Title:		MH

Authors:	Bruce Borden
		Stockton Gaines
		Norman Shapiro

Help from:	Phyllis Kantar
		Robert Anderson
		David Crocker


Description:

The user command interface to MH is the UNIX ``shell'' (the standard
UNIX command interpreter).  Each separable component of message handling,
such as message composition or message display, is a separate command.
Each program is driven from and updates a private user environment,
which is stored as a file between program invocations.  This private
environment also contains information to ``custom tailor'' MH to the
individuals's tastes.  MH stores each message as a separate file under
UNIX, and it utilizes the tree-structured UNIX file system to organize
groups of files within separate directories or ``folders.''  All of
the UNIX facilities for dealing with files and directories, such as
renaming, copying, deleting, cataloging, off-line printing, etc., are
applicable to messages and directories of messages (folders).  Thus,
important capabilities needed in a message system are available in MH
without the need (often seen in other message systems) for code that
duplicates the facilities of the supporting operating system.  It also
allows users familiar with the shell to use MH with minimal effort.