Annotation of src/usr.bin/mail/mail.1, Revision 1.62
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1.5 millert 30: .\" @(#)mail.1 8.8 (Berkeley) 4/28/95
1.1 deraadt 31: .\"
1.62 ! jmc 32: .Dd $Mdocdate: July 18 2013 $
1.1 deraadt 33: .Dt MAIL 1
1.24 aaron 34: .Os
1.1 deraadt 35: .Sh NAME
1.7 millert 36: .Nm mail ,
37: .Nm mailx ,
38: .Nm Mail
1.1 deraadt 39: .Nd send and receive mail
40: .Sh SYNOPSIS
41: .Nm mail
1.39 jmc 42: .Bk -words
1.54 martynas 43: .Op Fl dEIinv
1.43 jmc 44: .Op Fl b Ar list
45: .Op Fl c Ar list
1.1 deraadt 46: .Op Fl s Ar subject
1.51 sobrado 47: .Ar to-addr ...
48: .Op Fl Ar sendmail-options ...
1.39 jmc 49: .Ek
1.1 deraadt 50: .Nm mail
1.54 martynas 51: .Op Fl dEIiNnv
1.1 deraadt 52: .Fl f
1.52 martynas 53: .Op Ar file
1.1 deraadt 54: .Nm mail
1.54 martynas 55: .Op Fl dEIiNnv
1.1 deraadt 56: .Op Fl u Ar user
1.22 aaron 57: .Sh DESCRIPTION
1.19 aaron 58: .Nm mail
1.18 aaron 59: is an intelligent mail processing system which has
1.1 deraadt 60: a command syntax reminiscent of
1.43 jmc 61: .Xr ed 1
1.1 deraadt 62: with lines replaced by messages.
1.26 aaron 63: .Pp
64: The options are as follows:
1.33 aaron 65: .Bl -tag -width Ds
1.43 jmc 66: .It Fl b Ar list
67: Send blind carbon copies to
68: .Ar list .
69: .It Fl c Ar list
70: Send carbon copies to
71: .Ar list
72: of users.
73: .Ar list
74: should be a comma separated list of names.
1.54 martynas 75: .It Fl d
76: Causes
77: .Nm mail
78: to output all sorts of information useful for debugging
79: .Nm mail .
1.53 martynas 80: .It Fl E
81: Don't send messages with an empty body.
1.52 martynas 82: .It Fl f Op Ar file
1.43 jmc 83: Read in the contents of your mailbox
1.52 martynas 84: (or the specified
85: .Ar file )
1.43 jmc 86: for processing; when you quit,
1.1 deraadt 87: .Nm mail
1.52 martynas 88: writes undeleted messages back to this
89: .Ar file .
1.1 deraadt 90: .It Fl I
1.22 aaron 91: Forces
92: .Nm mail
93: to run in interactive mode, even when input is not a terminal.
94: In particular, the special
1.43 jmc 95: .Ic ~
1.22 aaron 96: command character, used when sending mail, is only available interactively.
1.43 jmc 97: .It Fl i
98: Ignore tty interrupt signals.
99: This is
100: particularly useful when using
101: .Nm mail
102: on noisy phone lines.
103: .It Fl N
104: Inhibits initial display of message headers
105: when reading mail or editing a mail folder.
1.1 deraadt 106: .It Fl n
107: Inhibits reading
108: .Pa /etc/mail.rc
109: upon startup.
1.8 deraadt 110: .It Fl s Ar subject
1.1 deraadt 111: Specify subject on command line
112: (only the first argument after the
113: .Fl s
114: flag is used as a subject; be careful to quote subjects
1.22 aaron 115: containing spaces).
1.8 deraadt 116: .It Fl u Ar user
1.45 jmc 117: Equivalent to:
1.1 deraadt 118: .Pp
1.35 deraadt 119: .Dl $ mail -f /var/mail/user
1.22 aaron 120: .Pp
121: except that locking is done.
1.43 jmc 122: .It Fl v
123: Verbose mode.
124: The details of
125: delivery are displayed on the user's terminal.
1.1 deraadt 126: .El
1.10 deraadt 127: .Ss Startup actions
1.22 aaron 128: At startup time,
1.24 aaron 129: .Nm mail
1.46 jmc 130: will execute commands in the system command file,
131: .Pa /etc/mail.rc ,
132: unless explicitly told not to by using the
1.10 deraadt 133: .Fl n
1.27 aaron 134: option.
135: Next, the commands in the user's personal command file
1.24 aaron 136: .Pa ~/.mailrc
1.10 deraadt 137: are executed.
138: .Nm mail
139: then examines its command line options to determine whether the user
140: requested a new message to be sent or existing messages in a mailbox
141: to be examined.
1.1 deraadt 142: .Ss Sending mail
143: To send a message to one or more people,
144: .Nm mail
145: can be invoked with arguments which are the names of people to
146: whom the mail will be sent.
147: You are then expected to type in
148: your message, followed
1.22 aaron 149: by a control-D
150: .Pq Sq ^D
1.1 deraadt 151: at the beginning of a line.
1.18 aaron 152: The section below,
1.48 jmc 153: .Sx Replying to or originating mail ,
1.1 deraadt 154: describes some features of
155: .Nm mail
156: available to help you compose your letter.
157: .Ss Reading mail
1.22 aaron 158: In normal usage,
1.1 deraadt 159: .Nm mail
160: is given no arguments and checks your mail out of the
161: post office, then
162: prints out a one line header of each message found.
1.22 aaron 163: The current message is initially set to the first message (numbered 1)
1.1 deraadt 164: and can be printed using the
165: .Ic print
166: command (which can be abbreviated
1.6 deraadt 167: .Ic p ) .
1.22 aaron 168: Moving among the messages is much like moving between lines in
169: .Xr ed 1 ;
170: you may use
1.43 jmc 171: .Ic +
1.1 deraadt 172: and
1.43 jmc 173: .Ic -
1.22 aaron 174: to shift forwards and backwards, or simply enter a message number to move
175: directly.
176: .Ss Disposing of mail
1.1 deraadt 177: After examining a message you can
178: .Ic delete
1.6 deraadt 179: .Pq Ic d
1.22 aaron 180: or
1.1 deraadt 181: .Ic reply
1.6 deraadt 182: .Pq Ic r
1.1 deraadt 183: to it.
184: Deletion causes the
185: .Nm mail
186: program to forget about the message.
187: This is not irreversible; the message can be
188: .Ic undeleted
1.6 deraadt 189: .Pq Ic u
1.1 deraadt 190: by giving its number, or the
191: .Nm mail
192: session can be aborted by giving the
193: .Ic exit
1.6 deraadt 194: .Pq Ic x
1.1 deraadt 195: command.
1.22 aaron 196: Deleted messages, however, will usually disappear, never to be seen again.
1.1 deraadt 197: .Ss Specifying messages
198: Commands such as
199: .Ic print
200: and
201: .Ic delete
202: can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply
203: to a number of messages at once.
204: Thus
1.22 aaron 205: .Ic delete 1 2
1.1 deraadt 206: deletes messages 1 and 2, while
1.22 aaron 207: .Ic delete 1\-5
1.1 deraadt 208: deletes messages 1 through 5.
1.61 jmc 209: .Pp
210: Messages may also be selected using one of the following categories:
211: .Pp
212: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
213: .It *
214: all messages
215: .It $
216: last message
217: .It :d
218: deleted messages
219: .It :n
220: new messages
221: .It :o
222: old messages
223: .It :r
224: read messages
225: .It :u
226: unread messages
227: .El
228: .Pp
229: Thus the command
230: .Ic top ,
231: which prints the first few lines of a message,
232: could be used in
1.43 jmc 233: .Ic top *
1.1 deraadt 234: to print the first few lines of all messages.
1.22 aaron 235: .Ss Replying to or originating mail
1.1 deraadt 236: You can use the
237: .Ic reply
238: command to
239: set up a response to a message, sending it back to the
240: person who it was from.
241: Text you then type in, up to an end-of-file,
242: defines the contents of the message.
243: While you are composing a message,
244: .Nm mail
1.22 aaron 245: treats lines beginning with the tilde
246: .Pq Sq ~
247: character specially.
1.1 deraadt 248: For instance, typing
1.22 aaron 249: .Ic ~m
1.1 deraadt 250: (alone on a line) will place a copy
1.22 aaron 251: of the current message into the response, right shifting it by a single
1.45 jmc 252: tab-stop (see the
1.22 aaron 253: .Va indentprefix
1.1 deraadt 254: variable, below).
255: Other escapes will set up subject fields, add and delete recipients
1.45 jmc 256: to the message, and allow you to escape to an editor to revise the
1.1 deraadt 257: message or to a shell to run some commands.
258: (These options
259: are given in the summary below.)
1.22 aaron 260: .Ss Ending a mail processing session
1.1 deraadt 261: You can end a
262: .Nm mail
263: session with the
264: .Ic quit
1.6 deraadt 265: .Pq Ic q
1.1 deraadt 266: command.
267: Messages which have been examined go to your
268: .Ar mbox
1.45 jmc 269: file unless they have been deleted, in which case they are discarded.
1.22 aaron 270: Unexamined messages go back to the post office (see the
1.1 deraadt 271: .Fl f
272: option above).
1.22 aaron 273: .Ss Personal and system wide distribution lists
1.15 aaron 274: It is also possible to create personal distribution lists so that,
1.1 deraadt 275: for instance, you can send mail to
276: .Dq Li cohorts
277: and have it go
278: to a group of people.
279: Such lists can be defined by placing a line like
280: .Pp
281: .Dl alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory
282: .Pp
283: in the file
1.43 jmc 284: .Pa .mailrc
1.1 deraadt 285: in your home directory.
286: The current list of such aliases can be displayed with the
287: .Ic alias
288: command in
1.22 aaron 289: .Nm mail .
1.1 deraadt 290: System wide distribution lists can be created by editing
1.47 jmc 291: .Pa /etc/mail/aliases
1.22 aaron 292: (see
293: .Xr aliases 5
1.1 deraadt 294: and
1.22 aaron 295: .Xr sendmail 8 ) ;
1.1 deraadt 296: these are kept in a different syntax.
297: In mail you send, personal aliases will be expanded in mail sent
298: to others so that they will be able to
299: .Ic reply
300: to the recipients.
1.22 aaron 301: System wide aliases
1.1 deraadt 302: are not expanded when the mail is sent,
303: but any reply returned to the machine will have the system wide
304: alias expanded as all mail goes through
1.22 aaron 305: .Xr sendmail .
1.1 deraadt 306: .Ss Network mail (ARPA, UUCP, Berknet)
307: See
308: .Xr mailaddr 7
309: for a description of network addresses.
310: .Pp
1.19 aaron 311: .Nm mail
1.1 deraadt 312: has a number of options which can be set in the
313: .Pa .mailrc
314: file to alter its behavior; thus
1.25 aaron 315: .Ic set askcc
1.1 deraadt 316: enables the
317: .Ar askcc
318: feature.
319: (These options are summarized below.)
320: .Sh SUMMARY
1.22 aaron 321: (Adapted from the
1.24 aaron 322: .Dq Mail Reference Manual . )
1.1 deraadt 323: .Pp
324: Each command is typed on a line by itself, and may take arguments
325: following the command word.
326: The command need not be typed in its
1.22 aaron 327: entirety -- the first command which matches the typed prefix is used.
1.1 deraadt 328: For commands which take message lists as arguments, if no message
329: list is given, then the next message forward which satisfies the
330: command's requirements is used.
331: If there are no messages forward of
332: the current message, the search proceeds backwards, and if there are no
333: good messages at all,
334: .Nm mail
335: types
1.43 jmc 336: .Dq \&No applicable messages
1.1 deraadt 337: and
338: aborts the command.
339: .Bl -tag -width delete
1.43 jmc 340: .It Ic -
1.1 deraadt 341: Print out the preceding message.
342: If given a numeric
343: argument
1.22 aaron 344: .Ar n ,
1.1 deraadt 345: goes to the
1.22 aaron 346: .Ar n Ns th
1.1 deraadt 347: previous message and prints it.
348: .It Ic \&?
349: Prints a brief summary of commands.
350: .It Ic \&!
351: Executes the shell
352: (see
353: .Xr sh 1
354: and
355: .Xr csh 1 )
356: command which follows.
357: .It Ic alias
358: .Pq Ic a
1.23 aaron 359: With no arguments, prints out all currently defined aliases.
1.1 deraadt 360: With one
361: argument, prints out that alias.
362: With more than one argument, creates
363: a new alias or changes an old one.
364: .It Ic alternates
365: .Pq Ic alt
366: The
367: .Ic alternates
368: command is useful if you have accounts on several machines.
369: It can be used to inform
370: .Nm mail
371: that the listed addresses are really you.
372: When you
373: .Ic reply
374: to messages,
375: .Nm mail
376: will not send a copy of the message to any of the addresses
377: listed on the
378: .Ic alternates
379: list.
380: If the
381: .Ic alternates
382: command is given with no argument, the current set of alternate
383: names is displayed.
384: .It Ic chdir
385: .Pq Ic c
386: Changes the user's working directory to that specified, if given.
387: If
388: no directory is given, then changes to the user's login directory.
389: .It Ic copy
390: .Pq Ic co
391: The
392: .Ic copy
393: command does the same thing that
394: .Ic save
395: does, except that it does not mark the messages it
396: is used on for deletion when you quit.
397: .It Ic delete
398: .Pq Ic d
399: Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted.
400: Deleted messages will not be saved in
1.22 aaron 401: .Ar mbox ,
1.1 deraadt 402: nor will they be available for most other commands.
403: .It Ic dp
404: (also
405: .Ic dt )
406: Deletes the current message and prints the next message.
407: If there is no next message,
408: .Nm mail
409: says
1.45 jmc 410: .Dq Li "\&No more messages."
1.1 deraadt 411: .It Ic edit
412: .Pq Ic e
413: Takes a list of messages and points the text editor at each one in
414: turn.
415: On return from the editor, the message is read back in.
416: .It Ic exit
417: .Pf ( Ic ex
418: or
419: .Ic x )
1.15 aaron 420: Effects an immediate return to the shell without
1.1 deraadt 421: modifying the user's system mailbox, his
422: .Ar mbox
423: file, or his edit file in
1.22 aaron 424: .Fl f .
1.1 deraadt 425: .It Ic file
426: .Pq Ic fi
427: The same as
1.22 aaron 428: .Ic folder .
1.1 deraadt 429: .It Ic folder
430: .Pq Ic fo
431: The
432: .Ic folder
433: command switches to a new mail file or folder.
434: With no
435: arguments, it tells you which file you are currently reading.
436: If you give it an argument, it will write out changes (such
437: as deletions) you have made in the current file and read in
438: the new file.
439: Some special conventions are recognized for
440: the name.
441: # means the previous file, % means your system
442: mailbox, %user means user's system mailbox, & means
443: your
444: .Ar mbox
445: file, and
1.43 jmc 446: +folder means a file in your folder
1.1 deraadt 447: directory.
1.48 jmc 448: .It Ic folders
449: List the names of the folders in your folder directory.
1.1 deraadt 450: .It Ic from
451: .Pq Ic f
452: Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers.
453: .It Ic headers
454: .Pq Ic h
1.45 jmc 455: Lists the current windowful of headers.
456: To view the next or previous group of headers, see the
457: .Ic z
458: command.
1.1 deraadt 459: .It Ic help
460: A synonym for
1.22 aaron 461: .Ic \&? .
1.1 deraadt 462: .It Ic hold
463: .Pf ( Ic ho ,
464: also
465: .Ic preserve )
466: Takes a message list and marks each
467: message therein to be saved in the
468: user's system mailbox instead of in
1.22 aaron 469: .Ar mbox .
1.1 deraadt 470: Does not override the
471: .Ic delete
472: command.
473: .It Ic ignore
474: Add the list of header fields named to the
475: .Ar ignored list .
476: Header fields in the ignore list are not printed
477: on your terminal when you print a message.
478: This
479: command is very handy for suppression of certain machine-generated
480: header fields.
481: The
482: .Ic Type
483: and
484: .Ic Print
485: commands can be used to print a message in its entirety, including
486: ignored fields.
1.32 hugh 487: If
488: .Ic ignore
489: is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of
490: ignored fields.
1.5 millert 491: .It Ic inc
492: Incorporate any new messages that have arrived while mail
493: is being read.
494: The new messages are added to the end of the message list,
495: and the current message is reset to be the first new mail message.
1.14 aaron 496: This does not renumber the existing message list, nor
1.5 millert 497: does it cause any changes made so far to be saved.
1.45 jmc 498: .It Ic list
499: .Pq Ic l
500: List the valid
501: .Nm
502: commands.
1.1 deraadt 503: .It Ic mail
504: .Pq Ic m
505: Takes as argument login names and distribution group names and sends
506: mail to those people.
507: .It Ic mbox
508: Indicate that a list of messages be sent to
1.45 jmc 509: .Ar mbox
1.1 deraadt 510: in your home directory when you quit.
511: This is the default
512: action for messages if you do
513: .Em not
514: have the
515: .Ic hold
516: option set.
1.4 deraadt 517: .It Ic more
1.43 jmc 518: .Pq Ic \&mo
1.4 deraadt 519: Takes a message list and invokes the pager on that list.
1.1 deraadt 520: .It Ic next
521: .Pq Ic n
1.15 aaron 522: (like
1.43 jmc 523: .Ic +
1.1 deraadt 524: or
525: .Tn CR )
526: Goes to the next message in sequence and types it.
527: With an argument list, types the next matching message.
528: .It Ic preserve
529: .Pq Ic pre
530: A synonym for
1.22 aaron 531: .Ic hold .
1.49 jmc 532: .It Ic Print
533: .Pq Ic P
534: Like
535: .Ic print
536: but also prints out ignored header fields.
537: See also
538: .Ic print ,
539: .Ic ignore ,
540: and
541: .Ic retain .
1.1 deraadt 542: .It Ic print
543: .Pq Ic p
544: Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's terminal.
545: .It Ic quit
546: .Pq Ic q
547: Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in
548: the user's
549: .Ar mbox
550: file in his login directory, preserving all messages marked with
551: .Ic hold
552: or
553: .Ic preserve
554: or never referenced
555: in his system mailbox, and removing all other messages from his system
556: mailbox.
557: If new mail has arrived during the session, the message
558: .Dq Li "You have new mail"
559: is given.
560: If given while editing a
561: mailbox file with the
562: .Fl f
563: flag, then the edit file is rewritten.
1.15 aaron 564: A return to the shell is
1.18 aaron 565: effected, unless the rewrite of edit file fails, in which case the user
1.1 deraadt 566: can escape with the
567: .Ic exit
568: command.
1.49 jmc 569: .It Ic Reply
570: .Pq Ic R
571: Reply to originator.
572: Does not reply to other
573: recipients of the original message.
1.1 deraadt 574: .It Ic reply
575: .Pq Ic r
576: Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all
577: recipients of the specified message.
578: The default message must not be deleted.
579: .It Ic respond
580: A synonym for
1.22 aaron 581: .Ic reply .
1.1 deraadt 582: .It Ic retain
583: Add the list of header fields named to the
1.22 aaron 584: .Ar retained list .
1.1 deraadt 585: Only the header fields in the retain list
586: are shown on your terminal when you print a message.
587: All other header fields are suppressed.
588: The
589: .Ic Type
590: and
591: .Ic Print
592: commands can be used to print a message in its entirety.
593: If
594: .Ic retain
595: is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of
596: retained fields.
597: .It Ic save
598: .Pq Ic s
599: Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in
600: turn to the end of the file.
601: The filename in quotes, followed by the line
602: count and character count is echoed on the user's terminal.
603: .It Ic saveignore
1.25 aaron 604: .Ic saveignore
1.1 deraadt 605: is to
606: .Ic save
607: what
608: .Ic ignore
609: is to
610: .Ic print
611: and
1.22 aaron 612: .Ic type .
1.1 deraadt 613: Header fields thus marked are filtered out when
614: saving a message by
615: .Ic save
616: or when automatically saving to
1.22 aaron 617: .Ar mbox .
1.1 deraadt 618: .It Ic saveretain
1.25 aaron 619: .Ic saveretain
1.1 deraadt 620: is to
621: .Ic save
622: what
623: .Ic retain
624: is to
625: .Ic print
626: and
1.22 aaron 627: .Ic type .
1.1 deraadt 628: Header fields thus marked are the only ones saved
629: with a message when saving by
630: .Ic save
631: or when automatically saving to
1.22 aaron 632: .Ar mbox .
1.25 aaron 633: .Ic saveretain
1.1 deraadt 634: overrides
1.22 aaron 635: .Ic saveignore .
1.45 jmc 636: .It Ic set
637: .Pq Ic se
638: With no arguments, prints all variable values.
639: Otherwise, sets
640: option.
641: Arguments are of the form
642: .Ar option=value
643: (no space before or after =) or
644: .Ar option .
645: Quotation marks may be placed around any part of the assignment statement to
646: quote blanks or tabs, i.e.,
647: .Ic set indentprefix="->" .
1.1 deraadt 648: .It Ic shell
649: .Pq Ic sh
650: Invokes an interactive version of the shell.
651: .It Ic size
652: Takes a message list and prints out the size in characters of each
653: message.
654: .It Ic source
655: The
656: .Ic source
657: command reads
658: commands from a file.
659: .It Ic top
660: Takes a message list and prints the top few lines of each.
661: The number of
662: lines printed is controlled by the variable
663: .Ic toplines
664: and defaults to five.
1.49 jmc 665: .It Ic Type
666: .Pq Ic T
667: Identical to the
668: .Ic Print
669: command.
1.1 deraadt 670: .It Ic type
671: .Pq Ic t
672: A synonym for
1.22 aaron 673: .Ic print .
1.1 deraadt 674: .It Ic unalias
675: Takes a list of names defined by
676: .Ic alias
677: commands and discards the remembered groups of users.
678: The group names
679: no longer have any significance.
680: .It Ic undelete
681: .Pq Ic u
1.49 jmc 682: Takes a message list and marks each message as not being deleted.
1.1 deraadt 683: .It Ic unread
684: .Pq Ic U
1.49 jmc 685: Takes a message list and marks each message as not having been read.
1.1 deraadt 686: .It Ic unset
687: Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered values;
688: the inverse of
1.22 aaron 689: .Ic set .
1.1 deraadt 690: .It Ic visual
691: .Pq Ic v
692: Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message.
693: .It Ic write
694: .Pq Ic w
695: Similar to
1.22 aaron 696: .Ic save ,
1.1 deraadt 697: except that
698: .Ic only
699: the message body
1.49 jmc 700: (without the header)
1.16 millert 701: is saved.
1.1 deraadt 702: Extremely useful for such tasks as sending and receiving source
703: program text over the message system.
704: .It Ic xit
705: .Pq Ic x
706: A synonym for
1.22 aaron 707: .Ic exit .
1.1 deraadt 708: .It Ic z
1.19 aaron 709: .Nm mail
1.1 deraadt 710: presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the
711: .Ic headers
712: command.
713: You can move
714: .Nm mail Ns 's
715: attention forward to the next window with the
1.43 jmc 716: .Ic z
1.1 deraadt 717: command.
718: Also, you can move to the previous window by using
1.43 jmc 719: .Ic z- .
1.1 deraadt 720: .El
1.22 aaron 721: .Ss Tilde/escapes
1.1 deraadt 722: Here is a summary of the tilde escapes,
723: which are used when composing messages to perform
724: special functions.
725: Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning
726: of lines.
727: The name
1.22 aaron 728: .Dq tilde escape
1.1 deraadt 729: is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual escape character can be set
730: by the option
731: .Ic escape .
1.58 martynas 732: .Pp
733: .Bl -tag -width Ds -compact
1.43 jmc 734: .It Ic ~b Ns Ar name ...
1.1 deraadt 735: Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients but do not make
736: the names visible in the Cc: line ("blind" carbon copy).
1.58 martynas 737: .Pp
1.43 jmc 738: .It Ic ~c Ns Ar name ...
1.1 deraadt 739: Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients.
1.58 martynas 740: .Pp
1.43 jmc 741: .It Ic ~d
1.1 deraadt 742: Read the file
1.22 aaron 743: .Pa dead.letter
1.1 deraadt 744: from your home directory into the message.
1.58 martynas 745: .Pp
1.43 jmc 746: .It Ic ~e
1.1 deraadt 747: Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far.
748: After the
749: editing session is finished, you may continue appending text to the
750: message.
1.58 martynas 751: .Pp
1.49 jmc 752: .It Ic ~F Ns Ar messages
753: Identical to
754: .Ic ~f ,
755: except all message headers are included.
1.58 martynas 756: .Pp
1.43 jmc 757: .It Ic ~f Ns Ar messages
1.1 deraadt 758: Read the named messages into the message being sent.
759: If no messages are specified, read in the current message.
760: Message headers currently being ignored (by the
761: .Ic ignore
762: or
763: .Ic retain
764: command) are not included.
1.58 martynas 765: .Pp
1.43 jmc 766: .It Ic ~h
1.1 deraadt 767: Edit the message header fields by typing each one in turn and allowing
768: the user to append text to the end or modify the field by using the
769: current terminal erase and kill characters.
1.58 martynas 770: .Pp
1.49 jmc 771: .It Ic ~M Ns Ar messages
772: Identical to
773: .Ic ~m ,
774: except all message headers are included.
1.58 martynas 775: .Pp
1.43 jmc 776: .It Ic ~m Ns Ar messages
1.1 deraadt 777: Read the named messages into the message being sent, indented by a
778: tab or by the value of
1.25 aaron 779: .Va indentprefix .
1.1 deraadt 780: If no messages are specified,
781: read the current message.
782: Message headers currently being ignored (by the
783: .Ic ignore
784: or
785: .Ic retain
786: command) are not included.
1.58 martynas 787: .Pp
1.43 jmc 788: .It Ic ~p
1.1 deraadt 789: Print out the message collected so far, prefaced by the message header
790: fields.
1.58 martynas 791: .Pp
1.43 jmc 792: .It Ic ~q
1.1 deraadt 793: Abort the message being sent, copying the message to
1.22 aaron 794: .Pa dead.letter
1.1 deraadt 795: in your home directory if
796: .Ic save
797: is set.
1.58 martynas 798: .Pp
1.43 jmc 799: .It Ic ~r Ns Ar filename
1.58 martynas 800: .It Ic ~< Ns Ar filename
1.1 deraadt 801: Read the named file into the message.
1.58 martynas 802: .Pp
1.43 jmc 803: .It Ic ~s Ns Ar string
1.1 deraadt 804: Cause the named string to become the current subject field.
1.58 martynas 805: .Pp
1.43 jmc 806: .It Ic ~t Ns Ar name ...
1.1 deraadt 807: Add the given names to the direct recipient list.
1.58 martynas 808: .Pp
1.43 jmc 809: .It Ic ~v
1.1 deraadt 810: Invoke an alternate editor (defined by the
811: .Ev VISUAL
812: option) on the
813: message collected so far.
814: Usually, the alternate editor will be a
815: screen editor.
816: After you quit the editor, you may resume appending
817: text to the end of your message.
1.58 martynas 818: .Pp
1.43 jmc 819: .It Ic ~w Ns Ar filename
1.1 deraadt 820: Write the message onto the named file.
1.58 martynas 821: .Pp
1.55 martynas 822: .It Ic ~x
823: Abort the message being sent.
824: No message is copied to
825: .Pa ~/dead.letter ,
826: even if
827: .Ic save
828: is set.
1.58 martynas 829: .Pp
1.56 jmc 830: .It Ic ~?
831: Prints a brief summary of tilde escapes.
1.58 martynas 832: .Pp
1.56 jmc 833: .It Ic ~! Ns Ar command
834: Execute the indicated shell command, then return to the message.
1.58 martynas 835: .Pp
1.43 jmc 836: .It Ic ~| Ns Ar command
1.1 deraadt 837: Pipe the message through the command as a filter.
838: If the command gives
839: no output or terminates abnormally, retain the original text of the
840: message.
841: The command
842: .Xr fmt 1
843: is often used as
844: .Ic command
845: to rejustify the message.
1.58 martynas 846: .Pp
1.43 jmc 847: .It Ic ~: Ns Ar mail-command
1.58 martynas 848: .It Ic ~_ Ns Ar mail-command
1.1 deraadt 849: Execute the given mail command.
850: Not all commands, however, are allowed.
1.58 martynas 851: .Pp
1.43 jmc 852: .It Ic ~~ Ns Ar string
1.1 deraadt 853: Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single ~.
854: If
855: you have changed the escape character, then you should double
856: that character in order to send it.
1.58 martynas 857: .Pp
858: .It Ic ~.
859: Simulate end of file on input.
1.1 deraadt 860: .El
1.22 aaron 861: .Ss Mail options
1.1 deraadt 862: Options are controlled via
863: .Ic set
864: and
865: .Ic unset
866: commands.
867: Options may be either binary, in which case it is only
868: significant to see whether they are set or not; or string, in which
869: case the actual value is of interest.
870: The binary options include the following:
871: .Bl -tag -width append
872: .It Ar append
873: Causes messages saved in
874: .Ar mbox
875: to be appended to the end rather than prepended.
876: This should always be set (perhaps in
877: .Pa /etc/mail.rc ) .
1.25 aaron 878: .It Ar ask , asksub
1.1 deraadt 879: Causes
880: .Nm mail
881: to prompt you for the subject of each message you send.
882: If
883: you respond with simply a newline, no subject field will be sent.
1.45 jmc 884: .It Ar askbcc
885: Causes you to be prompted for additional blind carbon copy recipients at the
886: end of each message.
887: Responding with a newline indicates your
888: satisfaction with the current list.
1.1 deraadt 889: .It Ar askcc
890: Causes you to be prompted for additional carbon copy recipients at the
891: end of each message.
892: Responding with a newline indicates your
893: satisfaction with the current list.
1.5 millert 894: .It Ar autoinc
895: Causes new mail to be automatically incorporated when it arrives.
896: Setting this is similar to issuing the
897: .Ic inc
898: command at each prompt, except that the current message is not
899: reset when new mail arrives.
1.1 deraadt 900: .It Ar autoprint
901: Causes the
902: .Ic delete
903: command to behave like
1.25 aaron 904: .Ic dp ;
905: thus, after deleting a message, the next one will be typed
1.1 deraadt 906: automatically.
907: .It Ar debug
908: Setting the binary option
909: .Ar debug
910: is the same as specifying
911: .Fl d
912: on the command line and causes
913: .Nm mail
914: to output all sorts of information useful for debugging
1.22 aaron 915: .Nm mail .
1.1 deraadt 916: .It Ar dot
917: The binary option
918: .Ar dot
919: causes
920: .Nm mail
921: to interpret a period alone on a line as the terminator
922: of a message you are sending.
923: .It Ar hold
924: This option is used to hold messages in the system mailbox
925: by default.
926: .It Ar ignore
927: Causes interrupt signals from your terminal to be ignored and echoed as
928: @'s.
929: .It Ar ignoreeof
930: An option related to
931: .Ar dot
932: is
933: .Ar ignoreeof
934: which makes
935: .Nm mail
1.36 millert 936: refuse to accept a control-D as the end of a message.
1.25 aaron 937: .Ar ignoreeof
1.1 deraadt 938: also applies to
939: .Nm mail
940: command mode.
1.45 jmc 941: .It Ar keep
942: Setting this option causes
943: .Nm
944: to truncate your system mailbox instead of deleting it
945: when it's empty.
946: .It Ar keepsave
947: Messages saved with the
948: .Ic save
949: command are not normally saved in
950: .Ar mbox
951: at quit time.
952: Use this option to retain those messages.
1.1 deraadt 953: .It Ar metoo
954: Usually, when a group is expanded that contains the sender, the sender
955: is removed from the expansion.
956: Setting this option causes the sender
957: to be included in the group.
958: .It Ar noheader
959: Setting the option
960: .Ar noheader
961: is the same as giving the
962: .Fl N
963: flag on the command line.
964: .It Ar nosave
1.36 millert 965: Normally, when you abort a message with two interrupt characters
966: (usually control-C),
1.1 deraadt 967: .Nm mail
968: copies the partial letter to the file
1.22 aaron 969: .Pa dead.letter
1.1 deraadt 970: in your home directory.
971: Setting the binary option
972: .Ar nosave
973: prevents this.
1.48 jmc 974: .It Ar quiet
975: Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked.
1.1 deraadt 976: .It Ar Replyall
977: Reverses the sense of
978: .Ic reply
979: and
980: .Ic Reply
981: commands.
982: .It Ar searchheaders
1.22 aaron 983: If this option is set, then a message-list specifier in the form
984: .Dq /x:y
985: will expand to all messages containing the substring
1.45 jmc 986: .Sq y
1.22 aaron 987: in the header
988: field
1.45 jmc 989: .Sq x .
1.27 aaron 990: The string search is case insensitive.
991: If
1.45 jmc 992: .Sq x
1.22 aaron 993: is omitted, it will default to the
994: .Dq Subject
995: header field.
996: The form
997: .Dq /to:y
998: is a special case, and will expand
999: to all messages containing the substring
1.45 jmc 1000: .Sq y
1.22 aaron 1001: in the
1002: .Dq To ,
1003: .Dq Cc
1004: or
1005: .Dq Bcc
1006: header fields.
1007: The check for
1008: .Dq to
1009: is case sensitive, so that
1010: .Dq /To:y
1011: can be used to limit the search for
1.45 jmc 1012: .Sq y
1.22 aaron 1013: to just the
1014: .Dq To:
1015: field.
1.53 martynas 1016: .It Ar skipempty
1017: Don't send messages with an empty body.
1.1 deraadt 1018: .It Ar verbose
1019: Setting the option
1020: .Ar verbose
1021: is the same as using the
1022: .Fl v
1023: flag on the command line.
1.45 jmc 1024: When
1025: .Nm
1026: runs in verbose mode,
1.1 deraadt 1027: the actual delivery of messages is displayed on the user's
1028: terminal.
1029: .El
1.22 aaron 1030: .Ss Option string values
1.1 deraadt 1031: .Bl -tag -width Va
1032: .It Ev EDITOR
1033: Pathname of the text editor to use in the
1034: .Ic edit
1035: command and
1.43 jmc 1036: .Ic ~e
1.1 deraadt 1037: escape.
1.45 jmc 1038: If not defined,
1039: .Pa /usr/bin/ex
1040: is used.
1.1 deraadt 1041: .It Ev LISTER
1042: Pathname of the directory lister to use in the
1043: .Ic folders
1044: command.
1045: Default is
1046: .Pa /bin/ls .
1.45 jmc 1047: .It Ev MBOX
1048: The name of the
1049: .Ar mbox
1050: file.
1051: It can be the name of a folder.
1052: The default is
1053: .Dq Li mbox
1054: in the user's home directory.
1.1 deraadt 1055: .It Ev PAGER
1056: Pathname of the program to use in the
1057: .Ic more
1.45 jmc 1058: command or when the
1.49 jmc 1059: .Ar crt
1.1 deraadt 1060: variable is set.
1061: The default paginator
1062: .Xr more 1
1063: is used if this option is not defined.
1064: .It Ev SHELL
1065: Pathname of the shell to use in the
1.41 jmc 1066: .Ic !\&
1.1 deraadt 1067: command and the
1.42 jmc 1068: .Ic ~!\&
1.1 deraadt 1069: escape.
1070: A default shell is used if this option is
1071: not defined.
1.52 martynas 1072: .It Ev TMPDIR
1073: Directory in which temporary files are stored.
1.1 deraadt 1074: .It Ev VISUAL
1075: Pathname of the text editor to use in the
1076: .Ic visual
1077: command and
1.43 jmc 1078: .Ic ~v
1.1 deraadt 1079: escape.
1.45 jmc 1080: If not defined,
1081: .Pa /usr/bin/vi
1082: is used.
1.49 jmc 1083: .It Ar crt
1.1 deraadt 1084: The valued option
1.49 jmc 1085: .Ar crt
1.1 deraadt 1086: is used as a threshold to determine how long a message must
1087: be before
1088: .Ev PAGER
1089: is used to read it.
1090: If
1.49 jmc 1091: .Ar crt
1.1 deraadt 1092: is set without a value,
1093: then the height of the terminal screen stored in the system
1094: is used to compute the threshold (see
1095: .Xr stty 1 ) .
1096: .It Ar escape
1097: If defined, the first character of this option gives the character to
1098: use in the place of ~ to denote escapes.
1099: .It Ar folder
1100: The name of the directory to use for storing folders of
1101: messages.
1.22 aaron 1102: If this name begins with a
1.25 aaron 1103: .Ql / ,
1.1 deraadt 1104: .Nm mail
1105: considers it to be an absolute pathname; otherwise, the
1106: folder directory is found relative to your home directory.
1107: .It Ar indentprefix
1.24 aaron 1108: String used by the
1.43 jmc 1109: .Ic ~m
1.22 aaron 1110: tilde escape for indenting messages, in place of the normal tab character
1.44 jmc 1111: .Pq Sq ^I .
1.1 deraadt 1112: Be sure to quote the value if it contains
1113: spaces or tabs.
1.45 jmc 1114: .It Ar record
1115: If defined, gives the pathname of the file used to record all outgoing
1116: mail.
1117: If not defined, then outgoing mail is not so saved.
1118: .It Ar screen
1119: Size of window of message headers for
1120: .Ic z .
1121: .It Ar sendmail
1122: Pathname to an alternative mail delivery system.
1.1 deraadt 1123: .It Ar toplines
1124: If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be printed out
1125: with the
1126: .Ic top
1127: command; normally, the first five lines are printed.
1128: .El
1129: .Sh ENVIRONMENT
1.19 aaron 1130: .Nm mail
1.1 deraadt 1131: utilizes the
1.3 millert 1132: .Ev HOME ,
1133: .Ev LOGNAME ,
1.45 jmc 1134: .Ev MAIL ,
1135: .Ev MAILRC ,
1.1 deraadt 1136: and
1137: .Ev USER
1138: environment variables.
1.12 millert 1139: .Pp
1140: If the
1141: .Ev MAIL
1142: environment variable is set, its value is used as the path to the
1143: user's mail spool.
1.1 deraadt 1144: .Sh FILES
1145: .Bl -tag -width /usr/share/misc/mail.*help -compact
1146: .It Pa /var/mail/*
1.22 aaron 1147: post office (unless overridden by the
1.12 millert 1148: .Ev MAIL
1.22 aaron 1149: environment variable)
1.1 deraadt 1150: .It ~/mbox
1.22 aaron 1151: user's old mail
1.1 deraadt 1152: .It ~/.mailrc
1.22 aaron 1153: file giving initial mail commands; can be overridden by setting the
1.5 millert 1154: .Ev MAILRC
1.22 aaron 1155: environment variable
1.1 deraadt 1156: .It Pa /tmp/R*
1.22 aaron 1157: temporary files
1.1 deraadt 1158: .It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help
1.22 aaron 1159: help files
1.1 deraadt 1160: .It Pa /etc/mail.rc
1.22 aaron 1161: system initialization file
1.1 deraadt 1162: .El
1.60 jmc 1163: .Sh EXIT STATUS
1164: .Ex -std mail
1.1 deraadt 1165: .Sh SEE ALSO
1166: .Xr fmt 1 ,
1.17 millert 1167: .Xr lockspool 1 ,
1.1 deraadt 1168: .Xr vacation 1 ,
1169: .Xr aliases 5 ,
1170: .Xr mailaddr 7 ,
1.12 millert 1171: .Xr mail.local 8 ,
1.31 millert 1172: .Xr newaliases 8 ,
1.1 deraadt 1173: .Xr sendmail 8
1.57 jmc 1174: .Sh STANDARDS
1175: The
1176: .Nm mailx
1177: utility is compliant with the
1178: .St -p1003.1-2008
1179: specification.
1180: .Pp
1181: The flags
1.62 ! jmc 1182: .Op Fl iNnu
! 1183: are marked by
! 1184: .St -p1003.1-2008
! 1185: as being optional.
! 1186: .Pp
! 1187: The flags
! 1188: .Op Fl eFH
! 1189: are marked by
! 1190: .St -p1003.1-2008
! 1191: as being optional,
! 1192: but are not supported by this implementation of
! 1193: .Nm mailx .
! 1194: .Pp
! 1195: The flags
1.57 jmc 1196: .Op Fl bcdEIv
1.62 ! jmc 1197: are extensions to the specification.
1.1 deraadt 1198: .Sh HISTORY
1199: A
1200: .Nm mail
1.28 aaron 1201: command appeared in
1.34 mickey 1202: .At v3 .
1.48 jmc 1203: This man page is derived from the
1204: .%T "Mail Reference Manual"
1.1 deraadt 1205: originally written by Kurt Shoens.
1206: .Sh BUGS
1207: There are some flags that are not documented here.
1208: Most are
1209: not useful to the general user.
1210: .Pp
1211: Usually,
1212: .Nm mail
1.11 deraadt 1213: and
1214: .Nm mailx
1215: are just links to
1.22 aaron 1216: .Nm Mail ,
1.1 deraadt 1217: which can be confusing.
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