Usenet 1994 January/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicjanuary1994.iso/sources/unix/volume14/mush6.0/part01/README-6.0

Text File | 1988-04-12 | 16.3 KB | 321 lines

This is the README for release 6.0 of mush.  Note that the orginal README
has changed as well, so it should be read again.  It contains important
information for installing mush on your system.

With this distribution, there is a file called Mailrc which can be
used as the "default" mailrc (see config.h-dist).  This file will set
variables and command line aliases to make mush look as much like ucb Mail
as it possibly can.

New makefile && compiler flags:
    System V machines that aren't XENIX should use the makefile.sys.v makefile.
    The old makefile.sys.v has been removed. System-V machines
    that aren't xenix may note -DUSG in the makefile.  USG is defined in
    curses.h but is required to be in the makefile if compiling without the
    curses libraries.  It should be in the makefile anyway so you never have
    to worry about it. Xenix machines should use makefile.x286 or makefile.x386
    USG should probably be defined on your xenix system unless you are running
    a _very_ old version of xenix.  I don't know how old it would be, but
    try compiling mush with USG first -- if that fails, then undefine it.

    Some systems have regcmp/regex as their regular expression matching
    routines while others have re_comp/re_exec -- If you have regcmp,
    then you must have -DREGCMP in the makefile you're using. If you have
    both sets of routines, take a pick.  Note that some systems do not
    have either set of routines in the default libraries.  You must find
    the library to use and add it to the list of libraries to use.  If this
    is the case, your link will fail with the errors that regex and re_comp
    are undefined functions.  Read your man page for regex(3) to find where
    to locate those libraries.

    Machines that use mail transfer agents that *do not* use a colon-less
    "From " line as a message separator should #define in config.h the string
    MSG_SEPARATOR.  Since this string is usually control characters, you
    need to specify actual ascii values for those characters.  Users of MMDF,
    for example, may use "\001\001\001\001" since some mmdf versions use four
    control-A's to separate messages.  This message separator assumes that
    there is a carriage return at the end of the string.  Systems that use
    sendmail need not concern themselves with this define.

    Some mailers (not RFC822 compatible, like execmail and older binmail's)
    do not accept commas between addresses on outgoing mail.  Such mailers
    also tend not to add the From: field and Date: field, which are headers
    required to be compatible with RFC822.  This does not apply to BSD systems
    or systems which run sendmail.  If this applies to your system, you
    should define OLD_MAILER in config.h as "#define OLD_MAILER" or in the
    makefile in addition to the CFLAGS definition: -DOLD_MAILER.  This does not
    affect the user interface at all; mush will still enforce commas between
    addresses.  However, addresses given on the command line to the mailer
    will have commas stripped out if OLD_MAIL is defined in the makefile or
    config.h.

System V:
    New functions:
    lock_file() /* returns -1 if can't lock */
    close_lock() /* unlocks and calls fclose */
    These functions also support BSD, xenix and sys-v.  These are provided
    as locking mechanisms for all systems -- ifdef's decide how to lock.

    Support for termio functionality.  Macros in mush.h have been modified
    to provide for echo/cbreak modes to depending on the compiler flags:
    CURSES and SYSV/BSD/USG.  There are 6 different possible cases here.

    Problem with xenix/sys-v getting the "name" from a "From:" field since
    char pointer and char arrays are different sizes.  (hdrs.c, compose_hdr())

    sendmail mail now forks off and returns you to a mush prompt so you
    don't have to wait for the mail to be delivered.  This is true for
    both xenix and sys-v.

    terminfo is now supported.

Command line arguments:
    -u [user]
    /usr/spool/mail/user is used as the current folder. If "user" isn't
    specified, /usr/spool/mail/root is used.

    -T timeout implies -t (for tooldmoe), so -t is not required if -T is given.

    If -r (readonly) flag is given on the command line or to the folder/update
    commands, the folder (or spoolfile) is opened readonly and the mail is
    *not* copied into a temporary buffer.  This speeds up IO dramatically in
    systems with slow IO or disk drives (typically, xenix/sys-v).

    -H implies -r, so -r is not necessary.  If mush is started just to read
    the headers of your mail, then forcing read only improves performance.

    a folder as well as an address can be given on the command line. Thus,
    % mush -f foldername address-list
    will first interactively mail to the address-list and upon return read
    in the folder "foldername".

Misc:
    There is now an internal pager which is used if the user has no
    "pager" variable set and no environment PAGER variable.  This pager
    is very simple and understands <space> for next $crt lines, \n does
    just the next line, ^D does the next half $crt lines, and q,Q quits.
    The user can "set pager" (to null, effectively) or to the string "internal"
    to always get the internal pager.  The DEF_PAGER macro in config.h can
    be set to "internal" also. (do_pager() misc.c)

    Mush now understands 'well-formed' addresses.  A well-formed address
    consists of tokens of the form:

    $path
    $path (Name or comment here)
    Name or comment <$path>
    "Name or comment" $path

    See the man page for Extensive examples and rules for what formats
    are legal, but may not be supported.

    To: lines which are too long from incoming mail are truncated. Previously,
    a segmentation fault would result -- replies to messages containing long
    To: lines will attempt to chop off the list between addresses.

    Add right justification in hdr_format format string field similar
    to printf style formatting.  Example:
    set hdr_format = '%-25n %7d (%l) "%s"'
    will produce a header format such that the name of the author is
    right justified 25 positions, 7 chars of the date is printed, the
    number of lines in the message and the subject surrounded by quotes.
    Also subwidths are allowed using the same dot notation as provided by
    printf.  (hdrs.c)

    The '%S' switch for message status has been removed and the status of
    a message is always at the beginning of the message header line
    by default along with the msg number and the '>' if it's the current msg.
    There is a new status flag for replied to messages.  If a message has
    been replied to, then a 'r' is placed in the header string just after
    the first status flag.. Thus, the header:
      4 >*r Dan Heller <island![e-mail]> ....
    means that message 4 is the current message, it has been deleted,
    and has been replied to...

    In the hdr_format string, the date of a message can be printed
    using the same formatting characters as the prompt uses.  %T is
    the time, etc... Note that %d still prints the whole date, but
    the new formatting characters allow parts of the date to be printed.

    New option for mail:
    mail -s [subject]
    With no subject specified, -s forces a prompt for the subject
    header even if the variable "ask" is not set.  If a subject is
    specified, then the subject is set to that string explicitly.
    This allows the reply command to change the subject or to prompt
    to change the subject.

    Saveopts now warns if file already exists; you must confirm overwrite.

    Control characters typed are now understood and can be entered into
    letters etc... To enter a special control character such as your backspace
    character or kill line character use the backslash.  In the toolmode,
    use your literal next character (^V in most cases).

    "varargs" now used in print.c to provide support for machine that
    do not stack arguments compatible with vax/68000/etc... These machines
    are Pyramids, Sun4's and more... (print.c)

    The temporary file used to type in messages is now _closed_ before
    invoking an editor.  This is for gnuemacs users or users of other
    editors which insist on no other references to that file be open.

    Using job control (^Z/fg) which in the headers portion of a message
    (e.g. "To: ") would cause mush to be confused about what state the program
    is in and would inadvertently show a prompt (user's $prompt) even
    tho it was executing the right code (prompting for the To: line). This
    has been fixed so that the prompt isn't given, but the To: line will
    not be reprompted.

    Mailing to users from the command line and ^C-ing while in the To: or
    Subject: prompt would just report an interrupt and not abort the message;
    it now exits.(hdrs.c, set_header())

    If the user's home dir isn't writeable, or permissions changed during
    runtime, mush changes to ALTERNATE_HOME and tries again rather than just
    returning an error message.  If the alternate home also fails, an error
    is printed and the function aborted.
    (main.c, mail.c, start_file())

    When updating a folder, ignored headers are now copied back regardless
    of the variable, "alwaysignore". This is necessary because the user may
    ignore headers that are required to be read when reading in a folder.
    (msgs.c, copy_msg())

    pick has a new option to pick from an arbitrary header.
    pick -h return-path ucbvax
    searches for the string "ucbvax" in the Return-Path: header of all
    messages.

New Variables:
    autosign2
    Use an alternate signature for specific users.  Format for string:
    set autosign2 = "address, address, ... : <signature>"
    where "address" is a legal address (or alias) and signature is that
    described by "autosign".  the colon separates the list from the signature.
    If the colon is missing or if the list is null, the signature is used
    and no checks are made against the recipient list.  Otherwise, each
    address on the recipient list of outgoing mail must also exist in
    the autosign2 list.  Otherwise, the signature in autosign is used.
    If autosign is not set, the autosigning isn't done unless ~S is used.

    show_hdrs (String)
    Set to a list (space and/or comma separated) of headers which are to
    be the only headers displayed when viewing a message.  This disables
    the headers supressed by the ignore command. Example:
    set show_hdrs = "from date subject to cc"
    will only display the headers,
    From: Date: Subject: To: Cc:
    in their entirety.

    mil_time -- if set, 24 hour military time format is used in message
    dates or if the time is used in the prompt. Otherwise, 12-hour with
    an added "am/pm" is displayed.

    The variable "no_expand" prevents expansion of mush addresses in
    outgoing mail.  The To: line will read the same as it was typed --
    this hides the complete list of addresses of everyone on the list.

    A new variable called "wrap" has been added.  When the last message is
    deleted, the next "current" message is usually the next undeleted message.
    If wrap is not set, then the curent message remains at the end of the
    list of messages.  Similarly, if "next" ('n', CR) is specified, wrapping
    to the beginning of the list only happens if the variable is set.

    The variable fixaddr has been removed and the variable auto_route has
    been modified to route uucp mail thru the host of the author of the
    message being replied to as well as removing redundant hostnames such as:
    host1!host2!host1!user -> host1!user

    "cdpath" added.  This is like csh's but note you can't use ()'s to
    set the path -- use quotes: (").  When the cd command is issued,
    if there is no cdpath set, then the directory mentioned is cd'ed to.
    If there is a cdpath and the pathname given is not a full pathname,
    then each element in the cdpath is searched for the directory specified.
    Recommend putting "." first in cdpath if one is used.

    "sendmail" -- if set, this program is used instead of the default Mail
    Transfer Agent defined as MAIL_DELIVERY in config.h ... If used, the
    default flags -i and -m are not passed along to the MTA, so any flags
    which are necessary for the MTA should be included in the sendmail
    variable's string value.

    pre_indent_str, post_indent_str (string)
    These strings have the same properties as "hdr_format". The
    pre_indent_str string will precede the body of text interpolated into
    the message buffer and the post_indent_str will succeed the text. See
    the man page for extensive details.

    in_reply_to (string)
    set to a string interpreted the same as "hdr_format" -- when replying
    to mail, an additionaly outgoing message header In-Reply-To: is added.
    See man page for more extensive details.

    "ask" is a boolean which is for compatibility with ucb-Mail. If set,
    you will be prompted for a subject.  otherwise, no subject prompting
    is done.

Curses:
    In curses mode, line-mode-escape commands which contain pipes,
    :pick -s pattern | save folder
    would segmentation fault on the command that follows such commands.
    The next command to execute thinks that piping is on causing a segmentation
    fault trying to reference the non-existent message list.  This was fixed by
    resetting the DO_PIPE/IS_PIPE flags to off in the cmd_line() routine.
    (misc.c, cmd_line())

    Quitting now goes to the bottom of the screen rather than moving
    down one line [as well as other quit-related update bugs]
    (curses.c, case C_QUIT:)

    Updating (^U) now redraws the screen right if you weren't on the
    first "screenful" of messages. (curses.c, case C_UPDATE)

    's' (save) command wasn't saving to mbox on no input (CR).  It tried
    to save to "" which maps to "." which is a directory.  (curses.c)

    The bug causing the GOTO command to inifinite loop if there were 0
    or 1 messages in the folder if invoked by selecting a digit key has
    been fixed.  The manual entry for how the goto command works has a
    more detailed description and gives an example for effective usage.
    Due to its versatility, there can be some screen updating problems
    if the user specifies a message list which contains a command that
    produces any "stdout" type output.  Normally, this shouldn't happen,
    because most commands which are used to "search for messages" will
    not output anything if they are being "piped".  If the user wishes
    to specify a command that produces output (like echo) then the screen
    will not be updated correctly (use ^L to redraw).  See the updated
    man page entry for deatils on the above.

    The bind command doesn't require the use of \Cc to represent control
    characters anymore.  The old interface is still supported -- in fact
    control characters that are typed are converted to this ascii format
    for purposes of displaying current bindings and to allow .mushrc files
    to specify bindings in ascii format.  However, control characters may
    be typed as is.  The spacebar may be bound to a command if it is given
    in the .mushrc file or on a Mush command line.  See the manual.

Tool mode:
    Trying to start tool in icon mode sometimes aborts with segementation
    fault.  This is caused by the window size being 0 and the message
    trying to be written to the empty window.  The routine which tries to
    output each line of the message to the window is recursive. If the line
    wraps because of the window's width being less than the length of the
    line, Addstr() finds the position in the line which wraps and calls
    itself recursively passing the remainder of the string.  The size of
    0 means that Addstr is calling itself at the the beginning of the string
    all the time.  The fix is in copy_msg where it checks to see if the
    window is large enough to attempt printing the message (msgs.c, copy_msg())

    When changing folders, if there are no messages in the new folder,
    the last read message was still displayed leaving the user somewhat
    confused.  If there are no messages, the window is cleared. (folders.c)

    To be consistent with the other two interfaces, both delete and
    backspace will backspace if in type-in mode. (rite.c)

    When returning from using the editor, the window displaying the letter
    being composed would contain what the letter looked like before the editor
    was invoked.  This has been fixed by printing out the last part of the
    letter up to the size of the window available.