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: src/usr.bin/mail/mail.1,v 1.18.2.12 2003/01/06 05:46:03 mikeh Exp $ 34.\" $DragonFly: src/usr.bin/mail/mail.1,v 1.3 2004/09/07 21:31:45 joerg Exp $ 35.\" 36.Dd February 29, 2004 37.Dt MAIL 1 38.Os 39.Sh NAME 40.Nm mail , 41.Nm Mail , 42.Nm mailx 43.Nd send and receive mail 44.Sh SYNOPSIS 45.Nm 46.Op Fl EiInv 47.Op Fl s Ar subject 48.Op Fl c Ar cc-addr 49.Op Fl b Ar bcc-addr 50.Op Fl F 51.Ar to-addr ... 52.Op Fl Ar sendmail-option ... 53.Nm 54.Op Fl EHiInNv 55.Op Fl F 56.Fl f 57.Op Ar name 58.Nm 59.Op Fl EHiInNv 60.Op Fl F 61.Op Fl u Ar user 62.Nm 63.Fl e 64.Op Fl f Ar name 65.Nm 66.Op Fl H 67.Sh INTRODUCTION 68The 69.Nm 70utility is an intelligent mail processing system, which has 71a command syntax reminiscent of 72.Xr ed 1 73with lines replaced by messages. 74.Pp 75The following options are available: 76.Bl -tag -width indent 77.It Fl v 78Verbose mode. 79The details of 80delivery are displayed on the user's terminal. 81.It Fl e 82Test for the presence of mail in the (by default, system) 83mailbox. 84An exit status of 0 is returned if 85it has mail; otherwise an exit status of 1 is returned. 86.It Fl H 87Write a header summary only. 88.It Fl E 89Do not send messages with an empty body. 90This is useful for piping errors from 91.Xr cron 8 92scripts. 93.It Fl i 94Ignore tty interrupt signals. 95This is 96particularly useful when using 97.Nm 98on noisy phone lines. 99.It Fl I 100Force 101.Nm 102to run in interactive mode even when 103input is not a terminal. 104In particular, the 105.Ql ~ 106special 107character when sending mail is only active in interactive mode. 108.It Fl n 109Inhibit reading the system-wide 110.Pa mail.rc 111files upon startup. 112.It Fl N 113Inhibit the initial display of message headers 114when reading mail or editing a mail folder. 115.It Fl s Ar subject 116Specify 117.Ar subject 118on command line. 119(Only the first argument after the 120.Fl s 121flag is used as a subject; be careful to quote subjects 122containing spaces.) 123.It Fl c Ar cc-addr 124Send carbon copies to 125.Ar cc-addr 126list of users. 127The 128.Ar cc-addr 129argument should be a comma-separated list of names. 130.It Fl b Ar bcc-addr 131Send blind carbon copies to 132.Ar bcc-addr 133list of users. 134The 135.Ar bcc-addr 136argument should be a comma-separated list of names. 137.It Fl f Op Ar mbox 138Read in the contents of your 139.Pa mbox 140(or the specified file) 141for processing; when you 142.Ic quit , 143.Nm 144writes undeleted messages back to this file. 145.It Fl F 146Record the message in a file named after the first recipient. 147The name is the login-name portion of the 148address found first on the 149.Dq Li To: 150line in the mail header. 151Overrides the 152.Va record 153variable, if set. 154.It Fl u 155Is equivalent to: 156.Pp 157.Dl "mail -f /var/mail/user" 158.El 159.Ss "Startup Actions" 160At startup time 161.Nm 162will execute commands in the system command files 163.Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.rc , 164.Pa /usr/local/etc/mail.rc 165and 166.Pa /etc/mail.rc 167in order, unless explicitly told not to by the use of the 168.Fl n 169option. 170Next, the commands in the user's personal command file 171.Pa ~/.mailrc 172are executed. 173The 174.Nm 175utility then examines its command line options to determine whether a 176new message is to be sent, or whether an existing mailbox is to 177be read. 178.Ss "Sending Mail" 179To send a message to one or more people, 180.Nm 181can be invoked with arguments which are the names of people to 182whom the mail will be sent. 183You are then expected to type in 184your message, followed 185by a 186.Aq Li control-D 187at the beginning of a line. 188The section below 189.Sx "Replying To or Originating Mail" , 190describes some features of 191.Nm 192available to help you compose your letter. 193.Ss "Reading Mail" 194In normal usage 195.Nm 196is given no arguments and checks your mail out of the 197post office, then 198prints out a one line header of each message found. 199The current message is initially the first message (numbered 1) 200and can be printed using the 201.Ic print 202command (which can be abbreviated 203.Ic p ) . 204You can move among the messages much as you move between lines in 205.Xr ed 1 , 206with the commands 207.Ic + 208and 209.Ic \- 210moving backwards and forwards, and 211simple numbers. 212.Ss "Disposing of Mail" 213After examining a message you can 214.Ic delete 215.Pq Ic d 216the message or 217.Ic reply 218.Pq Ic r 219to it. 220Deletion causes the 221.Nm 222program to forget about the message. 223This is not irreversible; the message can be 224.Ic undeleted 225.Pq Ic u 226by giving its number, or the 227.Nm 228session can be aborted by giving the 229.Ic exit 230.Pq Ic x 231command. 232Deleted messages will, however, usually disappear never to be seen again. 233.Ss "Specifying Messages" 234Commands such as 235.Ic print 236and 237.Ic delete 238can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply 239to a number of messages at once. 240Thus 241.Dq Li "delete 1 2" 242deletes messages 1 and 2, while 243.Dq Li "delete 1\-5" 244deletes messages 1 through 5. 245The special name 246.Ql * 247addresses all messages, and 248.Ql $ 249addresses 250the last message; thus the command 251.Ic top 252which prints the first few lines of a message could be used in 253.Dq Li "top *" 254to print the first few lines of all messages. 255.Ss "Replying To or Originating Mail" 256You can use the 257.Ic reply 258command to 259set up a response to a message, sending it back to the 260person who it was from. 261Text you then type in, up to an end-of-file, 262defines the contents of the message. 263While you are composing a message, 264.Nm 265treats lines beginning with the character 266.Ql ~ 267specially. 268For instance, typing 269.Ic ~m 270(alone on a line) will place a copy 271of the current message into the response right shifting it by a tabstop 272(see 273.Va indentprefix 274variable, below). 275Other escapes will set up subject fields, add and delete recipients 276to the message and allow you to escape to an editor to revise the 277message or to a shell to run some commands. 278(These options 279are given in the summary below.) 280.Ss "Ending a Mail Processing Session" 281You can end a 282.Nm 283session with the 284.Ic quit 285.Pq Ic q 286command. 287Messages which have been examined go to your 288.Pa mbox 289file unless they have been deleted in which case they are discarded. 290Unexamined messages go back to the post office. 291(See the 292.Fl f 293option above). 294.Ss "Personal and System Wide Distribution Lists" 295It is also possible to create a personal distribution lists so that, 296for instance, you can send mail to 297.Dq Li cohorts 298and have it go 299to a group of people. 300Such lists can be defined by placing a line like 301.Pp 302.Dl "alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory" 303.Pp 304in the file 305.Pa .mailrc 306in your home directory. 307The current list of such aliases can be displayed with the 308.Ic alias 309command in 310.Nm . 311System wide distribution lists can be created by editing 312.Pa /etc/mail/aliases , 313see 314.Xr aliases 5 315and 316.Xr sendmail 8 ; 317these are kept in a different syntax. 318In mail you send, personal aliases will be expanded in mail sent 319to others so that they will be able to 320.Ic reply 321to the recipients. 322System wide 323aliases 324are not expanded when the mail is sent, 325but any reply returned to the machine will have the system wide 326alias expanded as all mail goes through 327.Xr sendmail 8 . 328.Ss "Network Mail (ARPA, UUCP, Berknet)" 329See 330.Xr mailaddr 7 331for a description of network addresses. 332.Pp 333The 334.Nm 335utility has a number of options which can be set in the 336.Pa .mailrc 337file to alter its behavior; thus 338.Dq Li "set askcc" 339enables the 340.Va askcc 341feature. 342(These options are summarized below.) 343.Sh SUMMARY 344(Adapted from the 345.%T "Mail Reference Manual" . ) 346.Pp 347Each command is typed on a line by itself, and may take arguments 348following the command word. 349The command need not be typed in its 350entirety \(em the first command which matches the typed prefix is used. 351For commands which take message lists as arguments, if no message 352list is given, then the next message forward which satisfies the 353command's requirements is used. 354If there are no messages forward of 355the current message, the search proceeds backwards, and if there are no 356good messages at all, 357.Nm 358types 359.Dq Li "No applicable messages" 360and 361aborts the command. 362.Bl -tag -width indent 363.It Ic \- 364Print out the preceding message. 365If given a numeric 366argument 367.Ar n , 368goes to the 369.Ar n Ns 'th 370previous message and prints it. 371.It Ic # 372ignore the remainder of the line as a comment. 373.It Ic \&? 374Prints a brief summary of commands. 375.It Ic \&! 376Executes the shell 377(see 378.Xr sh 1 379and 380.Xr csh 1 ) 381command which follows. 382.It Ic Print 383.Pq Ic P 384Like 385.Ic print 386but also prints out ignored header fields. 387See also 388.Ic print , ignore 389and 390.Ic retain . 391.It Ic Reply 392.Pq Ic R 393Reply to originator. 394Does not reply to other 395recipients of the original message. 396.It Ic Type 397.Pq Ic T 398Identical to the 399.Ic Print 400command. 401.It Ic alias 402.Pq Ic a 403With no arguments, prints out all currently-defined aliases. 404With one 405argument, prints out that alias. 406With more than one argument, creates 407a new alias or changes an old one. 408.It Ic alternates 409.Pq Ic alt 410The 411.Ic alternates 412command is useful if you have accounts on several machines. 413It can be used to inform 414.Nm 415that the listed addresses are really you. 416When you 417.Ic reply 418to messages, 419.Nm 420will not send a copy of the message to any of the addresses 421listed on the 422.Ic alternates 423list. 424If the 425.Ic alternates 426command is given with no argument, the current set of alternative 427names is displayed. 428.It Ic chdir 429.Pq Ic c 430Changes the user's working directory to that specified, if given. 431If 432no directory is given, then changes to the user's login directory. 433.It Ic copy 434.Pq Ic co 435The 436.Ic copy 437command does the same thing that 438.Ic save 439does, except that it does not mark the messages it 440is used on for deletion when you 441.Ic quit . 442.It Ic delete 443.Pq Ic d 444Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted. 445Deleted messages will not be saved in 446.Pa mbox , 447nor will they be available for most other commands. 448.It Ic dp 449(also 450.Ic dt ) 451Deletes the current message and prints the next message. 452If there is no next message, 453.Nm 454says 455.Dq Li "at EOF" . 456.It Ic edit 457.Pq Ic e 458Takes a list of messages and points the text editor at each one in 459turn. 460On return from the editor, the message is read back in. 461.It Ic exit 462.Ic ( ex 463or 464.Ic x ) 465Effects an immediate return to the shell without 466modifying the user's system mailbox, his 467.Pa mbox 468file, or his edit file in 469.Fl f . 470.It Ic file 471.Pq Ic fi 472The same as 473.Ic folder . 474.It Ic folders 475List the names of the folders in your folder directory. 476.It Ic folder 477.Pq Ic fo 478The 479.Ic folder 480command switches to a new mail file or folder. 481With no 482arguments, it tells you which file you are currently reading. 483If you give it an argument, it will write out changes (such 484as deletions) you have made in the current file and read in 485the new file. 486Some special conventions are recognized for 487the name. 488.Ql # 489means the previous file, 490.Ql % 491means your system mailbox, 492.Dq Li % Ns Ar user 493means user's system mailbox, 494.Ql & 495means your 496.Pa mbox 497file, and 498.Dq Li + Ns Ar folder 499means a file in your folder 500directory. 501.It Ic from 502.Pq Ic f 503Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers. 504.It Ic headers 505.Pq Ic h 506Lists the current range of headers, which is an 18-message group. 507If 508a 509.Ql + 510argument is given, then the next 18-message group is printed, and if 511a 512.Ql \- 513argument is given, the previous 18-message group is printed. 514.It Ic help 515A synonym for 516.Ic \&? . 517.It Ic hold 518.Ic ( ho , 519also 520.Ic preserve ) 521Takes a message list and marks each 522message therein to be saved in the 523user's system mailbox instead of in 524.Pa mbox . 525Does not override the 526.Ic delete 527command. 528.It Ic ignore 529Add the list of header fields named to the 530.Ar ignored list . 531Header fields in the ignore list are not printed 532on your terminal when you print a message. 533This 534command is very handy for suppression of certain machine-generated 535header fields. 536The 537.Ic Type 538and 539.Ic Print 540commands can be used to print a message in its entirety, including 541ignored fields. 542If 543.Ic ignore 544is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of 545ignored fields. 546.It Ic inc 547Incorporate any new messages that have arrived while mail 548is being read. 549The new messages are added to the end of the message list, 550and the current message is reset to be the first new mail message. 551This does not renumber the existing message list, nor 552does it cause any changes made so far to be saved. 553.It Ic mail 554.Pq Ic m 555Takes as argument login names and distribution group names and sends 556mail to those people. 557.It Ic mbox 558Indicate that a list of messages be sent to 559.Pa mbox 560in your home directory when you quit. 561This is the default 562action for messages if you do 563.Em not 564have the 565.Ic hold 566option set. 567.It Ic more 568.Pq Ic mo 569Takes a list of messages and invokes the pager on that list. 570.It Ic next 571.Ic ( n , 572like 573.Ic + 574or 575.Tn CR ) 576Goes to the next message in sequence and types it. 577With an argument list, types the next matching message. 578.It Ic preserve 579.Pq Ic pre 580A synonym for 581.Ic hold . 582.It Ic print 583.Pq Ic p 584Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's terminal. 585.It Ic quit 586.Pq Ic q 587Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in 588the user's 589.Pa mbox 590file in his login directory, preserving all messages marked with 591.Ic hold 592or 593.Ic preserve 594or never referenced 595in his system mailbox, and removing all other messages from his system 596mailbox. 597If new mail has arrived during the session, the message 598.Dq Li "You have new mail" 599is given. 600If given while editing a 601mailbox file with the 602.Fl f 603flag, then the edit file is rewritten. 604A return to the shell is 605effected, unless the rewrite of edit file fails, in which case the user 606can escape with the 607.Ic exit 608command. 609.It Ic reply 610.Pq Ic r 611Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all 612recipients of the specified message. 613The default message must not be deleted. 614.It Ic respond 615A synonym for 616.Ic reply . 617.It Ic retain 618Add the list of header fields named to the 619.Em "retained list" . 620Only the header fields in the retained list 621are shown on your terminal when you print a message. 622All other header fields are suppressed. 623The 624.Ic type 625and 626.Ic print 627commands can be used to print a message in its entirety. 628If 629.Ic retain 630is executed with no arguments, it lists the current set of 631retained fields. 632.It Ic save 633.Pq Ic s 634Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in 635turn to the end of the file. 636The filename in quotes, followed by the line 637count and character count is echoed on the user's terminal. 638.It Ic set 639.Pq Ic se 640With no arguments, prints all variable values. 641Otherwise, sets 642option. 643Arguments are of the form 644.Ar option Ns Li = Ns Ar value 645(no space before or after 646.Ql = ) 647or 648.Ar option . 649Quotation marks may be placed around any part of the assignment statement to 650quote blanks or tabs, i.e.\& 651.Dq Li "set indentprefix=\*q->\*q" 652.It Ic saveignore 653.Ic Saveignore 654is to 655.Ic save 656what 657.Ic ignore 658is to 659.Ic print 660and 661.Ic type . 662Header fields thus marked are filtered out when 663saving a message by 664.Ic save 665or when automatically saving to 666.Pa mbox . 667.It Ic saveretain 668.Ic Saveretain 669is to 670.Ic save 671what 672.Ic retain 673is to 674.Ic print 675and 676.Ic type . 677Header fields thus marked are the only ones saved 678with a message when saving by 679.Ic save 680or when automatically saving to 681.Pa mbox . 682.Ic Saveretain 683overrides 684.Ic saveignore . 685.It Ic shell 686.Pq Ic sh 687Invokes an interactive version of the shell. 688.It Ic size 689Takes a message list and prints out the size in characters of each 690message. 691.It Ic source 692The 693.Ic source 694command reads 695commands from a file. 696.It Ic top 697Takes a message list and prints the top few lines of each. 698The number of 699lines printed is controlled by the variable 700.Va toplines 701and defaults to 5. 702.It Ic type 703.Pq Ic t 704A synonym for 705.Ic print . 706.It Ic unalias 707Takes a list of names defined by 708.Ic alias 709commands and discards the remembered groups of users. 710The group names 711no longer have any significance. 712.It Ic undelete 713.Pq Ic u 714Takes a message list and marks each message as 715.Em not 716being deleted. 717.It Ic unread 718.Pq Ic U 719Takes a message list and marks each message as 720.Em not 721having been read. 722.It Ic unset 723Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered values; 724the inverse of 725.Ic set . 726.It Ic visual 727.Pq Ic v 728Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message. 729.It Ic write 730.Pq Ic w 731Similar to 732.Ic save , 733except that 734.Em only 735the message body 736.Em ( without 737the header) is saved. 738Extremely useful for such tasks as sending and receiving source 739program text over the message system. 740.It Ic xit 741.Pq Ic x 742A synonym for 743.Ic exit . 744.It Ic z 745The 746.Nm 747utility presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the 748.Ic headers 749command. 750You can move 751.Nm Ns 's 752attention forward to the next window with the 753.Ic z 754command. 755Also, you can move to the previous window by using 756.Ic z\- . 757.El 758.Ss Tilde/Escapes 759Here is a summary of the tilde escapes, 760which are used when composing messages to perform 761special functions. 762Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning 763of lines. 764The name 765.Dq "tilde escape" 766is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual escape character can be set 767by the option 768.Va escape . 769.Bl -tag -width indent 770.It Ic ~a 771Inserts the autograph string from the sign= option into the message. 772.It Ic ~A 773Inserts the autograph string from the Sign= option into the message. 774.It Ic ~b Ar name ... 775Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients but do not make 776the names visible in the Cc: line 777.Dq ( blind 778carbon copy). 779.It Ic ~c Ar name ... 780Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients. 781.It Ic ~d 782Read the file 783.Pa dead.letter 784from your home directory into the message. 785.It Ic ~e 786Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far. 787After the 788editing session is finished, you may continue appending text to the 789message. 790.It Ic ~f Ar messages 791Read the named messages into the message being sent. 792If no messages are specified, read in the current message. 793Message headers currently being ignored (by the 794.Ic ignore 795or 796.Ic retain 797command) are not included. 798.It Ic ~F Ar messages 799Identical to 800.Ic ~f , 801except all message headers are included. 802.It Ic ~h 803Edit the message header fields by typing each one in turn and allowing 804the user to append text to the end or modify the field by using the 805current terminal erase and kill characters. 806.It Ic ~i Ar string 807Inserts the value of the named option into the text of the message. 808.It Ic ~m Ar messages 809Read the named messages into the message being sent, indented by a 810tab or by the value of 811.Va indentprefix . 812If no messages are specified, 813read the current message. 814Message headers currently being ignored (by the 815.Ic ignore 816or 817.Ic retain 818command) are not included. 819.It Ic ~M Ar messages 820Identical to 821.Ic ~m , 822except all message headers are included. 823.It Ic ~p 824Print out the message collected so far, prefaced by the message header 825fields. 826.It Ic ~q 827Abort the message being sent, copying the message to 828.Pa dead.letter 829in your home directory if 830.Va save 831is set. 832.It Ic ~r Ar filename , Ic ~r Li \&! Ns Ar command 833.It Ic ~< Ar filename , Ic ~< Li \&! Ns Ar command 834Read the named file into the message. 835If the argument begins with a 836.Ql \&! , 837the rest of the string is taken as an arbitrary system command and is 838executed, with the standard output inserted into the message. 839.It Ic ~R Ar string 840Use 841.Ar string 842as the Reply-To field. 843.It Ic ~s Ar string 844Cause the named string to become the current subject field. 845.It Ic ~t Ar name ... 846Add the given names to the direct recipient list. 847.It Ic ~v 848Invoke an alternative editor (defined by the 849.Ev VISUAL 850environment variable) on the 851message collected so far. 852Usually, the alternative editor will be a 853screen editor. 854After you quit the editor, you may resume appending 855text to the end of your message. 856.It Ic ~w Ar filename 857Write the message onto the named file. 858.It Ic ~x 859Exits as with 860.Ic ~q , 861except the message is not saved in 862.Pa dead.letter . 863.It Ic ~! Ar command 864Execute the indicated shell command, then return to the message. 865.It Ic ~| Ar command , Ic ~^ Ar command 866Pipe the message through the command as a filter. 867If the command gives 868no output or terminates abnormally, retain the original text of the 869message. 870The command 871.Xr fmt 1 872is often used as 873.Ar command 874to rejustify the message. 875.It Ic ~: Ar mail-command , Ic ~_ Ar mail-command 876Execute the given 877.Nm 878command. 879Not all commands, however, are allowed. 880.It Ic ~. 881Simulate end-of-file on input. 882.It Ic ~? 883Print a summary of the available command escapes. 884.It Ic ~~ Ar string 885Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single 886.Ql ~ . 887If 888you have changed the escape character, then you should double 889that character in order to send it. 890.El 891.Ss "Mail Options" 892Options can be set with the 893.Ic set 894command 895and can be disabled with the 896.Ic unset 897or 898.Ic set Cm no Ns Ar name 899commands. 900Options may be either binary, in which case it is only 901significant to see whether they are set or not; or string, in which 902case the actual value is of interest. 903If an option is not set, 904.Nm 905will look for an environment variable of the same name. 906The available options include the following: 907.Bl -tag -width indent 908.It Va append 909Causes messages saved in 910.Pa mbox 911to be appended to the end rather than prepended. 912This should always be set (preferably in one of the system-wide 913.Pa mail.rc 914files). 915Default is 916.Va noappend . 917.It Va ask , asksub 918Causes 919.Nm 920to prompt you for the subject of each message you send. 921If 922you respond with simply a newline, no subject field will be sent. 923Default is 924.Va asksub . 925.It Va askbcc 926Causes you to be prompted for additional blind carbon copy recipients at the 927end of each message. 928Responding with a newline indicates your 929satisfaction with the current list. 930Default is 931.Va noaskbcc . 932.It Va askcc 933Causes you to be prompted for additional carbon copy recipients at the 934end of each message. 935Responding with a newline indicates your 936satisfaction with the current list. 937Default is 938.Va noaskcc . 939.It Va autoinc 940Causes new mail to be automatically incorporated when it arrives. 941Setting this is similar to issuing the 942.Ic inc 943command at each prompt, except that the current message is not 944reset when new mail arrives. 945Default is 946.Va noautoinc . 947.It Va autoprint 948Causes the 949.Ic delete 950command to behave like 951.Ic dp ; 952thus, after deleting a message, the next one will be typed 953automatically. 954Default is 955.Va noautoprint . 956.It Va crt 957The valued option 958.Va crt 959is used as a threshold to determine how long a message must 960be before 961.Ev PAGER 962is used to read it. 963If 964.Va crt 965is set without a value, 966then the height of the terminal screen stored in the system 967is used to compute the threshold (see 968.Xr stty 1 ) . 969Default is 970.Va nocrt . 971.It Va debug 972Setting the binary option 973.Va debug 974is the same as specifying 975.Fl d 976on the command line and causes 977.Nm 978to output all sorts of information useful for debugging 979.Nm . 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 Li : 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 ommitted, 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 more 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 VISUAL 1202Pathname of the text editor to use in the 1203.Ic visual 1204command and 1205.Ic ~v 1206escape. 1207.It Ev USER 1208Login name of the user executing mail. 1209.El 1210.Sh FILES 1211.Bl -tag -width ".Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help" -compact 1212.It Pa /var/mail/* 1213Post office. 1214.It Pa ~/mbox 1215User's old mail. 1216.It Pa ~/.mailrc 1217File giving initial 1218.Nm 1219commands. 1220This can be overridden by setting the 1221.Ev MAILRC 1222environment variable. 1223.It Pa /tmp/R* 1224Temporary files. 1225.It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.*help 1226Help files. 1227.Pp 1228.It Pa /usr/share/misc/mail.rc 1229.It Pa /usr/local/etc/mail.rc 1230.It Pa /etc/mail.rc 1231System-wide initialization files. 1232Each file will be sourced, in order, 1233if it exists. 1234.El 1235.Sh SEE ALSO 1236.Xr fmt 1 , 1237.Xr newaliases 1 , 1238.Xr vacation 1 , 1239.Xr aliases 5 , 1240.Xr mailaddr 7 , 1241.Xr sendmail 8 1242.Rs 1243.%T "The Mail Reference Manual" 1244.Re 1245.Sh HISTORY 1246A 1247.Nm 1248command 1249appeared in 1250.At v1 . 1251This man page is derived from 1252.%T "The Mail Reference Manual" 1253originally written by 1254.An Kurt Shoens . 1255.Sh BUGS 1256There are some flags that are not documented here. 1257Most are 1258not useful to the general user. 1259.Pp 1260Usually, 1261.Nm 1262is just a link to 1263.Nm Mail 1264and 1265.Nm mailx , 1266which can be confusing. 1267.Pp 1268The name of the 1269.Ic alternates 1270list is incorrect English (it should be 1271.Dq alternatives ) , 1272but is retained for compatibility. 1273