alex(1)alex(1)NAMEalex - extract addresses from message headers (only available within
the message handling system, mh)
SYNOPSISalex [+folder] [msgs] [options]
OPTIONS
Accepts an address that you type in, rather than taking an address from
a message. If any -field option is specified, it is ignored. Specifies
the name of the alias file, in which aliases are placed. You must pro‐
vide a file name or a dash (-) as an argument with this option. There
is no default value. If the value given for this option is -, or the
option is not specified, alex will print the output to your screen. If
you do not give the full pathname of your alias file, alex will look
for the alias file in your Mail directory, as specified in the Path
field of your file. If alex cannot locate the alias file in the direc‐
tory that you specify, it will ask you whether or not you wish to cre‐
ate one.
You can set up an alias file to be used by alex in your mh_pro‐
file(4) for more information. Like other mail commands, alex
uses the Aliasfile entry to find the alias file. Prevents any
repetition of the same address in the output of an alex command.
You can use this option when there are multiple occurrences of
an address in an address group and you want just one occurrence
of it in your alias. The default is -nocompress. Specifies the
name of a header field. The name of the field is not case-sensi‐
tive. If you specify this option without providing an argument,
the default values are: -field reply-to/sender/from/to. You can
set up your own default values for the -field option in your
mh_profile(4).
Examples of field names are From, cc and To. You must not type a
colon after the name of a field. When more field names follow,
in the form /name, the message header is searched for each of
the fields in turn until one is found. Only the first header
field found to contain an address is used; the rest are ignored.
The option -nofield excludes the named field.
The special name, all, means all fields, and can be used as a
value for the -nofield option to override any default order of
header fields, otherwise -field values are appended to any
default values. Specifies that any address replacements or
appendings will apply to all occurrences of that alias name.
Normally, if an alias name is entered in the alias file more
than once, any actions performed by alex are performed only on
the first occurrence of that alias name. The -global option
ensures that any changes are made to all occurrences of the
alias. Whenever this option is specified, a message is broadcast
to your screen telling you how many entries in the alias file
have been changed. Prints a list of the valid options for this
command. Specifies the alias name for address information
extracted. The alex command appends a colon (:) to the name as
required by mh-alias(4). If you do not specify this option,alex
will print extracted addresses to your screen. If you specify
this option, you must provide an argument; there is no default
value. Extracts addresses interactively. Before adding each
address of a list of extracted addresses to an alias group, the
mail system will ask you whether you wish the address to be
added. The query prompt is written on the standard error output.
The default is -noquery. Replaces existing alias with the new
list of addresses. By default, if there is an existing alias
with the same name as the one you are trying to create, alex
appends the new address list to the old alias. If an address
appears in both address groups, it is still appended, so that it
appears twice in the new alias. You can specify this explicitly
by using the -noreplace option. If you specify the -replace
option, the new list of addresses replaces the existing group.
The default is -noreplace. Specifies the maximum width of your
alias file line. If an alias group extends beyond this length,
it is continued on the next line, with a backslash (\) at end of
the first line. Any X.400 addresses which are longer than the
maximum line length specified by this option are automatically
wrapped onto the next line. This option affects the format of
each individual entry when it is implemented; any subsequent or
previous entries in the alias file remain the same. The default
is 72 characters.
DESCRIPTION
The address line extraction utility alex extracts electronic mail
addresses from message headers and prints the addresses on your screen
or places them, with a specified alias name, in an alias file.
By default, alex searches for addresses in the current message in the
current folder. You can list the messages you wish alex to search giv‐
ing a msgs argument. You can also search messages in a different
folder by giving a +folder argument.
You define the fields from which you want addresses by using combina‐
tions of field names with the -field option. You can also supply an
address yourself as a value to the -address option. Results are printed
either to your screen or to a file in mh-alias(4) format. Where there
is an address group in the alias file with an alias name identical to
one you have specified in an alex command, it may be replaced or the
new addresses appended. A copy of the original alias file is kept.
By default, alex searches the Reply-to:, Sender:, From: and To: header
fields in that order until an address is found. You can set up your own
default values for alex in your file; see mh_profile(4).
When giving options to the alex command, generally the shortest unique
abbreviation suffices.
RESTRICTIONS
Because the -nofield option can take the value all as an argument, alex
will not recognize a header field called All. If you wish to use such
a header field, you should call it X-all.
If a command line contains contradictory arguments then the last value
specified is used. For example, in the following command, alex only
uses the options -name fred and -noreplace: % alex-name sam -name fred
-replace -noreplace
EXAMPLES
This example takes the address from the From field of the current mes‐
sage, and places it in your alias file with the alias name bob: % alex-field from -alias aliases -name bob The following example shows what
happens if you specify an alias file that does not exist. You are asked
whether you want to create the file; enter y to create it: % alex-field from -name bob -alias aliases Create alias file
"HOME/Mail/aliases"? y The next example takes addresses from two
fields, From and cc, and saves them as the alias sales_team: % alex-field from -field cc -alias aliases -name sales_team
FILES
Your user profile.
SEE ALSOali(1), mh(1), pick(1), mh-alias(4), mh_profile(4)alex(1)