NAME

/bin/mail − send or receive mail among users

SYNOPSIS

/bin/mail [ −i ] [ −p ] [ −q ] [ −f filename ]
/bin/mail address ...

DESCRIPTION

Note: This is the old version 7 UNIX system mail program.  The default mail command is described in mail(1), and its binary is in the directory /usr/ucb. 

/bin/mail with no address prints a user’s mail, message-by-message in last-in, first-out order.  /bin/mail accepts commands from the standard input to direct disposition messages. 

When addresses are named, /bin/mail takes the standard input up to an end-of-file (or a line with just ‘.’) and adds it to each person’s ‘mail’ file.  The message is preceded by the sender’s name and a postmark.  Lines that look like postmarks are prepended with ‘>’.  A person is usually a user name recognized by login, or a network address (see mailaddr(7)).

If there is any pending mail, login tells you there is mail when you log in.  It is also possible to have the C-Shell, or the daemon biff tell you about mail that arrives while you are logged in. 

OPTIONS

Printing Mail

−i continue after interrupts — an interrupt normally terminates the /bin/mail accepts the following interactive commands when printing messages. 

−p print messages without prompting for commands.  Exit immediately upon receiving an interrupt. 

−q quit immediately upon interrupt. 

−f filename
use filename as if it were the mail file. 

Sending Mail

−d deliver mail directly, don’t route the message through sendmail. This option is often used by programs that send mail.

−i continue after interrupts — an interrupt normally terminates the /bin/mail command and leaves the mail file unchanged. 

−r name
specify a string to appear as the name of the sender.

COMMANDS

?  print a command summary. 

EOT (control-D)
put unexamined mail back in the mail file and quit.

!command
escape to the Shell to do command.

− go back to previous message. 

+ go on to next message. 

newline
go on to next message.

d delete message and go on to the next. 

dq delete message and quit. 

m [ person ] ...
mail the message to the named persons (yourself is default). 

n go on to next message. 

p print message (again). 

q same as EOT. 

s [file] ...
save the message in the named files (‘mbox’ default).  If saved successfully, remove it from the list and go on to the next message. 

w [ file ] ...
save the message, without a header, in the named files (‘mbox’ default).  If saved successfully, remove it from the list and go on to the next message. 

x exit without changing the mail file. 

FILES

/etc/passwd     to identify sender and locate address
/usr/spool/mail/∗incoming mail for user ∗
mboxsaved mail
/tmp/ma∗temp file
/usr/spool/mail/∗.locklock for mail directory
dead.letter     unmailable text is saved here

SEE ALSO

mail(1), biff(1), write(1), uucp(1C), uux(1C), xsend(1), sendmail(8), mailaddr(7), csh(1)

BUGS

Race conditions sometimes result in a failure to remove a lock file. 

The superuser can read your mail, unless it is encrypted by des, encrypt, or xsend.  Even if you encrypt it, the superuser can delete it. 

Sun Release 3.0β  —  Last change: 23 September 1985