Provided by: nmh_1.7.1-11_amd64 bug

NAME

       mhstore - store contents of nmh MIME messages into files

SYNOPSIS

       mhstore [-help] [-version] [+folder] [msgs] [-file file] [-outfile outfile] [-part number]
            ...  [-type content] ...  [-prefer content] ...  [-noprefer] [-auto | -noauto]
            [-clobber always | auto | suffix | ask | never] [-rcache policy] [-wcache policy]
            [-check | -nocheck] [-verbose | -noverbose]

DESCRIPTION

       The mhstore command allows you to store the contents of a collection of MIME (multi-media)
       messages into files or other messages.

       mhstore manipulates multi-media messages as specified in RFC 2045 to RFC 2049.

       By default, mhstore will store all the parts of each message.  Each part will be stored in
       a separate file.  The header fields of the message are not stored.  By  using  the  -part,
       -type,  and  -prefer  switches,  you  may limit and reorder the set of parts to be stored,
       based on part number and/or content type.

       The -file file switch directs mhstore to use the specified file  as  the  source  message,
       rather  than  a message from a folder.  If you specify this file as “-”, then mhstore will
       accept the source message on the standard input.   Note  that  the  file,  or  input  from
       standard  input,  should  be a validly formatted message, just like any other nmh message.
       It should not be in mail drop format (to convert a file in mail drop format to a folder of
       nmh messages, see inc(1)).

       A part specification consists of a series of numbers separated by dots.  For example, in a
       multipart content  containing  three  parts,  these  would  be  named  as  1,  2,  and  3,
       respectively.  If part 2 was also a multipart content containing two parts, these would be
       named as 2.1 and 2.2, respectively.  Note that the -part  switch  is  effective  only  for
       messages  containing a multipart content.  If a message has some other kind of content, or
       if the part is itself another multipart content, the -part switch  will  not  prevent  the
       content from being acted upon.

       The -type switch can also be used to restrict (or, when used in conjunction with -part, to
       further restrict) the selection of parts according to content type.   One  or  more  -type
       switches part will only select the first match from a multipart/alternative, even if there
       is more than one subpart that matches (one of) the given content type(s).

       Using either -part or -type switches alone will cause either to select  the  part(s)  they
       match.   Using  them  together  will  select  only  the  part(s) matched by both (sets of)
       switches.  In other words, the result is the intersection, and not  the  union,  of  their
       separate match results.

       A  content  specification  consists  of a content type and a subtype.  The initial list of
       “standard” content types and subtypes can be found in RFC 2046.

       A list of commonly used contents is briefly reproduced here:

            Type         Subtypes
            ----         --------
            text         plain, enriched
            multipart    mixed, alternative, digest, parallel
            message      rfc822, partial, external-body
            application  octet-stream, postscript
            image        jpeg, gif, png
            audio        basic
            video        mpeg

       A legal MIME message must contain a subtype specification.

       To specify a content, regardless of its subtype, just use the name of the  content,  e.g.,
       “audio”.    To  specify  a  specific  subtype,  separate  the  two  with  a  slash,  e.g.,
       “audio/basic”.  Note that regardless of the values given to the -type switch, a  multipart
       content  (of  any  subtype  listed  above) is always acted upon.  Further note that if the
       -type switch is used, and it is desirable to act on a message/external-body content,  then
       the  -type  switch  must  be  used  twice: once for message/external-body and once for the
       content externally referenced.

       The -prefer switch will alter the part-ordering of multipart/alternative MIME sections  in
       order to override the sender-imposed default ordering.  The -prefer switch is functionally
       most important for mhshow, but is also implemented in mhlist and mhstore  to  make  common
       part-numbering  possible across all three programs.  The last of multiple -prefer switches
       will have the highest priority.  This allows the command line switches to override profile
       entries.  See mhlist(1) and mhshow(1) for more information on -prefer.

       The -noprefer switch will cancel any previous -prefer switches.

   Checking the Contents
       The  -check  switch  tells  mhstore to check each content for an integrity checksum.  If a
       content has such a checksum (specified as a Content-MD5 header field), then  mhstore  will
       attempt to verify the integrity of the content.

   Storing the Contents
       mhstore  will  store the contents of the named messages in “native” (decoded) format.  Two
       things must be determined: the directory in which to store the content, and the filenames.
       Files are written in the directory given by the “nmh-storage” profile entry, e.g.,

            nmh-storage: /tmp

       If this entry isn't present, the current working directory is used.

       If the -outfile switch is given, its argument is used for the filename to store all of the
       content, with “-” indicating standard output.  If the -auto switch is given, then  mhstore
       will check if the message contains information indicating the filename that should be used
       to store the content.  This information should be specified as the “filename” attribute in
       the  “Content-Disposition”  header or as the “name” attribute in the “Content-Type” header
       for the content you are storing.  For security reasons, this filename will be  ignored  if
       it  begins  with the character '/', '.', '|', or '!', or if it contains the character '%'.
       We also recommend using a “nmh-storage” profile entry or a -clobber switch  setting  other
       than the default of “always” to avoid overwriting existing files.

       If  the  -auto switch is not given (or is being ignored for security reasons) then mhstore
       will look in the user's profile for a “formatting string” to determine how  the  different
       contents should be stored.  First, mhstore will look for an entry of the form:

            mhstore-store-<type>/<subtype>

       to  determine  the formatting string.  If this isn't found, mhstore will look for an entry
       of the form:

            mhstore-store-<type>

       to determine the formatting string.

       If the formatting string starts with a “+” character, then content is stored in the  named
       folder.  A formatting string consisting solely of a “+” character is interpreted to be the
       current folder.

       If the formatting string consists solely of a “-” character, then the content is  sent  to
       the standard output.

       If  the  formatting  string starts with a '|', then it represents a command for mhstore to
       execute which should ultimately store the content.  The content  will  be  passed  to  the
       standard input of the command.  Before the command is executed, mhstore will change to the
       appropriate directory, and any escapes (given below) in  the  formatting  string  will  be
       expanded.  The use of the “%a” sequence is not recommended because the user has no control
       over the Content-Type parameter data.

       Otherwise, the formatting string will represent a pathname in which to store the  content.
       If  the  formatting  string starts with a '/', then the content will be stored in the full
       path given, else the file name will be relative to  the  value  of  “nmh-storage”  or  the
       current  working directory.  Any escapes (given below) will be expanded, except for the a-
       escape.  Note that if “nmh-storage” is not an absolute path, it will be  relative  to  the
       folder that contains the message(s).

       A command or pathname formatting string may contain the following escapes.  If the content
       isn't part of a multipart (of  any  subtype  listed  above)  content,  the  p-escapes  are
       ignored.

            %a  Parameters from Content-Type  (only valid with command)
            %m  Insert message number
            %P  Insert part number with leading dot
            %p  Insert part number without leading dot
            %t  Insert content type
            %s  Insert content subtype
            %%  Insert character %

       If  no  formatting  string  is  found,  mhstore  will  check  to  see  if  the  content is
       application/octet-stream with  parameter  “type=tar”.   If  so,  mhstore  will  choose  an
       appropriate  filename.   If the content is not application/octet-stream, then mhstore will
       check to see if the content is a message.  If so, mhstore will use the value  “+”.   As  a
       last resort, mhstore will use the value “%m%P.%s”.

       Example profile entries might be:

            mhstore-store-text: %m%P.txt
            mhstore-store-text: +inbox
            mhstore-store-message/partial: +
            mhstore-store-audio/basic: | raw2audio -e ulaw -s 8000 -c 1 > %m%P.au
            mhstore-store-image/jpeg: %m%P.jpg
            mhstore-store-application/PostScript: %m%P.ps

       The  -verbose  switch directs mhstore to print out the names of files that it stores.  For
       backward compatibility, it  is  the  default.   The  -noverbose  switch  suppresses  these
       printouts.

   Overwriting Existing Files
       The -clobber switch controls whether mhstore should overwrite existing files.  The allowed
       values for this switch and corresponding behavior when mhstore encounters an existing file
       are:

            always    Overwrite existing file (default)
            auto      Create new file of form name-n.extension
            suffix    Create new file of form name.extension.n
            ask       Prompt the user to specify whether or not to overwrite
                      the existing file
            never     Do not overwrite existing file

       With  auto and suffix, n is the lowest unused number, starting from one, in the same form.
       If a filename does not have an extension (following a '.'), then auto and suffix create  a
       new file of the form name-n and name.n, respectively.  With never and ask, the exit status
       of mhstore will be the number of files that were requested but not stored.

       With ask, if standard input is connected to a terminal, the user is  prompted  to  respond
       yes,  no,  or  rename,  to  whether  the file should be overwritten.  The responses can be
       abbreviated.  If the user responds with rename, then mhstore prompts the user for the name
       of  the  new file to be created.  If it is a relative path name (does not begin with '/'),
       then it is relative to the current directory.  If it is an absolute or relative path to  a
       directory  that does not exist, the user will be prompted whether to create the directory.
       If standard input is not connected to a terminal, ask behaves the same as always.

   Reassembling Messages of Type message/partial
       mhstore is also able to reassemble messages that have been split into multiple messages of
       type “message/partial”.

       When asked to store a content containing a partial message, mhstore will try to locate all
       of the portions and combine them accordingly.  The default is to store the combined  parts
       as  a  new  message  in  the current folder, although this can be changed using formatting
       strings as discussed above.  Thus, if someone has sent you  a  message  in  several  parts
       (such  as the output from sendfiles), you can easily reassemble them into a single message
       in the following fashion:

            % mhlist 5-8
             msg part  type/subtype             size description
               5       message/partial           47K part 1 of 4
               6       message/partial           47K part 2 of 4
               7       message/partial           47K part 3 of 4
               8       message/partial           18K part 4 of 4
            % mhstore 5-8
            reassembling partials 5,6,7,8 to folder inbox as message 9
            % mhlist -verbose 9
             msg part  type/subtype             size description
               9       application/octet-stream 118K
                         (extract with uncompress | tar xvpf -)
                         type=tar
                         conversions=compress

       This will store exactly one message, containing the sum of the parts.  It  doesn't  matter
       whether the partials are specified in order, since mhstore will sort the partials, so that
       they are combined in the correct order.  But if  mhstore  can  not  locate  every  partial
       necessary to reassemble the message, it will not store anything.

   External Access
       For contents of type message/external-body, mhstore supports these access-types:

       •   afs

       •   anon-ftp

       •   ftp

       •   local-file

       •   mail-server

       •   url

       For  the  “anon-ftp”  and  “ftp”  access types, mhstore will look for the “nmh-access-ftp”
       profile entry, e.g.,

            nmh-access-ftp: myftp.sh

       to determine the pathname of a program to perform the  FTP  retrieval.   This  program  is
       invoked with these arguments:

            domain name of FTP-site
            username
            password
            remote directory
            remote filename
            local filename
            “ascii” or “binary”

       The  program  should terminate with an exit status of zero if the retrieval is successful,
       and a non-zero exit status otherwise.

       For the “url” access types, mhstore will look  for  the  “nmh-access-url”  profile  entry,
       e.g.,

            nmh-access-url: curl -L

       to  determine  the  program to use to perform the HTTP retrieval.  This program is invoked
       with one argument: the URL of the content to  retrieve.   The  program  should  write  the
       content  to  standard  out, and should terminate with a status of zero if the retrieval is
       successful and a non-zero exit status otherwise.

   The Content Cache
       When mhstore encounters an external content containing a “Content-ID:” field, and  if  the
       content  allows  caching,  then  depending on the caching behavior of mhstore, the content
       might be read from or written to a cache.

       The caching behavior of mhstore is controlled with the -rcache and -wcache switches, which
       define  the policy for reading from, and writing to, the cache, respectively.  One of four
       policies may be specified:  “public”,  indicating  that  mhstore  should  make  use  of  a
       publicly-accessible  content  cache; “private”, indicating that mhstore should make use of
       the user's private content cache; “never”, indicating that mhstore should never  make  use
       of caching; and, “ask”, indicating that mhstore should ask the user.

       There  are  two  directories  where  contents may be cached: the profile entry “nmh-cache”
       names a directory containing world-readable contents, and, the profile entry “nmh-private-
       cache”  names  a  directory containing private contents.  The former should be an absolute
       (rooted) directory name.

       For example,

            nmh-cache: /tmp

       might be used if you didn't care that the cache got wiped after each reboot of the system.
       The latter is interpreted relative to the user's nmh directory, if not rooted, e.g.,

            nmh-private-cache: .cache

       (which is the default value).

   User Environment
       Because the environment in which mhstore operates may vary for different machines, mhstore
       will look for the environment variable MHSTORE .  If present, this specifies the  name  of
       an  additional  user  profile  which  should  be  read.   Hence,  when a user logs in on a
       particular machine, this environment variable should be set to refer to a file  containing
       definitions useful for that machine.  Finally, mhstore will attempt to consult

            /etc/nmh/mhn.defaults

       which is created automatically during nmh installation.

       See  "Profile Lookup" in mh-profile(5) for the profile search order, and for how duplicate
       entries are treated.

EXAMPLES

   Decoding RFC 2047-encoded file names
       The improper RFC 2047 encoding of file name parameters can be replaced  with  correct  RFC
       2231 encoding using mhfixmsg, either permanently or ephemerally, e.g.,

              mhfixmsg -outfile - | mhstore -auto -clobber ask -file -

       The  -clobberask  is  not  necessary,  though recommended to avoid silently overwriting an
       existing file.

FILES

       mhstore looks for additional profile files in multiple locations: absolute  pathnames  are
       accessed directly, tilde expansion is done on usernames, and files are searched for in the
       user's Mail directory as specified in their profile.  If not found  there,  the  directory
       “/etc/nmh” is checked.

       $HOME/.mh_profile          The user profile
       $MHSTORE                   Additional profile entries
       /etc/nmh/mhn.defaults      System default MIME profile entries

PROFILE COMPONENTS

       Path:                To determine the user's nmh directory
       Current-Folder:      To find the default current folder
       nmh-access-ftp:      Program to retrieve contents via FTP
       nmh-access-url:      Program to retrieve contents via HTTP
       nmh-cache            Public directory to store cached external contents
       nmh-private-cache    Personal directory to store cached external contents
       nmh-storage          Directory to store contents
       mhstore-store-<type>*Template for storing contents

SEE ALSO

       mhbuild(1), mhfixmsg(1), mhlist(1), mhshow(1), sendfiles(1)

DEFAULTS

       `+folder' defaults to the current folder
       `msgs' defaults to cur
       `-noauto'
       `-clobber always'
       `-nocheck'
       `-rcache ask'
       `-wcache ask'
       `-verbose'

CONTEXT

       If  a  folder is given, it will become the current folder.  The last message selected will
       become the current message.

BUGS

       Partial messages contained within a multipart content are not reassembled.