NAME

mailcv − Converts MH (DXMail) style folders to UNIX style "From" folders

SYNOPSIS

mailcv [-dvan] -f filename outfilename mailcv [-dvan] -A directoryname outdirectoryname

The mailcv command converts a DXMail/MH Folder to a UNIX style "From" folder or converts a DXMail/MH mail directory hierarchy to UNIX style "From" folders and directories. 

FLAGS

-f filename outfilename
Specifies a DXMail/MH folder filename to convert to a UNIX "From" style folder named outfilename.  filename may be a directory, but subfolders are not converted. 

-A directoryname outdirectoryname
Specifies a DXMail/MH folder hierarchy, starting at directoryname, converting it to a UNIX "From" style folders and a directory hierarchy starting at outfilename. To convert a user’s entire DXMail/MH directory, use $HOME/Mail for directoryname. 

-dDeletes DXMail/MH folders and messages that have been converted.  This flag can be used with -f or -A. 

-aAborts conversion of a folder if a corrupted message is found.  A message is corrupted if it is missing one of the primary RFC 822 headers: From:, Date:, Reply-To:.  An error message is displayed indicating the number and folder name of the corrupted  message.  No further messages are copied into the new mail folder.  The -a flag overrides the -n flag. 

-vWrites to standard output the folder and message number being converted. 

-nSkips any corrupted message and continues to convert the folder.  A warning message is displayed.  The -a flag overrides the -n (noforce) flag. 

DESCRIPTION

The mailcv command converts DXMail/MH style folders to UNIX "From" style folders.  In a UNIX "From" style folder, mail messages are separated with a "From" line at the beginning of each message.  The standard directory /var/spool/mail contains mailboxes for each user in the UNIX "From" style. 

A user must specify either the -A flag to convert a directory hierarchy or the -f flag to convert a single folder.  If neither is specified a usage error is given. 

The -A flag causes the mailcv command to read all the message files in directoryname and its subdirectories.  It then converts the messages to UNIX "From" style folders and creates a new top level directory (outdirectoryname) and subdirectories that correspond to the DXMail/MH folder structure.  Thus, when converting a directory containing a folder with subfolders, the folder becomes a directory under the main directory (outdirectoryname) and the subfolders become UNIX "From" style folders.  If the converted folder also contained messages, a UNIX "From" style folder is created with the name of the converted folder concatenated with ".mbe".  All created folders have the original folder name concatenated with ".mbe". 

When the -f flag is used, only the specified folder, filename, is converted. The messages in that folder are converted into a UNIX "From" style folder.  Subfolders within the specified folder are not converted. 

The -v (verbose) flag lists on standard output each folder and message that is converted. 

A message in a DXMail/MH folder may not have the complete, standard mail message header as specified in RFC 822, and is termed "corrupt."  A user may wish to convert all messages, including any that are corrupt, or choose to convert only the correctly created mail messages. 

By default all message in the DXMail/MH folder, including any corrupt messages, are copied into the new "From" folder. The -n and -a flags override this default. 

The -n flag converts only messages with correct mail message headers and skips over any corrupt messages.  The -a flag aborts the conversion of a folder if it finds a corrupt message. 

If a corrupted message is found during the conversion, and neither the -n nor the -a flag was specified, the message is converted and the missing headers are filled as follows: the From field is set to "USER@UNKNOWN" and the Date field to "Mon, 01 Jan 1976 09:00:00 -000". 

It is strongly recommended that the -v flag be used when using either the -n or -a flags so that there is a record of which messages get converted. 

EXAMPLE

mailcv -A $HOME/Mail $HOME/NewMail

Converts all the messages found in the user’s mail directory to the UNIX "From" format. 

RELATED INFORMATION

Commands:  dtmail(1), DXMail(1X), mh(1), sh(1)