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MHPATH(1mh)                                                        MHPATH(1mh)

NAME
       mhpath - print full pathnames of nmh messages and folders

SYNOPSIS
       mhpath [-help] [-version] [+folder] [msgs]

DESCRIPTION
       mhpath  expands  and  sorts the message list `msgs' and writes the full
       pathnames of the messages to the standard  output,  separated  by  new-
       lines.   If  no  `msgs'  are specified, mhpath outputs the current mail
       folder's pathname instead.  If the  only  argument  is  `+',  your  nmh
       "Path" is output; this can be useful in shell scripts.

       In  contrast  with other nmh commands, a message argument to mhpath may
       often be intended for writing.  Because of this:

       1)  the name "new" has been added to mhpath's list of reserved  message
           names  (the  others are "first", "last", "prev", "next", "cur", and
           "all").  The new message is equivalent to  the  message  after  the
           last  message  in a folder (and equivalent to 1 in a folder without
           messages).  The "new" message may not be used as part of a  message
           range.

       2)  Within a message list, the following designations may refer to mes-
           sages that do not exist: a single numeric message name, the  single
           message  name "cur", and (obviously) the single message name "new".
           All other message designations must refer to at least one  existing
           message, if the folder contains messages.

       3)  An empty folder is not, in itself, an error.

       A  message  number less than that of the smallest existing message in a
       folder is treated as if the message already exists.  A  message  number
       greater than that of the highest existing message in a folder causes an
       "out of range" error message to be displayed.

       As part of a range designation that contains messages  that  do  exist,
       message  numbers  less  than the smallest, or greater than the highest,
       existing message in a folder are ignored.

       Examples: The current folder foo contains messages 3 5 6.  Cur is 4.

            % mhpath
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo

            % mhpath all
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/3
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/5
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/6

            % mhpath 2001
            mhpath: message 2001 out of range 1-6

            % mhpath 1-2001
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/3
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/5
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/6

            % mhpath new
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/7

            % mhpath last new
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/6
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/7

            % mhpath last-new
            mhpath: bad message list last-new

            % mhpath cur
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/4

            % mhpath 1-2
            mhpath: no messages in range 1-2

            % mhpath first:2
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/3
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/5

            % mhpath 1 2
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/1
            /r/phyl/Mail/foo/2

       mhpath is also useful in backquoted operations:

            % cd `mhpath +inbox`

            % echo `mhpath +`
            /r/phyl/Mail

       Because mhpath expands and sorts [msgs].  the command

            mv `mhpath 501 500`

       to will not move 501 to 500; quite the reverse.  But

            mv `mhpath 501` `mhpath 500`

       will do the trick.

       Out-of-range message 0 produces a different error  message  than  large
       out-of-range  message numbers.  But both cause mhpath to exit with non-
       zero status.

FILES
       $HOME/.mh_profile    The user profile

PROFILE COMPONENTS
       Path:                To determine the user's nmh directory
       Current-Folder:      To find the default current folder

SEE ALSO
       folder(1)

DEFAULTS
       `+folder' defaults to the current folder
       `msgs' defaults to none

CONTEXT
       None

nmh-1.7.1                         2012-02-18                       MHPATH(1mh)