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. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors 13.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software 14.\" without specific prior written permission. 15.\" 16.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND 17.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE 18.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE 19.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE 20.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL 21.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS 22.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) 23.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT 24.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY 25.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF 26.\" SUCH DAMAGE. 27.\" 28.Dd August 8, 2018 29.Dt MAIL 1 30.Os 31.Sh NAME 32.Nm mail , 33.Nm Mail , 34.Nm mailx 35.Nd send and receive mail 36.Sh SYNOPSIS 37.Nm 38.Op Fl dEiInv 39.Op Fl s Ar subject 40.Op Fl c Ar cc-addr 41.Op Fl b Ar bcc-addr 42.Op Fl F 43.Ar to-addr ... 44.Op Fl Ar sendmail-option ... 45.Nm 46.Op Fl dEHiInNv 47.Op Fl F 48.Fl f 49.Op Ar name 50.Nm 51.Op Fl dEHiInNv 52.Op Fl F 53.Op Fl u Ar user 54.Nm 55.Op Fl d 56.Fl e 57.Op Fl f Ar name 58.Sh INTRODUCTION 59The 60.Nm 61utility is an intelligent mail processing system, which has 62a command syntax reminiscent of 63.Xr ed 1 64with lines replaced by messages. 65.Pp 66The following options are available: 67.Bl -tag -width indent 68.It Fl v 69Verbose mode. 70The details of 71delivery are displayed on the user's terminal. 72.It Fl d 73Debugging mode. 74See the 75.Va debug 76mail option for details. 77.It Fl e 78Test for the presence of mail in the (by default, system) 79mailbox. 80An exit status of 0 is returned if 81it has mail; otherwise, an exit status 82of 1 is returned. 83.It Fl H 84Write a header summary only, then exit. 85.It Fl E 86Do not send messages with an empty body. 87This is useful for piping errors from 88.Xr cron 8 89scripts. 90.It Fl i 91Ignore tty interrupt signals. 92This is 93particularly useful when using 94.Nm 95on noisy phone lines. 96.It Fl I 97Force 98.Nm 99to run in interactive mode even when 100input is not a terminal. 101In particular, the 102.Ql ~ 103special 104character when sending mail is only active in interactive mode. 105.It Fl n 106Inhibit reading the system-wide 107.Pa mail.rc 108files upon startup. 109.It Fl N 110Inhibit the initial display of message headers 111when reading mail or editing a mail folder. 112.It Fl s Ar subject 113Specify 114.Ar subject 115on command line. 116(Only the first argument after the 117.Fl s 118flag is used as a subject; be careful to quote subjects 119containing spaces.) 120.It Fl c Ar cc-addr 121Send carbon copies to 122.Ar cc-addr 123list of users. 124The 125.Ar cc-addr 126argument should be a comma-separated list of names. 127.It Fl b Ar bcc-addr 128Send blind carbon copies to 129.Ar bcc-addr 130list of users. 131The 132.Ar bcc-addr 133argument should be a comma-separated list of names. 134.It Fl f Op Ar mbox 135Read in the contents of your 136.Pa mbox 137(or the specified file) 138for processing; when you 139.Ic quit , 140.Nm 141writes undeleted messages back to this file. 142.It Fl F 143Record the message in a file named after the first 144recipient. 145The name is the login-name portion of the 146address found first on the 147.Dq Li To: 148line in the mail header. 149Overrides the 150.Va record 151variable, if set. 152.It Fl u Ar user 153Is equivalent to: 154.Pp 155.Dl "mail -f /var/mail/user" 156.El 157.Ss "Startup Actions" 158At startup time 159.Nm 160will execute commands in the system command files 161.Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.rc , 162.Pa /usr/local/etc/mail.rc 163and 164.Pa /etc/mail.rc 165in order, unless explicitly told not to by the use of the 166.Fl n 167option. 168Next, the commands in the user's personal command file 169.Pa ~/.mailrc 170are executed. 171The 172.Nm 173utility then examines its command line options to determine whether a 174new message is to be sent, or whether an existing mailbox is to 175be read. 176.Ss "Sending Mail" 177To send a message to one or more people, 178.Nm 179can be invoked with arguments which are the names of people to 180whom the mail will be sent. 181You are then expected to type in 182your message, followed 183by a 184.Aq Li control-D 185at the beginning of a line. 186The section below 187.Sx "Replying To or Originating Mail" , 188describes some features of 189.Nm 190available to help you compose your letter. 191.Ss "Reading Mail" 192In normal usage 193.Nm 194is given no arguments and checks your mail out of the 195post office, then 196prints out a one line header of each message found. 197The current message is initially the first message (numbered 1) 198and can be printed using the 199.Ic print 200command (which can be abbreviated 201.Ic p ) . 202You can move among the messages much as you move between lines in 203.Xr ed 1 , 204with the commands 205.Ic + 206and 207.Ic \- 208moving backwards and forwards, and 209simple numbers. 210.Ss "Disposing of Mail" 211After examining a message you can 212.Ic delete 213.Pq Ic d 214the message or 215.Ic reply 216.Pq Ic r 217to it. 218Deletion causes the 219.Nm 220program to forget about the message. 221This is not irreversible; the message can be 222.Ic undeleted 223.Pq Ic u 224by giving its number, or the 225.Nm 226session can be aborted by giving the 227.Ic exit 228.Pq Ic x 229command. 230Deleted messages will, however, usually disappear never to be seen again. 231.Ss "Specifying Messages" 232Commands such as 233.Ic print 234and 235.Ic delete 236can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply 237to a number of messages at once. 238Thus 239.Dq Li "delete 1 2" 240deletes messages 1 and 2, while 241.Dq Li "delete 1\-5" 242deletes messages 1 through 5. 243The special name 244.Ql * 245addresses all messages, and 246.Ql $ 247addresses 248the last message; thus the command 249.Ic top 250which prints the first few lines of a message could be used in 251.Dq Li "top *" 252to print the first few lines of all messages. 253.Ss "Replying To or Originating Mail" 254You can use the 255.Ic reply 256command to 257set up a response to a message, sending it back to the 258person who it was from. 259Text you then type in, up to an end-of-file, 260defines the contents of the message. 261While you are composing a message, 262.Nm 263treats lines beginning with the character 264.Ql ~ 265specially. 266For instance, typing 267.Ic ~m 268(alone on a line) will place a copy 269of the current message into the response right shifting it by a tabstop 270(see 271.Va indentprefix 272variable, below). 273Other escapes will set up subject fields, add and delete recipients 274to the message and allow you to escape to an editor to revise the 275message or to a shell to run some commands. 276(These options 277are given in the summary below.) 278.Ss "Ending a Mail Processing Session" 279You can end a 280.Nm 281session with the 282.Ic quit 283.Pq Ic q 284command. 285Messages which have been examined go to your 286.Pa mbox 287file unless they have been deleted in which case they are discarded. 288Unexamined messages go back to the post office. 289(See the 290.Fl f 291option above). 292.Ss "Personal and System Wide Distribution Lists" 293It is also possible to create a personal distribution lists so that, 294for instance, you can send mail to 295.Dq Li cohorts 296and have it go 297to a group of people. 298Such lists can be defined by placing a line like 299.Pp 300.Dl "alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory" 301.Pp 302in the file 303.Pa .mailrc 304in your home directory. 305The current list of such aliases can be displayed with the 306.Ic alias 307command in 308.Nm . 309System wide distribution lists can be created by editing 310.Pa /etc/mail/aliases , 311see 312.Xr aliases 5 313and 314.Xr sendmail 8 ; 315these are kept in a different syntax. 316In mail you send, personal aliases will be expanded in mail sent 317to others so that they will be able to 318.Ic reply 319to the recipients. 320System wide 321aliases 322are not expanded when the mail is sent, 323but any reply returned to the machine will have the system wide 324alias expanded as all mail goes through 325.Xr sendmail 8 . 326.Ss "Network Mail (ARPA, UUCP, Berknet)" 327.Pp 328The 329.Nm 330utility has a number of options which can be set in the 331.Pa .mailrc 332file to alter its behavior; thus 333.Dq Li "set askcc" 334enables the 335.Va askcc 336feature. 337(These options are summarized below.) 338.Sh SUMMARY 339(Adapted from the 340.%T "Mail Reference Manual" . ) 341.Pp 342Each command is typed on a line by itself, and may take arguments 343following the command word. 344The command need not be typed in its 345entirety \(em the first command which matches the typed prefix is used. 346For commands which take message lists as arguments, if no message 347list is given, then the next message forward which satisfies the 348command's requirements is used. 349If there are no messages forward of 350the current message, the search proceeds backwards, and if there are no 351good messages at all, 352.Nm 353types 354.Dq Li "No applicable messages" 355and 356aborts the command. 357.Bl -tag -width indent 358.It Ic \- 359Print out the preceding message. 360If given a numeric 361argument 362.Ar n , 363goes to the 364.Ar n Ns 'th 365previous message and prints it. 366.It Ic # 367ignore the remainder of the line as a comment. 368.It Ic \&? 369Prints a brief summary of commands. 370.It Ic \&! 371Executes the shell 372(see 373.Xr sh 1 374and 375.Xr csh 1 ) 376command which follows. 377.It Ic Print 378.Pq Ic P 379Like 380.Ic print 381but also prints out ignored header fields. 382See also 383.Ic print , ignore 384and 385.Ic retain . 386.It Ic Reply 387.Pq Ic R 388Reply to originator. 389Does not reply to other 390recipients of the original message. 391.It Ic Type 392.Pq Ic T 393Identical to the 394.Ic Print 395command. 396.It Ic alias 397.Pq Ic a 398With no arguments, prints out all currently-defined aliases. 399With one 400argument, prints out that alias. 401With more than one argument, creates 402a new alias or changes an old one. 403.It Ic alternates 404.Pq Ic alt 405The 406.Ic alternates 407command is useful if you have accounts on several machines. 408It can be used to inform 409.Nm 410that the listed addresses are really you. 411When you 412.Ic reply 413to messages, 414.Nm 415will not send a copy of the message to any of the addresses 416listed on the 417.Ic alternates 418list. 419If the 420.Ic alternates 421command is given with no argument, the current set of alternative 422names is displayed. 423.It Ic chdir 424.Pq Ic c 425Changes the user's working directory to that specified, if given. 426If 427no directory is given, then changes to the user's login directory. 428.It Ic copy 429.Pq Ic co 430The 431.Ic copy 432command does the same thing that 433.Ic save 434does, except that it does not mark the messages it 435is used on for deletion when you 436.Ic quit . 437.It Ic delete 438.Pq Ic d 439Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted. 440Deleted messages will not be saved in 441.Pa mbox , 442nor will they be available for most other commands. 443.It Ic dp 444(also 445.Ic dt ) 446Deletes the current message and prints the next message. 447If there is no next message, 448.Nm 449says 450.Dq Li "at EOF" . 451.It Ic edit 452.Pq Ic e 453Takes a list of messages and points the text editor at each one in 454turn. 455On return from the editor, the message is read back in. 456.It Ic exit 457.Ic ( ex 458or 459.Ic x ) 460Effects an immediate return to the shell without 461modifying the user's system mailbox, his 462.Pa mbox 463file, or his edit file in 464.Fl f . 465.It Ic file 466.Pq Ic fi 467The same as 468.Ic folder . 469.It Ic folders 470List the names of the folders in your folder directory. 471.It Ic folder 472.Pq Ic fo 473The 474.Ic folder 475command switches to a new mail file or folder. 476With no 477arguments, it tells you which file you are currently reading. 478If you give it an argument, it will write out changes (such 479as deletions) you have made in the current file and read in 480the new file. 481Some special conventions are recognized for 482the name. 483.Ql # 484means the previous file, 485.Ql % 486means your system mailbox, 487.Dq Li % Ns Ar user 488means user's system mailbox, 489.Ql & 490means your 491.Pa mbox 492file, and 493.Dq Li + Ns Ar folder 494means a file in your folder 495directory. 496.It Ic from 497.Pq Ic f 498Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers. 499.It Ic headers 500.Pq Ic h 501Lists the current range of headers, which is an 18-message group. 502If 503a 504.Ql + 505argument is given, then the next 18-message group is printed, and if 506a 507.Ql \- 508argument is given, the previous 18-message group is printed. 509.It Ic help 510A synonym for 511.Ic \&? . 512.It Ic hold 513.Ic ( ho , 514also 515.Ic preserve ) 516Takes a message list and marks each 517message therein to be saved in the 518user's system mailbox instead of in 519.Pa mbox . 520Does not override the 521.Ic delete 522command. 523.It Ic ignore 524Add the list of header fields named to the 525.Ar ignored list . 526Header fields in the ignore list are not printed 527on your terminal when you print a message. 528This 529command is very handy for suppression of certain machine-generated 530header fields. 531The 532.Ic Type 533and 534.Ic Print 535commands can be used to print a message in its entirety, including 536ignored fields. 537If 538.Ic ignore 539is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of 540ignored fields. 541.It Ic inc 542Incorporate any new messages that have arrived while mail 543is being read. 544The new messages are added to the end of the message list, 545and the current message is reset to be the first new mail message. 546This does not renumber the existing message list, nor 547does it cause any changes made so far to be saved. 548.It Ic mail 549.Pq Ic m 550Takes as argument login names and distribution group names and sends 551mail to those people. 552.It Ic mbox 553Indicate that a list of messages be sent to 554.Pa mbox 555in your home directory when you quit. 556This is the default 557action for messages if you do 558.Em not 559have the 560.Ic hold 561option set. 562.It Ic more 563.Pq Ic mo 564Takes a list of messages and invokes the pager on that list. 565.It Ic next 566.Ic ( n , 567like 568.Ic + 569or 570.Tn CR ) 571Goes to the next message in sequence and types it. 572With an argument list, types the next matching message. 573.It Ic preserve 574.Pq Ic pre 575A synonym for 576.Ic hold . 577.It Ic print 578.Pq Ic p 579Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's terminal. 580.It Ic quit 581.Pq Ic q 582Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in 583the user's 584.Pa mbox 585file in his login directory, preserving all messages marked with 586.Ic hold 587or 588.Ic preserve 589or never referenced 590in his system mailbox, and removing all other messages from his system 591mailbox. 592If new mail has arrived during the session, the message 593.Dq Li "You have new mail" 594is given. 595If given while editing a 596mailbox file with the 597.Fl f 598flag, then the edit file is rewritten. 599A return to the shell is 600effected, unless the rewrite of edit file fails, in which case the user 601can escape with the 602.Ic exit 603command. 604.It Ic reply 605.Pq Ic r 606Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all 607recipients of the specified message. 608The default message must not be deleted. 609.It Ic respond 610A synonym for 611.Ic reply . 612.It Ic retain 613Add the list of header fields named to the 614.Em "retained list" . 615Only the header fields in the retained list 616are shown on your terminal when you print a message. 617All other header fields are suppressed. 618The 619.Ic type 620and 621.Ic print 622commands can be used to print a message in its entirety. 623If 624.Ic retain 625is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of 626retained fields. 627.It Ic save 628.Pq Ic s 629Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in 630turn to the end of the file. 631The filename in quotes, followed by the line 632count and character count is echoed on the user's terminal. 633.It Ic set 634.Pq Ic se 635With no arguments, prints all variable values. 636Otherwise, sets 637option. 638Arguments are of the form 639.Ar option Ns Li = Ns Ar value 640(no space before or after 641.Ql = ) 642or 643.Ar option . 644Quotation marks may be placed around any part of the assignment statement to 645quote blanks or tabs, i.e.\& 646.Dq Li "set indentprefix=\*q->\*q" 647.It Ic saveignore 648.Ic Saveignore 649is to 650.Ic save 651what 652.Ic ignore 653is to 654.Ic print 655and 656.Ic type . 657Header fields thus marked are filtered out when 658saving a message by 659.Ic save 660or when automatically saving to 661.Pa mbox . 662.It Ic saveretain 663.Ic Saveretain 664is to 665.Ic save 666what 667.Ic retain 668is to 669.Ic print 670and 671.Ic type . 672Header fields thus marked are the only ones saved 673with a message when saving by 674.Ic save 675or when automatically saving to 676.Pa mbox . 677.Ic Saveretain 678overrides 679.Ic saveignore . 680.It Ic shell 681.Pq Ic sh 682Invokes an interactive version of the shell. 683.It Ic size 684Takes a message list and prints out the size in characters of each 685message. 686.It Ic source 687The 688.Ic source 689command reads 690commands from a file. 691.It Ic top 692Takes a message list and prints the top few lines of each. 693The number of 694lines printed is controlled by the variable 695.Va toplines 696and defaults to 5. 697.It Ic type 698.Pq Ic t 699A synonym for 700.Ic print . 701.It Ic unalias 702Takes a list of names defined by 703.Ic alias 704commands and discards the remembered groups of users. 705The group names 706no longer have any significance. 707.It Ic undelete 708.Pq Ic u 709Takes a message list and marks each message as 710.Em not 711being deleted. 712.It Ic unread 713.Pq Ic U 714Takes a message list and marks each message as 715.Em not 716having been read. 717.It Ic unset 718Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered values; 719the inverse of 720.Ic set . 721.It Ic visual 722.Pq Ic v 723Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message. 724.It Ic write 725.Pq Ic w 726Similar to 727.Ic save , 728except that 729.Em only 730the message body 731.Em ( without 732the header) is saved. 733Extremely useful for such tasks as sending and receiving source 734program text over the message system. 735.It Ic xit 736.Pq Ic x 737A synonym for 738.Ic exit . 739.It Ic z 740The 741.Nm 742utility presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the 743.Ic headers 744command. 745You can move 746.Nm Ns 's 747attention forward to the next window with the 748.Ic z 749command. 750Also, you can move to the previous window by using 751.Ic z\- . 752.El 753.Ss Tilde/Escapes 754Here is a summary of the tilde escapes, 755which are used when composing messages to perform 756special functions. 757Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning 758of lines. 759The name 760.Dq "tilde escape" 761is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual escape character can be set 762by the option 763.Va escape . 764.Bl -tag -width indent 765.It Ic ~a 766Inserts the autograph string from the sign= option into the message. 767.It Ic ~A 768Inserts the autograph string from the Sign= option into the message. 769.It Ic ~b Ar name ... 770Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients but do not make 771the names visible in the Cc: line 772.Dq ( blind 773carbon copy). 774.It Ic ~c Ar name ... 775Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients. 776.It Ic ~d 777Read the file 778.Pa dead.letter 779from your home directory into the message. 780.It Ic ~e 781Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far. 782After the 783editing session is finished, you may continue appending text to the 784message. 785.It Ic ~f Ar messages 786Read the named messages into the message being sent. 787If no messages are specified, read in the current message. 788Message headers currently being ignored (by the 789.Ic ignore 790or 791.Ic retain 792command) are not included. 793.It Ic ~F Ar messages 794Identical to 795.Ic ~f , 796except all message headers are included. 797.It Ic ~h 798Edit the message header fields by typing each one in turn and allowing 799the user to append text to the end or modify the field by using the 800current terminal erase and kill characters. 801.It Ic ~i Ar string 802Inserts the value of the named option into the text of the message. 803.It Ic ~m Ar messages 804Read the named messages into the message being sent, indented by a 805tab or by the value of 806.Va indentprefix . 807If no messages are specified, 808read the current message. 809Message headers currently being ignored (by the 810.Ic ignore 811or 812.Ic retain 813command) are not included. 814.It Ic ~M Ar messages 815Identical to 816.Ic ~m , 817except all message headers are included. 818.It Ic ~p 819Print out the message collected so far, prefaced by the message header 820fields. 821.It Ic ~q 822Abort the message being sent, copying the message to 823.Pa dead.letter 824in your home directory if 825.Va save 826is set. 827.It Ic ~r Ar filename , Ic ~r Li \&! Ns Ar command 828.It Ic ~< Ar filename , Ic ~< Li \&! Ns Ar command 829Read the named file into the message. 830If the argument begins with a 831.Ql \&! , 832the rest of the string is taken as an arbitrary system command and is 833executed, with the standard output inserted into the message. 834.It Ic ~R Ar string 835Use 836.Ar string 837as the Reply-To field. 838.It Ic ~s Ar string 839Cause the named string to become the current subject field. 840.It Ic ~t Ar name ... 841Add the given names to the direct recipient list. 842.It Ic ~v 843Invoke an alternative editor (defined by the 844.Ev VISUAL 845environment variable) on the 846message collected so far. 847Usually, the alternative editor will be a 848screen editor. 849After you quit the editor, you may resume appending 850text to the end of your message. 851.It Ic ~w Ar filename 852Write the message onto the named file. 853.It Ic ~x 854Exits as with 855.Ic ~q , 856except the message is not saved in 857.Pa dead.letter . 858.It Ic ~! Ar command 859Execute the indicated shell command, then return to the message. 860.It Ic ~| Ar command , Ic ~^ Ar command 861Pipe the message through the command as a filter. 862If the command gives 863no output or terminates abnormally, retain the original text of the 864message. 865The command 866.Xr fmt 1 867is often used as 868.Ar command 869to rejustify the message. 870.It Ic ~: Ar mail-command , Ic ~_ Ar mail-command 871Execute the given 872.Nm 873command. 874Not all commands, however, are allowed. 875.It Ic ~. 876Simulate end-of-file on input. 877.It Ic ~? 878Print a summary of the available command escapes. 879.It Ic ~~ Ar string 880Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single 881.Ql ~ . 882If 883you have changed the escape character, then you should double 884that character in order to send it. 885.El 886.Ss "Mail Options" 887Options can be set with the 888.Ic set 889command 890and can be disabled with the 891.Ic unset 892or 893.Ic set Cm no Ns Ar name 894commands. 895Options may be either binary, in which case it is only 896significant to see whether they are set or not; or string, in which 897case the actual value is of interest. 898If an option is not set, 899.Nm 900will look for an environment variable of the same name. 901The available options include the following: 902.Bl -tag -width indent 903.It Va append 904Causes messages saved in 905.Pa mbox 906to be appended to the end rather than prepended. 907This should always be set (preferably in one of the system-wide 908.Pa mail.rc 909files). 910Default is 911.Va noappend . 912.It Va ask , asksub 913Causes 914.Nm 915to prompt you for the subject of each message you send. 916If 917you respond with simply a newline, no subject field will be sent. 918Default is 919.Va asksub . 920.It Va askbcc 921Causes you to be prompted for additional blind carbon copy recipients at the 922end of each message. 923Responding with a newline indicates your 924satisfaction with the current list. 925Default is 926.Va noaskbcc . 927.It Va askcc 928Causes you to be prompted for additional carbon copy recipients at the 929end of each message. 930Responding with a newline indicates your 931satisfaction with the current list. 932Default is 933.Va noaskcc . 934.It Va autoinc 935Causes new mail to be automatically incorporated when it arrives. 936Setting this is similar to issuing the 937.Ic inc 938command at each prompt, except that the current message is not 939reset when new mail arrives. 940Default is 941.Va noautoinc . 942.It Va autoprint 943Causes the 944.Ic delete 945command to behave like 946.Ic dp ; 947thus, after deleting a message, the next one will be typed 948automatically. 949Default is 950.Va noautoprint . 951.It Va crt 952The valued option 953.Va crt 954is used as a threshold to determine how long a message must 955be before 956.Ev PAGER 957is used to read it. 958If 959.Va crt 960is set without a value, 961then the height of the terminal screen stored in the system 962is used to compute the threshold (see 963.Xr stty 1 ) . 964Default is 965.Va nocrt . 966.It Va debug 967Setting the binary option 968.Va debug 969is the same as specifying 970.Fl d 971on the command line and causes 972.Nm 973to output all sorts of information useful for debugging 974.Nm . 975In case 976.Nm 977is invoked in this mode to send mail, all preparations 978will be performed and reported about, but the mail will 979not be actually sent. 980Default is 981.Va nodebug . 982.It Va dot 983The binary option 984.Va dot 985causes 986.Nm 987to interpret a period alone on a line as the terminator 988of a message you are sending. 989Default is 990.Va nodot . 991.It Va escape 992If defined, the first character of this option gives the character to 993use in place of 994.Ql ~ 995to denote escapes. 996.It Va flipr 997Reverses the sense of 998.Ic reply 999and 1000.Ic Reply 1001commands. 1002Default is 1003.Va noflipr . 1004.It Va folder 1005The name of the directory to use for storing folders of 1006messages. 1007If this name begins with a 1008.Ql / , 1009.Nm 1010considers it to be an absolute pathname; otherwise, the 1011folder directory is found relative to your home directory. 1012.It Va header 1013If defined, initially display message headers when reading mail or 1014editing a mail folder. 1015Default is 1016.Va header . 1017This option can be disabled by giving the 1018.Fl N 1019flag on the command line. 1020.It Va hold 1021This option is used to hold messages in the system mailbox 1022by default. 1023Default is 1024.Va nohold . 1025.It Va ignore 1026Causes interrupt signals from your terminal to be ignored and echoed as 1027.Li @ Ns 's. 1028Default is 1029.Va noignore . 1030.It Va ignoreeof 1031An option related to 1032.Va dot 1033is 1034.Va ignoreeof 1035which makes 1036.Nm 1037refuse to accept a 1038.Aq Li control-D 1039as the end of a message. 1040.Ar Ignoreeof 1041also applies to 1042.Nm 1043command mode. 1044Default is 1045.Va noignoreeof . 1046.It Va indentprefix 1047String used by the 1048.Ic ~m 1049tilde escape for indenting messages, in place of 1050the normal tab character 1051.Pq Li ^I . 1052Be sure to quote the value if it contains 1053spaces or tabs. 1054.It Va metoo 1055Usually, when a group is expanded that contains the sender, the sender 1056is removed from the expansion. 1057Setting this option causes the sender 1058to be included in the group. 1059Default is 1060.Va nometoo . 1061.It Va quiet 1062Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked. 1063Default is 1064.Va noquiet . 1065.It Va record 1066If defined, gives the pathname of the file used to record all outgoing 1067mail. 1068If not defined, outgoing mail is not saved. 1069Default is 1070.Va norecord . 1071.It Va Replyall 1072Reverses the sense of 1073.Ic reply 1074and 1075.Ic Reply 1076commands. 1077Default is 1078.Va noReplyall . 1079.It Va save 1080If this option is set, and you abort a message with two 1081.Tn RUBOUT 1082(erase or delete), 1083.Nm 1084will copy the partial letter to the file 1085.Pa dead.letter 1086in your home directory. 1087Default is 1088.Va save . 1089.It Va searchheaders 1090If this option is set, then a message-list specifier in the form 1091.Dq Li / Ns Ar x Ns : Ns Ar y 1092will expand to all messages containing the substring 1093.Ar y 1094in the header field 1095.Ar x . 1096The string search is case insensitive. 1097If 1098.Ar x 1099is omitted, it will default to the 1100.Dq Li Subject 1101header field. 1102The form 1103.Dq Li /to: Ns Ar y 1104is a special case, and will expand 1105to all messages containing the substring 1106.Ar y 1107in the 1108.Dq Li To , 1109.Dq Li Cc 1110or 1111.Dq Li Bcc 1112header fields. 1113The check for 1114.Qq Li "to" 1115is case sensitive, so that 1116.Dq Li /To: Ns Ar y 1117can be used to limit the search for 1118.Ar y 1119to just the 1120.Dq Li To: 1121field. 1122Default is 1123.Va nosearchheaders . 1124.It Va toplines 1125If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be printed out 1126with the 1127.Ic top 1128command; normally, the first five lines are printed. 1129.It Va verbose 1130Setting the option 1131.Va verbose 1132is the same as using the 1133.Fl v 1134flag on the command line. 1135When 1136.Nm 1137runs in verbose mode, 1138the actual delivery of messages is displayed on the user's 1139terminal. 1140Default is 1141.Va noverbose . 1142.El 1143.Sh ENVIRONMENT 1144.Bl -tag -width ".Ev REPLYTO" 1145.It Ev DEAD 1146Pathname of the file to save partial messages to in case of interrupts 1147or delivery errors. 1148Default is 1149.Pa ~/dead.letter . 1150.It Ev EDITOR 1151Pathname of the text editor to use in the 1152.Ic edit 1153command and 1154.Ic ~e 1155escape. 1156If not defined, then a default editor is used. 1157.It Ev HOME 1158Pathname of the user's home directory. 1159.It Ev LISTER 1160Pathname of the directory lister to use in the 1161.Ic folders 1162command. 1163Default is 1164.Pa /bin/ls . 1165.It Ev MAIL 1166Location of the user's mailbox. 1167Default is 1168.Pa /var/mail . 1169.It Ev MAILRC 1170Pathname of file containing initial 1171.Nm 1172commands. 1173Default is 1174.Pa ~/.mailrc . 1175.It Ev MBOX 1176The name of the mailbox file. 1177It can be the name of a folder. 1178The default is 1179.Pa mbox 1180in the user's home directory. 1181.It Ev PAGER 1182Pathname of the program to use in the 1183.Ic more 1184command or when 1185.Va crt 1186variable is set. 1187The default paginator 1188.Xr less 1 1189is used if this option is not defined. 1190.It Ev REPLYTO 1191If set, will be used to initialize the Reply-To field for outgoing 1192messages. 1193.It Ev SHELL 1194Pathname of the shell to use in the 1195.Ic \&! 1196command and the 1197.Ic ~! 1198escape. 1199A default shell is used if this option is 1200not defined. 1201.It Ev TMPDIR 1202Pathname of the directory used for creating temporary files. 1203.It Ev VISUAL 1204Pathname of the text editor to use in the 1205.Ic visual 1206command and 1207.Ic ~v 1208escape. 1209.It Ev USER 1210Login name of the user executing mail. 1211.El 1212.Sh FILES 1213.Bl -tag -width ".Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help" -compact 1214.It Pa /var/mail/* 1215Post office. 1216.It Pa ~/mbox 1217User's old mail. 1218.It Pa ~/.mailrc 1219File giving initial 1220.Nm 1221commands. 1222This can be overridden by setting the 1223.Ev MAILRC 1224environment variable. 1225.It Pa /tmp/R* 1226Temporary files. 1227.It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help 1228Help files. 1229.Pp 1230.It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.rc 1231.It Pa /usr/local/etc/mail.rc 1232.It Pa /etc/mail.rc 1233System-wide initialization files. 1234Each file will be sourced, in order, 1235if it exists. 1236.El 1237.Sh SEE ALSO 1238.Xr fmt 1 , 1239.Xr newaliases 1 , 1240.Xr vacation 1 , 1241.Xr aliases 5 , 1242.Xr sendmail 8 1243.Sh HISTORY 1244A 1245.Nm 1246command 1247appeared in 1248.At v1 . 1249This man page is derived from 1250.%T "The Mail Reference Manual" 1251originally written by 1252.An Kurt Shoens . 1253.Sh BUGS 1254There are some flags that are not documented here. 1255Most are 1256not useful to the general user. 1257.Pp 1258Usually, 1259.Nm 1260is just a link to 1261.Nm Mail 1262and 1263.Nm mailx , 1264which can be confusing. 1265.Pp 1266The name of the 1267.Ic alternates 1268list is incorrect English (it should be 1269.Dq alternatives ) , 1270but is retained for compatibility. 1271