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” empties the sequence “foo”, and therefore removes that
       sequence from the current folder's list of sequences.

       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 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”.

       • 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's 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             The current folder.
       -add                If -sequence is specified, -list otherwise.
       msgs                The current message, 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).