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1 .\" This file is automatically generated. Do not edit!
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2 .\" @(#)$Id$
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3 .SC MH-SEQUENCE 5
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4 .NA
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5 mh-sequence \- sequence specification for MH message system
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6 .SY
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7 most \fIMH\fR commands
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8 .DE
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9 Most \fIMH\fP commands accept a `msg' or `msgs' specification, where
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10 `msg' indicates one message and `msgs' indicates one or more
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11 messages.
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12 To designate a message, you may use either its number (e.g., 1, 10, 234)
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13 or one of these \*(lqreserved\*(rq message names:
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14 .in +.5i
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15 .sp 1
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16 .nf
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17 .ta +\w'\fIName\fP 'u
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18 \fIName\fP \fIDescription\fR
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19 first the first message in the folder
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20 last the last message in the folder
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21 cur the most recently accessed message
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22 prev the message numerically preceding \*(lqcur\*(rq
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23 next the message numerically following \*(lqcur\*(rq
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24 .re
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25 .fi
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26 .in -.5i
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27
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28 In commands that take a `msg' argument, the default is \*(lqcur\*(rq.
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29 As a shorthand, \*(lq\&.\*(rq is equivalent to \*(lqcur\*(rq.
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30
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31 For example: In a folder containing five messages numbered 5, 10, 94,
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32 177 and 325, \*(lqfirst\*(rq is 5 and \*(lqlast\*(rq is 325.
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33 If \*(lqcur\*(rq is 94, then \*(lqprev\*(rq is 10 and \*(lqnext\*(rq
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34 is 177.
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35
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36 The word `msgs' indicates that one or more messages may be specified.
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37 Such a specification consists of one message designation or of several message
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38 designations separated by spaces.
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39 A message designation consists either
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40 of a message name as defined above, or a message range.
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41
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42 A message range is specified as \*(lqname1\-name2\*(rq
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43 or \*(lqname:n\*(rq,
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44 where `name', `name1' and `name2' are message names, and `n' is an integer.
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45
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46 The specification \*(lqname1\-name2\*(rq
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47 designates all currently-existing messages from `name1' to `name2' inclusive.
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48 The message name \*(lqall\*(rq is a shorthand for the message
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49 range \*(lqfirst\-last\*(rq.
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50
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51 The specification \*(lqname:n\*(rq designates up to `n' messages.
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52 These messages start with `name' if `name' is a message number
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53 or one of the reserved names \*(lqfirst\*(rq \*(lqcur\*(rq, or \*(lqnext\*(rq,
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54 The messages end with `name' if `name' is \*(lqprev\*(rq or \*(lqlast\*(rq.
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55 The interpretation of `n' may be overridden by preceding `n' with
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56 a plus or minus sign; `+n' always means up to `n' messages starting
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57 with `name', and `\-n' always means up to `n' messages ending
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58 with `name'.
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59
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60 In commands which accept a `msgs' argument, the default is either
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61 \*(lqcur\*(rq or \*(lqall\*(rq, depending on which makes more sense
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62 for each command (see the individual man pages for details).
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63 Repeated specifications of the same message have the same effect as
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64 a single specification of the message.
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65
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66 .Uh "User\-Defined Message Sequences"
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67 In addition to the \*(lqreserved\*(rq (pre-defined) message names given above,
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68 \fIMH\fP supports user-defined sequence names.
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69 User-defined sequences allow the \fIMH\fR user a tremendous amount of power
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70 in dealing with groups of messages in the same folder
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71 by allowing the user to bind a group of messages to a meaningful symbolic
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72 name.
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73
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74 The name used to denote a message sequence must consist of
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75 an alphabetic character followed by zero or more
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76 alphanumeric characters, and can not be one of the \*(lqreserved\*(rq
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77 message names above.
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78 After defining a sequence,
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79 it can be used wherever an \fIMH\fR command expects a `msg' or `msgs'
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80 argument.
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81
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82 Some forms of message ranges are allowed with user-defined
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83 sequences. The
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84 specification \*(lqname:n\*(rq may be used, and it
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85 designates up to the first `n' messages (or last `n' messages for `\-n')
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86 which are elements of the user-defined sequence `name'.
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87
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88 The specifications \*(lqname:next\*(rq and \*(lqname:prev\*(rq
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89 may also be used, and they designate the
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90 next or previous message (relative to the current message)
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91 which is an element of the user-defined sequence `name'.
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92 The specificaitions
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93 \*(lqname:first\*(rq and \*(lqname:last\*(rq are equivalent
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94 to \*(lqname:1\*(rq and \*(lqname:\-1\*(rq, respectively.
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95 The specification \*(lqname:cur\*(rq is not allowed
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96 (use just \*(lqcur\*(rq instead).
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97 The syntax of these message range
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98 specifcations is subject to change
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99 in the future.
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100
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101 User-defined sequence names
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102 are specific to each folder.
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103 They are defined using the \fIpick\fP and \fImark\fP commands.
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104
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105 .Uh "Public and Private User-Defined Sequences"
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106 There are two varieties of sequences: \fIpublic\fR sequences
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107 and \fIprivate\fR sequences.
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108 \fIPublic\fR sequences of a folder are accessible to any \fIMH\fR user that
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109 can read that folder and are kept in the \&.mh\(rusequences file in the folder.
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110 \fIPrivate\fR sequences are accessible only to the \fIMH\fR user that defined
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111 those sequences and are kept in the user's \fIMH\fR context file.
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112 By default,
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113 \fIpick\fR and \fImark\fR create \fIpublic\fR sequences
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114 if the folder for which the sequences are being defined is writable by the
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115 \fIMH\fR user.
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116 Otherwise, \fIprivate\fR sequences are created.
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117 This can be overridden with the `\-public' and `\-private' switches
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118 to \fImark\fP.
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119
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120 .Uh "Sequence Negation"
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121 \fIMH\fP provides the ability to select all messages
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122 not elements of a user-defined sequence. To do this,
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123 the user should define the entry
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124 \*(lqSequence\-Negation\*(rq in the \fIMH\fR profile file;
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125 its value may be any string.
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126 This string is then used to preface an existing user-defined
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127 sequence name. This specification then refers to those messages
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128 not elements of the specified sequence name.
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129 For example, if the profile entry is:
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130
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131 .ti +.5i
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132 Sequence\-Negation:\^ not
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133
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134 then anytime an \fIMH\fR command is given \*(lqnotfoo\*(rq as a `msg' or
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135 `msgs' argument,
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136 it would substitute all messages that are not elements of the sequence
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137 \*(lqfoo\*(rq.
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138
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139 Obviously,
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140 the user should beware of defining sequences with names that
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141 begin with the value of the
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142 \*(lqSequence\-Negation\*(rq profile entry.
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143
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144 .Uh "The Previous Sequence"
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145 \fIMH\fR provides the ability
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146 to remember the `msgs' or
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147 `msg' argument last given to an \fIMH\fR command.
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148 The entry \*(lqPrevious\-Sequence\*(rq should be defined in the
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149 \fIMH\fR profile; its value should be a sequence name or multiple
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150 sequence names separated by spaces.
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151 If this entry is defined, when
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152 when an \fIMH\fP command finishes,
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153 it will define the sequence(s) named in the value of this entry to be
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154 those messages that were specified to the command.
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155 Hence, a profile entry of
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156
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157 .ti +.5i
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158 Previous\-Sequence:\^ pseq
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159
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160 directs any \fIMH\fR command that accepts a `msg' or `msgs' argument to
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161 define the sequence \*(lqpseq\*(rq as those messages when it finishes.
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162
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163 \fBNote:\fP there can be a performance penalty in using the
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164 \*(lqPrevious\-Sequence\*(rq facility.
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165 If it is used,
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166 \fBall\fP \fIMH\fR programs have to write the sequence information
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167 to the \&.mh\(rusequences file for
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168 the folder each time they run.
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169 If the \*(lqPrevious\-Sequence\*(rq profile entry is not included,
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170 only \fIpick\fR and \fImark\fR will write to the \&.mh\(rusequences file.
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171
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172 .Uh "The Unseen Sequence"
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173 Finally, some users like to indicate messages which have not been
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174 previously seen by them.
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175 Both \fIinc\fR and \fIshow\fR honor the profile entry
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176 \*(lqUnseen\-Sequence\*(rq to support this activity.
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177 This entry in the \&.mh\(ruprofile should be defined
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178 as one or more sequence names separated by spaces.
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179 If there is a value for \*(lqUnseen\-Sequence\*(rq in the profile,
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180 then whenever \fIinc\fR places new messages in a folder,
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181 the new messages will also be added to the sequence(s) named
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182 in the value of this entry.
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183 Hence, a profile entry of
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184
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185 .ti +.5i
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186 Unseen\-Sequence:\^ unseen
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187
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188 directs \fIinc\fR to add new messages to the sequence \*(lqunseen\*(rq.
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189 Unlike the behavior of the \*(lqPrevious\-Sequence\*(rq entry in the profile,
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190 however, the sequence(s) will \fBnot\fR be zeroed by \fIinc\fP.
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191
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192 Similarly,
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193 whenever \fIshow\fR (or \fInext\fR or \fIprev\fR\^) displays a message,
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194 that message will be removed
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195 from any sequences named by the
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196 \*(lqUnseen\-Sequence\*(rq entry in the profile.
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197
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198 .Fi
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199 ^$HOME/\&.mh\(ruprofile~^The user profile
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200 ^<mh\-dir>/context~^The user context
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201 ^<folder>/\&.mh\(rusequences~^Public sequences for <folder>
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202 .Pr
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203 ^Sequence\-Negation:~^To designate messages not in a sequence
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204 .Ps
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205 ^Previous\-Sequence:~^The last message specification given
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206 .Ps
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207 ^Unseen\-Sequence:~^Those messages not yet seen by the user
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208 .Sa
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209 mh(1), mark(1), pick(1), mh-profile(5)
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210 .De
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211 None
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212 .Co
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213 All
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214 .Bu
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215 User-defined sequences are stored in the \&.mh\(rusequences file
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216 as a series of message specifications separated by spaces.
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217 If a user-defined sequence contains too many individual
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218 message specifications,
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219 that line in the file may become too long for \fIMH\fP to handle.
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220 This will generate the error message \*(lq\&.mh\(rusequences is
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221 poorly formatted\*(rq. You'll have to edit the file by hand to
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222 remove the offending line.
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223
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224 This can happen to users who define the \*(lqPrevious\-Sequence\*(rq entry in
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225 the \fIMH\fP profile
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226 and have a folder containing many messages with gaps in the numbering.
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227 A workaround for large folders is to minimize numbering gaps by using
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228 \*(lqfolder\ \-pack\*(rq often.
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229 .En
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