CHOOSING MESSAGES BY USING MESSAGE SEQUENCES

MESSAGE SEQUENCES

At the MM> prompt, you can type a message sequence after many commands to describe what messages the command should act on.

For example, when you type headers all, you are using the message sequence all to specify that you want to see headers for all messages. For any command that takes a message sequence, typing a space and a question mark after the command will show you a list of message sequences:


MM>headers ?message number
  or range of message numbers, n:m
  or range of message numbers, n-m
  or range of message numbers, n+m (m messages beginning with n)
  or "." to specify the current message
  or "*" to specify the last message
  or message sequence, one of the following:
 after               all                 answered            before
 current             deleted             flagged             from
 inverse             keyword             last                longer
 new                 on                  previous-sequence   recent
 seen                shorter             since               subject
 text                to                  unanswered          undeleted
 unflagged           unkeyword           unseen
 or "," and another message sequence

Numbers: Specify one or more message numbers. Use commas for a list and either a colon or hyphen for a range. 6,10,12 means the three messages numbers 6, 10 and 12; 6:10 or 6-10 means messages number 6 through 10. A plus sign refers to the number of messages, so 6+3 means 3 messages starting with message number 6 (same as 6-8).
Last Message: Use the message sequence last, or an asterisk, to refer to the last message in the file, without having to know its number. Use last with a number to see the last n messages, so last 3 means the last three messages in the file. Also, something like 10:* means messages ten through last.
Current Message: The current message is the last one used in any MM command or activity. For example, if you just read a message, that one is now the current message. Even using headers is enough to make the current message be the last one shown. Use the message sequence current, or a period, to refer to the current message. For many commands, omitting the message sequence entirely means to use the current message.
All Messages: Use all or inverse to refer to all your messages. The difference is that all starts with the first message (the oldest) while inverse starts with the last (most recent). You can also use inverse with another message sequence, like 6-10 inverse or from alan inverse, to show most recent first.
Dates: Use before, after, on, and since to restrict messages by date. (since combines on and after.) These message sequences take either a date or day of the week. If you use a date, give the month, day and year, like January 1, 1992 or 1-jan-92. If you use days of the week, they can be abbreviated; they always refer to the past 7 days. With either a date or day, you can also specify a time, like mon 2:00p.m..
Status: Use answered and unanswered, deleted and undeleted, flagged and unflagged, keyword and unkeyword, new, recent, seen and unseen to refer to messages by their status. For keyword and unkeyword, you need to specify what keyword. The status of messages is indicated in a header display by the letters N, R, U, F, A, D, and K to the left of the message number (as described elsewhere). The command read refers to unseen if you leave out the message sequence.
Address: Use to and from to specify messages by either who sent them or to whom they were sent. You can specify a user id, or all or part of the person's name. The message sequence to refers to the To and cc fields, and from refers to the From field.
String Search: Use text and subject to specify messages by the contents of the message text or its subject field. Specify a string, that is, a word, part of a word, or a phrase, to refer to any message with that string in the text or subject field. Use " quotes around the string if it contains blank space.
Length: Use longer and shorter to specify messages by the length of the message. Use a number of characters.
Previous Sequence: Use previous-sequence to repeat the most recent message sequence you used. The purpose of this one is to help you avoid retyping the same sequence again. Note that you can abbreviate it to as little as p, so it can save you work.

Examples, with the headers command:


MM>headers 6

MM>headers 2:5

MM>headers *

MM>headers

MM>headers all

MM>headers on Aug 4 1992

MM>headers since tues

MM>headers flagged

MM>headers from robert

MM>headers to jb51

MM>headers subject comput

MM>headers text "New York"

MM>h p

You can combine message sequences to narrow down what messages you want. In the following, headers is again used as an example:


MM>headers answered after mon

MM>headers subj MM from mel

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