{
    "mode": "man",
    "parameter": "flist",
    "section": "1mh",
    "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/flist/1mh/json",
    "generated": "2026-09-01T14:16:42Z",
    "synopsis": "flist [-help] [-version] [+folder1 [+folder2 ...]]  [-sequence name1 [-sequence name2 ...]]\n[-all | -noall] [-showzero | -noshowzero] [-recurse | -norecurse] [-fast | -nofast]\n[-alpha | -noalpha]\nflists is equivalent to flist -all",
    "sections": {
        "NAME": {
            "content": "flist, flists - list the number of nmh messages in given sequences\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SYNOPSIS": {
            "content": "flist [-help] [-version] [+folder1 [+folder2 ...]]  [-sequence name1 [-sequence name2 ...]]\n[-all | -noall] [-showzero | -noshowzero] [-recurse | -norecurse] [-fast | -nofast]\n[-alpha | -noalpha]\n\n\n\nflists is equivalent to flist -all\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "DESCRIPTION": {
            "content": "flist is used to search a list of folders and display the number of messages in these folders\nthat  are  in a given sequence or set of sequences (for example the “unseen” sequence).  This\nis especially useful if you use some mechanism such as slocal or procmail (typically in  con‐\njunction with rcvstore) to pre-sort your mail into different folders before you view it.\n\nBy  default,  the  command flist will search the current folder for the given sequence or se‐\nquences (usually “unseen”).  If (possibly multiple) folders are specified on the command line\nwith +folder, then all these folders are searched for the given sequence(s).  flist will dis‐\nplay for each folder searched, the number of messages in each of the specified sequences, and\nthe total number of messages.\n\nThe -sequence switch specifies the sequence to which messages should belong.  This switch may\nbe given multiple times to specify multiple sequences.  If it is not given, then the  default\nis to search for all the sequences specified by the “Unseen-Sequence” profile component.  For\nmore details about sequences, read mh-sequence(5).\n\nTypically,  flist  will  produce a line for each sequence, for every folder that is searched,\neven those which do not contain any messages in the given sequence.   Specifying  -noshowzero\nwill cause flist to print only those folder/sequence combinations where the folder has a non-\nzero number of messages in the given sequence.\n\nIf  -recurse is given, then for each folder that is searched, flist will also recursively de‐\nscend into those folders to search subfolders for the given sequence.\n\nIf -fast is given, only the names of the folders searched will be displayed, and  flist  will\nsuppress  all  other  output.   If  this option is used in conjunction with -noshowzero, then\nflist will only print the names of those folders searched that  contain  messages  in  in  at\nleast one of the specified sequences.\n",
            "subsections": [
                {
                    "name": "Multiple Folders",
                    "content": "If  the  -all  switch  is  given (and no folders are specified with +folder), then flist will\nsearch all the folders in the top level of the users nmh directory.  These  folders  are  all\npreceded  by  the read-only folders, which occur as “atr-cur-” entries in the user's nmh con‐\ntext.\n\nAn example of the output of flist -all is:\n\n/work/Mail  has  5 in sequence unseen (private); out of  46\ninbox+      has 10 in sequence unseen          ; out of 153\njunklist    has  0 in sequence unseen          ; out of  63\npostmaster  has  1 in sequence unseen          ; out of   3\n\nThe “+” after inbox indicates that it is the current folder.\n\nThe “private” flag indicates that the given sequence for that folder is private.  See  mh-se‐\nquence(5) for details about private sequences.\n\nIf  the  option  -all and +folder are both specified, then flist will search this folder, and\nall its first level subfolders for the given sequence.  You may specify multiple  folders  in\nthis way.\n\nIf flist is invoked by a name ending with “s” (e.g.  flists), then the switch -all is assumed\nby default.\n\nThe  sorting  order for the listing is alphabetical (with -alpha), or in a priority order de‐\nfined by the “Flist-Order” profile entry (with -noalpha).  Each item in the “Flist-Order”  is\na  folder name or a folder name pattern that uses * to match zero or more characters.  Longer\nmatching patterns have precedence over shorter matching patterns.  For example:\n\nFlist-Order: personal petproject mh* * admin *junk\n\nThis order puts a few interesting folders first, such as those with  mail  addressed  to  you\npersonally, those about a pet project, and those about mh-related things.  It places uninter‐\nesting folders at the end, and it puts everything else in the middle in alphabetical order.\n"
                }
            ]
        },
        "FILES": {
            "content": "$HOME/.mhprofile   The user's profile.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "PROFILE COMPONENTS": {
            "content": "Path:               To determine the user's nmh directory.\nmh-sequences:       File that contains public sequences.\nUnseen-Sequence:    The name of the unseen message sequence.\nFlist-Order:        To sort folders by priority.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SEE ALSO": {
            "content": "folder(1), rcvstore(1), slocal(1), mh-sequence(5)\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "DEFAULTS": {
            "content": "-sequence           The Unseen-Sequence profile entry.",
            "subsections": [
                {
                    "name": "-showzero",
                    "content": ""
                },
                {
                    "name": "-noall",
                    "content": ""
                },
                {
                    "name": "-norecurse",
                    "content": ""
                },
                {
                    "name": "-noalpha",
                    "content": ""
                },
                {
                    "name": "-nofast",
                    "content": ""
                }
            ]
        },
        "CONTEXT": {
            "content": "If  +folder  is given, it will become the current folder.  If multiple folders are given, the\nlast one specified will become the current folder.\n\nnmh-1.8                                      1999-04-30                                   FLIST(1mh)",
            "subsections": []
        }
    },
    "summary": "flist, flists - list the number of nmh messages in given sequences",
    "flags": [],
    "examples": [],
    "see_also": [
        {
            "name": "folder",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/folder/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "rcvstore",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/rcvstore/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "slocal",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/slocal/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "mh-sequence",
            "section": "5",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mh-sequence/5/json"
        }
    ]
}