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MHSTORE(1mh)                                                      MHSTORE(1mh)

NAME
       mhstore - store contents of nmh MIME messages into files

SYNOPSIS
       mhstore [-help] [-version] [+folder] [msgs] [-file file] [-outfile out-
            file] [-part number] ...  [-type content] ...  [-prefer content]
            ...  [-noprefer] [-auto | -noauto] [-clobber always | auto | suf-
            fix | ask | never] [-rcache policy] [-wcache policy] [-check |
            -nocheck] [-verbose | -noverbose]

DESCRIPTION
       The mhstore command allows you to store the contents of a collection of
       MIME (multi-media) messages into files or other messages.

       mhstore manipulates multi-media messages as specified in  RFC  2045  to
       RFC 2049.

       By  default,  mhstore  will  store all the parts of each message.  Each
       part will be stored in a separate file.  The header fields of the  mes-
       sage  are not stored.  By using the -part, -type, and -prefer switches,
       you may limit and reorder the set of parts to be stored, based on  part
       number and/or content type.

       The  -file file switch directs mhstore to use the specified file as the
       source message, rather than a message from a folder.   If  you  specify
       this  file  as  "-", then mhstore will accept the source message on the
       standard input.  Note that the file,  or  input  from  standard  input,
       should be a validly formatted message, just like any other nmh message.
       It should not be in mail drop format (to convert a file  in  mail  drop
       format to a folder of nmh messages, see inc(1)).

       A part specification consists of a series of numbers separated by dots.
       For example, in a multipart content containing three parts, these would
       be  named as 1, 2, and 3, respectively.  If part 2 was also a multipart
       content containing two parts, these would be named as 2.1 and 2.2,  re-
       spectively.   Note that the -part switch is effective only for messages
       containing a multipart content.  If a message has some  other  kind  of
       content,  or if the part is itself another multipart content, the -part
       switch will not prevent the content from being acted upon.

       The -type switch can also be used to restrict (or, when  used  in  con-
       junction  with  -part,  to further restrict) the selection of parts ac-
       cording to content type.  One or more -type switches part will only se-
       lect  the  first  match  from a multipart/alternative, even if there is
       more than one subpart that matches (one of) the given content type(s).

       Using either -part or -type switches alone will cause either to  select
       the  part(s)  they  match.   Using  them  together will select only the
       part(s) matched by both (sets of) switches.  In other words, the result
       is  the  intersection,  and  not the union, of their separate match re-
       sults.

       A content specification consists of a content type and a subtype.   The
       initial  list  of "standard" content types and subtypes can be found in
       RFC 2046.

       A list of commonly used contents is briefly reproduced here:

            Type         Subtypes
            ----         --------
            text         plain, enriched
            multipart    mixed, alternative, digest, parallel
            message      rfc822, partial, external-body
            application  octet-stream, postscript
            image        jpeg, gif, png
            audio        basic
            video        mpeg

       A legal MIME message must contain a subtype specification.

       To specify a content, regardless of its subtype, just use the  name  of
       the  content,  e.g.,  "audio".  To specify a specific subtype, separate
       the two with a slash, e.g., "audio/basic".  Note that regardless of the
       values  given  to the -type switch, a multipart content (of any subtype
       listed above) is always acted upon.  Further note  that  if  the  -type
       switch  is  used, and it is desirable to act on a message/external-body
       content, then the -type switch must be used twice: once for message/ex-
       ternal-body and once for the content externally referenced.

       The  -prefer  switch will alter the part-ordering of multipart/alterna-
       tive MIME sections in order to override the sender-imposed default  or-
       dering.   The -prefer switch is functionally most important for mhshow,
       but is also implemented in mhlist and mhstore to make common  part-num-
       bering  possible across all three programs.  The last of multiple -pre-
       fer switches will have the highest priority.  This allows  the  command
       line switches to override profile entries.  See mhlist(1) and mhshow(1)
       for more information on -prefer.

       The -noprefer switch will cancel any previous -prefer switches.

   Checking the Contents
       The -check switch tells mhstore to check each content for an  integrity
       checksum.  If a content has such a checksum (specified as a Content-MD5
       header field), then mhstore will attempt to verify the integrity of the
       content.

   Storing the Contents
       mhstore  will store the contents of the named messages in "native" (de-
       coded) format.  Two things must be determined: the directory  in  which
       to  store the content, and the filenames.  Files are written in the di-
       rectory given by the "nmh-storage" profile entry, e.g.,

            nmh-storage: /tmp

       If this entry isn't present, the current working directory is used.

       If the -outfile switch is given, its argument is used for the  filename
       to  store  all of the content, with "-" indicating standard output.  If
       the -auto switch is given, then mhstore will check if the message  con-
       tains  information indicating the filename that should be used to store
       the content.  This information should be specified  as  the  "filename"
       attribute  in  the "Content-Disposition" header or as the "name" attri-
       bute in the "Content-Type" header for the content you are storing.  For
       security  reasons,  this filename will be ignored if it begins with the
       character '/', '.', '|', or '!', or if it contains the  character  '%'.
       We  also  recommend  using  a "nmh-storage" profile entry or a -clobber
       switch setting other than the default of "always" to avoid  overwriting
       existing files.

       If the -auto switch is not given (or is being ignored for security rea-
       sons) then mhstore will look in the user's profile  for  a  "formatting
       string"  to  determine  how  the  different  contents should be stored.
       First, mhstore will look for an entry of the form:

            mhstore-store-<type>/<subtype>

       to determine the formatting string.  If this isn't found, mhstore  will
       look for an entry of the form:

            mhstore-store-<type>

       to determine the formatting string.

       If  the  formatting string starts with a "+" character, then content is
       stored in the named folder.  A formatting string consisting solely of a
       "+" character is interpreted to be the current folder.

       If  the  formatting string consists solely of a "-" character, then the
       content is sent to the standard output.

       If the formatting string starts with a '|', then it represents  a  com-
       mand  for mhstore to execute which should ultimately store the content.
       The content will be passed to the standard input of the  command.   Be-
       fore  the  command  is executed, mhstore will change to the appropriate
       directory, and any escapes (given below) in the formatting string  will
       be  expanded.   The use of the "%a" sequence is not recommended because
       the user has no control over the Content-Type parameter data.

       Otherwise, the formatting string will represent a pathname in which  to
       store  the  content.   If the formatting string starts with a '/', then
       the content will be stored in the full path given, else the  file  name
       will  be  relative to the value of "nmh-storage" or the current working
       directory.  Any escapes (given below) will be expanded, except for  the
       a-escape.   Note that if "nmh-storage" is not an absolute path, it will
       be relative to the folder that contains the message(s).

       A command or pathname formatting string may contain the  following  es-
       capes.  If the content isn't part of a multipart (of any subtype listed
       above) content, the p-escapes are ignored.

            %a  Parameters from Content-Type  (only valid with command)
            %m  Insert message number
            %P  Insert part number with leading dot
            %p  Insert part number without leading dot
            %t  Insert content type
            %s  Insert content subtype
            %%  Insert character %

       If no formatting string is found, mhstore will check to see if the con-
       tent is application/octet-stream with parameter "type=tar".  If so, mh-
       store will choose an appropriate filename.  If the content is  not  ap-
       plication/octet-stream,  then  mhstore will check to see if the content
       is a message.  If so, mhstore will use the value "+".  As  a  last  re-
       sort, mhstore will use the value "%m%P.%s".

       Example profile entries might be:

            mhstore-store-text: %m%P.txt
            mhstore-store-text: +inbox
            mhstore-store-message/partial: +
            mhstore-store-audio/basic: | raw2audio -e ulaw -s 8000 -c 1 > %m%P.au
            mhstore-store-image/jpeg: %m%P.jpg
            mhstore-store-application/PostScript: %m%P.ps

       The  -verbose  switch  directs  mhstore to print out the names of files
       that it stores.  For backward compatibility, it is  the  default.   The
       -noverbose switch suppresses these printouts.

   Overwriting Existing Files
       The  -clobber switch controls whether mhstore should overwrite existing
       files.  The allowed values for this switch and  corresponding  behavior
       when mhstore encounters an existing file are:

            always    Overwrite existing file (default)
            auto      Create new file of form name-n.extension
            suffix    Create new file of form name.extension.n
            ask       Prompt the user to specify whether or not to overwrite
                      the existing file
            never     Do not overwrite existing file

       With auto and suffix, n is the lowest unused number, starting from one,
       in the same form.  If a filename does not have an extension  (following
       a  '.'),  then auto and suffix create a new file of the form name-n and
       name.n, respectively.  With never and ask, the exit status  of  mhstore
       will be the number of files that were requested but not stored.

       With  ask,  if  standard  input is connected to a terminal, the user is
       prompted to respond yes, no, or rename, to whether the file  should  be
       overwritten.   The  responses can be abbreviated.  If the user responds
       with rename, then mhstore prompts the user for the name of the new file
       to  be  created.   If  it  is a relative path name (does not begin with
       '/'), then it is relative to the current directory.  If it is an  abso-
       lute or relative path to a directory that does not exist, the user will
       be prompted whether to create the directory.  If standard input is  not
       connected to a terminal, ask behaves the same as always.

   Reassembling Messages of Type message/partial
       mhstore  is  also able to reassemble messages that have been split into
       multiple messages of type "message/partial".

       When asked to store a content containing  a  partial  message,  mhstore
       will  try  to  locate all of the portions and combine them accordingly.
       The default is to store the combined parts as a new message in the cur-
       rent  folder,  although this can be changed using formatting strings as
       discussed above.  Thus, if someone has sent you a  message  in  several
       parts  (such  as  the output from sendfiles), you can easily reassemble
       them into a single message in the following fashion:

            % mhlist 5-8
             msg part  type/subtype             size description
               5       message/partial           47K part 1 of 4
               6       message/partial           47K part 2 of 4
               7       message/partial           47K part 3 of 4
               8       message/partial           18K part 4 of 4
            % mhstore 5-8
            reassembling partials 5,6,7,8 to folder inbox as message 9
            % mhlist -verbose 9
             msg part  type/subtype             size description
               9       application/octet-stream 118K
                         (extract with uncompress | tar xvpf -)
                         type=tar
                         conversions=compress

       This will store exactly one message, containing the sum of  the  parts.
       It  doesn't  matter  whether the partials are specified in order, since
       mhstore will sort the partials, so that they are combined in  the  cor-
       rect  order.   But if mhstore can not locate every partial necessary to
       reassemble the message, it will not store anything.

   External Access
       For contents of type message/external-body, mhstore supports these  ac-
       cess-types:

       o   afs

       o   anon-ftp

       o   ftp

       o   local-file

       o   mail-server

       o   url

       For  the  "anon-ftp"  and "ftp" access types, mhstore will look for the
       "nmh-access-ftp" profile entry, e.g.,

            nmh-access-ftp: myftp.sh

       to determine the pathname of a program to perform  the  FTP  retrieval.
       This program is invoked with these arguments:

            domain name of FTP-site
            username
            password
            remote directory
            remote filename
            local filename
            "ascii" or "binary"

       The  program  should  terminate  with an exit status of zero if the re-
       trieval is successful, and a non-zero exit status otherwise.

       For the "url" access types, mhstore will look for the  "nmh-access-url"
       profile entry, e.g.,

            nmh-access-url: curl -L

       to  determine  the  program to use to perform the HTTP retrieval.  This
       program is invoked with one argument: the URL of  the  content  to  re-
       trieve.   The  program  should  write  the content to standard out, and
       should terminate with a status of zero if the retrieval  is  successful
       and a non-zero exit status otherwise.

   The Content Cache
       When  mhstore encounters an external content containing a "Content-ID:"
       field, and if the content allows caching, then depending on the caching
       behavior  of  mhstore,  the  content might be read from or written to a
       cache.

       The caching behavior of mhstore is  controlled  with  the  -rcache  and
       -wcache switches, which define the policy for reading from, and writing
       to, the cache, respectively.  One of four policies  may  be  specified:
       "public",  indicating that mhstore should make use of a publicly-acces-
       sible content cache; "private", indicating that mhstore should make use
       of  the  user's private content cache; "never", indicating that mhstore
       should never make use of caching; and, "ask", indicating  that  mhstore
       should ask the user.

       There are two directories where contents may be cached: the profile en-
       try "nmh-cache" names a directory containing  world-readable  contents,
       and, the profile entry "nmh-private-cache" names a directory containing
       private contents.  The former should be an absolute (rooted)  directory
       name.

       For example,

            nmh-cache: /tmp

       might  be  used  if you didn't care that the cache got wiped after each
       reboot of the system.  The latter is interpreted relative to the user's
       nmh directory, if not rooted, e.g.,

            nmh-private-cache: .cache

       (which is the default value).

   User Environment
       Because  the environment in which mhstore operates may vary for differ-
       ent machines, mhstore will look for the environment variable MHSTORE  .
       If present, this specifies the name of an additional user profile which
       should be read.  Hence, when a user logs in on  a  particular  machine,
       this  environment  variable should be set to refer to a file containing
       definitions useful for that machine.  Finally, mhstore will attempt  to
       consult

            /etc/nmh/mhn.defaults

       which is created automatically during nmh installation.

       See "Profile Lookup" in mh-profile(5) for the profile search order, and
       for how duplicate entries are treated.

EXAMPLES
   Decoding RFC 2047-encoded file names
       The improper RFC 2047 encoding of file name parameters can be  replaced
       with  correct  RFC  2231 encoding using mhfixmsg, either permanently or
       ephemerally, e.g.,

              mhfixmsg -outfile - | mhstore -auto -clobber ask -file -

       The -clobberask is not necessary, though recommended to avoid  silently
       overwriting an existing file.

FILES
       mhstore looks for additional profile files in multiple locations: abso-
       lute pathnames are accessed directly, tilde expansion is done on  user-
       names, and files are searched for in the user's Mail directory as spec-
       ified in their profile.  If not found there, the  directory  "/etc/nmh"
       is checked.

       $HOME/.mh_profile          The user profile
       $MHSTORE                   Additional profile entries
       /etc/nmh/mhn.defaults      System default MIME profile entries

PROFILE COMPONENTS
       Path:                To determine the user's nmh directory
       Current-Folder:      To find the default current folder
       nmh-access-ftp:      Program to retrieve contents via FTP
       nmh-access-url:      Program to retrieve contents via HTTP
       nmh-cache            Public directory to store cached external contents
       nmh-private-cache    Personal directory to store cached external contents
       nmh-storage          Directory to store contents
       mhstore-store-<type>*Template for storing contents

SEE ALSO
       mhbuild(1), mhfixmsg(1), mhlist(1), mhshow(1), sendfiles(1)

DEFAULTS
       `+folder' defaults to the current folder
       `msgs' defaults to cur
       `-noauto'
       `-clobber always'
       `-nocheck'
       `-rcache ask'
       `-wcache ask'
       `-verbose'

CONTEXT
       If a folder is given, it will become the current folder.  The last mes-
       sage selected will become the current message.

BUGS
       Partial messages contained within a multipart content are not  reassem-
       bled.

nmh-1.7.1                         2015-02-06                      MHSTORE(1mh)

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