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mail(1)
NAME
mail, binmail - Sends and displays messages
SYNOPSIS
Reading Mail
mail [-epq] [-bhr] [-f file]
binmail [-epq] [-bhr] [-f file]
Sending Mail
mail [-d] [-r name] [-h N] user... [< file]
binmail [-d] [-r name] [-h N] user... [< file]
OPTIONS
Reading Mail
You can use the following options when invoking the mail command to read
mail:
-e Does not display any messages. This option causes mail to return an
exit value of 0 (zero) if the user has mail and an exit value of 1 if
the user has no mail.
-f file
Saves mail to and reads mail from file instead of the default mail
file, /usr/spool/mail/user.
-p Displays mail without prompting for a disposition code. This option
does not delete, copy, or forward any messages.
-q Causes mail to exit when you press the Interrupt key sequence.
Normally, pressing the Interrupt key sequence stops only the message
being displayed. (In this case, the next message sometimes does not
display until you enter the p subcommand.)
-b Displays mail in first-in, first-out order. The default is last-in,
first-out.
-r Alternate and obsolete form of the -b option.
If -r is the first option specified and more arguments follow, send
mail mode is assumed.
-h Alternate and obsolete form of the -b option.
If -h is the first option specified and more arguments follow, send
mail mode is assumed.
Sending Mail
You can use the following options when invoking the mail command to send
mail:
-h N
Sets the hop count to N. The hop count is incremented every time the
mail is processed. When it reaches a limit, the mail is returned with
an error message, the victim of an aliasing loop. If you do not
specify this option, received lines in the message are counted.
-r name
Sets the name of the From: user field (that is, the sender of the
mail). The -r option can only be used by trusted users (normally root,
daemon, and network) or if the person you are trying to become is the
same as the person you are.
-d Informs binmail to actually deliver the mail instead of passing it off
to the sendmail program for delivery.
DESCRIPTION
The mail command writes to standard output all stored mail addressed to
your login name, one message at a time, or sends a mail message to another
user or users. Another name for the mail command is binmail.
Following each message, mail prompts you with a ? question mark. Press
<Return> to display the current mail message, or enter one of the
subcommands that control the disposition of the message.
When sending mail, you specify users, and then mail reads a message from
standard input until you press the End-of-File key sequence or enter a line
containing only a . (dot). It prefixes this message with the sender's name
and the date and time of the message (its postmark) and adds this message
to the file /usr/spool/mail/user for each user specified on the command
line.
Usually, user is a name recognized by the login command. If the system
does not recognize one or more of the specified users or if mail is
interrupted during input, mail saves messages in the file $HOME/dead.letter
to allow for editing and resending.
The action of mail can be modified in two ways by manipulating
/usr/spool/mail/user:
· The default permission assignment for other users is read-only. If
you change this permission assignment to read/write or to All
Permissions Denied, the system preserves the file, even when it is
empty, in order to maintain the desired permissions; you will not be
able to remove the file.
· You can edit the file to contain the following as its first line:
Forward to person
This causes all messages sent to user to be sent to person instead.
The Forward to feature is especially useful for sending all of a
person's mail to a particular machine in a network environment.
To specify a recipient on a remote system, prefix the system name and an !
(exclamation mark) to user. See the uucp command for a detailed discussion
of how to address remote systems. Also see mailx and sendmail for other
network connections.
DIGITAL UNIX provides locking for the mailbox files. The style of locking
used depends on how it is set in the rc.config file. For more information,
see the Network Administration manual.
Subcommands
The following subcommands control message disposition.
+ Displays the next mail message.
- Displays the previous message.
d Deletes the current message and displays the next message.
p Displays the current message again.
s [file]
Saves the message in file instead of in the default mail file
$HOME/mbox.
w [file]
Saves the message, without its postmark, in file instead of in the
default mail file, $HOME/mbox.
m users
Forwards the current message to users. If the forward was successful,
deletes that message and then displays the next message.
q Writes any mail not yet deleted to /usr/spool/mail/user and exits.
Pressing the End-of-File key sequence has the same effect.
x Exit, leaving the mail file unchanged.
!system_command
Runs the specified command.
* (asterisk)
Displays a subcommand summary.
help
Displays a subcommand summary.
NOTES
The binmail program is not RFC 822 compliant. This affects messages that
begin withlines that look like header lines. Header lines begin with a
string followed by a colon (:) (such as those found in the /etc/passwd
file). Use mailx command to send such messages, or make sure the message
is preceded by a blank line.
EXIT STATUS
For information about exit values, see the OPTIONS section.
EXAMPLES
1. To display your mail, enter:
mail
After the most recent message is displayed, a ? (question mark)
indicates that mail is waiting for one of the subcommands explained
previously (+, -, d, p, and so on). Enter help or an * (asterisk) to
list the subcommands available.
2. If the End-of-File key sequence is <Ctrl-d>, you send mail to other
users by entering:
mail tom rachel
Do not forget the meeting tomorrow at 9:30.
<Ctrl-d>
In this example, the system mails the message Do not forget the
meeting tomorrow at 9:30. to the users tom and rachel. The End-of-File
key sequence (in this case, <Ctrl-d>) indicates the end of the
message, but it is not sent with the text.
3. To send a file to another user, enter:
mail fran < proposal
This command sends the contents of the file proposal to fran.
4. To save a message to the default mail file, enter:
mail
This command displays each message mailed to you. Press <Return> after
the ? prompt until the desired message is displayed.
When the appropriate message is displayed, enter:
s
The message is saved in the default mail file, $HOME/mbox.
5. To save a message to a specific file, enter:
mail
This command displays each message mailed to you. Press <Return> after
the ? prompt until the desired message is displayed. When the
appropriate message is displayed, enter:
s mycopy
This command saves the message in a file named mycopy in the current
directory, rather than in the default mail file.
FILES
$HOME/mbox
Holds saved mail.
$HOME/dead.letter
Holds unmailable text.
/etc/passwd
Contains user information.
/usr/spool/mail/user
Holds incoming mail for user.
/usr/spool/mail/user.lock
Lock for mail directory. (Note: this file is not created if lockf is
used for locking.
SEE ALSO
Commands: login(1), mailx(1), sendmail(8), write(1), uucp(1)