prompter.1mh

<B>Digital的Unix操作系统VAX 4.2源码</B>

.TH prompter 1mh
.SH Name
prompter \- prompting editor front-end
.SH Syntax
.B prompter
[
.I options
]
.I file
.\"
.\"
.\"
.\"
.SH Description
The
.PN prompter 
editor is a rudimentary editor provided by 
.PN comp , 
.PN dist , 
.PN forw , 
and
.PN repl .
.NXR "prompter editor front-end"
It is automatically called by the above
commands; you do not need to specify it.  
.PP
The
.PN prompter
editor allows rapid composition of
messages.
It is particularly useful to network and low-speed
(less than 2400 baud) users of MH.
.PP
The 
.PN prompter
editor is an MH program.  
Although is not invoked directly,
it can have its own profile entry with options; see 
.MS mh_profile 5mh .
The 
.PN comp , 
.PN dist , 
.PN forw ,
and 
.PN repl
commands invoke 
.PN prompter
in one of three ways:
when invoked with the
.B "\-editor prompter"
option;
by an entry in the 
.PN \&.mh_profile
file;
or by a command at the \f(CWWhat now?\fR prompt.
If you do not specify an editor in any of these ways, MH provides
.PN prompter 
as the default editor for all of these commands.
.PP
For information on how to use a different editor with MH commands,
see the reference pages for the appropriate commands,
and also
.MS mh_profile 5mh .
.\"
.\"
.SS 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.
.PP
The
.PN 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.
.PP
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 (\e) before the <RETURN>.
Continuation lines must start with a blank 
(a space or a tab).
.PP
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:
.EX
    --------Enter additional text
.EE
or:
.EX
    --------Enter initial text
.EE
The cursor is placed under the prompt to allow you
to enter text.
.PP
To finish the message, type <CTRL/D>.
You will then receive a prompt asking \f(CWWhat now?\fR.
See 
.MS whatnow 1mh
for more details of responses.
.PP
An interrupt, usually <CTRL/C>, during component typing will abort
.PN prompter
and the MH command that invoked it.
An interrupt during message-body typing is equivalent to <CTRL/D>,
for historical reasons.
.\"
.\"
.\"
.\"
.SH Options
.IP "\-prepend" 10
.PD 0
.IP "\-noprepend" 10
.PD
Adds text to the beginning
of the message body, so that the rest of the body follows.
This is useful for the 
.PN forw
command.
You can suppress this behavior by using the
.B \-noprepend
option.
.\"
.IP \-rapid 10
.PD 0
.IP \-norapid 10
.PD
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
.B \-norapid
option.
.\"
.IP "\-erase \fIchar\fP"
Specifies the line-editing characters, where 
.I char
may be a character or
\f(CW\ennn\fR,
where
\f(CWnnn\fR
is the octal value for the character.
.\"
.IP "\-kill \fIchar\fP"
Specifies the line-editing characters, where
.I char
may be a character or
\f(CW\ennn\fR,
where
\f(CWnnn\fR
is the octal value for the character.
.\"
.\"
.PP
The first argument to 
.PN prompter
which is not an option is taken as the name of the draft 
.IR file , 
and subsequent non-flag arguments are ignored.
.PP
The default settings for
.PN prompter
are:
.IP
.B \-prepend
.br
.B \-norapid
.\"
.\"
.\"
.\"
.SH Restrictions
The 
.PN prompter
editor uses 
.MS stdio 3s ,
therefore do not edit files
with nulls in them.
.\"
.\"
.\"
.\"
.SH Profile Components
.TS
tab(+);
l l.
prompter-next:+To name the editor to be used on exit from prompter
Msg-Protect:+To set protections when creating a new draft
.TE
.\"
.\"
.\"
.\"
.SH Files
.TP 10
.PN $HOME/.mh\_profile
The user profile.
.TP 10
.PN /tmp/prompter*
Temporary copy of message.
.\"
.\"
.\"
.\"
.SH See Also
capsar(1), comp(1mh), dist(1mh), forw(1mh), repl(1mh), 
whatnow(1mh), stdio(3s), mh_profile(5mh)