NAME

       mh-draft - draft folder facility for nmh message system

DESCRIPTION

       There are a number of interesting advanced facilities for the composition of outgoing mail.

   The Draft Folder
       The  comp,  dist,  forw,  repl,  send,  and whom commands each take the switches -draftfolder +folder and
       -draftmessage msg, which allow you to manipulate the various draft messages you are composing.

       If -draftfolder +folder is used, draft messages  will  be  constructed  in  the  indicated  folder.   The
       “Draft-Folder” profile entry may be used to specify a default draft folder.

       If  the  switch  -draftmessage  msg  is  given,  the  specified draft is used to compose the message.  If
       -draftmessage msg is not used, then the draft defaults to `new' (create a  new  draft)  unless  the  user
       invokes comp with -use, in which case the default is `cur'.

       Hence,  the  user  may have several message compositions in progress simultaneously.  Now, all of the nmh
       tools are available on each of the user's message drafts (e.g.  show, scan, pick, and  so  on).   If  the
       folder does not exist, the user is asked if it should be created (just like with refile).  The last draft
       message the user was composing is known as `cur' in the draft folder.

       Using  send,  the  user can send drafts using the standard nmh `msgs' convention with -draftmessage msgs.
       If no `msgs' are given, it defaults to `cur'.

       In addition, all of these programs have a -nodraftfolder switch, which  undoes  the  last  occurrence  of
       -draftfolder folder (useful if a default is specified in the user's nmh profile).

       If  the user does not give the -draftfolder +folder switch, then all these commands act “normally”.  Note
       that the -draft switch to send and show still refers to  the  file  called  `draft'  in  the  user's  nmh
       directory.   In  the interests of economy of expression, when using comp or send, the user needn't prefix
       the draft `msg' or `msgs' with -draftmessage.  Both of these commands accept a `file' or `files' argument
       and they will, if given -draftfolder +folder, treat these arguments as `msg' or `msgs'.  (This may appear
       to be inconsistent, at first, but it saves a lot of typing.)  Hence,

              send -draftfolder +drafts first

       is the same as

              send -draftfolder +drafts -draftmessage first

       To make all this a bit more clear, here are some examples.  Let's assume that the following  entries  are
       in the nmh profile:

            Draft-Folder: drafts
            sendf: -draftfolder +drafts

       Furthermore,  let's assume that the program sendf is a (symbolic) link in the user's $HOME/bin/ directory
       to send.  Now,

            comp
            dist
            forw
            repl

       will construct the message draft in the `drafts' folder using the  `new'  message  number.   Furthermore,
       they  each define `cur' in this folder to be that message draft.  If the user were to use the quit option
       at the `What now?' prompt, then later on, if no other draft composition was done, the draft could be sent
       with simply

            sendf

       Or, if more editing was required, the draft could be edited with

            comp -use

       If other drafts had been composed in the meantime, so that this message draft  was  no  longer  known  as
       `cur'  in  the  `draft'  folder, then the user could scan the folder to see which message draft should be
       used for editing or sending.  Clever users could even employ a backquoted pick to do the work:

            comp -use `pick +drafts -to nmh-workers`

       or

            sendf `pick +drafts -to nmh-workers`

       Note that in the comp example, the output from pick must resolve to a single message draft (it  makes  no
       sense  to talk about composing two or more drafts with one invocation of comp).  In contrast, in the send
       example, as many message drafts as desired can appear, since send doesn't  mind  sending  more  than  one
       draft at a time.

       Note  that  the  argument  -draftfolder +folder is not included in the profile entry for send, since when
       comp, et al, invoke send directly, they supply send with the Unix pathname of the message  draft;  not  a
       -draftmessage msg argument.  As far as send is concerned, a draft folder is not being used.

       It  is  important  to  realize  that nmh treats the draft folder like a standard nmh folder in nearly all
       respects.  There are two exceptions:

       First, under no circumstances will the -draftfolder folder switch cause the named folder  to  become  the
       current  folder.   Obviously,  if the folder appeared in the context of a standard +folder argument to an
       nmh program, as in

            scan +drafts

       it might become the current folder, depending on the context changes of the nmh program in question.

       Second, although conceptually send deletes the `msgs' named  in  the  draft  folder,  it  does  not  call
       delete-prog to perform the deletion.

   What Happens if the Draft Exists
       When  the  comp,  dist,  forw,  and repl commands are invoked and the draft you indicated already exists,
       these programs will prompt the user for a response directing the program's action.  The prompt is

            Draft "/home/foobar/nmhbox/draft" exists (xx bytes).
            Disposition?

       The appropriate responses and their meanings are:

            replace   deletes the draft and starts afresh
            list      lists the draft
            refile    files the draft into a folder and starts afresh
            quit      leaves the draft intact and exits

       In addition, if you specified -draftfolder folder to  the  command,  then  one  other  response  will  be
       accepted:

            new       creates a new draft

       just as if -draftmessage new had been given.  Finally, the comp command will accept one more response:

            use       re-uses the draft

       just as if -use had been given.

FILES

       $HOME/.mh_profile   The user's profile.

PROFILE COMPONENTS

       Draft-Folder:       For a default draft folder

CONTEXT

       None

nmh-1.8                                            2012-03-18                                      MH-DRAFT(5mh)