PROMPTER(1)	      [mh.6] (MH.6.8)		   PROMPTER(1)

     NAME
	  prompter - prompting editor front-end	for MH

     SYNOPSIS
	  prompter [-erase chr]	[-kill chr] [-prepend] [-noprepend]
	       [-rapid]	[-norapid] [-doteof] [-nodoteof] file [-help]

     DESCRIPTION
	  This program is normally not invoked directly	by users but
	  takes	the place of an	editor and acts	as an editor
	  front-end.  It operates on an	822-style message draft
	  skeleton specified by	file, normally provided	by comp, dist,
	  forw,	or repl.

	  Prompter is an editor	which allows rapid composition of
	  messages.  It	is particularly	useful to network and
	  low-speed (less than 2400 baud) users	of MH.	It is an MH
	  program in that it can have its own profile entry with
	  switches, but	it is not invoked directly by the user.	 The
	  commands comp, dist, forw, and repl invoke prompter as an
	  editor, either when invoked with `-editor prompter', or by
	  the profile entry Editor: prompter, or when given the
	  command `edit	prompter' at What now? level.

	  For each empty component prompter finds in the draft,	the
	  user is prompted for a response; A <RETURN> will cause the
	  whole	component to be	left out.  Otherwise, a	`\' preceding
	  a <RETURN> will continue the response	on the next line,
	  allowing for multiline components.  Continuation lines must
	  begin	with a space or	tab.

	  Each non-empty component is copied to	the draft and
	  displayed on the terminal.

	  The start of the message body	is denoted by a	blank line or
	  a line of dashes.  If	the body is non-empty, the prompt,
	  which	isn't written to the file, is

	      --------Enter additional text,

	  or (if `-prepend' was	given)

	      --------Enter initial text.

	  Message-body typing is terminated with an end-of-file
	  (usually CTRL-D).  With the `-doteof'	switch,	a period on a
	  line all by itself also signifies end-of-file.  At this
	  point	control	is returned to the calling program, where the
	  user is asked	What now?.  See	whatnow	for the	valid options
	  to this query.

	  By using the `-prepend' switch, the user can add type-in to

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     PROMPTER(1)	      [mh.6] (MH.6.8)		   PROMPTER(1)

	  the beginning	of the message body and	have the rest of the
	  body follow.	This is	useful for the forw command.

	  By using the `-rapid'	switch,	if the draft already contains
	  text in the message-body, it is not displayed	on the user's
	  terminal.  This is useful for	low-speed terminals.

	  The line editing characters for kill and erase may be
	  specified by the user	via the	arguments `-kill chr' and
	  `-erase chr',	where chr may be a character; or `\nnn', where
	  nnn is the octal value for the character.

	  An interrupt (usually	CTRL-C)	during component typing	will
	  abort	prompter and the MH command that invoked it.  An
	  interrupt during message-body	typing is equivalent to
	  CTRL-D, for historical reasons.  This	means that prompter
	  should finish	up and exit.

	  The first non-flag argument to prompter is taken as the name
	  of the draft file, and subsequent non-flag arguments are
	  ignored.

     FILES
	  $HOME/.mh_profile		      The user profile
	  /tmp/prompter*		      Temporary	copy of	message

     PROFILE COMPONENTS
	  prompter-next:       To name the editor to be	used on	exit from prompter
	  Msg-Protect:	       To set mode when	creating a new draft

     SEE ALSO
	  comp(1), dist(1), forw(1), repl(1), whatnow(1)

     DEFAULTS
	  `-prepend'
	  `-norapid'
	  `-nodoteof'

     CONTEXT
	  None

     HELPFUL HINTS
	  The `-rapid' option is particularly useful with forw,	and
	  `-noprepend' is useful with comp -use.

	  The user may wish to link prompter under several names
	  (e.g., rapid)	and give appropriate switches in the profile
	  entries under	these names (e.g., rapid: -rapid).  This
	  facilitates invoking prompter	differently for	different MH
	  commands (e.g., forw:	-editor	rapid).

     BUGS

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     PROMPTER(1)	      [mh.6] (MH.6.8)		   PROMPTER(1)

	  Prompter uses	stdio (3), so it will lose if you edit files
	  with nulls in	them.

     Page 3					     (printed 9/30/94)