mh-mail(5mh)															      mh-mail(5mh)

Name
       mh-mail - message format for MH message system

Description
       MH  processes  messages	in  a  particular  format.  Although neither Bell nor Berkeley mailers produce message files in the format that MH
       prefers, MH can read message files in that format.

       Each user has a maildrop that initially receives all messages processed by

       The command reads from the maildrop and incorporates the new messages found there into the user's own folder.  The maildrop consists of one
       or more messages.

       Messages  are  expected to consist of lines of text.  Graphics and binary data are not handled.	No data compression is accepted.  All text
       is in ASCII 7-bit data.

       The general memo framework of RFC 822 is used.  A message consists of a block of information in a rigid format, followed  by  general  text
       with  no  specified  format.  The rigidly-formatted first part of a message is called the message header; the free-format portion is called
       the body.  The header must always exist, but the body is optional.  These parts are separated by a blank line or by a line of dashes.   The
       following example shows the standard default MH mail header:
       To:
       cc:
       Subject:
       --------

       The  header  is composed of one or more header items.  Each header item can be viewed as a single logical line of ASCII characters.  If the
       text of a header item extends across several real lines, the continuation lines are indicated by leading spaces or tabs.

       Each header item is called a component and is composed of a keyword or name, along with associated text.  The keyword begins  at  the  left
       margin, and is terminated by a colon (:).  It cannot contain spaces or tabs, and cannot exceed 63 characters, as specified by RFC 822.

       The  text  for most formatted components, such as Date: and Message-Id:, is produced automatically.  The user enters address fields such as
       To: and cc:, and the Subject: field.  Internet addresses are assigned mailbox names and host computer specifications.  The  general  format
       is  local@domain,  for example, MH@UCI or MH@UCI-ICSA.ARPA.  A comma (,) separates multiple addresses.  A missing host/domain is assumed to
       be the local host/domain.

       A blank line (or a line of dashes) signals that all following text up to the end of the file is the body of the message.  No formatting	is
       expected or enforced within the body.

       The following is a list of header components that are considered meaningful to MH programs:

       Date:	 Added by contains the date and time of the message's entry into the transport system.

       From:	 Added	by  contains the address of the author or authors (there may be more than one if a Sender: field is present).  Replies are
		 typically directed to addresses in the Reply-To: or From: field.  The former has precedence, if present.

       Sender:	 Added by in the event that the message already has a From: line.  This line contains the address of the actual  sender.   Replies
		 are never sent to addresses in the Sender: field.

       To:	 Contains addresses of primary recipients.

       cc:	 Contains addresses of secondary recipients.

       Bcc:	 Contains  the	addresses of recipients who receive blind carbon copies of the message.  The Bcc: line does not appear on the mes-
		 sage as sent, so these recipients are not listed.  Recipients in the Bcc: field receive a copy of  the  message  with	a  minimal
		 header.  MH uses an encapsulation method for blind copies; see

       Fcc:	 Causes  to copy the message into the specified folder for the sender, if the message was successfully given to the transport sys-
		 tem.

       Message-ID:
		 A unique message identifier added by if the -msgid flag is set.

       Subject:  Sender's commentary.  It is displayed by

       In-Reply-To:
		 A commentary line added by when replying to a message.

       Resent-Date:
		 Added by when a message is re-distributed.

       Resent-From:
		 Added by when a message is re-distributed.

       Resent-To:
		 New recipients for a message re-sent by

       Resent-cc:
		 New secondary recipients for a message re-sent by

       Resent-Bcc:
		 New blind carbon copy recipients for a message re-sent by

       Resent-Fcc:
		 Places a copy of a message re-sent by into the sender's folder.

       Resent-Message-Id:
		 A unique identifier of a message re-sent by This is appended by if the -msgid flag is set.

       Resent:	 Annotation added by when the -annotate option is specified.

       Forwarded:
		 Annotation added by when the -annotate option is specified.

       Replied:  Annotation added by when the -annotate option is specified.

Files
       Standard location of mail drop.

See Also
       Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages (RFC 822)

																      mh-mail(5mh)