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12 \def\unix/{{\sc Unix}}
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16 \title{MH for Beginners}
17 \author{Mary Hegardt \and Tim Morgan}
20 This document is intended to be an introduction for new users to the
21 \MH/ mail system. For more detailed information, users will want to
22 read the document called {\sl The Rand MH Message Handling System:
23 User's Manual\/} by Marshall~T. Rose and John~L. Romine. It is available
24 for Xeroxing in suite CS408.
25 \footnote{This document is specific to the environment
26 at the ICS department of U.~C.~Irvine. For a more general document,
27 see {\sl The Rand MH Message Handling System: Tutorial\/}.}
29 \section{Using Electronic Mail}
31 Electronic mail (e-mail) is a quick, convenient way to send a message
32 to another person (or persons). The message recipient can read and
33 reply to the message at his convenience. E-mail is much faster than
34 a paper memo and avoids inconveniences associated with the telephone
35 such as unwanted interruptions and ``phone tag.''
37 At UCI, one can send e-mail to people within the ICS department, people
38 in other units on campus, and to people at some other institutions
39 off campus (usually other universities).
41 An electronic mail message consists of two parts: the headers and the
42 body. The body comes after the headers and consists of the ``message'':
43 whatever the sender types in. The headers are the lines at the top
44 of the message including the subject and addresses of the people
45 to whom the message is addressed. It is similar to the top lines
46 of a memo: {\tt To:}, {\tt From:}, {\tt Subject:}, and so on. The headers
47 are separated from the body by a blank line. As in memos, the people
48 listed in the {\tt Cc:}\ field are not intended to be the primary recipients
49 of the message. The message is for their information only, and they
50 are not expected to reply.
53 E-mail is also useful for discussions among groups of people. This
54 ``bboards'' (electronic bulletin boards) facility will be discussed later.
56 An electronic mail address looks like ``{\it name\/}{\tt@}{\it site\/}''.
58 a person's ``mail handle'' --- usually his first initial followed by his
59 last name. For example, Mary Hegardt's mail handle is ``mhegardt''.
60 The {\it site\/} is the system where the addressee receives mail. Within
61 the ICS Department, you need only know the person's mail handle;
62 the mail system will automatically fill in the ``{\tt @}{\it site\/}'' part.
66 The \MH/ system is very different from most mail user agents. Instead of
67 running one large program which handles all mail functions and keeps
68 messages in one large file, \MH/ is a collection of smaller
69 single-purpose programs used to manipulate mail messages
70 which are kept in individual files. \MH/ may seem to be more complicated
71 or harder to use than other mail systems (MM, for example), but
72 \MH/ has been designed to allow
73 you to take full advantage of existing {\sc Unix}\footnote{{\sc Unix} is
74 a trademark of AT\&T Bell Laboratories} commands and programs
75 in connection with mail messages.
76 For example, you can use your usual text editor, spelling program, and
77 printer commands on individual messages.
82 The first time you use an \MH/ command (probably {\it inc\/}),
83 \MH/ will create a directory called ``Mail'' in your home (login) directory. All
84 your mail will be stored in directories beneath this one. It will also
85 create a file in your home directory called \verb|.mh_profile|. It is
86 a file that allows you to tailor your \MH/ environment. We'll discuss
90 \subsection{Reading Mail}
92 When someone sends a mail message to you, it is delivered to a file
93 called your ``mail drop'' file. When you are ready to read your mail,
94 you have to incorporate (or ``inc'') your mail messages from the mail
95 drop area into your account.
97 Everytime you log in to your {\sc Unix} account, you will be told if you
98 have new mail messages. When you are ready to read them, type \verb|inc|.
99 The {\it inc\/} program will copy your mail into your ``inbox'' and generate
100 a ``scan'' listing of the new messages. For example,
104 4.2 BSD UNIX #116: Mon Jul 15 14:03:21 PDT 1985
105 You have new ZOTnet mail, type "inc" (or mail)
111 Incorporating new mail into inbox ...
113 1+ 10/29 1732-PST Tim Morgan new bboard! <<Please add us to the uni
114 2 11/12 0016-PST ROODE@uci-20b CP6 from the 20s <<What is (will be) t
115 4 11/15 1909-EDT tts@tts Hello, got a few questions
116 5 11/15 2134-PST Marshall Rose MH.6 on 750a <<Mary, I've left the dis
117 6 11/16 0808-PST Mail Delivery Su Returned mail: Host unknown
118 7 11/16 1021-PST Tim Morgan Unix-wizards/info-unix move
119 8 11/18 0952-PST freeman@icsd.UCI Re:New system wide aliases for ICS facu
120 9 11/18 1346-EDT tts@tts Have we got a problem?
124 This is what a typical ``inc'' session for the Postmaster looks like.
125 {\it Inc\/} copies my mail into my ``inbox'' folder, assigns a unique number to
126 each message, and scans them for me. The numbers allow you to refer
127 to each message individually. After the message number, you see the
128 date and time the message was sent, the name of the sender, and the
129 subject of the message. The ``current'' message is indicated by a
130 ``{\tt +}'' sign. To read it, type ``{\tt show}'':
137 Received: from localhost by UCI.EDU id a005369; 29 Oct 85 17:32 PST
138 To: postmaster@UCI.EDU
140 Date: 29 Oct 85 17:32:24 PST (Tue)
141 From: Tim Morgan <morgan@UCI.EDU>
143 Please add us to the unix-sw list. Also, if RAJ hasn't mentioned it,
144 and if it still exists, we should get on the Astronomy bboard.
151 longer than one screenful, you will see the word ``more'' at the bottom
152 of the screen. When you are ready to see ``more'' of the message,
153 press the \fbox{space bar} to see another screenful, or press the
154 \fbox{return} key to see just one more line.
156 To see the next message, you could type a couple of different commands:
161 \oneline{\% show next}
165 All of these commands would have the same effect: to type out the next message
166 in the list. The most efficient thing to do is to type ``{\tt next}''. When
167 You do that, message number 2 will be shown and become the ``current message''.
174 Received: from UCI-20B by UCI-ICSA id aa01222; 12 Nov 85 0:23 PST
175 Date: 12 Nov 1985 0016-PST
177 Subject: CP6 from the 20s
179 cc: dana_roode%ucicp6@UCI.EDU
181 What is (will be) the prescribed method of addressing for sending
182 CP6 mail from the 20s? They dont seem to know about @CF, @UCICP6,
183 but "Name_Name%UCICP6"@ICSA seems to fly.
189 \subsection{Selecting Messages}
191 As you have seen, messages can be referred to by their message numbers.
192 Some \MH/ commands, such as {\it show,} can act upon more than one
193 message at a time. A range of messages can be specified using the
194 form ``{\it name1-name2\/}'' where {\it name\/} is a message number or
195 one of the reserved message names described below:
199 \def\titem[#1]{\par\noindent\hbox to .5in{\hfil\it #1\/}\qquad}
201 \titem[cur] The current message (the last one that was handled)
202 \titem[next] The next message (same as ${\it cur\/} + 1$)
203 \titem[prev] The previous message (${\it cur\/} - 1$)
204 \titem[first] The first message in the current folder
205 \titem[last] The last message in the folder
206 \titem[all] All messages ($\it first-last$)
210 If you do not name a specific message, the command will act upon
211 the ``current message''.
213 \subsection{Sending Messages}
215 A mail message consists of two parts: the headers and the body. The
216 headers are the lines at the top of the message that say ``{\tt To:}''
217 and so on. The body is the actual text of the message (what you
218 want to say). To send someone a message, you start with the
219 {\it comp\/} command. This will start up an editor called {\it prompter\/}
220 that will prompt you to fill in the headers. You should type the
221 requested information for that header or a \fbox{return} to omit it.
222 You should end the message by typing control-D (press down the key
223 marked \fbox{ctrl} and strike the D key) at the beginning of a new
224 line. Here's an example:
232 Where are we going for lunch today ?
240 At the ``\verb|What now ?|'' prompt you can type a {\tt?} to see
241 what commands you can type next.
242 One of the most useful options at this point is to edit the draft
243 of the message to correct any mistakes. To do this you type:
245 \oneline{What now ? edit vi}
247 This will put you in the {\it vi\/} editor to edit the message. If you use
248 {\it emacs\/} or any other editor, just type ``edit emacs'' or whatever.
249 When you have finished editing, just exit the editor as you would
250 normally. You will then get another ``\verb|What now ?|'' prompt. Here are some
251 of the ``What now'' options:
256 \def\titem[#1]{\par\hangafter=1\hangindent=1.4in\noindent
257 \hbox to\hangindent{\hfil#1\qquad}\ignorespaces}
259 \titem[\tt edit \it editor\/] Edit the message using the specified
260 editor. When you exit, you will be
261 back at \verb|What now|.
263 \titem[\tt list] Shows the message you just typed
265 \titem[\tt whom -check] Verifies that the addresses you have
266 used are valid as far as our system
269 \titem[\tt send] Sends the message to the recipients
271 \titem[\tt push] Sends the message in the background
273 \titem[\tt quit] Quits without sending the message.
274 Saves the text of the message as
275 a ``draft''. Type \verb|comp -use| to
276 get back to that draft later.
278 \titem[\tt quit -delete] Quit, throwing away the draft
283 Make sure you are happy with your message before typing \verb|send|. There
284 is no way to recall a message once it has been sent.
286 \subsection{Replying to Messages}
288 To reply to the current message type {\it repl.} When you do this,
289 the reply headers will be printed out and you will be put in the prompter
290 editor to type in your reply text. When you are replying to a message,
291 the name of the sender of the original message will appear in the
292 ``To:'' field. Any people on the ``To:'' or ``Cc:'' lists will also
293 be copied on your reply message. As with {\it comp,} when you have
294 finished, type control-D and \verb|send| (or whatever) at \verb|What now ?|.
296 \subsection{Forwarding Messages}
298 If you receive a particularly interesting message and can't resist
299 sharing it with others, you can forward it using the {\it forw\/}
300 command. You will be prompted to fill in the headers (the address
301 to which the message is to be forwarded, etc.). When you have done this,
302 you will see the text of the message which you are forwarding and will be
303 given the opportunity to add some enlightening text to the message.
304 Exit with control-D and do whatever feels good at the \verb|What now ?|
307 \subsection{The Advanced Features}
309 You will probably want to master the beginning \MH/ concepts before you
310 tackle the following\dots
314 Folders are really just directories for storing mail messages in an
315 organized way. To store a message in a folder named
318 \oneline{\% refile 5 +inventory}
320 If the folder doesn't exist yet, you will be asked if it should be created.
321 To access messages in another folder, you can change your current
322 folder from ``inbox'' to something else. If you want to look at all
323 the messages pertaining to the inventory, you type:
325 \oneline{\% folder +inventory}
327 and now you use {\it scan,} {\it show,} etc., to manipulate the messages
329 To change back to inbox, type:
331 \oneline{\% folder +inbox}
333 Using the {\it inc\/} command will change your current folder to be the
334 ``inbox'' automatically.
336 \section{Mailing files}
338 Mailing files is usually not a good idea, especially for large files.
339 The mail system was never designed for moving big files. You
340 can use the {\it cp\/} file to move the file to another account much more
343 \oneline{\% cp \char`\~frated/desired-file \char`\~./newfile}
345 This will copy the file from frated's account to the current directory and
348 You can also copy files across the network using {\it rcp\/}:
350 \oneline{\% rcp icsd:frated/desired-file ./newfile}
352 This copies frated's file on the system icsd to the current directory.
354 If you {\it really\/} have to mail a file, you use the {\it mhmail\/} program.
355 To mail a file ``myfile'' to another user ``frated'', with ``MyFile'' as
358 \oneline{\% mhmail frated -subject MyFile < myfile}
361 \section{Searching for messages}
363 The {\it pick\/} program allows you to search your inbox (or any other)
364 folder to find messages which contain a certain word. If you want to
365 list all messages from Smith you can type:
367 \oneline{\% pick -from smith -list}
369 and it will list the numbers of all messages from Smith that are in the
370 current folder. You can {\it pick\/} messages according to any of the
371 headers ({\tt -to -from -subj -cc {\rm or} -date}) or just search all the
372 messages for a given word ({\tt -search}).
374 \section{The MH Profile}
376 Each \MH/ user has a file in his directory called \verb|.mh_profile|. This
377 file contains a list of user-specified default options for \MH/ programs.
379 entry is the name of your \MH/
384 \oneline{Path: mhbox}
386 To make a change to your \verb|.mh_profile|, you edit the file and add a
387 line for the applicable program. For example, if you would like to use {\it
388 vi\/} instead of {\it prompter\/} as your initial editor when composing
389 messages, you would add this line to your \verb|.mh_profile|:
391 \oneline{comp: -editor vi}
393 or, if you want to have a format file for {\it scan\/} to use, you should
396 \oneline{scan: -form {\it formatfile}}
398 Almost all of the \MH/ programs have options that can be set using the
399 \verb|.mh_profile|. You should consult the {\sl MH User's Manual\/}
400 for more information about this.
402 Many people will want to add a signature line to their \verb|.mh_profile|.
403 This line will appear as your signature on the From: line in messages
404 you send. It looks like this:
406 \oneline{Signature: John Q. Public}
409 Occasionally people express an interest in getting rid of some of the
410 header lines in their mail messages. They don't want to see the
411 ``Received from'', ``Via'' information, or some other header. It
412 is possible to prevent these and other annoying headers from being
413 displayed by changing your {\it show\/} processor to be {\it mhless.}
414 To do this you must add this line
416 \oneline{showproc: mhless}
418 to your \verb|.mh_profile|. You also must create a file
419 called ``.mhlessrc'' containing the words which
420 appear at the beginning of the lines you don't want to see.
422 The typical ``.mhlessrc'' file will look like this:
430 The ``.mhlessrc'' file must be in your home directory.
435 Electronic bulletin boards (BBoards) are a convenient way for a group
436 of people to discuss a particular topic. Messages are sent to
437 an address where they can be read and replied to by all interested
438 parties. In the ICS department we have some ``local'' BBoards which
439 involve only people in the department. We also subscribe to many
440 nationally distributed BBoards. BBoards are read using the {\it bbc\/}
441 program which will allow you to read the messages with
442 an \MH/-like interface.
444 One very important BBoard is ``system''.
445 It contains vital news about changes in software, system
446 downtime, new programs, and other information useful to all users.
448 To read a BBoard, you type ``\verb|bbc| {\it BBoard\_name\/}''. The {\it
449 bbc\/} program will check to see if there are new messages in the named
450 BBoard and if there are, it will start up {\it msh\/} so you can read them.
451 The {\it msh\/} program allows you to use regular \MH/ commands when reading
452 BBoards. Type ``{\tt show}'' to see the current message, ``{\tt next}'' to
453 see the next message, and so on. Type ``{\tt quit}'' to quit reading the
454 current BBoard. If you have named more than one BBoard on the command line
455 or in your \verb|.mh_profile|, {\it bbc\/} will continue processing the next
458 Here is an example of using {\it bbc\/} to read the system BBoard:
462 \baselineskip=12pt\parskip=0pt
463 \leftline{\tt\% bbc \itt system}
464 \leftline{\tt Reading system, currently at message 1 of 22}
465 \leftline{\tt(msh) \itt show}
467 (Message 1, BBoard-ID: 1360)
469 BB-Posted: Wed, 29 Jan 86 15:36:39 PST
470 Received: from localhost by UCI.EDU id a006693; 29 Jan 86 15:20 PST
472 Subject: Imagen 24300
473 Date: Wed, 29 Jan 86 15:19:43 -0800
474 From: Tinh Tang <ttang@UCI.EDU>
476 The Imagen 24300 is now operating normally. It was broken down
477 due to the paper jammed in the drum. Luckily, it didn't cause
481 \end{verbatim}\leftline{\tt(msh) \itt next}\begin{verbatim}
482 (Message 4, BBoard-ID: 1363)
484 BB-Posted: Fri, 31 Jan 86 13:33:37 PST
485 Received: from localhost by UCI.EDU id a001631; 31 Jan 86 13:30 PST
487 Subject: uci.edu down 2/7/86 17:10 - 2/7/86 20:30
488 Date: Fri, 31 Jan 86 13:30:27 -0800
491 The uci.edu will be down from
492 February 7,1986 17:10 till February 7,1986 20:30.
493 The reason for the downtime is:
494 Both, the Computing Facility and the Physical Sciences Dataswitches
495 will be unavailable from 5:10pm until 8:30pm on Friday, February 7th.
496 Therefore all the Computers attached to those switches and the
497 corresponding tandem link will be unavailable to users on
498 the specified time. (RJ).
501 \end{verbatim}\leftline{\tt(msh) \itt quit}
506 You can see a list of all the available BBoards by typing:
508 \command{bbc -topics}
510 You can also put a line in your ``\verb|.mh_profile|'' listing all
511 the BBoards you want to read on a regular basis:
513 \oneline{bboards: system movies mh-users events}
515 Then you only need to type ``\verb|bbc|'' to read all your BBoards.
518 \section{Checking for Mail}
520 Under \unix/, there are many different ways to check for new mail. The
521 easiest way to do it is to set the {\it csh\/} variable named ``mail''
522 to tell {\it csh\/} to check for new mail for you periodically. To
523 do this, add the line
525 \oneline{set mail=(60 /usr/spool/mail/\$USER)}
527 to the {\tt .login} file in your home directory. This command says
528 to check for mail if {\it csh\/} is about to prompt you with a
529 {\tt \%} sign, and if it has been at least 60 seconds since it last
530 checked for mail. The advantage of this method of mail notification,
531 besides simplicity, is that you will never be interrupted by a mail
532 notification. You will only be notified about new mail when you
533 are between commands.
535 If you want asynchronous mail notification, which will print to your
536 terminal regardless of what you are currently doing, you may make
537 use of a ``receive mail hook'' called ``rcvtty''. To do this,
538 create a file in your home directory called ``{\tt .maildelivery}''.
539 In this file, put the line
541 \oneline{* - pipe R /usr/uci/lib/mh/rcvtty}
543 Then, each time mail arrives, you will receive a one--line ``scan''
544 listing of the mail if your terminal is world-writable. For more
545 information on mail delivery files, type:
547 \command{man 5 maildelivery}
549 This will tell you about all the options available to you if you
550 use maildelivery files.
555 Using \MH/, you may specify your own private mail aliases. This feature
556 allows you to store lists of addresses or long internet addresses of people
557 with whom you frequently correspond in one file, and then to address them
558 using short mnemonic names. Typically, you will call your alias file ``{\tt
559 aliases}''; it must be stored in your \MH/ directory. The format of this
560 file is simple. The alias is given, followed by a colon, followed by one or
561 more legal mail addresses separated by commas. For example, you might for
562 some reason have an alias for all the users named ``Rose'' in the ICS
565 \oneline{roses: prose, srose, mrose, drose}
567 In addition to your ``{\tt aliases}'' file, you will need to modify your\break
568 \verb|.mh_profile| in order to use aliases. You should add the flag
569 ``{\tt -alias aliases}'' to the entries for the commands {\it ali, whom,
570 send,} and {\it push,} creating entries for these programs if they aren't
571 already in your \verb|.mh_profile|.
572 Now, messages addressed to ``{\tt roses}'' will be distributed to all
573 the people listed in the alias.
575 The {\it ali\/} command is used to show you what an alias expands to.
580 and {\it ali\/} will respond with the expansion of the {\it alias.} {\it
581 Ali\/} searches the system aliases file in addition to your private ones.
583 \section{Blind Lists}
585 There are two different types of so-called ``blind addressing'' of messages.
586 The {\tt BCC:} field allows you to add recipients to your message just
587 like those who are CC'd, but the normal recipients will not see that the
588 BCC recipients were copied on the message, their replies will not go to the
589 blind recipients, and the blind recipients cannot (easily) reply to the
592 The second type of blind mailing is actually called a ``group address list'',
593 although it is commonly referred to as a ``blind list''.
594 The format of this type of address is
596 \oneline{{\it phrase\/}: {\it address\_list\/};}
598 where the ``{\it phrase\/}'' is any English phrase of one or more words,
599 and the {\it address\_list\/} consists of one or more addresses separated by
600 commas. The recipients of a message addressed in this fashion will
603 \oneline{{\it phrase\/}: ;}
605 so when they reply to the message, their reply will come only to the sender
606 (or the {\tt Reply-To:} field, if one was specified), rather than going to
607 all the recipients of the original list. For example, to use a group
608 address list for the ``{\tt roses}'' alias you would type:
610 \oneline{To: People Named Rose: roses;}
612 This type of group address is very
613 useful for making up lists of related people, such as all the people working
614 on a particular research project.