MH-MAIL(5)                                             MH-MAIL(5)

NAME
       mh-mail - message format for nmh message system

SYNOPSIS
       any nmh command

DESCRIPTION
       nmh  processes messages in a particular format.  It should
       be noted that although neither Bell nor  Berkeley  mailers
       produce  message files in the format that nmh prefers, nmh
       can read message files in that antiquated format.

       Each user  possesses  a  mail  drop  box  which  initially
       receives all messages processed by post (8).  Inc (1) will
       read from that drop box and incorporate the  new  messages
       found  there  into  the user's own mail folders (typically
       `+inbox').  The mail drop box consists of one or more mes-
       sages.

       Messages are expected to consist of lines of text.  Graph-
       ics and binary data are not handled.  No data  compression
       is accepted.  All text is clear ASCII 7-bit data.

       The  general  "memo" framework of RFC-822 is used.  A mes-
       sage consists of a block of information in a rigid format,
       followed  by  general  text with no specified format.  The
       rigidly formatted first part of a message  is  called  the
       header,  and  the  free-format portion is called the body.
       The header must always exist, but the  body  is  optional.
       These parts are separated by an empty line, i.e., two con-
       secutive newline characters.  Within nmh, the  header  and
       body may be separated by a line consisting of dashes:

       The  header is composed of one or more header items.  Each
       header item can be viewed as  a  single  logical  line  of
       ASCII  characters.   If  the text of a header item extends
       across several real  lines,  the  continuation  lines  are
       indicated by leading spaces or tabs.

       Each  header item is called a component and is composed of
       a keyword or name, along with associated text.   The  key-
       word  begins at the left margin, may NOT contain spaces or
       tabs, may  not  exceed  63  characters  (as  specified  by
       RFC-822),  and  is  terminated  by a colon (`:').  Certain
       components (as identified by their keywords)  must  follow
       rigidly defined formats in their text portions.

       The  text for most formatted components (e.g., "Date:" and
       "Message-Id:") is produced automatically.  The  only  ones
       entered  by  the  user  are  address fields such as "To:",
       "cc:", etc.  Internet addresses are assigned mailbox names
       and  host  computer  specifications.   The rough format is
       "local@domain", such as "MH@UCI",  or  "MH@UCI-ICSA.ARPA".
       Multiple  addresses  are  separated  by commas.  A missing
       host/domain is assumed to be the local host/domain.

       As mentioned above, a blank line (or  a  line  of  dashes)
       signals  that all following text up to the end of the file
       is the body.  No formatting is expected or enforced within
       the body.

       Following  is a list of header components that are consid-
       ered meaningful to various nmh programs.

       Date:
            Added by post (8), contains date and time of the mes-
            sage's entry into the mail transport system.

       From:
            Added by post (8), contains the address of the author
            or authors (may be more than one if a "Sender:" field
            is  present).  For a standard reply (using repl), the
            reply address is constructed by checking the  follow-
            ing   headers   (in  this  order):  "Mail-Reply-To:",
            "Reply-To:", "From:", "Sender:".

       Mail-Reply-To:
            For a standard reply (using repl), the reply  address
            is  constructed by checking the following headers (in
            this order): "Mail-Reply-To:", "Reply-To:",  "From:",
            "Sender:".

       Mail-Followup-To:
            When  making a "group" reply (using repl -group), any
            addresses in this field will take precedence, and  no
            other  reply  address will be added to the draft.  If
            this  header  is  not  available,  then  the   return
            addresses   will   be  constructed  from  the  "Mail-
            Reply-To:", or "Reply-To:", or  "From:",  along  with
            adding  the  addresses from the headers "To:", "cc:",
            as well as adding your personal address.

       Reply-To:
            For a standard reply (using repl), the reply  address
            is  constructed by checking the following headers (in
            this order): "Mail-Reply-To:", "Reply-To:",  "From:",
            "Sender:".

       Sender:
            Added  by  post (8)  in  the  event  that the message
            already has a "From:" line.  This line  contains  the
            address of the actual sender.

       To:
            Contains addresses of primary recipients.

       cc:
            Contains addresses of secondary recipients.

       Bcc:
            Still  more  recipients.  However, the "Bcc:" line is
            not copied onto the message as  delivered,  so  these
            recipients are not listed.  nmh uses an encapsulation
            method for blind copies, see send (1).

       Fcc:
            Causes post (8) to copy the message into  the  speci-
            fied  folder  for the sender, if the message was suc-
            cessfully given to the transport system.

       Message-ID:
            A unique message identifier added by post (8) if  the
            `-msgid' flag is set.

       Subject:
            Sender's commentary.  It is displayed by scan (1).

       In-Reply-To:
            A  commentary line added by repl (1) when replying to
            a message.

       Resent-Date:
            Added when redistributing a message by post (8).

       Resent-From:
            Added when redistributing a message by post (8).

       Resent-To:
            New recipients for a message resent by dist (1).

       Resent-cc:
            Still more recipients.  See "cc:" and "Resent-To:".

       Resent-Bcc:
            Even more recipients.  See "Bcc:" and "Resent-To:".

       Resent-Fcc:
            Copy resent message into a folder.   See  "Fcc:"  and
            "Resent-To:".

       Resent-Message-Id:
            A  unique  identifier  glued  on  by  post (8) if the
            `-msgid'  flag  is  set.    See   "Message-Id:"   and
            "Resent-To:".

       Resent:
            Annotation for dist (1) under the `-annotate' option.

       Forwarded:
            Annotation for forw (1) under the `-annotate' option.

       Replied:
            Annotation for repl (1) under the `-annotate' option.

       ^/var/spool/mail/$USER~^Location   of   mail   drop   None
       RFC-822:Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Mes-
       sages None None

[nmh-0.27]                    MH.6.8                            1