FOLDER(1)

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 nonexistant 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 subfolders. 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

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.

docs.sk

comprehensive documentation repository

See also