[unix-history] / usr / man / man1 / mail.1

.TH MAIL 1 
.SH NAME
mail  \-  send or receive mail among users
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B mail
person ...
.br
.B mail
[
.B \-r
] [
.B \-q
] [
.B \-p
] [
.B \-f
file
]
.LP
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Mail
with no argument
prints
a user's mail,
message-by-message,
in last-in, first-out order;
the optional argument
.B \-r
causes first-in, first-out order.
If the
.B \-p
flag is given, the mail is printed with no questions asked;
otherwise,
for each message,
.I mail
reads a line from the standard input
to direct disposition of the message.
.TP
newline
Go on to next message.
.TP
d
Delete message and go on to the next.
.TP
p
Print message again.
.TP
\-
Go back to previous message.
.TP
.RI "s [" " file " "] ..."
Save the message in the named
.I files
(`mbox' default).
.TP
.RI "w [" " file " "] ..."
Save the message, without a header, in the named
.I files
(`mbox' default).
.TP
.RI "m [" " person " "] ..."
Mail the message to the named
.I persons
(yourself is default).
.TP
EOT (control-D)
Put unexamined mail back in the mailbox and stop.
.TP
q
Same as EOT.
.TP
x
Exit, without changing the mailbox file.
.TP
!command
Escape to the Shell to do command.
.TP
?
Print a command summary.
.PP
An interrupt stops the printing of the current letter.
The optional argument
.B \(miq
causes
.I mail
to exit after interrupts
without changing the mailbox.
.PP
When
.I persons
are named,
.I mail
takes the standard input up to an end-of-file
(or a line with just `.')
and adds it to each
.I person's
`mail' file.
The message is preceded by the sender's name and a postmark.
Lines that look like postmarks are
prepended with `>'.
A
.I person
is usually a user name recognized by
.IR  login (1).
To denote a recipient on a remote system, prefix 
.I person
by the system name and exclamation mark (see
.IR uucp (1)).
.PP
The
.B \-f
option causes the named file, e.g. `mbox',
to be printed as if it were the mail file.
.PP
Each user owns his own mailbox, which is by default generally
readable but not writable.
The command does not delete an empty mailbox nor change its mode,
so a user may make it unreadable if desired.
.PP
When a user logs in he is informed of the presence
of mail.
.SH FILES
/usr/spool/mail/*	mailboxes
.br
/etc/passwd	to identify sender and locate persons
.br
mbox		saved mail
.br
/tmp/ma*	temp file
.br
dead.letter	unmailable text
.br
uux(1)
.SH "SEE ALSO"
xsend(1), write(1), uucp(1)
.SH BUGS
There is a locking mechanism intended to prevent
two senders from accessing the same mailbox, but it
is not perfect and races
are possible.
Commit	Line	Data
4b3036b8 KT	1	.TH MAIL 1
	2	.SH NAME
	3	mail \- send or receive mail among users
	4	.SH SYNOPSIS
	5	.B mail
	6	person ...
	7	.br
	8	.B mail
	9	[
	10	.B \-r
	11	] [
	12	.B \-q
	13	] [
	14	.B \-p
	15	] [
	16	.B \-f
	17	file
	18	]
	19	.LP
	20	.SH DESCRIPTION
	21	.I Mail
	22	with no argument
	23	prints
	24	a user's mail,
	25	message-by-message,
	26	in last-in, first-out order;
	27	the optional argument
	28	.B \-r
	29	causes first-in, first-out order.
	30	If the
	31	.B \-p
	32	flag is given, the mail is printed with no questions asked;
	33	otherwise,
	34	for each message,
	35	.I mail
	36	reads a line from the standard input
	37	to direct disposition of the message.
	38	.TP
	39	newline
	40	Go on to next message.
	41	.TP
	42	d
	43	Delete message and go on to the next.
	44	.TP
	45	p
	46	Print message again.
	47	.TP
	48	\-
	49	Go back to previous message.
	50	.TP
	51	.RI "s [" " file " "] ..."
	52	Save the message in the named
	53	.I files
	54	(`mbox' default).
	55	.TP
	56	.RI "w [" " file " "] ..."
	57	Save the message, without a header, in the named
	58	.I files
	59	(`mbox' default).
	60	.TP
	61	.RI "m [" " person " "] ..."
	62	Mail the message to the named
	63	.I persons
	64	(yourself is default).
65	.TP
66	EOT (control-D)
67	Put unexamined mail back in the mailbox and stop.
68	.TP
69	q
70	Same as EOT.
71	.TP
72	x
73	Exit, without changing the mailbox file.
74	.TP
75	!command
76	Escape to the Shell to do command.
77	.TP
78	?
79	Print a command summary.
80	.PP
81	An interrupt stops the printing of the current letter.
82	The optional argument
83	.B \(miq
84	causes
85	.I mail
86	to exit after interrupts
87	without changing the mailbox.
88	.PP
89	When
90	.I persons
91	are named,
92	.I mail
93	takes the standard input up to an end-of-file
94	(or a line with just `.')
95	and adds it to each
96	.I person's
97	`mail' file.
98	The message is preceded by the sender's name and a postmark.
99	Lines that look like postmarks are
100	prepended with `>'.
101	A
102	.I person
103	is usually a user name recognized by
104	.IR login (1).
105	To denote a recipient on a remote system, prefix
106	.I person
107	by the system name and exclamation mark (see
108	.IR uucp (1)).
109	.PP
110	The
111	.B \-f
112	option causes the named file, e.g. `mbox',
113	to be printed as if it were the mail file.
114	.PP
115	Each user owns his own mailbox, which is by default generally
116	readable but not writable.
117	The command does not delete an empty mailbox nor change its mode,
118	so a user may make it unreadable if desired.
119	.PP
120	When a user logs in he is informed of the presence
121	of mail.
122	.SH FILES
123	/usr/spool/mail/* mailboxes
124	.br
125	/etc/passwd to identify sender and locate persons
126	.br
127	mbox saved mail
128	.br
129	/tmp/ma* temp file
130	.br
131	dead.letter unmailable text
132	.br
133	uux(1)
134	.SH "SEE ALSO"
135	xsend(1), write(1), uucp(1)
136	.SH BUGS
137	There is a locking mechanism intended to prevent
138	two senders from accessing the same mailbox, but it
139	is not perfect and races
140	are possible.