Name

forw − forward messages

Syntax

forw [+folder] [msgs] [−annotate] [−noannotate] [−draftfolder FI+folder] [−draftmessage msg] [−nodraftfolder] [−editor editorname] [−noedit] [−filter filterfile] [−form formfile] [−format] [−noformat] [−inplace] [−noinplace] [−whatnowproc program] [−nowhatnowproc] [−digest list] [−issue number] [−volume number] [−help]

Description

Use forw to send one or more messages on to recipients who were not the original addressees.  A message header is added to the message(s) to be forwarded and the message is encapsulated. Forwarded messages appear to originate from the forwarder and not the sender of the original message.  In this respect forw is different from dist. The other difference between forw and dist, is that you can add your own message to a forwarded message with forw.

An editor is invoked as in comp, and after editing is complete, you are prompted before the message is sent.

You can forward several messages at once by specifying the message numbers separated by spaces.  The following example would concatenate messages 3, 5 and 7 and forward them as one message. 

forw 3 5 7

You can also forward a number of messages by specifying a range.  The following example would forward messages 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 as one message.  Note that there are no spaces when you specify a range of messages.

forw 3-7

Options

The default message form contains the following elements:

To:
cc:
Subject:
--------

If the file named forwcomps exists in your MH directory, it will be used instead of this form. The file specified by −form formfile will be used if given. 

If the draft file exists, you cannot normally forward another message until you have cleared the draft file.  This is because forw uses the draft file to compose the forwarded message.  If you attempt to do this, forw will ask you what you want to do.  Press <RETURN> to see the following options.

A reply of quit will abort forw, leaving the draft intact; replace will replace the existing draft with a blank skeleton; and list will display the draft.

If you set up the draftfolder: drafts line in your .mh_profile, forw will forward whichever message(s) you choose, without endangering any unsent messages (see mh-profile().)).

If the −annotate switch is given, each message being forwarded will be annotated with the lines

Forwarded: date
Forwarded: addrs

where each address list contains as many lines as required. This annotation will be done only if the message is sent directly from forw. If the message is not sent immediately from forw, comp −use may be used to re-edit and send the constructed message, but the annotations will not be added (see comp().)). The −inplace switch causes annotation to be done in place in order to preserve links to the annotated message.

When forw is told to annotate the messages it forwards, it does not annotate them until the draft is successfully sent. If you choose to push at the whatnow? prompt instead of send, it is possible to confuse forw by re-ordering the folder: For example, by using

folder −pack

before the message is successfully sent. The functions dist and repl do not have this problem.

You can specify the editor that you want to use to edit your forwarded message with the −editor option.  You can suppress editing altogether with the −noedit option.

Although forw uses the −form formfile switch to direct it how to construct the beginning of the draft, the −filter filterfile, −format, and −noformat switches direct forw as to how each forwarded message should be formatted in the body of the draft.

If −noformat is specified, then each forwarded message is output exactly as it appears. If −format or −filter filterfile is specified, then each forwarded message is filtered (re-formatted) prior to being output to the body of the draft.  The filterfile for forw should be a standard form file for mhl, as forw will invoke mhl to format the forwarded messages. The default message filter that you get with −format is:

width=80,overflowtext=,overflowoffset=10
leftadjust,compress,compwidth=9
Date:formatfield="%<(nodate{text})%|%(tws{text})%>"
From:
To:
cc:
Subject:
:
body:nocomponent,overflowoffset=0,noleftadjust,nocompress

If the file named mhl.forward exists in the user’s MH directory, it will be used instead of this form.  In either case, the file specified by −filter filterfile will be used if given.  To summarize: −noformat will reproduce each forwarded message exactly, −format will use mhl and a default filterfile, mhl.forward, to format each forwarded message, and −filter filterfile will use the named filterfile to format each forwarded message with mhl.

Each forwarded message is separated with an encapsulation boundary so that when received, the message is suitable for expanding with burst(.).

If you use prompter as your editor, you can specify prompter’s −prepend switch in the mh_profile file.  If you do this any commentary text is entered before the forwarded messages.  See prompter() for details of the other prompter options.

Normally forw uses the draft file, or drafts folder if you have one set up, to compose the forwarded message in.  You can make forw compose the message to be forwarded in alternative locations by specifying the +foldername or msg arguments.  See comp() for details.

When you exit from the editor, forw invokes the whatnow program. See whatnow() for details of the available options. The invocation of this program can be inhibited by using the −nowhatnowproc switch.

The −digest list, −issue number and −volume number switches implement a digest facility for MH.

The following defaults are valid:

+foldername defaults to the current folder msgs defaults to the current message
−noannotate
−nodraftfolder
−noformat
−noinplace

If the whatnowproc is whatnow, then forw uses its own built-in whatnow; it does not actually run the whatnow program. Hence, if you define your own whatnowproc, do not call it whatnow since forw will not run it.

Files

Profile Components

See Also

Proposed Standard for Message Encapsulation (RFC 934)
comp(1mh), dist(1mhs), refile(1mh), repl(1mh), send(1mh), whatnow(1mh)