NAME

xmh − X Toolkit-based interface to the mh Mail Handler

SYNTAX

xmh [ display ] [ geometry ]

ARGUMENTS

displaySpecifies the display screen on which xmh is to display its window.  If the display argument is not specified, xmh uses the display screen specified by your DISPLAY environment variable.  The display argument has the format hostname:number. 

hostnameSpecifies the name of the host machine on which the display is connected.  You can specify the name local to use shared memory, the name unix to use UNIX IPC, or the name of your host machine to use TCP. 

numberSpecifies the number of the display on that host machine. 

geometrySpecifies the width, length, and location of the xmh window.  If the geometry argument is not specified, xmh uses mouse input.  For further information, see the Guide to the xmh Mail Handler. 
 
The geometry argument has the format =[width][xlength][x][y]. 

widthSpecifies the number of pixels of the window’s horizontal dimension. 

lengthSpecifies the number of pixels of the window’s vertical dimension. 

xSpecifies the x screen coordinate (pixel value) for the starting corner of the window. 

ySpecifies the y screen coordinate (pixel value) for the starting corner of the window. 

Depending on which corner of the screen each is relative to, both the x and y coordinates must be preceded by a plus (+) or a minus (−).  For more information about the screen coordinate system, see X(.).

DESCRIPTION

The xmh mail handler provides an X Toolkit-based window-oriented front end to the mh Mail Handler.  The xmh front end is designed to take advantage of a large graphical display and mouse. 

At start-up, xmh provides a window that consists of seven areas:

Folders MenuLists your current folders.  By default, xmh puts your incoming mail in the inbox folder. 

Global Commands MenuLists the general xmh commands (for example, Close or Create). 

Folder Display WindowLists the messages in the currently opened folder.  The name of the opened folder is displayed in the title bar.  Initially, this window lists the messages contained in the “inbox” folder. 

Picked Sequence MenuLists the message-sequences defined for the opened folder.  If no message-sequences are defined, xmh displays only the default message sequence “all”. 

Folder Commands MenuLists those commands that can affect the messages listed in the Folder Display window (for example, View Next or Delete). 

Message Display WindowDisplays the message selected for viewing.  The name of the folder that contains this message and the sequence number of the message are displayed in the title bar.  If no message is currently selected for viewing, this window is empty. 

Message Commands MenuLists those commands that can affect the currently viewed message (for example, Reply or Forward). 

COMMANDS

Commands that are faintly displayed cannot be selected. 

Commands displayed in the xmh window are:

CloseVerifies that no changes will be lost and then exits xmh. 

ComposeDisplays a new Composition window in which you can compose a new mail message. 

OpenOpens the selected folder and displays a message header for each message contained in the selected folder. 

Open In NewCreates a new xmh window, opens the selected folder, and displays a message header for each message contained in the selected folder.  The same folder cannot be displayed in more than one xmh window at a time. 

CreateCreates a new folder.  When selected, xmh displays a Dialog window that prompts for the new folder name. 

DeleteDeletes the selected folder.  When selected, xmh displays a Dialog window that prompts for verification. 

IncIncorporates (adds) any new mail to your inbox folder and specifies that the first new message be the current message.  This command button can be selected only if the inbox folder is open. 

View NextDisplays the contents of the selected message in the Message Display window.  If no messages are selected, xmh displays the current message.  If the current message is already being viewed, xmh displays the first unmarked message after the current message. 

PrevDisplays the last message selected in the Message Display window.  If no messages are selected, xmh displays the current message.  If the current message is already being viewed, xmh displays the first unmarked message before the current message. 

DeleteMarks the selected messages for deletion.  If no messages are selected, xmh marks the current message for deletion and displays the next message. 

MoveMarks the selected messages for moving to the selected folder.  If no messages are selected, xmh marks the current message for moving and displays the next message. 

CopyMarks the selected messages for copying to the selected folder.  If no messages are selected, xmh marks the current message for copying. 

UnmarkRemoves any mark indicators from any messages selected for copying, moving, or deleting.  If no messages are selected, xmh unmarks the current message. 

View NewCreates a new xmh window and displays the selected message in this new window. 

ReplyOpens a Composition window that contains the appropriate header information.  This information is extracted from the selected message. 

ForwardCreates a Composition window that contains the contents of the message that has been selected for forwarding. 

Use as CompOpens a Composition window that contains the contents of the selected message.  Any changes you make in the composition are also reflected in the original message. 

CommitExecutes any previously marked deletion, move, or copy operation.  When moving or copying, the marked messages are moved or copied to the selected folder.  If the selected folder is the same as the viewed folder, xmh just beeps. 

PrintPrints the selected messages on the printer specified by the PrintCommand resource. 

PackRenumbers the messages in the opened folder so they start with 1 and increment by 1. 

SortSorts the messages in the opened folder in chronological order.  Sorting the folder also packs the folder. 

RescanRebuilds the list of messages in the currently opened folder. 

PickDisplays a Pick window in which a new message sequence (related messages grouped under a single name) can be defined.  In all folders, the sequence “all” is predefined and consists of the set of all messages in that folder. 

Open SeqDisplays the header of each message contained in the selected message sequence.  This command button can be selected only when you have defined a message sequence for the opened folder. 

Add to SeqAdds the selected messages to the sequence selected from the Picked Sequence menu.  This command button can be selected only when you have defined a message sequence for the opened folder. 

Remove from SeqRemoves the selected messages from the selected sequence.  This command button can be selected only when you have defined a message sequence for the opened folder. 

Delete SeqRemoves the selected sequence.  This command button can be selected only when you have defined a message sequence for the opened folder. 

The five command buttons associated with a Composition window are as follows:

CloseExits the Composition window without taking any further action.  If changes have been made, xmh displays a Dialog window prompting for confirmation or cancellation. 

SendSends the message but does not exit the Composition window.  If any errors appear in the message header, xmh sends a mail message containing this composition and a description of the error.  This command button can be selected only after text has been entered in the Composition window. 

ResetClears the Composition window and resets the message headers. 

ComposeDisplays an additional Composition window with which you can compose another message simultaneously. 

SaveSaves the message in the drafts folder but does not exit the Composition window. 

RESTRICTIONS

Before running xmh, you should add /usr/new/mh to your shell directory search path and, if you have been using Berkeley mail, you need to convert your mail folders to mh format.  To do this, use the following command:

inc +foldername −file filename

foldernameSpecifies the name that is to be used for the xmh folder. 

filenameSpecifies the name of the existing mail folder. 

Printing support is minimal. 

X DEFAULTS

Like most X-based applications, xmh reads the .Xdefaults file during start-up and uses the appropriate resource specification to customize the appearance or characteristics of its displayed xmh window.  The format for a resource specification in the .Xdefaults file is: [name.]resource:value

nameSpecifies the application name or, in the case of X Toolkit-based applications, the name string that restricts the resource assignment to that application or to a component of an application.  If this argument is not specified, the resource assignment is globally available to all X applications. 

resourceSpecifies the X resource. 

valueSpecifies the value that is to be assigned to the resource. 

Because each X Toolkit-based application can consist of a combination of widgets (for example, command buttons and a scroll bar), the name string can be formed by adding widget class and name identifiers to the string.  For further information about adding class and name identifiers, see the Guide to the xmh Mail Handler. 

For xmh, the available class identifiers are:

ButtonBox
Command
Label
ScrollBar
Text
VPane

For xmh, the available name identifiers are:

addToSeq
all
close
commit
compButtons
compose
confirm
copy
create
delete
deleteSeq
edit
folderButtons
forward
inc
move
next
open
openInNew
openSeq
pack
pick
prev
print
prompt
removeFromSeq
reply
rescan
reset
save
send
sort
tocButtons
unmark
useAsComp
viewButtons
viewNew
xmh

For xmh, the available resources are:

CompGeometrySpecifies the initial geometry (window size and screen location) for Composition windows.  If CompGeometry is not set, its value defaults to that set by the Geometry resource.  For more information about the geometry specification and screen coordinate system, see X(.).

GeometrySpecifies the geometry (window size and screen location) to be used as the default for the Folder Display window, Message Display window, Composition windows, and Pick Dialog windows.  For more information about the geometry specification and screen coordinate system, see X(.).
 
If Geometry is not specified, position and size the xmh window by pressing one of the following mouse buttons:

LeftPositions the upper left corner of the window at the mouse pointer and sizes the window with a default width and length (511x647). 

MiddlePositions the starting point of the window at the mouse pointer and sizes the window to a width and length determined by mouse movement. 

RightPositions the window at a default screen location and sizes the window with a width of 511 and length of 861. 

HideBoringHeadersSpecifies that when set to on, all unnecessary header lines are to be ignored.  The default is on. 

InitialFolderSpecifies which folder is to be automatically opened at start up.  The default is the inbox folder. 

MhPathSpecifies the directory to be searched for the mh commands.  If it does not find a command in that directory, xmh searches the directories in the defined path.  The default is /usr/local/mh6. 

PickGeometrySpecifies the initial geometry (window size and screen location) for Pick Dialog windows.  If PickGeometry is not set, its value defaults to that set by the Geometry resource.  For more information about the geometry specification and screen coordinate system, see X(.).

PrintCommandSpecifies the command to be executed to print a message.  (Standard out and standard error must be redirected.)  The default is lpr >/dev/null. 

SendBreakWidthSpecifies that when xmh sends a message, any lines that are longer than the specified number of characters is broken into shorter lines.  The default is 85. 

SendWidthSpecifies that when xmh sends a message, lines that are broken because they are longer than the length specified by the SendBreakWidth resource, are broken into lines of this length or less.  The default is 72 characters. 

SkipDeletedSpecifies, if true, that the View Next and Prev command buttons are to skip automatically over messages that are marked for deletion.  The default is true. 

SkipCopiedSpecifies, if true, that the View Next and Prev command buttons are to skip automatically over messages that are marked for copying.  The default is false. 

SkipMovedSpecifies (if true) that the View Next and Prev command buttons are to automatically skip over messages that are marked for moving.  The default is true. 

TocGeometrySpecifies the initial geometry (window size and screen location) for the Folder Display window.  If TocGeometry is not set, its value defaults to that set by the Geometry resource.  For more information about the geometry specification and screen coordinate system, see X(.).

TocPercentageSpecifies the percentage (between 0 and 100) of the extra area between the Folder Display window and the Message Display window that gets assigned to the Folder Display window.  The default is 33.  That is, in the default setup, the Folder Display window is half as high as the Message Display window because the Folder Display window gets one-third of the available area and the Message Display window gets two-thirds. 

TocWidthSpecifies the number of characters to be displayed for each entry listed in the Folder Display window.  The default is 300 characters. 

ViewGeometrySpecifies the initial geometry (window size and screen location) for the Message Display window.  If ViewGeometry is not set, its value defaults to that set by the Geometry resource.  For more information about the geometry specification and screen coordinate system, see X(.).

backgroundSpecifies the background color to be displayed in command buttons.  The default is white. 

borderWidthSpecifies the border width, in pixels, of the xmh window. 

fontSpecifies the font displayed in the xmh window. 

foregroundSpecifies the foreground color of displayed title bars and command buttons.  The default is black. 

internalHeightSpecifies the internal horizontal padding (spacing between text and button border) for command buttons. 

internalWidthSpecifies the internal vertical padding (spacing between text and button border) for command buttons. 

tempDirSpecifies the directory in which temporary files are to be created.  The default is /tmp. 

KEY BINDINGS

Each specification included in the .XtActions file modifies a key setting for the editor that xmh uses.  When specifying key specifications, the following resource specification must be placed in your .Xdefaults file:

text.EventBindings:        .XtActions

Each key specification assigns an editor command to a named key and/or mouse combination and has the format: key:function

keySpecifies the key or mouse button that is used to invoke the named function. 

functionSpecifies the function to be invoked when the named key is pressed. 

For more information about specifications in the .XtActions file, see X(.).

FILES

~/Mail
~/.mh_profile
~/.XtActions
~/.Xdefaults
/usr/lib/.XtActions
/usr/lib/.Xdefaults

SEE ALSO

X(1X), Guide to the xmh Mail Handler