dillon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon) (12/22/85)
Thank you all for your bug reports and everything, here is, what I
hope to be, the final v1 dmail with all the bug fixes. It comes in four
parts. DMAIL WORKS ON 4.2 AND 4.3 SYSTEMS. I cannot guarentee it will
work on other systems, though the code should be easy to port.
Please make sure you get all four parts. Do not mix this source
with the older version.
-Matt
#-----cut here-----cut here-----cut here-----cut here-----
#! /bin/sh
# This is a shell archive, meaning:
# 1. Remove everything above the #! /bin/sh line.
# 2. Save the resulting text in a file.
# 3. Execute the file with /bin/sh (not csh) to create the files:
# README
# dmail.1
# dmail.help
# nroff.out
# This archive created: Sun Dec 22 12:29:41 1985
export PATH; PATH=/bin:$PATH
echo shar: extracting "'README'" '(2288 characters)'
if test -f 'README'
then
echo shar: will not over-write existing file "'README'"
else
cat << \!Funky!Stuff! > 'README'
README FILE FOR DMAIL v1.01 distribution date 17 December 1985
Read Makefile for compiling and installation procedures.
Dmail compiles fine on UNIX BSD 4.2/4.3. A man page is coming soon,
though every command as a full help page (online from Dmail).
AN EXAMPLE OF A .DMAILRC FILE: (happens to be mine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
alias normal "setlist -s 18 From 38 Subject 10 To 0 Cc 0 Date"
alias from "setlist -s 66 From; list; normal"
alias me "select To dillon , Cc dillon"
alias bugs "select To root staff manag , Cc staff manag root"
alias trek "select To trek , Cc trek"
alias notme "select -s To !dillon; resel -s Cc !dillon; resel From !dillon"
alias hack "select To hacker , Cc hacker"
alias page set page more
alias nopage unset page
alias k tag
alias kn "tag ; next"
alias spool "g /usr/spool/mail/dillon ~/Dmail/mbox"
alias keep "g ~/Dmail/keep"
alias mbox "g ~/Dmail/mbox"
alias q "select -s all; write ~/Dmail/keep -s tag; delete -s tag; quit"
alias g "select -s all; write ~/Dmail/keep -s tag; delete -s tag; qswi"
set amiga "decwrl!pyramid!amiga!support"
set header ~/.mailheader
set ask
normal
cd ~/Dmail
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the above example, I have created a Dmail directory to hold all my
folders. Each folder will be a file containing multiple messages, fully
compatible with /usr/spool/ and mbox.
my dmail alias is this:
alias dmail '\dmail -O -l ~/Dmail/.dmailrc -o ~/Dmail/mbox -F Cc -F Date'
NOTE: you don't need to alias dmail to anything. without any arguments,
it acts like /bin/Mail getting your mail from your spool, and placing
read mail on quit to mbox in your home directory. I use -O so dmail
gives me a command prompt even if there is no mail, and the -F options
tell dmail to load those subjects into memory automatically (because I'm
going to select on them immediately anyway). If a field which you select
on is not in memory, dmail must go to the mail file to find the field.
This is transparent.
GOOD LUCK!
-Matt
dillon@ucb-vax.berkeley.edu
...!ucbvax!dillon
!Funky!Stuff!
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then
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else
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.TH DMAIL 1 "17 December 1985"
.UC
.SH NAME
dmail \- an original mail like interface for mail
.SH SYNOPSIS
dmail -v -O -f [fromfile] -o [tofile] -l rcfile -L -F [field] -F [field]...
.PP
dmail user user user user...
.br
.SH GENERAL
.I Dmail
is a program which hopefully simplifies reading and organizing your mail.
It was designed to overcome several gripes people had over other mailers.
.I Dmail
uses the /usr/spool format for any folder's you create. To simply matters
even more, it was partially modeled on standard Mail in terms of writing to
your 'mbox' and getting items from your 'spool', at least as default
parameters. About the only other similarity between the two programs is
in the 'type', 'quit', and 'exit' commands of
.IR dmail .
.I Dmail keeps multiple messages per file, fully compatible with standard
mail (thus folders are files rather than directories).
.PP
.I Dmail
is not a glorified
.IR Mail ,
however. Though most other mailers have folders, you are usually required
to read your mail in the order it comes in. For somebody who is on three
high-volume mailing lists, it can be rather difficult.
.I Dmail
provides a mechanism in which you can separate your mail by any partial string
in any Field without having to create a folder. The
.I select
command is usually instantanious, and with aliases, you can switch between
mailing lists, personal mail, or anything you wish at a keystroke. Whenever
you
.I select
on something, you get a reduced list (as if the other messages didn't exist),
and may execute such things as 'delete all' on it without effecting other
mail. It serves to allow you to read each mailing list (or whatever) one
at a time.
.PP
Mail-headers are a problem for many people, especially those logging in over
300 or 1200 baud lines. In many cases, the header is larger than the message;
in any case, they can be a nuisances.
.I Dmail
will not print any fields you do not want printed. This seems to be a better
mechanism than Mail, which allows you to exclude certain headers. In
.IR dmail ,
you specify what to include. To see the entire header, you use the
.I header
command from
.I dmail.
.PP
Apart from that,
.I dmail
gives you set variables, aliases, folder's, and is generally faster than
other mail programs.
.SH OPTIONS
.I Dmail
may be executed with several options, putting it in one of two modes. Firstly,
when executed with a user-name list,
.I dmail
will put you into the editor setting up the To: field properly and allowing you
to enter a letter which would then be sent off. Secondly, if no user-list is
given, dmail will attempt to read mail from your spool file (or from file), and
put you into command mode. If the mail file is empty or does not exist, you
will be told that you have no mail, and control will be returned to your shell.
The editor is specified by the enviroment variable VISUAL (Default vi).
.PP
dmail -O -v -f [fromfile] -o [tofile] -l rcfile -L -F [field] -F [field]...
.TP
.B \-O
places
.I dmail
in interactive mode, even if there is no mail to read.
.TP
.B \-v
Places sendmail in verbose mode when you mail,
reply, or forward a message. (sets the verbose variable)
.TP
.B \-f
Specify where mail should be taken from. The default
is /usr/spool/mail/$USER. This option without a filename specifies that
mail should be taken from $HOME/mbox. Otherwise, the specified filename
becomes the fromfile. This means that by specifying just the -f option and
not the -o option will cause both the infile and outfile to be $HOME/mbox
.TP
.B \-o
Specify where 'read' mail will be written out to. The default
is $HOME/mbox. This option without a filename specifies that the mail
should be placed in $HOME/.mbox . Otherwise, the specified filename becomes
the outfile. Additionally, if both -f and -o are specified without filenames,
both the fromfile and the outfile will be set to $HOME/.mbox
.TP
.B \-l
Specify the RC file (default is $HOME/.dmailrc). The RC file consists of a
list of
.I dmail
commands, as if they were typed in.
.TP
.B \-L
Disables sourcing of any RC files
.TP
.B \-F
This option tells
.I dmail
to include the given field on initial mail load. Normally, only the From:,
To:, and Subject: fields are initially loaded. When you specify other fields,
.I dmail
must scan your fromfile again. When you have large amounts of mail (+50000
bytes), this can take a couple of seconds. The -F option allows you to
specify a field to be loaded in addition to the defaults listed above. You
may specify multiple -F field options. This is only a convenience feature,
normally you don't have to worry about it. Some people, however, have spool
files of several hundred thousand bytes and would use this option to prevent
delays later on.
.PP
.SH INTERRUPTS
.I dmail
handles the INTR character. You may use it to break out of listings, types,
or anything else without worry of destroying something.
.SH COMMAND OVERVIEW
.PP
The basic commands for
.I dmail
are as follows (There are, of course, many commands, these are just a few):
.I list
.I type
.I header
.I delete
.I next
.I select
.I quit
.I exit
.I alias
.I unalias
.I set
.I unset
and
.I mail
.PP
You may abbrieviate any command you wish. It is suggested that you do not
abbreviate commands in your rc file (default .dmailrc), as any new commands
added in later versions may change something. Using full command names in
your rc file will keep things compatible.
.PP
For many commands (e.g. delete), you may specify a message list. You can
give numerical ranges (1-4 6-9), number lists (1 2 3 6), or any of several
reserved words, such as 'all'. See 'help keywords' from dmail for a
complete list. All lists apply only to the currently selected messages.
.PP
.I list
displays parts of the headers of messages, one message per line, for all
messages currently selected. You can set the output format with the
.I setlist
command.
.PP
.I type
prints the message text of a message. By the way, only header
fields specified by the
.I setlist
command will be printed (default- From: To: Subject:), which is useful.
.PP
.I header
prints out the entire header of a message.
.PP
.I delete
deletes a message or message list (you can say 'delete all' to delete all
messages currently selected).
.PP
.I next
goes to the next message and type's or header's it, depending on what last was
done (type or header).
.PP
.I select
selects what you want to look at. You can say 'select all', to select all the
messages, or selects of the form:
.TP
select Field match match match , Field match match ....
.PP
where Field is From:, To:, or any field you wish (you can abbreviate the
fields.... Fro To, etc...). match is a string which you are attempting to
match in the Field. If a match is found, that message will become selected.
Thus, you can select all your personal mail with:
.TP
select Cc myname , To myname
.PP
Use the on-line help for more information on the
.I select
or any other command.
.PP
.I quit
from
.I dmail
please. Any unread messages stay in your spool (or fromfile), any read
messages are placed in your mail-box, any deleted messages are deleted.
.PP
.I exit
from
.I dmail
please. Nothing is written or altered, exit without changing anything.
.I alias
is used to alias commands to other commands, or command sequences. For
instance, you can alias 'me' to select all personal mail:
.TP
alias me "select Cc myname , To myname"
.PP
you can alias a sequence of commands:
.TP
alias q "select all ; pre all ; quit"
.PP
The above would unread any read mail and quit (therefore, any mail not deleted
will end up staying in your spool file). You can also
.I unalias
aliases.
.PP
.I set
a variable to a string. You can also
.I unset
a variable. Several variables have special meaning, use
.I help set
from
.I dmail
for a full explanation.
.PP
.I mail
and
.I reply
may be used to mail out or reply to messages.
.SH FILES
.nf
\&.dmailrc In your home directory or whatever directory you specify
\&dmail.help dmail help file (external version only)
\&/tmp/dmtXXXX temporary vi file
\&# copy of message you are current replying to
.fi
.SH BUGS
.PP
Please send bug reports to:
...!ucbvax!dillon
dillon@ucb-vax.berkeley.edu
!Funky!Stuff!
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'help TOPIC' for more information on a command. Many commands take
message numbers or message lists:
[msg] is an optionaly specified message number (usually the
operation is on the current message if no number is
specified)
<list> is an optionaly specified message list. Message lists
consists of number ranges of the form N -N N- or N-N, and
keywords (help keywords)
OTHER HELP AVAILABLE: pager sendmail tilde header newmail keywords
DMAIL written by Matthew Dillon, U.C. Berkeley -UCF (C) 1985 by Matthew Dillon
dist: 17 Dec 1985
.pager
set page [rows/command]
'page' is a SET variable which determines the type of paging list and
display commands will use. If not defined, no filter is used. If a numerical
value (i.e. 24) is specified, the page length will be set to that value and
a rather stupid, simple internal paging routine will be used. If the
variable is set to an alpha-numeric string, output will be piped through
that filter. For instance:
unset page -no paging
set page more -use more filter
set page page -use 'page' filter
set page > x -redirect to a file (be careful)
set page 24 -use internal paging, page length 24 rows.
For internal paging, use <return> to continue, or your INTR
character to break out. Note that if you have paging set to a program,
response time may be slower because dmail must execute that program.
.sendmail
set sendmail sendmail-path
Inform DMAIL as to where the sendmail program is. The default
(variable unset) is /usr/lib/sendmail. This variable is useful only for
those of us who like to hack-up our own sendmail.
.tilde
~ ~user directory expansion
In all expressions except those within double quotes, the tilde
`~` will be expanded to either your home directory, or the directory of
a specified user, depending. Note that '*' and '?' are not expanded by
DMAIL, though they will be by any shell commands you execute.
It is probably a good idea to use ~ in any aliases, etc... in case
you change directories using the 'cd' command.
alias resource source ~/.dmailrc -example using ~
.header
set header filepath
Set the location of your header file, which will appended to the
scratch mail file before you are placed in the editor (usually vi).
set header ~/.header -set header file to ~/.header
unset header -no header file
.newmail
When new mail comes in:
Whenever newmail arrives, it will be automatically incorporated into
a running DMAIL. However, to see it, you must 'select all' (or select on
anything that would include it).
.keywords
.range
.message
KEYWORDS, MESSAGE LISTS
Many commands in DMAIL require a range of messages be given. A Range
consists of message numbers (3 4 5), message ranges (1-45 -9 9-), and
keywords. Keywords select certain messages from the entire SELECTED list:
all -All messages
tag -All TAGGED messages
mark -All MARKED (read) messages
deleted -All DELETED messages
written -All WRITTEN messages
untag -All messages NOT TAGGED
unmark -All messages NOT MARKED (i.e. read)
undeleted -All messages NOT DELETED
unwritten -All messages NOT WRITTEN
Only the first three letters need be specified. For instance, the
'all' keyword selects all the messages currently selected. You could select
on some subject, say, and then 'delete all'.
The message number 0 refers to the last message. the 'undeleted'
keyword exists only for completeness; you will probably never use it.
.delete
DELETE <message list>
Mark the specified messages for deletion. They will no longer show up
on LISTings, (gaps will appear in message numbering). However, you can
still TYPE them, if you remember the message number, and you can always
UNDELETE them. Remember that the particular message # you've deleted
may be different if you change the SELECT parameters. For example,
message #3 selecting 'To' & 'foo' may actually be message #45 when you
are selecting ALL (see SELECT). Upon a QUIT, messages marked for
deletion are actually deleted from the mail file.
.undelete
UNDELETE <message list>
UNDELETES messages. Without arguments, UNDELETE will
restore the last message you deleted. Specifying 'all' (undelete all), will
undelete any deleted messages in the currently selected message list.
.header
HEADER [message]
Display the entire header of a message. This does not cause the
message to be marked 'read'. TYPE, on the other hand, only displays
header information specified by SETLIST.
.type
TYPE [message]
Type the text of a message. Only header fields defined by SETLIST
are displayed. Otherwise, only the text is displayed. This marks
the particular message as 'read', and also makes that message the
current message.
.echo
ECHO [string]
Echo the given string onto the screen.
.go
GO #
go to a message, don't type it out or anything. Remember that you
can go to the last message by using the message # 0. By placing a keyword
(help range), you can go to the first TAGGED message, etc...
.reply
.Reply
REPLY
Reply to the current letter. There are two forms of 'reply'. The
first does not include the senders original letter, the second does.
In both cases, Dmail will place you in VI, with the To:, Cc:, and
subject lines filled out. The second form is 'Reply', with an
upper case 'R'. This form includes the sender's message shifted to
the right with '>'s on the left hand side. See FORWARD for another
method of replying to mail.
In any case, you may get the sender's letter by reading the file '#'
from VI. That sequence would be ':r\\#'
See MAIL for more information on VI
.forward
FORWARD [user user user....]
Forward the current message to a list of users. The sender's
entire message is placed in the text portion. The To: field will
contain the user's named above, and the Subject: field will contain
a 'Fo:' (you append your own subject)
See MAIL for more information on VI
.mail
MAIL [user user user user...]
Mail to [users]. You are given a VI to work from, and may modify
any of the header fields. the From: field is inserted automatically
by SENDMAIL, but you can overide it if you wish.
Quitting out of VI without writing the output file will cause an
abort, and no mail will be sent. Additionaly, you may use the 'vibreak'
variable to enable your INTR character (usually CTL-C) to break you out of
VI.
When modifying the users list in To and Cc fields, remember that
they should be all comma delimited, or none comma delimited.
.select
SELECT ALL
SELECT Field match match match match...
SELECT Field !match
SELECT Field match match match , Field match , .....
Select what you want to look at. Select will take the field header
you supply and attempt to match arguments with that field in the mail
file. You can then work on the selected material as if the rest of
your mail didn't exist. For instance, 'select To dillon', will select
all messages addressed to you. Note that case is checked for the
FIELD-HEADER, but not for arguments, so the latter will also find
anything addressed to Dillon or DILLON. You only have to give a
partial match, so 'select To di' would work just as well.
Select then, allows you to quickly find what you want even though
you may have 12000 messages (though it may take a while with that many)
You may also specify what you DON'T want to select on:
select To !foo
will select all letters not addressed to 'foo'. You may select on any
field you wish. At any time, you may say 'select ALL' to select the
entire message list. Use RESELECT to select on the current message
list. SELECT always selects from the entire message-list
select Cc hack , To hack
will select any mail with Cc or To fields containing hack. You may
have as many comma operators as you wish. The comma must be a field
of its own (spaces on either side... will be fixed in a later version)
.reselect
RESELECT ALL
RESELECT Field match match match match...
RESELECT Field !match
SEE SELECT. Reselect allows you to CONTINUE to narrow down a topic
or whatever. It will select on the current message list (which you have
already narrowed down with SELECT or RESELECT).
.defer
DEFER
Deselects any marked messages .. messages marked as 'read'. This is
as if you did a RESELECT on all unread messages in the current select field.
Thus, the messages will be renumbered. To see these messages again, you must
use SELECT.
.list
LIST <message list>
LIST -Lists all selected messages
Display header information on a message as specified by SETLIST,
in a one line per message format. The default lists ALL messages.
Leftword flags: r -indicates message has been read. Message will be
moved to the destination file on QUIT
> -indicates message is the current message
w -indicates message has been written to a file.
Message will be deleted from source file on QUIT
T -indicates message has been taged by the user
.next
NEXT
Execute TYPE or HEADER for the next message, depending on which of
TYPE or HEADER was last executed by you
._next
_NEXT
Go to next message, do not print it out.
.back
BACK
Execute TYPE or HEADER for the previous message, depending on which
of TYPE or HEADER was last executed by you
._back
_BACK
Go to previous message, do not print it out.
.dt
DT
Delete current message, type (or header) next message. This command
will warn you when you reach the end of the message list.
References: DELETE and NEXT
.set
SET [variable [string]]
With no arguments, SET prints out all currently active variables.
Note that this variable list is a different list than the ALIAS list. With
one argument, the specified variable is displayed if it exists, or created
if it doesn't. With more than one argument, the specified variable is set
to the specified string. Variables may be references on the command line by
$variable . The variable's contents will replace the reference. Unlike
aliases, however, variable substitutions may take place anywhere on the
command line rather than substitute just the command name. Note also that
if you use a $ substitution for an argument of a command, the entire
variable's contents is ONE argument (i.e. if a = "b c d", and you say
something like: 'unset $a', it would attempt to unset a single variable
whos name is "b c d".
There are several reserved SET variables, which define options in
DMAIL. Changing these will modify the option:
page set paging on or to a specific command (i.e. more)
sendmail set the path to the sendmail program
vibreak enable your INTR character even when in VI.
verbose reflects verbose option to sendmail
header header file to append to any messages you send.
ask ask what to do after vi'ing mail
page
This variable determines what kind of paging is used for LIST,
TYPE, and HEADER commands. If the variable does not exist, paging
is turned off. If set to null (no string), an internal paging
routine is used. If set to a value, an internal paging routine is
used using the value as the page length. the 'page' variable can
also be set to a command, such as 'more' or 'page', in which case,
the output is piped through those commands:
set page Turn paging on (internal page routine)
set page 25 Internal page routine... 25 rows/screen
set page more Use 'more' command to pipe output through
set page page Use 'page' command to pipe output through
you could also conceviably say: 'set page cat > x', or
'set page cat | lpr', but be very careful.
sendmail
This variable will redirect DMAIL as to where the mailer program
is. The mailer program must be compatible with /usr/lib/sendmail
which is the default used if the 'sendmail' variable isn't set
to anything:
set sendmail bin/mysendmail
vibreak
This variable, when set, allows the INTR character to abort a
reply, mail, or forward command. Otherwise, if this variable is
not present, INTR will not abort the above commands.
verbose
This variable, when set, causes the -v flag to be sent to
sendmail. In addition, DMAIL will wait for sendmail to complete
before returning your prompt.
header
The file specified by this variable will be appended onto the temp
vi files in reply and mail. The file is appended before you go into
vi, so when you do, what you see is still what you get.
ask
If set, dmail will ask you what to to (quit, send, re-edit) after you
leave the editor when sending mail. If not set, the mail is sent as
soon as you leave the editor (unless you didn't write anything).
.ask
SET ASK
if the 'ask' variable is set (set ask), dmail will ask you what to do
when you are finished editing mail rather than send it immediately.
(see 'help set')
.alias
ALIAS [variable [string]]
Create an alias for a command. With no arguments, ALIAS will display
all active aliases. With one argument, a particular alias is displayed (if
it exists), or defined (if it did not previously exist). With more than one
argument, the particular alias is set to the string list specified.
alias
alias hack "select From hacker , To hacker , Cc hacker"
alias bye quit
alias stuff "setlist 60 To ; list"
Usually, any arguments following the alias are appended to the
expansion. However, you can place such arguments inside the alias somewhere
by using the following construction:
alias myecho "%var echo $var ; list"
myecho hello there ---> echo hello there ; list
to unalias an alias, use the UNALIAS command.
.unset
.unalias
UNSET var var var...
UNALIAS var var var...
Eradicate variables or aliases from memory.
.setlist
SETLIST [-s] [columns] Field [columns] Field ...
-s prevents display of the list.
Set the list format used for LIST and TYPE. The optional [columns]
indicates how many columns to allocate for the Field specified. The
Field can be a partial match. However, case is observed:
setlist 18 Fro 38 Sub 10 To 0 Dat
18 columns for the From: field, etc... when TYPEing messages, the
[columns] is ignored, and each field is printed in its entirety.
Note that 0 columns have been allocated for the Date: field.
Therefore, the Date: field will not show up on the LIST command,
but will show up in the TYPE command.
.cd
CD PATH
cd, as in csh. Changes your base directory. You can use
the shell escape '! pwd' to get your current working directory.
.source
SOURCE file
Source a file. The file is read in an executed in sequence.
.preserve
PRE <message list>
PRESERVE messages. A message is MARKED if it has been read (has an 'r'
flag from the LIST command). Marked messages are moved from your readfile
into your outfile upon a QUIT. If you are reading and writing to the same
file (i.e. from your mbox to your mbox), the 'r' flag has no effect.
However, if you are reading from your spool file, and want to keep
read messages in your spool (that is, not move them to your mbox), you want
to PRESERVE them. This command simply unmarks them, so they appear not to
have been read.
.mark
MARK <message list>
Mark messages specified as being already 'read'. Remember that if
you executed DMAIL without a -f option, any message 'read' at the time
you quit will be moved to MBOX (or file specified by -o)
.tag
.untag
TAG <list>
UNTAG <list>
The TAG command allow you to flag any message. You can tag a set of
messages, then reference them all at once. For instance, if you tag
interesting messages as you glance at them, you may then write them all
to a file by 'write filename tag', or list them with 'list tag'.
Alternately, you could delete all your taged messages with a single delete
command 'delete tag'. The 'tag' operand works in the same way as the 'all'
operand, except it works only on taged messages.
UNTAG will untag a particular message in your message list. For
instance, to untag any taged messages in the entire message list, you would:
select all
untag all OR untag tag
Note that 'untag all' and 'untag tag' have the same effect.
.write
WRITE file <message list>
Write the given messages or the current message to a file. The file
file is appended to. Remember that you may specify 'all' to write
all messages in the current select field to the file. Messages will be
marked as having been writen, and will be deleted from the mail file
when you 'quit'. However, you may cause them to be kept in the mail
file by UNdeleting the messages (i.e. undelete all)
You can also TAG the messages you want to write, and say
'write file tag' to write to the file all taged messages.
.!
! [shell command]
Give yourself a shell or execute a shell command. The shell forked
is that specified by your SHELL enviroment variable, or /bin/sh if there is
no SHELL enviroment variable.
.x
.exit
X (EXIT)
EXIT out of DMAIL without changing any files. Usually, one exits
with QUIT, which would cause deleted messages to disappear, and TYPEd
messages to go to MBOX (if you did not use the -f option with DMAIL).
If your outfile is the same as your infile, reading a message does
not effect anything.
.quit
QUIT
Quit out of DMAIL. Delete any messages that were marked for deletion
and if you executed DMAIL on /usr/spool/mail/ (default), any mail
marked 'read' will be placed in MBOX in your home directory
.xswitch
.qswitch
XSWITCH fromfile [tofile]
QSWITCH fromfile [tofile]
Switch to a different set of files. XSWITCH doesn't modify your
old from and to files before switching, QSWITCH works as if you had QUIT
stuff before switching to another set of files.
If no [tofile] is specified, the new tofile will be the same as the
fromfile you specify.
.help
.?
HELP [topic]
Give me help on a topic
.dmail
COMMAND LINE OPTIONS FOR DMAIL
dmail -O [-l rcfile] -f [file] -o [file] -F field -F field -F field ...
Default conditions:
Home directory gotten from password entry
User gotten from password entry
Visual editor set to /usr/ucb/vi
VI BREAKOUT enabled
READ file is /usr/spool/mail/$USER
WRITE file is $HOME/mbox
From:, To:, and Subject: fields will be loaded into memory.
HOME enviroment variable becomes home directory
USER enviroment variable becomes user name
VISUAL enviroment variable becomes editor used
-O Go into interactive mode, even if there is no
mail to read.
-f [from file] Specify spool file to get mail from. If no file
Argument is given, $HOME/MBOX is used.
-o [to file] Specify file to write to, If no Argument
is given, $HOME/.MBOX is used. Note that
the default without -o is $HOME/MBOX
-f -o With no file arguments causes both READ and
WRITE files to be $HOME/.MBOX
-F field Append this field to those which will be
used on initial load. If, During usage of the
program you specify a field which is not in
memory, DMAIL will be forced to re-load the
entire spool file, which can take a long time
if you have more than 64K in the file
-l rcfile Use this as the rc file rather than .dmailrc
-L Do not source the rc file on boot
!Funky!Stuff!
fi # end of overwriting check
echo shar: extracting "'nroff.out'" '(9928 characters)'
if test -f 'nroff.out'
then
echo shar: will not over-write existing file "'nroff.out'"
else
cat << \!Funky!Stuff! > 'nroff.out'
DMAIL(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual DMAIL(1)
NAME
dmail - an original mail like interface for mail
SYNOPSIS
dmail -v -O -f [fromfile] -o [tofile] -l rcfile -L -F
[field] -F [field]...
dmail user user user user...
GENERAL
_D_m_a_i_l is a program which hopefully simplifies reading and
organizing your mail. It was designed to overcome several
gripes people had over other mailers. _D_m_a_i_l uses the
/usr/spool format for any folder's you create. To simply
matters even more, it was partially modeled on standard Mail
in terms of writing to your 'mbox' and getting items from
your 'spool', at least as default parameters. About the
only other similarity between the two programs is in the
'type', 'quit', and 'exit' commands of _d_m_a_i_l. _D_m_a_i_l _k_e_e_p_s
_m_u_l_t_i_p_l_e _m_e_s_s_a_g_e_s _p_e_r _f_i_l_e, mail (thus folders are files
rather than directories).
_D_m_a_i_l is not a glorified _M_a_i_l, however. Though most other
mailers have folders, you are usually required to read your
mail in the order it comes in. For somebody who is on three
high-volume mailing lists, it can be rather difficult. _D_m_a_i_l
provides a mechanism in which you can separate your mail by
any partial string in any Field without having to create a
folder. The _s_e_l_e_c_t command is usually instantanious, and
with aliases, you can switch between mailing lists, personal
mail, or anything you wish at a keystroke. Whenever you
_s_e_l_e_c_t on something, you get a reduced list (as if the other
messages didn't exist), and may execute such things as
'delete all' on it without effecting other mail. It serves
to allow you to read each mailing list (or whatever) one at
a time.
Mail-headers are a problem for many people, especially those
logging in over 300 or 1200 baud lines. In many cases, the
header is larger than the message; in any case, they can be
a nuisances. _D_m_a_i_l will not print any fields you do not
want printed. This seems to be a better mechanism than
Mail, which allows you to exclude certain headers. In
_d_m_a_i_l, you specify what to include. To see the entire
header, you use the _h_e_a_d_e_r command from _d_m_a_i_l.
Apart from that, _d_m_a_i_l gives you set variables, aliases,
folder's, and is generally faster than other mail programs.
OPTIONS
_D_m_a_i_l may be executed with several options, putting it in
one of two modes. Firstly, when executed with a user-name
Printed 12/17/85 17 December 1985 1
DMAIL(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual DMAIL(1)
list, _d_m_a_i_l will put you into the editor setting up the To:
field properly and allowing you to enter a letter which
would then be sent off. Secondly, if no user-list is given,
dmail will attempt to read mail from your spool file (or
from file), and put you into command mode. If the mail file
is empty or does not exist, you will be told that you have
no mail, and control will be returned to your shell. The
editor is specified by the enviroment variable VISUAL
(Default vi).
dmail -O -v -f [fromfile] -o [tofile] -l rcfile -L -F
[field] -F [field]...
-O places _d_m_a_i_l in interactive mode, even if there is no
mail to read.
-v Places sendmail in verbose mode when you mail, reply,
or forward a message. (sets the verbose variable)
-f Specify where mail should be taken from. The default
is /usr/spool/mail/$USER. This option without a
filename specifies that mail should be taken from
$HOME/mbox. Otherwise, the specified filename becomes
the fromfile. This means that by specifying just the
-f option and not the -o option will cause both the
infile and outfile to be $HOME/mbox
-o Specify where 'read' mail will be written out to. The
default is $HOME/mbox. This option without a filename
specifies that the mail should be placed in $HOME/.mbox
. Otherwise, the specified filename becomes the out-
file. Additionally, if both -f and -o are specified
without filenames, both the fromfile and the outfile
will be set to $HOME/.mbox
-l Specify the RC file (default is $HOME/.dmailrc). The
RC file consists of a list of _d_m_a_i_l commands, as if
they were typed in.
-L Disables sourcing of any RC files
-F This option tells _d_m_a_i_l to include the given field on
initial mail load. Normally, only the From:, To:, and
Subject: fields are initially loaded. When you specify
other fields, _d_m_a_i_l must scan your fromfile again.
When you have large amounts of mail (+50000 bytes),
this can take a couple of seconds. The -F option
allows you to specify a field to be loaded in addition
to the defaults listed above. You may specify multiple
-F field options. This is only a convenience feature,
normally you don't have to worry about it. Some peo-
ple, however, have spool files of several hundred
Printed 12/17/85 17 December 1985 2
DMAIL(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual DMAIL(1)
thousand bytes and would use this option to prevent
delays later on.
INTERRUPTS
_d_m_a_i_l handles the INTR character. You may use it to break
out of listings, types, or anything else without worry of
destroying something.
COMMAND OVERVIEW
The basic commands for _d_m_a_i_l are as follows (There are, of
course, many commands, these are just a few): _l_i_s_t _t_y_p_e
_h_e_a_d_e_r _d_e_l_e_t_e _n_e_x_t _s_e_l_e_c_t _q_u_i_t _e_x_i_t _a_l_i_a_s _u_n_a_l_i_a_s _s_e_t _u_n_s_e_t
and _m_a_i_l
You may abbrieviate any command you wish. It is suggested
that you do not abbreviate commands in your rc file (default
.dmailrc), as any new commands added in later versions may
change something. Using full command names in your rc file
will keep things compatible.
For many commands (e.g. delete), you may specify a message
list. You can give numerical ranges (1-4 6-9), number lists
(1 2 3 6), or any of several reserved words, such as 'all'.
See 'help keywords' from dmail for a complete list. All
lists apply only to the currently selected messages.
_l_i_s_t displays parts of the headers of messages, one message
per line, for all messages currently selected. You can set
the output format with the _s_e_t_l_i_s_t command.
_t_y_p_e prints the message text of a message. By the way, only
header fields specified by the _s_e_t_l_i_s_t command will be
printed (default- From: To: Subject:), which is useful.
_h_e_a_d_e_r prints out the entire header of a message.
_d_e_l_e_t_e deletes a message or message list (you can say
'delete all' to delete all messages currently selected).
_n_e_x_t goes to the next message and type's or header's it,
depending on what last was done (type or header).
_s_e_l_e_c_t selects what you want to look at. You can say
'select all', to select all the messages, or selects of the
form:
select Field match match match , Field match match ....
where Field is From:, To:, or any field you wish (you can
abbreviate the fields.... Fro To, etc...). match is a
string which you are attempting to match in the Field. If a
match is found, that message will become selected. Thus,
Printed 12/17/85 17 December 1985 3
DMAIL(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual DMAIL(1)
you can select all your personal mail with:
select Cc myname , To myname
Use the on-line help for more information on the _s_e_l_e_c_t or
any other command.
_q_u_i_t from _d_m_a_i_l please. Any unread messages stay in your
spool (or fromfile), any read messages are placed in your
mail-box, any deleted messages are deleted.
_e_x_i_t from _d_m_a_i_l please. Nothing is written or altered, exit
without changing anything. _a_l_i_a_s is used to alias commands
to other commands, or command sequences. For instance, you
can alias 'me' to select all personal mail:
alias me "select Cc myname , To myname"
you can alias a sequence of commands:
alias q "select all ; pre all ; quit"
The above would unread any read mail and quit (therefore,
any mail not deleted will end up staying in your spool
file). You can also _u_n_a_l_i_a_s aliases.
_s_e_t a variable to a string. You can also _u_n_s_e_t a variable.
Several variables have special meaning, use _h_e_l_p _s_e_t from
_d_m_a_i_l for a full explanation.
_m_a_i_l and _r_e_p_l_y may be used to mail out or reply to messages.
FILES
.dmailrc In your home directory or whatever directory you specify
dmail.help dmail help file (external version only)
/tmp/dmtXXXX temporary vi file
# copy of message you are current replying to
BUGS
Please send bug reports to: ...!ucbvax!dillon
dillon@ucb-vax.berkeley.edu
Printed 12/17/85 17 December 1985 4
!Funky!Stuff!
fi # end of overwriting check
# End of shell archive
exit 0