This is version 8.6 of The MH-E Manual, last updated 2016-04-29.
Copyright © 1995, 2001–2003, 2005–2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of either:
- the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being “A GNU Manual,” and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License.”
(a) The FSF’s Back-Cover Text is: “You have the freedom to copy and modify this GNU manual.”
- the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option) any later version. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU General Public License.”
Next: Conventions, Previous: Top, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
This manual introduces another interface to the MH mail system that is accessible through the GNU Emacs editor, namely, MH-E. MH-E is easy to use. I don’t assume that you know GNU Emacs or even MH at this point, since I didn’t know either of them when I discovered MH-E. However, MH-E was the tip of the iceberg, and I discovered more and more niceties about GNU Emacs and MH. Now I’m fully hooked on both of them.
The MH-E package is distributed with Emacs1, so you shouldn’t have to do anything special to use it. Gnus is also required; it is bundled with Emacs. This manual covers MH-E version 8.6. To help you decide which version you have, see Getting Started.
If you don’t already use GNU Emacs but want to learn more, you can
read a built-in tutorial by starting GNU Emacs and typing C-h t
(help-with-tutorial). (To learn about this notation, see
Conventions.) If you want to take the plunge, consult the
GNU Emacs Manual,
from the Free Software Foundation.
If more information is needed, you can go to the Unix manual pages of the individual MH commands. When the name is not obvious, I’ll guide you to a relevant MH manual page that describes the action more fully.
This manual is available in both Info and online formats. The Info
version is distributed with Emacs and can be accessed with the
info command (‘info mh-e’) or within Emacs (C-h i
m mh-e RET). The online version is available at
SourceForge. Another great
online resource is the book
MH & nmh: Email for
Users & Programmers (also known as the MH book).
I hope you enjoy this manual! If you have any comments, or suggestions for this document, please let me know.
Bill Wohler <wohler at newt.com>
8 February 1995
24 February 2006
Next: Getting Started, Previous: Preface, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
If you’re an experienced Emacs user, you can skip the following conventions and definition of terms and go directly to the next section (see Getting Started).
In general, functions in this text refer to Emacs Lisp functions
that one would call from within Emacs Lisp programs (for example,
(mh-inc-folder)). On the other hand, commands are those
things that are run by the user, such as i or M-x
mh-inc-folder. Programs outside of Emacs are specifically called MH
commands, shell commands, or Unix commands.
The conventions for key names are as follows:
Hold down the CTRL (Control) key and press the x key.
Hold down the META or ALT key and press the x key.
Since some keyboards don’t have a META key, you can generate M-x, for example, by pressing ESC (Escape), releasing it, and then pressing the x key.
Press the RETURN or ENTER key. This is normally used to complete a command.
Press the space bar.
Press the TAB key.
Press the DELETE key.
Press the BACKSPACE key.
A prefix argument allows you to pass an argument to any Emacs function. To pass an argument, type C-u before the Emacs command or keystroke. Numeric arguments can be passed as well. For example, to insert five f’s, use C-u 5 f. There is a default of four when using C-u, and you can use multiple prefix arguments to provide arguments of powers of four. To continue our example, you could insert four f’s with C-u f, 16 f’s with C-u C-u f, 64 f’s with C-u C-u C-u f, and so on. Numeric and valueless negative arguments can also be inserted with the META key. Examples include M-5 to specify an argument of 5, or M-- which specifies a negative argument with no particular value.
The prefix C-u or M- is not necessary in MH-E’s MH-Folder mode (see Reading Mail Tour). In this mode, simply enter the numerical argument before entering the command.
Emacs uses variables to hold values. These can be changed via
calls to the function setq in ~/.emacs.
Variables in MH-E that are normally modified by the user are called options and are modified through the customize functions (such as M-x customize-option or M-x customize-group). See section Easy Customization in The GNU Emacs Manual. See Options.
You can specify various styles for displaying text using faces. MH-E provides a set of faces that you can use to personalize the look of your MH-E buffers. Use the command M-x customize-face to do this. See section Face Customization in The GNU Emacs Manual.
Commands often offer hooks which enable you to extend or modify
the way a command works.
See section
Hooks in The GNU Emacs Manual
for a description about normal hooks and abnormal hooks.
MH-E uses normal hooks in nearly all cases, so you can assume that we
are talking about normal hooks unless we explicitly mention that a
hook is abnormal. We also follow the conventions described in that
section: the name of the abnormal hooks end in -functions and all
the rest of the MH-E hooks end in -hook. You can add hooks with
either customize-option or add-hook.
There are several other terms that are used in Emacs that you should know. The point is where the cursor currently is. You can save your current place in the file by setting a mark. This operation is useful in several ways. The mark can be later used when defining a region, which is the text between the point and mark. Many commands operate on regions, such as those for deleting text or filling paragraphs. A mark can be set with C-@ (or C-SPC).
The minibuffer is the bottom line of the Emacs window, where all prompting and multiple-character input is directed. You can use completion to enter values such as folders. Completion means that Emacs fills in text for you when you type SPC or TAB. A second SPC or TAB will list all possibilities at that point. See the section Completion in The GNU Emacs Manual. Note that SPC cannot be used for completing filenames and folders.
The minibuffer is also where you enter Emacs function names after
typing M-x. For example, in the preface, I mentioned that you
could obtain help with C-h t (help-with-tutorial). What
this means is that you can get a tutorial by typing either C-h t
or M-x help-with-tutorial. In the latter case, you are prompted
for ‘help-with-tutorial’ in the minibuffer after typing
M-x.
The ‘~’ notation in filenames represents your home directory.
This notation is used by many shells including bash,
tcsh, and csh. It is analogous to the environment
variable ‘$HOME’. For example, ~/.emacs can be written
$HOME/.emacs or using the absolute path as in
/home/wohler/.emacs instead.
In case of trouble: Emacs can be interrupted at any time with C-g. For example, if you’ve started a command that requests that you enter something in the minibuffer, but then you change your mind, type C-g and you’ll be back where you started. If you want to exit Emacs entirely, use C-x C-c.
Next: Tour Through MH-E, Previous: Conventions, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
Because there are many old versions of MH-E out there, it is important to know which version you have. I’ll be talking about Version 8 which is pretty close to Version 6 and Version 7. It differs from Version 4 and Version 5 and is vastly different from Version 3. See History.
To determine which version of MH-E that you have, enter M-x mh-version RET. Hopefully it says that you’re running Version 8.6 which is the latest version as of this printing.
If your version is much older than this, please consider upgrading. You can have your system administrator upgrade the system-wide version, or you can install your own personal version. It’s really quite easy. See Getting MH-E, for instructions for getting and installing MH-E.
If the mh-version command displays ‘No MH variant
detected’2, then you need
to install MH or tell MH-E where to find MH.
If you don’t have MH on your system already, you must install a variant of MH. The Debian mh-e package does this for you automatically (see Getting MH-E). Most people use nmh, but you may be interested in trying out GNU mailutils MH, which supports IMAP. Your GNU/Linux distribution probably has packages for both of these.
If you’ve never run MH before, you need to run install-mh
from the shell before you continue. This sets up your personal MH
environment3. If you don’t, you’ll be greeted with the error message:
‘Install MH and run install-mh before running MH-E’. This is all
you need to know about MH to use MH-E, but the more you know about MH,
the more you can leverage its power. See the
MH book to learn more about MH.
Your MH environment includes your MH profile which is found in the file ~/.mh_profile, or the file named in the environment variable ‘$MH’. This file contains a number of MH profile components. For example, the ‘Path:’ MH profile component contains the path to your mail directory, which is ~/Mail by default.
There are several options MH-E uses to interact with your MH
installation. The option mh-variant specifies the variant used
by MH-E (see Options). The default setting of this option is
‘Auto-detect’ which means that MH-E will automatically choose the
first of nmh, MH, or GNU mailutils MH that it finds in the directories
listed in mh-path (which you can customize),
mh-sys-path, and exec-path. If MH-E can’t find MH at
all, you may have to customize mh-path and add the directory in
which the command mhparam is located. If, on the other hand,
you have both nmh and GNU mailutils MH installed (for example) and
mh-variant-in-use was initialized to nmh but you want to use
GNU mailutils MH, then you can set mh-variant to
‘gnu-mh’.
When mh-variant is changed, MH-E resets mh-progs,
mh-lib, mh-lib-progs, mh-flists-present-flag, and
mh-variant-in-use accordingly.
Prior to version 8, it was often necessary to set some of these variables in ~/.emacs; now it is no longer necessary and can actually cause problems.
In addition to setting variables that point to MH itself, MH-E also
sets a handful of variables that point to where you keep your mail.
During initialization, the function mh-find-path sets
mh-user-path from your ‘Path:’ MH profile component (but
defaults to ‘Mail’ if one isn’t present), mh-draft-folder
from ‘Draft-Folder:’, mh-unseen-seq from
‘Unseen-Sequence:’, mh-previous-seq from
‘Previous-Sequence:’, and mh-inbox from ‘Inbox:’
(defaults to ‘+inbox’). The hook mh-find-path-hook is run
after these variables have been set. This hook can be used the change
the value of these variables if you need to run with different values
between MH and MH-E.
Next: Using This Manual, Previous: Getting Started, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
This chapter introduces some of the terms you’ll need to know and then takes you on a tour of MH-E4. When you’re done, you’ll be able to send, read, and file mail, which is all that a lot of people ever do. But if you’re the curious or adventurous type, read the rest of the manual to be able to use all the features of MH-E. I suggest you read this chapter first to get the big picture, and then you can read the manual as you wish.
| • Sending Mail Tour | ||
| • Reading Mail Tour | ||
| • Processing Mail Tour | ||
| • Leaving MH-E | ||
| • More About MH-E |
Next: Reading Mail Tour, Up: Tour Through MH-E [Contents][Index]
Let’s start our tour by sending ourselves a message which we can later read and process. Enter M-x mh-smail to invoke the MH-E program to send messages. Your message appears in an Emacs buffer whose mode5 is MH-Letter.
Enter your login name in the ‘To:’ header field. Press the TAB twice to move the cursor past the ‘Cc:’ field, since no carbon copies are to be sent, and on to the ‘Subject:’ field. Enter Test or anything else that comes to mind.
Press TAB again to move the cursor to the body of the message. Enter some text, using normal Emacs commands. You should now have something like this6:
--:-- *scratch* All L1 (Lisp Interaction)-------------------------
To: wohler
cc:
Subject: Test
X-Mailer: MH-E 8.1; nmh 1.1; GNU Emacs 23.1
--------
This is a test message to get the wheels churning...#
--:** {draft} All L5 (MH-Letter)----------------------------------
Type C-c C-c to send message, C-C ? for help
|
MH-E message composition window
Note the line of dashes that separates the header and the body of the message. It is essential that these dashes (or a blank line) are present or the body of your message will be considered to be part of the header.
There are several commands specific to MH-Letter mode7, but at this time we’ll only use C-c C-c to send your message. Type C-c C-c now. That’s all there is to it!
Next: Processing Mail Tour, Previous: Sending Mail Tour, Up: Tour Through MH-E [Contents][Index]
To read the mail you’ve just sent yourself, enter M-x mh-rmail.
This incorporates the new mail and puts the output from
inc8 (called scan lines after the MH program
scan9 which prints a one-line
summary of each message) into a buffer called ‘+inbox’ whose
major mode is MH-Folder.
The M-x mh-rmail command will show you only new mail, not mail you have already read. If you were to run this tour again, you would use F r to pull all your messages into MH-E.
You should see the scan line for your message, and perhaps others. Use n or p to move the cursor to your test message and type RET to read your message. You should see something like:
3 t08/24 root received fax files on Wed Aug 24 11:00:13 PDT 1
# 4+t08/24 To:wohler Test<<This is a test message to get the wheels
-:%% {+inbox/select} 4 msgs (1-4) Bot L4 (MH-Folder Show)---------
To: wohler
Subject: Test
X-Mailer: MH-E 8.1; nmh 1.1; GNU Emacs 23.1
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 10:49:11 -0800
From: Bill Wohler <wohler@stop.mail-abuse.org>
This is a test message to get the wheels churning...
--:-- {show-+inbox} 4 All L1 (MH-Show)----------------------------
|
After incorporating new messages
If you typed a long message, you can view subsequent pages with SPC and previous pages with DEL.
Next: Leaving MH-E, Previous: Reading Mail Tour, Up: Tour Through MH-E [Contents][Index]
The first thing we want to do is reply to the message that we sent ourselves. Ensure that the cursor is still on the same line as your test message and type r. You are prompted in the minibuffer with ‘Reply to whom:’. Here MH-E is asking whether you’d like to reply to the original sender only, to the sender and primary recipients, or to the sender and all recipients. You can press TAB to see these choices. If you simply press RET, you’ll reply only to the sender. Press RET now.
You’ll find yourself in an Emacs buffer similar to that when you were sending the original message, like this:
To:
cc:
Subject: Re: Test
In-Reply-To: <31054.1142621351@stop.mail-abuse.org>
References: <31054.1142621351@stop.mail-abuse.org>
Comments: In-Reply-To Bill Wohler <wohler@stop.mail-abuse.org>
message dated "Fri, 17 Mar 2006 10:49:11 -0800."
X-Mailer: MH-E 8.1; nmh 1.1; GNU Emacs 23.1
--------
#
--:-- {draft} All L10 (MH-Letter)----------------------------------
To: wohler
Subject: Test
X-Mailer: MH-E 8.1; nmh 1.1; GNU Emacs 23.1
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 10:49:11 -0800
From: Bill Wohler <wohler@stop.mail-abuse.org>
This is a test message to get the wheels churning...
--:-- {show-+inbox} 4 All L1 (MH-Show)----------------------------
Type C-c C-c to send message, C-c ? for help
|
Composition window during reply
By default, MH will not add you to the address list of your replies,
so if you find that the ‘To:’ header field is missing, don’t
worry. In this case, type C-c C-f C-t to create and go to the
‘To:’ field, where you can type your login name again. You can
move around with the arrow keys or with C-p
(previous-line), C-n (next-line), C-b
(backward-char), and C-f (forward-char) and can
delete the previous character with BS. When you’re finished
editing your message, send it with C-c C-c as before.
You’ll often want to save messages that were sent to you in an
organized fashion. This is done with folders. You can use
folders to keep messages from your friends, or messages related to a
particular topic. With your cursor in the MH-Folder buffer and
positioned on the message you sent to yourself, type o to output
(refile in MH parlance) that message to a folder. Enter
test at the ‘Destination folder:’ prompt and type y
(or SPC) when MH-E asks to create the folder ‘+test’. Note
that a ‘^’ (caret) appears next to the message number, which
means that the message has been marked for refiling but has not yet
been refiled. We’ll talk about how the refile is actually carried out
in a moment.
Your previous reply is now waiting in the system mailbox. You incorporate this mail into your MH-Folder buffer named ‘+inbox’ with the i command. Do this now. After the mail is incorporated, use n or p to move the cursor to the new message, and read it with RET. Let’s delete this message by typing d. Note that a ‘D’ appears next to the message number. This means that the message is marked for deletion but is not yet deleted. To perform the deletion (and the refile we did previously), use the x command.
If you want to send another message you can use m instead of M-x mh-smail. So go ahead, send some mail to your friends!
You can get a quick reminder about these commands by typing ?.
This lists several prefix characters. To list the commands
available via the prefix characters, type the prefix character
followed by a ?, for example, F ?. More complete help is
available with the C-h m (describe-mode) command.
Next: More About MH-E, Previous: Processing Mail Tour, Up: Tour Through MH-E [Contents][Index]
You may now wish to exit emacs entirely. Use C-x C-c
to exit emacs. If you exited without running x in the
‘+inbox’ buffer, Emacs will offer to save it for you. Type
y or SPC to save ‘+inbox’ changes, which means to
perform any refiles and deletes that you did there.
If you don’t want to leave Emacs, you can type q to bury (hide) the MH-E folder or delete it entirely with C-x k. You can then later recall it with C-x b or M-x mh-rmail.
On the other hand, if you no longer want to use MH and MH-E, you can
take your mail with you. You can copy all of your mail into a single
file, mbox-style, by using the MH command packf. For
example, to create a file called msgbox with the messages in
your ‘+inbox’ folder, use ‘packf +inbox’. The
packf command will append the messages to the file if it
already exists, so you can use ‘folders -recurse -fast’ in a
script to copy all of your messages into a single file, or using the
‘-file’ argument, a file for each folder.
Previous: Leaving MH-E, Up: Tour Through MH-E [Contents][Index]
These are the basic commands to get you going, but there are plenty more. If you think that MH-E is for you, read the rest of the manual to find out how you can:
shar or uuencode
(see Files and Pipes).
Remember that you can also use MH commands when you’re not running MH-E (and when you are!).
Next: Incorporating Mail, Previous: Tour Through MH-E, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
This chapter begins the meat of the manual which goes into more detail about every MH-E command and option.
There are many commands, but don’t get intimidated. There are command
summaries at the beginning of each chapter. In case you have or would
like to rebind the keys, the command summaries also list the
associated Emacs Lisp function. Furthermore, even if you’re stranded
on a desert island with a laptop and are without your manuals, you can
get a summary of all these commands with GNU Emacs built-in help: use
C-h m (describe-mode) for a brief summary of commands,
? (mh-help) for an even briefer summary10 (C-c ? in MH-Letter mode), or C-h
i to read this manual via Info. The built-in help is quite good; try
running C-h C-h. This brings up a list of available help topics,
one of which displays the documentation for a given key (like C-h
k C-n). Another useful help feature is to view the manual section
that describes a given key (such as C-h K i). In addition,
review Conventions, if any of the GNU Emacs conventions are
strange to you.
In addition to all of the commands, it is also possible to reconfigure MH-E to fit the needs of even the most demanding user. The following chapters also describe all of the options, show the defaults, and make recommendations for customization.
However, when customizing your mail environment, first try to change what you want in MH, and only change MH-E if changing MH is not possible. That way you will get the same behavior inside and outside GNU Emacs. Note that MH-E does not provide hooks for customizations that can be done in MH; this omission is intentional.
I hope I’ve included enough examples here to get you well on your way. If you want to explore Emacs Lisp further, a programming manual does exist, 11 and you can look at the code itself for examples. Look in the Emacs Lisp directory on your system (such as /usr/local/share/emacs/lisp/mh-e) and find all the mh-*.el files there. When calling MH-E and other Emacs Lisp functions directly from Emacs Lisp code, you’ll need to know the correct arguments. Use the built-in help for this. For example, try C-h f mh-execute-commands RET. If you write your own functions, please do not prefix your symbols (variables and functions) with ‘mh-’. This prefix is reserved for the MH-E package. To avoid conflicts with existing MH-E symbols, use a prefix like ‘my-’ or your initials. (Unless, of course, your initials happen to be mh!)
| • Options | ||
| • Ranges | ||
| • Folder Selection |
Next: Ranges, Up: Using This Manual [Contents][Index]
Many string or integer options are easy to modify using M-x
customize-option. For example, to modify the option that controls
printing, you would run M-x customize-option RET
mh-lpr-command-format RET. In the buffer that appears, modify
the string to the right of the variable. For example, you may change
the lpr command with ‘nenscript -G -r -2 -i'%s'’. Then
use the ‘State’ combo box and select ‘Save for Future
Sessions’. To read more about mh-lpr-command-format, see
Printing.
Options can also hold boolean values. In Emacs Lisp, the boolean
values are nil, which means false, and t, which means
true. The customize-option function makes it easy to change
boolean values; simply click on the toggle button in the customize
buffer to switch between ‘on’ (t) and ‘off’
(nil). For example, try setting mh-bury-show-buffer-flag
to ‘off’ to keep the MH-Show buffer at the top of the buffer
stack. Use the ‘State’ combo box and choose ‘Set for Current
Session’ to see how the option affects the show buffer. Then choose
the ‘Erase Customization’ menu item to reset the option to the
default, which places the MH-Show buffer at the bottom of the buffer
stack.
The text usually says to turn on an option by setting it to a
non-nil value, because sometimes values other than
‘on’ are meaningful. An example of this is the variable
mh-mhl-format-file (see Viewing). Other options, such as
hooks, involve a little more Emacs Lisp programming expertise.
You can browse all of the MH-E options with the customize-group
function. Try entering M-x customize-group RET mh
RET to view the top-level options as well as buttons for all of
the MH-E customization groups. Another way to view the MH-E
customization group is to use M-x mh-customize RET.
Next: Folder Selection, Previous: Options, Up: Using This Manual [Contents][Index]
Many commands that operate on individual messages, such as
mh-forward or mh-refile-msg take a RANGE
argument. This argument can be used in several ways.
If you provide the prefix argument C-u to these commands, then
you will be prompted for the message range. This can be any valid MH
range which can include messages, sequences (see Sequences), and
the abbreviations (described in the mh(1) man page):
Indicates all messages in the range <num1> to <num2>, inclusive. The range must be nonempty.
Up to N messages beginning with (or ending with) message num. Num may be any of the predefined symbols: first, prev, cur, next or last.
The first, previous, next or last messages, if they exist.
All of the messages.
For example, a range that shows all of these things is ‘1 2 3 5-10 last:5 unseen’.
If the option transient-mark-mode is turned on and you set a
region in the MH-Folder buffer, then the MH-E command will perform the
operation on all messages in that region.
The ‘mh-range’ customization group contains a single option which affects how ranges are interpreted.
mh-interpret-number-as-range-flag
On means interpret a number as a range (default: ‘on’).
Since one of the most frequent ranges used is ‘last:N’, MH-E will
interpret input such as ‘200’ as ‘last:200’ if the
mh-interpret-number-as-range-flag option is on (which is the
default). If you need to scan just the message 200, then use the range
‘200:1’ or ‘200-200’.
Previous: Ranges, Up: Using This Manual [Contents][Index]
When you choose a folder in MH-E via a command such as o
(mh-refile-msg), completion is used to enter the folder
(see the section
Completion in The GNU Emacs Manual).
In addition, MH-E has several ways of choosing a suitable default so
that the folder can often be selected with a single RET key.
The ‘mh-folder-selection’ customization group contains some options which are used to help with this.
mh-default-folder-for-message-function
Function to select a default folder for refiling or ‘Fcc:’
(default: nil).
mh-default-folder-list
List of addresses and folders (default: nil).
mh-default-folder-must-exist-flag
On means guessed folder name must exist to be used (default: ‘on’).
mh-default-folder-prefix
Prefix used for folder names generated from aliases (default: "").
You can set the option mh-default-folder-for-message-function
to a function that provides a default folder for the message to be
refiled. When this function is called, the current buffer contains the
message being refiled and point is at the start of the message. This
function should return the default folder as a string with a leading
‘+’ sign. It can also return nil so that the last folder
name is used as the default, or an empty string to suppress the
default entirely.
Otherwise, the name of the destination folder is derived from the sender as follows:
mh-default-folder-list is used. Each element in this list
contains a ‘Check Recipient’ item. If this item is turned on,
then the address is checked against the recipient instead of the
sender. This is useful for mailing lists.
mh-default-folder-prefix corresponding to
the address is used. The prefix is used to prevent clutter in your
mail directory. See Aliases.
If the derived folder does not exist, and
mh-default-folder-must-exist-flag is t, then the last
folder name used is suggested. This is useful if you get mail from
various people for whom you have an alias, but file them all in the
same project folder.
Next: Reading Mail, Previous: Using This Manual, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
This chapter talks about getting mail from your system mailbox into your MH ‘+inbox’ folder. The following command accomplishes that and is found in the ‘Folder’ menu.
Incorporate new mail into a folder (mh-inc-folder).
The following options in the ‘mh-inc’ customization group are used.
mh-inc-prog
Program to incorporate mail (default: "inc").
mh-inc-spool-list
Alternate spool files (default: nil).
The following hook is available.
mh-inc-folder-hook
Hook run by mh-inc-folder after incorporating mail into a
folder (default: nil).
If at any time you receive new mail, incorporate the new mail into
your ‘+inbox’ buffer with i (mh-inc-folder). Note
that i will display the ‘+inbox’ buffer, even if there
isn’t any new mail. You can incorporate mail from any file into the
current folder by specifying a prefix argument; you’ll be prompted for
the name of the file to use as well as the destination folder (for
example, C-u i ~/mbox RET +tmp RET).
Emacs can notify you when you have new mail by displaying ‘Mail’ in the mode line. To enable this behavior, and to have a clock in the mode line as well, add the following to ~/.emacs:
(display-time)
The name of the program that incorporates new mail is stored in
mh-inc-prog; it is "inc" by default. This program
generates a one-line summary for each of the new messages. Unless it
is an absolute pathname, the file is assumed to be in the
mh-progs directory (see Getting Started). You may also link
a file to inc that uses a different format (see
‘mh-profile’(5), and sections
Reading Mail: inc show next
prev and MH Format Strings in
the MH book). You’ll then need to modify several variables
appropriately (see Scan Line Formats).
You can use the mh-inc-spool-list variable to direct MH-E to
retrieve mail from arbitrary spool files other than your system
mailbox, file it in folders other than your ‘+inbox’, and assign
key bindings to incorporate this mail.
Suppose you are subscribed to the mh-e-devel mailing list and you
use procmail to filter this mail into ~/mail/mh-e
with the following recipe in .procmailrc:
PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin/mh MAILDIR=$HOME/`mhparam Path` :0: * ^From mh-e-devel-admin@stop.mail-abuse.org mh-e
In order to incorporate ~/mail/mh-e into ‘+mh-e’ with an
I m (mh-inc-spool-mh-e) command, customize this option,
and click on the ‘INS’ button. Enter a ‘Spool File’ of
‘~/mail/mh-e’, a ‘Folder’ of ‘mh-e’, and a ‘Key
Binding’ of ‘m’.
You can use xbuffy to automate the incorporation of this
mail using the Emacs command emacsclient as follows:
box ~/mail/mh-e
title mh-e
origMode
polltime 10
headertime 0
command emacsclient --eval '(mh-inc-spool-mh-e)'
You can set the hook mh-inc-folder-hook, which is called after
new mail is incorporated by the i (mh-inc-folder)
command. A good use of this hook is to rescan the whole folder either
after running M-x mh-rmail the first time or when you’ve changed
the message numbers from outside of MH-E.
(defun my-mh-inc-folder-hook () "Hook to rescan folder after incorporating mail." (if (buffer-modified-p) ; if outstanding refiles and deletes, (mh-execute-commands)) ; carry them out (mh-rescan-folder) ; synchronize with +inbox (mh-show)) ; show the current message (add-hook 'mh-inc-folder-hook 'my-mh-inc-folder-hook) Rescan folder after incorporating new mail via mh-inc-folder-hook
Next: Folders, Previous: Incorporating Mail, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
The MH-E entry point for reading mail is M-x mh-rmail. This command incorporates your mail and creates a buffer called ‘+inbox’ in MH-Folder mode. The command M-x mh-rmail shows you only new mail, not mail you have already read12.
There are some commands that need to read mail, such as mouse-2
over the ‘Mail’ button that display-time adds to the mode
line. You can configure Emacs to have these commands use MH-E by
setting the option read-mail-command to ‘mh-rmail’.
The ‘+inbox’ buffer contains scan lines, which are one-line
summaries of each incorporated message. You can perform most MH
commands on these messages via one- or two-letter commands in either
the MH-Folder or MH-Show buffers or by using the ‘Message’ menu.
See scan(1) for a description of the contents of the scan
lines, and see the Figure in Reading Mail Tour, for an example.
Display cheat sheet for the MH-E commands (mh-help).
Display message (mh-show).
Display message with all header fields (mh-header-display).
Display message with the default preferred alternative
(mh-show-preferred-alternative).
Toggle the value of mh-decode-mime-flag
(mh-toggle-mh-decode-mime-flag).
Display next page in message (mh-page-msg).
Display previous page in message (mh-previous-page).
Append message to end of file (mh-write-msg-to-file).
Pipe message through shell command (mh-pipe-msg).
Delete range, don’t move to next message
(mh-delete-msg-no-motion).
Delete range (mh-delete-msg).
Display cheat sheet for the commands of the current prefix in
minibuffer (mh-prefix-help).
Display next message in digest (mh-page-digest).
Display previous message in digest (mh-page-digest-backwards).
Break up digest into separate messages (mh-burst-digest).
Go to a message (mh-goto-msg).
Delete messages with same subject or thread
(mh-delete-subject-or-thread).
Display cheat sheet for the commands of the current prefix in
minibuffer (mh-prefix-help).
Go to the next button (mh-next-button).
Go to the previous button (mh-prev-button).
Save attachments (mh-mime-save-parts).
View attachment externally (mh-display-with-external-viewer).
Show attachment verbatim (mh-folder-inline-mime-part).
Save (output) attachment (mh-folder-save-mime-part).
Toggle option mh-display-buttons-for-inline-parts-flag
(mh-toggle-mime-buttons).
View attachment (mh-folder-toggle-mime-part).
Edit message (mh-modify).
Display first message (mh-first-msg).
Display last message (mh-last-msg).
Display next unread message (mh-next-unread-msg).
Display previous unread message (mh-previous-unread-msg).
Display next message (mh-next-undeleted-msg).
Display previous message (mh-previous-undeleted-msg).
Display cheat sheet for the commands of the current prefix in
minibuffer (mh-prefix-help).
Toggle whether color is used in printing messages
(mh-ps-print-toggle-color).
Toggle whether printing is done with faces or not
(mh-ps-print-toggle-faces).
Print range to file (mh-ps-print-msg-file).
Print range the old fashioned way
(mh-print-msg).
Print range (mh-ps-print-msg).
Display cheat sheet for the commands of the current prefix in
minibuffer (mh-prefix-help).
Unpack message created with uudecode or shar
(mh-store-msg).
Move point to mouse event and show message (mh-show-mouse).
Within the MH-Show buffer, the following command is defined.
View contents of button (mh-press-button).
The following table lists options in the ‘mh-show’ customization group that are used while reading mail.
mh-bury-show-buffer-flag
On means show buffer is buried (default: ‘on’).
mh-clean-message-header-flag
On means remove extraneous header fields (default: ‘on’).
mh-decode-mime-flag
On means attachments are handled (default: ‘on’ if the Gnus ‘mm-decode’ package is present).
mh-display-buttons-for-alternatives-flag
On means display buttons for all alternative attachments (default: ‘off’).
mh-display-buttons-for-inline-parts-flag
On means display buttons for all inline attachments (default: ‘off’).
mh-do-not-confirm-flag
On means non-reversible commands do not prompt for confirmation (default: ‘off’).
mh-fetch-x-image-url
Control fetching of ‘X-Image-URL:’ header field image (default: ‘Never Fetch’).
mh-graphical-smileys-flag
On means graphical smileys are displayed (default: ‘on’).
mh-graphical-emphasis-flag
On means graphical emphasis is displayed (default: ‘on’).
mh-highlight-citation-style
Style for highlighting citations (default: ‘Multicolor’).
mh-invisible-header-fields-default
List of hidden header fields (default: a checklist too long to list here).
mh-invisible-header-fields
Additional header fields to hide (default: nil).
mh-lpr-command-format
Command used to print (default: "lpr -J '%s'").
mh-max-inline-image-height
Maximum inline image height if ‘Content-Disposition:’ is not present (default: 0).
mh-max-inline-image-width
Maximum inline image width if ‘Content-Disposition:’ is not present(default: 0).
mh-mhl-format-file
Specifies the format file to pass to the mhl program
(default: ‘Use Default mhl Format (Printing Only)’).
mh-mime-save-parts-default-directory
Default directory to use for K a.
mh-print-background-flag
On means messages should be printed in the background (default: ‘off’).
mh-show-buffer-mode-line-buffer-id
Format string to produce mode-line-buffer-identification for
show buffers (default: " {show-%s} %d").
mh-show-maximum-size
Maximum size of message (in bytes) to display automatically (default: 0).
mh-show-use-xface-flag
On means display face images in MH-Show buffers (default: ‘on’).
mh-store-default-directory
Default directory for X s (default: ‘Current’).
mh-summary-height
Number of lines in MH-Folder buffer (including the mode line) (default: depends on size of frame).
The following hooks are available.
mh-delete-msg-hook
Hook run after marking each message for deletion (default: nil).
mh-show-hook
Hook run after RET shows a message (default: nil).
mh-show-mode-hook
Hook run upon entry to mh-show-mode (default: nil).
The following faces are available.
mh-show-cc
Face used to highlight ‘cc:’ header fields.
mh-show-date
Face used to highlight ‘Date:’ header fields.
mh-show-from
Face used to highlight ‘From:’ header fields.
mh-show-header
Face used to deemphasize less interesting header fields.
mh-show-pgg-bad
Bad PGG signature face.
mh-show-pgg-good
Good PGG signature face.
mh-show-pgg-unknown
Unknown or untrusted PGG signature face.
mh-show-signature
Signature face.
mh-show-subject
Face used to highlight ‘Subject:’ header fields.
mh-show-to
Face used to highlight ‘To:’ header fields.
mh-show-xface
X-Face image face.
The functions and variables introduced here are explained in more detail in the following sections.
| • Viewing | ||
| • Viewing Attachments | ||
| • HTML | ||
| • Digests | ||
| • Reading PGP | ||
| • Printing | ||
| • Files and Pipes | ||
| • Navigating | ||
| • Miscellaneous Commands and Options |
Next: Viewing Attachments, Up: Reading Mail [Contents][Index]
The command RET (mh-show) displays the message that the
cursor is on while mouse-2 (mh-show-mouse) displays the
message that the mouse cursor is on. If the message is already
displayed, it scrolls to the beginning of the message. Use SPC
(mh-page-msg) and BS (mh-previous-page) to move
forwards and backwards one page at a time through the message. You can
give either of these commands a prefix argument that specifies the
number of lines to scroll (such as 10 SPC). The SPC
command will also show the next undeleted message if it is used at the
bottom of a message. MH-E normally hides a lot of the superfluous
header fields that mailers add to a message, but if you wish to see
all of them, use the command , (comma;
mh-header-display).
The option mh-show-maximum-size provides an opportunity to skip
over large messages which may be slow to load. The default value of 0
means that all message are shown regardless of size.
A litany of options control what displayed messages look like.
First, the appearance of the header fields can be modified by
customizing the associated face: mh-show-to, mh-show-cc,
mh-show-from, mh-show-date, and mh-show-subject.
The face mh-show-header is used to deemphasize the other, less
interesting, header fields.
Normally messages are delivered with a handful of uninteresting header
fields. These are hidden by turning on the option
mh-clean-message-header-flag (which it is by default). The
header fields listed in the option
mh-invisible-header-fields-default are hidden, although you can
check off any field that you would like to see. Header fields that you
would like to hide that aren’t listed can be added to the option
mh-invisible-header-fields with a couple of caveats. Regular
expressions are not allowed. Unique fields should have a ‘:’
suffix; otherwise, the element can be used to render invisible an
entire class of fields that start with the same prefix. If you think a
header field should be generally ignored, please update
SF #245.
MH-E can display the content of ‘Face:’, ‘X-Face:’, and
‘X-Image-URL:’ header fields. If any of these fields occur in the
header of your message, the sender’s face will appear in the
‘From:’ header field. If more than one of these fields appear,
then the first field found in the order ‘Face:’, ‘X-Face:’,
and ‘X-Image-URL:’ will be used. The option
mh-show-use-xface-flag is used to turn this feature on and off.
This feature will be turned on by default if your system supports it.
The first header field used, if present, is the Gnus-specific ‘Face:’ field13.
Next is the traditional ‘X-Face:’ header field14 MH-E renders the foreground and
background of the image using the associated attributes of the face
mh-show-xface.
Finally, MH-E will display images referenced by the
‘X-Image-URL:’ header field if neither the ‘Face:’ nor the
‘X-Face:’ fields are present15. Of the three header fields this is the most
efficient in terms of network usage since the image doesn’t need to be
transmitted with every single mail. The option
mh-fetch-x-image-url controls the fetching of the
‘X-Image-URL:’ header field image with the following values:
You are prompted before the image is fetched. MH-E will remember your reply and will either use the already fetched image the next time the same URL is encountered or silently skip it if you didn’t fetch it the first time. This is a good setting.
Images are never fetched and only displayed if they are already present in the cache. This is the default.
There isn’t a value of ‘Always Fetch’ for privacy and DOS (denial of service) reasons. For example, fetching a URL can tip off a spammer that you’ve read his email (which is why you shouldn’t blindly answer yes if you’ve set this option to ‘Ask Before Fetching’). Someone may also flood your network and fill your disk drive by sending a torrent of messages, each specifying a unique URL to a very large file.
The cache of images is found in the directory .mhe-x-image-cache within your MH directory. You can add your own face to the ‘From:’ field too. See Picture.
Normally MH-E takes care of displaying messages itself (rather than
calling an MH program to do the work). If you’d rather have
mhl display the message (within MH-E), change the option
mh-mhl-format-file from its default value of ‘Use Default
mhl Format (Printing Only)’. You can set this option to ‘Use
Default mhl Format’ to get the same output as you would get if you ran
mhl from the shell. If you have a format file that you want
MH-E to use, you can set this option to ‘Specify an mhl Format
File’ and enter the name of your format file (mhl(1) or
section Using mhl in
the MH book tells you how to write one). Your format file should
specify a non-zero value for ‘overflowoffset’ to allow MH-E to
parse the header. Note that mhl is always used for printing
and forwarding; in this case, the value of mh-mhl-format-file
is consulted if you have specified a format file.
If the sender of the message has cited other messages in his message,
then MH-E will highlight these citations to emphasize the sender’s
actual response. The option mh-highlight-citation-style can be
customized to change the highlighting style. The ‘Multicolor’
method uses a different color for each indentation while the
‘Monotone’ method highlights all citations in red. To disable
highlighting of citations entirely, choose ‘None’.
Email addresses and URLs in the message are highlighted if the option
goto-address-highlight-p is on, which it is by default. To view
the web page for a highlighted URL or to send a message using a
highlighted email address, use mouse-2 or C-c RET
(goto-address-at-point). See Sending Mail, to see how to
configure Emacs to send the message using MH-E.
It is a long standing custom to inject body language using a
cornucopia of punctuation, also known as the smileys. MH-E can
render these as graphical widgets if the option
mh-graphical-smileys-flag is turned on, which it is by default.
Smileys include patterns such as :-) and ;-). Similarly, a few
typesetting features are indicated in ASCII text with certain
characters. If your terminal supports it, MH-E can render these
typesetting directives naturally if the option
mh-graphical-emphasis-flag is turned on, which it is by
default. For example, _underline_ will be
underlined,
*bold* will appear in bold, /italics/ will appear in italics,
and so on. See the option gnus-emphasis-alist for the whole
list. Both of these options are disabled if the option
mh-decode-mime-flag is turned off. See Viewing Attachments.
MH-E normally renders signatures and vCards in italics so that the
body of the message stands out more. MH-E depends on the presence of
the signature separator ("-- ") to do this. You can also
customize the face mh-show-signature so the appearance of the
signature block is more to your liking.
Two hooks can be used to control how messages are displayed. The first
hook, mh-show-mode-hook, is called early on in the process of
the message display. It is usually used to perform some action on the
message’s buffer. The second hook, mh-show-hook, is the last
thing called after messages are displayed. It’s used to affect the
message’s content, the behavior of MH-E in general, or when
mh-show-mode-hook is too early.
For those who like to modify their mode lines, use
mh-show-buffer-mode-line-buffer-id to modify the mode line in
the MH-Show buffers. Place the two escape strings ‘%s’ and
‘%d’, which will display the folder name and the message number,
respectively, somewhere in the string in that order. The default value
of "{show-%s} %d" yields a mode line of
-----{show-+inbox} 4 (MH-Show)--Bot--------------------------------
Next: HTML, Previous: Viewing, Up: Reading Mail [Contents][Index]
MH has the ability to display MIME (Multipurpose Internet
Mail Extensions) messages which are simply messages with additional
body parts or attachments. You can use the MH commands
show16 or mhshow17 from the shell to read MIME messages18.
MH-E can handle attachments as well if the Gnus ‘mm-decode’
package is present. If so, the option mh-decode-mime-flag will
be on. Otherwise, you’ll see the MIME body parts rather than text
or attachments. There isn’t much point in turning off the option
mh-decode-mime-flag; however, you can inspect it if it appears
that the body parts are not being interpreted correctly or toggle it
with the command ; (semicolon;
mh-toggle-mh-decode-mime-flag) to view the raw message. This
option also controls the display of quoted-printable messages and
other graphical widgets. See Viewing.
Attachments in MH-E are indicated by buttons like this:
[1. image/jpeg; foo.jpg]...
To view the contents of the button, use either mouse-1 or
mouse-2 on the button or RET (mh-press-button) when
the cursor is over the button. This command is a toggle so if you use
it again on the same attachment, it is hidden. If Emacs does not know
how to display the attachment, then Emacs offers to save the
attachment in a file. To move the cursor to the next button, use the
command K TAB (mh-next-button). If the end of the
buffer is reached then the search wraps over to the start of the
buffer. To move the cursor to the previous button, use the command
K S-TAB (mh-prev-button). If the beginning of the
buffer is reached then the search wraps over to the end of the buffer.
Another way to view the contents of a button is to use the command
K v (mh-folder-toggle-mime-part). This command displays
(or hides) the attachment associated with the button under the cursor.
If the cursor is not located over a button, then the cursor first
moves to the next button, wrapping to the beginning of the message if
necessary. This command has the advantage over the previous commands
of working from the MH-Folder buffer. You can also provide a numeric
prefix argument (as in 4 K v) to view the attachment labeled
with that number. If Emacs does not know how to display the
attachment, then Emacs offers to save the attachment in a file.
If Emacs does not know how to view an attachment, you could save it
into a file and then run some program to open it. It is easier,
however, to launch the program directly from MH-E with the command
K e (mh-display-with-external-viewer). While you’ll most
likely use this to view spreadsheets and documents, it is also useful
to use your browser to view HTML attachments with higher fidelity than
what Emacs can provide. This command displays the attachment
associated with the button under the cursor. If the cursor is not
located over a button, then the cursor first moves to the next button,
wrapping to the beginning of the message if necessary. You can provide
a numeric prefix argument (as in 4 K e) to view the attachment
labeled with that number. This command tries to provide a reasonable
default for the viewer by calling the Emacs function
mailcap-mime-info. This function usually reads the file
/etc/mailcap.
Use the command K o (mh-folder-save-mime-part) to save
attachments (the mnemonic is “output”). This command saves the
attachment associated with the button under the cursor. If the cursor
is not located over a button, then the cursor first moves to the next
button, wrapping to the beginning of the message if necessary. You can
also provide a numeric prefix argument (as in 3 K o) to save the
attachment labeled with that number. This command prompts you for a
filename and suggests a specific name if it is available.
You can save all of the attachments at once with the command K a
(mh-mime-save-parts). The attachments are saved in the
directory specified by the option
mh-mime-save-parts-default-directory unless you use a prefix
argument (as in C-u K a) in which case you are prompted for the
directory. These directories may be superseded by MH profile
components, since this function calls on mhstore
(mhn) to do the work.
The default value for the option
mh-mime-save-parts-default-directory is ‘Prompt Always’ so
that you are always prompted for the directory in which to save the
attachments. However, if you usually use the same directory within a
session, then you can set this option to ‘Prompt the First Time’
to avoid the prompt each time. you can make this directory permanent
by choosing ‘Directory’ and entering the directory’s name.
The sender can request that attachments should be viewed inline so
that they do not really appear like an attachment at all to the
reader. Most of the time, this is desirable, so by default MH-E
suppresses the buttons for inline attachments. On the other hand, you
may receive code or HTML which the sender has added to his message as
inline attachments so that you can read them in MH-E. In this case, it
is useful to see the buttons so that you know you don’t have to cut
and paste the code into a file; you can simply save the attachment. If
you want to make the buttons visible for inline attachments, you can
use the command K t (mh-toggle-mime-buttons) to toggle
the visibility of these buttons. You can turn on these buttons
permanently by turning on the option
mh-display-buttons-for-inline-parts-flag.
MH-E cannot display all attachments inline however. It can display text (including HTML) and images.
Some older mail programs do not insert the needed
plumbing19 to tell MH-E whether to display the attachments inline
or not. If this is the case, MH-E will display these images inline if
they are smaller than the window. However, you might want to allow
larger images to be displayed inline. To do this, you can change the
options mh-max-inline-image-width and
mh-max-inline-image-height from their default value of zero to
a large number. The size of your screen is a good choice for these
numbers.
Sometimes, a mail program will produce multiple alternatives of an
attachment in increasing degree of faithfulness to the original
content. By default, only the preferred alternative is displayed. If
the option mh-display-buttons-for-alternatives-flag is on, then
the preferred part is shown inline and buttons are shown for each of
the other alternatives.
Many people prefer to see the ‘text/plain’ alternative rather
than the ‘text/html’ alternative. To do this in MH-E, customize
the option mm-discouraged-alternatives, and add
‘text/html’. The next best alternative, if any, will be shown.
Occasionally, though, you might want to see the preferred alternative.
The command : (mh-show-preferred-alternative) displays
the message with the default preferred alternative. This is as if
mm-discouraged-alternatives is set to ‘nil’. Use the
command RET (mh-show) to show the message normally again.
You can view the raw contents of an attachment with the command K
i (mh-folder-inline-mime-part). This command displays (or
hides) the contents of the attachment associated with the button under
the cursor verbatim. If the cursor is not located over a button, then
the cursor first moves to the next button, wrapping to the beginning
of the message if necessary. You can also provide a numeric prefix
argument (as in 4 K i) to view the attachment labeled with that
number.
For additional information on buttons, see the chapters Article Buttons and MIME Commands in the The Gnus Manual.
Next: Digests, Previous: Viewing Attachments, Up: Reading Mail [Contents][Index]
MH-E can display messages that have been sent in HTML. The content of the message will appear in the MH-Show buffer as you would expect if the entire message is HTML, or there is an inline HTML body part. However, if there is an HTML body part that is an attachment, then you’ll see a button like this:
[1. text/html; foo.html]...
To see how to read the contents of this body part, see Viewing Attachments.
The browser that MH-E uses is determined by the option
mm-text-html-renderer. The default setting is set automatically
based upon the presence of a known browser on your system. If you wish
to use a different browser, then set this option accordingly. See the
documentation for the browser you use for additional information on
how to use it. In particular, find and disable the option to render
images, as displaying remote images can tip off spammers that the
email address they have used is valid.
If you’re confused about which mm-text-html-renderer to use,
here’s a brief description of each, sorted by name.
The ‘gnus-w3m’ browser requires an external program. It’s quick, produces pretty nice output, and it highlights links. It renders ‘–’ and ‘®’ okay. It sometimes fails to wrap lines properly. It always downloads remote images.
The ‘links’ browser requires an external program. It’s quick, and produces nicer output than ‘lynx’ on single column mails in tables. However, it doesn’t show links and it doesn’t do as nice a job on multi-column tables as some lines wrap. It does do a good job of fitting text within 80 columns. It appears to render special characters using ASCII equivalents. For example, ‘®’ appears as (R). It does not download images.
The ‘lynx’ browser requires an external program. It’s quick and produces pretty decent output but it doesn’t show links. It doesn’t seem to do multi-column tables which makes output much cleaner. It centers the output and wraps long lines more than most. It does not always handle special characters like ‘®’ or ‘–’. It does not download images.
This choice does not require an external program, but it does require
that Emacs be configured at build time to use ‘libxml2’. It is
fairly quick, it highlights links, and it supports HTML color
declarations. It renders ‘–’ and ‘®’ okay. It
sometimes truncates text, particularly if the message tries to have
fancy text layout. By default it does not download images; this
behavior is controlled by the options mm-html-blocked-images
and mm-html-inhibit-images
(see section Display Customization in the The Emacs MIME Manual).
The ‘w3m’ browser requires an external program. It’s quick,
produces pretty nice output, and it highlights links. These can be
clicked with mouse-2 to view the content of the link in
‘w3m’. The ‘w3m’ browser handles tables well and actually
respects the table’s width parameter (which can cause text to wrap if
the author didn’t anticipate that the page would be viewed in Emacs).
It does not download images by default; this behavior is controlled by
the option mm-w3m-safe-url-regexp
(see section Display Customization in the The Emacs MIME Manual).
This browser is quick, but does not show links. It handles simple tables but some tables get rendered much wider than the Emacs frame. This browser renders ‘–’ and ‘®’ okay. It does not download images.
For a couple more sources of information about
mm-text-html-renderer,
see section Display Customization in the The Emacs MIME Manual and the
documentation for the Gnus command W h (see section
Article
Washing in the
The Gnus Manual).
A useful key binding that you can add to ~/.emacs is the following which displays an HTML link or textual URL in an external browser when clicked with S-mouse-2. This binding works in any buffer, including HTML buffers.
(global-set-key [S-mouse-2] 'browse-url-at-mouse)
Next: Reading PGP, Previous: HTML, Up: Reading Mail [Contents][Index]
A digest is a message that contains other messages. Special MH-E
commands let you read digests conveniently. You can use SPC and
BS to page through the digest as if it were a normal message,
but if you wish to skip to the next message in the digest, use
D SPC (mh-page-digest). To return to a previous message,
use D BS (mh-page-digest-backwards).
Another handy command is D b (mh-burst-digest). This
command uses the MH command burst20 to break out each message in the digest into its own message.
Using this command, you can quickly delete unwanted messages, like
this: Once the digest is split up, toggle out of MH-Folder Show mode
with t (see Folders) so that the scan lines fill the screen
and messages aren’t displayed. Then use d (see Reading Mail)
to quickly delete messages that you don’t want to read (based on the
‘Subject:’ header field). You can also burst the digest to reply
directly to the people who posted the messages in the digest. One
problem you may encounter is that the ‘From:’ header fields are
preceded with a ‘>’ so that your reply can’t create the
‘To:’ field correctly. In this case, you must correct the
‘To:’ field yourself. This is described later (see Editing Drafts).
Next: Printing, Previous: Digests, Up: Reading Mail [Contents][Index]
You can read encrypted or signed PGP or GPG messages with MH-E21. This section assumes that you already have a good understanding of GPG and have set up your keys appropriately.
If someone sends you a signed message, here is what you’ll see:
[[PGP Signed Part:Bill Wohler <wohler@stop.mail-abuse.org>]] This is a signed message. [[End of PGP Signed Part]]
If the key for the given signature is not in your keychain, you’ll be given the opportunity to fetch the key from a key server and verify the key. If the message is really large, the verification process can take a long time. You can press C-g at any time to cancel22.
If the signature doesn’t check out, you might see something like this:
[[PGP Signed Part:Failed]] This is a signed message. This is garbage added after the signature was made. [[End of PGP Signed Part]]
If someone sends you an encrypted message, MH-E will ask for your passphrase to decrypt the message. You should see something like this:
[[PGP Encrypted Part:OK]] [[PGP Signed Part:Bill Wohler <wohler@stop.mail-abuse.org>]] This is the secret message. [[End of PGP Signed Part]] [[End of PGP Encrypted Part]]
If there is a problem decrypting the message, the button will say:
[[PGP Encrypted Part:Failed]]
You can read the contents of this button using the methods described in Viewing Attachments. If the message were corrupted, you’d see this:
[[PGP Encrypted Part:Failed] Invalid base64 data]
If your passphrase were incorrect, you’d see something like this:
[GNUPG:] ENC_TO CD9C88BB610BD9AD 1 0
[GNUPG:] USERID_HINT CD9C88BB610BD9AD Bill Wohler <wohler@stop.mail-abuse.org>
[GNUPG:] NEED_PASSPHRASE CD9C88BB610BD9AD CD9C88BB610BD9AD 1 0
[GNUPG:] BAD_PASSPHRASE CD9C88BB610BD9AD
gpg: encrypted with 1024-bit RSA key, ID 610BD9AD, created 1997-09-09
"Bill Wohler <wohler@stop.mail-abuse.org>"
gpg: public key decryption failed: bad passphrase
[GNUPG:] BEGIN_DECRYPTION
[GNUPG:] DECRYPTION_FAILED
gpg: decryption failed: secret key not available
[GNUPG:] END_DECRYPTION
gpg exited abnormally: '2'
The appearance of the buttons is controlled by the faces
mh-show-pgg-good, mh-show-pgg-bad, and
mh-show-pgg-unknown depending on the validity of the signature.
The latter is used whether the signature is unknown or untrusted.
Next: Files and Pipes, Previous: Reading PGP, Up: Reading Mail [Contents][Index]
To print messages in MH-E, use the command P p
(mh-ps-print-msg). You can print all the messages in a range
(as in C-u P p 1 3 5-7 last:5 frombob RET,
see Ranges). You can also send the output to a file with P f
(mh-ps-print-msg-file). This command will print inline text
attachments but will not decrypt messages. However, when a message is
displayed in an MH-Show buffer, then that buffer is used verbatim for
printing with the caveat that only text attachments, if opened inline,
are printed. Therefore, encrypted messages can be printed by showing
and decrypting them first. The commands P p and P f do not
use the options mh-lpr-command-format or
mh-print-background-flag, described below.
Colors are emulated on black-and-white printers with shades of gray.
This might produce illegible output, even if your screen colors only
use shades of gray. If this is the case, try using the command P
C (mh-ps-print-toggle-color) to toggle between color, no
color, and a black and white representation of the colors and see
which works best. You change this setting permanently by customizing
the option ps-print-color-p.
Another related function is the command P F
(mh-ps-print-toggle-faces). This command toggles between using
faces and not. When faces are enabled, the printed message will look
very similar to the message in the MH-Show buffer.
MH-E uses the ‘ps-print’ package to do the printing, so you can customize the printing further by going to the ‘ps-print’ customization group.
An alternative to using the ‘ps-print’ package is the command
P l (mh-print-msg) (the l is for line printer or
lpr). You can print all the messages in a range. The message is
formatted with mhl23 and printed with the lpr command.
The command P l uses two options. The option
mh-lpr-command-format contains the Unix command line which
performs the actual printing. The string can contain one escape,
‘%s’, which is replaced by the name of the folder and the message
number and is useful for print job names. The default setting is
"lpr -J '%s'". I use "mpage -h'%s' -b Letter -H1of -mlrtb
-P" which produces a nice header and adds a bit of margin so the text
fits within my printer’s margins. Normally messages are printed in the
foreground. If this is slow on your system, you may elect to turn on
the option mh-print-background-flag to print in the background.
If you do this, do not delete the message until it is printed or else
the output may be truncated. These options are not used by the
commands P p or P f.
Next: Navigating, Previous: Printing, Up: Reading Mail [Contents][Index]
MH-E does offer a couple of commands that are not a part of MH. The
first one, > (mh-write-msg-to-file), writes a message to
a file. You are prompted for the filename. If the file already exists,
the message is appended to it. You can also write the message to the
file without the header by specifying a prefix argument (such as
C-u > /tmp/foobar RET). Subsequent writes to the same file
can be made with the command !
(mh-refile-or-write-again).
You can also pipe the message through a Unix shell command with the
command | (mh-pipe-msg). You are prompted for the Unix
command through which you wish to run your message. If you give a
prefix argument to this command, the message header is included in the
text passed to the command (the contrived example C-u | lpr
would be done with the l command instead).
If the message is a shell archive shar or has been run
through uuencode use X s (mh-store-msg) to
extract the body of the message. The default directory for extraction
is the current directory; however, you have a chance to specify a
different extraction directory. The next time you use this command,
the default directory is the last directory you used. If you would
like to change the initial default directory, customize the option
mh-store-default-directory, change the value from
‘Current’ to ‘Directory’, and then enter the name of the
directory for storing the content of these messages.
By the way, X s calls the Emacs Lisp function
mh-store-buffer. I mention this because you can use it directly
if you’re editing a buffer that contains a file that has been run
through uuencode or shar. For example, you can
extract the contents of the current buffer in your home directory by
typing M-x mh-store-buffer RET ~ RET.
Next: Miscellaneous Commands and Options, Previous: Files and Pipes, Up: Reading Mail [Contents][Index]
To move on to the next message, use the command n
(mh-next-undeleted-msg); use p
(mh-previous-undeleted-msg) to read the previous message. To
move to the next unread message, use M-n
(mh-next-unread-msg); use M-p
(mh-previous-unread-msg) to move to the previous unread
message. These commands can be given a prefix argument to specify how
many messages to skip (for example, 5 n). You can also move to a
specific message with g (mh-goto-msg). You can enter the
message number either before or after typing g. In the latter
case, Emacs prompts you. Finally, you can go to the first or last
message with M-< (mh-first-msg) and M->
(mh-last-msg) respectively.
You can also use the Emacs commands C-p (previous-line)
and C-n (next-line) to move up and down the scan lines in
the MH-Folder window. These commands can be used in conjunction with
RET to look at deleted or refiled messages.
To mark a message for deletion, use the command d
(mh-delete-msg). A ‘D’ is placed by the message in the
scan window, and the next undeleted message is displayed. If the
previous command had been p, then the next message displayed is
the first undeleted message previous to the message just deleted. Use
n to force subsequent d commands to move forward to the
next undeleted message after deleting the message under the cursor.
You may also specify a range (for example, C-u d 1 3 5-7 last:5
frombob RET, see Ranges).
The command C-d (mh-delete-msg-no-motion) marks the
message (or messages in range) for deletion but leaves the cursor at
the current message in case you wish to perform other operations on
the message.
And to delete more messages faster, you can use k
(mh-delete-subject-or-thread) to delete all the messages with
the same subject as the current message. This command puts these
messages in a sequence named ‘subject’. You can undo this action
by using u (mh-undo) with a prefix argument and then
specifying the ‘subject’ sequence. However, if the buffer is
displaying a threaded view of the folder then k behaves like
T d (mh-thread-delete). See Threading.
However you mark a message for deletion, the command x
(mh-execute-commands) actually carries out the deletion
(see Folders).
The hook mh-delete-msg-hook is called after you mark a message
for deletion. For example, a past maintainer of MH-E used this once
when he kept statistics on his mail usage.
Previous: Navigating, Up: Reading Mail [Contents][Index]
This section contains a few more miscellaneous commands and options.
There are times when you need to edit a message. For example, you may
need to fix a broken Content-Type header field. You can do this with
the command M (mh-modify). It displays the raw message in
an editable buffer. When you are done editing, save and kill the
buffer as you would any other.
Commands such as mh-pack-folder prompt to confirm whether to
process outstanding moves and deletes or not before continuing.
Turning on the option mh-do-not-confirm-flag means that these
actions will be performed—which is usually desired but cannot be
retracted—without question24.
The option mh-summary-height controls the number of scan lines
displayed in the MH-Folder window, including the mode line. The
default value of this option is ‘Automatic’ which means that the
MH-Folder buffer will maintain the same proportional size if the frame
is resized. If you’d prefer a fixed height, then choose the
‘Fixed Size’ option and enter the number of lines you’d like to
see.
Normally the buffer for displaying messages is buried at the bottom at
the buffer stack. You may wish to disable this feature by turning off
the option mh-bury-show-buffer-flag. One advantage of not
burying the show buffer is that one can delete the show buffer more
easily in an electric buffer list because of its proximity to its
associated MH-Folder buffer. Try running M-x
electric-buffer-list to see what I mean.
Before we leave this section, I’ll include a function that I use as a front end to MH-E25. It toggles between your working window configuration, which may be quite involved—windows filled with source, compilation output, man pages, and other documentation—and your MH-E window configuration. Like the rest of the customization described in this section, simply add the following code to ~/.emacs.
(defvar my-mh-screen-saved nil
"Set to non-nil when MH-E window configuration shown.")
(defvar my-normal-screen nil "Normal window configuration.")
(defvar my-mh-screen nil "MH-E window configuration.")
(defun my-mh-rmail (&optional arg)
"Toggle between MH-E and normal screen configurations.
With non-nil or prefix argument, include mailbox as well
when going into mail."
(interactive "P") ; user callable function, P=prefix arg
(setq my-mh-screen-saved ; save state
(cond
;; Bring up MH-E screen if arg or normal window configuration.
;; If arg or +inbox buffer doesn’t exist, run mh-rmail.
((or arg (null my-mh-screen-saved))
(setq my-normal-screen (current-window-configuration))
(if (or arg (null (get-buffer "+inbox")))
(mh-rmail)
(set-window-configuration my-mh-screen))
t) ; set my-mh-screen-saved to t
;; Otherwise, save MH-E screen and restore normal screen.
(t
(setq my-mh-screen (current-window-configuration))
(set-window-configuration my-normal-screen)
nil)))) ; set my-mh-screen-saved to nil
(global-set-key "\C-x\r" 'my-mh-rmail) ; call with C-x RET
Starting MH-E
If you type an argument (C-u) or if my-mh-screen-saved is
nil (meaning a non-MH-E window configuration), the current
window configuration is saved, either the ‘+inbox’ buffer is
displayed or mh-rmail is run, and the MH-E window configuration
is shown. Otherwise, the MH-E window configuration is saved and the
original configuration is displayed.
Next: Sending Mail, Previous: Reading Mail, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
This chapter discusses the things you can do with folders within MH-E. The commands in this chapter are also found in the ‘Folder’ and ‘Message’ menus.
Display cheat sheet for the MH-E commands (mh-help).
Repeat last output command (mh-refile-or-write-again).
Copy range to folder (mh-copy-msg).
Display cheat sheet for the commands of the current prefix in
minibuffer (mh-prefix-help).
Display ticked messages (mh-index-ticked-messages).
Delete range from the ‘unseen’ sequence (mh-catchup).
Remove folder (mh-kill-folder).
List all folders (mh-list-folders).
Display unseen messages (mh-index-new-messages).
Pack folder (mh-pack-folder).
Display messages in any sequence (mh-index-sequenced-messages).
Rescan folder (mh-rescan-folder).
Search your MH mail (mh-search).
Sort folder (mh-sort-folder).
Undo all refiles and deletes in the current folder (mh-undo-folder).
Visit folder (mh-visit-folder).
Refile (output) range into folder (mh-refile-msg).
Quit the current MH-E folder (mh-quit).
Toggle between MH-Folder and MH-Folder Show modes
(mh-toggle-showing).
Undo pending deletes or refiles in range (mh-undo).
Process outstanding delete and refile requests
(mh-execute-commands).
The ‘mh-folder’ customization group is used to tune these commands.
mh-new-messages-folders
Folders searched for the ‘unseen’ sequence (default:
Inbox).
mh-ticked-messages-folders
Folders searched for mh-tick-seq (default: t).
mh-large-folder
The number of messages that indicates a large folder (default: 200).
mh-recenter-summary-flag
On means to recenter the summary window (default: ‘off’).
mh-recursive-folders-flag
On means that commands which operate on folders do so recursively (default: ‘off’).
mh-sortm-args
Additional arguments for sortm (default: nil).
The following hooks are available.
mh-after-commands-processed-hook
Hook run by x after performing outstanding refile and delete
requests (default: nil).
mh-before-commands-processed-hook
Hook run by x before performing outstanding refile and delete
requests (default: nil).
mh-before-quit-hook
Hook run by q before quitting MH-E (default: nil).
mh-folder-mode-hook
Hook run by mh-folder-mode when visiting a new folder (default:
nil).
mh-kill-folder-suppress-prompt-functions
Abnormal hook run at the beginning of mh-kill-folder (default:
'mh-search-p).
mh-pack-folder-hook
Hook run by mh-pack-folder after renumbering the messages
(default: nil).
mh-quit-hook
Hook run by q after quitting MH-E (default: nil).
mh-refile-msg-hook
Hook run by o after marking each message for refiling (default:
nil).
The following faces are available for customizing the appearance of the MH-Folder buffer. See Scan Line Formats.
mh-folder-address
Recipient face.
mh-folder-body
Body text face.
mh-folder-cur-msg-number
Current message number face.
mh-folder-date
Date face.
mh-folder-deleted
Deleted message face.
mh-folder-followup
‘Re:’ face.
mh-folder-msg-number
Message number face.
mh-folder-refiled
Refiled message face.
mh-folder-sent-to-me-hint
Fontification hint face in messages sent directly to us. The detection
of messages sent to us is governed by the scan format
mh-scan-format-nmh and regular expression
mh-scan-sent-to-me-sender-regexp.
mh-folder-scan-format
Sender face in messages sent directly to us. The detection of messages
sent to us is governed by the scan format mh-scan-format-nmh
and regular expression mh-scan-sent-to-me-sender-regexp.
mh-folder-subject
Subject face.
mh-folder-tick
Ticked message face.
mh-folder-to
‘To:’ face.
The hook mh-folder-mode-hook is called when visiting a new
folder in MH-Folder mode. This could be used to set your own key
bindings, for example:
(defvar my-mh-init-done nil "Non-nil when one-time MH-E settings made.") (defun my-mh-folder-mode-hook () "Hook to set key bindings in MH-Folder mode." (if (not my-mh-init-done) ; only need to bind the keys once (progn (local-set-key "//" 'my-search-msg) (local-set-key "b" 'mh-burst-digest) ; better use of b (setq my-mh-init-done t)))) (add-hook 'mh-folder-mode-hook 'my-mh-folder-mode-hook) (defun my-search-msg () "Search for a regexp in the current message." (interactive) ; user function (save-window-excursion (other-window 1) ; go to next window (isearch-forward-regexp))) ; string search; hit return ; when done Create additional key bindings via mh-folder-mode-hook
MH-E has analogies for each of the MH folder and
refile commands26. To refile a message in
another folder, use the command o (mh-refile-msg)
(mnemonic: “output”). You are prompted for the folder name
(see Folder Selection). Note that this command can also be used to
create folders. If you specify a folder that does not exist, you will
be prompted to create it. The hook mh-refile-msg-hook is called
after a message is marked to be refiled.
If you are refiling several messages into the same folder, you can use
the command ! (mh-refile-or-write-again) to repeat the
last refile or write (for the description of >
(mh-write-msg-to-file), see Files and Pipes). You can use a
range in either case (for example, C-u o 1 3 5-7 last:5 frombob
RET, see Ranges).
If you’ve deleted a message or refiled it, but changed your mind, you
can cancel the action before you’ve executed it. Use u
(mh-undo) to undo a refile on or deletion of a single message.
You can also undo refiles and deletes for messages that are found in a
given range (see Ranges).
Alternatively, you can use F u (mh-undo-folder) to undo
all refiles and deletes in the current folder.
If you’ve marked messages to be deleted or refiled and you want to go
ahead and delete or refile the messages, use x
(mh-execute-commands). Many MH-E commands that may affect the
numbering of the messages (such as F r or F p) will ask if
you want to process refiles or deletes first and then either run
x for you or undo the pending refiles and deletes.
The command x runs mh-before-commands-processed-hook
before the commands are processed and
mh-after-commands-processed-hook after the commands are
processed. Variables that are useful with the former hook include
mh-delete-list and mh-refile-list which can be used to
see which changes will be made to the current folder,
mh-current-folder. Variables that are useful with the latter
hook include mh-folders-changed, which lists which folders were
affected by deletes and refiles. This list will always include the
current folder mh-current-folder.
If you wish to copy a message to another folder, you can use the
command c (mh-copy-msg) (see the -link argument
to refile(1)). Like the command o, this command
prompts you for the name of the target folder and you can specify a
range (see Ranges). Note that unlike the command o, the copy
takes place immediately. The original copy remains in the current
folder.
The command t (mh-toggle-showing) switches between
MH-Folder mode and MH-Folder Show mode27. MH-Folder mode turns off
the associated show buffer so that you can perform operations on the
messages quickly without reading them. This is an excellent way to
prune out your junk mail or to refile a group of messages to another
folder for later examination.
When you use t to toggle from MH-Folder Show mode to MH-Folder
mode, the MH-Show buffer is hidden and the MH-Folder buffer is left
alone. Setting mh-recenter-summary-flag to a non-nil
value causes the toggle to display as many scan lines as possible,
with the cursor at the middle. The effect of
mh-recenter-summary-flag is rather useful, but it can be
annoying on a slow network connection.
When you want to read the messages that you have refiled into folders,
use the command F v (mh-visit-folder) to visit the
folder. You are prompted for the folder name. The folder buffer will
show just unseen messages if there are any; otherwise, it will show
all the messages in the buffer as long there are fewer than
mh-large-folder messages. If there are more, then you are
prompted for a range of messages to scan. You can provide a prefix
argument in order to specify a range of messages to show when you
visit the folder (see Ranges). In this case, regions are not used
to specify the range and mh-large-folder is ignored. Note that
this command can also be used to create folders. If you specify a
folder that does not exist, you will be prompted to create it.
If you forget where you’ve refiled your messages, you can find them
using F s (mh-search). See Searching.
If you use a program such as procmail to file your incoming
mail automatically, you can display new, unseen, messages using the
command F n (mh-index-new-messages). All messages in the
‘unseen’ sequence from the folders in
mh-new-messages-folders are listed. However, this list of
folders can be overridden with a prefix argument: with a prefix
argument, enter a space-separated list of folders, or nothing to
search all folders.
If you have ticked messages (see Sequences), you can display them
using the command F ' (mh-index-ticked-messages). All
messages in the ‘tick’ sequence from the folders in
mh-ticked-messages-folders are listed. With a prefix argument,
enter a space-separated list of folders, or nothing to search all
folders.
You can display messages in any sequence with the command F q
(mh-index-sequenced-messages). All messages from the folders in
mh-new-messages-folders in the sequence you provide are listed.
With a prefix argument, enter a space-separated list of folders at the
prompt, or nothing to search all folders.
Set the options mh-new-messages-folders and
mh-ticked-messages-folders to ‘Inbox’ to search the
‘+inbox’ folder or ‘All’ to search all of the top level
folders. Otherwise, list the folders that should be searched with the
‘Choose Folders’ menu item. See mh-recursive-folders-flag.
Other commands you can perform on folders include: F l
(mh-list-folders), to place a listing of all the folders in
your mail directory in a buffer called *MH-E Folders*
(see Miscellaneous); F k (mh-kill-folder), to remove
a folder; F S (mh-sort-folder), to sort the messages by
date (see sortm(1) to see how to sort by other criteria);
F p (mh-pack-folder), to pack a folder, removing gaps
from the numbering sequence; and F r (mh-rescan-folder),
to rescan the folder, which is useful to grab all messages in your
‘+inbox’ after processing your new mail for the first time. If
you don’t want to rescan the entire folder, the commands F r or
F p will accept a range (see Ranges).
The command F p runs mh-pack-folder-hook after
renumbering the messages. A variable that is useful with this hook
is mh-current-folder.
By default, operations on folders work only one level at a time. Set
mh-recursive-folders-flag to non-nil to operate on all
folders. This mostly means that you’ll be able to see all your folders
when you press TAB when prompted for a folder name.
The hook mh-kill-folder-suppress-prompt-functions is an abnormal
hook run at the beginning of the command k. The hook functions
are called with no arguments and should return a non-nil value to
suppress the normal prompt when you remove a folder. This is useful
for folders that are easily regenerated. The default value of
mh-search-p suppresses the prompt on folders generated by
searching.
Use this hook with care. If there is a bug in your hook which returns
ton ‘+inbox’ and you press k by accident in the+inboxfolder, you will not be happy.
The option mh-sortm-args holds extra arguments to pass on to
the command sortm28 when a prefix argument is used with F S. Normally
default arguments to sortm are specified in the MH profile.
This option may be used to provide an alternate view. For example,
‘'(\"-nolimit\" \"-textfield\" \"subject\")’ is a useful setting.
When you want to quit using MH-E and go back to editing, you can use
the q (mh-quit) command. This buries the buffers of the
current MH-E folder and restores the buffers that were present when
you first ran M-x mh-rmail. It also removes any MH-E working
buffers whose name begins with ‘ *mh-’ or *MH-E
(see Miscellaneous). You can later restore your MH-E session by
selecting the ‘+inbox’ buffer or by running M-x mh-rmail
again.
The two hooks mh-before-quit-hook and mh-quit-hook are
called by q. The former one is called before the quit occurs, so
you might use it to perform any MH-E operations; you could perform
some query and abort the quit or call mh-execute-commands, for
example. The latter is not run in an MH-E context, so you might use it
to modify the window setup. If you find that q buries a lot of
buffers that you would rather remove, you can use both
mh-before-quit-hook and mh-quit-hook to accomplish that.
(defvar my-mh-folder-buffer-to-delete nil
"Folder buffer that is being quit.")
(defun my-mh-before-quit-hook ()
"Save folder buffer that is to be deleted."
(setq my-mh-folder-buffer-to-delete (current-buffer)))
(defun my-mh-quit-hook ()
"Kill folder buffer rather than just bury it."
(set-buffer my-mh-folder-buffer-to-delete)
(if (get-buffer mh-show-buffer)
(kill-buffer mh-show-buffer))
(kill-buffer (current-buffer)))
Kill MH-Folder buffer instead of burying it
You can use dired to manipulate the folders themselves. For example, I
renamed my ‘+out’ folder to the more common ‘+outbox’ by
running dired on my mail directory (M-x dired RET ~/Mail
RET), moving my cursor to ‘out’ and using the command
R (dired-do-rename).
Next: Editing Drafts, Previous: Folders, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
You can send a mail message in several ways. You can call M-x mh-smail directly, or from the command line like this:
$ emacs -f mh-smail
There are some commands that need to send a mail message, such as
goto-address-at-point. You can configure Emacs to have these
commands use MH-E by setting the option mail-user-agent to
‘Emacs interface to MH’.
From within MH-E’s MH-Folder mode, other methods of sending mail are available as well. These can also be found in the ‘Message’ menu.
Edit a message to send it again (mh-edit-again).
Edit a message that was returned by the mail system
(mh-extract-rejected-mail).
Forward message (mh-forward).
Reply to a message (mh-reply).
Compose a message (mh-send).
Redistribute a message (mh-redistribute).
Compose a message with the MH mail system.
Compose a message with the MH mail system in other window.
In addition, several options from the ‘mh-sending-mail’ customization group are useful when sending mail or replying to mail. They are summarized in the following table.
mh-compose-forward-as-mime-flag
On means that messages are forwarded as attachments (default: ‘on’).
mh-compose-letter-function
Hook run when starting a new draft (default: nil).
mh-compose-prompt-flag
On means prompt for header fields when composing a new draft (default: ‘off’).
mh-forward-subject-format
Format string for forwarded message subject (default: "%s:
%s").
mh-insert-x-mailer-flag
On means append an ‘X-Mailer:’ header field to the header (default: ‘on’).
mh-redist-full-contents-flag
On means the dist command needs entire letter for
redistribution (default: ‘off’).
mh-reply-default-reply-to
Sets the person or persons to whom a reply will be sent (default: ‘Prompt’).
mh-reply-show-message-flag
On means the MH-Show buffer is displayed using r
(mh-reply) (default: ‘on’).
The following hooks are available.
mh-annotate-msg-hook
Hook run by mh-annotate-msg after annotation (default:
nil).
mh-forward-hook
Hook run by mh-forward on a forwarded letter (default:
nil).
mh-letter-mode-hook
Hook run by mh-letter-mode on a new letter (default:
nil).
A hook that is called whenever a message is sent and after the scan
lines and message are annotated is mh-annotate-msg-hook. Hook
functions can access the current folder name with
mh-current-folder and obtain the message numbers of the
annotated messages with mh-annotate-list.
The rest of the functions and options introduced here are explained in more detail in the following sections.
| • Composing | ||
| • Replying | ||
| • Forwarding | ||
| • Redistributing | ||
| • Editing Again |
Next: Replying, Up: Sending Mail [Contents][Index]
Outside of an MH-Folder buffer, you must call either M-x mh-smail or M-x mh-smail-other-window to compose a new message. The former command always creates a two-window layout with the current buffer on top and the draft on the bottom. Use the latter command if you would rather preserve the window layout. You may find adding the following key bindings to ~/.emacs useful:
(global-set-key "\C-xm" 'mh-smail) (global-set-key "\C-x4m" 'mh-smail-other-window)
From within a MH-Folder buffer, you can simply use the command m
(mh-send). However you invoke mh-send, your letter
appears in an Emacs buffer whose mode is MH-Letter (to see what the
buffer looks like, see Sending Mail Tour). MH-Letter mode allows
you to edit your message, to check the validity of the recipients, to
insert attachments and other messages into your message, and to send
the message. We’ll go more into depth about editing a
draft29 (a
message you’re composing) in just a moment (see Editing Drafts).
If you prefer to be prompted for the recipient and subject fields
before the MH-Letter buffer appears, turn on the option
mh-compose-prompt-flag.
MH-E adds an ‘X-Mailer:’ header field to the header that includes
the version of MH-E and Emacs that you are using. If you don’t want to
participate in our marketing, you can turn off the option
mh-insert-x-mailer-flag.
Two hooks are provided to run commands on your freshly created draft.
The first hook, mh-letter-mode-hook, allows you to do some
processing before editing a letter30. For example, you may wish
to modify the header after repl has done its work, or you
may have a complicated components file and need to tell MH-E
where the cursor should go. Here’s an example of how you would use
this hook.
(defvar letter-mode-init-done-flag nil "Non-nil means one-time MH-E settings have been made.") (defun my-mh-letter-mode-hook () "Prepare letter for editing." (when (not letter-mode-init-done) ; only need to bind the keys once (local-set-key "\C-ctb" 'add-enriched-text) (local-set-key "\C-cti" 'add-enriched-text) (local-set-key "\C-ctf" 'add-enriched-text) (local-set-key "\C-cts" 'add-enriched-text) (local-set-key "\C-ctB" 'add-enriched-text) (local-set-key "\C-ctu" 'add-enriched-text) (local-set-key "\C-ctc" 'add-enriched-text) (setq letter-mode-init-done t)) (save-excursion (goto-char (point-max)) ; go to end of message to (mh-insert-signature))) ; insert signature Prepare draft for editing via mh-letter-mode-hook
The function, add-enriched-text is defined in the example in
Adding Attachments.
The second hook, a function really, is
mh-compose-letter-function. Like mh-letter-mode-hook, it
is called just before editing a new message; however, it is the last
function called before you edit your message. The consequence of this
is that you can write a function to write and send the message for
you. This function is passed three arguments: the contents of the
‘To:’, ‘Subject:’, and ‘Cc:’ header fields.
Next: Forwarding, Previous: Composing, Up: Sending Mail [Contents][Index]
To compose a reply to a message, use the r (mh-reply)
command.
When you reply to a message, you are first prompted with ‘Reply to whom?’. You have several choices here.
Response Reply Goes To from The person who sent the message. This is the default, so RET is sufficient. to Replies to the sender, plus all recipients in the ‘To:’ header field. cc
allForms a reply to the addresses in the ‘Mail-Followup-To:’ header field if one exists; otherwise forms a reply to the sender, plus all recipients.
Depending on your answer, repl31 is given a different argument to form your reply.
Specifically, a choice of from or none at all runs ‘repl
-nocc all’, and a choice of to runs ‘repl -cc to’. Finally,
either cc or all runs ‘repl -cc all -nocc me’. If you
find that most of the time you specify one of these choices when you
reply to a message, you can change the option
mh-reply-default-reply-to from its default value of
‘Prompt’ to one of the choices listed above. You can always edit
the recipients in the draft.
Two windows are then created. One window contains the message to which
you are replying in an MH-Show buffer. Your draft, in MH-Letter mode
(see Editing Drafts), is in the other window. If the reply draft
was not one that you expected, check the things that affect the
behavior of repl which include the ‘repl:’ profile
component and the replcomps and replgroupcomps files.
If you supply a prefix argument (as in C-u r), the message you
are replying to is inserted in your reply after having first been run
through mhl with the format file mhl.reply. See
mhl(1) or the section
Using mhl in the MH
book to see how you can modify the default mhl.reply file.
Alternatively, you can customize the option mh-yank-behavior
and choose one of its ‘Automatically’ variants to do the same
thing. See Inserting Letter. If you do so, the prefix argument has
no effect.
Another way to include the message automatically in your draft is to use ‘repl: -filter repl.filter’ in your MH profile.
If you include the message automatically, you can hide the MH-Show
buffer by turning off the option mh-reply-show-message-flag.
If you wish to customize the header or other parts of the reply draft,
please see repl(1) and mh-format(5).
Next: Redistributing, Previous: Replying, Up: Sending Mail [Contents][Index]
To forward a message, use the f (mh-forward) command. You
are prompted for the ‘To:’ and ‘cc:’ recipients. You are
given a draft to edit that looks like it would if you had run the MH
command forw32. You can then add some text (see Editing Drafts).
You can forward several messages by using a range (see Ranges).
All of the messages in the range are inserted into your draft. The
hook mh-forward-hook is called on the draft.
By default, the option mh-compose-forward-as-mime-flag is on
which means that the forwarded messages are included as attachments.
These are inline attachments so the forwarded message should appear in
the body of your recipient’s mail program. If you would prefer to
forward your messages verbatim (as text, inline), then turn off this
option. Forwarding messages verbatim works well for short, textual
messages, but your recipient won’t be able to view any non-textual
attachments that were in the forwarded message. Be aware that if you
have ‘forw: -mime’ in your MH profile, then forwarded messages
will always be included as attachments regardless of the settings of
mh-compose-forward-as-mime-flag.
The format of the ‘Subject:’ header field for forwarded messages
is controlled by the option mh-forward-subject-format. This
option is a string which includes two escapes (‘%s’). The first
‘%s’ is replaced with the sender of the original message, and the
second one is replaced with the original ‘Subject:’. The default
value of "%s: %s" takes a message with the header:
To: Bill Wohler <wohler@stop.mail-abuse.org> Subject: Re: 49er football From: Greg DesBrisay <gd@stop.mail-abuse.org>
and creates a subject header field of:
Subject: Greg DesBrisay: Re: 49er football
Next: Editing Again, Previous: Forwarding, Up: Sending Mail [Contents][Index]
The command M-d (mh-redistribute) is similar in function
to forwarding mail, but it does not allow you to edit the message, nor
does it add your name to the ‘From:’ header field. It appears to
the recipient as if the message had come from the original sender.
When you run this command, you are prompted for the recipients.
For more information on redistributing messages, see
dist(1). Also investigate the command e
(mh-edit-again) for another way to redistribute messages
(see Editing Again).
The option mh-redist-full-contents-flag must be turned on if
dist33 requires the whole letter for redistribution,
which is the case if send34 is compiled with the BERK option (which many
people abhor). If you find that MH will not allow you to redistribute
a message that has been redistributed before, turn off this option.
The hook mh-annotate-msg-hook is run after annotating the
message and scan line (see Sending Mail).
Previous: Redistributing, Up: Sending Mail [Contents][Index]
If you don’t complete a draft for one reason or another, and if the
draft buffer is no longer available, you can pick your draft up again
with e (mh-edit-again). If you don’t use a draft
folder, your last draft file will be used. If you use draft
folders, you’ll need to visit the draft folder with F v drafts
RET, use n to move to the appropriate message, and then
use e to prepare the message for editing.
The e command can also be used to take messages that were sent to you and to send them to more people.
Don’t use e to re-edit a message from a Mailer-Daemon who
complained that your mail wasn’t posted for some reason or another. In
this case, use E (mh-extract-rejected-mail) to prepare
the message for editing by removing the Mailer-Daemon envelope and
unneeded header fields. Fix whatever addressing problem you had, and
send the message again with C-c C-c.
Next: Aliases, Previous: Sending Mail, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
When you edit a message that you want to send (called a draft in this case), the mode used is MH-Letter. This mode provides several commands in addition to the normal Emacs editing commands to help you edit your draft. These can also be found in the ‘Letter’ menu.
Perform completion or insert space (mh-letter-complete-or-space).
Perform completion on header field or word preceding point
(mh-letter-complete).
Flash alias expansion (mh-letter-confirm-address).
Cycle to next field (mh-letter-next-header-field-or-indent).
Cycle to the previous header field
(mh-letter-previous-header-field).
Display cheat sheet for the MH-E commands (mh-help).
Save draft and send message (mh-send-letter).
Insert fields specified by the given identity
(mh-insert-identity). See Identities.
Compose MIME message from MH-style directives
(mh-mh-to-mime).
Move to ‘Mail-Reply-To:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Bcc:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Cc:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Dcc:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Fcc:’ header field (mh-to-fcc).
Move to ‘Mail-Followup-To:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘From:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Reply-To:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Subject:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘To:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Insert a message (mh-insert-letter).
Add tag to encrypt the message (mh-mml-secure-message-encrypt).
Add tag to forward a message (mh-compose-forward).
Add tag to include anonymous ftp reference to a file
(mh-mh-compose-anon-ftp).
Add tag to include a file such as an image or sound
(mh-compose-insertion).
Compose MIME message from MML tags (mh-mml-to-mime).
Remove any secure message tags (mh-mml-unsecure-message).
Add tag to sign the message (mh-mml-secure-message-sign).
Add tag to include anonymous ftp reference to a compressed tar file
(mh-mh-compose-external-compressed-tar).
Undo effects of C-c C-e (mh-mh-to-mime-undo).
Add tag to refer to a remote file
(mh-mh-compose-external-type).
Add tag to encrypt the message (mh-mml-secure-message-encrypt).
Add tag to encrypt and sign the message
(mh-mml-secure-message-signencrypt).
Add tag to encrypt and sign the message
(mh-mml-secure-message-signencrypt).
Add tag to sign the message (mh-mml-secure-message-sign).
Insert a newline and leave point before it (mh-open-line).
Quit editing and delete draft message (mh-fully-kill-draft).
Insert signature in message (mh-insert-signature).
Toggle display of header field at point
(mh-letter-toggle-header-field-display).
Verify recipients, showing expansion of any aliases
(mh-check-whom).
Insert the current message into the draft buffer
(mh-yank-cur-msg).
Insert custom fields if recipient is found in
mh-auto-fields-list (mh-insert-auto-fields).
See Identities.
Several options from the ‘mh-letter’ customization group are used while editing a draft.
mh-compose-insertion
Type of MIME message tags in messages (default: ‘MML’ if available; otherwise ‘MH’).
mh-compose-skipped-header-fields
List of header fields to skip over when navigating in draft (default:
'("From" "Organization" "References"
"In-Reply-To" "X-Face" "Face"
"X-Image-URL" "X-Mailer").
mh-compose-space-does-completion-flag
On means SPC does completion in message header (default: ‘off’).
mh-delete-yanked-msg-window-flag
On means delete any window displaying the message (default: ‘off’).
mh-extract-from-attribution-verb
Verb to use for attribution when a message is yanked by C-c C-y
(default: "wrote:").
mh-ins-buf-prefix
String to put before each line of a yanked or inserted message
(default: "> ").
mh-letter-complete-function
Function to call when completing outside of address or folder fields
(default: ispell-complete-word).
mh-letter-fill-column
Fill column to use in MH-Letter mode (default: 72).
mh-mml-method-default
Default method to use in security tags (default: ‘PGP (MIME)’ if support for it is available; otherwise ‘None’).
mh-signature-file-name
Source of user’s signature (default: "~/.signature").
mh-signature-separator-flag
On means a signature separator should be inserted (default: ‘on’).
mh-x-face-file
File containing X-Face or Face header field to insert in outgoing mail.
(default: "~/.face").
mh-yank-behavior
Controls which part of a message is yanked by C-c C-y (default: ‘Body With Attribution’).
The following hooks are available.
mail-citation-hook
Hook for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer
(default: nil).
mh-before-send-letter-hook
Hook run at the beginning of the C-c C-c command (default: ‘nil’).
mh-mh-to-mime-hook
Hook run on the formatted letter by C-c C-e (default: ‘nil’).
mh-insert-signature-hook
Hook run by C-c C-s after signature has been inserted (default:
nil).
The following face is available.
mh-letter-header-field
Editable header field value face in draft buffers.
The commands and options introduced here are explained in more detail in the following sections.
| • Editing Message | ||
| • Inserting Letter | ||
| • Inserting Messages | ||
| • Signature | ||
| • Picture | ||
| • Adding Attachments | ||
| • Sending PGP | ||
| • Checking Recipients | ||
| • Sending Message | ||
| • Killing Draft |
Next: Inserting Letter, Up: Editing Drafts [Contents][Index]
Because the header is part of the message, you can edit the header
fields as you wish. However, several convenience commands exist to
help you create and edit them. For example, the command C-c C-f
C-t (mh-to-field; alternatively, C-c C-f t) moves the
cursor to the ‘To:’ header field, creating it if necessary. The
commands for moving to the ‘Cc:’, ‘Subject:’, ‘From:’,
‘Reply-To:’, ‘Mail-Reply-To:’, ‘Mail-Followup-To’,
‘Bcc:’, and ‘Dcc:’ header fields are similar.
One command behaves differently from the others, namely, C-c C-f
C-f (mh-to-fcc; alternatively, C-c C-f f). This command
will prompt you for the folder name in which to file a copy of the
draft. See Folder Selection.
Within the header of the message, the command
TAB
(mh-letter-next-header-field-or-indent) moves between fields
that are highlighted with the face mh-letter-header-field,
skipping those fields listed in
mh-compose-skipped-header-fields. After the last field, this
command then moves point to the message body before cycling back to
the first field. If point is already past the first line of the
message body, then this command indents by calling
indent-relative with the given prefix argument. The command
S-TAB (mh-letter-previous-header-field) moves
backwards between the fields and cycles to the body of the message
after the first field. Unlike the command TAB, it will always
take point to the last field from anywhere in the body.
If the field contains addresses (for example, ‘To:’ or
‘Cc:’) or folders (for example, ‘Fcc:’) then the command
M-TAB (mh-letter-complete) will provide alias
completion (see Aliases). In the body of the message,
M-TAB runs mh-letter-complete-function instead,
which is set to ‘'ispell-complete-word’ by default. The command
M-TAB (mh-letter-complete) takes a prefix argument
that is passed to the mh-letter-complete-function. In addition,
turn on the option mh-compose-space-does-completion-flag to use
the command SPC (mh-letter-complete-or-space) to perform
completion in the header as well; use a prefix argument to specify
more than one space. Addresses are separated by a comma; when you
press the comma, the command mh-letter-confirm-address flashes
the alias expansion in the minibuffer if
mh-alias-flash-on-comma is turned on.
Use the command C-c C-t
mh-letter-toggle-header-field-display to display truncated
header fields. This command is a toggle so entering it again will hide
the field. This command takes a prefix argument: if negative then the
field is hidden, if positive then the field is displayed (for example,
C-u C-c C-t).
Be sure to leave a row of dashes or a blank line between the header and the body of the message.
The body of the message is edited as you would edit any Emacs buffer
although there are a few commands and options to assist you. You can
change the fill column in MH-Letter mode with the option
mh-letter-fill-column. By default, this option is 72 to allow
others to quote your message without line wrapping.
You’ll often include messages that were sent from user agents that
haven’t yet realized that paragraphs consist of more than a single
line. This makes for long lines that wrap in an ugly fashion. You’ll
find that M-q (fill-paragraph) works well even on these
quoted messages, even if they are nested, just as long as all of the
quotes match the value of mh-ins-buf-prefix (see Inserting Letter). For example, let’s assume you have the following in your
draft:
> Hopefully this gives you an idea of what I'm currently doing. I'm \ not sure yet whether I'm completely satisfied with my setup, but \ it's worked okay for me so far.
Running M-q on this paragraph produces:
> Hopefully this gives you an idea of what I'm currently doing. I'm not > sure yet whether I'm completely satisfied with my setup, but it's > worked okay for me so far.
The command C-c C-o (mh-open-line) is similar to the
command C-o (open-line) in that it inserts a newline
after point. It differs in that it also inserts the right number of
quoting characters and spaces so that the next line begins in the same
column as it was. This is useful when breaking up paragraphs in
replies. For example, if this command was used when point was after
the first period in the paragraph above, the result would be this:
> Hopefully this gives you an idea of what I'm currently doing. > I'm not > sure yet whether I'm completely satisfied with my setup, but it's > worked okay for me so far.
Next: Inserting Messages, Previous: Editing Message, Up: Editing Drafts [Contents][Index]
It is often useful to insert a snippet of text from a letter that
someone mailed to provide some context for your reply. The command
C-c C-y (mh-yank-cur-msg) does this by adding an
attribution, yanking a portion of text from the message to which
you’re replying, and inserting mh-ins-buf-prefix (‘> ’)
before each line.
Michael W Thelen <thelenm@stop.mail-abuse.org> wrote: > Hopefully this gives you an idea of what I'm currently doing. I'm not > sure yet whether I'm completely satisfied with my setup, but it's > worked okay for me so far.
The attribution consists of the sender’s name and email address
followed by the content of the option
mh-extract-from-attribution-verb. This option can be set to
‘wrote:’, ‘a écrit:’, and ‘schrieb:’. You can also use
the ‘Custom String’ menu item to enter your own verb.
The prefix "> " is the default setting for the option
mh-ins-buf-prefix. I suggest that you not modify this option
since it is used by many mailers and news readers: messages are far
easier to read if several included messages have all been indented by
the same string. This prefix is not inserted if you use one of the
supercite flavors of mh-yank-behavior or you have added a
mail-citation-hook as described below.
You can also turn on the mh-delete-yanked-msg-window-flag
option to delete the window containing the original message after
yanking it to make more room on your screen for your reply.
You can control how the message to which you are replying is yanked
into your reply using mh-yank-behavior. To include the entire
message, including the entire header, use ‘Body and
Header’3536.
Use ‘Body’ to yank just the body without the header. To yank only
the portion of the message following the point, set this option to
‘Below Point’.
Choose ‘Invoke supercite’37 to pass the entire message and header through supercite.
If the ‘Body With Attribution’ setting is used, then the message
minus the header is yanked and a simple attribution line is added at
the top using the value of the option
mh-extract-from-attribution-verb. This is the default.
If the ‘Invoke supercite’ or ‘Body With Attribution’
settings are used, the ‘-noformat’ argument is passed to the
repl program to override a ‘-filter’ or ‘-format’
argument. These settings also have ‘Automatically’ variants that
perform the action automatically when you reply so that you don’t need
to use C-c C-y at all. Note that this automatic action is only
performed if the show buffer matches the message being replied to.
People who use the automatic variants tend to turn on the option
mh-delete-yanked-msg-window-flag as well so that the show
window is never displayed.
If the show buffer has a region, the option mh-yank-behavior is
ignored unless its value is one of ‘Attribution’ variants in
which case the attribution is added to the yanked region.
If this isn’t enough, you can gain full control over the appearance of
the included text by setting mail-citation-hook to a function
that modifies it. This hook is ignored if the option
mh-yank-behavior is set to one of the supercite flavors.
Otherwise, this option controls how much of the message is passed to
the hook. The function can find the citation between point and mark
and it should leave point and mark around the modified citation text
for the next hook function. The standard prefix
mh-ins-buf-prefix is not added if this hook is set.
For example, if you use the hook function
trivial-cite (which is NOT part of Emacs), set
mh-yank-behavior to ‘Body and Header’.
Next: Signature, Previous: Inserting Letter, Up: Editing Drafts [Contents][Index]
Messages can be inserted with C-c C-i (mh-insert-letter).
This command prompts you for the folder and message number, which
defaults to the current message in that folder. It then inserts the
messages, indented by mh-ins-buf-prefix (‘> ’) unless
mh-yank-behavior is set to one of the supercite flavors in
which case supercite is used to format the message. Certain
undesirable header fields (see
mh-invisible-header-fields-compiled) are removed before
insertion.
If given a prefix argument (like C-u C-c C-i), the header is left intact, the message is not indented, and ‘> ’ is not inserted before each line. This command leaves the mark before the letter and point after it.
Next: Picture, Previous: Inserting Messages, Up: Editing Drafts [Contents][Index]
You can insert your signature at the current cursor location with the
command C-c C-s (mh-insert-signature).
By default, the text of your signature is taken from the file
~/.signature. You can read from other sources by changing the
option mh-signature-file-name. This file may contain a
vCard in which case an attachment is added with the vCard.
The option mh-signature-file-name may also be a symbol, in
which case that function is called. You may not want a signature
separator to be added for you; instead you may want to insert one
yourself. Options that you may find useful to do this include
mh-signature-separator (when inserting a signature separator)
and mh-signature-separator-regexp (for finding said separator).
The function mh-signature-separator-p, which reports t
if the buffer contains a separator, may be useful as well.
A signature separator ("-- ") will be added if the signature
block does not contain one and mh-signature-separator-flag is
on. It is not recommended that you change this option since various
mail user agents, including MH-E, use the separator to present the
signature differently, and to suppress the signature when replying or
yanking a letter into a draft.
The hook mh-insert-signature-hook is run after the signature is
inserted. Hook functions may access the actual name of the file or the
function used to insert the signature with
mh-signature-file-name.
The signature can also be inserted using Identities. See Identities.
Next: Adding Attachments, Previous: Signature, Up: Editing Drafts [Contents][Index]
You can insert your picture in the header of your mail message so that
recipients see your face in the ‘From:’ header field if their
mail user agent is sophisticated enough. In MH-E, this is done by
placing your image in the file named by the option
mh-x-face-file which is ~/.face by default.
If the file starts with either of the strings ‘X-Face:’, ‘Face:’ or ‘X-Image-URL:’ then the contents are added to the message header verbatim. Otherwise it is assumed that the file contains the value of the ‘X-Face:’ header field.
The ‘X-Face:’ header field, which is a low-resolution, black and
white image, can be generated using the
compface command. The Online X-Face Converter is a useful resource for quick
conversion of images into ‘X-Face:’ header fields.
Use the make-face script to convert a JPEG image to the higher
resolution, color, ‘Face:’ header field.
The URL of any image can be used for the ‘X-Image-URL:’ field and no processing of the image is required.
To prevent the setting of any of these header fields, either set
mh-x-face-file to nil, or simply ensure that the file
defined by this option doesn’t exist.
See Viewing, to see how these header fields are displayed in MH-E.
Next: Sending PGP, Previous: Picture, Up: Editing Drafts [Contents][Index]
MH-E has the capability to create multimedia messages. It uses the MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) protocol38 The MIME protocol allows you to incorporate images, sound, video, binary files, and even commands that fetch a file with ‘ftp’ when your recipient reads the message!
If you were to create a multimedia message with plain MH commands, you
would insert mhbuild or mhn directives (henceforth
called MH-style directives into your draft and use the
mhbuild command in nmh or mhn command in MH and
GNU mailutils to expand them. MH-E works in much the same way,
although it provides a handful of commands prefixed with C-c C-m
to insert the directives so you don’t need to remember the syntax of
them. Remember: you can always add MH-style directives by
hand39.
In addition to MH-style directives, MH-E also supports MML (MIME
Meta Language) tags40. The option mh-compose-insertion can be used to choose
between them. By default, this option is set to ‘MML’ if it is
supported since it provides a lot more functionality. This option can
also be set to ‘MH’ if MH-style directives are preferred.
The MH-E MIME commands require a media type for each body part or attachment. For example, a PDF document is of type ‘application/pdf’ and an HTML document is of type ‘text/html’. Some commands fill in the media type for you, whereas others require you to enter one.
In the cases where MH-E can do so, it will determine the media type
automatically. It uses the file command to do this. Failing
that, the Emacs function mailcap-mime-types is used to provide
a list from which to choose. This function usually reads the file
/etc/mime.types.
Whether the media type is chosen automatically, or you choose it from a list, use the type that seems to match best the file that you are including. In the case of binaries, the media type ‘application/x-executable’ can be useful. If you can’t find an appropriate media type, use ‘text/plain’ for text messages and ‘application/octet-stream’ for everything else.
You are also sometimes asked for a content description. This is simply an optional brief phrase, in your own words, that describes the object. If you don’t care to enter a content description, just press return and none will be included; however, a reader may skip over multimedia fields unless the content description is compelling.
You can also create your own MIME body parts. In the following example, I describe how you can create and edit a ‘text/enriched’ body part to liven up your plain text messages with boldface, underlining, and italics. I include an Emacs function which inserts enriched text tags.
(defvar enriched-text-types '(("b" . "bold") ("i" . "italic")
("u" . "underline")
("s" . "smaller") ("B" . "bigger")
("f" . "fixed")
("c" . "center"))
"Alist of (final-character . tag) choices for add-enriched-text.
Additional types can be found in RFC 1563.")
(defun add-enriched-text (begin end)
"Add enriched text tags around region.
The tag used comes from the list enriched-text-types and is
specified by the last keystroke of the command. When called from Lisp,
arguments are BEGIN and END."
(interactive "r")
;; Set type to the tag indicated by the last keystroke.
(let ((type (cdr (assoc (char-to-string (logior last-input-char ?`))
enriched-text-types))))
(save-restriction ; restores state from narrow-to-region
(narrow-to-region begin end) ; narrow view to region
(goto-char (point-min)) ; move to beginning of text
(insert "<" type ">") ; insert beginning tag
(goto-char (point-max)) ; move to end of text
(insert "</" type ">")))) ; insert terminating tag
Emacs function for entering enriched text
To use the function add-enriched-text, first add it to
~/.emacs and create key bindings for it (see Composing).
Then, in your plain text message, set the mark with C-@ or C-SPC, type in the text to be highlighted, and type C-c t b. This adds ‘<bold>’ where you set the mark and adds ‘</bold>’ at the location of your cursor, giving you something like: ‘You should be <bold>very</bold>’.
Before sending this message, use C-c C-m C-m
(mh-mml-to-mime)41 to add
MIME header fields. Then replace ‘text/plain’ with
‘text/enriched’ in the ‘Content-Type:’ header field.
You may also be interested in investigating sgml-mode.
Binaries, images, sound, and video can be inserted in your message
with the command C-c C-m C-i (mh-compose-insertion). You
are prompted for the filename containing the object, the media type if
it cannot be determined automatically, and a content description. If
you’re using MH-style directives, you will also be prompted for
additional attributes.
Mail may be forwarded with MIME using the command C-c C-m
C-f (mh-compose-forward). You are prompted for a content
description, the name of the folder in which the messages to forward
are located, and a range of messages, which defaults to the current
message in that folder. See Ranges.
You can have your message initiate an ftp transfer when the
recipient reads the message. To do this, use the command C-c C-m
C-g (mh-mh-compose-anon-ftp). You are prompted for the remote
host and filename, the media type, and the content description.
If the remote file is a compressed tar file, you can use C-c C-m
C-t (mh-mh-compose-external-compressed-tar). Then, in addition
to retrieving the file via anonymous ftp as per the command
C-c C-m C-g (mh-mh-compose-anon-ftp), the file will also
be uncompressed and untarred. You are prompted for the remote host and
filename and the content description.
The command C-c C-m C-x (mh-mh-compose-external-type) is
a general utility for referencing external files. In fact, all of the
other commands that insert tags to access external files call this
command. You are prompted for the access type, remote host and
filename, and content type. If you provide a prefix argument, you are
also prompted for a content description, attributes, parameters, and a
comment.
When you are finished editing a MIME message, it might look like this:
3 t08/24 root received fax files on Wed Aug 24 11:00:
4+t08/24 To:wohler Test<<This is a test message to get the
--:%% {+inbox} 4 msgs (1-4) Bot L4 (MH-Folder Show)---------------
To: wohler
cc:
Subject: Test of MIME
--------
Here is the SETI@Home logo:
<#part type="image/x-xpm" filename="~/lib/images/setiathome.xpm"
disposition=inline description="SETI@home logo">
<#/part>
--:** {draft} All L8 (MH-Letter)----------------------------------
|
MH-E MIME draft
Typically, you send a message with attachments just like any other message (see Sending Message).
However, you may take a sneak preview of the MIME encoding if you
wish by running the command C-c C-m C-m (mh-mml-to-mime).
The following screen shows the MIME encoding specified by the
tags. You can see why mail user agents are usually built to hide these
details from the user.
To: wohler
cc:
Subject: Test of MIME
X-Mailer: MH-E 8.1; nmh 1.1; GNU Emacs 23.1
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="=-=-="
--------
--=-=-=
Here is the SETI@Home logo:
--=-=-=
Content-Type: image/x-xpm
Content-Disposition: inline; filename=setiathome.xpm
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Description: SETI@home logo
LyogWFBNICovCnN0YXRpYyBjaGFyICogc2V0aWF0aG9tZV94cG1bXSA9IHsKIjQ1IDQ1IDc2N
--:-- {draft} Top L1 (MH-Letter)----------------------------------
|
MH-E MIME draft ready to send
This action can be undone by running C-_ (undo).
If you’re using MH-style directives, use C-c C-e
(mh-mh-to-mime) instead of C-c C-m C-m. This runs the
command mhbuild (mhn) on the message which expands
the tags42. This action can be undone by running C-c C-m C-u
(mh-mh-to-mime-undo), which works by reverting to a backup
file. You are prompted to confirm this action, but you can avoid the
confirmation by adding an argument (for example, C-u C-c C-m
C-u).
If you wish to pass additional arguments to mhbuild
(mhn) to affect how it builds your message, use the option
mh-mh-to-mime-args. For example, you can build a consistency
check into the message by setting mh-mh-to-mime-args to
‘-check’. The recipient of your message can then run
‘mhbuild -check’ on the message—mhbuild
(mhn) will complain if the message has been corrupted on the
way. The command C-c C-e only consults this option when given a
prefix argument (as in C-u C-c C-e).
The hook mh-mh-to-mime-hook is called after the message has
been formatted by C-c C-e.
Next: Checking Recipients, Previous: Adding Attachments, Up: Editing Drafts [Contents][Index]
MH-E can sign and encrypt messages as defined in RFC 3156. If you should choose to sign or encrypt your message, use one of the following commands to do so any time before sending your message.
The command C-c C-m C-s (mh-mml-secure-message-sign)
inserts the following tag:
<#secure method=pgpmime mode=sign>
This is used to sign your message digitally. Likewise, the command
C-c C-m C-e (mh-mml-secure-message-encrypt) inserts the
following tag:
<#secure method=pgpmime mode=encrypt>
This is used to encrypt your message. Finally, the command C-c
C-m s e (mh-mml-secure-message-signencrypt) inserts the
following tag:
<#secure method=pgpmime mode=signencrypt>
This is used to sign and encrypt your message. In each of these cases,
a proper multipart message is created for you when you send the
message. Use the command C-c C-m C-n
(mh-mml-unsecure-message) to remove these tags. Use a prefix
argument (as in C-u C-c C-m s e) to be prompted for one of the
possible security methods (see mh-mml-method-default).
The option mh-mml-method-default is used to select between a
variety of mail security mechanisms. The default is ‘PGP (MIME)’
if it is supported; otherwise, the default is ‘None’. Other
mechanisms include vanilla ‘PGP’ and ‘S/MIME’.
Next: Sending Message, Previous: Sending PGP, Up: Editing Drafts [Contents][Index]
The command C-c C-w (mh-check-whom) expands aliases so
you can check the actual address(es) in the alias. A new buffer named
*MH-E Recipients* is created with the output of whom
(see Miscellaneous)43.
Next: Killing Draft, Previous: Checking Recipients, Up: Editing Drafts [Contents][Index]
When you are all through editing a message, you send it with the
command C-c C-c (mh-send-letter). You can give a prefix
argument (as in C-u C-c C-c) to monitor the first stage of the
delivery; this output can be found in a buffer called *MH-E Mail
Delivery* (see Miscellaneous).
The hook mh-before-send-letter-hook is run at the beginning of
the command C-c C-c. For example, if you want to check your
spelling in your message before sending, add the function
ispell-message.
In case the MH send program44 is installed under a different name, use
mh-send-prog to tell MH-E the name.
The hook mh-annotate-msg-hook is run after annotating the
message and scan line (see Sending Mail).
Previous: Sending Message, Up: Editing Drafts [Contents][Index]
If for some reason you are not happy with the draft, you can use the
command C-c C-q (mh-fully-kill-draft) to kill the draft
buffer and delete the draft message. Use the command C-x k
(kill-buffer) if you don’t want to delete the draft message.
Next: Identities, Previous: Editing Drafts, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
MH aliases are used in the same way in MH-E as they are in MH. Any alias listed as a recipient will be expanded when the message is sent. This chapter discusses other things you can do with aliases in MH-E.
The following commands are available in MH-Letter mode with the
exception of mh-alias-reload which can be called from anywhere.
Perform completion or insert space (mh-letter-complete-or-space).
Perform completion on header field or word preceding point
(mh-letter-complete).
Show all aliases or addresses that match a regular expression.
Add alias for the sender of the current message
Reload MH aliases.
The ‘mh-alias’ customization group contains options associated with aliases.
mh-alias-completion-ignore-case-flag
On means don’t consider case significant in MH alias completion (default: ‘on’).
mh-alias-expand-aliases-flag
On means to expand aliases entered in the minibuffer (default: ‘off’).
mh-alias-flash-on-comma
Specify whether to flash address or warn on translation (default: ‘Flash but Don't Warn If No Alias’).
mh-alias-insert-file
Filename used to store a new MH-E alias (default: ‘Use Aliasfile Profile Component’).
mh-alias-insertion-location
Specifies where new aliases are entered in alias files (default: ‘Alphabetical’).
mh-alias-local-users
If ‘on’, local users are added to alias completion (default: ‘on’).
mh-alias-local-users-prefix
String prefixed to the real names of users from the password file
(default: "local.".
mh-alias-passwd-gecos-comma-separator-flag
On means the GECOS field in the password file uses a comma separator (default: ‘on’).
The following hook is available.
mh-alias-reloaded-hook
Hook run by mh-alias-reload after loading aliases (default:
nil).
You can use aliases when you are adding recipients to a message.
In order to use minibuffer prompting for recipients and the subject
line in the minibuffer, turn on the option
mh-compose-prompt-flag (see Composing), and use the
TAB (minibuffer-complete) command to complete aliases
(and optionally local logins) when prompted for the recipients. Turn
on the option mh-alias-expand-aliases-flag if you want these
aliases to be expanded to their respective addresses in the draft.
Otherwise, you can complete aliases in the header of the draft with
M-TAB (mh-letter-complete) or SPC
(mh-letter-complete-or-space).
As MH ignores case in the aliases, so too does MH-E. However, you may
turn off the option mh-alias-completion-ignore-case-flag to
make case significant which can be used to segregate completion of
your aliases. You might use uppercase for mailing lists and lowercase
for people. For example, you might have:
mark.baushke: Mark Baushke <mdb@stop.mail-abuse.org> MH-E: MH-E Mailing List <mh-e-devel@stop.mail-abuse.org>
When this option is turned off, if you were to type M in the ‘To:’ field and then M-TAB, then you’d get the list; if you started with m and then entered M-TAB, then you’d get Mark’s address. Note that this option affects completion only. If you were to enter Mark.Baushke, it would still be identified with your ‘mark.baushke’ alias.
To verify that the alias you’ve entered is valid, the alias will be
displayed in the minibuffer when you type a comma
(mh-letter-confirm-address or
mh-alias-minibuffer-confirm-address if the option
mh-compose-prompt-flag is turned on). See Composing. This
behavior can be controlled with the option
mh-alias-flash-on-comma which provides three choices:
‘Flash but Don't Warn If No Alias’, ‘Flash and Warn If No
Alias’, and ‘Don't Flash Nor Warn If No Alias’.
For another way to verify the alias expansion, see Checking Recipients.
MH-E loads aliases for completion and folder name hints from various
places. It uses the MH command ali45 to
read aliases from the files listed in the profile component
‘Aliasfile:’ as well as system-wide aliases (for example,
/etc/nmh/MailAliases).
In addition, aliases are created from /etc/passwd entries with a user ID larger than a magical number, typically 200. This can be a handy tool on a machine where you and co-workers exchange messages. These aliases have the form ‘local.first.last’ if a real name is present in the password file. Otherwise, the alias will have the form ‘local.login’.
The prefix ‘local.’ can be modified via the option
mh-alias-local-users-prefix. This option can also be set to
‘Use Login’.
For example, consider the following password file entry:
psg:x:1000:1000:Peter S Galbraith,,,:/home/psg:/bin/tcsh
The following settings of option mh-alias-local-users-prefix
will produce the associated aliases:
"local."local.peter.galbraith
""peter.galbraith
Use Loginpsg
In the example above, commas are used to separate different values
within the so-called GECOS field. This is a fairly common usage.
However, in the rare case that the GECOS field in your password file
is not separated by commas and whose contents may contain commas, you
can turn the option mh-alias-passwd-gecos-comma-separator-flag
off.
If you’re on a system with thousands of users you don’t know, and the
loading of local aliases slows MH-E down noticeably, then the local
alias feature can be disabled by turning off the option
mh-alias-local-users. This option also takes a string which is
executed to generate the password file. For example, use ‘ypcat
passwd’ to obtain the NIS password file.
Since aliases are updated frequently, MH-E reloads aliases
automatically whenever an alias lookup occurs if an alias source has
changed. However, you can reload your aliases manually by calling the
command M-x mh-alias-reload directly. This command runs
mh-alias-reloaded-hook after the aliases have been loaded.
In the past, you have manually added aliases to your alias file(s) listed in your ‘Aliasfile:’ profile component. MH-E provides other methods for maintaining your alias file(s).
You can use the M-x mh-alias-add-alias command which will prompt you for the alias and address that you would like to add. If the alias exists already, you will have the choice of inserting the new alias before or after the old alias. In the former case, this alias will be used when sending mail to this alias. In the latter case, the alias serves as an additional folder name hint when filing messages (see Folder Selection).
Earlier, the alias prefix ‘local’ was presented. You can use other prefixes to organize your aliases or disambiguate entries. You might use prefixes for locales, jobs, or activities. For example, I have:
; Work attensity.don.mitchell: Don Mitchell <dmitchell@stop.mail-abuse.com> isharp.don.mitchell: Don Mitchell <donaldsmitchell@stop.mail-abuse.com> ... ; Sport diving.ken.mayer: Ken Mayer <kmayer@stop.mail-abuse.com> sailing.mike.maloney: Mike Maloney <mmaloney@stop.mail-abuse.com> ... ; Personal ariane.kolkmann: Ariane Kolkmann <ArianeKolkmann@stop.mail-abuse.com> ...
Using prefixes instead of postfixes helps you explore aliases during completion. If you forget the name of an old dive buddy, you can enter ‘div’ and then SPC to get a listing of all your dive buddies.
An alias for the sender of the current message is added automatically by clicking on the ‘Grab From alias’ tool bar button or by running the M-x mh-alias-grab-from-field command. Aliases for other recipients of the current message are added by placing your cursor over the desired recipient and giving the M-x mh-alias-add-address-under-point command.
The options mh-alias-insert-file and
mh-alias-insertion-location controls how and where these aliases
are inserted.
The default setting of option mh-alias-insert-file is ‘Use
Aliasfile Profile Component’. This option can also hold the name of a
file or a list a file names. If this option is set to a list of file
names, or the ‘Aliasfile:’ profile component contains more than
one file name, MH-E will prompt for one of them.
The option mh-alias-insertion-location is set to
‘Alphabetical’ by default. If you organize your alias file in
other ways, then the settings ‘Top’ and ‘Bottom’ might be
more appropriate.
If you can’t quite remember an alias, you can use M-x mh-alias-apropos to show all aliases or addresses that match a regular expression (see the section Syntax of Regular Expressions in The GNU Emacs Manual).
MH-E supports the concept of multiple personalities or identities. This means that you can easily have a different header and signature at home and at work.
A couple of commands are used to insert identities in MH-Letter mode which are also found in the ‘Identity’ menu.
Insert fields specified by given identity (mh-insert-identity).
Insert custom fields if recipient found in mh-auto-fields-list
(mh-insert-auto-fields).
The ‘mh-identity’ customization group contains the following options.
mh-auto-fields-list
List of recipients for which header lines are automatically inserted
(default: nil).
mh-auto-fields-prompt-flag
On means to prompt before sending if fields inserted (default: ‘on’)
mh-identity-default
Default identity to use when mh-letter-mode is called (default:
‘None’).
mh-identity-handlers
Handler functions for fields in mh-identity-list.
mh-identity-list
List of identities (default: nil).
Some of the common header fields that people change depending on the context are the ‘From:’ and ‘Organization:’ fields, as well as the signature.
This is done by customizing the option mh-identity-list. In the
customization buffer for this option, click on the ‘INS’ button
and enter a label such as ‘Home’ or ‘Work’. Then click on
the ‘INS’ button with the label ‘Add at least one item
below’. The ‘Value Menu’ has the following menu items:
Specify an alternate ‘From:’ header field. You must include a valid email address. A standard format is ‘First Last <login@host.domain>’. If you use an initial with a period, then you must quote your name as in ‘"First I. Last" <login@host.domain>’.
People usually list the name of the company where they work here.
Set any arbitrary header field and value here. Unless the header field is a standard one, precede the name of your field’s label with ‘X-’, as in ‘X-Fruit-of-the-Day:’.
This value overrides the setting of
mh-extract-from-attribution-verb. See Inserting Letter.
Set your signature with this item. You can specify the contents of
mh-signature-file-name, a file, or a function.
See Signature.
Specify a different key to sign or encrypt messages.
You can select the identities you have added via the menu called
‘Identity’ in the MH-Letter buffer. You can also use C-c
C-d (mh-insert-identity). To clear the fields and signature
added by the identity, select the ‘None’ identity.
The ‘Identity’ menu contains two other items to save you from
having to set the identity on every message. The menu item ‘Set
Default for Session’ can be used to set the default identity to the
current identity until you exit Emacs. The menu item ‘Save as
Default’ sets the option mh-identity-default to the current
identity setting. You can also customize the option
mh-identity-default in the usual fashion. If you find that you
need to add another identity, the menu item ‘Customize
Identities’ is available for your convenience.
The option mh-auto-fields-list can also be used to set the
identity depending on the recipient to provide even more control. To
customize mh-auto-fields-list, click on the ‘INS’ button
and enter a regular expression for the recipient’s address
(see the section
Syntax of Regular Expressions in
The GNU Emacs Manual).
Click on the ‘INS’ button with the ‘Add at least one item
below’ label. The ‘Value Menu’ contains the following menu items:
Select an identity from those configured in mh-identity-list.
All of the information for that identity will be added if the
recipient matches.
Insert an ‘Fcc:’ header field with the folder you provide. When you send the message, MH will put a copy of your message in this folder.
Insert an ‘Mail-Followup-To:’ header field with the recipients you provide. If the recipient’s mail user agent supports this header field46, then their replies will go to the addresses listed. This is useful if their replies go both to the list and to you and you don’t have a mechanism to suppress duplicates. If you reply to someone not on the list, you must either remove the ‘Mail-Followup-To:’ field, or ensure the recipient is also listed there so that he receives replies to your reply.
Other header fields may be added using this menu item.
These fields can only be added after the recipient is known. Because
you can continue to add recipients as you edit the draft, MH-E waits
until the message is sent to perform the auto-insertions. This seems
strange at first, but you’ll get used to it. There are two ways to
help you feel that the desired fields are added. The first is the
action when the message is sent: if any fields are added
automatically, you are given a chance to see and to confirm these
fields before the message is actually sent. You can do away with this
confirmation by turning off the option
mh-auto-fields-prompt-flag. The second method is manual: once
the header contains one or more recipients, you may run the command
C-c M-d (mh-insert-auto-fields) or choose the
‘Identity -> Insert Auto Fields’ menu item to insert these fields
manually. However, if you use this command, the automatic insertion
when the message is sent is disabled.
You should avoid using the same header field in
mh-auto-fields-list and mh-identity-list definitions
that may apply to the same message as the result is undefined.
The option mh-identity-handlers is used to change the way that
fields, signatures, and attributions in mh-identity-list are
added. To customize mh-identity-handlers, replace the name of
an existing handler function associated with the field you want to
change with the name of a function you have written. You can also
click on an ‘INS’ button and insert a field of your choice and
the name of the function you have written to handle it.
The ‘Field’ field can be any field that you’ve used in your
mh-identity-list. The special fields ‘:attribution-verb’,
‘:signature’, or ‘:pgg-default-user-id’ are used for the
mh-identity-list choices ‘Attribution Verb’,
‘Signature’, and ‘GPG Key ID’ respectively.
The handler associated with the ‘:default’ field is used when no other field matches.
The handler functions are passed two or three arguments: the field itself (for example, ‘From’), or one of the special fields (for example, ‘:signature’), and the action ‘'remove’ or ‘'add’. If the action is ‘'add’, an additional argument containing the value for the field is given.
Next: Menu Bar, Previous: Identities, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
You can also use the speedbar
(see the section
Speedbar Frames in The GNU Emacs Manual)
to view your folders. To bring up the speedbar, run M-x speedbar
RET. You will see a new frame appear with all of your MH
folders. Folders with unseen messages appear in boldface. Click on a
folder name with mouse-2 to visit that folder in a similar
fashion to the command F v (mh-visit-folder)
(see Folders). Click on the ‘+’ icon to expand and view the
sub-folders of that folder.
The speedbar can be manipulated with the keyboard as well. Use the Emacs navigational keys (like the arrow keys, or C-n) to move the cursor over the desired folder and then use the shortcuts for the menu items listed in the table below.
Visits the selected folder just as if you had used F v
(mh-speed-view).
Expands the selected folder in the speedbar, exposing the children
folders inside it (mh-speed-expand-folder).
Contracts or collapses the selected folder in the speedbar, hiding the
children folders inside it (mh-speed-contract-folder).
Regenerates the list of folders in the speedbar. Run this command if
you’ve added or deleted a folder, or want to update the unseen message
count before the next automatic update (mh-speed-refresh).
You can click on mouse-3 to bring up a context menu that
contains these items. Dismiss the speedbar with C-x 5 0
(delete-frame).
The MH-E speedbar uses the MH command flists47 to generate the list of
folders. The ‘mh-speedbar’ customization group contains the
following option which controls how often the speedbar calls
flists.
mh-speed-update-interval
Time between speedbar updates in seconds (default: 60). Set to 0 to disable automatic update.
You can modify the appearance of the folders in the speedbar by customizing the following faces.
mh-speedbar-folder
Basic folder face.
mh-speedbar-folder-with-unseen-messages
Folder face when folder contains unread messages.
mh-speedbar-selected-folder
Selected folder face.
mh-speedbar-selected-folder-with-unseen-messages
Selected folder face when folder contains unread messages.
For those of you who prefer to mouse and menu instead of using the meta-coke-bottle-bucky keys, MH-E provides menu items for most of its functions. The MH-Folder buffer adds the ‘Folder’, ‘Message’, and ‘Sequence’ menus. The MH-Letter buffer adds the ‘Identity’ and ‘Letter’ menus. The MH-Search buffer adds the ‘Search’ menu. There’s no need to list the actual items here, as you can more easily see them for yourself, and the functions are already described elsewhere in this manual.
For a description of the menu bar, please see the section The Menu Bar in The GNU Emacs Manual.
The Emacs manual describes how to get help for a particular menu item. You can also look up a menu item in the index of this manual in two ways: all of the menu items are listed alphabetically, and you can also browse all of the items under the index entry ‘menu item’.
Emacs also provides a graphical tool bar. For a description of the tool bar, please see the section Tool Bars in The GNU Emacs Manual.
MH-E adds several icons to this tool bar; you can modify the MH-E aspects of the tool bar via the ‘mh-tool-bar’ customization group.
mh-tool-bar-folder-buttons
List of buttons to include in MH-Folder tool bar (default: a checklist too long to list here).
mh-tool-bar-letter-buttons
List of buttons to include in MH-Letter tool bar (default: a checklist too long to list here).
mh-tool-bar-search-function
Function called by the tool bar search button (default:
mh-search).
Icons for some of MH-E’s functions are added to the tool bar.
In either case, you can select which of these functions you’d like to
see by customizing the options mh-tool-bar-folder-buttons and
mh-tool-bar-letter-buttons. As you probably guessed, the former
customizes the tool bar in MH-Folder mode and the latter in MH-Letter
mode. Both of these options present you with a list of functions;
check the functions whose icons you want to see and clear the check
boxes for those you don’t.
The function associated with the searching icon can be set via the
option mh-tool-bar-search-function. By default, this is set to
mh-search. See Searching. You can also choose ‘Other
Function’ from the ‘Value Menu’ and enter a function of your own
choosing.
Earlier, the command F s (mh-search) was introduced which
helps you find messages that lie buried in your folders
(see Folders). This chapter covers this command in more detail.
Several commands are used to compose the search criteria and to start
searching. A couple of them can be found in the ‘Search’ menu.
Display cheat sheet for the MH-E commands (mh-help).
Find messages using mh-search-program
(mh-index-do-search).
Find messages using pick (mh-pick-do-search).
Display cheat sheet for the MH-E commands (mh-help).
Move to ‘Mail-Reply-To:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Bcc:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Cc:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Dcc:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Fcc:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Mail-Followup-To:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘From:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Reply-To:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘Subject:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Move to ‘To:’ header field (mh-to-field).
Another few commands are available in the MH-Folder buffer resulting from a search.
Jump to the next folder marker (mh-index-next-folder).
Jump to the previous folder marker (mh-index-previous-folder).
Visit original folder from where the message at point was found
(mh-index-visit-folder).
There is one option from the ‘mh-search’ customization group used in searching.
mh-search-program
Search program that MH-E shall use (default: ‘Auto-detect’).
The following hook is available.
mh-search-mode-hook
Hook run upon entry to mh-search-mode (default: nil).
The following face is available.
mh-search-folder
Folder heading face in MH-Folder buffers created by searches.
The command F s (mh-search-folder) helps you find
messages in your entire corpus of mail. You can search for messages to
or from a particular person or about a particular subject. In fact,
you can also search for messages containing selected strings in any
arbitrary header field or any string found within the messages.
Out of the box, MH-E uses pick to find messages. With a
little extra effort, you can set an indexing program which rewards you
with extremely quick results. The drawback is that sometimes the index
does not contain the words you’re looking for. You can still use
pick in these situations.
You are prompted for the folder to search. This can be ‘all’ to search all folders. Note that the search works recursively on the listed folder.
Next, an MH-Search buffer appears where you can enter search criteria.
From: To: Cc: Date: Subject: -------- # --:** search-pattern All L7 (MH-Search)--------------------------- Type C-c C-c to search messages, C-c C-p to use pick, C-c ? for help |
Search window
Edit this template by entering your search criteria in an appropriate header field that is already there, or create a new field yourself. If the string you’re looking for could be anywhere in a message, then place the string underneath the row of dashes.
As an example, let’s say that we want to find messages from Ginnean about horseback riding in the Kosciusko National Park (Australia) during January, 1994. Normally we would start with a broad search and narrow it down if necessary to produce a manageable amount of data, but we’ll cut to the chase and create a fairly restrictive set of criteria as follows:
From: ginnean To: Cc: Date: Jan 1994 Subject: -------- horse kosciusko
As with MH-Letter mode, MH-Search provides commands like C-c C-f
C-t (mh-to-field) to help you fill in the blanks.
See Editing Message.
If you find that you do the same thing over and over when editing the
search template, you may wish to bind some shortcuts to keys. This can
be done with the variable mh-search-mode-hook, which is called
when F s is run on a new pattern.
To perform the search, type C-c C-c (mh-index-do-search).
Sometimes you’re searching for text that is either not indexed, or
hasn’t been indexed yet. In this case you can override the default
method with the pick method by running the command C-c C-p
(mh-pick-do-search).
The messages that are found are put in a temporary sub-folder of
‘+mhe-index’ and are displayed in an MH-Folder buffer. This
buffer is special because it displays messages from multiple folders;
each set of messages from a given folder has a heading with the folder
name. The appearance of the heading can be modified by customizing the
face mh-search-folder. You can jump back and forth between the
headings using the commands TAB
(mh-index-next-folder) and S-TAB
(mh-index-previous-folder).
In addition, the command v (mh-index-visit-folder) can be
used to visit the folder of the message at point. Initially, only the
messages that matched the search criteria are displayed in the folder.
While the temporary buffer has its own set of message numbers, the
actual messages numbers are shown in the visited folder. Thus, the
command v is useful to find the actual message number of an
interesting message, or to view surrounding messages with the command
F r mh-rescan-folder. See Folders.
Because this folder is temporary, you’ll probably get in the habit of
killing it when you’re done with F k (mh-kill-folder).
See Folders.
You can regenerate the results by running F s with a prefix argument.
Note: This command uses an ‘X-MHE-Checksum:’ header field to
cache the MD5 checksum of a message. This means that if an incoming
message already contains an ‘X-MHE-Checksum:’ field, that message
might not be found by this command. The following procmail
recipe avoids this problem by renaming the existing header field:
:0 wf | formail -R "X-MHE-Checksum" "X-Old-MHE-Checksum"
See Limits, for an alternative interface to searching.
The command F s (mh-search) runs the command defined by
the option mh-search-program. The default value is
‘Auto-detect’ which means that MH-E will automatically choose one
of swish++, swish-e, mairix,
namazu, pick and grep in that order. If,
for example, you have both swish++ and mairix
installed and you want to use mairix, then you can set this
option to ‘mairix’.
The following sub-sections describe how to set up the various indexing programs to use with MH-E.
In the examples below, replace /home/user/Mail with the path to your MH directory.
First create the directory /home/user/Mail/.swish++. Then create the file /home/user/Mail/.swish++/swish++.conf with the following contents:
IncludeMeta Bcc Cc Comments Content-Description From Keywords IncludeMeta Newsgroups Resent-To Subject To IncludeMeta Message-Id References In-Reply-To IncludeFile Mail * IndexFile /home/user/Mail/.swish++/swish++.index
Use the following command line to generate the swish index. Run this daily from cron:
find /home/user/Mail -path /home/user/Mail/mhe-index -prune \
-o -path /home/user/Mail/.swish++ -prune \
-o -name "[0-9]*" -print \
| index -c /home/user/Mail/.swish++/swish++.conf -
This command does not index the folders that hold the results of your searches in ‘+mhe-index’ since they tend to be ephemeral and the original messages are indexed anyway.
On some systems (Debian GNU/Linux, for example), use index++
instead of index.
In the examples below, replace /home/user/Mail with the path to your MH directory.
First create the directory /home/user/Mail/.swish. Then create the file /home/user/Mail/.swish/config with the following contents:
DefaultContents TXT* IndexDir /home/user/Mail IndexFile /home/user/Mail/.swish/index IndexName "Mail Index" IndexDescription "Mail Index" IndexPointer "https://nowhere" IndexAdmin "nobody" #MetaNames automatic IndexReport 3 FollowSymLinks no UseStemming no IgnoreTotalWordCountWhenRanking yes WordCharacters abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789- BeginCharacters abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz EndCharacters abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789 IgnoreLimit 50 1000 IndexComments 0 FileRules filename contains \D FileRules pathname contains /home/user/Mail/.swish FileRules pathname contains /home/user/Mail/mhe-index FileRules filename is index
This configuration does not index the folders that hold the results of your searches in ‘+mhe-index’ since they tend to be ephemeral and the original messages are indexed anyway.
If there are any directories you would like to ignore, append lines like the following to config:
FileRules pathname contains /home/user/Mail/scripts
Use the following command line to generate the swish index. Run this daily from cron:
swish-e -c /home/user/Mail/.swish/config
In the examples below, replace ~/Mail with the path to your MH directory.
First create the directory ~/Mail/.mairix. Then create the file ~/Mail/.mairix/config with the following contents:
base=~/Mail # List of folders that should be indexed. 3 dots at the end means there # are subfolders within the folder mh=archive...:inbox:drafts:news:sent:trash mformat=mh database=~/Mail/.mairix/database
Use the following command line to generate the mairix index. Run this daily from cron:
mairix -f ~/Mail/.mairix/config
In the examples below, replace /home/user/Mail with the path to your MH directory.
First create the directory /home/user/Mail/.namazu. Then create the file /home/user/Mail/.namazu/mknmzrc with the following contents:
package conf; # Don't remove this line! $ADDRESS = 'user@localhost'; $ALLOW_FILE = "[0-9]*"; $EXCLUDE_PATH = "^/home/user/Mail/(mhe-index|spam)";
This configuration does not index the folders that hold the results of your searches in ‘+mhe-index’ since they tend to be ephemeral and the original messages are indexed anyway.
Use the following command line to generate the namazu index. Run this daily from cron:
mknmz -f /home/user/Mail/.namazu/mknmzrc -O /home/user/Mail/.namazu \
-q /home/user/Mail
This search method does not require any setup.
Read pick(1) or the section
Finding Messages with pick in
the MH book to find out more about how to enter the criteria.
This search method does not require any setup.
Unlike the other search methods, this method does not use the
MH-Search buffer. Instead, you simply enter a regular expression in
the minibuffer. For help in constructing regular expressions, see your
man page for grep.
MH-E groups messages by threads which are messages that are part of the same discussion and usually all have the same ‘Subject:’ header field. Other ways to organize messages in a folder include limiting (see Limits) or using full-text indexed searches (see Searching).
A thread begins with a single message called a root. All replies to the same message are siblings of each other. Any message that has replies to it is an ancestor of those replies.
There are several commands that you can use to navigate and operate on threads.
Display cheat sheet for the commands of the current prefix in
minibuffer (mh-prefix-help).
Refile (output) thread into folder (mh-thread-refile).
Delete thread (mh-thread-delete).
Toggle threaded view of folder (mh-toggle-threads).
Display next sibling (mh-thread-next-sibling).
Display previous sibling (mh-thread-previous-sibling).
Display ancestor of current message (mh-thread-ancestor).
The ‘mh-thread’ customization group contains one option.
mh-show-threads-flag
On means new folders start in threaded mode (default: ‘off’).
Threading large number of messages can be time consuming so the option
mh-show-threads-flag is turned off by default. If you turn on
this option, then threading will be done only if the number of
messages being threaded is less than mh-large-folder. In any
event, threading can be turned on (and off) with the command T t
(mh-toggle-threads).
There are a few commands to help you navigate threads. If you do not
care for the way a particular thread has turned, you can move up the
chain of messages with the command T u
(mh-thread-ancestor. At any point you can use T n
(mh-thread-next-sibling or T p
(mh-thread-previous-sibling) to jump to the next or previous
sibling, skipping the sub-threads. The command T u can also take
a prefix argument to jump to the message that started everything.
There are threaded equivalents for the commands that delete and refile
messages. For example, T o (mh-thread-refile) refiles the
current message and all its children. Similarly, the command T d
(mh-thread-delete) deletes the current message and all its
children. These commands do not refile or delete sibling messages.
See Navigating, for a description of the similar command k
(mh-delete-subject-or-thread).
If you find that threading is too slow, it may be that you have
mh-large-folder set too high. Also, threading is one of the few
features of MH-E that really benefits from compiling. If you haven’t
compiled MH-E, I encourage you to do so48.
Another way to organize messages in a folder besides threading (see Threading) or using full-text indexed searches (see Searching) is by limiting the folder display to messages that are similar to the current message.
Display cheat sheet for the commands of the current prefix in
minibuffer (mh-prefix-help).
Limit to messages in the ‘tick’ sequence
(mh-narrow-to-tick).
Limit to messages with the same ‘Cc:’ field
(mh-narrow-to-cc).
Limit to messages with the same ‘From:’ field
(mh-narrow-to-from).
Limit to range (mh-narrow-to-range).
Limit to messages with the same ‘Subject:’ field
(mh-narrow-to-subject).
Limit to messages with the same ‘To:’ field
(mh-narrow-to-to).
Remove last restriction (mh-widen).
All of the limiting commands above refine the display in some way.
The commands / c (mh-narrow-to-cc), / m
(mh-narrow-to-from), / s (mh-narrow-to-subject),
and / t (mh-narrow-to-to) restrict the display to
messages matching the content of the respective field in the current
message. However, you can give any of these a prefix argument to edit
the pick expression used to narrow the view49.
You can also limit the display to messages in the ‘tick’ sequence
with the command / ' (mh-narrow-to-tick).
See Sequences, for information on putting message into the
‘tick’ sequence. Use the / g (mh-narrow-to-range)
command to limit the display to messages in a range (see Ranges).
Each limit can be undone in turn with the / w (mh-widen)
command. Give this command a prefix argument to remove all limits.
For the whole scoop on MH sequences, refer to ‘mh-sequence’(5)50. As you’ve read, several of the MH-E commands can operate on a sequence, which is a shorthand for a range or group of messages. For example, you might want to forward several messages to a friend or colleague. Here’s how to manipulate sequences. These commands are also available in the ‘Sequence’ menu.
Toggle tick mark of range (mh-toggle-tick).
Display cheat sheet for the commands of the current prefix in
minibuffer (mh-prefix-help).
Limit to ticked messages (mh-narrow-to-tick).
Delete range from sequence (mh-delete-msg-from-seq).
Delete sequence (mh-delete-seq).
List all sequences in folder (mh-list-sequences).
Restrict display to messages in sequence (mh-narrow-to-seq).
Add range to sequence (mh-put-msg-in-seq).
Display the sequences in which the current message appears
(mh-msg-is-in-seq).
Remove last restriction (mh-widen).
Flush MH-E’s state out to MH.
The ‘mh-sequences’ customization group contains the options associated with sequences.
mh-refile-preserves-sequences-flag
On means that sequences are preserved when messages are refiled (default: ‘on’).
mh-tick-seq
The name of the MH sequence for ticked messages (default: ‘'tick’).
mh-update-sequences-after-mh-show-flag
On means flush MH sequences to disk after message is shown (default: ‘on’).
mh-allowlist-preserves-sequences-flag
On means that sequences are preserved when messages are allowlisted (default: ‘on’).
The following hook is available.
mh-unseen-updated-hook
Hook run after the unseen sequence has been updated (default: nil).
To place a message in a sequence, use S p
(mh-put-msg-in-seq). Give S p a range and you can add all
the messages in a sequence to another sequence (for example, C-u
S p SourceSequence RET DestSequence RET, see Ranges).
One specific use of the S p command is '
(mh-toggle-tick) which adds messages to the ‘tick’
sequence. This sequence can be viewed later with the F '
(mh-index-ticked-messages) command (see Folders).
You can customize the option mh-tick-seq if you already use the
‘tick’ sequence for your own use. You can also disable all of the
ticking functions by choosing the ‘Disable Ticking’ item but
there isn’t much advantage to that.
Once you’ve placed some messages in a sequence, you may wish to narrow
the field of view to just those messages in the sequence you’ve
created. To do this, use S n (mh-narrow-to-seq). You are
prompted for the name of the sequence. What this does is show only
those messages that are in the selected sequence in the MH-Folder
buffer. In addition, it limits further MH-E searches to just those
messages. To narrow the view to the messages in the ‘tick’
sequence, use S ' (mh-narrow-to-tick). When you want to
widen the view to all your messages again, use S w
(mh-widen).
You can see which sequences in which a message appears with the
command S s (mh-msg-is-in-seq). Use a prefix argument to
display the sequences in which another message appears (as in C-u
42 S s RET). Or, you can list all sequences in a selected
folder (default is current folder) with S l
(mh-list-sequences). The list appears in a buffer named
*MH-E Sequences* (see Miscellaneous).
If a message is in any sequence (except
‘Previous-Sequence:’51 and
‘cur’) when it is refiled, then it will still be in those
sequences in the destination folder. If this behavior is not desired,
then turn off the option mh-refile-preserves-sequences-flag.
If you want to remove a message (or range, see Ranges) from a
sequence, use S d (mh-delete-msg-from-seq). If you want
to delete an entire sequence, use S k (mh-delete-seq). In
the latter case you are prompted for the sequence to delete. Note that
this deletes only the sequence, not the messages in the sequence. If
you want to delete the messages, use C-u d (see Reading Mail).
Three sequences are maintained internally by MH-E and pushed out to MH
when a message is shown. They include the sequence specified by your
‘Unseen-Sequence:’ profile component, ‘cur’, and the
sequence listed by the option mh-tick-seq which is ‘tick’
by default. If you do not like this behavior, turn off the option
mh-update-sequences-after-mh-show-flag. You can then update the
state manually with the x, q, or M-x
mh-update-sequences commands.
The hook mh-unseen-updated-hook is run after the unseen
sequence has been updated. The variable mh-seen-list can be
used by this hook to obtain the list of messages which were removed
from the unseen sequence.
With the exceptions of S n and S w, the underlying MH
command dealing with sequences is mark52.
Next: Miscellaneous, Previous: Sequences, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
Marshall Rose once wrote a paper on MH entitled, How to process 200 messages a day and still get some real work done. This chapter could be entitled, How to process 1000 spams a day and still get some real work done.
We use the terms junk mail and spam interchangeably for any unwanted message which includes spam, viruses, and worms. The opposite of spam is ham. The act of classifying a sender as one who sends junk mail is called blocklisting; the opposite is called allowlisting.
Display cheat sheet for the commands of the current prefix in
minibuffer (mh-prefix-help).
Blocklist range as spam (mh-junk-blocklist).
Allowlist range as ham (mh-junk-allowlist).
mh-spamassassin-identify-spammersIdentify spammers who are repeat offenders.
The following table lists the options from the ‘mh-junk’ customization group.
mh-junk-background
If on, spam programs are run in background (default: ‘off’).
mh-junk-disposition
Disposition of junk mail (default: ‘Delete Spam’).
mh-junk-program
Spam program that MH-E should use (default: ‘Auto-detect’).
The following option in the ‘mh-sequences’ customization group is also available.
mh-allowlist-preserves-sequences-flag
On means that sequences are preserved when messages are allowlisted (default: ‘on’).
The following hooks are available.
mh-blocklist-msg-hook
Hook run by J b (mh-junk-blocklist) after marking each
message for blocklisting (default: nil).
mh-allowlist-msg-hook
Hook run by J a (mh-junk-allowlist) after marking each
message for allowlisting (default ‘nil’).
The following faces are available.
mh-folder-blocklisted
Blocklisted message face.
mh-folder-allowlisted
Allowlisted message face
MH-E depends on SpamAssassin, bogofilter, or SpamProbe to throw the dreck away. This chapter describes briefly how to configure these programs to work well with MH-E and how to use MH-E’s interface that provides continuing education for these programs.
The default setting of the option mh-junk-program is
‘Auto-detect’ which means that MH-E will automatically choose one
of SpamAssassin, bogofilter, or SpamProbe in that order. If, for
example, you have both SpamAssassin and bogofilter installed and you
want to use bogofilter, then you can set this option to
‘Bogofilter’.
The command J b (mh-junk-blocklist) trains the spam
program in use with the content of the range (see Ranges) and then
handles the message(s) as specified by the option
mh-junk-disposition. By default, this option is set to
‘Delete Spam’ but you can also specify the name of the folder
which is useful for building a corpus of spam for training purposes.
In contrast, the command J a (mh-junk-allowlist)
reclassifies a range of messages (see Ranges) as ham if it were
incorrectly classified as spam. It then refiles the message into the
+inbox folder.
If a message is in any sequence (except ‘Previous-Sequence:’ and
‘cur’) when it is allowlisted, then it will still be in those
sequences in the destination folder. If this behavior is not desired,
then turn off the option mh-allowlist-preserves-sequences-flag.
By default, the programs are run in the foreground, but this can be
slow when junking large numbers of messages. If you have enough memory
or don’t junk that many messages at the same time, you might try
turning on the option mh-junk-background. 53
The following sections discuss the various counter-spam measures that MH-E can work with.
SpamAssassin is one of the more popular spam filtering programs. Get it from your local distribution or from the SpamAssassin web site.
To use SpamAssassin, add the following recipes to ~/.procmailrc:
PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin/mh MAILDIR=$HOME/`mhparam Path` # Fight spam with SpamAssassin. :0fw | spamc # Anything with a spam level of 10 or more is junked immediately. :0: * ^X-Spam-Level: .......... /dev/null :0: * ^X-Spam-Status: Yes spam/.
If you don’t use spamc, use ‘spamassassin -P -a’.
Note that one of the recipes above throws away messages with a score greater than or equal to 10. Here’s how you can determine a value that works best for you.
First, run ‘spamassassin -t’ on every mail message in your
archive and use gnumeric to verify that the average plus the
standard deviation of good mail is under 5, the SpamAssassin default
for “spam”.
Using gnumeric, sort the messages by score and view the
messages with the highest score. Determine the score which encompasses
all of your interesting messages and add a couple of points to be
conservative. Add that many dots to the ‘X-Spam-Level:’ header
field above to send messages with that score down the drain.
In the example above, messages with a score of 5–9 are set aside in the ‘+spam’ folder for later review. The major weakness of rules-based filters is a plethora of false positives so it is worthwhile to check.
If SpamAssassin classifies a message incorrectly, or is unsure, you can
use the MH-E commands J b (mh-junk-blocklist) and
J a (mh-junk-allowlist).
The command J b (mh-junk-blocklist) adds a
‘blacklist_from’ entry to ~/spamassassin/user_prefs,
deletes the message, and sends the message to the Razor, so that
others might not see this spam. If the sa-learn command is
available, the message is also recategorized as spam.
The commandJ a (mh-junk-allowlist) adds a
‘whitelist_from’ rule to ‘~/.spamassassin/user_prefs’. If
the sa-learn command is available, the message is also
recategorized as ham.
Over time, you’ll observe that the same host or domain occurs
repeatedly in the ‘blacklist_from’ entries, so you might think
that you could avoid future spam by blocklisting all mail from a
particular domain. The utility function
mh-spamassassin-identify-spammers helps you do precisely that.
This function displays a frequency count of the hosts and domains in
the ‘blacklist_from’ entries from the last blank line in
~/.spamassassin/user_prefs to the end of the file. This
information can be used so that you can replace multiple
‘blacklist_from’ entries with a single wildcard entry such as:
blacklist_from *@*amazingoffersdirect2u.com
In versions of SpamAssassin (2.50 and on) that support a Bayesian
classifier, J b (mh-junk-blocklist) uses the program
sa-learn to recategorize the message as spam. Neither MH-E,
nor SpamAssassin, rebuilds the database after adding words, so you
will need to run ‘sa-learn --rebuild’ periodically. This can be
done by adding the following to your crontab:
0 * * * * sa-learn --rebuild > /dev/null 2>&1
Bogofilter is a Bayesian spam filtering program. Get it from your local distribution or from the bogofilter web site.
Bogofilter is taught by running:
bogofilter -n < good-message
on every good message, and
bogofilter -s < spam-message
on every spam message. This is called a full training; three other training methods are described in the FAQ that is distributed with bogofilter. Note that most Bayesian filters need 1000 to 5000 of each type of message to start doing a good job.
To use bogofilter, add the following recipes to ~/.procmailrc:
PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin/mh MAILDIR=$HOME/`mhparam Path` # Fight spam with Bogofilter. :0fw | bogofilter -3 -e -p :0: * ^X-Bogosity: Yes, tests=bogofilter spam/. :0: * ^X-Bogosity: Unsure, tests=bogofilter spam/unsure/.
If bogofilter classifies a message incorrectly, or is unsure, you can
use the MH-E commands J b (mh-junk-blocklist) and
J a (mh-junk-allowlist) to update bogofilter’s training.
The Bogofilter FAQ suggests that you run the following occasionally to shrink the database:
bogoutil -d wordlist.db | bogoutil -l wordlist.db.new mv wordlist.db wordlist.db.prv mv wordlist.db.new wordlist.db
The Bogofilter tuning HOWTO describes how you can fine-tune bogofilter.
SpamProbe is a Bayesian spam filtering program. Get it from your local distribution or from the SpamProbe web site.
To use SpamProbe, add the following recipes to ~/.procmailrc:
PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin/mh MAILDIR=$HOME/`mhparam Path` # Fight spam with SpamProbe. :0 SCORE=| spamprobe receive :0 wf | formail -I "X-SpamProbe: $SCORE" :0: *^X-SpamProbe: SPAM spam/.
If SpamProbe classifies a message incorrectly, you can use the MH-E
commands J b (mh-junk-blocklist) and J a
(mh-junk-allowlist) to update SpamProbe’s training.
There are a couple of things that you can add to ~/.procmailrc in order to filter out a lot of spam and viruses. The first is to eliminate any message with a Windows executable (which is most likely a virus). The second is to eliminate mail in character sets that you can’t read.
PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin/mh MAILDIR=$HOME/`mhparam Path` # # Filter messages with w32 executables/virii. # # These attachments are base64 and have a TVqQAAMAAAAEAAAA//8AALg # pattern. The string "this program cannot be run in MS-DOS mode" # encoded in base64 is 4fug4AtAnNIbg and helps to avoid false # positives (Roland Smith via Pete from the bogofilter mailing list). # :0 B: * ^Content-Transfer-Encoding:.*base64 * ^TVqQAAMAAAAEAAAA//8AALg * 4fug4AtAnNIbg spam/exe/. # # Filter mail in unreadable character sets (from the Bogofilter FAQ). # UNREADABLE='[^?"]*big5|iso-2022-jp|ISO-2022-KR|euc-kr|gb2312|ks_c_5601-1987' :0: * 1^0 $ ^Subject:.*=\?($UNREADABLE) * 1^0 $ ^Content-Type:.*charset="?($UNREADABLE) spam/unreadable/. :0: * ^Content-Type:.*multipart * B ?? $ ^Content-Type:.*^?.*charset="?($UNREADABLE) spam/unreadable/.
Next: Scan Line Formats, Previous: Junk, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
This chapter covers the following command and the various MH-E buffers,
mh-version
Display version information about MH-E and the MH mail handling system.
One command worth noting is M-x mh-version. You can compare the version this command prints to the latest release (see Getting MH-E). The output of M-x mh-version, found in a buffer named *MH-E Info*, should usually be included with any bug report you submit (see Bug Reports).
Besides the MH-Folder, MH-Show, and MH-Letter buffers, MH-E creates several other buffers. They are:
This buffer contains the output of F l (mh-list-folders).
See Folders.
This buffer contains the output of ? (mh-help) and
C-c ? in MH-Letter mode. See Using This Manual.
This buffer contains the output of M-x mh-version RET.
This buffer contains the last 100 lines of the output of the various MH commands.
This buffer contains the transcript of a mail delivery. See Sending Message.
This buffer contains the output of C-c C-w
(mh-check-whom) and is killed when draft is sent.
See Checking Recipients.
This buffer contains the output of S l
(mh-list-sequences). See Sequences.
This is a scratch, ephemeral, buffer used by MH-E functions. Note that it is hidden because the first character in the name is a space. You’ll generally not have any need for this buffer.
Next: Procmail, Previous: Miscellaneous, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
This appendix discusses how MH-E creates, parses, and manipulates scan lines. If you have your own MH scan or inc format files, you can teach MH-E how to handle them, but it isn’t easy as you’ll see.
This table lists the options in the ‘mh-scan-line-formats’ customization group.
mh-adaptive-cmd-note-flag
On means that the message number width is determined dynamically (default: ‘on’).
mh-scan-format-file
Specifies the format file to pass to the scan program (default: ‘Use MH-E scan Format’).
mh-scan-prog
Program used to scan messages (default: "scan").
There are a couple of caveats when creating your own scan format file.
First, MH-E will not work if your scan lines do not include message
numbers. It will work poorly if you don’t dedicate a column for
showing the current message and notations. It is also best to keep the
first column empty to make room for the cursor and so that text isn’t
obscured by the current message’s overlay arrow when running in a
terminal. You won’t be able to use the option
mh-adaptive-cmd-note-flag or the threading features
(see Threading).
If you’ve created your own format to handle long message numbers,
you’ll be pleased to know you no longer need it since MH-E adapts its
internal format based upon the largest message number if
mh-adaptive-cmd-note-flag is on (the default). If you prefer
fixed-width message numbers, turn off mh-adaptive-cmd-note-flag
and call mh-set-cmd-note with the width specified by your
format file (see mh-scan-format-file). For example, the default
width is 4, so you would use ‘(mh-set-cmd-note 4)’.
The default setting for mh-scan-format-file is ‘Use MH-E
scan Format’. This means that the format string will be taken from
either mh-scan-format-mh or mh-scan-format-nmh depending
on whether MH or nmh (or GNU mailutils MH) is in use. This setting
also enables you to turn on the option
mh-adaptive-cmd-note-flag. You can also set this option to
‘Use Default scan Format’ to get the same output as you would get
if you ran scan from the shell. If you have a format file
that you want MH-E to use but not MH, you can set this option to
‘Specify a scan Format File’ and enter the name of your format
file.
The scan format that MH-E uses when mh-scan-format-file is set
to its default of ‘Use MH-E scan Format’ is held in the variables
mh-scan-format-nmh and mh-scan-format-mh depending on
whether you are using nmh (or GNU mailutils MH) or not. Typically, you
create your own format files rather than modifying these variables.
The value of mh-scan-format-nmh is:
(concat
"%4(msg)"
"%<(cur)+%| %>"
"%<{replied}-"
"%?(nonnull(comp{to}))%<(mymbox{to})t%>"
"%?(nonnull(comp{cc}))%<(mymbox{cc})c%>"
"%?(nonnull(comp{bcc}))%<(mymbox{bcc})b%>"
"%?(nonnull(comp{newsgroups}))n%>"
"%<(zero) %>"
"%02(mon{date})/%02(mday{date})%<{date} %|*%>"
"%<(mymbox{from})%<{to}To:%14(decode(friendly{to}))%>%>"
"%<(zero)%17(decode(friendly{from}))%> "
"%(decode{subject})%<{body}<<%{body}%>")
The setting for mh-scan-format-mh is similar, except that MH
doesn’t have the function decode (which is used to decode RFC
2047 encodings).
These strings are passed to the scan program via the
-format argument. The formats are identical to the defaults
except that additional hints for fontification have been added to the
existing notations in the fifth column (remember that in Emacs, the
columns start at 0). The values of the fifth column, in priority
order, are: ‘-’ if the message has been replied to, ‘t’ if
an address in the ‘To:’ field matches one of the mailboxes of the
current user, ‘c’ if the ‘Cc:’ field matches, ‘b’ if
the ‘Bcc:’ field matches, and ‘n’ if a non-empty
‘Newsgroups:’ field is present.
The name of the program that generates a listing of one line per
message is held in mh-scan-prog (default: "scan").
Unless this variable contains an absolute pathname, it is assumed to
be in the mh-progs directory (see Getting Started). You may
link another program to scan (see ‘mh-profile’(5)) to
produce a different type of listing54.
If you change the format of the scan lines you’ll need to tell MH-E
how to parse the new format. As you will see, quite a lot of variables
are involved to do that. Use M-x apropos RET
mh-scan.*regexp RET to obtain a list of these variables. You
will also have to call mh-set-cmd-note if your notations are
not in column 4 (columns in Emacs start with 0). Note that unlike most
of the user options described in this manual, these are variables and
must be set with setq instead of in a customization buffer. For
help with regular expressions, see
section
Syntax of Regular Expressions in The GNU Emacs Manual.
The first variable has to do with pruning out garbage.
mh-scan-valid-regexp
This regular expression describes a valid scan line. This is used to
eliminate error messages that are occasionally produced by
inc55 or scan (default: "^ *[0-9]").
Next, many variables control how the scan lines are parsed.
mh-scan-body-regexp
This regular expression matches the message body fragment. Note that
the default setting of mh-folder-font-lock-keywords expects
this expression to contain at least one parenthesized expression which
matches the body text as in the default of
"\\(<<\\([^\n]+\\)?\\)". If this regular expression is not
correct, the body fragment will not be highlighted with the face
mh-folder-body.
mh-scan-cur-msg-number-regexp
This regular expression matches the current message. It must match
from the beginning of the line. Note that the default setting of
mh-folder-font-lock-keywords expects this expression to contain
at least one parenthesized expression which matches the message number
as in the default of "^\\( *[0-9]+\\+\\).*". This
expression includes the leading space and current message marker
‘+’ within the parenthesis since it looks better to highlight
these items as well. The highlighting is done with the face
mh-folder-cur-msg-number. This regular expression should be
correct as it is needed by non-fontification functions. See also
mh-note-cur.
mh-scan-date-regexp
This regular expression matches a valid date. It must not be
anchored to the beginning or the end of the line. Note that the
default setting of mh-folder-font-lock-keywords expects this
expression to contain only one parenthesized expression which matches
the date field as in the default of
"\\([0-9][0-9]/[0-9][0-9]\\)". If this regular expression is
not correct, the date will not be highlighted with the face
mh-folder-date.
mh-scan-deleted-msg-regexp
This regular expression matches deleted messages. It must match from
the beginning of the line. Note that the default setting of
mh-folder-font-lock-keywords expects this expression to contain
at least one parenthesized expression which matches the message number
as in the default of "^\\( *[0-9]+\\)D". This expression
includes the leading space within the parenthesis since it looks
better to highlight it as well. The highlighting is done with the face
mh-folder-deleted. This regular expression should be correct as
it is needed by non-fontification functions. See also
mh-note-deleted.
mh-scan-good-msg-regexp
This regular expression matches “good” messages. It must match from
the beginning of the line. Note that the default setting of
mh-folder-font-lock-keywords expects this expression to contain
at least one parenthesized expression which matches the message number
as in the default of "^\\( *[0-9]+\\)[^D^0-9]". This
expression includes the leading space within the parenthesis since it
looks better to highlight it as well. The highlighting is done with
the face mh-folder-msg-number. This regular expression should
be correct as it is needed by non-fontification functions.
mh-scan-msg-format-regexp
This regular expression finds the message number width in a scan
format. Note that the message number must be placed in a parenthesized
expression as in the default of "%\\([0-9]*\\)(msg)". This
variable is only consulted if mh-scan-format-file is set to
‘Use MH-E scan Format’.
mh-scan-msg-format-string
This is a format string for the width of the message number in a scan
format. Use ‘0%d’ for zero-filled message numbers. This variable
is only consulted if mh-scan-format-file is set to ‘Use
MH-E scan Format’ (default: "%d").
mh-scan-msg-number-regexp
This regular expression extracts the message number. It must match
from the beginning of the line. Note that the message number must be
placed in a parenthesized expression as in the default of "^ *\\([0-9]+\\)".
mh-scan-msg-overflow-regexp
This regular expression matches overflowed message numbers (default:
"^[?0-9][0-9]").
mh-scan-msg-search-regexp
This regular expression matches a particular message. It is a format
string; use ‘%d’ to represent the location of the message number
within the expression as in the default of "^[^0-9]*%d[^0-9]".
mh-scan-rcpt-regexp
This regular expression specifies the recipient in messages you sent.
Note that the default setting of mh-folder-font-lock-keywords
expects this expression to contain two parenthesized expressions. The
first is expected to match the ‘To:’ that the default scan format
file generates. The second is expected to match the recipient’s name
as in the default of "\\(To:\\)\\(..............\\)". If this
regular expression is not correct, the ‘To:’ string will not be
highlighted with the face mh-folder-to and the recipient will not be
highlighted with the face mh-folder-address.
mh-scan-refiled-msg-regexp
This regular expression matches refiled messages. It must match from
the beginning of the line. Note that the default setting of
mh-folder-font-lock-keywords expects this expression to contain
at least one parenthesized expression which matches the message number
as in the default of "^\\( *[0-9]+\\)\\^". This expression
includes the leading space within the parenthesis since it looks
better to highlight it as well. The highlighting is done with the face
mh-folder-refiled. This regular expression should be correct as
it is needed by non-fontification functions. See also
mh-note-refiled.
mh-scan-sent-to-me-sender-regexp
This regular expression matches messages sent to us. Note that the
default setting of mh-folder-font-lock-keywords expects this
expression to contain at least two parenthesized expressions. The
first should match the fontification hint (see
mh-scan-format-nmh) and the second should match the user name
as in the default of
"^ *[0-9]+.\\([bct]\\).....[ ]*\\(..................\\)".
If this regular expression is not correct, the notation hints will not
be highlighted with the face mh-mh-folder-sent-to-me-hint and
the sender will not be highlighted with the face
mh-folder-sent-to-me-sender.
mh-scan-subject-regexp
This regular expression matches the subject. It must match from the
beginning of the line. Note that the default setting of
‘mh-folder-font-lock-keywords’ expects this expression to contain
at least three parenthesized expressions. The first is expected to
match the ‘Re:’ string, if any, and is highlighted with the face
mh-folder-followup. The second matches an optional bracketed
number after ‘Re:’, such as in ‘Re[2]:’ (and is thus a
sub-expression of the first expression). The third is expected to
match the subject line itself which is highlighted with the face
mh-folder-subject. For example, the default is
"^ *[0-9]+........[ ]*...................
\\([Rr][Ee]\\(\\[[0-9]+\\]\\)?:\\s-*\\)*\\([^<\n]*\\)".
This regular expression should be correct as it is needed by
non-fontification functions. Note that this example is broken up on
two lines for readability, but is actually a single string.
Finally, there are a slew of variables that control how MH-E annotates the scan lines.
mh-cmd-note
Column for notations (default: 4). This variable should be set with
the function mh-set-cmd-note. This variable may be updated
dynamically if mh-adaptive-cmd-note-flag is on. The following
variables contain the notational characters. Note that columns in
Emacs start with 0.
mh-note-copied
Messages that have been copied are marked by this character (default:
?C).
mh-note-cur
The current message (in MH, not in MH-E) is marked by this character
(default: ?+). See also mh-scan-cur-msg-number-regexp.
mh-note-deleted
Messages that have been deleted are marked by this character (default:
?D). See also mh-scan-deleted-msg-regexp.
mh-note-dist
Messages that have been redistributed are marked by this character
(default: ?R).
mh-note-forw
Messages that have been forwarded are marked by this character
(default: ?F).
mh-note-printed
Messages that have been printed are marked by this character (default:
?P).
mh-note-refiled
Messages that have been refiled are marked by this character (default:
?^). See also mh-scan-refiled-msg-regexp.
mh-note-repl
Messages that have been replied to are marked by this character
(default: ?-).
mh-note-seq
Messages in a user-defined sequence are marked by this character
(default: ?%). Messages in the ‘search’ sequence are
marked by this character as well.
For example, let’s say I have the following in scan.format which displays the sender, the subject, and the message number. This format places a ‘+’ after the message number for the current message according to MH; it also uses that column for notations.
%20(decode(friendly{from})) %50(decode{subject}) %4(msg)%<(cur)+%| %>
The first thing you have to do is tell MH-E to use this file.
Customize mh-scan-format-file and set its value to ‘Use
Default scan Format’. If you didn’t get already turn off
mh-adaptive-cmd-note-flag, you’ll need to do that first.
Next, tell MH-E what a valid scan line looks like so that you can at least display the output of scan in your MH-Folder buffer.
(setq mh-scan-valid-regexp "[0-9]+[+D^ ]$")
Now, in order to get rid of the ‘Cursor not pointing to message’ message, you need to tell MH-E how to access the message number. You should also see why MH-E requires that you include a message number in the first place.
(setq mh-scan-msg-number-regexp "^.* \\([0-9]+\\)[+D^ ]$") (setq mh-scan-msg-search-regexp " %d[+D^ ]$")
In order to get the next and previous commands working, add this.
(setq mh-scan-good-msg-regexp "^.* \\([0-9]+\\)[+D^ ]$")
Note that the current message isn’t marked with a ‘+’ when moving between the next and previous messages. Here is the code required to get this working.
(set-mh-cmd-note 76) (setq mh-scan-cur-msg-number-regexp "^.* \\([0-9]+\\)\\+$")
Finally, add the following to delete and refile messages.
(setq mh-scan-deleted-msg-regexp "^.* \\([0-9]+\\)D$") (setq mh-scan-refiled-msg-regexp "^.* \\([0-9]+\\)\\^$")
This is just a bare minimum; it’s best to adjust all of the regular expressions to ensure that MH-E and highlighting perform well.
Next: Odds and Ends, Previous: Scan Line Formats, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
This appendix explains how to use procmail, which can file mail from mailing lists into folders which can then be read easily with MH-E56. Unfortunately, procmail is no longer recommended due to its security vulnerabilities. Some mailing lists have such high traffic that Gnus must be used and I discuss how to use Gnus side-by-side with MH-E.
First, I’ll describe how to put mail from your mailing lists directly
into an MH folder using procmail. First, add the following
to ~/.procmailrc. While the logging variables aren’t strictly
necessary, they are extremely useful.
[1] # Update PATH so procmail can find myrcvstore, rcvstore and mhparam. [2] PATH=$PATH:/usr/lib/mh:/usr/bin/mh:$HOME/bin [3] [4] # Point LOGFILE at the actual log file. [5] LOGFILE=$HOME/.procmail.log [6] [7] # This setting provides just the right amount of information. [8] LOGABSTRACT=all [9] [10] # Uncomment the following line to see how your patterns match. [11] #VERBOSE=yes [12] [13] # Place mail sent to any MH-E mailing list in +mh-e. [14] :0 w: mh-e$LOCKEXT [15] * ^TO.*mh-e-.*@.*sourceforge.net [16] | myrcvstore -create +mh-e
Line 14 creates a lock file in your mail directory based upon the name
of the folder. This is done because rcvstore does not
perform locking. While this lock file will prevent procmail
from writing to a folder concurrently, there is a slight chance that
you might lose a message if you’re performing operations on a folder
at the same time rcvstore is placing a message there. You
have been warned. Now that that disclaimer is out of the way, note
that I’ve been using this set-up for over a decade and haven’t lost
anything to my knowledge57.
Line 16 uses the following script, myrcvstore, to massage the
message as described in the comment and file the message in the given
folder58.
#! /bin/sh # Accepts a message on standard input and passes it through rcvstore # after first passing it through any filters. All arguments are passed # on to rcvstore. # Force the "From user date" to become part of header. One reason this # is done is because the presence of the From field confuses dist so # that dist adds a new header, rather than using the existing header. # Note that this should not be done for any message that goes into a # Gnus incoming file (Gnus will thrown an error) nor should it be # applied to any message that goes to the system mailbox because the # entire mailbox will be incorporated as a single message. formail -c -z -R 'From ' X-Envelope-From: | rcvstore $@
If your version of rcvstore doesn’t add messages to the
‘unseen’ sequence by default, add the following line to your MH
profile:
Unseen-Sequence: unseen
Now view your new messages with the speedbar (see Speedbar) or with
F n (mh-index-new-messages). See Folders.
If you’re on a mailing list that is so voluminous that it is impossible to read every message, it usually better to read the mailing list like a newsgroup in a news reader. Emacs has a built-in newsreader called Gnus. The remainder of this appendix talks about how to use Gnus with an MH message store.
This table contains a list of Gnus options that you will have to modify. Note that for them to become accessible, you’ll have to load nnml.el first. This can be done with M-x load-library RET nnml RET.
gnus-secondary-select-methods
Select the ‘nnml’ value. This select method uses directories for folders and individual files for messages, just like MH. You do not have to set an address.
mail-sources
Select the ‘Several files in a directory’ value, check the ‘Path’ box and enter ~/Mail to tell Gnus where to find your mail.
message-mail-user-agent
In order to send mail within Gnus using MH-E, set this option to
‘mail-user-agent’ and set the mail-user-agent option to
‘Emacs interface to MH’.
nnmail-keep-last-article
Since Gnus keeps track of which messages you have read, it would be
bad if Gnus expired the last message, for example, message 100, and
rcvstore gave the next new message number 1. Gnus would then
ignore it since it thinks that you’ve read messages 1–100. Turning on
this option ensures that the last message is never removed thereby
eliminating this problem.
Next add the following to ~/.procmailrc. If you don’t subscribe to the GnuCash mailing list, substitute one to which you are subscribed.
PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin/mh MAILDIR=$HOME/`mhparam Path` # Place mail sent to the GnuCash mailing list in gnucash.spool, where # Gnus will pick it up. :0: * ^TO.*gnucash.*@.*gnucash.org gnucash.spool
Wait for some messages to appear in gnucash.spool and run Gnus with M-x gnus RET. To view the folder created in the example above, you would tell Gnus about it the first time only with G m gnucash RET nnml RET. In MH-E, this folder is known as ‘+gnucash’.
This appendix covers a few topics that don’t fit elsewhere. Here I tell you how to report bugs and how to get on the MH-E mailing lists. I also point out some additional sources of information.
| • Bug Reports | ||
| • Mailing Lists | ||
| • MH FAQ and Support | ||
| • Getting MH-E |
Next: Mailing Lists, Up: Odds and Ends [Contents][Index]
Bug reports should be filed at SourceForge. You need to be a SourceForge user to submit bug reports, but this is easy enough to do that it shouldn’t be a restriction for you. Please include the output of M-x mh-version (see Miscellaneous) in any bug report you send unless you’re 110% positive we won’t ask for it.
Next: MH FAQ and Support, Previous: Bug Reports, Up: Odds and Ends [Contents][Index]
There are several mailing lists for MH-E. They are mh-e-users at lists.sourceforge.net, mh-e-announce at lists.sourceforge.net, and mh-e-devel at lists.sourceforge.net. You can subscribe or view the archives at SourceForge. Do not report bugs on these lists; please submit them via SourceForge (see Bug Reports).
Next: Getting MH-E, Previous: Mailing Lists, Up: Odds and Ends [Contents][Index]
The article MH Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) with Answers appears monthly in the newsgroup ‘comp.mail.mh’. While very little is there that deals with MH-E specifically, there is an incredible wealth of material about MH itself which you will find useful.
You can find FAQs on MH-E by searching for labels:support on the Tickets page on SourceForge. If you don’t find the answer to your question, file a ticket and your question will become a new FAQ!
Previous: MH FAQ and Support, Up: Odds and Ends [Contents][Index]
Since MH-E 8.6 was released in 2016, its development migrated to the Emacs repository. MH-E is now only supported in the version of Emacs in which it appears. Old releases of MH-E are still available for download at SourceForge.
After you download and extract the MH-E tarball, read the README file and MH-E-NEWS. These correspond to the release notes and change log mentioned above. The file README contains instructions on installing MH-E. If you’re already running Emacs, please quit that session and start again to load in the new MH-E. Check that you’re running the new version with the command M-x mh-version.
In addition to the mh-e package, the SourceForge site also contains doc and contrib packages. The former is the latest release of this manual, and the latter contains a few contributed packages you might find useful.
Next: GFDL, Previous: Odds and Ends, Up: Top [Contents][Index]
MH-E was originally written by Brian Reid in 1983 and has changed hands several times since then. Jim Larus wanted to do something similar for GNU Emacs, and ended up completely rewriting it that same year. In 1989, Stephen Gildea picked it up and added many improvements. Bill Wohler then took over in 2000 and moved its development to SourceForge. Since 2016, MH-E development occurs within the Emacs repository.
| • From Brian Reid | ||
| • From Jim Larus | ||
| • From Stephen Gildea | ||
| • From Bill Wohler |
Next: From Jim Larus, Up: History [Contents][Index]
One day in 1983 I got the flu and had to stay home from work for three days with nothing to do. I used that time to write MHE. The fundamental idea behind MHE was that it was a “puppeteer” driving the MH programs underneath it. MH had a model that the editor was supposed to run as a sub-process of the mailer, which seemed to me at the time to be the tail wagging the dog. So I turned it around and made the editor drive the MH programs. I made sure that the UCI people (who were maintaining MH at the time) took in my changes and made them stick.
Today, I still use my own version of MHE because I don’t at all like the way that GNU MH-E works and I’ve never gotten to be good enough at hacking Emacs Lisp to make GNU MH-E do what I want. The Gosling-emacs version of MHE and the GNU Emacs version of MH-E have almost nothing in common except similar names. They work differently, have different conceptual models, and have different key bindings59.
Brian Reid, June 1994
Next: From Stephen Gildea, Previous: From Brian Reid, Up: History [Contents][Index]
Brian Reid, while at CMU or shortly after going to Stanford wrote a mail reading program called MHE for Gosling Emacs. It had much the same structure as MH-E (i.e., invoked MH programs), though it was simpler and the commands were slightly different. Unfortunately, I no longer have a copy so the differences are lost in the mists of time.
In ’82–83, I was working at BBN and wrote a lot of mlisp code in Gosling Emacs to make it look more like Tennex Emacs. One of the packages that I picked up and improved was Reid’s mail system. In ’83, I went back to Berkeley. About that time, Stallman’s first version of GNU Emacs came out and people started to move to it from Gosling Emacs (as I recall, the transition took a year or two). I decided to port Reid’s MHE and used the mlisp to Emacs Lisp translator that came with GNU Emacs. It did a lousy job and the resulting code didn’t work, so I bit the bullet and rewrote the code by hand (it was a lot smaller and simpler then, so it took only a day or two).
Soon after that, MH-E became part of the standard Emacs distribution and suggestions kept dribbling in for improvements. MH-E soon reached sufficient functionality to keep me happy, but I kept on improving it because I was a graduate student with plenty of time on my hands and it was more fun than my dissertation. In retrospect, the one thing that I regret is not writing any documentation, which seriously limited the use and appeal of the package.
In ’89, I came to Wisconsin as a professor and decided not to work on
MH-E. It was stable, except for minor bugs, and had enough
functionality, so I let it be for a few years. Stephen Gildea of BBN
began to pester me about the bugs, but I ignored them. In 1990, he
went off to the X Consortium, said good bye, and said that he would
now be using xmh. A few months later, he came back and said
that he couldn’t stand xmh and could I put a few more bug fixes
into MH-E. At that point, I had no interest in fixing MH-E, so I gave
the responsibility of maintenance to him and he has done a fine job
since then.
Jim Larus, June 1994
Next: From Bill Wohler, Previous: From Jim Larus, Up: History [Contents][Index]
In 1987 I went to work for Bolt Beranek and Newman, as Jim had before me. In my previous job, I had been using RMAIL, but as my folders tend to run large, I was frustrated with the speed of RMAIL. However, I stuck with it because I wanted the GNU Emacs interface. I am very familiar and comfortable with the Emacs interface (with just a few modifications of my own) and dislike having to use applications with embedded editors; they never live up to Emacs.
MH is the mail reader of choice at BBN, so I converted to it. Since I didn’t want to give up using an Emacs interface, I started using MH-E. As is my wont, I started hacking on it almost immediately. I first used version 3.4m. One of the first features I added was to treat the folder buffer as a file-visiting buffer: you could lock it, save it, and be warned of unsaved changes when killing it. I also worked to bring its functionality a little closer to RMAIL. Jim Larus was very cooperative about merging in my changes, and my efforts first appeared in version 3.6, distributed with Emacs 18.52 in 1988. Next I decided MH-E was too slow and optimized it a lot. Version, 3.7, distributed with Emacs 18.56 in 1990, was noticeably faster.
When I moved to the X Consortium I became the first person there to not use xmh. (There is now one other engineer there using MH-E.) About this point I took over maintenance of MH-E from Jim and was finally able to add some features Jim hadn’t accepted, such as the backward searching undo. My first release was 3.8 (Emacs 18.58) in 1992.
Now, in 1994, we see a flurry of releases, with both 4.0 and 5.0. Version 4.0 added many new features, including background folder collection and support for composing MIME messages. (Reading MIME messages remains to be done, alas.) While writing this book, Bill Wohler gave MH-E its closest examination ever, uncovering bugs and inconsistencies that required a new major version to fix, and so version 5 was released.
Stephen Gildea, June 1994
Previous: From Stephen Gildea, Up: History [Contents][Index]
The preface originally included the following text which I use to begin my story:
But it’s important to note a brief history of MH-E.
Version 3 was prevalent through the Emacs 18 and early Emacs 19 years. Then Version 4 came out (Emacs 19.23), which introduced several new and changed commands. Next, Version 5.0 was released, which fixed some bugs and incompatibilities, and was incorporated into Emacs 19.29.
After a long break, Stephen handed the reins over to me in 2000. I moved the project to a new site called SourceForge and organized a great team of developers. Our first release in late 2001 was version 6. It appeared around the time of Emacs 21.2 and had menus and tool bar buttons.
Then, indexed searches, improved MIME handling, a speedbar, multiple identities, alias completion, an index view of unseen messages, spam software support, Face and X-Image-URL header field support, Fcc completion, arbitrary range handling, and draft form editing were introduced in the version 7 series around the time of Emacs 21.4 (2004). Still, Emacs itself contained version 5 of MH-E released back in 1994.
Version 8 development was mostly driven by the rewrite of the manual. It also brought GNU mailutils MH support, S/MIME support, picon support, and an improved interface for hiding header fields. The CVS repository was migrated from SourceForge to Savannah (only for those files that were already part of Emacs) and the software was completely reorganized to push back two decades of entropy. Version 8 appeared in Emacs 22.1 in 2006.
Development was then quiet for a couple of years. Emacs 23.1, which is due out in 2009, will contain version 8.1. This version includes a few new features and several bug fixes.
Bill Wohler, August 2008
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If the disclaimer of warranty and limitation of liability provided above cannot be given local legal effect according to their terms, reviewing courts shall apply local law that most closely approximates an absolute waiver of all civil liability in connection with the Program, unless a warranty or assumption of liability accompanies a copy of the Program in return for a fee.
If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest possible use to the public, the best way to achieve this is to make it free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these terms.
To do so, attach the following notices to the program. It is safest to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively state the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least the “copyright” line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.
one line to give the program's name and a brief idea of what it does. Copyright (C) year name of author This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.
If the program does terminal interaction, make it output a short notice like this when it starts in an interactive mode:
program Copyright (C) year name of author This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details type ‘show w’. This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; type ‘show c’ for details.
The hypothetical commands ‘show w’ and ‘show c’ should show the appropriate parts of the General Public License. Of course, your program’s commands might be different; for a GUI interface, you would use an “about box”.
You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or school, if any, to sign a “copyright disclaimer” for the program, if necessary. For more information on this, and how to apply and follow the GNU GPL, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
The GNU General Public License does not permit incorporating your program into proprietary programs. If your program is a subroutine library, you may consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with the library. If this is what you want to do, use the GNU Lesser General Public License instead of this License. But first, please read https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-not-lgpl.html.
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Version 8.6 of MH-E appeared in Emacs 24.4. It is compatible with MH versions 6.8.4 and higher, all versions of nmh, and GNU mailutils 1.0 and higher
In very old versions of MH-E, you may get the error message, ‘Cannot find the commands `inc' and `mhl' and the file `components'’ if MH-E can’t find MH. In this case, you need to update MH-E, and you may need to install MH too. However, newer versions of MH-E are better at finding MH if it is on your system.
See the section Setting Up MH in the MH book.
The keys mentioned in these chapters refer to the default key bindings. If you’ve changed the bindings, refer to the command summaries at the beginning of each chapter for a mapping between default key bindings and function names.
A mode changes Emacs to make it easier to edit a particular type of text.
If you’re running Emacs under the X Window System, then you would also see a menu bar and a tool bar. I’ve left out the menu bar and tool bar in all of the example screens.
You can
get quick help for the commands used most often with C-c ? or
more complete help with the C-h m (describe-mode)
command.
See the section Reading Mail: inc show next prev in the MH book.
See the section Find and Specify with scan pick Ranges Sequences in the MH book.
This help appears in a buffer called *MH-E Help* (see Miscellaneous).
The The GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual should be available via the Info system by typing C-h i m Emacs Lisp RET.
If you want
to see your old mail as well, use F r to pull all your messages
into MH-E. Or, give a prefix argument to mh-rmail so it will
prompt you for folder to visit like F v (for example, C-u
M-x mh-rmail RET bob RET). See Folders.
For more information, see https://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/.
The
display of this field requires the
uncompface program.
The display of the images
requires the wget program to fetch the image and the convert
program from the ImageMagick suite.
See the section Reading Mail: inc show next prev in the MH book.
See the section Reading MIME Mail in the MH book.
You
can call them directly from Emacs if you’re running the X Window
System: type M-! xterm -e mhshow message-number. You can
leave out the ‘xterm -e’ if you use mhlist or
mhstore.
This plumbing is the ‘Content-Disposition:’ header field.
See the section Bursting Messages in the MH book.
MIME Security with OpenPGP is documented in RFC 3156. However, MH-E can also decrypt old-style PGP messages that are not in MIME format.
Unfortunately in the current version, the validation process doesn’t display a message so it appears that MH-E has hung. We hope that this will be fixed in the future.
See the section Using mhl in the MH book.
In previous versions of MH-E,
this option suppressed the confirmation in mh-kill-folder.
Since this kept most users from setting this option,
mh-kill-folder was modified in version 6.0 to always ask for
confirmation subject to mh-kill-folder-suppress-prompt-functions.
See Folders.
Stephen Gildea’s favorite binding is (global-set-key "\C-cr" 'mh-rmail).
See the sections Your Current Folder: folder and Moving and Linking Messages: refile in the MH book.
For you Emacs wizards, this is implemented as an Emacs minor mode.
See the section Sorting Messages: sortm in the MH book.
I highly recommend that you use a draft
folder so that you can edit several drafts in parallel. To do so,
create a folder named ‘+drafts’ for example, and add the profile
component ‘Draft-Folder: drafts’ (see mh-profile(5)).
Actually, because
MH-Letter mode inherits from Mail mode, the hooks
text-mode-hook and mail-mode-hook are run (in that
order) before mh-letter-mode-hook.
See the section Replying to Messages: repl in the MH book.
See the section Forwarding Messages: forw in the MH book.
See the section Distributing Messages with dist in the MH book.
See the section Sending Some Mail: comp send in the MH book.
If you’d rather have the header cleaned up, use C-u r instead of r when replying (see Replying).
In the past you would use this setting
and set mail-citation-hook to ‘supercite’, but this usage
is now deprecated in favor of the ‘Invoke supercite’ setting.
Supercite is a full-bodied, full-featured, citation package that comes standard with Emacs.
MIME is defined in RFC 2045.
See the section Sending MIME Mail in the MH book.
See the section Composing in The Emacs MIME Manual.
Use C-c C-e
(mh-mh-to-mime) if you’re using MH-style directives.
See the section Sending MIME Mail in the MH book.
See the section What now?—and the whatnow Program in the MH book.
See the section Sending Some Mail: comp send in the MH book.
See the section MH Aliases in the MH book.
‘Mail-Followup-To:’ is supported by nmh.
See the section Searching for Sequences with flist in the MH book.
If you’re not sure if
MH-E has been byte-compiled, you could try running ‘locate
mh-thread.elc’ or otherwise find MH-E on your system and ensure that
mh-thread.elc exists. If you have multiple versions and you
find that one is compiled but the other is not, then go into your
*scratch* buffer in Emacs, enter load-path C-j, and
ensure that the byte-compiled version appears first in the
load-path. If you find that MH-E is not compiled and you
installed MH-E yourself, please refer to the installation directions
in the file README in the distribution.
See
pick(1) or the section
Finding Messages with pick in
the MH book.
See the section More About Sequences in the MH book.
See ‘mh-profile’(5)).
See the section Make Message Bookmarks with mark in the MH book.
Note that
the option mh-junk-background is used as the destination
argument in the call to call-process. Therefore, turning on
this option means setting its value to ‘0’. You can also set its
value to ‘t’ to direct the programs’ output to the *MH-E
Log* buffer; this may be useful for debugging.
See the section Find and Specify with scan pick Ranges Sequences in the MH book.
See the section Reading Mail: inc show next prev in the MH book.
The MH equivalent, slocal,
can be used as well, but procmail was more flexible and more packages
exist for procmail than for slocal.
See
Savannah issue #4361 to see if rcvstore locking is still an
issue.
The ‘-create’ argument wasn’t always the default
to rcvstore.
After reading this article, I questioned Brian about his version of MHE, and received some great ideas for improving MH-E such as a dired-like method of selecting folders; and removing the prompting when sending mail, filling in the blanks in the draft buffer instead. I passed them on to Stephen Gildea, the current maintainer, and he was excited about the ideas as well. Perhaps one day, MH-E will again resemble MHE (draft form editing was introduced in version 7.4).