# The -help and -version Switches

Any time you need a quick reminder of an MH command's switches, use the -help switch. For example, here's a list for scan:

        % scan -help
        syntax: scan [+folder] [msgs] [switches]
          switches are:
          -[no]clear
          -form formatfile
          -(forma)t string
          -[no]header
          -width columns
          -[no]reverse
          -(file) file
          -(help)
        profile: -form scan.timely

        version: MH 6.8.3 #1[UCI] (ora) of Sun Feb 13 14:19:54 PST 1994
        options: [ATTVIBUG] [BIND] [BSD42] [BSD43] [DUMB] [FLOCK] [GCOS_HACK]
                 [MHE] [MIME] [NTHOLSWAP] [OVERHEAD] [POP] [POP2] [RENAME]
                 [RPATHS] [RUSERPASS] [SENDMTS] [SOCKETS] [SUN40] [TYPESIG=void]
                 [UNISTD] [VSPRINTF] [ZONEINFO]

The `syntax:` shows what kinds of things you can type on the command line. Some parts of some switches are shown in parentheses -- this is the shortest abbreviation you can use -- for example, you can type -forma instead of -format. But it doesn't show all abbreviations; for example, you can use -w instead of -width.

You'll get the `profile:` line in nmh as well as MH 6.8.4 and above. It shows your MH profile entry (here, `-form scan.timely`) for the command you're getting help on (here, scan).

The `version:` and `options:` information is important when you're asking questions or reporting bugs to someone who's not at your computer site. There are several versions of MH and lots of configuration options -- an expert may need to know how your MH is set up, and this information will explain it. The `#1` means this was the first build of MH 6.8.3 on our computer named `ora`. Local changes and rebuilds will change this to `#2`, `#3`, etc. The `options:` are explained in your online mh-gen(8) manual page.

In nmh, the -help output doesn't have the `version:` and `options:` information. To get the version, put a -version switch on any command line. The build options are stored in the nmh configuration files -- but nmh has fewer build options than MH, so you often won't need to bother.