mhstore
MHSTORE(1) MHSTORE(1)NAME
mhstore - store contents of MIME messages into filesSYNOPSIS
mhstore [+folder] [msgs] [-file file] [-part number]... [-type content]... [-auto] [-noauto] [-check] [-nocheck] [-rcache policy] [-wcache policy] [-verbose] [-noverbose] [-version] [-help]DESCRIPTION
The mhstore command allows you to store the contents of a collection of MIME (multi-media) messages into files or other messages. mhstore manipulates multi-media messages as specified in RFC-2045 thru RFC-2049. By default, mhstore will store all the parts of each mes sage. Each part will be store in a separate file. The header fields of the message are not stored. By using the `-part' and `-type' switches, you may limit the scope of mhstore to particular subparts (of a multipart content) and/or particular content types. The option `-file file' directs mhstore to use the speci fied file as the source message, rather than a message from a folder. If you specify this file as "-", then mhstore will accept the source message on the standard input. Note that the file, or input from standard input should be a validly formatted message, just like any other nmh message. It should NOT be in mail drop format (to convert a file in mail drop format to a folder of nmh mes sages, see inc (1)). A part specification consists of a series of numbers sepa rated by dots. For example, in a multipart content con taining three parts, these would be named as 1, 2, and 3, respectively. If part 2 was also a multipart content con taining two parts, these would be named as 2.1 and 2.2, respectively. Note that the `-part' switch is effective for only messages containing a multipart content. If a message has some other kind of content, or if the part is itself another multipart content, the `-part' switch will not prevent the content from being acted upon. A content specification consists of a content type and a subtype. The initial list of "standard" content types and subtypes can be found in RFC-2046. A list of commonly used contents is briefly reproduced here: Type Subtypes ---- -------- text plain, enriched multipart mixed, alternative, digest, parallel message rfc822, partial, external-body application octet-stream, postscript image jpeg, gif, png audio basic video mpeg A legal MIME message must contain a subtype specification. To specify a content, regardless of its subtype, just use the name of the content, e.g., "audio". To specify a spe cific subtype, separate the two with a slash, e.g., "audio/basic". Note that regardless of the values given to the `-type' switch, a multipart content (of any subtype listed above) is always acted upon. Further note that if the `-type' switch is used, and it is desirable to act on a message/external-body content, then the `-type' switch must be used twice: once for message/external-body and once for the content externally referenced. Checking the Contents The `-check' switch tells mhstore to check each content for an integrity checksum. If a content has such a check sum (specified as a Content-MD5 header field), then mhstore will attempt to verify the integrity of the con tent. Storing the Contents The mhstore will store the contents of the named messages in "native" (decoded) format. Two things must be deter mined: the directory to store the content, and the file names. Files are written in the directory given by the nmh-storage profile entry, e.g., nmh-storage: /tmp If this entry isn't present, the current working directory is used. If the `-auto' switch is given, then mhstore will check if the message contains information indicating the filename that should be used to store the content. This informa tion should be specified as the attribute "name=filename" in the Content-Type header for the content you are stor ing. For security reasons, this filename will be ignored if it begins with the character '/', '.', '|', or this switch is not the default, and it is recommended that you do NOT put the `-auto' switch in your .mh_profile file. If the `-auto' switch is not given (or is being ignored for security reasons) then mhstore will look in the user's profile for a "formatting string" to determine how the different contents should be stored. First, mhstore will look for an entry of the form: mhstore-store-<type>/<subtype> to determine the formatting string. If this isn't found, mhstore will look for an entry of the form: mhstore-store-<type> to determine the formatting string. If the formatting string starts with a "+" character, then content is stored in the named folder. A formatting string consisting solely of a "+" character is interpreted to be the current folder. If the formatting string consists solely of a "-" charac ter, then the content is sent to the standard output. If the formatting string starts with a '|', then the dis play string will represent a command for mhstore to exe cute which should ultimately store the content. The con tent will be passed to the standard input of the command. Before the command is executed, mhstore will change to the appropriate directory, and any escapes (given below) in the display string will be expanded. Otherwise the formatting string will represent a pathname in which to store the content. If the formatting string starts with a '/', then the content will be stored in the full path given, else the file name will be relative to the value of nmh-storage or the current working directory. Any escapes (given below) will be expanded, except for the a-escape. A command or pathname formatting string may contain the following escapes. If the content isn't part of a multi part (of any subtype listed above) content, the p-escapes are ignored. %a Parameters from Content-type (only valid with command) %m Insert message number %P Insert part number with leading dot %p Insert part number without leading dot %t Insert content type %s Insert content subtype %% Insert character % If no formatting string is found, mhstore will check to see if the content is application/octet-stream with param eter "type=tar". If so, mhstore will choose an appropri ate filename. If the content is not application/octet- stream, then mhstore will check to see if the content is a message. If so, mhstore will use the value "+". As a last resort, mhstore will use the value "%m%P.%s". Example profile entries might be: mhstore-store-text: %m%P.txt mhstore-store-text: +inbox mhstore-store-message/partial: + mhstore-store-audio/basic: | raw2audio -e ulaw -s 8000 -c 1 > %m%P.au mhstore-store-image/jpeg: %m%P.jpg mhstore-store-application/PostScript: %m%P.ps Reassembling Messages of Type message/partial mhstore is also able to reassemble messages that have been split into multiple messages of type "message/partial". When asked to store a content containing a partial message, mhstore will try to locate all of the portions and combine them accordingly. The default is to store the combined parts as a new message in the current folder, although this can be changed using formatting strings as discussed above. Thus, if someone has sent you a message in several parts (such as the output from sendfiles), you can reassemble them all into a single message in the following fashion: % mhlist 5-8 msg part type/subtype size description 5 message/partial 47K part 1 of 4 6 message/partial 47K part 2 of 4 7 message/partial 47K part 3 of 4 8 message/partial 18K part 4 of 4 % mhstore 5-8 reassembling partials 5,6,7,8 to folder inbox as message 9 % mhlist -verbose 9 msg part type/subtype size description 9 application/octet-stream 118K (extract with uncompress | tar xvpf -) type=tar conversions=compress This will store exactly one message, containing the sum of the parts. It doesn't matter whether the partials are specified in order, since mhstore will sort the partials, so that they are combined in the correct order. But if mhstore can not locate every partial necessary to reassem ble the message, it will not store anything. External Access For contents of type message/external-body, mhstore sup ports these access-types: afs anon-ftp ftp local-file mail-server For the "anon-ftp" and "ftp" access types, mhstore will look for the nmh-access-ftp profile entry, e.g., nmh-access-ftp: myftp.sh to determine the pathname of a program to perform the FTP retrieval. This program is invoked with these arguments: domain name of FTP-site username password remote directory remote filename local filename "ascii" or "binary" The program should terminate with an exit status of zero if the retrieval is successful, and a non-zero exit status otherwise. If this entry is not provided, then mhstore will use a simple built-in FTP client to perform the retrieval. The Content Cache When mhstore encounters an external content containing a "Content-ID:" field, and if the content allows caching, then depending on the caching behavior of mhstore, the content might be read from or written to a cache. The caching behavior of mhstore is controlled with the `-rcache' and `-wcache' switches, which define the policy for reading from, and writing to, the cache, respectively. One of four policies may be specified: "public", indicat ing that mhstore should make use of a publically-accessi ble content cache; "private", indicating that mhstore should make use of the user's private content cache; "never", indicating that mhstore should never make use of caching; and, "ask", indicating that mhstore should ask the user. There are two directories where contents may be cached: the profile entry nmh-cache names a directory containing world-readable contents, and, the profile entry nmh-pri vate-cache names a directory containing private contents. The former should be an absolute (rooted) directory name. For example, nmh-cache: /tmp might be used if you didn't care that the cache got wiped after each reboot of the system. The latter is inter preted relative to the user's nmh directory, if not rooted, e.g., nmh-private-cache: .cache (which is the default value). User Environment Because the environment in which mhstore operates may vary for different machines, mhstore will look for the environ ment variable $MHSTORE. If present, this specifies the name of an additional user profile which should be read. Hence, when a user logs in on a machine, this environment variable should be set to refer to a file containing defi nitions useful for that machine. Finally, mhstore will attempt to consult one other additional user profile, e.g., /etc/nmh/mhn.defaults which is created automatically during nmh installation.FILES
$HOME/.mh_profile The user profile $MHSTORE Additional profile entries /etc/nmh/mhn.defaults System default MIME profile entries PROFILE COMPONENTS Path: To determine the user's nmh directory Current-Folder: To find the default current folder nmh-access-ftp: Program to retrieve contents via FTP nmh-cache Public directory to store cached external contents nmh-private-cache Personal directory to store cached external contents nmh-storage Directory to store contents mhstore-store-<type>*Template for storing contentsSEE ALSO
mhbuild(1), mhlist(1), mhshow(1), sendfiles(1) RFC-2045: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies, RFC-2046: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types, RFC-2047: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Three: Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text, RFC-2048: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Four: Registration Procedures, RFC-2049: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Five: Conformance Criteria and Examples. DEFAULTS `+folder' defaults to the current folder `msgs' defaults to cur `-noauto' `-nocheck' `-rcache ask' `-wcache ask' `-noverbose' CONTEXT If a folder is given, it will become the current folder. The last message selected will become the current message. BUGS Partial messages contained within a multipart content are not reassembled. [nmh-1.0.4] MH.6.8 MHSTORE(1)