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

NAME

       sortm - sort messages

SYNOPSIS

       sortm [+folder] [msgs] [-datefield field] [-textfield field] [-notextfield] [-limit days] [-nolimit] [-verbose | -noverbose] [-version]
            [-help]

DESCRIPTION

       Sortm sorts the specified messages in the named folder according to the chronological order of the "Date:" field of each message.

       The -verbose switch directs sortm to tell the user the general actions that it is taking to place the folder in sorted order.

       The -datefield field switch tells sortm the name of the field to use when making the date comparison.  If the user has a special  field  in
       each message, such as "BB-Posted:" or "Delivery-Date:", then the -datefield switch can be used to direct sortm which field to examine.

       The  -textfield  field  switch causes sortm to sort messages by the specified text field.  If this field is "subject", any leading "re:" is
       stripped off.  In any case, all characters except letters and numbers are stripped and the resulting strings  are  sorted  datefield-major,
       textfield-minor, using a case insensitive comparison.

       With  -textfield  field,  if  -limit  days is specified, messages with similar textfields that are dated within `days' of each other appear
       together.  Specifying -nolimit makes the limit infinity.  With -limit 0, the sort is instead made textfield-major, date-minor.

       For example, to order a folder by date-major, subject-minor, use:

            sortm -textfield subject +folder

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"'defaultstoall"
       `-datefield' defaults to date
       `-notextfield'
       `-noverbose'
       `-nolimit'

CONTEXT

       If a folder is given, it will become the current folder.  If the current message is moved, sortm
        will preserve its status as current.

HISTORY

       Timezones used to be ignored when comparing dates: they aren't any more.

       Messages which were in the folder, but not specified by `msgs', used to be moved to the end of the  folder;  now  such  messages  are  left
       untouched.

       Sortm sometimes did not preserve the message numbering in a folder (e.g., messages 1, 3, and 5, might have been renumbered to 1, 2, 3 after
       sorting).  This was a bug, and has been fixed.  To compress the message numbering in a folder, use "folder -pack" as always.

BUGS

       If sortm encounters a message without a date-field, or if the message has a date-field that sortm cannot parse, then sortm attempts to keep
       the  message  in the same relative position.  This does not always work.  For instance, if the first message encountered lacks a date which
       can be parsed, then it will usually be placed at the end of the messages being sorted.

       When sortm complains about a message which it can't temporally order, it complains about the message number prior to  sorting.   It  should
       indicate what the message number will be after sorting.

MH.6.8                                                             11 June 2012                                                           SORTM(1)