MSH(1) BSD Reference Manual MSH(1)
msh - MH shell (and BBoard reader)
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msh [-prompt string] [-scan] [-noscan] [-topcur]
[-notopcur] [file] [-help]
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_
\bm_
\bs_
\bh is an interactive program that implements a subset of
the normal _
\bM_
\bH commands operating on a single file in
_
\bp_
\ba_
\bc_
\bk_
\bf'd format. That is, _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh is used to read a file that
contains a number of messages, as opposed to the standard
_
\bM_
\bH style of reading a number of files, each file being a
separate message in a folder. _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh's chief advantage is
that the normal _
\bM_
\bH style does not allow a file to have
more than one message in it. Hence, _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh is ideal for
reading _
\bB_
\bB_
\bo_
\ba_
\br_
\bd_
\bs, as these files are delivered by the
transport system in this format. In addition, _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh can be
used on other files, such as message archives which have
been _
\bp_
\ba_
\bc_
\bked (see _
\bp_
\ba_
\bc_
\bk_
\bf (1)). Finally, _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh is an excellent
_
\bM_
\bH tutor. As the only commands available to the user are
_
\bM_
\bH commands, this allows _
\bM_
\bH beginners to concentrate on
how commands to _
\bM_
\bH are formed and (more or less) what they
When invoked, _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh reads the named file, and enters a com-
mand loop. The user may type most of the normal _
\bM_
\bH com-
mands. The syntax and semantics of these commands typed
to _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh are identical to their _
\bM_
\bH counterparts. In cases
where the nature of _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh would be inconsistent (e.g., spec-
ifying a `+folder' with some commands), _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh will duly
inform the user. The commands that _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh currently supports
(in some slightly modified or restricted forms) are:
MSH(1) BSD Reference Manual MSH(1)
In addition, _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh has a "help" command which gives a brief
overview. To terminate _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh, type CTRL-D, or use the
"quit" command. If _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh is being invoked from _
\bb_
\bb_
\bc, then
typing CTRL-D will also tell _
\bb_
\bb_
\bc to exit as well, while
using the "quit" command will return control to _
\bb_
\bb_
\bc, and
_
\bb_
\bb_
\bc will continue examining the list of BBoards that it is
If the file is writable and has been modified, then using
"quit" will query the user if the file should be updated.
The `-prompt string' switch sets the prompting string for
You may wish to use an alternate _
\bM_
\bH profile for the com-
mands that _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh executes; see _
\bm_
\bh_
\b-_
\bp_
\br_
\bo_
\bf_
\bi_
\bl_
\be (5) for details
about the $
\b$M
\bMH
\bH envariable.
When invoked from _
\bb_
\bb_
\bc, two special features are enabled:
First, the `-scan' switch directs _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh to do a
`scan unseen' on start-up if new items are present in the
BBoard. This feature is best used from _
\bb_
\bb_
\bc, which cor-
rectly sets the stage. Second, the _
\bm_
\ba_
\br_
\bk command in _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh
acts specially when you are reading a BBoard, since _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh
will consult the sequence "unseen" in determining what
messages you have actually read. When _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh exits, it
reports this information to _
\bb_
\bb_
\bc. In addition, if you give
the _
\bm_
\ba_
\br_
\bk command with no arguments, _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh will interpret it
as `mark -sequence unseen -delete -nozero all' Hence, to
discard all of the messages in the current BBoard you're
reading, just use the _
\bm_
\ba_
\br_
\bk command with no arguments.
Normally, the "exit" command is identical to the "quit"
command in _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh. When run under _
\bb_
\bb_
\bc however, "exit"
directs _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh to mark all messages as seen and then "quit".
For speedy type-in, this command is often abbreviated as
When invoked from _
\bv_
\bm_
\bh, another special feature is enabled:
The `topcur' switch directs _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh to have the current mes-
sage "track" the top line of the _
\bv_
\bm_
\bh scan window. Nor-
mally, _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh has the current message "track" the center of
the window (under `-notopcur', which is the default).
MSH(1) BSD Reference Manual MSH(1)
_
\bm_
\bs_
\bh supports an output redirection facility. Commands may
> _
\bf_
\bi_
\bl_
\be write output to _
\bf_
\bi_
\bl_
\be
>> _
\bf_
\bi_
\bl_
\be append output to _
\bf_
\bi_
\bl_
\be
| _
\bc_
\bo_
\bm_
\bm_
\ba_
\bn_
\bd pipe output to UNIX _
\bc_
\bo_
\bm_
\bm_
\ba_
\bn_
\bd
If _
\bf_
\bi_
\bl_
\be starts with a ` ' (tilde), then a _
\bc_
\bs_
\bh-like expan-
sion takes place. Note that _
\bc_
\bo_
\bm_
\bm_
\ba_
\bn_
\bd is interpreted by
_
\bs_
\bh (1). Also note that _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh does NOT support history sub-
stitutions, variable substitutions, or alias substitu-
When parsing commands to the left of any redirection sym-
bol, _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh will honor `\' (back-slash) as the quote
next-character symbol, and `"' (double-quote) as
quote-word delimiters. All other input tokens are sepa-
rated by whitespace (spaces and tabs).
$HOME/.mh_profile The user profile
/usr/contrib/mh-6.8/lib/mtstailor tailor file
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Path: To determine the user's MH directory
Msg-Protect: To set mode when creating a new `file'
fileproc: Program to file messages
showproc: Program to show messages
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`file' defaults to "./msgbox"
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The argument to the `-prompt' switch must be interpreted
as a single token by the shell that invokes _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh. There-
fore, one must usually place the argument to this switch
There is a strict limit of messages per file in _
\bp_
\ba_
\bc_
\bk_
\bf'd
format which _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh can handle. Usually, this limit is 1000
MSH(1) BSD Reference Manual MSH(1)
Please remember that _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh is not the _
\bC_
\bS_
\bh_
\be_
\bl_
\bl, and that a lot
of the nice facilities provided by the latter are not pre-
In particular, _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh does not understand back-quoting, so
the only effective way to use _
\bp_
\bi_
\bc_
\bk inside _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh is to always
use the `-seq select' switch. Clever users of _
\bM_
\bH will put
in their .mh_profile file so that _
\bp_
\bi_
\bc_
\bk works equally well
from both the shell and _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh.
_
\bs_
\bo_
\br_
\bt_
\bm always uses "-noverbose" and if "-textfield field"
The _
\bm_
\bs_
\bh program inherits most (if not all) of the bugs
from the _
\bM_
\bH commands it implements.
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