MAILBSD(1) MAILBSD(1)
NAME
Mail - send and receive mail
SYNOPSIS
/usr/bsd/Mail [ -v ] [ -i ] [ -n ] [ -s subject ] [ user ...
]
/usr/bsd/Mail [ -v ] [ -i ] [ -n ] -f [ name ]
/usr/bsd/Mail [ -v ] [ -i ] [ -n ] -u user
INTRODUCTION
Mail is a intelligent mail processing system, which has a
command syntax reminiscent of ed with lines replaced by
messages.
The -v flag puts Mail into verbose mode; the details of
delivery are displayed on the users terminal. The -i flag
causes tty interrupt signals to be ignored. This is
particularly useful when using Mail on noisy phone lines.
The -n flag inhibits the reading of /usr/lib/Mail.rc.
Sending mail. To send a message to one or more other
people, Mail can be invoked with arguments which are the
names of people to send to. You are then expected to type
in your message, followed by an EOT (control-D) at the
beginning of a line. A subject may be specified on the
command line by using the -s flag. (Only the first argument
after the -s flag is used as a subject; be careful to quote
subjects containing spaces.) The section below, labeled
Replying to or originating mail, describes some features of
Mail available to help you compose your letter.
Reading mail. In normal usage Mail is given no arguments
and checks your mail out of the post office, then prints out
a one line header of each message there. The current
message is initially the first message (numbered 1) and can
be printed using the print command (which can be abbreviated
p). You can move among the messages much as you move
between lines in ed, with the commands `+' and `-' moving
backwards and forwards, and simple numbers.
Disposing of mail. After examining a message you can delete
(d) the message or reply (r) to it. Deletion causes the
Mail program to forget about the message. This is not
irreversible; the message can be undeleted (u) by giving its
number, or the Mail session can be aborted by giving the
exit (x) command. Deleted messages will, however, usually
disappear never to be seen again.
Specifying messages. Commands such as print and delete can
be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply to
a number of messages at once. Thus ``delete 1 2'' deletes
messages 1 and 2, while ``delete 1-5'' deletes messages 1
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through 5. The special name ``*'' addresses all messages,
and ``$'' addresses the last message; thus the command top
which prints the first few lines of a message could be used
in ``top *'' to print the first few lines of all messages.
Replying to or originating mail. You can use the reply
command to set up a response to a message, sending it back
to the person who it was from. Text you then type in, up to
an end-of-file, defines the contents of the message. While
you are composing a message, Mail treats lines beginning
with the character `~' specially. For instance, typing
``~m'' (alone on a line) will place a copy of the current
message into the response right shifting it by a tabstop.
Other escapes will set up subject fields, add and delete
recipients to the message and allow you to escape to an
editor to revise the message or to a shell to run some
commands. (These options are given in the summary below.)
Ending a mail processing session. You can end a Mail
session with the quit (q) command. Messages which have been
examined go to your mbox file unless they have been deleted
in which case they are discarded. Unexamined messages go
back to the post office. The -f option causes Mail to read
in the contents of your mbox (or the specified file) for
processing; when you quit, Mail writes undeleted messages
back to this file. The -u flag is a short way of doing
"Mail -f /usr/mail/user".
Personal and systemwide distribution lists. It is also
possible to create a personal distribution lists so that,
for instance, you can send mail to ``cohorts'' and have it
go to a group of people. Such lists can be defined by
placing a line like
alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory
in the file .mailrc in your home directory. The current
list of such aliases can be displayed with the alias (a)
command in Mail. System wide distribution lists can be
created by editing /usr/lib/Mail.rc (which may contain other
Mail commands such as set). An alias of the form
alias bob sauron!bob
will be ignored on the sauron system so that the same
/usr/lib/Mail.rc or ~/.mailrc file may be used on several
machines with correct behavior.
A signature line (or lines) may be automatically appended to
the end of all outgoing letters by placing the text in the
file .lsignature, .rsignature, or .signature in your home
directory. The file .lsignature is used for local mail,
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that is the recipients specified do not have `!' or `@' in
their names (prior to aliasing) and the file .rsignature is
used for remote mail. If the appropriate one of these does
not exist, .signature is used for compatibility with
previous versions of Mail.
Mail has a number of options which can be set in the .mailrc
file to alter its behavior; thus ``set askcc'' enables the
``askcc'' feature. (These options are summarized below.)
SUMMARY
(Adapted from the `Mail Reference Manual')
Each command is typed on a line by itself, and may take
arguments following the command word. The command need not
be typed in its entirety - the first command which matches
the typed prefix is used. For commands which take message
lists as arguments, if no message list is given, then the
next message forward which satisfies the command's
requirements is used. If there are no messages forward of
the current message, the search proceeds backwards, and if
there are no good messages at all, Mail types ``No
applicable messages'' and aborts the command.
- Goes to the previous message and prints it out.
If given a numeric argument n, goes to the n-th
previous message and prints it.
? Prints a brief summary of commands.
! Executes the UNIX shell command which follows.
Print (P) Like print but also prints out ignored
header fields. See also print and ignore.
Reply (R) Reply to originator. Does not reply to other
recipients of the original message.
Type (T) Identical to the Print command.
alias (a) With no arguments, prints out all
currently-defined aliases. With one argument,
prints out that alias. With more than one
argument, creates an new or changes an on old
alias.
alternates (alt) The alternates command is useful if you
have accounts on several machines. It can be
used to inform Mail that the listed addresses
are really you. When you reply to messages, Mail
will not send a copy of the message to any of
the addresses listed on the alternates list. If
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the alternates command is given with no
argument, the current set of alternate names is
displayed.
chdir (cd) Changes the user's working directory to
that specified, if given. If no directory is
given, then changes to the user's login
directory.
copy (c) The copy command does the same thing that
save does, except that it does not mark the
messages it is used on for deletion when you
quit.
delete (d) Takes a list of messages as argument and
marks them all as deleted. Deleted messages
will not be saved in mbox, nor will they be
available for most other commands.
dp (also dt) Deletes the current message and prints
the next message. If there is no next message,
Mail says ``at EOF.''
edit (e) Takes a list of messages and points the text
editor at each one in turn. On return from the
editor, the message is read back in.
exit (ex or x) Effects an immediate return to the
Shell without modifying the user's system
mailbox, his mbox file, or his edit file in -f.
file (fi) The same as folder.
folders List the names of the folders in your folder
directory.
folder (fo) The folder command switches to a new mail
file or folder. With no arguments, it tells you
which file you are currently reading. If you
give it an argument, it will write out changes
(such as deletions) you have made in the current
file and read in the new file. Some special
conventions are recognized for the name. # means
the previous file, % means your system mailbox,
%user means user's system mailbox, & means your
~/mbox file, and +folder means a file in your
folder directory.
from (f) Takes a list of messages and prints their
message headers.
headers (h) Lists the current range of headers, which is
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an 18 message group. If a ``+'' argument is
given, then the next 18 message group is
printed, and if a ``-'' argument is given, the
previous 18 message group is printed.
help A synonym for ?
hold (ho, also preserve) Takes a message list and
marks each message therein to be saved in the
user's system mailbox instead of in mbox. Does
not override the delete command.
ignore Add the list of header fields named to the
ignored list. Header fields in the ignore list
are not printed on your terminal when you print
a message. This command is very handy for
suppression of certain machine-generated header
fields. The Type and Print commands can be used
to print a message in its entirety, including
ignored fields. If ignore is executed with no
arguments, it lists the current set of ignored
fields.
mail (m) Takes as argument login names and
distribution group names and sends mail to those
people.
mbox Indicate that a list of messages be sent to mbox
in your home directory when you quit. This is
the default action for messages if you do not
have the hold option set.
next (n like + or CR) Goes to the next message in
sequence and types it. With an argument list,
types the next matching message.
preserve (pre) A synonym for hold.
print (p) Takes a message list and types out each
message on the user's terminal.
quit (q) Terminates the session, saving all
undeleted, unsaved messages in the user's mbox
file in his login directory, preserving all
messages marked with hold or preserve or never
referenced in his system mailbox, and removing
all other messages from his system mailbox. If
new mail has arrived during the session, the
message ``You have new mail'' is given. If
given while editing a mailbox file with the -f
flag, then the edit file is rewritten. A return
to the Shell is effected, unless the rewrite of
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edit file fails, in which case the user can
escape with the exit command.
reply (r) Takes a message list and sends mail to the
sender and all recipients of the specified
message. The default message must not be
deleted.
respond A synonym for reply.
save (s) Takes a message list and a filename and
appends each message in turn to the end of the
file. The filename in quotes, followed by the
line count and character count is echoed on the
user's terminal. If filename does not already
exist it will be created. If filename begins
with a ``|'' or ``!'' then it will be
interpreted as a shell command and the contents
of the messages passed to it on standard input.
set (se) With no arguments, prints all variable
values. Otherwise, sets option. Arguments are
of the form ``option=value'' or ``option.''
shell (sh) Invokes an interactive version of the
shell.
size Takes a message list and prints out the size in
characters of each message.
source (so) The source command reads Mail commands from
a file.
top Takes a message list and prints the top few
lines of each. The number of lines printed is
controlled by the variable toplines and defaults
to five.
type (t) A synonym for print.
unalias Takes a list of names defined by alias commands
and discards the remembered groups of users.
The group names no longer have any significance.
undelete (u) Takes a message list and marks each one as
not being deleted.
unset Takes a list of option names and discards their
remembered values; the inverse of set.
visual (v) Takes a message list and invokes the display
editor on each message.
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write (w) A synonym for save.
xit (x) A synonym for exit.
z Mail presents message headers in windowfuls as
described under the headers command. You can
move Mail's attention forward to the next window
with the z command. Also, you can move to the
previous window by using z-.
Here is a summary of the tilde escapes, which are used when
composing messages to perform special functions. Tilde
escapes are only recognized at the beginning of lines. The
name ``tilde escape'' is somewhat of a misnomer since the
actual escape character can be set by the option escape.
~!command Execute the indicated shell command, then return
to the message.
~c name ... Add the given names to the list of carbon copy
recipients.
~d Read the file ``dead.letter'' from your home
directory into the message.
~e Invoke the text editor on the message collected
so far. After the editing session is finished,
you may continue appending text to the message.
~f messages Read the named messages into the message being
sent. If no messages are specified, read in the
current message.
~h Edit the message header fields by typing each
one in turn and allowing the user to append text
to the end or modify the field by using the
current terminal erase and kill characters.
~m messages Read the named messages into the message being
sent, shifted right one tab. If no messages are
specified, read the current message.
~p Print out the message collected so far, prefaced
by the message header fields.
~q Abort the message being sent, copying the
message to ``dead.letter'' in your home
directory if save is set.
~r filename Read the named file into the message.
~s string Cause the named string to become the current
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subject field.
~t name ... Add the given names to the direct recipient
list.
~v Invoke an alternate editor (defined by the
VISUAL option) on the message collected so far.
Usually, the alternate editor will be a screen
editor. After you quit the editor, you may
resume appending text to the end of your
message.
~w filename Write the message onto the named file.
~|command Pipe the message through the command as a
filter. If the command gives no output or
terminates abnormally, retain the original text
of the message. The command fmt(1) is often
used as command to rejustify the message.
~~string Insert the string of text in the message
prefaced by a single ~. If you have changed the
escape character, then you should double that
character in order to send it.
Options are controlled via the set and unset commands.
Options may be either binary, in which case it is only
significant to see whether they are set or not, or string,
in which case the actual value is of interest. The binary
options include the following:
append Causes messages saved in mbox to be appended
to the end rather than prepended. (This is
set in /usr/lib/Mail.rc on version 7
systems.)
ask Causes Mail to prompt you for the subject of
each message you send. If you respond with
simply a newline, no subject field will be
sent.
askcc Causes you to be prompted for additional
carbon copy recipients at the end of each
message. Responding with a newline indicates
your satisfaction with the current list.
autoprint Causes the delete command to behave like dp -
thus, after deleting a message, the next one
will be typed automatically.
debug Setting the binary option debug is the same
as specifying -d on the command line and
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causes Mail to output all sorts of
information useful for debugging Mail.
dot The binary option dot causes Mail to
interpret a period alone on a line as the
terminator of a message you are sending.
hold This option is used to hold messages in the
system mailbox by default.
ignore Causes interrupt signals from your terminal
to be ignored and echoed as @'s.
ignoreeof An option related to dot is ignoreeof which
makes Mail refuse to accept a control-D as
the end of a message. Ignoreeof also applies
to Mail command mode.
metoo Usually, when a group is expanded that
contains the sender, the sender is removed
from the expansion. Setting this option
causes the sender to be included in the
group.
nosave Normally, when you abort a message with two
RUBOUT, Mail copies the partial letter to the
file ``dead.letter'' in your home directory.
Setting the binary option nosave prevents
this.
quiet Suppresses the printing of the version when
first invoked.
verbose Setting the option verbose is the same as
using the -v flag on the command line. When
mail runs in verbose mode, the actual
delivery of messages is displayed on he users
terminal.
The following options have string values:
EDITOR Pathname of the text editor to use in the
edit command and ~e escape. If not defined,
then a default editor is used.
SHELL Pathname of the shell to use in the ! command
and the ~! escape. A default shell is used
if this option is not defined.
VISUAL Pathname of the text editor to use in the
visual command and ~v escape.
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crt The valued option crt is used as a threshold
to determine how long a message must be
before more is used to read it.
escape If defined, the first character of this
option gives the character to use in the
place of ~ to denote escapes.
folder The name of the directory to use for storing
folders of messages. If this name begins with
a `/', Mail considers it to be an absolute
pathname; otherwise, the folder directory is
found relative to your home directory.
record If defined, gives the pathname of the file
used to record all outgoing mail. If not
defined, then outgoing mail is not so saved.
toplines If defined, gives the number of lines of a
message to be printed out with the top
command; normally, the first five lines are
printed.
FILES
/usr/mail/* post office
~/mbox your old mail
~/.mailrc file giving initial mail commands
~/.lsignature file to append to outgoing local
mail
~/.rsignature file to append to outgoing remote
mail
~/.signature file to append to outgoing mail if
.lsignature and .rsignature do not
exist
/tmp/R# temporary for editor escape
/usr/lib/Mail.help* help files
/usr/lib/Mail.rc system initialization file
Message* temporary for editing messages
SEE ALSO
mail(1)
BUGS
There are many flags that are not documented here. Most are
not useful to the general user.
AUTHOR
Kurt Shoens Revision 1.3 87/02/17 12:34:08 celia cleanup
ORIGIN
4.3 BSD
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