9 Mary Hegardt Tim Morgan
17 This document is intended to be an introduction for new users to the MH
19 mail system. For more detailed information, users will want to read the
21 document called The Rand MH Message Handling System: User's Manual
23 by Marshall T. Rose and John L. Romine. It is available for Xeroxing in
29 1 Using Electronic Mail
33 Electronic mail (e-mail) is a quick, convenient way to send a message to
35 another person (or persons). The message recipient can read and reply to
37 the message at his convenience. E-mail is much faster than a paper memo
39 and avoids inconveniences associated with the telephone such as unwanted
41 interruptions and "phone tag."
44 At UCI, one can send e-mail to people within the ICS department, people in
46 other units on campus, and to people at some other institutions off campus
48 (usually other universities).
51 An electronic mail message consists of two parts: the headers and the body.
53 The body comes after the headers and consists of the "message": whatever
55 the sender types in. The headers are the lines at the top of the message
57 including the subject and addresses of the people to whom the message is
59 addressed. It is similar to the top lines of a memo: To:, From:, Subject:,
61 and so on. The headers are separated from the body by a blank line. As in
70 memos, the people listed in the Cc: field are not intended to be the primary
72 recipients of the message. The message is for their information only, and
74 they are not expected to reply.
77 E-mail is also useful for discussions among groups of people. This "bboards"
79 (electronic bulletin boards) facility will be discussed later.
82 An electronic mail address looks like "name @site ". The name is a person's
84 "mail handle" _ usually his first initial followed by his last name. For
86 example, Mary Hegardt's mail handle is "mhegardt". The site is the system
88 where the addressee receives mail. Within the ICS Department, you need
90 only know the person's mail handle; the mail system will automatically fill
100 The MH system is very different from most mail user agents. Instead of
102 running one large program which handles all mail functions and keeps mes-
104 sages in one large file, MH is a collection of smaller single-purpose programs
106 used to manipulate mail messages which are kept in individual files. MH
108 may seem to be more complicated or harder to use than other mail systems
110 (MM, for example), but MH has been designed to allow you to take full ad-
112 vantage of existing Unix1 commands and programs in connection with mail
114 messages. For example, you can use your usual text editor, spelling program,
116 and printer commands on individual messages.
124 The first time you use an MH command (probably inc), MH will create a
126 directory called "Mail" in your home (login) directory. All your mail will be
128 stored in directories beneath this one. It will also create a file in your home
130 directory called .mh_profile. It is a file that allows you to tailor your MH
132 environment. We'll discuss this more later.
133 ________________________________________________
134 1 Unix is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories
147 When someone sends a mail message to you, it is delivered to a file called
149 your "mail drop" file. When you are ready to read your mail, you have to
151 incorporate (or "inc") your mail messages from the mail drop area into your
156 Everytime you log in to your Unix account, you will be told if you have
158 new mail messages. When you are ready to read them, type inc. The inc
160 program will copy your mail into your "inbox" and generate a "scan" listing
162 of the new messages. For example,
166 4.2 BSD UNIX #116: Mon Jul 15 14:03:21 PDT 1985
167 You have new ZOTnet mail, type "inc" (or mail)
173 Incorporating new mail into inbox ...
175 1+ 10/29 1732-PST Tim Morgan new bboard! <<Please add us to the uni
176 2 11/12 0016-PST ROODE@uci-20b CP6 from the 20s <<What is (will be) t
177 4 11/15 1909-EDT tts@tts Hello, got a few questions
178 5 11/15 2134-PST Marshall Rose MH.6 on 750a <<Mary, I've left the dis
179 6 11/16 0808-PST Mail Delivery Su Returned mail: Host unknown
180 7 11/16 1021-PST Tim Morgan Unix-wizards/info-unix move
181 8 11/18 0952-PST freeman@icsd.UCI Re:New system wide aliases for ICS facu
182 9 11/18 1346-EDT tts@tts Have we got a problem?
186 This is what a typical "inc" session for the Postmaster looks like. Inc copies
188 my mail into my "inbox" folder, assigns a unique number to each message,
190 and scans them for me. The numbers allow you to refer to each message
192 individually. After the message number, you see the date and time the mes-
194 sage was sent, the name of the sender, and the subject of the message. The
196 "current" message is indicated by a "+" sign. To read it, type "show":
203 Received: from localhost by UCI.EDU id a005369; 29 Oct 85 17:32 PST
204 To: postmaster@UCI.EDU
206 Date: 29 Oct 85 17:32:24 PST (Tue)
207 From: Tim Morgan <morgan@UCI.EDU>
216 Please add us to the unix-sw list. Also, if RAJ hasn't mentioned it,
217 and if it still exists, we should get on the Astronomy bboard.
223 If the message is longer than one screenful, you will see the word "more" at
225 the bottom_of_the_screen.__When you are ready to see "more" of the message,______
227 press the __space_bar______ __to see another screenful, or press the __return____ _key to see
232 To see the next message, you could type a couple of different commands:
250 All of these commands would have the same effect: to type out the next
252 message in the list. The most efficient thing to do is to type "next". When
254 You do that, message number 2 will be shown and become the "current
264 Received: from UCI-20B by UCI-ICSA id aa01222; 12 Nov 85 0:23 PST
265 Date: 12 Nov 1985 0016-PST
267 Subject: CP6 from the 20s
269 cc: dana_roode%ucicp6@UCI.EDU
272 What is (will be) the prescribed method of addressing for sending
273 CP6 mail from the 20s? They dont seem to know about @CF, @UCICP6,
274 but "Name_Name%UCICP6"@ICSA seems to fly.
286 3.2 Selecting Messages
290 As you have seen, messages can be referred to by their message numbers.
292 Some MH commands, such as show, can act upon more than one message
294 at a time. A range of messages can be specified using the form "name1-
296 name2 " where name is a message number or one of the reserved message
298 names described below:
302 cur The current message (the last one that was handled)
305 next The next message (same as cur + 1)
308 prev The previous message (cur 1)
311 first The first message in the current folder
314 last The last message in the folder
317 all All messages (first last )
321 If you do not name a specific message, the command will act upon the "cur-
331 A mail message consists of two parts: the headers and the body. The headers
333 are the lines at the top of the message that say "To:" and so on. The body
335 is the actual text of the message (what you want to say). To send someone
337 a message, you start with the comp command. This will start up an editor
339 called prompter that will prompt you to fill in_the_headers._ You should type
341 the requested information for that header or a __return____ _to_omit_it._ You should
343 end the message by typing control-D (press down the key marked __ctrl__ __and
345 strike the D key) at the beginning of a new line. Here's an example:
366 Where are we going for lunch today ?
380 At the "What now ?" prompt you can type a ? to see what commands you
382 can type next. One of the most useful options at this point is to edit the
384 draft of the message to correct any mistakes. To do this you type:
390 This will put you in the vi editor to edit the message. If you use emacs or any
392 other editor, just type "edit emacs" or whatever. When you have finished
394 editing, just exit the editor as you would normally. You will then get another
396 "What now ?" prompt. Here are some of the "What now" options:
400 edit editor Edit the message using the specified editor. When you
402 exit, you will be back at What now.
405 list Shows the message you just typed
408 whom -check Verifies that the addresses you have used are valid as far
410 as our system can tell
413 send Sends the message to the recipients
416 push Sends the message in the background
419 quit Quits without sending the message. Saves the text of
421 the message as a "draft". Type comp -use to get back
426 quit -delete Quit, throwing away the draft
430 Make sure you are happy with your message before typing send. There is no
432 way to recall a message once it has been sent.
441 3.4 Replying to Messages
445 To reply to the current message type repl. When you do this, the reply
447 headers will be printed out and you will be put in the prompter editor to
449 type in your reply text. When you are replying to a message, the name of
451 the sender of the original message will appear in the "To:" field. Any people
453 on the "To:" or "Cc:" lists will also be copied on your reply message. As
455 with comp, when you have finished, type control-D and send (or whatever)
461 3.5 Forwarding Messages
465 If you receive a particularly interesting message and can't resist sharing
467 it with others, you can forward it using the forw command. You will be
469 prompted to fill in the headers (the address to which the message is to be
471 forwarded, etc.). When you have done this, you will see the text of the mes-
473 sage which you are forwarding and will be given the opportunity to add some
475 enlightening text to the message. Exit with control-D and do whatever feels
477 good at the What now ? prompt.
481 3.6 The Advanced Features
485 You will probably want to master the beginning MH concepts before you
487 tackle the following. . .
495 Folders are really just directories for storing mail messages in an organized
497 way. To store a message in a folder named "inbox", type:
500 % refile 5 +inventory
503 If the folder doesn't exist yet, you will be asked if it should be created. To
505 access messages in another folder, you can change your current folder from
514 "inbox" to something else. If you want to look at all the messages pertaining
516 to the inventory, you type:
522 and now you use scan, show, etc., to manipulate the messages in that folder.
524 To change back to inbox, type:
530 Using the inc command will change your current folder to be the "inbox"
540 Mailing files is usually not a good idea, especially for large files. The mail
542 system was never designed for moving big files. You can use the cp file to
544 move the file to another account much more efficiently:
547 % cp "frated/desired-file "./newfile
550 This will copy the file from frated's account to the current directory and call
555 You can also copy files across the network using rcp:
558 % rcp icsd:frated/desired-file ./newfile
561 This copies frated's file on the system icsd to the current directory.
564 If you really have to mail a file, you use the mhmail program. To mail a file
566 "myfile" to another user "frated", with "MyFile" as the subject type:
569 % mhmail frated -subject MyFile < myfile
573 5 Searching for messages
577 The pick program allows you to search your inbox (or any other) folder to
579 find messages which contain a certain word. If you want to list all messages
588 from Smith you can type:
591 % pick -from smith -list
594 and it will list the numbers of all messages from Smith that are in the cur-
596 rent folder. You can pick messages according to any of the headers (-to
598 -from -subj -cc or -date) or just search all the messages for a given word
608 Each MH user has a file in his directory called .mh_profile. This file contains
610 a list of user-specified default options for MH programs. The only required
612 entry is the name of your MH directory:
624 To make a change to your .mh_profile, you edit the file and add a line for
626 the applicable program. For example, if you would like to use vi instead of
628 prompter as your initial editor when composing messages, you would add
630 this line to your .mh_profile:
636 or, if you want to have a format file for scan to use, you should have:
639 scan: -form formatfile
642 Almost all of the MH programs have options that can be set using the
644 .mh_profile. You should consult the MH User's Manual for more infor-
649 Many people will want to add a signature line to their .mh_profile. This
651 line will appear as your signature on the From: line in messages you send. It
662 Signature: John Q. Public
665 Occasionally people express an interest in getting rid of some of the header
667 lines in their mail messages. They don't want to see the "Received from",
669 "Via" information, or some other header. It is possible to prevent these
671 and other annoying headers from being displayed by changing your show
673 processor to be mhless. To do this you must add this line
679 to your .mh_profile. You also must create a file called ".mhlessrc" contain-
681 ing the words which appear at the beginning of the lines you don't want to
686 The typical ".mhlessrc" file will look like this:
700 The ".mhlessrc" file must be in your home directory.
708 Electronic bulletin boards (BBoards) are a convenient way for a group of peo-
710 ple to discuss a particular topic. Messages are sent to an address where they
712 can be read and replied to by all interested parties. In the ICS department
714 we have some "local" BBoards which involve only people in the department.
716 We also subscribe to many nationally distributed BBoards. BBoards are
718 read using the bbc program which will allow you to read the messages with
720 an MH-like interface.
723 One very important BBoard is "system". It contains vital news about
725 changes in software, system downtime, new programs, and other informa-
727 tion useful to all users.
736 To read a BBoard, you type "bbc BBoard__name ". The bbc program will
738 check to see if there are new messages in the named BBoard and if there are,
740 it will start up msh so you can read them. The msh program allows you to
742 use regular MH commands when reading BBoards. Type "show" to see the
744 current message, "next" to see the next message, and so on. Type "quit" to
746 quit reading the current BBoard. If you have named more than one BBoard
748 on the command line or in your .mh_profile, bbc will continue processing
750 the next BBoard in the list.
753 Here is an example of using bbc to read the system BBoard:
763 Reading system, currently at message 1 of 22
767 (Message 1, BBoard-ID: 1360)
769 BB-Posted: Wed, 29 Jan 86 15:36:39 PST
770 Received: from localhost by UCI.EDU id a006693; 29 Jan 86 15:20 PST
772 Subject: Imagen 24300
773 Date: Wed, 29 Jan 86 15:19:43 -0800
774 From: Tinh Tang <ttang@UCI.EDU>
777 The Imagen 24300 is now operating normally. It was broken down
778 due to the paper jammed in the drum. Luckily, it didn't cause
788 (Message 4, BBoard-ID: 1363)
790 BB-Posted: Fri, 31 Jan 86 13:33:37 PST
791 Received: from localhost by UCI.EDU id a001631; 31 Jan 86 13:30 PST
793 Subject: uci.edu down 2/7/86 17:10 - 2/7/86 20:30
794 Date: Fri, 31 Jan 86 13:30:27 -0800
798 The uci.edu will be down from
799 February 7,1986 17:10 till February 7,1986 20:30.
800 The reason for the downtime is:
801 Both, the Computing Facility and the Physical Sciences Dataswitches
802 will be unavailable from 5:10pm until 8:30pm on Friday, February 7th.
803 Therefore all the Computers attached to those switches and the
804 corresponding tandem link will be unavailable to users on
805 the specified time. (RJ).
821 You can see a list of all the available BBoards by typing:
827 You can also put a line in your ".mh_profile" listing all the BBoards you
829 want to read on a regular basis:
832 bboards: system movies mh-users events
835 Then you only need to type "bbc" to read all your BBoards.
843 Under Unix, there are many different ways to check for new mail. The easiest
845 way to do it is to set the csh variable named "mail" to tell csh to check for
847 new mail for you periodically. To do this, add the line
850 set mail=(60 /usr/spool/mail/$USER)
853 to the .login file in your home directory. This command says to check for
855 mail if csh is about to prompt you with a % sign, and if it has been at least
857 60 seconds since it last checked for mail. The advantage of this method of
859 mail notification, besides simplicity, is that you will never be interrupted by
861 a mail notification. You will only be notified about new mail when you are
866 If you want asynchronous mail notification, which will print to your terminal
868 regardless of what you are currently doing, you may make use of a "receive
870 mail hook" called "rcvtty". To do this, create a file in your home directory
872 called ".maildelivery". In this file, put the line
875 * - pipe R /usr/uci/lib/mh/rcvtty
878 Then, each time mail arrives, you will receive a one-line "scan" listing of
880 the mail if your terminal is world-writable. For more information on mail
882 delivery files, type:
894 This will tell you about all the options available to you if you use maildelivery
904 Using MH, you may specify your own private mail aliases. This feature allows
906 you to store lists of addresses or long internet addresses of people with whom
908 you frequently correspond in one file, and then to address them using short
910 mnemonic names. Typically, you will call your alias file "aliases"; it must
912 be stored in your MH directory. The format of this file is simple. The alias
914 is given, followed by a colon, followed by one or more legal mail addresses
916 separated by commas. For example, you might for some reason have an alias
918 for all the users named "Rose" in the ICS department:
921 roses: prose, srose, mrose, drose
924 In addition to your "aliases" file, you will need to modify your
926 .mh_profile in order to use aliases. You should add the flag "-alias
928 aliases" to the entries for the commands ali, whom, send, and push, cre-
930 ating entries for these programs if they aren't already in your .mh_profile.
932 Now, messages addressed to "roses" will be distributed to all the people
937 The ali command is used to show you what an alias expands to. You just
945 and ali will respond with the expansion of the alias. Ali searches the system
947 aliases file in addition to your private ones.
955 There are two different types of so-called "blind addressing" of messages.
957 The BCC: field allows you to add recipients to your message just like those
959 who are CC'd, but the normal recipients will not see that the BCC recipients
968 were copied on the message, their replies will not go to the blind recipients,
970 and the blind recipients cannot (easily) reply to the message.
973 The second type of blind mailing is actually called a "group address list",
975 although it is commonly referred to as a "blind list". The format of this type
980 phrase : address__list ;
983 where the "phrase " is any English phrase of one or more words, and the
985 address__list consists of one or more addresses separated by commas. The
987 recipients of a message addressed in this fashion will see simply
993 so when they reply to the message, their reply will come only to the sender
995 (or the Reply-To: field, if one was specified), rather than going to all the
997 recipients of the original list. For example, to use a group address list for the
999 "roses" alias you would type:
1002 To: People Named Rose: roses;
1005 This type of group address is very useful for making up lists of related people,
1007 such as all the people working on a particular research project.