scan(1)scan(1)NAMEscan - produce a one-line-per-message scan listing (only available
within the message handling system, mh)
SYNOPSISscan [+folder] [msgs] [options]
OPTIONS
Directs scan to clear the screen. If the -clear switch is used and the
output of scan is directed to a terminal, then scan consults the $TERM
and $TERMCAP environmental variables to determine your terminal type in
order to find out how to clear the screen prior to exiting. If the
-clear switch is used and the output of scan is not directed to a ter‐
minal, then scan sends a formfeed prior to exiting. Re-formats the
output of scan according to the instructions in the named file. The
named formatfile must be in mh-format style; see mh-format(4) for more
details. Re-formats the output of scan according to the instructions
in the string given. The string must be in mh-format style; see mh-for‐
mat(4) for more details. You must place the string argument to this
command in double quotes ("). Produces a header line prior to the scan
listing. The header line displays the name of the folder and the date
and time. This can be suppressed using the -noheader option. Prints a
list of the valid options to this command. Lists the output from scan
in reverse order, from the highest message number to the lowest. The
-noreverse option lists messages in the conventional way, from lowest
to highest numbers. The -noreverse option is the default. Specifies
the width of your screen, in columns.
The defaults for this command are as follows:
+folder defaults to the current folder
msgs defaults to all
-noheader
-width defaults to the width of the terminal
DESCRIPTION
The scan command produces a one-line-per-message listing of the mes‐
sages in the current folder.
You can scan a folder other than the current folder by using the
+folder argument. You can use the msgs argument to produce a scan list‐
ing of a number of messages or a range of messages in the specified
folder. You can also use scan in conjunction with a message sequence
defined by mark or pick. See mark(1) for more information on sequences.
Each scan line contains the message number, the date, the From: field,
the Subject: field, and, if room allows, some of the body of the mes‐
sage. The current message is marked with a plus sign (+).
The scan command actually reads each of the specified messages and
parses them to extract the desired fields. If format errors are found
in any of the messages during parsing, scan produces appropriate error
messages.
Because MH has been configured with the BERK option, scan has two addi‐
tional options: -reverse and -noreverse. In addition, scan updates the
MH context prior to starting the listing, so interrupting a long scan
listing preserves the new context. The default configuration file that
is supplied with MH has the BERK option enabled.
If scan encounters a message without a Date: field, the date is filled
in with the last write date of the message, and an asterisk (*) is
appended. This is useful for identifying unsent message drafts. Unsent
drafts are not usually allowed to contain a Date: field, and are conse‐
quently marked with an asterisk in scan listings.
PROFILE COMPONENTS
Path: To determine your Mail directory
Alternate-Mailboxes: To determine your mailboxes
EXAMPLES
The following example produces a listing of messages 11 through 15 in
the folder +inbox : % scan +inbox 11-15
11 18/01 ralph Project Plan Meeting Monday<<This
12 -21/01 johnson squash<<Thought i might postpone
13 21/01 smith@ultrixhost support from US during conversion
14 21/01 jjones@subone.dne new forum for discussion of mail
15+ 21/01 calvin@hobbes.uuc Re: new forum for discussion of m
In this listing, the plus sign (+) on message 15 indicates that it is
the current message. The hyphen (-) on message 12 indicates that you
have replied to the message. It is produced by the -annotate option to
repl; see repl(1) for more information. If there is sufficient room
left on the line after the subject, scan fills the line with text from
the body, preceded by <<, and terminated by >> if the body is suffi‐
ciently short.
FILES
The user profile.
SEE ALSOinc(1), mark(1), pick(1), show(1), mh-format(4)scan(1)
