repl - reply to a message
repl
[+folder] [msgs] [-annotate | -noannotate]
[-group | -nogroup] [-cc all/to/cc/me] [-nocc
all/to/cc/me] [-query | -noquery] [-form formfile]
[-format | -noformat] [-filter filterfile]
[-inplace | -noinplace] [-mime | -nomime]
[-fcc +folder] [-width columns]
[-draftfolder +folder] [-draftmessage msg]
[-nodraftfolder] [-editor editor] [-noedit]
[-whatnowproc program] [-nowhatnowproc] [-atfile]
[-noatfile] [-fmtproc program] [-nofmtproc]
[-build] [-file msgfile] [-version]
[-help]
Repl may be used to produce a reply to an existing message.
In its simplest form (with no arguments),
repl will set up a message-form
skeleton in reply to the current message in the current folder, and invoke the
whatnow shell.
In order to construct the message draft of the reply,
repl uses a reply
template to guide its actions. A reply template is simply a
mhl format
file (see
mh-format(5) for details).
If the switch
-nogroup is given (it is on by default), then
repl
will use the standard forms file “replcomps”. This will
construct a draft message that is intended to be sent only to the author of
the message to which you are replying. If a file named
“replcomps” exists in the user's
nmh directory, it will
be used instead of this default forms file.
The default reply template “replcomps” will direct
repl to
construct the reply message draft as follows:
To: <Mail-Reply-To> or <Reply-To> or <From>
cc: <To> and <cc> and <personal address>
Fcc: {fcc switch} or +outbox
Subject: Re: <Subject>
In-Reply-To: <Message-Id>
References: <Message-Id>
Comments: In-Reply-To <From> or <apparently from> or <Sender>
message dated <date>
--------
where field names enclosed in angle brackets (< >) indicate the
contents of the named field from the message to which the reply is being made.
By default, the “cc:” field is empty. You may selectively add
addresses to this default with the
-cc type switch. This switch
takes an argument (
all/
to/
cc/
me) which specifies
who gets added to the default “cc:” list of the reply. You may
give this switch multiple times (with different arguments) if you wish to add
multiple types of addresses.
If the switch
-group is given, then
repl will use the the standard
forms file “replgroupcomps”. This will construct a draft message
that is intended as a group or followup reply. If a file named
“replgroupcomps” exists in the user's nmh directory, it will be
used instead of this default forms file.
The default group reply template “replgroupcomps” will direct
repl to construct the reply message draft as follows:
To: <Mail-Followup-To>
Subject: Re: <Subject>
In-Reply-To: Message from <From> of <Date>.
<Message-Id>
--------
or if the field <Mail-Followup-To> is not available:
To: <Mail-Reply-To> or <Reply-To> or <From>
cc: <To> and <cc> and <personal address>
Subject: Re: <Subject>
In-Reply-To: Message from <From> of <Date>.
<Message-Id>
--------
By default, the “cc:” contains all the addresses shown. You may
selectively remove addresses from this default with the
-nocc
type switch. This switch takes an argument (
all/
to/
cc/
me) which specifies who gets removed
from the default “cc:” list of the reply. You may give this
switch multiple times (with different arguments) if you wish to remove
multiple types of addresses.
In any case, you may specify an alternate forms file with the switch
-form formfile.
The
-query switch modifies the action of
-nocc type switch
by interactively asking you if each address that normally would be placed in
the “To:” and “cc:” list should actually be sent a
copy. This is useful for special-purpose replies. Note that the position of
the
-cc and
-nocc switches, like all other switches which take a
positive and negative form, is important.
Lines beginning with the fields “To:”, “cc:”, and
”Bcc:” will be standardized and have duplicate addresses
removed. In addition, the
-width columns switch will guide
repl's formatting of these fields.
If the draft already exists,
repl will ask you as to the disposition of
the draft. A reply of
quit will abort
repl, leaving the draft
intact;
replace will replace the existing draft with a blank skeleton;
and
list will display the draft.
See
comp(1) for a description of the
-editor and
-noedit
switches. Note that while in the editor, the message being replied to is
available through a link named “@” (assuming the default
whatnowproc). In addition, the actual pathname of the message is stored
in the environment variable
$editalt, and the pathname of the folder
containing the message is stored in the environment variable
$mhfolder.
The creation of the “@” file and associated environment
variables can be controlled via the
-atfile and
-noatfile
options.
Although
repl uses a forms file to direct it how to construct the
beginning of the draft, it uses a message filter file to direct it as to how
the message to which you are replying should be filtered (re-formatted) in the
body of the draft. The filter file for
repl should be a standard form
file for
mhl, as
repl will invoke
mhl to format the
message to which you are replying.
The switches
-noformat,
-format, and
-filter
filterfile specify which message filter file to use.
If the switch
-noformat is given (it is the default), then the message to
which you are replying is not included in the body of the draft.
If the switch
-format is given, then a default message filter file is
used. This default message filter should be adequate for most users. This
default filter “
mhl.reply” is:
; mhl.reply
;
; default message filter for `repl' (repl -format)
;
from:nocomponent,formatfield="%(decode(friendly{text})) writes:"
body:component="> ",overflowtext="> ",overflowoffset=0
which outputs each line of the body of the message prefaced with the
“>” character and a space.
If a file named “
mhl.reply” exists in the user's
nmh
directory, it will be used instead of this form. You may specify an alternate
message filter file with the switch
-filter filterfile.
Other reply filters are commonly used, such as:
:
body:nocomponent,compwidth=9,offset=9
which says to output a blank line and then the body of the message being
replied-to, indented by one tab-stop. Another popular format is:
message-id:nocomponent,nonewline,\
formatfield=“In message %{text}, ”
from:nocomponent,formatfield=“%(decode(friendly{text})) writes:”
body:component=“>”,overflowtext=“>”,overflowoffset=0
This message filter file cites the Message-ID and author of the message being
replied-to, and then outputs each line of the body prefaced with the
“>” character.
You can also use an external format program to format the message body. The
format program is specified by the
formatproc profile entry, and is
enabled by the “format” flag. A message filter using an external
format program would look like this:
body:component=“>”,nowrap,format
See the
mhl(1) documentation for more information. The format program can
be changed by the
-fmtproc program and
-nofmtproc
switches.
To use the MIME rules for encapsulation, specify the
-mime switch. This
directs
repl to generate an
mhbuild composition file. Note that
nmh will not invoke
mhbuild automatically, unless you add this
line to your
.mh_profile file:
automimeproc: 1
Otherwise, you must specifically give the command
What now? mime
prior to sending the draft.
If the
-annotate switch is given, the message being replied-to will be
annotated with the lines
Replied: date
Replied: addrs
where the address list contains one line for each addressee. The annotation will
be done only if the message is sent directly from
repl. If the message
is not sent immediately from
repl,
“
comp -use” may be used to re-edit and send the
constructed message, but the annotations won't take place. Normally
annotations are done inplace in order to preserve any links to the message.
You may use the
-noinplace switch to change this.
Although the default template specifies that a copy of the reply will be put in
the folder 'outbox', if the
-fcc +folder switch is given it will
override the default value. More than one folder, each preceded by
-fcc
can be named.
In addition to the standard
mh-format(5) escapes,
repl also
recognizes the following additional
component escape:
Escape Returns Description
fcc string Any folders specified with `-fcc folder'
To avoid reiteration,
repl strips any leading `Re: ' strings from the
subject component.
The
-draftfolder +folder and
-draftmessage msg
switches invoke the
nmh draft folder facility. This is an advanced (and
highly useful) feature. Consult the
mh-draft(5) man page for more
information.
Upon exiting from the editor,
repl will invoke the
whatnow
program. See
whatnow(1) for a discussion of available options. The
invocation of this program can be inhibited by using the
-nowhatnowproc
switch. (In truth of fact, it is the
whatnow program which starts the
initial edit. Hence,
-nowhatnowproc will prevent any edit from
occurring.)
The
-build switch is intended to be used by the Emacs mh-e interface to
nmh. It implies
-nowhatnowproc. It causes a file
<mh-dir>/reply to be created, containing the draft message that
would normally be presented to the user for editing. No mail is actually sent.
The
-file msgfile switch specifies the message to be replied to as
an exact filename rather than as an
nmh folder and message number. It
is intended to be used by the
msh interface to
nmh. The same
caveats apply to this option as to the
-build switch.
^/etc/nmh/replcomps~^The standard reply template
^or <mh-dir>/replcomps~^Rather than the standard template
^/etc/nmh/replgroupcomps~^The standard `reply -group' template
^or <mh-dir>/replgroupcomps~^Rather than the standard template
^/etc/nmh/mhl.reply~^The standard message filter
^or <mh-dir>/mhl.reply~^Rather than the standard filter
^$HOME/.mh_profile~^The user profile
^<mh-dir>/draft~^The draft file
^Path:~^To determine the user's nmh directory
^Alternate-Mailboxes:~^To determine the user's mailboxes
^Current-Folder:~^To find the default current folder
^Draft-Folder:~^To find the default draft-folder
^Editor:~^To override the default editor
^Msg-Protect:~^To set mode when creating a new message (draft)
^fileproc:~^Program to refile the message
^mhlproc:~^Program to filter message being replied-to
^whatnowproc:~^Program to ask the “What now?” questions
mhbuild(1),
comp(1),
forw(1),
send(1),
whatnow(1),
mh-format(5)
`+folder' defaults to the current folder
`msg' defaults to cur
`-nogroup'
`-nocc all' with `-nogroup', `-cc all' with `-group'
`-noannotate'
`-nodraftfolder'
`-noformat'
`-inplace'
`-nomime'
`-noquery'
`-atfile'
`-width 72'
If a folder is given, it will become the current folder. The message replied-to
will become the current message.
If any addresses occur in the reply template, addresses in the template that do
not contain hosts are defaulted incorrectly. Instead of using the localhost
for the default,
repl uses the sender's host. Moral of the story: if
you're going to include addresses in a reply template, include the host
portion of the address.
The
-width columns switch is only used to do address-folding;
other headers are not line-wrapped.
If
whatnowproc is
whatnow, then
repl uses a built-in
whatnow, it does not actually run the
whatnow program. Hence, if
you define your own
whatnowproc, don't call it
whatnow since
repl won't run it.
If your current working directory is not writable, the link named
“@” is not available.