SORTM(1) BSD Reference Manual SORTM(1)
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sortm [+folder] [msgs] [-datefield field]
[-textfield field] [-notextfield] [-limit days]
[-nolimit] [-verbose] [-noverbose] [-help]
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_
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\bm sorts the specified messages in the named folder
according to the chronological order of the "Date:" field
The `-verbose' switch directs _
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\bm to tell the user the
general actions that it is taking to place the folder in
The `-datefield field' switch tells _
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\bm 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 `-datefield' switch can be
used to direct _
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\bm which field to examine.
The `-textfield field' switch causes _
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\bm to sort mes-
sages by the specified text field. If this field is "sub-
ject", any leading "re:" is stripped off. In any case,
all characters except letters and numbers are stripped and
the resulting strings are sorted datefield-major,
textfield-minor, using a case insensitive comparison.
With `-textfield field', if `-limit days' is specified,
messages with similar textfields that are dated within
`days' of each other appear together. Specifying
`-nolimit' makes the limit infinity. With `-limit 0', the
sort is instead made textfield-major, date-minor.
For example, to order a folder by date-major, subject-
sortm -textfield subject +folder
$HOME/.mh_profile The user profile
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Path: To determine the user's MH directory
Current-Folder: To find the default current folder
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SORTM(1) BSD Reference Manual SORTM(1)
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`+folder' defaults to the current folder
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If a folder is given, it will become the current folder.
If the current message is moved, _
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\bm will preserve its
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Timezones used to be ignored when comparing dates: they
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.
_
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\bm 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 "_
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\br _
\b-_
\bp_
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\bk" as always.
If _
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\bm encounters a message without a date-field, or if
the message has a date-field that _
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\bm cannot parse, then
_
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\bm attempts to keep the message in the same relative
position. This does not always work. For instance, if
the first message encountered lacks a date which can be
parsed, then it will usually be placed at the end of the
When _
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\bm complains about a message which it can't tempo-
rally order, it complains about the message number _
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to sorting. It should indicate what the message number
will be _
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\br sorting.
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