Annotation of src/usr.bin/mail/mail.1, Revision 1.70
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1.5 millert 30: .\" @(#)mail.1 8.8 (Berkeley) 4/28/95
1.1 deraadt 31: .\"
1.70 ! millert 32: .Dd $Mdocdate: December 16 2014 $
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 ...
1.39 jmc 48: .Ek
1.1 deraadt 49: .Nm mail
1.54 martynas 50: .Op Fl dEIiNnv
1.1 deraadt 51: .Fl f
1.52 martynas 52: .Op Ar file
1.1 deraadt 53: .Nm mail
1.54 martynas 54: .Op Fl dEIiNnv
1.1 deraadt 55: .Op Fl u Ar user
1.22 aaron 56: .Sh DESCRIPTION
1.19 aaron 57: .Nm mail
1.18 aaron 58: is an intelligent mail processing system which has
1.1 deraadt 59: a command syntax reminiscent of
1.43 jmc 60: .Xr ed 1
1.1 deraadt 61: with lines replaced by messages.
1.26 aaron 62: .Pp
63: The options are as follows:
1.33 aaron 64: .Bl -tag -width Ds
1.43 jmc 65: .It Fl b Ar list
66: Send blind carbon copies to
67: .Ar list .
68: .It Fl c Ar list
69: Send carbon copies to
70: .Ar list
71: of users.
72: .Ar list
73: should be a comma separated list of names.
1.54 martynas 74: .It Fl d
75: Causes
76: .Nm mail
77: to output all sorts of information useful for debugging
78: .Nm mail .
1.53 martynas 79: .It Fl E
80: Don't send messages with an empty body.
1.67 millert 81: .It Fl f
82: Use an alternate mailbox.
83: Defaults to the user's
84: .Ar mbox
85: if no
86: .Ar file
87: is specified.
88: When quit,
1.1 deraadt 89: .Nm mail
1.68 millert 90: writes undeleted messages back to this
1.52 martynas 91: .Ar file .
1.1 deraadt 92: .It Fl I
1.22 aaron 93: Forces
94: .Nm mail
95: to run in interactive mode, even when input is not a terminal.
96: In particular, the special
1.43 jmc 97: .Ic ~
1.22 aaron 98: command character, used when sending mail, is only available interactively.
1.43 jmc 99: .It Fl i
100: Ignore tty interrupt signals.
101: This is
102: particularly useful when using
103: .Nm mail
104: on noisy phone lines.
105: .It Fl N
106: Inhibits initial display of message headers
107: when reading mail or editing a mail folder.
1.1 deraadt 108: .It Fl n
109: Inhibits reading
110: .Pa /etc/mail.rc
111: upon startup.
1.8 deraadt 112: .It Fl s Ar subject
1.1 deraadt 113: Specify subject on command line
114: (only the first argument after the
115: .Fl s
116: flag is used as a subject; be careful to quote subjects
1.22 aaron 117: containing spaces).
1.8 deraadt 118: .It Fl u Ar user
1.45 jmc 119: Equivalent to:
1.1 deraadt 120: .Pp
1.35 deraadt 121: .Dl $ mail -f /var/mail/user
1.22 aaron 122: .Pp
123: except that locking is done.
1.43 jmc 124: .It Fl v
125: Verbose mode.
126: The details of
127: delivery are displayed on the user's terminal.
1.1 deraadt 128: .El
1.10 deraadt 129: .Ss Startup actions
1.22 aaron 130: At startup time,
1.24 aaron 131: .Nm mail
1.46 jmc 132: will execute commands in the system command file,
133: .Pa /etc/mail.rc ,
134: unless explicitly told not to by using the
1.10 deraadt 135: .Fl n
1.27 aaron 136: option.
137: Next, the commands in the user's personal command file
1.24 aaron 138: .Pa ~/.mailrc
1.10 deraadt 139: are executed.
140: .Nm mail
141: then examines its command line options to determine whether the user
142: requested a new message to be sent or existing messages in a mailbox
143: to be examined.
1.1 deraadt 144: .Ss Sending mail
145: To send a message to one or more people,
146: .Nm mail
147: can be invoked with arguments which are the names of people to
148: whom the mail will be sent.
149: You are then expected to type in
150: your message, followed
1.22 aaron 151: by a control-D
152: .Pq Sq ^D
1.1 deraadt 153: at the beginning of a line.
1.18 aaron 154: The section below,
1.48 jmc 155: .Sx Replying to or originating mail ,
1.1 deraadt 156: describes some features of
157: .Nm mail
158: available to help you compose your letter.
159: .Ss Reading mail
1.22 aaron 160: In normal usage,
1.1 deraadt 161: .Nm mail
162: is given no arguments and checks your mail out of the
163: post office, then
164: prints out a one line header of each message found.
1.22 aaron 165: The current message is initially set to the first message (numbered 1)
1.1 deraadt 166: and can be printed using the
167: .Ic print
168: command (which can be abbreviated
1.6 deraadt 169: .Ic p ) .
1.22 aaron 170: Moving among the messages is much like moving between lines in
171: .Xr ed 1 ;
172: you may use
1.43 jmc 173: .Ic +
1.1 deraadt 174: and
1.43 jmc 175: .Ic -
1.22 aaron 176: to shift forwards and backwards, or simply enter a message number to move
177: directly.
178: .Ss Disposing of mail
1.1 deraadt 179: After examining a message you can
180: .Ic delete
1.6 deraadt 181: .Pq Ic d
1.22 aaron 182: or
1.1 deraadt 183: .Ic reply
1.6 deraadt 184: .Pq Ic r
1.1 deraadt 185: to it.
186: Deletion causes the
187: .Nm mail
188: program to forget about the message.
189: This is not irreversible; the message can be
190: .Ic undeleted
1.6 deraadt 191: .Pq Ic u
1.1 deraadt 192: by giving its number, or the
193: .Nm mail
194: session can be aborted by giving the
195: .Ic exit
1.6 deraadt 196: .Pq Ic x
1.1 deraadt 197: command.
1.22 aaron 198: Deleted messages, however, will usually disappear, never to be seen again.
1.1 deraadt 199: .Ss Specifying messages
200: Commands such as
201: .Ic print
202: and
203: .Ic delete
204: can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply
205: to a number of messages at once.
206: Thus
1.22 aaron 207: .Ic delete 1 2
1.1 deraadt 208: deletes messages 1 and 2, while
1.22 aaron 209: .Ic delete 1\-5
1.1 deraadt 210: deletes messages 1 through 5.
1.61 jmc 211: .Pp
212: Messages may also be selected using one of the following categories:
213: .Pp
214: .Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
215: .It *
216: all messages
217: .It $
218: last message
219: .It :d
220: deleted messages
221: .It :n
222: new messages
223: .It :o
224: old messages
225: .It :r
226: read messages
227: .It :u
228: unread messages
229: .El
230: .Pp
231: Thus the command
232: .Ic top ,
233: which prints the first few lines of a message,
234: could be used in
1.43 jmc 235: .Ic top *
1.1 deraadt 236: to print the first few lines of all messages.
1.22 aaron 237: .Ss Replying to or originating mail
1.1 deraadt 238: You can use the
239: .Ic reply
240: command to
241: set up a response to a message, sending it back to the
242: person who it was from.
243: Text you then type in, up to an end-of-file,
244: defines the contents of the message.
245: While you are composing a message,
246: .Nm mail
1.22 aaron 247: treats lines beginning with the tilde
248: .Pq Sq ~
249: character specially.
1.1 deraadt 250: For instance, typing
1.22 aaron 251: .Ic ~m
1.1 deraadt 252: (alone on a line) will place a copy
1.22 aaron 253: of the current message into the response, right shifting it by a single
1.45 jmc 254: tab-stop (see the
1.22 aaron 255: .Va indentprefix
1.1 deraadt 256: variable, below).
257: Other escapes will set up subject fields, add and delete recipients
1.45 jmc 258: to the message, and allow you to escape to an editor to revise the
1.1 deraadt 259: message or to a shell to run some commands.
260: (These options
261: are given in the summary below.)
1.22 aaron 262: .Ss Ending a mail processing session
1.1 deraadt 263: You can end a
264: .Nm mail
265: session with the
266: .Ic quit
1.6 deraadt 267: .Pq Ic q
1.1 deraadt 268: command.
269: Messages which have been examined go to your
270: .Ar mbox
1.45 jmc 271: file unless they have been deleted, in which case they are discarded.
1.22 aaron 272: Unexamined messages go back to the post office (see the
1.1 deraadt 273: .Fl f
274: option above).
1.22 aaron 275: .Ss Personal and system wide distribution lists
1.15 aaron 276: It is also possible to create personal distribution lists so that,
1.1 deraadt 277: for instance, you can send mail to
278: .Dq Li cohorts
279: and have it go
280: to a group of people.
281: Such lists can be defined by placing a line like
282: .Pp
283: .Dl alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory
284: .Pp
285: in the file
1.43 jmc 286: .Pa .mailrc
1.1 deraadt 287: in your home directory.
288: The current list of such aliases can be displayed with the
289: .Ic alias
290: command in
1.22 aaron 291: .Nm mail .
1.1 deraadt 292: System wide distribution lists can be created by editing
1.47 jmc 293: .Pa /etc/mail/aliases
1.22 aaron 294: (see
1.65 jmc 295: .Xr aliases 5 ) ;
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
1.65 jmc 304: alias expanded as all mail goes through an MTA.
1.69 millert 305: .Ss Recipient address specifications
306: Recipient addresses (any of the
307: .Dq To ,
308: .Dq Cc
309: or
310: .Dq Bcc
311: header fields) are subject to expansion when the
312: .Ic expandaddr
313: option is set.
314: .Pp
315: An address may be expanded as follows:
316: .Bl -bullet -width Ds
317: .It
318: An address that starts with a pipe
319: .Pq Ql |
320: character is treated as a command to run.
321: The command immediately following the
322: .Ql |
323: is executed with the message as its standard input.
324: .It
325: An address that starts with a
326: .Ql +
327: character is treated as a folder.
328: .It
329: An address that contains a
330: .Ql /
331: character but no
332: .Ql \&! ,
333: .Ql % ,
334: or
335: .Ql @
336: characters is also treated as a folder.
337: .It
338: If none of the above apply, the recipient is treated as
339: a local or network mail address.
340: .El
341: .Pp
342: If the
343: .Ic expandaddr
344: option is not set (the default), no expansion is performed and
345: the recipient is treated as a local or network mail address.
1.1 deraadt 346: .Ss Network mail (ARPA, UUCP, Berknet)
347: See
348: .Xr mailaddr 7
349: for a description of network addresses.
350: .Pp
1.19 aaron 351: .Nm mail
1.1 deraadt 352: has a number of options which can be set in the
353: .Pa .mailrc
354: file to alter its behavior; thus
1.25 aaron 355: .Ic set askcc
1.1 deraadt 356: enables the
357: .Ar askcc
358: feature.
359: (These options are summarized below.)
360: .Sh SUMMARY
1.22 aaron 361: (Adapted from the
1.24 aaron 362: .Dq Mail Reference Manual . )
1.1 deraadt 363: .Pp
364: Each command is typed on a line by itself, and may take arguments
365: following the command word.
366: The command need not be typed in its
1.22 aaron 367: entirety -- the first command which matches the typed prefix is used.
1.1 deraadt 368: For commands which take message lists as arguments, if no message
369: list is given, then the next message forward which satisfies the
370: command's requirements is used.
371: If there are no messages forward of
372: the current message, the search proceeds backwards, and if there are no
373: good messages at all,
374: .Nm mail
375: types
1.43 jmc 376: .Dq \&No applicable messages
1.1 deraadt 377: and
378: aborts the command.
379: .Bl -tag -width delete
1.43 jmc 380: .It Ic -
1.1 deraadt 381: Print out the preceding message.
382: If given a numeric
383: argument
1.22 aaron 384: .Ar n ,
1.1 deraadt 385: goes to the
1.22 aaron 386: .Ar n Ns th
1.1 deraadt 387: previous message and prints it.
388: .It Ic \&?
389: Prints a brief summary of commands.
390: .It Ic \&!
391: Executes the shell
392: (see
393: .Xr sh 1
394: and
395: .Xr csh 1 )
396: command which follows.
397: .It Ic alias
398: .Pq Ic a
1.23 aaron 399: With no arguments, prints out all currently defined aliases.
1.1 deraadt 400: With one
401: argument, prints out that alias.
402: With more than one argument, creates
403: a new alias or changes an old one.
404: .It Ic alternates
405: .Pq Ic alt
406: The
407: .Ic alternates
408: command is useful if you have accounts on several machines.
409: It can be used to inform
410: .Nm mail
411: that the listed addresses are really you.
412: When you
413: .Ic reply
414: to messages,
415: .Nm mail
416: will not send a copy of the message to any of the addresses
417: listed on the
418: .Ic alternates
419: list.
420: If the
421: .Ic alternates
422: command is given with no argument, the current set of alternate
423: names is displayed.
424: .It Ic chdir
425: .Pq Ic c
426: Changes the user's working directory to that specified, if given.
427: If
428: no directory is given, then changes to the user's login directory.
429: .It Ic copy
430: .Pq Ic co
431: The
432: .Ic copy
433: command does the same thing that
434: .Ic save
435: does, except that it does not mark the messages it
436: is used on for deletion when you quit.
437: .It Ic delete
438: .Pq Ic d
439: Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted.
440: Deleted messages will not be saved in
1.22 aaron 441: .Ar mbox ,
1.1 deraadt 442: nor will they be available for most other commands.
443: .It Ic dp
444: (also
445: .Ic dt )
446: Deletes the current message and prints the next message.
447: If there is no next message,
448: .Nm mail
449: says
1.45 jmc 450: .Dq Li "\&No more messages."
1.1 deraadt 451: .It Ic edit
452: .Pq Ic e
453: Takes a list of messages and points the text editor at each one in
454: turn.
455: On return from the editor, the message is read back in.
456: .It Ic exit
457: .Pf ( Ic ex
458: or
459: .Ic x )
1.15 aaron 460: Effects an immediate return to the shell without
1.1 deraadt 461: modifying the user's system mailbox, his
462: .Ar mbox
463: file, or his edit file in
1.22 aaron 464: .Fl f .
1.1 deraadt 465: .It Ic file
466: .Pq Ic fi
467: The same as
1.22 aaron 468: .Ic folder .
1.1 deraadt 469: .It Ic folder
470: .Pq Ic fo
471: The
472: .Ic folder
473: command switches to a new mail file or folder.
474: With no
475: arguments, it tells you which file you are currently reading.
476: If you give it an argument, it will write out changes (such
477: as deletions) you have made in the current file and read in
478: the new file.
479: Some special conventions are recognized for
480: the name.
481: # means the previous file, % means your system
482: mailbox, %user means user's system mailbox, & means
483: your
484: .Ar mbox
485: file, and
1.43 jmc 486: +folder means a file in your folder
1.1 deraadt 487: directory.
1.48 jmc 488: .It Ic folders
489: List the names of the folders in your folder directory.
1.1 deraadt 490: .It Ic from
491: .Pq Ic f
492: Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers.
493: .It Ic headers
494: .Pq Ic h
1.45 jmc 495: Lists the current windowful of headers.
496: To view the next or previous group of headers, see the
497: .Ic z
498: command.
1.1 deraadt 499: .It Ic help
500: A synonym for
1.22 aaron 501: .Ic \&? .
1.1 deraadt 502: .It Ic hold
503: .Pf ( Ic ho ,
504: also
505: .Ic preserve )
506: Takes a message list and marks each
507: message therein to be saved in the
508: user's system mailbox instead of in
1.22 aaron 509: .Ar mbox .
1.1 deraadt 510: Does not override the
511: .Ic delete
512: command.
513: .It Ic ignore
514: Add the list of header fields named to the
515: .Ar ignored list .
516: Header fields in the ignore list are not printed
517: on your terminal when you print a message.
518: This
519: command is very handy for suppression of certain machine-generated
520: header fields.
521: The
522: .Ic Type
523: and
524: .Ic Print
525: commands can be used to print a message in its entirety, including
526: ignored fields.
1.32 hugh 527: If
528: .Ic ignore
529: is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of
530: ignored fields.
1.5 millert 531: .It Ic inc
532: Incorporate any new messages that have arrived while mail
533: is being read.
534: The new messages are added to the end of the message list,
535: and the current message is reset to be the first new mail message.
1.14 aaron 536: This does not renumber the existing message list, nor
1.5 millert 537: does it cause any changes made so far to be saved.
1.45 jmc 538: .It Ic list
539: .Pq Ic l
540: List the valid
541: .Nm
542: commands.
1.1 deraadt 543: .It Ic mail
544: .Pq Ic m
545: Takes as argument login names and distribution group names and sends
546: mail to those people.
547: .It Ic mbox
548: Indicate that a list of messages be sent to
1.45 jmc 549: .Ar mbox
1.1 deraadt 550: in your home directory when you quit.
551: This is the default
552: action for messages if you do
553: .Em not
554: have the
555: .Ic hold
556: option set.
1.4 deraadt 557: .It Ic more
1.43 jmc 558: .Pq Ic \&mo
1.4 deraadt 559: Takes a message list and invokes the pager on that list.
1.1 deraadt 560: .It Ic next
561: .Pq Ic n
1.15 aaron 562: (like
1.43 jmc 563: .Ic +
1.1 deraadt 564: or
565: .Tn CR )
566: Goes to the next message in sequence and types it.
567: With an argument list, types the next matching message.
568: .It Ic preserve
569: .Pq Ic pre
570: A synonym for
1.22 aaron 571: .Ic hold .
1.49 jmc 572: .It Ic Print
573: .Pq Ic P
574: Like
575: .Ic print
576: but also prints out ignored header fields.
577: See also
578: .Ic print ,
579: .Ic ignore ,
580: and
581: .Ic retain .
1.1 deraadt 582: .It Ic print
583: .Pq Ic p
584: Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's terminal.
585: .It Ic quit
586: .Pq Ic q
587: Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in
588: the user's
589: .Ar mbox
590: file in his login directory, preserving all messages marked with
591: .Ic hold
592: or
593: .Ic preserve
594: or never referenced
595: in his system mailbox, and removing all other messages from his system
596: mailbox.
597: If new mail has arrived during the session, the message
598: .Dq Li "You have new mail"
599: is given.
600: If given while editing a
601: mailbox file with the
602: .Fl f
603: flag, then the edit file is rewritten.
1.15 aaron 604: A return to the shell is
1.18 aaron 605: effected, unless the rewrite of edit file fails, in which case the user
1.1 deraadt 606: can escape with the
607: .Ic exit
608: command.
1.49 jmc 609: .It Ic Reply
610: .Pq Ic R
611: Reply to originator.
612: Does not reply to other
613: recipients of the original message.
1.1 deraadt 614: .It Ic reply
615: .Pq Ic r
616: Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all
617: recipients of the specified message.
618: The default message must not be deleted.
619: .It Ic respond
620: A synonym for
1.22 aaron 621: .Ic reply .
1.1 deraadt 622: .It Ic retain
623: Add the list of header fields named to the
1.22 aaron 624: .Ar retained list .
1.1 deraadt 625: Only the header fields in the retain list
626: are shown on your terminal when you print a message.
627: All other header fields are suppressed.
628: The
629: .Ic Type
630: and
631: .Ic Print
632: commands can be used to print a message in its entirety.
633: If
634: .Ic retain
635: is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of
636: retained fields.
637: .It Ic save
638: .Pq Ic s
639: Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in
640: turn to the end of the file.
641: The filename in quotes, followed by the line
642: count and character count is echoed on the user's terminal.
643: .It Ic saveignore
1.25 aaron 644: .Ic saveignore
1.1 deraadt 645: is to
646: .Ic save
647: what
648: .Ic ignore
649: is to
650: .Ic print
651: and
1.22 aaron 652: .Ic type .
1.1 deraadt 653: Header fields thus marked are filtered out when
654: saving a message by
655: .Ic save
656: or when automatically saving to
1.22 aaron 657: .Ar mbox .
1.1 deraadt 658: .It Ic saveretain
1.25 aaron 659: .Ic saveretain
1.1 deraadt 660: is to
661: .Ic save
662: what
663: .Ic retain
664: is to
665: .Ic print
666: and
1.22 aaron 667: .Ic type .
1.1 deraadt 668: Header fields thus marked are the only ones saved
669: with a message when saving by
670: .Ic save
671: or when automatically saving to
1.22 aaron 672: .Ar mbox .
1.25 aaron 673: .Ic saveretain
1.1 deraadt 674: overrides
1.22 aaron 675: .Ic saveignore .
1.45 jmc 676: .It Ic set
677: .Pq Ic se
678: With no arguments, prints all variable values.
679: Otherwise, sets
680: option.
681: Arguments are of the form
682: .Ar option=value
683: (no space before or after =) or
684: .Ar option .
685: Quotation marks may be placed around any part of the assignment statement to
686: quote blanks or tabs, i.e.,
687: .Ic set indentprefix="->" .
1.1 deraadt 688: .It Ic shell
689: .Pq Ic sh
690: Invokes an interactive version of the shell.
691: .It Ic size
692: Takes a message list and prints out the size in characters of each
693: message.
694: .It Ic source
695: The
696: .Ic source
697: command reads
698: commands from a file.
699: .It Ic top
700: Takes a message list and prints the top few lines of each.
701: The number of
702: lines printed is controlled by the variable
703: .Ic toplines
704: and defaults to five.
1.49 jmc 705: .It Ic Type
706: .Pq Ic T
707: Identical to the
708: .Ic Print
709: command.
1.1 deraadt 710: .It Ic type
711: .Pq Ic t
712: A synonym for
1.22 aaron 713: .Ic print .
1.1 deraadt 714: .It Ic unalias
715: Takes a list of names defined by
716: .Ic alias
717: commands and discards the remembered groups of users.
718: The group names
719: no longer have any significance.
720: .It Ic undelete
721: .Pq Ic u
1.49 jmc 722: Takes a message list and marks each message as not being deleted.
1.1 deraadt 723: .It Ic unread
724: .Pq Ic U
1.49 jmc 725: Takes a message list and marks each message as not having been read.
1.1 deraadt 726: .It Ic unset
727: Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered values;
728: the inverse of
1.22 aaron 729: .Ic set .
1.1 deraadt 730: .It Ic visual
731: .Pq Ic v
732: Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message.
733: .It Ic write
734: .Pq Ic w
735: Similar to
1.22 aaron 736: .Ic save ,
1.1 deraadt 737: except that
738: .Ic only
739: the message body
1.49 jmc 740: (without the header)
1.16 millert 741: is saved.
1.1 deraadt 742: Extremely useful for such tasks as sending and receiving source
743: program text over the message system.
744: .It Ic xit
745: .Pq Ic x
746: A synonym for
1.22 aaron 747: .Ic exit .
1.1 deraadt 748: .It Ic z
1.19 aaron 749: .Nm mail
1.1 deraadt 750: presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the
751: .Ic headers
752: command.
753: You can move
754: .Nm mail Ns 's
755: attention forward to the next window with the
1.43 jmc 756: .Ic z
1.1 deraadt 757: command.
758: Also, you can move to the previous window by using
1.43 jmc 759: .Ic z- .
1.1 deraadt 760: .El
1.22 aaron 761: .Ss Tilde/escapes
1.1 deraadt 762: Here is a summary of the tilde escapes,
763: which are used when composing messages to perform
764: special functions.
765: Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning
766: of lines.
767: The name
1.22 aaron 768: .Dq tilde escape
1.1 deraadt 769: is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual escape character can be set
770: by the option
771: .Ic escape .
1.58 martynas 772: .Pp
773: .Bl -tag -width Ds -compact
1.43 jmc 774: .It Ic ~b Ns Ar name ...
1.1 deraadt 775: Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients but do not make
776: the names visible in the Cc: line ("blind" carbon copy).
1.58 martynas 777: .Pp
1.43 jmc 778: .It Ic ~c Ns Ar name ...
1.1 deraadt 779: Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients.
1.58 martynas 780: .Pp
1.43 jmc 781: .It Ic ~d
1.1 deraadt 782: Read the file
1.22 aaron 783: .Pa dead.letter
1.1 deraadt 784: from your home directory into the message.
1.58 martynas 785: .Pp
1.43 jmc 786: .It Ic ~e
1.1 deraadt 787: Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far.
788: After the
789: editing session is finished, you may continue appending text to the
790: message.
1.58 martynas 791: .Pp
1.49 jmc 792: .It Ic ~F Ns Ar messages
793: Identical to
794: .Ic ~f ,
795: except all message headers are included.
1.58 martynas 796: .Pp
1.43 jmc 797: .It Ic ~f Ns Ar messages
1.1 deraadt 798: Read the named messages into the message being sent.
799: If no messages are specified, read in the current message.
800: Message headers currently being ignored (by the
801: .Ic ignore
802: or
803: .Ic retain
804: command) are not included.
1.58 martynas 805: .Pp
1.43 jmc 806: .It Ic ~h
1.1 deraadt 807: Edit the message header fields by typing each one in turn and allowing
808: the user to append text to the end or modify the field by using the
809: current terminal erase and kill characters.
1.58 martynas 810: .Pp
1.49 jmc 811: .It Ic ~M Ns Ar messages
812: Identical to
813: .Ic ~m ,
814: except all message headers are included.
1.58 martynas 815: .Pp
1.43 jmc 816: .It Ic ~m Ns Ar messages
1.1 deraadt 817: Read the named messages into the message being sent, indented by a
818: tab or by the value of
1.25 aaron 819: .Va indentprefix .
1.1 deraadt 820: If no messages are specified,
821: read the current message.
822: Message headers currently being ignored (by the
823: .Ic ignore
824: or
825: .Ic retain
826: command) are not included.
1.58 martynas 827: .Pp
1.43 jmc 828: .It Ic ~p
1.1 deraadt 829: Print out the message collected so far, prefaced by the message header
830: fields.
1.58 martynas 831: .Pp
1.43 jmc 832: .It Ic ~q
1.1 deraadt 833: Abort the message being sent, copying the message to
1.22 aaron 834: .Pa dead.letter
1.1 deraadt 835: in your home directory if
836: .Ic save
837: is set.
1.58 martynas 838: .Pp
1.43 jmc 839: .It Ic ~r Ns Ar filename
1.58 martynas 840: .It Ic ~< Ns Ar filename
1.1 deraadt 841: Read the named file into the message.
1.58 martynas 842: .Pp
1.43 jmc 843: .It Ic ~s Ns Ar string
1.1 deraadt 844: Cause the named string to become the current subject field.
1.58 martynas 845: .Pp
1.43 jmc 846: .It Ic ~t Ns Ar name ...
1.1 deraadt 847: Add the given names to the direct recipient list.
1.58 martynas 848: .Pp
1.43 jmc 849: .It Ic ~v
1.1 deraadt 850: Invoke an alternate editor (defined by the
851: .Ev VISUAL
852: option) on the
853: message collected so far.
854: Usually, the alternate editor will be a
855: screen editor.
856: After you quit the editor, you may resume appending
857: text to the end of your message.
1.58 martynas 858: .Pp
1.43 jmc 859: .It Ic ~w Ns Ar filename
1.1 deraadt 860: Write the message onto the named file.
1.58 martynas 861: .Pp
1.55 martynas 862: .It Ic ~x
863: Abort the message being sent.
864: No message is copied to
865: .Pa ~/dead.letter ,
866: even if
867: .Ic save
868: is set.
1.58 martynas 869: .Pp
1.56 jmc 870: .It Ic ~?
871: Prints a brief summary of tilde escapes.
1.58 martynas 872: .Pp
1.56 jmc 873: .It Ic ~! Ns Ar command
874: Execute the indicated shell command, then return to the message.
1.58 martynas 875: .Pp
1.43 jmc 876: .It Ic ~| Ns Ar command
1.1 deraadt 877: Pipe the message through the command as a filter.
878: If the command gives
879: no output or terminates abnormally, retain the original text of the
880: message.
881: The command
882: .Xr fmt 1
883: is often used as
884: .Ic command
885: to rejustify the message.
1.58 martynas 886: .Pp
1.43 jmc 887: .It Ic ~: Ns Ar mail-command
1.58 martynas 888: .It Ic ~_ Ns Ar mail-command
1.1 deraadt 889: Execute the given mail command.
890: Not all commands, however, are allowed.
1.58 martynas 891: .Pp
1.43 jmc 892: .It Ic ~~ Ns Ar string
1.1 deraadt 893: Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single ~.
894: If
895: you have changed the escape character, then you should double
896: that character in order to send it.
1.58 martynas 897: .Pp
898: .It Ic ~.
899: Simulate end of file on input.
1.1 deraadt 900: .El
1.22 aaron 901: .Ss Mail options
1.1 deraadt 902: Options are controlled via
903: .Ic set
904: and
905: .Ic unset
906: commands.
907: Options may be either binary, in which case it is only
908: significant to see whether they are set or not; or string, in which
909: case the actual value is of interest.
910: The binary options include the following:
911: .Bl -tag -width append
912: .It Ar append
913: Causes messages saved in
914: .Ar mbox
915: to be appended to the end rather than prepended.
916: This should always be set (perhaps in
917: .Pa /etc/mail.rc ) .
1.25 aaron 918: .It Ar ask , asksub
1.1 deraadt 919: Causes
920: .Nm mail
921: to prompt you for the subject of each message you send.
922: If
923: you respond with simply a newline, no subject field will be sent.
1.45 jmc 924: .It Ar askbcc
925: Causes you to be prompted for additional blind carbon copy recipients at the
926: end of each message.
927: Responding with a newline indicates your
928: satisfaction with the current list.
1.1 deraadt 929: .It Ar askcc
930: Causes you to be prompted for additional carbon copy recipients at the
931: end of each message.
932: Responding with a newline indicates your
933: satisfaction with the current list.
1.5 millert 934: .It Ar autoinc
935: Causes new mail to be automatically incorporated when it arrives.
936: Setting this is similar to issuing the
937: .Ic inc
938: command at each prompt, except that the current message is not
939: reset when new mail arrives.
1.1 deraadt 940: .It Ar autoprint
941: Causes the
942: .Ic delete
943: command to behave like
1.25 aaron 944: .Ic dp ;
945: thus, after deleting a message, the next one will be typed
1.1 deraadt 946: automatically.
947: .It Ar debug
948: Setting the binary option
949: .Ar debug
950: is the same as specifying
951: .Fl d
952: on the command line and causes
953: .Nm mail
954: to output all sorts of information useful for debugging
1.22 aaron 955: .Nm mail .
1.1 deraadt 956: .It Ar dot
957: The binary option
958: .Ar dot
959: causes
960: .Nm mail
961: to interpret a period alone on a line as the terminator
962: of a message you are sending.
1.69 millert 963: .It Ar expandaddr
964: Causes
965: .Nm mail
966: to expand message recipient addresses, as explained in the section
967: .Sx Recipient address specifications .
1.1 deraadt 968: .It Ar hold
969: This option is used to hold messages in the system mailbox
970: by default.
971: .It Ar ignore
972: Causes interrupt signals from your terminal to be ignored and echoed as
973: @'s.
974: .It Ar ignoreeof
975: An option related to
976: .Ar dot
977: is
978: .Ar ignoreeof
979: which makes
980: .Nm mail
1.36 millert 981: refuse to accept a control-D as the end of a message.
1.25 aaron 982: .Ar ignoreeof
1.1 deraadt 983: also applies to
984: .Nm mail
985: command mode.
1.45 jmc 986: .It Ar keep
987: Setting this option causes
988: .Nm
989: to truncate your system mailbox instead of deleting it
990: when it's empty.
991: .It Ar keepsave
992: Messages saved with the
993: .Ic save
994: command are not normally saved in
995: .Ar mbox
996: at quit time.
997: Use this option to retain those messages.
1.1 deraadt 998: .It Ar metoo
999: Usually, when a group is expanded that contains the sender, the sender
1000: is removed from the expansion.
1001: Setting this option causes the sender
1002: to be included in the group.
1003: .It Ar noheader
1004: Setting the option
1005: .Ar noheader
1006: is the same as giving the
1007: .Fl N
1008: flag on the command line.
1009: .It Ar nosave
1.36 millert 1010: Normally, when you abort a message with two interrupt characters
1011: (usually control-C),
1.1 deraadt 1012: .Nm mail
1013: copies the partial letter to the file
1.22 aaron 1014: .Pa dead.letter
1.1 deraadt 1015: in your home directory.
1016: Setting the binary option
1017: .Ar nosave
1018: prevents this.
1.48 jmc 1019: .It Ar quiet
1020: Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked.
1.1 deraadt 1021: .It Ar Replyall
1022: Reverses the sense of
1023: .Ic reply
1024: and
1025: .Ic Reply
1026: commands.
1027: .It Ar searchheaders
1.22 aaron 1028: If this option is set, then a message-list specifier in the form
1029: .Dq /x:y
1030: will expand to all messages containing the substring
1.45 jmc 1031: .Sq y
1.22 aaron 1032: in the header
1033: field
1.45 jmc 1034: .Sq x .
1.27 aaron 1035: The string search is case insensitive.
1036: If
1.45 jmc 1037: .Sq x
1.22 aaron 1038: is omitted, it will default to the
1039: .Dq Subject
1040: header field.
1041: The form
1042: .Dq /to:y
1043: is a special case, and will expand
1044: to all messages containing the substring
1.45 jmc 1045: .Sq y
1.22 aaron 1046: in the
1047: .Dq To ,
1048: .Dq Cc
1049: or
1050: .Dq Bcc
1051: header fields.
1052: The check for
1053: .Dq to
1054: is case sensitive, so that
1055: .Dq /To:y
1056: can be used to limit the search for
1.45 jmc 1057: .Sq y
1.22 aaron 1058: to just the
1059: .Dq To:
1060: field.
1.53 martynas 1061: .It Ar skipempty
1062: Don't send messages with an empty body.
1.1 deraadt 1063: .It Ar verbose
1064: Setting the option
1065: .Ar verbose
1066: is the same as using the
1067: .Fl v
1068: flag on the command line.
1.45 jmc 1069: When
1070: .Nm
1071: runs in verbose mode,
1.1 deraadt 1072: the actual delivery of messages is displayed on the user's
1073: terminal.
1074: .El
1.22 aaron 1075: .Ss Option string values
1.1 deraadt 1076: .Bl -tag -width Va
1077: .It Ev EDITOR
1078: Pathname of the text editor to use in the
1079: .Ic edit
1080: command and
1.43 jmc 1081: .Ic ~e
1.1 deraadt 1082: escape.
1.45 jmc 1083: If not defined,
1084: .Pa /usr/bin/ex
1085: is used.
1.1 deraadt 1086: .It Ev LISTER
1087: Pathname of the directory lister to use in the
1088: .Ic folders
1089: command.
1090: Default is
1091: .Pa /bin/ls .
1.45 jmc 1092: .It Ev MBOX
1093: The name of the
1094: .Ar mbox
1095: file.
1096: It can be the name of a folder.
1097: The default is
1098: .Dq Li mbox
1099: in the user's home directory.
1.1 deraadt 1100: .It Ev PAGER
1101: Pathname of the program to use in the
1102: .Ic more
1.45 jmc 1103: command or when the
1.49 jmc 1104: .Ar crt
1.1 deraadt 1105: variable is set.
1106: The default paginator
1107: .Xr more 1
1108: is used if this option is not defined.
1109: .It Ev SHELL
1110: Pathname of the shell to use in the
1.41 jmc 1111: .Ic !\&
1.1 deraadt 1112: command and the
1.42 jmc 1113: .Ic ~!\&
1.1 deraadt 1114: escape.
1115: A default shell is used if this option is
1116: not defined.
1.52 martynas 1117: .It Ev TMPDIR
1118: Directory in which temporary files are stored.
1.1 deraadt 1119: .It Ev VISUAL
1120: Pathname of the text editor to use in the
1121: .Ic visual
1122: command and
1.43 jmc 1123: .Ic ~v
1.1 deraadt 1124: escape.
1.45 jmc 1125: If not defined,
1126: .Pa /usr/bin/vi
1127: is used.
1.49 jmc 1128: .It Ar crt
1.1 deraadt 1129: The valued option
1.49 jmc 1130: .Ar crt
1.1 deraadt 1131: is used as a threshold to determine how long a message must
1132: be before
1133: .Ev PAGER
1134: is used to read it.
1135: If
1.49 jmc 1136: .Ar crt
1.1 deraadt 1137: is set without a value,
1138: then the height of the terminal screen stored in the system
1139: is used to compute the threshold (see
1140: .Xr stty 1 ) .
1141: .It Ar escape
1142: If defined, the first character of this option gives the character to
1143: use in the place of ~ to denote escapes.
1144: .It Ar folder
1145: The name of the directory to use for storing folders of
1146: messages.
1.22 aaron 1147: If this name begins with a
1.25 aaron 1148: .Ql / ,
1.1 deraadt 1149: .Nm mail
1150: considers it to be an absolute pathname; otherwise, the
1151: folder directory is found relative to your home directory.
1152: .It Ar indentprefix
1.24 aaron 1153: String used by the
1.43 jmc 1154: .Ic ~m
1.22 aaron 1155: tilde escape for indenting messages, in place of the normal tab character
1.44 jmc 1156: .Pq Sq ^I .
1.1 deraadt 1157: Be sure to quote the value if it contains
1158: spaces or tabs.
1.45 jmc 1159: .It Ar record
1160: If defined, gives the pathname of the file used to record all outgoing
1161: mail.
1162: If not defined, then outgoing mail is not so saved.
1163: .It Ar screen
1164: Size of window of message headers for
1165: .Ic z .
1166: .It Ar sendmail
1167: Pathname to an alternative mail delivery system.
1.1 deraadt 1168: .It Ar toplines
1169: If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be printed out
1170: with the
1171: .Ic top
1172: command; normally, the first five lines are printed.
1173: .El
1174: .Sh ENVIRONMENT
1.19 aaron 1175: .Nm mail
1.1 deraadt 1176: utilizes the
1.3 millert 1177: .Ev HOME ,
1178: .Ev LOGNAME ,
1.45 jmc 1179: .Ev MAIL ,
1180: .Ev MAILRC ,
1.1 deraadt 1181: and
1182: .Ev USER
1183: environment variables.
1.12 millert 1184: .Pp
1185: If the
1186: .Ev MAIL
1187: environment variable is set, its value is used as the path to the
1188: user's mail spool.
1.1 deraadt 1189: .Sh FILES
1190: .Bl -tag -width /usr/share/misc/mail.*help -compact
1191: .It Pa /var/mail/*
1.22 aaron 1192: post office (unless overridden by the
1.12 millert 1193: .Ev MAIL
1.22 aaron 1194: environment variable)
1.1 deraadt 1195: .It ~/mbox
1.22 aaron 1196: user's old mail
1.1 deraadt 1197: .It ~/.mailrc
1.22 aaron 1198: file giving initial mail commands; can be overridden by setting the
1.5 millert 1199: .Ev MAILRC
1.22 aaron 1200: environment variable
1.1 deraadt 1201: .It Pa /tmp/R*
1.22 aaron 1202: temporary files
1.1 deraadt 1203: .It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help
1.22 aaron 1204: help files
1.1 deraadt 1205: .It Pa /etc/mail.rc
1.22 aaron 1206: system initialization file
1.1 deraadt 1207: .El
1.60 jmc 1208: .Sh EXIT STATUS
1209: .Ex -std mail
1.1 deraadt 1210: .Sh SEE ALSO
1211: .Xr fmt 1 ,
1.17 millert 1212: .Xr lockspool 1 ,
1.1 deraadt 1213: .Xr vacation 1 ,
1214: .Xr aliases 5 ,
1215: .Xr mailaddr 7 ,
1.12 millert 1216: .Xr mail.local 8 ,
1.31 millert 1217: .Xr newaliases 8 ,
1.65 jmc 1218: .Xr sendmail 8 ,
1219: .Xr smtpd 8
1.57 jmc 1220: .Sh STANDARDS
1221: The
1222: .Nm mailx
1223: utility is compliant with the
1224: .St -p1003.1-2008
1225: specification.
1226: .Pp
1227: The flags
1.62 jmc 1228: .Op Fl iNnu
1229: are marked by
1230: .St -p1003.1-2008
1231: as being optional.
1232: .Pp
1233: The flags
1234: .Op Fl eFH
1235: are marked by
1236: .St -p1003.1-2008
1237: as being optional,
1.64 jmc 1238: and are not supported by this implementation of
1.62 jmc 1239: .Nm mailx .
1240: .Pp
1241: The flags
1.57 jmc 1242: .Op Fl bcdEIv
1.62 jmc 1243: are extensions to the specification.
1.1 deraadt 1244: .Sh HISTORY
1245: A
1246: .Nm mail
1.28 aaron 1247: command appeared in
1.34 mickey 1248: .At v3 .
1.48 jmc 1249: This man page is derived from the
1250: .%T "Mail Reference Manual"
1.1 deraadt 1251: originally written by Kurt Shoens.
1252: .Sh BUGS
1253: Usually,
1254: .Nm mail
1.11 deraadt 1255: and
1256: .Nm mailx
1257: are just links to
1.22 aaron 1258: .Nm Mail ,
1.1 deraadt 1259: which can be confusing.
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