mh-profile  -  user  profile customization for nmh message
       handler


SYNOPSIS

       .mh_profile


DESCRIPTION

       Each user of nmh is expected to have a file named .mh_pro­
       file  in  his or her home directory.  This file contains a
       set of user parameters used by some or all of the nmh fam­
       ily of programs.  Each entry in the file is of the format

           profile-component: value

       If  the  text  of profile entry is long, you may extend it
       across several real lines by  indenting  the  continuation
       lines with leading spaces or tabs.

   Standard Profile Entries
       The  possible  profile  components  are exemplified below.
       The only mandatory  entry  is  `Path:'.   The  others  are
       optional;  some  have  default values if they are not pre­
       sent.  In the  notation  used  below,  (profile,  default)
       indicates  whether  the  information is kept in the user's
       nmh profile or nmh context, and indicates what the default
       value is.

       Path: Mail
                 Locates  nmh  transactions  in directory "Mail".
                 This is the only mandatory profile entry.  (pro­
                 file, no default)

       context: context
                 Declares  the  location of the nmh context file.
                 This is overridden by the  environment  variable
                 MHCONTEXT.    See  the  HISTORY  section  below.
                 (profile, default: <nmh-dir>/context)

       Current-Folder: inbox
                 Keeps track of the current open  folder.   (con­
                 text, default: folder specified by "Inbox")

       Inbox: inbox
                 Defines  the  name of your default inbox.  (pro­
                 file, default: inbox)

       Previous-Sequence: pseq
                 Names the sequence or sequences which should  be
                 defined as the `msgs' or `msg' argument given to
                 any nmh command.  If not present  or  empty,  no
                 such sequences are defined.  Otherwise, for each
                 name given, the sequence  is  first  zero'd  and

                 Read the mh-sequence(5) man page for the details
                 about this sequence.  (profile, no default)

       Sequence-Negation: not
                 Defines  the  string  which,  when prefixed to a
                 sequence name, negates  that  sequence.   Hence,
                 "notseen"  means all those messages that are not
                 a member  of  the  sequence  "seen".   Read  the
                 mh-sequence(5)  man page for the details.  (pro­
                 file, no default)

       Unseen-Sequence: unseen
                 Names the sequence or sequences which should  be
                 defined as those messages which are unread.  The
                 commands inc, rcvstore, mhshow,  and  show  will
                 add or remove messages from these sequences when
                 they are incorporated or read.  If  not  present
                 or empty, no such sequences are defined.  Other­
                 wise, each message is added to, or removed from,
                 each    sequence    name    given.    Read   the
                 mh-sequence(5) man page for  the  details  about
                 this sequence.  (profile, no default)

       mh-sequences: .mh_sequences
                 The  name  of  the  file  in  each  folder which
                 defines public sequences.  To disable the use of
                 public  sequences,  leave  the  value portion of
                 this   entry    blank.     (profile,    default:
                 .mh_sequences)

       atr-seq-folder: 172 178-181 212
                 Keeps  track  of the private sequence called seq
                 in the specified folder.  Private sequences  are
                 generally  used  for read-only folders.  See the
                 mh-sequence(5) man page for details  about  pri­
                 vate sequences.  (context, no default)

       Editor: /usr/bin/vi
                 Defines  the  editor  to be used by the commands
                 comp (1),  dist (1),  forw (1),  and   repl (1).
                 (profile, default: /bin/vi)

       automimeproc:
                 If  defined  and set to 1, then the whatnow pro­
                 gram will automatically invoke the buildmimeproc
                 (discussed  below)  to process each message as a
                 MIME composition draft before it is sent.  (pro­
                 file, no default)

       Msg-Protect: 644
                 An  octal  number  which  defines the permission
                 bits for new message files.  See  chmod (1)  for
                 an  explanation  of the octal number.  (profile,


       Folder-Protect: 750
                 An octal number  which  defines  the  permission
                 bits  for new folder directories.  See chmod (1)
                 for an explanation of the octal  number.   (pro­
                 file, default: 700)

       program: default switches
                 Sets default switches to be used whenever the mh
                 program program is invoked.   For  example,  one
                 could  override  the  Editor:  profile component
                 when replying to messages by adding a  component
                 such as:
                      repl: -editor /bin/ed
                 (profile, no defaults)

       lasteditor-next: nexteditor
                 Names  "nexteditor"  to  be  the  default editor
                 after using "lasteditor".  This takes effect  at
                 "What  now?"  prompt  in  comp,  dist, forw, and
                 repl.  After editing the  draft  with  "lastedi­
                 tor",  the default editor is set to be "nextedi­
                 tor".  If the  user  types  "edit"  without  any
                 arguments  to  "What now?", then "nexteditor" is
                 used.  (profile, no default)

       bboards: system
                 Tells bbc which BBoards you are  interested  in.
                 (profile, default: system)

       Folder-Stack: folders
                 The  contents of the folder-stack for the folder
                 command.  (context, no default)

       mhe:
                 If present, tells inc to compose an  MHE  audit­
                 file  in  addition  to  its other tasks.  MHE is
                 Brian Reid's Emacs front-end for nmh.  (profile,
                 no default)

       Alternate-Mailboxes: mh@uci-750a, bug-mh*
                 Tells  repl  and scan which addresses are really
                 yours.  In this way, repl knows which  addresses
                 should  be included in the reply, and scan knows
                 if  the  message  really  originated  from  you.
                 Addresses  must be separated by a comma, and the
                 hostnames listed should be the "official"  host­
                 names  for  the mailboxes you indicate, as local
                 nicknames for hosts are not replaced with  their
                 official  site  names.   For  each address, if a
                 host is not given, then that address on any host
                 is considered to be you.  In addition, an aster­
                 isk (`*') may appear at either or both  ends  of

                 matching.  (profile, default: your user-id)

       Aliasfile: aliases other-alias
                 Indicates aliases files for ali, whom, and send.
                 This  may  be  used instead of the `-alias file'
                 switch.  (profile, no default)

       Draft-Folder: drafts
                 Indicates a default draft folder for comp, dist,
                 forw,  and repl.  Read the mh-draft (5) man page
                 for details.  (profile, no default)

       digest-issue-list: 1
                 Tells forw the last issue  of  the  last  volume
                 sent for the digest list.  (context, no default)

       digest-volume-list: 1
                 Tells forw the last volume sent for  the  digest
                 list.  (context, no default)

       MailDrop: .mail
                 Tells  inc  your maildrop, if different from the
                 default.  This is superseded by the  environment
                 variable     MAILDROP.     (profile,    default:
                 /var/mail/$USER)

       Signature: RAND MH System (agent: Marshall Rose)
                 Tells send your mail signature.  This is  super­
                 seded by the environment variable SIGNATURE.  If
                 SIGNATURE is not set and this profile  entry  is
                 not present, the "gcos" field of the /etc/passwd
                 file will be used; otherwise, on hosts where nmh
                 was  configured  with  the  UCI option, the file
                 $HOME/.signature is consulted.   Your  signature
                 will  be  added  to the address send puts in the
                 "From:" header; do not include an address in the
                 signature text.  (profile, no default)

   Process Profile Entries
       The  following  profile  elements are used whenever an nmh
       program invokes some other program such as more (1).   The
       .mh_profile  can  be  used to select alternate programs if
       the user wishes.  The default  values  are  given  in  the
       examples.

       buildmimeproc: /usr/bin/mhbuild
                 This  is  the program used by whatnow to process
                 drafts which are MIME composition files.

       fileproc: /usr/bin/refile
                 This program is used to refile or link a message
                 to another folder.  It is used by post to file a

                 "Fcc:"  field.   It  is used by the draft folder
                 facility in comp, dist, forw, and repl to refile
                 a draft message into another folder.  It is used
                 to refile a draft message  in  response  to  the
                 `refile' directive at the "What now?" prompt.

       incproc: /usr/bin/inc
                 Program called by mhmail to incorporate new mail
                 when it is invoked with no arguments.

       installproc: /usr/lib/nmh/install-mh
                 This program is called to initialize  the  envi­
                 ronment for new users of nmh.

       lproc: /bin/more
                 This  program  is used to list the contents of a
                 message in response to the `list'  directive  at
                 the  "What now?" prompt.  It is also used by the
                 draft folder facility in comp, dist,  forw,  and
                 repl to display the draft message.

       mailproc: /usr/bin/mhmail
                 This  is  the program used to automatically mail
                 various messages and notifications.  It is  used
                 by  conflict  when using the `-mail' option.  It
                 is used by send to post failure notices.  It  is
                 used  to  retrieve an external-body with access-
                 type `mail-server' (such  as  when  storing  the
                 body with mhstore).

       mhlproc: /usr/lib/nmh/mhl
                 This  is  the program used to filter messages in
                 various ways.  It is used by  mhshow  to  filter
                 and  display  the  message  headers of MIME mes­
                 sages.  When the `-format' or  `-filter'  option
                 is  used by forw or repl, the mhlproc is used to
                 filter the message that you are  forwarding,  or
                 to  which  you are replying.  When the `-filter'
                 option is given to send or post, the mhlproc  is
                 used  by  post to filter the copy of the message
                 that is sent to "Bcc:" recipients.

       moreproc: /bin/more
                 This is the program used by mhl to page the  mhl
                 formatted message when displaying to a terminal.
                 It is also the default program used by mhshow to
                 display  message  bodies  (or  message parts) of
                 type text/plain.

       mshproc: /usr/bin/msh
                 Currently not used.

       packproc: /usr/bin/packf


       postproc: /usr/lib/nmh/post
                 This  is  the  program  used  by  send,  mhmail,
                 rcvdist,  and  viamail  (used  by  the sendfiles
                 shell script) to post  a  message  to  the  mail
                 transport  system.   It  is  also called by whom
                 (called   with   the   switches   `-whom'    and
                 `-library') to do address verification.

       rmmproc: none
                 This  is  the  program used by rmm and refile to
                 delete a message from a folder.

       rmfproc: /usr/bin/rmf
                 Currently not used.

       sendproc: /usr/bin/send
                 This is the program to use by whatnow  to  actu­
                 ally send the message

       showmimeproc: /usr/bin/mhshow
                 This  is the program used by show to process and
                 display non-text (MIME) messages.

       showproc: /usr/lib/nmh/mhl
                 This is the program used by show to  filter  and
                 display text (non-MIME) messages.

       whatnowproc: /usr/bin/whatnow
                 This is the program invoked by comp, forw, dist,
                 and repl to query about  the  disposition  of  a
                 composed draft message.

       whomproc: /usr/bin/whom
                 This is the program used by whatnow to determine
                 to whom a message would be sent.

   Environment Variables
       The operation of nmh and its commands it  also  controlled
       by the presence of certain environment variables.

       Many of these environment variables are used internally by
       the "What now?" interface.  It's amazing all the  informa­
       tion  that  has to get passed via environment variables to
       make the "What now?" interface look squeaky clean  to  the
       nmh  user,  isn't it?  The reason for all this is that the
       nmh user  can  select  any  program  as  the  whatnowproc,
       including  one  of the standard shells.  As a result, it's
       not possible to pass information via an argument list.

       If the WHATNOW option was set  during  nmh  configuration,
       and  if  this  environment  variable  is  set, then if the

       `msgs' arguments, then they will default to using the file
       indicated by mhdraft.  This  is  useful  for  getting  the
       default behavior supplied by the default whatnowproc.

       MH :  With  this  environment  variable, you can specify a
            profile other than .mh_profile to be read by the  nmh
            programs  that you invoke.  If the value of MH is not
            absolute, (i.e., does not begin with a / ),  it  will
            be  presumed to start from the current working direc­
            tory.  This is one of the very few exceptions in  nmh
            where non-absolute pathnames are not considered rela­
            tive to the user's nmh directory.

       MHCONTEXT : With this environment variable, you can  spec­
            ify  a context other than the normal context file (as
            specified in the nmh profile).  As always, unless the
            value  of  MHCONTEXT is absolute, it will be presumed
            to start from your nmh directory.

       MM_CHARSET : With this environment variable, you can spec­
            ify the native character set you are using.  You must
            be able to display this character set on your  termi­
            nal.

            This  variable is checked to see if a RFC-2047 header
            field should be decoded (in inc,  scan,  mhl).   This
            variable is checked by show to see if the showproc or
            showmimeproc should  be  called,  since  showmimeproc
            will be called if a text message uses a character set
            that doesn't  match  MM_CHARSET.   This  variable  is
            checked  by  mhshow  for  matches against the charset
            parameter of text contents to decide it the text con­
            tent  can  be displayed without modifications to your
            terminal.  This variable is  checked  by  mhbuild  to
            decide  what  character set to specify in the charset
            parameter of text contents  containing  8bit  charac­
            ters.

            When  decoding  text  in  such an alternate character
            set, nmh must be able to determine  which  characters
            are  alphabetic,  which  are control characters, etc.
            For  many  operating  systems,  this   will   require
            enabling the support for locales (such as setting the
            environment variable LC_CTYPE to iso_8859_1).

       MAILDROP : tells inc the default maildrop
            This supersedes the "MailDrop:" profile entry.

       SIGNATURE : tells send and post your mail signature
            This supersedes the "Signature:" profile entry.

       HOME : tells all nmh programs your home directory


       TERM : tells nmh your terminal type
            The environment variable TERMCAP is  also  consulted.
            In  particular,  these tell scan and mhl how to clear
            your terminal, and how many columns wide your  termi­
            nal  is.  They also tell mhl how many lines long your
            terminal screen is.

       editalt : the alternate message
            This is set by dist and repl during edit sessions  so
            you  can  peruse  the  message  being  distributed or
            replied to.  The message is also available through  a
            link called "@" in the current directory if your cur­
            rent working directory and  the  folder  the  message
            lives in are on the same UNIX filesystem.

       mhdraft : the path to the working draft
            This is set by comp, dist, forw, and repl to tell the
            whatnowproc which file to ask "What now?"   questions
            about.

       mhfolder :
            This  is set by dist, forw, and repl, if appropriate.

       mhaltmsg :
            dist and repl set mhaltmsg to  tell  the  whatnowproc
            about  an alternate message associated with the draft
            (the message being distributed or replied to).

       mhdist :
            dist sets mhdist to tell the whatnowproc that message
            re-distribution is occurring.

       mheditor :
            This is set to tell the whatnowproc the user's choice
            of editor (unless overridden by `-noedit').

       mhuse :
            This may be set by comp.

       mhmessages :
            This is set by dist, forw, and  repl  if  annotations
            are to occur.

       mhannotate :
            This  is  set  by dist, forw, and repl if annotations
            are to occur.

       mhinplace :
            This is set by dist, forw, and  repl  if  annotations
            are to occur.

       mhfolder : the folder containing the alternate message

            you can peruse other messages in the  current  folder
            besides the one being distributed or replied to.  The
            environment variable mhfolder is also  set  by  show,
            prev, and next for use by mhl.


FILES

       $HOME/.mh_profile                    The user profile
       or $MH                               Rather than the standard profile
       <mh-dir>/context                     The user context
       or $MHCONTEXT                        Rather than the standard context
       <folder>/.mh_sequences               Public sequences for <folder>


PROFILE COMPONENTS

       All


SEE ALSO

       mh(1), environ(5), mh-sequence(5)


DEFAULTS

       None


CONTEXT

       All


HISTORY

       The  .mh_profile  contains  only static information, which
       nmh programs will NOT update.  Changes in context are made
       to the context file kept in the users nmh directory.  This
       includes, but is  not  limited  to:  the  "Current-Folder"
       entry   and  all  private  sequence  information.   Public
       sequence information is kept in each folder  in  the  file
       determined by the "mh-sequences" profile entry (default is
       .mh_sequences).

       The .mh_profile may override the path of the context file,
       by  specifying  a  "context" entry (this must be in lower-
       case).  If the entry is not absolute (does not start  with
       a  / ),  then it is interpreted relative to the user's nmh
       directory.  As a result, you can actually have  more  than
       one  set  of  private sequences by using different context
       files.


BUGS

       The shell quoting conventions are  not  available  in  the
       .mh_profile.  Each token is separated by whitespace.

       There is some question as to what kind of arguments should
       be placed in the profile as options.  In order to  provide
       a  clear  answer, recall command line semantics of all nmh
       programs:  conflicting  switches   (e.g.,   `-header   and
       `-noheader')  may  occur more than one time on the command
       line,  with  the  last  switch   taking   effect.    Other

       ers, are always remembered on the invocation line and  are
       not  superseded  by  following arguments of the same type.
       Hence, it is safe to place only switches (and their  argu­
       ments) in the profile.

       If  one  finds  that an nmh program is being invoked again
       and again with the same  arguments,  and  those  arguments
       aren't  switches,  then there are a few possible solutions
       to this problem.  The first is to create a (soft) link  in
       your  $HOME/bin  directory  to  the  nmh  program  of your
       choice.  By giving this link a  different  name,  you  can
       create  a  new  entry in your profile and use an alternate
       set of defaults for the nmh command.  Similarly, you could
       create  a  small shell script which called the nmh program
       of your choice with an alternate set  of  invocation  line
       switches  (using  links  and an alternate profile entry is
       preferable to this solution).

       Finally, the csh user could create an alias for  the  com­
       mand of the form:

            alias cmd 'cmd arg1 arg2 ...'

       In  this  way,  the  user can avoid lengthy type-in to the
       shell, and still give nmh commands safely.   (Recall  that
       some  nmh  commands  invoke others, and that in all cases,
       the profile is read, meaning that aliases are  disregarded
       beyond an initial command invocation)


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