FORW(1) [nmh-1.0.4] (MH.6.8) FORW(1)
NAME
forw - forward messages
SYNOPSIS
forw [+folder] [msgs]
[-annotate] [-noannotate] [-form formfile]
[-format] [-noformat] [-filter filterfile]
[-inplace] [-noinplace] [-mime] [-nomime]
[-draftfolder +folder] [-draftmessage msg]
[-nodraftfolder] [-editor editor] [-noedit]
[-whatnowproc program] [-nowhatnowproc]
[-dashstuffing] [-nodashstuffing]
[-build] [-file msgfile]
[-version] [-help]
forw [+folder] [msgs] [-digest list] [-issue number]
[-volume number] [other switches for forw] [-help]
DESCRIPTION
Forw may be used to prepare a message containing other
messages.
It constructs the new message from a forms (components)
file, with a body composed of the message(s) to be
forwarded. An editor is invoked as in comp, and after
editing is complete, the user is prompted before the message
is sent.
The default message form contains the following elements:
To:
cc:
Subject:
--------
If a file named forwcomps exists in the user's nmh
directory, it will be used instead of this default form.
You may also specify an alternate forms file with the switch
`-form formfile'.
When If the draft already exists, forw will ask you as to
the disposition of the draft. A reply of quit will abort
forw, leaving the draft intact; replace will replace the
existing draft with a blank skeleton; and list will display
the draft.
If the `-annotate' switch is given, each message being
forwarded will be annotated with the lines
Forwarded: date
Forwarded: addrs
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where each address list contains as many lines as required.
This annotation will be done only if the message is sent
directly from forw. If the message is not sent immediately
from forw, comp -use may be used to re-edit and send the
constructed message, but the annotations won't take place.
Normally annotations are done inplace in order to preserve
any links to the message. You may change this by using the
'-noinplace' switch.
See comp (1) for a description of the `-editor' and
`-noedit' switches.
Although forw uses a forms (components) file to direct it
how to construct the beginning of the draft, it uses a
message filter file to direct it as to how each forwarded
message should be formatted in the body of the draft. The
filter file for forw should be a standard form file for mhl,
as forw will invoke mhl to filter (re-format) the forwarded
messages prior to being output to the body of the draft.
The switches `-noformat', `-format', and
`-filter filterfile' specify which message filter file to
use.
If `-noformat' is specified (this is the default), then each
forwarded message is output into the draft exactly as it
appears with no mhl filtering.
If `-format' is specified, then a default message filter
file is used. This default message filter should be
adequate for most users. This default filter mhl.forward
is:
; mhl.forward
;
; default message filter for `forw' (forw -format)
;
width=80,overflowtext=,overflowoffset=10
leftadjust,compress,compwidth=9
Date:formatfield="%<(nodate{text})%{text}%|%(tws{text})%>"
From:
To:
cc:
Subject:
:
body:nocomponent,overflowoffset=0,noleftadjust,nocompress
If a file named mhl.forward exists in the user's nmh
directory, it will be used instead of this form. You may
specify an alternate message filter file with the switch
`-filter filterfile'.
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Each forwarded message is separated with an encapsulation
delimiter. By default, any dashes in the first column of
the forwarded messages will be prepended with `- ' so that
when received, the message is suitable for bursting by
burst (1). This follows the Internet RFC-934 guidelines.
You may use the flag `-nodashstuffing' in order to suppress
this form of quoting to the forwarded messages.
For users of prompter (1), by specifying prompter's `-
prepend' switch in the .mh_profile file, any commentary text
is entered before the forwarded messages. (A major win!)
To use the MIME rules for encapsulation, specify the `-mime'
switch. This directs forw to generate an mhbuild
composition file. Note that nmh will not invoke mhbuild
automatically, unless you add this line to your .mh_profile
file:
automimeproc: 1
Otherwise, you must specifically give the command
What now? mime
prior to sending the draft.
The `-draftfolder +folder' and `-draftmessage msg' switches
invoke the nmh draft folder facility. This is an advanced
(and highly useful) feature. Consult the mh-draft(5) man
page for more information.
Upon exiting from the editor, forw will invoke the whatnow
program. See whatnow (1) for a discussion of available
options. The invocation of this program can be inhibited by
using the `-nowhatnowproc' switch. (In truth of fact, it is
the whatnow program which starts the initial edit. Hence,
`-nowhatnowproc' will prevent any edit from occurring.)
The `-build' switch is intended to be used by the Emacs mh-e
interface to nmh, and is only present if nmh was compiled
with support for mh-e. It implies `-nowhatnowproc'. It
causes a file <mh-dir>/draft to be created, containing the
draft message that would normally be presented to the user
for editing. No mail is actually sent. Note that this
switch is not guaranteed to be present or to have the same
effects in future versions of nmh: it is documented here
only for completeness.
The `-file msgfile' switch specifies the message to be
forwarded as an exact filename rather than as an nmh folder
and message number. It is intended to be used by the msh (1)
interface to nmh. This switch implies `-noannotate'. The
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forwarded message is simply copied verbatim into the draft;
the processing implied by the `-filter', `-mime' and `-
digest' switches is bypassed, and the usual leading and
trailing 'Forwarded Message' delimiters are not added. The
same caveats apply to this option as to the `-build' switch.
The `-digest list', `-issue number', and `-volume number'
switches implement a digest facility for nmh. Specifying
these switches enables and/or overloads the following
escapes:
Type Escape Returns Description
component digest string Argument to `-digest'
function cur integer Argument to `-volume'
function msg integer Argument to `-issue'
Consult the Advanced Features section of the nmh User's
Manual for more information on making digests.
FILES
/usr/freeware/lib/nmh/etc/forwcomps The standard message skeleton
or <mh-dir>/forwcomps Rather than the standard skeleton
/usr/freeware/lib/nmh/etc/digestcompsThe message skeleton if `-digest' is given
or <mh-dir>/digestcomps Rather than the standard skeleton
/usr/freeware/lib/nmh/etc/mhl.forwardThe standard message filter
or <mh-dir>/mhl.forward Rather than the standard filter
$HOME/.mh_profile The user profile
<mh-dir>/draft The draft file
PROFILE COMPONENTS
Path: To determine the user's nmh directory
Current-Folder: To find the default current folder
Draft-Folder: To find the default draft-folder
Editor: To override the default editor
Msg-Protect: To set mode when creating a new message (draft)
fileproc: Program to refile the message
mhlproc: Program to filter messages being forwarded
whatnowproc: Program to ask the What now? questions
SEE ALSO
Proposed Standard for Message Encapsulation (RFC-934),
mhbuild(1), comp(1), repl(1), send(1), whatnow(1),
mh-format(5)
DEFAULTS
`+folder' defaults to the current folder
`msgs' defaults to cur
`-noannotate'
`-nodraftfolder'
`-noformat'
`-inplace'
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`-dashstuffing'
`-nomime'
CONTEXT
If a folder is given, it will become the current folder.
The first message forwarded will become the current message.
BUGS
If whatnowproc is whatnow, then forw uses a built-in
whatnow, it does not actually run the whatnow program.
Hence, if you define your own whatnowproc, don't call it
whatnow since forw won't run it.
When forw is told to annotate the messages it forwards, it
doesn't actually annotate them until the draft is
successfully sent. If from the whatnowproc, you push
instead of send, it's possible to confuse forw by
re-ordering the file (e.g., by using `folder -pack') before
the message is successfully sent. Dist and repl don't have
this problem.
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