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1.1 root 1: .\" @(MHWARNING)
2: .TH MH\-MAIL 5 "April 22, 1986" MH [mh.6]
3: .UC 6
4: .SH NAME
5: mh\-mail \- message format for MH message system
6: .SH SYNOPSIS
7: .in +.5i
8: .ti -.5i
9: any \fIMH\fR command
10: .in -.5i
11: .SH DESCRIPTION
12: \fIMH\fR processes messages in a particular format.
13: It should be noted that although neither Bell nor Berkeley mailers produce
14: message files in the format that \fIMH\fR prefers,
15: \fIMH\fR can read message files in that antiquated format.
16:
17: Each user possesses a mail drop box which initially receives
18: all messages processed by \fIpost\fR\0(8).
19: \fIInc\fR\0(1) will read from that drop box and incorporate the new messages
20: found there into the user's own mail folders (typically `+inbox').
21: The mail drop
22: box consists of one or more messages.
23: @BEGIN: MMDFMTS
24: To facilitate the
25: separation of messages, each message begins and ends with
26: a line consisting of nothing but four CTRL\-A (octal 001)
27: characters.
28: @END: MMDFMTS
29: @BEGIN: MHMTS
30: To facilitate the
31: separation of messages, each message begins and ends with
32: a line consisting of nothing but four CTRL\-A (octal 001)
33: characters.
34: @END: MHMTS
35:
36: Messages
37: are expected to consist of lines of text.
38: Graphics and binary data are not handled.
39: No data compression is accepted.
40: All text is clear
41: ASCII 7-bit data.
42:
43: The general \*(lqmemo\*(rq framework of RFC\-822 is used.
44: A message consists of a block of information in a rigid format,
45: followed by general text with no specified format.
46: The rigidly formatted first part of a message is called the header,
47: and the free-format portion is called the body.
48: The header must always exist, but the body is optional.
49: These parts are separated by an empty line,
50: i.e., two consecutive newline characters.
51: Within \fIMH\fR,
52: the header and body may be separated by a line consisting of dashes:
53:
54: .nf
55: .in +.5i
56: .ne 10
57: .eo
58: .so @(MHETCPATH)/components
59: .ec
60: .in -.5i
61: .fi
62:
63: The header is composed of one or more header items.
64: Each header item can be viewed as a single logical line of ASCII
65: characters.
66: If the text of a header item extends across several
67: real lines, the continuation lines are indicated by leading
68: spaces or tabs.
69:
70: Each header item is called a component and is composed of a
71: keyword or name, along with associated text.
72: The keyword begins at the
73: left margin, may NOT contain spaces or tabs, may not exceed 63
74: characters (as specified by RFC\-822), and is terminated by a colon (`:').
75: Certain
76: components (as identified by their keywords) must follow rigidly
77: defined formats in their text portions.
78:
79: The text for most formatted components
80: (e.g., \*(lqDate:\*(rq and \*(lqMessage\-Id:\*(rq)
81: is produced automatically.
82: The only ones entered by the
83: user are address fields such as \*(lqTo:\*(rq, \*(lqcc:\*(rq, etc.
84: Internet addresses
85: are assigned mailbox names and host computer specifications.
86: The
87: rough format is \*(lqlocal@domain\*(rq, such as \*(lqMH@UCI\*(rq,
88: or \*(lqMH@UCI\-ICSA.ARPA\*(rq.
89: Multiple addresses are separated by commas.
90: A missing host/domain is assumed to be the local host/domain.
91:
92: As mentioned above,
93: a blank line (or a line of dashes)
94: signals that all following text up to the end of the file is the body.
95: No formatting is expected or enforced within the body.
96:
97: Following is a list of header components that are considered
98: meaningful to various MH programs.
99: .in +.5i
100: .ti -.5i
101: Date:
102: .br
103: Added by \fIpost\fR\0(8),
104: contains date and time of the message's entry into the transport system.
105:
106: .ti -.5i
107: From:
108: .br
109: Added by \fIpost\fR\0(8),
110: contains the address of the author or authors (may be more than one if a
111: \*(lqSender:\*(rq field is present).
112: Replies are typically directed to addresses in the \*(lqReply\-To:\*(rq or
113: \*(lqFrom:\*(rq field (the former has precedence if present).
114:
115: .ti -.5i
116: Sender:
117: .br
118: Added by \fIpost\fR\0(8)
119: in the event that the message already has a \*(lqFrom:\*(rq line.
120: This line contains the address of the actual sender.
121: Replies are never sent to addresses in the \*(lqSender:\*(rq field.
122:
123: .ti -.5i
124: To:
125: .br
126: Contains addresses of primary recipients.
127:
128: .ti -.5i
129: cc:
130: .br
131: Contains addresses of secondary recipients.
132:
133: .ti -.5i
134: Bcc:
135: .br
136: Still more recipients.
137: However, the \*(lqBcc:\*(rq line is not copied onto the message as delivered,
138: so these recipients are not listed.
139: \fIMH\fR uses an encapsulation method for blind copies, see \fIsend\fR\0(1).
140:
141: .ti -.5i
142: Fcc:
143: .br
144: Causes \fIpost\fR\0(8) to copy the message into the specified folder for the
145: sender,
146: if the message was successfully given to the transport system.
147:
148: .ti -.5i
149: Message\-ID:
150: .br
151: A unique message identifier added by \fIpost\fR\0(8) if the `\-msgid' flag
152: is set.
153:
154: .ti -.5i
155: Subject:
156: .br
157: Sender's commentary. It is displayed by \fIscan\fR\0(1).
158:
159: .ti -.5i
160: In\-Reply\-To:
161: .br
162: A commentary line added by \fIrepl\fR\0(1) when replying to a message.
163:
164: .ti -.5i
165: Resent\-Date:
166: .br
167: Added when redistributing a message by \fIpost\fR\0(8).
168:
169: .ti -.5i
170: Resent\-From:
171: .br
172: Added when redistributing a message by \fIpost\fR\0(8).
173:
174: .ti -.5i
175: Resent\-To:
176: .br
177: New recipients for a message resent by \fIdist\fR\0(1).
178:
179: .ti -.5i
180: Resent\-cc:
181: .br
182: Still more recipients.
183: See \*(lqcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
184:
185: .ti -.5i
186: Resent\-Bcc:
187: .br
188: Even more recipients.
189: See \*(lqBcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
190:
191: .ti -.5i
192: Resent\-Fcc:
193: .br
194: Copy resent message into a folder.
195: See \*(lqFcc:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
196:
197: .ti -.5i
198: Resent\-Message\-Id:
199: .br
200: A unique identifier glued on by \fIpost\fR\0(8) if the `\-msgid' flag
201: is set.
202: See \*(lqMessage\-Id:\*(rq and \*(lqResent\-To:\*(rq.
203:
204: .ti -.5i
205: Resent:
206: .br
207: Annotation for \fIdist\fR\0(1) under the `\-annotate' option.
208:
209: .ti -.5i
210: Forwarded:
211: .br
212: Annotation for \fIforw\fR\0(1) under the `\-annotate' option.
213:
214: .ti -.5i
215: Replied:
216: .br
217: Annotation for \fIrepl\fR\0(1) under the `\-annotate' option.
218: .in -.5i
219: .sp
220: .Fi
221: ^@(MHDROPLOC)~^Location of mail drop
222: .Pr
223: None
224: .Sa
225: \fIStandard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages\fR (aka RFC\-822)
226: .De
227: None
228: .Co
229: None
230: .En
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