COMP(1mh)

✨ COMP(1mh) ✨

okay bestie, sit DOWN, because this is the page for comp from the nmh crew — manual section 1mh — and it's literally the blueprint for writing a brand new message to be mailed. it's giving main character energy for your outbox. 💌

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

comp [-help] [-version] [+folder] [msg] [-form formfile] [-use | -nouse]
     [-file file] [-draftfolder +folder] [-draftmessage msg]
     [-nodraftfolder] [-editor editor] [-noedit] [-width columns] [-from
     address] [-to address] [-cc address] [-fcc +folder] [-subject text]
     [-whatnowproc program] [-nowhatnowproc] [-build]

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so like. comp makes a whole new message that you're gonna mail. it copies a message form onto the draft you're composing, and then it launches an editor on that draft — unless you pass -noedit, in which case the initial edit just… doesn't happen. poof. gone. ✨

the default message template, which is called components, tells comp to build your draft like this:

From: {from switch} or <Local-Mailbox> or <username@hostname>
To: {to switch} or blank
cc: {cc switch} or blank
Fcc: {fcc switch} or +outbox
Subject: {subject switch} or blank
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if there's a file named components chillin' in your nmh directory, that one gets used instead of this form. you can also point at a different forms file with -form formfile. 🎀

you can also start comp using an existing message's contents as the form. give it a +folder or a msg argument and that message becomes your message form. but — and hear me out — you cannot give it both a -form formfile and a +folder or msg argument. pick a lane bestie. also, that line of dashes (or just a blank line) has to stay between the header and the body of the message so it gets identified properly when it's sent (peep send(1)). 🫶

the -use switch tells comp to keep editing a message you already started. like, if a comp (or dist, repl, or forw) got terminated without sending the draft, you can hop back in with comp -use and keep going. no draft left behind. 💖

the -file file switch says: use the named file as the message draft. simple as that.

forms you pick with -form get processed through the nmh template system — mh-format(5) has the deets. but drafts built from another message, or with -use or -file, do not go through mh-format(5). no cap.

on top of the standard mh-format(5) escapes, these component escapes are either brand new or have a lil alternate meaning:

• fcc — returns string — any folders specified with -fcc folder
• from — returns string — any addresses specified with -from address
• to — returns string — any addresses specified with -to address
• cc — returns string — any addresses specified with -cc address
• subject — returns string — any text specified with -subject text

by default the To: and cc: fields are empty, like a fresh page. you can add addresses with -to address and -cc address. and you can hand those switches over multiple times to stack up multiple addresses. obsessed. 💅

by default the From: field holds either whatever your Local-Mailbox profile entry says, or a system default email address. override it with -from address. the default mailbox in the Fcc: field is +outbox, and -fcc overrides that too. slay.

any text you hand to -subject lands in the Subject: field of the draft. periodt.

if the draft already exists, comp is gonna ask you what you wanna do with it. your options:

• quit — aborts comp, leaves the draft intact, untouched, unbothered ✋
• replace — swaps the existing draft out for the appropriate form
• list — shows you the draft
• use — uses the draft for further composition
• refile +folder — files the draft into the given folder and hands you a brand new draft with the appropriate form (the +folder argument to refile is required, don't skip it)

the -draftfolder +folder and -draftmessage msg switches invoke the nmh draft folder facility. this is an advanced feature and it's highly useful. go read mh-draft(5) for more, bestie. 📚

the -editor editor switch says which editor to use for the initial edit. once you exit the editor, comp invokes the whatnow program — whatnow(1) has the whole discussion of what options you got. you can block that invocation entirely with -nowhatnowproc. plot twist though: it's actually the whatnow program that starts the initial edit, so -nowhatnowproc stops any edit from happening at all. the way that works is so unserious. 😭

the -build switch is meant to be used by the Emacs mh-e interface to nmh. it implies -nowhatnowproc. it creates a file <mh-dir>/draft containing the draft message that would normally be shown to you for editing. and no mail is actually sent. it's a vibe, not a delivery. 🦋

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🎀 FILES 🎀

• /etc/nmh/components — the default message skeleton
• <mh-dir>/components — your message skeleton
• $HOME/.mh_profile — your profile

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💜 PROFILE COMPONENTS 💜

• Path: — to determine the user's nmh directory
• Draft-Folder: — to specify the default draftfolder
• Editor: — to override the default editor
• Msg-Protect: — to set mode when creating a new message (draft)
• fileproc: — program to refile the message
• whatnowproc: — program to ask the What now? questions

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

dist(1), forw(1), repl(1), send(1), whatnow(1), mh-draft(5), mh-profile(5)

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✨ DEFAULTS ✨

• +folder — the current folder
• msg — the current message
• -nodraftfolder
• -nouse

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🌸 CONTEXT 🌸

None

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💀 BUGS 💀

if whatnowproc is whatnow, then comp uses a built-in whatnow and does not actually run the whatnow program. so if you define your own whatnowproc, don't call it whatnow, because comp won't run it. iykyk. 🙈

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okay that's the whole page, bestie!! this was nmh-1.8, dated 2022-12-22 — go compose something iconic, you got this 💖✨🎀🦋🌸💅🫶