NAME

       mark - manipulate message sequences

SYNOPSIS

       mark [+folder] [msgs] [-sequence name ...]  [-add | -delete] [-list] [-public | -nopublic] [-zero |
            -nozero] [-version] [-help]

DESCRIPTION

       The mark command manipulates message sequences by adding or deleting message numbers from folder-specific
       message sequences, or by listing those sequences and messages.

       A  message  sequence  is  a  keyword,  just  like one of the “reserved” message names, such as “first” or
       “next”.  Unlike the “reserved” message names, which have a fixed semantics on  a  per-folder  basis,  the
       semantics of a message sequence may be defined, modified, and removed by the user.  Message sequences are
       folder-specific,  e.g.,  the  sequence  name  “seen”  in the context of folder “+inbox” need not have any
       relation whatsoever to the sequence of the same name in a folder of a different name.

       Three action switches direct the operation of mark.  These switches  are  mutually  exclusive:  the  last
       occurrence of any of them overrides any previous occurrence of the other two.

       The  -add  switch tells mark to add messages to sequences or to create a new sequence.  For each sequence
       named via the -sequence name argument (which must occur at least once) the messages named via msgs (which
       defaults to “cur” if no msgs are given), are added to the sequence.  The messages to be added need not be
       absent from the sequence.  If the -zero switch is specified, the sequence will be emptied prior to adding
       the messages.  Hence, -add -zero means  that  each  sequence  should  be  initialized  to  the  indicated
       messages, while -add -nozero means that each sequence should be appended to by the indicated messages.

       The  -delete  switch  tells mark to delete messages from sequences, and is the dual of -add.  For each of
       the named sequences, the named messages are removed from  the  sequence.   These  messages  need  not  be
       already  present  in the sequence.  If the -zero switch is specified, then all messages in the folder are
       added to the sequence (first creating the sequence, if necessary) before removing the  messages.   Hence,
       -delete  -zero means that each sequence should contain all messages except those indicated, while -delete
       -nozero means that only the indicated messages should be removed from each sequence.   As  expected,  the
       command “mark -sequence foo -delete all” deletes the sequence “foo” from the current folder.

       When  creating or modifying sequences, you can specify the switches -public or -nopublic to force the new
       or modified sequences to be “public” or “private”.  The  switch  -public  indicates  that  the  sequences
       should  be made “public”.  These sequences will then be readable by all nmh users with permission to read
       the relevant folders.  In contrast, the -nopublic switch indicates that  the  sequences  should  be  made
       “private”,  and will only be accessible by you.  If neither of these switches is specified, then existing
       sequences will maintain their current status, and new sequences will default  to  “public”  if  you  have
       write  permission  for the relevant folder.  Check the mh-sequence(5) man page for more details about the
       difference between “public” and “private” sequences.

       The -list switch tells mark to list both the sequences defined for the folder and the messages associated
       with those sequences.  Mark will list the name of each sequence given by -sequence name and the  messages
       associated  with that sequence.  If the sequence is private, this will also be indicated.  If no sequence
       is specified by the -sequence switch, then all sequences for this  folder  will  be  listed.   The  -zero
       switch does not affect the operation of -list.

       The current restrictions on sequences are:

       • The  name used to denote a message sequence must consist of an alphabetic character followed by zero or
         more alphanumeric characters, and cannot be one of the (reserved) message names “new”, “first”, “last”,
         “all”, “next”, or “prev”.

       • Only a certain number of sequences may be defined for a given folder.  This number is  usually  limited
         to 27 (11 on small systems).  (The internal implementation relies on bitmasks, with some bits set aside
         for internal use.)

       • Message  ranges  with  user-defined  sequence  names are restricted to the form “name:n”, “name:+n”, or
         “name:-n”, and refer to  the  first  or  last  `n'  messages  of  the  sequence  `name',  respectively.
         Constructs of the form “name1-name2” are forbidden for user defined sequences.

FILES

       $HOME/.mh_profile          The user profile

PROFILE COMPONENTS

       Path:                To determine the user's nmh directory
       Current-Folder:      To find the default current folder

SEE ALSO

       flist(1), pick(1), mh-sequence(5)

DEFAULTS

       `+folder' defaults to the current folder
       `-add' if -sequence is specified, -list otherwise
       `msgs' defaults to cur (or all if -list is specified)
       `-nozero'

CONTEXT

       If a folder is given, it will become the current folder.

HELPFUL HINTS

       Use flist to find folders with a given sequence, and “pick sequence -list” to enumerate those messages in
       the sequence (such as for use by a shell script).

MH.6.8                                            11 June 2012                                         MARK(1mh)