0 ANSWER Sends a reply to the sender of the current message. If a filename is specified, the text of the file is used as the reply message. Otherwise, the user is prompted for the text of the reply message. During message entry the special tilde editing functions are available. See help subject 'Tilde_functions' for more information. Note that REPLY and ANSWER are synonymous, they can be used interchangeably. Syntax: ANSWER [file-spec] 1 /ALL Sends the ANSWER message to the sender as well as to all users listed on the 'To:' line of the message. 1 /BLIND_CC /BLIND_CC /BLIND_CC=string /NOBLIND_CC Most Mail Transport Agents accept a Bcc: line in the message header. The users named on this list receive a copy of the message, but Bcc: line is stripped before the message is delivered, thus other recipients (on the To: and CC: lines) are unaware of the Bcc: recipients. The first form causes Vmail to prompt for a Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc:) list. The second form adds the given string as the Bcc: list. The third form causes no Bcc: list to be added. 1 /CC_PROMPT Instructs Vmail to prompt for a 'Carbon Copy' list. The users named in this list will be sent a copy of the reply message. 1 /EDIT Invokes the text editor defined by the 'SET EDITOR' command to enter the body of the reply message. If no editor has been defined, then Vmail attempts to invoke the EDT+ editor (using the image name of 'edt'). The current setting of the default editor can be viewed with the 'SHOW EDITOR' command. To abort the reply message, exit from the editor without creating an output file (e.g. 'QUIT', if using EDT+). 1 /EXTRACT Extracts a copy of the current message into a temporary file which is then edited (as if the /EDIT qualifier was specified). This allows the original message text to be included in the ANSWER message. 1 /INDENT[=string] When used together with /EXTRACT, this qualifier causes the extracted message to be indented and prefixed with the specified indent string. This enables you to set off the original message from the ANSWER message text. If no string is specified, the default indent string of "> " is used. 1 /PERSONAL_NAME Uses the supplied string as the personal name string for this message only. Specifying this qualifier overrides any existing personal name specification. 1 /SELF Appends the sender's name to the 'To' list for this message. This results in a copy of the sent message being returned to the sender. 0 BACK Displays the first non-deleted message which precedes the current message. Note that BACK and PREVIOUS are synonymous, they can be used interchangeably. Syntax: BACK 1 /EDIT Invokes the editor to read the message. 0 CLEAR Clears the display screen. This command is a synonym for the ERASE command. Syntax: CLEAR 0 CONNECT CONNECT is no longer supported. Instead, use READ/NEW to retrieve messages from the native system mailbox. The AUTO_CONNECT operational setting has been renamed to AUTO_RETRIEVE. 0 COPY Copies the current message to another folder without deleting it from the current folder. By default, Vmail prompts for confirmation if an attempt is made to copy a message to a folder that does not already exist. Syntax: COPY folder-name 1 /ALL Copies all messages in the currently selected folder to the named folder. 1 /CONFIRM Specifies whether the named folder is automatically created if it does not already exist. If /CONFIRM is specified, then you will be prompted for confirmation before the new folder is created. 1 /SELECT Allows specification of a list of message indices to be copied to the named folder. 0 CURRENT Displays the beginning of the current message. Syntax: CURRENT 1 /EDIT Invokes the editor to read the message. 1 /PAGE Invokes the user defined PAGER utility program to display the selected message. See the SET PAGER command for details on defining a paging utility. Note that this qualifier takes precedence over the /EDIT qualifier. 0 DEFINE (Not currently implemented.) 0 DELETE If a message number parameter is specified, then that message index is marked for deletion. If no parameter is given, then the current message is marked for deletion. The message remains in the current folder until a new folder is selected, or until the PURGE command is issued. The parameter may also be specified as a list of message indices. Separate message numbers with commas ( , ). Consecutive messages may be specified as a range by separating the lower and upper limits with a hyphen ( - ). Syntax: DELETE [message-index] 1 /ALL Causes all selected messages to be marked as deleted. 1 /NEXT Causes the next available message to be displayed after deleting the current message. 1 message-index Supply the index of the message that you wish to delete. Multiple messages may be deleted by separating the message indices with commas. You may also specify a range of messages by separating the lower and upper bounds of the message index range with a hyphen ( - ). 0 DIRECTORY Displays a listing of the messages in the currently selected folder. Each directory entry contains: o The message index. o The name of the Sender. o The date the message was sent. o The message subject line, if available. If an entry has been marked for deletion, then the directory entry will contain only the message index, with the string '(Deleted)' in place of the latter three fields. 1 /BEFORE Causes Vmail to display only messages with a 'Sent' date prior to the specified date and time. Specify the date string in the format 'dd-mmm-yyyy:hh:mm:ss'. If no date is specified, the current date is assumed. If no time is specified, then 12:00 midnight is assumed. Note that in the current version, a time/date string MUST be specified. In a future version, the omission of a time/date string will be interpreted as meaning midnight today. Additionally, the special strings of TODAY, TOMORROW, and YESTERDAY are not currently recognized. 1 /CC_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the Cc: line. 1 /EDIT (Not currently implemented.) Invokes the editor to view the directory listing. 1 /FOLDER Displays a list of folders contained in the current Mail file. 1 /FROM_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the From: line. 1 /MARKED Selects only messages which mark been marked (via the MARK command). 1 /NEW Displays the messages contained in the NEWMAIL folder. 1 /SINCE Causes Vmail to display only messages with a 'Sent' date after the specified date and time. Specify the date string in the format 'dd-mmm-yyyy:hh:mm:ss'. If no date is specified, the current date is assumed. If no time is specified, then 12:00 midnight is assumed. Note that in the current version, a time/date string MUST be specified. In a future version, the omission of a time/date string will be interpreted as meaning midnight today. Additionally, the special strings of TODAY, TOMORROW, and YESTERDAY are not currently recognized. 1 /START (Not currently implemented.) 1 /SUBJECT_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the Subj: line. 1 /TO_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the To: line. 0 EDIT Invokes the selected text editor to allow you to edit a file. This allows you the option of editing an external file before sending it as a mail message. Syntax: EDIT filename 0 ERASE Clears the display screen. The CLEAR command may be used as a synonym for this command. Syntax: ERASE 0 EXIT Exits from the Vmail Utility. All message status flags are updated. All deleted messages are purged from the wastebasket folder, unless the command SET NOAUTO_PURGE is in effect. Syntax: EXIT 0 EXTRACT Writes the current message to the named external text file (NOT to a Mail File). The file is created with the protection mask which was in effect when Vmail was started. (Refer to the description of the 'umask' function in your system documentation.) 1 /ALL Writes all selected messages to the specified file. Messages are separated by a form-feed character. 1 /APPEND Appends the messages to the end of the named output file. 1 /NOHEADER Writes the message without including any header information records (To:, CC:, From:, and Subject: lines are removed). 1 /SELECT Allows specification of a list of message indices to be copied to the named file. 0 FILE Moves the current message from the current folder to the named mail folder. Note that FILE and MOVE are synonymous, they can be used interchangeably. Syntax: FILE folder-name 1 Parameter 'folder-name' is a character string (up to 39 characters long) which specifies the name of the folder which the message will be moved into. If the folder does not already exist, it will be created. 1 /ALL Specifies that all messages in the current folder be moved to the named folder. 1 /CONFIRM /CONFIRM (default) /NOCONFIRM Specifies whether the named folder is automatically created if it does not already exist. If /CONFIRM is specified, then you will be prompted for confirmation before the new folder is created. 1 /SELECT Allows specification of a list of message indices to be filed in the named folder. 0 FIRST Displays the first available (non-deleted) message in the selected Mail folder. Syntax: FIRST 1 /EDIT Invokes the editor to read the message. 1 /PAGE Invokes the user defined PAGER utility program to display the selected message. See the SET PAGER command for details on defining a paging utility. Note that this qualifier takes precedence over the /EDIT qualifier. 0 FORWARD Forwards a copy of the current message to another user or to a group of users. Vmail prompts for the list of users to receive copies of the message. Syntax: FORWARD 1 /BLIND_CC /BLIND_CC /BLIND_CC=string /NOBLIND_CC Most Mail Transport Agents accept a Bcc: line in the message header. The users named on this list receive a copy of the message, but Bcc: line is stripped before the message is delivered, thus other recipients (on the To: and CC: lines) are unaware of the Bcc: recipients. The first form causes Vmail to prompt for a Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc:) list. The second form adds the given string as the Bcc: list. The third form causes no Bcc: list to be added. 1 /CC_PROMPT Instructs Vmail to prompt for a 'Carbon Copy' list. The users named in this list will be sent a copy of the forwarded message. 1 /EDIT Invokes the text editor defined by the 'SET EDITOR' command to edit the message before forwarding it. If no editor has been defined, then Vmail attempts to invoke the EDT+ editor (using the image name of 'edt'). The current setting of the default editor can be viewed with the 'SHOW EDITOR' command. 1 /INDENT[=string] When used together with /EDIT, this qualifier causes the FORWARDed message to be indented and prefixed with the specified indent string. This enables you to set off the original message from the FORWARD message text. If no string is specified, the default indent string of "> " is used. 1 /NOHEADER Writes the message without including any header information records (To:, CC:, From:, and Subject: lines are removed). 1 /PERSONAL_NAME Uses the supplied string as the personal name string for this message only. Specifying this qualifier overrides any existing personal name specification. 1 /SELF Appends the sender's name to the 'To' list for this message. This results in a copy of the sent message being returned to the sender. 1 /SUBJECT Specifies a subject line for the forwarded message. If this qualifier is supplied, no subsequent prompting for a subject line is done by Vmail. If you wish to specify a subject line containing more than one word (i.e. including space or tab characters), enclose the subject in quotation marks ( " ). 0 HELP Displays HELP information on Vmail. When a topic is specified, HELP information on that topic is displayed. When additional information is available, a list of subtopics is displayed. To view additional information, enter the name of the desired subtopic. The wildcard characters '%' and '*' can be used in the topic or sub-topic fields to match a single character, or a group of characters, respectively. Syntax: HELP [topic] 0 Introduction Vmail is a mail utility which presents a user interface similar to Digital Equipment Corporation's MAIL utility. This allows users who are familiar with the VMS environment to quickly and easily send and receive mail on a UNIX based system. Vmail reads standard UNIX mail files to receive messages. Sending is performed via invocation of the UNIX 'sendmail' utility. Thus, users of Vmail can easily correspond with other users who choose to use the 'native' mail interface utility. 1 Distribution_Lists Distribution lists are used as an abbreviation when sending a message to a group of users. A distribution list can be used anywhere in the To: line of a message. Specify the distribution list using an at-sign ( @ ) character, followed by the full or partial pathname of the file. As an example, suppose that you want to send a message to users bob, joe, and fred. Use any available text editor to create a file with one user name on each line. Then the message can be sent as follows (assuming that the distribution file is named 'grp.dis'): MAIL> send foo.bar To: @grp.dis Subj: Group Meeting If no file extension is given, a default of ".lis" is assumed. Note that the distribution file is currently limited to contain only a single user address per line. This restriction will be removed in a future release. 1 Editor The default editor that is used to enter or read messages is EDT+ (available from Boston Business Computing, Ltd. as a separate product). This default can be changed via the SET EDITOR command. You may set the editor string to invoke the editor of your choice, along with any desired options. As an example, lets assume that you wish to define the 'vi' editor as your default. Either of the following commands will perform the assignment: MAIL> SET EDITOR "/usr/ucb/vi" MAIL> SET EDITOR [usr.ucb]vi Note that the UNIX pathname needed to be quoted so that Vmail would not think that '/usr' was being specified as a command qualifier. Also, note that command line options could also be defined as part of the edit string, for example: MAIL> SET EDITOR "edt -nobackup" This command would cause EDT+ to be invoked without creating a backup file. 1 Folders A 'folder' is a collection of logically grouped messages which may be affected as a single entity. There are four basic types of folders : o NEWMAIL - This is the name of the folder where all messages read from the native mail system are initially placed. If you have not explicitly selected a folder, and messages exist in this folder, Vmail selects it automatically whenever the DIRECTORY, FIRST, LAST, NEXT, or READ commands are issued. Once a message in this folder has been read, it is automatically moved to the MAIL folder when any other folder is selected, or when you exit from Vmail (unless you have moved it to another named folder first). o MAIL - This is the default folder for all messages that have already been read. If you have not explicitly selected a folder, and messages exist in this folder (but none exist in the NEWMAIL folder), Vmail selects it automatically whenever the DIRECTORY, FIRST, LAST, NEXT, or READ commands are issued. o WASTEBASKET - This is the default name for the folder used to collect all messages which have been marked as deleted. The name of this folder can be changed with the SET WASTEBASKET_NAME command. Messages contained in this folder are purged from the mail file with the PURGE command, or if SET AUTO_PURGE is in effect, when Vmail is terminated via the EXIT command. o Any other folder name - Any other name can be used to name folders created by the user. These folders can be used to collect messages grouped by subject, etc. Messages are placed in folders with the MOVE or FILE commands. 1 Message_Lists Message lists are used to specify a group of messages to be acted on by a single command. Lists are specified by entering the message indices (as displayed by the DIRECTORY command) separated by commas. Consecutive indices can be specified as a range by entering the lower limit, then a hyphen, then the upper limit. If a range is specified in which the first number is greater then the last number, then only the upper bound is used (i.e. entering '4-1' is equivalent to entering just '4'). Example: MAIL> FILE/SELECT=1,4,7-9,12 SAVED This command moves message numbers 1,4,7,8,9, and 12 to a folder named 'SAVED'. 1 Reading_Messages Upon entering Vmail, all messages which were not deleted the last time you invoked Vmail are still available. When Vmail starts, it checks whether any new messages exist in the native mail system. If so, Vmail does one of two things: o If SET AUTO_RETRIEVE is in effect, the messages are retrieved automatically from the native system. o If SET AUTO_RETRIEVE is not in effect, a message is displayed informing the user that native mail is available to be read. At this point, the user should use the READ/NEW command to retrieve these messages. Reading the messages is done by selecting the desired folder, and then issuing a FIRST, LAST, NEXT, or READ command. If no folder is explicitly selected, then these commands will implicitly select the NEWMAIL or MAIL folders (in that order) if either one contains messages. Also, note that typing a character (marked as on some keyboards) without any other command on the line is interpreted by Vmail as an implicit READ command. 1 Recipient_Lists Recipient lists are used to specify the 'To:' field of messages. The list should consist of valid mail addresses, separated by either spaces, tabs, or commas. The name of a distribution list can be used anywhere that a user address is valid. Note that Vmail makes no attempt to verify that the user addresses given are valid - the addresses are simply passed on to the native mail transport mechanism. Vmail does however verify that any specified distribution files exist and are accessible. 1 Sending_Messages Sending messages to other users is done with the FORWARD, REPLY, or SEND commands. The qualifier /EDIT can be used with any of these commands to invoke the selected text editor to enter the message text. Use the SEND command to send a new message to another user. Use the REPLY command to send a reply to the sender of the current message. The subject line in this case will be the subject of the current message, prefixed with the string "RE: ". Use the FORWARD command to send a copy of the current message to another user. 0 Keypad_Definitions Vmail allows the manipulation of mail messages via the keypad keys. These keys have predefined functions as described below. A future release of Vmail will provide the ability for each user to redefine these keys to create customized keypad functions. Most keys have two functions. To invoke the primary function, simply press the key. To invoke the secondary function, first press the GOLD key, then press the function key. In the figure below, the primary and secondary functions of each keypad key is listed (the secondary function is enclosed in parentheses). +----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+ | PF1 | PF2 | PF3 | PF4 | | GOLD | HELP | EXTRACT | ERASE | | | (DIR/FOLDER) | | (SELECT MAIL) | +----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+ | 7 | 8 | 9 | - (MINUS) | | SEND | REPLY | FORWARD | READ/NEW | | (SEND/EDIT) |(REPLY/EDIT/EXT)| (FORWARD/EDIT) | (SHOW NEW) | +----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+ | 4 | 5 | 6 | , (COMMA) | | CURRENT | FIRST | LAST | DIR/NEW | | (CURRENT/EDIT) | (FIRST/EDIT) | (LAST/EDIT) | (DIR MAIL) | +----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+ | 1 | 2 | 3 | ENTER | | BACK | PRINT | DIR | | | (BACK/EDIT) | (PRINT/PRI) | | | +----------------+----------------+----------------+ SELECT: | | 0 | . | | | NEXT | FILE | | | (NEXT/EDIT) | (DELETE) | | +---------------------------------+----------------+----------------+ 0 Known_Limitations This section describes known limitations that exist in the current implementation of Vmail. In most cases, these limitations will be removed in a future release of the product. 1 Protections Temporary files are currently created without the proper protection mask. 1 Time_Date_Strings In the current version, a time/date string MUST be specified when using the /BEFORE or /SINCE qualifiers. In a future version, the omission of a time/date string will be interpreted as meaning midnight today. Additionally, the special strings of TODAY, TOMORROW, and YESTERDAY are not currently recognized. 0 LAST Displays the last available (non-deleted) message in the selected Mail folder. Syntax: LAST 1 /EDIT Invokes the editor to read the message. 1 /PAGE Invokes the user defined PAGER utility program to display the selected message. See the SET PAGER command for details on defining a paging utility. Note that this qualifier takes precedence over the /EDIT qualifier. 0 MAIL Mails a message to another user or a set of users. If a filename is specified, the text of the file is used as the message body. Otherwise, the user is prompted for the text of the reply message. During message entry the special tilde editing functions are available. See help subject 'Tilde_functions' for more information. Note that MAIL and SEND are synonymous, they can be used interchangeably. Syntax: MAIL [file-name] 1 /CC_PROMPT Instructs Vmail to prompt for a 'Carbon Copy' list. The users named in this list will be sent a copy of the sent message. 1 /EDIT Invokes the text editor defined by the 'SET EDITOR' command to enter the body of the message. If no editor has been defined, then Vmail attempts to invoke the EDT+ editor (using the image name of 'edt'). The current setting of the default editor can be viewed with the 'SHOW EDITOR' command. To abort the MAIL message, exit from the editor without creating an output file (e.g. 'QUIT', if using EDT+). 1 /PERSONAL_NAME Uses the supplied string as the personal name string for this message only. Specifying this qualifier overrides any existing personal name specification. 1 /SELF Appends the sender's name to the 'To' list for this message. This results in a copy of the sent message being returned to the sender. 1 /SUBJECT Specifies a subject line for the message. If this qualifier is supplied, no subsequent prompting for a subject line is done. If you wish to specify a subject line containing more than one word (i.e. including space or tab characters), enclose the subject in quotation marks ( " ). 0 MARK Marks a message. Messages which have been marked are displayed with an asterisk in the leftmost column of a directory listing. Marking a message allows you to highlight messages containing important information. Syntax: MARK [index-list] 1 index-list Supply the index of the message that you wish to MARK. Multiple messages may be MARKed by separating the message indices with commas. You may also specify a range of messages by separating the lower and upper bounds of the message index range with a hyphen ( - ). 1 /ALL Marks all currently selected messages. 0 MOVE Moves the current message from the current folder to the named mail folder. Note that MOVE and FILE are synonymous, they can be used interchangeably. Syntax: MOVE folder-name 1 Parameter 'folder-name' is a character string (up to 39 characters long) which specifies the name of the folder which the message will be moved into. If the folder does not already exist, it will be created. 1 /ALL Specifies that all messages in the current folder be moved to the named folder. 1 /CONFIRM /CONFIRM (default) /NOCONFIRM Specifies whether the named folder is automatically created if it does not already exist. If /CONFIRM is specified, then you will be prompted for confirmation before the new folder is created. 1 /SELECT Allows specification of a list of message indices to be moved to the named folder. 0 NEXT Displays the next available (non-deleted) message in the selected Mail folder. Syntax: NEXT 1 /EDIT Invokes the editor to read the message. 1 /PAGE Invokes the user defined PAGER utility program to display the selected message. See the SET PAGER command for details on defining a paging utility. Note that this qualifier takes precedence over the /EDIT qualifier. 0 PREVIOUS Displays the first non-deleted message which immediately precedes the current message. Note that PREVIOUS and BACK are synonymous, they can be used interchangeably. Syntax: PREVIOUS 1 /EDIT Invokes the editor to read the message. 1 /PAGE Invokes the user defined PAGER utility program to display the selected message. See the SET PAGER command for details on defining a paging utility. Note that this qualifier takes precedence over the /EDIT qualifier. 0 PRINT Prints the current message using the system print command ('lp' or 'lpr' on most systems). If you have previously set a default queue (via the SET QUEUE comamnd) then messages are sent to that queue unless overridden with the /QUEUE qualifier. Messages are queued for printing until the current session is exited, or until a PRINT/NOW or PRINT/PRINT command is entered. Syntax: PRINT 1 /ALL Prints all currently selected messages. 1 /CANCEL Cancels all jobs queued for printing during the current session. 1 /COPIES /COPIES=n Specifies the number of copies to be printed. 1 /FEED Inserts a form feed at or near the end of a page. 1 /NAME /NAME=string Specifies a name string used to identify the job-name. 1 /NOHEADER Prints the message without including any header information records (To:, CC:, From:, and Subject: lines are removed). 1 /NOW Immediately prints all messages that have been queued for printing. (Same as /PRINT.) 1 /PRINT Immediately prints all messages that have been queued for printing. (Same as /NOW.) 1 /QUEUE /QUEUE=string Specifies the name of the print queue to use. Specifying this qualifier overrides any default queue name specified via the SET QUEUE command. 1 /SELECT Allows specification of a list of message indices to be printed. 0 PURGE Removes all messages marked as deleted from the current mail file. An implicit PURGE command is issued when an EXIT command is issued, unless 'Set NoAuto_Purge' is in effect. See the SET AUTO_PURGE for more information. Syntax: PURGE 0 QUIT Exits from Vmail without purging the WASTEBASKET folder. Syntax: QUIT 0 READ Displays the appropriate mail message in accordance with the following conditions : o If no parameter is given and no message has yet been read, then the first available message in the selected folder is displayed. o If no parameter is given and a message is currently displayed, then the next available message in the selected folder is displayed. If the current message is the last in the selected folder, then the warning 'NOMOREMSG' is issued. A subsequent READ command (with no parameter) at this point will re-display the first available message. o If a message number parameter is specified, then the first available (un-deleted) message with an index value equal to or greater than that number is displayed. If no such message exists, then the last message in the folder is displayed. Thus, issuing the READ command with large number as a parameter is equivalent to issuing the LAST command. Syntax: READ [message-index] 1 message-index Supply the index of the message that you wish to READ. 1 /BEFORE Selects only messages with a 'Sent' date prior to the specified date and time. Specify the date string in the format 'dd-mmm-yyyy:hh:mm:ss'. If no date is specified, the current date is assumed. If no time is specified, then 12:00 midnight is assumed. Note that in the current version, a time/date string MUST be specified. In a future version, the omission of a time/date string will be interpreted as meaning midnight today. Additionally, the special strings of TODAY, TOMORROW, and YESTERDAY are not currently recognized. 1 /CC_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the Cc: line. 1 /EDIT Invokes the editor to read the message. 1 /FROM_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the From: line. 1 /MARKED Selects only messages which mark been marked (via the MARK command). 1 /NEW Selects messages contained in the NEWMAIL folder. 1 /PAGE Invokes the user defined PAGER utility program to display the selected message. See the SET PAGER command for details on defining a paging utility. Note that this qualifier takes precedence over the /EDIT qualifier. 1 /SINCE Causes Vmail to display only messages with a 'Sent' date after the specified date and time. Specify the date string in the format 'dd-mmm-yyyy:hh:mm:ss'. If no date is specified, the current date is assumed. If no time is specified, then 12:00 midnight is assumed. Note that in the current version, a time/date string MUST be specified. In a future version, the omission of a time/date string will be interpreted as meaning midnight today. Additionally, the special strings of TODAY, TOMORROW, and YESTERDAY are not currently recognized. 1 /SUBJECT_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the Subj: line. 1 /TO_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the To: line. 0 REPLY Sends a reply to the sender of the current message. If a filename is specified, the text of the file is used as the reply message. Otherwise, the user is prompted for the text of the reply message. During message entry the special tilde editing functions are available. See help subject 'Tilde_functions' for more information. Note that REPLY and ANSWER are synonymous, they can be used interchangeably. Syntax: REPLY [file-spec] 1 /ALL Sends the REPLY message to the sender as well as to all users listed on the 'To:' line of the message. 1 /BLIND_CC /BLIND_CC /BLIND_CC=string /NOBLIND_CC Most Mail Transport Agents accept a Bcc: line in the message header. The users named on this list receive a copy of the message, but Bcc: line is stripped before the message is delivered, thus other recipients (on the To: and CC: lines) are unaware of the Bcc: recipients. The first form causes Vmail to prompt for a Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc:) list. The second form adds the given string as the Bcc: list. The third form causes no Bcc: list to be added. 1 /CC_PROMPT Instructs Vmail to prompt for a 'Carbon Copy' list. The users named in this list will be sent a copy of the reply message. 1 /EDIT Invokes the text editor defined by the 'SET EDITOR' command to enter the body of the reply message. If no editor has been defined, then Vmail attempts to invoke the EDT+ editor (using the image name of 'edt'). The current setting of the default editor can be viewed with the 'SHOW EDITOR' command. To abort the reply message, exit from the editor without creating an output file (e.g. 'QUIT', if using EDT+). 1 /EXTRACT Extracts a copy of the current message into a temporary file which is then edited (as if the /EDIT qualifier was specified). This allows the original message text to be included in the REPLY message. 1 /INDENT[=string] When used together with /EXTRACT, this qualifier causes the extracted message to be indented and prefixed with the specified indent string. This enables you to set off the original message from the REPLY message text. If no string is specified, the default indent string of "> " is used. 1 /PERSONAL_NAME Uses the supplied string as the personal name string for this message only. Specifying this qualifier overrides any existing personal name specification. 1 /SELF Appends the sender's name to the 'To' list for this message. This results in a copy of the sent message being returned to the sender. 0 SEARCH Searches for the next available message containing the specified search string. If no search string is specified, the previous search is repeated starting at the message following the one where the last string was found. Syntax: SEARCH [search-string] 1 /EXACT Specifies that only strings which exactly match the specified search string be considered a match (upper and lower case characters are considered distinct). 1 /PAGE Invokes the user defined PAGER utility program to display the selected message. See the SET PAGER command for details on defining a paging utility. 0 SELECT Selects the specified folder as the current folder. If no folder name is specified, then the current folder is re-selected. Syntax: SELECT [folder-name] 1 Parameter 'folder-name' is a character string (up to 39 characters long) which specifies the name of the folder to select. If the folder does not exist, a warning message will be displayed. 1 /BEFORE Selects only messages with a 'Sent' date prior to the specified date and time. Specify the date string in the format 'dd-mmm-yyyy:hh:mm:ss'. If no date is specified, the current date is assumed. If no time is specified, then 12:00 midnight is assumed. Note that in the current version, a time/date string MUST be specified. In a future version, the omission of a time/date string will be interpreted as meaning midnight today. Additionally, the special strings of TODAY, TOMORROW, and YESTERDAY are not currently recognized. 1 /CC_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the Cc: line. 1 /FROM_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the From: line. 1 /MARKED Selects only messages which mark been marked (via the MARK command). 1 /NEW Selects the NEWMAIL folder. 1 /SINCE Selects only messages with a 'Sent' date after the specified date and time. Specify the date string in the format 'dd-mmm-yyyy:hh:mm:ss'. If no date is specified, the current date is assumed. If no time is specified, then 12:00 midnight is assumed. Note that in the current version, a time/date string MUST be specified. In a future version, the omission of a time/date string will be interpreted as meaning midnight today. Additionally, the special strings of TODAY, TOMORROW, and YESTERDAY are not currently recognized. 1 /SUBJECT_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the Subj: line. 1 /TO_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the To: line. 0 SEND Sends a message to another user or a set of users. Note that SEND and MAIL are synonymous, they can be used interchangeably. Vmail prompts for a list of message recipients. Separate multiple user address with either spaces, tabs, or commas. If a token in the address list starts with an at-sign character ( @ ), then that token is assumed to be the name of a file which is to be used as a distribution list. This file is scanned for a list of users to receive the message. Create a distribution list with any available text editor. Each line of the file should contain a single recipient address. If a filename parameter is specified, the text of the file is used as the message body. Otherwise, the user is prompted for the text of the reply message. During message entry the special tilde editing functions are available. See help subject 'Tilde_Functions' for more information. Syntax: SEND [file-name] 1 /BLIND_CC /BLIND_CC /BLIND_CC=string /NOBLIND_CC Most Mail Transport Agents accept a Bcc: line in the message header. The users named on this list receive a copy of the message, but Bcc: line is stripped before the message is delivered, thus other recipients (on the To: and CC: lines) are unaware of the Bcc: recipients. The first form causes Vmail to prompt for a Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc:) list. The second form adds the given string as the Bcc: list. The third form causes no Bcc: list to be added. 1 /CC_PROMPT Instructs Vmail to prompt for a 'Carbon Copy' list. The users named in this list will be sent a copy of the sent message. 1 /EDIT Invokes the text editor defined by the 'SET EDITOR' command to enter the body of the message. If no editor has been defined, then Vmail attempts to invoke the EDT+ editor (using the image name of 'edt'). The current setting of the default editor can be viewed with the 'SHOW EDITOR' command. To abort the SEND message, exit from the editor without creating an output file (e.g. 'QUIT', if using EDT+). 1 /PERSONAL_NAME Uses the supplied string as the personal name string for this message only. Specifying this qualifier overrides any existing personal name specification. 1 /SELF Appends the sender's name to the 'To' list for this message. This results in a copy of the sent message being returned to the sender. 1 /SUBJECT Specifies a subject line for the message. If this qualifier is supplied, no subsequent prompting for a subject line is done. If you wish to specify a subject line containing more than one word (i.e. including space or tab characters), enclose the subject in quotation marks ( " ). 1 Example The following command line : MAIL> SEND/EDIT/NOCC_PROMPT/SUBJECT="Space Monkeys!" will send a message with a subject line of 'Space Monkeys!'. The user selected text editor will be invoked to enter the text of the message, and no prompting for a 'Carbon Copy' list will be performed, regardless of the setting of the 'SET CC_PROMPT' option. 0 SET The SET functions allow modification of the operational settings of Vmail. 1 AUTO_RETRIEVE Sets whether Vmail automatically retrieves mail from the native system mailbox when Vmail is started or when the READ command with no folder argument is issued. Mail is automatically retrieved when an null command (return or new-line) is issued, also. Syntax: SET AUTO_RETRIEVE SET NOAUTO_RETRIEVE 1 AUTO_EDIT Enables or disables the automatic editing of messages when using the FORWARD, REPLY or SEND commands. Syntax: SET AUTO_EDIT [[NO]FORWARD,[NO]REPLY,[NO]SEND] SET NOAUTO_EDIT 1 AUTO_PAGE Sets whether Vmail automatically invokes the user defined PAGER utility to display messages. By default, Vmail directly handles the display of messages without invoking any paging utility. In order to 'SET AUTO_PAGE', you must have previously defined a paging utility (via the 'SET PAGER' command). Syntax: SET AUTO_PAGE SET NOAUTO_PAGE 1 AUTO_PURGE Sets whether Vmail automatically purges the deleted messages contained in the WASTEBASKET folder each time the program is terminated via the EXIT command. Syntax: SET AUTO_PURGE SET NOAUTO_PURGE 1 CC_PROMPT Sets whether Vmail automatically prompts for a carbon copy list when sending a message. By default, CC_PROMPT is disabled. 1 COPY_SELF Sets the default for whether Vmail automatically returns a copy of the message sent during the SEND, REPLY, and FORWARD commands. Syntax: SET [NO]COPY_SELF [[NO]SEND,[NO]REPLY,[NO]FORWARD] 1 EDITOR Sets the command string issued when the /EDIT qualifier is applied to any appropriate command. If no editor is specified, Vmail assumes that EDT+ is to be invoked, with a command string of 'edt'. Note that the editor command string may be specified in either VMS or native syntax, provided that the command string contains neither spaces nor slashes ( / ). If either of these is needed, enclose the entire editor command in quotes ( " ). Syntax: SET EDITOR [path-name] SET NOEDITOR 2 Examples The following are examples of valid SET EDITOR commands: MAIL> SET EDITOR [usr.ucb]vi MAIL> SET EDITOR "/usr/bin/edt" MAIL> SET EDITOR "[usr.bin]edt -nobackup" 1 FOLDER Selects the named folder as the current folder. If no folder name is specified, then the current folder is re-selected. This causes any messages that have been deleted from the current folder to be removed from any further directory listings of the folder. Syntax: SET FOLDER [folder-name] 2 /BEFORE Selects only messages with a 'Sent' date prior to the specified date and time. Specify the date string in the format 'dd-mmm-yyyy:hh:mm:ss'. If no date is specified, the current date is assumed. If no time is specified, then 12:00 midnight is assumed. Note that in the current version, a time/date string MUST be specified. In a future version, the omission of a time/date string will be interpreted as meaning midnight today. Additionally, the special strings of TODAY, TOMORROW, and YESTERDAY are not currently recognized. 2 /CC_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the Cc: line. 2 /FROM_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the From: line. 2 /MARKED Selects only messages which mark been marked (via the MARK command). 2 /NEW Selects the NEWMAIL folder. If new mail has arrived in the native system mailbox, they will be retrived and appended to the NEWMAIL folder. 2 /SINCE Selects only messages with a 'Sent' date after the specified date and time. Specify the date string in the format 'dd-mmm-yyyy:hh:mm:ss'. If no date is specified, the current date is assumed. If no time is specified, then 12:00 midnight is assumed. Note that in the current version, a time/date string MUST be specified. In a future version, the omission of a time/date string will be interpreted as meaning midnight today. Additionally, the special strings of TODAY, TOMORROW, and YESTERDAY are not currently recognized. 2 /SUBJECT_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the Subj: line. 2 /TO_SUBSTRING Selects only messages containing the specified string as part of the To: line. 1 MAIL_DIRECTORY (Not currently implemented.) 1 NATIVE_HEADERS Sets whether Vmail automatically includes native mail header lines in the body of each retrieved mail message. By default, native headers are not saved as part of each incoming message. 1 PAGER Sets the command string issued when the /PAGE qualifier is applied to any appropriate command. Note that the pager command string may be specified in either VMS or native syntax, provided that the command string contains neither spaces nor slashes ( / ). If either of these is needed, enclose the entire pager command in quotes ( " ). Syntax: SET PAGER path-name SET NOPAGER 2 Examples The following are examples of valid SET PAGER commands: MAIL> SET PAGER [usr.ucb]page MAIL> SET PAGER "/usr/bin/pg" MAIL> SET PAGER "[usr.local.bin]less -c" 1 PASSWORD (Not currently implemented.) 1 PERSONAL_NAME Sets the Personal Name string value. This string is appended to the end of the 'From:' field of all mail messages sent. When setting a personal name which contains spaces or tabs, enclose the name in double quotes ( " ). Syntax: SET PERSONAL_NAME personal-name SET NOPERSONAL_NAME 1 QUEUE Sets the name of the default print queue used with the PRINT command. All spooled messages will be written to this print queue unless overridden with the /QUEUE qualifier to PRINT. Syntax: SET QUEUE queue-name SET NOQUEUE 1 RECORD_FILE Sets the name of an external text file to be used to keep a record of all mail messages that you send. Each time you use Vmail to send a message, a copy of the message is written to this file. Syntax: SET RECORD_FILE file-name SET NORECORD_FILE 1 SIGNATURE Sets the name of an external text file to be used as a signature file. The signature file is automatically appended to each message sent via Vmail. Syntax: SET SIGNATURE file-name SET NOSIGNATURE 1 WASTEBASKET_NAME Sets the name of the folder used to collect deleted messages. Messages contained in this folder are purged from the mail file by EXITing from Vmail (provided AUTO_PURGE is in effect), or by issuing the PURGE command. Syntax: SET WASTEBASKET_NAME wastebasket-name 1 WRAP Sets the default method of handling long lines during message or directory display. If SET WRAP is in effect, long lines are 'wrapped' to continue on the next line of the display. If SET NOWRAP is in effect, long lines are truncated to fit on a single line of the display screen. Syntax: SET WRAP SET NOWRAP 0 SHELL Temporarily suspends Vmail while a copy of the native command shell is invoked to execute user commands. If any parameters are supplied, they are passed on to the invoked command proc- essor for possible execution. If no parameters are specified, then the command shell remains active until terminated by user command (typically the 'exit' command). The setting of the 'SHELL' environment variable is used as the name of the command shell under UNIX. If this variable is not set, then '/bin/sh' is used as the default. Note that SHELL and SPAWN are synonymous, they can be used interchangeably. 0 SHOW The SHOW functions display the current operational settings of Vmail. 1 ALL Displays the current setting of all Vmail operational parameters. Syntax: SHOW ALL 1 AUTO_RETRIEVE Shows whether Vmail automatically retrieves messages from the native mailbox. Syntax: SHOW AUTO_RETRIEVE 1 AUTO_EDIT Shows the current setting for whether Vmail automatically invokes the editor to send messages via the FORWARD, REPLY, or SEND commands. Syntax: SHOW AUTO_EDIT 1 AUTO_PAGE Shows whether Vmail automatically invokes the user defined PAGER utility to display messages. Syntax: SHOW AUTO_PAGE 1 AUTO_PURGE Shows whether Vmail automatically purges the deleted messages contained in the WASTEBASKET folder each time the program is terminated via the EXIT command. Syntax: SHOW AUTO_PURGE 1 CC_PROMPT Shows whether Vmail automatically prompts for a carbon copy list when sending a message. Syntax: SHOW CC_PROMPT 1 COPY_SELF Shows the current setting for whether Vmail automatically returns a copy of messages to the sender when the FORWARD, REPLY, or SEND commands are used. Syntax: SHOW COPY_SELF 1 EDITOR Displays the pathname of the default text editor invoked when the /EDIT qualifier is applied to any appropriate command. Syntax: SHOW EDITOR 1 FOLDER Displays the name of the currently selected mail folder. Syntax: SHOW FOLDER 1 MAIL_DIRECTORY (Not currently implemented.) Displays the pathname of the directory used as a root for all Mail related files. 1 NATIVE_HEADERS Shows whether Vmail automatically includes native mail header lines in the body of each retrieved mail message. By default, native headers are not saved as part of each incoming message. 1 NEW Shows the number of mail messages currently contained in the NEWMAIL folder. 1 PAGER Display the command string issued when the /PAGE qualifier is applied to any appropriate command. Syntax: SHOW PAGER 1 PERSONAL_NAME Displays the Personal Name string. This string is appended to the end of the 'From:' field of all mail messages sent. Syntax: SHOW PERSONAL_NAME 1 QUEUE Displays the name of the default print queue used with the PRINT command. Syntax: SHOW QUEUE 1 RECORD_FILE Displays the name of the currently selected 'record' file. Syntax: SHOW RECORD_FILE 1 SIGNATURE Displays the name of any currently selected signature file. Syntax: SHOW SIGNATURE 1 WASTEBASKET_NAME Displays the name of the folder used to collect deleted messages. Messages contained in this folder are purged from the mail file by EXITing from Vmail (provided AUTO_PURGE is in effect), or by issuing the PURGE command. Syntax: SHOW WASTEBASKET_NAME 1 WRAP Displays the default method of handling long lines during message or directory display. If SET WRAP is in effect, long lines are 'wrapped' to continue on the next line of the display. If SET NOWRAP is in effect, long lines are truncated to fit on a single line of the display screen. Syntax: SHOW WRAP 0 SPAWN Temporarily suspends Vmail while a copy of the native command shell is invoked to execute user commands. If any parameters are supplied, they are passed on to the invoked command proc- essor for possible execution. If no parameters are specified, then the command shell remains active until terminated by user command (typically the 'exit' command). The setting of the 'SHELL' environment variable is used as the name of the command shell under UNIX. If this variable is not set, then '/bin/sh' is used as the default. Note that SPAWN and SHELL are synonymous, they can be used interchangeably. 0 SUSPEND Suspends the Vmail process as if a had been struck. The Vmail process can be continued by issuing the 'fg' command. Note that some System V UNIX implementations do not suppport this type of job control. 0 Tilde_Functions During message entry several special editing functions are available. These functions are invoked by starting a data line with a tilde ( ~ ) character followed by another character which specifies the function to invoke. For functions that require one or more parameters, enter the parameter value(s) on the same line, following the command sequence. The recognized tilde command sequences and their corresponding functions are described in the following table. Tilde Sequence Parameter Function -------- --------- ----------------------------------- ~b name(s) (Not yet implemented). Add the given names to the Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc:) list. ~c name(s) Add the given names to the Carbon Copy (Cc:) list. ~d none Read the file 'dead.letter' from the user's HOME directory into the current message. ~e none Switch to /EDIT mode. This invokes the editor on the already entered text. ~f message list Read the named messages from the current folder into the message being sent. If no parameter is given, read in the current message. ~h none Edit each message header line. Each field is displayed and the user can alter the line using normal command line editing functions. ~m message list Read the named messages from the current folder into the message being sent, indented by one tab. If no parameter is given, read in the current message. ~p none Print out the message as entered thus far. ~q none Abort the current message, but save the message as entered thus far in the file 'dead.letter' in the user's HOME directory. ~r filename Read the given file into the current message. ~s string Replace the subject line with the given string. ~t name(s) Add the given names to the recipient (To:) list. ~v none Identical to ~e. ~w filename Write the message to the named file. ~! command Pass the given command to the shell for execution. ~| command Pipe the message through the given filter. If the filter terminates abnormally or produces no output, then the original message is retained. ~~ string Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single '~'. 0 UNMARK Unmarks a previously MARKed message. Messages which have been marked are displayed with an asterisk in the leftmost column of a directory listing. Marking a message allows you to highlight messages containing important information. Syntax: UNMARK [index-list] 1 index-list Supply the index of the message that you wish to UNMARK. Multiple messages may be UNMARKed by separating the message indices with commas. You may also specify a range of messages by separating the lower and upper bounds of the message index range with a hyphen ( - ). 1 /ALL Unmarks all currently selected messages. 0 WRITE Writes the current message to the named external text file (NOT to a Mail File). The file is created with the protection mask which was in effect when Vmail was started. (Refer to the description of the 'umask' function in your system documentation.) Note that WRITE and EXTRACT are synonymous, they can be used interchangeably. 1 /ALL Writes all selected messages to the specified file. Messages are separated by a form-feed character. 1 /APPEND Appends the messages to the end of the named output file. 1 /NOHEADER Writes the message without including any header information records (To:, CC:, From:, and Subject: lines are removed).