The mark command manipulates message sequences by adding or deleting
message numbers from folder-specific message sequences, or by listing
those sequences and messages.
A message sequence is a keyword, just like one of the \*(lqreserved\*(rq
message names, such as \*(lqfirst\*(rq or \*(lqnext\*(rq. Unlike the
\*(lqreserved\*(rq message names, which have a fixed semantics on
a per-folder basis, the semantics of a message sequence may be
defined, modified, and removed by the user. Message sequences are
folder-specific, e.g., the sequence name \*(lqseen\*(rq in the context
of folder \*(lq+inbox\*(rq need not have any relation whatsoever to the
sequence of the same name in a folder of a different name.
Three action switches direct the operation of mark. These switches
are mutually exclusive: the last occurrence of any of them overrides
any previous occurrence of the other two.
The `-add' switch tells mark to add messages to sequences or to
create a new sequence. For each sequence named via the `-sequence\ name'
argument (which must occur at least once) the messages named via `msgs'
(which defaults to \*(lqcur\*(rq if no `msgs' are given), are added to the
sequence. The messages to be added need not be absent from the sequence.
If the `-zero' switch is specified, the sequence will be emptied prior
to adding the messages. Hence, `-add\ -zero' means that each sequence
should be initialized to the indicated messages, while `-add\ -nozero'
means that each sequence should be appended to by the indicated messages.
The `-delete' switch tells mark to delete messages from sequences,
and is the dual of `-add'. For each of the named sequences, the
named messages are removed from the sequence. These messages need
not be already present in the sequence. If the `-zero' switch is
specified, then all messages in the folder are added to the sequence
(first creating the sequence, if necessary) before removing the messages.
Hence, `-delete\ -zero' means that each sequence should contain
all messages except those indicated, while `-delete\ -nozero' means
that only the indicated messages should be removed from each sequence.
As expected, the command `mark\0-sequence\0foo\0-delete\0all' deletes
the sequence \*(lqfoo\*(rq from the current folder.
When creating or modifying sequences, you can specify the switches
`-public' or `-nopublic' to force the new or modified sequences to be
\*(lqpublic\*(rq or \*(lqprivate\*(rq. The switch `-public' indicates
that the sequences should be made \*(lqpublic\*(rq. These sequences
will then be readable by all nmh users with permission to read the
relevant folders. In contrast, the `-nopublic' switch indicates that the
sequences should be made \*(lqprivate\*(rq, and will only be accessible by
you. If neither of these switches is specified, then existing sequences
will maintain their current status, and new sequences will default to
\*(lqpublic\*(rq if you have write permission for the relevant folder.
Check the mh-sequence(5) man page for more details about the difference
between \*(lqpublic\*(rq and \*(lqprivate\*(rq sequences.
The `-list' switch tells mark to list both the sequences defined
for the folder and the messages associated with those sequences.
Mark will list the name of each sequence given by
`-sequence\ name' and the messages associated with that sequence. If the
sequence is private, this will also be indicated. If no sequence is
specified by the `-sequence' switch, then all sequences for this folder
will be listed. The `-zero' switch does not affect the operation of
`-list'.
The current restrictions on sequences are:
+.25i
The name used to denote a message sequence must consist of an alphabetic
character followed by zero or more alphanumeric characters, and cannot
be one of the (reserved) message names \*(lqnew\*(rq, \*(lqfirst\*(rq,
\*(lqlast\*(rq, \*(lqall\*(rq, \*(lqnext\*(rq, or \*(lqprev\*(rq.
Only a certain number of sequences may be defined for a given folder.
This number is usually limited to 26 (10 on small systems).
Message ranges with user-defined sequence names are restricted to the
form \*(lqname:n\*(rq, \*(lqname:+n\*(rq, or \*(lqname:-n\*(rq, and refer
to the first or last `n' messages of the sequence `name', respectively.
Constructs of the form \*(lqname1-name2\*(rq are forbidden for user
defined sequences.
-.25i
^$HOME/.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
^Path:~^To determine the user's nmh directory
^Current-Folder:~^To find the default current folder
flist(1), pick(1), mh-sequence(5)
`+folder' defaults to the current folder
`-add' if `-sequence' is specified, `-list' otherwise
`msgs' defaults to cur (or all if `-list' is specified)
`-nozero'
If a folder is given, it will become the current folder.
Use \*(lqflist\*(rq to find folders with a given sequence, and
\*(lqpick sequence -list\*(rq to enumerate those messages in
the sequence (such as for use by a shell script).
