MHMAIL(1)MHMAIL(1)NAMEmhmail - send or read mail
SYNOPSISmhmail [-to] addrs ... [-attach file] [-body text] [-cc addrs ...]
[-from addr] [-headerfield name:value] [-subject subject]
[-resent] [switches for post ... | -profile [switches for send
...]] [-send | -nosend] [-version] [-help]
mhmail with no arguments is equivalent to inc
DESCRIPTIONmhmail is intended as a replacement for the standard Berkeley mail pro‐
gram (mail or mailx), which is compatible with nmh. This program is
intended for the use of programs such as cron, which expect to send
mail automatically to various addresses. It is also used by various
nmh commands to mail various error notifications. Although mhmail can
be used interactively, it is recommended that comp and send be used
instead to send messages.
When invoked without arguments, it simply invokes inc to incorporate
new messages from the user's maildrop.
When one or more addresses are specified, a message is read from the
standard input and spooled to a temporary file. mhmail then invokes
post, by default, with the name of the temporary file as its argument
to deliver the message to the specified address.
The -subject subject switch can be used to specify the “Subject:” field
of the message.
The -resent switch indicates that the message body is a fully formed
message that will be resent, as dist would do. For example:
mhmail u2@example.com -resent < `mhpath cur`
By default, mhmail will read the message to be sent from the standard
input. You can specify the text of the message at the command line
with the -body text switch. If the standard input has zero length,
mhmail will not send the message and return with status 1. You can use
the switch -body “” to force an empty message.
Normally, addresses appearing as arguments are put in the “To:” field.
At least one such address is required when sending a message, i.e., if
any other switches are supplied. If the -cc switch is used, all
addresses following it, even if there are intervening switches other
than -to, are placed in the “cc:” field. The optional -to switch can
appear in front of any addresses to signify their placement in the
“To:” field. The -to and -cc switches may be given multiple times.
By using -from addr, you can specify the “From:” header of the draft.
If no -from switch is used when sending, mhmail will supply a “From:”
header field using the sender's local mailbox, see localmbox in mh-for‐
mat(5). Naturally, post will fill-in the “Sender:” header correctly.
The -headerfield name:value switch adds a header field with the speci‐
fied name and value to the message. (The value is called the field
body in RFC 2822, but that's too easily confused with the message
body.) There need not be a space after the colon that separates the
name and value in the argument to this switch. It is usually best to
enclose the argument in quotes to protect it from the shell. The
-headerfield switch may be given multiple times to add multiple header
fields, for example,
mhmail-from sender@example.com \
-headerfield 'MIME-Version:1.0' \
-headerfield 'Content-Type:text/plain; charset=utf-8' \
-headerfield 'Content-Transfer-Encoding:8bit' \
recipient@example.com
Note about this example: the -attach switch causes MIME-Version and
Content-Type headers to be added to the message.
The -profile switch instructs mhmail to use send instead of post to
send the message. This allows use of the user's context and aliases.
The -attach file switch attaches the specified file to the message.
Use of -attach enables -profile because mhmail uses send to handle the
attachment. It is usually best to enclose the argument in quotes to
protect it from the shell. The -attach switch may be given multiple
times to add multiple attachments.
The -nosend option shows the draft file that would be posted/sent on
the command's standard output but does not post or send it. -send pro‐
vides the default behavior of posting or sending the message. It can
be used to disable -nosend, for example, when using a shell alias.
All other switches are passed on to post if -profile is not used, or
send if -profile is used.
FILES
/usr/local/bin/inc Program to incorporate maildrop into folder
/usr/local/libexec/nmh/post Program to deliver a message
/tmp/mhmail* Temporary copy of message
SEE ALSOdist(1), inc(1), send(1), mh-format(5), post(8)DEFAULTS
`-from localmbox'
`-profile' is enabled by default only with -attach
`-send'
CONTEXT
If inc is invoked, then inc's context changes occur. With the -profile
switch, the context of send is used. mhmail does not read the context
file itself, so an entry for it will be ignored.
nmh-1.6 October 16, 2012 MHMAIL(1)
