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whatnow(1)
NAME
  whatnow - prompting front-end for send (only available within the message
  handling system, mh)

SYNOPSIS
  whatnow [options] [file]

OPTIONS
  -draftfolder +folder

  -nodraftfolder
      Specifies the folder in which whatnow searches for the draft message.
      By default, the current message in the named folder is used. If you
      wish to specify another message, use the -draftmessage option. For more
      information on using a draft folder, see comp(1).	 The -draftfolder
      option can be set up in your user profile; see mh_profile(4) for more
      information.

  -draftmessage msg
      Specifies the draft message to be used. If you specify a folder with
      the -draftfolder option, the -draftmessage option takes the number of a
      message in that folder. If you do not specify a folder, -draftmessage
      takes the name of a file. If you do not give an absolute pathname (one
      beginning with a / or ./ or ../ ), -draftmessage assumes that the file
      is located in your Mail directory. (This is different from the file
      argument to whatnow, which assumes that the file you name is in your
      current working directory.)

  -editor editorname
      Specifies the name of the editor you want to use to edit the draft
      message. Any legal editor can be specified. This option is used only if
      you select the edit response to the What now? prompt.

  -help
      Prints a list of the valid options for this command.

  -noedit
      Prevents the initial invocation of an editor when an MH command is run.
      Normally, when you enter an MH command such as comp, dist, forw, or
      repl, the whatnow program is called to start the initial edit of the
      draft message. If you add this option to the whatnow entry in your
      .mh_profile, the initial edit of the draft message is disabled. This is
      a convenient way of disabling this edit for all MH commands, rather
      than adding the -noedit entry to the entries for the individual
      commands in .mh_profile.

  -prompt string
      Specifies the prompt used by whatnow. The prompt you receive when you
      invoke whatnow can be specified as a string with this option. If the
      prompt contains spaces, you must enclose the entire string in double
      quotes (" "). The default prompt is What now?

DESCRIPTION
  After you have finished editing a draft message in comp, dist, forw or
  repl, the whatnow program prompts you for the next required action. Press
  <Return> at the What now? prompt to see a list of the available responses.
  These responses are:

       display [options]
       edit [editor] [options]
       list [options]
       push [options]
       quit [-delete]
       refile [option] +folder
       send  [options]
       whom  [options]

  For more information on the options available with these commands, see the
  following reference pages: refile(1), send(1), whom(1).

  Use display if you have been using repl or dist and want to see the
  original message.  Use edit if you want to continue editing the draft. Use
  list to display the draft message. If you use push, send operates in the
  background and frees your terminal while the message is being sent.

  Use quit to exit from whatnow and to save the draft message. The -delete
  option to quit will exit from whatnow and delete the draft message.

  Use refile +folder to refile the draft message in a specified folder. The
  send response will cause the message to be delivered. Use whom to find out
  who will receive the mail when it is sent.

  Unless the -noedit option is given, the editor starts when whatnow is
  invoked.

  For the edit response, you can specify an editor if you wish to override
  the editor specified in your .mh_profile file. If you specify an editor
  with the edit response, any valid option to the editor is valid. Similarly,
  for the send and whom responses, any valid option to send and whom
  commands, respectively, are valid.

  For the push response, use any valid option to send. MH invokes send with
  the -push option.

  For the refile response, any valid option to the fileproc is valid. The
  fileproc is the element of your mail profile which defines the program used
  to refile messages in another folder. For more information, see
  mh_profile(4).

  For the display and list responses, any valid argument to the lproc is
  valid. If any non-option arguments are present, then the pathname of the
  draft is excluded from the argument list given to the lproc (this is useful
  for listing another MH message). The lproc is the element in your mail
  profile which defines the program used to display draft messages on your
  screen.  For more information, see mh_profile(4).

  See mh_profile(4) for further information about how editors are used by MH.
  It also describes lproc and fileproc and shows how complex variables can be
  used to direct the actions performed by whatnow.

  Although whatnow is usually invoked by other commands, you can use it as a
  separate command. You can run whatnow on a named file by specifying the
  file as the file argument. If you do not give an absolute pathname (one
  beginning with a / or ./ or ../ ), whatnow assumes that the named file is
  in your current working directory.  If you want to run whatnow on an
  existing message, use the -draftfolder and -draftmessage options.

RESTRICTIONS
  If the sendproc entry in your .mh_profile is send, whatnow uses a built-in
  program rather than running the regular send.	 If you define your own
  sendproc program, you should not call it send, as whatnow will not run it.

PROFILE COMPONENTS
  Path: To determine your MH directory

  Draft-Folder: To find the default draft folder

  Editor: To override the default editor

  lasteditor-next: To name an editor to be used after exit from lasteditor

  fileproc: Program to refile the message

  lproc: Program to list the contents of a message

  sendproc: Program to send the message

  whomproc: Program to determine who a message would go to

EXAMPLES
   1.  In the following example, whatnow takes the current message in the
       folder +drafts, and asks what you want to do with it:
	    % whatnow -draftfolder +drafts
	    What now?

   2.  In the following example, whatnow takes message 6 from the folder
       +drafts:
	    % whatnow -draftfolder +drafts -draftmessage 6
	    What now?

   3.  The following example sets the prompt to be Now What?:
	    % whatnow -prompt "Now What?"
	    Now what?

FILES
  $HOME/.mh_profile
      The user profile.

SEE ALSO
  comp(1), send(1), whom(1)

Index for Section 1

Alphabetical listing for W

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