FORW(1)
NAME
forw - forward messages
SYNOPSIS
forw [+folder] [msgs]
[-annotate] [-noannotate] [-form formfile]
[-format] [-noformat] [-filter filterfile]
[-inplace] [-noinplace] [-mime] [-nomime]
[-draftfolder +folder] [-draftmessage msg]
[-nodraftfolder] [-editor editor] [-noedit]
[-whatnowproc program] [-nowhatnowproc]
[-version] [-help]
forw [+folder] [msgs] [-digest list] [-issue number]
[-volume number] [other switches for forw] [-help]
DESCRIPTION
Forw may be used to prepare a message containing other
messages.
It constructs the new message from a forms (components)
file, with a body composed of the message(s) to be for-
warded. An editor is invoked as in comp, and after edit-
ing is complete, the user is prompted before the message
is sent.
The default message form contains the following elements:
To:
cc:
Subject:
--------
If a file named "forwcomps" exists in the user's nmh
directory, it will be used instead of this default form.
You may also specify an alternate forms file with the
switch `-form formfile'.
When If the draft already exists, forw will ask you as to
the disposition of the draft. A reply of quit will abort
forw, leaving the draft intact; replace will replace the
existing draft with a blank skeleton; and list will dis-
play the draft.
If the `-annotate' switch is given, each message being
forwarded will be annotated with the lines
Forwarded: date
Forwarded: addrs
where each address list contains as many lines as
required. This annotation will be done only if the mes-
sage is sent directly from forw. If the message is not
sent immediately from forw, "comp -use" may be used to
re-edit and send the constructed message, but the annota-
tions won't take place. Normally annotations are done
inplace in order to preserve any links to the message.
You may change this by using the '-noinplace' switch.
See comp (1) for a description of the `-editor' and
`-noedit' switches.
Although forw uses a forms (components) file to direct it
how to construct the beginning of the draft, it uses a
message filter file to direct it as to how each forwarded
message should be formatted in the body of the draft. The
filter file for forw should be a standard form file for
mhl, as forw will invoke mhl to filter (re-format) the
forwarded messages prior to being output to the body of
the draft.
The switches `-noformat', `-format', and `-filter filter-
file' specify which message filter file to use.
If `-noformat' is specified (this is the default), then
each forwarded message is output into the draft exactly as
it appears with no mhl filtering.
If `-format' is specified, then a default message filter
file is used. This default message filter should be ade-
quate for most users. This default filter "mhl.forward"
is:
; mhl.forward
;
; default message filter for `forw' (forw -format)
;
width=80,overflowtext=,overflowoffset=10
leftadjust,compress,compwidth=9
Date:formatfield="%<(nodate{text})%{text}%|%(tws{text})%>"
From:
To:
cc:
Subject:
:
body:nocomponent,overflowoffset=0,noleftadjust,nocompress
If a file named "mhl.forward" 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'.
Each forwarded message is separated with an encapsulation
delimiter and dashes in the first column of the forwarded
messages will be prepended with `- ' so that when
received, the message is suitable for bursting by
burst (1). This follows the Internet RFC-934 guidelines.
For users of prompter (1), by specifying prompter's
`-prepend' switch in the .mh_profile file, any commentary
text is entered before the forwarded messages. (A major
win!)
To use the MIME rules for encapsulation, specify the
`-mime' switch. This directs forw to generate an mhbuild
composition file. Note that nmh will not invoke mhbuild
automatically, unless you add this line to your .mh_pro-
file file:
automimeproc: 1
Otherwise, you must specifically give the command
What now? mime
prior to sending the draft.
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, forw 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 occur-
ring.)
The `-digest list', `-issue number', and `-volume number'
switches implement a digest facility for nmh. Specifying
these switches enables and/or overloads the following
escapes:
Type Escape Returns Description
component digest string Argument to `-digest'
function cur integer Argument to `-volume'
function msg integer Argument to `-issue'
Consult the Advanced Features section of the nmh User's
Manual for more information on making digests.
FILES
/etc/nmh/forwcomps The standard message skeleton
or <mh-dir>/forwcomps Rather than the standard skeleton
/etc/nmh/digestcomps The message skeleton if `-digest' is given
or <mh-dir>/digestcomps Rather than the standard skeleton
/etc/nmh/mhl.forward The standard message filter
or <mh-dir>/mhl.forward Rather than the standard filter
$HOME/.mh_profile The user profile
<mh-dir>/draft The draft file
PROFILE COMPONENTS
Path: To determine the user's nmh directory
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 messages being forwarded
whatnowproc: Program to ask the "What now?" questions
SEE ALSO
Proposed Standard for Message Encapsulation(RFC-934)
mhbuild(1) comp(1) repl(1) send(1) whatnow(1) mh-for-
mat(5)
DEFAULTS
`+folder' defaults to the current folder
`msgs' defaults to cur
`-noannotate'
`-nodraftfolder'
`-noformat'
`-inplace'
`-nomime'
CONTEXT
If a folder is given, it will become the current folder.
The first message forwarded will become the current mes-
sage.
BUGS
If whatnowproc is whatnow, then forw uses a built-in what-
now, it does not actually run the whatnow program. Hence,
if you define your own whatnowproc, don't call it whatnow
since forw won't run it.
When forw is told to annotate the messages it forwards, it
doesn't actually annotate them until the draft is success-
fully sent. If from the whatnowproc, you push instead of
send, it's possible to confuse forw by re-ordering the
file (e.g., by using `folder -pack') before the message is
successfully sent. Dist and repl don't have this problem.
To avoid prepending the leading dash characters in for-
warded messages, there is a `-nodashmunging' option. See
the "Hidden Features" section of the nmh Administrator's
Guide for more details.