NAME
folder, folders - set/list current folder/message
SYNOPSIS
folder [+folder] [msgs] [-all | -noall] [-create | -nocreate] [-fast |
-nofast] [-header | -noheader] [-recurse | -norecurse] [-total |
-nototal] [-list | -nolist] [-push | -pop] [-pack | -nopack]
[-print] [-verbose | -noverbose] [-version] [-help]
folders is equivalent to folder -all
DESCRIPTION
Since the nmh environment is the shell, it is easy to lose track of the
current folder from day to day. When folder is given the -print switch
(the default), folder will list the current folder, the number of
messages in it, the range of the messages (low-high), and the current
message within the folder, and will flag extra files if they exist. An
example of this summary is:
inbox+ has 16 messages ( 3- 22); cur= 5.
If a +folder and/or msg are specified, they will become the current
folder and/or message. By comparison, when a +folder argument is
given, this corresponds to a “cd” operation in the shell; when no
+folder argument is given, this corresponds roughly to a “pwd”
operation in the shell.
If the specified (or default) folder doesn’t exist, the default action
is to query the user as to whether the folder should be created; when
standard input is not a tty, the answer to the query is assumed to be
“yes”.
Specifying -create will cause folder to create new folders without any
query. (This is the easy way to create an empty folder for use later.)
Specifying -nocreate will cause folder to exit without creating a non-
existant folder.
Multiple Folders
Specifying -all will produce a summary line for each top-level folder
in the user’s nmh directory, sorted alphabetically. (If folder is
invoked by a name ending with “s” (e.g. folders), -all is assumed).
Specifying -recurse with -all will also produce a line for all sub-
folders. These folders are all preceded by the read-only folders,
which occur as “atr-cur-” entries in the user’s nmh context. For
example:
FOLDER # MESSAGES RANGE CUR (OTHERS)
/var/work/folder has 35 messages ( 1- 35); cur=23.
/usr/bugs/Mail has 82 messages ( 1-108); cur=82.
ff has no messages.
inbox+ has 16 messages ( 3- 22); cur= 5.
mh has 76 messages (15- 76); cur=70.
notes has 2 messages ( 1- 2); cur= 1.
ucom has 124 messages ( 1-124); cur= 6; (others).
TOTAL = 339 messages in 7 folders
The “+” after inbox indicates that it is the current folder. The
“(others)” indicates that the folder ucom has files which aren’t
messages. These files may either be sub-folders, or files that don’t
belong under the nmh file naming scheme.
The header is output if either a -all or a -header switch is specified.
It is suppressed by -noheader.
The folder and message totals are output if either a -all or a -total
switch is specified. It is suppressed by -nototal.
If -fast is given, only the folder name (or names in the case of -all)
will be listed. (This is faster because the folders need not be read.)
If a +folder is given along with the -all switch, folder will, in
addition to setting the current folder, list the top-level subfolders
for the current folder (with -norecurse) or list all sub-folders under
the current folder recursively (with -recurse). In this case, if a msg
is also supplied, it will become the current message of +folder.
The -recurse switch lists each folder recursively, so use of this
option effectively defeats the speed enhancement of the -fast option,
since each folder must be searched for subfolders. Nevertheless, the
combination of these options is useful.
Compacting a Folder
The -pack switch will compress the message names in the designated
folders, removing holes in message numbering. The -verbose switch
directs folder to tell the user the general actions that it is taking
to compress the folder.
The Folder Stack
The -push switch directs folder to push the current folder onto the
folder-stack, and make the +folder argument the current folder. If
+folder is not given, the current folder and the top of the
folder-stack are exchanged. This corresponds to the “pushd” operation
in the shell.
The -pop switch directs folder to discard the top of the folder-stack,
after setting the current folder to that value. No +folder argument is
allowed. This corresponds to the “popd” operation in the shell. The
-push switch and the -pop switch are mutually exclusive: the last
occurrence of either one overrides any previous occurrence of the
other. Both of these switches also set -list by default.
The -list switch directs folder to list the contents of the
folder-stack. No +folder argument is allowed. After a successful
-push or -pop, the -list action is taken, unless a -nolist switch
follows them on the command line. This corresponds to the “dirs”
operation in the shell. The -push, -pop, and -list switches turn off
-print.
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
Folder-Protect: To set mode when creating a new folder
Folder-Stack: To determine the folder stack
SEE ALSO
refile(1), mhpath(1)
DEFAULTS
‘+folder’ defaults to the current folder
‘msg’ defaults to none
‘-nofast’
‘-noheader’
‘-nototal’
‘-nopack’
‘-norecurse’
‘-noverbose’
‘-print’ is the default if no -list, -push, or -pop is specified
‘-list’ is the default if -push, or -pop is specified
CONTEXT
If +folder and/or msg are given, they will become the current folder
and/or message.
BUGS
There is no way to restore the default behavior (to ask the user
whether to create a non-existant folder) after -create or -nocreate is
given.