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mhl(1)
NAME
mhl - produce formatted listings of MH messages (only available within the
message handling system, mh)
SYNOPSIS
mhl [options] [files...]
OPTIONS
-bell
-nobell
Tells mhl to ring the terminal bell at the end of each page. This is
the default behavior. You can suppress this by using the -nobell
option.
This option takes effect only if the profile entry moreproc is defined
but empty, and if mhl is outputting to a terminal. If the moreproc
entry is defined and non-empty, and mhl is outputting to a terminal,
then mhl causes the moreproc to be placed between the terminal and mhl,
and the switches are ignored.
-clear
-noclear
Tells mhl to clear the screen at the end of each page, or output a
formfeed after each message. You can suppress this by using the
-noclear option. The default behavior is -noclear.
This option takes effect only if the profile entry moreproc is defined
but empty, and if mhl is outputting to a terminal. If the moreproc
entry in the user's .mh_profile is defined and non-empty, and mhl is
outputting to a terminal, then mhl causes the moreproc program to be
placed between the terminal and mhl, and the options are ignored.
If the -clear option is used and the output of mhl is directed to a
terminal, then mhl consults the $TERM and $TERMCAP environment
variables to determine your terminal type in order to find out how to
clear the screen. If the -clear switch is used and the output of mhl is
not directed to a terminal (if, for example, it is directed to a pipe
or a file), then mhl sends a formfeed after each message.
-folder +foldername
Sets the folder name. This is used by components in the mhl.format form
file to output the message name. If you do not use this option, mhl
consults the environmental variable $mhfolder.
-form formfile
Specifies the format file used. If this option is not given, mhl
searches in your Mail directory for a file called mhl.format; or, if
this file does not exist, it uses the system default file
/usr/lib/mh/mhl.format.
-help
Prints a list of the valid options to this command.
-length lines
Sets the screen length. This defaults to the value indicated by
$TERMINFO, if appropriate; otherwise, it defaults to 40.
-width columns
Sets the screen width. This defaults to the value indicated by
$TERMINFO, if appropriate; otherwise, it defaults to 80.
-moreproc program
-nomoreproc
Overrides the default moreproc program. Note that mhl never starts a
moreproc if invoked on a hardcopy terminal.
The defaults for this command are:
-bell
-noclear
-length 40
-width 80
DESCRIPTION
The mhl command is a program for listing formatted messages, which can be
used as a replacement for more, the default showproc program.
As with more, each of the messages specified as arguments (or the standard
input) are output. If more than one message file is specified, you are
prompted prior to each one, and a <RETURN> or <EOT> begins the output.
<RETURN> clears the screen (if appropriate), and <EOT>, usually <CTRL/D>,
suppresses the screen clear. An <INTERRUPT>, usually <CTRL/C>, aborts the
current message output, prompting for the next message, if there is one. A
<QUIT>, usually <CTRL/E>, terminates the program without generating a core
dump.
The mhl command operates in two phases: it reads and parses the format
file; then it processes each message (file). During the first phase, an
internal description of the format is produced as a structured list. In the
second phase, this list is traversed for each message, and message
information is output according to the instructions contained in the format
file.
The Form File mhl.format
The mhl.format form file contains information controlling screen clearing,
screen size, wrap-around control, transparent text, component ordering, and
component formatting. A list of components that should be ignored may also
be specified, and some special components are defined to provide added
functionality. Message output is in the order specified by the order in the
format file.
Each line of the mhl.format file has one of the following formats:
;comment
:cleartext
variable[variable...]
component:[variable...]
A line beginning with a semi colon (;) is a comment, and is ignored. A
line beginning with a colon (:) is clear text, and is output exactly as it
is. A line containing only a colon (:) produces a blank line in the output.
A line beginning with component: defines the format for the specified
component. Remaining lines define the global environment. Examples of these
are given below, together with the system default form file.
If variables or arguments follow a component, they apply only to that
component; otherwise, their effect is global. Since the whole format is
parsed before any output processing, the last global switch setting for a
variable applies to the whole message, provided that the variable is used
in a global context (bell, clearscreen, width, length). All of the current
variables and their arguments are shown in the following table:
_______________________________________________________________
Variable Type Semantics
_______________________________________________________________
width integer screen width or component width
length integer screen length or component length
offset integer positions to indent the component
overflowtext string text to use at the beginning of an
overflow line
overflowoffset integer positions to indent overflow lines
compwidth integer
positions to indent component text
after the first line is output
uppercase option
output text of this component in
all
upper case
nouppercase option do not use uppercase
clearscreen option/G clear the screen prior to each page
noclearscreen option/G do not clear the screen
bell option/G
ring the bell at the end of each
page
nobell option/G disable bell
component string/L
name to use instead of component
for this component
nocomponent option
do not output component: for this
component
center option
center component on line (works for
one-line components only)
nocenter option do not center
leftadjust option
strip off leading white-space on
each line of text
noleftadjust option do not leftadjust
compress option change newlines in text to spaces
nocompress option do not compress
formatfield string format string for this component
addrfield option field contains addresses
datefield option field contains dates
_______________________________________________________________
To specify the value of integer-valued and string-valued variables, follow
their name with an equals-sign (=) and the value. Integer-valued variables
are given decimal values, while string-valued variables are given arbitrary
text bracketed by double-quotes. If a value is suffixed by /G or /L, then
its value is useful in a global-only or local-only context (respectively).
A line of the form:
ignores=component,...
specifies a list of components which are never output.
The component MessageName outputs the actual message name (file name)
preceded by the folder name if one is specified or found in the
environment. The format is identical to that produced by the -header option
to show.
The component Extras outputs all of the components of the message which
were not matched by explicit components, or included in the ignore list. If
this component is not specified, an ignore list is not needed since all
non-specified components are ignored.
If -nocomponent is not specified, then the component name is output as it
appears in the format file.
The variable formatfield specifies a format string; see mh-format(4). The
variables addrfield and datefield, which are mutually exclusive, control
the interpretation of the escapes.
By default, mhl does not apply any formatting string to fields containing
address or dates; see mh-mail(4) for a list of these fields. This results
in faster operation since mhl must parse both addresses and dates in order
to apply a format string to them. If desired, mhl can be given a default
format string for either address or date fields, but not both. To do this,
on a global line specify either the variable addrfield or the variable
datefield, along with the variable formatfield.
PROFILE COMPONENTS
Path: To determine your Mail directory
moreproc: Program to use as interactive front-end
EXAMPLES
The first example gives a typical line of a form file:
width=80,length=40,clearscreen,overflowtext="***",overflowoffset=5
The first two elements define the screen width to be 80 characters, and the
screen length to be 40 lines. The next element, clearscreen, specifies that
the screen should be cleared prior to each page. The next element,
overflowoffset=5, states that the overflow indentation is 5. The final
element, overflowtext="***", specifies that overflow text should be
optionged with three asterisks.
The system default form file, /usr/lib/mh/mhl.format, is:
: -- using template mhl.format - -
overflowtext="***",overflowoffset=5
leftadjust,compwidth=9
ignores=msid,msgid,message-id,received
Date:formatfield="%<(nodate{text})%{text}%|%(pretty{text})%>"
To:
cc:
:
From:
Subject:
:
extras:nocomponent
:
body:nocomponent,overflowtext=,overflowoffset=0,noleftadjust
FILES
/usr/lib/mh/mhl.format
The system default form file, used to format message.
<mh-dir>/mhl.format
The user-supplied alternate to the system default form file.
$HOME/.mh_profile
The user profile.
SEE ALSO
more(1), show(1), mh_profile(4), ap(8), dp(8)
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Index for
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Alphabetical
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