MARK(1) MARK(1)
NAME
mark - mark messages
SYNOPSIS
mark [+folder] [msgs] [-sequence name ...] [-add]
[-delete] [-list] [-public] [-nopublic] [-zero]
[-nozero] [-help]
DESCRIPTION
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
"reserved" message names, such as "first" or "next".
Unlike the "reserved" message names, which have a fixed
semantics on a per-folder basis, the semantics of a mes-
sage sequence may be defined, modified, and removed by the
user. Message sequences are folder-specific, e.g., the
sequence name "seen" in the context of folder "+inbox"
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
"cur" 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 appended to the sequence
prior to 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 -sequence seen -delete all' deletes the sequence
"seen" from the current folder.
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MARK(1) MARK(1)
When creating (or modifying) a sequence, the `-public'
switch indicates that the sequence should be made readable
for other MH users. In contrast, the `-nopublic' switch
indicates that the sequence should be private to the
user's MH environment.
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 `-sequence' isn't used, all sequences
will be listed, with private sequences being so indicated.
The `-zero' switch does not affect the operation of
`-list'.
The current restrictions on sequences are:
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 "new", "first", "last", "all",
"next", or "prev".
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 "name:n" or "name:-n", and refer
to the first or last `n' messages of the sequence
`name', respectively. Constructs of the form
"name1-name2" are forbidden.
FILES
$HOME/.mh_profile The user profile
PROFILE COMPONENTS
Path: To determine the user's MH directory
Current-Folder: To find the default current folder
SEE ALSO
pick (1), mh-sequence (5)
DEFAULTS
`+folder' defaults to the current folder
`-add' if `-sequence' is specified, `-list' otherwise
`msgs' defaults to cur (or all if `-list' is specified)
`-nopublic' if the folder is read-only, `-public' otherwise
`-nozero'
CONTEXT
If a folder is given, it will become the current folder.
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MARK(1) MARK(1)
HELPFUL HINTS
Use "pick sequence -list" to enumerate the messages in a
sequence (such as for use by a shell script).
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