SORTM(%manext1%)

NAME
sortm - sort messages

SYNOPSIS

sortm [+folder] [msgs] [-datefield field] [-textfield field] [-notextfield] [-limit days] [-nolimit] [-verbose | -noverbose] [-version] [-help]

DESCRIPTION
Sortm sorts the specified messages in the named folder according to the chronological order of the “Date:” field of each message.

The -verbose switch directs sortm to tell the user the general actions that it is taking to place the folder in sorted order.

The -datefield field switch tells sortm the name of the field to use when making the date comparison. If the user has a special field in each message, such as “BB-Posted:” or “Delivery-Date:”, then the -datefield switch can be used to direct sortm which field to examine.

The -textfield field switch causes sortm to sort messages by the specified text field. If this field is “subject”, any leading "re:" is stripped off. In any case, all characters except letters and numbers are stripped and the resulting strings are sorted datefield-major, textfield-minor, using a case insensitive comparison.

With -textfield field, if -limit days is specified, messages with similar textfields that are dated within `days' of each other appear together. Specifying -nolimit makes the limit infinity. With -limit 0, the sort is instead made textfield-major, date-minor.

For example, to order a folder by date-major, subject-minor, use:

    sortm -textfield subject +folder

FILES
^$HOME/.mh_profile~^The user profile

PROFILE COMPONENTS
^Path:~^To determine the user's nmh directory
^Current-Folder:~^To find the default current folder

SEE ALSO
folder(1)

DEFAULTS
`+folder' defaults to the current folder
`msgs"'defaultstoall"
`-datefield' defaults to date
`-notextfield'
`-noverbose'
`-nolimit'

CONTEXT
If a folder is given, it will become the current folder. If the current message is moved, sortm
 will preserve its status as current.

HISTORY
Timezones used to be ignored when comparing dates: they aren't any more.

Messages which were in the folder, but not specified by `msgs', used to be moved to the end of the folder; now such messages are left untouched.

Sortm sometimes did not preserve the message numbering in a folder (e.g., messages 1, 3, and 5, might have been renumbered to 1, 2, 3 after sorting). This was a bug, and has been fixed. To compress the message numbering in a folder, use “folder -pack” as always.

BUGS
If sortm encounters a message without a date-field, or if the message has a date-field that sortm cannot parse, then sortm attempts to keep the message in the same relative position. This does not always work. For instance, if the first message encountered lacks a date which can be parsed, then it will usually be placed at the end of the messages being sorted.

When sortm complains about a message which it can't temporally order, it complains about the message number prior to sorting. It should indicate what the message number will be after sorting.