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forw(1) General Commands Manual forw(1) NAME forw - Forwards messages (only available within the message handling system, mh) SYNOPSIS forw [ msgs ] [ +folder ] [ flags ] FLAGS The -annotate flag annotates the message you are forwarding. If you do not specify this flag or specify the -noannotate flag, no annotation is done. The -annotate flag adds the following lines to the message that you are forwarding: Forwarded: date Forwarded: address(es) The first line records the time at which the message was for- warded; the second records the addresses of the recipients of the forwarded message. The forw command annotates messages only when they are success- fully sent. If you do not send the message immediately and file the unsent draft, it will not be annotated. It is also possible to confuse forw by using the push command to send the message, and renumbering the message before it is sent (for example, by using folder -pack to reorder the folder). The -dashmunging flag represents default forw behavior, which adds an extra dash (-) before any line that begins with a dash. This behavior causes problems when forwarded messages contain PostScript files because the extra characters prevent those files from being printed. Specify the -nodashmunging flag when forwarding messages that contain PostScript files. The -nodashmunging flag works only in combination with the -format or -filter filterfile flag. The -draftfolder flag specifies the folder in which the draft mes- sage is created. If you do not send the draft, the mail system will store it in this folder. The draft folder is usually specified as an option in .mh_pro- file rather than through the -draftfolder flag on the command line. See the mh_profile(4) reference page for more informa- tion. If you specify a draft folder in .mh_profile, you can override it by using the -nodraftfolder flag on the command line. Speci- fies the file in which the draft message is created. If no ab- solute pathname is given, the file is assumed to be in your Mail directory, usually $HOME/Mail. If you do not send the message, it is stored in the named file until you delete it, or send it at a later date. Specifies the editor that you want to use to edit your forwarded message. You can supply the name of any ap- proved editor. Reformats (filters) the forwarded messages prior to inclusion in the draft message. If you do not specify -fil- ter, the forwarded messages are included in the draft exactly as they appear. This flag allows you to reformat them according to instructions in a named filter file. This must be an mhl file; see the mh-format(4) reference page for more information. The -format flag also reformats messages before encapsulating them in the draft. However, -format always reformats according to the instructions in the default mhl.forward file. The -fil- ter flag allows you to use your own, named filter file to format the messages. Specifies the message header to be used in the draft message. If this flag is present, forw takes the header of the draft message from the named file. If this flag is not present, the header is taken from the forwcomps file in your Mail directory, or failing that, from the mail system default header. However, the -form flag overrides both of these de- faults. The -format flag reformats the messages to be forwarded before enclosing them in the draft message. If this flag is not supplied or the -noformat flag is used, the forwarded messages are included in the draft exactly as they appear. With the -format flag, the forwarded message is reformatted according to the instructions in the mhl.forward file in your Mail directory. If this file does not exist, the message is formatted according to the system file /usr/lib/mh/mhl.forward. The mhl.forward file is an mhl file; see the mh-format(4) reference page for more information. You can also use the -filter filterfile flag to reformat mes- sages. The difference is that -format always takes its instruc- tions from the mhl.forward file. With -filter, you can specify the name of the filter file you want to use. Prints a list of the valid flags for this command. These flags apply only when the -annotate flag is also used. The -inplace flag causes annotation to be done in place, to pre- serve links to the annotated message. The -noinplace flag specifies that annotation be done without preserving links to the annotated message. Suppresses editing of the draft message altogether. The -whatnowproc flag speci- fies an alternative whatnow program. Normally, forw invokes the default whatnow program. See the whatnow(1) reference page for a discussion of available options. You can specify your own al- ternative to the default program by using the -whatnowproc pro- gram flag. If you do specify your own program, you should not call it whatnow. You can suppress the whatnow program entirely by using the -nowhatnowproc flag. However, as the program normally starts the initial edit, the -nowhatnowproc flag prevents you from editing the message. PARAMETERS Specifies one or more numbers, or a range of numbers, to identify the messages that you want to forward. By default, forw forwards the cur- rent message. Identifies the folder from which messages are to be for- warded. By default, forw forwards messages from the current folder. DESCRIPTION The forw command sends one or more messages on to recipients who were not the original addressees. The command encapsulates all messages to be forwarded and adds a message header. Forwarded messages appear to originate from the forwarder and not the sender of the original mes- sage. The command invokes an editor so that you can edit the forwarded mes- sage or add text before or after the encapsulated message. When you exit from the editor, you receive a prompt asking what you want to do with the completed draft. This prompt usually takes the form What now?. See the whatnow(1) reference page for more information on the options available. If you forward a number of messages, each forwarded message is encapsu- lated separately. When received, the message is suitable for expanding with the burst command (see the burst(1) reference page). By default, the mail system uses a standard message header for for- warded messages. This is taken from the system file /usr/lib/mh/forw- comps. You can supply your own header by creating a file called forw- comps in your Mail directory. If this file exists, forw automatically uses the header in it when creating draft messages. If you do not have a draft folder set up, forw creates your new draft in a file called draft in your Mail directory, usually $HOME/Mail. This file must be empty before you can create a new draft, which means that you can store only one draft at a time. If it is not empty, the mail system will ask you what you want to do with the existing contents. Your options are: To abort forw, leaving the draft intact To replace the existing draft with the appropriate message form To display the draft message To refile the existing draft message in a specified folder. This option provides a new message form for you to complete. If you want to keep more than one draft (unsent) message available, you can set up a draft folder in your .mh_profile. This folder allows you to keep as many unsent drafts as space allows and still create new mes- sages. To set up a draft folder, make sure that the following line is in your .mh_profile file: Draft-folder: +drafts For more information on setting up folders, see the mh_profile(4) ref- erence page. If you set up a draft folder, all draft messages are created in that folder. If you decide not to send the draft, by typing quit at the What now? prompt, the message is stored in the draft folder. You can then re-edit the message, or send it at a later date, by using the -use flag with the comp command. If you use prompter as your editor, you can specify the -prepend flag to prompter in the .mh_profile file. If you do this, any text you add is entered before the forwarded messages. See the prompter(1) refer- ence page for details on other prompter options. If you specify the forw command without any parameters or flags, the following defaults apply: +folder defaults to the current folder. msgs defaults to the current message. -dashmunging -noannotate If a draft folder is specified in the $HOME/.mh_profile file, that draft folder is used; otherwise, -nodraftfolder is the default. -noformat -noinplace Profile Components The following entries in $HOME/.mh_profile can affect operation of the forw command. Refer to mh_profile(4) for a more complete description of these entries. Determines your Mail directory. Finds the default draft folder. Overrides the default editor. Sets the protection mode when creating a new message (draft). Overrides the default mail inter- change code. Specifies a nondefault program for refiling messages. Specifies a nondefault program for filtering the messages being for- warded. Specifies a nondefault program for asking the What now? ques- tions. FILES The default system template for forwarded messages The user-supplied alternative to the default system template. The user-supplied alterna- tive to the system message template used with -digest The default mes- sage filter The user-supplied alternative to the default system message filter The user profile The draft file RELATED INFORMATION Commands: comp(1), dist(1), refile(1), repl(1), send(1), whatnow(1) Files: mh-format(4), mh_profile(4) Proposed Standard for Message Encapsulation (RFC 934) delim off forw(1)