E-mail basics

Reading E-mail

The simplest way to read incoming mail messages is with the mail command. Simply type mail from a standard Unix prompt to get started.

You will see something like: 

% mail
Mail version 5.5 6/1/90.  Type ? for help.
"/usr/spool/mail/kenji": 1 message 1 new
    1 joe           Fri Jul  1 10:32  16/393   "How about lunch?"
> N 2 bigboss       Fri Jul  1 11:08  15/423   "Today's meeting"
&
There is one line for every message that you have waiting. The first number in each row is just a number assigned to identify the message. Next, the name of the person who sent the message is given. This is followed by the date the message was received by your computer, the number of lines and characters in the message, and the subject.

When you see the ampersand (&) prompt, you are know in the mail program. You cannot issue Unix commands from this prompt, but you can enter commands to the mail program.

The first thing you'll probably want to do is to read messages. You can do this by simply typing the message number: 

& 1
Message 1:
From joe Fri Jul  1 10:32:35 1994
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 05:56:33 -0700
From: Joe Foobar 
To: kenji
Subject: how about lunch?


How about lunch at around 11:30?  Drop by my office
when you're ready to go.

-Joe

&
After typing the message number, a few lines are printed with information about the message. This is called the mail header. After the header, the actual body of the message is displayed. If the mail program has been configured by your system administrators, then messages may be displayed a page at a time so that you can read long messages before they scroll off your screen.

To respond to the message, simply type the letter r and return: 

& r
To: joe
Subject: Re: how about lunch?


Sure, that sounds great.  (You type this)
.  (And a period on a line by itself to terminate the message)
After pressing r for reply, parts of the header for the new message are displayed. You can then type in your reply. Be sure to press return at the end of every line -- they won't wrap around! The message is ended by typing a period on a line by itself.

The message can then be deleted by typing d at the mail prompt. Another useful command is h, which re-displays the list of messages. For example: 

& d 1
& h
> N 2 bigboss       Fri Jul  1 11:08  15/423   "Today's meeting"
&
You can get a list of all available commands from the mail prompt by typing the question mark. Finally, you can quit the mail program by typing either q or x at the mail prompt. The difference is that q saves any changes you have made, while x returns your mail spool to the state it was in when the mail program was started. That way, if you accidentally delete messages you meant to keep, you can exit with x and start over.

Sending E-mail

The same command, mail is used to send mail as well as read it. To send mail to somebody, you must know their e-mail address. You then type the mail command and the address you want to send mail to: 
%amp mail kenji@ocf.berkeley.edu
Subject: Hi
Hi, I'm just sending a practice mail message.
.
EOT
%
In the above example, everything that you would type is in italics. Just like when sending a reply, the message is terminated with a period on a line by itself. You should also make sure to press return when you reach the end of every line. When the message is done, the letters EOT are displayed, which stand for End Of Transmission.

If you want to send mail to more than one person at a time, you can list several e-mail addresses on the command line, separated by spaces.

Last modified: July 1, 1994 -- www@ocf.berkeley.edu