mh_profile(4) Kernel Interfaces Manual mh_profile(4)
NAME
mh_profile - User customization file for the MH message system
DESCRIPTION
Each user of MH is expected to have a file named .mh_profile in his or her home directory. This file contains a set of static user parame-
ters used by some or all programs in the the MH family. Each line of the file is in the following format:
profile-component: value
In addition, MH keeps information about changes in context (for example, the current folder and message) in the context file, which is nor-
mally located in the user's Mail directory. MH also consults a number of environment variables. Both the context file entries and these
environment variables are described in this reference page.
Profile File Entries
The possible profile components are described in the following list. Only Path is mandatory. The others are optional; some have default
values if they are not present. In the notation used below, the default value is given in parentheses ( ) at the end of each entry.
When giving path names, mh-dir is used to indicate the user's Mail directory. This is the directory given by the Path entry in the user's
profile, and is set up initially by MH to be $HOME/Mail. Locates MH transactions in the named directory. If the directory path name is
not absolute (does not begin with a / ), it is assumed to begin in the user's home directory. When you first use MH, it creates a direc-
tory called Mail in your home directory, and adds the appropriate entry to the .mh_profile.
(no default)
Declares the location of the MH context file.
(default: mh-dir/context) Names the sequences which should be defined as the msgs or msg argument given to the program. If not
present, or empty, no sequences are defined. Otherwise, for each name given, the sequence is first zeroed and then each message is
added to the sequence.
(no default) Defines the string which, when prefixed to a sequence name, negates that sequence. Hence, the argument notseen means
all those messages that are not a member of the sequence seen.
(no default) Names the sequences which should be defined as those messages recently incorporated by inc. The show command removes
messages from this sequence once it thinks they have been seen. If not present, or empty, no sequences are defined. Otherwise, for
each name given, the sequence is first zeroed and then each message is added to the sequence.
(no default) 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.
(default: .mh_sequences) Defines the editor to be used by the comp, dist, forw, and repl commands.
(default: prompter)
Defines octal protection bits for message files. See chmod(1) for an explanation of the octal number.
(default: 0600) Defines protection bits for folder directories. See chmod(1) for an explanation of the octal number.
(default: 0700) Sets the options to be used whenever an MH command is invoked. You should set up only command options, not command
arguments, in your profile. Options correspond to settings made through command line flags, which are usually preceded by a dash -
in the SYNOPSIS for the command. You can override any options set up in your .mh_profile by using a flag on the command line. For
example, you can override the Editor profile component when replying to messages by entering the following command:
% repl -editor /bin/ed
(no default) Defines the alias file to be used by MH commands that take the -alias flag. The named file must be in the correct for-
mat; see mh-alias(4).
(no default) Names nexteditor to be the default editor after using lasteditor. This takes effect at the What now? level when using
comp, dist, forw, and repl. After editing the draft with lasteditor, the default editor is set to be nexteditor. If the user types
edit without any arguments at the What now? prompt, then nexteditor is used.
(no default) If present, tells inc to compose an Emacs audit file in addition to other tasks performed by the command.
(no default) 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 host names
listed should be the official host names for the mailboxes you indicate, as local nicknames for hosts are not replaced by their
official site names. If a host is not given for an address, then that address on any host is considered to be you. In addition, an
asterisk (*) may appear at either or both ends of the mailbox and host to indicate wild-card matching.
(default: your user-id) Specifies the name of the draft folder. This is used by comp, dist, forw, and repl to construct draft mes-
sages in, and to store unsent draft messages. A draft folder allows you to have more than one unsent draft at a time. The draft
folder is conventionally called +drafts.
(no default) Tells inc your maildrop, if itdifferent from the default. This is superseded by the $MAILDROP environment variable.
(default: /usr/spool/mail/$USER) Tells send your mail signature. This is superseded by the $SIGNATURE environment variable. The
signature must be enclosed in double quotes (" ").
(no default) Tells send the mail interchange codeset. The send program can convert a message from the user application codeset used
for local message display to the codeset used for mail interchange. For more information on codeset conversion, see the section on
internationalization features in the mh(1) reference page.
(no default) Provides a default locale when the LANG or LC_ALL environment variable is not defined. One field in this locale name
indicates the user application codeset, which is used for codeset conversion of mail messages. For more information on codeset con-
version, see the section on internationalization features in the mh(1) reference page.
(no default)
The profile elements in the following example are used whenever an MH program invokes some other program, such as more. The example shows
the programs used by default. You can specify alternative programs if you want.
fileproc: /usr/bin/mh/refile incproc: /usr/bin/mh/inc installproc: /usr/lib/mh/install-mh lproc: /usr/ucb/more
mailproc: /usr/bin/mh/mhmail mhlproc: /usr/lib/mh/mhl moreproc: /usr/ucb/more mshproc: /usr/bin/mh/msh packproc:
/usr/bin/mh/packf postproc: /usr/lib/mh/post rmmproc: none rmfproc: /usr/bin/mh/rmf sendproc: /usr/bin/mh/send
showproc: /usr/ucb/more whatnowproc: /usr/bin/mh/whatnow whomproc: /usr/bin/mh/whom
Context File Entries
Changes in context are made to the context file kept in the user's Mail directory. This includes, but is not limited to, the Current-
Folder entry, and all private sequence information. Information kept in the context file is updated by MH programs as they are used; the
.mh_profile contains only static information, which MH programs do not update.
The .mh_profile may override the path of the context file by specifying a context entry (this must be in lowercase). If the entry is not
absolute (does not start with /), then it is interpreted relative to the user's Mail directory.
Private sequence information is kept in the context file. Public sequence information is kept in a file called .mh_sequences in each
folder.
The context file may contain the following components: Keeps track of the current open folder.
(default: +inbox) Keeps track of the private sequence called seq in the specified folder.
(no default) Specifies the contents of the folder-stack for the folder command.
(no default) Tells forw the last issue of the last volume sent for the digest list.
(no default) Tells forw the last volume sent for the digest list.
(no default)
Environment Variables
In addition to the .mh_profile and context files, MH programs consult a number of environment variables.
If you define the environment variable $MH, you can specify a profile other than .mh_profile to be read by the MH programs that you invoke.
If the value of $MH is not absolute, (that is, does not begin with /), it will be presumed to start from the current working directory.
This is one of the very few exceptions in MH where non-absolute pathnames are not considered relative to the user's Mail directory.
Similarly, if you define the environment variable $MHCONTEXT, you can specify a context other than the normal context file (as specified in
.mh_profile). Unless the value of $MHCONTEXT is absolute, it will be presumed to start from your Mail directory.
MH programs also consult the following environment variables: Tells inc the default maildrop. This supersedes the Maildrop profile entry.
Tells send and post your mail signature. This supersedes the Signature profile entry. Tells all MH programs your home directory. Tells
MH your terminal type. The $TERMCAP environment variable is also consulted. In particular, these two environment variables tell scan and
mhl how to clear your terminal and how many columns wide your terminal is. These variables also tell mhl how many lines long your terminal
screen is.
The following environment variables are set by MH programs for the whatnowproc program: The alternative message. Set by dist and repl dur-
ing edit sessions so you can view the message being distributed or replied to. The message is also available through a link called @ in
the current directory, as long as your current working directory has write permission. If your current working directory and the folder
containing the message are on the same file system, this link is a hard link; otherwise, it is a symbolic link. The path to the working
draft. Set by comp, dist, forw, and repl to tell the whatnowproc program which file to ask What now? questions about. In addition, dist,
forw, and repl set $mhfolder, if appropriate. Set by dist and repl to tell the whatnowproc program about an alternative message associated
with the draft (the message being distributed or replied to). Set by dist to tell the whatnowproc program that message redistribution is
occurring. Set to tell the whatnowproc program your choice of editor (unless overridden by -noedit). May be set by comp. Set by dist,
forw, and repl if annotations are to occur. The reason for setting these variables is so the MH user can select any application, including
one of the standard shells, as the whatnowproc program. As a result, it is not possible to pass information by using an argument list.
Specifies the folder containing the alternate message. Set by dist and repl during edit sessions so you can view other messages in the
current folder, not just the one being distributed or replied to. The $mhfolder environment variable is also set by show, prev, and next
for use by mhl.
RESTRICTIONS
The shell quoting conventions are not available in .mh_profile. Use white space to separate each token.
It is recommended that you set up in your .mh_profile only those values that are associated with command line flags. Do not include val-
ues, such as file names, folders, and message sequences when these are independent command line arguments. In the following example,
+project is an independent argument (that should not be set up in your .mh_profile) and +drafts is an argument associated with a flag (that
can be set up in your .mh_profile):
% forw 3 +project -draftfolder +drafts
When conflicting options are given to MH commands, the option specified on the command line supersedes the one specified in .mh_profile.
Therefore, you can always override an option you have set up in your .mh_profile by specifying a related flag on the command line. How-
ever, any independent arguments set up in .mh_profile cannot be superseded by using different arguments on the command line.
If you find that an MH program is being invoked again and again with the same arguments (and these are not values associated with flags),
you can use one of the following methods to make command entry more efficient: Create a symbolic link in your $HOME/bin directory to the MH
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 MH command. Create a small shell script that calls the MH program of your choice with a particular set of parameters.
Using links and an alternate profile entry is preferable to this solution. If you are a csh user, you can create an alias for the command
as follows:
alias my_cmd /usr/bin/mh/cmd arg1 arg2 ..
You can then use the alias to avoid typing lengthy commands to the shell and still enter MH commands safely. Remember, however,
that some MH commands invoke others, and that in all cases, the profile is read. Aliases are disregarded for commands that are
indirectly invoked by the one that you enter.
FILES
The user profile The user's context file Public sequences for a particular folder
RELATED INFORMATION
Commands: chmod(1), mh(1)
Variables: environ(5) delim off
mh_profile(4)