MSGS(1) GENIX Programmer's Manual MSGS(1)
NAME
msgs - system messages and junk mail program
SYNOPSIS
msgs [ -fhlpq ] [ number ] [ -number ]
DESCRIPTION
Msgs is used to read system messages. These messages are sent by
mailing to the login `msgs' and should be short pieces of informa-
tion which are suitable to be read once by most users of the system.
Msgs is normally invoked each time you login, by placing it in the
file .login (.profile if you use /bin/sh). It will then prompt you
with the source and subject of each new message. If there is no
subject line, the first few non-blank lines of the message will be
displayed. If there is more to the message, you will be told how
long it is and asked whether you wish to see the rest of the mes-
sage. The possible responses are:
y type the rest of the message
RETURN synonym for y.
n skip this message and go on to the next message.
- redisplay the last message.
q drops you out of msgs; the next time you run the program it
will pick up where you left off.
s append the current message to the file ``Messages'' in the
current directory; `s-' will save the previously displayed
message. A `s' or `s-' may be followed by a space and a
filename to receive the message replacing the default ``Mes-
sages''.
m or `m-' causes a copy of the specified message to be placed
in a temporary mailbox and mail(1) to be invoked on that
mailbox. Both `m' and `s' accept a numeric argument in place
of the `-'.
Msgs keeps track of the next message you will see by a number in the
file .msgsrc in your home directory. In the directory /usr/msgs it
keeps a set of files whose names are the (sequential) numbers of the
messages they represent. The file /usr/msgs/bounds shows the low
and high number of the messages in the directory so that msgs can
quickly determine if there are no messages for you. If the contents
of bounds is incorrect it can be fixed by removing it; msgs will
make a new bounds file the next time it is run.
Options to msgs include:
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MSGS(1) GENIX Programmer's Manual MSGS(1)
-f which causes it not to say ``No new messages.''. This is
useful in your .login file since this is often the case here.
-q Queries whether there are messages, printing ``There are new
messages.'' if there are. The command ``msgs -q'' is often
used in login scripts.
-h causes msgs to print the first part of messages only.
-l option causes only locally originated messages to be
reported.
num A message number can be given on the command line, causing
msgs to start at the specified message rather than at the
next message indicated by your .msgsrc file. Thus
msgs -h 1
prints the first part of all messages.
-number
will cause msgs to start number messages back from the one
indicated by your .msgsrc file, useful for reviews of recent
messages.
-p causes long messages to be piped through more(1).
Within msgs you can also go to any specific message by typing its
number when msgs requests input as to what to do.
FILES
/usr/msgs/* database
~/.msgsrc number of next message to be presented
AUTHORS
William Joy
David Wasley
SEE ALSO
mail(1), more(1)
BUGS
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