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.\" @(#)mail.1 8.8 (Berkeley) 4/28/95 29.\" $FreeBSD: src/usr.bin/mail/mail.1,v 1.18.2.12 2003/01/06 05:46:03 mikeh Exp $ 30.\" $DragonFly: src/usr.bin/mail/mail.1,v 1.4 2007/05/17 08:19:02 swildner Exp $ 31.\" 32.Dd February 29, 2004 33.Dt MAIL 1 34.Os 35.Sh NAME 36.Nm mail , 37.Nm Mail , 38.Nm mailx 39.Nd send and receive mail 40.Sh SYNOPSIS 41.Nm 42.Op Fl EiInv 43.Op Fl s Ar subject 44.Op Fl c Ar cc-addr 45.Op Fl b Ar bcc-addr 46.Op Fl F 47.Ar to-addr ... 48.Op Fl Ar sendmail-option ... 49.Nm 50.Op Fl EHiInNv 51.Op Fl F 52.Fl f 53.Op Ar name 54.Nm 55.Op Fl EHiInNv 56.Op Fl F 57.Op Fl u Ar user 58.Nm 59.Fl e 60.Op Fl f Ar name 61.Nm 62.Op Fl H 63.Sh INTRODUCTION 64The 65.Nm 66utility is an intelligent mail processing system, which has 67a command syntax reminiscent of 68.Xr ed 1 69with lines replaced by messages. 70.Pp 71The following options are available: 72.Bl -tag -width indent 73.It Fl v 74Verbose mode. 75The details of 76delivery are displayed on the user's terminal. 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 of 1 is returned. 82.It Fl H 83Write a header summary only. 84.It Fl E 85Do not send messages with an empty body. 86This is useful for piping errors from 87.Xr cron 8 88scripts. 89.It Fl i 90Ignore tty interrupt signals. 91This is 92particularly useful when using 93.Nm 94on noisy phone lines. 95.It Fl I 96Force 97.Nm 98to run in interactive mode even when 99input is not a terminal. 100In particular, the 101.Ql ~ 102special 103character when sending mail is only active in interactive mode. 104.It Fl n 105Inhibit reading the system-wide 106.Pa mail.rc 107files upon startup. 108.It Fl N 109Inhibit the initial display of message headers 110when reading mail or editing a mail folder. 111.It Fl s Ar subject 112Specify 113.Ar subject 114on command line. 115(Only the first argument after the 116.Fl s 117flag is used as a subject; be careful to quote subjects 118containing spaces.) 119.It Fl c Ar cc-addr 120Send carbon copies to 121.Ar cc-addr 122list of users. 123The 124.Ar cc-addr 125argument should be a comma-separated list of names. 126.It Fl b Ar bcc-addr 127Send blind carbon copies to 128.Ar bcc-addr 129list of users. 130The 131.Ar bcc-addr 132argument should be a comma-separated list of names. 133.It Fl f Op Ar mbox 134Read in the contents of your 135.Pa mbox 136(or the specified file) 137for processing; when you 138.Ic quit , 139.Nm 140writes undeleted messages back to this file. 141.It Fl F 142Record the message in a file named after the first recipient. 143The name is the login-name portion of the 144address found first on the 145.Dq Li To: 146line in the mail header. 147Overrides the 148.Va record 149variable, if set. 150.It Fl u 151Is equivalent to: 152.Pp 153.Dl "mail -f /var/mail/user" 154.El 155.Ss "Startup Actions" 156At startup time 157.Nm 158will execute commands in the system command files 159.Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.rc , 160.Pa /usr/local/etc/mail.rc 161and 162.Pa /etc/mail.rc 163in order, unless explicitly told not to by the use of the 164.Fl n 165option. 166Next, the commands in the user's personal command file 167.Pa ~/.mailrc 168are executed. 169The 170.Nm 171utility then examines its command line options to determine whether a 172new message is to be sent, or whether an existing mailbox is to 173be read. 174.Ss "Sending Mail" 175To send a message to one or more people, 176.Nm 177can be invoked with arguments which are the names of people to 178whom the mail will be sent. 179You are then expected to type in 180your message, followed 181by a 182.Aq Li control-D 183at the beginning of a line. 184The section below 185.Sx "Replying To or Originating Mail" , 186describes some features of 187.Nm 188available to help you compose your letter. 189.Ss "Reading Mail" 190In normal usage 191.Nm 192is given no arguments and checks your mail out of the 193post office, then 194prints out a one line header of each message found. 195The current message is initially the first message (numbered 1) 196and can be printed using the 197.Ic print 198command (which can be abbreviated 199.Ic p ) . 200You can move among the messages much as you move between lines in 201.Xr ed 1 , 202with the commands 203.Ic + 204and 205.Ic \- 206moving backwards and forwards, and 207simple numbers. 208.Ss "Disposing of Mail" 209After examining a message you can 210.Ic delete 211.Pq Ic d 212the message or 213.Ic reply 214.Pq Ic r 215to it. 216Deletion causes the 217.Nm 218program to forget about the message. 219This is not irreversible; the message can be 220.Ic undeleted 221.Pq Ic u 222by giving its number, or the 223.Nm 224session can be aborted by giving the 225.Ic exit 226.Pq Ic x 227command. 228Deleted messages will, however, usually disappear never to be seen again. 229.Ss "Specifying Messages" 230Commands such as 231.Ic print 232and 233.Ic delete 234can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply 235to a number of messages at once. 236Thus 237.Dq Li "delete 1 2" 238deletes messages 1 and 2, while 239.Dq Li "delete 1\-5" 240deletes messages 1 through 5. 241The special name 242.Ql * 243addresses all messages, and 244.Ql $ 245addresses 246the last message; thus the command 247.Ic top 248which prints the first few lines of a message could be used in 249.Dq Li "top *" 250to print the first few lines of all messages. 251.Ss "Replying To or Originating Mail" 252You can use the 253.Ic reply 254command to 255set up a response to a message, sending it back to the 256person who it was from. 257Text you then type in, up to an end-of-file, 258defines the contents of the message. 259While you are composing a message, 260.Nm 261treats lines beginning with the character 262.Ql ~ 263specially. 264For instance, typing 265.Ic ~m 266(alone on a line) will place a copy 267of the current message into the response right shifting it by a tabstop 268(see 269.Va indentprefix 270variable, below). 271Other escapes will set up subject fields, add and delete recipients 272to the message and allow you to escape to an editor to revise the 273message or to a shell to run some commands. 274(These options 275are given in the summary below.) 276.Ss "Ending a Mail Processing Session" 277You can end a 278.Nm 279session with the 280.Ic quit 281.Pq Ic q 282command. 283Messages which have been examined go to your 284.Pa mbox 285file unless they have been deleted in which case they are discarded. 286Unexamined messages go back to the post office. 287(See the 288.Fl f 289option above). 290.Ss "Personal and System Wide Distribution Lists" 291It is also possible to create a personal distribution lists so that, 292for instance, you can send mail to 293.Dq Li cohorts 294and have it go 295to a group of people. 296Such lists can be defined by placing a line like 297.Pp 298.Dl "alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory" 299.Pp 300in the file 301.Pa .mailrc 302in your home directory. 303The current list of such aliases can be displayed with the 304.Ic alias 305command in 306.Nm . 307System wide distribution lists can be created by editing 308.Pa /etc/mail/aliases , 309see 310.Xr aliases 5 311and 312.Xr sendmail 8 ; 313these are kept in a different syntax. 314In mail you send, personal aliases will be expanded in mail sent 315to others so that they will be able to 316.Ic reply 317to the recipients. 318System wide 319aliases 320are not expanded when the mail is sent, 321but any reply returned to the machine will have the system wide 322alias expanded as all mail goes through 323.Xr sendmail 8 . 324.Ss "Network Mail (ARPA, UUCP, Berknet)" 325See 326.Xr mailaddr 7 327for a description of network addresses. 328.Pp 329The 330.Nm 331utility has a number of options which can be set in the 332.Pa .mailrc 333file to alter its behavior; thus 334.Dq Li "set askcc" 335enables the 336.Va askcc 337feature. 338(These options are summarized below.) 339.Sh SUMMARY 340(Adapted from the 341.%T "Mail Reference Manual" . ) 342.Pp 343Each command is typed on a line by itself, and may take arguments 344following the command word. 345The command need not be typed in its 346entirety \(em the first command which matches the typed prefix is used. 347For commands which take message lists as arguments, if no message 348list is given, then the next message forward which satisfies the 349command's requirements is used. 350If there are no messages forward of 351the current message, the search proceeds backwards, and if there are no 352good messages at all, 353.Nm 354types 355.Dq Li "No applicable messages" 356and 357aborts the command. 358.Bl -tag -width indent 359.It Ic \- 360Print out the preceding message. 361If given a numeric 362argument 363.Ar n , 364goes to the 365.Ar n Ns 'th 366previous message and prints it. 367.It Ic # 368ignore the remainder of the line as a comment. 369.It Ic \&? 370Prints a brief summary of commands. 371.It Ic \&! 372Executes the shell 373(see 374.Xr sh 1 375and 376.Xr csh 1 ) 377command which follows. 378.It Ic Print 379.Pq Ic P 380Like 381.Ic print 382but also prints out ignored header fields. 383See also 384.Ic print , ignore 385and 386.Ic retain . 387.It Ic Reply 388.Pq Ic R 389Reply to originator. 390Does not reply to other 391recipients of the original message. 392.It Ic Type 393.Pq Ic T 394Identical to the 395.Ic Print 396command. 397.It Ic alias 398.Pq Ic a 399With no arguments, prints out all currently-defined aliases. 400With one 401argument, prints out that alias. 402With more than one argument, creates 403a new alias or changes an old one. 404.It Ic alternates 405.Pq Ic alt 406The 407.Ic alternates 408command is useful if you have accounts on several machines. 409It can be used to inform 410.Nm 411that the listed addresses are really you. 412When you 413.Ic reply 414to messages, 415.Nm 416will not send a copy of the message to any of the addresses 417listed on the 418.Ic alternates 419list. 420If the 421.Ic alternates 422command is given with no argument, the current set of alternative 423names is displayed. 424.It Ic chdir 425.Pq Ic c 426Changes the user's working directory to that specified, if given. 427If 428no directory is given, then changes to the user's login directory. 429.It Ic copy 430.Pq Ic co 431The 432.Ic copy 433command does the same thing that 434.Ic save 435does, except that it does not mark the messages it 436is used on for deletion when you 437.Ic quit . 438.It Ic delete 439.Pq Ic d 440Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted. 441Deleted messages will not be saved in 442.Pa mbox , 443nor will they be available for most other commands. 444.It Ic dp 445(also 446.Ic dt ) 447Deletes the current message and prints the next message. 448If there is no next message, 449.Nm 450says 451.Dq Li "at EOF" . 452.It Ic edit 453.Pq Ic e 454Takes a list of messages and points the text editor at each one in 455turn. 456On return from the editor, the message is read back in. 457.It Ic exit 458.Ic ( ex 459or 460.Ic x ) 461Effects an immediate return to the shell without 462modifying the user's system mailbox, his 463.Pa mbox 464file, or his edit file in 465.Fl f . 466.It Ic file 467.Pq Ic fi 468The same as 469.Ic folder . 470.It Ic folders 471List the names of the folders in your folder directory. 472.It Ic folder 473.Pq Ic fo 474The 475.Ic folder 476command switches to a new mail file or folder. 477With no 478arguments, it tells you which file you are currently reading. 479If you give it an argument, it will write out changes (such 480as deletions) you have made in the current file and read in 481the new file. 482Some special conventions are recognized for 483the name. 484.Ql # 485means the previous file, 486.Ql % 487means your system mailbox, 488.Dq Li % Ns Ar user 489means user's system mailbox, 490.Ql & 491means your 492.Pa mbox 493file, and 494.Dq Li + Ns Ar folder 495means a file in your folder 496directory. 497.It Ic from 498.Pq Ic f 499Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers. 500.It Ic headers 501.Pq Ic h 502Lists the current range of headers, which is an 18-message group. 503If 504a 505.Ql + 506argument is given, then the next 18-message group is printed, and if 507a 508.Ql \- 509argument is given, the previous 18-message group is printed. 510.It Ic help 511A synonym for 512.Ic \&? . 513.It Ic hold 514.Ic ( ho , 515also 516.Ic preserve ) 517Takes a message list and marks each 518message therein to be saved in the 519user's system mailbox instead of in 520.Pa mbox . 521Does not override the 522.Ic delete 523command. 524.It Ic ignore 525Add the list of header fields named to the 526.Ar ignored list . 527Header fields in the ignore list are not printed 528on your terminal when you print a message. 529This 530command is very handy for suppression of certain machine-generated 531header fields. 532The 533.Ic Type 534and 535.Ic Print 536commands can be used to print a message in its entirety, including 537ignored fields. 538If 539.Ic ignore 540is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of 541ignored fields. 542.It Ic inc 543Incorporate any new messages that have arrived while mail 544is being read. 545The new messages are added to the end of the message list, 546and the current message is reset to be the first new mail message. 547This does not renumber the existing message list, nor 548does it cause any changes made so far to be saved. 549.It Ic mail 550.Pq Ic m 551Takes as argument login names and distribution group names and sends 552mail to those people. 553.It Ic mbox 554Indicate that a list of messages be sent to 555.Pa mbox 556in your home directory when you quit. 557This is the default 558action for messages if you do 559.Em not 560have the 561.Ic hold 562option set. 563.It Ic more 564.Pq Ic mo 565Takes a list of messages and invokes the pager on that list. 566.It Ic next 567.Ic ( n , 568like 569.Ic + 570or 571.Tn CR ) 572Goes to the next message in sequence and types it. 573With an argument list, types the next matching message. 574.It Ic preserve 575.Pq Ic pre 576A synonym for 577.Ic hold . 578.It Ic print 579.Pq Ic p 580Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's terminal. 581.It Ic quit 582.Pq Ic q 583Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in 584the user's 585.Pa mbox 586file in his login directory, preserving all messages marked with 587.Ic hold 588or 589.Ic preserve 590or never referenced 591in his system mailbox, and removing all other messages from his system 592mailbox. 593If new mail has arrived during the session, the message 594.Dq Li "You have new mail" 595is given. 596If given while editing a 597mailbox file with the 598.Fl f 599flag, then the edit file is rewritten. 600A return to the shell is 601effected, unless the rewrite of edit file fails, in which case the user 602can escape with the 603.Ic exit 604command. 605.It Ic reply 606.Pq Ic r 607Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all 608recipients of the specified message. 609The default message must not be deleted. 610.It Ic respond 611A synonym for 612.Ic reply . 613.It Ic retain 614Add the list of header fields named to the 615.Em "retained list" . 616Only the header fields in the retained list 617are shown on your terminal when you print a message. 618All other header fields are suppressed. 619The 620.Ic type 621and 622.Ic print 623commands can be used to print a message in its entirety. 624If 625.Ic retain 626is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of 627retained fields. 628.It Ic save 629.Pq Ic s 630Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in 631turn to the end of the file. 632The filename in quotes, followed by the line 633count and character count is echoed on the user's terminal. 634.It Ic set 635.Pq Ic se 636With no arguments, prints all variable values. 637Otherwise, sets 638option. 639Arguments are of the form 640.Ar option Ns Li = Ns Ar value 641(no space before or after 642.Ql = ) 643or 644.Ar option . 645Quotation marks may be placed around any part of the assignment statement to 646quote blanks or tabs, i.e.\& 647.Dq Li "set indentprefix=\*q->\*q" 648.It Ic saveignore 649.Ic Saveignore 650is to 651.Ic save 652what 653.Ic ignore 654is to 655.Ic print 656and 657.Ic type . 658Header fields thus marked are filtered out when 659saving a message by 660.Ic save 661or when automatically saving to 662.Pa mbox . 663.It Ic saveretain 664.Ic Saveretain 665is to 666.Ic save 667what 668.Ic retain 669is to 670.Ic print 671and 672.Ic type . 673Header fields thus marked are the only ones saved 674with a message when saving by 675.Ic save 676or when automatically saving to 677.Pa mbox . 678.Ic Saveretain 679overrides 680.Ic saveignore . 681.It Ic shell 682.Pq Ic sh 683Invokes an interactive version of the shell. 684.It Ic size 685Takes a message list and prints out the size in characters of each 686message. 687.It Ic source 688The 689.Ic source 690command reads 691commands from a file. 692.It Ic top 693Takes a message list and prints the top few lines of each. 694The number of 695lines printed is controlled by the variable 696.Va toplines 697and defaults to 5. 698.It Ic type 699.Pq Ic t 700A synonym for 701.Ic print . 702.It Ic unalias 703Takes a list of names defined by 704.Ic alias 705commands and discards the remembered groups of users. 706The group names 707no longer have any significance. 708.It Ic undelete 709.Pq Ic u 710Takes a message list and marks each message as 711.Em not 712being deleted. 713.It Ic unread 714.Pq Ic U 715Takes a message list and marks each message as 716.Em not 717having been read. 718.It Ic unset 719Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered values; 720the inverse of 721.Ic set . 722.It Ic visual 723.Pq Ic v 724Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message. 725.It Ic write 726.Pq Ic w 727Similar to 728.Ic save , 729except that 730.Em only 731the message body 732.Em ( without 733the header) is saved. 734Extremely useful for such tasks as sending and receiving source 735program text over the message system. 736.It Ic xit 737.Pq Ic x 738A synonym for 739.Ic exit . 740.It Ic z 741The 742.Nm 743utility presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the 744.Ic headers 745command. 746You can move 747.Nm Ns 's 748attention forward to the next window with the 749.Ic z 750command. 751Also, you can move to the previous window by using 752.Ic z\- . 753.El 754.Ss Tilde/Escapes 755Here is a summary of the tilde escapes, 756which are used when composing messages to perform 757special functions. 758Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning 759of lines. 760The name 761.Dq "tilde escape" 762is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual escape character can be set 763by the option 764.Va escape . 765.Bl -tag -width indent 766.It Ic ~a 767Inserts the autograph string from the sign= option into the message. 768.It Ic ~A 769Inserts the autograph string from the Sign= option into the message. 770.It Ic ~b Ar name ... 771Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients but do not make 772the names visible in the Cc: line 773.Dq ( blind 774carbon copy). 775.It Ic ~c Ar name ... 776Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients. 777.It Ic ~d 778Read the file 779.Pa dead.letter 780from your home directory into the message. 781.It Ic ~e 782Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far. 783After the 784editing session is finished, you may continue appending text to the 785message. 786.It Ic ~f Ar messages 787Read the named messages into the message being sent. 788If no messages are specified, read in the current message. 789Message headers currently being ignored (by the 790.Ic ignore 791or 792.Ic retain 793command) are not included. 794.It Ic ~F Ar messages 795Identical to 796.Ic ~f , 797except all message headers are included. 798.It Ic ~h 799Edit the message header fields by typing each one in turn and allowing 800the user to append text to the end or modify the field by using the 801current terminal erase and kill characters. 802.It Ic ~i Ar string 803Inserts the value of the named option into the text of the message. 804.It Ic ~m Ar messages 805Read the named messages into the message being sent, indented by a 806tab or by the value of 807.Va indentprefix . 808If no messages are specified, 809read the current message. 810Message headers currently being ignored (by the 811.Ic ignore 812or 813.Ic retain 814command) are not included. 815.It Ic ~M Ar messages 816Identical to 817.Ic ~m , 818except all message headers are included. 819.It Ic ~p 820Print out the message collected so far, prefaced by the message header 821fields. 822.It Ic ~q 823Abort the message being sent, copying the message to 824.Pa dead.letter 825in your home directory if 826.Va save 827is set. 828.It Ic ~r Ar filename , Ic ~r Li \&! Ns Ar command 829.It Ic ~< Ar filename , Ic ~< Li \&! Ns Ar command 830Read the named file into the message. 831If the argument begins with a 832.Ql \&! , 833the rest of the string is taken as an arbitrary system command and is 834executed, with the standard output inserted into the message. 835.It Ic ~R Ar string 836Use 837.Ar string 838as the Reply-To field. 839.It Ic ~s Ar string 840Cause the named string to become the current subject field. 841.It Ic ~t Ar name ... 842Add the given names to the direct recipient list. 843.It Ic ~v 844Invoke an alternative editor (defined by the 845.Ev VISUAL 846environment variable) on the 847message collected so far. 848Usually, the alternative editor will be a 849screen editor. 850After you quit the editor, you may resume appending 851text to the end of your message. 852.It Ic ~w Ar filename 853Write the message onto the named file. 854.It Ic ~x 855Exits as with 856.Ic ~q , 857except the message is not saved in 858.Pa dead.letter . 859.It Ic ~! Ar command 860Execute the indicated shell command, then return to the message. 861.It Ic ~| Ar command , Ic ~^ Ar command 862Pipe the message through the command as a filter. 863If the command gives 864no output or terminates abnormally, retain the original text of the 865message. 866The command 867.Xr fmt 1 868is often used as 869.Ar command 870to rejustify the message. 871.It Ic ~: Ar mail-command , Ic ~_ Ar mail-command 872Execute the given 873.Nm 874command. 875Not all commands, however, are allowed. 876.It Ic ~. 877Simulate end-of-file on input. 878.It Ic ~? 879Print a summary of the available command escapes. 880.It Ic ~~ Ar string 881Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single 882.Ql ~ . 883If 884you have changed the escape character, then you should double 885that character in order to send it. 886.El 887.Ss "Mail Options" 888Options can be set with the 889.Ic set 890command 891and can be disabled with the 892.Ic unset 893or 894.Ic set Cm no Ns Ar name 895commands. 896Options may be either binary, in which case it is only 897significant to see whether they are set or not; or string, in which 898case the actual value is of interest. 899If an option is not set, 900.Nm 901will look for an environment variable of the same name. 902The available options include the following: 903.Bl -tag -width indent 904.It Va append 905Causes messages saved in 906.Pa mbox 907to be appended to the end rather than prepended. 908This should always be set (preferably in one of the system-wide 909.Pa mail.rc 910files). 911Default is 912.Va noappend . 913.It Va ask , asksub 914Causes 915.Nm 916to prompt you for the subject of each message you send. 917If 918you respond with simply a newline, no subject field will be sent. 919Default is 920.Va asksub . 921.It Va askbcc 922Causes you to be prompted for additional blind carbon copy recipients at the 923end of each message. 924Responding with a newline indicates your 925satisfaction with the current list. 926Default is 927.Va noaskbcc . 928.It Va askcc 929Causes you to be prompted for additional carbon copy recipients at the 930end of each message. 931Responding with a newline indicates your 932satisfaction with the current list. 933Default is 934.Va noaskcc . 935.It Va autoinc 936Causes new mail to be automatically incorporated when it arrives. 937Setting this is similar to issuing the 938.Ic inc 939command at each prompt, except that the current message is not 940reset when new mail arrives. 941Default is 942.Va noautoinc . 943.It Va autoprint 944Causes the 945.Ic delete 946command to behave like 947.Ic dp ; 948thus, after deleting a message, the next one will be typed 949automatically. 950Default is 951.Va noautoprint . 952.It Va crt 953The valued option 954.Va crt 955is used as a threshold to determine how long a message must 956be before 957.Ev PAGER 958is used to read it. 959If 960.Va crt 961is set without a value, 962then the height of the terminal screen stored in the system 963is used to compute the threshold (see 964.Xr stty 1 ) . 965Default is 966.Va nocrt . 967.It Va debug 968Setting the binary option 969.Va debug 970is the same as specifying 971.Fl d 972on the command line and causes 973.Nm 974to output all sorts of information useful for debugging 975.Nm . 976Default is 977.Va nodebug . 978.It Va dot 979The binary option 980.Va dot 981causes 982.Nm 983to interpret a period alone on a line as the terminator 984of a message you are sending. 985Default is 986.Va nodot . 987.It Va escape 988If defined, the first character of this option gives the character to 989use in place of 990.Ql ~ 991to denote escapes. 992.It Va flipr 993Reverses the sense of 994.Ic reply 995and 996.Ic Reply 997commands. 998Default is 999.Va noflipr . 1000.It Va folder 1001The name of the directory to use for storing folders of 1002messages. 1003If this name begins with a 1004.Ql / , 1005.Nm 1006considers it to be an absolute pathname; otherwise, the 1007folder directory is found relative to your home directory. 1008.It Va header 1009If defined, initially display message headers when reading mail or 1010editing a mail folder. 1011Default is 1012.Va header . 1013This option can be disabled by giving the 1014.Fl N 1015flag on the command line. 1016.It Va hold 1017This option is used to hold messages in the system mailbox 1018by default. 1019Default is 1020.Va nohold . 1021.It Va ignore 1022Causes interrupt signals from your terminal to be ignored and echoed as 1023.Li @ Ns 's. 1024Default is 1025.Va noignore . 1026.It Va ignoreeof 1027An option related to 1028.Va dot 1029is 1030.Va ignoreeof 1031which makes 1032.Nm 1033refuse to accept a 1034.Aq Li control-D 1035as the end of a message. 1036.Ar Ignoreeof 1037also applies to 1038.Nm 1039command mode. 1040Default is 1041.Va noignoreeof . 1042.It Va indentprefix 1043String used by the 1044.Ic ~m 1045tilde escape for indenting messages, in place of 1046the normal tab character 1047.Pq Li ^I . 1048Be sure to quote the value if it contains 1049spaces or tabs. 1050.It Va metoo 1051Usually, when a group is expanded that contains the sender, the sender 1052is removed from the expansion. 1053Setting this option causes the sender 1054to be included in the group. 1055Default is 1056.Va nometoo . 1057.It Va quiet 1058Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked. 1059Default is 1060.Va noquiet . 1061.It Va record 1062If defined, gives the pathname of the file used to record all outgoing 1063mail. 1064If not defined, outgoing mail is not saved. 1065Default is 1066.Va norecord . 1067.It Va Replyall 1068Reverses the sense of 1069.Ic reply 1070and 1071.Ic Reply 1072commands. 1073Default is 1074.Va noReplyall . 1075.It Va save 1076If this option is set, and you abort a message with two 1077.Tn RUBOUT 1078(erase or delete), 1079.Nm 1080will copy the partial letter to the file 1081.Pa dead.letter 1082in your home directory. 1083Default is 1084.Va save . 1085.It Va searchheaders 1086If this option is set, then a message-list specifier in the form 1087.Dq Li / Ns Ar x Ns Li : Ns Ar y 1088will expand to all messages containing the substring 1089.Ar y 1090in the header field 1091.Ar x . 1092The string search is case insensitive. 1093If 1094.Ar x 1095is omitted, it will default to the 1096.Dq Li Subject 1097header field. 1098The form 1099.Dq Li /to: Ns Ar y 1100is a special case, and will expand 1101to all messages containing the substring 1102.Ar y 1103in the 1104.Dq Li To , 1105.Dq Li Cc 1106or 1107.Dq Li Bcc 1108header fields. 1109The check for 1110.Qq Li "to" 1111is case sensitive, so that 1112.Dq Li /To: Ns Ar y 1113can be used to limit the search for 1114.Ar y 1115to just the 1116.Dq Li To: 1117field. 1118Default is 1119.Va nosearchheaders . 1120.It Va toplines 1121If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be printed out 1122with the 1123.Ic top 1124command; normally, the first five lines are printed. 1125.It Va verbose 1126Setting the option 1127.Va verbose 1128is the same as using the 1129.Fl v 1130flag on the command line. 1131When 1132.Nm 1133runs in verbose mode, 1134the actual delivery of messages is displayed on the user's 1135terminal. 1136Default is 1137.Va noverbose . 1138.El 1139.Sh ENVIRONMENT 1140.Bl -tag -width ".Ev REPLYTO" 1141.It Ev DEAD 1142Pathname of the file to save partial messages to in case of interrupts 1143or delivery errors. 1144Default is 1145.Pa ~/dead.letter . 1146.It Ev EDITOR 1147Pathname of the text editor to use in the 1148.Ic edit 1149command and 1150.Ic ~e 1151escape. 1152If not defined, then a default editor is used. 1153.It Ev HOME 1154Pathname of the user's home directory. 1155.It Ev LISTER 1156Pathname of the directory lister to use in the 1157.Ic folders 1158command. 1159Default is 1160.Pa /bin/ls . 1161.It Ev MAIL 1162Location of the user's mailbox. 1163Default is 1164.Pa /var/mail . 1165.It Ev MAILRC 1166Pathname of file containing initial 1167.Nm 1168commands. 1169Default is 1170.Pa ~/.mailrc . 1171.It Ev MBOX 1172The name of the mailbox file. 1173It can be the name of a folder. 1174The default is 1175.Pa mbox 1176in the user's home directory. 1177.It Ev PAGER 1178Pathname of the program to use in the 1179.Ic more 1180command or when 1181.Va crt 1182variable is set. 1183The default paginator 1184.Xr more 1 1185is used if this option is not defined. 1186.It Ev REPLYTO 1187If set, will be used to initialize the Reply-To field for outgoing 1188messages. 1189.It Ev SHELL 1190Pathname of the shell to use in the 1191.Ic \&! 1192command and the 1193.Ic ~! 1194escape. 1195A default shell is used if this option is 1196not defined. 1197.It Ev VISUAL 1198Pathname of the text editor to use in the 1199.Ic visual 1200command and 1201.Ic ~v 1202escape. 1203.It Ev USER 1204Login name of the user executing mail. 1205.El 1206.Sh FILES 1207.Bl -tag -width ".Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help" -compact 1208.It Pa /var/mail/* 1209Post office. 1210.It Pa ~/mbox 1211User's old mail. 1212.It Pa ~/.mailrc 1213File giving initial 1214.Nm 1215commands. 1216This can be overridden by setting the 1217.Ev MAILRC 1218environment variable. 1219.It Pa /tmp/R* 1220Temporary files. 1221.It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help 1222Help files. 1223.Pp 1224.It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.rc 1225.It Pa /usr/local/etc/mail.rc 1226.It Pa /etc/mail.rc 1227System-wide initialization files. 1228Each file will be sourced, in order, 1229if it exists. 1230.El 1231.Sh SEE ALSO 1232.Xr fmt 1 , 1233.Xr newaliases 1 , 1234.Xr vacation 1 , 1235.Xr aliases 5 , 1236.Xr mailaddr 7 , 1237.Xr sendmail 8 1238.Rs 1239.%T "The Mail Reference Manual" 1240.Re 1241.Sh HISTORY 1242A 1243.Nm 1244command 1245appeared in 1246.At v1 . 1247This man page is derived from 1248.%T "The Mail Reference Manual" 1249originally written by 1250.An Kurt Shoens . 1251.Sh BUGS 1252There are some flags that are not documented here. 1253Most are 1254not useful to the general user. 1255.Pp 1256Usually, 1257.Nm 1258is just a link to 1259.Nm Mail 1260and 1261.Nm mailx , 1262which can be confusing. 1263.Pp 1264The name of the 1265.Ic alternates 1266list is incorrect English (it should be 1267.Dq alternatives ) , 1268but is retained for compatibility. 1269