1 10/11/83  read_mail request:  forward, for, fwd
  2 
  3 Syntax:  fwd {message_specifier} {addresses} {-control_args}
  4 
  5 
  6 Function:  redistributes a copy of the specified messages to the stated
  7 recipients.
  8 
  9 
 10 Arguments:
 11 message_specifier
 12    identifies which messages are to be forwarded.  If no
 13    message_specifiers are supplied, the current message is forwarded.
 14    For more information on message specifiers, type:
 15          help message_specifiers.gi
 16 addresses
 17    identifies the recipients of the forwarded copy of the specified
 18    messages.  Type:
 19          help addresses.gi -section control argument
 20    for a description of the syntax of addresses.
 21 
 22 
 23 Control arguments:
 24 -message message_specifier, -msg message_specifier
 25    identifies additional messages to be forwarded.
 26 -add_comments
 27    specifies that the user wishes to add a comment to the messages
 28    before they are forwarded.  See "Notes on forwarding with comments"
 29    below for more information.
 30 -no_add_comments
 31    specifies that comments are not to be added to the messages before
 32    forwarding.  (Default)
 33 
 34 
 35 -acknowledge, -ack
 36    specifies that each recipient of the forwarded message will send an
 37    acknowledgement message after they have read the message to the user
 38    who forwarded the message.
 39 -no_acknowledge, -nack
 40    specifies that the user forwarding the message does not want to
 41    receive acknowledgements.  (Default)
 42 -notify, -nt
 43    specifies that the mail system should send a "You have mail."
 44    notification to each recipient of the forwarded message.  (Default)
 45 -no_notify, -nnt
 46    specifies that the mail system should not send notification messages.
 47 
 48 
 49 -brief, -bf
 50    suppresses those messages which indicate successful delivery of the
 51    forwarded message.
 52 -long, -lg
 53    displays the messages indicating successful delivery.  (Default)
 54 -include_deleted, -idl
 55    includes all messages in the mailbox whether or not they have been
 56    deleted when processing the message_specifiers to determine which
 57    messages will be forwarded.
 58 -only_deleted, -odl
 59    includes only those messages which have been deleted.
 60 -only_non_deleted, -ondl
 61    includes only those messages which have not been deleted.  (Default)
 62 
 63 
 64 -delete, -dl
 65    marks the specified messages for deletion on exit from read_mail
 66    if all messages are successfully forwarded.
 67 -no_delete, -ndl
 68    does not mark the messages for deletion.  (Default)
 69 -reverse, -rv
 70    forwards the messages in descending numeric order.
 71 -no_reverse, -nrv
 72    forwards the messages in ascending numeric order.  (Default)
 73 
 74 
 75 Notes:
 76 This request will acknowledge any messages requiring acknowledgement
 77 unless -no_acknowledge is specified on the read_mail command line.
 78 
 79 This request will add Redistributed-Date, Redistributed-From, and
 80 Redistributed-To fields to the message before forwarding.  In addition,
 81 if a comment is requested, it will be placed in the
 82 Redistributed-Comment field.  These fields only appear in the copy of
 83 the message that is forwarded; the original message is unchanged.  For
 84 a detailed discussion of the format of a message, type:
 85      help message_format.gi
 86 
 87 
 88 If it is desired to forward a set of messages which can not be
 89 identified by a single message specifier, request line iteration and
 90 the list active request may be used to avoid retyping the recipients.
 91 For example:
 92 
 93       forward ([list 1 3 9 last-4:last]) Palter.PDO Sibert.Multics -dl
 94 
 95 
 96 Notes on forwarding with comments:
 97 When -add_comments is specified, the forward request will accept a
 98 single multi-line comment from the user which is added to each message
 99 forwarded by the request.  As mentioned above, this comment is placed
100 in the Redistributed-Comments field of the forwarded messages.
101 
102 By default, the forward request displays the prompt "Comment:" and then
103 reads the text of the comment from the user's terminal.  If the user
104 terminates the text with a line containing just a period (.), the text of
105 the comment is reformatted and the messages are forwarded.
106 
107 
108 If the user terminates the text with a line containing "\f" anywhere on
109 the line, the qedx editor is invoked to allow the user to edit the
110 comment.  Any text on the line after the "\f" will be executed as qedx
111 requests.  After exiting qedx, the comment text is reformatted and the
112 user is placed in a forward sub-request loop where he may issue
113 requests to print the comment, edit the comment, or forward the
114 messages with the edited comment.
115 
116 If the user terminates the text with a line containing "\q" anywhere on
117 the line, the comment text is reformatted and the user is immediately
118 placed into the forward sub-request loop.  Any text on the line after
119 the "\q" is ignored with a suitable warning message.  The user is then
120 free to print or edit the comment or forward the messages as described
121 above.
122 
123 
124 The forward request provides several additional control arguments which
125 may be used to override the default behavior of the -add_comments
126 control argument described above.  These additional control arguments
127 may be used to read the comment text from a file instead of the
128 terminal, to suppress the automatic reformatting of the comment text,
129 and to automatically enter the sub-request loop even if the user ends
130 his input with a line containing just a period (.).
131 
132 These additional control arguments may be specified even if the
133 -add_comments control argument is not used.
134 
135 
136 List of control arguments for forwarding with comments:
137 -terminal_input, -ti
138    accepts the comment text from the terminal.  (Default)
139 -input_file path, -if path
140    takes the comment text from the specified file.
141 -fill, -fi
142    reformats the comment text according to "fill-on" and "align-left"
143    modes in compose.  The message is reformatted after initial input is
144    completed and after each execution of the qedx and apply requests.
145    (Default for terminal input)
146 -no_fill, -nfi
147    does not reformat the comment text unless the fill request of the
148    "-fill" control argument of the qedx or apply requests is used.
149    (Default for file input)
150 
151 
152 -line_length N, -ll N
153    specifies the line length to use for reformatting the comment text.
154    (Default is 62)
155 -auto_write
156    specifies that the qedx request will automatically update the
157    comment text when the user quits the editor.
158 -no_auto_write
159    specifies that the qedx request will require the user to use the
160    write request to update the comment text  before quitting the
161    editor.  Any attempt to exit without writing will result in a query.
162    (Default)
163 -abbrev, -ab
164    enables abbreviation expansion of request lines.  The default is to
165    use the same state of abbreviation processing as the read_mail
166    invocation in which the forward request was executed.
167 
168 
169 -no_abbrev, -nab
170    does not enable abbreviation expansion.
171 -profile path, -pf path
172    specifies the pathname of the profile to use for abbreviation
173    expansion.  The suffix "profile" is added if necessary.  This
174    control argument implies "-abbrev".  The default is to use the same
175    profile as the read_mail invocation in which the forward request was
176    executed.
177 -prompt STR, -pmt STR
178    sets the sub-request loop prompt to STR.  The default is:
179          ^/read_mail (forward)^[ (^d)^]:^2x
180 -no_prompt, -npmt
181    suppresses the prompt for request lines in the sub-request loop.
182 
183 
184 -request STR, -rq STR
185    executes STR as a forward request line after reading the comment
186    text but before entering the request loop.  This control argument
187    implies "-request_loop".
188 -request_loop, -rql
189    enters the forward sub-request loop after reading the comment text.
190    (Default for file input)
191 -no_request_loop, -nrql
192    attempts to forward the messages with the comment immediately upon
193    completion of input unless input was from the terminal and was
194    terminated by "\f" or "\q".  (Default for terminal input)
195 
196 
197 List of forward requests:
198    In the following summary of forward requests, "-ca" is shorthand for
199    "-control_args", "specs" is shorthand for "message_specifiers" and
200    "-c/sa" is shorthand for "-control_args -selection_args": For a
201    complete description of any request, issue the forward request:
202          help request_name
203 
204 
205 .  prints a line identifying the forward sub-request loop.
206 ?  prints a multi-columnar list of available requests.
207 abbrev {-ca}, ab {-ca}
208    controls abbreviation processing of request lines.
209 answer STR -ca request_line
210    provides preset answers to questions asked by another request.
211 apply {-ca} cmd_line, ap {-ca} cmd_line
212    passes the comment text to a Multics command line for possible
213    editing.
214 debug_mode {-ca}
215    enables/disables the forward request's debugging facilities.
216 do rq_str {args}, [do rq_str args]
217    executes/returns a request line with argument substitution.
218 exec_com ec_path {ec_args},
219 ec ec_path {ec_args},
220 [exec_com ec_path {ec_args}],
221 [ec ec_path {ec_args}]
222    executes a file of forward requests which may return a value.
223 execute cmd_line,
224 e cmd_line,
225 [execute active_str],
226 [e active_str]
227    executes a Multics command line/evaluates a Multics active string.
228 fill {-ca}, fi {-ca}
229    reformats the comment text.
230 help {topics} {-ca}
231    prints information about forward requests and other topics.
232 if expr -then line1 {-else line2},
233 [if expr -then STR1 {-else STR2}]
234    conditionally executes/returns one of two request lines.
235 list_help {topics}, lh {topics}
236    displays the name of all forward info segments on given topics.
237 list_requests {STRs} {-ca}, lr {STRs} {-ca}
238    prints a brief description of selected forward requests.
239 print, pr, p
240    prints the comment text.
241 print_original {specs} {-c/sa}, pro {specs} {-c/sa}
242    prints the messages being forwarded.
243 qedx {-ca}, qx {-ca}
244    edits the comment text using the Multics qedx editor.
245 quit {-ca}, q {-ca}
246    exits the forward sub-request loop without forwarding the messages.
247 ready, rdy
248    prints a Multics ready message.
249 ready_off, rdf
250    disables printing of a ready message after each request line.
251 ready_on, rdn
252    enables printing of a ready message after each request line.
253 send
254    forwards the messages and exits the sub-request loop.
255 subsystem_name, [subsystem_name]
256    prints/returns the name of this subsystem
257 subystem_version, [subsystem_version]
258    prints/returns the version number of this subsystem.