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REPL(1)			    General Commands Manual		       REPL(1)

NAME
       repl - reply to an nmh message

SYNOPSIS

       repl [-help] [-version] [+folder] [msg] [-annotate | -noannotate]
	    [-group | -nogroup]	[-cc all/to/cc/me] [-nocc all/to/cc/me]
	    [-query | -noquery]	[-form formfile] [-format | -noformat] [-fil-
	    ter	filterfile] [-inplace |	-noinplace] [-mime | -nomime] [-fcc
	    +folder] [-width columns] [-draftfolder +folder] [-draftmessage
	    msg] [-nodraftfolder] [-editor editor] [-noedit] [-convertargs
	    type argstring] [-whatnowproc program] [-nowhatnowproc] [-atfile]
	    [-noatfile]	[-fmtproc program] [-nofmtproc]	[-build] [-file	msg-
	    file]

DESCRIPTION
       repl may	be used	to reply to a message.

       In  its	simplest form (with no arguments), repl	will set up a message-
       form skeleton in	reply to the current message in	 the  current  folder,
       and invoke the whatnow shell.

       repl  uses a reply template to construct	the draft of the reply.	 A re-
       ply template is simply an mhl format file  (see	mh-format(5)  for  de-
       tails).

       If  the	switch -nogroup	is given (it is	on by default),	then repl will
       use the standard	forms file "replcomps".	 This will construct  a	 draft
       message	that  is intended to be	sent only to the author	of the message
       to which	you are	replying.  If a	file named "replcomps" exists  in  the
       user's  nmh  directory,	it  will be used instead of this default forms
       file.

       The default reply template "replcomps" will direct  repl	 to  construct
       the reply message draft as follows:

	    To:	<Mail-Reply-To>	or <Reply-To> or <From>
	    cc:	<To> and <cc> and <personal address>
	    Fcc: {fcc switch} or +outbox
	    Subject: Re: <Subject>
	    In-Reply-To: <Message-Id>
	    References:	<Message-Id>
	    Comments: In-Reply-To <From> or <apparently	from> or <Sender>
	       message dated <date>
	    --------

       where  field  names  enclosed in	angle brackets (< >) indicate the con-
       tents of	the named field	from the message to which the reply  is	 being
       made.

       By  default,  the  "cc:"	 field	is empty.  You may selectively add ad-
       dresses to this default with the	-cc type switch.  This switch takes an
       argument	(all/to/cc/me) which specifies who gets	added to  the  default
       "cc:" list of the reply.	 You may give this switch multiple times (with
       different arguments) if you wish	to add multiple	types of address.

       If  the	switch	-group is given, then repl will	use the	standard forms
       file "replgroupcomps".  This will construct a draft message that	is in-
       tended as a group or followup reply.  If	a file named  "replgroupcomps"
       exists in the user's nmh	directory, it will be used instead of this de-
       fault  forms file, unless you specify another forms file	on the command
       line or in your profile.

       The default group reply template	"replgroupcomps" will direct  repl  to
       construct the reply message draft as follows:

	    To:	<Mail-Followup-To>
	    Subject: Re: <Subject>
	    In-Reply-To: Message from <From> of	<Date>.
			 <Message-Id>
	    --------

       or if the field <Mail-Followup-To> is not available:

	    To:	<Mail-Reply-To>	or <Reply-To> or <From>
	    cc:	<To> and <cc> and <personal address>
	    Subject: Re: <Subject>
	    In-Reply-To: Message from <From> of	<Date>.
			 <Message-Id>
	    --------

       By default, the "cc:" contains all the addresses	shown.	You may	selec-
       tively  remove  addresses from this default with	the -nocc type switch.
       This switch takes an argument ( all/to/cc/me) which specifies who  gets
       removed	from  the  default "cc:" list of the reply.  You may give this
       switch multiple times (with different arguments)	if you wish to	remove
       multiple	types of address.

       In  any case, you may specify an	alternative forms file with the	switch
       -form formfile.

       The -query switch modifies the action of	-nocc type switch by  interac-
       tively  asking you if each address that normally	would be placed	in the
       "To:" and "cc:" list should actually be sent a copy.   This  is	useful
       for  special-purpose  replies.	Note  that the position	of the -cc and
       -nocc switches, like all	other switches which take a positive and nega-
       tive form, is important.

       Lines beginning with the	fields "To:", "cc:", and "Bcc:"	will be	 stan-
       dardized	and have duplicate addresses removed.  In addition, the	-width
       columns switch will guide repl's	formatting of these fields.

       If the draft already exists, repl will ask you as to the	disposition of
       the  draft.  A reply of quit will abort repl, leaving the draft intact;
       replace will replace the	existing draft with a blank skeleton; and list
       will display the	draft.

       See comp(1) for a description of	 the  -editor  and  -noedit  switches.
       Note  that  while in the	editor,	with -atfile and if the	current	direc-
       tory is writable, the message being replied to is available  through  a
       link  named  "@"	 (assuming the default whatnowproc).  In addition, the
       actual pathname of the message is stored	in  the	 environment  variable
       $editalt,  and  the  pathname  of  the folder containing	the message is
       stored in the environment variable $mhfolder.  The creation of the  "@"
       file is controlled via the -atfile and -noatfile	options.

       The  -convertargs switch	directs	repl to	pass the arguments for type to
       mhbuild.	 Both arguments	are required; type  must  be  non-empty	 while
       argstring can be	empty, e.g., ''	in a shell command line.  The -conver-
       targs  switch  can  be  used multiple times.  See the Convert Interface
       section of mhbuild(1) for a description of the convert  mechanism,  and
       /usr/local/share/doc/nmh/contrib/replaliases for	examples of its	use.

       Although	 repl  uses a forms file to direct it how to construct the be-
       ginning of the draft, it	uses a message filter file to direct it	as  to
       how  the	 message to which you are replying should be filtered (re-for-
       matted) in the body of the draft.  The filter file for repl should be a
       standard	form file for mhl, as repl will	invoke mhl to format the  mes-
       sage to which you are replying.

       The  switches  -noformat, -format, and -filter filterfile specify which
       message filter file to use.

       If the switch -noformat is given	(it is the default)  and  the  -filter
       switch  is  not used, then the message to which you are replying	is not
       included	in the body of the draft.

       If the switch -format is	given, then a default message filter  file  is
       used.   This  default message filter should be adequate for most	users.
       This default filter "mhl.reply" is:

	    ; mhl.reply
	    ;
	    ; default message filter for `repl'	(repl -format)
	    ;
	    from:nocomponent,formatfield="%(unquote(decode(friendly{text}))) writes:"
	    body:component="> ",overflowtext=">	",overflowoffset=0

       which outputs each line of the body of the message  prefaced  with  the
       ">" character and a space.

       If a file named "mhl.reply" exists in the user's	nmh directory, it will
       be  used	 instead  of  this form.  You may specify an alternate message
       filter file with	the switch -filter filterfile.

       Other reply filters are commonly	used, such as:

	    :
	    body:nocomponent,compwidth=9,offset=9

       which says to output a blank line, and then the body of the message be-
       ing replied to, indented	by one tab stop.  Another popular format is:

	    message-id:nocomponent,nonewline,\
	    formatfield="In message %{text}, "
	    from:nocomponent,formatfield="%(decode(friendly{text})) writes:"
	    body:component=">",overflowtext=">",overflowoffset=0

       This message filter file	cites the Message-ID and author	of the message
       being replied to, and then outputs each line of the body	prefaced  with
       the ">" character.

       You can also use	an external format program to format the message body.
       The format program is specified by the formatproc profile entry,	and is
       enabled	by the "format"	flag.  A message filter	using an external for-
       mat program would look like this:

	    body:component=">",nowrap,format

       See the mhl(1) documentation for	more information.  The format  program
       can be changed by the -fmtproc program and -nofmtproc switches.

       To  use	the  MIME  rules  for encapsulation, specify the -mime switch.
       This directs repl to generate an	mhbuild	composition file.   Note  that
       nmh  will  not invoke mhbuild automatically; you	must specifically give
       the command

	    What now? mime

       prior to	sending	the draft.

       If the -annotate	switch is given, the message being replied to will  be
       annotated with the lines

	    Replied: date Replied: addrs

       where the address list contains one line	for each addressee.  The anno-
       tation will be done only	if the message is sent directly	from repl.  If
       the  message is not sent	immediately from repl, "comp -use" may be used
       to re-edit and send the constructed message, but	the annotations	 won't
       take place.  Normally annotations are done inplace in order to preserve
       any  links to the message.  You may use the -noinplace switch to	change
       this.

       Although	the default template specifies that a copy of the  reply  will
       be  put	in the folder `outbox',	if the -fcc +folder switch is given it
       will override the default value.	 More than one folder,	each  preceded
       by -fcc can be named.

       In  addition to the standard mh-format(5) escapes, repl also recognizes
       the following additional	component escape:

	    Escape  Returns  Description
	    fcc	    string   Any folders specified with	`-fcc folder'

       To avoid	reiteration, repl strips any leading `Re: ' strings  from  the
       subject component.

       The  -draftfolder +folder and -draftmessage msg switches	invoke the nmh
       draft folder facility.  This is an advanced (and	 highly	 useful)  fea-
       ture.  Consult mh-draft(5) for more information.

       Upon  exiting  from  the	 editor, repl will invoke the whatnow program.
       See whatnow(1) for a discussion of available options.   The  invocation
       of  this	 program  can be inhibited by using the	-nowhatnowproc switch.
       (In fact, it is the whatnow program  which  starts  the	initial	 edit.
       Hence, -nowhatnowproc will prevent any edit from	occurring.)

       The -build switch is intended to	be used	by the Emacs mh-e interface to
       nmh.  It	implies	-nowhatnowproc.	 It causes a file <mh-dir>/reply to be
       created,	 containing the	draft message that would normally be presented
       to the user for editing.	 No mail is actually sent.

       The -file msgfile switch	specifies the message to be replied to	as  an
       exact  filename	rather	than as	an nmh folder and message number.  The
       same caveats apply to this option as to the -build switch.

FILES
       repl looks for all format, filter and template files in multiple	 loca-
       tions:  absolute	 pathnames  are	 accessed directly, tilde expansion is
       done on usernames, and files are	searched for in	the user's Mail	direc-
       tory as specified in their profile.  If not found there,	the  directory
       "/usr/local/etc/nmh" is checked.

       /usr/local/etc/nmh/replcomps	    The	standard reply template
       or <mh-dir>/replcomps		    Rather than	the standard template
       /usr/local/etc/nmh/replgroupcomps    The	standard `reply	-group'	template
       or <mh-dir>/replgroupcomps	    Rather than	the standard template
       /usr/local/etc/nmh/mhl.reply	    The	standard message filter
       or <mh-dir>/mhl.reply		    Rather than	the standard filter
       $HOME/.mh_profile		    The	user profile
       <mh-dir>/draft			    The	draft file

PROFILE	COMPONENTS
       Path:		    To determine the user's nmh	directory
       Alternate-Mailboxes: To determine the user's mailboxes
       Current-Folder:	    To find the	default	current	folder
       Draft-Folder:	    To specify the default draftfolder
       Editor:		    To override	the default editor
       Msg-Protect:	    To set mode	when creating a	new message (draft)
       fileproc:	    Program to refile the message
       mhlproc:		    Program to filter message being replied-to
       whatnowproc:	    Program to ask the "What now?" questions

SEE ALSO
       comp(1),	forw(1), mh-draft(5), mh-format(5), mhbuild(1),	send(1), what-
       now(1)

       /usr/local/share/doc/nmh/contrib/replaliases

DEFAULTS
       `+folder' defaults to the current folder
       `msg' defaults to cur
       `-nogroup'
       `-nocc all' with	`-nogroup', `-cc all' with `-group'
       `-noannotate'
       `-nodraftfolder'
       `-noformat'
       `-inplace'
       `-nomime'
       `-noquery'
       `-noatfile'
       `-width 72'

CONTEXT
       If  a  folder is	given, it will become the current folder.  The message
       replied to will become the current message.

BUGS
       If any addresses	occur in the reply template, addresses in the template
       that do not contain hosts are defaulted incorrectly.  Instead of	 using
       the  localhost  for the default,	repl uses the sender's host.  Moral of
       the story: if you're going to include addresses in  a  reply  template,
       include the host	portion	of the address.

       The  -width  columns  switch  is	only used to do	address-folding; other
       headers are not line-wrapped.

       If whatnowproc is whatnow, then repl uses a built-in whatnow,  it  does
       not  actually  run  the whatnow program.	 Hence,	if you define your own
       whatnowproc, don't call it whatnow since	repl won't run it.

nmh-1.8+dev			  2022-12-22			       REPL(1)

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