1MH-DRAFT(5) File Formats Manual MH-DRAFT(5)
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6 mh-draft - draft folder facility for nmh message system
7
9 There are a number of interesting advanced facilities for the composi‐
10 tion of outgoing mail.
11 The Draft Folder
13 The comp, dist, forw, repl, send, and whom commands each take the
14 switches -draftfolder +folder and -draftmessage msg, which allow you to
15 manipulate the various draft messages you are composing.
16 If -draftfolder +folder is used, draft messages will be constructed in
18 the indicated folder. The “Draft-Folder” profile entry may be used to
19 specify a default draft folder.
20 If the switch -draftmessage msg is given, the specified draft is used
22 to compose the message. If -draftmessage msg is not used, then the
23 draft defaults to `new' (create a new draft) unless the user invokes
24 comp with -use, in which case the default is `cur'.
25 Hence, the user may have several message compositions in progress
27 simultaneously. Now, all of the nmh tools are available on each of the
28 user's message drafts (e.g. show, scan, pick, and so on). If the
29 folder does not exist, the user is asked if it should be created (just
30 like with refile). The last draft message the user was composing is
31 known as `cur' in the draft folder.
32 Using send, the user can send drafts using the standard nmh `msgs' con‐
34 vention with -draftmessage msgs. If no `msgs' are given, it defaults
35 to `cur'.
36 In addition, all of these programs have a -nodraftfolder switch, which
38 undoes the last occurrence of -draftfolder folder (useful if a default
39 is specified in the user's nmh profile).
40 If the user does not give the -draftfolder +folder switch, then all
42 these commands act “normally”. Note that the -draft switch to send and
43 show still refers to the file called `draft' in the user's nmh direc‐
44 tory. In the interests of economy of expression, when using comp or
45 send, the user needn't prefix the draft `msg' or `msgs' with -draftmes‐
46 sage. Both of these commands accept a `file' or `files' argument and
47 they will, if given -draftfolder +folder, treat these arguments as
48 `msg' or `msgs'. (This may appear to be inconsistent, at first, but it
49 saves a lot of typing.) Hence,
50 send -draftfolder +drafts first
52 is the same as
54 send -draftfolder +drafts -draftmessage first
56 To make all this a bit more clear, here are some examples. Let's
58 assume that the following entries are in the nmh profile:
59 Draft-Folder: drafts
61 sendf: -draftfolder +drafts
62 Furthermore, let's assume that the program sendf is a (symbolic) link
64 in the user's $HOME/bin/ directory to send. Now,
65 comp
67 dist
68 forw
69 repl
70 will construct the message draft in the `draft' folder using the `new'
72 message number. Furthermore, they each define `cur' in this folder to
73 be that message draft. If the user were to use the quit option at the
74 `What now?' prompt, then later on, if no other draft composition was
75 done, the draft could be sent with simply
76 sendf
78 Or, if more editing was required, the draft could be edited with
80 comp -use
82 If other drafts had been composed in the meantime, so that this message
84 draft was no longer known as `cur' in the `draft' folder, then the user
85 could scan the folder to see which message draft should be used for
86 editing or sending. Clever users could even employ a backquoted pick
87 to do the work:
88 comp -use `pick +drafts -to nmh-workers`
90 or
92 sendf `pick +drafts -to nmh-workers`
94 Note that in the comp example, the output from pick must resolve to a
96 single message draft (it makes no sense to talk about composing two or
97 more drafts with one invocation of comp). In contrast, in the send
98 example, as many message drafts as desired can appear, since send
99 doesn't mind sending more than one draft at a time.
100 Note that the argument -draftfolder +folder is not included in the pro‐
102 file entry for send, since when comp, et al, invoke send directly, they
103 supply send with the Unix pathname of the message draft; not a
104 -draftmessage msg argument. As far as send is concerned, a draft
105 folder is not being used.
106 It is important to realize that nmh treats the draft folder like a
108 standard nmh folder in nearly all respects. There are two exceptions:
109 First, under no circumstances will the -draftfolder folder switch cause
111 the named folder to become the current folder. Obviously, if the
112 folder appeared in the context of a standard +folder argument to an nmh
113 program, as in
114 scan +drafts
116 it might become the current folder, depending on the context changes of
118 the nmh program in question.
119 Second, although conceptually send deletes the `msgs' named in the
121 draft folder, it does not call delete-prog to perform the deletion.
122 What Happens if the Draft Exists
124 When the comp, dist, forw, and repl commands are invoked and the draft
125 you indicated already exists, these programs will prompt the user for a
126 response directing the program's action. The prompt is
127 Draft ``/home/foobar/nmhbox/draft'' exists (xx bytes).
129 Disposition?
130 The appropriate responses and their meanings are:
132 replace deletes the draft and starts afresh
134 list lists the draft
135 refile files the draft into a folder and starts afresh
136 quit leaves the draft intact and exits
137 In addition, if you specified -draftfolder folder to the command, then
139 one other response will be accepted:
140 new creates a new draft
142 just as if -draftmessage new had been given. Finally, the comp command
144 will accept one more response:
145 use re-uses the draft
147 just as if -use had been given.
149
151 $HOME/.mh_profile The user's profile.
152
154 Draft-Folder: For a default draft folder
155
157 None
158nmh-1.7.1 2012-03-18 MH-DRAFT(5)