NAME

       sortm - sort messages

SYNOPSIS

       sortm [+folder] [msgs] [-datefield field] [-textfield field] [-notextfield] [-limit days] [-nolimit]
            [-verbose | -noverbose] [-Version] [-help]

DESCRIPTION

       Sortm sorts the specified messages in the named folder  according  to  the  chronological  order  of  the
       `Date:' field of each message.

       The  -verbose  switch  directs  sortm to tell the user the general actions that it is taking to place the
       folder in sorted order.

       The -datefield field switch tells sortm the name of the field to use when making the date comparison.  If
       the  user  has  a  special  field  in  each  message,  such as `BB-Posted:' or `Delivery-Date:', then the
       -datefield switch can be used to direct sortm which field to examine.

       The -textfield field switch causes sortm to sort messages by the specified text field.  If this field  is
       `subject', any leading "re:" is stripped off.  In any case, all characters except letters and numbers are
       stripped and the resulting strings are sorted datefield-major, textfield-minor, using a case  insensitive
       comparison.

       With  -textfield  field,  if  -limit  days  is specified, messages with similar textfields that are dated
       within `days' of each other appear together.  Specifying -nolimit makes the limit infinity.  With  -limit
       0, the sort is instead made textfield-major, date-minor.

       For example, to order a folder by date-major, subject-minor, use:

            sortm -textfield subject +folder

FILES

       $HOME/.mmh/profile         The user profile

PROFILE COMPONENTS

       Path:                To determine the user's mail storage
       Current-Folder:      To find the default current folder

SEE ALSO

       folder(1)

DEFAULTS

       `+folder' defaults to the current folder
       `msgs"'defaultstoall"
       `-datefield' defaults to date
       `-notextfield'
       `-noverbose'
       `-nolimit'

CONTEXT

       If a folder is given, it will become the current folder.  If the current message is moved, sortm
        will preserve its status as current.

HISTORY

       Timezones used to be ignored when comparing dates: they aren't any more.

       Messages  which  were  in  the  folder,  but  not specified by `msgs', used to be moved to the end of the
       folder; now such messages are left untouched.

       Sortm sometimes did not preserve the message numbering in a folder (e.g., messages 1,  3,  and  5,  might
       have  been  renumbered  to  1, 2, 3 after sorting).  This was a bug, and has been fixed.  To compress the
       message numbering in a folder, use `folder -pack' as always.

BUGS

       If sortm encounters a message without a date-field, or if the message has a date-field that sortm  cannot
       parse, then sortm attempts to keep the message in the same relative position.  This does not always work.
       For instance, if the first message encountered lacks a date which can be parsed, then it will usually  be
       placed at the end of the messages being sorted.

       When  sortm  complains  about  a  message which it can't temporally order, it complains about the message
       number prior to sorting.  It should indicate what the message number will be after sorting.