# phpman > man > sortm(1)

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



## NAME
       sortm - sort nmh messages

## SYNOPSIS
       **sortm** [**-help**] [**-version**] [_+folder_] [_msgs_] [**-all** | **-noall**] [**-datefield** _field_] [**-textfield**
            _field_] [**-notextfield**] [**-limit** _days_] [**-nolimit**] [**-check** | **-nocheck**] [**-verbose** | **-nover**‐‐
            **bose**]

## 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 mes‐
       sages 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 “Deliv‐
       ery-Date:”, then the **-datefield** switch can be used to direct **sortm** which field to examine.

       The  **-textfield**  _field_ switch causes **sortm** to sort messages by the specified text field.  All
       characters except letters and numbers are stripped and the resulting strings are sorted date‐
       field-major,  textfield-minor,  using  a case insensitive comparison.  If this field is “sub‐
       ject”, 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 together.  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 format error in any  header  field.   With  the  **-check**
       switch,  **sortm**  inhibits  all modifications to the folder if there are any such messages, and
       exits with non-zero status.  With the default of **-nocheck**, **sortm** sorts messages with a  miss‐
       ing or invalid “Date:” field using their file modification times.

       When ordering messages based on their dates, if they have the same dates, their original mes‐
       sage 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/folder/1/markdown)

## DEFAULTS
       `**+folder**' defaults to the current folder
       `**msgs"'**defaults**to**all**without**-noall,**no**default**with**-noall"
       `**-all**'
       `**-datefield**' defaults to date
       `**-notextfield**'
       `**-noverbose**'
       `**-nolimit**'
       `**-nocheck**'

## CONTEXT
       If a folder is given, it will become the current folder.  If the current  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 untouched.

       **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 after 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 indicate what the message number will be **after**
       sorting.



nmh-1.7.1                                    2014-03-23                                   [SORTM(1mh)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SORTM/1mh/markdown)