these \*(lqreserved\*(rq message names: .PP .RS 5 -.nf -.ta +\w'\fIName\fP 'u -.I "Name Description" -first the first message in the folder -last the last message in the folder -cur the most recently accessed message -prev the message numerically preceding \*(lqcur\*(rq -next the message numerically following \*(lqcur\*(rq -.fi +.PD 0 +.TP +.B first +the first message in the folder +.TP +.B last +the last message in the folder +.TP +.B cur +the most recently accessed message +.TP +.B prev +the message numerically preceding \*(lqcur\*(rq +.TP +.B next +the message numerically following \*(lqcur\*(rq .RE +.PD .PP In commands that take a `msg' argument, the default is \*(lqcur\*(rq. As a shorthand, \*(lq\&.\*(rq is equivalent to \*(lqcur\*(rq. @@ -44,7 +48,7 @@ is 94, then \*(lqprev\*(rq is 10 and \*(lqnext\*(rq is 177. .PP The word `msgs' indicates that one or more messages may be specified. Such a specification consists of one message designation or of several -message designations separated by spaces. A message designation consists +message designations, as separate arguments. A message designation consists either of a message name as defined above, or a message range. .PP A message range is specified as \*(lqname1\-name2\*(rq or @@ -64,6 +68,14 @@ The interpretation of `n' may be overridden by preceding `n' with a plus or minus sign; `+n' always means up to `n' messages starting with `name', and `\-n' always means up to `n' messages ending with `name'. .PP +Substituting `=' for `:' (i.e., \*(lqname=n\*(rq) will reduce the +selection from a range of up to `n' messages, to a selection of +just the `n'th message. So for example, while \*(lqname:-3\*(rq +selects the 3 messages ending with `name', \*(lqname=-3\*(rq selects +just the 2nd previous message. It is an error if the requested +message does not exist (i.e., there aren't enough messages in the +folder). +.PP In commands which accept a `msgs' argument, the default is either \*(lqcur\*(rq or \*(lqall\*(rq, depending on which makes more sense for each command (see the individual man pages for details). Repeated @@ -107,6 +119,15 @@ specification \*(lqname:cur\*(rq is not allowed (use just \*(lqcur\*(rq instead). The syntax of these message range specifications is subject to change in the future. .PP +Single messages (as opposed to ranges) may also be selected by +substituting `=' for `:', as in \*(lqname=n\*(rq. This will reduce +the selection from being a range of up to `n' messages, to being a +selection of just the `n'th message. So while \*(lqseq:5\*(rq +selects the first 5 messages of sequence `seq', \*(lqseq=5\*(rq +selects just the 5th message of the sequence. It is +an error if the requested message does not exist (i.e., there aren't +at least `n' messages in the sequence). +.PP User-defined sequence names are specific to each folder. They are defined using the .B pick @@ -178,7 +199,7 @@ command. The entry \*(lqPrevious\-Sequence\*(rq should be defined in the .B nmh profile; its value should be a sequence -name or multiple sequence names separated by spaces. If this entry +name or multiple sequence names, as separate arguments. If this entry is defined, when when an .B nmh command finishes, it will define the @@ -223,7 +244,7 @@ honor the profile entry in the .I \&.mh\(ruprofile should be defined as one or more sequence -names separated by spaces. If there is a value for +names, as separate arguments. If there is a value for \*(lqUnseen\-Sequence\*(rq in the profile, then whenever new messages are placed in a folder (using .B inc @@ -254,6 +275,28 @@ or displays a message, that message will be removed from any sequences named by the \*(lqUnseen\-Sequence\*(rq entry in the profile. +.SS Sequence File Format +The sequence file format is based on the RFC\-5322 message format. Each line +of the sequence file corresponds to one sequence. The line starts with the +sequence name followed by a `:', then followed by a space-separated list of message numbers +that correspond to messages that are part of the named sequence. A contiguous +range of messages can be represented as \*(lqlownum\-highnum\*(rq. +.PP +.B Sample sequence file +.PP +.RS 5 +.nf +work: 3 6 8 22-33 46 +unseen: 47 49-51 54 +cur: 46 +.fi +.RE +.PP +.B Nmh +commands that modify the sequence file will silently remove sequences for +nonexistent messages when the sequence file is updated. The exception to +this is the \*(lqcur\*(rq sequence, which is allowed to point to a +nonexistent message. .SS Sequence File Locking The \*(lqdatalocking\*(rq profile entry controls the type of locking used when reading and writing sequence files. The locking mechanisms supported @@ -285,23 +328,32 @@ the possibility exists that two commands run simultaneously that add messages to a private sequence could result in one command's messages not appearing on the requested sequence. .SH FILES -.fc ^ ~ -.nf -.ta \w'%etcdir%/ExtraBigFileName 'u -^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile -^/context~^The user context -^/\&.mh\(rusequences~^File for public sequences -.fi +.PD 0 +.TP 20 +$HOME/\&.mh\-profile +The user's profile. +.TP 20 +/context +The user's context. +.TP 20 +/\&.mh\-sequences +File for public sequences. +.PD .SH "PROFILE COMPONENTS" -.fc ^ ~ -.nf -.ta 2.4i -.ta \w'ExtraBigProfileName 'u -^mh-sequences:~^Name of file to store public sequences -^Sequence\-Negation:~^To designate messages not in a sequence -^Previous\-Sequence:~^The last message specification given -^Unseen\-Sequence:~^Those messages not yet seen by the user -.fi +.PD 0 +.TP 20 +mh-sequences: +Name of file to store public sequences. +.TP 20 +Sequence\-Negation: +To designate messages not in a sequence. +.TP 20 +Previous\-Sequence: +The last message specification given. +.TP 20 +Unseen\-Sequence: +Those messages not yet seen by the user. +.PD .SH "SEE ALSO" .IR flist (1), .IR mark (1),