Provided by: nmh_1.6-8build1_amd64 
NAME
msh - nmh shell (and BBoard reader)
SYNOPSIS
msh [-prompt string] [-scan | -noscan] [-topcur | -notopcur] [file] [-version] [-help]
STATUS
msh is deprecated and will be removed from the next nmh release.
DESCRIPTION
msh is an interactive program that implements a subset of the normal nmh commands operating on a single
file in mmdf format. That is, msh is used to read a file that contains a number of messages, as opposed
to the standard nmh style of reading a number of files, each file being a separate message in a folder.
msh's chief advantage is that the normal nmh style does not allow a file to have more than one message in
it. Hence, msh is ideal for reading BBoards, as these files are delivered by the transport system in
this format. In addition, msh can be used on other files, such as message archives which have been
packed (see packf(1)). Finally, msh is an excellent nmh tutor. As the only commands available to the
user are nmh commands, this allows nmh beginners to concentrate on how commands to nmh are formed and
(more or less) what they mean.
When invoked, msh reads the named file, and enters a command loop. The user may type most of the normal
nmh commands. The syntax and semantics of these commands typed to msh are identical to their nmh
counterparts. In cases where the nature of msh would be inconsistent (e.g., specifying a +folder with
some commands), msh will duly inform the user. The commands that msh currently supports (in some
slightly modified or restricted forms) are:
ali
burst
comp
dist
folder
forw
inc
mark
mhmail
mhn
msgchk
next
packf
pick
prev
refile
repl
rmm
scan
send
show
sortm
whatnow
whom
In addition, msh has a help command which gives a brief overview. To terminate msh, type CTRL-D, or use
the quit command.
If the file is writable and has been modified, then using quit will query the user if the file should be
updated.
The -prompt string switch sets the prompting string for msh.
You may wish to use an alternate nmh profile for the commands that msh executes; see mh-profile(5) for
details about the $MH environment variable.
The exit command is identical to the quit command in msh.
msh supports an output redirection facility. Commands may be followed by one of
^> file~^write output to file
^>> file~^append output to file
^| command~^pipe output to UNIX command
If file starts with a “ ” (tilde), then a csh-like expansion takes place. Note that command is
interpreted by sh. Also note that msh does NOT support history substitutions, variable substitutions, or
alias substitutions.
When parsing commands to the left of any redirection symbol, msh will honor `\' (backslash) as the quote
next-character symbol, and `“' (double-quote) as quote-word delimiters. All other input tokens are
separated by whitespace (spaces and tabs).
FILES
$HOME/.mh_profile The user profile
/etc/nmh/mts.conf nmh mts configuration file
PROFILE COMPONENTS
Path: To determine the user's nmh directory
Msg-Protect: To set mode when creating a new `file'
fileproc: Program to file messages
showproc: Program to show messages
SEE ALSO
packf(1)
DEFAULTS
`file' defaults to “./msgbox”
`-prompt (msh) '
`-noscan'
`-notopcur'
CONTEXT
None
BUGS
There is a strict limit of messages per file in packf'd format which msh can handle. Usually, this limit
is 1000 messages.
Please remember that msh is not the C-Shell, and that a lot of the nice facilities provided by the latter
are not present in the former.
In particular, msh does not understand backquoting, so the only effective way to use pick inside msh is
to always use the -seq select switch. Clever users of nmh will put the line
pick: -seq select -list
in their .mh_profile file so that pick works equally well from both the shell and msh.
sortm always uses -noverbose and if -textfield field is used, -limit 0.
The msh program inherits most (if not all) of the bugs from the nmh commands it implements.