bellmail
PURPOSE
Sends messages to system users and displays messages from
system users.
SYNOPSIS
bellmail -e
bellmail [-q -r -p]...[-f file][-f $HOME/mbox]
bellmail [-t]user...
DESCRIPTION
The bellmail command with no flags writes to standard
output, one message at a time, all stored mail addressed
to the your login name. Following each message, bellmail
prompts you with a question mark ("?"). Press the Enter
key to display the next mail message, or enter one of the
subcommands that control the disposition of the message
(see "Subcommands").
When sending mail, you specify users, and then bellmail
reads a message from standard input until you press END
OF FILE (Ctrl-D) or enter a line containing only a period
(.). It prefixes this message with the sender's name and
the date and time of the message (its postmark) and adds
this message to the file /usr/mail/user for each user
specified on the command line.
The action of bellmail can be modified in two ways by
manipulating /usr/mail/user:
o The default permission assignment for "others" is
"read-only." If you change this permission assign-
ment to "read/write" or to "all permissions denied,"
the system preserves the file, even when it is empty,
in order to maintain the desired permissions.
o You can edit the file to contain as its first line:
Forward to person
This causes all messages sent to user to be sent to
person instead. The Forward to feature is especially
useful for sending all of a person's mail to a par-
ticular machine in a network environment.
To specify a recipient on a remote system, prefix the
system name and an exclamation mark ("!") to user. See
"uucp" for a detailed discussion of how to address remote
systems.
FLAGS
-e Does not display any messages. This flag
causes bellmail to return an exit value of 0 if
the user has mail, an exit value of 1 if he has
no mail.
-f file Saves mail in the named file instead of in the
default mailfile, $HOME/mbox.
-p Displays mail without prompting for a disposi-
tion code. This flag does not delete, copy, or
forward any messages. (For disposition codes,
see "Subcommands").
-q Causes bellmail to exit when you press INTER-
RUPT (Alt-Pause). Normally, pressing INTERRUPT
(Alt-Pause) stops only the message being dis-
played. (In this case, the next message some-
times does not display until you enter the p
subcommand.)
-r Displays mail in first-in, first-out order.
-t Prefixes each message with the names of all
recipients of the mail. (Normally, only the
individual recipient's name appears as
addressee.)
Usually, user is a name recognized by the login command.
It can also be the ASCII synonym that is automatically
defined for any name that contains NLS code points. If
the system does not recognize one or more of the speci-
fied users or if bellmail is interrupted during input,
bellmail saves messages in the file $HOME/dead.letter to
allow for editing and resending.
SUBCOMMANDS
The following subcommands control message disposition:
+ Displays the next mail message (the same as
pressing the Enter key).
- Displays the previous message.
d Deletes the current message and displays the
next message.
p Displays the current message again.
s [file] Saves the message in the named file instead of
in the default mailfile, $HOME/mbox.
w [file] Saves the message, without its postmark, in
the specified file instead of in the default
mailfile $HOME/mbox.
m user Forwards the message to the named user.
q Writes any mail not yet deleted to
/usr/mail/user and exits. Pressing END OF
FILE (Ctrl-D) has the same effect.
x Writes all mail unchanged to /usr/mail/user
and exits.
!AIX-cmd Runs the specified AIX command.
* Displays a subcommand summary.
EXAMPLES
1. To display your mail:
bellmail
After the most recent message is displayed, a "?"
(question mark) indicates that bellmail is waiting
for one of the subcommands explained previously (+,
-, d, p, etc.). Enter "help" or" *" (asterisk) to
list the subcommands available.
2. To send mail to other users:
bellmail tom rachel
Don't forget the
meeting tomorrow at 9:30.
Ctrl-D
In this example the system mails the message "Don't
forget the meeting tomorrow at 9:30." to the users
"tom" and "rachel". The Ctrl-D indicates the end of
the message but it is not sent with the text.
3. To send a file to another user:
bellmail fran <proposal
This command sends the contents of the file
"proposal" to "fran". You can create "memo" with an
editor, which allows you to correct your mistakes
before sending the message. You can also use this
form of the bellmail command to send someone a copy
of a data file.
4. To retrieve a file that was sent to you:
bellmail
This command displays the messages mailed to you one
at a time. You need to look at them because the file
you want was actually added to /usr/mail/user as a
message. You may see several other messages before
the file that was sent to you. If so, press the
Enter key after the "?" prompt until the desired file
appears. If you go too far, enter the - (minus) sub-
command to go back a message. After the "?" imme-
diately following the file, enter:
w mycopy
This command creates a file named "mycopy" in the
current directory that contains the text mailed to
you. Actually, you can save a copy of any message
this way.
FILES
/etc/passwd To identify sender and locate user.
/usr/mail/user Incoming mail for user.
$HOME/mbox Saved mail.
$HOME/dead.letter Unmailable text.
/tmp/ma* Temporary file.
/usr/mail/*.lock Lock for mail directory.
RELATED INFORMATION
The following commands: "login," "uucp," "sendmail,"
and "write."