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[Nmh-workers] changes to mark.man

2017-03-19 18:07:32
I'm mildly confused by:

        Message ranges with user-defined sequence names are restricted
        to the form  "name:n", "name:+n",  or "name:-n", and refer
        to the first or last `n' messages of the sequence `name',
        respectively.

There appears to be three options - "name:n", "name:+n", or "name:-n",
yet they refer to the 'first or last `n' messages', respectively,
i.e. there are two respective explanations for three options; I
would expect as many respective explanations as there are options,
if that makes any sense.

diff --git a/man/mark.man b/man/mark.man
index fcbc2ef7..ecea5c8c 100644
--- a/man/mark.man
+++ b/man/mark.man
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.TH MARK %manext1% "March 31, 2013" "%nmhversion%"
+.TH MARK %manext1% "March 19, 2017" "%nmhversion%"
 .\"
 .\" %nmhwarning%
 .\"
@@ -16,59 +16,55 @@ mark \- manipulate message sequences
 .I name
 \&...]
 .RB [ \-add " | " \-delete ]
-.RB [ \-list ] 
+.RB [ \-list ]
 .RB [ \-public " | " \-nopublic ]
 .RB [ \-zero " | " \-nozero ]
 .ad
 .SH DESCRIPTION
-The
 .B mark
-command manipulates message sequences by adding or deleting
-message numbers from folder\-specific message sequences, or by listing
-those sequences and messages.
+manipulates message sequences by adding or deleting message numbers
+from folder-specific message sequences, or by listing those sequences
+and messages.
 .PP
 A message sequence is a keyword, just like one of the \*(lqreserved\*(rq
-message names, such as \*(lqfirst\*(rq or \*(lqnext\*(rq.  Unlike the
-\*(lqreserved\*(rq message names, which have a fixed semantics on
-a per\-folder basis, the semantics of a message sequence may be
-defined, modified, and removed by the user.  Message sequences are
-folder\-specific, e.g., the sequence name \*(lqseen\*(rq in the context
-of folder
+message names such as \*(lqfirst\*(rq or \*(lqnext\*(rq.  Unlike the
+\*(lqreserved\*(rq message names, which have a fixed meaning across
+different folders, the semantics of a message sequence may be defined,
+modified, and removed by the user.  Message sequences are
+folder-specific, e.g., the sequence named \*(lqseen\*(rq in the context
+of the
 .RI \*(lq +inbox \*(rq
-need not have any relation whatsoever to the
-sequence of the same name in a folder of a different name.
+folder need not have any relation whatsoever to the sequence of the same
+name in a different folder.
 .PP
 Three action switches direct the operation of
 .BR mark .
-These switches
-are mutually exclusive: the last occurrence of any of them overrides
-any previous occurrence of the other two.
+These switches are mutually exclusive: the last occurrence of any of them
+overrides any previous occurrence of the other two.
 .PP
 The
 .B \-add
 switch tells
 .B mark
-to add messages to sequences or to
-create a new sequence.  For each sequence named via the
+to add messages to sequences or to create a new sequence.
+For each sequence named via
 .B \-sequence
 .I name
-argument (which must occur at least once) the messages named via
+(which must occur at least once), the specified
 .I msgs
 (which defaults to \*(lqcur\*(rq if no
 .I msgs
-are given), are added to the
-sequence.  The messages to be added need not be absent from the sequence.
-If the
+are given), are added to the sequence.  The messages to be added need
+not be absent from the sequence.  If the
 .B \-zero
-switch is specified, the sequence will be emptied prior
-to adding the messages.  Hence,
+switch is given, the sequence will be emptied prior to adding the
+messages.  Hence,
 .B \-add
 .B \-zero
-means that each sequence
-should be initialized to the indicated messages, while
+initializes the named sequence with the specified messages, while
 .B \-add
 .B \-nozero
-means that each sequence should be appended to by the indicated messages.
+appends the messages to the sequence.
 .PP
 The
 .B \-delete
@@ -76,83 +72,73 @@ switch tells
 .B mark
 to delete messages from sequences, and is the dual of
 .BR \-add .
-For each of the named sequences, the
-named messages are removed from the sequence.  These messages need
-not be already present in the sequence.  If the
+The specified messages are removed from each of the named sequences.
+These messages need not be already present in the sequence.
+If the
 .B \-zero
-switch is
-specified, then all messages in the folder are added to the sequence
-(first creating the sequence, if necessary) before removing the messages.
-Hence,
+switch is given, then all messages in the folder are added to the
+sequence (first creating the sequence, if necessary) before removing the
+specified messages.  Hence,
 .B \-delete
 .B \-zero
-means that each sequence should contain
-all messages except those indicated, while
+means that each sequence should contain all messages except those
+specified, while
 .B \-delete
 .B \-nozero
-means
-that only the indicated messages should be removed from each sequence.
+means that only the specified messages should be removed from each sequence.
 As expected, the command
 .RB \*(lq mark
 .B \-sequence
 .I foo
 .B \-delete
-all\*(rq empties the sequence \*(lqfoo\*(rq, and therefore removes
-that sequence from the current folder's list of sequences.
+all\*(rq empties the sequence \*(lqfoo\*(rq, and therefore removes that
+sequence from the current folder's list of sequences.
 .PP
-When creating or modifying sequences, you can specify the switches
+When creating or modifying sequences, the switches
 .B \-public
 or
 .B \-nopublic
-to force the new or modified sequences to be
-\*(lqpublic\*(rq or \*(lqprivate\*(rq.  The switch
-.B \-public
-indicates
-that the sequences should be made \*(lqpublic\*(rq.  These sequences
-will then be readable by all
+will force the new or modified sequences to be \*(lqpublic\*(rq or
+\*(lqprivate\*(rq.
+\*(lqpublic\*(rq. sequences will be readable by all
 .B nmh
-users with permission to read the relevant folders.  In contrast, the
-.B \-nopublic
-switch indicates that the
-sequences should be made \*(lqprivate\*(rq, and will only be accessible by
-you.  If neither of these switches is specified, then existing sequences
+users with permission to read the relevant folders,
+while \*(lqprivate\*(rq sequences will only be accessible by you.
+If neither of these switches is given, then existing sequences
 will maintain their current status, and new sequences will default to
 \*(lqpublic\*(rq if you have write permission for the relevant folder.
-Check the
+See
 .IR mh\-sequence (5)
-man page for more details about the difference
-between \*(lqpublic\*(rq and \*(lqprivate\*(rq sequences.
+for more details about the difference between \*(lqpublic\*(rq and
+\*(lqprivate\*(rq sequences.
 .PP
 The
 .B \-list
 switch tells
 .B mark
-to list both the sequences defined
-for the folder and the messages associated with those sequences.
+to list both the sequences defined for the folder and the messages
+associated with those sequences.
 .B mark
 will list the name of each sequence given by
 .B \-sequence
 .I name
-and the messages associated with that sequence.  If the
-sequence is private, this will also be indicated.  If no sequence is
-specified by the
+and the messages associated with that sequence.  If the sequence is
+private, this will also be indicated.
+If no sequence is specified by the
 .B \-sequence
-switch, then all sequences for this folder
-will be listed.  The
+switch, then all sequences for this folder will be listed.  The
 .B \-zero
 switch does not affect the operation of
 .BR \-list .
 .PP
 The restrictions on sequences are:
-.PP
 .IP \(bu 2
 The name used to denote a message sequence must consist of an alphabetic
 character followed by zero or more alphanumeric characters, and cannot
 be one of the (reserved) message names \*(lqnew\*(rq, \*(lqfirst\*(rq,
 \*(lqlast\*(rq, \*(lqall\*(rq, \*(lqnext\*(rq, or \*(lqprev\*(rq.
-.PP
 .IP \(bu 2
-Message ranges with user\-defined sequence names are restricted to the
+Message ranges with user-defined sequence names are restricted to the
 form \*(lqname:n\*(rq, \*(lqname:+n\*(rq, or \*(lqname:-n\*(rq, and refer
 to the first or last `n' messages of the sequence `name', respectively.
 Constructs of the form \*(lqname1\-name2\*(rq are forbidden for user
@@ -183,7 +169,7 @@ The current folder.
 \-add
 If
 .B \-sequence
-is specified,
+is given,
 .B \-list
 otherwise.
 .TP
@@ -192,7 +178,7 @@ The current message, or
 .B all
 if
 .B \-list
-is specified.
+is given.
 .TP
 \-nozero
 .PD

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