1.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990, 1993 2.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. 3.\" 4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without 5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions 6.\" are met: 7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright 8.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright 10.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the 11.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. 12.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software 13.\" must display the following acknowledgement: 14.\" This product includes software developed by the University of 15.\" California, Berkeley and its contributors. 16.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors 17.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software 18.\" without specific prior written permission. 19.\" 20.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND 21.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE 22.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE 23.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE 24.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL 25.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS 26.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) 27.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT 28.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY 29.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF 30.\" SUCH DAMAGE. 31.\" 32.\" @(#)mail.1 8.8 (Berkeley) 4/28/95 33.\" $FreeBSD$ 34.\" 35.Dd January 5, 2006 36.Dt MAIL 1 37.Os 38.Sh NAME 39.Nm mail , 40.Nm Mail , 41.Nm mailx 42.Nd send and receive mail 43.Sh SYNOPSIS 44.Nm 45.Op Fl dEiInv 46.Op Fl s Ar subject 47.Op Fl c Ar cc-addr 48.Op Fl b Ar bcc-addr 49.Op Fl F 50.Ar to-addr ... 51.Op Fl Ar sendmail-option ... 52.Nm 53.Op Fl dEHiInNv 54.Op Fl F 55.Fl f 56.Op Ar name 57.Nm 58.Op Fl dEHiInNv 59.Op Fl F 60.Op Fl u Ar user 61.Nm 62.Op Fl d 63.Fl e 64.Op Fl f Ar name 65.Sh INTRODUCTION 66The 67.Nm 68utility is an intelligent mail processing system, which has 69a command syntax reminiscent of 70.Xr ed 1 71with lines replaced by messages. 72.Pp 73The following options are available: 74.Bl -tag -width indent 75.It Fl v 76Verbose mode. 77The details of 78delivery are displayed on the user's terminal. 79.It Fl d 80Debugging mode. 81See the 82.Va debug 83mail option for details. 84.It Fl e 85Test for the presence of mail in the (by default, system) 86mailbox. 87An exit status of 0 is returned if 88it has mail; otherwise, an exit status 89of 1 is returned. 90.It Fl H 91Write a header summary only, then exit. 92.It Fl E 93Do not send messages with an empty body. 94This is useful for piping errors from 95.Xr cron 8 96scripts. 97.It Fl i 98Ignore tty interrupt signals. 99This is 100particularly useful when using 101.Nm 102on noisy phone lines. 103.It Fl I 104Force 105.Nm 106to run in interactive mode even when 107input is not a terminal. 108In particular, the 109.Ql ~ 110special 111character when sending mail is only active in interactive mode. 112.It Fl n 113Inhibit reading the system-wide 114.Pa mail.rc 115files upon startup. 116.It Fl N 117Inhibit the initial display of message headers 118when reading mail or editing a mail folder. 119.It Fl s Ar subject 120Specify 121.Ar subject 122on command line. 123(Only the first argument after the 124.Fl s 125flag is used as a subject; be careful to quote subjects 126containing spaces.) 127.It Fl c Ar cc-addr 128Send carbon copies to 129.Ar cc-addr 130list of users. 131The 132.Ar cc-addr 133argument should be a comma-separated list of names. 134.It Fl b Ar bcc-addr 135Send blind carbon copies to 136.Ar bcc-addr 137list of users. 138The 139.Ar bcc-addr 140argument should be a comma-separated list of names. 141.It Fl f Op Ar mbox 142Read in the contents of your 143.Pa mbox 144(or the specified file) 145for processing; when you 146.Ic quit , 147.Nm 148writes undeleted messages back to this file. 149.It Fl F 150Record the message in a file named after the first 151recipient. 152The name is the login-name portion of the 153address found first on the 154.Dq Li To: 155line in the mail header. 156Overrides the 157.Va record 158variable, if set. 159.It Fl u 160Is equivalent to: 161.Pp 162.Dl "mail -f /var/mail/user" 163.El 164.Ss "Startup Actions" 165At startup time 166.Nm 167will execute commands in the system command files 168.Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.rc , 169.Pa /usr/local/etc/mail.rc 170and 171.Pa /etc/mail.rc 172in order, unless explicitly told not to by the use of the 173.Fl n 174option. 175Next, the commands in the user's personal command file 176.Pa ~/.mailrc 177are executed. 178The 179.Nm 180utility then examines its command line options to determine whether a 181new message is to be sent, or whether an existing mailbox is to 182be read. 183.Ss "Sending Mail" 184To send a message to one or more people, 185.Nm 186can be invoked with arguments which are the names of people to 187whom the mail will be sent. 188You are then expected to type in 189your message, followed 190by a 191.Aq Li control-D 192at the beginning of a line. 193The section below 194.Sx "Replying To or Originating Mail" , 195describes some features of 196.Nm 197available to help you compose your letter. 198.Ss "Reading Mail" 199In normal usage 200.Nm 201is given no arguments and checks your mail out of the 202post office, then 203prints out a one line header of each message found. 204The current message is initially the first message (numbered 1) 205and can be printed using the 206.Ic print 207command (which can be abbreviated 208.Ic p ) . 209You can move among the messages much as you move between lines in 210.Xr ed 1 , 211with the commands 212.Ic + 213and 214.Ic \- 215moving backwards and forwards, and 216simple numbers. 217.Ss "Disposing of Mail" 218After examining a message you can 219.Ic delete 220.Pq Ic d 221the message or 222.Ic reply 223.Pq Ic r 224to it. 225Deletion causes the 226.Nm 227program to forget about the message. 228This is not irreversible; the message can be 229.Ic undeleted 230.Pq Ic u 231by giving its number, or the 232.Nm 233session can be aborted by giving the 234.Ic exit 235.Pq Ic x 236command. 237Deleted messages will, however, usually disappear never to be seen again. 238.Ss "Specifying Messages" 239Commands such as 240.Ic print 241and 242.Ic delete 243can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply 244to a number of messages at once. 245Thus 246.Dq Li "delete 1 2" 247deletes messages 1 and 2, while 248.Dq Li "delete 1\-5" 249deletes messages 1 through 5. 250The special name 251.Ql * 252addresses all messages, and 253.Ql $ 254addresses 255the last message; thus the command 256.Ic top 257which prints the first few lines of a message could be used in 258.Dq Li "top *" 259to print the first few lines of all messages. 260.Ss "Replying To or Originating Mail" 261You can use the 262.Ic reply 263command to 264set up a response to a message, sending it back to the 265person who it was from. 266Text you then type in, up to an end-of-file, 267defines the contents of the message. 268While you are composing a message, 269.Nm 270treats lines beginning with the character 271.Ql ~ 272specially. 273For instance, typing 274.Ic ~m 275(alone on a line) will place a copy 276of the current message into the response right shifting it by a tabstop 277(see 278.Va indentprefix 279variable, below). 280Other escapes will set up subject fields, add and delete recipients 281to the message and allow you to escape to an editor to revise the 282message or to a shell to run some commands. 283(These options 284are given in the summary below.) 285.Ss "Ending a Mail Processing Session" 286You can end a 287.Nm 288session with the 289.Ic quit 290.Pq Ic q 291command. 292Messages which have been examined go to your 293.Pa mbox 294file unless they have been deleted in which case they are discarded. 295Unexamined messages go back to the post office. 296(See the 297.Fl f 298option above). 299.Ss "Personal and System Wide Distribution Lists" 300It is also possible to create a personal distribution lists so that, 301for instance, you can send mail to 302.Dq Li cohorts 303and have it go 304to a group of people. 305Such lists can be defined by placing a line like 306.Pp 307.Dl "alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory" 308.Pp 309in the file 310.Pa .mailrc 311in your home directory. 312The current list of such aliases can be displayed with the 313.Ic alias 314command in 315.Nm . 316System wide distribution lists can be created by editing 317.Pa /etc/mail/aliases , 318see 319.Xr aliases 5 320and 321.Xr sendmail 8 ; 322these are kept in a different syntax. 323In mail you send, personal aliases will be expanded in mail sent 324to others so that they will be able to 325.Ic reply 326to the recipients. 327System wide 328aliases 329are not expanded when the mail is sent, 330but any reply returned to the machine will have the system wide 331alias expanded as all mail goes through 332.Xr sendmail 8 . 333.Ss "Network Mail (ARPA, UUCP, Berknet)" 334See 335.Xr mailaddr 7 336for a description of network addresses. 337.Pp 338The 339.Nm 340utility has a number of options which can be set in the 341.Pa .mailrc 342file to alter its behavior; thus 343.Dq Li "set askcc" 344enables the 345.Va askcc 346feature. 347(These options are summarized below.) 348.Sh SUMMARY 349(Adapted from the 350.%T "Mail Reference Manual" . ) 351.Pp 352Each command is typed on a line by itself, and may take arguments 353following the command word. 354The command need not be typed in its 355entirety \(em the first command which matches the typed prefix is used. 356For commands which take message lists as arguments, if no message 357list is given, then the next message forward which satisfies the 358command's requirements is used. 359If there are no messages forward of 360the current message, the search proceeds backwards, and if there are no 361good messages at all, 362.Nm 363types 364.Dq Li "No applicable messages" 365and 366aborts the command. 367.Bl -tag -width indent 368.It Ic \- 369Print out the preceding message. 370If given a numeric 371argument 372.Ar n , 373goes to the 374.Ar n Ns 'th 375previous message and prints it. 376.It Ic # 377ignore the remainder of the line as a comment. 378.It Ic \&? 379Prints a brief summary of commands. 380.It Ic \&! 381Executes the shell 382(see 383.Xr sh 1 384and 385.Xr csh 1 ) 386command which follows. 387.It Ic Print 388.Pq Ic P 389Like 390.Ic print 391but also prints out ignored header fields. 392See also 393.Ic print , ignore 394and 395.Ic retain . 396.It Ic Reply 397.Pq Ic R 398Reply to originator. 399Does not reply to other 400recipients of the original message. 401.It Ic Type 402.Pq Ic T 403Identical to the 404.Ic Print 405command. 406.It Ic alias 407.Pq Ic a 408With no arguments, prints out all currently-defined aliases. 409With one 410argument, prints out that alias. 411With more than one argument, creates 412a new alias or changes an old one. 413.It Ic alternates 414.Pq Ic alt 415The 416.Ic alternates 417command is useful if you have accounts on several machines. 418It can be used to inform 419.Nm 420that the listed addresses are really you. 421When you 422.Ic reply 423to messages, 424.Nm 425will not send a copy of the message to any of the addresses 426listed on the 427.Ic alternates 428list. 429If the 430.Ic alternates 431command is given with no argument, the current set of alternative 432names is displayed. 433.It Ic chdir 434.Pq Ic c 435Changes the user's working directory to that specified, if given. 436If 437no directory is given, then changes to the user's login directory. 438.It Ic copy 439.Pq Ic co 440The 441.Ic copy 442command does the same thing that 443.Ic save 444does, except that it does not mark the messages it 445is used on for deletion when you 446.Ic quit . 447.It Ic delete 448.Pq Ic d 449Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted. 450Deleted messages will not be saved in 451.Pa mbox , 452nor will they be available for most other commands. 453.It Ic dp 454(also 455.Ic dt ) 456Deletes the current message and prints the next message. 457If there is no next message, 458.Nm 459says 460.Dq Li "at EOF" . 461.It Ic edit 462.Pq Ic e 463Takes a list of messages and points the text editor at each one in 464turn. 465On return from the editor, the message is read back in. 466.It Ic exit 467.Ic ( ex 468or 469.Ic x ) 470Effects an immediate return to the shell without 471modifying the user's system mailbox, his 472.Pa mbox 473file, or his edit file in 474.Fl f . 475.It Ic file 476.Pq Ic fi 477The same as 478.Ic folder . 479.It Ic folders 480List the names of the folders in your folder directory. 481.It Ic folder 482.Pq Ic fo 483The 484.Ic folder 485command switches to a new mail file or folder. 486With no 487arguments, it tells you which file you are currently reading. 488If you give it an argument, it will write out changes (such 489as deletions) you have made in the current file and read in 490the new file. 491Some special conventions are recognized for 492the name. 493.Ql # 494means the previous file, 495.Ql % 496means your system mailbox, 497.Dq Li % Ns Ar user 498means user's system mailbox, 499.Ql & 500means your 501.Pa mbox 502file, and 503.Dq Li + Ns Ar folder 504means a file in your folder 505directory. 506.It Ic from 507.Pq Ic f 508Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers. 509.It Ic headers 510.Pq Ic h 511Lists the current range of headers, which is an 18-message group. 512If 513a 514.Ql + 515argument is given, then the next 18-message group is printed, and if 516a 517.Ql \- 518argument is given, the previous 18-message group is printed. 519.It Ic help 520A synonym for 521.Ic \&? . 522.It Ic hold 523.Ic ( ho , 524also 525.Ic preserve ) 526Takes a message list and marks each 527message therein to be saved in the 528user's system mailbox instead of in 529.Pa mbox . 530Does not override the 531.Ic delete 532command. 533.It Ic ignore 534Add the list of header fields named to the 535.Ar ignored list . 536Header fields in the ignore list are not printed 537on your terminal when you print a message. 538This 539command is very handy for suppression of certain machine-generated 540header fields. 541The 542.Ic Type 543and 544.Ic Print 545commands can be used to print a message in its entirety, including 546ignored fields. 547If 548.Ic ignore 549is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of 550ignored fields. 551.It Ic inc 552Incorporate any new messages that have arrived while mail 553is being read. 554The new messages are added to the end of the message list, 555and the current message is reset to be the first new mail message. 556This does not renumber the existing message list, nor 557does it cause any changes made so far to be saved. 558.It Ic mail 559.Pq Ic m 560Takes as argument login names and distribution group names and sends 561mail to those people. 562.It Ic mbox 563Indicate that a list of messages be sent to 564.Pa mbox 565in your home directory when you quit. 566This is the default 567action for messages if you do 568.Em not 569have the 570.Ic hold 571option set. 572.It Ic more 573.Pq Ic mo 574Takes a list of messages and invokes the pager on that list. 575.It Ic next 576.Ic ( n , 577like 578.Ic + 579or 580.Tn CR ) 581Goes to the next message in sequence and types it. 582With an argument list, types the next matching message. 583.It Ic preserve 584.Pq Ic pre 585A synonym for 586.Ic hold . 587.It Ic print 588.Pq Ic p 589Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's terminal. 590.It Ic quit 591.Pq Ic q 592Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in 593the user's 594.Pa mbox 595file in his login directory, preserving all messages marked with 596.Ic hold 597or 598.Ic preserve 599or never referenced 600in his system mailbox, and removing all other messages from his system 601mailbox. 602If new mail has arrived during the session, the message 603.Dq Li "You have new mail" 604is given. 605If given while editing a 606mailbox file with the 607.Fl f 608flag, then the edit file is rewritten. 609A return to the shell is 610effected, unless the rewrite of edit file fails, in which case the user 611can escape with the 612.Ic exit 613command. 614.It Ic reply 615.Pq Ic r 616Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all 617recipients of the specified message. 618The default message must not be deleted. 619.It Ic respond 620A synonym for 621.Ic reply . 622.It Ic retain 623Add the list of header fields named to the 624.Em "retained list" . 625Only the header fields in the retained list 626are shown on your terminal when you print a message. 627All other header fields are suppressed. 628The 629.Ic type 630and 631.Ic print 632commands can be used to print a message in its entirety. 633If 634.Ic retain 635is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of 636retained fields. 637.It Ic save 638.Pq Ic s 639Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in 640turn to the end of the file. 641The filename in quotes, followed by the line 642count and character count is echoed on the user's terminal. 643.It Ic set 644.Pq Ic se 645With no arguments, prints all variable values. 646Otherwise, sets 647option. 648Arguments are of the form 649.Ar option Ns Li = Ns Ar value 650(no space before or after 651.Ql = ) 652or 653.Ar option . 654Quotation marks may be placed around any part of the assignment statement to 655quote blanks or tabs, i.e.\& 656.Dq Li "set indentprefix=\*q->\*q" 657.It Ic saveignore 658.Ic Saveignore 659is to 660.Ic save 661what 662.Ic ignore 663is to 664.Ic print 665and 666.Ic type . 667Header fields thus marked are filtered out when 668saving a message by 669.Ic save 670or when automatically saving to 671.Pa mbox . 672.It Ic saveretain 673.Ic Saveretain 674is to 675.Ic save 676what 677.Ic retain 678is to 679.Ic print 680and 681.Ic type . 682Header fields thus marked are the only ones saved 683with a message when saving by 684.Ic save 685or when automatically saving to 686.Pa mbox . 687.Ic Saveretain 688overrides 689.Ic saveignore . 690.It Ic shell 691.Pq Ic sh 692Invokes an interactive version of the shell. 693.It Ic size 694Takes a message list and prints out the size in characters of each 695message. 696.It Ic source 697The 698.Ic source 699command reads 700commands from a file. 701.It Ic top 702Takes a message list and prints the top few lines of each. 703The number of 704lines printed is controlled by the variable 705.Va toplines 706and defaults to 5. 707.It Ic type 708.Pq Ic t 709A synonym for 710.Ic print . 711.It Ic unalias 712Takes a list of names defined by 713.Ic alias 714commands and discards the remembered groups of users. 715The group names 716no longer have any significance. 717.It Ic undelete 718.Pq Ic u 719Takes a message list and marks each message as 720.Em not 721being deleted. 722.It Ic unread 723.Pq Ic U 724Takes a message list and marks each message as 725.Em not 726having been read. 727.It Ic unset 728Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered values; 729the inverse of 730.Ic set . 731.It Ic visual 732.Pq Ic v 733Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message. 734.It Ic write 735.Pq Ic w 736Similar to 737.Ic save , 738except that 739.Em only 740the message body 741.Em ( without 742the header) is saved. 743Extremely useful for such tasks as sending and receiving source 744program text over the message system. 745.It Ic xit 746.Pq Ic x 747A synonym for 748.Ic exit . 749.It Ic z 750The 751.Nm 752utility presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the 753.Ic headers 754command. 755You can move 756.Nm Ns 's 757attention forward to the next window with the 758.Ic z 759command. 760Also, you can move to the previous window by using 761.Ic z\- . 762.El 763.Ss Tilde/Escapes 764Here is a summary of the tilde escapes, 765which are used when composing messages to perform 766special functions. 767Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning 768of lines. 769The name 770.Dq "tilde escape" 771is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual escape character can be set 772by the option 773.Va escape . 774.Bl -tag -width indent 775.It Ic ~a 776Inserts the autograph string from the sign= option into the message. 777.It Ic ~A 778Inserts the autograph string from the Sign= option into the message. 779.It Ic ~b Ar name ... 780Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients but do not make 781the names visible in the Cc: line 782.Dq ( blind 783carbon copy). 784.It Ic ~c Ar name ... 785Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients. 786.It Ic ~d 787Read the file 788.Pa dead.letter 789from your home directory into the message. 790.It Ic ~e 791Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far. 792After the 793editing session is finished, you may continue appending text to the 794message. 795.It Ic ~f Ar messages 796Read the named messages into the message being sent. 797If no messages are specified, read in the current message. 798Message headers currently being ignored (by the 799.Ic ignore 800or 801.Ic retain 802command) are not included. 803.It Ic ~F Ar messages 804Identical to 805.Ic ~f , 806except all message headers are included. 807.It Ic ~h 808Edit the message header fields by typing each one in turn and allowing 809the user to append text to the end or modify the field by using the 810current terminal erase and kill characters. 811.It Ic ~i Ar string 812Inserts the value of the named option into the text of the message. 813.It Ic ~m Ar messages 814Read the named messages into the message being sent, indented by a 815tab or by the value of 816.Va indentprefix . 817If no messages are specified, 818read the current message. 819Message headers currently being ignored (by the 820.Ic ignore 821or 822.Ic retain 823command) are not included. 824.It Ic ~M Ar messages 825Identical to 826.Ic ~m , 827except all message headers are included. 828.It Ic ~p 829Print out the message collected so far, prefaced by the message header 830fields. 831.It Ic ~q 832Abort the message being sent, copying the message to 833.Pa dead.letter 834in your home directory if 835.Va save 836is set. 837.It Ic ~r Ar filename , Ic ~r Li \&! Ns Ar command 838.It Ic ~< Ar filename , Ic ~< Li \&! Ns Ar command 839Read the named file into the message. 840If the argument begins with a 841.Ql \&! , 842the rest of the string is taken as an arbitrary system command and is 843executed, with the standard output inserted into the message. 844.It Ic ~R Ar string 845Use 846.Ar string 847as the Reply-To field. 848.It Ic ~s Ar string 849Cause the named string to become the current subject field. 850.It Ic ~t Ar name ... 851Add the given names to the direct recipient list. 852.It Ic ~v 853Invoke an alternative editor (defined by the 854.Ev VISUAL 855environment variable) on the 856message collected so far. 857Usually, the alternative editor will be a 858screen editor. 859After you quit the editor, you may resume appending 860text to the end of your message. 861.It Ic ~w Ar filename 862Write the message onto the named file. 863.It Ic ~x 864Exits as with 865.Ic ~q , 866except the message is not saved in 867.Pa dead.letter . 868.It Ic ~! Ar command 869Execute the indicated shell command, then return to the message. 870.It Ic ~| Ar command , Ic ~^ Ar command 871Pipe the message through the command as a filter. 872If the command gives 873no output or terminates abnormally, retain the original text of the 874message. 875The command 876.Xr fmt 1 877is often used as 878.Ar command 879to rejustify the message. 880.It Ic ~: Ar mail-command , Ic ~_ Ar mail-command 881Execute the given 882.Nm 883command. 884Not all commands, however, are allowed. 885.It Ic ~. 886Simulate end-of-file on input. 887.It Ic ~? 888Print a summary of the available command escapes. 889.It Ic ~~ Ar string 890Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single 891.Ql ~ . 892If 893you have changed the escape character, then you should double 894that character in order to send it. 895.El 896.Ss "Mail Options" 897Options can be set with the 898.Ic set 899command 900and can be disabled with the 901.Ic unset 902or 903.Ic set Cm no Ns Ar name 904commands. 905Options may be either binary, in which case it is only 906significant to see whether they are set or not; or string, in which 907case the actual value is of interest. 908If an option is not set, 909.Nm 910will look for an environment variable of the same name. 911The available options include the following: 912.Bl -tag -width indent 913.It Va append 914Causes messages saved in 915.Pa mbox 916to be appended to the end rather than prepended. 917This should always be set (preferably in one of the system-wide 918.Pa mail.rc 919files). 920Default is 921.Va noappend . 922.It Va ask , asksub 923Causes 924.Nm 925to prompt you for the subject of each message you send. 926If 927you respond with simply a newline, no subject field will be sent. 928Default is 929.Va asksub . 930.It Va askbcc 931Causes you to be prompted for additional blind carbon copy recipients at the 932end of each message. 933Responding with a newline indicates your 934satisfaction with the current list. 935Default is 936.Va noaskbcc . 937.It Va askcc 938Causes you to be prompted for additional carbon copy recipients at the 939end of each message. 940Responding with a newline indicates your 941satisfaction with the current list. 942Default is 943.Va noaskcc . 944.It Va autoinc 945Causes new mail to be automatically incorporated when it arrives. 946Setting this is similar to issuing the 947.Ic inc 948command at each prompt, except that the current message is not 949reset when new mail arrives. 950Default is 951.Va noautoinc . 952.It Va autoprint 953Causes the 954.Ic delete 955command to behave like 956.Ic dp ; 957thus, after deleting a message, the next one will be typed 958automatically. 959Default is 960.Va noautoprint . 961.It Va crt 962The valued option 963.Va crt 964is used as a threshold to determine how long a message must 965be before 966.Ev PAGER 967is used to read it. 968If 969.Va crt 970is set without a value, 971then the height of the terminal screen stored in the system 972is used to compute the threshold (see 973.Xr stty 1 ) . 974Default is 975.Va nocrt . 976.It Va debug 977Setting the binary option 978.Va debug 979is the same as specifying 980.Fl d 981on the command line and causes 982.Nm 983to output all sorts of information useful for debugging 984.Nm . 985In case 986.Nm 987is invoked in this mode to send mail, all preparations 988will be performed and reported about, but the mail will 989not be actually sent. 990Default is 991.Va nodebug . 992.It Va dot 993The binary option 994.Va dot 995causes 996.Nm 997to interpret a period alone on a line as the terminator 998of a message you are sending. 999Default is 1000.Va nodot . 1001.It Va escape 1002If defined, the first character of this option gives the character to 1003use in place of 1004.Ql ~ 1005to denote escapes. 1006.It Va flipr 1007Reverses the sense of 1008.Ic reply 1009and 1010.Ic Reply 1011commands. 1012Default is 1013.Va noflipr . 1014.It Va folder 1015The name of the directory to use for storing folders of 1016messages. 1017If this name begins with a 1018.Ql / , 1019.Nm 1020considers it to be an absolute pathname; otherwise, the 1021folder directory is found relative to your home directory. 1022.It Va header 1023If defined, initially display message headers when reading mail or 1024editing a mail folder. 1025Default is 1026.Va header . 1027This option can be disabled by giving the 1028.Fl N 1029flag on the command line. 1030.It Va hold 1031This option is used to hold messages in the system mailbox 1032by default. 1033Default is 1034.Va nohold . 1035.It Va ignore 1036Causes interrupt signals from your terminal to be ignored and echoed as 1037.Li @ Ns 's. 1038Default is 1039.Va noignore . 1040.It Va ignoreeof 1041An option related to 1042.Va dot 1043is 1044.Va ignoreeof 1045which makes 1046.Nm 1047refuse to accept a 1048.Aq Li control-D 1049as the end of a message. 1050.Ar Ignoreeof 1051also applies to 1052.Nm 1053command mode. 1054Default is 1055.Va noignoreeof . 1056.It Va indentprefix 1057String used by the 1058.Ic ~m 1059tilde escape for indenting messages, in place of 1060the normal tab character 1061.Pq Li ^I . 1062Be sure to quote the value if it contains 1063spaces or tabs. 1064.It Va metoo 1065Usually, when a group is expanded that contains the sender, the sender 1066is removed from the expansion. 1067Setting this option causes the sender 1068to be included in the group. 1069Default is 1070.Va nometoo . 1071.It Va quiet 1072Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked. 1073Default is 1074.Va noquiet . 1075.It Va record 1076If defined, gives the pathname of the file used to record all outgoing 1077mail. 1078If not defined, outgoing mail is not saved. 1079Default is 1080.Va norecord . 1081.It Va Replyall 1082Reverses the sense of 1083.Ic reply 1084and 1085.Ic Reply 1086commands. 1087Default is 1088.Va noReplyall . 1089.It Va save 1090If this option is set, and you abort a message with two 1091.Tn RUBOUT 1092(erase or delete), 1093.Nm 1094will copy the partial letter to the file 1095.Pa dead.letter 1096in your home directory. 1097Default is 1098.Va save . 1099.It Va searchheaders 1100If this option is set, then a message-list specifier in the form 1101.Dq Li / Ns Ar x Ns Li : Ns Ar y 1102will expand to all messages containing the substring 1103.Ar y 1104in the header field 1105.Ar x . 1106The string search is case insensitive. 1107If 1108.Ar x 1109is omitted, it will default to the 1110.Dq Li Subject 1111header field. 1112The form 1113.Dq Li /to: Ns Ar y 1114is a special case, and will expand 1115to all messages containing the substring 1116.Ar y 1117in the 1118.Dq Li To , 1119.Dq Li Cc 1120or 1121.Dq Li Bcc 1122header fields. 1123The check for 1124.Qq Li "to" 1125is case sensitive, so that 1126.Dq Li /To: Ns Ar y 1127can be used to limit the search for 1128.Ar y 1129to just the 1130.Dq Li To: 1131field. 1132Default is 1133.Va nosearchheaders . 1134.It Va toplines 1135If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be printed out 1136with the 1137.Ic top 1138command; normally, the first five lines are printed. 1139.It Va verbose 1140Setting the option 1141.Va verbose 1142is the same as using the 1143.Fl v 1144flag on the command line. 1145When 1146.Nm 1147runs in verbose mode, 1148the actual delivery of messages is displayed on the user's 1149terminal. 1150Default is 1151.Va noverbose . 1152.El 1153.Sh ENVIRONMENT 1154.Bl -tag -width ".Ev REPLYTO" 1155.It Ev DEAD 1156Pathname of the file to save partial messages to in case of interrupts 1157or delivery errors. 1158Default is 1159.Pa ~/dead.letter . 1160.It Ev EDITOR 1161Pathname of the text editor to use in the 1162.Ic edit 1163command and 1164.Ic ~e 1165escape. 1166If not defined, then a default editor is used. 1167.It Ev HOME 1168Pathname of the user's home directory. 1169.It Ev LISTER 1170Pathname of the directory lister to use in the 1171.Ic folders 1172command. 1173Default is 1174.Pa /bin/ls . 1175.It Ev MAIL 1176Location of the user's mailbox. 1177Default is 1178.Pa /var/mail . 1179.It Ev MAILRC 1180Pathname of file containing initial 1181.Nm 1182commands. 1183Default is 1184.Pa ~/.mailrc . 1185.It Ev MBOX 1186The name of the mailbox file. 1187It can be the name of a folder. 1188The default is 1189.Pa mbox 1190in the user's home directory. 1191.It Ev PAGER 1192Pathname of the program to use in the 1193.Ic more 1194command or when 1195.Va crt 1196variable is set. 1197The default paginator 1198.Xr more 1 1199is used if this option is not defined. 1200.It Ev REPLYTO 1201If set, will be used to initialize the Reply-To field for outgoing 1202messages. 1203.It Ev SHELL 1204Pathname of the shell to use in the 1205.Ic \&! 1206command and the 1207.Ic ~! 1208escape. 1209A default shell is used if this option is 1210not defined. 1211.It Ev TMPDIR 1212Pathname of the directory used for creating temporary files. 1213.It Ev VISUAL 1214Pathname of the text editor to use in the 1215.Ic visual 1216command and 1217.Ic ~v 1218escape. 1219.It Ev USER 1220Login name of the user executing mail. 1221.El 1222.Sh FILES 1223.Bl -tag -width ".Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help" -compact 1224.It Pa /var/mail/* 1225Post office. 1226.It Pa ~/mbox 1227User's old mail. 1228.It Pa ~/.mailrc 1229File giving initial 1230.Nm 1231commands. 1232This can be overridden by setting the 1233.Ev MAILRC 1234environment variable. 1235.It Pa /tmp/R* 1236Temporary files. 1237.It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help 1238Help files. 1239.Pp 1240.It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.rc 1241.It Pa /usr/local/etc/mail.rc 1242.It Pa /etc/mail.rc 1243System-wide initialization files. 1244Each file will be sourced, in order, 1245if it exists. 1246.El 1247.Sh SEE ALSO 1248.Xr fmt 1 , 1249.Xr newaliases 1 , 1250.Xr vacation 1 , 1251.Xr aliases 5 , 1252.Xr mailaddr 7 , 1253.Xr sendmail 8 1254.Rs 1255.%T "The Mail Reference Manual" 1256.Re 1257.Sh HISTORY 1258A 1259.Nm 1260command 1261appeared in 1262.At v1 . 1263This man page is derived from 1264.%T "The Mail Reference Manual" 1265originally written by 1266.An Kurt Shoens . 1267.Sh BUGS 1268There are some flags that are not documented here. 1269Most are 1270not useful to the general user. 1271.Pp 1272Usually, 1273.Nm 1274is just a link to 1275.Nm Mail 1276and 1277.Nm mailx , 1278which can be confusing. 1279.Pp 1280The name of the 1281.Ic alternates 1282list is incorrect English (it should be 1283.Dq alternatives ) , 1284but is retained for compatibility. 1285