NAME

mail
- software tools mail facility


SYNOPSIS

mail [+r] [+e] [+lmlist] [addressee ... | all]


DESCRIPTION

Mail
is a tool designed to allow the user to send and receive mail to
fellow users of any system which supports the software tools shell.  It
operates in two modes:




1. Sending mail to other users; the addressees specified in
the command line and in any mailing list files specified are
validated.  If there were any valid users, the standard input is
read up to an end-of-file and then mailed to each valid user with
an appropriate postmark. (Note: if one wishes to terminate the mail
session without sending any mail, type a line consisting of only
the letter
q
[for quit] during the input of mail.)
Mailing list files are specified with
the
+l
switch in the command line.  The structure of the mailing
list files is described below.  The
+r
switch indicates to
mail
that the user wishes to be notified as the mail is posted to each
addressee ('posted' implying that the mail has been appended successfully to the
addressee's mail file).
The
+e
flag will cause the editor "ed" to be invoked, allowing the user
to perform complex mail composition.


2. Reading one's own mail; if no addressees have been specified in
the command line (explicitly or via mailing lists), then the
current mail is printed 22 lines at a time.
At the end of the file, the user is prompted concerning
saving of the mail after it has been displayed.



The mailing list files have a very simple structure: user names
separated by blanks and tabs, with as many users per line as
desired.  A pound sign (#) appearing anywhere on a line indicates
the start of a comment field, and the rest of the line is ignored
by mail.  This allows the user complete flexibility in commenting
her/his mailing lists for informational purposes.

Broadcast mailings are supported, also.  One must merely specify
all
as an addressee in the command line.


FILES

mymail
- file for storage of each users mail

mbox
- file for storage of new incoming mail

three temporary files are used by mail
("mt1", "mt2", "mts")


SEE ALSO


postmn
- a program which notifies user of existence of mail

The Unix command 'mail'


AUTHOR

Joe Sventek (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory)


BUGS/DEFICIENCIES