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 `draft' 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