1PROMPTER(1)                        [nmh-1.3]                       PROMPTER(1)
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NAME

6       prompter - prompting editor front-end for nmh
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SYNOPSIS

9       prompter [-erase chr] [-kill chr] [-prepend | -noprepend] [-rapid |
10            -norapid] [-doteof | -nodoteof] file [-version] [-help]
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DESCRIPTION

13       Prompter is an editor front-end for nmh which allows rapid composition
14       of messages.  This program is not normally invoked directly by users
15       but takes the place of an editor and acts as an editor front-end.  It
16       operates on an RFC-822 style message draft skeleton specified by file,
17       normally provided by the nmh commands comp, dist, forw, or repl.
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19       Prompter is particularly useful when composing messages over slow net‐
20       work or modem lines.  It is an nmh program in that it can have its own
21       profile entry with switches, but it is not invoked directly by the
22       user.  The commands comp, dist, forw, and repl invoke prompter as an
23       editor, either when invoked with -editor prompter, or by the profile
24       entry “Editor: prompter”, or when given the command edit prompter at
25       the “What now?” prompt.
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27       For each empty component prompter finds in the draft, the user is
28       prompted for a response; A <RETURN> will cause the whole component to
29       be left out.  Otherwise, a `\' preceding a <RETURN> will continue the
30       response on the next line, allowing for multiline components.  Continu‐
31       ation lines must begin with a space or tab.
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33       Each non-empty component is copied to the draft and displayed on the
34       terminal.
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36       The start of the message body is denoted by a blank line or a line of
37       dashes.  If the body is non-empty, the prompt, which isn't written to
38       the file, is
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40            --------Enter additional text
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42       or (if -prepend was given)
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44            --------Enter initial text
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46       Message-body typing is terminated with an end-of-file (usually CTRL-D).
47       With the -doteof switch, a period on a line all by itself also signi‐
48       fies end-of-file.  At this point control is returned to the calling
49       program, where the user is asked “What now?”.  See whatnow (1) for the
50       valid options to this query.
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52       By using the -prepend switch, the user can add type-in to the beginning
53       of the message body and have the rest of the body follow.  This is use‐
54       ful for the forw command.
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56       By using the -rapid switch, if the draft already contains text in the
57       message-body, it is not displayed on the user's terminal.  This is use‐
58       ful for low-speed terminals.
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60       The line editing characters for kill and erase may be specified by the
61       user via the arguments -kill chr and -erase chr, where chr may be a
62       character; or `\nnn', where “nnn” is the octal value for the character.
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64       An interrupt (usually CTRL-C) during component typing will abort
65       prompter and the nmh command that invoked it.  An interrupt during mes‐
66       sage-body typing is equivalent to CTRL-D, for historical reasons.  This
67       means that prompter should finish up and exit.
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69       The first non-flag argument to prompter is taken as the name of the
70       draft file, and subsequent non-flag arguments are ignored.
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FILES

74       $HOME/.mh_profile          The user profile
75       /tmp/prompter*             Temporary copy of message
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PROFILE COMPONENTS

79       prompter-next:       To name the editor to be used on exit from .B prompter
80       Msg-Protect:         To set mode when creating a new draft
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SEE ALSO

84       comp(1), dist(1), forw(1), repl(1), whatnow(1)
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DEFAULTS

88       `-prepend'
89       `-norapid'
90       `-nodoteof'
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CONTEXT

94       None
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HELPFUL HINTS

98       The -rapid option is particularly useful with forw, and -noprepend is
99       useful with comp -use.
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101       The user may wish to link prompter under several names (e.g., “rapid”)
102       and give appropriate switches in the profile entries under these names
103       (e.g., “rapid: -rapid”).  This facilitates invoking prompter differ‐
104       ently for different nmh commands (e.g., “forw: -editor rapid”).
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BUGS

108       Prompter uses stdio(3), so it will lose if you edit files with nulls in
109       them.
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113MH.6.8                            1 June 2008                      PROMPTER(1)
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