mhl - produce formatted listings of MH messages (only
available within the message handling system, mh)
mhl [options] [files...]
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. 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 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.
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.
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. Prints a list of the valid
options to this command. Sets the screen length.
This defaults to the value indicated by $TERMINFO,
if appropriate; otherwise, it defaults to 40. Sets
the screen width. This defaults to the value indicated
by $TERMINFO, if appropriate; otherwise, it
defaults to 80. 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
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 [Toc] [Back]
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 nonspecified
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.
Path: To determine your Mail directory
moreproc: Program to use as interactive front-end
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
The system default form file, used to format message. The
user-supplied alternate to the system default form file.
The user profile.
more(1), show(1), mh_profile(4), ap(8), dp(8)
mhl(1)
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