exmh Reference Guide

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Command-line Options

-bgAction action

Override background processing setting. Valid actions are: off, count, msgchk, flist, and inc.

-bgPeriod minutes

Override background period setting.

-geometry geometry

Initial geometry to use for the window. exmh remembers the geometry when you change it interactively, so you do not really need to specify it each time on the command line.

-iconposition geometry

Initial position to use for the icon in the form +xoff+yoff. You can use minus signs (-) instead of plus signs (+) to position relative to the right and bottom of the screen.

-iconic

Begin execution iconic.

-sedit

Override the editor command defined in Preferences and use the built-in editor (sedit) instead.

folder

If the argument is not one of the flags given above, it is assumed to be the name of a folder. In this case exmh begins in that folder.

Main Buttons and Menus

exmh Main Buttons (top row)

Menu/Button	Tcl Command	Explanation
Help	--	A menu with three choices:
Quick Intro	Help	-- Some get-started information.
Color Legend	Help_KeyDisplay	-- A highlighting key for color or monochrome screens.
Frequently Asked Questions	Help FAQ	-- Displays the exmh.FAQ file.
Bindings	--	A menu with two choices:
Commands	Bind_Pref	-- Dialog to change command key bindings.
Simple Edit	Sedit_Pref	-- Dialog to change editing key bindings.
Log	ExmhLogShow	Display the debug log, if it is enabled.
Aliases	Aliases_Pref	Display an interface to the MH alias file.
Preferences	Preferences_Dialog	Display the preferences user interface.
Quit	Exmh_Done	Quit exmh.

Folder Buttons and Menus

Folder Buttons (middle row)

Menu/Button	Tcl Command	Explanation
Pick	Pick	An interface to the MH pick command.
New	Folder_New	Create a new mail folder.
Find	Find_Setup	Display find dialog.
Flist	Fdisp_ClearHighlights ; busy Flist_FindUnseen	Refreshes highlights of labels for folders with unseen messages.
Inc	Inc	Incorporate new mail from your spool file.
Commit	Folder_Commit	Commit pending delete and move operations.
More...	--	A menu with more folder operations:
Rescan folder	busy Scan_FolderForce ; Msg_ShowSomething	Force a rescan of the folder contents.
Pack folder	busy Folder_Pack ; Msg_ShowSomething	Renumber messages in the current folder to eliminate any gaps in the number sequence.
Sort folder	busy Folder_Sort ; Msg_ShowSomething	This will sort the current folder by date.
Find all folders	Flist_Refresh	Scan the file system for all your folders.
Delete folder	Folder_Delete	Delete a folder.
Catch-up Unseen	Pick_MarkSeen	Clear the unseen sequence from the current folder.
Update scan caches	Scan_AllFolders	Updates any scan caches that are out of date.
Update all scan caches	Scan_AllFolders 1	Rescans all folders.
Purge folder	Folder_PurgeBg	Delete old messages renamed by rmm.
Purge all folders	Folder_PurgeAllBg	Purge all folders.
Import mailbox folders	Import_Dialog	Copy messages from mailtool folders.

Message Buttons and Menus

Message Buttons (bottom row)

Menu/Button	Tcl Command	Explanation
Forward	Msg_Forward	Forward the current message(s).
Send	Msg_Compose	Compose a mail message.
Prev	Ftoc_Prev show	Show previous message.
Next	Ftoc_Next show	Show next message.
Delete	Msg_Remove	Mark the current message(s) for deletion and advance.
Move	Msg_Move Ftoc_MoveMark	Mark the selected message(s) to be moved to the target folder and go to the next message.
Link	Msg_Move Ftoc_CopyMark advance?	Link message to target folder.
"Reply..."	--	This is a menu of reply options.
Reply to sender	Msg_Reply -nocc all	Reply to the current message, only to the person that send the original.
Reply all	Msg_Reply -cc all	Reply to the current message, including on the cc line everyone that got the original message.
Reply help	Msg_ReplyHelp	Explains how to add more Reply... menu entries.
More...	--	This is a menu of more message operations:
Print	Print	Print the current message(s).
Unmark (Undo)	Ftoc_Unmark	Cancel a move or delete mark on the selected message(s).
Clip	Msg_Clip	Display a new the current message in a new window.
First Unseen	Msg_ShowUnseen	Display the first unseen message, if any.
Burst Digest	Msg_BurstDigest	Use MH burst to split up a digest message into its individual messages.
Redistribute	Msg_Dist Mh_DistSetup	Resend a message to a different recipient.
Save to file	Msg_Save	Copy the current message(s) to a file.
Use message as draft	Msg_CompUse	Copy the current message into the drafts folder and open your editor on the message.
Edit message	Msg_Edit	Open your editor on the current message.
uudecode message	Msg_UUdecode	Run uudecode with the current message as input.
Print as postscript	Print_Postscript	Strip lines before %! and print the rest.
Apply to message	Message_Apply	This runs a UNIX command over the current message, header and body.
Apply to body	Message_Apply body	This runs a UNIX command over a temporary file containing the body of the current message.
Mark Unseen	Msg_MarkSeen	Put the current message(s) back into the unseen sequence.
PGP view	Pgp_view	Temporarily decrypt a message using PGP.
PGP decrypt	Pgp_decrypt	Decrypt and save a message using PGP.

sedit Buttons and Menus

The following table describes the buttons and menus for the built-in editor sedit. Most of these Tcl commands are parameterized by $draft and $t to allow for multiple drafts in progress.

Simple Editor (sedit) Buttons

Menu/Button	Tcl Command/Variable	Explanation
Abort	SeditAbort $draft $t	This deletes the draft message and removes the editor window.
Save&Quit	SeditSave $draft $t SeditNuke	This will save the message and quit the editor window.
Help	SeditHelp	Display a window with a short explanation of the editor.
Insert @	SeditInsertFile $draft $t @	Format and insert the message being replied to. Only enabled during replies.
Sign	SeditSign $draft $t	This appends your ~/.signature file to the draft. If this file is instead an executable script or program, it is executed in order to generate the signature.
Sign...	--	A menu of signature possibilities, which are all files that match the ~/.signature* pattern
Send	SeditSend $draft $t	Send the message.
Whom	SeditWhom $draft $f $t	Expand aliases to determine who the message is going to.
Text...	--	This menu is used to add bold, italic, underline, etc. to your messages. This results in a MIME message of type text/enriched.
More...	--	This menu contains a few entries for less common operations. The first three are checkbox entries that set the named Tcl variable.
Keep on send	sedit($t,keep)	If selected it prevents the editor window from disappearing after you send or abort a message.
Format mail	sedit($t,format)	Enables line breaking and text/enriched encoding.
Attempt mhn	sedit($t,mhn)	Run your message through mhn to create MIME messages.
Insert File...	SeditInsertFileDirect $draft $t	Insert a file into the message without MIME formatting.
Insert Part...	SeditInsertFileDialog $draft $t	Insert a file as part of a MIME message.
Insert External...	SeditInsertExternalDialog $draft $t	Create a Message/External-Body MIME message part.
Save	SeditSave $draft $t	Save the editor buffer to disk. This does not mean the draft is preserved after you send it. Use Save&Quit or Keep on Send instead.
Spell...	SeditSpell $draft $f $t	This runs a spell command over the draft body.
Find SEL	Sedit_Find $draft $t	This searches the draft for the current X selection.
PGP	--	A menu of Pretty Good Privacy commands. These all work by inserting a pgp-action header into the message, and the action takes effect when the message is sent.
encrypt	Pgp_encrypt encrypt $draft $t	Encrypt a message for the recipients of the message.
sign clear	Pgp_encrypt signclear $draft $t	Digitally sign a plain text message.
sign binary	Pgp_encrypt signbinary $draft $t	Digitally sign and base64-encode the message.
encrypt & sign	Pgp_encrypt encryptsign $draft $t	Encrypt and sign the message.

What Now Buttons and Menus

The What Now dialog is opened after you edit a draft with an external editor that is run via the exmh-async wrapper script.

What Now Dialog

Menu/Button	Tcl Command	Explanation
Kill	EditDialogDone abort $id	Remove the draft instead of sending it.
Dismiss	EditDialogDone dismiss $id	Leave the draft in the drafts folder - do not send, yet.
Re-edit	EditDialogDone reedit $id nohide	Re-run the editor on the draft.
Send	EditDialogDone send $id	Send the message.
More...	--	A menu with more operations:
Whom	EditDialogDone whom $id nohide	Expand aliases to determine who the message is going to.
MHN	EditDialogDone mhn $id nohide	Run the draft through mhn.
Spell	EditDialogDone spell $id nohide	Run a spell program on the message.
Sedit	EditDialogDone sedit $id	Run the built-in editor on the message.

External Editor Interface

The following Tcl commands are designed to be used with an external Tcl-based editor. Use the Tk send command to get exmh to do these operations.

Tcl Interface for External Editors

Tcl Command	Explanation
Edit_Dialog $id	Display the WhatNow dialog for the draft. The $id is the message number of the draft. Alternatively, the following commands can be issued directly from the editor's interface.
Edit_Done send $id	Send the message $id in the drafts folder.
Edit_Done reedit $id	Re-edit the message.
Edit_Done sedit $id	Run the built-in editor on the message.
Edit_Done spell $id	Run a spell program on the message.
Edit_Done mhn $id	Run mhn on the message.
Edit_Done abort $id	Remove the draft message.
Edit_Done dismiss $id	Leave the message in the drafts folder.
Edit_Done whom $id	Run the MH whom program on the message.

Command Keys

The following table lists command key bindings. The keystroke syntax is given as you would specify it to the Tk bind command. Capitalization is important. Note that punctuation characters are spelled out; these are X keysyms. The special keysyms like Next may vary from keyboard to keyboard. You can change these bindings via the Command Binding menu entry, and the results are saved in your ~/.exmhbindings file.

Command Key Bindings

Keystroke	Tcl Command	Explanation
<Key-c>	Msg_Compose	Open the editor on a new draft message.
<Key-d>	Msg_Remove	Delete the current message(s).
<Key-D>	Msg_RemoveNoshow	Delete the current message(s) and advance without displaying.
<Key-f>	Msg_Forward	Forward the current message(s).
<Key-F>	Folder_Unseen	Change to the next folder with unseen messages.
<Key-i>	Inc	Incorporate Mail
<Key-m>	Msg_Move	Refile the current message(s) to the target folder.
<Key-M>	Msg_MoveNoshow	Refile the current message(s) and advance without displaying.
<Key-n>	Ftoc_Next show	Display the next message.
<Key-N>	Ftoc_Next noshow	Select, but do not display, the next message.
<Key-p>	Ftoc_Prev show	Display the previous message.
<Key-P>	Ftoc_Prev noshow	Select, but do not display, the previous message.
<Key-r>	Msg_Reply -nocc all	Reply to the sender of the current message.
<Key-R>	Msg_Reply -cc all	Reply to the sender and all recipients of the current message.
<Key-s>	Msg_ShowCurrent	Display the currently selected message.
<Control-s>	Find_It forw	Search forward in message or FTOC.
<Key-u>	Ftoc_Unmark	Unmark the current message(s).
<Key-U>	Msg_ShowUnseen	Show the next unread message.
<asciicircum>	Msg_First	Select, but do not display, the first message in the folder. This key prints as ^.
<dollar>	Msg_Last	Select, but do not display, the last message. This key prints as $.
<minus>	Ftoc_PrevMarked	Display the the previous message, whether or not it is marked. This key prints as -.
<space>	Msg_PageOrNext	Page down the message or advance to the next one.
<question>	Bind_Pref	Display command binding user interface. This key prints as ?.
<BackSpace>	Msg_PageUp	Page back through the message.
<Prior>	--	Same as <BackSpace>
<Up>	--	Same as <BackSpace>
<Next>	Msg_PageDown	Page down in the message display.
<Down>	--	Same as <Next>
<Control-p>	Ftoc_PageUp	Page up the folder table of contents.
<Shift-Prev>	--	Same as <Control-p>
<Control-r>	Find_It prev	Search backwards in message or FTOC.
<Control-Return>	Folder_Commit	Commit pending deletes and refiles.
<Control-n>	Ftoc_PageDown	Page down the folder table-of-contents.
<Shift-Next>	--	Same as <Control-n>

Editing Keys

The following table lists editing key bindings. These are used in the built-in editor and, where applicable, in the text entry widgets in dialogs. You can change (but not extend) these bindings via the Simple Edit menu entry, and the results are saved in your ~/.exmhsedit file.

Simple Edit Bindings

Keystroke	Mnemonic	Explanation
<Control-h>	backspace	Destructive backspace.
<BackSpace>	backspace
<Control-b>	backchar	Move cursor back a character.
<Key-Left>	backchar
<Meta-less>	bof	Move to beginning of buffer.
<Meta-b>	backword	Move cursor back a word.
<Control-d>	delchar	Delete the character ahead of cursor.
<Control-x><Delete>	delbol	Delete to beginning of line.
<Meta-h>	delwordback	Delete back a word.
<Control-k>	deleol	Delete to end of line.
<Control-n>	down1line	Move cursor down one line.
<Key-Down>	down1line
<Meta-d>	delwordforw	Delete word ahead of cursor.
<Meta-greater>	eof	Move to end of buffer.
<Control-v>	down1page	Scroll down one page.
<Meta-f>	forwword	Move cursor ahead one word.
<Control-f>	forwchar	Move cursor ahead one characer.
<Key-Right>	forwchar
<Control-a>	linestart	Move cursor to beginning of line.
<Control-e>	lineend	Move cursor to end of line.
<Control-w>	seldelete	Cut the selection.
<Delete>	seldelete
<Control-o>	openline	Open a new line after the cursor.
<Control-c><Control-c>	sendMsg	Send the draft.
<Control-y>	selpaste	Paste the selection.
<Meta-t>	transword	Transpose words.
<Control-t>	transpose	Transpose characters.
<Meta-v>	up1page	Scroll up one page.
<Control-p>	up1line	Move cursor up one line.
<Key-Up>	up1line

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This file is from the third edition of the book MH & xmh: Email for Users & Programmers, ISBN 1-56592-093-7, by Jerry Peek. Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. This file is freely-available; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation. For more information, see the file copying.htm.