.TH NMH %manext7% 2016-09-26 "%nmhversion%"
.
.\" %nmhwarning%
.
.SH NAME
nmh \- overview of the new MH message system
.
.\" Register 'tt' contains the indent for .TP in the COMMANDS section:
.nr tt \w'\fImh-sequence\fR(5)\0\0'u
.
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B nmh
is the name of a powerful message handling system.  Rather than
being a single comprehensive program,
.B nmh
consists of a collection
of fairly simple single-purpose programs to send, retrieve, save,
and manipulate messages.
.PP
Unlike most mail clients in Unix,
.B nmh
is not a closed system which
must be explicitly run, then exited when you wish to return to the shell.
You may freely intersperse
.B nmh
commands with other shell commands,
allowing you to read and answer your mail while you have (for example)
a compilation running, or search for a file or run programs as needed
to find the answer to someone's question before answering their mail.
.PP
The rest of this manual entry is a quick tutorial which will teach you
the basics of
.BR nmh .
You should read the manual entries for the individual programs for
complete documentation (see the section on
.I COMMANDS
below).
.PP
To get started using
.BR nmh ,
put the directory
\*(lq%bindir%\*(rq
in your
.BR $PATH .
Run the
.B install-mh
command.  If you've never used
.B nmh
before, it will create the necessary default files and directories after
asking you if you wish it to do so.
.PP
.B inc
moves mail from your system mail drop into your
.B nmh
\*(lq+inbox\*(rq
folder, breaking it up into separate files and converting it
to
.B nmh
format.  It prints one line for each message it processes,
containing the from field, the subject field and as much of
the first line of the message as will fit.  It leaves the first message
it processes as your current message.  You'll need to run
.B inc
each
time you wish to incorporate new mail into your
.B nmh
file.
.PP
.B scan
prints a list of the messages in your current folder.
.PP
The commands
.BR show ,
.BR next ,
and
.B prev
are used to read
specific messages from the current folder.
.B show
displays the current message, or a specific message specified by its
number which is passed as an argument.
.B next
and
.B prev
display, respectively, the message numerically after or before
the current message.  In all cases, the message displayed becomes the
current message.  If there is no current message,
.B show
may be
called with an argument, or
.B next
may be used to advance to the
first message.
.PP
.B rmm
(remove message) deletes the current message.  It may be called,
with message numbers passed as arguments, to delete specific messages.
.PP
.B repl
is used to respond to the current message (by default).
It places you in the editor with a prototype response form.  While you're
in the editor, you may peruse the item you're responding to by reading
the file
.BR @ .
After completing your response, type
\*(lql\*(rq
to
.B list
(review) it, or
\*(lqs\*(rq
to
.B send
it.
.PP
.B comp
allows you to compose a message by putting you in the editor
on a prototype message form, and then lets you send it via the
.B whatnow
command.
.B whatnow
also supports easy-to-use management of MIME attachments via
its
.B attach
and related responses, as described in its man page.
.PP
.B nmh
command arguments are usually called
.IR switches .
Some switches have a corresponding \*(lq\-no\*(rq switch, which
negates all previous occurrences of that switch on the command line.
This allows a user to conveniently override, on the command line, a
switch in their profile.  Switches may be abbreviated as long as there
is no ambiguity with another switch of the same command.  To avoid
ambiguity with any switches that may be added in the future, it is
recommended that full switch names be used in durable code such as
shell scripts, functions, and aliases.
.PP
Each
.B nmh
command may be run with the single switch
.BR \-help ,
which causes it to print its available switches, along with any
profile components that apply, and then exit.
.PP
All the
.B nmh
commands may be run with the single switch
.BR \-version ,
which causes them to print the version number of the
.B nmh
distribution, and then exit.
.PP
Commands which take a message number as an argument
.RB ( scan ,
.BR show ,
.BR repl ,
\&...)  also take one of the words \*(lqfirst\*(rq,
\*(lqprev\*(rq, \*(lqcur\*(rq, \*(lqnext\*(rq, or \*(lqlast\*(rq to indicate
(respectively) the first, previous, current, next, or last message in
the current folder (assuming they are defined).
As a shorthand, \*(lq.\*(rq is equivalent to \*(lqcur\*(rq.
.PP
Commands which take a range of message numbers
.RB ( rmm ,
.BR scan ,
.BR show ,
\&...)  also take any of the abbreviations:
.TP \n(ttu
.IR <num1> - <num2>
Indicates all messages in the range <num1> to <num2>, inclusive.
The range must be nonempty.
.TP
all
Indicates all messages, i.e.,
.IR first - last .
.TP
.IR <num> :+ N
.PD 0
.TP
.IR <num> :\-N
Up to
.IR N ,
where
.I N
must be a positive number, messages beginning with (or ending with)
message
.IR num .
.I Num
may be any of the pre-defined symbols
.BR first ,
.BR prev ,
.BR cur ,
.B next
or
.BR last .
The + can be omitted.
.PD
.TP
.RI first: N
.PD 0
.TP
.RI prev: N
.TP
.RI next: N
.TP
.RI last: N
As many of the first, previous, next, or last N messages that exist.
As above, N can be preceded with - to end the listing at the specified
message, or with an optional +.
.PD
.PP
Commands that take a folder name
.RB ( inc ,
.BR refile ,
.BR scan ,
\&...) accept the folder name in two formats:  \*(lq+folder\*(rq or
\*(lq@folder\*(rq.  In both cases, \*(lqfolder\*(rq can be a
\*(lq/\*(rq-separated path, e.g.\& \*(lqfoo/bar\*(rq.  \*(lq+folder\*(rq
specifies a directory path to a folder.  If \*(lqfolder\*(rq starts
with \*(lq/\*(rq then it's an absolute path from the root directory.
If it is \*(lq.\*(rq or \*(lq..\*(rq, or starts with \*(lq./\*(rq or
\*(lq../\*(rq, then it's relative to the current working directory.
Otherwise it's relative to mh-profile(5)'s
.RI \*(lq Path \*(rq,
i.e.\& as given by
.RB ` "mhpath +" `.
\*(lq@folder\*(rq is a shorthand for \*(lq+curfolder/folder\*(rq; it's
a relative path from the current folder.  \*(lqcurfolder\*(rq is given
by
.RB ` mhpath `.
For example, assuming a
.B Path
profile component of Mail,
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.BI "scan " +inbox
scans $HOME/Mail/inbox
.TP
.BI "scan " +work/todo
scans $HOME/Mail/work/todo
.TP
.BI "scan " @todo
scans $HOME/Mail/work/todo, if current folder is +work
.TP
.BI "refile " @../done
refiles to $HOME/Mail/work/done, if the current folder is +work/todo
.TP
.BI "scan " +/tmp
scans /tmp
.TP
.BI "scan " +.
scans the current directory
.TP
.BI "refile " @.
refiles current message to end of current folder.
.PD
.PP
There are many other possibilities such as creating multiple folders
for different topics, and automatically refiling messages according to
subject, source, destination, or content.  These are beyond the scope
of this manual entry.
.ne 4
.SH COMMANDS
.PP
Following is a list of all the
.B nmh
commands, grouped loosely according to their role.
.ne 4
.SS
Sending
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR comp (1)
compose a message
.TP
.IR forw (1)
forward messages
.TP
.IR repl (1)
reply to a message
.TP
.IR whatnow (1)
prompting front-end for send
.PD
.PP
Note that although
.B whatnow
provides much of the primary
.B nmh
user interface for sending mail, it is almost never invoked manually,
but rather is invoked indirectly by one of the above commands, after
you've composed a message in your editor, and before you've decided to
send it.  Here you can add attachments, check the recipient
list, decide to quit and send it later, etc.
.PP
Related utilities:
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR ali (1)
list mail aliases
.TP
.IR anno (1)
annotate messages
.TP
.IR whom (1)
report to whom a message would go
.TP
.IR dist (1)
redistribute a message to additional addresses
.PD
.PP
Advanced commands, only sometimes invoked directly:
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR mhbuild (1)
translate MIME composition draft
.TP
.IR send (1)
send a message
.TP
.IR sendfiles (1)
send multiple files in a MIME message
.PD
.ne 4
.SS
Incorporating
.TP \n(ttu
.IR inc (1)
incorporate new mail
.PP
Related utilities:
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR burst (1)
explode digests into messages
.TP
.IR msgchk (1)
check for messages
.TP
.IR rcvdist (1)
asynchronously redistribute new mail
.TP
.IR rcvpack (1)
append message to file
.TP
.IR rcvstore (1)
asynchronously incorporate new mail
.TP
.IR slocal (1)
asynchronously filter and deliver new mail
.PD
.ne 4
.SS
Viewing
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR next (1)
show the next message
.TP
.IR prev (1)
show the previous message
.TP
.IR show (1)
show (display) messages
.TP
.IR scan (1)
produce a one line per message scan listing
.TP
.IR fnext (1)
select the next folder with new messages
.TP
.IR fprev (1)
select the previous folder with new messages
.PD
.PP
Related utilities, only sometimes invoked directly:
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR mhl (1)
produce formatted listings of nmh messages
.TP
.IR mhlist (1)
list information about content of MIME messages
.TP
.IR mhn (1)
display/list/store MIME messages
.TP
.IR mhshow (1)
display MIME messages
.TP
.IR mhstore (1)
store contents of MIME messages into files
.PD
.ne 4
.SS
Searching
.PP
Within a folder:
.TP \n(ttu
.IR pick (1)
select messages by content
.PP
Across folders:
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR new (1)
list folders with new messages
.TP
.IR unseen (1)
list new messages in a given set of folders
.TP
.IR flist (1)
list folders with messages in given sequence(s)
.TP
.IR flists (1)
list all folders with messages in given sequence(s)
.TP
.IR folder (1)
set/list current folder/message
.TP
.IR folders (1)
list all folders
.PD
.ne 4
.SS
Organizing
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR mark (1)
mark messages
.TP
.IR refile (1)
file messages in other folders
.TP
.IR rmf (1)
remove folder
.TP
.IR rmm (1)
remove messages
.TP
.IR sortm (1)
sort messages
.PD
.ne 4
.SS
Convenience Wrappers
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR mhmail (1)
send or read mail
.PD
.ne 4
.SS
Utilities
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR mhfixmsg (1)
rewrite MIME messages with various transformations
.TP
.IR mhparam (1)
print nmh profile components
.TP
.IR mhpath (1)
print full pathnames of nmh messages and folders
.TP
.IR packf (1)
compress a folder into a single file
.TP
.IR prompter (1)
prompting editor front end
.TP
.IR rcvtty (1)
report new mail
.PD
.ne 4
.SS
Indirectly Invoked Commands
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR ap (8)
parse addresses RFC 822\-style
.TP
.IR dp (8)
parse dates RFC 822\-style
.TP
.IR fmtdump (8)
decode
.IR mh-format (5)
files
.TP
.IR install\-mh (8)
initialize the nmh environment
.TP
.IR post (8)
deliver a message
.PD
.ne 4
.SS
Files Used by nmh Commands
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR mh\-alias (5)
alias file for nmh message system
.TP
.IR mh\-format (5)
format file for nmh message system
.TP
.IR mh\-profile (5)
user customization for nmh message system
.TP
.IR mh\-tailor (5)
mail transport customization for nmh message system
.PD
.ne 4
.SS
Formats
.TP \n(ttu
.PD 0
.IR mh\-draft (5)
draft folder facility
.TP
.IR mh\-folders (5)
nmh message storage format specification
.TP
.IR mh\-mail (5)
message format for nmh message system
.TP
.IR mh\-sequence (5)
sequence specification for nmh message system
.PD
.ne 4
.SH FILES
.TP
%bindir%
contains
.B nmh
commands
.TP
%nmhetcdir%
contains
.B nmh
format files
.TP
%nmhlibexecdir%
contains
.B nmh
library commands
.TP
$HOME/.mh_profile
The user's nmh profile
.ne 4
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IR install-mh (1),
.IR mh-profile (5),
.IR mh-chart (7),
.IR mh-mime (7)
.ne 4
.SH BUGS
\" The contents of this section also appear in sbr/print_help.c .
Send bug reports, questions, suggestions, and patches to
.IR nmh-workers@nongnu.org .
That mailing list is relatively quiet, so user questions are encouraged.
Users are also encouraged to subscribe, and view the archives, at
https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/nmh-workers .
.PP
If problems are encountered with an
.B nmh
program, they should
be reported to the local maintainers of
.BR nmh ,
if any, or to the mailing list noted above.
When doing this, the name of the program should be reported, along
with the version information for the program.
.PP
To find out what version of an
.B nmh
program is being run, invoke
the program with the
.B \-version
switch.  This prints
the version of
.BR nmh ,
the host it was compiled on, and the date the
program was linked.
.PP
New releases, and other information of potential interest, are announced at http://www.nongnu.org/nmh/