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MH-DRAFT(5mh)                                                    MH-DRAFT(5mh)

NAME
       mh-draft - draft folder facility for nmh message system

DESCRIPTION
       There  are a number of interesting advanced facilities for the composi-
       tion of outgoing mail.

   The Draft Folder
       The comp, dist, forw, repl, send,  and  whom  commands  each  take  the
       switches -draftfolder +folder and -draftmessage msg, which allow you to
       manipulate the various draft messages you are composing.

       If -draftfolder +folder is used, draft messages will be constructed  in
       the  indicated folder.  The "Draft-Folder" profile entry may be used to
       specify a default draft folder.

       If the switch -draftmessage msg is given, the specified draft  is  used
       to  compose  the  message.   If -draftmessage msg is not used, then the
       draft defaults to `new' (create a new draft) unless  the  user  invokes
       comp with -use, in which case the default is `cur'.

       Hence,  the  user may have several message compositions in progress si-
       multaneously.  Now, all of the nmh tools are available on each  of  the
       user's  message  drafts  (e.g.   show,  scan, pick, and so on).  If the
       folder does not exist, the user is asked if it should be created  (just
       like  with  refile).   The last draft message the user was composing is
       known as `cur' in the draft folder.

       Using send, the user can send drafts using the standard nmh `msgs' con-
       vention  with  -draftmessage msgs.  If no `msgs' are given, it defaults
       to `cur'.

       In addition, all of these programs have a -nodraftfolder switch,  which
       undoes  the last occurrence of -draftfolder folder (useful if a default
       is specified in the user's nmh profile).

       If the user does not give the -draftfolder  +folder  switch,  then  all
       these commands act "normally".  Note that the -draft switch to send and
       show still refers to the file called `draft' in the user's  nmh  direc-
       tory.   In  the  interests of economy of expression, when using comp or
       send, the user needn't prefix the draft `msg' or `msgs' with -draftmes-
       sage.   Both  of these commands accept a `file' or `files' argument and
       they will, if given -draftfolder  +folder,  treat  these  arguments  as
       `msg' or `msgs'.  (This may appear to be inconsistent, at first, but it
       saves a lot of typing.)  Hence,

              send -draftfolder +drafts first

       is the same as

              send -draftfolder +drafts -draftmessage first

       To make all this a bit more clear, here are some examples.   Let's  as-
       sume that the following entries are in the nmh profile:

            Draft-Folder: drafts
            sendf: -draftfolder +drafts

       Furthermore,  let's  assume that the program sendf is a (symbolic) link
       in the user's $HOME/bin/ directory to send.  Now,

            comp
            dist
            forw
            repl

       will construct the message draft in the `draft' folder using the  `new'
       message  number.  Furthermore, they each define `cur' in this folder to
       be that message draft.  If the user were to use the quit option at  the
       `What  now?'  prompt,  then later on, if no other draft composition was
       done, the draft could be sent with simply

            sendf

       Or, if more editing was required, the draft could be edited with

            comp -use

       If other drafts had been composed in the meantime, so that this message
       draft was no longer known as `cur' in the `draft' folder, then the user
       could scan the folder to see which message draft  should  be  used  for
       editing  or  sending.  Clever users could even employ a backquoted pick
       to do the work:

            comp -use `pick +drafts -to nmh-workers`

       or

            sendf `pick +drafts -to nmh-workers`

       Note that in the comp example, the output from pick must resolve  to  a
       single  message draft (it makes no sense to talk about composing two or
       more drafts with one invocation of comp).  In contrast, in the send ex-
       ample, as many message drafts as desired can appear, since send doesn't
       mind sending more than one draft at a time.

       Note that the argument -draftfolder +folder is not included in the pro-
       file entry for send, since when comp, et al, invoke send directly, they
       supply send with  the  Unix  pathname  of  the  message  draft;  not  a
       -draftmessage  msg  argument.   As  far  as  send is concerned, a draft
       folder is not being used.

       It is important to realize that nmh treats  the  draft  folder  like  a
       standard nmh folder in nearly all respects.  There are two exceptions:

       First, under no circumstances will the -draftfolder folder switch cause
       the named folder to become  the  current  folder.   Obviously,  if  the
       folder appeared in the context of a standard +folder argument to an nmh
       program, as in

            scan +drafts

       it might become the current folder, depending on the context changes of
       the nmh program in question.

       Second,  although  conceptually  send  deletes  the `msgs' named in the
       draft folder, it does not call delete-prog to perform the deletion.

   What Happens if the Draft Exists
       When the comp, dist, forw, and repl commands are invoked and the  draft
       you indicated already exists, these programs will prompt the user for a
       response directing the program's action.  The prompt is

            Draft ``/home/foobar/nmhbox/draft'' exists (xx bytes).
            Disposition?

       The appropriate responses and their meanings are:

            replace   deletes the draft and starts afresh
            list      lists the draft
            refile    files the draft into a folder and starts afresh
            quit      leaves the draft intact and exits

       In addition, if you specified -draftfolder folder to the command,  then
       one other response will be accepted:

            new       creates a new draft

       just as if -draftmessage new had been given.  Finally, the comp command
       will accept one more response:

            use       re-uses the draft

       just as if -use had been given.

FILES
       $HOME/.mh_profile   The user's profile.

PROFILE COMPONENTS
       Draft-Folder:       For a default draft folder

CONTEXT
       None

nmh-1.7.1                         2012-03-18                     MH-DRAFT(5mh)