# phpman > man > PROMPTER(1mh)

[PROMPTER(1mh)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/PROMPTER/1mh/markdown)                                                                          [PROMPTER(1mh)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/PROMPTER/1mh/markdown)



## NAME
       prompter - nmh's prompting editor front-end

## SYNOPSIS
       **prompter** [**-help**] [**-version**] [**-erase** _chr_] [**-kill** _chr_] [**-prepend** | **-noprepend**] [**-rapid** | **-no**‐‐
            **rapid**] [**-doteof** | **-nodoteof**] _file_

## DESCRIPTION
       **prompter** is an editor front-end for **nmh** which allows rapid  composition  of  messages.   This
       program  is  not normally invoked directly by users but takes the place of an editor and acts
       as an editor front-end.  It operates on an RFC 822-style message draft skeleton specified  by
       _file_, normally provided by the **nmh** commands **comp**, **dist**, **forw**, or **repl**.

       **prompter** is particularly useful when composing messages over slow network or modem lines.  It
       is an **nmh** program in that it can have its own profile entry with switches, but it is not  in‐
       voked  directly  by  the user.  The commands **comp**, **dist**, **forw**, and **repl** invoke **prompter** as an
       editor,  either  when  invoked  with  **-editor**  _prompter_,  or  by  the  profile  entry   “Edi‐
       tor: prompter”, or when given the command **edit** **prompter** at the “What now?” prompt.

       For  each empty component **prompter** finds in the draft, the user is prompted for a response; A
       <RETURN> will cause the whole component to be left out.  Otherwise, a `\'  preceding  a  <RE‐
       TURN>  will  continue the response on the next line, allowing for multiline components.  Con‐
       tinuation lines _must_ begin with a space or tab.

       Each non-empty component is copied to the draft and displayed on the terminal.

       The start of the message body is denoted by a blank line or a line of dashes.  If the body is
       non-empty, the prompt, which isn't written to the file, is

            --------Enter additional text

       or (if **-prepend** was given)

            --------Enter initial text

       Message-body  typing  is  terminated  with an end-of-file (usually CTRL-D).  With the **-doteof**
       switch, a period on a line all by itself also signifies end-of-file.  At this  point  control
       is  returned to the calling program, where the user is asked “What now?”.  See [_whatnow_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/whatnow/1/markdown) for
       the valid options to this query.

       By using the **-prepend** switch, the user can add type-in to the beginning of the  message  body
       and have the rest of the body follow.  This is useful for the **forw** command.

       By using the **-rapid** switch, if the draft already contains text in the message-body, it is not
       displayed on the user's terminal.  This is useful for low-speed terminals.

       The line editing characters for kill and erase may be specified by the user via the arguments
### -kill -erase
       value for the character.

       An interrupt (usually CTRL-C) during component typing will abort **prompter** and the **nmh** command
       that  invoked  it.  An interrupt during message-body typing is equivalent to CTRL-D, for his‐
       torical reasons.  This means that **prompter** should finish up and exit.

       The first non-flag argument to **prompter** is taken as the name of the draft  file,  and  subse‐
       quent non-flag arguments are ignored.

## FILES
       $HOME/.mh_profile          The user profile
       /tmp/prompter*             Temporary copy of message

## PROFILE COMPONENTS
       prompter-next:       To name the editor to be used on exit from .B prompter
       Msg-Protect:         To set mode when creating a new draft

## SEE ALSO
       [_comp_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/comp/1/markdown), [_dist_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dist/1/markdown), [_forw_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/forw/1/markdown), [_repl_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/repl/1/markdown), [_whatnow_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/whatnow/1/markdown)

## DEFAULTS
       `**-prepend**'
       `**-norapid**'
       `**-nodoteof**'

## CONTEXT
       None

## HELPFUL HINTS
       The **-rapid** option is particularly useful with **forw**, and **-noprepend** is useful with **comp** **-use**.

       The  user  may wish to link **prompter** under several names (e.g., “rapid”) and give appropriate
       switches in the profile entries under these names (e.g., “rapid: -rapid”).  This  facilitates
       invoking prompter differently for different **nmh** commands (e.g., “forw: -editor rapid”).

## BUGS
       **prompter** uses [_stdio_(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/stdio/3/markdown), so it will lose if you edit files with nulls in them.



nmh-1.7.1                                    1999-04-30                                [PROMPTER(1mh)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/PROMPTER/1mh/markdown)