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If you change the name of some of the MH programs or have your own printing programs, the following variables can help you. They are described in detail in the subsequent sections.
Variable | Default | Description
__________________________|____________________|______________________
mh-inc-prog | "inc" | Program to incor-
| | porate mail
mh-inc-folder-hook | nil | Functions to run
| | when incorporating
| | mail
mh-delete-msg-hook | nil | Functions to run
| | when deleting mes-
| | sages
mh-print-background | nil | Print in foreground
| | or background
mh-lpr-command-format | "lpr -J '%s'" | Command used to
| | print
mh-default-folder-for- | nil | Command to generate
message-function | | a default folder
mh-auto-folder-collect | t | Collect folder names
| | in background at
| | startup
mh-recursive-folders | nil | Collect nested fold-
| | ers
mh-refile-msg-hook | nil | Functions to run
| | when refiling mes-
| | sage
mh-store-default-directory| nil | Default directory
| | for storing uuencode
| | or shar files
mh-sortm-args | nil | Additional arguments
| | for sortm
mh-scan-prog | "scan" | Program to scan mes-
| | sages
mh-msg-number-regexp | "^ *\\([0-9]+\\)" | Matches message
| | number in scan line
mh-msg-search-regexp | "^[^0-9]*%d[^0-9]"| Matches message
| | number %d
mh-valid-scan-line | "^ *[0-9]" | Matches a valid scan
| | line
mh-cmd-note | 4 | Offset for notation
mh-deleted-msg-regexp | "^....D" | Matches deleted mes-
| | sage
mh-refiled-msg-regexp | "^....\\^" | Matches refiled mes-
| | sage
mh-cur-scan-msg-regexp | "^....\\+" | Matches the current
| | message
mh-good-msg-regexp | "^....[^D^]" | Matches message that
| | can be shown by n,
| | etc.
mh-note-deleted | "D" | Notation for deleted
| | messages
mh-note-refiled | "^" | Notation for refiled
| | messages
mh-note-copied | "C" | Notation for copied
| | messages
mh-note-cur | "+" | Notation for the
| | current message
mh-note-repl | "-" | Notation for replied
| | to messages
mh-note-forw | "F" | Notation for for-
| | warded messages
mh-note-dist | "R" | Notation for redis-
| | tributed messages
mh-note-printed | "P" | Notation for printed
| | messages
mh-note-seq | "%" | Notation for mes-
| | sages in a sequence
mh-quit-hook | nil | Functions to run
| | after quitting
__________________________|____________________|______________________
Example: Rescan folder after incorporating new mail via mh-inc-folder-hook
(defun my-mh-inc-folder-hook ()
"Hook to rescan folder after incorporating mail."
(if (buffer-modified-p) ; if outstanding refiles and deletes,
(mh-execute-commands)) ; flush them
(mh-rescan-folder) ; synchronize with +inbox
(mh-show)) ; show the current message
(add-hook 'mh-inc-folder-hook 'my-mh-inc-folder-hook)
The function mh-default-folder-for-message-function is used by o (mh-refile-msg) and C-c C-f C-f (mh-to-fcc) to generate a default folder. The generated folder name should be a string with a "+" before it. For each of my correspondents, I use the same name for both an alias and a folder. So, I wrote a function that takes the address in the From: header field, finds it in my alias file, and returns the alias which is used as a default folder name. This is the most complicated example given here, and it demonstrates several features of Emacs Lisp programming. You should be able to drop this into ~/.emacs, however. If you use this to store messages in a subfolder of your Mail directory, you can modify the line that starts (format "+%s" ... and insert your subfolder after the folder symbol "+".
Example: Default refiling folder via mh-default-folder-for-message-function
(defun my-mh-folder-from-address ()
"Determine folder name from address.
Takes the address in the From: header field, and returns its corresponding
alias from the user's personal aliases file. Returns nil if the address
was not found."
(require 'rfc822) ; for the rfc822 functions
(search-forward-regexp "^From: \\(.*\\)") ; grab contents of header field
(setq addr (car (rfc822-addresses ; get address from header field
(buffer-substring (match-beginning 1)
(match-end 1)))))
(save-excursion ; save state
(let ((buffer (get-buffer-create " *temp*")) ; set local variables
folder)
(set-buffer buffer) ; jump to temporary buffer
(unwind-protect ; run kill-buffer when done or on error
(progn ; function grouping construct
(insert-file-contents (expand-file-name "aliases" mh-user-path))
(goto-char (point-min)) ; grab aliases file and go to beginning
(setq folder
;; Search for the given address, even commented-out addresses are
;; found! The function search-forward-regexp sets values that are
;; later used by match-beginning and match-end.
(if (search-forward-regexp (format "^;*\\(.*\\):.*%s"
addr) nil t)
;; NOTE WELL: this is what the return value looks like. You can
;; modify the format string to match your own Mail hierarchy.
(format "+%s" (buffer-substring (match-beginning 1)
(match-end 1))))))
(kill-buffer buffer)) ; get rid of our temporary buffer
folder))) ; function's return value
(setq mh-default-folder-for-message-function 'my-mh-folder-from-address)
The hook
mh-refile-msg-hook
is called after a message is marked to be filed.
The variable mh-sortm-args holds extra arguments to pass on to the sortm(1) command (the Section Sorting Messages: sortm). Note: this variable is only consulted when a prefix argument is given to M-x mh-sort-folder. It is used to override any arguments given in a sortm: entry in your MH profile (~/.mh_profile).
Scan line formatting
The name of the program that generates a listing of one line per message is held in mh-scan-prog (default: "scan"). Unless this variable contains an absolute pathname, it is assumed to be in the mh-progs directory. You may link another program to scan (the Section Making a New Command Version) to produce a different type of listing.
If you change the format of the scan lines you'll need to tell mh-e how to parse the new format. As you see, quite a lot of variables are involved to do that. The first variable has to do with pruning out garbage.
Next, two variables control how the message numbers are parsed.
Finally, there are a slew of variables that control how mh-e marks up the scan lines.
(setq mh-store-default-directory (expand-file-name "~/src/"))Subsequent incarnations of mh-store-msg offer the last directory used as the default. By the way, mh-store-msg calls the Emacs Lisp function mh-store-buffer. I mention this because you can use it directly if you're editing a buffer that contains a file that has been run through uuencode or shar. For example, you can extract the contents of the current buffer in your home directory by typing ESC ESC (mh-store-buffer "~").
[Table of Contents] [Index] [Previous: Editing a Draft] [Next: Searching Through Messages]
This file is from the third edition of the book MH & xmh: Email for Users & Programmers, ISBN 1-56592-093-7, by Jerry Peek. Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. This file is freely-available; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation. For more information, see the file copying.htm.
Suggestions are welcome: Bill Wohler <wohler@newt.com>