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