mail, binmail - Sends and displays messages
Reading Mail
mail [-epq] [-bhr] [-f file]
binmail [-epq] [-bhr] [-f file]
Sending Mail [Toc] [Back]
mail [-d] [-r name] [-h N] user... [< file]
binmail [-d] [-r name] [-h N] user... [< file]
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to
industry standards as follows:
mail: XCU5.0
binmail: XCU5.0
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information
about industry standards and associated tags.
Reading Mail
You can use the following options when invoking the mail
command to read mail: Does not display any messages. This
option causes mail to return an exit value of 0 (zero) if
the user has mail and an exit value of 1 if the user has
no mail. Saves mail to and reads mail from file instead
of the default mail file, /usr/spool/mail/user. Displays
mail without prompting for a disposition code. This option
does not delete, copy, or forward any messages. Causes
mail to exit when you press the Interrupt key sequence.
Normally, pressing the Interrupt key sequence stops only
the message being displayed. (In this case, the next message
sometimes does not display until you enter the p subcommand.)
Displays mail in first-in, first-out order.
The default is last-in, first-out. Alternate and obsolete
form of the -b option.
If -r is the first option specified and more arguments
follow, send mail mode is assumed. Alternate
and obsolete form of the -b option.
If -h is the first option specified and more arguments
follow, send mail mode is assumed.
Sending Mail [Toc] [Back]
You can use the following options when invoking the mail
command to send mail: Sets the hop count to N. The hop
count is incremented every time the mail is processed.
When it reaches a limit, the mail is returned with an
error message, the victim of an aliasing loop. If you do
not specify this option, received lines in the message are
counted. Sets the name of the From: user field (that is,
the sender of the mail). The -r option can only be used
by trusted users (normally root, daemon, and network) or
if the person you are trying to become is the same as the
person you are. Informs binmail to actually deliver the
mail instead of passing it off to the sendmail program for
delivery.
The mail command writes to standard output all stored mail
addressed to your login name, one message at a time, or
sends a mail message to another user or users. Another
name for the mail command is binmail.
Following each message, mail prompts you with a ? question
mark. Press <Return> to display the current mail message,
or enter one of the subcommands that control the
disposition of the message.
When sending mail, you specify users, and then mail reads
a message from standard input until you press the End-ofFile
key sequence or enter a line containing only a .
(dot). It prefixes this message with the sender's name and
the date and time of the message (its postmark) and adds
this message to the file /usr/spool/mail/user for each
user specified on the command line.
Usually, user is a name recognized by the login command.
If the system does not recognize one or more of the specified
users or if mail is interrupted during input, mail
saves messages in the file $HOME/dead.letter to allow for
editing and resending.
The action of mail can be modified in two ways by manipulating
/usr/spool/mail/user: The default permission
assignment for other users is read-only. If you change
this permission assignment to read/write or to All Permissions
Denied, the system preserves the file, even when it
is empty, in order to maintain the desired permissions;
you will not be able to remove the file. You can edit the
file to contain the following as its first line:
Forward to person
This causes all messages sent to user to be sent to
person instead. The Forward to feature is especially
useful for sending all of a person's mail to
a particular machine in a network environment.
To specify a recipient on a remote system, prefix the system
name and an ! (exclamation mark) to user. See the
uucp command for a detailed discussion of how to address
remote systems. Also see mailx and sendmail for other
network connections.
Tru64 UNIX provides locking for the mailbox files. The
style of locking used depends on how it is set in the
rc.config.common file. For more information, see
mail_manual_setup(7).
Subcommands [Toc] [Back]
The following subcommands control message disposition.
Displays the next mail message. Displays the previous
message. Deletes the current message and displays the
next message. Displays the current message again. Saves
the message in file instead of in the default mail file
$HOME/mbox. Saves the message, without its postmark, in
file instead of in the default mail file, $HOME/mbox.
Forwards the current message to users. If the forward was
successful, deletes that message and then displays the
next message. Writes any mail not yet deleted to
/usr/spool/mail/user and exits. Pressing the End-of-File
key sequence has the same effect. Exit, leaving the mail
file unchanged. Runs the specified command. Displays a
subcommand summary. Displays a subcommand summary.
The mail utility is marked LEGACY in XCU Issue 5.
The binmail program is not RFC 822 compliant. This
affects messages that begin withlines that look like
header lines. Header lines begin with a string followed
by a colon (:) (such as those found in the /etc/passwd
file). Use mailx command to send such messages, or make
sure the message is preceded by a blank line.
For information about exit values, see the OPTIONS section.
To display your mail, enter: mail
After the most recent message is displayed, a ?
(question mark) indicates that mail is waiting for
one of the subcommands explained previously (+, -,
d, p, and so on). Enter help or an * (asterisk) to
list the subcommands available. If the End-of-File
key sequence is <Ctrl-d>, you send mail to other
users by entering: mail tom rachel Do not forget
the meeting tomorrow at 9:30. <Ctrl-d>
In this example, the system mails the message Do
not forget the meeting tomorrow at 9:30. to the
users tom and rachel. The End-of-File key sequence
(in this case, <Ctrl-d>) indicates the end of the
message, but it is not sent with the text. To send
a file to another user, enter: mail fran < proposal
This command sends the contents of the file proposal
to fran. To save a message to the default
mail file, enter: mail
This command displays each message mailed to you.
Press <Return> after the ? prompt until the
desired message is displayed.
When the appropriate message is displayed, enter: s
The message is saved in the default mail file,
$HOME/mbox. To save a message to a specific file,
enter: mail
This command displays each message mailed to you.
Press <Return> after the ? prompt until the
desired message is displayed. When the appropriate
message is displayed, enter: s mycopy
This command saves the message in a file named
mycopy in the current directory, rather than in the
default mail file.
Holds saved mail. Holds unmailable text. Contains user
information. Holds incoming mail for user. Lock for mail
directory. (Note: this file is not created if lockf is
used for locking.
Commands: login(1), mailx(1), sendmail(8), write(1),
uucp(1)
mail(1)
[ Back ] |
