pick
PURPOSE
Selects messages by content, and creates and modifies
sequences.
SYNOPSIS
pick -cc [+folder][msgs][-help]
-date [-before date][-after date][-datefield field]
-from
-search [pattern][-and...][-or...][-not...]
[-lbrace...-rbrace]
-subject
-to [-sequence name...][-public][-nopublic]
[-zero][-nozero]
--component [-list][-nolist]
typically:
scan 'pick -from jones'
pick -to hollaway -sequence select
show 'pick -before friday'
DESCRIPTION
The pick command is used to select messages and put them
into sequences. The pick command is part of the MH
(Message Handling) package and can be used with other MH
and AIX commands.
The pick command allows you to select messages that
contain particular character patterns or that have par-
ticular dates. You can use the -and, -or, -not, -lbrace,
and -rbrace flags to construct compound conditions for
selecting messages.
FLAGS
-after date Selects messages with dates later
than the specified date. You can use
the following date specifications for
date:
yesterday today tomorrow
sunday monday tuesday
wednesday thursday friday
saturday -dd sysdate
The pick command treats the days of
the week as days in the past. For
example, monday means last Monday,
not today or next Monday. You can
use the -dd argument to specify a
number of days in the past. For
example, "-31" means 31 days ago.
For sysdate you can specify any valid
format defined for your system. See
"date" for more information about
date formats.
-and Forms a logical AND operation between
two message selecting flags (for
example, "pick -after Sunday -and
-from mark"). -and has precedence
over -or, but -not has precedence
over -and. Use the -lbrace and
-rbrace flags to override this pre-
cedence.
-before date Selects messages with dates earlier
than the specified date. See the
-after flag for how to specify date.
-cc pattern Selects messages that contain the
character string pattern in the Cc:
field.
-date pattern Selects messages that contain the
character string pattern in the Date:
field.
-datefield field Specifies which dated field is parsed
when the -after and -before flags are
given. By default, pick uses the
Date: field.
+folder msgs Specifies the messages that you want
to search. msgs can be several mes-
sages, a range of messages, or a
single message. You can use the fol-
lowing message references when speci-
fying msgs:
num first prev
cur . next
last all sequence
The default for msgs is all. The
default folder is the current folder.
If you specify a folder, that folder
becomes the current folder.
-from pattern Selects messages that contain the
character string pattern in the From:
field.
-help Displays help information for the
command.
-lbrace Groups -and, -or, and -not oper-
ations. Operations between the
-lbrace and -rbrace flags are evalu-
ated as one operation. You can nest
the -lbrace and -rbrace flags.
-list Sends a list of selected message
numbers to standard output. This
allows you to use the pick command to
generate message numbers to use as
input for other commands. For
example, "scan `pick -after tuesday
-list`" scans all messages in the
current folder that were sent after
last Tuesday. -list is the default
if no sequence is specified.
-nolist Keeps the pick command from gener-
ating a list of the selected message
numbers (see the -list flag). If a
sequence is specified, -nolist is the
default.
-nopublic Restricts the specified sequence to
your usage. -nopublic does not
restrict the messages in the
sequence, only the sequence. This
option is the default if the folder
is write-protected from other users.
-not Forms a logical NOT operation on a
message selecting flag (for example,
"pick -not -from george"). This con-
struction evaluates to all messages
not chosen by the message selecting
flag. -not has precedence over -and,
and -and has precedence over -or.
Use the -lbrace and -rbrace flags to
override this precedence.
-nozero Appends the selected messages to the
specified sequence (see the -zero
flag).
-or Forms a logical OR operation on two
message selecting flags (for example,
"pick -from amy -or -from mark").
-not has precedence over -and, and
-and has precedence over -or. Use
the -lbrace and -rbrace flags to
override this precedence.
-public Makes the specified sequence avail-
able to other users. -public does
not make protected messages avail-
able, only the sequence. This option
is the default if the folder is not
write-protected from other users.
-rbrace Groups -and, -or, and -not oper-
ations. Operations between the
-lbrace and -rbrace flags are evalu-
ated as one operation. You can nest
the -lbrace and -rbrace flags.
-search pattern Selects messages that contain the
character string pattern anywhere in
the message.
-sequence name Stores the messages selected by the
pick command in the sequence name.
-to pattern Selects messages that contain the
character string pattern in the To:
field.
-zero Clears the specified sequence before
placing the selected messages into
the sequence. This flag is the
default (see the -nozero flag).
--component pattern Selects messages that contain the
character string pattern in the
heading field component (for example,
"pick --reply-to amy").
PROFILE ENTRIES
Current-Folder: Sets your default current folder.
Path: Specifies your user_mh_directory.
FILES
$HOME/.mh_profile The MH user profile.
RELATED INFORMATION
The MH command "mark."
The mh-profile file in AIX Operating System Technical
Reference.
The "Overview of the Message Handling Package" in Man-
aging the AIX Operating System.