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

.TH MSGS 1
.UC 4
.SH NAME
msgs \- system messages and junk mail program
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B msgs
[
.B \-fhlpq
] [
number
] [
\-number
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Msgs
is used to read system messages.
These messages are
sent by mailing to the login `msgs' and should be short
pieces of information which are suitable to be read once by most users
of the system.
.PP
.I Msgs
is normally invoked each time you login, by placing it in the file
.I \&.login
.I (\&.profile
if you use
.IR /bin/sh ).
It will then prompt you with the source and subject of each new message.
If there is no subject line, the first few non-blank lines of the
message will be displayed.
If there is more to the message, you will be told how
long it is and asked whether you wish to see the rest of the message.
The possible responses are:
.TP 7
.B y
type the rest of the message
.TP 7
RETURN
synonym for y.
.TP 7
.B n
skip this message
and go on to the next message.
.TP 7
.B \-
redisplay the last message.
.TP 7
.B q
drops you out of
.I msgs;
the next time you run the program it will pick up where you left off.
.TP 7
.B s
append the current message to the file ``Messages'' in the current directory;
`s\-' will save the previously displayed message. A `s' or `s\-' may
be followed by a space and a filename to receive the message replacing
the default ``Messages''.
.TP 7
.B m
or `m\-' causes a copy of the specified message to be placed in a temporary
mailbox and 
.IR mail (1)
to be invoked on that mailbox.
Both `m' and `s' accept a numeric argument in place of the `\-'.
.PP
.I Msgs
keeps track of the next message you will see by a number in the file
.I \&.msgsrc
in your home directory.
In the directory
.I /usr/msgs
it keeps a set of files whose names are the (sequential) numbers
of the messages they represent.
The file
.I /usr/msgs/bounds
shows the low and high number of the messages in the directory
so that
.I msgs
can quickly determine if there are no messages for you.
If the contents of
.I bounds
is incorrect it can be fixed by removing it;
.I msgs
will make a new
.I bounds
file the next time it is run.
.PP
Options to msgs include:
.TP 7
.B \-f
which causes it not to say ``No new messages.''.
This is useful in your
.I \&.login
file since this is often the case here.
.TP 7
.B \-q
Queries whether there are messages, printing
``There are new messages.'' if there are.
The command ``msgs \-q'' is often used in login scripts.
.TP 7
.B \-h
causes
.I msgs
to print the first part of messages only.
.TP 7
.B \-l
option causes only locally originated messages to be reported.
.TP 7
\fInum\fR
A message number can be given
on the command line, causing
.I msgs
to start at the specified message rather than at the next message
indicated by your
.I \&.msgsrc
file.
Thus
.IP "" 7
    msgs \-h 1
.IP "" 7
prints the first part of all messages.
.TP 7
.I "\-number"
will cause
.I msgs
to start
.I number
messages back from the one indicated by your 
.I \&.msgsrc
file, useful for reviews of recent messages.
.TP 7
.B \-p
causes long messages to be piped through
.IR more (1).
.PP
Within
.I msgs
you can also go to any specific message by typing its number when
.I msgs
requests input as to what to do.
.SH FILES
.ta 2i
/usr/msgs/*	database
.br
~/.msgsrc	number of next message to be presented
.SH AUTHORS
William Joy
.br
David Wasley
.SH SEE ALSO
mail(1), more(1)
.SH BUGS
Commit	Line	Data
e3758c96 C	1	.TH MSGS 1
	2	.UC 4
	3	.SH NAME
	4	msgs \- system messages and junk mail program
	5	.SH SYNOPSIS
	6	.B msgs
	7	[
	8	.B \-fhlpq
	9	] [
	10	number
	11	] [
	12	\-number
	13	]
	14	.SH DESCRIPTION
	15	.I Msgs
	16	is used to read system messages.
	17	These messages are
	18	sent by mailing to the login `msgs' and should be short
	19	pieces of information which are suitable to be read once by most users
	20	of the system.
	21	.PP
	22	.I Msgs
	23	is normally invoked each time you login, by placing it in the file
	24	.I \&.login
	25	.I (\&.profile
	26	if you use
	27	.IR /bin/sh ).
	28	It will then prompt you with the source and subject of each new message.
	29	If there is no subject line, the first few non-blank lines of the
	30	message will be displayed.
	31	If there is more to the message, you will be told how
	32	long it is and asked whether you wish to see the rest of the message.
	33	The possible responses are:
	34	.TP 7
	35	.B y
	36	type the rest of the message
	37	.TP 7
	38	RETURN
	39	synonym for y.
	40	.TP 7
	41	.B n
	42	skip this message
	43	and go on to the next message.
	44	.TP 7
	45	.B \-
	46	redisplay the last message.
	47	.TP 7
	48	.B q
	49	drops you out of
	50	.I msgs;
	51	the next time you run the program it will pick up where you left off.
	52	.TP 7
	53	.B s
	54	append the current message to the file ``Messages'' in the current directory;
	55	`s\-' will save the previously displayed message. A `s' or `s\-' may
	56	be followed by a space and a filename to receive the message replacing
	57	the default ``Messages''.
	58	.TP 7
	59	.B m
	60	or `m\-' causes a copy of the specified message to be placed in a temporary
	61	mailbox and
	62	.IR mail (1)
	63	to be invoked on that mailbox.
	64	Both `m' and `s' accept a numeric argument in place of the `\-'.
65	.PP
66	.I Msgs
67	keeps track of the next message you will see by a number in the file
68	.I \&.msgsrc
69	in your home directory.
70	In the directory
71	.I /usr/msgs
72	it keeps a set of files whose names are the (sequential) numbers
73	of the messages they represent.
74	The file
75	.I /usr/msgs/bounds
76	shows the low and high number of the messages in the directory
77	so that
78	.I msgs
79	can quickly determine if there are no messages for you.
80	If the contents of
81	.I bounds
82	is incorrect it can be fixed by removing it;
83	.I msgs
84	will make a new
85	.I bounds
86	file the next time it is run.
87	.PP
88	Options to msgs include:
89	.TP 7
90	.B \-f
91	which causes it not to say ``No new messages.''.
92	This is useful in your
93	.I \&.login
94	file since this is often the case here.
95	.TP 7
96	.B \-q
97	Queries whether there are messages, printing
98	``There are new messages.'' if there are.
99	The command ``msgs \-q'' is often used in login scripts.
100	.TP 7
101	.B \-h
102	causes
103	.I msgs
104	to print the first part of messages only.
105	.TP 7
106	.B \-l
107	option causes only locally originated messages to be reported.
108	.TP 7
109	\fInum\fR
110	A message number can be given
111	on the command line, causing
112	.I msgs
113	to start at the specified message rather than at the next message
114	indicated by your
115	.I \&.msgsrc
116	file.
117	Thus
118	.IP "" 7
119	msgs \-h 1
120	.IP "" 7
121	prints the first part of all messages.
122	.TP 7
123	.I "\-number"
124	will cause
125	.I msgs
126	to start
127	.I number
128	messages back from the one indicated by your
129	.I \&.msgsrc
130	file, useful for reviews of recent messages.
131	.TP 7
132	.B \-p
133	causes long messages to be piped through
134	.IR more (1).
135	.PP
136	Within
137	.I msgs
138	you can also go to any specific message by typing its number when
139	.I msgs
140	requests input as to what to do.
141	.SH FILES
142	.ta 2i
143	/usr/msgs/* database
144	.br
145	~/.msgsrc number of next message to be presented
146	.SH AUTHORS
147	William Joy
148	.br
149	David Wasley
150	.SH SEE ALSO
151	mail(1), more(1)
152	.SH BUGS