[unix-history] / usr / src / usr.bin / mail / USD.doc / mail3.nr

.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.  The Berkeley software License Agreement
.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
.\"
.\"	@(#)mail3.nr	6.1 (Berkeley) %G%
.\"
.sh 1 "Maintaining folders"
.pp
.i Mail
includes a simple facility for maintaining groups of messages together
in folders.  This section describes this facility.
.pp
To use the folder facility, you must tell
.i Mail
where you wish to keep your folders.  Each folder of messages will
be a single file.  For convenience, all of your folders are kept in
a single directory of your choosing.  To tell
.i Mail
where your folder directory is, put a line of the form
.(l
set folder=letters
.)l
in your
.i .mailrc
file.  If, as in the example above, your folder directory does not
begin with a `/,'
.i Mail
will assume that your folder directory is to be found starting from
your home directory.  Thus, if your home directory is
.b /usr/person
the above example told
.i Mail
to find your folder directory in
.b /usr/person/letters .
.pp
Anywhere a file name is expected, you can use a folder name, preceded
with `+.'  For example, to put a message into a folder with the
.b save
command, you can use:
.(l
save +classwork
.)l
to save the current message in the
.i classwork
folder.  If the
.i classwork
folder does not yet exist, it will be created.  Note that messages
which are saved with the
.b save
command are automatically removed from your system mailbox.
.pp
In order to make a copy of a message in a folder without causing
that message to be removed from your system mailbox, use the
.b copy
command, which is identical in all other respects to the
.b save
command.  For example,
.(l
copy +classwork
.)l
copies the current message into the
.i classwork
folder and leaves a copy in your system mailbox.
.pp
The
.b folder
command
can be used to direct
.i Mail
to the contents of a different folder.
For example,
.(l
folder +classwork
.)l
directs
.i Mail
to read the contents of the
.i classwork
folder.  All of the commands that you can use on your system
mailbox are also applicable to folders, including
.b type ,
.b delete ,
and
.b reply .
To inquire which folder you are currently editing, use simply:
.(l
folder
.)l
.pp
To list your current set of folders, use the
.b folders
command.
.pp
To start
.i Mail
reading one of your folders, you can use the
.b \-f
option described in section 2.  For example:
.(l
% Mail \-f +classwork
.)l
will cause
.i Mail
to read your
.i classwork
folder without looking at your system mailbox.
Commit	Line	Data
1ebe7f22 KD	1	.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
	2	.\" All rights reserved. The Berkeley software License Agreement
	3	.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
	4	.\"
6adbe530	5	.\" @(#)mail3.nr 6.1 (Berkeley) %G%
1ebe7f22	6	.\"
6adbe530 KD	7	.sh 1 "Maintaining folders"
	8	.pp
	9	.i Mail
	10	includes a simple facility for maintaining groups of messages together
	11	in folders. This section describes this facility.
	12	.pp
	13	To use the folder facility, you must tell
	14	.i Mail
	15	where you wish to keep your folders. Each folder of messages will
	16	be a single file. For convenience, all of your folders are kept in
	17	a single directory of your choosing. To tell
	18	.i Mail
	19	where your folder directory is, put a line of the form
	20	.(l
	21	set folder=letters
	22	.)l
	23	in your
	24	.i .mailrc
	25	file. If, as in the example above, your folder directory does not
	26	begin with a `/,'
	27	.i Mail
	28	will assume that your folder directory is to be found starting from
	29	your home directory. Thus, if your home directory is
	30	.b /usr/person
	31	the above example told
	32	.i Mail
	33	to find your folder directory in
	34	.b /usr/person/letters .
	35	.pp
	36	Anywhere a file name is expected, you can use a folder name, preceded
	37	with `+.' For example, to put a message into a folder with the
	38	.b save
	39	command, you can use:
	40	.(l
	41	save +classwork
	42	.)l
	43	to save the current message in the
	44	.i classwork
	45	folder. If the
	46	.i classwork
	47	folder does not yet exist, it will be created. Note that messages
	48	which are saved with the
	49	.b save
	50	command are automatically removed from your system mailbox.
	51	.pp
	52	In order to make a copy of a message in a folder without causing
	53	that message to be removed from your system mailbox, use the
	54	.b copy
	55	command, which is identical in all other respects to the
	56	.b save
	57	command. For example,
	58	.(l
	59	copy +classwork
	60	.)l
	61	copies the current message into the
	62	.i classwork
	63	folder and leaves a copy in your system mailbox.
	64	.pp
	65	The
	66	.b folder
	67	command
	68	can be used to direct
	69	.i Mail
	70	to the contents of a different folder.
71	For example,
72	.(l
73	folder +classwork
74	.)l
75	directs
76	.i Mail
77	to read the contents of the
78	.i classwork
79	folder. All of the commands that you can use on your system
80	mailbox are also applicable to folders, including
81	.b type ,
82	.b delete ,
83	and
84	.b reply .
85	To inquire which folder you are currently editing, use simply:
86	.(l
87	folder
88	.)l
89	.pp
90	To list your current set of folders, use the
91	.b folders
92	command.
93	.pp
94	To start
95	.i Mail
96	reading one of your folders, you can use the
97	.b \-f
98	option described in section 2. For example:
99	.(l
100	% Mail \-f +classwork
101	.)l
102	will cause
103	.i Mail
104	to read your
105	.i classwork
106	folder without looking at your system mailbox.