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1.1 root 1: .\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
2: .\" All rights reserved. The Berkeley software License Agreement
3: .\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
4: .\"
5: .\" @(#)mail.1 6.6 (Berkeley) 5/9/86
6: .\"
7: .TH MAIL 1 "May 9, 1986"
8: .UC 4
9: .SH NAME
10: mail \- send and receive mail
11: .SH SYNOPSIS
12: .B mail
13: [
14: .B \-v
15: ]
16: [
17: .B \-i
18: ]
19: [
20: .B \-n
21: ]
22: [
23: .B \-s
24: subject
25: ]
26: [
27: user ...
28: ]
29: .br
30: .B mail
31: [
32: .B \-v
33: ]
34: [
35: .B \-i
36: ]
37: [
38: .B \-n
39: ]
40: .B \-f
41: [
42: name
43: ]
44: .br
45: .B mail
46: [
47: .B \-v
48: ]
49: [
50: .B \-i
51: ]
52: [
53: .B \-n
54: ]
55: .B \-u
56: user
57: .SH INTRODUCTION
58: .I Mail
59: is a intelligent mail processing system, which has
60: a command syntax reminiscent of
61: .I ed
62: with lines replaced by messages.
63: .PP
64: The
65: .B \-v
66: flag puts mail into verbose mode; the details of
67: delivery are displayed on the users terminal.
68: The
69: .B \-i
70: flag causes tty interrupt signals to be ignored. This is
71: particularly useful when using
72: .I mail
73: on noisy phone lines.
74: The
75: .B \-n
76: flag inhibits the reading of /usr/lib/Mail.rc.
77: .PP
78: .I "Sending mail.\ "
79: To send a message to one or more people,
80: .I mail
81: can be invoked with arguments which are the names of people to
82: whom the mail will be sent. You are then expected to type in
83: your message, followed
84: by an \s-2EOT\s0 (control\-D) at the beginning of a line.
85: A subject may be specified on the command line by using the
86: .B \-s
87: flag. (Only the first argument after the
88: .B \-s
89: flag is used as a subject; be careful to quote subjects
90: containing spaces.)
91: The section below, labeled
92: .I "Replying to or originating mail,"
93: describes some features of
94: .I mail
95: available to help you compose your letter.
96: .PP
97: .I "Reading mail.\ "
98: In normal usage
99: .I mail
100: is given no arguments and checks your mail out of the
101: post office, then
102: prints out a one line header of each message there.
103: The current message is initially the first message (numbered 1)
104: and can be printed using the
105: .B print
106: command (which can be abbreviated \fBp\fR).
107: You can move among the messages much as you move between lines in
108: .IR ed ,
109: with the commands `+' and `\-' moving backwards and forwards, and
110: simple numbers.
111: .PP
112: .I "Disposing of mail.\ "
113: After examining a message you can
114: .B delete
115: (\fBd\fR)
116: the message or
117: .B reply
118: (\fBr\fR)
119: to it.
120: Deletion causes the
121: .I mail
122: program to forget about the message.
123: This is not irreversible; the message can be
124: .B undeleted
125: (\fBu\fR)
126: by giving its number, or the
127: .I mail
128: session can be aborted by giving the
129: .B exit
130: (\fBx\fR)
131: command.
132: Deleted messages will, however, usually disappear never to be seen again.
133: .PP
134: .I "Specifying messages.\ "
135: Commands such as
136: .B print
137: and
138: .B delete
139: can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply
140: to a number of messages at once.
141: Thus ``delete 1 2'' deletes messages 1 and 2, while ``delete 1\-5''
142: deletes messages 1 through 5.
143: The special name ``*'' addresses all messages, and ``$'' addresses
144: the last message; thus the command
145: .B top
146: which prints the first few lines of a message could be used in
147: ``top *'' to print the first few lines of all messages.
148: .PP
149: .I "Replying to or originating mail.\ "
150: You can use the
151: .B reply
152: command to
153: set up a response to a message, sending it back to the
154: person who it was from.
155: Text you then type in, up to an end-of-file,
156: defines the contents of the message.
157: While you are composing a message,
158: .I mail
159: treats lines beginning with the character `~' specially.
160: For instance, typing ``~m'' (alone on a line) will place a copy
161: of the current message into the response right shifting it by a tabstop.
162: Other escapes will set up subject fields, add and delete recipients
163: to the message and allow you to escape to an editor to revise the
164: message or to a shell to run some commands. (These options
165: are given in the summary below.)
166: .PP
167: .I "Ending a mail processing session.\ "
168: You can end a
169: .I mail
170: session with the
171: .B quit
172: (\fBq\fR)
173: command.
174: Messages which have been examined go to your
175: .I mbox
176: file unless they have been deleted in which case they are discarded.
177: Unexamined messages go back to the post office.
178: The
179: .B \-f
180: option causes
181: .I mail
182: to read in the contents of your
183: .I mbox
184: (or the specified file)
185: for processing; when you
186: .BR quit ,
187: .I mail
188: writes undeleted messages back to this file.
189: The
190: .B \-u
191: flag is a short way of doing
192: "mail
193: .B \-f
194: /usr/spool/mail/user".
195: .PP
196: .I "Personal and systemwide distribution lists.\ "
197: It is also possible to create a personal distribution lists so that,
198: for instance, you can send mail to ``cohorts'' and have it go
199: to a group of people.
200: Such lists can be defined by placing a line like
201: .IP
202: alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory
203: .PP
204: in the file \&.mailrc in your home directory.
205: The current list of such aliases can be displayed with the
206: .B alias
207: .B (a)
208: command in
209: .IR mail .
210: System wide distribution lists can be created by editing
211: /usr/lib/aliases, see
212: .IR aliases (5)
213: and
214: .IR sendmail (8);
215: these are kept in a different syntax.
216: In mail you send, personal aliases will be expanded in mail sent
217: to others so that they will be able to \fBreply\fR to the recipients.
218: System wide \fIaliases\fR are not expanded when the mail is sent,
219: but any reply returned to the machine will have the system wide
220: alias expanded as all mail goes through
221: .IR sendmail .
222: .PP
223: .I "Network mail (ARPA, UUCP, Berknet)\ "
224: See
225: .IR mailaddr(7)
226: for a description of network addresses.
227: .PP
228: .I Mail
229: has a number of options which can be set in the
230: .I \&.mailrc
231: file to alter its behavior; thus ``set askcc'' enables the ``askcc''
232: feature. (These options are summarized below.)
233: .SH SUMMARY
234: (Adapted from the `Mail Reference Manual')
235: .PP
236: Each command is typed on a line by itself, and may take arguments
237: following the command word. The command need not be typed in its
238: entirety \- the first command which matches the typed prefix is used.
239: For commands which take message lists as arguments, if no message
240: list is given, then the next message forward which satisfies the
241: command's requirements is used. If there are no messages forward of
242: the current message, the search proceeds backwards, and if there are no
243: good messages at all,
244: .I mail
245: types ``No applicable messages'' and
246: aborts the command.
247: .TP 12n
248: .B \-
249: Goes to the previous message and prints it out. If given a numeric
250: argument
251: .IR n ,
252: goes to the
253: .IR n -th
254: previous message and prints it.
255: .TP
256: .B ?
257: Prints a brief summary of commands.
258: .TP
259: .B !
260: Executes the \s-2UNIX\s0 shell command which follows.
261: .TP
262: .B Print
263: (\fBP\fR)
264: Like
265: .B print
266: but also prints out ignored header fields. See also
267: .B print
268: ,
269: .B ignore
270: and
271: .B retain.
272: .TP
273: .B Reply
274: (\fBR\fR)
275: Reply to originator. Does not reply to other
276: recipients of the original message.
277: .TP
278: .B Type
279: (\fBT\fR)
280: Identical to the
281: .B Print
282: command.
283: .TP
284: .B alias
285: (\fBa\fR) With no arguments, prints out all currently-defined aliases. With one
286: argument, prints out that alias. With more than one argument, creates
287: an new or changes an on old alias.
288: .TP
289: .B alternates
290: (\fBalt\fR)
291: The
292: .B alternates
293: command is useful if you have accounts on several machines.
294: It can be used to inform
295: .I mail
296: that the listed addresses are really you. When you
297: .B reply
298: to messages,
299: .I mail
300: will not send a copy of the message to any of the addresses
301: listed on the
302: .I alternates
303: list. If the
304: .B alternates
305: command is given with no argument, the current set of alternate
306: names is displayed.
307: .TP
308: .B chdir
309: (\fBc\fR) Changes the user's working directory to that specified, if given. If
310: no directory is given, then changes to the user's login directory.
311: .TP
312: .B copy
313: (\fBco\fR)
314: The
315: .B copy
316: command does the same thing that
317: .B save
318: does, except that it does not mark the messages it
319: is used on for deletion when you quit.
320: .TP
321: .B delete
322: (\fBd\fR) Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted.
323: Deleted messages will not be saved in
324: .IR mbox ,
325: nor will they be available for most other commands.
326: .TP
327: .B dp
328: (also \fBdt\fR) Deletes the current message and prints the next message.
329: If there is no next message,
330: .I mail
331: says ``at EOF.''
332: .TP
333: .B edit
334: (\fBe\fR) Takes a list of messages and points the text editor at each one in
335: turn. On return from the editor, the message is read back in.
336: .TP
337: .B exit
338: (\fBex\fR or \fBx\fR) Effects an immediate return to the Shell without
339: modifying the user's system mailbox, his
340: .I mbox
341: file, or his edit file in
342: .BR \-f .
343: .TP
344: .B file
345: (\fBfi\fR)
346: The same as
347: .BR folder .
348: .TP
349: .B folders
350: List the names of the folders in your folder directory.
351: .TP
352: .B folder
353: (\fBfo\fR)
354: The
355: .B folder
356: command switches to a new mail file or folder. With no
357: arguments, it tells you which file you are currently reading.
358: If you give it an argument, it will write out changes (such
359: as deletions) you have made in the current file and read in
360: the new file. Some special conventions are recognized for
361: the name. # means the previous file, % means your system
362: mailbox, %user means user's system mailbox, & means
363: your \~/mbox file, and +folder means a file in your folder
364: directory.
365: .TP
366: .B from
367: (\fBf\fR) Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers.
368: .TP
369: .B headers
370: (\fBh\fR) Lists the current range of headers, which is an 18 message group. If
371: a ``+'' argument is given, then the next 18 message group is printed, and if
372: a ``\-'' argument is given, the previous 18 message group is printed.
373: .TP
374: .B help
375: A synonym for ?
376: .TP
377: .B hold
378: (\fBho\fR, also \fBpreserve\fR) Takes a message list and marks each
379: message therein to be saved in the
380: user's system mailbox instead of in
381: .IR mbox .
382: Does not override the
383: .B delete
384: command.
385: .TP
386: .B ignore
387: .B N.B.:
388: .I Ignore
389: has been superseded by
390: .I retain.
391: .br
392: Add the list of header fields named to the
393: .IR "ignored list" .
394: Header fields in the ignore list are not printed
395: on your terminal when you print a message. This
396: command is very handy for suppression of certain machine-generated
397: header fields. The
398: .B Type
399: and
400: .B Print
401: commands can be used to print a message in its entirety, including
402: ignored fields. If
403: .B ignore
404: is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of
405: ignored fields.
406: .TP
407: .B mail
408: (\fBm\fR) Takes as argument login names and distribution group names and sends
409: mail to those people.
410: .TP
411: .B mbox
412: Indicate that a list of messages be sent to
413: .I mbox
414: in your home directory when you quit. This is the default
415: action for messages if you do
416: .I not
417: have the
418: .I hold
419: option set.
420: .TP
421: .B next
422: (\fBn\fR like \fB+\fR or CR) Goes to the next message in sequence and types it.
423: With an argument list, types the next matching message.
424: .TP
425: .B preserve
426: (\fBpre\fR)
427: A synonym for
428: .BR hold .
429: .TP
430: .B print
431: (\fBp\fR)
432: Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's terminal.
433: .TP
434: .B quit
435: (\fBq\fR) Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in
436: the user's
437: .I mbox
438: file in his login directory, preserving all messages marked with
439: .B hold
440: or
441: .B preserve
442: or never referenced
443: in his system mailbox, and removing all other messages from his system
444: mailbox. If new mail has arrived during the session, the message
445: ``You have new mail'' is given. If given while editing a
446: mailbox file with the
447: .B \-f
448: flag, then the edit file is rewritten. A return to the Shell is
449: effected, unless the rewrite of edit file fails, in which case the user
450: can escape with the
451: .B exit
452: command.
453: .TP
454: .B reply
455: (\fBr\fR)
456: Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all
457: recipients of the specified message.
458: The default message must not be deleted.
459: .TP
460: .B respond
461: A synonym for
462: .BR reply .
463: .TP
464: .B retain
465: Add the list of header fields named to the
466: .IR "retained list" .
467: Only the header fields in the retain list
468: are shown on your terminal when you print a message.
469: All other header fields are suppressed.
470: The
471: .B Type
472: and
473: .B Print
474: commands can be used to print a message in its entirety.
475: If
476: .B retain
477: is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of
478: retained fields.
479: .TP
480: .B save
481: (\fBs\fR) Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in
482: turn to the end of the file. The filename in quotes, followed by the line
483: count and character count is echoed on the user's terminal.
484: .TP
485: .B set
486: (\fBse\fR) With no arguments, prints all variable values. Otherwise, sets
487: option. Arguments are of the form
488: ``option=value''
489: (no space before or after =) or
490: ``option.''
491: .TP
492: .B shell
493: (\fBsh\fR) Invokes an interactive version of the shell.
494: .TP
495: .B size
496: Takes a message list and prints out the size in characters of each
497: message.
498: .TP
499: .B source
500: (\fBso\fR)
501: The
502: .B source
503: command reads
504: .I mail
505: commands from a file.
506: .TP
507: .B top
508: Takes a message list and prints the top few lines of each. The number of
509: lines printed is controlled by the variable
510: .B toplines
511: and defaults to five.
512: .TP
513: .B type
514: (\fBt\fR) A synonym for
515: .BR print .
516: .TP
517: .B unalias
518: Takes a list of names defined by
519: .B alias
520: commands and discards the remembered groups of users. The group names
521: no longer have any significance.
522: .TP
523: .B undelete
524: (\fBu\fR) Takes a message list and marks each message as
525: .I not
526: being deleted.
527: .TP
528: .B unread
529: (\fBU\fR) Takes a message list and marks each message as
530: .I not
531: having been read.
532: .TP
533: .B unset
534: Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered values;
535: the inverse of
536: .BR set .
537: .TP
538: .B visual
539: (\fBv\fR) Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message.
540: .TP
541: .B write
542: (\fBw\fR) Similar to
543: .BR save ,
544: except that
545: .I only
546: the message body (\fIwithout\fP the header) is saved.
547: Extremely useful for such tasks as sending and receiving source
548: program text over the message system.
549: .TP
550: .B xit
551: (\fBx\fR) A synonym for
552: .BR exit .
553: .TP
554: .B z
555: .I Mail
556: presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the
557: .B headers
558: command. You can move
559: .IR mail 's
560: attention forward to the next window with the
561: .B z
562: command. Also, you can move to the previous window by using
563: .BR z\- .
564: .PP
565: Here is a summary of the tilde escapes,
566: which are used when composing messages to perform
567: special functions. Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning
568: of lines. The name
569: ``tilde\ escape''
570: is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual escape character can be set
571: by the option
572: .B escape.
573: .TP 12n
574: .BR ~! command
575: Execute the indicated shell command, then return to the message.
576: .TP
577: \fB~b\fR name ...
578: Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients but do not make
579: the names visible in the Cc: line ("blind" carbon copy).
580: .TP
581: \fB~c\fR name ...
582: Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients.
583: .TP
584: .B ~d
585: Read the file ``dead.letter'' from your home directory into the message.
586: .TP
587: .B ~e
588: Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far. After the
589: editing session is finished, you may continue appending text to the
590: message.
591: .TP
592: \fB~f\fR messages
593: Read the named messages into the message being sent.
594: If no messages are specified, read in the current message.
595: .TP
596: .B ~h
597: Edit the message header fields by typing each one in turn and allowing
598: the user to append text to the end or modify the field by using the
599: current terminal erase and kill characters.
600: .TP
601: \fB~m\fR messages
602: Read the named messages into the message being sent, shifted right one
603: tab. If no messages are specified, read the current message.
604: .TP
605: .B ~p
606: Print out the message collected so far, prefaced by the message header
607: fields.
608: .TP
609: .B ~q
610: Abort the message being sent, copying the message to
611: ``dead.letter''
612: in your home directory if
613: .B save
614: is set.
615: .TP
616: \fB~r\fR filename
617: Read the named file into the message.
618: .TP
619: \fB~s\fR string
620: Cause the named string to become the current subject field.
621: .TP
622: \fB~t\fR name ...
623: Add the given names to the direct recipient list.
624: .TP
625: .B ~v
626: Invoke an alternate editor (defined by the VISUAL option) on the
627: message collected so far. Usually, the alternate editor will be a
628: screen editor. After you quit the editor, you may resume appending
629: text to the end of your message.
630: .TP
631: \fB~w\fR filename
632: Write the message onto the named file.
633: .TP
634: \fB~\||\|\fRcommand
635: Pipe the message through the command as a filter. If the command gives
636: no output or terminates abnormally, retain the original text of the
637: message. The command
638: .IR fmt (1)
639: is often used as
640: .I command
641: to rejustify the message.
642: .TP
643: .BR ~~ string
644: Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single ~. If
645: you have changed the escape character, then you should double
646: that character in order to send it.
647: .PP
648: Options are controlled via the
649: .B set
650: and
651: .B unset
652: commands. Options may be either binary, in which case it is only
653: significant to see whether they are set or not; or string, in which
654: case the actual value is of interest.
655: The binary options include the following:
656: .TP 15n
657: .B append
658: Causes messages saved in
659: .I mbox
660: to be appended to the end rather than prepended.
661: (This is set in
662: /usr/lib/Mail.rc
663: on version 7 systems.)
664: .TP
665: .B ask
666: Causes
667: .I mail
668: to prompt you for the subject of each message you send. If
669: you respond with simply a newline, no subject field will be sent.
670: .TP
671: .B askcc
672: Causes you to be prompted for additional carbon copy recipients at the
673: end of each message. Responding with a newline indicates your
674: satisfaction with the current list.
675: .TP
676: .B autoprint
677: Causes the
678: .B delete
679: command to behave like
680: .B dp
681: \- thus, after deleting a message, the next one will be typed
682: automatically.
683: .TP
684: .B debug
685: Setting the binary option
686: .I debug
687: is the same as specifying
688: .B \-d
689: on the command line and causes
690: .I mail
691: to output all sorts of information useful for debugging
692: .IR mail .
693: .TP
694: .B dot
695: The binary option
696: .I dot
697: causes
698: .I mail
699: to interpret a period alone on a line as the terminator
700: of a message you are sending.
701: .TP
702: .B hold
703: This option is used to hold messages in the system mailbox
704: by default.
705: .TP
706: .B ignore
707: Causes interrupt signals from your terminal to be ignored and echoed as
708: @'s.
709: .TP
710: .B ignoreeof
711: An option related to
712: .I dot
713: is
714: .I ignoreeof
715: which makes
716: .I mail
717: refuse to accept a control-d as the end of a message.
718: .I Ignoreeof
719: also applies to
720: .I mail
721: command mode.
722: .TP
723: .B metoo
724: Usually, when a group is expanded that contains the sender, the sender
725: is removed from the expansion. Setting this option causes the sender
726: to be included in the group.
727: .TP
728: .B nosave
729: Normally, when you abort a message with two \s-2RUBOUT\s0,
730: .I mail
731: copies the partial letter to the file ``dead.letter''
732: in your home directory. Setting the binary option
733: .I nosave
734: prevents this.
735: .TP
736: .B Replyall
737: Reverses the sense of
738: .I reply
739: and
740: .I Reply
741: commands.
742: .TP
743: .B quiet
744: Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked.
745: .TP
746: .B verbose
747: Setting the option
748: .I verbose
749: is the same as using the
750: .B \-v
751: flag on the command line. When mail runs in verbose mode,
752: the actual delivery of messages is displayed on he users
753: terminal.
754: .PP
755: The following options have string values:
756: .TP 15n
757: EDITOR
758: Pathname of the text editor to use in the
759: .B edit
760: command and ~e escape. If not defined, then a default editor is used.
761: .TP
762: PAGER
763: Pathname of the program to use in the
764: .B more
765: command or when
766: .I crt
767: variable is set. A default paginator is used if this option is
768: not defined.
769: .TP
770: SHELL
771: Pathname of the shell to use in the
772: .B !
773: command and the ~! escape. A default shell is used if this option is
774: not defined.
775: .TP
776: VISUAL
777: Pathname of the text editor to use in the
778: .B visual
779: command and ~v escape.
780: .TP
781: .B crt
782: The valued option
783: .I crt
784: is used as a threshold to determine how long a message must
785: be before
786: .B PAGER
787: is used to read it.
788: .TP
789: .B escape
790: If defined, the first character of this option gives the character to
791: use in the place of ~ to denote escapes.
792: .TP
793: .B folder
794: The name of the directory to use for storing folders of
795: messages. If this name begins with a `/',
796: .I mail
797: considers it to be an absolute pathname; otherwise, the
798: folder directory is found relative to your home directory.
799: .TP
800: .B record
801: If defined, gives the pathname of the file used to record all outgoing
802: mail. If not defined, then outgoing mail is not so saved.
803: .TP
804: .B toplines
805: If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be printed out
806: with the
807: .B top
808: command; normally, the first five lines are printed.
809: .SH FILES
810: .if n .ta 2.5i
811: .if t .ta 1.8i
812: /usr/spool/mail/* post office
813: .br
814: ~/mbox your old mail
815: .br
816: ~/.mailrc file giving initial mail commands
817: .br
818: /tmp/R# temporary for editor escape
819: .br
820: /usr/lib/Mail.help* help files
821: .br
822: /usr/lib/Mail.rc system initialization file
823: .br
824: Message* temporary for editing messages
825: .SH "SEE ALSO"
826: binmail(1), fmt(1), newaliases(1), aliases(5),
827: .br
828: mailaddr(7), sendmail(8)
829: .br
830: `The Mail Reference Manual'
831: .SH BUGS
832: There are many flags that are not documented here. Most are
833: not useful to the general user.
834: .br
835: Usually,
836: .I mail
837: is just a link to
838: .IR Mail ,
839: which can be confusing.
840: .SH AUTHOR
841: Kurt Shoens
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