Usenet 1994 January/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicjanuary1994.iso/answers/elm/FAQ

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From: [e-mail] (Piero Serini)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: Elm Mail User Agent FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
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Date: 17 Dec 1993 01:49:43 +0100
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Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked
         Questions (and their answers) about the Elm Mail
     User  Agent.  It  should  be read by  anyone who
     wishes to post to the comp.mail.elm newsgroup.
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Archive-name: elm/FAQ
Last-modified: 1993/12/15
Version: 3.2


                        Frequently Asked Questions
                               Elm 2.4 [23]


                               Piero Serini
                        [e-mail]
                      [e-mail]

                        Last Update: Dec 15 1993
                        This FAQ's version:  3.2

This is an unofficial Frequently Asked Questions (with answers) list
about Elm. Syd Weinstein kindly checked this, but he is not responsible
for the errors in the answers, which are my fault, unless otherwise
specified.  I do NOT claim to be a member of the Elm Development Group.


0.0     Organization

    This FAQ is posted monthly, the 15th, on news.answers,
    comp.answers and comp.mail.elm.
    It is available by anonymous ftp from ghost.dsi.unimi.it
    [149.132.2.1]: ~ftp/pub/Elm/.
    It is also available upon mail request.
    A file containing instructions on how to buid and install
    Elm under Next in in ~ftp/pub/Elm/Next.Z.

    This FAQ is NOT reposted if modified, until the next issue
    date. I will modify the ftp file only.  I suggest using ftp
    to get the latest version of this document.

    This FAQ refers to latest patchlevel I put my hands on.
    Questions about a specific patchlevel are kept if
    of common interest. Actually, all relevant questions
    concerning PL 21 are kept int this file, as many users
    still have 21 installed.

        This FAQ consists of five parts:
        0.*     Organization.
        1.*     Operational Questions (and answers).
        2.*     Installation Questions (and answers).
    3.*    Filter Questions (and answers).
        This part is maintained by Jan Djarv ([e-mail])
    4.*    Bugs list.
        5.*     Archivers, what they archive, how to download.


    Here is an (incomplete) questions list, followed by an (incomplete)
    answers part. This list (and answers) are now divided into three
    major groups:
    - The "Operational" group is dedicated to those having any problem
      running Elm.  This part also contains a few general questions,
      like "What is Elm?"
    - The "Installation" group is dedicated to those who want to install
      Elm and don't succeed in.
    - The "Filter" group is dedicated to filter, a great utility
      which appears in the 70% of the users' questions.

    Please, mail me any comment, suggestion, correction
    to any of the addresses above, with Subject: Elm-FAQ
    Answers are from the "Elm montly posting" or from comp.mail.elm
    and proper credit is given before each answer.

1.0     Operational Questions

1.01    What is Elm?
1.02    Which is Elm current version?
1.03    Where can I find the distribution?
1.04    Where do I get the "Elm Reference Guide" and the other docs ?
1.05    How to get frm(1L) to only show new mail?
1.06    How do I get ELM to read a mailbox other than /usr/mail/<me> ?
1.07    How do I save a message without deleting it?
1.08    How do I attach a `signature' to the bottom of outgoing messages?
1.09    Why do I get the remote signature on replies to local mail?
1.10    How can I get elm to NOT expand the alias list on outgoing msgs?
1.11    How does one mark a message as urgent?
1.12    How can I get a line like "Quoting foo:" before a replied-to mail?
1.13    How do i customize the ">" sign ??
1.14    Can I tag uuecoded files in the order I want and then uudecode them?
1.15    Is there any way to bounce all the tagged messages with ONE command ?
1.16    Does ELM have MIME (metamail) support?
1.17    How not to include headers in outward bound mail?
1.18    Is it possible to save mail messages without the headers?
1.19    How do I upgrade my ELM aliases from 2.3 to 2.4PL23 ?
1.20    Elm seems to ignore HOME environment variable. Why?
1.21    Sometimes Elm (PL < 21) seems to join two messages in one. Why?
1.22    How can ELM be used for an automatic reply?
1.23    How to list your mail from the oldest to the newest?
1.24    How to use elmheaders file?
1.25    How to change the fullname in sent mail ?
1.26    "Alias too long" or string too long errors.
1.27    How to crypt mail in elm ?
1.28    8 bit characters configuration?
1.29    Sun mailtool attachments and elm?
1.30    How can I save outgoing mail ?
1.31    Can I get an automatic receipt when my message is actually read?
1.32    Get a copy of message(s) into the edit buffer when composing a reply?
1.33    How can I print in Elm ?
1.34    I don't have an "~/.elm/elmrc" file!
1.35    How can I change a configuration setting for all of my users?
1.36    What do `Priority, Expires and Action' headers mean?
1.37    What does the `Precedence' header mean?
1.38    How can I get a `Reply-To' header in all of my messages?
1.39    ti/te strings for the xterm in termcap are wrong.
1.40    Can I edit and forward without having the prefix (>) added
1.41    Can I take an addres from a mail and put it in the aliases list?
1.42    sendmail 565c+IDA + Elm = SEGV. Why ?
1.43    Can ELM use MH-style inboxes?
1.44    How can I enter a message that is in a folder into a message ?
1.45    How can I get a complete elmrc file ?

2.0    Installation Questions

2.01    On SCO Xenix, all mail is from user anonymous. Why?
2.02    Elm doesn't work on Next. Why?
2.03    Compiling with Microsoft UNIX C Compilers won't work. Why?
2.04    Various problems on Unix 286.
2.05    Configure won't run on HP-UX. Why?
2.06    Configure won't run on SCO XENIX 2.2.1. Why?
2.07    Will Elm work on SGI Indigo?
2.08    I have problems compiling elm2.4 on HP/Apollo
2.09    I have problems compiling elm2.4 on IBM AIX
2.10    Compiling elm 2.4 under NS 3.0
2.11    Elm sends 'empty mail' on 386BSD: why?
2.12    Why can't I get SGI to work for non ROOT?
2.13    I have problems p)rinting messages in 2.4PL20
2.14    Elm2.4 PL20 - 'x' key causes segmentation violation
2.15    readmsg:illegal option -- I. Why?
2.16    Forms don't work. Why?
2.17    ELM does not recognize VMS mail. Why?
2.18    Huge headers cause Memory Fault. Why?
2.19    Can I use elm for posting and replying to news?
2.20    Compile fails on lib/strftime.c [PL23].
2.21    Compile error on SGI Crimson.
2.22    Problem compiling elm on DEC Alpha, OSF/1 v.1.2
2.23    I can't build Elm 2.4PL23 on Sun 386i SunOS 4.0.2

3.0    Filter Questions
    This part is maintained by Jan Djarv ([e-mail])

3.01    What documentation exists for filter?
3.02    What do I need to get filter working?
3.03    How can I tell if my system understands .forward files?
3.04    What do I put in my .forward file?
3.05    What is the simples filter-rules file I can write to test filter?
3.06    How do I check my filter-rules for typos and other errors?
3.07    Why doesn't the output from filter -r match my filter-rules file?
3.08    Can I have 'or' in my filter-rules?
3.09    Can I make filter execute more than one rule for a message?
3.10    How do I do multiple actions for one rule?
3.11    What headers are available in the filter-rules?
3.12    How do I forward mail to an elm alias from filter?
3.13    Filter executes my script but the script doesn't work.
3.14    How do I capture the message fed to a script by execute/executec
3.15    Both execute and executec feeds the message as standard input to
3.16    What if I what to do something based on the contents of a message
3.17    How can I make filter operate on all messages in a folder?
3.18    Can I use filter to automatically answer my mail (like vacation)?
3.19    My filter doesn't recognize executec/matches.
3.20    Filter sometimes munges up my folders, or looses messages. Why?
3.21    Why doesn't elm mark mail I saved in a folder with filter as new (N)?
3.22    Why does filter join adjacent messages together?
3.23    What other mail filter programs exists?
3.24    554 "|/usr/local/bin/filter"... unknown mailer error


1.0    Operational Answers
---------------------------

1.01    What is Elm?

    From Elm documentation:
        Currently on Unix, there seems to be a preponderence
    of line-oriented software.  This is most unfortunate as most
    of the software on Unix tends to be pretty darn hard to use!
    I believe that there is more than a slight correlation between
    the two, and, since I was myself having problems using
    "mailx" with high-volume mail, I created a new mail system.

        In the lingo of the mail guru, Elm is a "User Agent" system,
        it's designed to run with "sendmail" or "/bin/rmail" or any
    other UNIX Mail Transport Agent (according to what's on your
    system) and is a full replacement of programs like "/bin/mail"
    and "mailx".  The system is more than just a single program,
    however, and includes programs like "frm" to list a 'table
    of contents' of your mail, "printmail" to quickly paginate mail
    files (to allow 'clean' printouts), and "autoreply", a system-
    wide daemon that can autoanswer mail for people while they're
    on vacation without having multiple copies spawned on the system.

1.02    Which is Elm current version?

    Elm current version is 2.4 PatchLevel (PL) 23.

1.03    Where can I find the distribution?

    There's a list of sites distributing Elm at the bottom of this
        file (4.*     Archivers, what they archive, how to download.).
    In addition, new releases will be posted to comp.sources.unix,
    patches will be posted to comp.sources.bugs.
    After patches have been proven and out for a while, they will
    be posted to comp.sources.unix.

    Elm portings or clones for DOS, Windows and OS/2 are available as
    listed below:

    DOS/WINDOWS:
    * Peter Churchyard ([e-mail]):
    Elm-PC, a version I ported, is available by anon ftp from
    lister.cc.ic.ac.uk:/pub/elm-pc.
    A Windows version is available, too, in: /pub/winelm.

        * Mike O'Connor ([e-mail]):
        There is a package called PC-Elm that's an imitation of Elm (i.e. it
        didn't come from Elm's source tree). It's available for anonymous FTP
        from oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/ka9q-tcpip/, but it's supposed to
        interoperate with UUPC and possibly other common PC UUCP mailers.

        * Russell Schulz ([e-mail]):
    Simtel has it available in the ka9q-tcpip directory as pcelm31.zip
    oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/ka9q-tcpip/pcelm31.zip
    wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/ka9q-tcpip/pcelm31.zip
    ftp.uu.net:/systems/ibmpc/msdos/simtel20/ka9q-tcpip/pcelm31.zip

    OS/2:
    * Richard j. Wyble ([e-mail]):
    Elm version 3.11 for OS/2 is available by anon ftp from
    ftp-os2.nmsu.edu:/pub/os2/2.x/network. The two files are
    elm23exe.zip and elm23src.zip.

1.04    Where do I get the "Elm Reference Guide" and the other docs ?

    * From the monthly posting:
    Elm has several documents (over 100 pages worth of doc)
    that were written to help users install, support and use Elm.
    These are in the doc directory of the source distribution.
    Contact your systems administrator for a copy of the documents.
    For those sites that do not have troff (either di-troff or
    o-troff) and do have postscript printers, dsinc (dsinc.dsi.com)
    has a copy of the docs already in postscript format available
    for anonymous uucp or ftp.

    * Adam Lasnik ([e-mail]):
    [about TEXT documentation]
    So, anyone who wants them, they're available for FTP on
    raven.alaska.edu in /pub/elmguidespl21.  The files are gzipped;
    if that's a problem I will replace them with compressed editions.

    * David W. Tamkin ([e-mail]):
    They're available for FTP on genesis.mcs.com in subdirectories
    of ~ftp/mcsnet.users/dattier/elmguides.

1.05    How to get frm(1L) to only show new mail?

    * Alan Thew ([e-mail]):
    Try the fromwho program which IMHO is better tham frm and
    allows you to type  "fromwho -n"  to show who has sent you
    new mail amd what the subject line is.
    Availabe from comp.sources.unix archives and needs an ANSI C compiler
    (but will build on Suns with "unproto" software).

    * Syd Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    Better answer:
        use nfrm, it will only show new mail.  nfrm is a link to frm.
        There are other command line options to show various restrictions
        see the frm(1) manual page.
        possible status limitations are new, unread and old or any combination
        of these.  typing frm -h yields:

    frm -- list from and subject lines of messages in mailbox or folder
    Usage: frm [-n] [-v] [-s {new|old|read}] [filename | username] ...

    option summary:
    -h      print this help message.
    -n      display the message number of each message printed.
    -Q      very quiet -- no output is produced.  This option allows shell
        scripts to check frm's return status without having output.
    -q      quiet -- only print summaries for each mailbox or folder.
    -S      summarize the number of messages in each mailbox or folder.
    -s    status only select messages with the specified status.
        'status' is one of "new", "old", "unread" (same as "old"),
        or "read".  The first letter need only be specified.
    -v      print a verbose header.

1.06    How do I get ELM to read a mailbox other than /usr/mail/<me> ?

    Elm uses the MAIL environment variable to read the correct
    mailbox.

1.07    How do I save a message without deleting it?

    C)opy it instead of s)aving.

1.08    How do I attach a `signature' to the bottom of outgoing messages?

    * Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    Create a file, say ".signature" in your home directory, with your
    signature.  Then edit your .elm/elmrc file so that it says:

    localsignature = ~/.signature
    remotesignature = ~/.signature
    sigdashes = ON

1.09    Why do I get the remote signature on replies to local mail?

        From the monthly posting:
        In Elm 2.4, any address with an ! or @ in it is considered
        remote, without those characters, its local.
        Any reply is qualified to prevent alias expansion.  If you had
        an alias in your private Elm aliases that matched the name of a
        user on your system, but that alias did not point to that user,
        there would be no way to reply to the message.  It would end up
        going to the alias name, not the user that mailed you.  To
        prevent this, Elm fully qualifies (adds the site name) to a
        reply address.  This makes the simplistic signature detector
        think that the message is 'remote'. This is not slated to
        change until 3.0.

1.10    How can I get elm to NOT expand the alias list on outgoing msgs?

        From the monthly posting:
    Problem is if a list has, say, 100 names in it then sending to
    the list expands every single one of the 100 names. I would like
    the message to have the "To" line = the name of the list itself
    and have the actual recipients' names not appear.
        You can't and don't want to. (and yet you can also) An alias is
        a mechanism of making Elm address a message to multiple
        people.  However, when the message gets to its destination, Elm
        also has to allow that person do a group reply.  If the message
        only has your local private elm alias in it, the group reply
        will try and go to that alias name.  Unfortunately, that name
        is meaningless to that other person (its private to both Elm
        and you).

        There are two solutions:

        The preferred if replies are desired:
                Have your mail administrator create a file include
                alias for you in your MTA (sendmail, et al).. This is
                usually of the type

        alias   :include:/some/path/to/a/file

        where the file would be in a place you control and you have write
    access to the file.  Then you can add/drop members of the list, and
        the mail just goes to the alias, and, someone sending to
        [e-mail] will be able to send to all members. (group
        reply works correctly)

        The less preferred method: (no group reply is possible)
                Send the message to yourself, with a bcc to the Elm
                alias.
        Of course, the Bcc: won't be expanded by the MTA internal to
        the message, so it won't appear in the message.

1.11    How does one mark a message as urgent?

    * David W. Tamkin ([e-mail]):
    Having an Action: header sets the recipient's A flag (if the recipient
    uses Elm); in 2.3 have a Priority: header set the U flag no matter what
    it said (even "Priority: none" or "junk" or "low").  In 2.4 there are
    certain precoded Priority: values that do not turn on the U flag
    [Can anyone supply a list?], but anything else will.

    * Jan Djarv <[e-mail]>:
    Normal or non-urgent (case independent) does not turn on the U flag.
    Also 'Importance: 2' turns on the U flag (exactly 2).
    I dont know if this is an old artifact. I have never seen any
    Importance header.

1.12    How can I get a line like "Quoting foo:" before a replied-to mail?

    Joshua A. Laff ([e-mail]):
    from $HOME/.elm/elmrc:
    # attribution string for replies ('%s' is the author of original
    # message)
    attribution = In our previous episode, %s said:

1.13    How do i customize the ">" sign ??

    Sven Guckes ([e-mail]):
    You can edit the "quote prefix" by editing the "elmrc"
    ($HOME/.elm/elmrc). Just change the value of the variable "prefix".

    # prefix sequence for indenting included message text
    prefix = >_

    Note:  The '_' stands for a <space>.

1.14    Can I tag uuecoded files in the order I want and then uudecode them?

    * Alan Edmonds ([e-mail]):
    I save all of the items into a single folder,
    order not important (yet).  Bring up elm on the single folder.
    Go to the options screen and select "Sort by Subject."  Go back
    to the main screen.  All of the items are (usually) in the
    proper order.  I can then tag related messages and save them
    (in order) to another folder.  I then run
    'uucat new_folder | uudecode' to decode the pieces.  Works great.
    I can go back to the original folder if something gets messed up.
    I don't have to trim the headers out of each part (uucat does this),
    and elm figures out the order for me.
    (Ask Alan Edmonds for uucat source.)

    * Steve Faiwiszewski ([e-mail]):
    UUdecode expects to decode a single uuencoded file. It
    knows nothing about multiple parts, and certainly has no knowledge
    of the correct sequencing.
    Here's what I do:  Typically, I receive a multipart uuencoded file
    with the subject line of each msg containing the part number, so I can
    get the parts ordered properly by telling Elm to sort by Msg
    Subject.  I then save all the parts to a folder, and run it through
    this program I found a long time ago, called unpack (source follows).
    The neat thing about this program, is that you can append many
    uuencoded files to the same folder, and unpack will do the right
    thing - as long as all the parts are ordered correctly, and the
    "begin" line of each part 1 contains a unique file name.
    Invoke it like this: "unpack < foldername"
    I guess tagging and piping should work with it too.
    (Ask Steve Faiwiszewski for unpack source.)

1.15    Is there any way to bounce all the tagged messages with ONE command ?

    Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    Save the following to a script in your personal bin directory,
    say `bounce':

        : use /bin/sh
        : ${ELMSTATE?} ${1?}
        sed -n -e 's/^S//p' $ELMSTATE | while read mssgno ; do
                echo "Bouncing message $mssgno to $@ . . ."
                readmsg -a $mssgno | rmail $@
        done

    When you run:  !bounce addr ...
    then all of the tagged messages will be bounced to the indicated
    address(es). If no messages are tagged, then the currently selected
    message will be bounced.

1.16    Does ELM have MIME (metamail) support?

    MIME allows for sending and receiving of Messages compliant
    to the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (RFC 1341).
    MIME provides a way to attach binary, graphic, audio,
    video, postscript and other files. MIME doesn't necessarily
    need graphics capabilities on your display, but its useful.

    If you have intalled Nathaniel Borenstein's metamail package for
    displaying MIME messages, elm can make use of it.  If you didn't
    have metamail installed you might want to obtain a copy of it.
    The most recent version is on thumper.bellcore.com [128.96.41.1].

    Compiling of elm even with MIME support enabled would not
    depend on the metamail package. But you would not be able to
    use nearly all of the MIME features as long as you don't have
    metamail installed. Metamail with its companion programs
    (mmencode) must be installed somewhere in the search path,
    usually /usr/local/bin.

    Andrew Cagney did a lot of work to use ELm with MIME. Send
    mail to [e-mail] for details.

1.17    How not to include headers in outward bound mail?

    Problem:
    all outward bound mail still includes the following lines,
    even if I have the "noheader = ON" line in my .elmrc:

    X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL21]
    MIME-Version: 1.0
    Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
    Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
    Content-Length: 67

    Syd Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    "noheader = ON" means when the message is copied into the buffer
    for a reply or forward.
    The "X-Mailer:" header is controlled at Configure time.  There
    is a compile time option to produce or not produce it.
    The three "Content-*" headers are always going to be produced by 2.4.

1.18    Is it possible to save mail messages without the headers?

    * Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    Use: !readmsg -n >filename
    If you want to save a few keystrokes, you can encapsulate this
    in a shell script to go in your personal bin directory.

    * Syd Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    Note that some of the newer features of readmsg are only
    available in later 2.4 releases

1.19    How do I upgrade my ELM aliases from 2.3 to 2.4PL23 ?

        Syd Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    All I did, was make sure 2.4 as installed, and then had each
    user run newalias and I ran newalias -g.  The aliases.text
    file is upwards compatible.  The old newalias converted
    aliases.text to aliases.data and aliases.hash the 2.4 newalias
    converts aliases.text to aliases, aliases.dir and aliases.pag.
    If you don't have those three new files, you didn't install
    2.4 correctly and are still running 2.3's newalias.

1.20    Elm seems to ignore HOME environment variable. Why?

        Syd Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    This is a feature.  Elm ignores $HOME, so that when su'd you read
    the right mail file.  Its a choice of one or the other and we chose
    to allow su over $HOME.

1.21    Sometimes Elm (PL < 21) seems to join two messages in one. Why?

        Syd Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    Early versions of Elm 2.4 had a problem with messages with bad content
    length headers. I'd update to a more recent version when 21 comes out
    in a bit.

    Compiler's Note: now PL 23 is out. I chose to report this Question
    as it is so a strange behaviour (mail still reads the mailbox
    correctly) a person can get mad about it :)

1.22    How can ELM be used for an automatic reply?

    Tim McNeil ([e-mail]):
    You need to install the "auto reply daemon" supplied with elm
        and then make use of the autoreply command.

1.23    How to list your mail from the oldest to the newest?

    Arnaud Girsch ([e-mail]):
    You can change the sortby= in your .elm/elmrc file, or change in menu
    (O)ption, and then (S)orting criteria .... It allows you to choose
    lots of different order .. and  you can choose whatever you want

1.24    How to use elmheaders file?

    Arnaud Girsch ([e-mail]):
    You only have to create a file named elmheaders, a text file
    where you put all the lines you want to be seen in the header !
    If you redefine an existing header, it'll take it's place.
    Example: if you want to redefine your Reply-To: header,
    just create the file with the first line:
        Reply-To: [e-mail]

1.25    How to change the fullname in sent mail ?

    1) use the "fullname" option;
    2) set the NAME environment variable.

    2) is useful if you want to change your name for a mail
    only, without editing your elmrc file.

    Note that you might not be able to change fulname at all.
    If your Elm is configured with DONT_ADD_FROM enabled
    (run `elm -v' to see if it is), then Elm is *not* adding the
    From: line.  The low-level mail transport is.
    If this is the case (and it commonly is) you'll have to ask your
    local administrator how to do it.  (If you have a `chfn' command
    that might do it.)

1.26    "Alias too long" or string too long errors.

    Errors are to be expected when trying to expand very long
    aliases, mailing lists, and so on. This error is due
    to the fixed lenght strings in Elm 2.xx, and will not
    be fixed until 3.xx is released.

1.27    How to crypt mail in elm ?

    Sven Guckes ([e-mail]):
    You need these two "keylines":
    [encode]
    and
    [clear]

    Just put your top secret messages in between these two lines.
    See the "ELM Reference Guide", "5. Special Outgoing Mail Processing"
    for an example.

    For all folks outside the US I might quote that little footnote:
    "Unfortunately, at many non-US sites, it's quite probable that
    you won't be able to use this feature since you won't have the
    crypt() library available due to licensing restrictions."

1.28    8 bit characters configuration?

    Hakan Sjogren ([e-mail])
    reports both the problem and the solution:

    PROBLEM: When receiving mails having swedish characters
    the display of these national characters on the terminal are wrong
    when using ELM.  If I add the line
    Content-type: text/plain charset=iso-8859-1
    into this received mail, ELM displays correctly.
    Since this is a normal situation I would assume ELM to display
    full 8bit characters if the mail bandwith is set to 8bit.

    SOLUTION: The solution to this problem was to set the environment
    variable LC_CTYPE=iso_8859_1 .

1.29    Sun mailtool attachments and elm?

    Kurt Swanson ([e-mail]):
    > Has anyone hacked elm to support the Sun attachment
    > style in the Openwindow's Mailtool?
    This is handled by metamail, not well, unfortunately,
    but handled that way in any case...

1.30    How can I save outgoing mail ?

    Set the following in your elmrc file:

    # save a copy of all outbound messages?
    copy = ON

    # save outbound messages by login name of sender/recipient even if the
    # associated folder doesn't already exist?
    forcename = OFF

    # save messages, incoming and outbound, by login name of
    # sender/recipient?
    savename = ON

    # where to save copies of outgoing mail to, default file is "=sent"
    sentmail = ~/Mail/Spedita/sent

1.31    Can I get an automatic receipt when my message is actually read?

    * Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    With Elm, you cannot.  Many people consider this an intrusion of
    privacy, not a feature.

1.32    Get a copy of message(s) into the edit buffer when composing a reply?

    * Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    Use the `readmsg' command.

1.33    How can I print in Elm ?

    * Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    First thing you need to do is change the default print command Elm
    gives you.  The compiled-in default of "cat %s | lp" is obsolete.
    Simply use "lp" (or whatever) as your print command.  This will
    pipe the message directly into the print command, and it will
    leave stdout/stderr of the print command attached to your terminal.
    That means that pass-through printing will work.  That means
    problems and error messages will be displayed.  Making this change
    might fix the problems you are having.  Even if it doesn't fix
    them, at least now you'll be able to see the error diagnostics
    rather than the mysterious `Printout failed' message.

1.34    I don't have an "~/.elm/elmrc" file!

    * Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    From the main Elm menu select o)ptions then >)-save.  Now you do.

1.35    How can I change a configuration setting for all of my users?

    * Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    By creating a global elmrc file.  Copy your personal elmrc file
    to $libdir/elm.rc, where $libdir is the Elm library directory
    that holds the help files and other such things.  Edit that file.
    The values it provides will override the compiled-in defaults.

1.36    What do `Priority, Expires and Action' headers mean?

    * Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    Not a whole hell of a lot.  These are Elm-isms.
    Priority: If you put a value in this header, *any* value other
        than `normal' or `non-urgent', then Elm will put a `U' on
        the index screen to note the message as urgent.
    Expires: You can specify an interval up to 8 weeks from now
        (e.g. `7 days').  When that date has been passed, Elm will
        put a `E' on the index screen to note the message as expired.
    Action: You can use this header to specify some action for the
        recipient to take, and Elm will do absolutely nothing with it.

1.37    What does the `Precedence' header mean?

    * Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    This is *not* an Elm-ism.  It is a sendmail-ism. :-)  It allows
    you to specify handling instructions for the mail transport.  If
    you have to ask this question -- you don't want to mess with it.

1.38    How can I get a `Reply-To' header in all of my messages?

    * Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    Create a file called ~/.elm/elmheaders that contains the single
    line:

    Reply-To: [e-mail]

    The contents of this file are slapped onto the end of the headers
    that Elm generates for an outgoing message.

1.39    ti/te strings for the xterm in termcap are wrong.

    * David W Sanderson ([e-mail]):
    Whoever wrote the default termcap and/or terminfo descriptions
    for xterm included in the ti/te strings the special escape sequences
    to make xterm switch between the normal and alternate screen buffers.
     These sequences are:

        \E[?47h        - use alternate screen buffer
        \E[?47l        - use normal screen buffer

    The elm code is just fine as it is.  If you change it so that it
    doesn't ever send ti/te, you'll just break elm for somebody else.
    Fix your termcap/terminfo definition instead.

    If this won't work,
    * Neil Weisenfeld ([e-mail]):
    change usetite in your .elmrc file to:
        usetite = OFF

1.40    Can I edit and forward without having the prefix (>) added
    to the mail body?

    Forward the mail, answering NO at the edit? question.
    Then, in the send menu, instead of s)ending it, e)dit it.

1.41    Can I take an addres from a mail and put it in the aliases list?

    David W. Tamkin ([e-mail]):

    Return to the index screen, make sure the pointer or bar is on a
    letter from that person, and press "a" twice.  The first "a" puts
    you into the alias subsystem and the second says to create an alias
    for the sender of the current letter.

1.42    sendmail 565c+IDA + Elm = SEGV. Why ?

    * Paul Pomes ([e-mail]):
    Either fix your Elm to use correct GMT offsets or apply the following
    patch from Mike Park <[e-mail]>.

    *** 5.11.0.16   1992/08/26 22:06:32
    --- arpadate.c  1993/03/10 21:38:23
    ***************
    *** 423,428 ****
    --- 423,440 ----
      #endif /* LOG */
            return(NULL);
        }
    +
    +    /*
    +     * Some buggy mailers (ie elm 2.4.p13) can produce huge incorrect
    +     * offsets.  Applying these offsets can cause the static array
    +     * used by gmtime to be overrun on a NeXT OS3.0 causing sendmail
    +     * to SEGV.
    +     * Limit offsets to be +- 24 hours.
    +     */
    +    if (h_offset < -24)
    +        h_offset = -24;
    +    if (h_offset > 24)
    +        h_offset = 24;

            /* is the year a leap year? */
            if ((tm.tm_year % 4 == 0) &&

1.43    Can ELM use MH-style inboxes?

    * Steve Simmons ([e-mail]):
    Elm does not currently do this.  It has been suggsted for Elm 3.0, but
    3.0 is off in the mists of the far future.

1.44    How can I enter a message that is in a folder into a message ?

    * Syd Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    Just use the readmsg command.  It is the external command that does
    the same thing as ~m, and it understands the current mailbox sort
    order, just like ~m.  From vi, I would put the cursor on the line
    I want to repalce with the message and say "!!readmsg".

1.45    How can I get a complete elmrc file ?

    From inside ELm, type 'o' (Options) then '>' (Save).
    This will create a complete elmrc file, with all options and
    lots of comments. Remember that a leading "#" on a line denotes
    a comment. Hence a line with leadin "###" is ALSO a comment.


2.0    Installation Answers
----------------------------

2.01    On SCO Xenix, all mail is from user anonymous. Why?

    From Elm README:
        On SCO Xenix, if you are all mail is from user anonymous,
    this is because the mail delivery agent should be
    /usr/lib/mail/execmail instead of /usr/bin/rmail or /bin/rmail.

2.02    Elm doesn't work on Next. Why?

    The complete NeXT document by [e-mail] is
    available via anon ftp from: yak.macc.wisc.edu [144.92.30.18]
    and via e-mail from me ([e-mail])

2.03    Compiling with Microsoft UNIX C Compilers won't work. Why?

    Thomas Bullinger ([e-mail]):
    On many systems with the Microsoft UNIX C Compilers (such as SCO),
    compiling with optimization breaks the code.  One symptom is
    that aliases do not work.
    On those machines do not compile any of Elm with optimizations.
    To accomplish that, set all occurences of "OPTIMZE" in the
    makefiles to "-Od" - then it works.

    Another possibility is to use gcc instead (my current version [PL23]
    is compiled with gcc [2.4.5] on SCO Unix [3.2.2] without
    modifications and runs perfectly).
2.04    Various problems on Unix 286.

    From Elm README:
        On some systems, especially those based on the AT&T Port to
    286's the -O flag of the compiler produces improper code causing
    segmentation violations.  If this happens, recompile the code without
    the -O flag.  This has been seen with Microport SysV/AT type systems.

        The Configuration script has been known to exceed the default
    stack size in Unix 286 sh's.  If Configure does not run correctly on
    this type of machine increase the stack size and rerun it.  On
    Microport SysV/AT machines, Configure might run correctly under ksh.
    Obtain ksh from Microport (available to current version owners without
    additional charge) and rerun Configure using it.

        Also on Microport SysV/AT Machines, the C compiler produces
    improper code for one of the arithmetic calls.  To fix this
    problem it is necessary to reduce the complexity of the
    statement, as reported by one of our testers here is the
    symptom and his patch.  Being this is a compiler bug on only
    one system, we make the information available, but not incorporate
    it in the main release.  Note, this may effect other areas
    of Elm, and in the future, Microport may even fix this problem.
    [Read the README file for the patches]

2.05    Configure won't run on HP-UX. Why?

        From Elm README:
        The Configuration script has been known to exercise an old bug
    on HP-UX's version of /bin/sh.  This shows up as part of the variable
    setting section showing up on your screen, and configure aborting
    on errors.  If this happens, try using ksh instead of sh as in:
        ksh Configure
    this will usually solve the problem.

2.06    Configure won't run on SCO XENIX 2.2.1. Why?

    Keith Brazington ([e-mail]):
    The solution is simple, up the stack size for /bin/sh. I used

    # mv /bin/sh /bin/sh.old
    # cp /bin/sh.old /bin/sh
    # fixhdr -F 8000 /bin/sh

    This may seem a bit over the top, but I put it back after!

2.07    Will Elm work on SGI Indigo?

        Syd Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    Well, I had no problems at all configuring and running Elm
    on my SGI Iris under 4.0.5.
    The biggie for SGI is to say Elm is a non ansi application,
    so you need to  list -cckr as an additional compilation flag.
    I took all the defaults from configure and it ran just fine.

2.08    I have problems compiling elm2.4 on HP/Apollo

    Gordon D. Berkley ([e-mail]):
    As of ELM2.4pl17, The system compiles cleanly (?) for Apollo.
    This patch level includes many "fixes" that I submitted to ensure
    this.  There *are* many compilor warnings, but they can safely
    be ignored.

    I would suggest discarding any config.sh from a previous Configure,
    though, as this will cause the corrections to NOT work.

2.09    I have problems compiling elm2.4 on IBM AIX

    * Steve Adams ([e-mail]):
    >I am trying to compile the latest and greatest version of ELM on my
    >RS/6000 running 3.2.? (exact level unclear). I received the following
    >error messages about setgid being redefined:
    >
    >"init.c", line 128.16: 1506-132 (S) Function getgid cannot be
    >redeclared.
    >"init.c", line 128.26: 1506-132 (S) Function getuid cannot be
    >redeclared.

    You can get around the problem defining -U__STR__ during 'Configure'
    It will be fixed in PL22.

    * From the monthly posting:
        This version of Elm 2.4 should not require any changes
        to the configure run to link under AIX 3.2 or newer.
    On IBM RISC 6000 AIX, prior to 3.2, you might get string
        function errors on the compile.
    The solution is to do the following:

    Look at /usr/lpp/bos/bsdsport. It tells you to add
    following lines to /etc/xlc.cfg:
        * BSD 4.3 c compiler stanza
        bsdcc:  use        = DEFLT
            crt        = /lib/crt0.o
            mcrt       = /lib/mcrt0.o
            gcrt       = /lib/gcrt0.o
            libraries  = -lbsd, -lc
            proflibs   = -L/lib/profiled,-L/usr/lib/profiled
            options    = -H512,-T512, -qlanglvl=extended, -qnoro,
                     -D_BSD, -D_NONSTD_TYPES, -D_NO

        And then link bsdcc to xlc and use bsdcc instead of cc.

    In addition, Elm should be linked with the curses lib
    and not termcap lib if /etc/termcap is not there.
    (You can always copy the termcap database to etc
    (or make a symlink)).

2.10    Compiling elm 2.4 under NS 3.0

    Paul Terray ([e-mail]):
    Check if fcntl.h is included somewhere (as it probably is).
    It contains most of the declaration the program are looking for.
    If not, include it. Then, just comment the include line for unistd.h.

2.11    Elm sends 'empty mail' on 386BSD: why?

    * From the monthly posting:
    On 386bsd, the shell that is shipped with the system,
    ash, does not work for sending messages within Elm.  Mail
    messages have headers only and no body.  Replacing the shell
    with bash (from GNU) seems to solve the problem.  The bash
    shell is in the 'etc' distribution of 386BSD.

    * If you upgrade to current version, this should happen no more.

2.12    Why can't I get SGI to work for non ROOT?

        From the monthly posting:
        SGI, at 3.3, doesn't have vfork, but instead a stub that does
        not work.  Make sure vfork is undef in the configuration.

2.13    I have problems p)rinting messages in 2.4PL20

    When I try and print a message, I get
    "readmsg: Cannot find start of selected message". Why?

    Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    Please take a look at the From_ line of the message you are trying to
    print.  I'm going to guess that it has a complex address, maybe with
    some quoting or special characters, or maybe a strange date syntax.

    The utilities in the current Elm release (including `readmsg') use
    very simpleminded routines to crack the From_ lines.  Some headers
    that Elm handles fine confuse these utilities.  One of the larger
    changes in the next Elm update will be moving all of the From_ and
    ~Date: processing out of the main Elm code and into the library, so
    the utilities (including `readmsg') will use the same algorithms as
    Elm.

    If you look at the From_ line and it doesn't seem particularly
    unusual, feel free to drop me a line.  Most of the changes to
    readmsg and Elm printing came from my hands, and I'm working on
    the aforementioned changes too.  If there is something else broke
    in there, I'd be glad to look at it.

2.14    Elm2.4 PL20 - 'x' key causes segmentation violation

    Nigel Metheringham ([e-mail]):
    in the file src/exitprog.c, there is a line
        char *msg, answer;
    replace it with
        char msg[SLEN], answer;

2.15    readmsg:illegal option -- I. Why?

    Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    It means you installed an updated `elm' binary but continue
    to use an old version of `readmsg'.

2.16    Forms don't work. Why?

    Syd Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    If you have `forms = ON' in elmrc, Forms is there, but
    the menu items to make a form require that user level
    be set off beginner.  (anything but 0 (beginner))

2.17    ELM does not recognize VMS mail. Why?

    * This is fixed in Pl22.

    * Syd Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    Looks to me like you found a bug in Elm's quote parsing routines.
    It just needs to be looked into.

    Reported from: Steen Hammerum ([e-mail])

2.18    Huge headers cause Memory Fault. Why?

    Syd Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    Any part of Elm at the 2.x level will abort if given a header line
    that is too long.  It uses fixed length buffers, and at some point
    they overflow, and none too gracefully.
    3.x will support dynamic strings to solve this problem.

2.19    Can I use elm for posting and replying to news?

        * Andreas Spiegl ([e-mail]):
        In order to set things up so elm is your mailer when you
        respond r or R to a news article in rn or trn, define an
        environment variable RNINIT that points to an initialization
        file for rn/trn. E.g. .rnrc
        Then put the following line in this file (.rnrc):
        -EMAILPOSTER="elm -i %h -s \"Re: %S\" %t"
        This is from now on telling rn to start elm with the appropriate
        parameters whenever you reply to an article and works great.
        But:  --> This is not for followup postings on the usenet! <--
        If you want to use elm in order to post article, you'd need a
        line with -ENEWSPOSTER instead of -EMAILPOSTER. Then you would
        tell elm (once it was evoked by rn/trn) that you want to send
        this to [e-mail],
        for example use "[e-mail]". This will post
        your email message to the usenet.
        This is not very convenient though, as you have to convert the
        address manually. Unless you write a nice script for it, of course.
        Be sure to send me a copy if you do. :-)

        * Mike O'Connor ([e-mail]):
        Of course, the DEC gateway allows one to gateway email to Usenet with
        email addresses of the following format:
        [e-mail]
        and has the additional advantage that they carry a LOT of the regional
        newsgroups.
        I still think piping it to sendmail with a macro for R is the way to
        go.  This allows you to use the mailer of your choice, be it elm or
        pine or Berkeley Mail or Z-Mail or whatever.  This gets it into your
        /usr/spool)/mail or /usr/mail or /var/mail or wherever.

2.20    Compile fails on lib/strftime.c [PL23].

    * Chip Rosenthal ([e-mail]):
    A bug was introduced at PL23 that causes the compile to fail on
    pre-ANSI systems.  Change line 114 from "# define P_(x) /**/"
    to "# define P_(x) ()".

2.21    Compile error on SGI Crimson.

    Error:
        cc  -O -I../hdrs    -c opt_utils.c
    accom: Warning 294: opt_utils.c, line 171:
    Function getpwuid has prototyped and non-prototyped declarations.
    Default promotion of non-prototype form of argument 1 does not
    match prototype:
    prototype:  unsigned short is different from actual:  int

    * Spencer Sun ([e-mail]):
    in Configure, tell it to use the -cckr flag for cc.

2.22    Problem compiling elm on DEC Alpha, OSF/1 v.1.2

    Error:
    getarpdate.c, line 110: redeclaration of 'timezone';

    * Eiji Hirai ([e-mail]):
    This is fixed in elm 2.4p23 ; I think By the way, you
    should most definitely upgrade to DEC OSF/1 1.3.
    It fixes a tremendous number of bugs from 1.2.  Do it NOW!  :-)

2.23    I can't build Elm 2.4PL23 on Sun 386i SunOS 4.0.2

    * Sydney Weinstein ([e-mail]):
    known bug, will be fixed in Patch 24, but its an easy one:
    in lib/strftime.c, there is a bug in the prototyping macro, it
    currently reads:
    #if ANSI_C
    # define P_(x) x
    #else
    # define P_(x) /**/
    # define const  /**/
    #endif

    and the relevant line needs to read
    # define P_(x) (/**/)

    thats it.


3.0    Filter Answers
----------------------

    This part is maintained by Jan Djarv ([e-mail])

3.01    What documentation exists for filter?

    Besides the man-page (which is rather brief) there is the
    `Elm Filter System Guide' (doc/Filter.guid in the elm distribution).
    A PostScript version is available on dsinc.dsi.com.

3.02    What do I need to get filter working?

    You need a MTA (Mail Transport Agent) that reads .forward files
    AND let's you mail to a program.

    A .forward file is put in your home directory, where it is read
    by your MTA. It is here you tell your MTA to pipe the messages
    to filter instead of putting it in your mailbox.

3.03    How can I tell if my system understands .forward files?

    This usually works:
    Make a .forward file in your home directory with the following
    contents:

    \userid, "|/bin/cat - > /your/home/directory/forward.test 2>&1"

    where userid is your username and /your/home/directory is the
    full path to your home directory. The \ is there to avoid
    infinite recursion (i.e. if it wasn't there, the MTA would read
    your .forward again, and see userid a second time, and read your
    .forward again and on and on ...)

    Then mail yourself a message. If all goes well you should have
    1. A message in your incoming mailbox.
    2. A file forward.test that contains the same message as in 1.

    If you get 1 but not 2, it is possible that your MTA doesn't
    support mailing to programs. Take it up with your system
    administrator.  It might also be the case that your MTA has another
    syntax for mailing to programs.

3.04    What do I put in my .forward file?

    "|/full/path/to/filter -vo /some/unique/file"

    (note the placements of the quotes, this is for sendmail at least,
    there are possibly other MTA:s out there that want's it different.
    Try finding a manual if the above doesn't work).

    Always use the full path to filter. Your MTA probably has a
    different PATH than the one you have.

    Also you should personalize your line by for instance
    redirect the errors of filter (that's what -o does, -v just makes
    the errors a bit more verbose) to a file that is unique on
    your system. /tmp/filter.userid (userid == your user name) usually
    does it.

    * Syd Weinstein ([e-mail])
    explains why your line should be personalized:

    Its not a bug, but a feature of sendmail. Sendmail prevents duplicate
    deliveries to addresses, so a message sent to "a, b, a, b, c"
    would be delivered to "a, b, c", but only one copy to a and b.
    Sendmail does this by sorting and 'uniq'ing the list of addresses.
    If two people's filter invocations in the .forward file match,
    sendmail will gladly coallese these down to one as a duplicate
    delivery address, and the result is exactly what you describe.

    Just get everyone to make their .forward line personal (add a unique
    -o file perhaps) and all will work ok.

    * John Walder ([e-mail] ):

    If you have the source code for sendmail, try the following patch to
    the sameaddr() function in the file src/parseaddr.c.  It still
    eliminates duplicate recipients but not duplicate programs (filters).
    This solution is more elegant than continually fixing .forward files.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------

    *** parseaddr.c-    Tue May  4 10:55:42 1993
    --- parseaddr.c    Tue May  4 11:42:52 1993
    ***************
    *** 1525,1530 ****
    --- 1525,1538 ----
        if (a->q_mailer != b->q_mailer)
            return (FALSE);

    +    /* -- 05/04/93 jdw  LOCAL CHANGE
    +        Allow recipients to forward to the same program/filter!
    +        Have same mailer, so check for delivery to a program
    +    */
    +    /* fprintf(stderr, "sameaddr(%s,%s)\n", a->q_user, b->q_user); */
    +     if (a->q_mailer == ProgMailer)
    +         return (FALSE);
    +    /* -- End LOCAL CHANGE */
    +
        /* if the user isn't the same, we can drop out */
        if (strcasecmp(a->q_user, b->q_user))
            return (FALSE);

3.05    What is the simples filter-rules file I can write to test filter?

    Well, the simplest is:

    always leave

    which tells filter that it should always put the messages into your
    default mailbox.
    A more interesting example would be:

    if (subject contains "filter-test") then save "~/filter-folder"

    which tells filter to save all messages with a Subject: field that
    contains filter-test into the file filter-folder in your home
    directory.
    All other messages will be put into your normal incoming mailbox,
    since that is filters default rule if no other match.
    You can then look at the messages in filter-folder with elm
    (elm -f ~/filter-folder).

3.06    How do I check my filter-rules for typos and other errors?

    Run 'filter -r'. See also the next question.

3.07    Why doesn't the output from filter -r match my filter-rules file?

    Filter reads the rules and converts them to an internal format. When
    it writes them out again, it writes them in a canonical format.

    This is due to the fact that filter has a loose input syntax.

    Each rule is turned into an 'if (...) then ...'.

    The following words are translated:

    contains    becomes        =
    &&        becomes        and
    then        becomes        ?
    matches        becomes        ~

3.08    Can I have 'or' in my filter-rules?

    No, filter can't deal with that. Or is implemented by writing another
    rule below the one you want to 'or' with.

3.09    Can I make filter execute more than one rule for a message?

    No. As soon filter find's one applicable rule, it executes that one
    and exits.

3.10    How do I do multiple actions for one rule?

    You can't do that directly in the filter-rules file. You have to
    write a shell script or program that does what you want, and then call
    it with the execute or executec action.

3.11    What headers are available in the filter-rules?

    From, To, and Subject.

    If you answered yes to Configure when it asked "Does your site
    receive e-mail with valid "Reply-To:" and "From:" fields?", the
    from field will be the From: header, or the Reply-To: header if
    one is available (Reply-To: supersedes From:).

    If you answered no, the from line is the From_ header.

        The to field is the concatenation of the To:, Apparently-To:
    and the Cc: headers.

3.12    How do I forward mail to an elm alias from filter?

    Let's say you want to do

    if (subject = hello) forward "mail-alias"

    where mail-alias is an alias you have defined in elm.
    The sad part is that filter doesn't know about elm aliases.
    You have to do something like this:

    if (subject = hello) executec "/full/path/to/elm -s '%s' mail-alias"

3.13    Filter executes my script but the script doesn't work.
    It does work if I run it prom my shell prompt. Why?

    Never assume that the script filter executes has the same PATH that
    you have when logged in.

    Always set the PATH explicitly at the beginning of your script.

3.14    How do I capture the message fed to a script by execute/executec
    for later processing?

    At the start of your script:

    /bin/cat - > /tmp/mail$$

    Then you can grep, and examine /tmp/mail$$ as you would an ordinary
    file. Don't forget to remove /tmp/mail$$ if you don't need it
    afterwards.

3.15    Both execute and executec feeds the message as standard input to
    the script. But what if I don't need it?

    Just ignore it.

3.16    What if I what to do something based on the contents of a message
    (i.e not the headers), or based on some header not available in filter?

    Feed the message to a script using execute/executec, save it
    and do your stuff in the script.

3.17    How can I make filter operate on all messages in a folder?

    You can't directly, but you can make a little script that does the job:

    #!/bin/sh

    frm -n $1 |
    while read no rest
    do
        no=`echo $no|sed 's/[^0-9]//g'`
        readmsg -h $no | filter -vo /what/usually/goes/here
    done


    Start the script with the folder name as argument.
    NOTE: this script is an example, and doesn't work on empty folders.
    If your filter rules try and put something into the folder the
    script  is currently operating on, disaster occurs.

3.18    Can I use filter to automatically answer my mail (like vacation)?

    If you are on vacation you might do something like this:
    In your filter-rules:

    always executec "/path/to/vac.script %s %r"

    In vac.script:
    --
    #!/bin/sh
    PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/ucb:/usr/local/bin
    export PATH # Make sure that the PATH above includes elm
    elm -s "Re: $1" $2 <<EOM

    Hi.

    I got your message about "$1". Im not in now but will get
    back to you as soon as I'm back.

    EOM
    --

    You can also execute "vacation" if you have it.

3.19    My filter doesn't recognize executec/matches.

    Executec and matches was added in Elm 2.4 PL11.
    Try getting a newer Elm.

3.20    Filter sometimes munges up my folders, or looses messages. Why?

    If two instances of filter are running at the same time, and are
    operating on the same folder, you get this effect. Filter doesn't
    lock your private folders (i.e not incoming folder), so the two
    instances will never know that there is someone else operating on
    the same folder.

    This usually occurs if you are receiving mail on more than one
    machine, and your home directory is shared (via NFS, for instance)
    between the machines AND you manipulate your folders from both
    machines.

    The solution is usually to forward all your mail to one machine and
    run filter on that single machine.

3.21    Why doesn't elm mark mail I saved in a folder with filter as new (N)?

    * Elm does only mark new messages as new in your incoming folder.
    Sometimes you want it that way, sometimes you don't.
    If you are sure you want new messages to be marked as such in
    any folder, you need to edit the source for Elm, and recompile.

    Search for these lines in src/newmbox.c:
        if(folder_type == SPOOL)
          current_header->status = VISIBLE | NEW | UNREAD;
        else
          current_header->status = VISIBLE;

    and change them to:
        current_header->status = VISIBLE | NEW | UNREAD;

    * Jennifer Myers ([e-mail]):
    You should also modify the code for 'frm' and 'nfrm', so that those
    utilities will recognize new mail in the users's mail folders.
    In utils/from.c, the following code appears twice:

    if (user_mailbox)
        status = NEW_MSG;
    else
        status = READ_MSG;

    Change both occurrences of the above lines to:

    /* if no Status header, assume NEW_MSG */
    status = NEW_MSG;

    * You can also mail [e-mail] for his setstaus
    source.

    * William Pemberton ([e-mail]) also wrote
    a set of patches to do this.
3.22    Why does filter join adjacent messages together?

    * Aidan M Corey ([e-mail]):
    The first line in a piece of mail is a From_ line; this is used by
    Elm to tell where one message in the mailbox ends and a new one
    starts.  Unfortunately, on some systems this line is lost.  If
    the first message in the mailbox went through filter, Elm will refuse
    to run, saying that the mailbox is corrupt.  If a filtered message
    follows another message, Elm will interpret them as a single message.

    A patch for this is to have a .forward containing

    "|/full/path/to/mailkludge"

    where mailkludge is a world-executable file containing

    #!/bin/sh
    (echo From fubar `date`;cat) | /full/path/to/filter
    exit 0

3.23    What other mail filter programs exists?

    Filter is a very simple program and has limitations.
    If you have something complicated you want to do,
    and it is difficult to do with Filter, you should check out the
    more powerful alternatives: deliver, procmail or mailagent.

    More info on these can be found in the UNIX Email Software Survey FAQ
    (see news.answers or comp.mail.misc).

3.24    554 "|/usr/local/bin/filter"... unknown mailer error

    This happens if your system administrator disabled the pipe
    inside sendmail. It is due to a security hole in sendmail.
    Check CERT advisories to know more on this.


4.0    Bugs list

    This list is included for completeness in the ftp version only.
    please, ftp to ghost.dsi.unimi.it as stated at the beginning
    of this FAQ to get it.

    You can get it via a mail server,too:
    send a mail to [e-mail], with Subject: command
    and "@SH elmbugs <your email addr>" as the body.

5.0     Archivers

    This is the list of Internet and UUCP sites distributing
    the latest version of Elm, from the Elm monthly posting.

5.0.1   The following sites have agreed to make Elm available
    via anonymous ftp.

    Site            Contact

    In the US/Canada:
    wuarchive.wustl.edu    [e-mail] (Chris Myers)
        (128.252.135.4)
    /mirrors/elm

    ftp.uu.net
    (137.39.1.9, 192.48.96.9)
    /networking/mail/elm

    In Europe:
    ftp.cs.ruu.nl        Edwin Kremer, [e-mail]
    (131.211.80.17)
    /pub/ELM-2.4

    ftp.th-darmstadt.de    [e-mail]
    (130.83.55.75)
    /pub/networking/mail/elm

    In the UK:
    uk.ac.soton.ecs        [e-mail] (bitnet)
    (152.78.64.201)            [e-mail] (JANET)

    ftp.demon.co.uk        Cliff Stanford, [e-mail]
    (158.152.1.65)
    /pub/unix/mail/elm

        src.doc.ic.ac.uk    [e-mail]
        (146.169.2.10)
        /computing/mail/elm

        In Australia:
        ftp.adelaide.edu.au     Mark Prior, [e-mail]
        (129.127.40.3)
    /pub/mailers

    In Taiwan:
    NCTUCCCA.edu.tw        Huang, Chih-Hsien [e-mail]
    (140.111.1.10 or 192.83.166.10)
    /packages/mail/elm

5.0.2    The following sites have agreed to make Elm available
    via anonymous uucp:

        Site                    Contact

    uunet            Elm is /networking/mail/elm

    dsinc            Syd Weinstein
                [e-mail], dsinc!syd
                note: anon uucp info changed 12/16/91
                For further info, send an e-mail
                message to [e-mail] stating:
                send anon how-to dir


    stanton            Steven P. Donegan
                [e-mail], stanton!donegan
                714-894-2246 uucp - nuucp no word
                Elm is /u/public/elm2.3.tar.Z

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*** END of Elm FAQ *** This file has not been truncated

--
Piero Serini                                 Computer Science Dept.
<[e-mail]>          Univ. Statale - Milano - ITALY