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 April 28, 1995 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 EiInv 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 EHiInNv 54.Op Fl F 55.Fl f 56.Op Ar name 57.Nm 58.Op Fl EHiInNv 59.Op Fl F 60.Op Fl u Ar user 61.Nm 62.Fl e 63.Op Fl f Ar name 64.Nm 65.Op Fl H 66.Sh INTRODUCTION 67The 68.Nm 69utility is an intelligent mail processing system, which has 70a command syntax reminiscent of 71.Xr ed 1 72with lines replaced by messages. 73.Pp 74The following options are available: 75.Bl -tag -width indent 76.It Fl v 77Verbose mode. 78The details of 79delivery are displayed on the user's terminal. 80.It Fl e 81Test for the presence of mail in the (by default, system) 82mailbox. An exit status of 0 is returned if 83it has mail; otherwise, an exit status 84of 1 is returned. 85.It Fl H 86Write a header summary only. 87.It Fl E 88Do not send messages with an empty body. 89This is useful for piping errors from 90.Xr cron 8 91scripts. 92.It Fl i 93Ignore tty interrupt signals. 94This is 95particularly useful when using 96.Nm 97on noisy phone lines. 98.It Fl I 99Force 100.Nm 101to run in interactive mode even when 102input is not a terminal. 103In particular, the 104.Ql ~ 105special 106character when sending mail is only active in interactive mode. 107.It Fl n 108Inhibit reading the system-wide 109.Pa mail.rc 110files upon startup. 111.It Fl N 112Inhibit the initial display of message headers 113when reading mail or editing a mail folder. 114.It Fl s Ar subject 115Specify 116.Ar subject 117on command line. 118(Only the first argument after the 119.Fl s 120flag is used as a subject; be careful to quote subjects 121containing spaces.) 122.It Fl c Ar cc-addr 123Send carbon copies to 124.Ar cc-addr 125list of users. 126The 127.Ar cc-addr 128argument should be a comma-separated list of names. 129.It Fl b Ar bcc-addr 130Send blind carbon copies to 131.Ar bcc-addr 132list of users. 133The 134.Ar bcc-addr 135argument should be a comma-separated list of names. 136.It Fl f Op Ar mbox 137Read in the contents of your 138.Pa mbox 139(or the specified file) 140for processing; when you 141.Ic quit , 142.Nm 143writes undeleted messages back to this file. 144.It Fl F 145Record the message in a file named after the first 146recipient. The name is the login-name portion of the 147address found first on the 148.Dq Li To: 149line in the mail header. 150Overrides the 151.Va record 152variable, if set. 153.It Fl u 154Is equivalent to: 155.Pp 156.Dl "mail -f /var/mail/user" 157.El 158.Ss "Startup Actions" 159At startup time 160.Nm 161will execute commands in the system command files 162.Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.rc , 163.Pa /usr/local/etc/mail.rc 164and 165.Pa /etc/mail.rc 166in order, unless explicitly told not to by the use of the 167.Fl n 168option. 169Next, the commands in the user's personal command file 170.Pa ~/.mailrc 171are executed. 172The 173.Nm 174utility then examines its command line options to determine whether a 175new message is to be sent, or whether an existing mailbox is to 176be read. 177.Ss "Sending Mail" 178To send a message to one or more people, 179.Nm 180can be invoked with arguments which are the names of people to 181whom the mail will be sent. 182You are then expected to type in 183your message, followed 184by a 185.Aq Li control-D 186at the beginning of a line. 187The section below 188.Sx "Replying To or Originating Mail" , 189describes some features of 190.Nm 191available to help you compose your letter. 192.Ss "Reading Mail" 193In normal usage 194.Nm 195is given no arguments and checks your mail out of the 196post office, then 197prints out a one line header of each message found. 198The current message is initially the first message (numbered 1) 199and can be printed using the 200.Ic print 201command (which can be abbreviated 202.Ic p ) . 203You can move among the messages much as you move between lines in 204.Xr ed 1 , 205with the commands 206.Ic + 207and 208.Ic \- 209moving backwards and forwards, and 210simple numbers. 211.Ss "Disposing of Mail" 212After examining a message you can 213.Ic delete 214.Pq Ic d 215the message or 216.Ic reply 217.Pq Ic r 218to it. 219Deletion causes the 220.Nm 221program to forget about the message. 222This is not irreversible; the message can be 223.Ic undeleted 224.Pq Ic u 225by giving its number, or the 226.Nm 227session can be aborted by giving the 228.Ic exit 229.Pq Ic x 230command. 231Deleted messages will, however, usually disappear never to be seen again. 232.Ss "Specifying Messages" 233Commands such as 234.Ic print 235and 236.Ic delete 237can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply 238to a number of messages at once. 239Thus 240.Dq Li "delete 1 2" 241deletes messages 1 and 2, while 242.Dq Li "delete 1\-5" 243deletes messages 1 through 5. 244The special name 245.Ql * 246addresses all messages, and 247.Ql $ 248addresses 249the last message; thus the command 250.Ic top 251which prints the first few lines of a message could be used in 252.Dq Li "top *" 253to print the first few lines of all messages. 254.Ss "Replying To or Originating Mail" 255You can use the 256.Ic reply 257command to 258set up a response to a message, sending it back to the 259person who it was from. 260Text you then type in, up to an end-of-file, 261defines the contents of the message. 262While you are composing a message, 263.Nm 264treats lines beginning with the character 265.Ql ~ 266specially. 267For instance, typing 268.Ic ~m 269(alone on a line) will place a copy 270of the current message into the response right shifting it by a tabstop 271(see 272.Va indentprefix 273variable, below). 274Other escapes will set up subject fields, add and delete recipients 275to the message and allow you to escape to an editor to revise the 276message or to a shell to run some commands. 277(These options 278are given in the summary below.) 279.Ss "Ending a Mail Processing Session" 280You can end a 281.Nm 282session with the 283.Ic quit 284.Pq Ic q 285command. 286Messages which have been examined go to your 287.Pa mbox 288file unless they have been deleted in which case they are discarded. 289Unexamined messages go back to the post office. 290(See the 291.Fl f 292option above). 293.Ss "Personal and System Wide Distribution Lists" 294It is also possible to create a personal distribution lists so that, 295for instance, you can send mail to 296.Dq Li cohorts 297and have it go 298to a group of people. 299Such lists can be defined by placing a line like 300.Pp 301.Dl "alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory" 302.Pp 303in the file 304.Pa .mailrc 305in your home directory. 306The current list of such aliases can be displayed with the 307.Ic alias 308command in 309.Nm . 310System wide distribution lists can be created by editing 311.Pa /etc/mail/aliases , 312see 313.Xr aliases 5 314and 315.Xr sendmail 8 ; 316these are kept in a different syntax. 317In mail you send, personal aliases will be expanded in mail sent 318to others so that they will be able to 319.Ic reply 320to the recipients. 321System wide 322aliases 323are not expanded when the mail is sent, 324but any reply returned to the machine will have the system wide 325alias expanded as all mail goes through 326.Xr sendmail 8 . 327.Ss "Network Mail (ARPA, UUCP, Berknet)" 328See 329.Xr mailaddr 7 330for a description of network addresses. 331.Pp 332The 333.Nm 334utility has a number of options which can be set in the 335.Pa .mailrc 336file to alter its behavior; thus 337.Dq Li "set askcc" 338enables the 339.Va askcc 340feature. 341(These options are summarized below.) 342.Sh SUMMARY 343(Adapted from the 344.%T "Mail Reference Manual" . ) 345.Pp 346Each command is typed on a line by itself, and may take arguments 347following the command word. 348The command need not be typed in its 349entirety \(em the first command which matches the typed prefix is used. 350For commands which take message lists as arguments, if no message 351list is given, then the next message forward which satisfies the 352command's requirements is used. 353If there are no messages forward of 354the current message, the search proceeds backwards, and if there are no 355good messages at all, 356.Nm 357types 358.Dq Li "No applicable messages" 359and 360aborts the command. 361.Bl -tag -width indent 362.It Ic \- 363Print out the preceding message. 364If given a numeric 365argument 366.Ar n , 367goes to the 368.Ar n Ns 'th 369previous message and prints it. 370.It Ic # 371ignore the remainder of the line as a comment. 372.It Ic \&? 373Prints a brief summary of commands. 374.It Ic \&! 375Executes the shell 376(see 377.Xr sh 1 378and 379.Xr csh 1 ) 380command which follows. 381.It Ic Print 382.Pq Ic P 383Like 384.Ic print 385but also prints out ignored header fields. 386See also 387.Ic print , ignore 388and 389.Ic retain . 390.It Ic Reply 391.Pq Ic R 392Reply to originator. 393Does not reply to other 394recipients of the original message. 395.It Ic Type 396.Pq Ic T 397Identical to the 398.Ic Print 399command. 400.It Ic alias 401.Pq Ic a 402With no arguments, prints out all currently-defined aliases. 403With one 404argument, prints out that alias. 405With more than one argument, creates 406a new alias or changes an old one. 407.It Ic alternates 408.Pq Ic alt 409The 410.Ic alternates 411command is useful if you have accounts on several machines. 412It can be used to inform 413.Nm 414that the listed addresses are really you. 415When you 416.Ic reply 417to messages, 418.Nm 419will not send a copy of the message to any of the addresses 420listed on the 421.Ic alternates 422list. 423If the 424.Ic alternates 425command is given with no argument, the current set of alternative 426names is displayed. 427.It Ic chdir 428.Pq Ic c 429Changes the user's working directory to that specified, if given. 430If 431no directory is given, then changes to the user's login directory. 432.It Ic copy 433.Pq Ic co 434The 435.Ic copy 436command does the same thing that 437.Ic save 438does, except that it does not mark the messages it 439is used on for deletion when you 440.Ic quit . 441.It Ic delete 442.Pq Ic d 443Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted. 444Deleted messages will not be saved in 445.Pa mbox , 446nor will they be available for most other commands. 447.It Ic dp 448(also 449.Ic dt ) 450Deletes the current message and prints the next message. 451If there is no next message, 452.Nm 453says 454.Dq Li "at EOF" . 455.It Ic edit 456.Pq Ic e 457Takes a list of messages and points the text editor at each one in 458turn. 459On return from the editor, the message is read back in. 460.It Ic exit 461.Ic ( ex 462or 463.Ic x ) 464Effects an immediate return to the shell without 465modifying the user's system mailbox, his 466.Pa mbox 467file, or his edit file in 468.Fl f . 469.It Ic file 470.Pq Ic fi 471The same as 472.Ic folder . 473.It Ic folders 474List the names of the folders in your folder directory. 475.It Ic folder 476.Pq Ic fo 477The 478.Ic folder 479command switches to a new mail file or folder. 480With no 481arguments, it tells you which file you are currently reading. 482If you give it an argument, it will write out changes (such 483as deletions) you have made in the current file and read in 484the new file. 485Some special conventions are recognized for 486the name. 487.Ql # 488means the previous file, 489.Ql % 490means your system mailbox, 491.Dq Li % Ns Ar user 492means user's system mailbox, 493.Ql & 494means your 495.Pa mbox 496file, and 497.Dq Li + Ns Ar folder 498means a file in your folder 499directory. 500.It Ic from 501.Pq Ic f 502Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers. 503.It Ic headers 504.Pq Ic h 505Lists the current range of headers, which is an 18-message group. 506If 507a 508.Ql + 509argument is given, then the next 18-message group is printed, and if 510a 511.Ql \- 512argument is given, the previous 18-message group is printed. 513.It Ic help 514A synonym for 515.Ic \&? . 516.It Ic hold 517.Ic ( ho , 518also 519.Ic preserve ) 520Takes a message list and marks each 521message therein to be saved in the 522user's system mailbox instead of in 523.Pa mbox . 524Does not override the 525.Ic delete 526command. 527.It Ic ignore 528Add the list of header fields named to the 529.Ar ignored list . 530Header fields in the ignore list are not printed 531on your terminal when you print a message. 532This 533command is very handy for suppression of certain machine-generated 534header fields. 535The 536.Ic Type 537and 538.Ic Print 539commands can be used to print a message in its entirety, including 540ignored fields. 541If 542.Ic ignore 543is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of 544ignored fields. 545.It Ic inc 546Incorporate any new messages that have arrived while mail 547is being read. 548The new messages are added to the end of the message list, 549and the current message is reset to be the first new mail message. 550This does not renumber the existing message list, nor 551does it cause any changes made so far to be saved. 552.It Ic mail 553.Pq Ic m 554Takes as argument login names and distribution group names and sends 555mail to those people. 556.It Ic mbox 557Indicate that a list of messages be sent to 558.Pa mbox 559in your home directory when you quit. 560This is the default 561action for messages if you do 562.Em not 563have the 564.Ic hold 565option set. 566.It Ic more 567.Pq Ic mo 568Takes a list of messages and invokes the pager on that list. 569.It Ic next 570.Ic ( n , 571like 572.Ic + 573or 574.Tn CR ) 575Goes to the next message in sequence and types it. 576With an argument list, types the next matching message. 577.It Ic preserve 578.Pq Ic pre 579A synonym for 580.Ic hold . 581.It Ic print 582.Pq Ic p 583Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's terminal. 584.It Ic quit 585.Pq Ic q 586Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in 587the user's 588.Pa mbox 589file in his login directory, preserving all messages marked with 590.Ic hold 591or 592.Ic preserve 593or never referenced 594in his system mailbox, and removing all other messages from his system 595mailbox. 596If new mail has arrived during the session, the message 597.Dq Li "You have new mail" 598is given. 599If given while editing a 600mailbox file with the 601.Fl f 602flag, then the edit file is rewritten. 603A return to the shell is 604effected, unless the rewrite of edit file fails, in which case the user 605can escape with the 606.Ic exit 607command. 608.It Ic reply 609.Pq Ic r 610Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all 611recipients of the specified message. 612The default message must not be deleted. 613.It Ic respond 614A synonym for 615.Ic reply . 616.It Ic retain 617Add the list of header fields named to the 618.Em "retained list" . 619Only the header fields in the retained list 620are shown on your terminal when you print a message. 621All other header fields are suppressed. 622The 623.Ic type 624and 625.Ic print 626commands can be used to print a message in its entirety. 627If 628.Ic retain 629is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of 630retained fields. 631.It Ic save 632.Pq Ic s 633Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in 634turn to the end of the file. 635The filename in quotes, followed by the line 636count and character count is echoed on the user's terminal. 637.It Ic set 638.Pq Ic se 639With no arguments, prints all variable values. 640Otherwise, sets 641option. 642Arguments are of the form 643.Ar option Ns Li = Ns Ar value 644(no space before or after 645.Ql = ) 646or 647.Ar option . 648Quotation marks may be placed around any part of the assignment statement to 649quote blanks or tabs, i.e.\& 650.Dq Li "set indentprefix=\*q->\*q" 651.It Ic saveignore 652.Ic Saveignore 653is to 654.Ic save 655what 656.Ic ignore 657is to 658.Ic print 659and 660.Ic type . 661Header fields thus marked are filtered out when 662saving a message by 663.Ic save 664or when automatically saving to 665.Pa mbox . 666.It Ic saveretain 667.Ic Saveretain 668is to 669.Ic save 670what 671.Ic retain 672is to 673.Ic print 674and 675.Ic type . 676Header fields thus marked are the only ones saved 677with a message when saving by 678.Ic save 679or when automatically saving to 680.Pa mbox . 681.Ic Saveretain 682overrides 683.Ic saveignore . 684.It Ic shell 685.Pq Ic sh 686Invokes an interactive version of the shell. 687.It Ic size 688Takes a message list and prints out the size in characters of each 689message. 690.It Ic source 691The 692.Ic source 693command reads 694commands from a file. 695.It Ic top 696Takes a message list and prints the top few lines of each. 697The number of 698lines printed is controlled by the variable 699.Va toplines 700and defaults to 5. 701.It Ic type 702.Pq Ic t 703A synonym for 704.Ic print . 705.It Ic unalias 706Takes a list of names defined by 707.Ic alias 708commands and discards the remembered groups of users. 709The group names 710no longer have any significance. 711.It Ic undelete 712.Pq Ic u 713Takes a message list and marks each message as 714.Em not 715being deleted. 716.It Ic unread 717.Pq Ic U 718Takes a message list and marks each message as 719.Em not 720having been read. 721.It Ic unset 722Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered values; 723the inverse of 724.Ic set . 725.It Ic visual 726.Pq Ic v 727Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message. 728.It Ic write 729.Pq Ic w 730Similar to 731.Ic save , 732except that 733.Em only 734the message body 735.Em ( without 736the header) is saved. 737Extremely useful for such tasks as sending and receiving source 738program text over the message system. 739.It Ic xit 740.Pq Ic x 741A synonym for 742.Ic exit . 743.It Ic z 744The 745.Nm 746utility presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the 747.Ic headers 748command. 749You can move 750.Nm Ns 's 751attention forward to the next window with the 752.Ic z 753command. 754Also, you can move to the previous window by using 755.Ic z\- . 756.El 757.Ss Tilde/Escapes 758Here is a summary of the tilde escapes, 759which are used when composing messages to perform 760special functions. 761Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning 762of lines. 763The name 764.Dq "tilde escape" 765is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual escape character can be set 766by the option 767.Va escape . 768.Bl -tag -width indent 769.It Ic ~a 770Inserts the autograph string from the sign= option into the message. 771.It Ic ~A 772Inserts the autograph string from the Sign= option into the message. 773.It Ic ~b Ar name ... 774Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients but do not make 775the names visible in the Cc: line 776.Dq ( blind 777carbon copy). 778.It Ic ~c Ar name ... 779Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients. 780.It Ic ~d 781Read the file 782.Pa dead.letter 783from your home directory into the message. 784.It Ic ~e 785Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far. 786After the 787editing session is finished, you may continue appending text to the 788message. 789.It Ic ~f Ar messages 790Read the named messages into the message being sent. 791If no messages are specified, read in the current message. 792Message headers currently being ignored (by the 793.Ic ignore 794or 795.Ic retain 796command) are not included. 797.It Ic ~F Ar messages 798Identical to 799.Ic ~f , 800except all message headers are included. 801.It Ic ~h 802Edit the message header fields by typing each one in turn and allowing 803the user to append text to the end or modify the field by using the 804current terminal erase and kill characters. 805.It Ic ~i Ar string 806Inserts the value of the named option into the text of the message. 807.It Ic ~m Ar messages 808Read the named messages into the message being sent, indented by a 809tab or by the value of 810.Va indentprefix . 811If no messages are specified, 812read the current message. 813Message headers currently being ignored (by the 814.Ic ignore 815or 816.Ic retain 817command) are not included. 818.It Ic ~M Ar messages 819Identical to 820.Ic ~m , 821except all message headers are included. 822.It Ic ~p 823Print out the message collected so far, prefaced by the message header 824fields. 825.It Ic ~q 826Abort the message being sent, copying the message to 827.Pa dead.letter 828in your home directory if 829.Va save 830is set. 831.It Ic ~r Ar filename , Ic ~r Li \&! Ns Ar command 832.It Ic ~< Ar filename , Ic ~< Li \&! Ns Ar command 833Read the named file into the message. 834If the argument begins with a 835.Ql \&! , 836the rest of the string is taken as an arbitrary system command and is 837executed, with the standard output inserted into the message. 838.It Ic ~R Ar string 839Use 840.Ar string 841as the Reply-To field. 842.It Ic ~s Ar string 843Cause the named string to become the current subject field. 844.It Ic ~t Ar name ... 845Add the given names to the direct recipient list. 846.It Ic ~v 847Invoke an alternative editor (defined by the 848.Ev VISUAL 849environment variable) on the 850message collected so far. 851Usually, the alternative editor will be a 852screen editor. 853After you quit the editor, you may resume appending 854text to the end of your message. 855.It Ic ~w Ar filename 856Write the message onto the named file. 857.It Ic ~x 858Exits as with 859.Ic ~q , 860except the message is not saved in 861.Pa dead.letter . 862.It Ic ~! Ar command 863Execute the indicated shell command, then return to the message. 864.It Ic ~| Ar command , Ic ~^ Ar command 865Pipe the message through the command as a filter. 866If the command gives 867no output or terminates abnormally, retain the original text of the 868message. 869The command 870.Xr fmt 1 871is often used as 872.Ar command 873to rejustify the message. 874.It Ic ~: Ar mail-command , Ic ~_ Ar mail-command 875Execute the given 876.Nm 877command. 878Not all commands, however, are allowed. 879.It Ic ~. 880Simulate end-of-file on input. 881.It Ic ~? 882Print a summary of the available command escapes. 883.It Ic ~~ Ar string 884Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single 885.Ql ~ . 886If 887you have changed the escape character, then you should double 888that character in order to send it. 889.El 890.Ss "Mail Options" 891Options can be set with the 892.Ic set 893command 894and can be disabled with the 895.Ic unset 896or 897.Ic set Cm no Ns Ar name 898commands. 899Options may be either binary, in which case it is only 900significant to see whether they are set or not; or string, in which 901case the actual value is of interest. 902If an option is not set, 903.Nm 904will look for an environment variable of the same name. 905The binary options include the following: 906.Bl -tag -width indent 907.It Va append 908Causes messages saved in 909.Pa mbox 910to be appended to the end rather than prepended. 911This should always be set (preferably in one of the system-wide 912.Pa mail.rc 913files). 914Default is 915.Va noappend . 916.It Va ask , asksub 917Causes 918.Nm 919to prompt you for the subject of each message you send. 920If 921you respond with simply a newline, no subject field will be sent. 922Default is 923.Va asksub . 924.It Va askbcc 925Causes you to be prompted for additional blind carbon copy recipients at the 926end of each message. 927Responding with a newline indicates your 928satisfaction with the current list. 929Default is 930.Va noaskbcc . 931.It Va askcc 932Causes you to be prompted for additional carbon copy recipients at the 933end of each message. 934Responding with a newline indicates your 935satisfaction with the current list. 936Default is 937.Va noaskcc . 938.It Va autoinc 939Causes new mail to be automatically incorporated when it arrives. 940Setting this is similar to issuing the 941.Ic inc 942command at each prompt, except that the current message is not 943reset when new mail arrives. 944Default is 945.Va noautoinc . 946.It Va autoprint 947Causes the 948.Ic delete 949command to behave like 950.Ic dp ; 951thus, after deleting a message, the next one will be typed 952automatically. 953Default is 954.Va noautoprint . 955.It Va crt 956The valued option 957.Va crt 958is used as a threshold to determine how long a message must 959be before 960.Ev PAGER 961is used to read it. 962If 963.Va crt 964is set without a value, 965then the height of the terminal screen stored in the system 966is used to compute the threshold (see 967.Xr stty 1 ) . 968Default is 969.Va nocrt . 970.It Va debug 971Setting the binary option 972.Va debug 973is the same as specifying 974.Fl d 975on the command line and causes 976.Nm 977to output all sorts of information useful for debugging 978.Nm . 979Default is 980.Va nodebug . 981.It Va dot 982The binary option 983.Va dot 984causes 985.Nm 986to interpret a period alone on a line as the terminator 987of a message you are sending. 988Default is 989.Va nodot . 990.It Va escape 991If defined, the first character of this option gives the character to 992use in place of 993.Ql ~ 994to denote escapes. 995.It Va flipr 996Reverses the sense of 997.Ic reply 998and 999.Ic Reply 1000commands. 1001Default is 1002.Va noflipr . 1003.It Va folder 1004The name of the directory to use for storing folders of 1005messages. 1006If this name begins with a 1007.Ql / , 1008.Nm 1009considers it to be an absolute pathname; otherwise, the 1010folder directory is found relative to your home directory. 1011.It Va header 1012If defined, initially display message headers when reading mail or 1013editing a mail folder. 1014Default is 1015.Va header . 1016This option can be disabled by giving the 1017.Fl N 1018flag on the command line. 1019.It Va hold 1020This option is used to hold messages in the system mailbox 1021by default. 1022Default is 1023.Va nohold . 1024.It Va ignore 1025Causes interrupt signals from your terminal to be ignored and echoed as 1026.Li @ Ns 's. 1027Default is 1028.Va noignore . 1029.It Va ignoreeof 1030An option related to 1031.Va dot 1032is 1033.Va ignoreeof 1034which makes 1035.Nm 1036refuse to accept a 1037.Aq Li control-D 1038as the end of a message. 1039.Ar Ignoreeof 1040also applies to 1041.Nm 1042command mode. 1043Default is 1044.Va noignoreeof . 1045.It Va indentprefix 1046String used by the 1047.Ic ~m 1048tilde escape for indenting messages, in place of 1049the normal tab character 1050.Pq Li ^I . 1051Be sure to quote the value if it contains 1052spaces or tabs. 1053.It Va metoo 1054Usually, when a group is expanded that contains the sender, the sender 1055is removed from the expansion. 1056Setting this option causes the sender 1057to be included in the group. 1058Default is 1059.Va nometoo . 1060.It Va quiet 1061Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked. 1062Default is 1063.Va noquiet . 1064.It Va record 1065If defined, gives the pathname of the file used to record all outgoing 1066mail. 1067If not defined, outgoing mail is not saved. 1068Default is 1069.Va norecord . 1070.It Va Replyall 1071Reverses the sense of 1072.Ic reply 1073and 1074.Ic Reply 1075commands. 1076Default is 1077.Va noReplyall . 1078.It Va save 1079If this option is set, and you abort a message with two 1080.Tn RUBOUT 1081(erase or delete), 1082.Nm 1083will copy the partial letter to the file 1084.Pa dead.letter 1085in your home directory. 1086Default is 1087.Va save . 1088.It Va searchheaders 1089If this option is set, then a message-list specifier in the form 1090.Dq Li / Ns Ar x Ns Li : Ns Ar y 1091will expand to all messages containing the substring 1092.Ar y 1093in the header field 1094.Ar x . 1095The string search is case insensitive. 1096If 1097.Ar x 1098is ommitted, it will default to the 1099.Dq Li Subject 1100header field. 1101The form 1102.Dq Li /to: Ns Ar y 1103is a special case, and will expand 1104to all messages containing the substring 1105.Ar y 1106in the 1107.Dq Li To , 1108.Dq Li Cc 1109or 1110.Dq Li Bcc 1111header fields. 1112The check for 1113.Qq Li "to" 1114is case sensitive, so that 1115.Dq Li /To: Ns Ar y 1116can be used to limit the search for 1117.Ar y 1118to just the 1119.Dq Li To: 1120field. 1121Default is 1122.Va nosearchheaders . 1123.It Va toplines 1124If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be printed out 1125with the 1126.Ic top 1127command; normally, the first five lines are printed. 1128.It Va verbose 1129Setting the option 1130.Va verbose 1131is the same as using the 1132.Fl v 1133flag on the command line. 1134When 1135.Nm 1136runs in verbose mode, 1137the actual delivery of messages is displayed on the user's 1138terminal. 1139Default is 1140.Va noverbose . 1141.El 1142.Sh ENVIRONMENT 1143.Bl -tag -width ".Ev REPLYTO" 1144.It Ev DEAD 1145Pathname of the file to save partial messages to in case of interrupts 1146or delivery errors. 1147Default is 1148.Pa ~/dead.letter . 1149.It Ev EDITOR 1150Pathname of the text editor to use in the 1151.Ic edit 1152command and 1153.Ic ~e 1154escape. 1155If not defined, then a default editor is used. 1156.It Ev HOME 1157Pathname of the user's home directory. 1158.It Ev LISTER 1159Pathname of the directory lister to use in the 1160.Ic folders 1161command. 1162Default is 1163.Pa /bin/ls . 1164.It Ev MAIL 1165Location of the user's mailbox. 1166Default is 1167.Pa /var/mail . 1168.It Ev MAILRC 1169Pathname of file containing initial 1170.Nm 1171commands. 1172Default is 1173.Pa ~/.mailrc . 1174.It Ev MBOX 1175The name of the mailbox file. 1176It can be the name of a folder. 1177The default is 1178.Pa mbox 1179in the user's home directory. 1180.It Ev PAGER 1181Pathname of the program to use in the 1182.Ic more 1183command or when 1184.Va crt 1185variable is set. 1186The default paginator 1187.Xr more 1 1188is used if this option is not defined. 1189.It Ev REPLYTO 1190If set, will be used to initialize the Reply-To field for outgoing 1191messages. 1192.It Ev SHELL 1193Pathname of the shell to use in the 1194.Ic \&! 1195command and the 1196.Ic ~! 1197escape. 1198A default shell is used if this option is 1199not defined. 1200.It Ev VISUAL 1201Pathname of the text editor to use in the 1202.Ic visual 1203command and 1204.Ic ~v 1205escape. 1206.It Ev USER 1207Login name of the user executing mail. 1208.El 1209.Sh FILES 1210.Bl -tag -width ".Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help" -compact 1211.It Pa /var/mail/* 1212Post office. 1213.It Pa ~/mbox 1214User's old mail. 1215.It Pa ~/.mailrc 1216File giving initial 1217.Nm 1218commands. 1219This can be overridden by setting the 1220.Ev MAILRC 1221environment variable. 1222.It Pa /tmp/R* 1223Temporary files. 1224.It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help 1225Help files. 1226.Pp 1227.It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.rc 1228.It Pa /usr/local/etc/mail.rc 1229.It Pa /etc/mail.rc 1230System-wide initialization files. 1231Each file will be sourced, in order, 1232if it exists. 1233.El 1234.Sh SEE ALSO 1235.Xr fmt 1 , 1236.Xr newaliases 1 , 1237.Xr vacation 1 , 1238.Xr aliases 5 , 1239.Xr mailaddr 7 , 1240.Xr sendmail 8 1241.Rs 1242.%T "The Mail Reference Manual" 1243.Re 1244.Sh HISTORY 1245A 1246.Nm 1247command 1248appeared in 1249.At v1 . 1250This man page is derived from 1251.%T "The Mail Reference Manual" 1252originally written by 1253.An Kurt Shoens . 1254.Sh BUGS 1255There are some flags that are not documented here. 1256Most are 1257not useful to the general user. 1258.Pp 1259Usually, 1260.Nm 1261is just a link to 1262.Nm Mail 1263and 1264.Nm mailx , 1265which can be confusing. 1266.Pp 1267The name of the 1268.Ic alternates 1269list is incorrect English (it should be 1270.Dq alternatives ) , 1271but is retained for compatibility. 1272