FORWARD(4-SysV)     RISC/os Reference Manual      FORWARD(4-SysV)



NAME
     forward - mail forwarding file

SYNOPSIS
     $HOME/.forward

DESCRIPTION
     When sendmail(1M) resolves mail addresses, it resolves
     aliases (see aliases(4)) and then forwards the mail using
     the contents of the file $HOME/.forward.

     The forward file should contain a list of addresses, each of
     which results in having the mail forwarded.  These may be
     separated by commas, whitespace, or newlines.

     There are three types of forwarding addresses that are par-
     ticularly useful:

     address             A mail address sends the mail to that
                         user.  The address is subject to alias
                         resolution (in other words, the forward
                         file may contain aliases).

     \name               An escaped name is not subject to alias
                         resolution.  A typical use of escaped
                         names is shown below.

     "| command ..."     Execute the given command with the mail
                         message as the standard input.

     In general, forward files are used to set up mail forwarding
     in a local area network.  Users tend to have a single ``base
     machine'' where mail is kept, and in this case the forward
     file is set up to forward mail to that machine.

     One special use of the forward file involves automatic
     replies to senders while the recipient is on vacation.  The
     forward file can be set up to contain the line


          \user,"| vacation user"

     where ``user'' is replaced by the name of the recipient.
     The command vacation(1) will send a specified message, usu-
     ally one indicating when the recipient will return, to the
     sender.

     Another special use of the forward file involves the command
     /usr/new/lib/mh/slocal, which can be set up to automatically
     file mail into folders, send replies based on message con-
     tents, place mail into files, ignore mail, and many other
     things.  In this case, the forward file contains



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FORWARD(4-SysV)     RISC/os Reference Manual      FORWARD(4-SysV)




          "| /usr/new/lib/mh/slocal"

     See the manual page mhook(1) for more information.

SEE ALSO
     mhook(1), vacation(1), aliases(4), sendmail(1M).
















































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