 |
Click this button to go to the index for this section. |
mailx(1)
NAME
mailx, Mail - Sends and receives mail
SYNOPSIS
Sending Mail
mailx [-dinvF] [-h number] [-r address] [-s subject] user...
Mail [-dinvF] [-h number] [-r address] [-s subject] user...
Handling Mail
mailx [-dinNveH] -f [file]
Mail [-dinNveH] -f [file]
mailx [-dinNveH] [-u user]
Mail [-dinNveH] [-u user]
The mailx and Mail commands allow you to read, write, send, receive, store,
and discard mail messages.
[DIGITAL] See the section Internationalization under the DESCRIPTION
section for more information about the internationalization features of the
mailx command.
STANDARDS
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards
as follows:
mailx(): XPG4
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about
industry standards and associated tags.
OPTIONS
-d Causes the mailx command to display debugging information. Messages are
not sent while in debug mode.
-e Tests for the presence of mail. The mailx command prints nothing and
exits with a successful return code if there is mail to read.
-f file
Reads in the contents of your mbox or the specified file for
processing. When you quit, mailx writes undeleted messages back to
this file.
-F Records the message in a file named after the first recipient.
Overrides the record option, if set.
-h number
Specifies the number of network "hops" made so far. This is provided
for network software to avoid infinite loops.
-H Prints header summary only.
-i Ignores tty Interrupt signals. Useful when using mailx on noisy phone
lines.
-n Inhibits the reading of the /usr/share/lib/Mail.rc file.
-N Suppresses the initial printing of headers.
-r address
Passes address to the network delivery software. All tilde commands
are disabled.
-s subject
Specifies a subject for a message to be created.
-u user
Activates mailx for a specified users mailbox; short way of doing mailx
-f /var/spool/mail/user. You must have access permission to the
specified user's mailbox.
-v Puts mailx into verbose mode. Details of delivery are displayed on the
user's terminal.
DESCRIPTION
The mailx and Mail commands allow you to do the following:
· Compose a message and send it.
· Receive a message and look at it.
· Store received messages in your mailbox or in folders.
· Discard messages.
The mailx command uses two types of mailboxes: the system mailbox and the
personal mailbox. The system mailbox is a file assigned to a particular
user. The file is created when mail arrives for a user ID, and it is
deleted when all the messages are removed from the file. It is not deleted
if you have specified the keep option in your .mailrc file, or if the
/var/spool/mail directory has no write permissions for other. A separate
system mailbox can exist for each user ID on the system. The mailx command
keeps all system mailboxes in the directory /var/spool/mail. Each system
mailbox is named by the user ID associated with it. For example, if your
user ID is jeanne, then your system mailbox is /var/spool/mail/jeanne.
The personal mailbox is a file assigned to a particular user. The mailx
command creates a file with the name $HOME/mbox when you receive mail from
the system mailbox. For example, if your home directory is /u/lance, the
mailx command creates the file /u/lance/mbox as your personal mailbox. The
system deletes this file when all messages are removed from the personal
mailbox. When you use the mailx command to view mail in your system
mailbox, the mailx command automatically puts all messages that you have
read but did not delete into your personal mailbox. The messages remain in
your personal mailbox until you move them to a folder or delete them.
Folders provide a way to save messages in an organized fashion. You can
create as many folders as you need. Name each folder according to the
subject matter of the messages that it contains. Using the mailx command,
you can put a message into a folder from your system mailbox, from your
personal mailbox, from the dead.letter file, or from another folder.
To send a message to one or more persons, enter mailx on the command line
with arguments that are the network addresses of the people you want to
receive the message. When mailx starts, you can type the message using an
editor such as ed. When you are finished with the message, press <Return>
at the end of a line, and use an End-of-File key sequence at the beginning
of the next line to exit the editor and send the message.
When mail arrives for you from another user, the mail system puts the mail
in your system mailbox (/var/spool/mail/user). The command shell will
notify you that mail has arrived before displaying its next prompt (that
is, notification is synchronous), provided that the MAIL environment
variable is set and the interval specified by MAILCHECK (mail for csh) has
elapsed since the shell last checked for mail. If you are logged in, the
shell sends a message to your terminal to tell you that new mail has
arrived. If you are not logged in, a message is sent to your terminal the
next time you log in. The notification message is the value of the MAILMSG
environment variable. The default message is as follows:
[YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
To look at the contents of your mailbox, enter the mailx command without
options on the command line. The program displays a listing of the
messages in your mailbox and allows you to look at them, reply to them,
save them, dispose of them, and so on.
[DIGITAL] 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.
Reading Incoming Mail
To receive and read incoming mail, enter mailx with no arguments:
mailx
The mailx command then checks your system mailbox (/var/spool/mail/user)
and displays a one-line entry for each message in the system mailbox
similar to the following:
"/var/spool/mail/geo": 2 messages 2 new
>N 1 amy Thu Sep 17 14:36 13/359 "Dept Meeting"
N 2 amy Thu Sep 17 16:28 13/416 "Dept Meeting Delayed"
?
The > (right angle bracket) indicates the current message, or the message
that subcommands act on if you do not specify a message number or list of
message numbers. The first field for each message contains a one-letter
indicator of the status of the message. Possible indicators are as
follows:
M The message is stored in your personal mailbox.
N The message is new.
P The message is held (preserved) in your system mailbox.
R You have read the message.
U The message is unread. The message was listed in the mailbox before,
but you have not looked at the contents of the message.
* You have saved or written the message to a file or folder.
no indicator
The message was read, but was not deleted or saved.
The other fields in the listing (in order) represent:
Message Number
The number that mailbox subcommands use to refer to the message.
Address
User address of the sender.
Date
Date the message was received, including day of the week, month, day,
and time.
Size
Size of the message in number of lines and characters, including header
information.
Subject
The contents of the subject field of the message, if the message has
one.
From the mailbox prompt (?), you can enter subcommands to look at, reply
to, save, discard, or otherwise manage the contents of the mailbox. To
display a summary of some of the subcommands that you can use to handle
mail in your mailbox, enter a ? (question mark) at the mailbox prompt.
Note that the behavior of the <Return> key has changed for XPG4 compliance.
Using this key with no following argument now causes the current message to
be displayed, and not the next message.
Many mailbox subcommands allow you to specify groups of messages upon which
to perform the subcommand. Subcommands that allow groups of messages use
the argument message_list in the command format. For example, the format
of the from (or f) subcommand (display information about messages) appears
as:
? from [message_list]
In this format, message_list can be one of the following:
· One or more message numbers separated by spaces. For example:
? f 1 2 4 7
· A range of message numbers indicated by the first and last numbers in
the range separated by a dash. For example, the following subcommand:
? f 2-5
is the same as:
? f 2 3 4 5
· An example of one or more addresses separated by spaces to apply the
subcommand to messages received from those addresses follows:
? f amy geo@zeus
The characters entered for an address need not match the address
exactly. They must only be contained in the address field of the
messages in either uppercase or lowercase letters. Therefore, the
request for address amy matches all of the following addresses (and
many others):
--
amy
--
AmY
--
amy@zeus
--
hamy
· A string, preceded by a / (slash), to match against the Subject: field
of the messages follows:
? f /meet
This applies the subcommand to all messages whose Subject: field
contains the letters meet in uppercase or lowercase. The characters
entered for a match pattern do not have to match the Subject: field
exactly. They must only be contained in the Subject: field of the
messages in either uppercase or lowercase. Therefore, the request for
subject meet matches all of the following subjects (and many others):
--
Meeting on Thursday
--
Come to meeting tomorrow
--
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS
The special character . (dot) addresses the current message, * (asterisk)
addresses all messages, ^ (circumflex) addresses the first undeleted
message, and $ (dollar sign) addresses the last message. The character
sequence :c addresses all messages of type c, where c is one of the
following:
d Deleted messages
n New messages
o Old messages
r Read messages
u Unread messages
All commands that take a message list will default to the current message
number if no list is specified.
When the mailx command is processing a mailbox, the mailbox prompt (?) is
displayed to indicate that it is waiting for input. When this prompt is
displayed, you can enter any of the following mailbox subcommands. The
subcommand abbreviation in parentheses can be used instead of the full
subcommand name.
= Echoes the number of the current message.
# Allows you to write comments in mail script files.
-n Goes to the previous message and displays it. If given a number
argument of n, goes to the nth previous message and displays it.
? Displays a brief summary of mailbox subcommands.
!shell_command
Executes shell_command.
alias [alias] [address_list] (a)
Displays all currently defined aliases. With the argument of a
previously defined alias, displays the expansion of the alias. With two
arguments (alias and address_list), creates a new alias or changes an
old alias. Identical to the group subcommand.
alternates alternate_list(alt)
Informs mailx that the addresses listed in alternate_list all refer to
you. The alternates subcommand is useful if you have accounts on
several machines. Then, when you reply to messages, mailx does not send
a copy of the message to any of the addresses given in alternate_list.
If you enter the alternate subcommand with no argument, mailx displays
the current set of alternate names.
chdir directory (cd, ch)
Changes your working directory to directory. If no directory is given,
it changes to your login directory.
copy [message_list] file(c, co)
Appends each message in message_list in turn to the end of file.
Displays the filename in quotes, followed by the line count and
character count, on your terminal. Does not mark the appended messages
for deletion when you quit.
Copy [message_list] (C)
Saves the specified messages in a file whose name is derived from the
author of the message to be saved, without marking the messages as
saved. Otherwise equivalent to the Save subcommand.
delete [message_list] (d)
Marks the messages in message_list to be deleted when you quit mailx.
Deleted messages are not saved in mbox, nor are they available for most
other subcommands. However, you can restore messages that you have
deleted while in the same mailbox session (see the undelete
subcommand). If you delete a message and either change to another
mailbox or quit the mailbox with the quit subcommand, the deleted
message cannot be recalled.
discard [field_list] (di)
Identical to the ignore subcommand.
dp Deletes the current message and displays the next message. If there is
no next message, mailx displays the message, at EOF.
dt Identical to the dp subcommand.
echo string (ec)
Displays the character string string on the command line.
edit [message_list] (e)
Invokes the alternate editor that you can define with the set EDITOR=
statement and loads message_list into the editor. When you exit the
editor, any changes made during the editing session are saved in the
messages in message_list. The default editor is /usr/bin/ex.
exit (ex or x)
Exits to the shell without changing the mailbox being processed. The
mailbox returns to the condition that it was in when mailx was started.
Messages marked to be deleted are not deleted. Identical to the xit
subcommand.
file [name] (fi)
Identical to the folder subcommand.
folder [name] (fold)
Switches to a new mail file or folder. With no arguments, displays the
name of the mailbox that you are currently reading. If an argument is
included, it stores the current mailbox with changes (such as messages
deleted) and reads in the new mailbox specified by the name argument.
Identical to the file subcommand.
Some special conventions are recognized for the name:
# Refers to the previous file.
% Refers to the system mailbox (/var/spool/mail/user).
& Refers to your personal mailbox ($HOME/mbox).
+name
Refers to a file in your folder directory (determined by the value
of the folder option; see Enabling and Disabling Options).
folders
Lists the names of the folders in your folder directory (see the folder
option in Enabling and Disabling Options).
followup [message] (fo)
Responds to a message, recording the response in a file whose name is
derived from the author of the message. Overrides the record option,
if set. (See also the Followup, Save, and Copy subcommands and the
outfolder option.)
Followup [message_list] (F)
Responds to the first message in message_list, sending the message to
the author of each message in message_list. The subject line is taken
from the first message and the response is recorded in a file whose
name is derived from the author of the first message. (See also the
followup, Save, and Copy commands and the outfolder option.)
from [message_list] (f)
Displays the headers of messages in message_list.
group (g)
Identical to the alias subcommand.
headers [message_list] (h)
Lists the headers in the current group of messages (each group of
messages contains 20 messages by default; change this with the set
screen= statement). If the mailbox contains more messages than can be
displayed on the screen at one time, information about only the first
group of messages is displayed. To see information about the rest of
the messages, use the h subcommand with a message number that is in the
next range of messages, or use the z subcommand to change the current
message group.
help
Displays a brief summary of mailbox subcommands. Identical to the ?
(question mark) subcommand.
hold [message_list] (ho)
Marks each message in message_list to be saved in your system mailbox
(/var/spool/mail/user) instead of in $HOME/mbox. Does not override the
delete subcommand. Identical to the preserve subcommand.
if condition (i)
else (el)
endif (en)
Construction for conditional execution of mailx subcommands.
Subcommands following if are executed if condition is TRUE.
Subcommands following else are executed if condition is not TRUE. The
else is not required. The endif subcommand ends the construction and is
required. The condition can be receive (receiving mail) or send
(sending mail).
ignore [field_list] (ig)
Adds the header fields in field_list to the list of fields to be
ignored. Ignored fields are not displayed when you look at a message
with the type or print subcommands. Use this subcommand to suppress
machine-generated header fields. Use the Type and Print subcommands to
print a message in its entirety, including ignored fields. If ignore
is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of ignored
fields. Identical to the discard subcommand.
list (l)
Displays a list of valid mailx subcommands.
local
Lists other names for the local host.
mail address_list (m)
Activates the mail editor to allow you to create and send a message to
people specified in address_list. The newly created message is
independent from any received messages.
mbox [message_list] (mb)
Indicates that the messages in message_list be sent to your personal
mailbox when you quit. This operation is the default action for
messages that you have looked at if you are looking at your system
mailbox and the hold option is not set.
more [message_list] (mo)
Displays the messages inmessage_list using the defined pager program to
control the display to the screen. Identical to the page subcommand.
More [message_list] (Mo)
Like more, but also displays ignored header fields. (See more and
ignore.)
new [message_list]
Marks each message in message_list as not having been read. Identical
to the New, unread, and Unread subcommands.
New [message_list]
Marks each message in message_list as not having been read. Identical
to the new, unread, and Unread subcommands.
next [message] (n)
Makes the next message in the mailbox the current message, and displays
that message. With an argument list, it displays the next matching
message.
page [message_list] (pa)
Displays the messages in message_list using the defined pager program
to control the display to the screen. Identical to the more subcommand.
Page [message_list] (Pa)
Like the page subcommand, but also displays ignored header fields.
Identical to the More subcommand.
pipe [message_list] [shell_command] (pi)
| [message_list] [shell_command]
Pipes the message through shell_command. The message is treated as if
it were read. If no arguments are given, the current message is piped
through the command specified by the value of the cmd option. If the
page option is set, a formfeed character is inserted after each
message.
preserve (pre)
Identical to the hold subcommand.
print [message_list] (p)
Displays the messages in message_list. Identical to the type
subcommand, or simply pressing the <Return> key with no argument.
Print [message_list] (P)
Like print, but also displays ignored header fields. (See print and
ignore.) Identical to the Type subcommand.
quit (q)
Ends the session and returns to the shell. All messages that were not
deleted or saved are stored in your personal mailbox ($HOME/mbox). All
messages marked with hold or preserve and those messages that you did
not look at are saved in the system mailbox (/var/spool/mail/user). If
the quit subcommand is given while editing a mailbox file with the -f
option, then the edit file is saved with the changes. If the edit file
cannot be saved, mailx does not exit. Use the exit subcommand to exit
without saving the changes.
reply [message] (r)
Allows you to reply to the sender of message and to all others who
received copies of message. Identical to the respond subcommand.
Reply [message] (R)
Allows you to reply only to the sender of message. Identical to the
Respond subcommand.
respond [message]
Allows you to reply to the sender of message and to all others who
received copies of message. Identical to the reply subcommand.
Respond [message]
Allows you to reply only to the sender of message. Identical to the
Reply subcommand.
retain [field_list]
Adds the header fields in field_list to the list of fields to be
retained. Retained fields are displayed when you look at a message
with the type or print subcommands. Use this subcommand to define which
header fields you want displayed. Use the Type and Print subcommands
to print a message in its entirety, including fields that are not
retained. If retain is executed with no arguments, it lists the
current set of retained fields.
save [message_list] file (s)
Saves message_list, including header information, to file (or to a
folder). If file already exists, message_list is appended to file.
Displays the filename and the size of the file when the operation is
complete. If you save a message to a file, that message is not returned
to the system mailbox nor saved in your personal mailbox when you quit
the mailx command. If a filename is not specified, the mailx command
saves the messages in your personal mailbox.
Save [message_list] (S)
Saves the specified messages in a file whose name is derived from the
author of the first message. The name of the file is taken to be the
author's name with all network addressing stripped off. (See also the
Copy, followup, and Followup subcommands, and the outfolder option.)
set [option_list | option=value] (se)
Displays the options that are currently enabled. If arguments are
specified, sets options in option_list (a list of binary options, those
that are either set or not set); or sets an option that must be
assigned a value. (See Enabling and Disabling Options for a description
of valid options.)
shell (sh)
Invokes an interactive version of the shell.
size [message_list] (si)
Displays the sizes in lines and characters of the messages in
message_list.
source file (so)
Reads and executes the mailx commands from file.
top [message_list] (to)
Displays the top few lines of the messages specified by message_list.
The number of lines displayed is determined by the valued option
toplines and defaults to 5.
touch [message_list] (tou)
Marks the messages in message_list to be moved from your system mailbox
to your personal mailbox when you quit the mailx command, even though
you have not read the listed messages. The messages appear in your
personal mailbox as unread messages. When you use touch, the last
message in message_list becomes the current message.
type [message_list] (t)
Displays the messages in message_list. Identical to the print
subcommand.
Type [message_list] (T)
Like type, but also displays ignored header fields. (See type and
ignore.) Identical to the Print subcommand.
unalias alias_list
Deletes the specified alias names. If a specified alias does not
exist, the results are unspecified.
undelete [message_list] (u)
Removes the messages in message_list from the list of messages to be
deleted when you quit mailx. Without a message_list, undelete recalls
the last deleted message.
unread [message_list] (U)
Marks each message in message_list as not having been read. Identical
to the new, New, and Unread subcommands.
Unread [message_list]
Marks each message in message_list as not having been read. Identical
to the new, New, and unread subcommands.
unset [option_list] (uns)
Discards the values of the options specified in option_list. This
action is the inverse of the set subcommand.
version (ve)
Displays the version banner for the mailx command.
visual [message_list] (v)
Invokes the visual editor and loads message_list into the editor. (This
editor can be defined with the set VISUAL= statement.) When you exit
the editor, any changes made during the editing session are saved back
to the messages in message_list.
write [message_list] file (w)
Appends the messages specified in message_list to file. Displays the
filename and the size of the file when the operation is complete. Does
not include message headers in the file.
xit (x)
Identical to the exit subcommand.
z [+] [-]
Changes the current message group (group of 20 messages) and displays
the headers of the messages in that group. If a + or no argument is
given, then headers in the next group are shown. If a - argument is
given, the headers in the previous group are shown.
Sending Mail
You can use the mailx command in one of two ways to send information. You
can use the mailx command's built-in editor to both compose and send a
short message. You can also use the mailx command to send any text file to
another user. The file can be a letter you have written using your
favorite editor, a source file for a program you have written, or any other
file in text format.
The mailx command provides a line-oriented editor for composing messages.
This editor allows you to enter each line of the message and then press
<Return> to get a new line to enter more text. You cannot change the text
after you press <Return>. However, before you press <Return>, you can
change text on the current line by using <Backspace> and <Delete> to erase
the text and then enter the replacement text. Although you cannot change
text on a line once you have pressed <Return>, you can change the contents
of your message before sending it by using the visual or edit subcommand to
edit the message.
By default, mailx treats lines beginning with the ~ (tilde) character as
special while you are composing a message. For instance, entering ~m on a
line by itself places a copy of the current message into the response,
shifting it to the right by one tab stop.
Other escapes set up subject fields, add and delete recipients of the
message, and allow you to escape to an editor to revise the message, or to
a shell to run other commands. You can change the Escape character to
something other than a tilde with the set escape= statement. To view a
summary of many useful commands, enter ~? on a line by itself while in the
mail editor.
The following list provides a summary of the mail editor commands. Use
these commands only while in the mail editor. The editor recognizes
commands only if you enter them at the beginning of a new line.
~:/~-
Escapes to command mode.
~? Displays a summary of the mailx subcommands.
~!command
Executes the shell command and returns to the message.
~. Simulates End-of-File (terminates message input).
~:command
~_command
Performs the command-level request. Valid only when sending a message
while reading mail.
~a Inserts the autograph string from the sign= option into the message.
~A Inserts the autograph string from the Sign= option into the message.
~b address_list
Adds names in address_list to the list of people to receive blind
copies of the message. Can only be used to add to (not to change or
delete) the contents of the Bcc: list.
~c address_list
Adds names in address_list to the list of people to receive copies of
the message. Can only be used to add to (not to change or delete) the
contents of the Cc: list.
~C Dumps core.
~d Appends the file dead.letter from your home directory to the current
end of the message.
~e Invokes the alternate editor using the text of the current message as
input. (This editor can be defined with the set EDITOR= statement.)
When you exit that editor, you return to the mail editor, where you can
continue appending text to the message, or you can send the message by
quitting the mailx command.
~f message_list
Includes one or more additional messages in the current message to
forward to another user. This subcommand reads each message in
message_list and appends it to the end of the current message, but it
does not indent the appended messages. This subcommand is also used to
append messages for reference when the margins are too wide to imbed
with the ~m subcommand. The ~f subcommand works only if you entered
the mail editor from the mailbox prompt using the mail subcommand, the
reply subcommand, or the Reply subcommand.
~F message_list
Performs the same operation as the ~f command escape, except that all
headers are included in the message, regardless of previous discard,
ignore, and retain commands.
~h Allows you to add or to change information in all of the header fields.
The system displays each of the four header fields, one at a time. You
can view the contents of each field and delete or add information to
that field. Press <Return> to save any changes to that field and to
display the next field and its contents.
~i string
Inserts the value of the named option into the text of the message. For
example, ~A is equivalent to ~i Sign.
~m message_list
Reads message_list into the current messagefor reference purposes. This
subcommand reads each message in message_list and appends it to the
current message. The included message is indented one tab character
from the normal left margin of the message. This subcommand works only
if you entered the mail editor from the mailbox prompt using the mail
subcommand, the reply subcommand, or the Reply subcommand. If no
messages are specified, it reads the current message.
~M message_list
Performs the same operation as the ~m command escape, except that all
headers are included in the message, regardless of previous discard,
ignore, and retain commands.
~p Displays the message as it currently exists, prefaced by the message
header fields.
~q or ~Q
Quits the editor, aborting the message being created without sending
it. Saves the message in the dead.letter file in your home directory,
unless the nosave option is set. The previous contents of the
dead.letter file are overwritten by the partially completed message.
You can also quit the editor by using the Interrupt key sequence.
~<file
~<!shell_command
~r file
Reads the named file into the message. If the argument begins with !,
the rest of the string is taken as an arbitrary system command and is
executed, with the standard output inserted into the message.
~s string
Changes the Subject: field to the phrase specified in string.
~t address_list
Adds the addresses in address_list to the To: field of the message. Can
only be used to add to (not to change or delete) the contents of the
To: list.
~v Invokes the visual editor using the text of the current message as the
input file. (This editor can be defined using the set VISUAL=
statement.) When you exit that editor, you return to the mail editor,
where you can continue appending text to the message, or you can send
the message by quitting the mailx command.
~w file
Writes the message to the named file.
~x Exits as with ~q, except the message is not saved in dead.letter.
~|command or ~^command
Pipes the message through command as a filter. If command gives no
output or terminates abnormally, it retains the original text of the
message. Otherwise, the output of command replaces the current
message. The fmt command is often used as command to format the
message.
~~ Allows you to use the ~ (tilde) character in a message without it being
interpreted as a command prefix. The sequence ~~ (two tildes) results
in only one ~ being sent in the message.
Customizing the Mail Program
The system manager uses the /usr/share/lib/Mail.rc file to define the
initial configuration for the mailx command. The subcommands in this file
override the default characteristics of the mailx command for all users on
the system. Although the initial configuration can meet the needs of most
users, you can alter it by creating the $HOME/.mailrc file. Subcommands in
this file override similar subcommands in /usr/share/lib/Mail.rc when you
run the mailx command. The following subcommands are not legal in the
start-up file: !, Copy, edit, followup, Followup, hold, mail, preserve,
reply, Reply, shell, and visual.
There are four mail subcommands that are most commonly used to alter the
characteristics of the mailx session: set, unset, alias, and ignore. The
set and unset subcommands enable and disable mail options, the alias
subcommand shortens how you address mail, and the ignore subcommand
suppresses message header fields.
Enabling and Disabling Options
The following are environment variables taken from the execution
environment and are not alterable within mailx:
EXCODE=Locale
The name of the locale for performing character conversions on outgoing
messages.
HOME=directory
The pathname of the user's home directory.
LANG=Locale
The name of the locale for displaying mail messages.
MAILRC=file
The name of the start-up file. The default is $HOME/.mailrc.
Use the set subcommand to enable options and the unset subcommand to
disable options. Options can be either binary or valued. Binary options
are either set or unset, while valued options can be set to a specific
value. You can set options by placing set subcommand lines in your
$HOME/.mailrc file.
The syntax for enabling options using the set subcommand is as follows:
set [option_list|option=value]
The syntax for disabling options using the unset subcommand is as follows:
unset [option_list]
The following is a list of binary options (those that can be set or unset):
allnet
Off by default; all network names with the same login name are treated
as being the same.
append
Causes messages saved in mbox to be appended (added to the end) rather
than prepended (added to the beginning).
ask Causes mailx to prompt you for the subject of each message you send.
If you respond with a newline (carriage return), no subject field is
set. This option is enabled by default.
askbcc
Causes mailx to prompt you for the address of people to receive blind
carbon copies of the message. Responding with a newline indicates
satisfaction with the current list. The default is noaskbcc.
askcc
Causes you to be prompted for the addresses of people to receive copies
of the message. Responding with a newline indicates your satisfaction
with the current list.
asksub
Prompts for subject if it is not specified on the command line with the
-s option. Identical to ask.
autoprint
Causes the delete subcommand to behave like dp. Thus, after deleting a
message, the next one is typed automatically.
bang
Enables the special-case treatment of ! (exclamation points) in escape
command lines as in vi. The default is nobang.
debug
Causes mailx to display debugging information. The mailx command does
not send mail while in debug mode. Same as specifying -d on the
command line.
dot Causes mailx to interpret a period alone on a line as the terminator of
a message you are sending.
flipr
Reverses the meaning of the R and r commands. The default is noflipr.
header
Enables printing of the header summary when entering mailx. This option
is enabled by default.
hold
Holds messages in the system mailbox by default.
ignore
Causes Interrupt signals from your terminal to be ignored and echoed as
@'s.
ignoreeof
Makes mailx refuse to accept End-of-File key sequence as the end of a
message or as the quit subcommand. Related to the dot subcommand.
keep
Truncates the mailbox to zero length when it is empty, instead of
removing it. This option is disabled by default.
keepsave
Keeps messages that have been saved in other files in the mailbox,
instead of deleting them. The default is nokeepsave.
metoo
Causes the sender to be included in the alias expansion, and thus
receives copies of messages. Usually, when an alias containing the
sender is expanded, the sender is removed from the expansion.
onehop
Used when replying to a message sent to several users and prevents the
addresses of the recipients from being made relative to the address of
the original author. You can use this variable only on a network where
all systems can connect to one another directly.
nosave
Prevents mailx from copying the partial letter to the file dead.letter
in your home directory when a message is terminated with two Interrupt
key sequences.
outfolder
Causes the files used to record outgoing messages to be located in the
directory specified by the folder option unless the pathname is
absolute. The default is nooutfolder. (See the folder option and the
Save, Copy, followup, and Followup subcommands.)
page
Inserts a formfeed after each message sent through the pipe when used
with the pipe command. The default is nopage.
quiet
Suppresses the printing of the program banner when mailx starts. (The
banner is the line that shows the name of the mail program.)
Replyall
Reverses the sense of the reply and Reply mailbox subcommands.
save
Enables saving of messages in dead.letter on interrupt or delivery
error. (See DEAD= for a description of this file. This option is
enabled by default.)
sendwait
Waits for the background mailer to finish before returning. The
default is nosendwait.
showto
Prints the recipient's name instead of the author's name when
displaying the header summary and the message is from the user.
verbose
Runs mailx in verbose mode; the actual delivery of messages is
displayed on the user's terminal. Same as using the -v option on the
command line.
The following is a list of valued options (those that can be assigned a
value). The syntax for assigning values is set option=value.
cmd=shell_command
Sets the default command for the pipe subcommand. There is no default
value.
conv=conversion
Off by default; used to convert uucp addresses for sendmail.
crt=number
Causes the paging program to automatically be invoked for messages that
exceed number lines.
DEAD=file
Specifies the name of the file in which to save partial letters in case
of untimely interrupt or delivery errors. The default is
$HOME/dead.letter.
EDITOR=pathname
Defines the text editor invoked by the ~e and edit subcommands. The
absolute pathname must be given. The default editor is /usr/bin/ex.
escape=character
Defines a character to use in the place of ~ (tilde) to denote escapes.
excode=Locale
Sets the locale for performing character conversion on outgoing
messages. The default is None.
folder=pathname
Defines the name of the directory to use for storing folders of
messages. If this name begins with a / (slash), mailx considers it to
be an absolute pathname; otherwise, the folder directory is found
relative to your home directory.
indentprefix=string
Specifies a string that is prefixed to each line inserted into the
message by the ~m command escape. The default string is one <Tab>
character.
lang=Locale
Sets the locale for displaying mail messages. The default is C.
LISTER=shell_command
Specifies the command (and arguments) to use when listing the contents
of the folder directory. The default is ls.
MBOX=file
Specifies the name of the file in which to save messages that have been
read. The exit subcommand overrides this function, as does saving the
message explicitly in another file. The default is $HOME/mbox.
PAGER=pathname
Specifies the pathname of the paging program to use for the more
subcommand or when the crt option is set. If you do not specify a
value for PAGER, the system uses /usr/bin/pg.
prompt=string
Sets the command mode prompt to string. The default is ?.
record=pathname
Specifies the pathname of the file (relative to $HOME) used to record
all outgoing mail. A copy of all the messages you send out is saved in
this file. Review this file periodically and delete all unnecessary
messages.
The mailx subcommands do not create directories, so any directories
included in the pathname must already exist before using this
subcommand. Do not include the home directory as part of the pathname.
If record is not defined, then copies of outgoing mail are not saved.
screen=number
Controls how many lines of the message list are displayed at a time.
You can set this option to show a certain number of lines on the
screen. Each message in your mailbox has a one-line header in the
message list. If you have more than 24 messages, the first headers from
the message list scroll past the top of your screen whenever you
display the list.
sendmail=shell_command
Specifies an alternative command for delivering mail.
SHELL=pathname
Specifies the pathname of the shell to use in the ! and ~! subcommands.
If this option is not defined, your default shell is used.
sign=string
Specifies the variable inserted into the text of a message when the ~a
(autograph) subcommand is given. (See also the ~i tilde escape.)
There is no default value.
Sign=string
Specifies the variable inserted into the text of a message when the ~A
subcommand is given. (See also the ~i tilde escape.) There is no
default value.
toplines=number
Specifies the number of lines of a message to be displayed with the top
subcommand; normally, the first five lines are displayed.
VISUAL=pathname
Specifies the pathname of the text editor to use in the visual and ~v
subcommands. The default pathname is /usr/bin/vi.
Creating Aliases and Distribution Lists
If you send mail on a large network or often send the same message to a
large number of people, entering long addresses for each receiver can
become tedious. To simplify this process, you can create an alias or a
distribution list in your $HOME/.mailrc file.
An alias is a name you define that can be used in place of a user address
when you address mail. A distribution list is a name that you define that
can be used in place of a group of user addresses when you address mail.
Aliases and distribution lists are used the same way and defined in similar
ways; the only difference is the number of addresses defined for an alias
(one address) and a distribution list (more than one address).
Changing the Information at the Top of a Message
You can use the ignore subcommand to suppress message header fields that
are normally displayed when you read a message using the type or print
subcommands. The four message header fields are To, Subject, Cc, and Bcc.
The syntax of the ignore subcommand is as follows:
ignore [field_list]
Note that fields are specified without a trailing : (colon). You can
include the fields you want to ignore in your $HOME/.mailrc file.
Internationalization
[DIGITAL] The mailx command supports codeset conversion of mail messages
between the mail interchange code (specified by the EXCODE environment
variable) used to transmit messages to other hosts and the application code
(specified by the LANG environment variable) used by the user. For
example, if the mail interchange code is ISO-2022-JP and the application
code is eucJP, the mailx program converts incoming messages from ISO-2022-
JP to the Japanese EUC character set when displaying them and converts
outgoing mail message from the Japanese EUC character set to ISO-2022-JP.
To prevent data loss, incoming mail messages are stored in the mail folders
as received, without conversion. The conversion takes place when you
display or extract mail messages.
To encode the mail interchange code information, new header lines are added
to the outgoing mail messages. For example, if the mail interchange code is
ISO-2022-JP, the following additional header lines are added:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=ISO-2022-JP
The charset field of the Content-Type header line provides the mail
interchange code information. For non-ISO codesets, the prefix X- is added
to the character set name for identification purposes. For example:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=X-eucJP
For incoming mail messages, the mail interchange to be used is determined
by the charset field of the additional header lines, if present.
For outgoing mail messages, the following rules determine the mail
interchange code to be used:
1. The EXCODE environment variable.
2. The excode valued option defined in $HOME/.mailrc or
/usr/share/lib/Mail.rc
The application code is determined from the codeset part of the following
locale information:
1. The LANG environment variable.
2. The lang valued option defined in $HOME/.mailrc or
/usr/share/lib/Mail.rc
3. Defaults to C.
Note that you must specify a mail interchange code to do character
conversion. There are no defaults.
All messages associated with conversion are informational only. The mail
messages in question are still delivered or received.
The excode and lang options are recognized only within $HOME/.mailrc or
/usr/share/lib/Mail.rc. Setting these options within mailx has no effect.
EXAMPLES
1. To save a message to a folder, enter the following at the mailbox
prompt (?):
save 1 +procedures
The following message is displayed:
/u/jay/doc/procedures [Appended] 32/947
In this example, message 1 was added to the end of the folder
procedures. User jay has the following set folder statement in his
$HOME/.mailrc file so that the folder directory where that folder is
kept is already selected:
set folder=/u/jay/doc
2. To look at the contents of a specific mail folder, enter the following
at the command-line prompt:
mailx -f +dept
In this example, a listing of the messages in the dept folder is
displayed.
3. To prevent the Date, From, and To headers from being displayed when a
message is read with the type or the print subcommand, enter the
following statement in your $HOME/.mailrc file:
ignore date from to
When a message is displayed using the type or print subcommand, the
date, from, and to headers are not displayed. However, if you want to
display these headers without deleting the ignore statement from your
$HOME/.mailrc file, use the Type, Print, or top subcommands to display
the message.
4. To keep a record of messages you send to others, enter the following
statement in your $HOME/.mailrc file:
set record=letters/mailout
5. To create a distribution list for your department, enter the following
statement in your $HOME/.mailrc file:
alias dept dee@merlin anne@anchor jerry@zeus bill carl
To send a message to your department after you have added this line to
your $HOME/.mailrc file, enter the following at the command line
prompt:
mailx dept
The message you now create and send will go to dee on system merlin,
anne on system anchor, jerry on system zeus, and to bill and carl on
the local system.
FILES
/var/spool/mail/*
User mailbox files.
$HOME/mbox
Holds saved mail.
$HOME/.mailrc
File containing mailx subcommands to customize mailx for a specific
user.
/usr/share/lib/Mail.rc
File containing mailx subcommands to change mailx for all users on the
system.
SEE ALSO
Commands: mail(1), fmt(1), pg(1), sendmail(8)
Standards: standards(5)