scan(1mh) scan(1mh)
Name
scan - produce a one-line-per-message scan listing
Syntax
scan [ +folder ] [ msgs ] [ options ]
Description
The command produces a one-line-per-message listing of the messages in the current folder.
You can scan a folder other than the current folder by using the +folder argument. You can use the msgs argument to produce a scan listing
of a number of messages or a range of messages in the specified folder. You can also use in conjunction with a message sequence defined by
or See for more information on sequences.
Each line contains the message number, the date, the From: field, the Subject: field, and, if room allows, some of the body of the message.
The current message is marked with a plus sign (+).
The command actually reads each of the specified messages and parses them to extract the desired fields. If format errors are found in any
of the messages during parsing, produces appropriate error messages.
Because MH has been configured with the BERK option, has two additional options: -reverse and -noreverse. In addition, updates the MH con-
text prior to starting the listing, so interrupting a long listing preserves the new context. The default configuration file that is sup-
plied with MH has the BERK option enabled.
If encounters a message without a Date: field, the date is filled in with the last write date of the message, and an asterisk (*) is
appended. This is useful for identifying unsent message drafts. Unsent drafts are not usually allowed to contain a Date: field, and are
consequently marked with an asterisk in listings.
Options
-clear
-noclear Directs to clear the screen. If the -clear switch is used and the output of is directed to a terminal, then consults the $TERM
and $TERMCAP environmental variables to determine your terminal type in order to find out how to clear the screen prior to exit-
ing. If the -clear switch is used and the output of is not directed to a terminal, then sends a formfeed prior to exiting.
-form formatfile
Re-formats the output of according to the instructions in the named file. The named formatfile must be in style; see for more
details.
-format string
Re-formats the output of according to the instructions in the string given. The string must be in style; see for more details.
You must place the string argument to this command in double quotes (").
-header
-noheader Produces a header line prior to the listing. The header line displays the name of the folder and the date and time. This can be
suppressed using the -noheader option.
-help Prints a list of the valid options to this command.
-reverse
-noreverse
Lists the output from in reverse order, from the highest message number to the lowest. The -noreverse option lists messages in
the conventional way, from lowest to highest numbers. The -noreverse option is the default.
-width columns
Specifies the width of your screen, in columns.
The defaults for this command are as follows:
+folder defaults to the current folder
msgs defaults to all
-noheader
-width defaults to the width of the terminal
Examples
The following example produces a listing of messages 11 through 15 in the folder
% scan +inbox 11-15
11 18/01 ralph Project Plan Meeting Monday<<This
12 -21/01 johnson squash<<Thought i might postpone
13 21/01 smith@ultrixhost support from US during conversion
14 21/01 jjones@subone.dne new forum for discussion of mail
15+ 21/01 calvin@hobbes.uuc Re: new forum for discussion of m
In this listing, the plus sign (+) on message 15 indicates that it is the current message. The hyphen (-) on message 12 indicates that you
have replied to the message. It is produced by the -annotate option to see for more information. If there is sufficient room left on the
line after the subject, fills the line with text from the body, preceded by <<, and terminated by >> if the body is sufficiently short.
Profile Components
Path: To determine your Mail directory
Alternate-Mailboxes: To determine your mailboxes
Files
The user profile.
See Also
inc(1mh), mark(1mh), pick(1mh), show(1mh), mh-format(5mh)
scan(1mh)