[Nmh-workers] Forward/backward references in mail-aliases file

[Bob Carragher]

I'm confused by this paragraph in the mh-alias(5) man page:

     Since the mh-alias file is read line by line, forward
     references work, but backward references are not recognized.

Immediately below, an example is provided, part of which
illustrates the referencing, partially reproduced below:

     [...]
     fred: address@hidden
     sgroup: fred, fear, freida
     [...]

There follows an explanation, which for the relevant bit is:

     [...]  Following this, “fred” is defined as an alias for
     address@hidden, and “sgroup” is defined as an
     alias for the three names address@hidden,
     ”fear”, and ”freida”.

Isn't this actually a *backward* reference, and that forward
references are the ones not recognized?  (In other words, the
sentence I quoted at the top of this message has "backward" and
"forward" exchanged?)

Forward referencing is also referenced in the first sentence of
the BUGS section:

     Although the forward-referencing semantics of mh-alias files
     prevent recursion, [...]

Note:  I took the man page text from the latest version in the
git repository at Savannah, which I cloned at 20:30 PDT today,
2017 April 12.

Thanks!

                                Bob