Annotation of src/usr.bin/msgs/msgs.1, Revision 1.1.1.1
1.1 deraadt 1: .\" $NetBSD: msgs.1,v 1.5 1995/09/28 06:57:39 tls Exp $
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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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