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SORTM(1mh)                                                          SORTM(1mh)

NAME
       sortm - sort nmh messages

SYNOPSIS
       sortm [-help] [-version] [+folder] [msgs] [-all | -noall] [-datefield
            field] [-textfield field] [-notextfield] [-limit days] [-nolimit]
            [-check | -nocheck] [-verbose | -noverbose]

DESCRIPTION
       sortm sorts the specified messages in the named folder according to the
       chronological order of the "Date:" field of each message.

       If no messages are specified,  the  default  is  all  messages  in  the
       folder.  However, if no messages are specified and the -noall switch is
       enabled, then sortm reports that as an error and  exits  with  non-zero
       status.  -noall is most useful in the user's profile, to avoid inadver-
       tent sorting of an entire folder.  The -all switch can then be used  on
       the  command line to disable it.  Of course, a message specification of
       all can be used in any case.

       The -verbose switch directs sortm to tell the user the general  actions
       that it is taking to place the folder in sorted order.

       The  -datefield  field  switch tells sortm the name of the field to use
       when making the date comparison.  If the user has a  special  field  in
       each message, such as "BB-Posted:" or "Delivery-Date:", then the -date-
       field switch can be used to direct sortm which field to examine.

       The -textfield field switch causes sortm to sort messages by the speci-
       fied  text  field.   All  characters  except  letters  and  numbers are
       stripped  and  the  resulting  strings  are   sorted   datefield-major,
       textfield-minor, using a case insensitive comparison.  If this field is
       "subject", any leading "re:" is stripped off.

       With -textfield field, if -limit days is specified, messages  with  the
       same  textfields  that are dated within `days' of each other appear to-
       gether.  Specifying -nolimit makes the limit infinity.  With -limit  0,
       the sort is instead simply textfield-major.

       For  example,  to  order a folder by date-major, grouping messages with
       the same subject on the same date together, use:

            sortm -textfield subject +folder

       sortm always issues a warning  for  each  message  that  is  missing  a
       "Date:" field, has a "Date:" field that cannot be parsed, or has a for-
       mat error in any header field.  With the -check switch, sortm  inhibits
       all modifications to the folder if there are any such messages, and ex-
       its with non-zero status.  With the default of  -nocheck,  sortm  sorts
       messages with a missing or invalid "Date:" field using their file modi-
       fication times.

       When ordering messages based on their dates,  if  they  have  the  same
       dates, their original message order is preserved.

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"'defaultstoallwithout-noall,nodefaultwith-noall"
       `-all'
       `-datefield' defaults to date
       `-notextfield'
       `-noverbose'
       `-nolimit'
       `-nocheck'

CONTEXT
       If  a  folder is given, it will become the current folder.  If the cur-
       rent message is moved, sortm will preserve its status as current.

HISTORY
       Timezones used to be ignored when  comparing  dates:  they  aren't  any
       more.

       Messages which were in the folder, but not specified by `msgs', used to
       be moved to the end of the folder;  now  such  messages  are  left  un-
       touched.

       sortm  sometimes  did  not  preserve  the message numbering in a folder
       (e.g., messages 1, 3, and 5, might have been renumbered to 1, 2, 3  af-
       ter  sorting).   This  was  a bug, and has been fixed.  To compress the
       message numbering in a folder, use "folder -pack" as always.

BUGS
       When sortm complains about a message which it can't  temporally  order,
       it  complains about the message number prior to sorting.  It should in-
       dicate what the message number will be after sorting.

nmh-1.7.1                         2014-03-23                        SORTM(1mh)