NAME

       prompter - prompting editor front-end for mmh

SYNOPSIS

       prompter [-prepend | -noprepend] [-rapid | -norapid] [-body | -nobody] file [-Version]
            [-help]

DESCRIPTION

       Prompter is an editor front-end for mmh which allows rapid composition of messages.   This
       program  is  not  normally  invoked directly by users but takes the place of an editor and
       acts as an editor front-end.  It operates on  an  RFC-822  style  message  draft  skeleton
       specified by file, normally provided by the mmh commands comp, dist, forw, or repl.

       Prompter  is particularly useful when composing messages over slow network or modem lines.
       It is hardly invoked directly by the user.  The commands comp, dist, forw, and repl invoke
       prompter  as an editor, either when invoked with -editor prompter, or by the profile entry
       `Editor: prompter', or when given the command edit prompter at the `What now?' prompt.

       For each empty component prompter finds in the draft, the user is prompted for a response.
       An  empty  response  will  cause  the  whole  component  to be left out.  Otherwise, a `\'
       preceding the Newline will continue the response on the next line, allowing for  multiline
       components.  Continuation lines must begin with a space or tab.

       Each non-empty component is copied to the draft and displayed on the terminal.

       The  start  of  the  message  body is denoted by a blank line or a line of dashes.  Unless
       -nobody is specified, the user is queried to enter the message body.  If the body  of  the
       draft  is non-empty, the typed-in text will be prepended or appended to the existing body,
       depending on the -prepend and -noprepend switches.  In  these  cases,  the  prompt  (which
       isn't written to the file) is

            --------Enter additional text

       or (if -prepend was given)

            --------Enter initial text

       Message-body  typing  is  terminated  with an end-of-file (usually CTRL-D).  At this point
       control is returned to the calling program, where the user  is  asked  `What  now?'.   See
       whatnow (1) for the valid options to this query.

       By using the -nobody switch, the user is only queried to fill in header fields, but not to
       enter any body text.  Note, that the -bodyand-nobody switches had already existed  already
       in  nmh  in  undocumented/hidden  form, but with a slightly different meaning.  Back then,
       prompter -nobody would change the draft to have an empty body, by  ignoring  any  existing
       body and not querying the user for body text.

       By  using  the  -prepend  switch, the user can add type-in to the beginning of the message
       body and have the rest of the body follow.  With -noprepend the typed-in text is  appended
       to the message body.

       By  using the -rapid switch, if the draft already contains text in the message-body, it is
       not displayed on the user's terminal.  This is useful for low-speed terminals.

       An interrupt (usually CTRL-C) during component typing will  abort  prompter  and  the  mmh
       command that invoked it.  An interrupt during message-body typing is equivalent to CTRL-D,
       for historical reasons and to avoid losing the typed-in message  text.   This  means  that
       prompter should finish up and exit, usually putting the user back to the Whatnow prompt.

       The  first  non-flag  argument  to  prompter  is  taken as the name of the draft file, and
       subsequent non-flag arguments are ignored.

FILES

       $HOME/.mmh/profile         The user profile
       /tmp/prompter*             Temporary copy of message

PROFILE COMPONENTS

       prompter-next:       The editor to be used on exit from prompter
       Msg-Protect:         To set mode when creating a new draft

SEE ALSO

       comp(1), dist(1), forw(1), repl(1), whatnow(1)

DEFAULTS

       `-body'
       `-prepend'
       `-norapid'

CONTEXT

       None

HELPFUL HINTS

       The -noprepend switch is particularly useful with comp -use.

       The user may  wish  to  link  prompter  under  several  names  (e.g.,  `rapid')  and  give
       appropriate  switches  in  the  profile entries under these names (e.g., `rapid: -rapid').
       This facilitates invoking prompter differently for different mmh  commands  (e.g.,  `forw:
       -editor rapid').

       Former mutt users might find it useful to create a shell script hprompter containing:

            prompter -nobody -rapid "$1"
            vi "$1"

       and use that as the default editor for comp by adding a profile entry like:

            comp: -editor hprompter