MHPATH(1)                                                            [nmh-1.5]                                                           MHPATH(1)

NAME

       mhpath - print full pathnames of nmh messages and folders

SYNOPSIS

       mhpath [+folder] [msgs] [-version] [-help]

DESCRIPTION

       mhpath  expands  and  sorts  the message list `msgs' and writes the full pathnames of the messages to the standard output separated by new-
       lines.  If no `msgs' are specified, mhpath outputs the current mail folder's pathname instead.  If the  only  argument  is  `+',  your  nmh
       "Path" is output; this can be useful in shell scripts.

       Contrasted with other nmh commands, a message argument to mhpath may often be intended for writing.  Because of this:

       1)  the  name  "new"  has been added to mhpath's list of reserved message names (the others are "first", "last", "prev", "next", "cur", and
           "all").  The new message is equivalent to the message after the last message in a folder (and equivalent to 1 in a folder without  mes-
           sages).  The "new" message may not be used as part of a message range.

       2)  Within  a  message  list, the following designations may refer to messages that do not exist: a single numeric message name, the single
           message name "cur", and (obviously) the single message name "new".  All other message designations must refer to at least one  existing
           message, if the folder contains messages.

       3)  An empty folder is not in itself an error.

       A message number less than that of the smallest existing message in a folder is treated as if the message already exists.  A message number
       greater than that of the highest existing message in a folder causes an "out of range" error message to be displayed.

       As part of a range designation that contains messages that do exist, message numbers less than the smallest, or greater than  the  highest,
       existing message in a folder are ignored.

       Examples: The current folder foo contains messages 3 5 6.  Cur is 4.

            % mhpath
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo

            % mhpath all
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/3
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/5
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/6

            % mhpath 2001
            mhpath: message 2001 out of range 1-6

            % mhpath 1-2001
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/3
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/5
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/6

            % mhpath new
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/7

            % mhpath last new
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/6
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/7

            % mhpath last-new
            mhpath: bad message list last-new

            % mhpath cur
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/4

            % mhpath 1-2
            mhpath: no messages in range 1-2

            % mhpath first:2
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/3
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/5

            % mhpath 1 2
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/1
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/2

       mhpath is also useful in back-quoted operations:

            % cd `mhpath +inbox`

            % echo `mhpath +`
            /r/phyl/Mail

FILES

       $HOME/.mh_profile          The user profile

PROFILE COMPONENTS

       Path:                To determine the user's nmh directory
       Current-Folder:      To find the default current folder

SEE ALSO

       folder(1)

DEFAULTS

       `+folder' defaults to the current folder
       `msgs' defaults to none

CONTEXT

       None

BUGS

       Like all nmh commands, mhpath expands and sorts [msgs].  So don't expect

            mv `mhpath 501 500`

       to move 501 to 500.  Quite the reverse.  But

            mv `mhpath 501` `mhpath 500`

       will do the trick.

       Out of range message 0 is treated far more severely than large out of range message numbers.

MH.6.8                                                             11 June 2012                                                          MHPATH(1)