Index for Section 4

Alphabetical listing for M

Bottom of page

mh-mail(4)
NAME
  mh-mail - Message format for the MH message system

DESCRIPTION
  MH processes messages in a particular format.	 Although neither Bell nor
  Berkeley mailers produce message files in the format that MH prefers, MH
  can read message files in that format.

  Each user has a maildrop that initially receives all messages processed by
  the post command (see post(8)).

  The inc command reads from the maildrop and incorporates the new messages
  found there into the user's own +inbox folder.  The maildrop consists of
  one or more messages.

  Messages are expected to consist of lines of text.  Graphics and binary
  data are not handled.	 No data compression is accepted.  All text is in
  ASCII 7-bit data.

  The general memo framework of RFC 822 is used.  A message consists of a
  block of information in a rigid format, followed by general text with no
  specified format.  The rigidly-formatted first part of a message is called
  the message header; the free-format portion is called the body.  The header
  must always exist, but the body is optional.	These parts are separated by
  a blank line or by a line of dashes.	The following example shows the
  standard default MH mail header:

       To:
       cc:
       Subject:
       --------

  The header is composed of one or more header items.  Each header item can
  be viewed as a single logical line of ASCII characters.  If the text of a
  header item extends across several real lines, the continuation lines are
  indicated by leading spaces or tabs.

  Each header item is called a component and is composed of a keyword or
  name, along with associated text.  The keyword begins at the left margin,
  and is terminated by a colon (:).  It cannot contain spaces or tabs, and
  cannot exceed 63 characters, as specified by RFC 822.

  The text for most formatted components, such as Date: and Message-Id:, is
  produced automatically.  The user enters address fields such as To: and
  cc:, and the Subject: field.	Internet addresses are assigned mailbox names
  and host computer specifications.  The general format is local@domain, for
  example, MH@UCI or MH@UCI-ICSA.ARPA.	A comma (,) separates multiple
  addresses.  A missing host/domain is assumed to be the local host/domain.

  A blank line (or a line of dashes) signals that all following text up to
  the end of the file is the body of the message.  No formatting is expected
  or enforced within the body.

  The following is a list of header components that are considered meaningful
  to MH programs:

  Date:	     Added by post, contains the date and time of the message's entry
	     into the transport system.

  From:	     Added by post, contains the address of the author or authors
	     (there may be more than one if a Sender: field is present).
	     Replies are typically directed to addresses in the Reply-To: or
	     From: field. The former has precedence, if present.

  Sender:    Added by post in the event that the message already has a From:
	     line.  This line contains the address of the actual sender.
	     Replies are never sent to addresses in the Sender: field.

  To:	     Contains addresses of primary recipients.

  cc:	     Contains addresses of secondary recipients.

  Bcc:	     Contains the addresses of recipients who receive blind carbon
	     copies of the message.  The Bcc: line does not appear on the
	     message as sent, so these recipients are not listed.  Recipients
	     in the Bcc: field receive a copy of the message with a minimal
	     header. MH uses an encapsulation method for blind copies; see
	     send(1).

  Fcc:	     Causes post to copy the message into the specified folder for
	     the sender, if the message was successfully given to the
	     transport system.

  Message-ID:
	     A unique message identifier added by post, if the -msgid flag is
	     set.

  Subject:   Sender's commentary.  It is displayed by scan.

  In-Reply-To:
	     A commentary line added by repl when replying to a message.

  Resent-Date:
	     Added by post when a message is redistributed.

  Resent-From:
	     Added by post when a message is redistributed.

  Resent-To: New recipients for a message resent by dist.

  Resent-cc: New secondary recipients for a message resent by dist.

  Resent-Bcc:
	     New blind carbon copy recipients for a message resent by dist.

  Resent-Fcc:
	     Places a copy of a message resent by dist into the sender's
	     folder.

  Resent-Message-Id:
	     A unique identifier of a message resent by dist.  This is
	     appended by post if the -msgid flag is set.

  Resent:    Annotation added by dist when the -annotate flag is specified.

  Forwarded: Annotation added by forw when the -annotate flag is specified.

  Replied:   Annotation added by repl when the -annotate flag is specified.

  Mime-Version:
	     Specifies the MIME version number.	 This header entry is used or
	     added by MH software only when codeset conversion of mail
	     messages is enabled and requested.	 For more information on
	     codeset conversion, see the section on internationalization
	     features in mh(1).

  Content-Type:
	     Specifies the content type, which is always TEXT/PLAIN, plus a
	     charset value that names a coded character set (codeset).	This
	     header entry is used or added by MH software only when codeset
	     conversion of mail messages is enabled and requested.  For more
	     information on codeset conversion, see the section on
	     internationalization features in mh(1).

FILES
  /usr/spool/mail/$USER
	     Standard location of mail drop

RELATED INFORMATION
  Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages (RFC 822)

Index for Section 4

Alphabetical listing for M

Top of page