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/.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

       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.