Annotation of src/usr.bin/msgs/msgs.1, Revision 1.1
1.1 ! deraadt 1: .\" $NetBSD: msgs.1,v 1.5 1995/09/28 06:57:39 tls Exp $
! 2: .\"
! 3: .\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990, 1993
! 4: .\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
! 5: .\"
! 6: .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
! 7: .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
! 8: .\" are met:
! 9: .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
! 10: .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
! 11: .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
! 12: .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
! 13: .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
! 14: .\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
! 15: .\" must display the following acknowledgement:
! 16: .\" This product includes software developed by the University of
! 17: .\" California, Berkeley and its contributors.
! 18: .\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
! 19: .\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
! 20: .\" without specific prior written permission.
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! 22: .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
! 23: .\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
! 24: .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
! 25: .\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
! 26: .\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
! 27: .\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
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! 34: .\" @(#)msgs.1 8.2 (Berkeley) 4/28/95
! 35: .\"
! 36: .Dd April 28, 1995
! 37: .Dt MSGS 1
! 38: .Os BSD 4
! 39: .Sh NAME
! 40: .Nm msgs
! 41: .Nd system messages and junk mail program
! 42: .Sh SYNOPSIS
! 43: .Nm msgs
! 44: .Op Fl fhlpqr
! 45: .Op Ar number
! 46: .Op Ar \-number
! 47: .Nm msgs
! 48: .Op Fl s
! 49: .Nm msgs
! 50: .Op Fl c
! 51: .Op \-days
! 52: .Sh DESCRIPTION
! 53: .Nm Msgs
! 54: is used to read system messages.
! 55: These messages are
! 56: sent by mailing to the login `msgs' and should be short
! 57: pieces of information which are suitable to be read once by most users
! 58: of the system.
! 59: .Pp
! 60: .Nm Msgs
! 61: is normally invoked each time you login, by placing it in the file
! 62: .Pa .login
! 63: (or
! 64: .Pa .profile
! 65: if you use
! 66: .Xr sh 1 ) .
! 67: It will then prompt you with the source and subject of each new message.
! 68: If there is no subject line, the first few non-blank lines of the
! 69: message will be displayed.
! 70: If there is more to the message, you will be told how
! 71: long it is and asked whether you wish to see the rest of the message.
! 72: The possible responses are:
! 73: .Bl -tag -width Fl
! 74: .It Fl y
! 75: Type the rest of the message.
! 76: .It Ic RETURN
! 77: Synonym for y.
! 78: .It Fl n
! 79: Skip this message
! 80: and go on to the next message.
! 81: .It Fl
! 82: Redisplay the last message.
! 83: .It Fl q
! 84: Drop out of
! 85: .Nm msgs ;
! 86: the next time
! 87: .Nm msgs
! 88: will pick up where it last left off.
! 89: .It Fl s
! 90: Append the current message to the file ``Messages'' in the current directory;
! 91: `s\-' will save the previously displayed message. A `s' or `s\-' may
! 92: be followed by a space and a file name to receive the message replacing
! 93: the default ``Messages''.
! 94: .It Fl m
! 95: A copy of the specified message is placed in a temporary
! 96: mailbox and
! 97: .Xr mail 1
! 98: is invoked on that mailbox.
! 99: .It Fl p
! 100: The specified message is piped through $PAGER, or, if $PAGER is not defined,
! 101: .Xr more 1 .
! 102: The commands `m', `p', and `s' all accept a numeric argument in place of the `\-'.
! 103: .El
! 104: .Pp
! 105: .Nm Msgs
! 106: keeps track of the next message you will see by a number in the file
! 107: .Pa \&.msgsrc
! 108: in your home directory.
! 109: In the directory
! 110: .Pa /var/msgs
! 111: it keeps a set of files whose names are the (sequential) numbers
! 112: of the messages they represent.
! 113: The file
! 114: .Pa /var/msgs/bounds
! 115: shows the low and high number of the messages in the directory
! 116: so that
! 117: .Nm msgs
! 118: can quickly determine if there are no messages for you.
! 119: If the contents of
! 120: .Pa bounds
! 121: is incorrect it can be fixed by removing it;
! 122: .Nm msgs
! 123: will make a new
! 124: .Pa bounds
! 125: file the next time it is run.
! 126: .Pp
! 127: The
! 128: .Fl s
! 129: option is used for setting up the posting of messages. The line
! 130: .Pp
! 131: .Dl msgs: \&"\&| /usr/bin/msgs \-s\&"
! 132: .Pp
! 133: should be included in
! 134: .Pa /etc/aliases
! 135: (see
! 136: .Xr newaliases 1 )
! 137: to enable posting of messages.
! 138: .Pp
! 139: The
! 140: .Fl c
! 141: option is used for performing cleanup on
! 142: .Pa /var/msgs.
! 143: An entry with the
! 144: .Fl c
! 145: option should be placed in
! 146: .Pa /etc/crontab
! 147: to run every night. This will remove all messages over 21 days old.
! 148: A different expiration may be specified on the command line to override
! 149: the default.
! 150: .Pp
! 151: Options when reading messages include:
! 152: .Bl -tag -width Fl
! 153: .It Fl f
! 154: Do not to say ``No new messages.''.
! 155: This is useful in a
! 156: .Pa .login
! 157: file since this is often the case here.
! 158: .It Fl q
! 159: Queries whether there are messages, printing
! 160: ``There are new messages.'' if there are.
! 161: The command ``msgs \-q'' is often used in login scripts.
! 162: .It Fl h
! 163: Print the first part of messages only.
! 164: .It Fl r
! 165: Disables the ability to save messages or enter the mailer. It is
! 166: assumed that $PAGER is set to something secure.
! 167: .It Fl l
! 168: Option causes only locally originated messages to be reported.
! 169: .It Ar num
! 170: A message number can be given
! 171: on the command line, causing
! 172: .Nm msgs
! 173: to start at the specified message rather than at the next message
! 174: indicated by your
! 175: .Pa \&.msgsrc
! 176: file.
! 177: Thus
! 178: .Pp
! 179: .Dl msgs \-h 1
! 180: .Pp
! 181: prints the first part of all messages.
! 182: .It Ar \-number
! 183: Start
! 184: .Ar number
! 185: messages back from the one indicated in the
! 186: .Pa \&.msgsrc
! 187: file, useful for reviews of recent messages.
! 188: .It Fl p
! 189: Pipe long messages through $PAGER, or, if $PAGER is not defined,
! 190: .Xr more 1 .
! 191: .El
! 192: .Pp
! 193: Within
! 194: .Nm msgs
! 195: you can also go to any specific message by typing its number when
! 196: .Nm msgs
! 197: requests input as to what to do.
! 198: .Sh ENVIRONMENT
! 199: .Nm Msgs
! 200: uses the
! 201: .Ev HOME
! 202: and
! 203: .Ev TERM
! 204: environment variables for the default home directory and
! 205: terminal type.
! 206: .Sh FILES
! 207: .Bl -tag -width /usr/msgs/* -compact
! 208: .It Pa /usr/msgs/*
! 209: database
! 210: .It ~/.msgsrc
! 211: number of next message to be presented
! 212: .El
! 213: .Sh SEE ALSO
! 214: .Xr aliases 5 ,
! 215: .\".Xr crontab 5 ,
! 216: .Xr mail 1 ,
! 217: .Xr more 1
! 218: .Sh HISTORY
! 219: The
! 220: .Nm msgs
! 221: command appeared in
! 222: .Bx 3.0 .
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