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alex(1mh)							     alex(1mh)

Name
       alex - extract addresses from message headers

Syntax
       alex [ +folder ] [ msgs ] [ options ]

Description
       The  address line extraction utility extracts electronic mail addresses
       from message headers and prints the addresses on your screen or	places
       them, with a specified alias name, in an alias file.

       By  default,  searches for addresses in the current message in the cur‐
       rent folder.  You can list the messages you wish	 to  search  giving  a
       msgs  argument.	 You can also search messages in a different folder by
       giving a +folder argument.

       You define the fields from which you want addresses by  using  combina‐
       tions  of  field	 names with the -field option.	You can also supply an
       address yourself as a  value  to	 the  -address	option.	  Results  are
       printed	either	to your screen or to a file in format.	Where there is
       an address group in the alias file with an alias name identical to  one
       you  have  specified  in	 an  command,  it  may be replaced  or the new
       addresses appended.  A copy of the original alias file is kept.

       By default, searches the	 Reply-to:,  Sender:,  From:  and  To:	header
       fields in that order until an address is found. You can set up your own
       default values for in your file; see

       When giving options to  the  command,  generally	 the  shortest	unique
       abbreviation suffices.

Options
       -address string
		 Accepts  an  address  that you type in, rather than taking an
		 address from a message.  If any -field option	is  specified,
		 it is ignored.

       -alias filename
		 Specifies  the	 name  of the alias file, in which aliases are
		 placed.  You must provide a file name or a  dash  (-)	as  an
		 argument  with	 this  option.	There is no default value.  If
		 the value given for this option is -, or the  option  is  not
		 specified,  will  print the output to your screen.  If you do
		 not give the full pathname of your alias file, will look  for
		 the  alias  file  in your Mail directory, as specified in the
		 Path field of your file.  If cannot locate the alias file  in
		 the  directory	 that  you specify, it will ask you whether or
		 not you wish to create one.

		 You can set up an alias file to be used by in	your  see  for
		 more  information.  Like other mail commands, uses the Alias‐
		 file entry to find the alias file.

       -compress
       -nocompress
		 Prevents any repetition of the same address in the output  of
		 an  command.  You can use this option when there are multiple
		 occurrences of an address in an address group	and  you  want
		 just  one  occurrence	of  it	in your alias.	The default is
		 -nocompress.

       -field name[ /name ... ]
       -nofield	 Specifies the name of a header field.	The name of the	 field
		 is  not  case-sensitive.   If you specify this option without
		 providing an argument, the default values are: -field	reply-
		 to/sender/from/to.   You  can	set up your own default values
		 for the -field option in your See

		 Examples of field names are From, cc and To.	You  must  not
		 type  a  colon	 after	the  name of a field.  When more field
		 names follow, in  the	form  /name,  the  message  header  is
		 searched  for	each of the fields in turn until one is found.
		 Only the first header field found to contain  an  address  is
		 used; the rest are ignored.

		 The option -nofield excludes the named field.

		 The special name, all, means all fields, and can be used as a
		 value for the -nofield option to override any	default	 order
		 of header fields, otherwise -field values are appended to any
		 default values.

       -global	 Specifies that any address replacements  or  appendings  will
		 apply to all occurrences of that alias name.  Normally, if an
		 alias name is entered in the alias file more than  once,  any
		 actions  performed  by are performed only on the first occur‐
		 rence of that alias name.  The -global	 option	 ensures  that
		 any  changes are made to all occurrences of the alias.	 When‐
		 ever this option is specified, a message is broadcast to your
		 screen	 telling  you  how many entries in the alias file have
		 been changed.

       -help	 Prints a list of the valid options for this command.

       -name name
		 Specifies the alias name for address  information  extracted.
		 The command appends a colon (:) to the name as required by If
		 you  do  not  specify	this  option,  will  print   extracted
		 addresses  to	your  screen.  If you specify this option, you
		 must provide an argument; there is no default value.

       -query
       -noquery	 Extracts addresses interactively.  Before adding each address
		 of  a list of extracted addresses to an alias group, the mail
		 system will ask you whether you wish the address to be added.
		 The  query  prompt  is	 written on the standard error output.
		 The default is -noquery.

       -replace
       -noreplace
		 Replaces existing alias with the new list of  addresses.   By
		 default,  if there is an existing alias with the same name as
		 the one you are trying to create,  appends  the  new  address
		 list to the old alias.	 If an address appears in both address
		 groups, it is still appended, so that it appears twice in the
		 new  alias.   You  can	 specify  this explicitly by using the
		 -noreplace option.  If you specify the -replace  option,  the
		 new  list  of	addresses  replaces  the  existing group.  The
		 default is -noreplace.

       -width n	 Specifies the maximum width of your alias file line.	If  an
		 alias	group  extends	beyond this length, it is continued on
		 the next line, with a backslash (\) at end of the first line.
		 This  option affects the format of each individual entry when
		 it is implemented; any subsequent or previous entries in  the
		 alias file remain the same.  The default is 72 characters.

Restrictions
       Because the -nofield option can take the value all as an argument, will
       not recognize a header field called All.	 If you wish  to  use  such  a
       header field, you should call it X-all.

       If  a command line contains contradictory arguments then the last value
       specified is used.  For example, in the following  command,  only  uses
       the options -name fred and -noreplace:
       % alex -name sam -name fred -replace -noreplace

Examples
       This  example takes the address from the From field of the current mes‐
       sage, and places it in your alias file with the alias name bob:
       % alex -field from -alias aliases -name bob

       The following example shows what happens if you specify an  alias  file
       that  does  not	exist.	 You  are asked whether you want to create the
       file; enter y to create it:
       % alex -field from -name bob -alias aliases
       Create alias file "HOME/Mail/aliases"? y

       The next example takes addresses from two  fields,  From	 and  cc,  and
       saves them as the alias sales_team:
       % alex -field from -field cc -alias aliases -name sales_team

Files
       Your user profile.

See Also
       ali(1mh), mh(1mh), pick(1mh), mh-alias(5mh), mh_profile(5mh)

								     alex(1mh)
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