prompter Command

AIX Version 4.3 Commands Reference, Volume 4

prompter Command

Purpose

Starts a prompting editor.

Syntax

prompter [ -erase Character ] [ -kill Character ] [ -prepend | -noprepend ] [ -rapid | -norapid ] File

Description

Part of the Message Handler (MH) package, the prompter command starts the prompting editor for message entry. The prompter command is not started by the user. The prompter command is called by other programs only.

The prompter command opens the file specified by the File parameter, scans it for empty components such as the To: component, and prompts you to fill in the blank fields. If you press the Enter key without filling in a required field, the prompter command deletes the component.

The prompter command accepts text for the body of the message after the first blank line or line of dashes in the file. If the body already contains text and the -noprepend flag is specified, the prompter command displays the text followed by the message:

--------Enter additional text

The prompter command appends any new text entered after the existing message. If you specify the -prepend flag, the prompter command displays the following message:

--------Enter initial text

Any new text precedes the body of the original message. When you press the Ctrl-D key sequence for End of File, the prompter command ends text entry and returns control to the calling program.

Flags

-erase Character	Sets the character to be used as the erase character. The value of the Character variable can be the octal representation of the character in the form `\NNN` where `\NNN` is a number or the character itself. For example, the character `\e` is `\145` in octal representation.
-help	Lists the command syntax, available switches (toggles), and version information. Note: For MH, the name of this flag must be fully spelled out.
-kill Character	Sets the character to be used as the kill, or stop, character. The value of the Character variable can be the octal representation of the character in the form `\NNN` where `\NNN` is a number or the character itself. For example, the character `\e` is `\145` in octal representation.
-noprepend	Appends additional text after text already in the message body.
-norapid	Displays text already in the message body. This is the default.
-prepend	Appends additional text before text already in the message body. This is the default.
-rapid	Does not display text already in the message body.

Profile Entries

`Msg-Protect:`	Sets the protection level for your new message files.
`prompter-next:`	Specifies the editor used after exiting the prompter command.

Files

$HOME/.mh_profile
	Contains the MH user profile.
/tmp/prompter*	Contains a temporary copy of a message.

Related Information

The comp command, dist command, forw command, repl command, whatnow command.

Mail Overview in AIX Version 4.3 System User's Guide: Communications and Networks.

Peek, Jerry. MH and xmh: E-mail for Users and Programmers. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates, 1992.