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prompter(1)
NAME
  prompter - prompting editor front-end (only available within the message
  handling system, mh)

SYNOPSIS
  prompter [options] file

OPTIONS
  -prepend

  -noprepend
      Adds text to the beginning of the message body, so that the rest of the
      body follows. This is useful for the forw command.  You can suppress
      this behavior by using the -noprepend option.

  -rapid

  -norapid
      Causes the text not to be displayed on your terminal if the draft
      already contains text in the message-body. This is useful for low-speed
      terminals. You can suppress this behavior by using the -norapid option.

  -erase char
      Specifies the line-editing characters, where char may be a character or
      \nnn, where nnn is the octal value for the character.

  -kill char
      Specifies the line-editing characters, where char may be a character or
      \nnn, where nnn is the octal value for the character.

  The first argument to prompter which is not an option is taken as the name
  of the draft file, and subsequent non-option arguments are ignored.

  The default settings for prompter are:

       -prepend
       -norapid

DESCRIPTION
  The prompter editor is a rudimentary editor provided by comp, dist, forw,
  and repl. It is automatically called by the above commands; you do not need
  to specify it.

  The prompter editor allows rapid composition of messages.  It is
  particularly useful to network and low-speed (less than 2400 baud) users of
  MH.

  The prompter editor is an MH program. Although is not invoked directly, it
  can have its own profile entry with options; see mh_profile(4).  The comp,
  dist, forw, and repl commands invoke prompter in one of three ways: when
  invoked with the -editor prompter option; by an entry in the .mh_profile
  file; or by a command at the What now? prompt. If you do not specify an
  editor in any of these ways, MH provides prompter as the default editor for
  all of these commands.

  For information on how to use a different editor with MH commands, see the
  reference pages for the appropriate commands, and also mh_profile(4).

  Composing a Message with prompter

  When you create a message with an MH command, the mail system provides a
  message template for you to fill in. This template consists of two parts:
  the message header, comprising a number of header fields; and the body of
  the message, which is the area where you type the text of your message.

  The prompter editor displays each header field, one at a time, for you to
  fill in. Fill in the component by typing the text that you want. Type
  <RETURN> to move onto the next component. Once you have moved on from a
  header field, you cannot edit what you have entered.

  If you want to leave a header field empty, simply type <RETURN>.  You can
  continue a header field over one line by typing a back-slash (\) before the
  <RETURN>. Continuation lines must start with a blank (a space or a tab).

  The start of the message body is indicated by a blank line or a line of
  dashes. If you are creating a new message, the cursor is placed beneath
  this line to allow you to enter text. If there is already some body text in
  the message (for example, if you are using an existing draft, or if you are
  forwarding a message), you will receive a prompt:

	   --------Enter additional text

  or:

	   --------Enter initial text

  The cursor is placed under the prompt to allow you to enter text.

  To finish the message, type <CTRL/D>. You will then receive a prompt asking
  What now?. See whatnow(1) for more details of responses.

  An interrupt, usually <CTRL/C>, during component typing will abort prompter
  and the MH command that invoked it. An interrupt during message-body typing
  is equivalent to <CTRL/D>, for historical reasons.

RESTRICTIONS
  The prompter editor will not work with files with nulls in them.

PROFILE COMPONENTS
  prompter-next: To name the editor to be used on exit from prompter

  Msg-Protect: To set protections when creating a new draft

FILES
  $HOME/.mh_profile
      The user profile.

  /tmp/prompter*
      Temporary copy of message.

SEE ALSO
  comp(1), dist(1), forw(1), repl(1), whatnow(1), mh_profile(4)

Index for Section 1

Alphabetical listing for P

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