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show(1)
NAME
  show - show (list) messages (only available within the message handling
  system, mh)

SYNOPSIS
  show [ +folder ] [ msgs ] [ -draft ] [ -[no]header ] [ -help ] [ -showproc
  program ] [ -noshowproc ] [ options to showproc ]

DESCRIPTION
  Use show to display the contents of the current message.  You can specify
  alternative messages or folders by using the +folder or msgs arguments.

  If a folder is given, it becomes the current folder.	The last message
  shown becomes the current message.

  You can specify a number of messages or a range of messages using the msgs
  argument.  If you specify more than one message, show prompts for a
  <RETURN> prior to listing each message.

  Typically, the messages are listed exactly as they are, with no
  reformatting.	 A program named by the showproc component in the .mh_profile
  file is invoked to do the listing, and any options not recognized by show
  are passed along to that program.  The default program is more(1).

  By default, the show command use the more program to list each message, a
  page at a time.  When the end of the page is reached, it waits for a
  <RETURN> or a space.	If you press <RETURN>, show prints the next line.  If
  you press the space bar, it prints the next screen of data.  At the end of
  the message, show automatically returns you to the system prompt.  Press q
  to quit before the end of the message.

  If the profile entry Unseen-Sequence: is present and non-empty, then show
  will remove each of the messages shown from the sequences named by the
  profile entry.

FLAGS
  -draft    Displays the draft message, or the current message in your
	    +drafts folder, if you have one set up.  You cannot give a msgs
	    argument when you use this option.

  -header
  -noheader Displays a one-line header before the message.  The header
	    consists of the name of the folder and the message number.	This
	    is the default behavior.  It can be suppressed with the -noheader
	    option.

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

  -showproc program [ options ]
  -noshowproc
	    Specifies an alternative program to list messages.	The default
	    is to use the program defined by the showproc: entry in the
	    .mh_profile file.  You can give options to the showproc program
	    at the command line.  These are passed directly to showproc by
	    show.

	    If the -noshowproc option is specified, /bin/cat is used instead
	    of showproc.

	    The MH command mhl can be used as a showproc to show messages in
	    a more uniform format.  See mhl(1) for more details.

	    If you are going to use the same showproc all the time, it is
	    advisable to specify it in your .mh_profile file.  See
	    mh_profile(4) for more details.

  The defaults for this command are as follows:

       +folder defaults to the current folder
       msgs defaults to the current message
       -header

RESTRICTIONS
  The -header option does not work when msgs expands to more than one
  message.  If the showproc is mhl, then this problem can be circumvented by
  referencing the messagename field in the mhl format file.

  The command show updates your mail environment before showing the message.
  Hence show may mark messages as seen before you actually see them.
  However, this is generally not a problem, unless you are using the unseen
  messages mechanism, and you interrupt show while it is showing unseen
  messages.

  If your showproc is mhl, then show uses a built-in mhl: it does not
  actually run the mhl program.	 Hence, if you define your own showproc, do
  not call it mhl since show will not run it.

  If more(1) is your showproc (which is the default), then avoid running show
  in the background with only its standard output piped to another process.
  You should re-direct the diagnostic output of show as well

  For example, in the following incorrect example, show will go into a tty
  input state:

       % show | print &

  For users of csh, the correct command is:

       % show |& print &

  For users of sh, the correct command is:

       % show 2>&1 | print &

EXAMPLES
  In the first example, show displays the contents of message 36 in the
  current folder:

       % show 36

  In the next example, the pr(1) program is used to list the current message:

       % show -showproc pr

PROFILE COMPONENTS
  Path:		     To determine the user's Mail directory
  Unseen-Sequence:   To name sequences denoting unseen messages
  showproc:	     Program to show messages

FILES
  $HOME/.mh_profile
	    The user profile.

RELATED INFORMATION
  more(1), mhl(1), next(1), pick(1), prev(1), scan(1)