1REPL(1) General Commands Manual REPL(1)
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6 repl - reply to an nmh message
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9 repl [-help] [-version] [+folder] [msg] [-annotate | -noannotate]
10 [-group | -nogroup] [-cc all/to/cc/me] [-nocc all/to/cc/me]
11 [-query | -noquery] [-form formfile] [-format | -noformat] [-fil‐
12 ter filterfile] [-inplace | -noinplace] [-mime | -nomime] [-fcc
13 +folder] [-width columns] [-draftfolder +folder] [-draftmessage
14 msg] [-nodraftfolder] [-editor editor] [-noedit] [-convertargs
15 type argstring] [-whatnowproc program] [-nowhatnowproc] [-atfile]
16 [-noatfile] [-fmtproc program] [-nofmtproc] [-build] [-file msg‐
17 file]
18
20 repl may be used to reply to a message.
21 In its simplest form (with no arguments), repl will set up a message-
23 form skeleton in reply to the current message in the current folder,
24 and invoke the whatnow shell.
25 repl uses a reply template to construct the draft of the reply. A
27 reply template is simply an mhl format file (see mh-format(5) for
28 details).
29 If the switch -nogroup is given (it is on by default), then repl will
31 use the standard forms file “replcomps”. This will construct a draft
32 message that is intended to be sent only to the author of the message
33 to which you are replying. If a file named “replcomps” exists in the
34 user's nmh directory, it will be used instead of this default forms
35 file.
36 The default reply template “replcomps” will direct repl to construct
38 the reply message draft as follows:
39 To: <Mail-Reply-To> or <Reply-To> or <From>
41 cc: <To> and <cc> and <personal address>
42 Fcc: {fcc switch} or +outbox
43 Subject: Re: <Subject>
44 In-Reply-To: <Message-Id>
45 References: <Message-Id>
46 Comments: In-Reply-To <From> or <apparently from> or <Sender>
47 message dated <date>
48 --------
49 where field names enclosed in angle brackets (< >) indicate the con‐
51 tents of the named field from the message to which the reply is being
52 made.
53 By default, the “cc:” field is empty. You may selectively add
55 addresses to this default with the -cc type switch. This switch takes
56 an argument (all/to/cc/me) which specifies who gets added to the
57 default “cc:” list of the reply. You may give this switch multiple
58 times (with different arguments) if you wish to add multiple types of
59 address.
60 If the switch -group is given, then repl will use the standard forms
62 file “replgroupcomps”. This will construct a draft message that is
63 intended as a group or followup reply. If a file named “replgroup‐
64 comps” exists in the user's nmh directory, it will be used instead of
65 this default forms file, unless you specify another forms file on the
66 command line or in your profile.
67 The default group reply template “replgroupcomps” will direct repl to
69 construct the reply message draft as follows:
70 To: <Mail-Followup-To>
72 Subject: Re: <Subject>
73 In-Reply-To: Message from <From> of <Date>.
74 <Message-Id>
75 --------
76 or if the field <Mail-Followup-To> is not available:
78 To: <Mail-Reply-To> or <Reply-To> or <From>
80 cc: <To> and <cc> and <personal address>
81 Subject: Re: <Subject>
82 In-Reply-To: Message from <From> of <Date>.
83 <Message-Id>
84 --------
85 By default, the “cc:” contains all the addresses shown. You may selec‐
87 tively remove addresses from this default with the -nocc type switch.
88 This switch takes an argument ( all/to/cc/me) which specifies who gets
89 removed from the default “cc:” list of the reply. You may give this
90 switch multiple times (with different arguments) if you wish to remove
91 multiple types of address.
92 In any case, you may specify an alternative forms file with the switch
94 -form formfile.
95 The -query switch modifies the action of -nocc type switch by interac‐
97 tively asking you if each address that normally would be placed in the
98 “To:” and “cc:” list should actually be sent a copy. This is useful
99 for special-purpose replies. Note that the position of the -cc and
100 -nocc switches, like all other switches which take a positive and nega‐
101 tive form, is important.
102 Lines beginning with the fields “To:”, “cc:”, and ”Bcc:” will be stan‐
104 dardized and have duplicate addresses removed. In addition, the -width
105 columns switch will guide repl's formatting of these fields.
106 If the draft already exists, repl will ask you as to the disposition of
108 the draft. A reply of quit will abort repl, leaving the draft intact;
109 replace will replace the existing draft with a blank skeleton; and list
110 will display the draft.
111 See comp(1) for a description of the -editor and -noedit switches.
113 Note that while in the editor, with -atfile and if the current direc‐
114 tory is writable, the message being replied to is available through a
115 link named “@” (assuming the default whatnowproc). In addition, the
116 actual pathname of the message is stored in the environment variable
117 $editalt, and the pathname of the folder containing the message is
118 stored in the environment variable $mhfolder. The creation of the “@”
119 file is controlled via the -atfile and -noatfile options.
120 The -convertargs switch directs repl to pass the arguments for type to
122 mhbuild. Both arguments are required; type must be non-empty while
123 argstring can be empty, e.g., '' in a shell command line. The -conver‐
124 targs switch can be used multiple times. See the Convert Interface
125 section of mhbuild(1) for a description of the convert mechanism, and
126 /usr/share/doc/nmh/contrib/replaliases for examples of its use.
127 Although repl uses a forms file to direct it how to construct the
129 beginning of the draft, it uses a message filter file to direct it as
130 to how the message to which you are replying should be filtered (re-
131 formatted) in the body of the draft. The filter file for repl should
132 be a standard form file for mhl, as repl will invoke mhl to format the
133 message to which you are replying.
134 The switches -noformat, -format, and -filter filterfile specify which
136 message filter file to use.
137 If the switch -noformat is given (it is the default) and the -filter
139 switch is not used, then the message to which you are replying is not
140 included in the body of the draft.
141 If the switch -format is given, then a default message filter file is
143 used. This default message filter should be adequate for most users.
144 This default filter “mhl.reply” is:
145 ; mhl.reply
147 ;
148 ; default message filter for `repl' (repl -format)
149 ;
150 from:nocomponent,formatfield="%(unquote(decode(friendly{text}))) writes:"
151 body:component="> ",overflowtext="> ",overflowoffset=0
152 which outputs each line of the body of the message prefaced with the
154 “>” character and a space.
155 If a file named “mhl.reply” exists in the user's nmh directory, it will
157 be used instead of this form. You may specify an alternate message
158 filter file with the switch -filter filterfile.
159 Other reply filters are commonly used, such as:
161 :
163 body:nocomponent,compwidth=9,offset=9
164 which says to output a blank line, and then the body of the message
166 being replied to, indented by one tab stop. Another popular format is:
167 message-id:nocomponent,nonewline,\
169 formatfield=“In message %{text}, ”
170 from:nocomponent,formatfield=“%(decode(friendly{text})) writes:”
171 body:component=“>”,overflowtext=“>”,overflowoffset=0
172 This message filter file cites the Message-ID and author of the message
174 being replied to, and then outputs each line of the body prefaced with
175 the “>” character.
176 You can also use an external format program to format the message body.
178 The format program is specified by the formatproc profile entry, and is
179 enabled by the “format” flag. A message filter using an external for‐
180 mat program would look like this:
181 body:component=“>”,nowrap,format
183 See the mhl(1) documentation for more information. The format program
185 can be changed by the -fmtproc program and -nofmtproc switches.
186 To use the MIME rules for encapsulation, specify the -mime switch.
188 This directs repl to generate an mhbuild composition file. Note that
189 nmh will not invoke mhbuild automatically; you must specifically give
190 the command
191 What now? mime
193 prior to sending the draft.
195 If the -annotate switch is given, the message being replied to will be
197 annotated with the lines
198 Replied: date Replied: addrs
200 where the address list contains one line for each addressee. The anno‐
202 tation will be done only if the message is sent directly from repl. If
203 the message is not sent immediately from repl, “comp -use” may be used
204 to re-edit and send the constructed message, but the annotations won't
205 take place. Normally annotations are done inplace in order to preserve
206 any links to the message. You may use the -noinplace switch to change
207 this.
208 Although the default template specifies that a copy of the reply will
210 be put in the folder 'outbox', if the -fcc +folder switch is given it
211 will override the default value. More than one folder, each preceded
212 by -fcc can be named.
213 In addition to the standard mh-format(5) escapes, repl also recognizes
215 the following additional component escape:
216 Escape Returns Description
218 fcc string Any folders specified with `-fcc folder'
219 To avoid reiteration, repl strips any leading `Re: ' strings from the
221 subject component.
222 The -draftfolder +folder and -draftmessage msg switches invoke the nmh
224 draft folder facility. This is an advanced (and highly useful) fea‐
225 ture. Consult the mh-draft(5) man page for more information.
226 Upon exiting from the editor, repl will invoke the whatnow program.
228 See whatnow(1) for a discussion of available options. The invocation
229 of this program can be inhibited by using the -nowhatnowproc switch.
230 (In fact, it is the whatnow program which starts the initial edit.
231 Hence, -nowhatnowproc will prevent any edit from occurring.)
232 The -build switch is intended to be used by the Emacs mh-e interface to
234 nmh. It implies -nowhatnowproc. It causes a file <mh-dir>/reply to be
235 created, containing the draft message that would normally be presented
236 to the user for editing. No mail is actually sent.
237 The -file msgfile switch specifies the message to be replied to as an
239 exact filename rather than as an nmh folder and message number. The
240 same caveats apply to this option as to the -build switch.
241
243 repl looks for all format, filter and template files in multiple loca‐
244 tions: absolute pathnames are accessed directly, tilde expansion is
245 done on usernames, and files are searched for in the user's Mail direc‐
246 tory as specified in their profile. If not found there, the directory
247 “/etc/nmh” is checked.
248 /etc/nmh/replcomps The standard reply template
250 or <mh-dir>/replcomps Rather than the standard template
251 /etc/nmh/replgroupcomps The standard `reply -group' template
252 or <mh-dir>/replgroupcomps Rather than the standard template
253 /etc/nmh/mhl.reply The standard message filter
254 or <mh-dir>/mhl.reply Rather than the standard filter
255 $HOME/.mh_profile The user profile
256 <mh-dir>/draft The draft file
257
259 Path: To determine the user's nmh directory
260 Alternate-Mailboxes: To determine the user's mailboxes
261 Current-Folder: To find the default current folder
262 Draft-Folder: To find the default draft-folder
263 Editor: To override the default editor
264 Msg-Protect: To set mode when creating a new message (draft)
265 fileproc: Program to refile the message
266 mhlproc: Program to filter message being replied-to
267 whatnowproc: Program to ask the “What now?” questions
268
270 comp(1), forw(1), mh-format(5), mhbuild(1), send(1), whatnow(1)
271 /usr/share/doc/nmh/contrib/replaliases
273
275 `+folder' defaults to the current folder
276 `msg' defaults to cur
277 `-nogroup'
278 `-nocc all' with `-nogroup', `-cc all' with `-group'
279 `-noannotate'
280 `-nodraftfolder'
281 `-noformat'
282 `-inplace'
283 `-nomime'
284 `-noquery'
285 `-noatfile'
286 `-width 72'
287
289 If a folder is given, it will become the current folder. The message
290 replied to will become the current message.
291
293 If any addresses occur in the reply template, addresses in the template
294 that do not contain hosts are defaulted incorrectly. Instead of using
295 the localhost for the default, repl uses the sender's host. Moral of
296 the story: if you're going to include addresses in a reply template,
297 include the host portion of the address.
298 The -width columns switch is only used to do address-folding; other
300 headers are not line-wrapped.
301 If whatnowproc is whatnow, then repl uses a built-in whatnow, it does
303 not actually run the whatnow program. Hence, if you define your own
304 whatnowproc, don't call it whatnow since repl won't run it.
305nmh-1.7.1 2014-12-15 REPL(1)