[unix-history] / usr / doc / Mail / mail1.nr

.sh 1 Introduction
.pp
.i Mail
provides a simple and friendly environment for sending and receiving mail.
It divides incoming mail into
its constituent messages and allows the user to deal with them
in any order.  In addition, it provides a set of
.i ed -\c
like commands for manipulating messages and sending mail.
.i Mail
offers the user simple editing capabilities to ease the composition
of outgoing messages, as well as providing the ability to define and send
to names which address groups of users.  Finally,
.i Mail
is able to send and receive messages across such networks as the
ARPANET, UUCP, and Berkeley network.
.pp
This document describes how to use the
.i Mail
program to send and receive messages.  The reader is not assumed to
be familiar with other message handling systems, but should be
familiar with the \s-2UNIX\s0\**
.(f
\** \s-1UNIX\s0 is a trademark of Bell Laboratories.
.)f
shell, the text editor, and some of the common \s-2UNIX\s0 commands.
.q "The \s-2UNIX\s0 Programmer's Manual,"
.q "An Introduction to Csh,"
and
.q "Text Editing with Ex and Vi"
can be consulted for more information on these topics.
.pp
Here is how messages are handled:
the mail system accepts incoming
.i messages
for you from other people
and collects them in a file, called your
.i "system mailbox" .
When you login, the system notifies you if there are any messages
waiting in your system mailbox.  If you are a
.i csh
user, you will be notified when new mail arrives if you inform
the shell of the location of your mailbox.  On version 7 systems,
your system mailbox is located in the directory /usr/spool/mail
in a file with your login name.  If your login name is
.q sam,
then you can make
.i csh
notify you of new mail by including the following line in your .cshrc
file:
.(l
set mail=/usr/spool/mail/sam
.)l
When you read your mail using
.i Mail ,
it reads your system mailbox and separates that file into the
individual messages that have been sent to you.  You can then
read, reply to, delete, or save these messages.
Each message is marked with its author and the date they sent it.
Commit	Line	Data
1b34f08c C	1	.sh 1 Introduction
	2	.pp
	3	.i Mail
	4	provides a simple and friendly environment for sending and receiving mail.
	5	It divides incoming mail into
	6	its constituent messages and allows the user to deal with them
	7	in any order. In addition, it provides a set of
	8	.i ed -\c
	9	like commands for manipulating messages and sending mail.
	10	.i Mail
	11	offers the user simple editing capabilities to ease the composition
	12	of outgoing messages, as well as providing the ability to define and send
	13	to names which address groups of users. Finally,
	14	.i Mail
	15	is able to send and receive messages across such networks as the
	16	ARPANET, UUCP, and Berkeley network.
	17	.pp
	18	This document describes how to use the
	19	.i Mail
	20	program to send and receive messages. The reader is not assumed to
	21	be familiar with other message handling systems, but should be
	22	familiar with the \s-2UNIX\s0\**
	23	.(f
	24	\** \s-1UNIX\s0 is a trademark of Bell Laboratories.
	25	.)f
	26	shell, the text editor, and some of the common \s-2UNIX\s0 commands.
	27	.q "The \s-2UNIX\s0 Programmer's Manual,"
	28	.q "An Introduction to Csh,"
	29	and
	30	.q "Text Editing with Ex and Vi"
	31	can be consulted for more information on these topics.
	32	.pp
	33	Here is how messages are handled:
	34	the mail system accepts incoming
	35	.i messages
	36	for you from other people
	37	and collects them in a file, called your
	38	.i "system mailbox" .
	39	When you login, the system notifies you if there are any messages
	40	waiting in your system mailbox. If you are a
	41	.i csh
	42	user, you will be notified when new mail arrives if you inform
	43	the shell of the location of your mailbox. On version 7 systems,
	44	your system mailbox is located in the directory /usr/spool/mail
	45	in a file with your login name. If your login name is
	46	.q sam,
	47	then you can make
	48	.i csh
	49	notify you of new mail by including the following line in your .cshrc
	50	file:
	51	.(l
	52	set mail=/usr/spool/mail/sam
	53	.)l
	54	When you read your mail using
	55	.i Mail ,
	56	it reads your system mailbox and separates that file into the
	57	individual messages that have been sent to you. You can then
	58	read, reply to, delete, or save these messages.
	59	Each message is marked with its author and the date they sent it.