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MAIL User Commands MAIL NNAAMMEE mail - send and receive mail SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS mmaaiill [ --iiIInnvv ] [ --ss subject ] [ --cc cc-addr ] [ --bb bcc-addr ] to-addr... mmaaiill [ --iiIInnNNvv ] --ff [ name ] mmaaiill [ --iiIInnNNvv ] [ --uu user ] IINNTTRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN _M_a_i_l is a intelligent mail processing system, which has a command syntax reminiscent of _e_d with lines replaced by mes- sages. The --vv flag puts mail into verbose mode; the details of delivery are displayed on the users terminal. The --ii flag causes tty interrupt signals to be ignored. This is particu- larly useful when using _m_a_i_l on noisy phone lines. The --II flag forces mail to run in interactive mode even when input isn't a terminal. In particular, the `~' special character when sending mail is only active in interactive mode. The --nn flag inhibits the reading of /usr/lib/Mail.rc. The --NN flag inhibits the initial display of message headers when reading mail or editing a mail folder. _S_e_n_d_i_n_g _m_a_i_l. To send a message to one or more people, _m_a_i_l can be invoked with arguments which are the names of people to whom the mail will be sent. 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 com- mand line by using the --ss flag. (Only the first argument after the --ss flag is used as a subject; be careful to quote subjects containing spaces.) Lists of users to send carbon copies and blind carbon copies to may be specified using the --cc and --bb options, respectively. The single argument fol- lowing the flag is taken to be a comma-separated list of names. The section below, labeled _R_e_p_l_y_i_n_g _t_o _o_r _o_r_i_g_i_n_a_t_- _i_n_g _m_a_i_l, describes some features of _m_a_i_l available to help you compose your letter. _R_e_a_d_i_n_g _m_a_i_l. In normal usage _m_a_i_l 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 mes- sage is initially the first message (numbered 1) and can be printed using the pprriinntt command (which can be abbreviated pp). You can move among the messages much as you move between lines in _e_d, with the commands `+' and `-' moving backwards and forwards, and simple numbers. _D_i_s_p_o_s_i_n_g _o_f _m_a_i_l. After examining a message you can ddeelleettee (dd) the message or rreeppllyy (rr) to it. Deletion causes the _m_a_i_l program to forget about the message. This is not Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 1 MAIL User Commands MAIL irreversible; the message can be uunnddeelleetteedd (uu) by giving its number, or the _m_a_i_l session can be aborted by giving the eexxiitt (xx) command. Deleted messages will, however, usually disappear never to be seen again. _S_p_e_c_i_f_y_i_n_g _m_e_s_s_a_g_e_s. Commands such as pprriinntt and ddeelleettee 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 through 5. The special name ``*'' addresses all messages, and ``$'' addresses the last message; thus the command ttoopp which prints the first few lines of a message could be used in ``top *'' to print the first few lines of all messages. _R_e_p_l_y_i_n_g _t_o _o_r _o_r_i_g_i_n_a_t_i_n_g _m_a_i_l. You can use the rreeppllyy com- mand 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, _m_a_i_l 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 (see ``tabstr'' variable, below). Other escapes will set up sub- ject 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.) _E_n_d_i_n_g _a _m_a_i_l _p_r_o_c_e_s_s_i_n_g _s_e_s_s_i_o_n. You can end a _m_a_i_l ses- sion with the qquuiitt (qq) command. Messages which have been examined go to your _m_b_o_x file unless they have been deleted in which case they are discarded. Unexamined messages go back to the post office. The --ff option causes _m_a_i_l to read in the contents of your _m_b_o_x (or the specified file) for processing; when you qquuiitt, _m_a_i_l writes undeleted messages back to this file. The --uu flag is a short way of doing "mail --ff /usr/spool/mail/user". _P_e_r_s_o_n_a_l _a_n_d _s_y_s_t_e_m_w_i_d_e _d_i_s_t_r_i_b_u_t_i_o_n _l_i_s_t_s. It is also pos- sible 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 aalliiaass ((aa)) command in _m_a_i_l. System wide distribution lists can be created by editing /usr/lib/aliases, see _a_l_i_a_s_e_s(5) and _s_e_n_d_m_a_i_l(8); these are kept in a different syntax. In mail you send, personal aliases will be expanded in mail sent to Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 2 MAIL User Commands MAIL others so that they will be able to rreeppllyy to the recipients. System wide _a_l_i_a_s_e_s are not expanded when the mail is sent, but any reply returned to the machine will have the system wide alias expanded as all mail goes through _s_e_n_d_m_a_i_l. _N_e_t_w_o_r_k _m_a_i_l (_A_R_P_A, _U_U_C_P, _B_e_r_k_n_e_t) See _m_a_i_l_a_d_d_r(_7) for a description of network addresses. _M_a_i_l has a number of options which can be set in the ._m_a_i_l_r_c file to alter its behavior; thus ``set askcc'' enables the ``askcc'' feature. (These options are summarized below.) SSUUMMMMAARRYY (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 require- ments 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, _m_a_i_l types ``No applicable mes- sages'' 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. PPrriinntt (PP) Like pprriinntt but also prints out ignored header fields. See also pprriinntt , iiggnnoorree and rreettaaiinn.. RReeppllyy (RR) Reply to originator. Does not reply to other recipients of the original message. TTyyppee (TT) Identical to the PPrriinntt command. aalliiaass (aa) With no arguments, prints out all currently-defined aliases. With one argument, prints out that alias. With more than one argu- ment, creates a new alias or changes an old one. aalltteerrnnaatteess (aalltt) The aalltteerrnnaatteess command is useful if you have accounts on several machines. It can be used to inform _m_a_i_l that the listed addresses are really you. When you rreeppllyy to messages, _m_a_i_l Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 3 MAIL User Commands MAIL will not send a copy of the message to any of the addresses listed on the _a_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e_s list. If the aalltteerrnnaatteess command is given with no argu- ment, the current set of alternate names is displayed. cchhddiirr (cc) Changes the user's working directory to that specified, if given. If no directory is given, then changes to the user's login directory. ccooppyy (ccoo) The ccooppyy command does the same thing that ssaavvee does, except that it does not mark the mes- sages it is used on for deletion when you quit. ddeelleettee (dd) Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted. Deleted messages will not be saved in _m_b_o_x, nor will they be available for most other commands. ddpp (also ddtt) Deletes the current message and prints the next message. If there is no next message, _m_a_i_l says ``at EOF.'' eeddiitt (ee) 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. eexxiitt (eexx or xx) Effects an immediate return to the Shell without modifying the user's system mail- box, his _m_b_o_x file, or his edit file in --ff. ffiillee (ffii) The same as ffoollddeerr. ffoollddeerrss List the names of the folders in your folder directory. ffoollddeerr (ffoo) The ffoollddeerr 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 con- ventions are recognized for the name. # means the previous file, % means your system mailbox, %user means user's system mailbox, & means your _m_b_o_x file, and +folder means a file in your folder directory. ffrroomm (ff) Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers. hheeaaddeerrss (hh) Lists the current range of headers, which is Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 4 MAIL User Commands MAIL 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. hheellpp A synonym for ? hhoolldd (hhoo, also pprreesseerrvvee) Takes a message list and marks each message therein to be saved in the user's system mailbox instead of in _m_b_o_x. Does not override the ddeelleettee command. iiggnnoorree NN..BB..:: _I_g_n_o_r_e has been superseded by _r_e_t_a_i_n. Add the list of header fields named to the _i_g_n_o_r_e_d _l_i_s_t. 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 TTyyppee and PPrriinntt commands can be used to print a message in its entirety, including ignored fields. If iiggnnoorree is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of ignored fields. mmaaiill (mm) Takes as argument login names and distribu- tion group names and sends mail to those people. mmbbooxx Indicate that a list of messages be sent to _m_b_o_x in your home directory when you quit. This is the default action for messages if you do _n_o_t have the _h_o_l_d option set. nneexxtt (nn like ++ or CR) Goes to the next message in sequence and types it. With an argument list, types the next matching message. pprreesseerrvvee (pprree) A synonym for hhoolldd. pprriinntt (pp) Takes a message list and types out each mes- sage on the user's terminal. qquuiitt (qq) Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in the user's _m_b_o_x file in his login directory, preserving all mes- sages marked with hhoolldd or pprreesseerrvvee 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 --ff flag, then the edit file is rewritten. A return to the Shell is effected, unless the rewrite of Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 5 MAIL User Commands MAIL edit file fails, in which case the user can escape with the eexxiitt command. rreeppllyy (rr) Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all recipients of the specified mes- sage. The default message must not be deleted. rreessppoonndd A synonym for rreeppllyy. rreettaaiinn Add the list of header fields named to the _r_e_t_a_i_n_e_d _l_i_s_t. Only the header fields in the retain list are shown on your terminal when you print a message. All other header fields are suppressed. The TTyyppee and PPrriinntt commands can be used to print a message in its entirety. If rreettaaiinn is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of retained fields. ssaavvee (ss) 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. sseett (ssee) With no arguments, prints all variable values. Otherwise, sets option. Arguments are of the form ``option=value'' (no space before or after =) or ``option.'' Quotation marks may be placed around any part of the assignment state- ment to quote blanks or tabs, i.e. ``set tabstr="-> "''. ssaavveeiiggnnoorree SSaavveeiiggnnoorree is to ssaavvee what iiggnnoorree is to pprriinntt and ttyyppee. Header fields thus marked are fil- tered out when saving a message by ssaavvee or when automatically saving to _m_b_o_x. ssaavveerreettaaiinn SSaavveerreettaaiinn is to ssaavvee what rreettaaiinn is to pprriinntt and ttyyppee. Header fields thus marked are the only ones saved with a message when saving by ssaavvee or when automatically saving to _m_b_o_x. SSaavveerreettaaiinn overrides ssaavveeiiggnnoorree. sshheellll (sshh) Invokes an interactive version of the shell. ssiizzee Takes a message list and prints out the size in characters of each message. ssoouurrccee (ssoo) The ssoouurrccee command reads _m_a_i_l commands from a file. Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 6 MAIL User Commands MAIL ttoopp Takes a message list and prints the top few lines of each. The number of lines printed is controlled by the variable ttoopplliinneess and defaults to five. ttyyppee (tt) A synonym for pprriinntt. uunnaalliiaass Takes a list of names defined by aalliiaass commands and discards the remembered groups of users. The group names no longer have any significance. uunnddeelleettee (uu) Takes a message list and marks each message as _n_o_t being deleted. uunnrreeaadd (UU) Takes a message list and marks each message as _n_o_t having been read. uunnsseett Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered values; the inverse of sseett. vviissuuaall (vv) Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message. wwrriittee (ww) Similar to ssaavvee, except that _o_n_l_y the mes- sage body (_w_i_t_h_o_u_t the header) is saved. Extremely useful for such tasks as sending and receiving source program text over the message system. xxiitt (xx) A synonym for eexxiitt. zz _M_a_i_l presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the hheeaaddeerrss command. You can move _m_a_i_l's attention forward to the next window with the zz command. Also, you can move to the previous window by using zz--. 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 eessccaappee.. ~~!!command Execute the indicated shell command, then return to the message. ~~bb name ... Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients but do not make the names visible in the Cc: line ("blind" carbon copy). ~~cc name ... Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients. Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 7 MAIL User Commands MAIL ~~dd Read the file ``dead.letter'' from your home directory into the message. ~~ee Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far. After the editing session is finished, you may continue appending text to the message. ~~ff messages Read the named messages into the message being sent. If no messages are specified, read in the current message. Message headers currently being ignored (by the _i_g_n_o_r_e or _r_e_t_a_i_n command) are not included. ~~FF messages Identical to ~~ff, except all message headers are included. ~~hh 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. ~~mm messages Read the named messages into the message being sent, shifted right one tab or by the value of _t_a_b_s_t_r. If no messages are specified, read the current message. Message headers currently being ignored (by the _i_g_n_o_r_e or _r_e_t_a_i_n command) are not included. ~~MM messages Identical to ~~mm, except all message headers are included. ~~pp Print out the message collected so far, prefaced by the message header fields. ~~qq Abort the message being sent, copying the mes- sage to ``dead.letter'' in your home directory if ssaavvee is set. ~~rr filename Read the named file into the message. ~~ss string Cause the named string to become the current subject field. ~~tt name ... Add the given names to the direct recipient list. ~~vv 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 mes- sage. Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 8 MAIL User Commands MAIL ~~ww 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 ter- minates abnormally, retain the original text of the message. The command _f_m_t(1) is often used as _c_o_m_m_a_n_d to rejustify the message. ~~:: mail-command Execute the given mail command. Not all com- mands, however, are allowed. ~~~~string Insert the string of text in the message pre- faced 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 sseett and uunnsseett commands. Options may be either binary, in which case it is only sig- nificant 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: aappppeenndd Causes messages saved in _m_b_o_x to be appended to the end rather than prepended. This should always be set (perhaps in /usr/lib/Mail.rc). aasskk Causes _m_a_i_l to prompt you for the subject of each message you send. If you respond with simply a newline, no subject field will be sent. aasskkcccc Causes you to be prompted for additional car- bon copy recipients at the end of each mes- sage. Responding with a newline indicates your satisfaction with the current list. aauuttoopprriinntt Causes the ddeelleettee command to behave like ddpp - thus, after deleting a message, the next one will be typed automatically. ddeebbuugg Setting the binary option _d_e_b_u_g is the same as specifying --dd on the command line and causes _m_a_i_l to output all sorts of informa- tion useful for debugging _m_a_i_l. ddoott The binary option _d_o_t causes _m_a_i_l to inter- pret a period alone on a line as the termina- tor of a message you are sending. hhoolldd This option is used to hold messages in the Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 9 MAIL User Commands MAIL system mailbox by default. iiggnnoorree Causes interrupt signals from your terminal to be ignored and echoed as @'s. iiggnnoorreeeeooff An option related to _d_o_t is _i_g_n_o_r_e_e_o_f which makes _m_a_i_l refuse to accept a control-d as the end of a message. _I_g_n_o_r_e_e_o_f also applies to _m_a_i_l command mode. mmeettoooo Usually, when a group is expanded that con- tains the sender, the sender is removed from the expansion. Setting this option causes the sender to be included in the group. nnoohheeaaddeerr Setting the option _n_o_h_e_a_d_e_r is the same as giving the --NN flag on the command line. nnoossaavvee Normally, when you abort a message with two RUBOUT, _m_a_i_l copies the partial letter to the file ``dead.letter'' in your home directory. Setting the binary option _n_o_s_a_v_e prevents this. RReeppllyyaallll Reverses the sense of _r_e_p_l_y and _R_e_p_l_y com- mands. qquuiieett Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked. vveerrbboossee Setting the option _v_e_r_b_o_s_e is the same as using the --vv 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 eeddiitt command and ~e escape. If not defined, then a default editor is used. LISTER Pathname of the directory lister to use in the ffoollddeerrss command. Default is /bin/ls. PAGER Pathname of the program to use in the mmoorree command or when _c_r_t variable is set. The default paginator _m_o_r_e(_1) is used if this option is not defined. SHELL Pathname of the shell to use in the !! command and the ~! escape. A default shell is used Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 10 MAIL User Commands MAIL if this option is not defined. VISUAL Pathname of the text editor to use in the vviissuuaall command and ~v escape. ccrrtt The valued option _c_r_t is used as a threshold to determine how long a message must be before PPAAGGEERR is used to read it. If _c_r_t is set without a value, then the height of the terminal screen stored in the system is used to compute the threshold (see _s_t_t_y(_1)). eessccaappee If defined, the first character of this option gives the character to use in the place of ~ to denote escapes. ffoollddeerr The name of the directory to use for storing folders of messages. If this name begins with a `/', _m_a_i_l considers it to be an absolute pathname; otherwise, the folder directory is found relative to your home directory. MMBBOOXX The name of the _m_b_o_x file. It can be the name of a folder. The default is ``mbox'' in the user's home directory. rreeccoorrdd If defined, gives the pathname of the file used to record all outgoing mail. If not defined, then outgoing mail is not so saved. ttaabbssttrr String used by the ``~m'' tilde escape for tabbing messages, in place of the normal tab character (^I). Be sure to quote the value if it contains spaces or tabs. ttoopplliinneess If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be printed out with the ttoopp com- mand; normally, the first five lines are printed. FFIILLEESS /usr/spool/mail/* post office ~/mbox your old mail ~/.mailrc file giving initial mail commands /tmp/R* temporary files /usr/lib/Mail.help* help files /usr/lib/Mail.rc system initialization file SSEEEE AALLSSOO binmail(1), fmt(1), newaliases(1), aliases(5), mailaddr(7), sendmail(8) `The Mail Reference Manual' Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 11 MAIL User Commands MAIL BBUUGGSS There are some flags that are not documented here. Most are not useful to the general user. Usually, _m_a_i_l is just a link to _M_a_i_l, which can be confus- ing. AAUUTTHHOORR Kurt Shoens Sprite v1.0 February 13, 1989 12