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2 Introduction
4 Design Goals
6 Throughout _Alpine_ development, we have had to strike a balance
7 between the need to include features which advanced users require and
8 the need to keep things simple for beginning users. To strike this
9 balance, we have tried to adhere to these design principles:
11 - The model presented to the user has to be simple and clear.
12 Underlying system operation is hidden as much as possible.
13 - It's better to have a few easily understood commands that can
14 be repeated than to have some more sophisticated command that
15 will do the job all at once.
16 - Whenever the user has to select a command, file name, address,
17 etc., the user should be given (or can get) a menu from which to
18 make the selection. Menus need to be complete, small, organized
19 and well thought out.
20 - _Alpine_ must provide immediate feedback for the user with
21 each operation.
22 - _Alpine_ must be very tolerant of user errors. Any time a user
23 is about to perform an irreversible act (send a message, expunge
24 messages from a folder), _Alpine_ should ask for confirmation.
25 - Users should be able to learn by exploration without fear of
26 doing anything wrong. This is an important feature so the user
27 can get started quickly without reading any manuals and so fewer
28 manuals are required.
29 - The core set of _Alpine_ functions should be kept to a minimum
30 so new users don't feel "lost" in seemingly extraneous commands
31 and concepts.
33 Just as there were goals relating to the look and feel of _Alpine_,
34 there were equally important goals having to do with _Alpine_'s
35 structure-the things that users never see but still rely on every time
36 they use _Alpine_. While _Alpine_ can be used as a stand-alone mail
37 user agent, one of its strongest assets is its use of the Internet
38 Message Access Protocol (IMAP) for accessing remote email folders. In
39 addition, _Pine_ (the predecessor of _Alpine_) was one of the first
40 programs to support the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)
41 specification. With MIME, _Alpine_ users can reliably send any binary
42 file to any other person on the Internet who uses a MIME compliant
43 email program.
45 The decision to use IMAP and MIME reflects the importance of
46 interoperability, standardization and robustness in _Alpine_. As you
47 work with _Alpine_ more, you will see other features which reflect the
48 same values. For example, _Alpine_ enforces strict compliance with RFC
49 2822, implements a strong mail folder locking mechanism and verifies a
50 process before overwriting any files (e.g. addressbook, expunging
51 messages).
53 Alpine Components
55 If you have picked up the _Alpine_ distribution, then you already know
56 that _Alpine_ comes in a few different pieces. They are:
58 _Alpine_
59 The main code from which the _Alpine_ program is compiled.
60 _Pico_
61 _Pico_ is the name for the _Alpine_ composer. The _Pico_ code is
62 used in two ways: (1) it is compiled on its own to be a
63 stand-alone editor and, (2) it is compiled as a library for
64 _Alpine_ to support composition of messages within _Alpine_.
65 _Pico_ is _Alpine_'s internal editor invoked when users need to
66 fill in header lines or type the text of an email message.
67 _Imap_
68 An API for IMAP. Includes the C-Client library, which is
69 compiled into _Alpine_, and the IMAP server _IMAPd_. C-Client
70 implements the IMAP protocol and also negotiates all access
71 between _Alpine_ and the mail folders it operates on, even if
72 the folders are local. The C-Client routines are used for email
73 folder parsing and interpreting MIME messages. _IMAPd_ is a
74 separate server that handles IMAP connections from any
75 IMAP-compliant email program. When _Alpine_ accesses a remote
76 mailbox, the _Alpine_ program is the IMAP client and the _IMAPd_
77 program is the IMAP server. Of course, _Alpine_ can use any
78 IMAP-compliant IMAP server, not just _IMAPd_.
80 Background Details
82 Domain Names
84 Domain names are used to uniquely name each host on the Internet. A
85 domain name has a number of parts separated by periods. Each label
86 represents a level in the hierarchy. An example of a name is:
88 olive.cac.washington.edu
90 In this domain name the top-level label is _edu_, indicating it is at
91 an educational institution, the second-level label is _washington_,
92 indicating the University of Washington. _cac_ is a specific department
93 within the University of Washington, and _olive_ is the host name. The
94 top-level names are assigned by Internet organizations, and other names
95 are assigned at the appropriate level. The Domain Name Service, DNS, is
96 the distributed database used to look up these names.
98 _Alpine_ relies on domain names in multiple places. A domain name is
99 embedded into the message-id line generated for each piece of email. A
100 domain name is needed to contact an IMAP server to get access to remote
101 INBOXes and folders. Most importantly, domain names are needed to
102 construct the From: line of your outgoing messages so that people on
103 the Internet will be able to get email back to you.
105 On UNIX systems, you can set the domain via the user-domain variable in
106 the _Alpine_ configuration file, or rely on the file /etc/hosts which
107 usually sets the name of the local host. While _Alpine_ can often
108 deliver email without the domain name being properly configured, it is
109 best to have this set correctly. Problems can usually be solved by
110 adjusting the system's entry in the /etc/hosts file. The
111 fully-qualified name should be listed before any abbreviations. For
112 example,
114 128.95.112.99 olive.cac.washington.edu olive
116 is preferred over
118 128.95.112.99 olive olive.cac.washington.edu
120 On PCs, the task of configuring the domain name is a bit different.
121 Often times PCs do not have domain names-they have _IP addresses_. IP
122 addresses are the numbers which uniquely identify a computer on the
123 network. The way you configure your IP address depends on the
124 networking software which you use on the PC. You can refer to the
125 documentation which came with your networking software or see the PC
126 specific installation notes for help configuring the IP address with
127 your network software.
129 With PCs, it is vital that users set the variable user-domain in the
130 _Alpine_ configuration file (PINERC).
132 Details on configuring _Alpine_ with correct domain names can be found
133 in the Domain Settings section of this document.
134 __________________________________________________________________
136 RFC 2822 Compliance
138 _Alpine_ tries to adhere to RFC 2822 fairly strictly.
140 As far as outgoing email is concerned, _Alpine_ fully-qualifies
141 addresses whenever possible. They are even displayed in fully-qualified
142 form on the terminal as the user composes a message. This makes
143 addresses more clear and gives a hint to the user that the network
144 extends beyond the local organization. _Alpine_ implements
145 fully-qualified domain names by tacking on the local domain to all
146 unqualified addresses which a user types in. Any address which does not
147 contain an "@" is considered unqualified.
149 The format for addresses allows for spaces and special characters in
150 the full name of an address. For this reason, commas are required to
151 separate addresses. If any special characters as defined in RFC 2822
152 appear in the full name, quotes are required around the address.
153 _Alpine_ will insert the quotes automatically if needed. The common
154 cases where this happens are with periods after initials and
155 parentheses.
157 _Alpine_ expects dates to be in the standard RFC 822 format which is
158 something like:
159 [www, ] dd mmm yy hh:mm[:ss] [timezone]
161 It will attempt to parse dates that are not in this format. When an
162 unparsable date is encountered it is shown as question marks in the
163 FOLDER INDEX screen.
164 __________________________________________________________________
166 SMTP and Sendmail
168 _Alpine_ is a _user agent_ not a _message transfer agent_ (MTA). In
169 plain English, that means _Alpine_ does not know how to interact with
170 other computers on the Internet to deliver or receive email. What
171 _Alpine_ does know how to do is help users read, organize and create
172 email. The "dirty work" of delivering and accepting email is handled by
173 other programs.
175 All outgoing email is delivered to an SMTP server or to a mail transfer
176 agent. A common mail transfer agent is sendmail. The usual method of
177 delivery used by _Alpine_ is to use either a local or a remote SMTP
178 server.
180 The selection of which MTA to use depends on the settings of
181 smtp-server, sendmail-path, and compile-time options. The first MTA
182 specified in the following list is used:
183 1. _sendmail-path_ in /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed
184 2. _smtp-server_ in /usr/local/pine.conf.fixed
185 3. _sendmail-path_ specified on the command line.
186 4. _smtp-server_ specified on the command line.
187 5. _sendmail-path_ in the user's .pinerc file.
188 6. _smtp-server_ in the user's .pinerc file.
189 7. _sendmail-path_ in /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
190 8. _smtp-server_ in /usr/local/pine.conf
191 9. DF_SENDMAIL_PATH defined at compile time.
192 10. SENDMAIL and SENDMAILFLAGS defined at compile time.
194 If the _sendmail-path_ form is used, a child process is forked, and the
195 specified command is executed with the message passed on standard
196 input. Standard output is then passed back and displayed for the user.
197 _NOTE: The program MUST read the message to be posted on standard input,
198 AND operate in the style of sendmail's "-t" option. This method is not
199 recommended unless there are special reasons you want to do this._
201 If an _smtp-server_ is specified, _Alpine_ operates as an SMTP client.
202 SMTP stands for _Simple Mail Transfer Protocol_; it specifies the rules
203 by which computers on the Internet pass email to one another. In this
204 case, _Alpine_ passes outgoing email messages to a designated SMTP
205 server instead of to a mail transfer program on the local machine. A
206 program on the server then takes care of delivering the message. To
207 make _Alpine_ operate as an SMTP client, the smtp-server variable must
208 be set to the IP address or host name of the SMTP server within your
209 organization. This variable accepts a comma separated list of servers,
210 so you can specify multiple alternate SMTP servers. _PC-Alpine_ only
211 runs as an SMTP client so the _smtp-server_ option is mandatory.
213 For UNIX _Alpine_, if neither _smtp-server_ or _sendmail-path_ is set,
214 the default sendmail program is invoked with the "-bs -odb -oem" flags,
215 and the message is sent using the SMTP protocol.
216 __________________________________________________________________
218 Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
220 IMAP is a remote access protocol for message stores. _Alpine_ uses IMAP
221 to get at messages and folders which reside on remote machines. With
222 IMAP, messages are kept on the server. An IMAP client (such as
223 _Alpine_) can request specific messages, headers, message structures,
224 message parts, etc. The client can also issue commands which delete
225 messages from folders on the server. IMAP's closest kin is POP, the
226 Post Office Protocol, which works by transferring an entire mailbox to
227 the client where all the mail is kept. For a comparison of IMAP and
228 POP, see the paper "Comparing Two Approaches to Remote Mailbox Access:
229 IMAP vs. POP" by Terry Gray. A more detailed exploration of message
230 access may be found in the paper " Message Access Paradigms and
231 Protocols."
233 IMAP Features:
234 * Allows access to mail folders from more than one client computer.
235 * Works well over low-bandwidth lines because information is sent in
236 small pieces as needed by the user. For example, only header
237 information is sent to build index lists, and if someone sends a
238 large audio file via MIME, you can choose when (or if) you want to
239 get that part of the message.
240 * Email can be delivered and stored on a well-maintained and reliable
241 server which is "always-up".
242 * Folders can be accessed and manipulated from anywhere on the
243 Internet.
244 * Users can get to messages stored in different folders within the
245 same _Alpine_ session.
246 * Allows use of IMAP server for searching and parsing.
247 * The latest revision of IMAP (IMAP4) also provides for disconnected
248 operation, including resynchronization of message state between
249 mail servers and message caches on clients. _Alpine_ does not
250 support this capability, however.
252 IMAP4rev1 is described in RFC 3501. Further information about IMAP may
253 be obtained from the University of Washington's IMAP Information
254 Center.
256 _Alpine_ is an IMAP4rev1 client.
257 __________________________________________________________________
259 Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)
261 MIME is a way of encoding a multipart message structure into a standard
262 Internet email message. The parts may be nested and may be of seven
263 different types: Text, Audio, Image, Video, Message, Application and
264 Multipart (nested). The MIME specification allows email programs such
265 as _Alpine_ to reliably and simply exchange binary data (images,
266 spreadsheets, etc.). MIME includes support for international character
267 sets, tagging each part of a message with the character set it is
268 written in, and providing 7-bit encoding of 8-bit character sets.
270 The MIME standard was officially published in June of 1992 as RFC 1341
271 and subsequently revised in RFC 2045 when it became a full Internet
272 Standard. _Pine_ 3.0 was one of the first email programs to Implement
273 MIME. Now, there are dozens of commercial and freely available
274 MIME-capable email programs. In addition, MIME is being added to
275 newsreaders so MIME messages can be posted and read in USENET
276 newsgroups.
278 The MIME standard also includes support for non-ASCII text in message
279 headers through the extensions described in RFC 1342 and subsequently
280 revised in RFC 2047.
282 An actual MIME message looks something like this:
283 Date: Tue, 12 Mar 1996 15:39:35 -0800 (PST)
284 From: David L Miller <dlm@cac.washington.edu>
285 To: David L Miller <dlm@cac.washington.edu>
286 Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Test_MIME_message_with_RFC-1522_headers_=28=E1?= =?is
287 o-8859-1?Q?=E2=E3=29?=
288 Message-Id: <Pine.ULT.3.92.960312150851.21583I-101000@shiva2.cac.washington.edu>
289 Mime-Version: 1.0
290 Content-Type: MULTIPART/MIXED; BOUNDARY="0-1737669234-826673975=:21583"
291 Content-Id: <Pine.ULT.3.92.960312153928.21583O@shiva2.cac.washington.edu>
293 This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text,
294 while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools.
295 Send mail to mime@docserver.cac.washington.edu for more info.
297 --0-1737669234-826673975=:21583
298 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
299 Content-ID: <Pine.ULT.3.92.960312153104.21583L@shiva2.cac.washington.edu>
301 The text of the message would go here. It is readable if
302 one doesn't mind wading around a little bit of the MIME
303 formatting. After this is a binary file in base 64
304 encoding.
306 |\ | |\/| David L. Miller dlm@cac.washington.edu (206) 685-6240
307 |/ |_ | | Software Engineer, Pine Development Team (206) 685-4045 (FAX)
308 University of Washington, Networks & Distributed Computing, JE-20
309 4545 15th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98105, USA
311 --0-1737669234-826673975=:21583
312 Content-Type: APPLICATION/ZIP; NAME="test.zip"
313 Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64
314 Content-ID: <Pine.ULT.3.92.960312153638.21583N@shiva2.cac.washington.edu>
315 Content-Description: Test Attachment
317 UEsDBBQAAAAIAGh8bCBbZKT4ygIAAHgFAAAEAAAAdGVzdIVUX2vbMBB/16c4
318 9rSBNyjsYX1UHSUROLInycv2qNhKI5ZYxlLa5dvvpDRLw6CFgJF09/t3Rxo3
319 WDBDD43rPJjJQpxMbw9m+h3AbyHuLLSDe7JTcPGUbtYm7NzwGP3wBYQnnT8c
320 7NQ5s4djsC8t4QbmYE6wsfjpLTy7uPPHCOPk/ATPk4vRDmS008GF4PzwPich
321 zY3m4LfxOQlPNy4GcEO3P/a2h2j/xGyp9ONpco+7CHf33+4/393ff4XNibzL
322 c1UVfXJXQIdIBRx877b4TYy9C3Fym2NEyzsX/pNDet8dD3aIJiagLbo2wwnG
323 4zT6cK66ZLK1NhH9J4tcZQEy7OxkNyd4nMwQbV9glP7JZb87E3O32fgnm7We
324 XQ8+us4SM47WTCkgMPt9enc2ZAW5c+Pj7o32l0IXXk/r8pSRE3A4jqOfIqqF
325 G+PFlSdRDOaQduXNESTwtDcYfJ8191gWXUjYmOJ43Oxdh11JTzRuSPcY37+B
326 vNqmf0O5RB1G27mt64rLCp4X8pW1L6BvxunCeYHNk3F7s9lb+GAwyvAhOyNE
327 Lxm0gv9gUnH9C+o5rKlacrHQtYAZV2VF+UoBrSp8kJIKzZkqgP1sJFMKagl8
328 1VSczQqy5noJki2onIGuQS+5AlXPNfaxArgoq3aGwJDq6lZDxVdcU82RKMG/
329 4JArTVKzYrJc4pE+8CoJpGIGc65FIp8jO4WGSs3LtqISmlY2tUKyVMUFETWw
330 H0xoUMvE8KbXB4aC6EPFzrDiF6iGlZxWBeFixiUrdXJb1kKx7y2C4hPM6Iou
331 WI4hdVyO6yXVqkZqiXmottLJ9lzWK1LVKttqk8oZ1TS1NrJGS5jqeslQI0aK
332 ieCvzNlgNZJqiccCc5WafLxmKdii4gsmSvYpISkteamzkRwXJiG5SoUpcERK
333 8xIE8QQ7o+eh5WAUy1qYRP8rioip/maI+OfyF1BLAQIUAxQAAAAIAGh8bCBb
334 ZKT4ygIAAHgFAAAEAAAAAAAAAAEAAACkgQAAAAB0ZXN0UEsFBgAAAAABAAEA
335 MgAAAOwCAAAAAA==
336 --0-1737669234-826673975=:21583--
339 For details about _Alpine_'s implementation of MIME, see the two MIME
340 sections "MIME: Reading a Message" and "MIME: Sending a Message" later
341 in this document.
342 __________________________________________________________________
344 Folder Collections
346 Folder Collections are _Alpine_'s way of dealing with more than a
347 single group of folders.
349 For a more complete description of Folder Collections, see the section
350 on "Syntax for Collections."
352 The _Alpine_ distribution is designed to require as little
353 configuration and effort at compile time as possible. Still, there are
354 some _Alpine_ behaviors which are set at the time you compile _Alpine_.
355 For each of these, there is a reasonable (our opinion) default built
356 into the code, so most systems administrators will have no need for
357 these steps.
359 Building and Installation
361 Compile-time Options
363 _Alpine_'s UNIX build environment is based on Autotools (the GNU Build
364 System). Once you've unpacked the source distribution find the file
365 configure in the top-level directory. You may look at the many options
366 available by typing
368 ./configure --help
370 or you could just try building with the command
372 ./configure
374 followed by
376 make
378 Note, while the UW IMAP Toolkit (whose c-client library _Alpine_ uses
379 for mailbox access) build is not based on Autotools, _Alpine_'s
380 configure script should set an appropriate make target and compilation
381 options for most systems.
383 Some of the following can only be set when you build. Others, however,
384 can be overridden by command-line flags to _Alpine_ or settings in
385 _Alpine_'s user or system configuration files. Some of the options which
386 can be set when building:
388 Including LDAP Functionality
390 By default, the configure script will attempt to find the LDAP library
391 support for you. If you are having trouble with LDAP take a look at the
392 configure options
393 --with-ldap-dir=DIR
394 Specify the root of the LDAP lib/include path.
395 --with-ldap-include-dir=DIR
396 Specify the LDAP include path.
397 --with-ldap-lib-dir=DIR
398 Specify the LDAP library path.
399 --without-ldap
400 Disable LDAP support.
402 _Alpine_ uses LDAPv3 protocol. When using the LDAPv3 protocol, the
403 results are assumed to be in the UTF-8 character set, which _Alpine_
404 handles well. If the LDAP server returns non-ascii data which is not
405 encoded as UTF-8 you will probably run into problems.
407 Including Kerberos 5 Functionality
409 This works analogously to the LDAP build. By default, the configure
410 script will attempt to find the Kerberos library support for you. If
411 you are having trouble with Kerberos take a look at the configure
412 options
413 --with-krb5-dir=DIR
414 Specify the root of the Kerberos lib/include path.
415 --with-krb5-include-dir=DIR
416 Specify the Kerberos include path.
417 --with-krb5-lib-dir=DIR
418 Specify the Kerberos library path.
419 --without-krb5
420 Disable Kerberos support.
422 Other Alpine Compile-time Options
424 --disable-nls
425 Do not use Native Language Support. NLS refers to the use of GNU
426 gettext utilities to localize a program, in the sense that
427 English is translated to some other language. At the time this
428 was written the low-level support for NSL is included in _Alpine_
429 but no translations have been done. If there is no translation
430 available, that means that disabling NLS will make no
431 difference. If you have trouble building which is due to gettext
432 or libintl you could try this option, or one of the following.
433 --with-libintl-prefix[=DIR]
434 --without-libintl-prefix
435 --with-ssl-dir=DIR
436 Specify the root of the SSL lib/include path (OpenSSL).
437 --with-ssl-include-dir=DIR
438 Specify the SSL include path.
439 --with-ssl-lib-dir=DIR
440 Specify the SSL library path.
441 --with-ssl-certs-dir=DIR
442 Specify the path to the SSL certificates directory.
443 --without-ssl
444 Disable SSL support.
445 --without-pthread
446 Do not test for nor build with POSIX thread support, which is
447 used only for the Busy-Cue in the status line at this time.
448 --without-smime
449 Disable S/MIME support.
450 --disable-debug
451 Never create debug files.
452 --with-smtp-msa=PATH
453 Local Mail Submission Agent (sendmail, by default).
454 --with-smtp-msa-flags=FLAGS
455 MSA flags for SMTP on stdin/stdout (-bs -odb -oem).
457 There are many more options which you can see using the
459 ./configure --help
461 command.
463 IMAPd Compile-time Options
465 There are no options or settings required for the version of _IMAPd_
466 distributed with _Alpine_. If you need to be doing more complex
467 modifications to IMAP, then you should pick up the IMAP development
468 package and work with that code. The developer's version of IMAP is
469 available for anonymous ftp from ftp.cac.washington.edu in the
470 directory mail. The file is called imap.tar.Z. Unless it has changed
471 since _Alpine_ was released, the directory imap in the _Alpine_
472 distribution is the IMAP development package.
474 The c-client library has not been converted to use the GNU Build
475 System's autotools. The _Alpine_ configure script will try to correctly
476 guess the arguments needed for the c-client make command and will build
477 the library, but if you need to change anything you should take a look
478 at imap/docs/BUILD for more detailed instructions.
479 __________________________________________________________________
481 Building the Alpine Programs
483 You may have already compiled _Alpine_ and tried it out. If so, great!
484 If not, you should be able to do it without too much trouble by
485 following these step-by-step instructions:
487 1. Make sure you're in the root of the _Alpine_ source. When you type
488 ls you should see the following files and directories (or something
489 close to it):
490 aclocal.m4 config.sub imap Makefile.am packages web
491 alpine configure include Makefile.in pico
492 build.bat configure.ac install-sh mapi pith
493 build.cmd contrib LICENSE missing po
494 config.guess depcomp ltmain.sh mkinstalldirs README
495 config.rpath doc m4 NOTICE VERSION
497 2. Give the command ./configure Configure should grind away for a few
498 minutes.
499 3. When configure is complete, give the command make. If make stops
500 and asks
502 Do you want to build with IPv6 anyway? Type y or n please:
503 you should answer with a 'y'. The compiler should grind away for a
504 few minutes. The _Alpine_ binary will end up in .../alpine/alpine
505 and the Pico and Pilot binaries in .../pico/pico and
506 .../pico/pilot. Other binaries you may be interested in are
507 .../alpine/rpdump and .../alpine/rpload and c-client binaries in
508 the directories .../imap/imapd, .../imap/ipopd, .../imap/mailutil,
509 and so on.
510 4. If you need to try again, make sure you're getting a clean start by
511 giving the command make clean.
512 __________________________________________________________________
514 Installing Alpine and Pico on UNIX Platforms
516 Installing _Alpine_ and _Pico_ is simple. You take the program files
517 which you have just transferred or built and you move them to the
518 correct directory on your system. Most often the binaries go in
519 /usr/local/bin though sometimes they are placed in /usr/bin. All the
520 help text is compiled into _Alpine_ so there are no _required_
521 auxiliary files. Instead of copying the binaries manually, you may use
522 make install to install them.
524 There are three optional auxiliary files: /usr/local/lib/pine.info,
525 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf, and /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed. The file
526 pine.info contains text on how to get further help on the local system.
527 It is part of the help text for the main menu and should probably refer
528 to the local help desk or the system administrator. If this file
529 doesn't exist a generic version which suggests ``talking to the
530 computer support staff at your site'' is shown. The file pine.conf is
531 used to set system-wide default configurations for _Alpine_. The file
532 pine.conf.fixed is also used to set system-wide default configurations
533 for _Alpine_. The difference between these two files is that
534 configuration variables set in the pine.conf.fixed file may not
535 normally be over-ridden by a user. See the section on Alpine
536 Configuration later in this document for details about the pine.conf
537 and pine.conf.fixed files.
538 __________________________________________________________________
540 Installing PC-Alpine
542 The PC-Alpine distribution comes as a .zip file. To install, unzip the
543 files to a directory where you would like the program to reside. Modern
544 Windows versions come with the capability of unzipping .zip files.
545 Failing that, you can use one of the many .zip file extractors out
546 there. Following current Windows conventions, a common directory into
547 which the files could be extracted would be C:\Program
548 Files\PC-Alpine\.
550 Having extracted PC-Alpine's .zip file to the directory of choice, you
551 can now run that directory's alpine.exe, which is the actual PC-Alpine
552 program. For convenience, you could place shortcuts to it on the task
553 bar, start menu, etc.
555 Upon first running PC-Alpine, you may be asked where you would like to
556 access your Configuration file (called the _pinerc_). This is useful in
557 accessing already existing configuration files, and it does not matter
558 where this file gets created. If you are connecting to an IMAP server
559 to access your email, it is also possible to store this Configuration
560 data on that server, which facilitates accessing the same configuration
561 from multiple machines (in fact, your configuration may have already
562 been set up this way for use with other _Alpine_ programs).
564 After having established the location of the configuration file, it may
565 be necessary to specify a few configuration settings before reading or
566 sending mail. You may be prompted for the following (which may also be
567 edited from the (S)etup (C)onfig screen from the Main Menu):
569 Folder to open as inbox (or _inbox-path_) - This can be an inbox
570 residing on an IMAP or POP3 server, or one residing locally. An example
571 of an INBOX for an IMAP server is: {server.example.com}INBOX.
573 User-id, Personal name, and host/domain, which are to be used as your
574 email address.
576 SMTP server to forward message - You must enter your SMTP server
577 before you can send any messages.
579 At this point, you will be able to read and send email messages. There
580 are, however, many more preferences that you can set in the
581 Configuration screen.
582 __________________________________________________________________
584 Installing IMAPd
586 When the _Alpine_ distribution is built on a UNIX system, the IMAP
587 server binary, imapd, is compiled. Installing imapd requires placing
588 the binary in the appropriate directory, usually /usr/etc, and adding
589 entries to /etc/services and /etc/inetd.conf or their counterparts.
591 Instead of including installation instructions here we'll just include
592 a pointer to detailed instructions in the c-client distribution. Please
593 take a look at the file imap/docs/BUILD in the source tree.
594 __________________________________________________________________
596 Support Files and Environment Variables: UNIX Alpine
598 This section lists the various files which _Alpine_ uses which are not
599 email folders. All of these are the default names of files, they may
600 vary based on _Alpine_'s configuration.
601 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
602 Pine's global configuration file.
603 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed
604 Non-overridable global configuration file.
605 /usr/local/lib/pine.info
606 Local pointer to system administrator.
607 ~/.pinerc
608 Personal configuration file for each user.
609 ~/.pinercex
610 Personal exceptions configuration file for each user.
611 ~/.addressbook
612 Personal addressbook
613 ~/.newsrc
614 Personal USENET subscription list. This is shared with other
615 newsreading programs.
616 ~/.pine-debugX
617 The files created for debugging _Alpine_ problems. By default,
618 there are 4 .pine-debug files kept at any time.
619 ~/.signature
620 A signature file which will be included in all outgoing email
621 messages.
622 ~/.pine-interrupted-mail
623 The text of a message which was interrupted by some unexpected
624 error which _Alpine_ detected.
625 ~/mail/postponed-msgs
626 A folder of messages which the user chose to postpone.
627 /etc/mailcap
628 System-wide mail capabilities file. Only used if $MAILCAPS not
629 set.
630 ~/.mailcap
631 Personal mail capabilities file. Combines with system-wide
632 mailcap. Only used if $MAILCAPS not set.
634 The location of the following support files may be controlled by
635 variables in the personal or global _Alpine_ configuration file:
636 signature, addressbook and its index file, postponed messages, and
637 newsrc.
639 Unix _Alpine_ uses the following environment variables:
640 TERM
641 Tells _Alpine_ what kind of terminal is being used.
642 DISPLAY
643 Determines if _Alpine_ will try to display IMAGE attachments.
644 TMPDIR, TMP, or TEMP
645 Specifies location of temporary storage area, first one set wins
646 SHELL
647 If not set, default is /bin/sh
648 MAILCAPS
649 A semicolon delimited list of path names to mailcap files.
650 __________________________________________________________________
652 Support Files, Environment Variables, and Registry Settings: PC-Alpine
654 This section lists the various files which _PC-Alpine_ uses which are
655 not normal mail folders. All of these are the default names of files,
656 they may vary based on _Alpine_'s configuration.
658 $PINERC or <PineRC registry value> or $HOME\PINE\PINERC or <PINE.EXE
659 dir>\PINERC
660 Path to (required) personal configuration file.
661 $PINERCEX or $HOME\PINE\PINERCEX or <PINE.EXE dir>\PINERCEX
662 Path to personal exceptions configuration file.
663 $PINECONF
664 Path of optional global configuration file.
665 <PINERC directory>\ADDRBOOK
666 Personal addressbook
667 <PINERC directory>\PINEDEBG.TXT
668 Location of _Alpine_ debug file.
669 <PINERC directory>\MAILCAP and/or <PINE.EXE dir>\MAILCAP
670 These paths are only used if $MAILCAPS not set.
671 $HOME\NEWSRC or <PINERC directory>\NEWSRC
672 Personal USENET subscription list. This may be shared with other
673 newsreading programs.
674 $HOME\MAIL\INTRUPTD
675 The text of a message which was interrupted by some unexpected
676 error which _Alpine_ detected.
677 $HOME\MAIL\POSTPOND
678 A folder of messages which the user chose to postpone.
680 Registry Values:
681 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\University of Washington\Alpine\1.0
682 _Pinedir_: The directory that contains the _Alpine_ executable.
683 _PineEXE_: The name of the _Alpine_ executable (most commonly
684 "alpine.exe").
685 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\University of Washington\Alpine\1.0
686 _PineRC_: The path that points to the default pinerc to use.
687 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Clients\Mail\Alpine
688 _DLLPath_: The path that points to _Alpine_'s pmapi32.dll.
689 HKLM\Software\Clients\Mail\Alpine\shell\open\command
690 _(Default)_: When set as the default mailer, this is the command
691 that is run by external programs.
692 HKLM\Software\Clients\Mail\Alpine\Protocols\Mailto\DefaultIcon
693 _(Default)_: This points to the icon to display in relation to
694 _Alpine_'s mailto URL rendering.
695 HKLM\Software\Clients\Mail\Alpine\Protocols\Mailto\shell\open\command
696 _(Default)_: This value is the command that gets run by external
697 programs when a mailto URL is run with _PC-Alpine_ set as the
698 default mailer.
699 HKLM\Software\Clients\News\Alpine\shell\open\command
700 _(Default)_: When set as the default newsreader, this is the
701 command that is run by external programs.
702 HKLM\Software\Clients\News\Alpine\Protocols\news\DefaultIcon
703 _(Default)_: This points to the icon to display in relation to
704 _Alpine_'s news URL rendering.
705 HKLM\Software\Clients\News\Alpine\Protocols\news\shell\open\command
706 _(Default)_: This value is the command that gets run by external
707 programs when a news URL is run with _Alpine_ set as the default
708 newsreader.
709 HKLM\Software\Clients\News\Alpine\Protocols\nntp\DefaultIcon
710 _(Default)_: This points to the icon to display in relation to
711 _Alpine_'s nntp URL rendering.
712 HKLM\Software\Clients\News\Alpine\Protocols\nntp\shell\open\command
713 _(Default)_: This value is the command that gets run by external
714 programs when a nntp URL is run with _Alpine_ set as the default
715 newsreader.
717 _Alpine_'s personal configuration file may be in the same directory as
718 the executable, or if that is inconvenient because the executable is on
719 a shared or read-only drive, then it can be in a file named by the
720 $PINERC environment variable, or in $HOME\ALPINE\PINERC, where if not
721 set, $HOME defaults to the root of the current working drive.
723 Most of the other support files key off of the location of the PINERC
724 file. However, in the case of the NEWSRC file, the path $HOME\NEWSRC is
725 checked first. Also, the postponed messages and interrupted message
726 folders are placed in the default folder collection, normally in the
727 directory $HOME\MAIL.
729 The location of the following support files may be controlled by
730 variables in the personal or global _Alpine_ configuration file:
731 signature, addressbook (and its index file), postponed messages, and
732 newsrc.
734 _PC-Alpine_ uses the following environment variables:
735 PINERC
736 Overrides default path to pinerc file.
737 PINERCEX
738 Overrides default path to personal exceptions configuration
739 file.
740 PINECONF
741 Optional path to global _Alpine_ config file.
742 HOME
743 If not set, _Alpine_ uses the root of the current drive, e.g. C:
744 TMPDIR, TMP, or TEMP
745 Specifies location of temporary storage area, first one set wins
746 COMSPEC
747 Specifies shell for external commands.
748 MAILCAPS
749 A semicolon delimited list of path names to mailcap files.
751 Command Line Arguments
753 Alpine
755 _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_ can accept quite a few command-line arguments.
756 Many of these arguments overlap with variables in the _Alpine_
757 configuration file. If there is a difference, then a flag set in the
758 command line takes precedence. Both _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_ expect
759 command line arguments (other than addresses) to be preceded by the "-"
760 (dash) as normally used by UNIX programs.
762 _[addresses]_
763 Send-to: If you give _Alpine_ an argument or arguments which do
764 not begin with a dash, _Alpine_ treats them as email addresses.
765 _Alpine_ will startup in the composer with a message started to
766 the addresses specified. Once the message is sent, the _Alpine_
767 session closes. Standard input redirection is allowed. Separate
768 multiple addresses with a space between them. Addresses are
769 placed in the "To" field only.
770 < _file_
771 _Alpine_ will startup in the composer with _file_ read into the
772 body of the message. Once the message is sent, the _Alpine_
773 session closes.
774 -attach _file_
775 Go directly into composer with given file attached.
776 -attachlist _file-list_
777 Go directly into composer with given files attached. This must
778 be the last option on the command line.
779 -attach_and_delete _file_
780 Go directly into composer with given file attached, delete when
781 finished.
782 -aux _local_directory_
783 _PC-Alpine_ only. This tells _PC-Alpine_ the local directory to
784 use for storing auxiliary files, like debug files, address
785 books, and signature files. The pinerc may be local or remote.
786 -nosplash
787 _PC-Alpine_ only. This tells _PC-Alpine_ to not display the
788 splash screen upon startup. This may be helpful for certain
789 troubleshooting or terminal server scenarios.
790 -bail
791 If the personal configuration file doesn't already exist, exit.
792 This might be useful if the configuration file is accessed using
793 some remote filesystem protocol. If the remote mount is missing
794 this will cause _Alpine_ to quit instead of creating a new
795 pinerc.
796 -c _n_
797 When used with the -f option, apply the _n_th context. This is
798 used when there are multiple folder collections (contexts) and
799 you want to open a folder not in the primary collection.
800 -conf
801 Configuration: Prints a sample system configuration file to the
802 screen or standard output. To generate an initial system
803 configuration file, execute
804 alpine -conf > /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
806 To generate a system configuration file using settings from an
807 old system configuration file, execute
808 alpine -P old-pine.conf -conf > /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
810 A system configuration file is not required.
811 -convert_sigs _-p pinerc_
812 Convert signatures contained in signature files into literal
813 signatures.
814 -copy_abook _<local_abook_file> <remote_abook_folder>_
815 Copy an address book file to a remote address book folder. If
816 the remote folder doesn't exist, it will be created. If it
817 exists but the first message in the folder isn't a remote
818 address book header message, the copy will be aborted. This flag
819 will not usually be used by a user. Instead, the user will
820 create a remote address book from within _Alpine_ and copy
821 entries from the local address book by using aggregate Save in
822 the address book screen.
823 -copy_pinerc _<local_pinerc_file> <remote_pinerc_folder>_
824 Copy a pinerc configuration file to a remote pinerc folder. If
825 the remote folder doesn't exist, it will be created. If it
826 exists but the first message in the folder isn't a remote pinerc
827 header message, the copy will be aborted. This flag may be
828 useful to users who already have a local pinerc file and would
829 like to convert it to a remote pinerc folder and use that
830 instead. This gives a way to bootstrap that conversion without
831 having to manually reset all of the variables in the remote
832 pinerc folder.
833 -d _debug-level_
834 Debug Level: Sets the level of debugging information written by
835 _Alpine_. _Debug-level_ can be set to any integer 0-9. A debug
836 level of 0 turns off debugging for the session. (Actually there
837 are some levels higher than 9, but you probably don't want to
838 see them. Sensitive authentication information is hidden at
839 levels less than 10.)
840 -d _keywords_
841 You may use a more detailed version of the debugging flag to set
842 the debug level in separate parts of _Alpine_. The possibilities
843 are flush, timestamp, imap=0..4, tcp, numfiles=0..31, and
844 verbose=0..9. _Flush_ causes debugging information to be flushed
845 immediately to the debug file as it is written. _Verbose_ is the
846 general debugging verbosity level. _Timestamp_ causes timestamps
847 to be added to the debug file, which is useful when you are
848 trying to figure out what is responsible for delays. _Numfiles_
849 sets the number of debug files saved. _Imap_ sets the debug
850 level for the debugging statements related to the conversation
851 with the IMAP server, and more generally, for the debugging
852 related to _Alpine_'s interaction with the C-Client library. If
853 _imap_ is set higher than 4, sensitive authentication information
854 will be included in the debug file. _Tcp_ adds more TCP/IP
855 debugging information.
856 -f _folder_
857 Startup folder: _Alpine_ will open this folder in place of the
858 standard INBOX.
859 -F _file_
860 Open named text file for viewing and forwarding.
861 -h
862 Help: Prints the list of available command-line arguments to the
863 screen.
864 -i
865 _Alpine_ will start up in the FOLDER INDEX screen instead of the
866 MAIN MENU.
867 Configuration equivalent: _initial-keystroke-list=i_.
868 -I _a,b,c,..._
869 Initial Keystrokes: _Alpine_ will execute this comma-separated
870 sequence of commands upon startup. This allows users to get
871 _Alpine_ to start in any of its menus/screens. You cannot include
872 any input to the composer in the initial keystrokes. The key
873 <Return> is represented by a ``CR'' in the keystroke list; the
874 spacebar is designated by the letters ``SPACE''. Control keys
875 are two character sequences beginning with ``^'', such as
876 ``^I''. A tab character is ``TAB''. Function keys are ``F1'' -
877 ``F12'' and the arrow keys are ``UP'', ``DOWN'', ``LEFT'', and
878 ``RIGHT''. A restriction is that you can't mix function keys and
879 character keys in this list even though you can, in some cases,
880 mix them when running _Alpine_. A user can always use only
881 _character_ keys in the startup list even if he or she is using
882 _function_ keys normally, or vice versa. If an element in this
883 list is a string of characters surrounded by double quotes (")
884 then it will be expanded into the individual characters in the
885 string, excluding the double quotes.
886 Configuration equivalent: _initial-keystroke-list_
887 -install
888 For _PC-Alpine_ only, this option prompts for some basic setup
889 information, then exits.
890 -k
891 Function-Key Mode: When invoked in this way, _Alpine_ expects
892 the input of commands to be function-keys. Otherwise, commands
893 are linked to the regular character keys.
894 Configuration equivalent: _use-function-keys_ included in
895 _feature-list_.
896 -n _n_
897 Message-Number: When specified, _Alpine_ starts up in the FOLDER
898 INDEX screen with the current message being the specified
899 message number.
900 -nowrite_password_cache
901 This tells _Alpine_ to use the local password cache if there is
902 one, but to never offer writing new passwords to the cache.
903 -o _folder_
904 Opens the INBOX (or a folder specified via the -f argument)
905 ReadOnly.
906 -p _pinerc_
907 Uses the named file as the personal configuration file instead
908 of _~/.pinerc_ or the default PINERC search sequence _PC-Alpine_
909 uses. Pinerc may be either a local file or a remote
910 configuration folder.
911 -P _pinerc_
912 Uses the named file as the system wide configuration file
913 instead of _/usr/local/lib/pine.conf_ on UNIX, or nothing on
914 _PC-Alpine_. Pinerc may be either a local file or a remote
915 configuration folder.
916 -passfile _passfile_
917 This tells _Alpine_ what file should be used as the password
918 file. This should be a fully-qualified filename.
919 -pinerc _file_
920 Output fresh pinerc configuration to _file_, preserving the
921 settings of variables that the user has made. Use _file_ set to
922 ``-'' to make output go to standard out.
923 -r
924 Restricted Mode: For UNIX _Alpine_ only. _Alpine_ in restricted
925 mode can only send email to itself. Save and export are limited.
926 -registry _cmd_
927 For _PC-Alpine_ only, this option affects the values of
928 _Alpine_'s registry entries. Possible values for _cmd_ are set,
929 noset, clear, clearsilent, and dump. _Set_ will always reset
930 _Alpine_'s registry entries according to its current settings.
931 _NoSet_ will never set any values in the registry, but it will
932 still use the values already set in the registry. _Clear_ will
933 clear the registry values. _Clearsilent_ will silently clear the
934 registry values. _Dump_ will display the values of current
935 registry settings. Note that the dump command is currently
936 disabled. Without the -registry option, _PC-Alpine_ will write
937 values into the registry only if there currently aren't any
938 values set.
939 -sort _key_
940 Sort-Key: Specifies the order messages will be displayed in for
941 the FOLDER INDEX screen. _Key_ can have the following values:
942 arrival, date, subject, orderedsubj, thread, from, size, score,
943 to, cc, arrival/reverse, date/reverse, subject/reverse,
944 orderedsubj/reverse, thread/reverse, from/reverse, size/reverse,
945 score/reverse, to/reverse, and cc/reverse. The default value is
946 "arrival". The _key_ value reverse is equivalent to
947 arrival/reverse.
948 Configuration equivalent: _sort-key_.
949 -supported
950 Some options may or may not be supported depending on how
951 _Alpine_ was compiled. This is a way to determine which options
952 are supported in the particular copy of _Alpine_ you are using.
953 -install
954 For _PC-Alpine_ only, this option removes references to Alpine
955 in Windows settings. The registry settings are removed and the
956 password cache is cleared.
957 -url _url_
958 Open the given URL.
959 -v
960 Version: Print version information to the screen.
961 -version
962 Version: Print version information to the screen.
963 -x _exceptions_config_
964 Configuration settings in the exceptions config override your
965 normal default settings. _Exceptions_config_ may be either a
966 local file or a remote pinerc folder.
967 -z
968 Enable Suspend: When run with this flag, the key sequence ctrl-z
969 will suspend the _Alpine_ session.
970 Configuration equivalent: _enable-suspend_ included in
971 _feature-list_.
972 -_option_=_value_
973 Assign _value_ to the config option _option_. For example,
974 _-signature-file=sig1_ or _-feature-list=signature-at-bottom_.
975 (Note: feature-list values are additive and features may be
976 preceded with no- to turn them off).
978 Pico
980 The following command line options are supported in _Pico_:
982 +_n_
983 Causes _Pico_ to be started with the cursor located _n_ lines
984 into the file. (Note: no space between "+" sign and number)
986 -a
987 Display all files and directories, including those beginning
988 with a period (.).
990 -b
991 Enable the option to Replace text matches found using the "Where
992 is" command. This now does nothing. Instead, the option is
993 always turned on (as if the -b flag had been specified).
995 -d
996 Rebind the "delete" key so the character the cursor is on is
997 rubbed out rather than the character to its left.
999 -e
1000 Enable file name completion.
1002 -f
1003 Use function keys for commands. _This option supported only in
1004 conjunction with UW Enhanced NCSA telnet._
1006 -g
1007 Enable "Show Cursor" mode in file browser. Cause cursor to be
1008 positioned before the current selection rather than placed at
1009 the lower left of the display.
1011 -k
1012 Causes "Cut Text" command to remove characters from the cursor
1013 position to the end of the line rather than remove the entire
1014 line.
1016 -m
1017 Enable mouse functionality. This only works when _Pico_ is run
1018 from within an X Window System "xterm" window.
1020 -n_n_
1021 The -n_n_ option enables new mail notification. The _n_ argument
1022 is optional, and specifies how often, in seconds, your mailbox
1023 is checked for new mail. For example, -n60 causes _Pico_ to
1024 check for new mail once every minute. The default interval is
1025 180 seconds, while the minimum allowed is 30. (Note: no space
1026 between "n" and the number)
1028 -o _dir_
1029 Sets operating directory. Only files within this directory are
1030 accessible. Likewise, the file browser is limited to the
1031 specified directory subtree.
1033 -p
1034 Preserve the "start" and "stop" characters, typically Ctrl-Q and
1035 Ctrl-S, which are sometimes used in communications paths to
1036 control data flow between devices that operate at different
1037 speeds.
1039 -q
1040 TermdefWins. Termcap or terminfo escape sequences are used in
1041 preference to default escape sequences.
1043 -Q _quotestr_
1044 Set the quote string. Especially useful when composing email,
1045 setting this allows the quote string to be checked for when
1046 Justifying paragraphs. A common quote string is "> ".
1048 -r_n_
1049 Sets column used to limit the "Justify" command's right margin.
1051 -t
1052 Enable "tool" mode. Intended for when _Pico_ is used as the
1053 editor within other tools (e.g., Elm, Pnews). _Pico_ will not
1054 prompt for save on exit, and will not rename the buffer during
1055 the "Write Out" command.
1057 -v
1058 View the file only, disallowing any editing.
1060 -version
1061 Print version information.
1063 -w
1064 Disable word wrap (thus allow editing of long lines).
1066 _Note: Pico will break any lines over 255 characters when
1067 reading a file, regardless of word wrapping._
1069 -x
1070 Disable keymenu at the bottom of the screen.
1072 -z
1073 Enable ^Z suspension of _Pico_.
1075 Pilot
1077 The following command line options are supported in _Pilot_:
1079 -a
1080 Display all files including those beginning with a period (.).
1082 -f
1083 Use function keys for commands. _This option supported only in
1084 conjunction with UW Enhanced NCSA telnet._
1086 -g
1087 Enable "Show Cursor" mode. Cause cursor to be positioned before
1088 the current selection rather than placed at the lower left of
1089 the display.
1091 -m
1092 Enable mouse functionality. This only works when _Pilot_ is run
1093 from within an X Window System "xterm" window.
1095 -n_n_
1096 The -n_n_ option enables new mail notification. The _n_ argument
1097 is optional, and specifies how often, in seconds, your mailbox
1098 is checked for new mail. For example, -n60 causes _Pilot_ to
1099 check for new mail once every minute. The default interval is
1100 180 seconds, while the minimum allowed is 30. (Note: no space
1101 between "n" and the number)
1103 -o _dir_
1104 Sets operating directory. Only files within the specified
1105 directory are accessible and browsing is limited to the
1106 specified directory subtree.
1108 -v
1109 Enable single vertical column display.
1111 -x
1112 Disable keymenu at the bottom of the screen.
1114 -z
1115 Enable ^Z suspension of _Pilot_.
1117 Configuration and Preferences
1119 Alpine Configuration
1121 There is very little in _Alpine_ which _requires_ compile-time
1122 configuration. In most cases, the compiled-in preferences will suit
1123 users and administrators just fine. When running _Alpine_ on a UNIX
1124 system, the default built-in configuration can be changed by setting
1125 variables in the system configuration files, /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
1126 or /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed. (Actually, these files can be
1127 changed using the configure arguments --with-system-pinerc=VALUE or
1128 --with-system-fixed-pinerc=VALUE.) The location of the pine.conf file
1129 can be changed with the -P command line argument. Both _Alpine_ and
1130 _PC-Alpine_ also use personal (user-based) configuration files. On UNIX
1131 machines, the personal configuration file is the file ~/.pinerc. For
1132 _PC-Alpine_ systems, the personal configuration file is in $PINERC or
1133 <PineRC registry value> or ${HOME}\ALPINE\PINERC or <ALPINE.EXE
1134 dir>\PINERC. Or the personal configuration file can be specified with
1135 the -p command line argument.
1137 All of these configuration files, other than the fixed system config
1138 pine.conf.fixed on UNIX systems, may optionally be remote configuration
1139 files instead of local files. This is discussed further in the
1140 following section and in Remote Configuration.
1142 After the personal configuration, _Alpine_ may optionally use a
1143 personal exceptions configuration file which is specified with the
1144 command line option "-x exceptions_config". "Exceptions_config" may
1145 also be either a local file or a remote configuration folder. For Unix
1146 _Alpine_, if you don't have a "-x" command line option, _Alpine_ will
1147 look for the file ".pinercex" in the same local directory that the
1148 regular config file is located in. If the regular config file is remote
1149 then Unix _Alpine_ looks in the home directory for ".pinercex".
1151 For _PC-Alpine_, if you don't have a "-x" command line option,
1152 _PC-Alpine_ will use the value of the environment variable $PINERCEX. If
1153 that is not set, _PC-Alpine_ will look for the local file "PINERCEX" in
1154 the same local directory that the regular config file is located in. If
1155 the regular config file is remote then _PC-Alpine_ looks in the local
1156 directory specfied by the "-aux local_directory" command line argument,
1157 or the directory ${HOME}\ALPINE, or in <ALPINE.EXE directory>.
1159 The syntax of a non-list configuration variable is this:
1161 <variable> = <value>
1163 If the value is absent then the variable is unset. To set a variable to
1164 the empty value two double quotes (""). This is equivalent to an absent
1165 value except that it overrides any system-wide default value that may
1166 be set. Quotes may be used around any value. All values are strings and
1167 end at the end of the line or the closing quote. Leading and trailing
1168 space is ignored unless it is included in the quotes. There is one
1169 variable, _use-only-domain-name_, for which the only appropriate values
1170 are _yes_ and _no_. That's because it is a variable from the early days
1171 of _Alpine_ before features existed.
1173 There is also a second type of variable, lists. A list is a
1174 comma-separated list of values. The syntax for a list is:
1176 <variable> = <value> [, <value> , ... ]
1178 A list can be continued on subsequent lines by beginning the line with
1179 white-space. Both the per-user and global configuration files may
1180 contain comments which are lines beginning with a #.
1182 For UNIX _Alpine_, there are five ways in which each variable can be
1183 set. In decreasing order of precedence they are:
1184 1. the system-wide _fixed_ configuration file
1185 2. a command line argument
1186 3. the personal exceptions file
1187 4. the personal configuration file
1188 5. the system-wide configuration file.
1190 If the variable is not set in any of those places, there is a default
1191 setting in the source code.
1193 So, system-wide fixed settings always take precedence over command line
1194 flags, which take precedence over per-user exception settings, which
1195 take precedence over per-user settings, which take precedence over
1196 system-wide configuration settings. _PC-Alpine_ has the same list,
1197 except that it does not use a system-wide _fixed_ configuration file.
1198 This can be modified slightly by using inheritance, which is covered
1199 below.
1201 You may get a sample/fresh copy of the system configuration file by
1202 running _alpine -conf_. The result will be printed on the standard
1203 output with very short comments describing each variable. (The online
1204 help in the Setup screens provides much longer comments.) If you need
1205 to fix some of the configuration variables, you would use the same
1206 template for the fixed configuration file as for the regular
1207 system-wide configuration file. (If it isn't clear, the purpose of the
1208 fixed configuration file is to allow system administrators to restrict
1209 the configurability of _Alpine_. It is by no means a bullet-proof
1210 method.) _Alpine_ will automatically create the personal configuration
1211 file the first time it is run, so there is no need to generate a
1212 sample. _Alpine_ reads and writes the personal configuration file
1213 occasionally during normal operation. Users will not normally look at
1214 their personal configuration file, but will use the Setup screens from
1215 within _Alpine_ to set the values in this file. If a user does add
1216 additional comments to the personal configuration file they will be
1217 retained.
1219 References to environment variables may be included in the _Alpine_
1220 configuration files. The format is $variable or ${variable}. The
1221 character ~ will be expanded to the $HOME environment variable. For a
1222 more complete explanation of how environment variables work, see the
1223 section Using Environment Variables.
1225 When environment variables are used for _Alpine_ settings which take
1226 lists, you must have an environment variable set for each member of the
1227 list. That is, _Alpine_ won't properly recognize an environment
1228 variable which is set equal to a comma-delimited list. It is OK to
1229 reference unset environment variables in the _Alpine_ configuration
1230 file, which will expand to nothing.
1232 Remote and Local Configuration
1234 There are two types of storage for configuration information. _Local_
1235 configuration files are used by default. These are just regular files
1236 on the UNIX system or on the PC. _Remote_ configuration folders are
1237 stored on an IMAP server. The advantage of using a remote configuration
1238 is that the same information may be accessed from multiple platforms.
1239 For example, if you use one computer at work and another at home, the
1240 same configuration could be used from both places. A configuration
1241 change from one place would be seen in both places. Technical
1242 information about remote configuration is in Remote Configuration.
1244 Generic and Exceptional Configuration
1246 If you use _Alpine_ from more than one platform it may be convenient to
1247 split your configuration information into two pieces, a generic piece
1248 and exceptions which apply to a particular platform. For example,
1249 suppose you use _Alpine_ from home and from work. Most of your
1250 configuration settings are probably the same in both locations, so
1251 those settings belong in the generic settings configuration. However,
1252 you may use a different SMTP server and INBOX from home than you do
1253 from work. The "smtp-server" and "inbox-path" variables could be part
1254 of your exceptional configuration so that they could be different in
1255 the two places.
1257 You can use the command line option "-x config" to split your
1258 configuration into generic and exceptional pieces. Config may be either
1259 local or remote.
1261 For most people, splitting the configuration information into two
1262 pieces is only going to be useful if the generic information is
1263 accessed remotely. If you already have a local pinerc file with
1264 settings you like you may find that the command Setup/RemoteConfigSetup
1265 will be useful in helping you convert to a remote configuration. The
1266 command line flag copy_pinerc may also be useful.
1268 Configuration Inheritance
1270 Configuration inheritance is a power user feature. It is confusing and
1271 not completely supported by the configuration user interface.
1273 For configuration variables which are lists, like "smtp-server" or
1274 "incoming-folders", the inheritance mechanism makes it possible to
1275 _combine_ the values of options from different configuration locations
1276 instead of _replacing_ the value. Configuration Inheritance has more
1277 information about how inheritance is used.
1278 __________________________________________________________________
1280 General Configuration Variables
1282 The following is a list of all _Alpine_ configuration variables, in
1283 alphabetical order. Note that not all variables apply to all versions
1284 of _Alpine_ and that some variables are only applicable in a system
1285 configuration file and some are only applicable in a personal
1286 configuration file. These are configuration _variables_. Configuration
1287 Features are in a separate section.
1289 _addrbook-sort-rule_
1290 This variable sets up the default address book sorting.
1291 Currently, _Alpine_ will accept the values _dont-sort_,
1292 _fullname-with-lists-last_, _fullname_,
1293 _nickname-with-lists-last_, and _nickname_. The default is to sort
1294 by fullname with lists last. If you use an address book from
1295 more than one computer and those computers sort the address book
1296 differently then the sort order will be the order where the last
1297 change to the address book was made. There are two reasons the
1298 sorting might be different on different systems. First, the
1299 addrbook-sort-rule may be set differently in the two places.
1300 Second, the collation rules on the two computers may be
1301 different. For example, one system might ignore special
1302 characters while the other doesn't or one may sort upper and
1303 lower case letters together while the other doesn't. In any
1304 case, the order you see is the order on the system where the
1305 last change was made, for example by an address book edit or a
1306 Take Address command.
1307 This option is displayed as "Addressbook Sort Rule".
1308 _address-book_
1309 A list of personal address books. Each entry in the list is an
1310 optional nickname followed by a pathname or file name relative
1311 to the home directory. The nickname is separated from the rest
1312 of the line with whitespace. Instead of a local pathname or file
1313 name, a remote folder name can be given. This causes the address
1314 book to be a Remote address book. Remote folder syntax is
1315 discussed in Syntax for Remote Folders. This list of address
1316 books will be combined with the global-address-book list to
1317 arrive at the complete set of address books.
1318 _addressbook-formats_
1319 This option specifies the format that address books are
1320 displayed in. By default, address books are displayed with the
1321 nicknames in the first column, the fullnames in the second
1322 column, and addresses in the third column. The system figures
1323 out reasonable defaults for the widths of the columns. An
1324 address book may be given a different format by listing special
1325 tokens in the order you want them to display. The possible
1326 tokens are NICKNAME, FULLNAME, ADDRESS, FCC, and COMMENT. More
1327 details are included in the online help for this variable.
1328 _alt-addresses_
1329 This option provides a place for you to list alternate email
1330 addresses you may have. Each address in the list should be the
1331 actual email address part of an address, without the full name
1332 field or the angle brackets. For example:
1334 user@example.com
1335 The matching is case-insensitive, so this would match any of
1336 User@example.com, user@Example.Com, or USER@EXAMPLE.COM as well.
1337 If set, the option affects the behavior of the Reply command and
1338 the "+" symbol in the MESSAGE INDEX, which denotes that a
1339 message has been addressed specifically to you.
1340 In the default INDEX display the personal name (or email
1341 address) of the person listed in the message's "From:" header
1342 field is usually displayed except when that address is yours or
1343 one of your alternate addresses. In that case you will usually
1344 see the name of the first person specified in the message's
1345 "To:" header field with the prefix "To: " prepended.
1346 With respect to Reply, the reply-to-all option will exclude
1347 addresses listed here.
1348 The feature copy-to-address-to-from-if-it-is-us is somewhat
1349 related to this option.
1350 In addition to a list of actual addresses, you may use regular
1351 expressions (as used with egrep with the ignore case flag) to
1352 describe the addresses you want to match. _Alpine_ will somewhat
1353 arbitrarily interpret your entry as a regular expression if it
1354 contains any of the characters *, |, +, ?, {, [, ^, $, or \.
1355 Otherwise, it will be treated literally. The feature
1356 disable-regular-expression-matching-for-alternate-addresses may
1357 be used to turn off regular expression processing regardless of
1358 whether or not special characters appear in the entry.
1359 A description of how regular expressions work is beyond the
1360 scope of this help text, but some examples follow.
1361 The entry
1363 .*@example.com
1364 in the alt-addresses list would mean that any address with a
1365 domain name of example.com (such as fred@example.com or
1366 wilma@example.com) will be considered one of your alternate
1367 addresses. Strictly speaking, the dot in example.com ought to be
1368 escaped with a backslash, as in example\.com, and a dollar sign
1369 anchor ought to come at the end of the expression to prevent a
1370 match of example.com.org. Complicating things further, the
1371 dollar sign is special in the _Alpine_ configuration (it
1372 signifies environment variable expansion) so the dollar sign
1373 should be doubled or backslash escaped for _Alpine_'s sake.
1374 Quotes around the whole expression will not escape the dollar
1375 sign successfully. So this example should look like
1377 .*@example\.com$$
1378 The entry
1380 ^fred[0-9]*@example.com$$
1381 would match fred3@example.com or fred17@example.com as well as
1382 fred@example.com.
1383 You could match all addresses that look like
1384 fred+stuff@example.com for any value of stuff with the entry
1386 ^fred\+.*@example.com$$
1387 Notice that you have to escape the plus sign with a backslash
1388 because plus is a special character in regular expressions. If
1389 you wanted to match plain fred as well as fred+stuff the
1390 expression
1392 ^fred(()|\+.*)@example.com$$
1393 would do it, but it would be easier to just add fred@example.com
1394 as a separate entry.
1395 One more example, a match of all first-level subdomains, is
1396 given by
1398 ^fred@[[:alnum:]_-]*\.example\.com$$
1399 Because the regular expression matching is based on an old
1400 library (hs_regex) the regular expressions might not work
1401 exactly as you expect, but they should be close.
1402 This option is displayed as "Alternate Addresses".
1403 _bugs-additional-data_
1404 System-wide configuration files only. Program/Script used by
1405 _Report Bug_ command. Output from the program/script is captured
1406 and attached to the bug report.
1407 _bugs-fullname_, _bugs-address_, _local-fullname_, _local-address_,
1408 _suggest-fullname_, and _suggest-address_
1409 System-wide configuration files only. These are used by the bug
1410 report commands which can be accessed from some of the Help
1411 screens.
1412 _busy-cue-rate_
1413 When _Alpine_ is delayed for some reason it usually shows that
1414 something is happening with a small animated display in the
1415 status message line near the bottom of the screen. This option
1416 sets how frequently the characters (for example, a spinning bar)
1417 in the active status message lines are updated. At most, it can
1418 be set to be udpated 20 times per second.
1419 Setting this value to zero will prevent display of the
1420 animations altogether.
1421 The option busy-cue-spinner-only can be used to remove the
1422 randomness from this animated display.
1423 _character-set_
1424 This is now obsolete, replaced by three separate variables:
1425 _display-character-set_, _keyboard-character-set_, and
1426 _posting-character-set_. See the section on International
1427 Character Sets for more details.
1428 _color-style_
1429 UNIX _Alpine_ only (color is automatically on with _PC-Alpine_).
1430 If the terminal or terminal emulator you are using is capable of
1431 displaying colors, this variable controls whether or not color
1432 will be used in _Alpine_. If you turn color on and things are
1433 set up correctly, you should see color appear on the screen
1434 immmediately. Modern terminal emulators are usually capable of
1435 displaying colors.
1436 This variable may be set to any of the following values:
1438 no-color
1439 Don't use color.
1441 use-termdef
1442 In order to decide if your terminal is capable of color,
1443 _Alpine_ looks in the terminal capabilities database,
1444 TERMINFO or TERMCAP, depending on how _Alpine_ was
1445 compiled. This is a good option to choose if you switch
1446 between a color and a non-color terminal with the same
1447 _Alpine_ configuration. _Alpine_ will know to use color on
1448 the color terminal because it is described in the termcap
1449 entry, and _Alpine_ will know to use black and white on
1450 the non-color terminal. Color Details has more information
1451 about configuring a termcap entry for color. This is
1452 usually something a system administrator does.
1454 force-ansi-8color
1455 Because setting up a termcap entry is confusing and
1456 because the terminal capabilities database is often not
1457 correctly configured for color, this choice and the next
1458 may be easier for you to use. If your terminal emulator
1459 responds to ANSI color escape sequences, which many do,
1460 this option will cause _Alpine_ to believe your terminal
1461 will respond to the escape sequences which produce eight
1462 different foreground and background colors. The escape
1463 sequences used to set the foreground colors are
1465 ESC [ 3 <color_number> m
1467 where the color_number is an ASCII digit between 0 and 7.
1468 The numbers 0 through 7 should correspond to the colors
1469 black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, and white.
1470 Some terminal emulators use a pre-ANSI scheme which swaps
1471 the colors blue and red and the colors yellow and cyan.
1472 This will cause the default colors to be different, but
1473 other than that things should work fine. There is also a
1474 9th color available, the last one shown, which is the
1475 default color from the terminal emulator. When used as a
1476 background color some people refer to this color as
1477 "transparent", which is why the letters "TRAN" are shown
1478 in the color swatch of the SETUP COLOR screen. The
1479 foreground transparent color is shown as the color of the
1480 "TRAN" text. (The transparent color will not work
1481 correctly in a PC-Alpine configuration.) The escape
1482 sequences used to set the background colors are the same
1483 as for the foreground colors except a "4" replaces the
1484 "3".
1486 Note: With the Tera Term terminal emulator this setting
1487 works well. You should also have the Tera Term "Full
1488 color" option turned OFF. You may find the "Full color"
1489 option in Tera Term's "Setup" menu, in the "Window"
1490 submenu.
1492 force-ansi-16color
1493 Many terminal emulators know about the same eight colors
1494 above plus eight more. This option attempts to use all 16
1495 colors. The same escape sequences as for the eight-color
1496 terminal are used for the first eight colors. The escape
1497 sequences used to set foreground colors 8-15 are the same
1498 as for 0-7 except the "3" is replaced with a "9". The
1499 background color sequences for colors 8-15 are the same as
1500 for 0-7 except the "4" is replaced with "10". You can tell
1501 if the 16 colors are working by turning on this option and
1502 then going into one of the color configuration screens,
1503 for example, the configuration screen for Normal Color. If
1504 you see 16 different colors to select from (plus a 17th
1505 for the transparent color), it's working.
1507 force-xterm-256color
1508 Some versions of xterm (and some other terminal emulators)
1509 have support for 256 colors. The escape sequences used to
1510 set the foreground colors are
1512 ESC [ 38 ; 5 ; <color_number> m
1514 where the color_number is an ASCII digit between 0 and
1515 255. Background colors are the same with the 38 replaced
1516 with a 48. The numbers 0 through 15 are probably similar
1517 to the 16 color version above, then comes a 6x6x6 color
1518 cube, followed by 24 colors of gray. The terminal default
1519 (transparent) color is the 257th color at the bottom. Some
1520 terminal emulators will misinterpret these escape
1521 sequences causing the terminal to blink or overstrike
1522 characters or to do something else undesirable.
1524 The PuTTY terminal emulator has an option called "Allow
1525 terminal to use xterm 256-colour mode" which allows PuTTY
1526 to work well with this 256-color setting.
1528 There are two other possible color values which may be useful in
1529 some situations. In the color configuration screens there will
1530 sometimes be a color which has the label "NORM" inside its color
1531 swatch. If this is selected the corresponding foreground or
1532 background Normal Color will be used. Another similar color is
1533 the one that has the label "NONE" inside its color swatch. The
1534 meaning of this setting is that no color changing will be done.
1535 This NONE color is only useful in contexts where _Alpine_ is
1536 already coloring the text some color other than the Normal
1537 Color. For example, if the Reverse Color is set then the current
1538 line in the MESSAGE INDEX will be colored. If one of the index
1539 symbols (for example, the Index-to-me Symbol) has the NONE color
1540 as its background then the symbol's foreground color will be
1541 used to draw the actual text but the background color will be
1542 the same as whatever the background color already was. The color
1543 values which end up in the configuration file for these special
1544 values are the 11-character words "norm-padded", "none-padded",
1545 and "transparent".
1546 The normal default is "no-color".
1547 Once you've turned on color you may set the colors of many
1548 objects on the screen individually. The Color Configuration
1549 section has more information, or you may just try it by running
1550 the "Setup" command and typing "K" for Kolor to enter the color
1551 configuration screen (Kolor instead of Color because C means
1552 Config). Most categories of color which _Alpine_ supports are
1553 configurable there. Index line color is configured separately.
1554 _composer-word-separators_
1555 This option affects how a "word" is defined in the composer. The
1556 definition of a word is used when using the Forward Word and
1557 Backward Word commands in the composer, as well as when using
1558 the spell checker. Whitespace is always considered a word
1559 separator. Punctuation (like question marks, periods, commas,
1560 and so on) is always a word separator if it comes at the end of
1561 a word. By default, a punctuation character which is in the
1562 middle of a word does not break up that word as long as the
1563 character before and the character after it are both
1564 alphanumeric. If you add a character to this option it will be
1565 considered a word separator even when it occurs in the middle of
1566 an alphanumeric word. For example, if you want to skip through
1567 each part of an address instead of skipping the whole address at
1568 once you might want to include"@" and "." in this list. If you
1569 want the word-skipper to stop on each part of a UNIX filename
1570 you could add "/" to the list. The equal sign and dash are other
1571 possibilities you might find helpful.
1572 _composer-wrap-column_
1573 This option specifies an aspect of _Alpine_'s Composer. This
1574 gives the maximum width that auto-wrapped lines will have. It's
1575 also the maximum width of lines justified using the ^J Justify
1576 command. The normal default is _74_. The largest allowed setting
1577 is normally _80_ in order to prevent very long lines from being
1578 sent in outgoing mail. When the mail is actually sent, trailing
1579 spaces will be stripped off of each line.
1580 _current-indexline-style_
1581 current-indexline-style.
1582 _customized-hdrs_
1583 You may add your own custom headers to outgoing messages. Each
1584 header you specify here must include the header tag (Reply-To:,
1585 Approved:, etc.) and may optionally include a value for that
1586 header. If you want to see these custom headers each time you
1587 compose a message, you must add them to your
1588 default-composer-hdrs list, otherwise they become part of the
1589 rich header set which you only see when you press the rich
1590 header command. (If you are looking for a way to change which
1591 headers are _displayed_ when you view a message, take a look at
1592 the viewer-hdrs option instead.) Here's an example which shows
1593 how you might set your From address
1595 From: Full Name <user@example.com>
1596 and another showing how you might set a Reply-To address
1598 Reply-To: user@example.com
1599 You may also set non-standard header values here. For example,
1600 you could add
1602 Organization: My Organization Name
1603 or even
1605 X-Favorite-Colors: Purple and Gold
1606 If you include a value after the colon then that header will be
1607 included in your outgoing messages unless you delete it before
1608 sending. If a header in the Customized-Headers list has only a
1609 tag but no value, then it will not be included in outgoing
1610 messages unless you edit a value in manually. For example, if
1612 Reply-To:
1613 is in the list, then the Reply-To header will be available for
1614 editing but won't be included unless a value is added while in
1615 the composer.
1616 It's actually a little more complicated than that. The values of
1617 headers that you set with the Customized-Headers option are
1618 defaults. If the message you are about to compose already has a
1619 value for a header, that value is used instead of a value from
1620 your Customized-Headers. For example, if you are Replying to a
1621 message the Subject field will already be filled in. In that
1622 case, if the Customized-Headers list contains a Subject line,
1623 the custom subject will _NOT_ be used. The subject derived from
1624 the subject of the message you are Replying to will be used
1625 instead.
1626 It is also possible to make header setting even more complicated
1627 and more automatic by using Roles, but if all you want to do is
1628 set a default value for a header, you don't need to think about
1629 Roles.
1630 If you change your From address you may also find it useful to
1631 add the changed From address to the alt-addresses configuration
1632 option.
1633 Limitation: Because commas are used to separate the list of
1634 Customized-Headers, it is not possible to have the value of a
1635 header contain a comma. Nor is there currently an "escape"
1636 mechanism provided to make this work.
1637 This option is displayed as "Customized Headers".
1638 _dead-letter-files_
1639 This option affects _Alpine_'s behavior when you cancel a
1640 message being composed. _Alpine_'s usual behavior is to write
1641 the canceled message to a file named "dead.letter" in your home
1642 directory, or "DEADLETR" when using _PC-Alpine_, overwriting any
1643 previous message.
1644 If you set this option to a value higher than one, then that
1645 many copies of dead letter files will be saved. For example, if
1646 you set this option to "3" then you may have files named
1647 "DEADLETR", "DEADLETR2", and "DEADLETR3"; or "dead.letter",
1648 "dead.letter2", and "dead.letter3". In this example, the most
1649 recently cancelled message will be in "dead.letter", and the
1650 third most recently cancelled message will be in "dead.letter3".
1651 The fourth most recently cancelled message will no longer be
1652 saved.
1653 If you set this option to zero, then NO record of canceled
1654 messages is maintained.
1655 If the feature Quell-Dead-Letter-On-Cancel is set, that
1656 overrides whatever you set for this option. If this option had
1657 existed at the time, then the Quell feature would not have been
1658 added, but it is still there for backwards compatibility. So, in
1659 order for this option to have the desired effect, make sure the
1660 Quell feature is turned off.
1661 _default-composer-hdrs_
1662 You can control which headers you want visible when composing
1663 outgoing email using this option. You can specify any of the
1664 regular set, any Rich Header, or any Customized-Hdrs which you
1665 have already defined. If you use this setting at all, you must
1666 specify all the headers you want to see, you can't just add to
1667 the regular header set. The default set is To:, Cc:, Attchmnt:,
1668 and Subject:.
1669 Note that the "Newsgroups:" header will be abbreviated in the
1670 Composer display, but should be spelled out in full here.
1671 This option is displayed as "Default Composer Headers".
1672 _default-fcc_
1673 The name of the folder to which all outgoing mail goes is set
1674 here. The compiled-in default is _sent-mail_ (UNIX) or _sentmail_
1675 (PC). It can be set to "" (two double quotes with nothing
1676 between them) to turn off saving copies of outgoing mail. If
1677 _default-fcc_ is a relative file name, then it is relative to
1678 your default collection for saves (see folder-collections).
1679 This option is displayed as "Default Fcc (File carbon copy)".
1680 _default-saved-msg-folder_
1681 This option determines the default folder name for _Saves_... If
1682 this is not a path name, it will be in the default collection
1683 for saves. Any valid folder specification, local or IMAP, is
1684 allowed. This default folder only applies when the
1685 saved-msg-name-rule doesn't override it. Unix _Alpine_ default
1686 is normally _saved-messages_ in the default folder collection.
1687 _PC-Alpine_ default is _SAVEMAIL_ (normally stored as
1688 _SAVEMAIL.MTX_).
1689 This option is displayed as "Default Saved Message Folder".
1690 _disable-these-authenticators_
1691 This variable is a list of SASL (Simple Authentication and
1692 Security Layer) authenticators which will be disabled. SASL is a
1693 mechanism for authenticating to IMAP, POP3, SMTP, and other
1694 network servers.
1695 _Alpine_ matches its list of supported authenticators with the
1696 server to determine the most secure authenticator that is
1697 supported by both. If no matching authenticators are found,
1698 _Alpine_ will revert to plaintext login (or, in the case of SMTP,
1699 will be unable to authenticate at all).
1700 The candidates for disabling are listed below. There may be more
1701 if you compile _Alpine_ with additional authenticators and/or a
1702 newer version of the c-client library.
1703 + GSSAPI
1704 + CRAM-MD5
1705 + PLAIN
1706 + LOGIN
1707 Normally, you will not disable any authenticators. There are two
1708 exceptions:
1709 1. You use a broken server that advertises an authenticator, but
1710 does not actually implement it.
1711 2. You have a Kerberos-capable version of _Alpine_ and the server
1712 is also Kerberos-capable, but you can not obtain Kerberos
1713 credentials on the server machine, thus you desire to disable
1714 GSSAPI (which in turn disables _Alpine_'s Kerberos support).
1715 It is never necessary to disable authenticators, since _Alpine_
1716 will try other authenticators before giving up. However,
1717 disabling the relevant authenticator avoids annoying error
1718 messages.
1719 _disable-these-drivers_
1720 This variable is a list of mail drivers which will be disabled.
1721 The candidates for disabling are listed below. There may be more
1722 in the future if you compile _Alpine_ with a newer version of
1723 the c-client library.
1724 + mbox
1725 + mbx
1726 + mh
1727 + mix
1728 + mmdf
1729 + mtx
1730 + mx
1731 + news
1732 + phile
1733 + tenex
1734 + unix
1735 The _mbox_ driver enables the following behavior: if there is a
1736 file called mbox in your home directory, and if that file is
1737 either empty or in Unix mailbox format, then every time you open
1738 _INBOX_ the _mbox_ driver will automatically transfer mail from
1739 the system mail spool directory into the mbox file and delete it
1740 from the spool directory. If you disable the _mbox_ driver, this
1741 will not happen.
1742 It is not recommended to disable the driver which supports the
1743 system default mailbox format. On most non-SCO systems, that
1744 driver is the _unix_ driver. On most SCO systems, it is the
1745 _mmdf_ driver. The system default driver may be configured to
1746 something else on your system; check with your system manager
1747 for additional information.
1748 It is most likely not very useful for you to disable any of the
1749 drivers other than possibly _mbox_. You could disable some of
1750 the others if you know for certain that you don't need them but
1751 the performance gain in doing so is very modest.
1752 _display-character-set_
1753 See the discussion in International Character Sets for details.
1754 _display-filters_
1755 This option defines a list of text-filtering commands (programs
1756 or scripts) that may be used to filter text portions of received
1757 messages prior to their use (e.g., presentation in the "Message
1758 Text" display screen). For security reasons, the full path name
1759 of the filter command must be specified.
1760 Display filters do not work with _PC-Alpine_.
1761 The command is executed and the message is piped into its
1762 standard input. The standard output of the command is read back
1763 by _Alpine_. The __TMPFILE__ token (see below) overrides this
1764 default behavior.
1765 The filter's use is based on the configured _trigger_ string.
1766 The format of a filter definition is:
1768 <trigger> <command> <arguments>
1769 You can specify as many filters as you wish, separating them
1770 with a comma. Each filter can have only one trigger and command.
1771 Thus, two trigger strings which invoke the same command require
1772 separate filter specifications.
1773 The _trigger_ is simply text that, if found in the message, will
1774 invoke the associated command. If the trigger contains any space
1775 characters, it must be placed within quotes. Likewise, should
1776 you wish a filter to be invoked unconditionally, define the
1777 trigger as the null string, "" (two consecutive double-quote
1778 characters). If the trigger string is found anywhere in the text
1779 of the message the filter is invoked. Placing the trigger text
1780 within the tokens defined below changes where within the text
1781 the trigger must be before considering it a match.
1782 Trigger Modifying Tokens:
1784 __CHARSET(string)__
1785 This token tells _Alpine_ to invoke the supplied command
1786 if the text is in a character set matching string (e.g.,
1787 ISO-8859-2 or ISO-2022-JP).
1789 __LEADING(string)__
1790 This token tells _Alpine_ to invoke the supplied command
1791 if the enclosed string is found to be the first
1792 non-whitespace text.
1793 NOTE: Quotes are necessary if string contains the space
1794 character.
1796 __BEGINNING(string)__
1797 This token tells _Alpine_ to invoke the supplied command
1798 if the enclosed string is found at the beginning of any
1799 line in the text.
1800 NOTE: Quotes are necessary if string contains the space
1801 character.
1803 The "command" and "arguments" portion is simply the command line
1804 to be invoked if the trigger string is found. Below are tokens
1805 that _Alpine_ will recognize and replace with special values
1806 when the command is actually invoked.
1807 Command Modifying Tokens:
1809 __TMPFILE__
1810 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
1811 the path and name of the temporary file containing the
1812 text to be filtered. _Alpine_ expects the filter to
1813 replace this data with the filter's result. NOTE: Use of
1814 this token implies that the text to be filtered is not
1815 piped into standard input of the executed command and its
1816 standard output is ignored. _Alpine_ restores the tty
1817 modes before invoking the filter in case the filter
1818 interacts with the user via its own standard input and
1819 output.
1821 __RESULTFILE__
1822 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
1823 the path and name of a temporary file intended to contain
1824 a status message from the filter. _Alpine_ displays this
1825 in the message status field.
1827 __DATAFILE__
1828 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
1829 the path and name of a temporary file that _Alpine_
1830 creates once per session and deletes upon exit. The file
1831 is intended to be used by the filter to store state
1832 information between instances of the filter.
1834 __PREPENDKEY__
1835 When the command is executed, this token indicates that a
1836 random number will be passed down the input stream before
1837 the message text. This number could be used as a session
1838 key. It does not appear as a command-line argument. It is
1839 sent in this way to improve security. The number is unique
1840 to the current _Alpine_ session and is only generated once
1841 per session.
1843 The feature disable-terminal-reset-for-display-filters is
1844 related.
1845 Performance caveat/considerations:
1846 Testing for the trigger and invoking the filter doesn't come for
1847 free. There is overhead associated with searching for the
1848 trigger string, testing for the filter's existence and actually
1849 piping the text through the filter. The impact can be reduced if
1850 the Trigger Modifying Tokens above are employed.
1851 Limitation:
1852 If Header Colors are being used, the sequences of bytes which
1853 indicate color changes will be contained in the text which is
1854 passed to the display-filter. If this causes problems you'll
1855 need to turn off Header Colors. The thirteen bytes which
1856 indicate a color change are the character \377 followed by \010
1857 for a foreground color or \011 for a background color. Then
1858 comes eleven characters of RGB data which looks something like
1859 255, 0,255, depending on the particular color, of course.
1860 _download-command_
1861 This option affects the behavior of the _Export_ command. It
1862 specifies a Unix program name, and any necessary command line
1863 arguments, that _Alpine_ can use to transfer the exported
1864 message to your personal computer's disk.
1865 _download-command-prefix_
1866 This option is used in conjunction with the _download-command_
1867 option. It defines text to be written to the terminal emulator
1868 (via standard output) immediately prior to starting the download
1869 command. This is useful for integrated serial line file transfer
1870 agents that permit command passing (e.g., Kermit's APC method).
1871 _editor_
1872 UNIX _Alpine_ only. Sets the name of the alternate editor for
1873 composing mail (message text only, not headers). It will be
1874 invoked with the "^_" command or it will be invoked
1875 automatically if the enable-alternate-editor-implicitly feature
1876 is set.
1877 _empty-header-message_
1878 When sending, if both the To and Cc fields are empty and you are
1879 sending the message to a Bcc, _Alpine_ will put a special
1880 address in the To line. The default value is
1881 "undisclosed-recipients: ;". The reason for this is to avoid
1882 embarrassment caused by some Internet mail transfer software
1883 that interprets a "missing" To: header as an error and replaces
1884 it with an Apparently-to: header that may contain the addresses
1885 you entered on the Bcc: line, defeating the purpose of the Bcc.
1886 You may change the part of this message that comes before the ":
1887 ;" by setting the _empty-header-message_ variable to something
1888 else.
1889 _fcc-name-rule_
1890 Determines default folder name for fcc when composing.
1891 Currently, _Alpine_ will accept the values _default-fcc_,
1892 _by-recipient_, or _last-fcc-used_. If set to _default-fcc_, then
1893 _Alpine_ will use the value defined in the default-fcc variable
1894 (which itself has a default) for the Fcc header field. If set to
1895 _by-recipient_, then _Alpine_ will use the name of the recipient
1896 as a folder name for the fcc. The relevant recipient is the
1897 first address in the To field. If set to "last-fcc-used", then
1898 _Alpine_ will offer to Fcc to whatever folder you used
1899 previously. In all cases, the field can still be edited after it
1900 is initially assigned. If the fcc field in the address book is
1901 set for the first To address, that value over-rides any value
1902 derived from this rule.
1903 _feature-list_
1904 This is a list of the many features (options) which may be
1905 turned on or off. There is a separate section titled
1906 Configuration Features which explains each of the features.
1907 There is some additional explanation about the _feature-list_
1908 variable itself in Feature List Variable.
1909 _file-directory_
1910 _PC-Alpine_ only. This value affects the Composer's "^J Attach"
1911 command, the Attachment Index Screen's "S Save" command, and the
1912 Message Index's "E Export" command.
1913 Normally, when a filename is supplied that lacks a leading
1914 "path" component, _Alpine_ assumes the file exists in the user's
1915 home directory. Under Windows operating systems, this definition
1916 isn't always clear. This feature allows you to explictly set
1917 where _Alpine_ should look for files without a leading path.
1918 NOTE: this feature's value is ignored if either use-current-dir
1919 feature is set or the PINERC has a value for the operating-dir
1920 variable.
1921 _folder-collections_
1922 This is a list of one or more collections where saved mail is
1923 stored. See the sections describing folder collections and
1924 collection syntax for more information. The first collection in
1925 this list is the default collection for _Save_s, including
1926 default-fcc's.
1927 _folder-extension_
1928 _PC-Alpine_ only. File extension used for local folder names.
1929 This is .MTX by default.
1930 _folder-reopen-rule_
1931 _Alpine_ normally checks for new mail in the currently open
1932 folder and in the INBOX every few minutes.
1933 There are some situations where automatic new-mail checking does
1934 not work. For example, if a mail folder is opened using the POP
1935 protocol or a newsgroup is being read using the NNTP protocol,
1936 then new-mail checking is disabled.
1937 It may be possible to check for new mail in these cases by
1938 reopening the folder. _Alpine_ does not do this for you
1939 automatically, but you may do the commands manually to cause
1940 this to happen. You reopen by going back to the folder list
1941 screen from the message index screen with the "<" command, and
1942 then going back into the message index screen with the ">"
1943 command. (Actually, any method you would normally use to open a
1944 folder will work the same as the "<" followed by ">" method. For
1945 example, the GoTo Folder command will work, or you may use L to
1946 go to the Folder List screen and Carriage Return to reopen the
1947 folder.)
1948 There are some cases where _Alpine_ knows that reopening the
1949 folder should be useful as a way to discover new mail. At the
1950 time of this writing, connections made using the POP protocol,
1951 news reading using the NNTP protocol, local news reading, and
1952 local ReadOnly folders which are in the traditional UNIX or the
1953 MMDF format all fall into this category. There are other cases
1954 where it _may_ be a way to discover new mail, but _Alpine_ has
1955 no way of knowing, so it might also just be an exercise in
1956 futility. All remote, ReadOnly folders other than those listed
1957 just above fall into this category. The setting of this option
1958 together with the type of folder controls how _Alpine_ will
1959 react to the apparent attempt to reopen a folder.
1960 If you don't reopen, then you will just be back in the message
1961 index with no change. You left the index and came back, but the
1962 folder remained "open" the whole time. However, if you do reopen
1963 the folder, the folder is closed and then reopened. In this
1964 case, the current state of the open folder is lost. The New
1965 status, Important and Answered flags, selected state, Zoom
1966 state, collapsed or expanded state of threads, current message
1967 number, and any other temporary state is all lost when the
1968 reopen happens. For POP folders (but not NNTP newsgroups) the
1969 Deleted flags are also lost.
1970 In the possibilities listed below, the text says "POP/NNTP" in
1971 several places. That really implies the case where _Alpine_
1972 knows it is a good way to discover new mail, which is more than
1973 just POP and NNTP, but POP and NNTP are the cases of most
1974 interest. This option probably has more possible values than it
1975 deserves. They are:
1977 Always reopen
1978 _Alpine_ will not ask whether you want to reopen but will
1979 just do the reopen whenever you type a command that
1980 implies a reopen, regardless of the access method. In
1981 other words, it is assumed you would always answer Yes if
1982 asked about reopening.
1984 Yes for POP/NNTP, Ask about other remote [Yes]
1985 _Alpine_ will assume a Yes answer if the access method is
1986 POP or NNTP, but will ask you whether to reopen other
1987 remote folders, with a default answer of Yes.
1989 Yes for POP/NNTP, Ask about other remote [No]
1990 _Alpine_ will assume a Yes answer if the access method is
1991 POP or NNTP, but will ask you whether to reopen other
1992 remote folders, with a default answer of No.
1994 Yes for POP/NNTP, No for other remote
1995 _Alpine_ will assume a Yes answer if the access method is
1996 POP or NNTP, and will assume a No answer for all other
1997 remote folders.
1999 Always ask [Yes]
2000 _Alpine_ will not differentiate based on access method. It
2001 will always ask for all remote folders, with a default
2002 answer of Yes.
2004 Always ask [No]
2005 _Alpine_ will not differentiate based on access method. It
2006 will always ask for all remote folders, with a default
2007 answer of No.
2009 Ask about POP/NNTP [Yes], No for other remote
2010 _Alpine_ will ask if the access method is POP or NNTP,
2011 with a default answer of Yes. It will never attempt to
2012 reopen other remote folders.
2014 Ask about POP/NNTP [No], No for other remote
2015 This is the default. _Alpine_ will ask if the access
2016 method is POP or NNTP, with a default answer of No. It
2017 will never attempt to reopen other remote folders.
2019 Never reopen
2020 _Alpine_ will never attempt to reopen already open
2021 folders.
2023 Remember, wherever it says POP or NNTP above it really means POP
2024 or NNTP or any of the other situations where it is likely that
2025 reopening is a good way to discover new mail.
2026 There is an alternative that may be of useful in some
2027 situations. Instead of manually checking for new mail you can
2028 set up a Mail Drop and automatically check for new mail.
2029 _folder-sort-rule_
2030 This option controls the order in which folder list entries will
2031 be presented in the FOLDER LIST screen. Choose one of the
2032 following:
2034 _Alphabetical_
2035 sort by alphabetical name independent of type
2037 _Alpha-with-dirs-last_
2038 sort by alphabetical name grouping directory entries to
2039 the end of the list
2041 _Alpha-with-dirs-first_
2042 sort by alphabetical name grouping directory entries to
2043 the start of the list
2045 The normal default is _Alphabetical_.
2046 _font-name_
2047 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
2048 _font-size_
2049 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
2050 _font-style_
2051 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
2052 _forced-abook-entry_
2053 System-wide _Alpine_ configuration files only. Force these
2054 address book entries into all writable personal address books.
2055 This is a list variable. Each item in the list has the form:
2057 Nickname | Fullname | Address
2058 with optional whitespace in all the obvious places.
2059 _form-letter-folder_
2060 A Form Letter Folder is a mail folder that is intended to
2061 contain messages that you have composed and that are intended to
2062 be sent in their original form repeatedly.
2063 Setting this variable will alter _Alpine_'s usual behavior when
2064 you execute the Compose command. Normally, _Alpine_ offers a
2065 chance to continue a postponed or interrupted message should one
2066 or the other exist. When this variable is set to a folder name
2067 that exists, _Alpine_ will also offer the chance to select a
2068 message from the folder to insert into the composer, much like
2069 when continuing a postponed message. The difference, however, is
2070 that _Alpine_ will not automatically delete the selected message
2071 from the Form Letter Folder.
2072 Setting this variable will also affect _Alpine_'s behavior when
2073 you Postpone a message from the composer. Normally, _Alpine_
2074 simply stashes the message away in your Postponed-Folder.
2075 Regardless of the specified folder's existence, _Alpine_ will
2076 ask which folder you intend the message to be stored in. Choose
2077 the "F" option to store the message in your Form Letter Folder.
2078 This is the most common way to add a message to the folder.
2079 Another method of adding messages to the folder is via the
2080 _Alpine_ composer's Fcc: field. If you are sending a message that
2081 you expect to send in the same form again, you can enter the
2082 Form Letter Folder's name in this field. _Alpine_, as usual,
2083 will copy the message as it's sent. Note, when you later select
2084 this message from your Form Letter Folder, it will have the same
2085 recipients as the original message.
2086 To delete a message from the Form Letter Folder, you can either
2087 select the folder from a suitable FOLDER LIST screen, or use the
2088 Delete command in the MESSAGE INDEX offered when selecting from
2089 the folder as part of the Compose command. You can delete a Form
2090 Letter Folder just as any other folder from a suitable FOLDER
2091 LIST screen.
2092 You may find that the Roles facility can be used to replace the
2093 Form Letter Folder.
2094 _global-address-book_
2095 A list of shared address books. Each entry in the list is an
2096 optional nickname followed by a pathname or file name relative
2097 to the home directory. A SPACE character separates the nickname
2098 from the rest of the line. Instead of a local pathname or file
2099 name, a remote folder name can be given. This causes the address
2100 book to be a Remote address book. Remote folder syntax is
2101 discussed in Syntax for Remote Folders. This list will be added
2102 to the address-book list to arrive at the complete set of
2103 address books. Global address books are defined to be ReadOnly.
2104 _goto-default-rule_
2105 This value affects _Alpine_'s behavior when using the _Goto_
2106 command. There are five possible values for this option:
2108 _folder-in-first-collection_
2109 _Alpine_ will offer the most recently visited folder in
2110 the default collection found in the "Collection List"
2111 screen as the default.
2113 _inbox-or-folder-in-first-collection_
2114 If the current folder is _INBOX_, _Alpine_ will offer the
2115 most recently visited folder in the default collection
2116 found in the "Collection List" screen. If the current
2117 folder is other than _INBOX_, _INBOX_ is offered as the
2118 default.
2120 _inbox-or-folder-in-recent-collection_
2121 This is _Alpine_'s default behavior. If the current folder
2122 is _INBOX_, _Alpine_ will offer the last open folder as
2123 the default. If the current folder is other than _INBOX_,
2124 _INBOX_ is offered as the default.
2126 _first-collection-with-inbox-default_
2127 Instead of offering the most recently visited folder in
2128 the default collection, the default collection is offered
2129 but with _INBOX_ as the default folder. If you type in a
2130 folder name it will be in the default collection. If you
2131 simply accept the default, however, your _INBOX_ will be
2132 opened.
2134 _most-recent-folder_
2135 The last accepted value simply causes the most recently
2136 opened folder to be offered as the default regardless of
2137 the currently opened folder.
2139 NOTE: The default while a newsgroup is open remains the same;
2140 the last open newsgroup.
2141 _header-general-background-color_
2142 _header-general-foreground-color_
2143 Header Colors.
2144 _image-viewer_
2145 This variable names the program to call for displaying parts of
2146 a MIME message that are of type IMAGE. If your system supports
2147 the _mailcap_ system, you don't need to set this variable.
2148 _inbox-path_
2149 This specifies the name of the folder to use for the _INBOX_. By
2150 default this is unset and the system's default is used. The most
2151 common reason for setting this is to open an IMAP mailbox for
2152 the _INBOX_. For example, _{imap5.u.example.edu}inbox_ will open
2153 the user's standard _INBOX_ on the mail server, _imap5_.
2154 _incoming-archive-folders_
2155 This is like read-message-folder, only more general. This is a
2156 list of folder pairs, with the first separated from the second
2157 in the pair by a space. The first folder in a pair is the folder
2158 you want to archive, and the second folder is the folder that
2159 read messages from the first should be moved to. Depending on
2160 how you define the auto-move-read-msgs feature, you may or may
2161 not be asked when you leave the first folder if you want read
2162 messages to be moved to the second folder. In either case,
2163 moving the messages means they will be deleted from the first
2164 folder.
2165 If these are not path names, they will be in the default
2166 collection for _Save_s. Any valid folder specification, local or
2167 remote (via IMAP), is allowed. There is no default.
2168 _incoming-check-interval_
2169 This option has no effect unless the feature
2170 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
2171 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
2172 This option specifies, in seconds, how often _Alpine_ will check
2173 for new mail and state changes in Incoming Folders when Incoming
2174 Folders Checking is turned on. The default is 3 minutes (180).
2175 This value applies only to folders that are local to the system
2176 that _Alpine_ is running on or that are accessed using the IMAP
2177 protocol. The similar option incoming-check-interval-secondary
2178 applies to all other monitored folders.
2179 _incoming-check-interval-secondary_
2180 This option has no effect unless the feature
2181 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
2182 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
2183 This option together with the option incoming-check-interval
2184 specifies, in seconds, how often _Alpine_ will check for new
2185 mail and state changes in Incoming Folders when Incoming Folders
2186 Checking is turned on. The default for this option is 3 minutes
2187 (180). For folders that are local to this system or that are
2188 accessed using the IMAP protocol the value of the option
2189 incoming-check-interval is used. For all other monitored
2190 folders, the value of this option is used.
2191 The reason there are two separate options is because it is
2192 usually less expensive to check local and IMAP folders than it
2193 is to check other types, like POP or NNTP folders. You may want
2194 to set this secondary value to a higher number than the primary
2195 check interval.
2196 _incoming-check-list_
2197 This option has no effect unless the feature
2198 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
2199 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
2200 When monitoring the Incoming Message Folders for Unseen messages
2201 Alpine will normally monitor all Incoming Folders. You may use
2202 this option to restrict the list of monitored folders to a
2203 subset of all Incoming Folders.
2204 _incoming-check-timeout_
2205 This option has no effect unless the feature
2206 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
2207 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
2208 Sets the time in seconds that Alpine will attempt to open a
2209 network connection used for monitoring for Unseen messages in
2210 Incoming Folders. The default is 5. If a connection has not
2211 completed within this many seconds Alpine will give up and
2212 consider it a failed connection.
2213 _incoming-folders_
2214 This is a list of one or more folders other than _INBOX_ that
2215 may receive new messages. This list is slightly special in that
2216 it is always expanded in the folder lister. In the future, it
2217 may become more special. For example, it would be nice if
2218 _Alpine_ would monitor the folders in this list for new mail.
2219 _incoming-startup-rule_
2220 This rule affects _Alpine_'s behavior when opening the _INBOX_
2221 or another folder from the "INCOMING MESSAGE FOLDERS". This rule
2222 tells _Alpine_ which message to make the current message when an
2223 incoming folder is opened. There are seven possible values for
2224 this option:
2226 _first-unseen_
2227 The current message will be the first unseen message which
2228 has not been marked deleted, or the last message if all of
2229 the messages have been seen. This is the default setting.
2231 _first-recent_
2232 This is similar to _first-unseen_. Instead of first unseen
2233 it is the first recent message. A message is considered to
2234 be recent if it arrived since the last time the folder was
2235 open (by any mail client, not just the current one). So
2236 this option causes the current message to be set to the
2237 first undeleted-recent message, or the last message if
2238 none is both undeleted and recent.
2240 _first-important_
2241 This will result in the current message being set to the
2242 first message marked Important (but not Deleted). If no
2243 messages are marked Important, then it will be the last
2244 message.
2246 _first-important-or-unseen_
2247 This selects the minimum of the first unseen and the first
2248 important messages.
2250 _first-important-or-recent_
2251 This selects the first of the first recent and the first
2252 important messages.
2254 _first_
2255 Set the current message to the first undeleted message
2256 unless all are deleted. In that case set it to the last
2257 message.
2259 _last_
2260 Set the current message to the last undeleted message
2261 unless all are deleted. In that case set it to the last
2262 message.
2264 _incoming-unseen-background-color_
2265 _incoming-unseen-foreground-color_
2266 Incoming Unseen Color.
2267 _index-answered-background-color_
2268 _index-answered-foreground-color_
2269 _index-arrow-background-color_
2270 _index-arrow-foreground-color_
2271 _index-deleted-background-color_
2272 _index-deleted-foreground-color_
2273 _index-from-background-color_
2274 _index-from-foreground-color_
2275 _index-highpriority-background-color_
2276 _index-highpriority-foreground-color_
2277 _index-important-background-color_
2278 _index-important-foreground-color_
2279 _index-lowpriority-background-color_
2280 _index-lowpriority-foreground-color_
2281 _index-new-background-color_
2282 _index-new-foreground-color_
2283 _index-opening-background-color_
2284 _index-opening-foreground-color_
2285 _index-recent-background-color_
2286 _index-recent-foreground-color_
2287 _index-subject-background-color_
2288 _index-subject-foreground-color_
2289 _index-to-me-background-color_
2290 _index-to-me-foreground-color_
2291 _index-unseen-background-color_
2292 _index-unseen-foreground-color_
2293 Index Colors.
2294 _index-format_
2295 This option is used to customize the content of lines in the
2296 MESSAGE INDEX screen. Each line is intended to convey some
2297 amount of immediately relevant information about each message in
2298 the current folder.
2299 _Alpine_ provides a pre-defined set of informational fields with
2300 reasonable column widths automatically computed. You can,
2301 however, replace this default set by listing special tokens in
2302 the order you want them displayed.
2303 The list of available tokens is here.
2304 Spaces are used to separate listed tokens. Additionally, you can
2305 specify how much of the screen's width the taken's associated
2306 data should occupy on the index line by appending the token with
2307 a pair of parentheses enclosing either a number or percentage.
2308 For example, "SUBJECT(13)" means to allocate 13 characters of
2309 space to the subject column, and "SUBJECT(20%)" means to
2310 allocate 20% of the available space to the subjects column,
2311 while plain "SUBJECT" means the system will attempt to figure
2312 out a reasonable amount of space.
2313 There is always one space between every pair of columns, so if
2314 you use fixed column widths (like 13) you should remember to
2315 take that into account. Several of the fields are virtually
2316 fixed-width, so it doesn't make much sense to specify the width
2317 for them. The fields STATUS, FULLSTATUS, IMAPSTATUS, MSGNO, the
2318 DATE fields, SIZE, and DESCRIPSIZE all fall into that category.
2319 You _may_ specify widths for those if you wish, but you're
2320 probably better off letting the system pick those widths.
2321 The default is equivalent to:
2323 index-format=STATUS MSGNO SMARTDATETIME24 FROMORTO(33%) SIZENARROW SUBJ
2324 KEY(67%)
2325 This means that the four fields without percentages will be
2326 allocated first, and then 33% and 67% of the _remaining_ space
2327 will go to the from and subject fields. If one of those two
2328 fields is specified as a percentage and the other is left for
2329 the system to choose, then the percentage is taken as an
2330 absolute percentage of the screen, not of the space remaining
2331 after allocating the first four columns. It doesn't usually make
2332 sense to do it that way. If you leave off all the widths, then
2333 the subject and from fields (if both are present) are allocated
2334 space in a 2 to 1 ratio, which is almost exactly the same as the
2335 default.
2336 What you are most likely to do with this configuration option is
2337 to specify which fields appear at all, which order they appear
2338 in, and the percentage of screen that is used for the from and
2339 subject fields if you don't like the 2 to 1 default.
2340 If you want to retain the default format that _Pine_ 4.64 had,
2341 use
2343 Index-Format=STATUS MSGNO DATE FROMORTO(33%) SIZE SUBJKEY(67%)
2344 _and_ set the feature Disable-Index-Locale-Dates.
2345 _initial-keystroke-list_
2346 This is a comma-separated list of keystrokes which _Alpine_
2347 executes on startup. Items in the list are usually just
2348 characters, but there are some special values. _SPACE,_ _TAB,_
2349 and _CR_ mean a space character, tab character, and a carriage
2350 return, respectively. _F1_ through _F12_ stand for the twelve
2351 function keys. _UP, DOWN, LEFT, _and_ RIGHT _stand for the arrow
2352 keys. Control characters are represented with _^<char>_. A
2353 restriction is that you can't mix function keys and character
2354 keys in this list even though you can, in some cases, mix them
2355 when running _Alpine_. A user can always use only _character_
2356 keys in the startup list even if he or she is using _function_
2357 keys normally, or vice versa. If an element in this list is a
2358 string surrounded by double quotes (") then it will be expanded
2359 into the individual characters in the string, excluding the
2360 double quotes.
2361 _kblock-passwd-count_
2362 System-wide _Alpine_ configuration files only. Number of times a
2363 user will have to enter a password when they run the keyboard
2364 lock command in the main menu.
2365 _keyboard-character-set_
2366 See the discussion in International Character Sets for details.
2367 _keylabel-background-color_
2368 _keylabel-foreground-color_
2369 KeyLabel Color.
2370 _keyname-background-color_
2371 _keyname-foreground-color_
2372 KeyName Color.
2373 _keywords_
2374 You may define your own set of keywords and optionally set them
2375 on a message by message basis. These are similar to the
2376 "Important" flag which the user may set using the Flag command.
2377 The difference is that the Important flag is always present for
2378 each folder. User-defined keywords are chosen by the user. You
2379 may set up the list of possible keywords here, or you may add
2380 keywords from the Flag Details screen that you can get to after
2381 typing the Flag (*) command. After the keywords have been
2382 defined, then you use the Flag command to set or clear the
2383 keywords in each message. The behavior of the flag command may
2384 be modified by using the Enable-Flag-Screen-Implicitly option or
2385 the Enable-Flag-Screen-Keyword-Shortcut option.
2386 Keywords may be used when Selecting messages (Select Keyword).
2387 Keywords may also be used in the Patterns of Rules (Filters,
2388 Indexcolors, etc). Filter rules may be used to set keywords
2389 automatically. Keywords may be displayed as part of the Subject
2390 of a message by using the SUBJKEY or SUBJKEYINIT tokens in the
2391 Index-Format option. The Keyword-Surrounding-Chars option may be
2392 used to modify the display of keywords using SUBJKEY and
2393 SUBJKEYINIT slightly. Keywords may also be displayed in a column
2394 of their own in the MESSAGE INDEX screen by using the KEY or
2395 KEYINIT tokens. It is also possible to color keywords in the
2396 index using the Setup/Kolor screen (Keyword Colors). Keywords
2397 are not supported by all mail servers.
2398 You may give keywords nicknames if you wish. If the keyword
2399 definition you type in contains a SPACE character, then the
2400 actual value of the keyword is everything after the last SPACE
2401 and the nickname for that keyword is everything before the last
2402 SPACE. For example, suppose you are trying to interoperate with
2403 another email program which uses a particular keyword with an
2404 unpleasant name. Maybe it uses a keyword called
2406 VendorName.SoftwareName.08
2407 but for you that keyword means that the message is work-related.
2408 You could define a keyword to have the value
2410 Work VendorName.SoftwareName.08
2411 and then you would use the name "Work" when dealing with that
2412 keyword in _Alpine_. If you defined it as
2414 My Work VendorName.SoftwareName.08
2415 the nickname would be everything before the last SPACE, that is
2416 the nickname would be "My Work".
2417 Some commonly used keywords begin with dollar signs. This
2418 presents a slight complication, because the dollar sign is
2419 normally used to signify environment variable expansion in the
2420 _Alpine_ configuration. In order to specify a keyword which
2421 begins with a dollar sign you must precede the dollar sign with
2422 a second dollar sign to escape its special meaning. For example,
2423 if you want to include the keyword
2425 $Label1
2426 as one of your possible keywords, you must enter the text
2428 $$Label1
2429 instead.
2430 _keyword-surrounding-chars_
2431 This option controls a minor aspect of _Alpine_'s MESSAGE INDEX
2432 and MESSAGE TEXT screens. If you have modified the Index-Format
2433 option so that either the "SUBJKEY" or "SUBJKEYINIT" tokens are
2434 used to display keywords or their initials along with the
2435 Subject; then this option may be used to modify the resulting
2436 display slightly. By default, the keywords or initials displayed
2437 for these tokens will be surrounded with curly braces ({ and })
2438 and a trailing space. For example, if keywords "Work" and "Now"
2439 are set for a message, the "SUBJKEY" token will normally look
2440 like
2442 {Work Now} actual subject
2443 and the SUBJKEYINIT token would look like
2445 {WN} actual subject
2446 The default character before the keywords is the left brace ({)
2447 and the default after the keywords is the right brace followed
2448 by a space (} ).
2449 This option allows you to change that. You should set it to two
2450 values separated by a space. The values may be quoted if they
2451 include space characters. So, for example, the default value
2452 could be specified explicitly by setting this option to
2454 Keyword-Surrounding-Chars="{" "} "
2455 The first part wouldn't need to be quoted (but it doesn't hurt).
2456 The second part does need the quotes because it includes a space
2457 character. If you wanted to change the braces to brackets you
2458 could use
2460 Keyword-Surrounding-Chars="[" "] "
2461 Inside the quotes you can use backslash quote to mean quote, so
2463 Keyword-Surrounding-Chars="\"" "\" "
2464 would produce
2466 "Work Now" actual subject
2467 It is also possible to color keywords in the index using the
2468 Setup/Kolor screen (Keyword Colors).
2469 It is not possible to change the fact that a space character is
2470 used to separate the keywords if more than one keyword is set
2471 for a message. It is also not possible to change the fact that
2472 there are no separators between the keyword initials if more
2473 than one keyword is set.
2474 This option is displayed as "Keyword Surrounding Characters".
2475 _last-time-prune-questioned_
2476 Personal configuration file only. This variable records the
2477 month the user was last asked if his or her _sent-mail_ folders
2478 should be pruned. The format is _yy.mm_. This is automatically
2479 updated by _Alpine_ when the the pruning is done or declined. If
2480 a user wanted to make _Alpine_ stop asking this question he or
2481 she could set this time to something far in the future. This may
2482 not be set in the system-wide configuration files. Note: The _yy_
2483 year is actually the number of years since 1900, so it will be
2484 equal to 101 in the year 2001.
2485 _last-version-used_
2486 Personal configuration file only. This is set automatically by
2487 _Alpine_. It is used to keep track of the last version of _Alpine_
2488 that was run by the user. Whenever the version number increases,
2489 a new version message is printed out. This may not be set in the
2490 system-wide configuration files.
2491 _ldap-servers_
2492 This is only available if _Alpine_ was linked with an LDAP
2493 library when it was compiled. This variable is normally managed
2494 by _Alpine_ though it can be set in the system-wide
2495 configuration files as well as the personal configuration. It is
2496 a list variable. Each item in the list contains quite a bit of
2497 extra information besides just the server name. To put this into
2498 a system-wide config file the easiest thing to do is to
2499 configure a personal _Alpine_ for the LDAP server then copy the
2500 configuration line into the system-wide config file. Each item
2501 in the list looks like:
2503 server_name[:port] "quoted stuff"
2504 The server_name is just a hostname and it is followed by an
2505 optional colon and port number. The default port is 389.
2506 Following the server name is a single SPACE character followed
2507 by a bunch of characters inside double quotes. The part inside
2508 the quotes is a set of _tag_ = _value_ pairs. Each tag is
2509 preceded by a slash (/) and followed by an equal sign. The value
2510 for that tag is the text up to the next slash. An example of
2511 some quoted stuff is:
2513 "/base=o=University of Washington, c=US/impl=0/.../nick=My Server"
2514 This would set the search base for this server to o=University
2515 of Washington, c=US, set the implicit bit to zero, and set the
2516 nickname for the server to My Server. All of the tags correspond
2517 directly to items in the Setup/Directory screen so experiment
2518 with that if you want to see what the possible tags and values
2519 are.
2520 _literal-signature_
2521 With this option your actual signature, as opposed to the name
2522 of a file containing your signature, is stored in the _Alpine_
2523 configuration file. If this is defined it takes precedence over
2524 the _signature-file_ option.
2525 This is simply a different way to store the signature data. The
2526 signature is stored inside your _Alpine_ configuration file
2527 instead of in a separate signature file. Tokens contained in the
2528 signature work the same way they do with the regular
2529 signature-file.
2530 The Setup/Signature command in _Alpine_'s Main Menu will edit
2531 the _literal-signature_ by default. However, if no
2532 _literal-signature_ is defined and the file named in the
2533 _signature-file_ option exists, then the latter will be used
2534 instead. Compose (Reply, Forward, ...) will default to using the
2535 _literal-signature_ if defined, otherwise it will use the
2536 contents of the file named in _signature-file_.
2537 The _Alpine_ composer is used to edit the literal-signature. The
2538 result of that edit is first converted to a C-style string
2539 before it is stored in the configuration file. In particular,
2540 the two character sequence \n (backslash followed by the
2541 character "n") will be used to signify a line-break in the
2542 signature. You don't have to enter the \n, but it will be
2543 visible in the SETUP CONFIGURATION window after you are done
2544 editing the signature.
2545 _mail-check-interval_
2546 This option specifies, in seconds, how often _Alpine_ will check
2547 for new mail. If set to zero, new-mail checking is disabled.
2548 (You can always manually force a new-mail check by typing ^L
2549 (Ctrl-L), which is also the command to refresh the screen, or by
2550 typing the Next command when the current message is the last
2551 message of the folder.) There is a minimum value for this
2552 option, normally 15 seconds. The default value is normally 150
2553 seconds. The higher you set this option, the easier it is on the
2554 server.
2555 There are some situations where automatic new-mail checking does
2556 not work. See the discussion about new-mail checking in
2557 folder-reopen-rule.
2558 The new-mail checking will not happen exactly at the frequency
2559 that you specify. For example, _Alpine_ may elect to defer a
2560 non-INBOX mail check if you are busy typing. Or, it may check
2561 more frequently than you have specified if that is thought to be
2562 necessary to keep the server from closing the connection to the
2563 folder due to inactivity. If _Alpine_ checks for new mail as a
2564 side effect of another command, it will reset the timer, so that
2565 new-mail checking may seem to happen irregularly instead of
2566 every X seconds like clockwork.
2567 If you are anxious to know about new mail as soon as possible,
2568 set the check interval low, and you'll know about the new mail
2569 by approximately that amount of time after it arrives. If you
2570 aren't so worried about knowing right away, set this option to a
2571 higher value. That will save the server some processing time and
2572 may save you some of the time you spend waiting for new-mail
2573 checks to happen if you are dealing with a slow server or slow
2574 network connection.
2575 If you suspect that new-mail checking is causing slow downs for
2576 you, you may want to look into the options
2577 Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Except-Inbox,
2578 Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Inbox and
2579 Mail-Check-Interval-Noncurrent, which refine when mail checking
2580 is done.
2581 If the mailbox being check uses a Mail Drop then there is a
2582 minimum time (maildrop-check-minimum) between new-mail checks.
2583 Because of this minimum you may notice that new mail does not
2584 appear promptly when you expect it. The reason for this is to
2585 protect the server from over-zealous opening and closing of the
2586 Mail Drop folder, since that is a costly operation.
2587 A side effect of disabling mail checking is that there will be
2588 situations in which the user's IMAP connection will be broken
2589 due to inactivity timers on the server. Another side effect is
2590 that the user-input-timeout option won't work.
2591 _mail-check-interval-noncurrent_
2592 This option is closely related to the Mail-Check-Interval
2593 option, as well as the Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Except-Inbox
2594 and Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Inbox options. If the
2595 "Mail-Check-Interval" option is set to zero, then automatic
2596 new-mail checking is disabled and this option will have no
2597 effect.
2598 Normally this option is set to zero, which means that the value
2599 used will be the same as the value for the
2600 "Mail-Check-Interval". If you set this option to a value
2601 different from zero (usually larger than the value for
2602 "Mail-Check-Interval") then that is the check interval that will
2603 be used for folders which are not the currently open folder or
2604 the INBOX. You may not even have any folders that are noncurrent
2605 and not the INBOX. If you do, it is likely that they are due to
2606 Stay-Open-Folders you have configured. This option also affects
2607 the rate of mail checking done on cached connections to folders
2608 you previously had open but are no longer actively using. You
2609 aren't expected to understand that last sentence, but if you are
2610 interested take a look at Max-Remote-Connections, and the
2611 related options.
2612 _mail-directory_
2613 This variable was more important in previous versions of
2614 _Alpine_. Now it is used only as the default for storing personal
2615 folders (and only if there are no folder-collections defined).
2616 The default value is _~/mail_ on UNIX and _${HOME}\MAIL_ on a
2617 PC.
2618 _mailcap-search-path_
2619 This variable is used to replace _Alpine_'s default mailcap file
2620 search path. It takes one or more file names (full paths must be
2621 specified) in which to look for mail capability data.
2622 _maildrop-check-minimum_
2623 New-mail checking for a Mail Drop is a little different from new
2624 mail checking for a regular folder. One of the differences is
2625 that the connection to the Mail Drop is not kept open and so the
2626 cost of checking (delay for you and additional load for the
2627 server) may be significant. Because of this additional cost we
2628 set a minimum time that must pass between checks. This minimum
2629 only applies to the automatic checking done by _Alpine_. If you
2630 force a check by typing ^L (Ctrl-L) or by typing the Next
2631 command when you are at the end of a folder index, then the
2632 check is done right away.
2633 This option specifies, in seconds, the _minimum_ time between
2634 Mail Drop new-mail checks. You may want to set this minimum high
2635 in order to avoid experiencing some of the delays associated
2636 with the checks. Note that the time between checks is still
2637 controlled by the regular Mail-Check-Interval option. When
2638 _Alpine_ is about to do an automatic check for new mail (because
2639 the Mail-Check-Interval has expired) then if the time since the
2640 last new-mail check of any open Mail Drops has been greater than
2641 the MailDrop-Check-Minimum, the Mail Drop is checked for new
2642 mail as well. Therefore, it is only useful to set this option to
2643 a value that is higher than the Mail-Check-Interval.
2644 If this option is set to zero, automatic Mail Drop new-mail
2645 checking is disabled. There is a minimum value, normally 60
2646 seconds. The default value is normally 60 seconds as well. This
2647 applies to the INBOX and to the currently open folder if that is
2648 different from the INBOX.
2649 _max-remote-connections_
2650 This option affects low-level behavior of _Alpine_. The default
2651 value for this option is _2_. If your INBOX is accessed using
2652 the IMAP protocol from an IMAP server, that connection is kept
2653 open throughout the duration of your _Alpine_ session,
2654 independent of the value of this option. The same is true of any
2655 Stay-Open-Folders you have defined. This option controls
2656 _Alpine_'s behavior when connecting to remote IMAP folders other
2657 than your INBOX or your Stay-Open-Folders. It specifies the
2658 maximum number of remote IMAP connections (other than those
2659 mentioned above) that _Alpine_ will use for accessing the rest
2660 of your folders. If you set this option to zero, you will turn
2661 off most remote connection re-use. It's difficult to understand
2662 exactly what this option does, and it is usually fine to leave
2663 it set to its default value. It is probably more likely that you
2664 will be interested in setting the Stay-Open-Folders option
2665 instead of changing the value of this option. A slightly longer
2666 explanation of what is going on with this option is given in the
2667 next paragraphs.
2668 There are some time costs involved in opening and closing remote
2669 IMAP folders, the main costs being the time you have to wait for
2670 the connection to the server and the time for the folder to
2671 open. Opening a folder may involve not only the time the server
2672 takes to do its processing but time that _Alpine_ uses to do
2673 filtering. These times can vary widely. They depend on how
2674 loaded the server is, how large the folder being opened is, and
2675 how you set up filtering, among other things. Once _Alpine_ has
2676 opened a connection to a particular folder, it will attempt to
2677 keep that connection open in case you use it again. In order to
2678 do this, _Alpine_ will attempt to use the Max-Remote-Connections
2679 (the value of this option) IMAP connections you have alloted for
2680 this purpose.
2681 For example, suppose the value of this option is set to "2". If
2682 your INBOX is accessed on a remote server using the IMAP
2683 protocol, that doesn't count as one of the remote connections
2684 but it is always kept open. If you then open another IMAP
2685 folder, that would be your first remote connection counted as
2686 one of the Max-Remote-Connections connections. If you open a
2687 third folder the second will be left open, in case you return to
2688 it. You won't be able to tell it has been left open. It will
2689 appear to be closed when you leave the folder but the connection
2690 will remain in the background. Now suppose you go back to the
2691 second folder (the first folder after the INBOX). A connection
2692 to that folder is still open so you won't have to wait for the
2693 startup time to open it. Meanwhile, the connection to the third
2694 folder will be left behind. Now, if you open a fourth folder,
2695 you will bump into the Max-Remote-Connections limit, because
2696 this will be the third folder other than INBOX and you have the
2697 option set to "2". The connection that is being used for the
2698 third folder will be re-used for this new fourth folder. If you
2699 go back to the third folder after this, it is no longer already
2700 connected when you get there. You'll still save some time since
2701 _Alpine_ will re-use the connection to the fourth folder and you
2702 have already logged in on that connection, but the folder will
2703 have to be re-opened from scratch.
2704 If a folder is large and the startup cost is dominated by the
2705 time it takes to open that folder or to run filters on it, then
2706 it will pay to make the value of this option large enough to
2707 keep it open. On the other hand, if you only revisit a handful
2708 of folders or if the folders are small, then it might make more
2709 sense to keep this number small so that the reconnect time (the
2710 time to start up a new connection and authenticate) is
2711 eliminated instead.
2712 You may also need to consider the impact on the server. On the
2713 surface, a larger number here may cause a larger impact on the
2714 server, since you will have more connections open to the server.
2715 On the other hand, not only will _you_ be avoiding the startup
2716 costs associated with reopening a folder, but the _server_ will
2717 be avoiding those costs as well.
2718 When twenty five minutes pass without any active use of an IMAP
2719 connection being saved for possible re-use, that connection will
2720 be shut down,
2721 This option is displayed as "Maximum Remote Connections".
2722 _meta-message-background-color_
2723 _meta-message-foreground-color_
2724 Meta-message Color.
2725 _mimetype-search-path_
2726 This variable is used to replace _Alpine_'s default mime.types
2727 file search path. It takes one or more file names (full paths
2728 must be specified) in which to look for file-name-extension to
2729 MIME type mapping data. See the Config Notes for details on
2730 _Alpine_'s usage of the MIME.Types File.
2731 _new-version-threshold_
2732 When a new version of _Alpine_ is run for the first time it
2733 offers a special explanatory screen to the user upon startup.
2734 This option helps control when and if that special screen
2735 appears for users that have previously run _Alpine_. It takes as
2736 its value a _Alpine_ version number. _Alpine_ versions less than
2737 the specified value will supress this special screen while
2738 versions equal to or greater than that specified will behave
2739 normally.
2740 _newmail-fifo-path_
2741 This option is only available in UNIX _Alpine_. However, there
2742 is a very similar feature built in to _PC-Alpine_. In
2743 _PC-Alpine_'s Config menu at the top of the screen is an option
2744 called "New Mail Window".
2745 You may have _Alpine_ create a FIFO special file (also called a
2746 named pipe, see mkfifo(3) and fifo(4)) where it will send a
2747 one-line message each time a new message is received in the
2748 current folder, the INBOX, or any open Stay-Open-Folders. To
2749 protect against two different _Alpine_s both writing to the same
2750 FIFO, _Alpine_ will only create the FIFO and write to it if it
2751 doesn't already exist.
2752 A possible way to use this option would be to have a separate
2753 window on your screen running the command
2755 cat filename
2756 where "filename" is the name of the file given for this option.
2757 Because the file won't exist until after you start _Alpine_, you
2758 must _first_ start _Alpine_ and _then_ run the "cat" command.
2759 You may be tempted to use "tail -f filename" to view the new
2760 mail log. However, the common implementations of the tail
2761 command will not do what you are hoping.
2762 The width of the messages produced for the FIFO may be altered
2763 with the NewMail-Window-Width option.
2764 On some systems, fifos may only be created in a local
2765 filesystem. In other words, they may not be in NFS filesystems.
2766 This requirement is not universal. If the system you are using
2767 supports it, it should work. (It is often the case that your
2768 home directory is in an NFS filesystem. If that is the case, you
2769 might try using a file in the "/tmp" filesystem, which is
2770 usually a local filesytem.) Even when it is possible to use an
2771 NFS-mounted filesystem as a place to name the fifo (for example,
2772 your home directory), it will still be the case that the reader
2773 (probably the "cat" command) and the writer (_Alpine_) of the
2774 fifo must be running on the same system.
2775 _newmail-window-width_
2776 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
2777 This option is only useful if you have turned on the
2778 NewMail-FIFO-Path option. That option causes new mail messages
2779 to be sent to a fifo file. Those messages will be 80 characters
2780 wide by default. You can change the width of the messages by
2781 changing this option. For example, if you are reading those
2782 messages in another window you might want to set this width to
2783 the width of that other window.
2784 For UNIX _Alpine_, this option is only useful if you have turned
2785 on the NewMail-FIFO-Path option. That option causes new mail
2786 messages to be sent to a fifo file. Those messages will be 80
2787 characters wide by default. You can change the width of those
2788 messages by changing this option. For example, if you are
2789 reading those messages in another window you might want to set
2790 this width to the width of that other window.
2791 If you are using _PC-Alpine_, it has an option in the Config
2792 menu to turn on the "New Mail Window". The present option also
2793 controls the width of that window.
2794 _news-active-file-path_
2795 This option tells _Alpine_ where to look for the "active file"
2796 for newsgroups when accessing news locally, rather than via
2797 NNTP. The default path is usually /usr/lib/news/active.
2798 _news-collections_
2799 This is a list of collections where news folders are located.
2800 See the section describing collections for more information.
2801 _news-spool-directory_
2802 This option tells _Alpine_ where to look for the "news spool"
2803 for newsgroups when accessing news locally, rather than via
2804 NNTP. The default path is usually /usr/spool/news.
2805 _newsrc-path_
2806 This option overrides the default name _Alpine_ uses for your
2807 "newsrc" news status and subscription file. If set, _Alpine_
2808 will take this value as the full pathname for the desired newsrc
2809 file.
2810 _nntp-range_
2811 This option applies only to newsgroups accessed using the NNTP
2812 protocol. It does not, for example, apply to newsgroups accessed
2813 using an IMAP-to-NNTP proxy.
2814 When you open a connection to a News server using the NNTP
2815 protocol, you normally have access to all of the articles in
2816 each newsgroup. If a server keeps a large backlog of messages it
2817 may speed performance some to restrict attention to only the
2818 newer messages in a group. This option allows you to set how
2819 many article numbers should be checked when opening a newsgroup.
2820 You can think of "nntp-range" as specifying the maximum number
2821 of messages you ever want to see. For example, if you only ever
2822 wanted to look at the last 500 messages in each newsgroup you
2823 could set this option to 500. In actuality, it isn't quite that.
2824 Instead, for performance reasons, it specifies the range of
2825 article numbers to be checked, beginning with the highest
2826 numbered article and going backwards from there. If there are
2827 messages that have been canceled or deleted their article
2828 numbers are still counted as part of the range.
2829 So, more precisely, setting the "nntp-range" will cause article
2830 numbers
2832 last_article_number - nntp-range + 1 through last_article_number
2833 to be considered when reading a newsgroup. The number of
2834 messages that show up in your index will be less than or equal
2835 to the value of "nntp-range".
2836 The purpose of this option is simply to speed up access when
2837 reading news. The speedup comes because _Alpine_ can ignore all
2838 but the last nntp-range article numbers, and can avoid
2839 downloading any information about the ignored articles. There is
2840 a cost you pay for this speedup. That cost is that there is no
2841 way for you to see those ignored articles. The articles that
2842 come before the range you specify are invisible to you and to
2843 _Alpine_, as if they did not exist at all. There is no way to see
2844 those messages using, for example, an unexclude command or
2845 something similar. The only way to see those articles is to set
2846 this option high enough (or set it to zero) and then to reopen
2847 the newsgroup.
2848 If this option is set to 0 (which is also the default), then the
2849 range is unlimited. This option applies globally to all NNTP
2850 servers and to all newsgroups on those servers. There is no way
2851 to set different values for different newsgroups or servers.
2852 _nntp-server_
2853 One or more NNTP servers (host name or IP address) which _Alpine_
2854 will use for reading and posting news. If you read and post news
2855 to and from a single NNTP server, you can get away with only
2856 setting the _nntp-server_ variable and leaving the
2857 _news-collections_ variable unset.
2858 When you define an NNTP server, _Alpine_ implicitly defines a
2859 news collection for you, assuming that server as the news server
2860 and assuming that you will use the NNTP protocol and a local
2861 newsrc configuration file for reading news. See also Configuring
2862 News.
2863 Your NNTP server may offer NNTP "AUTHINFO SASL" or "AUTHINFO
2864 USER" authentication. It may even require it. If your NNTP
2865 server does offer such authentication you may specify a user
2866 name parameter to cause _Alpine_ to attempt to authenticate. The
2867 same is true for the server name in a folder collection which
2868 uses NNTP. This parameter requires an associated value, the
2869 username identifier with which to establish the server
2870 connection. An example might be:
2872 nntpserver.example.com/user=katie
2873 If authentication is offered by the server, this will cause
2874 _Alpine_ to attempt to use it. If authentication is not offered
2875 by the server, this will cause _Alpine_ to fail with an error
2876 similar to:
2878 Error: NNTP authentication not available
2879 For more details about the server name possibilities see Server
2880 Name Syntax.
2881 _normal-background-color_
2882 _normal-foreground-color_
2883 Normal Color.
2884 _opening-text-separator-chars_
2885 This option controls a minor aspect of _Alpine_'s MESSAGE INDEX
2886 screen. With some setups the text of the subject is followed by
2887 the opening text of the message if there is any room available
2888 in the index line. If you have configured your Index-Format
2889 option to include one of the Subject tokens which causes this
2890 behavior (SUBJECTTEXT, SUBJKEYTEXT, or SUBJKEYINITTEXT), then
2891 this option may be used to modify what is displayed slightly. By
2892 default, the Subject is separated from the opening text of the
2893 message by the three characters space dash space;
2895 " - "
2896 Use this option to set it to something different. The value must
2897 be quoted if it includes any space characters. For example, the
2898 default value could be specified explicitly by setting this
2899 option to
2901 Opening-Text-Separator-Chars=" - "
2902 This option is displayed as "Opening Text Separator Characters".
2903 _operating-dir_
2904 System-wide _Alpine_ configuration files only. This names the
2905 root of the tree to which the user is restricted when reading
2906 and writing folders and files. It is usually used in the _fixed_
2907 configuration file.
2908 _patterns-filters2_
2909 Matching patterns and their corresponding actions are stored in
2910 this variable. These patterns are used with Filtering. This
2911 variable is normally maintained through the Setup/Rules/Filters
2912 configuration screen. It is a list variable. Each member of the
2913 list is a single pattern/action pair, or it can be a file which
2914 contains zero or more lines of pattern/action pairs. The only
2915 way to create a filters file is to use the InsertFile command in
2916 the Setup/Rules/Filters screen with a filename which doesn't yet
2917 exist. Then use the Shuffle command to move existing filter
2918 patterns into the file. This isn't very convenient but it isn't
2919 thought that many users will need this functionality. The
2920 purpose of filter files is for sharing filters.
2921 This option is displayed as "Patterns Filters".
2922 _patterns-indexcolors_
2923 Matching patterns and their corresponding actions are stored in
2924 this variable. These patterns are used for Index Line Colors.
2925 This variable is normally maintained through the
2926 Setup/Rules/Indexcolor configuration screen. It is a list
2927 variable. Each member of the list is a single pattern/action
2928 pair, or it can be a file which contains zero or more lines of
2929 pattern/action pairs. The only way to create a indexcolor file
2930 is to use the InsertFile command in the Setup/Rules/Indexcolor
2931 screen with a filename which doesn't yet exist. Then use the
2932 Shuffle command to move existing patterns into the file. This
2933 isn't very convenient but it isn't thought that many users will
2934 need this functionality. The purpose of indexcolor files is for
2935 sharing indexcolors.
2936 _patterns-other_
2937 Matching patterns and their corresponding actions are stored in
2938 this variable. These patterns are used with Miscellaneous Rules
2939 configuration. This variable is normally maintained through the
2940 Setup/Rules/Other configuration screen. It is a list variable.
2941 Each member of the list is a single pattern/action pair, or it
2942 can be a file which contains zero or more lines of
2943 pattern/action pairs. The only way to create a rules file is to
2944 use the InsertFile command in the Setup/Rules/Other screen with
2945 a filename which doesn't yet exist. Then use the Shuffle command
2946 to move existing rules into the file. This isn't very convenient
2947 but it isn't thought that many users will need this
2948 functionality.
2949 _patterns-roles_
2950 Matching patterns and their corresponding actions are stored in
2951 this variable. These patterns are used with Roles. This variable
2952 is normally maintained through the Setup/Rules/Roles
2953 configuration screen. It is a list variable. Each member of the
2954 list is a single pattern/action pair, or it can be a file which
2955 contains zero or more lines of pattern/action pairs. The only
2956 way to create a roles file is to use the InsertFile command in
2957 the Setup/Rules/Roles screen with a filename which doesn't yet
2958 exist. Then use the Shuffle command to move existing roles into
2959 the file. This isn't very convenient but it isn't thought that
2960 many users will need this functionality. The purpose of role
2961 files is for sharing roles.
2962 _patterns-scores2_
2963 Matching patterns and their corresponding actions are stored in
2964 this variable. These patterns are used with Scoring. This
2965 variable is normally maintained through the
2966 Setup/Rules/SetScores configuration screen. It is a list
2967 variable. Each member of the list is a single pattern/action
2968 pair, or it can be a file which contains zero or more lines of
2969 pattern/action pairs. The only way to create a scores file is to
2970 use the InsertFile command in the Setup/Rules/SetScores screen
2971 with a filename which doesn't yet exist. Then use the Shuffle
2972 command to move existing scoring patterns into the file. This
2973 isn't very convenient but it isn't thought that many users will
2974 need this functionality. The purpose of scoring files is for
2975 sharing scoring rules.
2976 This option is displayed as "Patterns Scores".
2977 _patterns-search_
2978 Matching patterns for use with the Select command are stored in
2979 this variable. These patterns are used with Search Rules
2980 configuration. This variable is normally maintained through the
2981 Setup/Rules/searCh configuration screen. It is a list variable.
2982 Each member of the list is a single pattern, or it can be a file
2983 which contains zero or more lines of patterns. The only way to
2984 create a rules file is to use the InsertFile command in the
2985 Setup/Rules/searCh screen with a filename which doesn't yet
2986 exist. Then use the Shuffle command to move existing rules into
2987 the file. This isn't very convenient but it isn't thought that
2988 many users will need this functionality.
2989 _personal-name_
2990 Personal configuration file only. User's full personal name. On
2991 UNIX systems, the default is taken from the accounts data base
2992 (/etc/passwd). The easiest way to change the full From address
2993 is with the customized-hdrs variable.
2994 _personal-print-category_
2995 Personal configuration file only. This is the category that the
2996 default print command belongs to. There are three categories.
2997 Category 1 is an attached printer which uses the ANSI escape
2998 sequence, category 2 is the standard system print command, and
2999 category 3 is the set of custom printer commands defined by the
3000 user. This just helps _Alpine_ figure out where to put the
3001 cursor when the user runs the _Setup/Printer_ command. This is
3002 not used by _PC-Alpine_.
3003 _personal-print-command_
3004 Personal configuration file only. This corresponds to the third
3005 category in the printer menu, the personally selected print
3006 commands. This variable contains the list of custom commands
3007 that the user has entered in the _Setup/Printer_ screen. This is
3008 not used by _PC-Alpine_.
3009 _posting-character-set_
3010 See the discussion in International Character Sets for details.
3011 _postponed-folder_
3012 The folder where postponed messages are stored. The default is
3013 _postponed-msgs_ (Unix) or _POSTPOND_ (PC).
3014 _print-font-name_
3015 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
3016 _print-font-size_
3017 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
3018 _print-font-style_
3019 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
3020 _printer_
3021 Personal configuration file only. This is the current setting
3022 for a user's printer. This variable is set from _Alpine_'s
3023 _Setup/Printer_ screen.
3024 _prompt-background-color_
3025 _prompt-foreground-color_
3026 Prompt Color.
3027 _pruned-folders_
3028 This variable allows you to define a list of one or more folders
3029 that _Alpine_ will offer to prune for you in the same way it
3030 automatically offers to prune your "sent-mail" folder each
3031 month. Each folder in this list must be a folder in your default
3032 folder collection (the first folder collection if you have more
3033 than one), and it is just the relative name of the folder in the
3034 collection, not the fully-qualified name. It is similar to
3035 sent-mail. Instead of something like
3037 pruned-folders={servername}mail/folder
3038 the correct value to use would be
3040 folder
3041 There is an assumption here that your first collection is the
3042 folders in
3044 {servername}mail
3045 Once a month, for each folder listed, _Alpine_ will offer to
3046 move the contents of the folder to a new folder of the same name
3047 but with the previous month's date appended. _Alpine_ will then
3048 look for any such date-appended folder names created for a
3049 previous month, and offer each one it finds for deletion.
3050 If you decline the first offer, no mail is moved and no new
3051 folder is created.
3052 The new folders will be created in your default folder
3053 collection.
3054 _pruning-rule_
3055 By default, _Alpine_ will ask at the beginning of each month
3056 whether or not you want to rename your sent-mail folder to a
3057 name like sent-mail-month-year. (See the feature
3058 prune-uses-yyyy-mm to change the format of the folder to
3059 sent-mail-yyyy-mm.) It will also ask whether you would like to
3060 delete old sent-mail folders. If you have defined
3061 read-message-folder or pruned-folders _Alpine_ will also ask
3062 about pruning those folders. With this option you may provide an
3063 automatic answer to the rename questions and you may tell
3064 _Alpine_ to not ask about deleting old folders.
3065 _quote1-background-color_
3066 _quote1-foreground-color_
3067 _quote2-background-color_
3068 _quote2-foreground-color_
3069 _quote3-background-color_
3070 _quote3-foreground-color_
3071 Quote Colors.
3072 _quote-replace-string_
3073 This option specifies what string to use as a quote when
3074 _viewing_ a message. The standard way of quoting messages when
3075 replying is the string "> " (quote space). With this variable
3076 set, viewing a message will replace occurrences of "> " with the
3077 replacement string. This setting works best when
3078 Reply-Indent-String or the equivalent setting in your
3079 correspondents' mail programs is set to the default "> ", but it
3080 will also work fine with the Reply-Indent-String set to ">".
3081 Enable the feature Quote-Replace-Nonflowed to also have
3082 quote-replacement performed on non-flowed messages.
3083 Setting this option will replace ">" and "> " with the new
3084 setting. This string may include trailing spaces. To preserve
3085 those spaces enclose the full string in double quotes.
3086 No padding to separate the text of the message from the quote
3087 string is added. This means that if you do not add trailing
3088 spaces to the value of this variable, text will be displayed
3089 right next to the quote string, which may be undesirable. This
3090 can be avoided by adding a new string separated by a space from
3091 your selection of quote string replacement. This last string
3092 will be used for padding. For example, setting this variable to
3093 ">" " " has the effect of setting ">" as the
3094 quote-replace-string, with the text padded by a space from the
3095 last quote string to make it more readable.
3096 One possible setting for this variable could be " " (four
3097 spaces wrapped in quotes), which would have the effect of
3098 indenting each level of quoting four spaces and removing the
3099 ">"'s. Different levels of quoting could be made more
3100 discernible by setting colors for quoted text.
3101 Replying to or forwarding the viewed message will preserve the
3102 original formatting of the message, so quote-replacement will
3103 not be performed on messages that are being composed.
3104 _quote-suppression-threshold_
3105 This option should be used with care. It will cause some of the
3106 quoted text to be eliminated from the display when viewing a
3107 message in the MESSAGE TEXT screen. For example, if you set the
3108 Quote-Suppression-Threshold to the value "5", this will cause
3109 quoted text that is longer than five lines to be truncated.
3110 Quoted text of five or fewer consecutive lines will be displayed
3111 in its entirety. Quoted text of more than six lines will have
3112 the first five lines displayed followed by a line that looks
3113 something like
3115 [ 12 lines of quoted text hidden from view ]
3116 As a special case, if exactly one line of quoted text would be
3117 hidden, the entire quote will be shown instead. So for the above
3118 example, quoted text which is exactly six lines long will will
3119 be shown in its entirety. (In other words, instead of hiding a
3120 single line and adding a line that announces that one line was
3121 hidden, the line is just shown.)
3122 If the sender of a message has carefully chosen the quotes that
3123 he or she includes, hiding those quotes may change the meaning
3124 of the message. For that reason, _Alpine_ requires that when you
3125 want to set the value of this variable to something less than
3126 four lines, you actually have to set it to the negative of that
3127 number. So if you want to set this option to "3", you actually
3128 have to set it to "-3". The only purpose of this is to get you
3129 to think about whether or not you really want to do this! If you
3130 want to delete all quoted text you set the value of this option
3131 to the special value "-10".
3132 The legal values for this option are
3134 0 Default, don't hide anything
3135 -1,-2,-3 Suppress quote lines past 1, 2, or 3 lines
3136 4,5,6,... Suppress if more than that many lines
3137 -10 Suppress all quoted lines
3138 If you set this option to a non-default value you may sometimes
3139 wish to view the quoted text that is not shown. When this is the
3140 case, the HdrMode (Header Mode) command may be used to show the
3141 hidden text. Typing the "H" command once will show the hidden
3142 text. Typing a second "H" will also turn on Full Header mode.
3143 The presence or absence of the HdrMode command is determined by
3144 the "Enable-Full-Header-Cmd" Feature-List option in your _Alpine_
3145 configuration, so you will want to be sure that is turned on if
3146 you use quote suppression.
3147 For the purposes of this option, a quote is a line that begins
3148 with the character ">".
3149 Quotes are only suppressed when displaying a message on the
3150 screen. The entire quote will be left intact when printing or
3151 forwarding or something similar.
3152 _read-message-folder_
3153 If set, mail in the _INBOX_ that has been read but not deleted
3154 is moved here, or rather, the user is asked whether or not he or
3155 she wants to move it here upon quitting _Alpine_.
3156 _remote-abook-history_
3157 Sets how many extra copies of remote address book data will be
3158 kept in each remote address book folder. The default is three.
3159 These extra copies are simply old versions of the data. Each
3160 time a change is made a new copy of the address book data is
3161 appended to the folder. Old copies are trimmed, if possible,
3162 when _Alpine_ exits. An old copy can be put back into use by
3163 deleting and expunging newer versions of the data from the
3164 folder. Don't delete the first message from the folder. It is a
3165 special header message for the remote address book and it must
3166 be there. This is to prevent regular folders from being used as
3167 remote address book folders and having their data destroyed.
3168 _remote-abook-metafile_
3169 Personal configuration file only. This is usually set by _Alpine_
3170 and is the name of a file that contains data about remote
3171 address books and remote configuration files.
3172 _remote-abook-validity_
3173 Sets the minimum number of minutes that a remote address book
3174 will be considered up to date. Whenever an entry contained in a
3175 remote address book is used, if more than this many minutes have
3176 passed since the last check the remote server will be queried to
3177 see if the address book has changed. If it has changed, the
3178 local copy is updated. The default value is five minutes. The
3179 special value of -1 means never check. The special value of zero
3180 means only check when the address book is first opened.
3181 No matter what the value, the validity check is always done when
3182 the address book is about to be changed by the user. The check
3183 can be initiated manually by typing _^L_ (Ctrl-L) while in the
3184 address book maintenance screen for the remote address book.
3185 _reply-indent-string_
3186 This variable specifies an aspect of _Alpine_'s _Reply_ command.
3187 When a message is replied to and the text of the message is
3188 included, the included text usually has the string "> "
3189 prepended to each line indicating it is quoted text.
3190 This option specifies a different value for that string. If you
3191 wish to use a string which begins or ends with a space, enclose
3192 the string in double quotes.
3193 Besides simple text, the prepended string can be based on the
3194 message being replied to. The following tokens are substituted
3195 for the message's corresponding value:
3197 _FROM_
3198 This token gets replaced with the message sender's
3199 "username". At most six characters are used.
3201 _NICK_
3202 This token gets replaced with the nickname of the message
3203 sender's address as found in your addressbook. If no
3204 addressbook entry is found, Pine replaces the characters
3205 "_NICK_" with nothing. At most six characters are used.
3207 _INIT_
3208 This token gets replaced with the initials of the sender
3209 of the message.
3211 When the enable-reply-indent-string-editing feature is enabled,
3212 you are given the opportunity to edit the string, whether it is
3213 the default or one automatically generated using the above
3214 tokens.
3215 _reply-leadin_
3216 This option is used to customize the content of the introduction
3217 line that is included when replying to a message and including
3218 the original message in the reply. The normal default (what you
3219 will get if you delete this variable) looks something like:
3221 On Sat, 24 Oct 1998, Fred Flintstone wrote:
3222 where the day of the week is only included if it is available in
3223 the original message. You can replace this default with text of
3224 your own. The text may contain tokens that are replaced with
3225 text that depends on the message you are replying to. For
3226 example, the default is equivalent to:
3228 On _DAYDATE_, _FROM_ wrote:
3229 Since this variable includes regular text mixed with special
3230 tokens the tokens have to be surrounded by underscore
3231 characters. For example, to use the token "PREFDATE" you would
3232 need to use "_PREFDATE_", not "PREFDATE".
3233 The list of available tokens is here.
3234 By default, the text is all on a single line and is followed by
3235 a blank line. If your _Reply-Leadin_ turns out to be longer than
3236 80 characters when replying to a particular message, it is
3237 shortened. However, if you use the token
3239 _NEWLINE_
3240 anywhere in the value, no end of line or blank line is appended,
3241 and no shortening is done. The _NEWLINE_ token may be used to
3242 get rid of the blank line following the text, to add more blank
3243 lines, or to form a multi-line _Reply-Leadin_. To clarify how
3244 _NEWLINE_ works recall that the default value is:
3246 On _DAYDATE_, _FROM_ wrote:
3247 That is equivalent to
3249 On _DAYDATE_, _FROM_ wrote:_NEWLINE__NEWLINE_
3250 In the former case, two newlines are added automatically because
3251 no _NEWLINE_ token appears in the value of the option (for
3252 backwards compatibility). In the latter case, the newlines are
3253 explicit. If you want to remove the blank line that follows the
3254 _Reply-Leadin_ text use a single _NEWLINE_ token like
3256 On _DAYDATE_, _FROM_ wrote:_NEWLINE_
3257 Because of the backwards compatibility problem, it is not
3258 possible to remove all of the ends of lines, because then there
3259 will be no _NEWLINE_ tokens and that will cause the automatic
3260 adding of two newlines! If you want, you may embed newlines in
3261 the middle of the text, as well, producing a multi-line
3262 _Reply-Leadin_.
3263 By default, no attempt is made to localize the date. If you
3264 prefer a localized form you may find that one of the tokens
3265 _PREFDATE_ or _PREFDATETIME_ is a satisfactory substitute. If
3266 you want more control one of the many other date tokens, such as
3267 _DATEISO_, might be better.
3268 For the adventurous, there is a way to conditionally include
3269 text based on whether or not a token would result in specific
3270 replacement text. For example, you could include some text based
3271 on whether or not the _NEWS_ token would result in any
3272 newsgroups if it was used. It's explained in detail here.
3273 In the very unlikely event that you want to include a literal
3274 token in the introduction line you must precede it with a
3275 backslash character. For example,
3277 \_DAYDATE_ = _DAYDATE_
3278 would produce something like
3280 _DAYDATE_ = Sat, 24 Oct 1998
3281 It is not possible to have a literal backslash followed by an
3282 expanded token.
3283 _reverse-background-color_
3284 _reverse-foreground-color_
3285 Reverse Color.
3286 _rsh-command_
3287 Sets the format of the command used to open a UNIX remote shell
3288 connection. The default is "%s %s -l %s exec /etc/r%sd". All
3289 four "%s" entries MUST exist in the provided command. The first
3290 is for the command's pathname, the second is for the host to
3291 connnect to, the third is for the user to connect as, and the
3292 fourth is for the connection method (typically imap).
3293 _rsh-open-timeout_
3294 Sets the time in seconds that _Alpine_ will attempt to open a
3295 UNIX remote shell connection. The default is 15, the minimum
3296 non-zero value is 5, and the maximum is unlimited. If this is
3297 set to zero rsh connections will be completely disabled.
3298 _rsh-path_
3299 Sets the name of the command used to open a UNIX remote shell
3300 connection. The default is typically /usr/ucb/rsh.
3301 _saved-msg-name-rule_
3302 Determines default folder name when _Sav_ing. If set to
3303 _default-folder_ (which is the default setting), then _Alpine_
3304 will offer the folder "saved-messages" (UNIX) or "SAVEMAIL" (PC)
3305 for _Sav_ing messages. The default folder offered in this way
3306 may be changed by using the configuration variable
3307 default-saved-msg-folder.
3308 If this rule is set to _last-folder-used_, _Alpine_ offers to
3309 _Save_ to the folder you last successfully _Saved_ a message to
3310 (this session). The first time you _Save_ a message in a
3311 session, _Alpine_ offers to _Save_ the message to the default
3312 folder.
3313 Choosing any of the _by-_ options causes _Alpine_ to attempt to
3314 get the chosen option's value for the message being _Saved_ (or
3315 for the first message being Saved if using an aggregate Save).
3316 For example, if _by-from_ is chosen, _Alpine_ attempts to get
3317 the value of who the message came from (i.e. the from address).
3318 _Alpine_ then attempts to _Save_ the message to a folder matching
3319 that value. If _by-from_ is chosen and no value is obtained,
3320 _Alpine_ uses _by-sender_. The opposite is also true. If
3321 _by-recipient_ was chosen and the message was posted to a
3322 newsgroup, _Alpine_ will use the newsgroup name. If _by-replyto_
3323 is chosen and no value is obtained, _Alpine_ uses _by-from_.
3324 If any of the "by-realname" options are chosen, _Alpine_ will
3325 attempt to use the personal name part of the address instead of
3326 the mailbox part. If any of the "by-nick" options are chosen,
3327 the address is looked up in your address book and if found, the
3328 nickname for that entry is used. Only simple address book
3329 entries are checked, not distribution lists. Similarly, if any
3330 of the "by-fcc" options are chosen, the fcc from the
3331 corresponding address book entry is used. If by-realname, or the
3332 by-nick or by-fcc lookups result in no value, then if the chosen
3333 option ends with the "then-from", "then-sender", "then-replyto",
3334 or "then-recip" suffix, _Alpine_ reverts to the same behavior as
3335 "by-from", "by-sender", "by-replyto", or "by-recip" depending on
3336 which option was specified. If the chosen option doesn't end
3337 with one of the "then-" suffixes, then _Alpine_ reverts to the
3338 default folder when no match is found in the address book.
3339 Here is an example to make some of the options clearer. If the
3340 message is From
3342 Fred Flintstone <flint@bedrock.org>
3343 and this rule is set to "by-from", then the default folder
3344 offered in the save dialog would be "flint".
3345 If this rule is set to "by-realname-of-from" then the default
3346 would be "Fred Flintstone".
3347 If this rule is set to "by-nick-of-from" then _Alpine_ will
3348 search for the address "flint@bedrock.org" in your address book.
3349 If an entry is found and it has a nickname associated with it,
3350 that nickname will be offered as the default folder. If not, the
3351 default saved message folder will be offered as the default.
3352 If this rule is set to "by-fcc-of-from" then _Alpine_ will
3353 search for the address "flint@bedrock.org" in your address book.
3354 If an entry is found and it has an Fcc associated with it, that
3355 Fcc will be offered as the default folder. If not, the default
3356 saved message folder will be offered as the default.
3357 If this rule is set to "by-nick-of-from-then-from" then _Alpine_
3358 will search for the address "flint@bedrock.org" in your address
3359 book. If an entry is found and it has a nickname associated with
3360 it, that nickname will be offered as the default folder. If it
3361 is not found (or has no nickname) then the default offered will
3362 be the same as it would be for the "by-from" rule. That is, it
3363 would be "flint"
3364 This option is displayed as "Saved Message Name Rule".
3365 _scroll-margin_
3366 This option controls when _Alpine_'s line-by-line scrolling
3367 occurs. Typically, when a selected item is at the top or bottom
3368 screen edge and the UP or DOWN (and Ctrl-P or Ctrl-N) keys are
3369 pressed, the displayed items are scrolled down or up by a single
3370 line.
3371 This option allows you to tell _Alpine_ the number of lines from
3372 the top and bottom screen edge that line-by-line scrolling
3373 should occur. For example, setting this value to one (1) will
3374 cause _Alpine_ to scroll the display when you move to select an
3375 item on the display's top or bottom edge (instead of moving when
3376 you move off the edge of the screen).
3377 By default, this variable is zero (0), indicating that scrolling
3378 happens when you move up or down to select an item immediately
3379 off the display's top or bottom edge.
3380 _selectable-item-background-color_
3381 _selectable-item-foreground-color_
3382 Selectable-item Color.
3383 _sending-filters_
3384 This option defines a list of text-filtering commands (programs
3385 and scripts) that may be selectively invoked to process a
3386 message just before it is sent. If set, the Composer's _^X Send_
3387 command will allow you to select which filter (or none) to apply
3388 to the message before it is sent. For security reasons, the full
3389 path of the filter program must be specified.
3390 Sending filters do not work with _PC-Alpine_ and sending filters
3391 are not used if the feature send-without-confirm is set.
3392 Command Modifying Tokens:
3394 __RECIPIENTS__
3395 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
3396 the space delimited list of recipients of the message
3397 being sent.
3399 __TMPFILE__
3400 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
3401 the path and name of the temporary file containing the
3402 text to be filtered. _Alpine_ expects the filter to
3403 replace this data with the filter's result. NOTE: Use of
3404 this token implies that the text to be filtered is not
3405 piped into standard input of the executed command and its
3406 standard output is ignored. _Alpine_ restores the tty
3407 modes before invoking the filter in case the filter
3408 interacts with the user via its own standard input and
3409 output.
3411 __RESULTFILE__
3412 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
3413 the path and name of a temporary file intended to contain
3414 a status message from the filter. _Alpine_ displays this
3415 in the message status field.
3417 __DATAFILE__
3418 When the command is executed, this token is replaced in
3419 the command line with the path and name of a temporary
3420 file that _Alpine_ creates once per session and deletes
3421 upon exit. The file is intended to be used by the filter
3422 to store state information between instances of the
3423 filter.
3425 __PREPENDKEY__
3426 When the command is executed, this token indicates that a
3427 random number will be passed down the input stream before
3428 the message text. It is not included as a command-line
3429 argument. This number could be used as a session key. It
3430 is sent in this way to improve security. The number is
3431 unique to the current _Alpine_ session and is only
3432 generated once per session.
3434 __INCLUDEALLHDRS__
3435 When the command is executed, this token indicates that
3436 the headers of the message will be passed down the input
3437 stream before the message text. It is not included as a
3438 command-line argument. The filter should, of course,
3439 remove the headers before returning control to _Alpine_.
3441 __MIMETYPE__
3442 When the command is executed, this token is replaced in
3443 the command name with a temporary file name used to accept
3444 any new MIME Content-Type information necessitated by the
3445 output of the filter. Upon the filter's exit, if the file
3446 contains new MIME type information, _Alpine_ verifies its
3447 format and replaces the outgoing message's MIME type
3448 information with that contained in the file. This is
3449 basically a cheap way of sending something other than
3450 Text/Plain.
3452 _sendmail-path_
3453 This names the path to an alternative program, and any necessary
3454 arguments, to be used in posting mail messages. See the section
3455 on SMTP and Sendmail for more details.
3456 _signature-file_
3457 This is the name of a file which will be automatically inserted
3458 into outgoing messages. It typically contains information such
3459 as your name, email address and organizational affiliation.
3460 _Alpine_ adds the signature into the message as soon as you enter
3461 the composer so you can choose to remove it or edit it on a
3462 message by message basis. Signature file placement in message
3463 replies is controlled by the signature-at-bottom setting in the
3464 feature list.
3465 This defaults to ~/.signature on UNIX and <PINERC
3466 directory>\PINE.SIG on a PC.
3467 To create or edit your signature file choose Setup from the Main
3468 Menu and then select S for Signature (Main/Setup/Signature).
3469 This puts you into the Signature Editor where you can enter a
3470 _few_ lines of text containing your identity and affiliation.
3471 If the filename is followed by a vertical bar (|) then instead
3472 of reading the contents of the file the file is assumed to be a
3473 program which will produce the text to be used on its standard
3474 output. The program can't have any arguments and doesn't receive
3475 any input from _Alpine_, but the rest of the processing works as
3476 if the contents came from a file.
3477 Instead of storing the data in a local file, the signature data
3478 may be stored remotely in an IMAP folder. In order to do this,
3479 you must use a remote name for the file. A remote signature-file
3480 name might look like:
3482 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/signature
3483 or, if you have an SSL-capable version of _Alpine_, you might
3484 try
3486 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us/user=loginname/ssl}mail/signature
3487 The syntax used here is the same as the syntax used for remote
3488 configuration files from the command line. Note that you may not
3489 access an existing signature file remotely, you have to create a
3490 new _folder_ which contains the signature data. If the name you
3491 use here for the signature file is a remote name, then when you
3492 edit the file from the Setup/Signature command the data will be
3493 stored remotely in the folder. You aren't required to do
3494 anything special to create the folder, it gets created
3495 automatically if you use a remote name.
3496 Besides regular text, the signature file may also contain (or a
3497 signature program may produce) tokens which are replaced with
3498 text which usually depends on the message you are replying to or
3499 forwarding. For example, if the signature file contains the
3500 token
3502 _DATE_
3503 anywhere in the text, then that token is replaced by the date
3504 the message you are replying to or forwarding was sent. If it
3505 contains
3507 _CURDATE_
3508 that is replaced with the current date. The first is an example
3509 of a token which depends on the message you are replying to (or
3510 forwarding) and the second is an example which doesn't depend on
3511 anything other than the current date. You have to be a little
3512 careful with this facility since tokens which depend on the
3513 message you are replying to or forwarding will be replaced by
3514 nothing in the case where you are composing a new message from
3515 scratch. The use of roles may help you in this respect. It
3516 allows you to use different signature files in different cases.
3517 The list of tokens available for use in the signature file is
3518 here.
3519 Instead of, or along with the use of _roles_ to give you
3520 different signature files in different situations, there is also
3521 a way to conditionally include text based on whether or not a
3522 token would result in specific replacement text. For example,
3523 you could include some text based on whether or not the _NEWS_
3524 token would result in any newsgroups if it was used. This is
3525 explained in detail here. This isn't for the faint of heart.
3526 In the very unlikely event that you want to include a literal
3527 token in the signature you must precede it with a backslash
3528 character. For example,
3530 \_DAYDATE_ = _DAYDATE_
3531 would produce something like
3533 _DAYDATE_ = Sat, 24 Oct 1998
3534 It is not possible to have a literal backslash followed by an
3535 expanded token.
3536 _signature-background-color_
3537 _signature-foreground-color_
3538 Signature Color.
3539 _smime-public-cert-directory_
3540 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3541 If the option smime-public-cert-container is set then this
3542 option will have no effect.
3543 Normally, Public Certificates for use with S/MIME will be stored
3544 in the directory which is the value of this option. Those
3545 certificates will be stored in PEM format, one certificate per
3546 file. The name of the file for the certificate corresponding to
3548 emailaddress
3549 should be
3551 emailaddress.crt
3552 For example, a file for user@example.com would be in the file
3554 user@example.com.crt
3555 in this directory.
3556 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3557 Typically, the public certificates that you have will come from
3558 S/MIME signed messages that are sent to you. _Alpine_ will
3559 extract the public certificate from the signed message and store
3560 it in the certificates directory. These PEM format public
3561 certificates look something like:
3562 -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
3563 MIIFvTCCBKWgAwIBAgIQD4fYFHVI8T20yN4nus097DANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADCB
3564 rjELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxCzAJBgNVBAgTAlVUMRcwFQYDVQQHEw5TYWx0IExha2Ug
3565 Q2l0eTEeMBwGA1UEChMVVGhlIFVTRVJUUlVTVCBOZXR3b3JrMSEwHwYDVQQLExho
3566 ...
3567 2b9KGqDyMWW/rjNnmpjzjT2ObGM7lRA8lke4FLOLajhrz4ogO3b4DFfAAM1VSZH8
3568 D6sOwOLJZkLY8FRsfk63K+2EMzA2+qAzMKupgeTLqXIf
3569 -----END CERTIFICATE-----
3571 + General S/MIME Overview
3572 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Public Cert Directory".
3573 _smime-public-cert-container_
3574 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3575 If this option is set it will be used instead of
3576 smime-public-cert-directory
3577 This option gives you a way to store certificates remotely on an
3578 IMAP server instead of storing the certificates one per file
3579 locally. In order to do that you just give this option a remote
3580 folder name for a folder which does not yet exist. The name is
3581 similar to the name you might use for a remote configuration
3582 file. A remote folder name might look something like:
3584 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/publiccerts
3585 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3586 + General S/MIME Overview
3587 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Public Cert Container".
3588 _smime-private-key-directory_
3589 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3590 In order to sign outgoing S/MIME messages you will need a
3591 personal digital ID certificate. You will usually get such a
3592 certificate from a certificate authority such as Thawte or
3593 CAcert. (In order to encrypt outgoing messages you don't need a
3594 personal digital ID, you need the public certificate of the
3595 recipient instead.) If the option smime-private-key-container is
3596 set then this option will have no effect.
3597 Normally, Private Keys for use with S/MIME will be stored in the
3598 directory which is the value of this option. Those certificates
3599 will be stored in PEM format, one certificate per file. The name
3600 of the file for the certificate corresponding to your
3602 emailaddress
3603 should be
3605 emailaddress.key
3606 For example, if your address is user@example.com the name of the
3607 file would be
3609 user@example.com.key
3610 in this directory.
3611 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3612 Typically, the private key that you have will come from a
3613 Certificate Authority. The private key should be stored in a PEM
3614 format file that looks something like:
3615 -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
3616 Proc-Type: 4,ENCRYPTED
3617 DEK-Info: DES-EDE3-CBC,2CBD328FD84CF5C6
3619 YBEXYLgLU9NJoc1V+vJ6UvcF08RX54S6jXsmgL0b5HGkudG6fhnmHkH7+UCvM5NI
3620 SXO/F8iuZDfs1VGG0NyitkFZ0Zn2vfaGovBvm15gx24b2xnZDLRB7/bNZkurnK5k
3621 VjAjZ2xXn2hFp2GJwqRdmxYNqsKGu52B99oti5HUWuZ2GFRaWjn5hYOqeApZE2uA
3622 ...
3623 oSRqfI51UdSRt0tmGhHeTvybUVrHm9eKft8TTGf+qSBqzSc55CsmoVbRzw4Nfhix
3624 m+4TJybNGNfAgOctSkEyY/OCb49fRRQTCBZVIhzLGGmpYmkO55HbIA==
3625 -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
3627 + General S/MIME Overview
3628 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Private Key Directory".
3629 _smime-private-key-container_
3630 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3631 If this option is set it will be used instead of
3632 smime-private-key-directory.
3633 This option gives you a way to store keys remotely on an IMAP
3634 server instead of storing the keys one per file locally. In
3635 order to do that you just give this option a remote folder name
3636 for a folder which does not yet exist. The name is similar to
3637 the name you might use for a remote configuration file. A remote
3638 folder name might look something like:
3640 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/privatekeys
3641 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3642 + General S/MIME Overview
3643 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Private Key Container".
3644 _smime-cacert-directory_
3645 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3646 If the option smime-cacert-container is set then this option
3647 will have no effect.
3648 CACert is a shorthand name for certification authority
3649 certificate. Normally _Alpine_ will use the CACerts that are
3650 located in the standard system location for CACerts. It may be
3651 the case that one of your correspondents has a Digital ID which
3652 has been signed by a certificate authority that is not in the
3653 regular set of system certificate authorities. You may
3654 supplement the system list by adding further certificates of
3655 your own. These should be stored in the directory which is the
3656 value of this option. The certificates will be stored in PEM
3657 format, one certificate per file. The names of the files can be
3658 anything ending in ".crt".
3659 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3660 These PEM format CA certificates look very similar to your
3661 public certificates for particular email addresses
3662 (smime-public-cert-directory).
3663 + General S/MIME Overview
3664 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Cert Authority Directory".
3665 _smime-cacert-container_
3666 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3667 If this option is set it will be used instead of
3668 smime-cacert-directory.
3669 This option gives you a way to store certificates remotely on an
3670 IMAP server instead of storing the certificates one per file
3671 locally. In order to do that you just give this option a remote
3672 folder name for a folder which does not yet exist. The name is
3673 similar to the name you might use for a remote configuration
3674 file. A remote folder name might look something like:
3676 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/cacerts
3677 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3678 + General S/MIME Overview
3679 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Cert Authority Container".
3680 _smtp-server_
3681 One or more SMTP servers (host name or IP address) which _Alpine_
3682 will use for outgoing mail. If not set, _Alpine_ passes outgoing
3683 email to the _sendmail_ program on the local machine. _PC-Alpine_
3684 users must have this variable set in order to send mail as they
3685 have no _sendmail_ program.
3686 Your SMTP server may offer SMTP AUTH authentication. It may even
3687 require it. If your SMTP server offers SMTP AUTH authentication
3688 you may specify a "user" name parameter to cause _Alpine_ to
3689 attempt to authenticate. This parameter requires an associated
3690 value, the username identifier with which to establish the
3691 server connection. An example might be:
3693 smtpserver.example.com/user=katie
3694 If AUTH authentication is offered by the server, this will cause
3695 _Alpine_ to attempt to use it. If AUTH authentication is not
3696 offered by the server, this will cause _Alpine_ to fail sending
3697 with an error similar to:
3699 Error: SMTP authentication not available
3700 Another type of authentication that is used by some ISPs is
3701 called "POP before SMTP" or "IMAP before SMTP", which means that
3702 you have to authenticate yourself to the POP or IMAP server by
3703 opening a mailbox before you can send mail. To do this, you
3704 usually only have to open your INBOX.
3705 You may tell _Alpine_ to use the Message Submission port (587)
3706 instead of the SMTP port (25) by including the "submit"
3707 parameter in this option. At this time "/submit" is simply
3708 equivalent to specifying port 587, though it may imply more than
3709 that at some point in the future. Some ISPs are blocking port 25
3710 in order to reduce the amount of spam being sent to their users.
3711 You may find that the submit option allows you to get around
3712 such a block.
3714 smtpserver.example.com/submit
3715 To specify any non-standard port number on the SMTP server you
3716 may follow the hostname with a colon followed by the portnumber.
3718 smtpserver.example.com:12345
3719 Normally, when a connection is made to the Smtp-Server _Alpine_
3720 will attempt to negotiate a secure (encrypted) session using
3721 Transport Layer Security (TLS). If that fails then a
3722 non-encrypted connection will be attempted instead. You may
3723 specify that a TLS connection is required if you wish. If you
3724 append "/tls" to the name then the connection will fail instead
3725 of falling back to a non-secure connection.
3727 smtpserver.example.com/tls
3728 See the SMTP Servers section or the Server Name Syntax section
3729 for some more details.
3730 This option is displayed as "SMTP Server (for sending)".
3731 _sort-key_
3732 This variable sets up the default Message Index sorting. The
3733 default is to sort by arrival order (the order the messages
3734 arrived in the folder). It has the same functionality as the
3735 _-sort_ command line argument and the _$_ command in the "Folder
3736 Index". If a _sort-key_ is set, then all folders open during the
3737 session will have that as the default sort order.
3738 _speller_
3739 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3740 For _PC-Alpine_, you must install the aspell library code that
3741 you may get from http://aspell.net/win32/.
3742 This option affects the behavior of the _^T_ (spell check)
3743 command in the Composer. It specifies the program invoked by _^T_
3744 in the Composer. By default, _Alpine_ uses the system's "spell"
3745 command. _Alpine_ will use the command defined by this option
3746 (if any) instead. When invoking the spell-checking program,
3747 _Alpine_ appends a tempfile name (where the message is passed) to
3748 the command line. _Alpine_ expects the speller to correct the
3749 spelling in that file. When you exit from the speller program
3750 _Alpine_ will read the tmpfile back into the composer.
3751 For Unix _Alpine_ the program _ispell_ works well as an
3752 alternate spell checker. If your Unix system has _ispell_ it is
3753 probably reasonable to make it the default speller by
3754 configuring it as the default in the system configuration file,
3755 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.
3756 If this option is not set, then the system's _spell_ command is
3757 used. The spell command does not work the same as the alternate
3758 speller. It produces a list of misspelled words on its standard
3759 output, instead, and doesn't take a tempfile as an argument.
3760 Don't set this speller option to the standard Unix spell
3761 command. That won't work. If you want to use the standard Unix
3762 spell command, set the speller option to nothing.
3763 _ssh-command_
3764 Sets the format of the command used to open a UNIX secure shell
3765 connection. The default is "%s %s -l %s exec /etc/r%sd". All
3766 four "%s" entries MUST exist in the provided command. The first
3767 is for the command's pathname, the second is for the host to
3768 connnect to, the third is for the user to connect as, and the
3769 fourth is for the connection method (typically imap).
3770 _ssh-open-timeout_
3771 Sets the time in seconds that _Alpine_ will attempt to open a
3772 UNIX secure shell connection. The default is 15, the minimum
3773 non-zero value is 5, and the maximum is unlimited. If this is
3774 set to zero ssh connections will be completely disabled.
3775 _ssh-path_
3776 Sets the name of the command used to open a UNIX secure shell
3777 connection. The default is typically /usr/bin/ssh.
3778 _standard-printer_
3779 System-wide configuration file only. Specifies a list of
3780 commands for category 2 of the _Setup/Printer_ screen, the
3781 standard print command section. This is not used by _PC-Alpine_.
3782 _status-background-color_
3783 _status-foreground-color_
3784 Status Color.
3785 _status-message-delay_
3786 This option has evolved over time, causing the possible values
3787 to be counter-intuitive. Read carefully before you set this
3788 option. First we explain what the option does, then there is a
3789 longer discussion following that.
3790 If this is set to zero, the default value, it has _no_ effect.
3791 Positive and negative values serve two similar, but different
3792 purposes.
3793 If it is set to a positive number, it causes the cursor to move
3794 to the status line whenever a status message is printed and
3795 pause there for this many seconds. It will probably only be
3796 useful if the show-cursor feature is also turned on. Setting
3797 this option to a postive number can only be used to _increase_
3798 the status message delay. This may be useful for Braille
3799 displays, or other non-traditional displays.
3800 If it is set to a negative number the interpretation is a bit
3801 complicated. Negative numbers are used to _decrease_ the amount
3802 of delay _Alpine_ uses to allow you to read important status
3803 messages. Of course, this may cause you to miss some important
3804 messages. If you see a message flash by but miss what it says
3805 you can use the Journal command from the Main menu to read it.
3806 If you set this option to a negative value, the delay will be no
3807 more than one second less than the absolute value of the value
3808 you set. So if you set it to -1, the delay will be no more than
3809 zero seconds, no delay at all. If you set it to -2, the delay
3810 will be no more than 1 second. And so on, -3 is 2 seconds, -4 is
3811 3 seconds, ... If the delay that _Alpine_ would have used by
3812 default is less than this delay, then the smaller delay set by
3813 _Alpine_ will be used. Setting this option to a negative value
3814 can only reduce the amount of delay, never increase it.
3815 Here is a more detailed explanation. Status messages are the
3816 messages which show up spontaneously in the status message line,
3817 the third line from the bottom of the screen. By default,
3818 _Alpine_ assigns each status message it produces a minimum
3819 display time. Some status messages have a minimum display time
3820 of zero. You can see an example of such a message by paging up
3821 in this help text until you reach the top of the screen. If you
3822 try to page past the top you will see the message
3824 [Already at start of help text]
3825 in the status line. If there is another more important use of
3826 the status message line this message might be replaced quickly,
3827 or it even might not be shown at all. However, if there is no
3828 reason to get rid of the message, it might stay there for
3829 several seconds while you read the help. An example where it is
3830 replaced immediately happens when you page up in the help text
3831 past the top of the screen, but then type the "WhereIs" command
3832 right after paging up. The message will disappear immediately
3833 without causing a delay (unless you have set this option to a
3834 positive value) to allow you to type input for the "WhereIs"
3835 command. Since it isn't a very important message, _Alpine_ has
3836 set its minimum display time to zero seconds.
3837 Other messages have minimum display times of three or more
3838 seconds. These are usually error messages that _Alpine_ thinks
3839 you ought to see. For example, it might be a message about a
3840 failed Save or a failed folder open. It is often the case that
3841 this minimum display time won't delay you in any way because the
3842 status message line is not needed for another reason. However,
3843 there are times when _Alpine_ has to delay what it is doing in
3844 order to display a status message for the minimum display time.
3845 This happens when a message is being displayed and _Alpine_
3846 wants to ask for input from the keyboard. For example, when you
3847 Save a message you use the status message line. You get a prompt
3848 there asking for the name of the folder to save to. If there is
3849 a status message being displayed that has not yet displayed for
3850 its minimum time _Alpine_ will display that status message
3851 surrounded with the characters > and < to show you that it is
3852 delaying. That might happen, for example, if you tried to save
3853 to a folder that caused an error, then followed that immediately
3854 with another Save command. You might find yourself waiting for a
3855 status message like
3857 [>Can't get write access to mailbox, access is readonly<]
3858 to finish displaying for three seconds. If that is something you
3859 find happening to you frequently, you may use negative values of
3860 this option to decrease or eliminate that delay, at the risk of
3861 missing the message.
3862 _stay-open-folders_
3863 This option affects low-level behavior of _Alpine_. There is no
3864 default value for this option. It is related to the options
3865 Preopen-Stayopen-Folders, Max-Remote-Connections, and
3866 offer-expunge-of-Stayopen-Folders.
3867 Note: changes made to this list take effect the next time you
3868 open a folder in the list.
3869 This is a list of folders that will be permanently kept open
3870 once they are first opened. The names in this list may be either
3871 the nickname of an Incoming folder or the full technical
3872 specification of a folder. The folders in this list need not be
3873 remote IMAP folders, they could usefully be local folders, as
3874 well. If a folder in the list is a newsgroup or is not accessed
3875 either locally or via IMAP, then the entry will be ignored. For
3876 example, folders accessed via NNTP or POP3 will not be kept
3877 open, since the way that new mail is found with those protocols
3878 involves closing and reopening the connection.
3879 Once a Stay Open folder has been opened, new-mail checking will
3880 continue to happen on that folder for the rest of the _Alpine_
3881 session. Your INBOX is always implicitly included in this
3882 Stay-Open list and doesn't need to be added explicitly.
3883 Another difference that you may notice between a Stay Open
3884 folder and a non-Stay Open folder is which message is selected
3885 as the current message when you enter the folder index.
3886 Normally, the starting position for an incoming folder (which
3887 most Stay Open folders will likely be) is controlled by the
3888 Incoming-Startup-Rule. However, if a folder is a Stay Open
3889 folder, when you re-enter the folder after the first time the
3890 current message will be the same as it was when you left the
3891 folder. An exception is made if you use the TAB command to get
3892 to the folder. In that case, the message number will be
3893 incremented by one from what it was when you left the folder.
3894 The above special behavior is thought to be useful. However, it
3895 is special and different from what you might at first expect.
3896 The feature Use-Regular-Startup-Rule-for-Stayopen-Folders may be
3897 used to turn off this special treatment.
3898 If the message that was current when you left the folder no
3899 longer exists, then the regular startup rule will be used
3900 instead.
3901 This option is displayed as "Stayopen Folders".
3902 _tcp-open-timeout_
3903 Sets the time in seconds that _Alpine_ will attempt to open a
3904 network connection. The default is 30, the minimum is 5, and the
3905 maximum is system defined (typically 75). If a connection has
3906 not completed within this many seconds _Alpine_ will give up and
3907 consider it a failed connection.
3908 _tcp-query-timeout_
3909 When _Alpine_ times out a network read or write it will normally
3910 just display a message saying "Still waiting". However, if
3911 enough time has elapsed since it started waiting it will offer
3912 to let you break the connection. That amount of time is set by
3913 this option, which defaults to 60 seconds, has a minimum of 5
3914 seconds, and a maximum of 1000 seconds.
3915 _tcp-read-warning-timeout_
3916 Sets the time in seconds that _Alpine_ will wait for a network
3917 read before warning you that things are moving slowly and
3918 possibly giving you the option to break the connection. The
3919 default is 15 seconds. The minimum is 5 seconds and the maximumn
3920 is 1000 seconds.
3921 _tcp-write-warning-timeout_
3922 Sets the time in seconds that _Alpine_ will wait for a network
3923 write before warning you that things are moving slowly and
3924 possibly giving you the option to break the connection. The
3925 default is 0 which means it is unset. If set to a non-zero
3926 value, the minimum is 5 and the maximum is 1000.
3927 _threading-display-style_
3928 When a folder is sorted by Threads or OrderedSubject, this
3929 option will affect the MESSAGE INDEX display. By default,
3930 _Alpine_ will display the MESSAGE INDEX in the
3931 "show-thread-structure" style if a folder is sorted by Threads
3932 or OrderedSubject. The possible values are:
3934 _none_
3935 Regular index display. The same index line as would be
3936 displayed without threading is used. The only difference
3937 will be in the order of the messages.
3939 _show-thread-structure_
3940 Threaded Subjects will be indented and vertical bars and
3941 horizontal lines will be added to make it easier to see
3942 the relationships among the messages in a thread (a
3943 conversation).
3945 _mutt-like_
3946 This is the same as the option above except that the
3947 Subject is suppressed (is blank) if it matches the
3948 previous Subject in the thread. The name comes from the
3949 email client Mutt. Here is an example of what a mutt-like
3950 index might look like. In this example, the first column
3951 represents the message number, the threading-index-style
3952 is set to "regular-index-with-expanded-threads", and the
3953 Threading-Lastreply-Character is set to a backslash:
3955 1 Some topic
3956 2 . Subject original message in thread
3957 3 |-> reply to 2
3958 4 . |-> another reply to 2
3959 5 . | \-> reply to 4
3960 6 . | \-> reply to 5
3961 7 | \-> reply to 6
3962 8 |-> another reply to 2
3963 9 . |->New subject another reply to 2 but with a New subject
3964 10 | |-> reply to 9
3965 11 | \-> another reply to 9
3966 12 | \-> reply to 11
3967 13 \-> final reply to 2
3968 14 Next topic
3970 _indent-subject-1_
3971 Threaded Subjects will be indented one space per level of
3972 the conversation. The bars and lines that show up in the
3973 show-thread-structure display will not be there with this
3974 style.
3976 _indent-subject-2_
3977 Same as above but indent two spaces per level instead of
3978 one space.
3980 _indent-from-1_
3981 Similar to indent-subject-1, except that instead of
3982 indenting the Subject field one space the From field of a
3983 thread will be indented one space per level of the
3984 conversation.
3986 _indent-from-2_
3987 Same as above but indent two spaces per level instead of
3988 one space.
3990 _show-structure-in-from_
3991 The structure of the thread is illustrated with indenting,
3992 vertical bars, and horizontal lines just like with the
3993 show-thread-structure option, but the From field is used
3994 to show the relationships instead of the Subject field.
3996 _threading-expanded-character_
3997 The Threading-Expanded-Character option has a small effect on
3998 the MESSAGE INDEX display when using a threading-display-style
3999 other than _none_. The value of this option is a single
4000 character. This character is used to indicate that part of a
4001 thread has been expanded and could be collapsed if desired with
4002 the "/" Collapse/Expand command. By default, the value of this
4003 option is a dot (.).
4004 If this option is set to the Empty Value, then the column (and
4005 the following blank column) will be deleted from the display.
4006 This option is closely related to the
4007 threading-indicator-character option. Another similar option
4008 which affects the thread display is the
4009 threading-lastreply-character option.
4010 _threading-index-style_
4011 When a folder is sorted by Threads or OrderedSubject, this
4012 option will affect the INDEX displays. The possible values are:
4014 _regular-index-with-expanded-threads_
4015 This is the default display. If the configuration option
4016 threading-display-style is set to something other than
4017 "none", then this setting will cause _Alpine_ to start off
4018 with a MESSAGE INDEX with all of the threads expanded.
4019 That is, each message will have a line in the MESSAGE
4020 INDEX display. The Collapse/Expand command (/) may be used
4021 to manually collapse or expand a thread or subthread (see
4022 also slash-collapses-entire-thread).
4024 This setting affects the display when the folder is first
4025 threaded. The collapsed state may also be re-initialized
4026 by re-sorting the folder manually using the SortIndex
4027 command ($). After re-sorting the threads will once again
4028 all be expanded, even if you have previously collapsed
4029 some of them.
4031 If "threading-display-style" is set to "none", then the
4032 display will be the regular default _Alpine_ MESSAGE
4033 INDEX, but sorted in a different order.
4035 _regular-index-with-collapsed-threads_
4036 If the configuration option threading-display-style is set
4037 to something other than "none", then this setting will
4038 cause _Alpine_ to start out with all of the threads
4039 collapsed instead of starting out with all of the threads
4040 expanded. The Collapse/Expand command (/) may be used to
4041 manually collapse or expand a thread or subthread (see
4042 also slash-collapses-entire-thread).
4044 This setting affects the display when the folder is first
4045 threaded. The collapsed state may also be re-initialized
4046 by re-sorting the folder manually using the SortIndex
4047 command ($). After re-sorting the threads will once again
4048 all be collapsed, even if you have previously expanded
4049 some of them.
4051 _separate-index-screen-always_
4052 With this setting and the next, you will see an index of
4053 threads instead of an index of messages, provided you have
4054 sorted by Threads or OrderedSubject.
4056 The THREAD INDEX contains a '*' in the first column if any
4057 message in the thread is marked Important. If not, it
4058 contains a '+' if any message in the thread is to you. The
4059 second column is blank. The third column contains a 'D' if
4060 all of the messages in the thread are deleted. Otherwise,
4061 it contains an 'N' if any of the messages in the thread
4062 are New.
4064 When you view a particular thread from the THREAD INDEX
4065 you will be in the MESSAGE INDEX display but the index
4066 will only contain messages from the thread you are
4067 viewing.
4069 _separate-index-screen-except-for-single-messages_
4070 This is very similar to the option above. When you are in
4071 the THREAD INDEX, one of the available commands is
4072 "ViewThd". With the setting "separate-index-screen-always"
4073 (the option above) when you view a particular thread you
4074 will be in the MESSAGE INDEX display and the index will
4075 only contain messages from the thread you are viewing. If
4076 the thread you are viewing consists of a single message,
4077 the MESSAGE INDEX will be an index with only one message
4078 in it. If you use this
4079 "separate-index-screen-except-for-single-messages" setting
4080 instead, then that index which contains a single message
4081 will be skipped and you will go directly from the THREAD
4082 INDEX into the MESSAGE TEXT screen.
4084 _threading-indicator-character_
4085 The Threading-Indicator-Character option has a small effect on
4086 the MESSAGE INDEX display when using a threading-display-style
4087 other than _none_ and sorting by Threads or OrderedSubject. The
4088 value of this option is a single character. This character is
4089 used to indicate that part of a thread (a conversation) is
4090 hidden beneath a message. The message could be expanded if
4091 desired with the "/" Collapse/Expand command. By default, the
4092 value of this option is the greater than sign (>).
4093 If this option is set to the Empty Value, then the column (and
4094 the following blank column) will be deleted from the display.
4095 This option is closely related to the
4096 threading-expanded-character option. Another similar option
4097 which affects the thread display is the
4098 threading-lastreply-character option.
4099 _threading-lastreply-character_
4100 The Threading-Lastreply-Character option has a small effect on
4101 the MESSAGE INDEX display when using a threading-display-style
4102 of _show-thread-structure_, _mutt-like_, or
4103 _show-structure-in-from_; and sorting by Threads or
4104 OrderedSubject. The value of this option is a single character.
4105 This character is used instead of the vertical line character
4106 when there are no more replies directly to the parent of the
4107 current message. It can be used to "round-off" the bottom of the
4108 vertical line by setting it to a character such as a backslash
4109 (\) or a backquote (`). The default value of this option is the
4110 backslash character (\). This option may not be set to the Empty
4111 Value. In that case, the default will be used instead.
4112 This option is displayed as "Threading Last Reply Character".
4113 _title-background-color_
4114 _title-foreground-color_
4115 Title Color.
4116 _title-closed-background-color_
4117 _title-closed-foreground-color_
4118 Title-closed Color.
4119 _titlebar-color-style_
4120 titlebar-color-style.
4121 _unknown-character-set_
4122 A text message should either be made up of all US-ASCII
4123 characters or it should contain a charset label which tells the
4124 software which character set encoding to use to interpret the
4125 message. Sometimes a malformed message may be unlabeled but
4126 contain non-ascii text. This message is outside of the standards
4127 so any attempt to read it could fail. When _Alpine_ attempts to
4128 read such a message it will try to interpret the text in the
4129 character set you specify here. For example, if you have
4130 correspondents who send you unlabeled messages that are usually
4131 made up of characters from the WINDOWS-1251 character set,
4132 setting this unknown-character-set to WINDOWS-1251 will allow
4133 you to read those messages. Of course, if the unlabeled message
4134 is actually in some other character set, then you may see
4135 garbage on your screen.
4136 In the Setup/Config screen you may choose from a list of all the
4137 character sets _Alpine_ knows about by using the "T" ToCharsets
4138 command.
4139 _upload-command_
4140 This option affects the behavior of the Composer's _^R_ (Read
4141 File) and _^J_ (Attach File, in the header) commands. It
4142 specifies a Unix program name, and any necessary command line
4143 arguments, that _Alpine_ can use to transfer files from your
4144 personal computer into messages that you are composing.
4145 _upload-command-prefix_
4146 This option is used in conjunction with the _upload-command_
4147 option. It defines text to be written to the terminal emulator
4148 (via standard output) immediately prior to starting the upload
4149 command. This is useful for integrated serial line file transfer
4150 agents that permit command passing (e.g., Kermit's APC method).
4151 _url-viewers_
4152 List of programs to use to open Internet URLs. This value
4153 affects _Alpine_'s handling of URLs that are found in the text
4154 of messages you read. Normally, only URLs _Alpine_ can handle
4155 directly are automatically offered for selection in the "Message
4156 Text" screen. When one or more comma delimited Web browsers
4157 capable of deciphering URLs on their command line are added
4158 here, _Alpine_ will choose the first available browser to
4159 display URLs it doesn't recognize.
4160 Additionally, to support various connection methods and
4161 browsers, each entry in this list can begin with the special
4162 token _TEST(test-string)_. The test-string is a shell command
4163 that _Alpine_ will run and which must exit with a status of zero
4164 for _Alpine_ to consider that browser for use (the other
4165 criteria is that the browser must exist as a full path or a path
4166 relative to your home directory).
4167 Now for an example:
4169 url-viewers=_TEST("test -n '${DISPLAY}'")_ /usr/local/bin/netscape,
4170 /usr/local/bin/lynx, C:\BIN\NETSCAPE.BAT
4171 This example shows that for the first browser in the list to be
4172 used the environment variable DISPLAY must be defined. If it is,
4173 then the file /usr/local/bin/netscape must exist. If either
4174 condition is not met, then the file /usr/local/bin/lynx must
4175 exist. If it doesn't, then the final path and file must exist.
4176 Note that the last entry is a DOS/Windows path. This is one way
4177 to support _Alpine_ running on more than one architecture with
4178 the same configuration file.
4179 _use-only-domain-name_
4180 Can be set to _yes_ or _no._ Anything but _yes_ means _no._ If
4181 set to _yes_ the first label in the host name will be lopped off
4182 to get the domain name and the domain name will be used for
4183 outgoing mail and such. That is, if the host name is
4184 _carson.u.example.edu_ and this variable is set to _yes,_ then
4185 _u.example.edu_ will be used on outgoing mail. Only meaningful if
4186 user-domain is NOT set.
4187 _user-domain_
4188 Sets the domain or host name for the user, overriding the system
4189 host or domain name. See the domain name section. The easiest
4190 way to change the full From address is with the customized-hdrs
4191 variable.
4192 _user-id_
4193 _PC-Alpine_ only and personal configuration file only. Sets the
4194 username that is placed on all outgoing messages. The username
4195 is the part of the address that comes before the "@". The
4196 easiest way to change the full From address is with the
4197 customized-hdrs variable.
4198 _user-input-timeout_
4199 If this is set to an integer greater than zero, then this is the
4200 number of _hours_ to wait for user input before _Alpine_ times
4201 out. If _Alpine_ is in the midst of composing a message or is
4202 waiting for user response to a question, then it will not
4203 timeout. However, if _Alpine_ is sitting idle waiting for the
4204 user to tell it what to do next and the user does not give any
4205 input for this many hours, _Alpine_ will exit. No expunging or
4206 moving of read messages will take place. It will exit similarly
4207 to the way it would exit if it received a hangup signal. This
4208 may be useful for cleaning up unused _Alpine_ sessions which
4209 have been forgotten by their owners. The _Alpine_ developers
4210 envision system administrators setting this to a value of
4211 several hours (24?) so that it won't surprise a user who didn't
4212 want to be disconnected.
4213 _viewer-hdr-colors_
4214 This variable holds the optional Header Colors and patterns
4215 which have been defined by the user. This is usually modified by
4216 using the Header Colors section of the Setup Color screen.
4217 _viewer-hdrs_
4218 You may change the default list of headers that are viewed by
4219 listing the headers you want to view here. If the headers in
4220 your _viewer-hdrs_ list are present in the message, then they
4221 will be shown. The order of the headers you list will also be
4222 honored. If the special value _all-except_ is included as the
4223 first header in the _viewer-hdrs_ list, then all headers in the
4224 message except those in the list will be shown. The values are
4225 all case insensitive.
4226 This option is displayed as "Viewer Headers".
4227 _viewer-margin-left_
4228 This variable controls the left-hand vertical margin's width in
4229 _Alpine_'s Message Viewing screen. Its value is the number of
4230 space characters preceding each displayed line. For consistency
4231 with Viewer-Margin-Right, you may specify the column number to
4232 start in (column numbering begins with number 1) instead of the
4233 width of the margin by appending a lower case letter "c" to the
4234 number. For example, a value of "2c" means to start the text in
4235 column two, which is entirely equivalent to a value of "1",
4236 which means to leave a margin of 1 space.
4237 The default is a left margin of 0 (zero). Misconfigurations (for
4238 example, negative values or values with starting left columns
4239 greater than the ending right column) are silently ignored. If
4240 the number of columns for text between the Viewer-Margin-Left
4241 and the Viewer-Margin-Right is fewer than 8, then margins of
4242 zero will be used instead.
4243 _viewer-margin-right_
4244 This variable controls the right-hand vertical margin's width in
4245 _Alpine_'s Message Viewing screen. Its value is the number of
4246 space characters following each displayed line. You may specify
4247 the column number to end the text in (column numbering begins
4248 with number 1) instead of the width of the margin by appending a
4249 lower case letter "c" to the number. For example, a value of
4250 "76c" means to end the text in column 76. If the screen is 80
4251 characters wide, this is equivalent to a value of "4", which
4252 means to leave a margin of 4 spaces. However, if you use
4253 different size screens at different times, then these two values
4254 are not equivalent.
4255 The default right margin is 4. Misconfigurations (for example,
4256 negative values or values with starting left columns greater
4257 than the ending right column) are silently ignored. If the
4258 number of columns for text between the Viewer-Margin-Left and
4259 the Viewer-Margin-Right is fewer than 8, then margins of zero
4260 will be used instead.
4261 _viewer-overlap_
4262 This option specifies an aspect of _Alpine_'s Message Viewing
4263 screen. When the space bar is used to page forward in a message,
4264 the number of lines specified by the _viewer-overlap_ variable
4265 will be repeated from the bottom of the screen. That is, if this
4266 was set to two lines, then the bottom two lines of the screen
4267 would be repeated on the top of the next screen. The normal
4268 default value is "2".
4269 _window-position_
4270 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only. Window position in the
4271 format: CxR+X+Yn Where C and R are the window size in characters
4272 and X and Y are the screen position of the top left corner of
4273 the window.
4274 __________________________________________________________________
4276 Configuration Features
4278 There are several features (options) which may be turned off or on. The
4279 configuration variable feature-list is a list of all the features that
4280 are turned on or off. If the name of a feature is in the list it will
4281 be turned on. If the name of a feature with the characters no-
4282 prepended is in the list, it will turn the feature off. This is useful
4283 for overriding system-wide defaults. This is because, unlike all the
4284 other configuration variables, the _feature-list_ is additive. That is,
4285 first the system-wide _feature-list_ is read and then the user's
4286 _feature-list_ is read. This makes it possible for the system manager to
4287 turn some of the features on by default while still allowing the user
4288 to cancel that default. For example, if the system manager has turned
4289 on the _allow-talk_ feature by default then a user may turn it back off
4290 by including the feature _no-allow-talk_ in his or her personal
4291 configuration file. Of course, these details are usually handled by
4292 _Alpine_ when the user turns an option on or off from inside the
4293 _Setup/Config_ screen.
4295 System managers should take some care when turning on features by
4296 default. Some of the documentation assumes that all of the features are
4297 off by default, so it could be confusing for a user if some are on by
4298 default instead. Feature names are case-independent.
4300 Here is an alphabetical list of possible features.
4301 _allow-changing-from_
4302 Prior to _Pine_ 4.00 there was a _compile_-time option called
4303 ALLOW_CHANGING_FROM. That has been replaced by a _runtime_
4304 feature. If this feature is turned on then the From line can be
4305 changed just like all the other header fields that can be
4306 changed. See the configuration variables customized-hdrs and
4307 default-composer-hdrs for more information on editing headers.
4308 The default value for this feature is ON, so that editing of
4309 From headers is allowed by default.
4310 _allow-talk_
4311 Unix _Alpine_ only. By default, permission for others to _talk_
4312 to your terminal is turned off when you are running _Alpine_.
4313 When this feature is set, permission is instead turned on.
4314 Note: The _talk_ program has nothing to do with _Alpine_ or
4315 email. The _talk_ daemon on your system will attempt to print a
4316 message on your screen when someone else is trying to contact
4317 you. If you wish to see these messages while you are running
4318 _Alpine_, you should enable this feature.
4319 If you do enable this feature and see a _talk_ message, you must
4320 suspend or quit _Alpine_ before you can respond.
4321 _alternate-compose-menu_
4322 This feature controls the menu that is displayed when Compose is
4323 selected. If set, a list of options will be presented, with each
4324 option representing the type of composition that could be used.
4325 This feature is most useful for users who want to avoid being
4326 prompted with each option separately, or who want to avoid the
4327 checking of remote postponed or form letter folders. The
4328 possible types of composition are:
4329 New, for starting a new composition. Note that if New is
4330 selected and roles are set, roles are checked for matches and
4331 applied according to the setting of the matching role.
4332 Interrupted, for continuing an interrupted composition. This
4333 option is only offered if an interrupted message folder is
4334 detected.
4335 Postponed, for continuing postponed compositions. This option is
4336 offered if a postponed-folder is set in the config _REGARDLESS
4337 OF_ whether or not the postponed folder actually exists. This
4338 option is especially handy for avoiding having to check for the
4339 existence of a remote postponed folder.
4340 Form, for using form letters. This option is offered if the
4341 form-letter-folder is set in the config, and is not checked for
4342 existence for reasons similar to those explained by the
4343 postponed option.
4344 setRole, for selecting a role to apply to a composition.
4345 _alternate-role-menu_
4346 Normally the Role Command allows you to choose a role and
4347 compose a new message using that role. When this feature is set,
4348 the role command will first ask whether you want to Compose a
4349 new message, Forward the current message, Reply to the current
4350 message, or Bounce the current message. If you are not in the
4351 MESSAGE INDEX and are not viewing a message, then there is no
4352 current message and the question will be skipped. After you have
4353 chosen to Compose, Forward, Reply or Bounce you will then choose
4354 the role to be used.
4355 When Bouncing the "Set From" address is used for the Resent-From
4356 header, the "Set Fcc" value is used for the Fcc provided that
4357 the option "Fcc-On-Bounce" is turned on, and the "Use SMTP
4358 Server" value is used for the SMTP server, if set. Other actions
4359 of the role are ignored when Bouncing.
4360 This feature is displayed as "Alternate Role (#) Menu".
4361 _assume-slow-link_
4362 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
4363 This feature affects _Alpine_'s display routines. If set, the
4364 normal inverse-video cursor (used to highlight the current item
4365 in a list) will be replaced by an _arrow_ cursor and other
4366 screen update optimizations for low-speed links (e.g. 2400 bps
4367 dialup connections) will be activated. One of the optimizations
4368 is that colored index lines (set up with Indexcolor Rules) will
4369 not be colored. This might be useful if _you_ know you have a
4370 slow speed link but for some reason _Alpine_ doesn't know.
4371 _auto-move-read-msgs_
4372 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s behavior upon
4373 quitting. If set, and the read-message-folder variable is also
4374 set, then _Alpine_ will automatically transfer all read messages
4375 from the _INBOX_ to the designated folder and mark them as
4376 deleted in the _INBOX_. Messages in the _INBOX_ marked with an
4377 _N_ (meaning New, or unseen) are not affected.
4378 This feature is displayed as "Auto Move Read Messages".
4379 _auto-open-next-unread_
4380 This feature controls the behavior of the TAB key when
4381 traversing folders in the optional incoming-folders collection
4382 or in optional news-collections.
4383 When the TAB (Next New) key is pressed, and there are no more
4384 unseen messages in the current (incoming message or news)
4385 folder, _Alpine_ will search the list of folders in the current
4386 collection for one containing New or Recent (new since the last
4387 time the folder was opened) messages. This behavior may be
4388 modified slightly with the Tab-Uses-Unseen-For-Next-Folder
4389 feature which causes _Alpine_ to look for Unseen messages
4390 instead of Recent messages. By default, when such a folder is
4391 found, _Alpine_ will ask whether you wish to open the folder. If
4392 this feature is set, _Alpine_ will automatically open the folder
4393 without prompting.
4394 _auto-unselect-after-apply_
4395 This feature affects the behavior of the Apply command. If set,
4396 the Apply command will do the operation you specify, but then
4397 will implicitly do an "UnSelect All", so that you will
4398 automatically be back in the normal Index view after the Apply.
4399 _auto-unzoom-after-apply_
4400 If set, and if you are currently looking at a Zoomed Index view
4401 of selected messages, the _Apply_ command will do the operation
4402 you specify, but then will implicitly do an _UnZoom_, so that
4403 you will automatically be back in the normal Index view after
4404 the _Apply_. This feature is set by default.
4405 _auto-zoom-after-select_
4406 If set, the _; select_ command will automatically perform a
4407 _Zoom_ after the _select_ is complete. This feature is set by
4408 default.
4409 _busy-cue-spinner-only_
4410 When _Alpine_ is delayed for some reason it usually shows that
4411 something is happening with a small animated display in the
4412 status message line near the bottom of the screen. Setting this
4413 feature will cause that animation to be the same each time
4414 instead of having _Alpine_ choose a random animation. You may
4415 turn the animation off altogether by setting the busy-cue-rate
4416 option to zero.
4417 _check-newmail-when-quitting_
4418 If set, _Alpine_ will check for new mail after you give the Quit
4419 command. If new mail has arrived since the previous check, you
4420 will be notified and given the choice of quitting or not
4421 quitting.
4422 _combined-addrbook-display_
4423 This feature affects the address book display screens. Normally,
4424 expanding an address book from the ADDRESS BOOK LIST screen will
4425 cause the remaining address books and directory servers to
4426 disappear from the screen, leaving only the entries of the
4427 expanded address book. If this feature is set, then the other
4428 address books will remain on the screen, so that all of the
4429 address books can be present at once.
4430 The way that commands work won't be changed. For example, the
4431 Select All command will select all of the entries in the current
4432 address book, not all of the entries in all of the address
4433 books. The WhereIs command will change a little. It will search
4434 through all of the text on the screen plus all of the entries
4435 from expanded address books.
4436 When this feature is set, the setting of the feature
4437 expanded-view-of-addressbooks has an effect.
4438 This feature is displayed as "Combined Addressbook Display".
4439 _combined-folder-display_
4440 This feature affects the folder list display screens. Normally,
4441 each folder list is viewed within its collection only. This
4442 command allows folder lists to be viewed within a single screen
4443 that combines the contents of all collections.
4444 The way that commands work won't be changed. For example, the
4445 Select All command will select all of the folders in the current
4446 collection, not all of the entries in all of the collections.
4447 The WhereIs command will change a little. It will search through
4448 all of the folders in the current collection as well as all the
4449 folder in any other expanded collection.
4450 When this feature is set, the setting of the feature
4451 expanded-view-of-folders has an effect.
4452 _combined-subdirectory-display_
4453 This feature affects the Folder List screen when the
4454 combined-folder-display feature is enabled. Normally, selecting
4455 a directory from the Folder List takes you into a new screen
4456 displaying only the contents of that directory.
4457 Enabling this feature will cause the contents of the selected
4458 directory to be displayed within the boundaries of the
4459 Collection it is a part of. All previously displayed collections
4460 will remain in the screen.
4461 The way that commands work won't be changed. For example, the
4462 Select All command will select all of the folders in the
4463 directory, as opposed to all of the entries in all of the
4464 collections. The WhereIs command will change a little. It will
4465 search through all of the folders in the current collection as
4466 well as all the folder in any other expanded collection.
4467 _compose-cancel-confirm-uses-yes_
4468 This feature affects what happens when you type ^C to cancel a
4469 composition. By default, if you attempt to cancel a composition
4470 by typing ^C, you will be asked to confirm the cancellation by
4471 typing a "C" for _C_onfirm. It logically ought to be a "Y" for
4472 _Y_es, but that is risky because the "^C Y" needed to cancel a
4473 message is close (on the keyboard) to the "^X Y" needed to send
4474 a message.
4475 If this feature is set the confirmation asked for will be a
4476 "_Y_es" instead of a "_C_onfirm" response.
4477 _compose-cut-from-cursor_
4478 If set, the _^K_ command in the composer will cut from the
4479 current cursor position to the end of the line, rather than
4480 cutting the entire line.
4481 This feature is displayed as "Ctrl-K Cuts From Cursor".
4482 _compose-maps-delete-key-to-ctrl-d_
4483 If set, Delete will be equivalent to ^D, and delete the current
4484 character. Normally _Alpine_ defines the Delete key to be
4485 equivalent to ^H, which deletes the _previous_ character.
4486 This feature is displayed as "Delete Key Maps to Ctrl-D".
4487 _compose-rejects-unqualified-addrs_
4488 If set, unqualified names entered as addresses will be treated
4489 as errors unless they match an addressbook nickname or are
4490 looked up successfully on an LDAP server. _Alpine_ will not
4491 attempt to turn them into complete addresses by adding your
4492 local domain (which _Alpine_ normally does by default).
4493 A complete (fully-qualified) address is one containing a
4494 username followed by an _@_ symbol, followed by a host or domain
4495 name (e.g. _jsmith@example.com_). An unqualified name is one
4496 without the _@_ symbol and host or domain name (e.g. _jsmith_).
4497 This feature is displayed as "Compose Rejects Unqualified
4498 Addresses".
4499 _compose-send-offers-first-filter_
4500 If you have sending-filters configured, setting this feature
4501 will cause the first filter in the _sending-filters_ list to be
4502 offered as the default instead of _unfiltered_, the usual
4503 default.
4504 _compose-sets-newsgroup-without-confirm_
4505 If you enter the composer while reading a newsgroup, you will
4506 normally be prompted to determine whether you intend the new
4507 message to be posted to the current newsgroup or not. If this
4508 feature is set, _Alpine_ will not prompt you in this situation,
4509 and will assume that you do indeed wish to post to the newsgroup
4510 you are reading.
4511 This feature is displayed as "Compose Sets Newsgroup Without
4512 Confirming".
4513 _confirm-role-even-for-default_
4514 If you have roles, when you Reply to or Forward a message, or
4515 Compose a new message, _Alpine_ will search through your roles
4516 for one which matches. Normally, if no matches are found you
4517 will be placed into the composer with no opportunity to select a
4518 role. If this feature is set, then you will be asked to confirm
4519 that you don't want a role. This will give you the opportunity
4520 to select a role (with the ^T command). If you confirm no role
4521 with a Return, you will be placed in the composer with no role.
4522 You may also confirm with either an "N" or a "Y". These behave
4523 the same as if you pressed the Return. (The "N" and "Y" answers
4524 are available because they match what you might type if there
4525 was a role match.)
4526 If you are using the alternate form of the Compose command
4527 called "Role", then all of your roles will be available to you,
4528 independent of the value of this feauture and of the values set
4529 for all of Reply Use, Forward Use, and Compose Use.
4530 _continue-tab-without-confirm_
4531 Normally, when you use the TAB NextNew command and there is a
4532 problem checking a folder, you are asked whether you want to
4533 continue with the search in the following folder or not. This
4534 gives you a chance to stop the NextNew processing.
4535 If this feature is set you will not be asked. It will be assumed
4536 that you want to continue.
4537 This feature is displayed as "Continue NextNew Without
4538 Confirming".
4539 _convert-dates-to-localtime_
4540 Normally, the message dates that you see in the MESSAGE INDEX
4541 and MESSAGE VIEW are displayed in the timezone they were sent
4542 from. For example, if a message was sent to you from a few
4543 timezones to the east it might appear that it was sent from the
4544 future; or if it was sent from somewhere to the west it might
4545 appear as if it is from yesterday even though it was sent only a
4546 few minutes ago. If this feature is set an attempt will be made
4547 to convert the dates to your local timezone to be displayed.
4548 Note that this does not affect the results of Select by Date or
4549 of anything else other than these displayed dates. When viewing
4550 the message you may look at the original unconverted value of
4551 the Date header by using the HdrMode Command.
4552 _copy-to-address-to-from-if-it-is-us_
4553 This feature affects the From address used when Replying to a
4554 message. It is probably only useful if you have some
4555 alt-addresses defined. When enabled, it checks to see if any of
4556 the addresses in the To or Cc fields of the message you are
4557 replying to is one of your addresses. If it is, and there is
4558 only one of them, then that address is used as the From address
4559 in the message you are composing. In other words, you will be
4560 using a From address that is the same as the To address that was
4561 used to get the mail to you in the first place.
4562 If a role is being used and it has a From address defined, that
4563 From address will be used rather than the one derived from this
4564 feature.
4565 _delete-skips-deleted_
4566 If set, this feature will cause the _Delete_ command to advance
4567 past other messages that are marked deleted. In other words,
4568 pressing _D_ will both mark the current message deleted and
4569 advance to the next message that is not marked deleted. This
4570 feature is set by default.
4571 _disable-config-cmd_
4572 If set, the configuration screen _Setup/Config_ will not be
4573 available at all.
4574 _disable-save-input-history_
4575 Many of the prompts that ask for input in the status line near
4576 the bottom of the screen will respond to Up Arrow and Down Arrow
4577 with the history of previous entries. For example, in the
4578 MESSAGE INDEX screen when you use the WhereIs command the text
4579 you entered will be remembered and can be recalled by using the
4580 Up Arrow key. Another example, when saving a message the folders
4581 saved to will be remembered and can be recalled using the arrow
4582 keys.
4583 In the Save prompt, some users prefer that the Up and Down arrow
4584 keys be used for the Previous Collection and Next Collection
4585 commands instead of for a history of previous saves. If this
4586 option is set the Up and Down arrow keys will become synonyms
4587 for the Previous Collection and Next Collection (^P and ^N)
4588 commands in the prompt for the name of a folder to Save to or in
4589 the prompt for the name of a folder to GoTo. When this feature
4590 is not set (the default), ^P and ^N will change the collection
4591 and the arrow keys will show the history.
4592 _disable-keyboard-lock-cmd_
4593 In the Main _Alpine_ menu there is a Keyboard locking command
4594 (_KBLock_). If this feature is set, that command won't be
4595 available to the user.
4596 _disable-keymenu_
4597 If set, the command key menu that normally appears on the bottom
4598 two lines of the screen will not usually be there. Asking for
4599 help with _^G_ or _?_ will cause the key menu to appear instead
4600 of causing the help message to come up. If you want to actually
4601 see the help text, another _^G_ or _?_ will show it to you.
4602 After the key menu has popped up with the help key it will
4603 remain there for an _O Other_ command but will disappear if any
4604 other command is typed.
4605 _disable-password-caching_
4606 Normally, loginname/password combinations are cached in _Alpine_
4607 so that the user does not have to enter the same password more
4608 than once in a session. A disadvantage to this approach is that
4609 the password must be stored in the memory image of the running
4610 _Alpine_ in order that it can be reused. In the event that
4611 _Alpine_ crashes and produces a core dump, and that core dump is
4612 readable by others, the loginname and password could possibly be
4613 read from the core dump.
4614 If this feature is set, then the passwords will not be cached
4615 and the user will have to retype the password whenever _Alpine_
4616 needs it. Even with this feature set there is still some chance
4617 that the core file will contain a password, so care should be
4618 taken to make the core files unreadable.
4619 NOTE: If PASSFILE caching is enabled, this does not disable it.
4620 That is a separate and independent feature.
4621 _disable-password-cmd_
4622 If set the _Newpassword_ command usually available under the
4623 _Setup_ command will not be available.
4624 _disable-pipes-in-sigs_
4625 If set it will be an error to append a vertical bar (|) to the
4626 name of a signature file. Appending a vertical bar normally
4627 causes the signature file to be executed to produce the
4628 signature.
4629 _disable-pipes-in-templates_
4630 If set it will be an error to append a vertical bar (|) to the
4631 name of a template file. Appending a vertical bar normally
4632 causes the signature file to be executed to produce the
4633 signature.
4634 _disable-regular-expression-matching-for-alternate-addresses_
4635 Normally, the alt-addresses option is interpreted as a regular
4636 expression. One type of address that might cause trouble is an
4637 address that contains a plus sign. If you want to have an
4638 address with a plus as one of your alternate addresses and you
4639 don't want to use regular expressions, then setting this feature
4640 will cause _Alpine_ to treat the addresses you list literally
4641 instead.
4642 _disable-roles-setup-cmd_
4643 If set the _Roles_ command usually available under the _Setup_
4644 command will not be available.
4645 _disable-roles-sig-edit_
4646 If set the roles editor in the _Setup/Roles_ command will not
4647 allow editing of signature files with the F subcommand.
4648 _disable-roles-template-edit_
4649 If set the roles editor in the _Setup/Roles_ command will not
4650 allow editing of template files with the F subcommand.
4651 _disable-sender_
4652 If set, _Alpine_ will not generate a "Sender:" or "X-X-Sender"
4653 header. This may be desirable on a system which is virtually
4654 hosting many domains, and the sysadmin has other methods
4655 available for tracking a message to its originator.
4656 This feature is displayed as "Do Not Generate Sender Header".
4657 _disable-setlocale-collate_
4658 This is a hard to understand feature that should only be used in
4659 rare cases. Normally, the C function call
4661 setlocale(LC_COLLATE, "")
4662 is used by _Alpine_. If you want to try turning it off, setting
4663 this feature will turn it off. This part of the locale has to do
4664 with the sort order of characters in your locale.
4665 _disable-shared-namespaces_
4666 If this hidden feature is set the automatic search for
4667 namespaces "ftp", "imapshared", and "imappublic" by the
4668 underlying library will be disabled. The reason this feature
4669 exists is because there are some implementations of system
4670 password lookup routines which are very slow when presented with
4671 a long loginname which does not exist. This feature could be set
4672 to prevent the delay at startup time when the names above are
4673 searched for in the password file.
4674 _disable-signature-edit-cmd_
4675 If set the _Signature_ editing command usually available under
4676 the _Setup_ command will not be available.
4677 _disable-take-fullname-in-addresses_
4678 Normally, when TakeAddr is used to copy an address or addresses
4679 from a message into an address book entry, _Alpine_ will try to
4680 preserve the full name associated with each address in the list
4681 of addresses. The reason for this is so that if the entry is a
4682 list or later becomes a list, then information about the
4683 individual addresses in the list is preserved. If you would
4684 rather just have the simple addresses in the list of addresses,
4685 set this feature. For example, with the default setting you
4686 might see something like this in the ADDRESS BOOK editor after
4687 you type TakeAddr
4688 Nickname : nick
4689 Fullname : Bedrock Elders
4690 Fcc :
4691 Comment :
4692 Addresses : Fred Flintstone <flint@bedrock.org>,
4693 Barney Rubble <rubble@bedrock.org>
4695 but with this feature set it would look like
4696 Nickname : nick
4697 Fullname : Bedrock Elders
4698 Fcc :
4699 Comment :
4700 Addresses : flint@bedrock.org,
4701 rubble@bedrock.org
4703 instead. Note the difference in the Addresses field.
4704 _disable-take-last-comma-first_
4705 Normally, when _TakeAddr_ is used to copy an address from a
4706 message into an address book, _Alpine_ will attempt to rewrite
4707 the full name of the address in the form:
4709 Last, First
4710 instead of
4712 First Last
4713 It does this because many people find it useful to sort by Last
4714 name instead of First name. If this feature is set, then the
4715 _TakeAddr_ command will not attempt to reverse the name in this
4716 manner.
4717 _disable-terminal-reset-for-display-filters_
4718 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
4719 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when using
4720 Display-Filters. Normally, before the display filter is run, the
4721 terminal mode is reset to what it was before you started
4722 _Alpine_. This may be necessary if the filter requires the use of
4723 the terminal. For example, it may need to interact with you. If
4724 you set this feature, then the terminal mode will not be reset.
4725 One thing that turning on this feature should fix is the
4726 coloring of quoted text in the message view, which breaks
4727 because the terminal reset resets the color state of the
4728 terminal (Color Configuration).
4729 _downgrade-multipart-to-text_
4730 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when sending mail.
4731 Internet standards require _Alpine_ to translate all non-ASCII
4732 characters in messages that it sends using MIME encoding. This
4733 encoding can be ostensibly broken for recipients if any agent
4734 between _Alpine_ and the recipient, such as an email list
4735 expander, appends text to the message, such as list information
4736 or advertising. When sending such messages _Alpine_ attempts to
4737 protect such encoding by placing extra MIME boundaries around
4738 the message text.
4739 These extra boundaries are invisible to recipients that use
4740 MIME-aware email programs (the vast majority). However, if you
4741 correspond with users of email programs that are not MIME-aware,
4742 or do not handle the extra boundaries gracefully, you can use
4743 this feature to prevent _Alpine_ from including the extra MIME
4744 information. Of course, it will increase the likelihood that
4745 non-ASCII text you send may appear corrupt to the recipient.
4746 _enable-8bit-esmtp-negotiation_
4747 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when sending mail. By
4748 default, this feature is set. Internet standards require that
4749 all electronic mail messages traversing the global Internet
4750 consist of 7bit ASCII characters unless a pair of cooperating
4751 mail transfer agents explicitly agree to allow 8bit messages. In
4752 general, then, exchanging messages in non-ASCII characters
4753 requires MIME encoding.
4754 However, there are now Internet standards that allow for
4755 unencoded 8bit exchange of messages between cooperating systems.
4756 When this feature is set _Alpine_ will try to negotiate
4757 unencoded 8bit transmission during the sending process. Should
4758 the negotiation fail, _Alpine_ will fall back to its ordinary
4759 encoding rules.
4760 Note, this feature relies on your system's mail transport agent
4761 or configured smtp-server having the negotiation mechanism
4762 introduced in "Extended SMTP" (ESMTP) and the specific extension
4763 called _8BITMIME_.
4764 _enable-8bit-nntp-posting_
4765 The Internet standard for exchanging USENET news messages
4766 (RFC-1036) specifies that USENET messages should conform to
4767 Internet mail standards and contain only 7bit characters, but
4768 much of the news transport software in use today is capable of
4769 successfully sending messages containing 8bit characters. Hence,
4770 many people believe that it is appropriate to send 8bit news
4771 messages without any MIME encoding.
4772 Moreover, there is no Internet standard for explicitly
4773 negotiating 8bit transfer, as there is for Internet email.
4774 Therefore, _Alpine_ provides the option of posting unencoded
4775 8bit news messages, though not as the default. Setting this
4776 feature will turn OFF _Alpine_'s MIME encoding of newsgroup
4777 postings that contain 8bit characters.
4778 Note, articles may cross a path or pass through news transport
4779 software that is unsafe or even hostile to 8bit characters. At
4780 best this will only cause the posting to become garbled. The
4781 safest way to transmit 8bit characters is to leave _Alpine_'s
4782 MIME encoding turned on, but recipients who lack MIME-aware
4783 tools are often annoyed when they receive MIME-encoded messages.
4784 _enable-aggregate-command-set_
4785 When this feature is set you may use the commands and
4786 subcommands that relate to performing operations on more than
4787 one message at a time. We call these "aggregate operations". In
4788 particular, the _; Select_, _A Apply_, and _Z Zoom_ commands are
4789 enabled by this feature. _Select_ is used to _tag_ one or more
4790 messages meeting the specified criteria. _Apply_ can then be
4791 used to apply any message command to all of the selected/tagged
4792 messages. Further, the _Zoom_ command allows you to toggle the
4793 "Folder Index" view between just those Selected and all messages
4794 in the folder.
4795 This feature also enables the _^X_ subcommand in the "Folder
4796 Index" _WhereIs_ command which causes all messages matching the
4797 _WhereIs_ argument to become selected.
4798 You may also use aggregate operations in the address book
4799 screens where you are operating on address book entries instead
4800 of on messages.
4801 _enable-alternate-editor-cmd_
4802 If this feature is set (the default), and the editor variable is
4803 not set, entering the _^__ (Control-underscore) key while
4804 composing a message will prompt you for the name of the editor
4805 you would like to use.
4806 If the environment variable $EDITOR is set, this value will be
4807 offered as a default. If the _editor_ variable is set, the _^__
4808 key will activate the specified editor without prompting, in
4809 which case it is not necessary to set the
4810 _enable-alternate-editor-cmd_ feature. This feature is not
4811 available in _PC-Alpine_.
4812 This feature is displayed as "Enable Alternate Editor Command".
4813 _enable-alternate-editor-implicitly_
4814 If this feature and the editor variable are both set, _Alpine_
4815 will automatically activate the specified editor when the cursor
4816 is moved from the header of the message being composed into the
4817 message text. For replies, the alternate editor will be
4818 activated immediately. If this feature is set but the _editor_
4819 variable is not set, then _Alpine_ will automatically ask for
4820 the name of an alternate editor when the cursor is moved out of
4821 the headers, or if a reply is being done. This feature is not
4822 available in _PC-Alpine_.
4823 _enable-arrow-navigation_
4824 This feature controls the behavior of the left and right arrow
4825 keys. If set, the left and right arrow keys will operate like
4826 the usual navigation keys _<_ and _>_. This feature is set by
4827 default.
4828 If you set this feature, and do not like the changed behavior of
4829 the up/down arrow keys when navigating through the FOLDER LIST
4830 screen -- _first_ from column to column, if more than one folder
4831 is displayed per row, and _then_ from row to row -- you may
4832 either also wish to set the feature
4833 enable-arrow-navigation-relaxed, single-column-folder-list, or
4834 use the ^P/^N (instead of up/down arrow) keys to move up/down
4835 the list of folders in each column.
4836 _enable-arrow-navigation-relaxed_
4837 This feature controls the behavior of the left and right arrow
4838 keys in the FOLDER LIST screen when the enable-arrow-navigation
4839 feature is set. This feature is set by default.
4840 When this feature is set, the left and right arrow keys in the
4841 FOLDER LIST screen move the highlight bar to the left or right,
4842 and the up and down arrows move it up or down.
4843 When the "Enable-Arrow-Navigation" feature is set and this
4844 feature is not set; the left and right arrow keys in the Folder
4845 List screen strictly track the commands bound to the '<' and '>'
4846 keys, and the up and down arrow keys move the highlight bar to
4847 the previous and next folder or directory name.
4848 _enable-background-sending_
4849 If set, this feature enables a subcommand in the composer's
4850 _Send?_ confirmation prompt. The subcommand allows you to tell
4851 _Alpine_ to handle the actual posting in the background. While
4852 this feature usually allows posting to appear to happen very
4853 fast, it has no affect on the actual delivery time it takes a
4854 message to arrive at its destination.
4855 This feature isn't supported on all systems. All DOS and
4856 Windows, as well as several Unix ports, do not recognize this
4857 feature. It is not possible to use background sending if the
4858 feature send-without-confirm is set.
4859 Error handling is significantly different when this feature is
4860 enabled. Any message posting failure results in the message
4861 being appended to your _Interrupted_ mail folder. When you type
4862 the _Compose_ command, _Alpine_ will notice this folder and
4863 offer to extract any messages contained. Upon continuing a
4864 failed message, _Alpine_ will display the nature of the failure
4865 in the status message line.
4866 Under extreme conditions, it is possible for message data to get
4867 lost. Do not enable this feature if you typically run close to
4868 any sort of disk-space limits or quotas.
4869 _enable-bounce-cmd_
4870 Setting this feature enables the _B Bounce_ command, which will
4871 prompt for an address and _remail_ the message to the new
4872 recipient. This command is used to re-direct messages that you
4873 have received in error, or need to be redirected for some other
4874 reason (e.g. list moderation). The final recipient will see a
4875 header indicating that you have Resent the msg, but the
4876 message's From: header will show the original author of the
4877 message, and replies to it will go back to that author, and not
4878 to you.
4879 This feature is displayed as "Enable Bounce Command".
4880 _enable-cruise-mode_
4881 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when you hit the "Space
4882 Bar" at the end of a displayed message. Typically, _Alpine_
4883 complains that the end of the text has already been reached.
4884 Setting this feature causes such keystrokes to be interpreted as
4885 if the _Tab_ key had been hit, thus taking you to the next
4886 _interesting_ message, or scanning ahead to the next incoming
4887 folder with _interesting_ messages.
4888 _enable-cruise-mode-delete_
4889 This feature modifies the behavior of _Alpine_'s
4890 _enable-cruise-mode_ feature. Setting this feature causes _Alpine_
4891 to implicitly delete read messages when it moves on to display
4892 the next _interesting_ message.
4893 NOTE: Beware when enabling this feature _and_ the
4894 expunge-without-confirm feature.
4895 This feature is displayed as "Enable Cruise Mode With Deleting".
4896 _enable-delivery-status-notification_
4897 If set, this feature enables a subcommand in the composer's
4898 "Send?" confirmation prompt. The subcommand allows you to tell
4899 _Alpine_ to request the type of Delivery Status Notification
4900 (DSN) which you would like. Most users will be happy with the
4901 default, and need not enable this feature. See the online help
4902 for more details.
4903 It is not possible to use delivery status notifications if the
4904 feature send-without-confirm is set.
4905 Note that this is not a method to request _READ_ receipts, which
4906 tells the sender when the receiver has read the message. In this
4907 case we're talking about notification of delivery to the
4908 mailbox, not notification that the message has been seen.
4909 _enable-dot-files_
4910 If set, files beginning with dot (".") will be visible in the
4911 file browser. For example, you'll be able to select them when
4912 using the browser to add an attachment to a message.
4913 _enable-dot-folders_
4914 If set, folders beginning with dot (".") may be added and
4915 viewed. This feature is displayed as "Enable Hidden Folders".
4916 _enable-exit-via-lessthan-command_
4917 If set, then on screens where there is an _Exit_ command but no
4918 _<_ command, the _<_ key will perform the same function as the
4919 _Exit_ command. This feature is set by default.
4920 _enable-fast-recent-test_
4921 This feature controls the behavior of the TAB key when
4922 traversing folders in the optional Incoming-Folders collection
4923 or in optional News-Collections.
4924 When the TAB (NextNew) key is pressed, the default behavior is
4925 to explicitly examine the status of the folder for the number of
4926 recent messages (messages delivered since the last time it was
4927 viewed). Depending on the size and number of messages in the
4928 folder, this test can be time consuming.
4929 Enabling this feature will cause _Alpine_ to only test for the
4930 existence of any recent messages rather than to obtain the
4931 count. This is much faster in many cases. The downside is that
4932 you're not given the number of recent messages when prompted to
4933 view the next folder. If the feature
4934 Tab-Uses-Unseen-For-Next-Folder is turned on, then the present
4935 feature will have no effect.
4936 _enable-flag-cmd_
4937 Setting this feature enables the _* Flag_ command, which allows
4938 you to manipulate the status flags associated with a message. By
4939 default, _Flag_ will set the _Important_ flag, which results in
4940 an asterisk being displayed in column one of the "Folder Index"
4941 for such messages.
4942 This feature is displayed as "Enable Flag Command".
4943 _enable-flag-screen-implicitly_
4944 This feature modifies the behavior of the _* Flag_ command
4945 (provided it too is enabled). By default, when the _* Flag_
4946 command is selected, _Alpine_ offers a prompt to set one of
4947 several flags and also offers the option of entering the
4948 detailed flag manipulation screen via the _^T_ key. Enabling
4949 this feature causes _Alpine_ to immediately enter the detailed
4950 flag screen rather than first offer the simple prompt. The
4951 Enable-Flag-Screen-Keyword-Shortcut option offers a slightly
4952 different way of setting keywords.
4953 _enable-flag-screen-keyword-shortcut_
4954 This feature modifies the behavior of the Flag command and the
4955 Select command. By default, when the "* Flag" command is
4956 selected, _Alpine_ offers a prompt to set one of several flags
4957 and also offers the option of entering the detailed flag
4958 manipulation screen via the "^T" key. If you have keywords
4959 defined, then enabling this feature adds a shortcut way to set
4960 or unset keywords. You use "*" followed by the first letter of a
4961 keyword (or the nickname of a keyword if you've given it a
4962 nickname) and that will set the keyword.
4963 An example is easier to understand than the explanation. The
4964 flag command can always be used to set the system flags. For
4965 example, to set the Answered flag you would type
4967 * A
4968 Now suppose you have defined a keyword "Work" using the Keywords
4969 option in the Config screen. By default, to set a keyword like
4970 "Work" you would usually have to go to the Flag Details screen
4971 using the "^T To Flag Details" command. Instead, if you have
4972 enabled this feature, you may type
4974 * W
4975 to set the Work flag, or
4977 * ! W
4978 to unset it. Just like for the other flag setting commands, the
4979 case of the letter does not matter, so "w" or "W" both set the
4980 "Work" keyword.
4981 Notice that you can only use this trick for one keyword that
4982 begins with "W". If you happen to have a "Work" keyword and
4983 another keyword that is "WIFI" the "* W" command will set the
4984 first one in your list of keywords. Also, there are five letters
4985 which are reserved for system flags and the NOT command. If you
4986 type "* A" it will always set the Answered flag, not your
4987 "Aardvark" keyword. In order to set the "Aardvark" keyword
4988 you'll still have to use the Flag Details screen.
4989 Because enabling the Enable-Flag-Screen-Implicitly option causes
4990 _Alpine_ to skip directly to the Flag Details screen when the
4991 Flag command is used, setting it will cause this feature to have
4992 no effect at all.
4993 Similarly, when Selecting by Keyword, setting this option will
4994 allow you to use Keyword initials instead of full keywords.
4995 _enable-full-header-cmd_
4996 This feature enables the _H Full Headers_ command which toggles
4997 between the display of all headers in the message and the normal
4998 edited view of headers. The _Full Header_ command also controls
4999 which headers are included for _Export_, _Pipe_, _Print_,
5000 _Forward_, and _Reply_ functions. (For _Reply_, the _Full Header_
5001 mode will respect the _include-headers-in-reply_ feature
5002 setting.)
5003 If Full Header mode is turned on and you Forward a message, you
5004 will be asked if you'd like to forward the message as an
5005 attachment, as opposed to including the text of the message in
5006 the body of your new message.
5007 If you have also turned on the "Quote Suppression" option then
5008 the Full Headers command actually rotates through three states
5009 instead of just two. The first is the normal view with long
5010 quotes suppressed. The second is the normal view but with the
5011 long quotes included. The last enables the display of all
5012 headers in the message. When using Export, Pipe, Print, Forward,
5013 or Reply the quotes are never suppressed, so the first two
5014 states are identical.
5015 Normally, the Header Mode will reset to the default behavior
5016 when moving to a new message. The mode can be made to persist
5017 from message to message by setting the feature
5018 Quell-Full-Header-Auto-Reset.
5019 This feature is displayed as "Enable Full Header Command".
5020 _enable-full-header-and-text_
5021 This feature affects how the _H Full Headers_ command displays
5022 message text. If set, the raw message text will be displayed.
5023 This especially affects MIME formatted email, where the entire
5024 MIME format will be displayed. This feature similarly affects
5025 how messages are included for the _Export_, _Pipe_, _Print_,
5026 _Forward_, and _Reply_ functions.
5027 _enable-goto-in-file-browser_
5028 Setting this causes _Alpine_ to offer the _G Goto_ command in
5029 the file browser. The Goto command allows you to explicitly type
5030 in the desired directory. That is the default.
5031 _enable-incoming-folders_
5032 If set, this feature defines a pseudo-folder collection called
5033 _INCOMING MESSAGE FOLDERS_. Initially, the only folder included
5034 in this collection will be your _INBOX_, which will no longer
5035 show up in your default saved-message folder collection.
5036 This feature is displayed as "Enable Incoming Folders
5037 Collection".
5038 _enable-incoming-folders-checking_
5039 This feature is only operational if you have enabled the
5040 optional incoming-folders If you do have Incoming Message
5041 Folders and you also set this feature, then the number of Unseen
5042 messages in each folder will be displayed in the FOLDER LIST
5043 screen for the Incoming Message Folders. The number of Unseen
5044 messages in a folder will be displayed in parentheses to the
5045 right of the name of each folder. If there are no Unseen
5046 messages in a folder then only the name is displayed, not a set
5047 of parentheses with zero inside them. A redraw command, Ctrl-L,
5048 can be used in the FOLDER LIST screen for the Incoming Message
5049 Folders to cause an immediate update.
5050 If a check for Unseen messages fails for a particular folder
5051 then Alpine will no longer attempt to check that folder for the
5052 duration of the session and this will be indicated by a question
5053 mark inside the parentheses.
5054 The features incoming-checking-includes-total,
5055 incoming-checking-uses-recent, incoming-check-list,
5056 incoming-check-interval, incoming-check-interval-secondary, and
5057 incoming-check-timeout all affect how this feature behaves.
5058 _Disable-Index-Locale-Dates_
5059 This feature affects the display of dates in the MESSAGE INDEX.
5060 Normally an attempt is made to localize the dates used in the
5061 MESSAGE INDEX display to your locale. This is controlled with
5062 the LC_TIME locale setting on a UNIX system. On Windows the
5063 Regional Options control panel may be used to set the date
5064 format. At the programming level, _Alpine_ is using the strftime
5065 routine to print the parts of a date.
5066 If this feature is set, dates are displayed in English and with
5067 the conventions of the United States.
5068 _enable-jump-shortcut_
5069 When this feature is set you may enter a number (followed by
5070 RETURN) and jump to that message number, when in the MESSAGE
5071 INDEX or MESSAGE TEXT screens. In other words, it obviates the
5072 need for typing the _J_ for the _Jump_ command.
5073 _enable-lame-list-mode_
5074 This feature modifies the method _Alpine_ uses to ask your IMAP
5075 server for folder names to display in the the FOLDER LIST
5076 screen. It is intended to compensate for a small set of IMAP
5077 servers that are programmed to ignore a part of the request, and
5078 thus respond to _Alpine_'s query with nonsensical results.
5079 If you find that _Alpine_ is erroneously displaying blank folder
5080 lists, try enabling this feature.
5081 NOTE: Enabling this feature has consequences for the Goto and
5082 Save commands. Many servers allow access to folders outside the
5083 area reserved for your personal folders via some reserved
5084 character, typically '#' (sharp), '~' (tilde) or '/' (slash).
5085 This mechanism allows, at the Goto and Save prompts, quick
5086 access to folders outside your personal folder collection
5087 without requiring a specific collection definition. This
5088 behavior will generally not be available when this feature is
5089 enabled.
5090 This feature is displayed as "Compensate for Deficient IMAP
5091 servers".
5092 _enable-mail-check-cue_
5093 If set, this will cause an asterisk to appear in the upper
5094 left-hand corner of the screen whenever _Alpine_ checks for new
5095 mail, and two asterisks whenever _Alpine_ saves (checkpoints)
5096 the state of the current mailbox to disk.
5097 _enable-mailcap-param-substitution_
5098 If set, this will allow mailcap named parameter substitution to
5099 occur in mailcap entries. By default, this is turned off to
5100 prevent security problems which may occur with some incorrect
5101 mailcap configurations. For more information, RFC1524 and look
5102 for "named parameters" in the text of the RFC.
5103 This feature is displayed as "Enable Mailcap Parameter
5104 Substitution".
5105 _enable-mouse-in-xterm_
5106 This feature controls whether or not an X terminal mouse can be
5107 used with _Alpine_. If set, and the $DISPLAY variable indicates
5108 that an X terminal is being used, the left mouse button on the
5109 mouse can be used to select text or commands. Clicking on a
5110 command at the bottom of the screen will behave as if you had
5111 typed that command. Clicking on an index line will move the
5112 current message highlight to that line. Double-clicking on an
5113 index line will view the message. Double-clicking on a link will
5114 view the link.
5115 This type of mouse support will also work in some terminal
5116 emulators which are not actually X terminals, but which have
5117 extra code to support the xterm style mouse. For those emulators
5118 you not only need to turn this feature on but you also have to
5119 set the $DISPLAY environment variable even though it isn't
5120 needed for your terminal. That will cause _Alpine_ to think that
5121 it is an xterm and to properly interpret the escape sequences
5122 sent by the mouse.
5123 Note: if this feature is set, the behavior of X terminal
5124 cut-and-paste is also modified. It is sometimes possible to hold
5125 the shift key down while clicking left or middle mouse buttons
5126 for the normal xterm cut/paste operations. There is also an
5127 _Alpine_ command to toggle this mode on or off. The command is
5128 Ctrl-\ (Control-backslash).
5129 _enable-msg-view-addresses_
5130 This feature modifies the behavior of _Alpine_'s "Message Text"
5131 screen. Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to select possible
5132 email addresses from the displayed text and display them in
5133 boldface for selection.
5134 The first available email address is displayed in inverse. This
5135 is the "selected" address. Pressing _RETURN_ will cause _Alpine_
5136 to enter the message composition screen with the To field filled
5137 in with the selected address.
5138 Use the up and down arrow keys to change which of the addresses
5139 displayed in boldface is the current selection.
5140 This feature is displayed as "Enable Message View Address
5141 Links".
5142 _enable-msg-view-attachments_
5143 This feature modifies the behavior of _Alpine_'s "Message Text"
5144 screen. Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to present
5145 attachments in boldface. The first available attachment is
5146 displayed in inverse. This is the "selected" attachment.
5147 Pressing _RETURN_ will cause _Alpine_ to display the selected
5148 attachment. Use the up and down arrow keys to change which of
5149 the attachments displayed in boldface is the current selection.
5150 Speaking of arrow keys, the Up and Down Arrows will select the
5151 next and previous attachments if one is available on the screen
5152 for selection. Otherwise, they will simply adjust the viewed
5153 text one line up or down.
5154 Similarly, when selectable items are present in a message, the
5155 Ctrl-F key can be used to select the next item in the message
5156 independent of which portion of the viewed message is currently
5157 displayed. The Ctrl-B key can be used to select the previous
5158 item in the same way.
5159 This feature is displayed as "Enable Message View Attachment
5160 Links".
5161 _enable-msg-view-forced-arrows_
5162 This feature modifies Up and Down arrow key behavior in
5163 _Alpine_'s "Message Text" screen when selectable Attachments,
5164 URL's, or web-hostnames are presented. _Alpine_'s usual behavior
5165 is to move to the next or previous selectable item if currently
5166 displayed or simply to adjust the screen view by one line if the
5167 next selectable line is off the screen.
5168 Setting this feature causes the Up and Down arrow keys to behave
5169 as if no selectable items were present in the message.
5170 Note, the _Ctrl-F_ (next selectable item) and _Ctrl-B_ (previous
5171 selectable item) functionality is unchanged.
5172 This feature is displayed as "Enable Message View Forced
5173 Arrows".
5174 _enable-msg-view-urls_
5175 This feature modifies the behavior of _Alpine_'s "Message Text"
5176 screen. When this feature is set (the default) _Alpine_ will
5177 select possible URLs from the displayed text and display them in
5178 boldface for selection.
5179 The first available URL is displayed in inverse. This is the
5180 "selected" URL. Pressing _RETURN_ will cause _Alpine_ to display
5181 the selected URL via either built-in means as with mailto:,
5182 imap:, news:, and nntp:, or via an external application as
5183 defined by the url-viewers variable.
5184 Use the up and down arrow keys to change which of the URLs
5185 displayed in boldface is the current selection.
5186 This feature is displayed as "Enable Message View URL Links".
5187 _enable-msg-view-web-hostnames_
5188 This feature modifies the behavior of _Alpine_'s "Message Text"
5189 screen. When this feature is set (the default) _Alpine_ will
5190 select possible web hostnames from the displayed text and
5191 display them in boldface for selection.
5192 The first available hostname is displayed in inverse. This is
5193 the "selected" hostname. Pressing _RETURN_ will cause _Alpine_
5194 to display the selected hostname via an external application as
5195 defined by the url-viewers variable.
5196 Use the up and down arrow keys to change which of the hostnames
5197 displayed in boldface is the current selection.
5198 This feature is displayed as "Enable Message View Web Hostname
5199 Links".
5200 _enable-multiple-newsrcs_
5201 This feature makes it so _Alpine_ can use multiple newsrcs based
5202 on the news server being connected to, which allows for separate
5203 lists of subscribed-to newsgroups. When this feature is not set,
5204 there is only one list of newsgroups.
5205 Under this feature, the name of a newsrc is based on the news
5206 server. For example, if your newsrc-path is set to ".newsrc",
5207 and the news server you are connecting to is news.example.com,
5208 then the newsrc to be used is .newsrc-news.example.com. Setting
5209 this feature for the first time will allow for the option of
5210 using your old newsrc the next time you read news.
5211 If this feature is set, then the feature
5212 Mult-Newsrc-Hostnames-As-Typed also may affect the name of the
5213 newsrc file that is used.
5214 _enable-newmail-in-xterm-icon_
5215 This feature controls whether or not _Alpine_ will attempt to
5216 announce new mail arrival when it is running in an X terminal
5217 window and that window is iconified. If set, and the $DISPLAY
5218 variable indicates that an X terminal is being used, _Alpine_
5219 will send appropriate escape sequences to the X terminal to
5220 modify the label on _Alpine_'s icon to indicate that new mail
5221 has arrived. _Alpine_ will also modify the _Alpine_ window's
5222 title to indicate new mail. See also
5223 Enable-Newmail-Short-Text-in-Icon.
5224 _enable-newmail-short-text-in-icon_
5225 This feature controls the text to be displayed in an icon in the
5226 event of a new message arrival. Normally, the message will be
5227 the one that is displayed on the screen. This feature shortens
5228 the message to a count of the number of new messages in
5229 brackets. This may be more useful for those who use the window's
5230 title bar in the task bar as a new mail indicator. This feature
5231 is only useful if the Enable-Newmail-in-Xterm-Icon is also set.
5232 Like the Enable-Newmail-in-Xterm-Icon feature, this feature is
5233 only relevant when run in an xterm environment.
5234 _enable-partial-match-lists_
5235 This feature affects the subcommands available when _Sav_ing or
5236 Opening a new folder. If set, the subcommand _^X ListMatches_
5237 will be available. This command allows you to type in a
5238 substring of the folder you are looking for and when you type
5239 _^X_ it will display all folders which contain that substring in
5240 their names. This feature is set by default.
5241 _enable-print-via-y-command_
5242 By default, _Alpine_'s print command is available by pressing
5243 the _%_ key. In older versions of _Pine_, the print command was
5244 accessed by pressing the _Y_ key.
5245 Enabling this feature will cause _Alpine_ to recognize both the
5246 old command, _Y_, and the new _%_ method for invoking printing.
5247 Note, key menu labels are not changed as a result of enabling
5248 this feature.
5249 _enable-reply-indent-string-editing_
5250 This feature affects the Reply command's "Include original
5251 message in Reply?" prompt. When enabled, it causes the "Edit
5252 Indent String" sub-command to appear which allows you to edit
5253 the string _Alpine_ would otherwise use to denote included text
5254 from the message being replied to.
5255 Thus, you can change _Alpine_'s default message quote character
5256 (usually an angle bracket) on a per message basis. So you could
5257 change your quoted message to look, for example, like this:
5258 On Tues, 26 Jan 1999, John Q. Smith wrote:
5260 John: I just wanted to say hello and to congratulate you
5261 John: on a job well done!
5262 The configuration option "reply-indent-string" may be used to
5263 change what appears as the default string to be edited.
5264 NOTE: Edited reply-indent-strings only apply to the message
5265 currently being replied to.
5266 _enable-rules-under-take_
5267 Normally, the Take command takes addresses from a message and
5268 helps you put them into your Address Book. If you use Rules for
5269 Indexcolors, Roles, Filtering, or Scoring; you may find it
5270 useful to be able to Take information from a message's headers
5271 and put it into a new Rule. When this feature is set, you will
5272 be given an extra prompt which gives you the choice to Take into
5273 the Address Book or Take into a rule.
5274 This feature is displayed as "Enable Take Rules".
5275 _enable-search-and-replace_
5276 If set _Alpine_'s composer offers the _R Replace_ command option
5277 inside the _W WhereIs_ command.
5278 _enable-sigdashes_
5279 If set and a _signature-file_ exists, the line consisting of the
5280 three characters "-- " (dash dash space) is included before the
5281 signature. This only happens if the signature doesn't already
5282 contain such a line.
5283 In addition, when you Reply or Followup to a message containing
5284 one of these special lines and choose to include its text,
5285 _Alpine_ will observe the convention of not including text beyond
5286 the special line in your reply.
5287 _enable-suspend_
5288 Setting this feature will allow you to type _^Z_ and temporarily
5289 suspend _Alpine_. Not available on _PC-Alpine_.
5290 _enable-tab-completion_
5291 This feature enables the _TAB_ key when at a prompt for a
5292 filename. In this case, _TAB_ will cause the partial name
5293 already entered to be automatically completed, provided the
5294 partial name is unambiguous. This feature is set by default.
5295 Similarly, this feature also enables TAB completion of address
5296 book nicknames when at a prompt for a nickname, or when typing
5297 in an address field in the composer.
5298 _enable-take-export_
5299 Normally, the Take command takes addresses from a message and
5300 helps you put them into your Address Book. When this feature is
5301 set, you will be given an extra prompt which gives you the
5302 choice to Take addresses into a file instead of your Address
5303 Book. Only the user@domain_name part of the address is put in
5304 the file.
5305 _enable-tray-icon_
5306 _PC-Alpine_ only. This option restores a behavior of previous
5307 versions of PC-Alpine. These versions, when started, installed a
5308 PC-Alpine icon in the notification tray of Window's Taskbar. The
5309 primary use of this icon was to indicate new mail arrival by
5310 turning red (while the Taskbar icon remained green).
5311 Additionally, the icon now changes to yellow to signify that a
5312 mail folder has been closed unexpectedly.
5313 Rather than add another icon to the Taskbar, this version of
5314 PC-Alpine will color its Taskbar entry's icon red (as well as
5315 the icon in the Window Title). This feature is only provided for
5316 backwards compatibility.
5317 _enable-unix-pipe-cmd_
5318 This feature enables the _| Pipe_ command that sends the current
5319 message to the specified Unix command for external processing.
5320 This feature is displayed as "Enable Unix Pipe Command".
5321 _enable-verbose-smtp-posting_
5322 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s message sending.
5323 When enabled, _Alpine_ will send a VERB (i.e., VERBose) command
5324 early in the posting process intended to cause the server SMTP
5325 to provide a more detailed account of the transaction. This
5326 feature is typically only useful to system administrators and
5327 other support personel as an aid in troublshooting problems.
5328 Note, this feature relies on a specific capability of the
5329 system's mail transport agent or configured smtp-server.
5330 _expanded-view-of-addressbooks_
5331 If multiple address books (either personal or global) are
5332 defined, and you wish to have them all expanded implicitly upon
5333 entering the ADDRESS BOOK screen, then set this feature. This
5334 feature will have no effect unless the feature
5335 combined-addrbook-display is also set.
5336 _expanded-view-of-distribution-lists_
5337 If this feature is set, then distribution lists in the address
5338 book screen will always be expanded automatically.
5339 _expanded-view-of-folders_
5340 If multiple folder collections are defined, and you wish to have
5341 them all expanded implicitly upon entering the FOLDER LIST
5342 screen, then set this feature. This feature will have no effect
5343 unless the feature combined-folder-display is also set.
5344 _expose-hidden-config_
5345 The purpose of this feature is to allow you to change
5346 configuration features and variables which are normally hidden.
5347 This is particularly useful if you are using a remote
5348 configuration file, where it is difficult to edit the file
5349 manually, but it may also be used on a local pinerc
5350 configuration file.
5351 If set, most configuration variables and features which are
5352 normally hidden from view will show up in the
5353 Setup/Configuration screen. They will be at the bottom of the
5354 configuration screen. You can find them by searching for the
5355 word "hidden".
5356 Note that this is an advanced feature which should be used with
5357 care. The reason that this part of the configuration is normally
5358 hidden is because there is a significant potential for causing
5359 problems if you change these variables. If something breaks
5360 after a change try changing it back to see if that is what is
5361 causing the problem. There are also some variables which are
5362 normally hidden because they are manipulated through _Alpine_ in
5363 other ways. For example, the "address-book" variable is normally
5364 set using the Setup/AddressBooks screen, so there is little
5365 reason to edit it directly. The "incoming-folders" variable is
5366 normally changed by using the Add, Delete, and Rename commands
5367 in the FOLDER LIST screen, and the "last-time-prune-questioned"
5368 variable is normally used internally by _Alpine_ and not set
5369 directly by the user.
5370 _expunge-only-manually_
5371 Normally, when you close a folder which contains deleted
5372 messages you are asked if you want to expunge those messages
5373 from the folder permanently. If this feature is set, you won't
5374 be asked and the deleted messages will remain in the folder. If
5375 you choose to set this feature you will have to expunge the
5376 messages manually using the eXpunge command, which you can use
5377 while in the MESSAGE INDEX screen. If you do not expunge deleted
5378 messages the size of your folder will continue to increase until
5379 you are out of disk space.
5380 _expunge-without-confirm_
5381 If set, you will not be prompted to confirm your intent before
5382 the expunge takes place. Actually, you will still be prompted
5383 for confirmation if the folder is not the _INBOX_ folder or
5384 another folder in the Incoming Folders collection. See the
5385 _expunge-without-confirm-everywhere_ feature which follows.
5386 This feature is displayed as "Expunge Without Confirming".
5387 _expunge-without-confirm-everywhere_
5388 The regular _expunge-without-confirm_ feature actually only
5389 works for the _INBOX_ folder and for other folders in the
5390 "Incoming Folders" collection. If this feature is set then you
5391 also won't be prompted to confirm expunges for all other
5392 folders.
5393 This feature is displayed as "Expunge Without Confirming
5394 Everywhere".
5395 _fcc-on-bounce_
5396 If set, normal Fcc (File Carbon Copy) processing will be done
5397 for bounced messages, just as if you had composed a message to
5398 the address you are bouncing to. If not set, no Fcc of the
5399 message will be saved.
5400 This feature is displayed as "Include Fcc When Bouncing
5401 Messages".
5402 _fcc-only-without-confirm_
5403 This features controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s composer. The
5404 only time this feature will be used is if you attempt to send
5405 mail which has no recipients but does have an Fcc. Normally,
5406 _Alpine_ will ask if you really mean to copy the message only to
5407 the Fcc. That is, it asks if you really meant to have no
5408 recipients. If this feature is set, you will _not_ be prompted
5409 to confirm your intent to make only a copy of a message with no
5410 recipients.
5411 This feature is closely related to
5412 warn-if-blank-to-and-cc-and-newsgroups. The difference between
5413 this feature and that feature is that this feature considers a
5414 Bcc to be a recipient while that feature will ask for
5415 confirmation even if there is a Bcc when there is no To, Cc, or
5416 Newsgroup. The default values also differ. This feature defaults
5417 to asking the question and you have to turn it off. The
5418 warn-if-blank-to-and-cc-and-newsgroups feature defaults to not
5419 asking unless you turn it on.
5420 This feature is displayed as "Send to Fcc Only Without
5421 Confirming".
5422 _fcc-without-attachments_
5423 This features controls the way FCC's (File Carbon Copies) are
5424 made of the messages you send.
5425 Normally, _Alpine_ saves an exact copy of your message as it was
5426 sent. When this feature is enabled, the "body" of the message
5427 you send (the text you type in the composer) is preserved in the
5428 copy as before, however all attachments are replaced with text
5429 explaining what had been sent rather than the attachments
5430 themselves.
5431 This feature also affects _Alpine_'s "Send ?" confirmation
5432 prompt in that a new "^F Fcc Attchmnts" option becomes available
5433 which allows you to interactively set whether or not attachments
5434 are saved to the Fcc'd copy.
5435 This feature is displayed as "Fcc Does Not Include Attachments".
5436 _force-arrow-cursor_
5437 This feature affects _Alpine_'s MESSAGE INDEX display routine.
5438 If set, the normal inverse-video cursor will be replaced by a
5439 simple "arrow" cursor, which normally occupies the second column
5440 of the index display.
5441 This is the same index cursor you get if you turn on
5442 Assume-Slow-Link, but the index line coloring will still be
5443 present if this feature is turned on and Assume-Slow-Link is
5444 off.
5445 An alternative version of the Arrow cursor is available by
5446 including the ARROW token in the Index-Format option.
5447 It ought to be the case that this feature also affects the
5448 ATTACHMENT INDEX, but that is not implemented.
5449 _hide-nntp-path_
5450 Normally the Path header that _Alpine_ generates when posting to
5451 a newsgroup contains the name of the computer from which the
5452 message is being sent and the user name. Some believe that this
5453 information is used by spammers. If this feature is set, that
5454 information will be replaced with the text
5456 not-for-mail
5457 instead.
5458 It should be noted that many servers being connected to will
5459 still reveal the information that this feature attempts to
5460 protect.
5461 _include-attachments-in-reply_
5462 If set, any MIME attachments that were part of the original
5463 message will automatically be included in a _Reply_.
5464 _include-header-in-reply_
5465 If set, and a message being replied to is included in the
5466 _Reply_, then headers from that message will also be part of the
5467 reply.
5468 _include-text-in-reply_
5469 Normally, _Alpine_ will ask whether you wish to include the
5470 original message in your _Reply_. If this feature is set and the
5471 feature enable-reply-indent-string-editing is _not_ set, then
5472 the original message will be included in the reply
5473 automatically, without prompting.
5474 _incoming-checking-includes-total_
5475 This option has no effect unless the feature
5476 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
5477 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
5478 When incoming folder checking is turned on the default is to
5479 display the number of unseen messages in each folder. More
5480 precisely, it is the number of undeleted unseen messages. Using
5481 this option you may also display the total number of messages in
5482 each folder. Instead of a single number representing the number
5483 of unseen messages you will get two numbers separated by a slash
5484 character. The first is the number of unseen messages and the
5485 second is the total number of messages.
5486 You may also use the recent message count instead of the unseen
5487 message count by turning on the feature
5488 incoming-checking-uses-recent.
5489 _incoming-checking-uses-recent_
5490 This option has no effect unless the feature
5491 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
5492 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
5493 When incoming folder checking is turned on the default is to
5494 display the number of unseen messages in each folder. More
5495 precisely, it is the number of undeleted unseen messages. Using
5496 this option you may display the number of recent messages
5497 instead of the number of unseen messages. A message is only
5498 counted as recent if this is the first session to see it, so the
5499 recent count might be less than the unseen count. The difference
5500 between the two would be accounted for by the unseen messages in
5501 the folder which were there previously but have not been looked
5502 at yet.
5503 If you simultaneously run more than one email client at a time
5504 (for example, you run more than one _Alpine_ in parallel) then
5505 turning this feature on can cause some confusion. The confusion
5506 stems from the fact that each message is only considered to be
5507 recent in one session. That means that the counts of new
5508 messages may be different in the two _Alpine_s running side by
5509 side, because each incoming message will only be counted as
5510 recent in one of the two sessions.
5511 You may also display the total number of messages in each folder
5512 by using the incoming-checking-includes-total option.
5513 _ldap-result-to-addrbook-add_
5514 This is only available if _Alpine_ was linked with an LDAP
5515 library when it was compiled. If both the per-directory-server
5516 option use-implicitly-from-composer and this feature are set,
5517 then when an implicit directory lookup is done from the composer
5518 you will automatically be prompted to add the result of the
5519 directory lookup to your address book.
5520 This feature is displayed as "LDAP Result to Addressbook Add".
5521 _maildrops-preserve-state_
5522 This feature affects the way Mail Drops work. Normally, when
5523 mail is moved from a Mail Drop folder to a destination folder,
5524 the state changes that have taken place since the mail was
5525 originally delivered are lost. Any Seen/New, Answered,
5526 Important/Flagged state that has changed will be ignored. All of
5527 the mail will be considered unSeen, unAnswered, and unImportant
5528 after it is moved.
5529 If this feature is set, then the state changes will not be lost.
5530 In any case, messages which are already marked Deleted when the
5531 mail is to be copied from the Mail Drop will be ignored.
5532 _mark-fcc-seen_
5533 This features controls the way FCCs (File Carbon Copies) are
5534 made of the messages you send. Normally, when _Alpine_ saves a
5535 copy of a message you sent as an Fcc, that copy will be marked
5536 as Unseen. When you look at the folder it was saved in the
5537 message will appear to be a New message until you read it. When
5538 this feature is enabled, the message will be marked as having
5539 been Seen.
5540 _mark-for-cc_
5541 This feature affects _Alpine_'s MESSAGE INDEX display. By
5542 default, a '+' is displayed in the first column if the message
5543 is addressed directly to you. When this feature is set and the
5544 message is not addressed to you, then a '-' character is
5545 displayed if the message is instead Cc'd directly to you.
5546 _mult-newsrc-hostnames-as-typed_
5547 This feature will be of little use to most users. It has no
5548 effect unless the feature Enable-Multiple-Newsrcs is set. When
5549 the Enable-Multiple-Newsrcs feature is set then the setting of
5550 this feature may have an effect on the names of the newsrc files
5551 used. Normally, the name of the news server will be
5552 canonicalized before it is used in the newsrc file name. For
5553 example, if you type the news server name
5555 servername
5556 it is likely that the canonical name will be something like
5558 servername.example.com
5559 Or it may be the case that
5561 servername.example.com
5562 is really an alias (a DNS CNAME) for
5564 othername.example.com
5565 If this feature is not set, then the canonicalized names will be
5566 used. If this feature is set, then the name you typed in (or put
5567 in your configuration) will be used.
5568 This feature is displayed as "Multiple Newsrc Hostnames as
5569 Typed".
5570 _news-approximates-new-status_
5571 This feature causes certain messages to be marked as _New_ in
5572 the MESSAGE INDEX of newsgroups. This feature is set by default.
5573 When opening a newsgroup, _Alpine_ will consult your _newsrc_
5574 file and determine the last message you have previously disposed
5575 of via the _D_ key. If this feature is set, any subsequent
5576 messages will be shown in the Index with an _N_, and the first
5577 of these messages will be highlighted. Although this is only an
5578 approximation of true _New_ or _Unseen_ status, it provides a
5579 useful cue to distinguish more-or-less recent messages from
5580 those you have seen previously, but are not yet ready to mark
5581 deleted.
5582 Background: your _newsrc_ file (used to store message status
5583 information for newsgroups) is only capable of storing a single
5584 flag, and _Alpine_ uses this to record whether or not you are
5585 "done with" a message, as indicated by marking the message as
5586 _Deleted_. Unfortunately, this means that _Alpine_ has no way to
5587 record exactly which messages you have previously seen, so it
5588 normally does not show the _N_ status flag for any messages in a
5589 newsgroup. This feature enables a starting _approximation_ of
5590 seen/unseen status that may be useful.
5591 _news-deletes-across-groups_
5592 This feature controls what _Alpine_ does when you delete a
5593 message in a newsgroup that appears in more than one newsgroup.
5594 Such a message is sometimes termed a "crossposting" in that it
5595 was posted across several newsgroups.
5596 _Alpine_'s default behavior when you delete such a message is to
5597 remove only the copy in the current newsgroup from view when you
5598 use the "Exclude" command or the next time you visit the
5599 newsgroup.
5600 Enabling this feature causes _Alpine_ to remove every occurrence
5601 of the message from all newsgroups it appears in and to which
5602 you are subscribed.
5603 NOTE: As currently implemented, enabling this feature may
5604 increase the time it takes the Expunge command and newsgroup
5605 closing to complete.
5606 _news-offers-catchup-on-close_
5607 This feature controls what _Alpine_ does as it closes a
5608 newsgroup. When set, _Alpine_ will offer to delete all messages
5609 from the newsgroup as you are quitting _Alpine_ or opening a new
5610 folder.
5611 This feature is useful if you typically read all the interesting
5612 messages in a newsgroup each time you open it. This feature
5613 saves you from having to delete each message in a newsgroup as
5614 you read it or from selecting all the messages and doing an
5615 aggregate delete before you move on to the next folder or
5616 newsgroup.
5617 _news-post-without-validation_
5618 This feature controls whether the NNTP server is queried as
5619 newsgroups are entered for posting. Validation over slow links
5620 (e.g. dialup using SLIP or PPP) can cause delays. Set this
5621 feature to eliminate such delays.
5622 _news-read-in-newsrc-order_
5623 This feature controls the order that newsgroups will be
5624 presented. If set, they will be presented in the same order as
5625 they occur in your _newsrc_ file. If not set, the newsgroups
5626 will be presented in alphabetical order.
5627 _next-thread-without-confirm_
5628 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s Next and Prev
5629 commands in the case where you are using one of the
5630 "separate-index-screen" styles for the configuration option
5631 threading-index-style and currently have the folder sorted by a
5632 Threaded or OrderedSubject sort. When you are Viewing a
5633 particular thread you have a MESSAGE INDEX of only the messages
5634 in that thread. If you press the Next command with the last
5635 message in the thread highlighted you will normally be asked if
5636 you want to "View next thread?", assuming there is a next thread
5637 to view. If this feature is set it will be assumed that you
5638 always want to view the next thread and you won't be asked to
5639 confirm that. Similarly, if the first message of the thread is
5640 highlighted and you press the Prev command, this feature will
5641 prevent the question "View previous thread".
5642 This feature only has an effect in the MESSAGE INDEX screen. If
5643 you then view a particular message from that screen and press
5644 the Next command, you will be sent to the next thread without
5645 being asked, independent of the setting of this feature.
5646 The feature auto-open-next-unread, also has some similar
5647 effects.
5648 This feature is displayed as "Read Next Thread Without
5649 Confirming".
5650 _offer-expunge-of-inbox_
5651 The INBOX is normally treated differently from regular folders
5652 in several ways. One of the differences is that the normal
5653 "close" sequence of events is deferred until _Alpine_ is exited,
5654 instead of happening when you leave the INBOX to view another
5655 folder. The "close" sequence normally includes the Expunging of
5656 deleted messages (either automatically or after a prompt,
5657 controlled by the features Expunge-Without-Confirm,
5658 Expunge-Without-Confirm-Everywhere, and Expunge-Only-Manually),
5659 and the handling of the Read-Message-Folder.
5660 If this feature is set the "close" sequence handling will take
5661 place every time you leave the INBOX. The INBOX will still be
5662 kept open, but the offer to Expunge and the archiving to the
5663 Read-Message-Folder will take place each time you leave the
5664 INBOX instead of only once at the end of the session.
5665 _offer-expunge-of-stayopen-folders_
5666 This feature is related to the option Stay-Open-Folders. Stay
5667 Open folders are treated differently from regular folders in
5668 several ways. One of the differences is that the normal "close"
5669 sequence of events is deferred until _Alpine_ is exited, instead
5670 of happening when you leave the folder to view another folder.
5671 The "close" sequence normally includes the Expunging of deleted
5672 messages (either automatically or after a prompt, controlled by
5673 the features Expunge-Without-Confirm,
5674 Expunge-Without-Confirm-Everywhere, and Expunge-Only-Manually),
5675 and the handling of Incoming-Archive-Folders.
5676 If this feature is set the "close" sequence handling will take
5677 place when you leave the Stay Open folder. The folder will still
5678 be kept open, but the offer to Expunge and the archiving will
5679 take place each time you leave the folder instead of only once
5680 at the end of the session. This feature does not affect the
5681 INBOX, which will still only be processed when you exit
5682 _Alpine_.
5683 _pass-c1-control-characters-as-is_
5684 It is probably not useful to set this option. This is a legacy
5685 option left behind "just in case". Multi-byte characters which
5686 have an octet which has the same value as a control character
5687 are permitted through whether or not this option is turned on.
5688 If the feature pass-control-characters-as-is is set, then this
5689 feature has no effect. However, if you wish to filter out
5690 regular control characters but pass the so-called C1 control
5691 characters (0x80 <= char < 0xA0) through unchanged, then you may
5692 leave pass-control-characters-as-is unset and set this feature.
5693 _pass-control-characters-as-is_
5694 It is probably not useful to set this option. This is a legacy
5695 option left behind "just in case". Multi-byte characters which
5696 have an octet which has the same value as a control character
5697 are permitted through whether or not this option is turned on.
5698 If set, all characters in a message will be sent to the screen.
5699 Normally, control characters are automatically suppressed in
5700 order to avoid inadvertently changing terminal setup parameters.
5701 Control characters are usually displayed as two character
5702 sequences like
5704 ^C
5705 for Control-C,
5707 ^[
5708 for ESCAPE,
5710 ^?
5711 for DELETE, and
5713 ~E
5714 for the character with value 133 (0x85). (The DEL character is
5715 displayed as ^?, regular control characters are displayed as the
5716 character ^ followed by the character obtained by adding the
5717 five low-order bits of the character to 0x40, and the C1 control
5718 characters 0x80 - 0x9F are displayed as the character ~ followed
5719 by the character obtained by adding the five low-order bits of
5720 the character to 0x40.) Sometimes, in cases where changing a
5721 single control character into a two-character sequence would
5722 confuse _Alpine_'s display routines, a question mark is
5723 substituted for the control character.
5724 If you wish to filter out regular control characters but pass
5725 the so-called C1 control characters (0x80 <= char < 0xA0)
5726 through unchanged, then you may leave this feature unset and set
5727 the feature pass-c1-control-characters-as-is instead.
5728 _predict-nntp-server_
5729 This feature allows _Alpine_ to assume that the open NNTP server
5730 at the time of composition is the NNTP server to which the
5731 message should be posted. This is especially recommended when
5732 there are multiple News collections. If this feature is not set,
5733 _Alpine_ will try to post to the first server in the nntp-server
5734 variable. Setting this feature also negates the need to add News
5735 collection servers to the nntp-server variable.
5736 This feature can be especially handy when used in conjunction
5737 with enable-multiple-newsrcs.
5738 This option is displayed as "NNTP Server (for news)".
5739 _prefer-plain-text_
5740 A message being viewed may contain alternate versions of the
5741 same content. Those alternate versions are ordered by the
5742 sending software such that the first alternative is the least
5743 preferred and the last alternative is the most preferred.
5744 _Alpine_ will normally display the most-preferred version that it
5745 knows how to display. This is most often encountered where the
5746 two alternate versions are a plain text version and an HTML
5747 version, with the HTML version listed last as the most
5748 preferred.
5749 If this option is set, then any plain text version will be
5750 preferred to all other versions.
5751 _preopen-stayopen-folders_
5752 This feature is related to the option Stay-Open-Folders.
5753 Normally, Stay Open folders are only opened on demand, when the
5754 user asks to open them. From then on they are kept open for the
5755 duration of the session. However, if this feature is set, then
5756 the Stay Open folders will all be opened at startup, at the same
5757 time that the INBOX is opened.
5758 _preserve-start-stop-characters_
5759 This feature controls how special control key characters,
5760 typically _^S_ and _^Q_, are interpreted when input to _Alpine_.
5761 These characters are known as the "start" and "stop" characters
5762 and are sometimes used in communications paths to control data
5763 flow between devices that operate at different speeds.
5764 By default, _Alpine_ turns the system's handling of these
5765 special characters off except during printing. However, if you
5766 see _Alpine_ reporting input errors such as:
5768 [ Command "^Q" not defined for this screen. ]
5769 and, at the same time, see your display become garbled, then it
5770 is likely that setting this option will solve the problem. Be
5771 aware, though, that enabling this feature will also cause
5772 _Alpine_ to ostensibly "hang" whenever the _Ctrl-S_ key
5773 combination is entered as the system is now interpreting such
5774 input as a "stop output" command. To "start output" again,
5775 simply type _Ctrl-Q_.
5776 This feature is displayed as "Preserve Start/Stop Characters".
5777 _print-formfeed-between-messages_
5778 Setting this feature causes a formfeed to be printed between
5779 messages when printing multiple messages with the _Apply Print_
5780 command.
5781 _print-includes-from-line_
5782 If this feature is set, then the Unix mail style From line is
5783 included at the start of each message that is printed. This line
5784 looks something like the following, with the address replaced by
5785 the address from the From line of the message being printed:
5787 From user@domain.somewhere.com Mon May 13 14:11:06 1996
5788 _print-index-enabled_
5789 This feature controls the behavior of the _Print_ command when
5790 in the "Folder Index" screen. If set, the _Print_ command will
5791 give you a prompt asking if you wish to print the message index,
5792 or the currently highlighted message. If not set, the message
5793 will be printed.
5794 _print-offers-custom-cmd-prompt_
5795 When this feature is set, the _Print_ command will have an
5796 additional subcommand called _C CustomPrint_. If selected, you
5797 will have the opportunity to enter any system print command,
5798 instead of being restricted to using those that have been
5799 previously configured in the _Setup/Printer_ screen.
5800 This feature is displayed as "Print Offers Custom Command
5801 Prompt".
5802 _prune-uses-yyyy-mm_
5803 By default, _Alpine_ asks monthly whether or not you would like
5804 to rename some folders to a new name containing the date. It
5805 also asks whether or not you would like to delete some old
5806 folders. See the pruning-rule option for an explanation.
5807 By default, the name used when renaming a folder looks like
5809 <foldername>-<month>-<year>
5810 For example, the first time you run _Alpine_ in May of 2004, the
5811 folder "sent-mail" might be renamed to
5813 sent-mail-apr-2004
5814 If this feature is set, the name used will be of the form
5816 <foldername>-<yyyy>-<mm>
5817 where "yyyy" is the year and "mm" is the two-digit month (01,
5818 02, ..., 12). For the April, 2004 example above, it would
5819 instead be
5821 sent-mail-2004-04
5822 because April is the 4th month of the year. A reason you might
5823 want to set this feature is so that the folders will sort in
5824 chronological order.
5825 _publiccerts-in-keychain_
5826 Mac OS X _Alpine_ only.
5827 If this feature is set the Mac OS X default keychain will be
5828 used as the place to store public certificates instead of a
5829 smime-public-cert-directory or a smime-public-cert-container.
5830 This feature is displayed as "S/MIME -- Public Certs in MacOS
5831 Keychain".
5832 _quell-attachment-extension-warn_
5833 This feature suppresses the extra warning you can get when
5834 trying to view an attachment for which there is no mime-type
5835 match. Turning on this feature will just run the program
5836 according to extension instead of first warning the user that it
5837 will run according to the file's extension.
5838 This feature can be used along side
5839 quell-attachment-extra-prompt to preserve the behavior exhibited
5840 in _Pine_ versions prior to _Pine_ 4.50.
5841 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Attachment Extension
5842 Warning".
5843 _quell-attachment-extra-prompt_
5844 By default, when you attempt to view an attachment externally
5845 from the "Attachment View" screen, you are asked if you really
5846 want to view the selected attachment.
5847 If this feature is set, you will _not_ be prompted to confirm
5848 your selection. Prior to _Pine_ 4.50, the default behavior was
5849 to not prompt. This feature was added for those wanting to
5850 preserve that behavior.
5851 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Attachment Extra Prompt".
5852 _quell-berkeley-format-timezone_
5853 POSIX mandates a timezone in UNIX mailbox format folder
5854 delimiters (the line which begins with From ). Some versions of
5855 Berkeley mail have trouble with this, and don't recognize the
5856 line as a message delimiter. If this feature is set, the
5857 timezone will be left off the delimiter line.
5858 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Berkeley Format
5859 Timezone".
5860 _quell-charset-warning_
5861 By default, if the message you are viewing contains characters
5862 that are not representable in your display-character-set then
5863 _Alpine_ will add a warning to the start of the displayed text.
5864 If this option is set, then that editorial message will be
5865 suppressed.
5866 Setting this feature also suppresses the comment about the
5867 character set in header lines. For example, when viewing a
5868 message you might see
5870 From: "[ISO-8859-2] Name" <address>
5871 in the From header if your Character-Set is something other than
5872 ISO-8859-2. If you set this feature, the comment about the
5873 character set will no longer be there.
5874 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Character Set Warning".
5875 _quell-content-id_
5876 This feature changes the behavior of _Alpine_ when sending
5877 messages. It is intended to work around a bug in Microsoft's
5878 Outlook XP mail user agent. As of this writing, Microsoft has
5879 acknowledged the bug but has not added it to the Knowledge Base.
5880 We have been told that there will be a post-SP1 hotfix for
5881 Outlook XP. This particular bug has bug fix number
5882 OfficeQFE:4781. The nature of the bug is that messages with
5883 attachments which contain a Content-ID header (which standard
5884 _Alpine_ attachments do) do not show the attachment indicator (a
5885 paperclip) when viewed with Outlook XP. So the user has no
5886 indication that the message contains an attachment.
5887 If this feature is set then _Alpine_ will remove most Content-ID
5888 headers before sending a message. If an attachment is of type
5889 MESSAGE, then the existing Content-ID headers inside the message
5890 will be left intact. This would only happen with _Alpine_ if a
5891 message was forwarded as an attachment or if a message with a
5892 message attached was forwarded. Similarly if an attachment of
5893 type MULTIPART/ALTERNATIVE is forwarded, the Content-ID headers
5894 of the alternative parts will not be removed.
5895 Because the Content-ID header is a standard part of MIME it is
5896 possible that setting this feature will break something. For
5897 example, if an attachment has a Content-ID header which is
5898 necessary for the correct functioning of that attachment, it is
5899 possible that _Alpine_ may remove that header when the
5900 attachment is forwarded. However, it seems fairly safe at this
5901 time.
5902 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Content-ID".
5903 _quell-dead-letter-on-cancel_
5904 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when you cancel a
5905 message being composed. _Alpine_'s usual behavior is to write
5906 the canceled message to a file named dead.letter in your home
5907 directory (under UNIX; DEADLETR under WINDOWS/DOS) overwriting
5908 any previous message. Under some conditions (some routine), this
5909 can introduce a noticeable delay.
5910 Setting this feature will cause _Alpine_ NOT to write canceled
5911 compositions into the file called dead.letter.
5912 This feature affects the newer option Dead-Letter-Files, which
5913 specifies the number of dead letter files to keep around. If
5914 this feature is set, then the Dead-Letter-Files option has no
5915 effect.
5916 This feature is displayed as "Do Not Save to Deadletter on
5917 Cancel".
5918 _quell-empty-directories_
5919 This feature causes _Alpine_ to remove from the display any
5920 directories that do not contain at least one file or directory.
5921 This can be useful to prevent overly cluttered folder lists when
5922 a collection is stored on a server that treats all names as both
5923 a folder and a directory.
5924 Note, enabling this feature can cause surprising behavior! For
5925 example, you can still use Add to create a directory, but unless
5926 you immediately enter that directory and create a folder, that
5927 newly created directory may not be displayed next time you enter
5928 the folder list.
5929 This feature is displayed as "Hide Empty Directories".
5930 _quell-extra-post-prompt_
5931 This feature causes _Alpine_ to skip the extra question about
5932 posting a message which may go to thousands of readers when you
5933 are about to post to a newsgroup.
5934 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Extra Posting Prompt".
5935 _quell-filtering-done-message_
5936 This feature causes _Alpine_ to suppress the "filtering done"
5937 message.
5938 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Filtering Done Message".
5939 _quell-filtering-messages_
5940 This feature causes _Alpine_ to suppress the messages about
5941 moving filtered messages and setting flags in messages, due to
5942 Filter Rules.
5943 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Filtering Messages".
5944 _quell-flowed-text_
5945 _Alpine_ generates flowed text where possible. The method for
5946 generating flowed text is defined by RFC 3676, the benefit of
5947 doing so is to send message text that can properly be viewed
5948 both on normal width displays and on displays with smaller or
5949 larger than normal screen widths. With flowed text, a space at
5950 the end of a line tells the receiving mail client that the
5951 following line belongs to the same paragraph. Quoted text will
5952 also be affected, with only the innermost level of ">" quoting
5953 being followed by a space. However, if you have changed the
5954 "Reply-Indent-String" so that it is not equal to the default
5955 value of "> ", then quoted text will not be flowed. For this
5956 reason, we recommend that you leave your "Reply-Indent-String"
5957 set to the default.
5958 This feature turns off the generation of flowed text, as it
5959 might be desired to more tightly control how a message is
5960 displayed on the receiving end.
5961 If this feature is _not_ set, you can control on a message by
5962 message basis whether or not flowed text is generated. You do
5963 this by typing ^V at the Send confirmation prompt that you get
5964 after typing ^X to send a message. ^V is a toggle which turns
5965 flowing off and back on if typed again. If for some reason
5966 flowing cannot be done on a particular message, then the ^V
5967 command will not be available. This would be the case, for
5968 example, if this feature was set, or if your
5969 "Reply-Indent-String" was set to a non-default value. If the
5970 feature Send-Without-Confirm is set, then the opportunity to
5971 control on a message by message basis whether or not flowed text
5972 is generated is lost.
5973 When this feature is not set and you have typed ^V to turn off
5974 flowing, the Send confirmation prompt will change to look like
5976 Send message (not flowed)?
5977 Strip-Whitespace-Before-Send will also turn off the sending of
5978 flowed text messages, but it differs in that it also trims all
5979 trailing white space from a message before sending it.
5980 If alternate editors are used extensively, be aware that a
5981 message will still be sent flowed if this feature is unset. In
5982 most cases this will be fine, but if the editor has a "flowed
5983 text" mode, it would be best to use that.
5984 This feature is displayed as "Do Not Send Flowed Text".
5985 _quell-folder-internal-msg_
5986 This feature determines whether or not _Alpine_ will create
5987 "pseudo messages" in folders that are in standard Unix or MMDF
5988 format.
5989 _Alpine_ will normally create these pseudo messages when they
5990 are not already present in a standard Unix or MMDF folder. Their
5991 purpose is to record certain mailbox state data needed for
5992 correct IMAP and POP server operation, and also for _Alpine_ to
5993 be able to mark messages as Answered when the Reply has been
5994 postponed.
5995 Sites which do not use IMAP/POP for remote mail access, and
5996 which need to support mail tools that are adversely affected by
5997 the presence of the pseudo-messages (e.g. some mail notification
5998 tools) may enable this feature to tell _Alpine_ not to create
5999 them. Note that _Alpine_'s "Answered" flag capability will be
6000 adversely affected if this is done.
6001 Note too that, even if this feature is enabled, _Alpine_ will
6002 not remove pseudo-messages when it encounters them (e.g. those
6003 created by UW's imapd or ipopd servers.) This feature has no
6004 effect on folders that are not in standard Unix or MMDF format,
6005 as pseudo-messages are not needed in the other formats to record
6006 mailbox state information.
6007 This feature is displayed as "Prevent Folder Internal Message".
6008 _quell-full-header-auto-reset_
6009 The HdrMode Command normally resets to the default state when
6010 switching to a new message. For example, if you've used the "H"
6011 command to turn on Full Headers for a message you are viewing,
6012 and then you type the Next command to look at the next message,
6013 the full headers will no longer be shown. Setting this feature
6014 disables that reset. Instead, the Header Mode remains the same
6015 from message to message.
6016 The presence or absence of the HdrMode command is determined by
6017 the "Enable-Full-Header-Cmd" Feature-List option.
6018 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Full Header Auto Reset".
6019 _quell-imap-envelope-update_
6020 In the MESSAGE INDEX screen, if the open folder is being
6021 accessed using IMAP, _Alpine_ normally tries to paint the index
6022 lines on the screen as soon as the information arrives from the
6023 IMAP server. This means that the index information makes it onto
6024 the screen more quickly than it otherwise would. This sometimes
6025 results in behavior that bothers some users. For example, when
6026 paging to a new page of the index, it may be possible for the
6027 lines to be painted on the screen in a random order, rather than
6028 from top to bottom.
6029 Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to wait for all of the
6030 information to be gathered before it paints the index screen.
6031 Once it collects all of the information, the screen will be
6032 painted quickly from top to bottom.
6033 This feature is displayed as "Suppress IMAP Envelope Update".
6034 _quell-lock-failure-warnings_
6035 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when it encounters a
6036 problem acquiring a mail folder lock. Typically, a secondary
6037 file associated with the mail folder being opened is created as
6038 part of the locking process. On some systems, such file creation
6039 has been administratively precluded by the system configuration.
6040 _Alpine_ issues a warning when such failures occur, which can
6041 become bothersome if the system is configured to disallow such
6042 actions. Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to remain silent
6043 when this part of lock creation fails.
6044 WARNING: systems that have been configured in a way that
6045 precludes locking introduce some risk of mail folder corruption
6046 when more than one program attempts to modify the mail folder.
6047 This is most likely to occur to one's _INBOX_ or other "Incoming
6048 Message Folder".
6049 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Lock Failure Warnings".
6050 _Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Except-Inbox_
6051 This option is closely related to the Mail-Check-Interval
6052 option, the Mail-Check-Interval-Noncurrent option, and
6053 Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Inbox.
6054 If this option is set, then the normal new-mail checking which
6055 happens while you are composing will not happen for folders
6056 other than your INBOX (which depends on the setting of
6057 "Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Inbox").
6058 You might want to set this option if you are experiencing delays
6059 while composing which you think might be related to the speed of
6060 the new-mail checks.
6061 Even with this option turned on, an occasional new-mail check
6062 may be done in order to keep the server from killing the
6063 connection to the folder. For example, IMAP servers may remove a
6064 connection to a folder if there has been no activity on the
6065 connection for 30 minutes or more. Instead of letting that
6066 happen, _Alpine_ will check for new mail before the 30 minutes
6067 is up even though you have turned on this feature to quell those
6068 checks.
6069 Besides new-mail checks, checkpoint operations on the folders
6070 will also be quelled when you set this option. The purpose of
6071 checkpointing is to write the changes to a folder out to disk
6072 periodically in order to avoid losing those changes when system
6073 or software problems occur. New-mail checking and checkpointing
6074 while you are not composing are not affected by this option.
6075 This feature is displayed as "Prevent Mailchecks While Composing
6076 Except for INBOX".
6077 _Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Inbox_
6078 This option is closely related to the Mail-Check-Interval
6079 option, the Mail-Check-Interval-Noncurrent option, and
6080 Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Except-Inbox.
6081 If this option is set, then the normal new-mail checking which
6082 happens while you are composing will not happen for your INBOX.
6083 Checking of other folders is controlled in a similar way with
6084 the "Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Except-Inbox" option.
6085 You might want to set this option if you are experiencing delays
6086 while composing which you think might be related to the speed of
6087 the new-mail checks.
6088 Even with this option turned on, an occasional new-mail check
6089 may be done in order to keep the server from killing the
6090 connection to the folder. For example, IMAP servers may remove a
6091 connection to a folder if there has been no activity on the
6092 connection for 30 minutes or more. Instead of letting that
6093 happen, _Alpine_ will check for new mail before the 30 minutes
6094 is up even though you have turned on this feature to quell those
6095 checks.
6096 Besides new-mail checks, checkpoint operations on the INBOX will
6097 also be quelled when you set this option. The purpose of
6098 checkpointing is to write the changes to a folder out to disk
6099 periodically in order to avoid losing those changes when system
6100 or software problems occur. New-mail checking and checkpointing
6101 while you are not composing are not affected by this option.
6102 This feature is displayed as "Prevent Mailchecks While Composing
6103 for INBOX".
6104 _quell-maildomain-warning_
6105 When your configuration is set up so that your domain name
6106 contains no dots, it is usually a configuration error. By
6107 default, _Alpine_ will warn you about this when you start it up.
6108 You will see a warning message that looks like
6110 Incomplete maildomain "<domain>".
6111 If this feature is set, the warning is turned off. This feature
6112 is displayed as "Suppress Maildomain Warning".
6113 _quell-news-envelope-update_
6114 In the MESSAGE INDEX screen, if the open folder is being
6115 accessed using NNTP (News), _Alpine_ normally tries to paint the
6116 index lines on the screen as soon as the information arrives
6117 from the NNTP server. This means that the index information
6118 makes it onto the screen more quickly than it otherwise would.
6119 This sometimes results in behavior that bothers some users. For
6120 example, when paging to a new page of the index, it may be
6121 possible for the lines to be painted on the screen in a random
6122 order, rather than from top to bottom.
6123 Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to wait for all of the
6124 information to be gathered before it paints the index screen.
6125 Once it collects all of the information, the screen will be
6126 painted quickly from top to bottom.
6127 This feature is displayed as "Suppress News Envelope Update".
6128 _quell-partial-fetching_
6129 Partial fetching is a feature of the IMAP protocol. By default,
6130 _Alpine_ will use partial fetching when copying the contents of a
6131 message or attachment from the IMAP server to _Alpine_. This
6132 means that the fetch will be done in many small chunks instead
6133 of one big chunk. The main benefit of this approach is that the
6134 fetch becomes interruptible. That is, the user can type _^C_ to
6135 stop the fetch early. In some cases partial fetching may cause a
6136 performance problem so that the fetching of data takes
6137 significantly longer when partial fetching is used. Turning on
6138 this feature will turn off partial fetching.
6139 This feature is displayed as "Prevent Partial Fetching".
6140 _quell-personal-name-prompt_
6141 _PC-Alpine_ only. This feature quells the prompting for a
6142 personal-name. This prompt normally happens before composing a
6143 message, and only happens when there is no personal name already
6144 set.
6145 _quell-server-after-link-in-html_
6146 By default, links in HTML text are displayed with the host the
6147 link references appended, within square brackets, to the link
6148 text. _Alpine_ does this to help indicate where a link will take
6149 you, particularly when the link text might suggest a different
6150 destination.
6151 Setting this feature will prevent the server name from being
6152 appended to the displayed text.
6153 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Server After Link in
6154 HTML".
6155 _quell-ssl-largeblocks_
6156 This feature (_PC-Alpine_ only) changes the behavior of fetching
6157 messages and attachments so that the message data is fetched in
6158 chunks no larger than 12K bytes. This works around a bug in
6159 Microsoft's SSL/TLS support. Some versions of Microsoft SSL are
6160 not able to read full-sized (16K) SSL/TLS packets. Some servers
6161 will send such packets and this will cause _PC-Alpine_ to crash
6162 with the error
6164 incomplete SecBuffer exceeds maximum buffer size
6165 Microsoft is aware of the problem and has developed a hotfix for
6166 it, but as of this writing the hotfix has not yet been added to
6167 the Knowledge Base.
6168 This feature is displayed as "Prevent SSL Largeblocks".
6169 _quell-status-message-beeping_
6170 If set status messages will never emit a beep.
6171 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Status Message Beeping".
6172 _quell-timezone-comment-when-sending_
6173 Normally, when _Alpine_ generates a Date header for outgoing
6174 mail, it will try to include the symbolic timezone at the end of
6175 the header inside parentheses. The symbolic timezone is often
6176 three characters long, but on some operating systems, it may be
6177 longer. Apparently there are some SMTP servers in the world
6178 which will reject an incoming message if it has a Date header
6179 longer than about 80 characters. If this feature is set, the
6180 symbolic timezone normally generated by _Alpine_ will not be
6181 included. You probably don't need to worry about this feature
6182 unless you run into the problem described above.
6183 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Timezone Comment When
6184 Sending".
6185 _quell-user-id-prompt_
6186 _PC-Alpine_ only. This feature quells the prompting for a
6187 user-id if the information can be obtained from the login name
6188 used to open the INBOX. Normally, this prompt happens before
6189 composing a message, and only happens when there is no user-id
6190 already set in the configuration.
6191 With this feature set, composing a message is only possible
6192 after establishing a connection to the INBOX.
6193 _quell-user-lookup-in-passwd-file_
6194 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s Composer, and if
6195 needed, will usually be set by the system manager in _Alpine_'s
6196 system-wide configuration file. Specifically, if this feature is
6197 set, _Alpine_ will not attempt to look in the system password
6198 file to find a Full Name for the entered address.
6199 Normally, names you enter into address fields (e.g. To: or Cc:)
6200 are checked against your address book(s) to see if they match an
6201 address book nickname. Failing that, (in Unix _Alpine_) the name
6202 is then checked against the Unix password file. If the entered
6203 name matches a username in the system password file, _Alpine_
6204 extracts the corresponding Full Name information for that
6205 individual, and adds that to the address being entered.
6206 However, password file matching can have surprising (incorrect)
6207 results if other users of the system do not receive mail at the
6208 domain you are using. That is, if either the user-domain or
6209 use-only-domain-name option is set such that the administrative
6210 domain of other users on the system isn't accurately reflected,
6211 _Alpine_ should be told that a password file match is
6212 coincidental, and Full Name info will be incorrect. For example,
6213 a personal name from the password file could get falsely paired
6214 with the entered name as it is turned into an address in the
6215 configured domain.
6216 If you are seeing this behavior, enabling this feature will
6217 prevent Unix _Alpine_ from looking up names in the password file
6218 to find the Full Name for incomplete addresses you enter.
6219 This feature is displayed as "Prevent User Lookup in Password
6220 File".
6221 _quit-without-confirm_
6222 This feature controls whether or not _Alpine_ will ask for
6223 confirmation when a _Quit_ command is received.
6224 This feature is displayed as "Quit Without Confirming".
6225 _quote-replace-nonflowed_
6226 This feature, which is only active when Quote-Replace-String is
6227 also set, enables quote-replacement on non-flowed messages. It
6228 is off by default because a non-flowed message is more dependent
6229 on its format, and thus quote-replacement may cause
6230 less-than-pleasing results. Setting this feature will cause
6231 quote-replacement similar to that of flowed messages, but with
6232 the added possibility of long lines being wrapped into new lines
6233 if the Quote-Replacement-String is longer than the string it is
6234 replacing, which is "> ".
6235 _reply-always-uses-reply-to_
6236 If set, _Alpine_ will not prompt when a message being replied to
6237 contains a _Reply-To:_ header value, but will simply use its
6238 value (as opposed to using the _From:_ field's value).
6239 _return-to-inbox-without-confirm_
6240 Normally, when you use the TAB command and there are no more
6241 folders or newsgroups to visit, you are asked if you want to
6242 return to the INBOX. If this feature is set you will not be
6243 asked. It will be assumed that you do want to return to the
6244 INBOX.
6245 This feature is displayed as "Return to INBOX Without
6246 Confirming".
6247 _save-aggregates-copy-sequence_
6248 This feature will optimize an aggregate copy operation, if
6249 possible, by issuing a single IMAP _COPY_ command with a list of
6250 the messages to be copied. This feature is set by default. This
6251 may reduce network traffic and elapsed time for the Save.
6252 _However, many IMAP servers (including the UW IMAP server) do not
6253 preserve the order of messages when this optimization is
6254 applied._ If this feature is not set, _Alpine_ will copy each
6255 message individually and the order of the messages will be
6256 preserved.
6257 This feature is displayed as "Save Combines Copies (may be out
6258 of order)".
6259 _save-partial-msg-without-confirm_
6260 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s Save command. By
6261 default, when you Save a message that has some deleted parts,
6262 you will be asked to confirm that you want to Save with a prompt
6263 that looks like:
6265 Saved copy will NOT include entire message! Continue?
6266 If this feature is set, you will not be asked.
6267 This feature is displayed as "Save Partial Message Without
6268 Confirming".
6269 _save-will-advance_
6270 If set, _Save_ will (in addition to copying the current message
6271 to the designated folder) also advance to the next message.
6272 _save-will-not-delete_
6273 If set, _Save_ will not mark the message Deleted (its default
6274 behavior) after it has been copied to the designated folder.
6275 _save-will-quote-leading-froms_
6276 This feature controls an aspect of the _Save_ command (and also
6277 the way outgoing messages are saved to an FCC folder). If set,
6278 _Alpine_ will add a leading > character in front of message lines
6279 beginning with "From" when they are saved to another folder,
6280 including lines syntactically distinguishable from the type of
6281 message separator line commonly used on Unix systems.
6282 The default behavior is that a > will be prepended only to lines
6283 beginning with "From " that might otherwise be confused with a
6284 message separator line on Unix systems. If _Alpine_ is the only
6285 mail program you use, this default is reasonable. If another
6286 program you use has trouble displaying a message with an
6287 unquoted From saved by _Alpine_, you should enable this feature.
6288 This feature only applies to the common Unix mailbox format that
6289 uses message separator lines beginning with "From ". If _Alpine_
6290 has been configured to use a different mailbox format (possibly
6291 incompatible with other mail programs), then this issue does not
6292 arise, and the feature is irrelevant.
6293 _scramble-message-id_
6294 Normally the Message-ID header that _Alpine_ generates when
6295 sending a message contains the name of the computer from which
6296 the message is being sent. Some believe that this hostname could
6297 be used by spammers or could be used by others for nefarious
6298 purposes. If this feature is set, that name will be transformed
6299 with a simple Rot13 transformation. The result will still have
6300 the correct syntax for a Message-ID but the part of the
6301 MessageID that is often a domain name will not be an actual
6302 domain name because the letters will be scrambled.
6303 It is possible (but unlikely?) that some spam detection software
6304 will use that as a reason to reject the mail as spam. It has
6305 also been reported that some spam detection software uses the
6306 fact that there are no dots after the "@" as a reason to reject
6307 messages. If your _PC-Alpine_ Message-ID is using a name without
6308 a dot that is because that is what Windows thinks is your "Full
6309 computer name". The method used to set this varies from one type
6310 of Windows to another but check under Settings -> Control Panel
6311 -> System and look for Network Identification or Computer Name
6312 or something similar. How to set it is beyond the scope of
6313 _Alpine_.
6314 This feature is displayed as "Scramble the Message-ID When
6315 Sending".
6316 _select-without-confirm_
6317 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s _Save_, _Export_,
6318 and _Goto_ commands. These commands all take text input to
6319 specify the name of the folder or file to be used, but allow you
6320 to press _^T_ for a list of possible names. If set, the selected
6321 name will be used immediately, without further opportunity to
6322 confirm or edit the name.
6323 This feature is displayed as "Select Ctrl-T Foldername Without
6324 Confirming".
6325 _send-without-confirm_
6326 By default, when you send or post a message you will be asked to
6327 confirm with a question that looks something like:
6329 Send message?
6330 If this feature is set, you will _not_ be prompted to confirm
6331 your intent to send and your message will be sent.
6332 If this feature is set it disables some possibilities and
6333 renders some other features meaningless. You will not be able to
6334 use Sending Filters, Verbose sending mode, Background Sending,
6335 Delivery Status Notifications, or ^V to turn off the generation
6336 of flowed text for this message. These options are normally
6337 available as suboptions in the Send prompt, but with no Send
6338 prompt the options are gone.
6339 A somewhat related feature is quell-extra-post-prompt. which may
6340 be used to eliminate the extra confirmation question when
6341 posting to a newsgroup.
6342 This feature is displayed as "Send Without Confirming".
6343 _separate-folder-and-directory-display_
6344 This feature affects folder collections wherein a folder and
6345 directory can have the same name. By default, _Alpine_ displays
6346 them only once, denoting that it is both a folder and directory
6347 by appending the folder name with the hierarchy character
6348 enclosed in square brackets.
6349 Enabling this feature will cause _Alpine_ to display such names
6350 separately marking the name representing a directory with a
6351 trailing hierarchy delimiter (typically the slash, "/",
6352 character).
6353 The feature also alters the command set slightly. By default,
6354 the right-arrow descends into the directory, while hitting the
6355 Return key will cause the folder by that name to be opened.
6356 With this feature set, the Return key will open the highlighted
6357 folder, or enter the highlighted directory.
6358 _show-cursor_
6359 If set, the system cursor will move to convenient locations in
6360 the displays. For example, to the beginning of the status field
6361 of the highlighted index line, or to the highlighted word after
6362 a successful _WhereIs_ command. It is intended to draw your
6363 attention to the _interesting_ spot on the screen.
6364 _show-plain-text-internally_
6365 This feature modifies the method _Alpine_ uses to display
6366 Text/Plain MIME attachments from the Attachment Index screen.
6367 Normally, the "View" command searches for any externally defined
6368 (usually via the Mailcap file) viewer, and displays the selected
6369 text within that viewer.
6370 Enabling this feature causes _Alpine_ to ignore any external
6371 viewer settings and always display text with _Alpine_'s internal
6372 viewer.
6373 _show-selected-in-boldface_
6374 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s aggregate
6375 operation commands; in particular, the _Select_ and _WhereIs_
6376 commands. _Select_ and _WhereIs_ (with the _^X_ subcommand) will
6377 search the current folder for messages meeting a specified
6378 criteria, and _tag_ the resulting messages with an _X_ in the
6379 first column of the applicable lines in the "Folder Index". If
6380 this feature is set, instead of using the _X_ to denote a
6381 selected message, _Alpine_ will attempt to display those index
6382 lines in boldface. Whether this is preferable to the _X_ will
6383 depend on personal taste and the type of terminal being used.
6384 _show-sort_
6385 If this feature is set and there is sufficient space on the
6386 screen, a short indication of the current sort order will be
6387 added in the titlebar (the top line on the screen), before the
6388 name of the folder. For example, with the default Arrival sort
6389 in effect, the display would have the characters
6391 [A]
6392 added between the title of the screen and the folder name. The
6393 letters are the same as the letters you may type to manually
6394 sort a folder with the SortIndex command ($). The letters in the
6395 table below are the ones that may show up in the titlebar line.
6397 A _A_rrival
6398 S _S_ubject
6399 F _F_rom
6400 T _T_o
6401 C _C_c
6402 D _D_ate
6403 Z si_Z_e
6404 O _O_rderedsubject
6405 E scor_E_
6406 H t_H_read
6407 If the sort order is Reversed, the letter above will be preceded
6408 by the letter "R", for example
6410 [RS]
6411 means that a Reverse Subject sort is in effect. For the case
6412 where the sort is in Reverse Arrival order, the "A" is left out,
6413 and just an "R" is shown.
6415 [R]
6416 This feature is displayed as "Show Sort in Titlebar".
6417 _signature-at-bottom_
6418 If this feature is set, and a message being _Repl_ied to is
6419 being included in the reply, then the contents of the signature
6420 file (if any) will be inserted after the included message. This
6421 feature does not affect the results of a _Forward_ command.
6422 _single-column-folder-list_
6423 If set, the "Folder List" screen will list one folder per line
6424 instead of several per line.
6425 _slash-collapses-entire-thread_
6426 Normally, the Collapse/Expand Thread command Collapses or
6427 Expands the subthread which starts at the currently highlighted
6428 message, if any. If this feature is set, then the slash command
6429 Collapses or Expands the _entire_ current thread instead of just
6430 the subthread.
6431 _smime-dont-do-smime_
6432 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
6433 Setting this feature turns off all of _Alpine_'s S/MIME support.
6434 You might want to set this if you are having trouble due to the
6435 S/MIME support.
6436 + General S/MIME Overview
6437 This feature is displayed as "S/MIME -- Turn off S/MIME".
6438 _smime-encrypt-by-default_
6439 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
6440 This feature only has an effect if your version of _Alpine_
6441 includes support for S/MIME. It affects _Alpine_'s behavior when
6442 you send a message. If this option is set, the "Encrypt" option
6443 will default to ON when sending messages.
6444 Only the default value is affected. In any case, you may still
6445 toggle the Encrypt option on or off before sending with the "E
6446 Encrypt" command (provided you have a the public digital ID for
6447 the recipient).
6448 + General S/MIME Overview
6449 This feature is displayed as "S/MIME -- Encrypt by Default".
6450 _smime-remember-passphrase_
6451 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
6452 This feature only has an effect if your version of _Alpine_
6453 includes support for S/MIME. If this option is set, you will
6454 only have to enter your passphrase for your private key once
6455 during an _Alpine_ session.
6456 + General S/MIME Overview
6457 This feature is displayed as "S/MIME -- Remember S/MIME
6458 Passphrase".
6459 _smime-sign-by-default_
6460 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
6461 This feature only has an effect if your version of _Alpine_
6462 includes support for S/MIME. It affects _Alpine_'s behavior when
6463 you send a message. If this option is set, the "Sign" option
6464 will default to ON when sending messages.
6465 Only the default value is affected. In any case, you may still
6466 toggle the Signing option on or off before sending with the "G
6467 Sign" command (provided you have a personal digital ID
6468 certificate).
6469 + General S/MIME Overview
6470 This feature is displayed as "S/MIME -- Sign by Default".
6471 _sort-default-fcc-alpha_
6472 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s FOLDER LIST
6473 screen. If set, the default FCC folder will be sorted
6474 alphabetically with the other folders instead of appearing right
6475 after the INBOX.
6476 This feature is displayed as "Sort Default Fcc Folder
6477 Alphabetically".
6478 _sort-default-save-alpha_
6479 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s FOLDER LIST
6480 screen. If set, the default save folder will be sorted
6481 alphabetically with the other folders instead of appearing right
6482 after the INBOX (and default FCC folder).
6483 This feature is displayed as "Sort Default Save Folder
6484 Alphabetically".
6485 _spell-check-before-sending_
6486 When this feature is set, every composed message will be
6487 spell-checked before being sent.
6488 _store-window-position-in-config_
6489 Normally, _PC-Alpine_ will store its window size and position in
6490 the Windows Registry. This is convenient if you want to use the
6491 same remote configuration from more than one PC. If you use
6492 multiple configuration files to start _PC-Alpine_, you may want
6493 to store the window size and position in the configuration file
6494 instead of in the Registry. Setting this feature causes that to
6495 happen.
6496 _strip-from-sigdashes-on-reply_
6497 This feature doesn't do anything if the feature enable-sigdashes
6498 is turned on. However, if the _enable-sigdashes_ feature is not
6499 turned on, then turning on this feature enables support for the
6500 convention of not including text beyond the sigdashes line when
6501 Replying or Following up to a message and including the text of
6502 that message.
6503 In other words, this is a way to turn on the signature stripping
6504 behavior without also turning on the dashes-adding behavior.
6505 _strip-whitespace-before=send_
6506 Trailing whitespace is not stripped from a message before
6507 sending. Trailing whitespace should have no effect on an email
6508 message, and in flowed text can aid in delimiting paragraphs.
6509 However, the old behavior of stripping trailing whitespace was
6510 in place to better deal with older clients that couldn't handle
6511 certain types of text encodings. This feature restores the old
6512 behavior
6513 Trailing whitespace is of aid to flowed-text-formatted messages,
6514 which are generated by default but can be turned off via the
6515 quell-flowed-text feature. strip-whitespace-before-send also has
6516 the effect of turning off sending of flowed text.
6517 This feature is displayed as "Strip Whitespace Before Sending".
6518 _suppress-asterisks-in-password-prompt_
6519 When you are running _Alpine_ you will sometimes be asked for a
6520 password in a prompt on the third line from the bottom of the
6521 screen. Normally each password character you type will cause an
6522 asterisk to echo on the screen. That gives you some feedback to
6523 know that your typing is being recognized. There is a very
6524 slight security risk in doing it this way because someone
6525 watching over your shoulder might be able to see how many
6526 characters there are in your password. If you'd like to suppress
6527 the echoing of the asterisks set this feature.
6528 _suppress-user-agent-when-sending_
6529 If this feature is set then _Alpine_ will not generate a
6530 User-Agent header in outgoing messages.
6531 _tab-checks-recent_
6532 In a FOLDER LIST screen, the TAB key usually just changes which
6533 folder is highlighted. If this feature is set, then the TAB key
6534 will cause the number of recent messages and the total number of
6535 messages in the highlighted folder to be displayed instead.
6536 This feature is displayed as "Tab Checks for Recent Messages".
6537 _tab-uses-unseen-for-next-folder_
6538 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when using the TAB
6539 NextNew Command to move from one folder to the next. _Alpine_'s
6540 usual behavior is to search for folders with _Recent_ messages
6541 in them. Recent messages are messages which have arrived since
6542 the last time the folder was opened.
6543 Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to search for _Unseen_
6544 messages instead of Recent messages. Unseen messages remain
6545 Unseen until you view them (or flag then as Seen with the Flag
6546 Command). Setting this feature allows you to locate messages you
6547 have not read instead of only recently received messages. When
6548 this feature is set, the feature Enable-Fast-Recent-Test will
6549 have no effect, so the checking may be slower.
6550 Another reason why you might want to use this feature is that
6551 _Alpine_ sometimes opens folders implicitly behind the scenes,
6552 and this clears the Recent status of all messages in the folder.
6553 One example where this happens is when Saving or filtering a
6554 message to another folder. If that message has some keywords
6555 set, then because of some shortcomings in the IMAP
6556 specification, the best way to ensure that those keywords are
6557 still set in the saved copy of the message is to open the folder
6558 and set the keywords explicitly. Because this clears the Recent
6559 status of all messages in that folder the folder will not be
6560 found by the NextNew command unless this feature is set.
6561 _tab-visits-next-new-message-only_
6562 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when using the _TAB_
6563 key to move from one message to the next. _Alpine_'s usual
6564 behavior is to select the next _Unread_ message or message
6565 flagged as _Important_.
6566 Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to skip the messages
6567 flagged as _Important_, and select _Unread_ messages
6568 exclusively. Tab behavior when there are no new messages left to
6569 select remains unchanged.
6570 _termdef-takes-precedence_
6571 This feature may affect _Alpine_'s low-level input routines.
6572 Termcap (or terminfo, depending on how your copy of _Alpine_ was
6573 compiled and linked) is the name of the database which describes
6574 terminal capabilities. In particular, it describes the sequences
6575 of characters that various keys will emit.
6576 An example would be the Up Arrow key on the keyboard. Up Arrow
6577 is not a distinct character on most Unix systems. When you press
6578 the Up Arrow key a short sequence of characters are produced.
6579 This sequence is supposed to be described in the termcap
6580 database by the "ku" capability (or by the "kcuu1" capability if
6581 you are using terminfo instead of termcap).
6582 By default, _Alpine_ defines some terminal escape sequences that
6583 are commonly used. For example, the sequence "ESC O A" is
6584 recognized as an Up Arrow key. The sequence "ESC [ A" is also
6585 recognized as an Up Arrow key. These are chosen because common
6586 terminals like VT100's or ANSI standard terminals produce these
6587 sequences when you press the Up Arrow key.
6588 If your system's termcap (terminfo) database assigns some other
6589 function to the sequence "ESC O A" it is usually ignored by
6590 _Alpine_. Also, if your termcap (terminfo) database assigns a
6591 sequence which doesn't begin with an escape character (ESC) it
6592 is usually ignored by _Alpine_. This usually works fine because
6593 most terminals emit the escape sequences that _Alpine_ has
6594 defined by default. We have also found that it is usually better
6595 to have these defaults take precedence over the definitions
6596 contained in the database because the defaults are more likely
6597 to be correct than the database.
6598 There are some terminals where this breaks down. If you want
6599 _Alpine_ to believe the definitions given in your termcap
6600 (terminfo) database in preference to the defaults the _Alpine_
6601 itself sets up, then you may turn this feature on. Then,
6602 sequences of characters which are defined in both termcap
6603 (terminfo) and in _Alpine_'s set of defaults will be interpreted
6604 the way that termcap (terminfo) says they should be interpreted.
6605 Also, if your terminal capabilities database assigns a sequence
6606 which doesn't begin with escape, it will not be ignored.
6607 _thread-index-shows-important-color_
6608 This option affects only the THREAD INDEX screen. Whether or not
6609 you ever see a THREAD INDEX screen depends on the setting of the
6610 configuration option threading-index-style and on the sort order
6611 of the index. If a message within a thread is flagged as
6612 Important and this option is set, then the entire line in the
6613 THREAD INDEX will be colored the color of the Index-important
6614 Symbol, which can be set using the Setup Kolor screen.
6615 _try-alternative-authentication-driver-first_
6616 This feature affects how _Alpine_ connects to IMAP servers. It's
6617 utility has largely been overtaken by events, but it may still
6618 be useful in some circumstances. If you only connect to modern
6619 IMAP servers that support "TLS" you can ignore this feature.
6620 Details:
6621 By default, _Alpine_ will attempt to connect to an IMAP server
6622 on the normal IMAP service port (143), and if the server offers
6623 "Transport Layer Security" (TLS) and _Alpine_ has been compiled
6624 with encryption capability, then a secure (encrypted) session
6625 will be negotiated.
6626 With this feature enabled, before connecting on the normal IMAP
6627 port, _Alpine_ will first attempt to connect to an alternate
6628 IMAP service port (993) used specifically for encrypted IMAP
6629 sessions via the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) method. If the SSL
6630 attempt fails, _Alpine_ will then try the default behavior
6631 described in the previous paragraph.
6632 TLS negotiation on the normal port is preferred, and supersedes
6633 the use of SSL on port 993, but older servers may not provide
6634 TLS support. This feature may be convenient when accessing IMAP
6635 servers that do not support TLS, but do support SSL connections
6636 on port 993. However, it is important to understand that with
6637 this feature enabled, _Alpine_ will _attempt_ to make a secure
6638 connection if that is possible, but it will proceed to make an
6639 insecure connection if that is the only option offered by the
6640 server, or if the _Alpine_ in question has been built without
6641 encryption capability.
6642 Note that this feature specifies a per-user (or system-wide)
6643 default behavior, but host/folder specification flags may be
6644 used to control the behavior of any specific connection. This
6645 feature interacts with some of the possible host/folder path
6646 specification flags as follows:
6647 The /tls host flag, for example,
6649 {foo.example.com/tls}INBOX
6650 will over-ride this feature for the specified host by bypassing
6651 the SSL connection attempt. Moreover, with /tls specified, the
6652 connection attempt will fail if the service on port 143 does not
6653 offer TLS support.
6654 The /ssl host flag, for example,
6656 {foo.example.com/ssl}INBOX
6657 will insist on an SSL connection for the specified host, and
6658 will fail if the SSL service on port 993 is not available.
6659 _Alpine_ will not subsequently retry a connection on port 143 if
6660 /ssl is specified.
6661 _unselect-will-not-advance_
6662 Normally, when the Unselect current message command (:) is typed
6663 when the current message is selected, the message will be
6664 unselected and the next message will become the current message.
6665 If this feature is set, the cursor will not advance to the next
6666 message. Instead, the current message will remain the current
6667 message after unselecting.
6668 _use-current-dir_
6669 This feature controls an aspect of several commands. If set,
6670 your "current working directory" will be used instead of your
6671 home directory for all of the following operations:
6672 + _Export_ in the "Folder Index" and "Message Text" screens
6673 + Attachment _Save_ in the "Message Text" and "Attachment Text"
6674 screens
6675 + _^R_ file inclusion in the Composer
6676 + _^J_ file attachment in the Composer
6677 This feature is displayed as "Use Current Directory".
6678 _use-function-keys_
6679 This feature specifies that _Alpine_ will respond to function
6680 keys instead of the normal single-letter commands. In this mode,
6681 the key menus at the bottom of each screen will show function
6682 key designations instead of the normal mnemonic key.
6683 _use-regular-startup-rule-for-stayopen-folders_
6684 This feature affects which message is selected as the current
6685 message when you enter a Stay Open folder.
6686 Normally, the starting position for an incoming folder (which
6687 most Stay Open folders will likely be) is controlled by the
6688 Incoming-Startup-Rule. However, if a folder is a Stay Open
6689 folder, when you re-enter the folder after the first time the
6690 current message will be the same as it was when you left the
6691 folder. An exception is made if you use the TAB command to get
6692 to the folder. In that case, the message number will be
6693 incremented by one from what it was when you left the folder.
6694 The above special behavior is thought to be useful. However, it
6695 is special and different from what you might at first expect. If
6696 this feature is set, then Stay Open folders will not be treated
6697 specially as far as the startup rule is concerned.
6698 _use-resent-to-in-rules_
6699 This feature is turned off by default because turning it on
6700 causes problems with some deficient IMAP servers. In _Alpine_
6701 Filters and other types of Rules, if the Pattern contains a To
6702 header pattern and this feature is turned on, then a check is
6703 made in the message to see if a Resent-To header is present, and
6704 that is used instead of the To header. If this feature is not
6705 turned on, then the regular To header will always be used.
6706 _use-sender-not-x-sender_
6707 Normally _Alpine_ on Unix adds a header line labeled
6708 _X-X-Sender_, if the sender is different from the _From:_ line.
6709 The standard specifies that this header line should be labeled
6710 _Sender_, not _X-X-Sender_. Setting this feature causes _Sender_
6711 to be used instead of _X-X-Sender_. The standard also states
6712 that the data associated with this header field should not be
6713 used as a Reply address. Unfortunately, certain implementations
6714 of mail list management servers will use the Sender address for
6715 such purposes. These implementations often even recognize the
6716 _X-Sender_ fields as being equivalent to the _Sender_ field, and
6717 use it if present. This is why _Alpine_ defaults to
6718 _X-X-Sender_.
6719 Note, _PC-Alpine_ always adds either an _X-X-Sender_ line if
6720 there is an open, remote mailbox, or an _X-Warning:
6721 UNAuthenticated User_ otherwise
6722 This feature is displayed as "Use Sender Instead of X-X-Sender".
6723 _use-subshell-for-suspend_
6724 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when process suspension
6725 is enabled and then activated via the _^Z_ key. _Alpine_
6726 suspension allows one to temporarily interact with the operating
6727 system command "shell" without quitting _Alpine_, and then
6728 subsequently resume the still-active _Alpine_ session.
6729 When the _enable-suspend_ feature is set and subsequently the
6730 _^Z_ key is pressed, _Alpine_ will normally suspend itself and
6731 return temporary control to _Alpine_'s parent shell process.
6732 However, if this feature is set, _Alpine_ will instead create an
6733 inferior subshell process. This is useful when the parent
6734 process is not intended to be used interactively. Examples
6735 include invoking _Alpine_ via the -e argument of the Unix _xterm_
6736 program, or via a menu system.
6737 Note that one typically resumes a suspended _Alpine_ by entering
6738 the Unix _fg_ command, but if this feature is set, it will be
6739 necessary to enter the _exit_ command instead.
6740 _use-system-translation_
6741 UNIX _Alpine_ only. _Alpine_ normally uses its own internal
6742 software to convert between the multi-byte representation of
6743 characters and the Unicode representation of those same
6744 characters ( see the section on International Character Sets).
6745 It converts from the multi-byte characters your keyboard
6746 produces to Unicode, and from Unicode to the multi-byte
6747 characters your display expects. Alpine also uses its own
6748 internal software to decide how much space on the screen a
6749 particular Unicode character will occupy.
6750 Setting this feature tells _Alpine_ to use the system-supplied
6751 routines to perform these tasks instead. In particular there are
6752 three tasks and three system routines that will be used for
6753 these tasks.
6754 To convert from multi-byte to Unicode the routine
6756 mbstowcs
6757 is used. To convert from Unicode to multi-byte the routine
6759 wcrtomb
6760 is used. And to find the screen width a particular Unicode
6761 character will occupy the routine used is
6763 wcwidth
6764 This feature has been only lightly tested. The internal routines
6765 should normally be used unless you run into a problem that you
6766 think may be solved by using the system routines. Note that your
6767 environment needs to be set up for these routines to work
6768 correctly. In particular, the LANG or LC_CTYPE variable in your
6769 environment will need to be set.
6770 _vertical-folder-list_
6771 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s FOLDER LIST
6772 screen. If set, the folders will be listed alphabetically down
6773 the columns rather than across the columns as is the default.
6774 This feature is displayed as "Use Vertical Folder List".
6775 _warn-if-blank-subject_
6776 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when you send a message
6777 being composed. If this option is set, _Alpine_ will check to
6778 see if the message about to be sent has a subject or not. If
6779 not, you will be asked if you want to send the message anyway.
6780 _warn-if-blank-to-and-cc-and-newsgroups_
6781 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when you send a message
6782 being composed. If this option is set, _Alpine_ will check to
6783 see if the message about to be sent has either a To address, a
6784 Cc address, or a Newsgroup. If none of these is set, you will be
6785 asked if you want to send the message anyway.
6786 This feature is closely related to fcc-only-without-confirm.
6787 _Alpine_ will normally ask if you want to copy a message only to
6788 the Fcc. This feature also applies to cases where there is a Bcc
6789 but still no To, Cc, or Newsgroup. If the
6790 Fcc-Only-Without-Confirm feature is set and you are sending a
6791 message with only an Fcc, then you won't be asked about sending
6792 with a blank To and Cc and Newsgroups header even if this
6793 feature is set. Similarly, if you have already been asked if you
6794 want to send to the Fcc only and you have answered Yes, then you
6795 won't be asked again about sending with blank To, Cc, and
6796 Newsgroups headers even if this feature is set.
6798 Hidden Config Variables and Features
6800 There are several configuration variables and features which are
6801 normally hidden from the user. That is, they don't appear on any of the
6802 configuration screens. Some of these are suppressed because they are
6803 intended to be used by system administrators, and in fact may only be
6804 set in system-wide configuration files. Others are available to users
6805 but are thought to be of such little value to most users that their
6806 presence on the Config screens would cause more confusion than help.
6807 Others are hidden in the Setup/Config screen because they are normally
6808 configured in one of the other configuration screens. For example, all
6809 of the colors are hidden because the normal way to configure colors is
6810 through Setup/Colors not Setup/Config. You may set the feature
6811 expose-hidden-config to cause most of these hidden variables and
6812 features to show up at the bottom of the Setup/Config screen.
6814 Hidden Variables Not Settable by Users
6816 These variables are settable only in system-wide configuration files.
6817 * bugs-additional-data
6818 * bugs-address
6819 * bugs-fullname
6820 * forced-abook-entry
6821 * kblock-passwd-count
6822 * local-address
6823 * local-fullname
6824 * mail-directory
6825 * standard-printer
6826 * suggest-address
6827 * suggest-fullname
6829 Hidden Variables Which are Settable by Users
6831 These variables are not shown to users but are settable by means of
6832 hand editing the personal configuration file. This first group is
6833 usually maintained by _Alpine_ and there will usually be no reason to
6834 edit them by hand.
6835 * last-version-used
6836 * patterns-filters2
6837 * patterns-indexcolors
6838 * patterns-roles
6839 * patterns-scores2
6840 * remote-abook-metafile
6842 This group is usually correct but may be changed by system managers or
6843 users in special cases.
6844 * disable-these-authenticators
6845 * disable-these-drivers
6846 * last-time-prune-questioned
6847 * new-version-threshold
6848 * remote-abook-history
6849 * remote-abook-validity
6850 * rsh-command
6851 * rsh-open-timeout
6852 * rsh-path
6853 * sendmail-path
6854 * ssh-command
6855 * ssh-open-timeout
6856 * ssh-path
6857 * tcp-open-timeout
6858 * tcp-query-timeout
6859 * tcp-read-warning-timeout
6860 * tcp-write-warning-timeout
6861 * use-function-keys
6863 System managers are usually interested in setting these in the
6864 system-wide configuration files, though users may set them if they
6865 wish.
6866 * operating-dir
6867 * user-input-timeout
6869 Hidden Features Which are Settable by Users
6871 These are _features_ (as opposed to variables) which users or system
6872 administrators may set. Some of them only make sense for
6873 administrators. To turn these on manually, the configuration file
6874 should be edited and the feature added to the _feature-list_ variable.
6875 You may set the feature expose-hidden-config to cause these hidden
6876 features to show up in the Setup/Config screen. They will be at the
6877 bottom of the screen.
6878 * disable-config-cmd
6879 * disable-keyboard-lock-cmd
6880 * disable-password-cmd
6881 * disable-pipes-in-sigs
6882 * disable-pipes-in-templates
6883 * disable-roles-setup-cmd
6884 * disable-roles-sig-edit
6885 * disable-roles-template-edit
6886 * disable-setlocale-collate
6887 * disable-shared-namespaces
6888 * disable-signature-edit-cmd
6890 Retired Variables and Features
6892 Variables and features that are no longer used by the current _Alpine_
6893 version. When an obsolete variable is encountered, its value is applied
6894 to any new corresponding setting. The replaced values include:
6896 _character-set_
6897 Replaced by three separate variables: _display-character-set_,
6898 _keyboard-character-set_, and _posting-character-set_.
6899 _compose-mime_
6900 _elm-style-save_
6901 Replaced by _saved-msg-name-rule_
6902 _feature-level_
6903 Replaced by _feature-list._
6904 _header-in-reply_
6905 Replaced by _include-header-in-reply_ in the _feature-list._
6906 _old-style-reply_
6907 Replaced by _signature-at-bottom_ in the _feature-list._
6908 _use-old-unix-format-write_
6909 No replacement.
6910 _patterns_
6911 Replaced by four separate patterns variables: _patterns-roles_,
6912 _patterns-filters_, _patterns-scores_, and
6913 _patterns-indexcolors_. Since then, _patterns-filters_ has also
6914 become obsolete and is replaced by _patterns-filters2_;
6915 _patterns-scores_ is replaced by _patterns-scores2_.
6916 _save-by-sender_
6917 Replaced by _saved-msg-name-rule._
6918 _show-all-characters_
6919 No replacement, it always works this way now.
6921 Tokens for Index and Replying
6923 This set of special tokens may be used in the index-format option, in
6924 the reply-leadin option, in signature files, in template files used in
6925 roles, and in the folder name that is the target of a Filter Rule. Some
6926 of them aren't available in all situations.
6928 The tokens are used as they appear below for the _Index-Format_ option,
6929 but they must be surrounded by underscores for the _Reply-Leadin_
6930 option, in signature and template files, and in the target of Filter
6931 Rules.
6933 _Tokens Available for all Cases (except Filter Rules)_
6935 SUBJECT
6936 This token represents the Subject the sender gave the message.
6937 Alternatives for use in the index screen are SUBJKEY,
6938 SUBJKEYINIT, SUBJECTTEXT, SUBJKEYTEXT, and SUBJKEYINITTEXT. You
6939 may color the subject text in the MESSAGE INDEX screen
6940 differently by using the Index Subject Color and the Index
6941 Opening Color. options available from the Setup Kolor screen.
6943 FROM
6944 This token represents the personal name (or email address if the
6945 name is unavailable) of the person specified in the message's
6946 "From:" header field. You may color the from text in the MESSAGE
6947 INDEX screen differently by using the Index From Color option
6948 available from the Setup Kolor screen.
6950 ADDRESS
6951 This is similar to the "FROM" token, only it is always the email
6952 address, never the personal name. For example, "mailbox@domain".
6954 MAILBOX
6955 This is the same as the "ADDRESS" except that the domain part of
6956 the address is left off. For example, "mailbox".
6958 SENDER
6959 This token represents the personal name (or email address) of
6960 the person listed in the message's "Sender:" header field.
6962 TO
6963 This token represents the personal names (or email addresses if
6964 the names are unavailable) of the persons specified in the
6965 message's "To:" header field.
6967 NEWSANDTO
6968 This token represents the newsgroups from the message's
6969 "Newsgroups:" header field _and_ the personal names (or email
6970 addresses if the names are unavailable) of the persons specified
6971 in the message's "To:" header field.
6973 TOANDNEWS
6974 Same as "NEWSANDTO" except in the opposite order.
6976 NEWS
6977 This token represents the newsgroups from the message's
6978 "Newsgroups:" header field.
6980 CC
6981 This token represents the personal names (or email addresses if
6982 the names are unavailable) of the persons specified in the
6983 message's "Cc:" header field.
6985 RECIPS
6986 This token represents the personal names (or email addresses if
6987 the names are unavailable) of the persons specified in both the
6988 message's "To:" header field and the message's "Cc:" header
6989 field.
6991 NEWSANDRECIPS
6992 This token represents the newsgroups from the message's
6993 "Newsgroups:" header field _and_ the personal names (or email
6994 addresses if the names are unavailable) of the persons specified
6995 in the message's "To:" and "Cc:" header fields.
6997 RECIPSANDNEWS
6998 Same as "NEWSANDRECIPS" except in the opposite order.
7000 INIT
7001 This token represents the initials from the personal name of the
7002 person specified in the message's "From:" header field. If there
7003 is no personal name, it is blank.
7005 DATE
7006 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7007 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format MMM DD.
7008 For example, "Oct 23". The feature convert-dates-to-localtime,
7009 which adjusts for the timezone the message was sent from, may
7010 have an affect on the value of this token as well as the values
7011 of all of the other DATE or TIME tokens. Some of the DATE and
7012 TIME tokens are displayed in a locale-specific way unless the
7013 option Disable-Index-Locale-Dates is set.
7015 SMARTDATE
7016 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7017 according to the "Date" header field. It is "Today" if the
7018 message was sent today, "Yesterday" for yesterday, "Wednesday"
7019 if it was last Wednesday, and so on. If the message is from last
7020 year and is more than six months old it includes the year, as
7021 well. There is no adjustment made for different time zones, so
7022 you'll get the day the message was sent according to the time
7023 zone the sender was in. See the SMARTDATE alternatives below, as
7024 well.
7026 SMARTTIME
7027 This token represents the most relevant elements of the date on
7028 which the message was sent (according to the "Date" header
7029 field), in a compact form. If the message was sent today, only
7030 the time is used (e.g. "9:22am", "10:07pm"); if it was sent
7031 during the past week, the day of the week and the hour are used
7032 (e.g. "Wed09am", "Thu10pm"); other dates are given as date,
7033 month, and year (e.g. "23Aug00", "9Apr98"). There is no
7034 adjustment made for different time zones, so you'll get the
7035 day/time the message was sent according to the time zone the
7036 sender was in.
7038 SMARTDATETIME
7039 This is a combination of SMARTDATE and SMARTTIME. It is
7040 SMARTDATE unless the SMARTDATE value is "Today", in which case
7041 it is SMARTTIME. See the SMARTDATETIME alternatives below, as
7042 well.
7044 DATEISO
7045 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7046 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7047 YYYY-MM-DD. For example, "1998-10-23".
7049 SHORTDATEISO
7050 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7051 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7052 YY-MM-DD. For example, "98-10-23".
7054 SHORTDATE1
7055 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7056 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7057 MM/DD/YY. For example, "10/23/98".
7059 SHORTDATE2
7060 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7061 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7062 DD/MM/YY. For example, "23/10/98".
7064 SHORTDATE3
7065 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7066 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7067 DD.MM.YY. For example, "23.10.98".
7069 SHORTDATE4
7070 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7071 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7072 YY.MM.DD. For example, "98.10.23".
7074 LONGDATE
7075 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7076 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format MMM DD,
7077 YYYY. For example, "Oct 23, 1998".
7079 SMARTDATE alternatives
7080 There are several versions of SMARTDATE which are all the same
7081 except for the way they format dates far in the past. SMARTDATE
7082 formats the date using the information from your locale settings
7083 to format the date string. It may end up formatting dates so
7084 that they look like DATEISO tokens, or SHORTDATE2 tokens, or
7085 something else entirely. The feature convert-dates-to-localtime
7086 may have an affect on the values of these tokens. If you want
7087 more control you may use one of the following.
7089 SMARTDATE
7090 If the option Disable-Index-Locale-Dates is not set then
7091 this will be locale specific. Control this with the
7092 LC_TIME locale setting on a UNIX system. On Windows the
7093 Regional Options control panel may be used to set the
7094 Short date format. At the programming level, the strftime
7095 routine is what _Alpine_ uses to print the date. If the
7096 Disable-Index-Locale-Dates option is set then this is
7097 equivalent to SMARTDATES1.
7099 SMARTDATEISO
7100 DATEISO format. See text above.
7102 SMARTDATESHORTISO
7103 SHORTDATEISO format.
7105 SMARTDATES1
7106 SHORTDATE1 format.
7108 SMARTDATES2
7109 SHORTDATE2 format.
7111 SMARTDATES3
7112 SHORTDATE3 format.
7114 SMARTDATES4
7115 SHORTDATE4 format.
7117 SMARTDATETIME alternatives
7118 There are several versions of SMARTDATETIME which are all very
7119 similar. The ones which end in 24 use a 24-hour clock for
7120 Today's messages instead of a 12-hour clock. The other variation
7121 is for the way they format dates far in the past. SMARTDATETIME
7122 and SMARTDATETIME24 format the date using the information from
7123 your locale settings to format the date string. It may end up
7124 formatting dates so that they look like DATEISO tokens, or
7125 SHORTDATE2 tokens, or something else entirely. The feature
7126 convert-dates-to-localtime may have an affect on the values of
7127 these tokens. The possible choices are:
7129 SMARTDATETIME
7130 Locale specific. Control this with the LC_TIME locale
7131 setting on a UNIX system. On Windows the Regional Options
7132 control panel may be used to set the Short date format. At
7133 the programming level, the strftime routine is what
7134 _Alpine_ uses to print the date.
7136 SMARTDATETIME
7137 If the option Disable-Index-Locale-Dates is not set then
7138 this will be locale specific. Control this with the
7139 LC_TIME locale setting on a UNIX system. On Windows the
7140 Regional Options control panel may be used to set the
7141 Short date format. At the programming level, the strftime
7142 routine is what _Alpine_ uses to print the date. If the
7143 Disable-Index-Locale-Dates option is set then this is
7144 equivalent to SMARTDATETIMES1.
7146 SMARTDATETIME24
7147 Use TIME24 for Today
7149 SMARTDATETIMEISO
7150 DATEISO format. See text above.
7152 SMARTDATETIMEISO24
7153 Use TIME24 for Today
7155 SMARTDATETIMESHORTISO
7156 SHORTDATEISO format.
7158 SMARTDATETIMESHORTISO24
7159 Use TIME24 for Today
7161 SMARTDATETIMES1
7162 SHORTDATE1 format.
7164 SMARTDATETIMES124
7165 Use TIME24 for Today
7167 SMARTDATETIMES2
7168 SHORTDATE2 format.
7170 SMARTDATETIMES224
7171 Use TIME24 for Today
7173 SMARTDATETIMES3
7174 SHORTDATE3 format.
7176 SMARTDATETIMES324
7177 Use TIME24 for Today
7179 SMARTDATETIMES4
7180 SHORTDATE4 format.
7182 SMARTDATETIMES424
7183 Use TIME24 for Today
7185 DAYDATE
7186 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7187 according to the "Date" header field. It looks like "Sat, 23 Oct
7188 1998". This token is never converted in any locale-specific way.
7190 PREFDATE
7191 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7192 according to the "Date" header field. It is your operating
7193 system's idea of the preferred date representation for the
7194 current locale. Internally it uses the %x version of the date
7195 from the strftime routine.
7197 PREFTIME
7198 This token represents the time at which the message was sent,
7199 according to the "Date" header field. It is the preferred time
7200 representation for the current locale. Internally it uses the %X
7201 version of the time from the strftime routine.
7203 PREFDATETIME
7204 This token represents the date and time at which the message was
7205 sent, according to the "Date" header field. It is the preferred
7206 date and time representation for the current locale. Internally
7207 it uses the %c version of the time from the strftime routine.
7209 DAY
7210 This token represents the day of the month on which the message
7211 was sent, according to the "Date" header field. For example,
7212 "23" or "9".
7214 DAY2DIGIT
7215 This token represents the day of the month on which the message
7216 was sent, according to the "Date" header field. For example,
7217 "23" or "09". It is always 2 digits.
7219 DAYORDINAL
7220 This token represents the ordinal number which is the day of the
7221 month on which the message was sent, according to the "Date"
7222 header field. For example, "23rd" or "9th".
7224 DAYOFWEEK
7225 This token represents the day of the week on which the message
7226 was sent, according to the "Date" header field. For example,
7227 "Sunday" or "Wednesday".
7229 DAYOFWEEKABBREV
7230 This token represents the day of the week on which the message
7231 was sent, according to the "Date" header field. For example,
7232 "Sun" or "Wed".
7234 MONTHABBREV
7235 This token represents the month the message was sent, according
7236 to the "Date" header field. For example, "Oct".
7238 MONTHLONG
7239 This token represents the month in which the message was sent,
7240 according to the "Date" header field. For example, "October".
7242 MONTH
7243 This token represents the month in which the message was sent,
7244 according to the "Date" header field. For example, "10" or "9".
7246 MONTH2DIGIT
7247 This token represents the month in which the message was sent,
7248 according to the "Date" header field. For example, "10" or "09".
7249 It is always 2 digits.
7251 YEAR
7252 This token represents the year the message was sent, according
7253 to the "Date" header field. For example, "1998" or "2001".
7255 YEAR2DIGIT
7256 This token represents the year the message was sent, according
7257 to the "Date" header field. For example, "98" or "01". It is
7258 always 2 digits.
7260 TIME24
7261 This token represents the time at which the message was sent,
7262 according to the "Date" header field. There is no adjustment
7263 made for different time zones, so you'll get the time the
7264 message was sent according to the time zone the sender was in.
7265 It has the format HH:MM. For example, "17:28".
7267 TIME12
7268 This token represents the time at which the message was sent,
7269 according to the "Date" header field. This time is for a 12 hour
7270 clock. It has the format HH:MMpm. For example, "5:28pm" or
7271 "11:13am".
7273 TIMEZONE
7274 This token represents the numeric timezone from the "Date"
7275 header field. It has the format [+-]HHMM. For example, "-0800".
7277 _Tokens Available Only for Index-Format_
7279 MSGNO
7280 This token represents the message's current position in the
7281 folder which, of course, may change as the folder is sorted or
7282 new mail arrives.
7284 STATUS
7285 This token represents a three character wide field displaying
7286 various aspects of the message's state. The first character is
7287 either blank, a '*' for message marked Important, or a '+'
7288 indicating a message addressed directly to you (as opposed to
7289 your having received it via a mailing list, for example). When
7290 the feature mark-for-cc is set, if the first character would
7291 have been blank then it will instead be a '-' if the message is
7292 cc'd to you. The second character is typically blank, though the
7293 arrow cursor may occupy it if either the assume-slow-link or the
7294 force-arrow-cursor feature is set (or you actually are on a slow
7295 link). The third character is either D (Deleted), A (Answered),
7296 N (New), or blank.
7298 If you are using a threaded view of the index and this message
7299 is at the top of a collapsed portion of a thread, then this
7300 token refers to all of the messages in the collapsed portion of
7301 the thread instead of just the top message. The first character
7302 will be a '*' if _any_ of the messages in the thread are marked
7303 Important, else a '+' if any of the messages are addressed to
7304 you, else a '-' if any of the messages are cc'd to you. The
7305 third character will be a 'D' if _all_ of the messages in the
7306 collapsed thread are marked deleted, an 'A' if _all_ of the
7307 messages in the collapsed thread are marked answered, it will be
7308 an 'N' if any of the messages are undeleted and unseen, and it
7309 will be blank otherwise.
7311 FULLSTATUS
7312 This token represents a less abbreviated alternative to the
7313 "STATUS" token. It is six characters wide. The first character
7314 is '+', '-', or blank, the second blank, the third either '*' or
7315 blank, the fourth N or blank, the fifth A or blank, and the
7316 sixth character is either D or blank.
7318 If you are using a threaded view of the index and this message
7319 is at the top of a collapsed portion of a thread, then this
7320 token refers to all of the messages in the collapsed portion of
7321 the thread instead of just the top message. The first character
7322 is '+', '-', or blank depending on whether _any_ of the messages
7323 in the collapsed thread are addressed to you or cc'd to you. The
7324 third character will be '*' if any of the messages are marked
7325 Important. The fourth character will be 'N' if all of the
7326 messages in the thread are New, else 'n' if some of the messages
7327 in the thread are New, else blank. The fifth character will be
7328 'A' or 'a' or blank, and the sixth character will be 'D' or 'd'
7329 or blank.
7331 IMAPSTATUS
7332 This token represents an even less abbreviated alternative to
7333 the "STATUS" token. It differs from "FULLSTATUS" in only the
7334 fourth character which is an 'N' if the message is new to this
7335 folder since the last time it was opened _and_ it has not been
7336 viewed, an 'R' (Recent) if the message is new to the folder and
7337 has been viewed, a 'U' (Unseen) if the message is not new to the
7338 folder since it was last opened _but_ has not been viewed, or a
7339 blank if the message has been in the folder since it was last
7340 opened and has been viewed.
7342 If you are using a threaded view of the index and this message
7343 is at the top of a collapsed portion of a thread, then the
7344 fourth character will be 'N' if all of the messages in the
7345 thread are unseen and recent; else 'n' if some of the messages
7346 in the thread are unseen and recent; else 'U' if all of the
7347 messages in the thread are unseen and not recent; else 'u' if
7348 some of the messages in the thread are unseen and not recent;
7349 else 'R' if all of the messages in the thread are seen and
7350 recent; else 'r' if some of the messages in the thread are seen
7351 and recent; else blank.
7353 SHORTIMAPSTATUS
7354 This is the same as the last four of the six characters of
7355 IMAPSTATUS, so the '+' To Me information will be missing.
7357 SIZE
7358 This token represents the total size, in bytes, of the message.
7359 If a "K" (Kilobyte) follows the number, the size is
7360 approximately 1,000 times that many bytes (rounded to the
7361 nearest 1,000). If an "M" (Megabyte) follows the number, the
7362 size is approximately 1,000,000 times that many bytes. Commas
7363 are not used in this field. This field is seven characters wide,
7364 including the enclosing parentheses. Sizes are rounded when "K"
7365 or "M" is present. The progression of sizes used looks like:
7367 0 1 ... 9999 10K ... 999K 1.0M ... 99.9M 100M ... 2000M
7369 SIZECOMMA
7370 This token represents the total size, in bytes, of the message.
7371 If a "K" (Kilobyte) follows the number, the size is
7372 approximately 1,000 times that many bytes (rounded to the
7373 nearest 1,000). If an "M" (Megabyte) follows the number, the
7374 size is approximately 1,000,000 times that many bytes. Commas
7375 are used if the number shown is 1,000 or greater. The SIZECOMMA
7376 field is one character wider than the SIZE field. Sizes are
7377 rounded when "K" or "M" is present. The progression of sizes
7378 used looks like:
7380 0 1 ... 99,999 100K ... 9,999K 10.0M ... 999.9M 1,000M ... 2,000M
7382 KSIZE
7383 This token represents the total size of the message, expressed
7384 in kilobytes or megabytes, as most appropriate. These are 1,024
7385 byte kilobytes and 1,024 x 1,024 byte megabytes. The progression
7386 of sizes used looks like:
7388 0K 1K ... 1023K 1.0M ... 99.9M 100M ... 2047M
7390 SIZENARROW
7391 This token represents the total size, in bytes, of the message.
7392 If a "K" (Kilobyte) follows the number, the size is
7393 approximately 1,000 times that many bytes. If an "M" (Megabyte)
7394 follows the number, the size is approximately 1,000,000 times
7395 that many bytes. If a "G" (Gigabyte) follows the number, the
7396 size is approximately 1,000,000,000 times that many bytes. This
7397 field uses only five characters of screen width, including the
7398 enclosing parentheses. The progression of sizes used looks like:
7400 0 1 ... 999 1K ... 99K .1M ... .9M 1M ... 99M .1G ... .9G 1G 2G
7402 DESCRIPSIZE
7403 This token is intended to represent a more useful description of
7404 the message than just its size, but it isn't very useful at this
7405 point. The plus sign in this view means there are attachments.
7406 Note that including this token in the "Index-Format" could slow
7407 down the display a little while _Alpine_ collects the necessary
7408 information.
7410 SUBJKEY
7411 This token is the same as the SUBJECT token unless keywords are
7412 set for the message. In that case, a list of keywords enclosed
7413 in braces will be prepended to the subject of the message. Only
7414 those keywords that you have defined in your Keywords option in
7415 Setup/Config are considered in the list. In other words,
7416 keywords that have been set by some other means, perhaps by
7417 another email program, won't show up unless included in
7418 Keywords. Having this set in the Index-Format will also cause
7419 the keywords to be prepended to the subject in the MESSAGE TEXT
7420 screen. If you have given a keyword a nickname (keywords), that
7421 nickname is displayed instead of the actual keyword. The
7422 keyword-surrounding-chars option may be used to modify this
7423 token slightly. It is also possible to color keywords in the
7424 index using the Setup/Kolor screen.
7426 SUBJKEYINIT
7427 This token is the same as the SUBJKEY token except that instead
7428 of prepending a list of keywords to the subject, a list of first
7429 initials of keywords will be prepended instead. For example, if
7430 a message has the keywords _Work_ and _Now_ set (or Work and Now
7431 are the _Alpine_ nicknames of keywords which are set) then the
7432 SUBJKEY token would cause a result like
7434 {Work Now} actual subject
7436 whereas the SUBJKEYINIT token would give
7438 {WN} actual subject
7440 Only those keywords that you have defined in your Keywords
7441 option in Setup/Config are considered in the list. In other
7442 words, keywords that have been set by some other means, perhaps
7443 by another email program, won't show up unless included in
7444 Keywords. The keyword-surrounding-chars option may be used to
7445 modify this token slightly. It is also possible to color
7446 keywords in the index using the Setup/Kolor screen.
7448 SUBJECTTEXT
7449 Same as SUBJECT but if there is room in the Subject field for
7450 more text, the opening part of the text of the message is
7451 displayed after the subject. The time needed to fetch the text
7452 may cause a performance problem which can, of course, be avoided
7453 by using the SUBJECT version of the Subject instead. You may
7454 color this opening text differently by using the Index Opening
7455 Color option available from the Setup Kolor screen. You may
7456 adjust the characters that are displayed between the Subject and
7457 the opening text with the option Opening-Text-Separator-Chars.
7459 SUBJKEYTEXT
7460 Same as SUBJKEY but with the opening message text.
7462 SUBJKEYINITTEXT
7463 Same as SUBJKEYINIT but with the opening message text.
7465 OPENINGTEXT
7466 This is similar to SUBJECTTEXT. Instead of combining the Subject
7467 and the opening text in a single field in the index screen this
7468 token allows you to allocate a separate column just for the
7469 opening text of the message. The time needed to fetch this text
7470 may cause a performance problem. You may color this opening text
7471 differently by using the Index Opening Color option available
7472 from the Setup Kolor screen.
7474 OPENINGTEXTNQ
7475 This is very similar to OPENINGTEXT. The NQ stands for No
7476 Quotes. The only difference is that quoted text (lines beginning
7477 with >) is deleted. For some messages this may be confusing. For
7478 example, a message might have a line preceding some quoted text
7479 that reads something like "On May 8th person A said." That no
7480 longer makes sense after the quoted text is deleted and it will
7481 appear that person A said whatever the text after the quote is,
7482 even though that is really person B talking.
7484 KEY
7485 This is a space-delimited list of keywords that are set for the
7486 message. Only those keywords that you have defined in your
7487 Keywords option in Setup/Config are considered in the list. In
7488 other words, keywords that have been set by some other means,
7489 perhaps by another email program, won't show up unless included
7490 in Keywords. If you have given a keyword a nickname that
7491 nickname is displayed instead of the actual keyword. It is also
7492 possible to color keywords in the index using the Setup/Kolor
7493 screen. This token defaults to an arbitrary width of 5. You
7494 should set it to whatever width suits you using something like
7495 KEY(17) in the Index-Format.
7497 KEYINIT
7498 This is a list of keyword initials that are set for the message.
7499 If you have given a keyword a nickname the initial of that
7500 nickname is displayed instead of the initial of the actual
7501 keyword. It is also possible to color keyword initials in the
7502 index using the Setup/Kolor screen. This token defaults to an
7503 arbitrary width of 2. You should set it to whatever width suits
7504 you using something like KEYINIT(3) in the Index-Format.
7506 PRIORITY
7507 The X-Priority header is a non-standard header that is used in a
7508 somewhat standard way by many mail programs. _Alpine_ expects
7509 the value of this header to be a digit with a value from 1 to 5,
7510 with 1 being the highest priority and 5 the lowest priority.
7511 Since this priority is something that the sender sets it is only
7512 an indication of the priority that the sender attaches to the
7513 mail and it is therefore almost totally unreliable for use as a
7514 filtering criterion. This token will display the numeric value
7515 of the priority if it is between 1 and 5. It will be suppressed
7516 (blank) if the value is 3, which is normal priority. It is also
7517 possible to set the color of the PRIORITY field. By default the
7518 token is colored the same as the index line it is part of. You
7519 may set it to be another color with the Index Priority Colors
7520 options available from the Setup Kolor screen.
7522 PRIORITYALPHA
7523 This is a more verbose interpretation of the X-Priority field.
7524 Once again nothing is displayed unless the value of the field is
7525 1, 2, 4, or 5. The values displayed for those values are:
7527 1 Highest
7528 2 High
7529 4 Low
7530 5 Lowest
7532 You may color this token with the Index Priority Colors options.
7534 PRIORITY!
7535 This is a one character, non-numeric version of the X-Priority
7536 field. If the value of the X-Priority header is 1 or 2 an
7537 exclamation point is displayed. If the value is 4 or 5 a "v"
7538 (think down arrow) is displayed. You may color this token with
7539 the Index Priority Colors options.
7541 ATT
7542 This is a one column wide field which represents the number of
7543 attachments a message has. It will be blank if there are no
7544 attachments, a single digit for one to nine attachments, or an
7545 asterisk for more than nine. Note that including this token in
7546 the "Index-Format" could slow down the display a little while
7547 _Alpine_ collects the necessary information.
7549 FROMORTO
7550 This token represents _either_ the personal name (or email
7551 address) of the person listed in the message's "From:" header
7552 field, _or_, if that address is yours or one of your alternate
7553 addresses, the first person specified in the message's "To:"
7554 header field with the prefix "To: " prepended. If the from
7555 address is yours and there is also no "To" address, _Alpine_
7556 will use the address on the "Cc" line. If there is no address
7557 there, either, _Alpine_ will look for a newsgroup name from the
7558 "Newsgroups" header field and put that after the "To: " prefix.
7560 FROMORTONOTNEWS
7561 This is almost the same as _FROMORTO_. The difference is that
7562 newsgroups aren't considered. When a message is from you,
7563 doesn't have a To or Cc, and does have a Newsgroups header; this
7564 token will be your name instead of the name of the newsgroup
7565 (like it would be with FROMORTO).
7567 TEXT
7568 This is a different sort of token. It allows you to display a
7569 label within each index line. It will be the same fixed text for
7570 each line. It is different from all the other tokens in that
7571 there is no space column displayed after this token. Instead, it
7572 is butted up against the following field. It also has a
7573 different syntax. The text to display is given following a colon
7574 after the word "TEXT". For example,
7576 TEXT:abc=
7578 would insert the literal text "abc=" (without the quotes) into
7579 the index display line. You must quote the text if it includes
7580 space characters, like
7582 TEXT:"abc = "
7584 HEADER
7585 This allows you to display the text from a particular header
7586 line in the message. The syntax for this token is substantially
7587 different from all the others in order that you might be able to
7588 display a portion of the text following a particular header. The
7589 header name you are interested in is given following a colon
7590 after the word "HEADER". For example,
7592 HEADER:X-Spam
7594 would display the text of the X-Spam header, if any. Like for
7595 other index tokens a width field may (and probably should)
7596 follow this.
7598 HEADER:X-Spam(10)
7600 displays the first ten characters of the X-Spam header. Unlike
7601 other index tokens, the syntax for HEADER is more flexible. An
7602 optional second argument comes after a comma inside the
7603 parentheses. It specifies the "field" number. By default, the
7604 field separator is a space character. No extra space characters
7605 are allowed in the argument list.
7607 HEADER:X-Spam(10,2)
7609 would display the second field, left-justified, in a 10
7610 character wide field. The second field would consist of all the
7611 text after the first space up to the next space or the end of
7612 the header. The default field number is zero, which stands for
7613 the entire line. There is also an optional third argument which
7614 is a list of field separators. It defaults to a space character.
7615 The example
7617 HEADER:X-Spam(10,2,:% )
7619 would cause the field separators to be any of colon, percent, or
7620 space (there is a space character between the percent and the
7621 right parenthesis). The first field runs from the start of the
7622 header value up to the first colon, percent, or space; the
7623 second goes from there to the next; and so on. In order to use a
7624 comma character as a field separator you must escape it by
7625 preceding it with a backslash (\). The same is true of the
7626 backslash character itself. There is one further optional
7627 argument. It is an R or an L to specify right or left adjustment
7628 of the text within the field. The default is to left justify,
7629 however if you are displaying numbers you might prefer to right
7630 justify.
7632 Here's an example of a SpamAssassin header. The exact look of
7633 the header will vary, but if your incoming mail contains headers
7634 that look like the following
7636 X-Spam-Status: Yes, hits=10.6 tagged_above=-999.0 required=7.0
7637 tests=BAYE...
7639 you might want to display the hits value. The first field starts
7640 with the Y in Yes. To get what you're interested in you might
7641 use "=" and space as the field separators and display the third
7642 field, like
7644 HEADER:X-Spam-Status(4,3,= )
7646 or maybe you would break at the dot instead
7648 HEADER:X-Spam-Status(2,2,=.,R)
7650 Another example we've seen has headers that look like
7652 X-Spam: Gauge=IIIIIII, Probability=7%, Report=...
7654 Because there are two equals and a comma before the 7% and a
7655 comma after it, the token
7657 HEADER:X-Spam-Status(3,4,=\,,R)
7659 should display the probability (for example 7% or 83%) right
7660 justified in a 3-wide field.
7662 ARROW
7663 This gives an alternative way to display the current message in
7664 the MESSAGE INDEX screen. Usually the current message is
7665 indicated by the line being shown in reverse video. Instead, if
7666 the ARROW token is included in your Index-Format, the current
7667 line will include an "arrow" that looks like
7669 ->
7671 in the ARROW token's field. For all of the non-current messages,
7672 the ARROW field will be filled with blanks. If you use the
7673 fixed-field width feature the length of the "arrow" may be
7674 adjusted. The arrow will be drawn as width-1 dashes followed by
7675 a greater than sign. For example, if you use ARROW(3) you will
7676 get
7678 -->
7680 and ARROW(1) will give you just
7682 >
7684 It is also possible to set the color of the ARROW field. By
7685 default (and for non-current messages) the arrow is colored the
7686 same as the index line it is part of. You may set it to be
7687 another color with the Index Arrow Color option available from
7688 the Setup Kolor screen.
7690 SCORE
7691 This gives the score of each message. This will be six columns
7692 wide to accomodate the widest possible score. You will probably
7693 want to use the Index-Format fixed-field width feature to limit
7694 the width of the field to the widest score that you use (e.g.
7695 SCORE(3) if your scores are always between 0 and 999). If you
7696 have not defined any score rules the scores will all be zero. If
7697 any of your score rules contain AllText or BodyText patterns
7698 then including SCORE in the Index-Format may slow down the
7699 display of the MESSAGE INDEX screen.
7701 _Tokens Available for all but Index-Format_
7703 CURNEWS
7704 This token represents the current newsgroup if there is one. For
7705 example, "comp.mail.pine".
7707 MSGID
7708 This token represents the message ID of the message. This token
7709 does not work with Filter Rule folder names.
7711 CURDATE
7712 This token represents the current date. It has the format MMM
7713 DD. For example, "Oct 23".
7715 CURDATEISO
7716 This token represents the current date. It has the format
7717 YYYY-MM-DD. For example, "1998-10-23".
7719 CURDATEISOS
7720 This token represents the current date. It has the format
7721 YY-MM-DD. For example, "98-10-23".
7723 CURPREFDATE
7724 This token represents the current date. It is your operating
7725 system's idea of the preferred date representation for the
7726 current locale. Internally it uses the %x version of the date
7727 from the strftime routine.
7729 CURPREFTIME
7730 This token represents the current time. It is the preferred time
7731 representation for the current locale. Internally it uses the %X
7732 version of the time from the strftime routine.
7734 CURPREFDATETIME
7735 This token represents the current date and time. It is the
7736 preferred date and time representation for the current locale.
7737 Internally it uses the %c version of the time from the strftime
7738 routine.
7740 CURTIME24
7741 This token represents the current time. It has the format HH:MM.
7742 For example, "17:28".
7744 CURTIME12
7745 This token represents the current time. This time is for a 12
7746 hour clock. It has the format HH:MMpm. For example, "5:28pm" or
7747 "11:13am".
7749 CURDAY
7750 This token represents the current day of the month. For example,
7751 "23" or "9".
7753 CURDAY2DIGIT
7754 This token represents the current day of the month. For example,
7755 "23" or "09". It is always 2 digits.
7757 CURDAYOFWEEK
7758 This token represents the current day of the week. For example,
7759 "Sunday" or "Wednesday".
7761 CURDAYOFWEEKABBREV
7762 This token represents the current day of the week. For example,
7763 "Sun" or "Wed".
7765 CURMONTH
7766 This token represents the current month. For example, "10" or
7767 "9".
7769 CURMONTH2DIGIT
7770 This token represents the current month. For example, "10" or
7771 "09". It is always 2 digits.
7773 CURMONTHLONG
7774 This token represents the current month. For example, "October".
7776 CURMONTHABBREV
7777 This token represents the current month. For example, "Oct".
7779 CURYEAR
7780 This token represents the current year. For example, "1998" or
7781 "2001".
7783 CURYEAR2DIGIT
7784 This token represents the current year. For example, "98" or
7785 "01". It is always 2 digits.
7787 LASTMONTH
7788 This token represents last month. For example, if this is
7789 November (the 11th month), it is equal to "10" or if this is
7790 October (the 10th month), it is "9". It is possible that this
7791 and the other tokens beginning with LASTMONTH below could be
7792 useful when used with a Filtering Rule that has the "Beginning
7793 of Month" option set.
7795 LASTMONTH2DIGIT
7796 This token represents last month. For example, if this is
7797 November (the 11th month), it is equal to "10" or if this is
7798 October (the 10th month), it is "09". It is always 2 digits.
7800 LASTMONTHLONG
7801 This token represents last month. For example, if this is
7802 November the value is "October".
7804 LASTMONTHABBREV
7805 This token represents last month. For example, if this is
7806 November the value is "Oct".
7808 LASTMONTHYEAR
7809 This token represents what the year was a month ago. For
7810 example, if this is October, 1998, it is "1998". If this is
7811 January, 1998, it is "1997".
7813 LASTMONTHYEAR2DIGIT
7814 This token represents what the year was a month ago. For
7815 example, if this is October, 1998, it is "98". If this is
7816 January, 1998, it is "97".
7818 LASTYEAR
7819 This token represents last year. For example, if this is 1998,
7820 it equals "1997". It is possible that this could be useful when
7821 used with a Filtering Rule that has the "Beginning of Year"
7822 option set.
7824 LASTYEAR2DIGIT
7825 This token represents last year. For example, if this is 1998,
7826 it equals "97". It is always 2 digits.
7828 ROLENICK
7829 This token represents the nickname of the role currently being
7830 used. If no role is being used, then no text will be printed for
7831 this token. This token does not work with Filter Rule folder
7832 names.
7834 _Token Available Only for Reply-Leadin_
7836 See the help for the Reply-Leadin option, to see why you might want to
7837 use this. Since the _Reply-Leadin_ contains free text this token must
7838 be surrounded by underscores when used.
7840 NEWLINE
7841 This is an end of line marker.
7843 _Token Available Only for Templates and Signatures_
7845 CURSORPOS
7846 This token is different from the others. When it is replaced it
7847 is replaced with nothing, but it sets a _Alpine_ internal
7848 variable which tells the composer to start with the cursor
7849 positioned at the position where this token was. If both the
7850 template file and the signature file contain a "CURSORPOS"
7851 token, then the position in the template file is used. If there
7852 is a template file and neither it nor the signature file
7853 contains a "CURSORPOS" token, then the cursor is positioned
7854 after the end of the contents of the template file when the
7855 composer starts up.
7857 Conditional Inclusion of Text for Reply-Leadin, Signatures, and Templates
7859 Conditional text inclusion may be used with the Reply-Leadin option, in
7860 signature files, and in template files used in roles. It may _not_ be
7861 used with the _Index-Format_ option.
7863 There is a limited if-else capability for including text. The if-else
7864 condition is based on whether or not a given token would result in
7865 replacement text you specify. The syntax of this conditional inclusion
7866 is
7868 _token_(match_this, if_matched [ , if_not_matched ] )
7870 The left parenthesis must follow the underscore immediately, with no
7871 intervening space. It means the token is expanded and the results of
7872 that expansion are compared against the "match_this" argument. If there
7873 is an exact match, then the "if_matched" text is used as the
7874 replacement text. Otherwise, the "if_not_matched" text is used. One of
7875 the most useful values for the "match_this" argument is the empty
7876 string, "". In that case the expansion is compared against the empty
7877 string.
7879 Here's an example to make it clearer. This text could be included in
7880 one of your template files:
7882 _NEWS_("", "I'm replying to email","I'm replying to news")
7884 If that is included in a template file which you are using while
7885 replying to a message (because you chose to use the role it was part
7886 of), and that message has a newsgroup header and a newsgroup in that
7887 header, then the text
7889 I'm replying to news
7891 will be included in the message you are about to compose. On the other
7892 hand, if the message you are replying to does not have a newsgroup,
7893 then the text
7895 I'm replying to email
7897 would be included instead. This would also work in signature files and
7898 in the "Reply-Leadin" option. If the "match_this", "if_matched", or
7899 "if_not_matched" arguments contain spaces, parentheses, or commas; they
7900 have to be quoted with double quotation marks (like in the example
7901 above). If you want to include a literal quote in the text you must
7902 escape the quote by preceding it with a backslash character. If you
7903 want to include a literal backslash character you must escape it by
7904 preceding it with another backslash.
7906 The comma followed by "if_not_matched" is optional. If there is no
7907 "if_not_matched" present then no text is included if the not_matched
7908 case is true. Here's another example:
7910 _NEWS_("", "", "This msg was seen in group: _NEWS_.")
7912 Here you can see that tokens may appear in the arguments. The same is
7913 true for tokens with the conditional parentheses. They may appear in
7914 arguments, though you do have to be careful to get the quoting and
7915 escaping of nested double quotes correct. If this was in the signature
7916 file being used and you were replying to a message sent to
7917 comp.mail.pine the resulting text would be:
7919 This msg was seen in group: comp.mail.pine.
7921 If you were replying to a message which wasn't sent to any newsgroup
7922 the resulting text would be a single blank line. The reason you'd get a
7923 blank line is because the end of the line is outside of the
7924 conditional, so is always included. If you wanted to get rid of that
7925 blank line you could do so by moving the end of line inside the
7926 conditional. In other words, it's ok to have multi-line "if_matched" or
7927 "if_not_matched" arguments. The text just continues until the next
7928 double quotation, even if it's not on the same line.
7930 Here's one more (contrived) example illustrating a matching argument
7931 which is not the empty string.
7933 _SMARTDATE_("Today", _SMARTDATE_, "On _DATE_") _FROM_ wrote:
7935 If this was the value of your "Reply-Leadin" option and you were
7936 replying to a message which was sent today, then the value of the
7937 "Reply-Leadin" would be
7939 Today Fred Flintstone wrote:
7941 But if you were replying to a message sent on Oct. 27 (and that wasn't
7942 today) you would get
7944 On Oct 27 Fred Flintstone wrote:
7946 Per Server Directory Configuration
7948 This is only available if _Alpine_ was built with LDAP support. If
7949 that's the case, there will be a Directory option underneath the Setup
7950 command on the Main Menu. Each server that is defined there has several
7951 configuration variables which control the behavior when using it.
7952 _ldap-server_
7953 This is the name of the host where an LDAP server is running.
7954 To find out whether your organization has its own LDAP server,
7955 contact its computing support staff.
7956 _search-base_
7957 This is the search base to be used on this server. It functions
7958 as a filter by restricting your searches in the LDAP server
7959 database to the specified contents of the specified fields.
7960 Without it, searches submitted to this directory server may
7961 fail. It might be something like:
7962 O = <Your Organization Name>, C = US
7964 or it might be blank. (Some LDAP servers actually ignore
7965 anything specified here.)
7966 If in doubt what parameters you should specify here, contact the
7967 maintainers of the LDAP server.
7968 _port_
7969 This is the TCP port number to be used with this LDAP server. If
7970 you leave this blank port 389 will be used.
7971 _nickname_
7972 This is a nickname to be used in displays. If you don't supply a
7973 nickname the server name from "ldap-server" will be used
7974 instead. This option is strictly for your convenience.
7975 _use-implicitly-from-composer_
7976 Set this feature to have lookups done to this server implicitly
7977 from the composer. If an address doesn't look like a
7978 fully-qualified address, it will be looked up in your address
7979 books, and if it doesn't match a nickname there, then it will be
7980 looked up on the LDAP servers which have this feature set. The
7981 lookups will also be done when using the address completion
7982 feature (TAB command) in the composer if any of the serves have
7983 this feature set. Also see the LDAP feature
7984 lookup-addrbook-contents and the Setup/Config feature
7985 ldap-result-to-addrbook-add.
7986 _lookup-addrbook-contents_
7987 Normally implicit LDAP lookups from the composer are done only
7988 for the strings you type in from the composer screen. In other
7989 words, you type in something in the To or CC field and press
7990 return, then the string is looked up. First that string is
7991 looked up in your address books. If a match is found there, then
7992 the results of that match are looked up again. If you place a
7993 string in your address book that you want to have looked up on
7994 the LDAP directory server, you need to turn on this feature. If
7995 you set this feature for a server, you almost always will also
7996 want to set the use-implicitly-from-composer feature. An example
7997 might serve to best illustrate this feature.
7998 If an LDAP lookup of "William Clinton" normally returns an entry
7999 with an address of pres@whitehouse.gov, then you might put an
8000 entry in your address book that looks like:
8001 Nickname Address
8002 bill "William Clinton"
8004 Now, when you type "bill" into an address field in the composer
8005 _Alpine_ will find the "bill" entry in your address book. It will
8006 replace "bill" with "William Clinton". It will then search for
8007 an entry with that nickname in your address book and not find
8008 one. If this feature is set, _Alpine_ will then attempt to
8009 lookup "William Clinton" on the LDAP server and find the entry
8010 with address pres@whitehouse.gov.
8011 A better way to accomplish the same thing is probably to use the
8012 feature save-search-criteria-not-result.
8013 _save-search-criteria-not-result_
8014 Normally when you save the results of an LDAP directory lookup
8015 to your address book the _results_ of the lookup are saved. If
8016 this feature is set and the entry being saved was found on this
8017 directory server, then the search _criteria_ is saved instead of
8018 the _results_ of the search. When this address book entry is
8019 used in the future, instead of copying the results from the
8020 address book the directory lookup will be done again. This could
8021 be useful if the copied result might become stale because the
8022 data on the directory server changes (for example, the entry's
8023 email address changes). You probably don't want to set this
8024 feature if the server is at all slow or unreliable.
8025 The way this actually works is that instead of saving the email
8026 address in your address book, _Alpine_ saves enough information
8027 to look up the same directory entry again. In particular, it
8028 saves the server name and the distinguished name of the entry.
8029 It's possible that the server administrators might change the
8030 format of distinguished names on the server, or that the entry
8031 might be removed from the server. If _Alpine_ notices this, you
8032 will be warned and a backup copy of the email address will be
8033 used. You may want to create a new entry in this case, since you
8034 will get the annoying warning every time you use the old entry.
8035 You may do that by Saving the entry to a new nickname in the
8036 same address book. You will be asked whether or not you want to
8037 use the backup email address.
8038 A related feature in the Setup/Config screen is
8039 ldap-result-to-addrbook-add.
8040 _disable-ad-hoc-space-substitution_
8041 Spaces in your input are normally handled specially. Each space
8042 character is replaced by
8043 * <SPACE>
8045 in the search query (but not by "* <SPACE> *"). The reason this
8046 is done is so the input string
8047 Greg Donald
8049 (which is converted to "Greg* Donald") will match the names
8050 "Greg Donald", "Gregory Donald", "Greg F. Donald", and "Gregory
8051 F Donald"; but it won't match "Greg McDonald". If the
8052 "Search-Rule" you were using was "begins-with", then it would
8053 also match the name "Greg Donaldson".
8054 Turning on this feature will disable this substitution.
8055 _search-type_
8056 This affects the way that LDAP searches are done. In particular,
8057 this tells the server where to look for the string to be
8058 matched. If set to "name" then the string that is being searched
8059 for will be compared with the string in the "Name" field on the
8060 server (technically, it is the "commonname" field on the
8061 server). "Surname" means we're looking for a match in the
8062 "Surname" field on the server (actually the "sn" field).
8063 "Givenname" really is "givenname" and "email" is the electronic
8064 mail address (this is actually the field called "mail" or
8065 "electronicmail" on the server). The other three types are
8066 combinations of the types listed so far. "Name-or-email" means
8067 the string should appear in either the "name" field OR the
8068 "email" field. Likewise, "surname-or-givenname" means "surname"
8069 OR "givenname" and "sur-or-given-or-name-or-email" means the
8070 obvious thing.
8071 This search _type_ is combined with the search rule to form the
8072 actual search query.
8073 The usual default value for this option is
8074 "sur-or-given-or-name-or-email". This type of search may be slow
8075 on some servers. Try "name-or-email", which is often faster, or
8076 just "name" if the performance seems to be a problem.
8077 Some servers have been configured with different attribute names
8078 for these four fields. In other words, instead of using the
8079 attribute name "mail" for the email address field, the server
8080 might be configured to use something else, for example,
8081 "rfc822mail" or "internetemailaddress". _Alpine_ can be
8082 configured to use these different attribute names by using the
8083 four per-server configuration options:
8084 + email-attribute
8085 + name-attribute
8086 + surname-attribute
8087 + givenname-attribute
8088 _search-rule_
8089 This affects the way that LDAP searches are done. If set to
8090 "equals" then only exact matches count. "Contains" means that
8091 the string you type in is a substring of what you are matching
8092 against. "Begins-with" and "ends-with" mean that the string
8093 starts or ends with the string you type in.
8094 Spaces in your input are normally handled specially, but you can
8095 turn that special handling off with the
8096 disable-ad-hoc-space-substitution feature.
8097 The usual default value for this option is _begins-with_.
8098 _email-attribute_
8099 This is the name of the attribute which is searched for when
8100 looking for an email address. The default value for this option
8101 is "mail" or "electronicmail". If the server you are using uses
8102 a different attribute name for the email address, put that
8103 attribute name here.
8104 This will affect the search filter used if your Search-Type is
8105 one that contains a search for "email". It will also cause the
8106 attribute value matching this attribute name to be used as the
8107 email address when you look up an entry from the composer.
8108 _name-attribute_
8109 This is the name of the attribute which is searched for when
8110 looking for the name of the entry. The default value for this
8111 option is "cn", which stands for common name. If the server you
8112 are using uses a different attribute name for the name, put that
8113 attribute name here. This will affect the search filter used if
8114 your Search-Type is one that contains a search for "name".
8115 _surname-attribute_
8116 This is the name of the attribute which is searched for when
8117 looking for the surname of the entry. The default value for this
8118 option is "sn". If the server you are using uses a different
8119 attribute name for the surname, put that attribute name here.
8120 This will affect the search filter used if your Search-Type is
8121 one that contains a search for "surname".
8122 _givenname-attribute_
8123 This is the name of the attribute which is searched for when
8124 looking for the given name of the entry. The default value for
8125 this option is "givenname". If the server you are using uses a
8126 different attribute name for the given name, put that attribute
8127 name here. This will affect the search filter used if your
8128 Search-Type is one that contains a search for "givenname".
8129 _timelimit_
8130 This places a limit on the number of seconds the LDAP search
8131 will continue. The default is 30 seconds. A value of 0 means no
8132 limit. Note that some servers may place limits of their own on
8133 searches.
8134 _sizelimit_
8135 This places a limit on the number of entries returned by the
8136 LDAP server. A value of 0 means no limit. The default is 0. Note
8137 that some servers may place limits of their own on searches.
8138 _custom-search-filter_
8139 This one is for advanced users only! If you define this, then
8140 the search-type and search-rule defined are both ignored.
8141 However, the feature disable-ad-hoc-space-substitution is still
8142 in effect. That is, the space substitution will take place even
8143 in a custom filter unless you disable it.
8144 If your LDAP service stops working and you suspect it might be
8145 because of your custom filter, just delete this filter and try
8146 using the _search-type_ and _search-rule_ instead. Another
8147 option that sometimes causes trouble is the search-base option.
8148 This variable may be set to the string representation of an LDAP
8149 search filter (see RFC1960). In the places where you want the
8150 address string to be substituted in, put a '%s' in this filter
8151 string. Here are some examples:
8152 A "Search-Type" of "name" with "Search-Rule" of "begins-with" is
8153 equivalent to the "custom-search-filter"
8154 (cn=%s*)
8156 When you try to match against the string "string" the program
8157 replaces the "%s" with "string" (without the quotes). You may
8158 have multiple "%s"'s and they will all be replaced with the
8159 string. There is a limit of 10 "%s"'s.
8160 A "Search-Type" of "name-or-email" with "Search-Rule" of
8161 "contains" is equivalent to
8162 (|(cn=*%s*)(mail=*%s*))
8164 If your server uses a different attribute _name_ than _Alpine_
8165 uses by default, (for example, it uses "rfc822mail" instead of
8166 "mail"), then you may be able to use one or more of the four
8167 attribute configuration options instead of defining a custom
8168 filter:
8169 + email-attribute
8170 + name-attribute
8171 + surname-attribute
8172 + givenname-attribute
8174 Color Configuration
8176 If the terminal or terminal emulator you are using is capable of using
8177 color (see color-style option), or if you are using _PC-Alpine_, then
8178 it is possible to set up _Alpine_ so that various parts of the display
8179 will be shown in colors you configure. This is done using the Setup
8180 Color screen. The Setup Color screen is divided into five broad
8181 sections: Options, General Colors, Index Colors, Header Colors, and
8182 Keyword Colors. In addition to these five categories you may also color
8183 lines in the MESSAGE INDEX screen by configuring the Index Line Color.
8185 Each color is defined as a foreground color (the color of the actual
8186 text) and a background color (the color of the area behind the text).
8188 Color Options
8190 _current-indexline-style_
8191 This option affects the colors used to display the current line
8192 in the MESSAGE INDEX screen. If you do not have Index Line
8193 Colors defined, then this option will have no effect in the
8194 index. Those Rules may be defined by going to the
8195 Setup/Rules/Indexcolor screen.
8197 If the option enable-incoming-folders-checking is turned on and
8198 the Incoming Unseen Color is set to something other than the
8199 default, then this option also affects the color used to display
8200 the current folder in the Incoming FOLDER LIST screen.
8202 The available options include:
8204 flip-colors
8205 This is the default. If an index line is colored because
8206 it matches one of your Index Color Rules, then its colors
8207 will be reversed when it is the currently highlighted
8208 line. For example, if the line is normally red text on a
8209 blue background, then when it is the current line it will
8210 be drawn as blue text on a red background.
8212 The rest of the option values all revert to this
8213 flip-colors behavior if there is no Reverse Color defined.
8215 reverse
8216 With this option the Reverse color is always used to
8217 highlight the current line.
8219 reverse-fg
8220 The foreground part of the Reverse Color is used to
8221 highlight the current line. If this would cause the text
8222 to be unreadable (because the foreground and background
8223 colors are the same) or if it would cause no change in the
8224 color of the index line, then the colors are flipped
8225 instead.
8227 Some people think this works particularly well if you use
8228 different background colors to emphasize "interesting"
8229 lines, but always with the same Normal foreground color,
8230 and you use a different foreground color for the Reverse
8231 Color.
8233 reverse-fg-no-ambiguity
8234 With the "reverse-fg" rule above, it is possible that the
8235 resulting color will be exactly the same as the regular
8236 Reverse Color. That can lead to some possible confusion
8237 because an "interesting" line which is the current line
8238 will be displayed exactly the same as a non-interesting
8239 line which is current. You can't tell whether the line is
8240 just a regular current line or if it is an "interesting"
8241 current line by looking at the color. Setting the option
8242 to this value removes that ambiguity. It is the same as
8243 the "reverse-fg" setting unless the resulting interesting
8244 current line would look just like a non-interesting
8245 current line. In that case, the interesting line's colors
8246 are simply flipped (like in the default behavior).
8248 As an alternative way to preserve the line's
8249 interestingness in this case, you may find that using both
8250 a different foreground and a different background color
8251 for the interesting line will help.
8253 reverse-bg
8254 The background part of the Reverse Color is used to
8255 highlight the current line. If this would cause the text
8256 to be unreadable (because the foreground and background
8257 colors are the same) or if it would cause no change in the
8258 color of the index line, then the colors are flipped
8259 instead.
8261 Some people think this works particularly well if you use
8262 different foreground colors to emphasize "interesting"
8263 lines, but always with the same Normal background color,
8264 and you use a different background color for the Reverse
8265 Color.
8267 reverse-bg-no-ambiguity
8268 As with the "reverse-fg" case, the "reverse-bg" rule may
8269 also result in a color which is exactly the same as the
8270 regular Reverse Color. Setting the option to this value
8271 removes that ambiguity. It is the same as the "reverse-bg"
8272 setting unless the resulting current line has the same
8273 color as the Reverse Color. In that case, the interesting
8274 line's colors are simply flipped (like in the default
8275 behavior).
8277 _titlebar-color-style_
8278 This option affects the colors used to display the titlebar (the
8279 top line on the screen) when viewing a message.
8281 The available options include:
8283 default
8284 The color of the titlebar will be the color you set for
8285 the Title Color. The Title Color may be set by using the
8287 indexline
8288 The color of the titlebar will be the same as the color of
8289 the index line corresponding to the message being viewed.
8290 The rules which determine what color the index line will
8291 be may be set up by going to the Setup/Rules/Indexcolor
8292 screen. If the index line for a message is not colored
8293 explicitly by the Indexcolor rules, then the titlebar will
8294 be colored the same as for the "default" option above
8295 (which is not the same color that the index line itself
8296 will have).
8298 reverse-indexline
8299 This is similar to the "indexline" option except the
8300 foreground and background colors from the corresponding
8301 index line will be reversed. For example, if the index
8302 line color is red letters on a white background, then the
8303 titlebar will be white letters on a red background. If the
8304 index line for a message is not colored explicitly by the
8305 Indexcolor rules, then the titlebar will be colored the
8306 same as for the "default" option above (which is not the
8307 same color that the index line itself will have).
8309 General Colors
8311 _Normal Color_
8312 This is the color which most of the screen is painted in. By
8313 default this color is black characters on a white background.
8314 _Reverse Color_
8315 The color _Alpine_ uses for reverse video characters. Actually,
8316 the name is misleading. This used to be reverse video and so the
8317 name remains. It is still used to highlight certain parts of the
8318 screen but the color may be set to whatever you'd like.
8319 _Title Color_
8320 The color _Alpine_ uses for the titlebar (the top line on the
8321 screen). By default, the Title Color is black characters on a
8322 yellow background. The actual titlebar color may be different
8323 from the Title Color if the option titlebar-color-style is set
8324 to some value other than the default. It may also be different
8325 if the current folder is closed and the Title Closed Color is
8326 set to something different from the Title Color.
8327 _Title-closed Color_
8328 The color _Alpine_ uses for the titlebar (the top line on the
8329 screen) when the current folder is closed. By default, the Title
8330 Color Closed Color is white characters on a red background.
8331 _Status Color_
8332 The color _Alpine_ uses for messages written to the status
8333 message line near the bottom of the screen. By default, the
8334 Status Color is the same as the Reverse Color.
8335 _KeyLabel Color_
8336 The color _Alpine_ uses for the labels of the commands in the
8337 two-line menu at the bottom of the screen. The label is the long
8338 name, for example, "PrevMsg". By default, the KeyLabel Color is
8339 the same as the Normal Color.
8340 WARNING: Some terminal emulators have the property that the
8341 screen will scroll down one line whenever a character is written
8342 to the character cell in the lower right corner of the screen.
8343 _Alpine_ can usually avoid writing a character in that corner of
8344 the screen. However, if you have defined a KeyLabel Color then
8345 _Alpine_ does have to write a character in that cell in order to
8346 color the cell correctly. If you find that your display
8347 sometimes scrolls up a line this could be the problem. The most
8348 obvious symptom is probably that the titlebar at the top of the
8349 screen scrolls off the screen. Try setting KeyLabel Color to
8350 Default to see if that fixes the problem.
8351 _KeyName Color_
8352 The color _Alpine_ uses for the names of the commands in the
8353 two-line menu at the bottom of the screen. The KeyName is the
8354 shorter name in the menu. For example, the "W" before the
8355 "WhereIs". By default, the KeyName Color is the same as the
8356 Normal Color.
8357 _Selectable-item Color_
8358 The color _Alpine_ uses for displaying selectable items, such as
8359 URLs. By default, the Selectable-item Color is the same as the
8360 Normal Color, except it is also Bold.
8361 _Meta-message Color_
8362 The color _Alpine_ uses in the MESSAGE TEXT screen for messages
8363 to you that aren't part of the message itself. By default, the
8364 Meta-Message Color is black characters on a yellow background.
8365 _Quote Colors_
8366 The colors _Alpine_ uses for coloring quoted text in the MESSAGE
8367 TEXT screen. If a line begins with a > character (or space
8368 followed by >) it is considered a quote. That line will be given
8369 the Quote1 Color (first level quote). If there is a second level
8370 of quoting then the Quote2 Color will be used. _Alpine_
8371 considers there to be a second level of quoting if that first >
8372 is followed by another > (or space followed by >). If there are
8373 characters other than whitespace and > signs, then it isn't
8374 considered another level of quoting. Similarly, if there is a
8375 third level of quoting the Quote3 Color will be used. If there
8376 are more levels after that the Quote Colors are reused. If you
8377 define all three colors then it would repeat like Color1,
8378 Color2, Color3, Color1, Color2, Color3, ... If you only define
8379 the first two it would be Color1, Color2, Color1, Color2, ... If
8380 you define only the Quote1 Color, then the entire quote would be
8381 that color regardless of the quoting levels. By default, the
8382 Quote1 Color is black characters on a greenish-blue background;
8383 the Quote2 Color is black characters on a dull yellow
8384 background; and the Quote3 Color is black characters on a green
8385 background.
8386 _Incoming Unseen Color_
8387 If the option enable-incoming-folders-checking is turned on it
8388 is possible to highlight the folders that contain unseen
8389 messages by coloring them with this color. By default, this is
8390 the same as the Normal Color and no highlighting is done.
8391 Usually the "current" folder (the folder the cursor is on) is
8392 highlighted using reverse video. If the current folder is
8393 colored because it contains unseen messages then the color used
8394 to show that it is also the current folder is controlled by the
8395 current-indexline-style feature at the top of the SETUP COLOR
8396 screen.
8397 _Signature Color_
8398 The color _Alpine_ uses for coloring the signature in the
8399 MESSAGE TEXT screen. According to USENET conventions, the
8400 signature is defined as the paragraph following the "sigdashes",
8401 that is, the special line consisting of the three characters
8402 "-- " (i.e., dash, dash, and space). _Alpine_ allows for one
8403 empty line right after the sigdashes to be considered as part of
8404 the signature. By default, the Signature Color is blue
8405 characters on a white background.
8406 _Prompt Color_
8407 The color _Alpine_ uses for confirmation prompts and questions
8408 which appear in the status message line near the bottom of the
8409 screen. By default, the Prompt Color is the same as the Reverse
8410 Color.
8412 Index Colors
8414 You may add color to the single character symbols which give the status
8415 of each message in the MESSAGE INDEX. By default the characters "+",
8416 "*", "D", "A", and "N" show up near the left hand side of the screen,
8417 depending on whether the message is addressed to you, and whether the
8418 message is marked Important, is Deleted, is Answered, or is New. You
8419 may set the color of those symbols. By default, all of these symbols
8420 are drawn with the same color as the rest of the index line they are a
8421 part of.
8423 Besides coloring the message status symbols, you may also color the
8424 entire index line. This is done by using the Index Line Color
8425 configuration screen. It is also possible to color (keywords in the
8426 index using the Setup/Kolor screen (Keyword Colors); the ARROW cursor;
8427 the Subject using Index Subject Color; the From using Index From Color;
8428 and the Index Opening text.
8430 _Index-to-me Symbol Color_
8431 The color used for drawing the "+" symbol which signifies a
8432 message is addressed directly to you.
8433 _Index-important Symbol Color_
8434 The color used for drawing the "*" symbol which signifies a
8435 message has been flagged Important.
8436 _Index-deleted Symbol Color_
8437 The color used for drawing the "D" symbol which signifies a
8438 message has been marked Deleted.
8439 _Index-answered Symbol Color_
8440 The color used for drawing the "A" symbol which signifies a
8441 message has been answered.
8442 _Index-new Symbol Color_
8443 The color used for drawing the "N" symbol which signifies a
8444 message is New.
8445 _Index-recent Symbol Color_
8446 The color used for drawing the "R" symbol which signifies a
8447 message is Recent (only visible if the "IMAPSTATUS" or
8448 "SHORTIMAPSTATUS" token is part of the index-format option).
8449 _Index-unseen Symbol Color_
8450 The color used for drawing the "U" symbol which signifies a
8451 message is Unseen (only visible if the "IMAPSTATUS" or
8452 "SHORTIMAPSTATUS" token is part of the Index-Format option).
8453 _Index-priority Symbol Colors_
8454 The colors used for drawing the tokens "PRIORITY",
8455 "PRIORITYALPHA", and "PRIORITY!" when these are configured as
8456 part of the Index-Format option. You may set the color used to
8457 draw these tokens by use of the colors Index High Priority
8458 Symbol Color and Index Low Priority Symbol Color. This coloring
8459 takes place for all but the current index line, and the Priority
8460 Color appears to be in front of any color from an Index Color
8461 Rule. If the priority has a value of 1 or 2 the High Priority
8462 color will be used, and if the value is 4 or 5 the Low Priority
8463 color will be used.
8464 If you don't set these colors the index line will be colored in
8465 the same color as the bulk of the index line.
8466 _Index-arrow Symbol Color_
8467 The color used for drawing the "ARROW" token when it is
8468 configured as part of the Index-Format option.
8469 _Index-subject Symbol Color_
8470 You may set the color used to draw the Subject part of the index
8471 line. This coloring takes place for all but the current index
8472 line, and the Subject Color appears to be in front of any color
8473 from an Index Color Rule.
8474 If you don't set this color it will be colored in the same color
8475 as the bulk of the index line.
8476 _Index-from Symbol Color_
8477 You may set the color used to draw the From part of the index
8478 line. This coloring takes place for all but the current index
8479 line, and the From Color appears to be in front of any color
8480 from an Index Color Rule.
8481 If you don't set this color it will be colored in the same color
8482 as the bulk of the index line.
8483 _Index-opening Symbol Color_
8484 It is possible to configure the Index-Format option so that it
8485 includes the subject followed by the "opening" text of the
8486 message if there is enough space. This is done by using one of
8487 the tokens SUBJECTTEXT, SUBJKEYTEXT, or SUBJKEYINITTEXT. The
8488 color used for drawing this opening text is given by this
8489 option. The coloring happens for all but the current index line,
8490 and this opening color appears to be in front of any color from
8491 an Index Color Rule.
8492 By default the Index Opening Color is gray characters on a white
8493 background.
8495 The default colors for these symbols are:
8497 Index-to-me black on cyan
8498 Index-important white on bright red
8499 Index-deleted same as Normal Color
8500 Index-answered bright red on yellow
8501 Index-new white on magenta
8502 Index-recent same as Normal Color
8503 Index-unseen same as Normal Color
8505 Header Colors
8507 You may add color to the header fields in the MESSAGE TEXT screen. The
8509 _Header-general Color_
8510 may be used to color all of the headers of the message.
8512 It is also possible to set the colors for specific header fields, for
8513 example for the Subject or From fields, using the viewer-hdr-colors
8514 option.
8516 For Header Colors, there is an additional line on the configuration
8517 screen labeled "Pattern to match". If you leave that blank, then the
8518 whole field for that header will always be colored. However, if you
8519 give a pattern to match, the coloring will only take place if there is
8520 a match for that pattern in the value of the field. For example, if you
8521 are working on a color for the Subject header and you fill in a pattern
8522 of "important", then only Subjects which contain the word "important"
8523 will be colored. For address fields like From or To, a pattern match
8524 will cause only the addresses which match the pattern to be colored.
8526 If the pattern you enter is a comma-separated list of patterns, then
8527 coloring happens if any of those patterns matches.
8529 Keyword Colors
8531 Sets the colors _Alpine_ uses for Keyword fields in the MESSAGE INDEX
8532 screen. Keywords may be displayed as part of the Subject of a message
8533 by using the "SUBJKEY" or "SUBJKEYINIT" tokens in the Index-Format
8534 option. Keywords may also be displayed in a column of their own in the
8535 MESSAGE INDEX screen by using the "KEY" or "KEYINIT" tokens.
8537 For example, you might have set up a Keyword "Work" using the Keywords
8538 option in the Setup/Config screen. You could cause that Keyword to show
8539 up as a special color by setting up the Keyword Color using this
8540 option, and then including it in the MESSAGE INDEX screen using one of
8541 the tokens listed above in the Index-Format.
8543 Index Line Colors
8545 You may color whole index lines by using roles. This isn't configured
8546 in the Setup Colors screen, but is configured in the Setup Rules
8547 IndexColor screen.
8549 Index Line Color Configuration
8551 Index Line Color causes lines in the MESSAGE INDEX screen to be
8552 colored. This action is only available if your terminal is capable of
8553 displaying color and color display has been enabled with the
8554 Color-Style option. (In PC-Alpine, color is always enabled so there is
8555 no option to turn on.)
8557 Each rule has a "Pattern", which is used to decide which of the rules
8558 is used; and the color which is used if the Pattern matches a
8559 particular message.
8561 Rule Patterns
8563 In order to determine whether or not a message matches a rule the
8564 message is compared with the rule's Pattern. These Patterns are the
8565 same for use with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other
8566 Rules, and Search Rules, so are described in only one place, "here".
8568 Index Line Color
8570 This is the color that index lines are colored when there is a matching
8571 Pattern. This colors the whole index line, except possibly the status
8572 letters which may be colored separately using the Setup Kolor screen.
8574 Role Configuration
8576 You may play different roles depending on who you are replying to. For
8577 example, if you are replying to a message addressed to _help-desk_ you
8578 may be acting as a Help Desk Worker. That role may require that you use
8579 a different return address and/or a different signature.
8581 Roles are optional. If you set up roles they work like this: Each role
8582 has a set of "Uses", which indicate whether or not a role is eligible
8583 to be considered for a particular use; a "Pattern", which is used to
8584 decide which of the eligible roles is used; and a set of "Actions",
8585 which are taken when that role is used. When you reply to a message,
8586 the message you are replying to is compared with the Patterns of the
8587 roles marked as eligible for use when replying. The comparisons start
8588 with the first eligible role and keep going until there is a match. If
8589 a match is found, the matching role's Actions are taken.
8591 It is also possible to set a default role and to change that role
8592 during your _Alpine_ session. When you start _Alpine_ no default role
8593 will be set. You may set or change the current default role by using
8594 the "D" command in the role selection screen. You'll see that screen
8595 while composing a message and being asked to select a role. An easy way
8596 to get to that screen is to use the Role Command to compose a message.
8597 You may find a default role useful if you normally perform the duties
8598 of one of your roles for a while, then you switch to another role and
8599 stay in the new role for another period of time. It may be easier than
8600 using the Role Command to select the role each time you compose a
8601 message.
8603 Role Uses
8605 There are three types of use to be configured; one for Replying, one
8606 for Forwarding, and one for Composing. These indicate whether or not
8607 you want a role to be considered when you type the Reply, Forward, or
8608 Compose commands. (The Role command is an alternate form of the Compose
8609 command, and it is not affected by these settings.) Each of these Use
8610 types has three possible values. The value "Never" means that the role
8611 will never be considered as a candidate for use with the corresponding
8612 command. For example, if you set a role's Reply Use to Never, then when
8613 you Reply to a message, the role won't even be considered. (That isn't
8614 quite true. If the message you are replying to matches some other role
8615 which requires confirmation, then there will be a ^T command available
8616 which allows you to select a role from all of your roles, not just the
8617 reply-eligible roles.)
8619 The options "With confirmation" and "Without confirmation" both mean
8620 that you do want to consider this role when using the corresponding
8621 command. For either of these settings the role's Pattern will be
8622 checked to see if it matches the message. For Reply Use, the message
8623 used to compare the Patterns with is the message being replied to. For
8624 Forward Use, the message used to compare the Pattern with is the
8625 message being forwarded. For Compose Use, there is no message, so the
8626 parts of the Pattern which depend on a message (everything other than
8627 Current Folder Type) are ignored. In all cases, the Current Folder is
8628 checked if defined. If there is a match then this role will either be
8629 used without confirmation or will be the default when confirmation is
8630 asked for, depending on which of the two options is selected. If
8631 confirmation is requested, you will have a chance to choose No Role
8632 instead of the offered role, or to change the role to any one of your
8633 other roles (with the ^T command).
8635 Role Patterns
8637 In order to determine whether or not a message matches a role the
8638 message is compared with the Role Pattern. These Patterns are the same
8639 for use with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other Rules,
8640 and Search Rules, so are described in only one place, "here".
8642 Since header patterns, AllText patterns, and BodyText patterns which
8643 are unset are ignored, a role which has all header patterns unset, the
8644 AllText pattern unset, the BodyText pattern unset, the Score Interval
8645 unset, and the Current Folder Type set to "Any" may be used as a
8646 default role. It should be put last in the list of roles since the
8647 matching starts at the beginning and proceeds until one of the roles is
8648 a match. If no roles at all match, then _Alpine_ will use its regular
8649 methods of defining the role. If you wanted to, you could define a
8650 different "default" role for Replying, Forwarding, and Composing by
8651 setting the "Use" fields appropriately.
8653 Role Actions
8655 Once a role match is found, the role's Actions are taken. For each role
8656 there are several possible actions that may be defined. They are
8657 actions to set the From address, the Reply-To address, the Fcc, the
8658 Signature file, and the Template file.
8660 Initialize Settings Using Role
8662 This is a power user feature. You will usually want to leave this field
8663 empty. The value of this field is the nickname of another one of your
8664 roles. The Action values from that other role are used as the initial
8665 values of the Action items for this role. If you put something in any
8666 of the action fields for this role, that will override whatever was in
8667 the corresponding field of the initializer role.
8669 You might use this field if the "Action" part of one of your roles is
8670 something you want to use in more than one role. Instead of filling in
8671 those action values again for each role, you may give the nickname of
8672 the role where the values are filled in. It's just a shortcut way to
8673 define Role Actions.
8675 Here's an example to help explain how this works. Suppose you have a
8676 role with nickname "role1" and role1 has (among other things)
8678 Set Reply-To = The Pres <president@example.com>
8680 set. If in "role2" you set "Initialize settings using role" to "role1",
8681 then role2 will inherit the Set Reply-To value from role1 by default
8682 (and any of the other inheritable action values that are set). So if
8683 role2 had
8685 Set Reply-To = <No Value Set>
8687 defined, the Reply-To used with role2 would be "The Pres
8688 <president@example.com>" However, if role2 had
8690 Set Reply-To = VP <vicepresident@example.com>
8692 defined, then the Reply-To used with role2 would be "VP
8693 <vicepresident@example.com>" instead.
8695 If you wish, you may choose a nickname from your list of roles by using
8696 the "T" command. If the role you are using to initialize also has a
8697 role it initializes from, then that initialization happens first. That
8698 is, inheritance works as expected with the grandparent and
8699 great-grandparent (and so on) roles having the expected effect.
8701 Set From
8703 This field consists of a single address which will be used as the From
8704 address on the message you are sending. This should be a
8705 fully-qualified address like
8707 Full Name <user@domain>
8709 or just
8711 user@domain
8713 If this is left blank, then the normal From address will be used.
8715 Set Reply-To
8717 The Reply-To address is the address used on the Reply-To line of the
8718 message you are sending. You don't need a Reply-To address unless it is
8719 different from the From address. This should be a fully-qualified
8720 address like
8722 Full Name <user@domain>
8724 or just
8726 user@domain
8728 If this is left blank, then there won't be a Reply-To address unless
8729 you have configured one specially with the customized-hdrs
8730 configuration option.
8732 Set Other-Hdrs
8734 This field gives you a way to set values for headers besides "From" and
8735 "Reply-To". If you want to set either of those, use the specific "Set
8736 From" and "Set Reply-To" settings.
8738 This field is similar to the customized-hdrs option. Each header you
8739 specify here must include the header tag ("To:", "Approved:", etc.) and
8740 may optionally include a value for that header. In order to see these
8741 headers when you compose using this role you must use the rich header
8742 command. Here's an example which shows how you might set the To
8743 address.
8745 Set Other Hdrs = To: Full Name <user@domain>
8747 Headers set in this way are different from headers set with the
8748 customized-hdrs option in that the value you give for a header here
8749 will replace any value that already exists. For example, if you are
8750 Replying to a message there will already be at least one address in the
8751 To header (the address you are Replying to). However, if you Reply
8752 using a role which sets the To header, that role's To header value will
8753 be used instead. The customized-hdrs headers are defaults.
8755 Limitation: Because commas are used to separate the list of Other
8756 Headers, it is not possible to have the value of a header contain a
8757 comma; nor is there currently an "escape" mechanism provided to make
8758 this work.
8760 Set Fcc
8762 This field consists of a single folder name which will be used in the
8763 Fcc field of the message you are sending. You may put anything here
8764 that you would normally type into the Fcc field from the composer.
8766 In addition, an fcc of "" (two double quotation marks) means no Fcc.
8768 A blank field here means that _Alpine_ will use its normal rules for
8769 deciding the default value of the Fcc field. For many roles, perhaps
8770 most, it may make more sense for you to use the other _Alpine_
8771 facilities for setting the Fcc. In particular, if you want the Fcc to
8772 depend on who you are sending the message to then the fcc-name-rule is
8773 probably more useful. In that case, you would want to leave the Fcc
8774 field here blank. However, if you have a role that depends on who the
8775 message you are replying to was From, or what address that message was
8776 sent to; then it might make sense to set the Fcc for that role here.
8778 Set LiteralSig
8780 This field contains the actual text for your signature, as opposed to
8781 the name of a file containing your signature. If this is defined it
8782 takes precedence over any value set in the _Set Signature_ field.
8784 This is simply a different way to store the signature. The signature is
8785 stored inside your Alpine configuration file instead of in a separate
8786 signature file. Tokens work the same way they do with _Set Signature_.
8788 The two character sequence \n (backslash followed by the character n)
8789 will be used to signify a line-break in your signature. You don't have
8790 to enter the \n, but it will be visible in the CHANGE THIS ROLE RULE
8791 window after you are done editing the signature.
8793 Set Signature
8795 The Signature is the name of a file to be used as the signature file
8796 when this role is being used. If the filename is followed by a vertical
8797 bar (|) then instead of reading the contents of the file the file is
8798 assumed to be a program which will produce the text to be used on its
8799 standard output. The program can't have any arguments and doesn't
8800 receive any input from _Alpine_, but the rest of the processing works
8801 as if the contents came from a file.
8803 Signature files may be stored remotely on an IMAP server. In order to
8804 do that you just give the file a remote name. This works just like the
8805 regular signature-file option which is configured from the
8806 Setup/Configuration screen. A remote signature file name might look
8807 like:
8809 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/sig3
8811 or, if you have an SSL-capable version of _Alpine_, you might try
8813 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us/user=loginname/ssl}mail/sig3
8815 Once you have named the remote signature file you create its contents
8816 by using the "F" "editFile" command when the cursor is on the "Set
8817 Signature" line of the role editor.
8819 Besides containing regular text, a signature file may also contain (or
8820 a signature program may produce) tokens which are replaced with text
8821 which depends on the message you are replying to or forwarding. The
8822 tokens all look like _word_ (a word surrounded by underscores). For
8823 example, if the token
8825 _DATE_
8827 is included in the text of the signature file, then when you reply to
8828 or forward a message, the token will be replaced with the actual date
8829 the message you are replying to or forwarding was sent.
8831 If you use a role which has a signature file for a plain composition
8832 (that is, not a reply or forward) then there is no original message, so
8833 any tokens which depend on the message will be replaced with nothing.
8834 So if you want a signature file to be useful for new compositions it
8835 shouldn't include any of the tokens which depend on the message being
8836 replied to or forwarded.
8838 The list of available tokens is here.
8840 Actually, for the adventurous, there is a way to conditionally include
8841 text based on whether or not a token would result in specific
8842 replacement text. For example, you could include some text based on
8843 whether or not the _NEWS_ token would result in any newsgroups if it
8844 was used. It's explained in detail here.
8846 In the very unlikely event that you want to include a literal token in
8847 a signature file, you must precede it with a backslash character. For
8848 example, to include the literal text _DATE_ you must actually use
8849 \_DATE_. It is not possible to have a literal backslash followed by an
8850 expanded token.
8852 A blank field here means that _Alpine_ will use its normal rules for
8853 deciding which file (if any) to use for the signature file.
8855 Set Template
8857 A Template is the name of a file to be included in the message when
8858 this role is being used. The template file is a file which is included
8859 at the top of the message you are composing.
8861 If the filename is followed by a vertical bar (|) then instead of
8862 reading the contents of the file the file is assumed to be a program
8863 which will produce the text to be used on its standard output. The
8864 program can't have any arguments and doesn't receive any input from
8865 _Alpine_, but the rest of the processing works as if the contents came
8866 from a file.
8868 Template files may be stored remotely on an IMAP server. In order to do
8869 that you just give the file a remote name. This works just like the
8870 regular signature-file option which is configured from the
8871 Setup/Configuration screen. A remote template file name might look
8872 like:
8874 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/templ3
8876 or, if you have an SSL-capable version of _Alpine_, you might try
8878 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us/user=loginname/ssl}mail/templ3
8880 Once you have named the remote template file you create its contents by
8881 using the "F" "editFile" command when the cursor is on the "Set
8882 Template" line of the role editor.
8884 Besides containing regular text, a template file may also contain (or a
8885 template file program may produce) tokens which are replaced with text
8886 which depends on the message you are replying to or forwarding. The
8887 tokens all look like _word_ (a word surrounded by underscores). For
8888 example, if the token
8890 _DATE_
8892 is included in the text of the template file, then when you reply to or
8893 forward a message, the token will be replaced with the actual date the
8894 message you are replying to or forwarding was sent.
8896 If you use a role which has a template file for a plain composition
8897 (that is, not a reply or forward) then there is no original message, so
8898 any tokens which depend on the message will be replaced with nothing.
8899 So if you want a template file to be useful for new compositions it
8900 shouldn't include any of the tokens which depend on the message being
8901 replied to or forwarded.
8903 The list of available tokens is here.
8905 Actually, for the adventurous, there is a way to conditionally include
8906 text based on whether or not a token would result in specific
8907 replacement text. For example, you could include some text based on
8908 whether or not the _NEWS_ token would result in any newsgroups if it
8909 was used. It's explained in detail here.
8911 In the very unlikely event that you want to include a literal token in
8912 a template file, you must precede it with a backslash character. For
8913 example, to include the literal text _DATE_ you must actually use
8914 \_DATE_. It is not possible to have a literal backslash followed by an
8915 expanded token.
8917 A blank field here means that _Alpine_ will not use a template file
8918 when this role is being used.
8920 Use SMTP Server
8922 If this field has a value, then it will be used as the SMTP server to
8923 send mail when this role is being used (unless the SMTP server variable
8924 is set in the system-wide fixed configuration file). It has the same
8925 semantics as the smtp-server variable in the Setup/Config screen. When
8926 you postpone the composition this SMTP server list will be saved with
8927 the postponed composition and it cannot be changed later. Because of
8928 that, you may want to make this a list of SMTP servers with the
8929 preferred server at the front of the list and alternate servers later
8930 in the list.
8932 If any of the actions are left unset, then the action depends on what
8933 is present in the "Initialize settings using role" field. If you've
8934 listed the nickname of another one of your roles there, then the
8935 corresponding action from that role will be used here. If that action
8936 is also blank, or if there is no nickname specified, then _Alpine_ will
8937 do whatever it normally does to set these actions. This depends on
8938 other configuration options and features you've set.
8940 Filtering Configuration
8942 The software which actually delivers mail (the stuff that happens
8943 before _Alpine_ is involved) for you is in a better position to do mail
8944 filtering than _Alpine_ itself. If possible, you may want to look into
8945 using that sort of mail filtering to deliver mail to different folders,
8946 delete it, or forward it. However, if you'd like _Alpine_ to help with
8947 this, _Alpine_'s filtering is for you.
8949 Filtering is a way to automatically move certain messages from one
8950 folder to another or to delete messages. It can also be used to set
8951 message status bits (Important, Deleted, New, Answered). _Alpine_
8952 doesn't have the ability to forward mail to another address.
8954 Each filtering rule has a "Pattern" and a "Filter Action". When a
8955 folder is opened, when new mail arrives in an open folder, or when mail
8956 is Expunged from a folder; each message is compared with the Patterns
8957 of your filtering rules. The comparisons start with the first rule and
8958 keep going until there is a match. If a match is found, the message may
8959 be deleted or moved, depending on the setting of the Filter Action. If
8960 the message is not deleted, it may have its status altered.
8962 For efficiency, each message is usually only checked once. When new
8963 mail arrives, the new messages are checked but not the old. There are
8964 some exceptions to this rule. The expunge command will cause all
8965 messages to be rechecked, as will editing of the filtering rules.
8967 _NOTE:_ When setting up a Pattern used to delete messages, it is
8968 recommended that you test the Pattern first with a "Move" folder
8969 specified in case unintended matches occur. Messages that are deleted
8970 will be removed from the folder and _unrecoverable_ from within _Alpine_
8971 after the next Expunge command or once the folder being filtered has
8972 been closed.
8974 Filter Patterns
8976 In order to determine whether or not a message matches a filter the
8977 message is compared with the Filter's Pattern. These Patterns are the
8978 same for use with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other
8979 Rules, and Search Rules, so are described in only one place, "here".
8981 Since filtering is a potentially destructive action, if you have a
8982 filtering Pattern with nothing other than Current Folder Type set, that
8983 filtering rule is ignored.
8985 Filter Actions
8987 Once a filter match is found for a particular message, there are some
8988 actions which may be taken. First, the message may have its status
8989 changed. This is the same message status that you can manipulate
8990 manually using the Flag Command. There are four elements of message
8991 status that you can control. You can set or clear the Important status,
8992 the New status, the Deleted status, and the Answered status. Of course,
8993 if the filter is going to delete the message, then there is no point in
8994 setting message status. You may also set or clear user-defined keywords
8995 for a message.
8997 Second, the filter may delete or move the message. Deleting the message
8998 marks it Deleted and removes it from view. It is effectively gone
8999 forever (though it technically is still there until the next expunge
9000 command, which may happen implicitly). Moving the message moves it from
9001 the open folder into the folder listed on the "Folder List" line of the
9002 filter configuration. If you list more than one folder name (separated
9003 by commas) then the message will be copied to each of those folders. In
9004 any case, if "Delete" or "Move" is set then the message is removed from
9005 the current folder. If you just want to set the messages status without
9006 deleting it from the folder, then set the filter action to "Just Set
9007 Message Status".
9009 (There is no way to do a Copy instead of a Move, due to the
9010 difficulties involved in keeping track of whether or not a message has
9011 already been copied by a previous _Alpine_ session.)
9013 Move-only-if-not-deleted option
9015 If you have specified a Move to Folder to filter messages into, then
9016 this option has an effect. If this option is set then messages will
9017 only be moved into the specified folder if they aren't already marked
9018 deleted. This might be useful if you have more than one _Alpine_
9019 session running simultaneously and you don't want messages to be
9020 filtered into a folder more than once. This method is not foolproof.
9021 There may be cases where a message gets marked deleted and so it is
9022 never filtered into the folder. For example, if you deleted it in
9023 another _Alpine_ or another mail program that didn't know about the
9024 filtering rule.
9026 This option has no effect if the Filter Action is not set to Move.
9028 Dont-quit-even-if-rule-matches option
9030 If this option is set then this is a non-terminating rule. Usually, for
9031 each message, _Alpine_ searches through the filter rules until a match
9032 is found and then it performs the action associated with that rule.
9033 Rules following the match are not considered. If this option is set
9034 then the search for matches will continue at the next rule.
9036 If a non-terminating rule matches then the actions associated with that
9037 rule, except for any implied deletion of the message, are performed
9038 before the match for the next rule is checked. For example, if the
9039 non-terminating rule sets the Important status, then that status will
9040 be set when the next rule is considered. However, if the
9041 non-terminating rule Moves the message, the message will actually be
9042 copied instead of copied and deleted so that it is still there for the
9043 next rule. A moved message is deleted after all the relevant rules have
9044 been checked. The name of the "Move" action is confusing in this case
9045 because a single message can be moved to more than one folder. It turns
9046 the Move into a Copy instead, but it is still followed by a deletion at
9047 the end.
9049 This option may be useful if you want to have a single message filtered
9050 to two different folders because it matches two different Patterns. For
9051 example, suppose you normally filter messages to a particular mailing
9052 list into one folder, and messages addressed directly to you into a
9053 second folder. If a message is sent to both you and the list (and you
9054 can tell that by looking at the headers of the message) this option may
9055 give you a convenient way to capture a copy to each folder. (It may
9056 also cause you to capture two copies to each folder, depending on
9057 whether your mail system delivers one or two copies of the message to
9058 you and on how the list works.)
9060 Scoring Configuration
9062 Most people will not use scores at all, but if you do use them, here's
9063 how they work in Alpine. Using this screen, you may define Scoring
9064 rules. The score for a message is calculated by looking at every Score
9065 rule defined and adding up the Score Values for the ones which match
9066 the message. If there are no matches for a message, it has a score of
9067 zero. Message scores may be used a couple of ways in Alpine.
9069 Sorting by Score
9071 One of the methods you may use to sort message indexes is to sort by
9072 score. The scores of all the messages in a folder will be calculated
9073 and then the index will be ordered by placing the messages in order of
9074 ascending or descending score.
9076 Scores for use in Patterns
9078 The Patterns used for Roles, Index Line Coloring, and Filtering have a
9079 category labeled "Score Interval". When a message is being compared
9080 with a Pattern to check for a match, if the Score Interval is set only
9081 messages which have a score somewhere in the interval are a match.
9083 Scoring Rule Patterns
9085 In order to determine whether or not a message matches a scoring rule
9086 the message is compared with the rule's Pattern. These Patterns are the
9087 same for use with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other
9088 Rules, and Search Rules, so are described in only one place, "here".
9090 Actually, Scoring rule Patterns are slightly different from the other
9091 types of Patterns because Scoring rule Patterns don't contain a Score
9092 Interval. In other words, when calculating the score for a message,
9093 which is done by looking at the Scoring rule Patterns, scores aren't
9094 used.
9096 Score Value
9098 This is the value that will be added to the score for a message if the
9099 rule's Pattern is a match. Each individual Score Value is an integer
9100 between -100 and 100, and the values from matching rules are added
9101 together to get a message's score. There is also a way to extract the
9102 value from a particular header of each message. See the help text for
9103 Score Value for further information.
9105 Other Rules Configuration
9107 Using this screen, you may define configuration Rules which don't fit
9108 nicely into the other Rules categories.
9110 Other Rule Patterns
9112 Other Rules are a little different from the rest of the Rules because
9113 they depend only on the current folder, and not on a particular
9114 message. In order to determine whether or not a rule's actions should
9115 be applied the current folder is compared with the rule's Pattern,
9116 which consists of only the Current Folder Type. Current Folder Type
9117 works the same for Other Rules as it does for Roles, Filtering, Index
9118 Coloring, and Scoring. Keep in mind that the only part of the Pattern
9119 which applies to Other Rules is the Current Folder Type when looking at
9120 the description of Patterns given "here".
9122 Other Rule Actions
9124 Once a pattern match is found, the rule's Actions are taken. Neither of
9125 the following two rule's depends on a message for its match. That means
9126 that all the parts of the Pattern which depend on matching an attribute
9127 of a message are ignored. So the only part of the Pattern that matters
9128 for these Actions is the Current Folder Type.
9130 Set Sort Order
9132 When you enter a new folder, these rules will be checked to see if you
9133 have set a sort order which is different from your default sort order.
9134 The default is set in the Setup/Config screen with the Sort-Key option.
9135 If the Sort Order action is set, then the folder will be displayed
9136 sorted in that sort order instead of in the default order.
9138 A possible point of confusion arises when you change the configuration
9139 of the Sort Order for the currently open folder. The folder will
9140 normally be re-sorted when you go back to viewing the index. However,
9141 if you have manually sorted the folder with the Sort command, it will
9142 not be re-sorted.
9144 Set Index Format
9146 When you enter a new folder, these rules will be checked to see if you
9147 have set an Index Format which is different from your default Index
9148 Format, which is set with the Index-Format option. If so, the index
9149 will be displayed with this format instead of the default.
9151 Set Startup Rule
9153 When you enter a new folder, these rules will be checked to see if you
9154 have set a startup rule which is different from the default startup
9155 rule. The default for incoming folders is set in the Setup/Config
9156 screen with the "incoming-startup-rule" option. The default for folders
9157 other than INBOX that are not part of your incoming collection (see
9158 enable-incoming-folders feature) is to start with the last message in
9159 the folder. If the Startup Rule is set to something other than
9160 "default", then the rule will determine which message will be the
9161 current message when the folder is first opened.
9163 The various startup rule possibilities work the same here as they do in
9164 the incoming collection, except that the folder can be any specific
9165 folder or any folder type.
9167 Search Rules Configuration
9169 One of the commands that becomes available when that feature is turned
9170 on is the "; Select" command, which is used in the MESSAGE INDEX screen
9171 to select a set of messages. One way of selecting messages is to use a
9172 Rule. All of the messages which match (or don't match if you wish) a
9173 Rule's Pattern will be selected.
9175 Any of your Rules may be used for this purpose. You might already have
9176 Rules set up for filtering, index line color, scores, or roles; and you
9177 may use any of those Rules with the Select command. However, you might
9178 find it more convenient to set up a separate set of Rules just for this
9179 purpose without having to worry about what other effects they may
9180 cause. That is the purpose of these Select Rules.
9182 Rule Patterns
9184 In order to determine whether or not a message is selected by a rule
9185 the message is compared with the rule's Pattern. These Patterns are the
9186 same for use with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other
9187 Rules, and Search Rules, so are described in only one place, "here".
9189 There is no action associated with these Search Rules. Only their
9190 Patterns are used.
9192 Patterns
9194 Patterns are used with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other
9195 Rules, and Search Rules. Patterns are compared with a message to see if
9196 there is a match. For Filtering, the messages being checked are all the
9197 messages in the folder, one at a time. For Index Line Coloring, each
9198 message that is visible on the screen is checked for matches with the
9199 Index Coloring Patterns. Roles are used with the Reply, Forward, and
9200 Compose commands. For Reply, the message used to compare the Pattern
9201 with is the message being replied to; for Forward, the message used to
9202 compare the Pattern with is the message being forwarded; and for
9203 Compose, there is no message, so the parts of the Pattern which depend
9204 on a message (everything other than Current Folder Type and the
9205 Beginning of Month and Year) are not used. Only the Current Folder Type
9206 matters for Compose (plus the Beginning of Month or Year, which you
9207 wouldn't usually use for a Role). For Scoring, the message being scored
9208 is compared with all of the Score Patterns, and the Score Values from
9209 the ones that match are added together to get the message's score. For
9210 Other Rules, there is no message. Only the Current Folder Type is
9211 checked for Other Rules.
9213 Each Pattern has several possible parts, all of which are optional. In
9214 order for there to be a match, _ALL_ of the _defined_ parts of the
9215 Pattern must match the message. If a part is not defined it is
9216 considered a match. For example, if the To pattern is not defined it
9217 will be displayed as
9219 To pattern = <No Value Set>
9221 That is considered a match because it is not defined. This means that
9222 the Pattern with nothing defined is a match if the Current Folder Type
9223 matches, but there is an exception. Because filtering is a potentially
9224 destructive action, filtering Patterns with nothing other than Current
9225 Folder Type defined are ignored. If you really want a filtering Pattern
9226 to match all messages (subject to Current Folder Type) the best way to
9227 do it is to define a Score interval which includes all possible scores.
9228 This would be the score interval (-INF,INF). This can be used even if
9229 you haven't defined any rules to Set Scores.
9231 There are six predefined header patterns called the To, From, Sender,
9232 Cc, News, and Subject patterns. Besides those six predefined header
9233 patterns, you may add additional header patterns with header fieldnames
9234 of your choosing. You add an extra header pattern by placing the cursor
9235 on one of the patterns while in the role editor and using the
9236 "eXtraHdr" command. The Recip pattern is a header pattern which stands
9237 for Recipient (To OR Cc) and the Partic pattern is a header pattern
9238 which stands for Participant (From OR To OR Cc). (Defining the Recip
9239 pattern does not have the same effect as defining both the To and Cc
9240 patterns. Recip is To _OR_ Cc, not To _AND_ Cc.) Similar to the header
9241 patterns are the AllText pattern and the BodyText pattern. Instead of
9242 comparing this pattern's text against only the contents of a particular
9243 header field, the text for the AllText pattern is compared with text
9244 anywhere in the message's header or body, and the text for the BodyText
9245 pattern is compared with text anywhere in the message's body.
9247 Any of the header patterns, the AllText pattern, or the BodyText
9248 pattern may be negated with the "!" "toggle NOT" command. You can tell
9249 that _NOT_ has been turned on by looking for the character "!" at the
9250 beginning of the pattern line. When the "!" is present, it reverses the
9251 meaning of the match. That is, if the pattern matches then it is
9252 considered to NOT be a match, and if it does not match it is considered
9253 to be a match.
9255 Don't make the mistake of putting the "!" in the data field for a
9256 pattern. For example, if you type the characters "!urgent" into the
9257 Subject pattern, the pattern will look like:
9259 Subject pattern = !urgent
9261 This means you want to match the 7 character sequence "!urgent". In
9262 order to match messages which do not have "urgent" in their Subject
9263 field, first type the characters "urgent" followed by carriage return
9264 for the value of the Subject pattern, then negate it by typing the "!"
9265 command. It should look like
9267 ! Subject pattern = urgent
9269 The contents of each of these header patterns (or the AllText or
9270 BodyText patterns) may be a complete email address, part of an address,
9271 or a random set of characters to match against. It may also be a list
9272 of such patterns, which means you are looking for a match against the
9273 first pattern in the list _OR_ the second pattern _OR_ the third and so
9274 on. For example, a Subject pattern equal to
9276 Subject pattern = urgent
9277 emergency
9278 alert
9280 would match all messages with a subject which contained at least one of
9281 those words. It would also match subjects containing the words "alerts"
9282 or "Urgently".
9284 The same example with "NOT" turned on would be
9286 ! Subject pattern = urgent
9287 emergency
9288 alert
9290 which would match all messages with a subject which did NOT contain any
9291 of those words. You can use the "Add Value" command to add new words to
9292 the list, or you can enter them as a comma-separated list.
9294 (It is not possible to specify two patterns which must _BOTH_ be
9295 present for a match. It is only possible to specify that _EITHER_
9296 pattern1 _OR_ pattern2 must be present, and that is exactly what using
9297 a list does.)
9299 The "Current Folder Type" and the "Score Interval" are also part of the
9300 Pattern, although the "Score Interval" is not used when checking for
9301 matches for Scoring. There are five similar settings which relate to
9302 the status of the message. These settings rely on the message being New
9303 or not, Deleted or not, Answered or not, Important or not, and Recent
9304 or not. There are also some other miscellaneous settings. The first is
9305 the Age of the message in days. Another is the Size of the message in
9306 bytes. The third is a setting which detects whether or not the Subject
9307 of a message contains raw 8-bit characters (unencoded characters with
9308 the most significant bit set). There is a setting which detects whether
9309 or not this is the first time _Alpine_ has been run this month (doesn't
9310 depend on individual messages), and another which detects whether or
9311 not this is the first time _Alpine_ has been run this year. Other parts
9312 of the Pattern detect whether or not the From address of a message
9313 appears in your address book, whether or not certain keywords are set
9314 for a message, and whether or not certain character sets are used in a
9315 message.
9317 Parts of a Pattern
9319 Header patterns
9321 A header pattern is simply text which is searched for in the
9322 corresponding header field. For example, if a Pattern has a From header
9323 pattern with the value "@company.com", then only messages which have a
9324 From header which contains the text "@company.com" will be possible
9325 matches. Matches don't have to be exact. For example, if the relevant
9326 field of a message contains the text "mailbox@domain" somewhere in it,
9327 then header patterns of "box", or "x@d", or "mailbox@domain" are all
9328 matches.
9330 All parts of the Pattern must match so, for example, if a message
9331 matches a defined From pattern, it still must be checked against the
9332 other parts of the Pattern which have been defined. The To header
9333 pattern is a slightly special case. If the message being checked has a
9334 Resent-To header and the feature Use-Resent-To-in-Rules is turned on,
9335 the addresses there are used in place of the addresses in the To
9336 header. This is only true for the To header. Resent-cc and Resent-From
9337 headers are never used unless you add them with the eXtraHdrs command.
9339 The meaning of a header pattern may be negated with the "!" "toggle
9340 NOT" command. You can tell that _NOT_ has been turned on by looking for
9341 the character "!" at the beginning of the pattern line. It would look
9342 something like
9344 ! From pattern = susan@example.com
9346 When the "!" is present, it reverses the meaning of the match.
9348 If you want to check for the presence of a header field but don't care
9349 about its value, then the empty pattern which you get by entering a
9350 pair of double quotes ("") should match any message which has the
9351 corresponding header field.
9353 AllText patterns
9355 AllText patterns are just like header patterns except that the text is
9356 searched for anywhere in the message's headers or body, not just in the
9357 contents of a particular header field.
9359 BodyText patterns
9361 BodyText patterns are just like header patterns except that the text is
9362 searched for anywhere in the message's body, not just in the contents
9363 of a particular header field.
9365 If there is more than one header pattern or AllText pattern or BodyText
9366 pattern for which you want to take the same action there is a shorthand
9367 notation which may be used. Any of these patterns may be a list of
9368 patterns instead of just a single pattern. If any one of the patterns
9369 in the list matches the message then it is considered a match. For
9370 example, if "company1" and "company2" both required you to use the same
9371 role when replying to messages, you might have a To pattern which looks
9372 like
9374 To pattern = company1.com
9375 company2.com
9377 This means that if the mail you are replying to was addressed to either
9378 "anything@company1.com" or "anything@company2.com", then this Pattern
9379 is a match and the same actions will be taken.
9381 The meaning of an AllText or BodyText pattern may be negated with the
9382 "!" "toggle NOT" command. You can tell that _NOT_ has been turned on by
9383 looking for the character "!" at the beginning of the pattern line.
9384 When the "!" is present, it reverses the meaning of the match.
9386 A technicality: Since comma is the character used to separate multiple
9387 values in any of the fields which may have multiple values (such as
9388 header patterns, AllText patterns, BodyText patterns, keywords, folder
9389 lists, and so on), you must escape comma with a backslash (\) if you
9390 want to include a literal comma in one of those fields. In other words,
9391 if you type a backslash followed by a comma it will be interpreted as a
9392 comma by _Alpine_, instead of as a separator between pattern values.
9393 All other backslashes (those not followed by a comma) are literal
9394 backslashes and should not be escaped. It's unlikely you'll ever need
9395 to enter a literal comma or backslash in any of the patterns.
9397 Current Folder Type
9399 The "Current Folder Type" may be set to one of four different values:
9400 "Any", "News", "Email", or "Specific". If the value is set to "News",
9401 then the Pattern will only match if the currently open folder is a
9402 newsgroup. The value "Email" only matches if the current folder is not
9403 news and the value "Any" causes any folder to match. If the value of
9404 "Current Folder Type" is set to "Specific", then you must fill in a
9405 value for "Folder", which is on the line below the "Specific" line. In
9406 this case you will only get a match if the currently open folder is the
9407 specific folder you list. You may give a list of folders instead of
9408 just a single folder name, in which case the Pattern will match if the
9409 open folder is any one of the folders in the list. The name of each
9410 folder in the list may be either "INBOX", the technical specification
9411 of the folder (like what appears in your configuration file) or, if the
9412 folder is one of your incoming folders, it may be the nickname you've
9413 given the folder. Here are some samples of specific folder names:
9415 {monet.art.example.com}mail/art-class
9417 {news.example.com/nntp}#news.comp.mail.pine
9419 mail/local-folder
9421 The easiest way to fill in the "Folder" field is to use the "T" command
9422 which is available when the "Folder" line is hilighted, or to use the
9423 "Take" command with the configuration feature "enable-rules-under-take"
9424 turned on.
9426 When reading a newsgroup, there may be a performance penalty incurred
9427 when collecting the information necessary to check whether or not a
9428 Pattern matches a message. For this reason, the default Current Folder
9429 Type is set to "Email". If you have Patterns with a Current Folder Type
9430 of either "Any" or "News" and those Patterns are used for Index Line
9431 Coloring or Scoring, you may experience slower screen redrawing in the
9432 MESSAGE INDEX screen when in a newsgroup.
9434 Age Interval
9436 The "Age Interval" may be set to an interval of message ages which
9437 should be considered a match. Like the other parts of the Pattern, if
9438 it is unset it will be ignored. The Age Interval looks like
9440 (min_age,max_age)
9442 where "min_age" and "max_age" are integers greater than or equal to
9443 zero. The special value "INF" may be used for the max value. It
9444 represents infinity.
9446 Actually, this option may be defined as a list of intervals instead of
9447 just a single interval. The list is separated by commas. It can look
9448 like
9450 (min_age1,max_age1),(min_age2,max_age2),...
9452 When there is an Age Interval defined, it is a match if the age, in
9453 days, of the message is contained in any of the intervals. The
9454 intervals include both endpoints.
9456 Even though this option is called Age, it isn't actually the _age_ of
9457 the message. Instead, it is how many days ago the message arrived in
9458 one of your folders. If the current time is a little past midnight,
9459 then a message that arrived just before midnight arrived yesterday,
9460 even though the message is only a few minutes old. By default, the date
9461 being used is not the date in the Date header of the message. It is the
9462 date that the message arrived in one of your folders. When you Save a
9463 message from one folder to another that arrival date is preserved. If
9464 you would like to use the date in the Date header that is possible.
9465 Turn on the option _use-date-header-for-age_ near the bottom of the
9466 rule definition.
9468 A value of 0 is today, 1 is yesterday, 2 is the day before yesterday,
9469 and so on.
9471 Size Interval
9473 The "Size Interval" may be set to an interval of message sizes which
9474 should be considered a match. Like the other parts of the Pattern, if
9475 it is unset it will be ignored. The Size Interval looks like
9477 (min_size,max_size)
9479 where "min_size" and "max_size" are integers greater than or equal to
9480 zero. The special value "INF" may be used for the max value. It
9481 represents infinity.
9483 Actually, this option may be defined as a list of intervals instead of
9484 just a single interval. The list is separated by commas. It can look
9485 like
9487 (min_size1,max_size1),(min_size2,max_size2),...
9489 When there is a Size Interval defined, it is a match if the size, in
9490 bytes, of the message is contained in any of the intervals. The
9491 intervals include both endpoints.
9493 Score Interval
9495 The "Score Interval" may be set to an interval of message scores which
9496 should be considered a match. Like the other parts of the Pattern, if
9497 it is unset it will be ignored. The Score Interval looks like
9499 (min_score,max_score)
9501 where "min_score" and "max_score" are integers between -32000 and
9502 32000. The special values "-INF" and "INF" may be used for the min and
9503 max values to represent negative and positive infinity.
9505 Actually, a list of intervals may be used if you wish. A list would
9506 look like
9508 (min_score1,max_score1),(min_score2,max_score2),...
9510 When there is a Score Interval defined, it is a match if the score for
9511 the message is contained in any of the intervals in the list. The
9512 intervals include the endpoints. The score for a message is calculated
9513 by looking at every Score rule defined and adding up the Score Values
9514 for the ones which match the message. When deciding whether or not a
9515 Pattern matches a message for purposes of calculating the score, the
9516 Score Interval is ignored.
9518 Message Status
9520 There are five separate message status settings. By default, all five
9521 are set to the value "Don't care", which will match any message. The
9522 value "Yes" means that the particular status must be true for a match,
9523 and the value "No" means that the particular status must not be true
9524 for a match. For example, one of the five Message Status settings is
9525 whether a message is marked Important or not. A "Yes" means that the
9526 message must be Important to be considered a match and "No" means that
9527 the message must not be Important to be considered a match. The same is
9528 true of the other four message status settings which depend on whether
9529 or not the message is New; whether the message has been Answered or
9530 not; whether the message has been Deleted or not, and whether the
9531 message is Recent or not.
9533 The nomenclature for New and Recent is a bit confusing:
9535 New means that the message is Unseen. It could have been in your
9536 mailbox for a long time but if you haven't looked at it, it is still
9537 considered New. That matches the default _Alpine_ index display that
9538 shows an N for such a message.
9540 Recent means that the message was added to this folder since the last
9541 time you opened the folder. _Alpine_ also shows an N by default for
9542 these types of messages. If you were to run two copies of _Alpine_ that
9543 opened a folder one right after the other, a message would only show up
9544 as Recent in (at most) the first _Alpine_ session.
9546 Message Keywords
9548 Keywords are similar to Message Status, but they are chosen by the
9549 user. Provided the mail server allows for it, you may add a set of
9550 possible keywords to a folder and then you may set those keywords or
9551 not for each message in the folder. The syntax of this part of the
9552 Pattern is similar to the header patterns. It is a list of keywords.
9553 The Keyword part of the Pattern is a match if the message has any of
9554 the keywords in the list set. Like other parts of the Pattern, if this
9555 is unset it will be ignored.
9557 Message Character Set
9559 A message may use one or more character sets. This part of the Pattern
9560 matches messages which make use of one or more of the character sets
9561 specified in the pattern. It will be considered a match if a message
9562 uses any of the character sets in the list you give here. The syntax of
9563 this part of the Pattern is similar to the header patterns and the
9564 Message Keywords pattern. It is a list of character sets.
9566 Besides actual character set names (for example, ISO-8859-7, KOI8-R, or
9567 GB2312) you may also use some shorthand names that _Alpine_ provides.
9568 These names are more understandable shorthand names for sets of
9569 character set names. Two examples are "Cyrillic" and "Greek". Selecting
9570 one of these shorthand names is equivalent to selecting all of the
9571 character sets that make up the set. You can see all of these shorthand
9572 names and the lists of character sets they stand for by typing the "T"
9573 command with the Character Set pattern highlighted. The Character Set
9574 part of the Pattern is a match if the message uses any of the character
9575 sets in the list. Like other parts of the Pattern, if this is unset it
9576 will be ignored.
9578 Raw 8-bit in Subject
9580 It seems that lots of unwanted email contains unencoded 8-bit
9581 characters in the Subject. Normally, characters with the 8th bit set
9582 are not allowed in the Subject header unless they are MIME-encoded.
9583 This option gives you a way to match messages which have Subjects which
9584 contain unencoded 8-bit characters. Setting this option will affect
9585 performance in large folders because the subject of each message in the
9586 folder has to be checked.
9588 Beginning of Month
9590 This option gives you a way to take some action once per month. The
9591 value "Yes" means that this must be the first time _Alpine_ has been
9592 run this month in order to count as a match,
9594 Beginning of Year
9596 This option gives you a way to take some action once per year. The
9597 value "Yes" means that this must be the first time _Alpine_ has been
9598 run this year in order to count as a match,
9600 From or Reply-To address in Address Books
9602 This option gives you a way to match messages which have a From or a
9603 Reply-To address which is in one of your address books. Only the simple
9604 entries in your address books are searched. Address book distribution
9605 lists are ignored! Setting this option will affect performance in large
9606 folders because the From and Reply-To of each message in the folder
9607 have to be checked.
9609 Categorizer Command
9611 This is a command that is run with its standard input set to the
9612 message being checked and its standard output discarded. The full
9613 directory path should be specified. The command will be run and then
9614 its exit status will be checked against the Exit Status Interval, which
9615 defaults to just the value zero. If the exit status of the command
9616 falls in the interval, it is considered a match, otherwise it is not a
9617 match.
9619 This option may actually be a list of commands. The first one that
9620 exists and is executable is used. That makes it possible to use the
9621 same configuration with Unix _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_.
9623 If none of the commands in the list exists and is executable then the
9624 rule is _not_ a match. If it is possible that the command may not
9625 exist, you should be careful to structure your rules so that nothing
9626 destructive happens when the command does not exist. For example, you
9627 might have a filter that filters away spam when there is a match but
9628 does nothing when there is not a match. That would continue to work
9629 correctly if the command didn't exist. However, if you have a filter
9630 which filters away spam when there is not a match and keeps it when
9631 there is a match, that would filter everything if the categorizer
9632 command didn't exist.
9634 Help Configuring Pattern Fields
9636 _Nickname_
9637 This is a nickname to help you. You should have a different
9638 nickname for each role you define. The nickname will be used in
9639 the SETUP ROLE RULES screen to allow you to pick a role to edit.
9640 It will also be used when you send a message to let you know you
9641 are sending with a different role than you use by default, and
9642 it will be useful for choosing a role when composing with the
9643 Role command or when composing with one of the Role Uses set to
9644 With Confirmation. This field is not used in the outgoing
9645 message.
9646 _Comment_
9647 This is a comment to help you. This comment does not play any
9648 functional role, it is simply an optional comment to help you
9649 remember what the rule is for.
9650 _To pattern_
9651 If this pattern is non-blank, then for this role to be
9652 considered a match, at least one of the recipients from the To
9653 line of the message being replied to or forwarded must match
9654 this pattern. In the case of the Compose command, this pattern
9655 and the other header patterns are ignored. If this pattern is a
9656 list of patterns, then at least one of the recipients must match
9657 at least one of the patterns. (Any other non-blank parts of the
9658 Pattern must match, too.) If the message being replied to or
9659 forwarded has a Resent-To header line, then that is used in
9660 place of the To line. (Note that this special Resent rule only
9661 applies to the To header. The Resent-From, Resent-Subject, and
9662 so on are not consulted.)
9663 It is possible to add a _NOT_ to the To Pattern meaning with the
9664 "!" "toggle NOT" command. This changes the meaning of the To
9665 pattern so that it has the opposite meaning. It will be
9666 considered a match if there are no matches between the addresses
9667 in the To: line and the list of To patterns.
9668 Don't make the mistake of putting the "!" in the data field for
9669 the pattern. For example, if you type the characters "!frizzle"
9670 into the To pattern, the pattern will look like:
9671 To pattern = !frizzle
9673 This means you want to match the 8 character sequence
9674 "!frizzle". In order to match messages which do not have
9675 "frizzle" in their To field, first type the characters "frizzle"
9676 followed by carriage return for the value of the To pattern,
9677 then negate it by typing the "!" command. It should end up
9678 looking like
9679 ! To pattern = frizzle
9681 _From pattern_
9682 This is just like the To pattern except that it is compared with
9683 the address from the From header of the message being replied to
9684 or forwarded instead of the addresses from the To header.
9685 _Sender pattern_
9686 This is just like the To pattern except that it is compared with
9687 the address from the Sender header of the message being replied
9688 to or forwarded instead of the addresses from the To header. If
9689 there is no Sender header, then the From header is used instead.
9690 _Cc pattern_
9691 This is just like the To pattern except that it is compared with
9692 the address from the CC header of the message being replied to
9693 or forwarded instead of the addresses from the To header.
9694 _News pattern_
9695 If this pattern is non-blank, then for this role to be
9696 considered a match, at least one of the newsgroups from the
9697 Newsgroups line of the message must match this pattern. If this
9698 pattern is a list of patterns, then at least one of the
9699 newsgroups must match at least one of the patterns. (Any other
9700 non-blank parts of the Pattern must match, too.)
9701 _Subject pattern_
9702 This is similar to the other header patterns. It is compared
9703 with the contents from the Subject of the message being replied
9704 to or forwarded.
9705 If you enter non-ascii characters in this field then the search
9706 will be done using the character set you have defined with the
9707 Character-Set configuration variable. (The truly sophisticated
9708 may use an alternate character set for a search by entering the
9709 MIME encoding of the header string here.)
9710 _Extra header patterns_
9711 There isn't actually a field called Extra header patterns, but
9712 you may add extra header patterns by moving the cursor to one of
9713 the header patterns and using the "eXtraHdr" command to add a
9714 new header pattern. You would do this if the six predefined
9715 header patterns don't cover the header you want to use for
9716 pattern matching. Once you've added an extra header pattern, you
9717 use it just like the Subject pattern. Of course, it is compared
9718 with the contents from the particular header field of the
9719 message being replied to or forwarded rather than the contents
9720 from the subject field. To remove an extra header pattern from a
9721 role, use the "RemoveHdr" command on the highlighted extra
9722 header.
9723 If you enter non-ascii characters in this field then the search
9724 will be done using the character set you have defined with the
9725 Character-Set configuration variable. (The truly sophisticated
9726 may use an alternate character set for a search by entering the
9727 MIME encoding of the header string here.)
9728 _Recipient pattern_
9729 This is just like the To pattern except that it is compared with
9730 the addresses from both the To header and the Cc header instead
9731 of just the addresses from the To header. It's equivalent to
9732 having two different rules; one with a To pattern and the other
9733 with the same Cc pattern.
9734 _Participant pattern_
9735 This is just like the To pattern except that it is compared with
9736 the addresses from the To header, the Cc header, and the From
9737 header instead of just the addresses from the To header. It's
9738 equivalent to having three different rules; one with a To
9739 pattern, another with the same Cc pattern, and another with the
9740 same From pattern.
9741 _AllText pattern_
9742 This is similar to the header patterns. Instead of comparing
9743 with text in a particular header field it is compared with all
9744 of the text in the message header and body.
9745 If you enter non-ascii characters in this field then the search
9746 will be done using the character set you have defined with the
9747 Character-Set configuration variable. (The truly sophisticated
9748 may use an alternate character set for a search by entering the
9749 MIME encoding of the header string here.)
9750 _BodyText pattern_
9751 Just like AllText, except it is compared only with the body of
9752 the message, not the body and header.
9753 If you enter non-ascii characters in this field then the search
9754 will be done using the character set you have defined with the
9755 Character-Set configuration variable. (The truly sophisticated
9756 may use an alternate character set for a search by entering the
9757 MIME encoding of the header string here.)
9758 _Age Interval_
9759 The Age Interval, if defined, is part of the Pattern. If you use
9760 this, it should be set to something like:
9762 (min_age,max_age)
9763 where "min_age" and "max_age" are non-negative integers. The
9764 special value "INF" may be used for the max value. It represents
9765 infinity.
9766 In rare cases it may be useful to use the more general form of
9767 the value, which is a comma-separated list of intervals. It
9768 would look something like:
9770 (min_age1,max_age1),(min_age2,max_age2),...
9771 When there is an Age Interval defined, it is a match if the age,
9772 in days, of the message is contained in the interval. The
9773 interval includes both endpoints. If the option is set to a list
9774 of intervals then it is a match if the age of the message is
9775 contained in any of the intervals.
9776 Even though this option is called Age, it isn't actually the
9777 _age_ of the message. Instead, it is how many days ago the
9778 message arrived in one of your folders. If the current time is a
9779 little past midnight, then a message that arrived just before
9780 midnight arrived yesterday, even though the message is only a
9781 few minutes old. By default, the date being used is not the date
9782 in the Date header of the message. It is the date that the
9783 message arrived in one of your folders. When you Save a message
9784 from one folder to another that arrival date is preserved. If
9785 you would like to use the date in the Date header that is
9786 possible. Turn on the option _use-date-header-for-age_ near the
9787 bottom of the rule definition.
9788 A value of 0 is today, 1 is yesterday, 2 is the day before
9789 yesterday, and so on. The age interval
9791 (2,2)
9792 matches all messages that arrived on the day before yesterday.
9793 The interval
9795 (180,INF)
9796 matches all messages that arrived at least 180 days before
9797 today. The interval
9799 (0,1)
9800 matches all messages that arrived today or yesterday.
9801 _Score Interval_
9802 The Score Interval, if defined, is part of the Pattern. If you
9803 use this, it should be set to something like:
9805 (min_score,max_score)
9806 where "min_score" and "max_score" are integers between -32000
9807 and 32000. The special values "-INF" and "INF" can be used for
9808 the min and max values. These represent negative and positive
9809 infinity.
9810 Actually, the value may be a list of intervals rather than just
9811 a single interval if that is useful. The elements of the list
9812 are separated by commas like:
9814 (min_score1,max_score1),(min_score2,max_score2),...
9815 When there is a Score Interval defined, it is a match if the
9816 score for the message is contained in any of the intervals. The
9817 intervals include both endpoints. The score for a message is
9818 calculated by looking at every scoring rule defined and adding
9819 up the Score Values for the rules which match the message.
9820 _Keyword pattern_
9821 A folder may have user-defined keywords. These are similar to
9822 the Important flag which the user may set using the Flag
9823 command. The difference is that the Important flag is always
9824 present for each folder. User-defined keywords are picked by the
9825 user. You may add new keywords by defining them in the Keywords
9826 option in the Setup/Config screen. After you have added a
9827 potential keyword with the Keywords option, the Flag command may
9828 be used to set or clear the keyword on individual messages. If
9829 you have given a keyword a nickname when configuring it, that
9830 nickname may be used instead of the actual keyword.
9831 When filling in a value for this field, it may be easiest to use
9832 the "T" command, which presents you with a list of the keywords
9833 you have defined to choose from.
9834 This part of the Pattern matches messages with certain keywords
9835 set. It will be considered a match if a message has any of the
9836 keywords in the list set.
9837 It is possible to add a _NOT_ to the Keyword Pattern meaning
9838 with the "!" "toggle NOT" command. This changes the meaning of
9839 the Keyword pattern so that it has the opposite meaning. It will
9840 be considered a match if none of the keywords in the list are
9841 set for a message.
9842 Don't make the mistake of putting the "!" in the data field for
9843 the pattern. For example, if you type the characters "!frizzle"
9844 into the Keyword pattern, the pattern will look like:
9845 Keyword pattern = !frizzle
9847 This means you want to match the 8 character sequence
9848 "!frizzle". In order to match messages which do not have the
9849 keyword "frizzle" set, first type the characters "frizzle"
9850 followed by carriage return for the value of the Keyword
9851 pattern, then negate it by typing the "!" command. It should end
9852 up looking like
9853 ! Keyword pattern = frizzle
9855 _Character Set pattern_
9856 A message may use one or more character sets. This part of the
9857 Pattern matches messages which make use of certain specified
9858 character sets. It will be considered a match if a message uses
9859 any of the character sets in the list you give here.
9860 When filling in a value for this field, you may use the "T"
9861 command, which presents you with a large list of possible
9862 character sets to choose from. You may also just type in the
9863 name of a character set, and it need not be one that Alpine
9864 knows about.
9865 Besides actual character set names (for example, ISO-8859-7,
9866 KOI8-R, or GB2312) you may also use some shorthand names that
9867 Alpine provides. These names are more understandable shorthand
9868 names for sets of character set names. Two examples are
9869 "Cyrillic" and "Greek". Selecting one of these shorthand names
9870 is equivalent to selecting all of the character sets that make
9871 up the set. You can see all of these shorthand names and the
9872 lists of character sets they stand for by typing the "T"
9873 command.
9874 For the purposes of this Pattern, _Alpine_ will search through a
9875 message for all of the text parts and collect the character sets
9876 declared for each part. It will also look in the Subject line
9877 for a character set used there. _Alpine_ does not actually look
9878 at the text of the message or the text of the Subject to
9879 determine if a declared character set is actually used, it looks
9880 only at the declarations themselves in the MIME part headers and
9881 in the Subject.
9882 It is possible to add a _NOT_ to the Character Set Pattern
9883 meaning with the "!" "toggle NOT" command. This changes the
9884 meaning of the Character Set pattern so that it has the opposite
9885 meaning. It will be considered a match if none of the character
9886 sets in the list are used in a message.
9887 Don't make the mistake of putting the "!" in the data field for
9888 the pattern. For example, if you type the characters "!GB2312"
9889 into the Character Set pattern, the pattern will look like:
9890 Charset pattern = !GB2312
9892 This means you want to match the 7 character sequence "!GB2312".
9893 In order to match messages which do not have the character set
9894 "GB2312" set, first type the characters "GB2312" followed by
9895 carriage return for the value of the Character Set pattern, then
9896 negate it by typing the "!" command. It should end up looking
9897 like
9898 ! Charset pattern = GB2312
9900 A technicality: Since comma is the character used to separate
9901 multiple values in a pattern field, you have to escape comma
9902 with a backslash (\) if you want to include a literal comma in
9903 the field. In other words, if you type a backslash followed by a
9904 comma it will be interpreted as a comma by _Alpine_, instead of
9905 as a separator between pattern values. All other backslashes are
9906 literal backslashes and should not be escaped.
9907 _Current Folder Type_
9908 The Current Folder Type is part of the Pattern. It refers to the
9909 type of the currently open folder, which is the folder you were
9910 last looking at from the MESSAGE INDEX or MESSAGE TEXT screen.
9911 In order for a pattern to be considered a match, the current
9912 folder must be of the type you set here. The three types "Any",
9913 "News", and "Email" are all what you might think.
9914 If the Current Folder Type for a Pattern is set to "News", for
9915 example, then that will only be a match if the current folder is
9916 a newsgroup and the rest of the Pattern matches. The value
9917 "Specific" may be used when you want to limit the match to a
9918 specific folder (not just a specific type of folder), or to a
9919 list of specific folders. In order to match a specific folder
9920 you must Select the "Specific" button _AND_ you must fill in the
9921 name (or list of names) of the folder in the "Folder" field. If
9922 the current folder is any of the folders in the list, that is
9923 considered a match. The name of each folder in the list may be
9924 either "INBOX", the technical specification of the folder (like
9925 what appears in your configuration file) or, if the folder is
9926 one of your incoming folders, it may be the nickname you've
9927 given the folder. Here are a couple samples of specific folder
9928 names:
9930 {monet.art.example.com}mail/art-class
9932 {news.example.com/nntp}#news.comp.mail.pine
9933 The easiest way to fill in the "Folder" field is to use the T
9934 command which is available when the "Folder" line is hilighted.
9935 Note that you won't be able to edit the "Folder" line unless the
9936 Current Folder Type is set to "Specific", and any value that
9937 "Folder" has is ignored unless the type is set to "Specific".
9938 When reading a newsgroup, there may be a performance penalty
9939 incurred when collecting the information necessary to check a
9940 Pattern. For this reason, the default Current Folder Type is set
9941 to "Email". For example, a role with a non-Normal Index Line
9942 Color and a Current Folder Type of "Any" or "News" may cause the
9943 MESSAGE INDEX screen to draw more slowly when in a newsgroup.
9944 _Message Status Important_
9945 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
9946 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
9947 The other two values are "Yes", which means the message must be
9948 flagged "Important" in order to be a match; or "No", which means
9949 the message must _not_ be flagged "Important" in order to be
9950 considered a match.
9951 _Message Status New_
9952 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
9953 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
9954 The other two values are "Yes", which means the message must be
9955 "New" in order to be a match; or "No", which means the message
9956 must _not_ be "New" in order to be a match. "New" is the same as
9957 _Unseen_ and not "New" is the same as _Seen_.
9958 The nomenclature for New and Recent is a bit confusing:
9959 New means that the message is Unseen. It could have been in your
9960 mailbox for a long time but if you haven't looked at it, it is
9961 still considered New. That matches the default _Alpine_ index
9962 display that shows an N for such a message.
9963 Recent means that the message was added to this folder since the
9964 last time you opened the folder. _Alpine_ also shows an N by
9965 default for these types of messages. If you were to run two
9966 copies of _Alpine_ that opened a folder one right after the
9967 other, a message would only show up as Recent in (at most) the
9968 first _Alpine_ session.
9969 _Message Status Recent_
9970 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
9971 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
9972 The other two values are "Yes", which means the message must be
9973 "Recent" in order to be a match; or "No", which means the
9974 message must _not_ be "Recent" in order to be a match. "Recent"
9975 means that the message was added to the folder since the last
9976 time the folder was opened. If more than one mail client has the
9977 folder opened, the message will appear to be "Recent" to only
9978 one of the clients.
9979 The nomenclature for New and Recent is a bit confusing:
9980 New means that the message is Unseen. It could have been in your
9981 mailbox for a long time but if you haven't looked at it, it is
9982 still considered New. That matches the default _Alpine_ index
9983 display that shows an N for such a message.
9984 Recent means that the message was added to this folder since the
9985 last time you opened the folder. _Alpine_ also shows an N by
9986 default for these types of messages. If you were to run two
9987 copies of _Alpine_ that opened a folder one right after the
9988 other, a message would only show up as Recent in (at most) the
9989 first _Alpine_ session.
9990 _Message Status Deleted_
9991 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
9992 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
9993 The other two values are "Yes", which means the message must be
9994 marked "Deleted" in order to be a match; or "No", which means
9995 the message must _not_ be marked "Deleted" in order to be a
9996 match.
9997 If you are thinking of using this part of the Pattern as a way
9998 to prevent messages from being filtered more than once in a
9999 Filter Pattern, take a look at the Filter Option
10000 "move-only-if-not-deleted" instead. It should work better than
10001 using this field since it will hide the filtered messages even
10002 if they are already Deleted.
10003 _Message Status Answered_
10004 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10005 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10006 The other two values are "Yes", which means the message must be
10007 marked "Answered" in order to be a match; or "No", which means
10008 the message must _not_ be marked "Answered" in order to be a
10009 match.
10010 _Subject Contains Raw 8-bit_
10011 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10012 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10013 The other two values are "Yes", which means the Subject of the
10014 message must contain unencoded 8-bit characters (characters with
10015 the most significant bit set) in order to be a match; or "No",
10016 which means the Subject must _not_ contain unencoded 8-bit
10017 characters in order to be a match.
10018 _Beginning of Month_
10019 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10020 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10021 The other two values are "Yes", which means this is the first
10022 time _Alpine_ has been run this month; or "No", which means this
10023 is _not_ the first time _Alpine_ has been run this month. The
10024 way that _Alpine_ decides if it is the beginning of the month or
10025 not is to compare today's date with the date stored in the
10026 Last-Time-Prune-Questioned variable in the config file. If the
10027 month of today's date is later than the month stored in the
10028 variable, then this is considered to be the first time you have
10029 run Alpine this month, and that turns the Beginning of the Month
10030 option on.
10031 _Beginning of Year_
10032 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10033 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10034 The other two values are "Yes", which means this is the first
10035 time _Alpine_ has been run this year; or "No", which means this
10036 is _not_ the first time _Alpine_ has been run this year. The way
10037 that _Alpine_ decides if it is the beginning of the year or not
10038 is to compare today's date with the date stored in the
10039 Last-Time-Prune-Questioned variable in the config file. If the
10040 year of today's date is later than the year stored in the
10041 variable, then this is considered to be the first time you have
10042 run Alpine this year, and that turns the Beginning of the Year
10043 option on.
10044 _From or Reply-To in Address Book_
10045 This part of the Pattern may have one of five possible values.
10046 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10047 The value "Yes, in any address book" means either the From
10048 address or the Reply-To address of the message must be in at
10049 least one of your address books in order to be a match. The
10050 value "No, not in any address book" means neither the From nor
10051 the Reply-To addresses may be in any of your address books in
10052 order to be a match.
10053 The values "Yes, in specific address books" and "No, not in any
10054 of specific address books" are similar but instead of depending
10055 on all address books you are allowed to give a list of address
10056 books to look in. Usually this would be a single address book
10057 but it may be a list of address books as well. For each of these
10058 "specific" address book options you Select which of the Specific
10059 options you want (Yes or No) _AND_ fill in the name (or list of
10060 names) of the address book in the "Abook List" field. The names
10061 to be used are those that appear in the ADDRESS BOOK LIST
10062 screen. The easiest way to fill in the Abook List field it to
10063 use the "T" command which is available when the "Abook List"
10064 line is highlighted. Note that you won't be able to edit the
10065 "Abook List" line unless the option is set to one of the two
10066 "Specific", values.
10067 _Categorizer Command_
10068 This is a command that is run with its standard input set to the
10069 message being checked and its standard output discarded. The
10070 full directory path should be specified. The command will be run
10071 and then its exit status will be checked against the _Exit
10072 Status Interval_, which defaults to just the value zero. If the
10073 exit status of the command falls in the interval, it is
10074 considered a match, otherwise it is not a match.
10075 This option may actually be a list of commands. The first one
10076 that exists and is executable is used. That makes it possible to
10077 use the same configuration with Unix _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_.
10078 If none of the commands in the list exists and is executable
10079 then the rule is _not_ a match. If it is possible that the
10080 command may not exist, you should be careful to structure your
10081 rules so that nothing destructive happens when the command does
10082 not exist. For example, you might have a filter that filters
10083 away spam when there is a match but does nothing when there is
10084 not a match. That would continue to work correctly if the
10085 command didn't exist. However, if you have a filter which
10086 filters away spam when there is not a match and keeps it when
10087 there is a match, that would filter everything if the
10088 categorizer command didn't exist.
10089 The categorizer command is run and the result is the exit status
10090 of that command. If that exit status falls in the _Exit Status
10091 Interval_ then it is considered a match, otherwise it is not a
10092 match. Of course for the entire rule to match, it must also be
10093 checked against the other defined parts of the Pattern.
10094 The _Exit Status Interval_ defaults to the single value 0
10095 (zero). If you define it, it should be set to something like:
10097 (min_exit_value,max_exit_value)
10098 where "min_exit_value" and "max_exit_value" are integers. The
10099 special values "INF" and "-INF" may be used for large positive
10100 and negative integers.
10101 Actually, a list of intervals may be used if you wish. A list
10102 would look like
10104 (min_exit_value1,max_exit_value1),(min_exit_value2,max_exit_value2),...
10105 When there is an _Exit Status Interval_ defined, it is a match
10106 if the exit status of the categorizer command is contained in
10107 any of the intervals. The intervals include both endpoints.
10108 The default interval is
10110 (0,0)
10111 and it matches only if the command exits with exit status equal
10112 to zero.
10113 It is also possible to set a _Character Limit_ for the
10114 categorizer command. Setting this option makes it possible to
10115 limit how much of the message is made available to the
10116 categorizer command as input. The default value (-1) means that
10117 the entire message is fed to the command. A value of 0 (zero)
10118 means that only the headers of the message are made available. A
10119 positive integer means that the headers plus that many
10120 characters from the body of the message are passed to the
10121 categorizer.
10123 Configuring News
10125 _Alpine_ can access news folders in any one of three different ways:
10127 REMOTE NNTP
10128 Using the Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP) to access news
10129 on a remote news server. In this case the newsrc file is stored
10130 on the machine where _Alpine_ is running.
10132 To specify a remote news-collection accessed via NNTP use the
10133 SETUP/collectionList screen's "Add" command. Set the Server:
10134 value to the NNTP server's hostname appended with the
10135 communication method "/service=NNTP", and set the Path: value to
10136 the "#news." namespace (without the quotes).
10138 Instead of specifying a news-collection, you may simply set the
10139 nntp-server option, which will cause _Alpine_ to create a
10140 default news-collection for you. Another NNTP option which may
10141 be of interest is nntp-range.
10143 REMOTE IMAP
10144 Using the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) to access news
10145 on a remote news server. In this case, your newsrc file is
10146 stored on the news server, in your home directory, so you must
10147 have an account on the news server, but you would be running
10148 _Alpine_ on a different machine. The news server must be running
10149 an IMAPd server process.
10151 To specify a remote news-collection accessed via IMAP use the
10152 SETUP/collectionList screen's "Add" command. Set the Server:
10153 value to the IMAP server's hostname, and set the Path: value to
10154 the "#news." namespace (without the quotes).
10156 LOCAL
10157 Using local file access to the news database. In this case, your
10158 newsrc file is stored on the news server, in your home
10159 directory, so you must have an account on the news server, and
10160 you would be running _Alpine_ on the same machine.
10162 To specify a local news-collection use the SETUP/collectionList
10163 screen's "Add" command. Leave the Server: value blank, and set
10164 the Path: value to the "#news." namespace (without the quotes).
10166 NOTE: Should no news-collection be defined as above, _Alpine_ will
10167 automatically create one using the Setup/Config screen's "nntp-server"
10168 variable's value if defined. The collection will be created as a
10169 "Remote NNTP" as described above.
10171 If you are a _PC-Alpine_ user, either option 1 (NNTP) or option 2
10172 (IMAP) is possible. If you don't have an account on the news server, or
10173 if the news server is not running an IMAP daemon, then you must use
10174 NNTP. (If you are not sure, ask your service provider, university, or
10175 company for help.) In this case, your Unix .newsrc file can be
10176 transferred to your PC. A good place to put it would be in the same
10177 directory as your PINERC file, under the name NEWSRC, but you can
10178 specify a different location.
10180 Other configuration features related to news are
10181 Enable-8bit-Nntp-Posting. Compose-Sets-Newsgroup-Without-Confirm,
10182 News-Approximates-New-Status, News-Deletes-Across-Groups,
10183 News-Offers-Catchup-On-Close, News-Post-Without-Validation,
10184 News-Read-in-Newsrc-Order, and Quell-Extra-Post-Prompt.
10185 __________________________________________________________________
10187 Notes on Configuration and Preferences
10189 Alpine in Function Key Mode
10191 The standard _Alpine_ uses alphabetic keys for most commands, and
10192 control keys in the composer. Despite possible appearances, the current
10193 bindings are the result of much discussion and thought. All the
10194 commands in the composer are single control characters. This keeps
10195 things very neat and simple for users. Two character commands in the
10196 composer are a possibility, but we're trying to avoid them because of
10197 the added complexity for the user.
10199 _Alpine_ can also operate in a function-key mode. To go into this mode
10200 invoke _alpine -k_ or (on some UNIX systems) _alpinef._ On a UNIX
10201 system, you can link or copy the _Alpine_ executable to _alpinef_ to
10202 install _alpinef._ Alternatively, users and systems administrators can
10203 set the _use-function-keys_ feature in the personal or system-wide
10204 _Alpine_ configuration file. The command menus at the bottom of the
10205 screen will show _F1-F12 _instead of the alphabetic commands. In
10206 addition, the help screens will be written in terms of function keys
10207 and not alphabetic keys.
10209 One of the results of using _Alpine_ in function-key mode is that users
10210 can only choose from twelve commands at any given time. In
10211 alphabetic-key mode, a user can press a key for a command (say, q to
10212 quit) and that command can be fulfilled. In function-key mode, the
10213 command must be visible on the bottom key-menu in order to be used.
10214 There are some screens where four screens of commands are operational;
10215 function-key users can get to all of them, just not all at once.
10216 __________________________________________________________________
10218 Domain Settings
10220 _Alpine_ uses the default domain for a few different tasks. First, it
10221 is tacked onto the user-id for outgoing email. Second, it is tacked
10222 onto all "local" (unqualified) addresses in the "To:" or "Cc:" fields
10223 of messages being composed (unless they are found in the address book
10224 or on an LDAP server). The domain name is also used to generate
10225 message-id lines for each outgoing message and to allow _Alpine_ to
10226 check if an address is that of the current _Alpine_ user.
10228 _Alpine_ determines the domain name according to whichever of these it
10229 finds. The list here is in decreasing order of precedence.
10230 1. Value of the variable user-domain in the system fixed configuration
10231 file
10232 2. Value of the variable _user-domain_ in the personal configuration
10233 file
10234 3. Value of the variable _user-domain_ in the system-wide
10235 configuration file
10236 4. Value from an external database (DNS, /etc/hosts, NIS) as modified
10237 by a system fixed configuration file if use-only-domain-name set to
10238 _yes_
10239 5. Value from an external database (DNS, /etc/hosts, NIS) as modified
10240 by a personal configuration file if _use-only-domain-name_ set to
10241 _yes_
10242 6. Value from an external database (DNS, /etc/hosts, NIS) as modified
10243 by a system configuration file if _use-only-domain-name_ set to
10244 _yes_
10245 7. Unmodified value (host name) from an external database
10247 The easiest way for this system to work is for _PC-Alpine_ users and
10248 UNIX _Alpine_ system administrators to set the _user-domain_ variable.
10249 The variable _use-only-domain-name_ is helpful if your site
10250 supports/requires hostless addressing, but for some reason you don't
10251 want to use the _user-domain_ variable.
10252 __________________________________________________________________
10254 Syntax for Collections
10256 In many environments, it is quite common to have collections of
10257 archived mail on various hosts around the network. Using the folder
10258 collections facility in _Alpine_, access to these archives is just as
10259 simple as access to folders on _Alpine_'s local disk.
10261 "Collection" is the word we use in _Alpine_ to describe a set of
10262 folders. A collection corresponds loosely to a "directory" containing
10263 mail folders. Folders within a defined collection can be manipulated
10264 (opened, saved-to, etc) using just their simple name. Any number of
10265 folder collections can be defined, and _Alpine_ will adjust its menus
10266 and prompts to help navigate them.
10268 The way collections are defined in _Alpine_ is with the
10269 folder-collections variable in the _Alpine_ configuration file.
10270 _Folder-collections_ takes a list of one or more collections, each
10271 (optionally) preceded by a user-defined logical name (label). Once
10272 collections are defined, _Alpine_ adjusts its menus and behavior to
10273 allow choosing files by their simple name within the collection.
10275 Consider the following:
10276 folder-collections= Local-Mail C:\MAIL\[],
10277 Remote-Mail {imap.u.example.edu}mail/[]
10279 The example shows two collections defined (a comma separated list;
10280 newlines in the list are OK if there's one or more spaces before the
10281 next entry), one local and one remote. Each collection is a
10282 space-delimited pair of elements-first an optional logical-name and
10283 second the collection specifier. The logical-name can have spaces if it
10284 has quotes around it (but keeping the logical name short and
10285 descriptive works best). _Alpine_ will use the logical-name (if
10286 provided) to reference all folders in the collection, so the user never
10287 has to see the ugliness of the collection specifier.
10289 The collection specifier can be thought of as an extended IMAP format
10290 (see the Remote Folders section for a description of IMAP format
10291 names). Basically, a pair of square-brackets are placed in the fully
10292 qualified IMAP path where the simple folder name (the part without the
10293 host name and path) would appear. Like IMAP, the path can be either
10294 fully qualified (i.e., with a leading '/') or relative to your home
10295 directory.
10297 An advanced feature of this notation is that a pattern within the
10298 square brackets allows the user to define a collection to be a subset
10299 of a directory. For example, a collection defined with the specifier:
10300 M-Mail C:MAIL/[m*]
10303 will provide a view in the folder lister of all folders in the PC's
10304 "C:MAIL" directory that start with the letter 'm' (case insensitive
10305 under DOS, of course). Further, the wildcard matching will honor
10306 characters trailing the '*' in the pattern.
10308 From within _Alpine_, the "Folder List" display will be adjusted to
10309 allow browsing of the folders in any defined collection. Even more,
10310 you'll notice in the _Goto_ and _Save_ commands a pair of sub-commands
10311 to rotate through the list of logical collection names, so only a
10312 simple name need be input in order to operate on a folder in any
10313 collection.
10315 The first collection specified in the _folder-collections_ has special
10316 significance. That folder is the "default collection for saves". By
10317 default, in cases where the user does not specify which collection
10318 should be used to _Save_ a message, the default collection for saves
10319 will be used. Also, if the default-fcc is a relative file name, then it
10320 is relative to the default collection for saves. (See also
10321 saved-msg-name-rule.
10323 The notion of collections encompasses both email folders and news
10324 reading. The variable news-collections uses nearly the same format as
10325 _folder-collections_. Newsgroups can be defined for convenient access
10326 via either IMAP or NNTP. There are advantages and disadvantages to both
10327 access methods. In the IMAP case, your news environment state is
10328 maintained on the server and, thus, will be seen by any client. The
10329 downside is that, at the moment, you must have an account on the
10330 server. In the NNTP case, server access is mostly anonymous and no
10331 state/accounting need be maintained on it. The downside is that each
10332 client, for now, must individually maintain news environment state.
10334 An example pinerc entry might be:
10335 news-collections= Remote-State {news.u.example.edu}#news.[],
10336 Local-State {news.u.example.edu/nntp}#news.[]
10338 Only newsgroups to which you are subscribed are included in the
10339 collection.
10341 The pattern matching facility can be applied so as to define a news
10342 collection which is a subset of all the newsgroups you subscribe to.
10343 For example, this could be a valid collection:
10344 Newsfeed-News {news.u.example.edu/nntp}#news.[clari.*]
10346 Collection handling is a tough problem to solve in a general way, and
10347 the explanation of the syntax is a bit ugly. The upside is, hopefully,
10348 that for a little complexity in the _Alpine_ configuration file you get
10349 simple management of multiple folders in diverse locations.
10351 Collection setup is handled by the _Setup/collectionList_ screen.
10352 __________________________________________________________________
10354 Syntax for Folder Names
10356 Remote folders are distinguished from local folders by a leading host
10357 name bracketed by '{' and '}'. The path and folder name immediately
10358 following the closing bracket, '}', is interpreted by the remote server
10359 and is in a form compatible with that server (i.e., path delimiters and
10360 naming syntax relative to that server).
10362 The full syntax for a _Alpine_ folder name looks like
10364 [{<remote-specification>}][#<namespace>]<namespace-specific-part>
10366 The square brackets ([]) mean that the part is optional.
10368 If there is no remote-specification, then the folder name is
10369 interpreted locally on the computer running _Alpine_. Local folder
10370 names depend on the operating system used by the computer running
10371 _Alpine_, as well as the configuration of that system. For example,
10372 "C:\ALPINE\FOLDERS\OCT-94" might exist on a PC, and
10373 "~/mail/september-1994" might be a reasonable folder name on a system
10374 running Unix.
10376 _Alpine_ users have the option of using folders which are stored on
10377 some other computer. _Alpine_ accesses remote folders via IMAP (the
10378 Internet Message Access Protocol), or in the case of news, via NNTP
10379 (the Network News Transport Protocol). To be able to access remote
10380 folders in _Alpine_, the remote host must be running the appropriate
10381 server software (imapd or nntpd) and you must correctly specify the
10382 name of the folder to _Alpine_, including the domain name of the remote
10383 machine. For example,
10385 {monet.art.example.com}INBOX
10387 could be a remote folder specification, and so could
10389 {unixhost.art.example.com}~/mail/september-1994
10391 and
10393 {winhost.art.example.com}\mymail\SEP-94
10395 Note that in the case of remote folders, the directory/file path in the
10396 specification is determined by the operating system of the remote
10397 computer, _not_ by the operating system of the computer on which you
10398 are running _Alpine_.
10400 As you can tell, the name of the computer is in {} brackets followed
10401 immediately by the name of the folder. (In each of these cases the
10402 optional namespace is missing.) If, as in these examples, there is no
10403 remote access protocol specified, then IMAP is assumed. Check Server
10404 Name Syntax for a more detailed look at what options can be placed
10405 between the brackets. If there are no brackets at all, then the folder
10406 name is interpreted locally on the computer on which you are running
10407 _Alpine_.
10409 To the right of the brackets when a server name is present, or at the
10410 start of the foldername if no server is present, the sharp sign, "#",
10411 holds special meaning. It indicates a folder name outside the area
10412 reserved for your personal folders. In fact, it's used to indicate both
10413 the name of the folder, and a special phrase telling _Alpine_ how to
10414 interpret the name that follows.
10416 So, for example, _Alpine_ can be used to access a newsgroup that might
10417 be available on your computer using:
10419 #news.comp.mail.pine
10421 The sharp sign indicates the folder name is outside your personal
10422 folder area. The "news." phrase after it tells _Alpine_ to interpret
10423 the remainder of the name as a newsgroup.
10425 Similarly, to access a newsgroup on your IMAP server, you might use
10426 something like:
10428 {wharhol.art.example.com}#news.comp.mail.misc
10430 There are a number of such special phrases (or "namespaces") available.
10431 For a more detailed explanation read about Namespaces.
10433 Note that "INBOX" has special meaning in both local and remote folder
10434 names. The name INBOX refers to your "principal incoming message
10435 folder" and will be mapped to the actual file name used for your INBOX
10436 on any given host. Therefore, a name like "{xxx.art.example.com}INBOX"
10437 refers to whatever file is used to store incoming mail for you on that
10438 particular host.
10439 __________________________________________________________________
10441 Server Name Syntax
10443 This section describes the syntax which may be used for server names
10444 which may be associated with remote folders or SMTP servers.
10446 A server name is the hostname of the server. It's a good idea to use
10447 the host's fully-qualified network name.
10449 foo.example.com
10451 However, IP addresses are allowed if surrounded with square-brackets.
10453 [127.0.0.1]
10455 An optional network port number may be supplied by appending a colon
10456 (:) followed by the port number to the server name. By default, the
10457 IMAP port number, 143, is used.
10459 foo.example.com:port
10461 Besides server name and optional port number, various other optional
10462 parameters may be supplied that alter _Alpine_'s interaction with the
10463 server. A parameter is supplied by appending a slash (/) character
10464 followed by the parameter's name and, depending on the particular
10465 parameter, the value assigned to that name, to the server name (and
10466 optional port number). Parameter names are _not_ case sensitive.
10467 Currently supported parameters include:
10469 User
10470 This parameter requires an associated value, and is intended to
10471 provide the username identifier with which to establish the
10472 server connection. If your SMTP server offers SMTP AUTH
10473 authentication, adding this parameter to the SMTP-Server option
10474 will cause _Alpine_ to attempt to authenticate to the server
10475 using the supplied username. Similarly, if your NNTP server
10476 offers NNTP "AUTHINFO SASL" or "AUTHINFO USER" authentication,
10477 adding this parameter to the NNTP-Server option (or to the
10478 server name for any folder collection using NNTP) will cause
10479 _Alpine_ to attempt to authenticate to the server using the
10480 supplied username. An example might be:
10482 /user=katie
10484 TLS
10485 Normally, when a new connection is made an attempt is made to
10486 negotiate a secure (encrypted) session using Transport Layer
10487 Security (TLS). If that fails then a non-encrypted connection
10488 will be attempted instead. This is a unary parameter indicating
10489 communication with the server must take place over a TLS
10490 connection. If the attempt to use TLS fails then this parameter
10491 will cause the connection to fail instead of falling back to an
10492 unsecure connection.
10494 /tls
10496 SSL
10497 This is a unary parameter indicating communication with the
10498 server should take place over a Secure Socket Layer connection.
10499 The server must support this method, and be prepared to accept
10500 connections on the appropriate port (993 by default). _Alpine_
10501 must be linked with an SSL library for this option to be
10502 operational.
10504 /ssl
10506 NoValidate-Cert
10507 Do not validate certificates (for TLS or SSL connections) from
10508 the server. This is needed if the server uses self-signed
10509 certificates or if _Alpine_ cannot validate the certificate for
10510 some other known reason.
10512 Anonymous
10513 This is a unary parameter (that means it does not have a value)
10514 indicating that the connection be logged in as "anonymous"
10515 rather than a specific user. Not all servers offer anonymous
10516 access; those which do generally only offer read-only access to
10517 certain "public" folders.
10519 /anonymous
10521 Secure
10522 This is a unary parameter indicating that the connection use the
10523 most secure authentication method mutually supported by _Alpine_
10524 and the server. _Alpine_ is capable of authenticating
10525 connections to the server using several methods. By default,
10526 _Alpine_ will attempt each method until either a connection is
10527 established or the list of methods is exhausted. This parameter
10528 causes _Alpine_ to instead fail the connection if the first
10529 (generally most "secure") method fails.
10531 /secure
10533 Submit
10534 This is a unary parameter for use with the "SMTP-Server" option.
10535 It indicates that the connection should be made to the Submit
10536 server (RFC 3676) (port 587) instead of the SMTP port (25). At
10537 the time this help was written the submit option was equivalent
10538 to specifying port 587.
10540 /submit
10542 or
10544 host:587
10546 Debug
10547 This is a unary parameter indicating that the connection be
10548 established in a verbose mode. Basically, it causes _Alpine_ to
10549 log the communication with the server in _Alpine_'s debug file.
10550 Normally, the alpine -d command-line flag would be used instead.
10552 NoRsh
10553 By default, _Alpine_ attempts to login using "rsh", the UNIX
10554 remote shell program. Including "NoRsh" will cause connections
10555 to this server to skip the "rsh" attempt. This might be useful
10556 to avoid long timeouts caused by rsh firewalls, for example.
10558 Service
10559 This parameter requires an associated value. The default value
10560 is "IMAP" which indicates communication with the server based on
10561 the IMAP4rev1 protocol (defined in RFC 3501 -- see
10562 http://www.imap.org/docs/rfc3501.html). Other service values
10563 include:
10565 NNTP
10566 This value indicates communication with the server takes
10567 place via the Network News Transfer Protocol. Use this to
10568 define a collection of newsgroups on a remote news server.
10569 So
10571 /service=NNTP
10573 or just
10575 /NNTP
10577 is the way to specify NNTP access.
10579 POP3
10580 This value indicates communication with the server takes
10581 place via the Post Office Protocol 3 protocol.
10583 /service=POP3
10585 or just
10587 /POP3
10589 Note that there are several important issues to consider
10590 when selecting this option:
10592 1. POP3 provides access to only your INBOX. In other words,
10593 secondary folders such as your "saved-messages" are
10594 inaccessible.
10595 2. _Alpine_'s implementation of POP3 does not follow the
10596 traditional POP model and will leave your mail on the
10597 server. Refer to the Mail Drop functionality for a
10598 possible way around this problem.
10599 3. See the discussion about new-mail checking in
10600 Folder-Reopen-Rule.
10602 Note that it is possible to include more than one parameter in a server
10603 specification by concatenating the parameters. For example:
10605 foo.example.com:port/user=katie/novalidate-cert/debug
10606 __________________________________________________________________
10608 Folder Namespaces
10610 A _Alpine_ folder name looks like
10612 [{<remote-specification>}][#<namespace>][<namespace-specific-part>]
10614 The local part of a folder name has an optional "Namespace" which tells
10615 _Alpine_ how to interpret the rest of the name.
10617 By default the folder name is interpreted as defining a section of your
10618 personal folder area. This area and how you specify it are defined by
10619 the server, if one is specified, or, typically, the home directory, if
10620 no server is defined.
10622 If a namespace is specified, it begins with the sharp, "#", character
10623 followed by the name of the namespace and then the namespace's
10624 path-element-delimiter. Aside from the path's format, namespaces can
10625 also imply access rights, content policy, audience, location, and,
10626 occasionally, access methods.
10628 Each server exports its own set (possibly of size one) of namespaces.
10629 Hence, it's likely communication with your server's administrator will
10630 be required for specific configurations. Some of the more common
10631 namespaces, however, include:
10633 #news.
10634 This specifies a set of folders in the newsgroup namespace.
10635 Newsgroup names are hierarchically defined with each level
10636 delimited by a period.
10638 #news.comp.mail.pine
10640 #public/
10641 This specifies a folder area that the server may export to the
10642 general public.
10644 #shared/
10645 This specifies a folder area that the folder may export to
10646 groups of users.
10648 #ftp/
10649 This specifies a folder area that is the same as that it may
10650 have exported via the "File Transfer Protocol".
10652 #mh/
10653 This specifies the personal folder area associated with folders
10654 and directories that were created using the MH message handling
10655 system.
10657 #move/
10658 This namespace is interpreted locally by _Alpine_. It has an
10659 unusual interpretation and format.
10661 #move<DELIM><MailDropFolder><DELIM><DestinationFolder>
10663 The #move namespace is followed by two folder names separated by
10664 a delimiter character. The delimiter character may be any
10665 character which does not appear in the MailDropFolder name. The
10666 meaning of #move is that mail will be copied from the
10667 MailDropFolder to the DestinationFolder and then deleted (if
10668 possible) from the MailDropFolder. Periodic checks at frequency
10669 Mail-Check-Interval, but with a minimum time between checks set
10670 by MailDrop-Check-Minimum, are made for new mail arriving in the
10671 MailDropFolder. An example which copies mail from a POP inbox to
10672 a local folder follows
10674 #move+{popserver.example.com/pop3/ssl}inbox+local folder
10676 To you it appears that mail is being delivered to the local
10677 folder when it is copied from the MailDropFolder, and you read
10678 mail from the local folder.
10680 Note that if the DestinationFolder does not exist then the
10681 messages are not copied from the MailDropFolder. A #move folder
10682 may only be used as an Incoming folder or an Inbox. When you are
10683 in the FOLDER LIST of Incoming Message Folders (after turning on
10684 the enable-incoming-folders option) the Add command has a
10685 subcommand "Use Mail Drop" which may be helpful for defining the
10686 folder in your _Alpine_ configuration. The same is true when you
10687 edit the Inbox-Path option in Setup/Config. Each of these
10688 configuration methods will also create the DestinationFolder if
10689 it doesn't already exist. If you are having problems, make sure
10690 the DestinationFolder exists.
10692 In addition, the server may support access to other user's folders,
10693 provided you have suitable permissions. Common methods use a prefix of
10694 either "~user/", or "/user/" to indicate the root of the other user's
10695 folder area.
10696 __________________________________________________________________
10698 What is a Mail Drop?
10700 In some situaions it may make sense to have your mail delivered to one
10701 folder (the Mail Drop) and then when you want to read mail that has
10702 been delivered to the Mail Drop folder _Alpine_ will move it to another
10703 destination folder. Often the Mail Drop will be a remote folder and
10704 messages will be moved from there to a local destination folder.
10706 One example where this might make sense is if the Mail Drop folder is
10707 accessible only with the POP protocol. You could designate your POP
10708 inbox as the Mail Drop folder and have _Alpine_ move mail from there to
10709 a local (on the same machine _Alpine_ is running on) destination
10710 folder, where you'll read it.
10712 A Mail Drop may only be used as your Inbox or as an Incoming folder.
10714 There is no attempt to synchronize the contents of the destination
10715 folder with the contents of the Mail Drop folder. All that happens is
10716 that all of the messages in the Mail Drop folder are copied to the
10717 destination folder and then they are deleted and expunged (if possible)
10718 from the Mail Drop folder. The next time a check for new mail is made,
10719 any messages in the Mail Drop folder are once again copied to the
10720 destination folder and deleted and expunged from the Mail Drop folder.
10721 (If the Mail Drop folder is a news group, then the messages can't be
10722 expunged from the newsgroup. Instead, only Recent messages are copied
10723 from the newsgroup to the destination folder.)
10725 Configuration of a Mail Drop is a little different from configuration
10726 of a folder which does not use a Mail Drop because you have to specify
10727 two folder names instead of one. The two folders may be any types of
10728 folders that _Alpine_ can normally use. They don't have to be a remote
10729 folder and a local folder, that is simply the most common usage. When
10730 you use a Mail Drop folder _Alpine_ will periodically re-open the Mail
10731 Drop to check for new mail. The new-mail checks will happen at the
10732 frequency set with the Mail-Check-Interval option, but with a minimum
10733 time (MailDrop-Check-Minimum) between checks. Because of this minimum
10734 you may notice that new mail does not appear promptly when you expect
10735 it. The reason for this is to protect the server from over-zealous
10736 opening and closing of the Mail Drop folder. If the user initiates the
10737 check by typing ^L (Ctrl-L) or the Next command when at the end of the
10738 folder index, then the check will happen, regardless of how long it has
10739 been since the previous check.
10741 If there is new mail, that mail will be copied to the destination
10742 folder and then will be deleted from the Mail Drop. Note that using a
10743 Mail Drop with a local destination folder does not make sense if you
10744 read mail from more than one machine, because the mail is downloaded to
10745 the destination folder (which is accessible from only one machine) and
10746 deleted from the Mail Drop.
10748 The feature Maildrops-Preserve-State modifies the operation of Mail
10749 Drops.
10751 The actual syntax used by _Alpine_ for a folder that uses a Mail Drop
10752 is:
10754 #move<DELIM><MailDropFolder><DELIM><DestinationFolder>
10756 The brackets are not literal.
10758 <DELIM>
10760 is a single character which does not appear in the MailDropFolder name.
10761 If the name doesn't contain spaces then it can be a space character.
10762 The two folder names are full technical folder names as used by
10763 _Alpine_. Here are a couple examples to give you an idea what is being
10764 talked about:
10766 #move {popserver.example.com/pop3}inbox localfolder
10768 #move+{nntpserver.example.com/nntp}#news.comp.mail.pine+local folder
10770 A #move folder may only be used as an Incoming folder or an Inbox. When
10771 you are in the FOLDER LIST of Incoming Message Folders (after turning
10772 on the Enable-Incoming-Folders option) the Add command has a subcommand
10773 "Use Mail Drop" which may be helpful for defining the folder in your
10774 _Alpine_ configuration. The same is true when you edit the Inbox-Path
10775 option in Setup/Config.
10776 if it doesn't already exist. If you are having problems, make sure the
10777 DestinationFolder exists.
10778 __________________________________________________________________
10780 Sorting a Folder
10782 The mail index may be sorted by arrival, date, subject, from, size,
10783 score, to, or cc order. Each sort order can also be reversed. The _$_
10784 command will prompt the user for the sort order. The sort order can
10785 also be specified on the command line with the _-sort_ flag or
10786 (equivalently) with the sort-key variable in the _pinerc_ file. When a
10787 user changes folders, the sort order will go back to the original sort
10788 order. The command line (_-sort_) or configuration file sort
10789 specification (_sort-key_) changes the original sort order.
10791 When a folder is sorted and new mail arrives in the folder it will be
10792 inserted in its properly sorted place. This can be a little odd when
10793 the folder is sorted by something like the subject. It can also be a
10794 little slow if you are viewing a large, sorted _INBOX_, since the
10795 _INBOX_ will have to be re-sorted whenever new mail arrives.
10797 The sorts are all independent of case and ignore leading or trailing
10798 white space. There are actually two forms of subject sort. One called
10799 _Subject_ and the other called _OrderedSubj_. They both ignore "Re:" at
10800 the beginning and "(fwd)" at the end of the subjects. _Subject_ sorts
10801 all the subjects alphabetically. _OrderedSubj_ sorts by subjects
10802 alphabetically, groups messages with the same subject (pseudo-threads),
10803 then sorts the groups by the date of the first message of the group.
10804 Sorting by _Thread_ was added after _OrderedSubj_ and is usually a
10805 better method. Thread sorting uses information in the message headers
10806 References, Message-ID, and Subject. It is possible the sort will be
10807 slightly slower with a Thread sort than with an OrderedSubj sort. The
10808 sort by sender sorts by the user-id (part before the "@"), not the full
10809 name. The arrival sort is no sort at all and the date sort depends on
10810 the format of the date. Some dates are in strange formats and are
10811 unparsable. The time zone is also taken into account.
10813 Sorting large mail folders can be very slow since it requires fetching
10814 all the headers of the mail messages. With UNIX _Alpine_, only the
10815 first sort is slow since _Alpine_ keeps a copy of all the headers. One
10816 exception is sorting in reverse arrival order. This is fast because no
10817 headers have to be examined. _Alpine_ will show progress as it is
10818 sorting.
10819 __________________________________________________________________
10821 Alternate Editor
10823 In the _Alpine_ composer you can use any text editor, such as _vi_ or
10824 _emacs,_ for composing the message text. The addresses and subject still
10825 must be edited using the standard _Alpine_ composer. If you include the
10826 feature enable-alternate-editor-cmd in your _pinerc_ you can type _^__
10827 while in the body of the message in the composer and be prompted for
10828 the editor. If you also set the editor variable in your _pinerc_ then
10829 _^__ will invoke the configured editor when you type it.
10831 Turning on the feature enable-alternate-editor-implicitly will
10832 automatically invoke the editor you have defined with the _editor_
10833 variable whenever you enter the body of a message you are composing.
10834 For example, when you move out of the last header line and into the
10835 body of the message, the alternate editor will be automatically
10836 invoked.
10838 We know that many people would like to use the alternate editor to edit
10839 the mail header as well. We considered several designs for this and
10840 didn't come up with one that we liked and that was easy to implement.
10841 One of the main problems is that you lose access to the address book.
10842 __________________________________________________________________
10844 Signatures and Signature Placement
10846 If the file _~/.signature_ (UNIX) or _<PINERC_directory>\PINE.SIG (PC)
10847 exists, it will be included in all outgoing messages. It is included
10848 before composition starts so that the user has a chance to edit it out
10849 if he or she likes. The file name for the signature can be changed by
10850 setting the signature-file variable in the _pinerc_. If the feature
10851 enable-sigdashes is turned on then the line consisting of the three
10852 characters "-- " is prepended to the signature file. When Replying or
10853 Forwarding a message different signatures my be automatically included
10854 by configuring them in the Roles setup screen. It's easy to include
10855 different signatures by hand, by having multiple signature files
10856 (_.sig1, .sig2, .sig3, etc_) and choosing to include (^R in the
10857 composer) the correct one for the message being sent.
10859 _Alpine_'s default behavior encourages a user to put his or her
10860 contribution before the inclusion of the original text of the message
10861 being forwarded or replied to, This is contrary to some conventions,
10862 but makes the conversation more readable when a long original message
10863 is included in a reply for context. The reader doesn't have to scroll
10864 through the original text that he or she has probably already seen to
10865 find the new text. If the reader wishes to see the old message(s), the
10866 reader can scroll further into the message. Users who prefer to add
10867 their input at the end of a message should set the signature-at-bottom
10868 feature. The signature will then be appended to the end of the message
10869 after any included text. This feature applies when _Reply_ing, not when
10870 _Forward_ing.
10871 __________________________________________________________________
10873 Feature List Variable
10875 _Alpine_ used to have _feature levels_ for users with different amounts
10876 of experience. We found that this was too restrictive. _Alpine_ now has
10877 a feature-list instead. Each user may pick and choose which features
10878 they would like enabled (simple to do in the _Setup/Config_ screen).
10879 There is a short description of each in Configuration Features. There
10880 is also a short on-line help explaining the effect of each of the
10881 features in the _Setup/Config_ screen. When the cursor is highlighting
10882 a feature, the _?_ command will show the help text for that feature.
10883 Features don't have values, they are just turned on or off. They are
10884 all off by default.
10886 The _feature-list_ variable is different from all other configuration
10887 variables in that its value is additive. That is, the system-wide
10888 configuration file can have some features turned on by default. The
10889 user can select other features in their personal configuration file and
10890 those features will be _added_ to the set of features turned on in the
10891 system-wide configuration file. (With all other configuration
10892 variables, the user's values _replace_ the system-wide values.)
10893 Likewise, additional features may be set on the command-line with the
10894 argument "-feature-list=". These will be added to the others.
10896 The treatment of _feature-list_ in the system-wide _fixed_
10897 configuration file is also different from other variables. The system
10898 management can fix the value of individual features by placing them in
10899 the fixed configuration file. Users will not be able to alter those
10900 features, but will still be able to set the other non-restricted
10901 features the way they like.
10903 Because _feature-list_ is additive, there is a way to turn features off
10904 as well as on. Prepending the prefix "no-" to any feature sets it to
10905 off. This is useful for over-riding the system-wide default in the
10906 personal configuration file or for over-riding the system-wide default
10907 or the personal configuration value on the command line. For example,
10908 if the system-wide default configuration has the _quit-without-confirm_
10909 feature set, the user can over-ride that (and turn it off) by including
10910 _no-quit-without-confirm_ in the personal configuration file or by
10911 giving the command line argument
10912 _-feature-list=no-quit-without-confirm._ More features (options) will no
10913 doubt continue to be added.
10914 __________________________________________________________________
10916 Configuration Inheritance
10918 We start with an explanation of how configuration works in hopes of
10919 making it easier to describe how inheritance works.
10921 _Alpine_ uses a hierarchy of configuration values from different
10922 locations. There are five ways in which each configuration option
10923 (configuration variable) can be set. In increasing order of precedence
10924 they are:
10926 1. the system-wide configuration file.
10927 2. the personal configuration file
10928 3. the personal exceptions file
10929 4. a command line argument
10930 5. the system-wide _fixed_ configuration file (Unix _Alpine_ only)
10932 The fixed configuration file is normally
10933 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed.
10935 The system-wide configuration file is normally /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
10936 for Unix _Alpine_ and is normally not set for _PC-Alpine_. For
10937 _PC-Alpine_, if the environment variable _$PINECONF_ is set, that is
10938 used for the system-wide configuration. This location can be set or
10939 changed on the command line with the -P flag. The system-wide
10940 configuration file can be either a local file or a remote configuration
10941 folder.
10943 For Unix _Alpine_, the personal configuration file is normally the file
10944 .pinerc in the user's home directory. This can be changed with the -p
10945 command line flag. For _PC-Alpine_, the personal configuration file is
10946 in $PINERC or <PineRC registry value> or ${HOME}\ALPINE\PINERC or
10947 <ALPINE.EXE dir>\PINERC. This can be changed with the -p command line
10948 flag. If -p or $PINERC is used, the configuration data may be in a
10949 local file or a remote config folder.
10951 For Unix _Alpine_, the personal exceptions configuration file is
10952 specified with the "-x exceptions_config" command line argument.
10953 "Exceptions_config" may be either a local file or a remote
10954 configuration folder. If there is no "-x" command line option, _Alpine_
10955 will look for the file ".pinercex" in the same local directory that the
10956 regular config file is located in. If the regular config file is remote
10957 then Unix _Alpine_ looks in the home directory for ".pinercex".
10959 For _PC-Alpine_, the personal exceptions configuration file is
10960 specified with the "-x exceptions_config" command line argument. If
10961 there is no "-x" command line argument the environment variable
10962 $PINERCEX may be set to the name of the "exceptions_config" instead.
10963 "Exceptions_config" may be either a local file or a remote
10964 configuration folder. If there is no "-x" command line option and
10965 $PINERCEX is not set, _PC-Alpine_ will look for the file "PINERCEX" in
10966 the same local directory that the regular config file is located in. If
10967 the regular config file is remote then _PC-Alpine_ looks in the local
10968 directory specified by the "-aux local_directory" command line
10969 argument, or the directory ${HOME}\ALPINE, or in <ALPINE.EXE directory>
10970 for a file named "PINERCEX".
10972 To reiterate, the value of a configuration option is taken from the
10973 last location in the list above in which it is set. Or, thinking about
10974 it slightly differently, a default value for an option is established
10975 in the system-wide configuration file (or in the source code if there
10976 is no value in the system-wide file). That default remains in effect
10977 until and unless it is overridden by a value in a location further down
10978 the list, in which case a new "default" value is established. As we
10979 continue down the list of locations we either retain the value at each
10980 step or establish a new value. The value that is still set after going
10981 through the whole list of configuration locations is the one that is
10982 used.
10984 So, for example, if an option is set in the system-wide configuration
10985 file and in the personal configuration file, but is not set in the
10986 exceptions, on the command line, or in the fixed file; then the value
10987 from the personal configuration file is the one that is used. Or, if it
10988 is set in the system-wide config, in the personal config, not in the
10989 exceptions, but is set on the command line; then the value on the
10990 command line is used.
10992 Finally we get to inheritance. For configuration options which are
10993 lists, like "smtp-server" or "incoming-folders", the inheritance
10994 mechanism makes it possible to _combine_ the values from different
10995 locations instead of _replacing_ the value. This is true of all
10996 configuration lists other than the "feature-list", for which you may
10997 already set whatever you want at any configuration location (by using
10998 the "no-" prefix if necessary).
11000 To use inheritance, set the first item in a configuration list to the
11001 token "INHERIT". If the first item is "INHERIT", then instead of
11002 replacing the default value established so far, the rest of the list is
11003 appended to the default value established so far and that is the new
11004 value.
11006 Here is an example which may make it clearer. Suppose we have:
11008 System-wide config : smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com
11009 Personal config : smtp-server = INHERIT, mysmtp.home
11010 Exceptions config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11011 Command line : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11012 Fixed config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11014 This would result in an effective smtp-server option of
11016 smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com, mysmtp.home
11018 The "INHERIT" token can be used in any of the configuration files and
11019 the effect cascades. For example, if we change the above example to:
11021 System-wide config : smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com
11022 Personal config : smtp-server = INHERIT, mysmtp.home
11023 Exceptions config : smtp-server = INHERIT, yoursmtp.org
11024 Command line : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11025 Fixed config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11027 This would result in:
11029 smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com, mysmtp.home, yoursmtp.org
11031 Unset variables are skipped over (the default value is carried forward)
11032 so that, for example:
11034 System-wide config : smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com
11035 Personal config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11036 Exceptions config : smtp-server = INHERIT, yoursmtp.org
11037 Command line : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11038 Fixed config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11040 produces:
11042 smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com, yoursmtp.org
11044 If any later configuration location has a value set (for a particular
11045 list option) which does _not_ begin with "INHERIT", then that value
11046 replaces whatever value has been defined up to that point. In other
11047 words, that cancels out any previous inheritance.
11049 System-wide config : smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com
11050 Personal config : smtp-server = INHERIT, mysmtp.org
11051 Exceptions config : smtp-server = yoursmtp.org
11052 Command line : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11053 Fixed config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11055 results in:
11057 smtp-server = yoursmtp.org
11059 For some configuration options, like "viewer-hdr-colors" or
11060 "patterns-roles", it is difficult to insert the value "INHERIT" into
11061 the list of values for the option using the normal Setup tools. In
11062 other words, the color setting screen (for example) does not provide a
11063 way to input the text "INHERIT" as the first item in the
11064 viewer-hdr-colors option. The way to do this is to either edit the
11065 pinerc file directly and manually insert it, or turn on the
11066 "expose-hidden-config" feature and insert it using the Setup/Config
11067 screen.
11068 __________________________________________________________________
11070 Using Environment Variables
11072 The values of _Alpine_ configuration options may include environment
11073 variables which are replaced by the value of the variable at the time
11074 _Alpine_ is run (and also at the time the config option is changed). The
11075 syntax to use environment variables is a subset of the common Unix
11076 shell dollar-syntax. For example, if
11078 $VAR
11080 appears in the value of a _Alpine_ configuration option it is looked up
11081 in the environent (using getenv("VAR")) and its looked-up value
11082 replaces the $VAR part of the option value. To include a literal dollar
11083 sign you may precede the dollar sign with another dollar sign. In other
11084 words, if the text
11086 $$text
11088 is the value of a configuration option, it will be expanded to
11090 $text
11092 and no environment lookup will be done. For Unix _Alpine_ it will also
11093 work to use a backslash character to escape the special meaning of the
11094 dollar sign, but $$ is preferable since it works for both _PC-Alpine_
11095 and Unix _Alpine_, allowing the configuration option to be in a shared
11096 configuration file.
11098 This all sounds more complicated than it actually is. An example may
11099 make it clearer. Unfortunately, the way in which environment variables
11100 are set is OS-dependent and command shell-dependent. In some Unix
11101 command shells you may use
11103 PERSNAME="Fred Flintstone"
11105 export PERSNAME
11107 Now, if you use _Alpine_'s Setup/Config screen to set
11109 personal-name=$PERSNAME
11111 the $PERSNAME would be replaced by Fred Flintstone so that this would
11112 be equivalent to
11114 personal-name=Fred Flintstone
11116 Note, environment variable substitution happens after configuration
11117 options which are lists are split into the separate elements of the
11118 list, so a single environment variable can't contain a list of values.
11120 The environment variable doesn't have to be the only thing after the
11121 equal sign. However, if the name of the variable is not at the end of
11122 the line or followed by a space (so that you can tell where the
11123 variable name ends), it must be enclosed in curly braces like
11125 ${VAR}
11127 It is always ok to use the braces even if you don't need to.
11129 It is also possible to set a default value for an environment variable.
11130 This default value will be used if the environment variable is not set
11131 (that is, if getenv("VAR") returns NULL). The syntax used to set a
11132 default value is
11134 ${VAR:-default value}
11136 If the config file contains
11138 personal-name=${VAR:-Fred Flintstone}
11140 then when _Alpine_ is run VAR will be looked up in the environment. If
11141 VAR is found then personal-name will have the value that VAR was set
11142 to, otherwise, personal-name will be set to Fred Flintstone, the
11143 default value.
11145 An example where an environment variable might be useful is the
11146 variable inbox-path in the global configuration file. Suppose most
11147 users used the server
11149 imapserver.example.com
11151 but that there were some exceptions who used
11153 altimapserver.example.com
11155 In this case, the system manager might include the following line in
11156 the systemwide default _Alpine_ configuration file
11158 inbox-path=${IMAPSERVER:-imapserver.example.com}
11160 For the exceptional users adding
11162 IMAPSERVER=altimapserver.example.com
11164 to their environment should work.
11166 Another example might be the case where a user has to use a different
11167 SMTP server from work and from home. The setup might be something as
11168 simple as
11170 smtp-server=$SMTP
11172 or perhaps a default value could be given. Note that, as mentioned
11173 above, the variable SMTP cannot contain a list of SMTP servers.
11174 __________________________________________________________________
11176 SMTP Servers
11178 It is sometimes desirable to set smtp-server=localhost instead of
11179 setting sendmail-path to overcome the inability to negotiate ESMTP
11180 options when _sendmail_ is invoked with the _-t_ option. Sendmail can
11181 also be subject to unacceptable delays due to slow DNS lookups and
11182 other problems.
11184 It is sometimes desirable to configure an SMTP server on a port other
11185 than the default port 25. This may be used to provide an alternate
11186 service that is optimized for a particular environment or provides
11187 different features from the port 25 server. An example would be a
11188 program that negotiates ESMTP options and queues a message, but does
11189 not attempt to deliver messages. This would avoid delays frequently
11190 encountered when invoking _sendmail_ directly.
11192 A typical configuration would consist of
11193 * A program that implements the SMTP or ESMTP protocol via stdio.
11194 * An entry in /etc/services for the alternate service.
11195 * An entry in /etc/inetd.conf for the alternate service.
11196 * An entry in /usr/local/lib/pine.conf,
11197 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed or ~/.pinerc.
11198 __________________________________________________________________
11200 MIME.Types file
11202 _Alpine_'s MIME-TYPE support is based on code contributed by Hans
11203 Drexler <drexler@mpi.nl>. _Alpine_ assigns MIME Content-Types
11204 according to file name extensions found in the system-wide files
11205 /usr/local/lib/mime.types and /etc/mime.types, and a user specific
11206 ~/.mime.types file.
11208 In Windows, _Alpine_ looks in the same directory as the PINERC file and
11209 the same dir as ALPINE.EXE. This is similar to the UNIX situation with
11210 personal config info coming before potentially shared config data. An
11211 alternate search path can be specified by setting the
11212 mimetype-search-path variable in the user or system-wide configuration
11213 or by setting the MIMETYPES environment variable.
11215 These files specify file extensions that will be connected to a mime
11216 type. Lines beginning with a '#' character are treated as comments and
11217 ignored. All other lines are treated as a mime type definition. The
11218 first word is a _type/subtype_ specification. All following words are
11219 file _extensions_ belonging to that type/subtype. Words are separated
11220 by whitespace characters. If a file extension occurs more than once,
11221 then the first definition determines the file type and subtype. A
11222 couple sample lines from a mime.types file follow:
11224 image/gif gif
11225 text/html html htm
11226 video/mpeg mpeg mpg mpe
11228 __________________________________________________________________
11230 Color Details
11232 UNIX _Alpine_ may display color if the terminal or terminal emulator
11233 you are using is capable of displaying colors. If the terminal supports
11234 ANSI color escape sequences you will be able to turn color on using the
11235 color-style option and setting it to the value _force-ansi-8color_ or
11236 _force-ansi-16color_. If instead you'd like _Alpine_ to automatically
11237 detect whether or not you are on a color terminal, set _color-style_ to
11238 _use-termdef_ _and_ configure the termcap entry to describe your
11239 terminal's color capabilities.
11241 If the _color-style_ option is set to _use-termdef_, _Alpine_ looks in
11242 the terminal capabilities database, TERMINFO or TERMCAP, depending on
11243 how _Alpine_ was compiled, to decide whether or not your terminal is
11244 capable of color. For TERMINFO compiled _Alpine_s, the capabilities
11245 that are used for color are "colors", "setaf", "setab", "op", and
11246 "bce". If you have a terminal with color capabilities described by the
11247 "scp" capability, _Alpine_ does not support it. The capabilities "setf"
11248 and "setb" may be used instead of "setaf" and "setab". The capability
11249 "bce" is optional and is used as an optimization, the other
11250 capabilities are required. For TERMCAP compiled _Alpine_s, the
11251 capabilities that are used for color are "Co", "AF", "AB", "op", and
11252 "ut". The capabilities "Sf" and "Sb" may be used instead of "AF" and
11253 "AB", though this isn't a useful feature.
11255 Here are some short descriptions of the capabilities listed above. The
11256 TERMINFO name is listed, followed by the TERMCAP name in parentheses.
11257 _colors_ (_Co_)
11258 The number of different colors.
11259 _setaf_ (_AF_)
11260 Set ANSI foreground color.
11261 _setab_ (_AB_)
11262 Set ANSI background color.
11263 _setf_ (_Sf_)
11264 Set foreground color. Alternate form of _setaf_.
11265 _setb_ (_Sb_)
11266 Set background color. Alternate form of _setab_.
11267 _op_ (_op_)
11268 Set default pair to its original value.
11269 _bce_ (_ut_)
11270 Screen is erased with current background color instead of
11271 default background.
11273 A standard ANSI terminal which supports color will have a TERMINFO
11274 entry which contains:
11275 colors#8
11276 setaf=\E[3%p1%dm
11277 setab=\E[4%p1%dm
11278 op=\E[39;49m
11279 bce
11281 or the TERMCAP equivalent:
11282 Co#8
11283 AF=\E[3%dm
11284 AB=\E[4%dm
11285 op=\E[39;49m
11286 ut
11288 If there are eight colors, the program uses colors 0, 1, ..., 7. For an
11289 ANSI terminal, the foreground color is set by sending the escape
11290 sequence "Escape LeftBracket 3 color_number m" to the terminal. The
11291 background color is set by sending the sequence "Escape LeftBracket 4
11292 color_number m". ANSI colors zero through seven are defined to be
11293 "black", "red", "green", "yellow", "blue", "magenta", "cyan", and
11294 "white". Some terminal emulators will swap blue and red and swap yellow
11295 and cyan. The capabilities "setf" and "setb" are usually designed for
11296 those terminals so that they will flip the color numbers 1 and 4 and
11297 the numbers 3 and 6 to compensate for this. _Alpine_ will use the ANSI
11298 versions of the capabilities if they exist, and will use the non-ANSI
11299 versions (setf and setb) if the ANSI versions don't exist. Here's a
11300 version which does the flipping. This can only be used with TERMINFO
11301 _Alpine_s, because of the arithmetic, which is not supported by TERMCAP.
11302 colors#8
11303 setf=\E[3%?%p1%{1}%=%t4%e%p1%{3}%=%t6%e%p1%{4}%=%t1%e%p1%{6}%=%t3%e%p1%d%;m
11304 setb=\E[4%?%p1%{1}%=%t4%e%p1%{3}%=%t6%e%p1%{4}%=%t1%e%p1%{6}%=%t3%e%p1%d%;m
11305 op=\E[39;49m
11306 bce
11308 Some terminal emulators are capable of displaying eight more colors
11309 when the foreground colors 30-37 are replaced with 90-97 and the
11310 background colors 40-47 are replaced with 100-107. These terminals
11311 require a fancy termcap entry which can take foreground colors 0, 1,
11312 ..., 15 and map that into 30, 31, ..., 37, 90, 91, ..., 97, and
11313 similarly for the background colors. Here is a terminfo entry which
11314 will do just that:
11315 colors#16
11316 setaf=%p1%{8}%/%{6}%*%{3}%+\E[%d%p1%{8}%m%dm
11317 setab=%p1%{8}%/%{6}%*%{4}%+\E[%d%p1%{8}%m%dm
11318 op=\E[39;49m
11319 bce
11321 and here is the termcap equivalent:
11322 Co#16
11323 AF=\E[%i%i%>\001\034%>\045\064%dm
11324 AB=\E[%i%i%>\001\046%>\057\064%dm
11325 op=\E[39;49m
11326 ut
11328 This is a terminfo entry for 16 colors that also does the color
11329 flipping:
11330 colors#16
11331 setf=%p1%{8}%/%{6}%*%{3}%+\E[%d%p1%{8}%m%Pa%?%ga%{1}%=%t4%e%ga%{3}%=%t6%e%ga%{
11332 4}%=%t1%e%ga%{6}%=%t3%e%ga%d%;m
11333 setb=%p1%{8}%/%{6}%*%{4}%+\E[%d%p1%{8}%m%Pa%?%ga%{1}%=%t4%e%ga%{3}%=%t6%e%ga%{
11334 4}%=%t1%e%ga%{6}%=%t3%e%ga%d%;m
11335 op=\E[39;49m
11336 bce
11338 If you are always using the same display it probably won't matter to
11339 you if the color pairs red/blue and cyan/yellow are flipped, since
11340 you'll always be seeing them flipped. You will get different defaults
11341 than on a display with them not flipped, but that's about all. If you
11342 are trying to use the same pinerc file from displays with different
11343 color characteristics, or from _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_, you will have
11344 to be more careful. The colors numbered 0 through 7 may be used
11345 portably between different systems if you are careful to make them
11346 correspond to the ANSI order mentioned above. You can check this by
11347 looking at a color configuration screen for one of the colors. The
11348 first eight colors should be in the order above. If they aren't, you
11349 could fix that by modifying your termcap entry on the UNIX system. This
11350 is not possible if your system uses TERMCAP instead of TERMINFO.
11351 __________________________________________________________________
11353 S/MIME Overview
11355 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
11357 S/MIME is a standard for the public key encryption and signing of
11358 email. UNIX _Alpine_ contains a basic implementation of S/MIME based on
11359 the OpenSSL libraries.
11361 Some limitations:
11362 * There is no _PC-Alpine_ implementation.
11363 * There is no provision for checking for CRLs (Certificate Revocation
11364 Lists) in _Alpine_.
11365 * This built-in S/MIME implementation is not compatible with and does
11366 not help with PGP.
11367 * There is no mechanism available for feeding either an entire
11368 incoming or an entire outgoing message to an external filter and
11369 using that external filter to do S/MIME or PGP processing.
11370 * Because the implementation currently uses OpenSSL, there is only a
11371 very limited integration with the Mac OS Keychain (the storing and
11372 access of public certificates).
11373 * There is no way to view or manipulate the lists of certificates
11374 from within _Alpine_.
11376 The S/MIME configuration screen is reached by going to the Main Menu
11377 and typing the "S Setup" command followed by "M S/MIME".
11379 S/MIME BASICS
11381 In order to digitally sign messages you send you must have a
11382 public/private key-pair. This may be obtained from a public Certificate
11383 Authority (CA) such as Thawte, Verisign, Comodo, or GoDaddy; or from a
11384 smaller CA such as a university which provides certificates for its
11385 users or a company which provides certificates for its workers. These
11386 certificates are bound to an email address, so the identity being
11387 verified is the email address not a person's name.
11389 Mail is signed by using the sender's private key, which only the owner
11390 of the private key has access to. The signature is verified using the
11391 signer's public key, which anyone can have access to. With _Alpine_,
11392 the first time you receive a signed message the public key of the
11393 sender will be stored for future use.
11395 Mail is encrypted using the recipient's public key and decrypted by the
11396 recipient with their private key.
11398 You need a key of your own in order to sign outgoing messages and to
11399 have others encrypt messages sent to you. You do not need a key of your
11400 own to verify signed messages sent by others or to encrypt messages
11401 sent to others.
11403 ALPINE S/MIME CERTIFICATE STORAGE
11405 By default UNIX _Alpine_ stores the certificates it uses in a directory
11406 in your home directory. The directory name is
11408 .alpine-smime
11410 Within that directory are three subdirectories. Each of the three
11411 subdirectories contains files with PEM-encoded contents, the default
11412 format for OpenSSL. The "public" directory contains public
11413 certificates. The files within that directory have names that are email
11414 addresses with the suffix ".crt" appended. An example filename is
11416 user@example.com.crt
11418 The "private" directory contains private keys, probably just one for
11419 your private key. These are also email addresses but with the suffix
11420 ".key" instead. The third directory is "ca" and it contains
11421 certificates for any Certificate Authorities that you want to trust but
11422 that aren't contained in the set of system CAs. Those files may have
11423 arbitrary names as long as they end with the suffix ".crt".
11425 HOW TO SIGN AND ENCRYPT
11427 If you have a certificate you may sign outgoing messages. After typing
11428 the Ctrl-X command to send a message you will see the prompt
11430 Send message?
11432 Available subcommands include "G Sign" and "E Encrypt". Typing the "G"
11433 command will change the prompt to
11435 Send message (Signed)?
11437 Typing the "E" command will change the prompt to
11439 Send message (Encrypted)?
11441 You may even type both to get
11443 Send message (Encrypted, Signed)?
11445 HOW TO READ SIGNED OR ENCRYPTED MESSAGES
11447 The reading of a signed message should not require any special action
11448 on your part. There should be an editorial addition at the start of the
11449 message which says either
11451 This message was cryptographically signed.
11453 or
11455 This message was cryptographically signed but the signature could not
11456 be verified.
11458 If an encrypted message is sent to you the encrypted text will not be
11459 shown. You will have to type the "Ctrl-D Decrypt" command (from the
11460 screen where you are viewing the message) and supply your passphrase
11461 when asked.
11463 For a signed or encrypted message there is also a "Ctrl-E Security"
11464 command which gives you some information about the certificate used to
11465 sign or encrypt the message.
11467 MISCELLANEOUS
11469 You may have access to a private certificate in the PKCS12 format,
11470 which would sometimes be in a file with a ".p12" suffix. The UNIX shell
11471 command
11473 openssl pkcs12 -in file.p12 -out file.pem
11475 may work to convert that from the PKCS12 format to the PEM format. Then
11476 that file could be placed in the "private" directory with a filename of
11477 your email address followed by the suffix ".key".
11478 __________________________________________________________________
11480 Additional Notes on PC-Alpine
11482 Below are a few odds and ends worth mentioning about _PC-Alpine_. They
11483 have to do with DOS-specific behavior that is either necessary or
11484 useful (and sometimes both!).
11486 As _PC-Alpine_ runs in an environment with limited access control,
11487 accounting or auditing, an additional line is automatically inserted
11488 into the header of mail messages generated by _PC-Alpine_:
11489 X-Sender: <userid>@<imap.host>
11492 By popular demand of system administrators, _PC-Alpine_ has been
11493 modified to prevent sending messages until the user has successfully
11494 logged into a remote mail server. Even though _PC-Alpine_ cannot
11495 prevent users from changing the apparent identity of the sender of a
11496 message, the IMAP server login name and host name included in the
11497 _X-Sender_ line provide some level of traceability by the recipient.
11498 However, this should not be considered a rigorous form of
11499 authentication. It is extremely lightweight, and is not a replacement
11500 for true authentication.
11502 Hand in hand with authentication and accounting is user information.
11503 Since _PC-Alpine_ has no user database to consult for _user-id_,
11504 _personal-name_, etc., necessary information must be provided by the
11505 user/installer before _PC-Alpine_ can properly construct the "From"
11506 address required for outbound messages. _PC-Alpine_ will, by default,
11507 prompt for the requisite pieces as they are needed. This information
11508 corresponds to the _PINERC_ variables user-id, personal-name,
11509 user-domain, and smtp-server.
11511 The user is then asked whether or not this information should
11512 automatically be saved to the _PINERC_. This is useful behavior in
11513 general, but can lead to problems in a lab or other shared environment.
11514 Hence, these prompts and automatic saving of configuration can be
11515 turned off on an entry by entry basis by setting any of the above
11516 values in the _PINERC_ to the null string (i.e., a pair of double
11517 quotes). This means that the user will be prompted for the information
11518 once during each _Alpine_ session, and no opportunity to save them in
11519 the _PINERC_ will be offered.
11521 Another feature of DOS is the lack of standard scratch area for
11522 temporary files. During the course of a session, _PC-Alpine_ may
11523 require numerous temporary files (large message texts, various caches,
11524 etc.). Where to create them can be a problem, particularly when running
11525 under certain network operating systems. _PC-Alpine_ observes the
11526 _TMPDIR_, _TMP_, and _TEMP_ environment variables, and creates temporary
11527 files in the directory specified by either. In their absence,
11528 _PC-Alpine_ creates these files in the root of the current working
11529 drive. Some temporary files have to be created in the same directory as
11530 the file they are a temporary copy of. For example, a pinerc file or a
11531 address book file.
11533 Behind the Scenes
11535 Many people ask how certain _Alpine_ features are implemented. This
11536 section outlines some of the details.
11538 Address Books
11540 There are two types of address book storage. There are _local_ address
11541 books, which are the address books that are stored in a local file; and
11542 there are _remote_ address books, which are stored on an IMAP server.
11544 Information About Remote Address Books
11546 NOTE: The remote address book capability does not allow you to
11547 access an existing local address book from a remote system! That is,
11548 you can't set the remote address book to something like
11549 {remote.host}.addressbook and expect to access the existing
11550 .addressbook _file_ on remote.host. Instead, you need to create a
11551 new remote address book in a new, previously unused remote mail
11552 _folder_. Then you can use the _Select_ and _Apply Save_ commands in
11553 the address book screen to _Save_ all of the entries from an
11554 existing local address book to the new remote address book.
11556 A remote address book is stored in a mail folder on an IMAP server. An
11557 _Alpine_ remote address book is just like an _Alpine_ local address book
11558 in that it is not interoperable with other email clients. The folder is
11559 a regular folder containing mail messages but those messages are
11560 special. The first message must be an alpine remote address book header
11561 message which contains the header _x-pine-addrbook_. The last message
11562 in the folder contains the address book data. In between the first and
11563 the last message are old versions of the address book data. The address
11564 book data is simply stored in the message as it would be on disk, with
11565 no MIME encoding. When it is used the data from the last message in the
11566 folder is copied to a local file and then that file is used exactly
11567 like a local address book file is used. When a change is made the
11568 modified local file is appended to the remote folder in a new message.
11569 In other words, the local file is just a cache copy of the data in the
11570 remote folder. Each client which uses the remote address book will have
11571 its own cache copy of the data. Whenever a copy is done the entire
11572 address book is copied, not just the entries which have changed.
11574 _Alpine_ can tell that the remote data has changed by one of several
11575 methods. If the date contained in the Date header of the last message
11576 has changed then it knows it has changed. If the UID of the last
11577 message has changed, or the number of messages in the folder has
11578 changed, it knows that it has changed. When _Alpine_ discovers the
11579 folder has changed it gets a new copy and puts it in the local cache
11580 file.
11582 There is a configuration file variable for remote address books called
11583 remote-abook-metafile. The variable is the name of a file in which
11584 information about remote address books is stored. There is one line in
11585 the metafile for each remote address book. The information stored there
11586 is the name of the cache file and information to help figure out when
11587 the remote folder was last changed. If the metafile or any of the cache
11588 files is deleted then _Alpine_ will rebuild them the next time it runs.
11590 Remote address books have names that look just like regular remote mail
11591 folder names. For example:
11593 {host.domain}foldername
11595 _Alpine_ decides whether or not an address book is remote simply by
11596 looking at the first character of the address book name and comparing
11597 it to '{'.
11599 Information About All Address Books
11601 The address book is named, by default, .addressbook in the user's Unix
11602 home directory, or in the case of _PC-Alpine_, ADDRBOOK, in the same
11603 directory as the PINERC file. There may be more than one address book,
11604 and the default name can be overridden via an entry in any of the
11605 _Alpine_ configuration files. The two configuration variables
11606 address-book and global-address-book are used to specify the names of
11607 the address books. Each of these variables is a list variable. The
11608 total set of address books for a user is the combination of all the
11609 address books specified in these two lists. Each entry in the list is
11610 an optional nickname followed by an address book name. The nickname is
11611 everything up to the last space before the file name. The
11612 _global-address-book_ list will typically be configured in the
11613 system-wide configuration file, though a user may override it like most
11614 other variables. Address books which are listed in the
11615 _global-address-book_ variable are forced read-only, and are typically
11616 shared among multiple users.
11618 Local address books (or local cache files for remote address books) are
11619 simple text files with lines in the format:
11621 <nickname>TAB<fullname>TAB<address>TAB<fcc>TAB<comments>
11623 The last two fields are optional. A "line" may be made up of multiple
11624 actual lines in the file by using continuation lines, which are lines
11625 beginning with SPACE characters. The line breaks may be after TABs or
11626 in between addresses in a distribution list. Each _actual_ line in the
11627 file must be less than 1000 characters in length.
11629 Nicknames (the first field) are short names that the user types instead
11630 of typing in the full address. There are several characters which
11631 aren't allowed in nicknames in order to avoid ambiguity when parsing
11632 the address (SPACE, COMMA, @, ", ;, :, (, ), [, ], <, >, \). Nicknames
11633 aren't required. In fact, none of the fields is required.
11635 The _fullname_ field is usually stored as Last_name, First_name, in
11636 order that a sort on the fullname field comes out sorted by Last_name.
11637 If there is an unquoted comma in the fullname, _Alpine_ will flip the
11638 first and last name around and get rid of the comma when using the
11639 entry in a composition. It isn't required that there be a comma, that's
11640 only useful if the user wants the entries to sort on last names.
11642 The _address_ field takes one of two forms, depending on whether the
11643 entry is a single (simple) address or a distribution list. For a simple
11644 entry, the address field is an RFC 2822 address. This could be either
11645 the email-address part of the address, i.e., the part that goes inside
11646 the brackets (<>), or it could be a full RFC 2822 address. The phrase
11647 part of the address (the fullname) is used unless there is a fullname
11648 present in the fullname field of the address book entry. In that case,
11649 the fullname of the address book entry replaces the fullname of the
11650 address. For a distribution list, the <address> is in the format:
11652 "(" <address>, <address>, <address>, ... ")"
11654 The only purpose for the parentheses around the list of addresses is to
11655 make it easier for the parsing routines to tell that it is a simple
11656 entry instead of a list. The two are displayed differently and treated
11657 slightly differently in some cases, though most of the distinction has
11658 disappeared. Each of the addresses in a list can be a full RFC 2822
11659 address with fullname included, or it may be just the simple
11660 email-address part of the address. This allows the user to have a list
11661 which includes the fullnames of all the list members. In both the
11662 simple and list cases, addresses may also be other nicknames which
11663 appear in this address book or in one of the other address books.
11664 (Those nicknames are searched for by looking through the address books
11665 in the order they appear in the address book screen, with the first
11666 match winning.) Lists may be nested. If addresses refer to each other
11667 in a loop (for example, list A includes list B which includes list A
11668 again) this is detected and flagged. In that case, the address will be
11669 changed to "**** address loop ****".
11671 The optional _fcc_ field is a folder name, just like the fcc field in
11672 the composer headers. If the first address in the To field of a
11673 composition comes from an address book entry with an fcc field, then
11674 that fcc is placed in the fcc header in the composer.
11676 The _comments_ field is just a free text field for storing comments
11677 about an entry. By default, neither the fcc nor the comments field is
11678 shown on the screen in the address book screen. You may make those
11679 fields visible by configuring the variable addressbook-formats. They
11680 are also searched when you use the _WhereIs_ command in the address
11681 book screen and are visible when you _View_ or _Update_ an entry.
11683 The address book is displayed in the order that it is stored. When the
11684 user chooses a different sorting criterion, the data is actually sorted
11685 and stored, as opposed to showing a sorted view of the data.
11687 When the address book is written out, it is first written to a
11688 temporary file and if that write is successful it is renamed. This
11689 guards against errors writing the file that might destroy the whole
11690 address book. The address book is re-written after each change. If the
11691 address book is a remote address book, the file is then appended to the
11692 remote mail folder using IMAP.
11694 The end-of-line character(s) in the address book file are those native
11695 to the system writing it. So it is <LF> on Unix and <CR><LF> on PC's.
11696 However, both Unix and PC versions of _Alpine_ can read either format,
11697 so it should be possible to share a read-only address book among the
11698 two populations (using NFS, for example).
11699 __________________________________________________________________
11701 Address Book Lookup File
11703 _Pine_ used an additional file for each address book, called the LookUp
11704 file. It had the same name as the address book file with the suffix
11705 ".lu" appended. _Alpine_ no longer uses a lookup file.
11707 Validity Checking of Address Books
11709 There is no file locking done on _Alpine_ address books, however, there
11710 is considerable validity checking done to make sure that the address
11711 book hasn't changed unexpectedly. Whenever the address book is about to
11712 be changed, a check is made to see if the file is newer than when we
11713 read it or the remote address book folder has changed since we last
11714 copied it. If either of these is true, the change is aborted.
11716 There is an automatic, behind-the-scene check that happens every so
11717 often, also. For example, if someone else changes one of the address
11718 books that you have configured, your _Alpine_'s copy of the address
11719 book will usually be updated automatically without you noticing. This
11720 checking happens at the same time as new mail checking takes place,
11721 unless you are actively using the address book, in which case it
11722 happens more frequently.
11723 __________________________________________________________________
11725 Remote Configuration
11727 Configuration information may be stored remotely. Remote configuration
11728 information is stored in a folder on an IMAP server. This should be a
11729 folder which is used only for storing the configuration information. In
11730 other words, it should be a folder which didn't exist before.
11732 Remote configuration folders are very similar to remote address book
11733 folders. They both consist of a header message, which serves to
11734 identify the type of folder; the last message, which contains the data;
11735 and intermediate messages, which contain old versions of the data. The
11736 first message must contain the header _x-pine-pinerc_.
11738 When a remote configuration is being used, the folder is checked to
11739 make sure it is a remote configuration folder, then the data contained
11740 in the last message is copied to a temporary file. That file is treated
11741 just like any regular local configuration file from that point on.
11742 Whenever a configuration change is made, the entire file is copied back
11743 to the IMAP server and is appended to the folder as a new message.
11745 Because remote configuration folders are so similar to remote address
11746 books, the configuration variable remote-abook-metafile is used by
11747 both.
11749 Remote configuration folders have names that look just like regular
11750 remote mail folder names. For example:
11752 {host.domain}mypinerc
11754 _Alpine_ decides whether or not a configuration file is remote simply
11755 by looking at the first character of the name and comparing it to '{'.
11756 __________________________________________________________________
11758 Checkpointing
11760 Periodically _Alpine_ will save the whole mail folder to disk to
11761 prevent loss of any mail or mail status in the case that it gets
11762 interrupted, disconnected, or crashes. The period of time _Alpine_
11763 waits to do the checkpoint is calculated to be minimally intrusive. The
11764 timing can be changed (but usually isn't) at compile time. Folder
11765 checkpointing happens for both local folders and those being accessed
11766 with IMAP. The delays are divided into three categories:
11768 The exact algorithm given below is no longer correct. It has gotten
11769 more complicated over time. However, this gives the general idea
11770 _Alpine_ uses when deciding whether or not to do a checkpoint.
11772 Good Time:
11773 This occurs when _Alpine_ has been idle for more than 30
11774 seconds. In this case _Alpine_ will checkpoint if 12 changes to
11775 the file have been made or at least one change has been made and
11776 a checkpoint hasn't been done for five minutes.
11777 Bad Time:
11778 This occurs just after _Alpine_ has executed some command.
11779 _Alpine_ will checkpoint if there are 36 outstanding changes to
11780 the mail file or at least one change and no checkpoint for ten
11781 minutes.
11782 Very Bad Time:
11783 Done when composing a message. In this case, _Alpine_ will only
11784 checkpoint if at least 48 changes have been made or at least one
11785 change has been made in the last twenty minutes with no
11786 checkpoint.
11787 __________________________________________________________________
11789 Debug Files
11791 If UNIX _Alpine_ is compiled with the compiler _DEBUG_ option on (the
11792 default), then _Alpine_ will produce debugging output to a file. This
11793 can be disabled at compile-time with the --disable-debug configure
11794 option, or at run-time with the command line flag -d0. The file is
11795 normally .pine-debugX in the user's home directory where _X_ goes from
11796 1 to 4. Number 1 is always the most recent session and 4 the oldest.
11797 Four are saved because often the user has gone in and out of _Alpine_ a
11798 few times after a problem has occurred before the expert actually gets
11799 to look at it. The amount of output in the debug files varies with the
11800 debug level set when _Alpine_ is compiled and/or as a command line
11801 flag. The default is level 2. This shows very general things and
11802 records errors. Level 9 produces copious amounts of output for each
11803 keystroke.
11805 Similarly, _PC-Alpine_ creates debug files named pinedebg.txtX in the
11806 same directory as the PINERC file.
11807 __________________________________________________________________
11809 INBOX and Special Folders
11811 The _INBOX_ folder is treated specially. It is normally kept open
11812 constantly so that the arrival of new mail can be detected. The name
11813 _INBOX_ refers to wherever new mail is retrieved on the system. If the
11814 inbox-path variable is set, then _INBOX_ refers to that. IMAP servers
11815 understand the concept of _INBOX_, so specifying the folder
11816 _{imap.u.example.edu}INBOX_ is meaningful. The case of the word _INBOX_
11817 is not important, but _Alpine_ tends to display it in all capital
11818 letters.
11820 The folders for sent mail and saved messages folders are also somewhat
11821 special. They are automatically created if they are absent and
11822 recreated if they are deleted.
11823 __________________________________________________________________
11825 Internal Help Files
11827 The file pine.hlp in the alpine subdirectory of the distribution
11828 contains all the help text for _Alpine_. It is compiled right into the
11829 _Alpine_ binary as strings. This is done to simplify installation and
11830 configuration. The pine.hlp file is in a special format that is
11831 documented at the beginning of the file. It is divided into sections,
11832 each with a name that winds up being referenced as a global variable.
11833 This file is processed during the build process and turned into a C
11834 file that is compiled into _Alpine_.
11835 __________________________________________________________________
11837 International Character Sets
11839 _Alpine_ uses Unicode characters internally and it is a goal for
11840 _Alpine_ to handle email in many different languages. _Alpine_ will
11841 properly display only left-to-right character sets in a fixed-width
11842 font. Specifically, _Alpine_ assumes that a fixed-width font is in use,
11843 in the sense that characters are assumed to take up zero, one, or two
11844 character cell widths from left to right on the screen. This is true
11845 even in _PC-Alpine_.
11847 _Alpine_ recognizes some local character sets which are right-to-left
11848 (Arabic, Hebrew, and Thai) or not representable in a fixed-width font
11849 (Arabic) and properly converts texts in these character sets to/from
11850 Unicode; however, there are known display bugs with these character
11851 sets.
11853 There are three possible configuration character settings and some
11854 environment variable settings which can affect how _Alpine_ handles
11855 international characters. The first two of these are only available in
11856 UNIX _Alpine_. The three configuration options are
11857 _display-character-set_, _keyboard-character-set_, and
11858 _posting-character-set_. The _keyboard-character-set_ defaults to being
11859 the same value as the _display-character-set_, and that is usually
11860 correct, because the keyboard almost always produces characters in the
11861 same character set as the display displays. The _display-character-set_
11862 is the character set that _Alpine_ will attempt to use when sending
11863 characters to the display.
11865 Besides those variables there is also use-system-translation which can
11866 be used instead of these. That usage is only lightly tested and is not
11867 recommended.
11869 By default, the _display-character-set_ variable is not set and UNIX
11870 _Alpine_ will attempt to get this information from the environment. In
11871 particular, the nl_langinfo(CODESET) call is used. This usually depends
11872 on the setting of the environment variables LANG or LC_CTYPE. An
11873 explicit configuration setting for _display-character-set_ will, of
11874 course, override any default setting.
11876 For _PC-Alpine_ the _display-character-set_ and the
11877 _keyboard-character-set_ are always equivalent to UTF-8 and this is not
11878 settable.
11880 It is probably best to use UNIX _Alpine_ in a terminal emulator capable
11881 of displaying UTF-8 characters, since that will allow you to view just
11882 about any received text that is correctly formatted (note, however, the
11883 above comments about known index display bugs with certain character
11884 sets). You'll need to have an emulator which uses a UTF-8 font and
11885 you'll need to set up your environment to use a UTF-8 charmap. For
11886 example, on a Linux system you might include
11888 setenv LANG en_US.UTF-8
11890 or something similar in your UNIX startup files. You'd also have to
11891 select a UTF-8 font in your terminal emulator.
11893 The types of values that the character set variables may be set to are
11894 UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, or EUC-JP. The ISO-2022 character sets are not
11895 supported for input or for display, but as a special case, ISO-2022-JP
11896 is supported for use only as a _posting-character-set_. In the
11897 Setup/Config screen you may choose from a list of all the character
11898 sets _Alpine_ knows about by using the "T" ToCharsets command. Here is
11899 a list of many of the possible character sets:
11901 UTF-8 Unicode
11902 US-ASCII 7 bit American English characters
11903 ISO-8859-1 8 bit European "Latin 1" character set
11904 ISO-8859-2 8 bit European "Latin 2" character set
11905 ISO-8859-3 8 bit European "Latin 3" character set
11906 ISO-8859-4 8 bit European "Latin 4" character set
11907 ISO-8859-5 8 bit Latin and Cyrillic
11908 ISO-8859-6 8 bit Latin and Arabic
11909 ISO-8859-7 8 bit Latin and Greek
11910 ISO-8859-8 8 bit Latin and Hebrew
11911 ISO-8859-9 8 bit European "Latin 5" character set
11912 ISO-8859-10 8 bit European "Latin 6" character set
11913 ISO-8859-11 Latin and Thai
11914 ISO-8859-12 Reserved
11915 ISO-8859-13 8 bit European "Latin 7" character set
11916 ISO-8859-14 8 bit European "Latin 8" character set
11917 ISO-8859-15 8 bit European "Latin 9" character set
11918 ISO-8859-16 8 bit European "Latin 10" character set
11919 KOI8-R 8 bit Latin and Russian
11920 KOI8-U 8 bit Latin and Ukranian
11921 WINDOWS-1251 8 bit Latin and Russian
11922 TIS-620 8 bit Latin and Thai
11923 VISCII 8 bit Latin and Vietnamese
11924 GBK Latin and Chinese Simplified
11925 GB2312 Latin and Chinese Simplified
11926 CN-GB Latin and Chinese Simplified
11927 BIG5 Latin and Chinese Traditional
11928 BIG-5 Latin and Chinese Traditional
11929 EUC-JP Latin and Japanese
11930 SHIFT-JIS Latin and Japanese
11931 EUC-KR Latin and Korean
11932 KSC5601 Latin and Korean
11934 When reading incoming email, _Alpine_ understands many different
11935 character sets and is able to convert the incoming mail into Unicode.
11936 The Unicode will be converted to the _display-character-set_ for
11937 display on your terminal. Characters typed at the keyboard will be
11938 converted from the _keyboard-character-set_ to Unicode for _Alpine_'s
11939 internal use. You may find that you can read some malformed messages
11940 that do not contain a character set label by setting the option
11941 unknown-character-set.
11943 The _posting-character-set_ is used when sending messages. The default
11944 behavior obtained by leaving this variable unset is usually what is
11945 wanted. In that default case, _Alpine_ will attempt to label the
11946 message with the most specific character set from the rather arbitrary
11947 set
11949 US-ASCII, ISO-8859-15, ISO-8859-1, ISO-8859-2, VISCII, KOI8-R, KOI8-U,
11950 ISO-8859-7, ISO-8859-6, ISO-8859-8, TIS-620, ISO-2022-JP, GB2312, BIG5,
11951 EUC-KR, and UTF-8.
11953 For example, if the message is made up of only US-ASCII characters, it
11954 will be labeled US-ASCII. Otherwise, if it is all ISO-8859-15
11955 characters, that will be the label. If that doesn't work the same is
11956 tried for the remaining members of the list.
11958 It might make sense to set _posting-character-set_ to an explicit value
11959 instead. For example, if you usually send messages in Greek, setting
11960 this option to ISO-8859-7 will result in messages being labeled as
11961 US-ASCII if there are no non-ascii characters, ISO-8859-7 if there are
11962 only Greek characters, or UTF-8 if there are some characters which
11963 aren't representable in ISO-8859-7. Another possibility is to set this
11964 option explicitly to UTF-8. In that case _Alpine_ labels only ascii
11965 messages as US-ASCII and all other messages as UTF-8.
11966 __________________________________________________________________
11968 Interrupted and Postponed Messages
11970 If the user is composing mail and is interrupted by being disconnected
11971 (SIGHUP, SIGTERM or end of file on the standard input), _Alpine_ will
11972 save the interrupted composition and allow the user to continue it when
11973 he or she resumes _Alpine_. As the next _Alpine_ session starts, a
11974 message will be given that an interrupted message can be continued. To
11975 continue the interrupted message, simply go into the composer. To get
11976 rid of the interrupted message, go into the composer and then cancel
11977 the message with _^C._
11979 Composition of half-done messages may be postponed to a later time by
11980 giving the _^O_ command. Other messages can be composed while postponed
11981 messages wait. All of the postponed messages are kept in a single
11982 folder. Postponing is a good way to quickly reference other messages
11983 while composing.
11984 __________________________________________________________________
11986 Message Status
11988 The c-client library allows for several flags or status marks to be set
11989 for each message. _Alpine_ uses four of these flags: UNSEEN, DELETED,
11990 ANSWERED, and FLAGGED. The N in _Alpine_'s FOLDER INDEX means that a
11991 message is unseen-it has not been read from this folder yet. The D
11992 means that a message is marked for deletion. Messages marked with D are
11993 removed when the user _Expunges_ the folder (which usually happens when
11994 the folder is closed or the user quits _Alpine_). The A in _Alpine_'s
11995 FOLDER INDEX means that the message has been replied-to. The * in
11996 _Alpine_'s FOLDER INDEX means that the message has been ``flagged'' as
11997 important. That is, the user used the _Flag_ command to turn the
11998 FLAGGED flag on. This flag can mean whatever the user wants it to mean.
11999 It is just a way to mark some messages as being different from others.
12000 It will usually probably be used to mark a message as somehow being
12001 ``important''. For Berkeley format folders, the message status is
12002 written into the email folder itself on the header lines marked Status:
12003 and X-Status.
12005 It is also possible for a user to define their own flags in addition to
12006 the standard system flags above. In _Alpine_ these user defined flags
12007 are called Keywords.
12008 __________________________________________________________________
12010 MIME: Reading a Message
12012 _Alpine_ should be able to handle just about any MIME message. When a
12013 MIME message is received, _Alpine_ will display a list of all the
12014 parts, their types and sizes. It will display the attachments when
12015 possible and appropriate and allow users to _Save_ all other
12016 attachments.
12018 _Alpine_ honors the "mailcap" configuration system for specifying
12019 external programs for handling attachments. The mailcap file maps MIME
12020 attachment types to the external programs loaded on your system which
12021 can display and/or print the file. A sample mailcap file comes bundled
12022 with the _Alpine_ distribution. It includes comments which explain the
12023 syntax you need to use for mailcap. With the mailcap file, any program
12024 (mail readers, newsreaders, WWW clients) can use the same configuration
12025 for handling MIME-encoded data.
12027 If a MAILCAPS environment variable is defined, _Alpine_ will use that
12028 to look for one or more mailcap files, which are combined. In the
12029 absence of MAILCAPS, Unix _Alpine_ will look for a personal mailcap
12030 file in ~/.mailcap and combine that with a system-wide file in
12031 /etc/mailcap. _PC-Alpine_ will look for a file named MAILCAP in the
12032 same directory as the PINERC file, and/or the directory containing the
12033 ALPINE.EXE executable.
12035 Messages which include _rich text_ or _enriched text_ in the main body
12036 will be displayed in a very limited way (it will show bold and
12037 underlining).
12039 If _Alpine_ sees a MIME message part tagged as type IMAGE, and
12040 _Alpine_'s image-viewer configuration variable is set, _Alpine_ will
12041 attempt to send that attachment to the named image viewing program. In
12042 the case of UNIX _Alpine_, the DISPLAY environment variable is checked
12043 to see if an X-terminal is being used (which can handle the images). If
12044 the _image-viewer_ variable is not set, _Alpine_ uses the _mailcap_
12045 system to determine what to do with IMAGE types, just as it does for
12046 any other non-TEXT type, e.g. type APPLICATION. For MIME's generic
12047 "catch all" type, APPLICATION/OCTET-STREAM, the _mailcap_ file will
12048 probably not specify any action, but _Alpine_ users may always _Save_
12049 any MIME attachment to a file.
12051 MIME type "text/plain" is handled a little bit differently than the
12052 other types. If you are viewing the main body part in the MESSAGE TEXT
12053 viewing screen, then _Alpine_ will use its internal viewer to display
12054 it. This happens even if there is a mailcap description which matches
12055 this particular type. However, if you view a part of type "text/plain"
12056 from the ATTACHMENT INDEX screen, then _Alpine_ will check the mailcap
12057 database for a matching entry and use it in preference to its internal
12058 viewer.
12060 Some text attachments, specifically those which are just other email
12061 messages forwarded as MIME messages, are displayed as part of the main
12062 body of the message. This distinction allows easy display when possible
12063 (the forward as MIME case) and use of an attachment viewer when that is
12064 desirable (the plain text file attachment case).
12066 If the parts of a multipart message are alternate versions of the same
12067 thing _Alpine_ will select and display the one best suited. For parts
12068 of type "message/external-body", the parameters showing the retrieval
12069 method will be displayed, and the retrieval process is automated.
12070 Messages of type "message/partial" are not supported.
12071 __________________________________________________________________
12073 MIME: Sending a Message
12075 There are two important factors when trying to include an attachment in
12076 a message: encoding and labeling. _Alpine_ has rules for both of these
12077 which try to assure that the message goes out in a form that is robust
12078 and can be handled by other MIME mail readers.
12080 MIME has two ways of encoding data-Quoted-Printable and Base64.
12081 Quoted-Printable leaves the ASCII text alone and only changes 8-bit
12082 characters to "=" followed by the hex digits. For example, "=09" is a
12083 tab. It has the advantage that it is mostly readable and that it allows
12084 for end of line conversions between unlike systems. Base64 encoding is
12085 similar to _uuencode_ or _btoa_ and just encodes a raw bit stream. This
12086 encoding is designed to get text and binary files through even the most
12087 improperly implemented and configured gateways intact, even those that
12088 distort uuencoded data.
12090 _All_ attachments are encoded using Base64 encoding. This is so that
12091 the attachment will arrive at the other end looking exactly like it did
12092 when it was sent. Since Base64 is completely unreadable except by
12093 MIME-capable mailers or programs, there is an obvious tradeoff being
12094 made here. We chose to ensure absolutely reliable transport of
12095 attachments at the cost of requiring a MIME-capable mailer to read
12096 them. If the user doesn't want absolute integrity he or she may always
12097 _include_ text (with the _^R_ command) in the body of a message instead
12098 of attaching it. With this policy, the only time quoted-printable
12099 encoding is used is when the main body of a message includes special
12100 foreign language characters.
12102 When an attachment is to be sent, _Alpine_ sniffs through it to try to
12103 set the right label (content-type and subtype). An attachment with any
12104 lines longer than 500 characters in it or more than 10% of the
12105 characters are 8-bit it will be considered binary data. _Alpine_ will
12106 recognize (and correctly label) a few special types including GIF,
12107 JPEG, PostScript, and some audio formats. Another method which can be
12108 more robust and flexible for determining the content-type and subtype
12109 is to base it on the file extension. This method uses a MIME.Types
12110 File.
12112 If it is not binary data (has only a small proportion of 8-bit
12113 characters in it,) the attachment is considered 8-bit text. 8-bit text
12114 attachments are labeled "text/plain" with charset set to the value of
12115 the user's _keyboard-character-set_ variable. If an attachment is ASCII
12116 (no 8-bit characters) and contains no control characters then it is
12117 considered plain ASCII text. Such attachments are given the MIME label
12118 "text/plain; charset=US-ASCII", regardless of the setting of the user's
12119 _keyboard-character-set_ variable.
12121 All other attachments are unrecognized and therefore given the generic
12122 MIME label "application/octet-stream".
12123 __________________________________________________________________
12125 New Mail Notification
12127 _Alpine_ checks for new mail in the _INBOX_ and in the currently open
12128 folder every two and a half minutes by default. This default can be
12129 changed in the system-wide configuration file or at compile-time with
12130 the --with-mailcheck-interval=VALUE configuration option. A user can
12131 change it by changing the option mail-check-interval. A new mail check
12132 can be manually forced by redrawing the screen with a _^L_.
12134 When there is new mail, the message(s) will appear in the index, the
12135 screen will beep, and a notice showing the sender and subject will be
12136 displayed. If there has been more than one new message since you last
12137 issued a command to _Alpine_, the notice will show the count of new
12138 messages and the sender of the most recent one.
12139 __________________________________________________________________
12141 NFS
12143 It is possible to access mail folders on _NFS_ mounted volumes with
12144 _Alpine_, but there are some drawbacks to doing this, especially in the
12145 case of incoming-message folders that may be concurrently updated by
12146 _Alpine_ and the system's mail delivery agent. One concern is that
12147 _Alpine_'s user-contention locks don't work because _/tmp_ is usually
12148 not shared, and even if it was, _flock()_ doesn't work across _NFS._
12150 The implementation of the standard UNIX ".lock" file locking has been
12151 modified to work with _NFS_ as follows. Standard hitching post locking
12152 is used so first a uniquely named file is created, usually something
12153 like _xxxx.host.time.pid._ Then a link to it is created named
12154 _xxxx.lock_ where the folder being locked is _xxxx._ This file
12155 constitutes the lock. This is a standard UNIX locking scheme. After the
12156 link returns, a _stat(2)_ is done on the file. If the file has two
12157 links, it is concluded that the lock succeeded and it is safe to
12158 proceed.
12160 In order to minimize the risks of locking failures via _NFS_, we
12161 strongly recommend using IMAP rather than _NFS_ to access remote
12162 incoming message folders, e.g. your _INBOX_. However, it is generally
12163 safe to access personal saved-message folders via _NFS_ since it is
12164 unlikely that more than one process will be updating those folders at
12165 any given time. Still, some problems may occur when two _Alpine_
12166 sessions try to access the same mail folder from different hosts
12167 without using IMAP. Imagine the scenario: _Alpine_-A performs a write
12168 that changes the folder. _Alpine_-B then attempts to perform a write on
12169 the same folder. _Alpine_-B will get upset that the file has been
12170 changed from underneath it and abort operations on the folder.
12171 _Alpine_-B will continue to display mail from the folder that it has in
12172 its internal cache, but it will not read or write any further data. The
12173 only thing that will be lost out of the _Alpine_-B session when this
12174 happens is the last few status changes.
12176 If other mail readers besides _Alpine_ are involved, all bets are off.
12177 Typically, mailers don't take any precautions against a user opening a
12178 mailbox more than once and no special precautions are taken to prevent
12179 _NFS_ problems.
12180 __________________________________________________________________
12182 Printers and Printing
12184 UNIX _Alpine_ can print to the standard UNIX line printers or to
12185 generic printers attached to ANSI terminals using the escape sequences
12186 to turn the printer on and off. The user has a choice of three printers
12187 in the configuration.
12189 The first setting, _attached-to-ansi_, makes use of escape sequences on
12190 ANSI/VT100 terminals. It uses "<ESC>[5i" to begin directing all output
12191 sent to the terminal to the printer and then "<ESC>[4i" to return to
12192 normal. _Alpine_ will send these escape sequences if the printer is set
12193 to _attached-to-ansi._ This works with most ANSI/VT100 emulators on
12194 Macs and PCs such as kermit, NCSA telnet, VersaTerm Pro, and WinQVT.
12195 Various terminal emulators implement the print feature differently.
12196 There is also a closely related method called
12197 _attached-to-ansi-no-formfeed_ which is the same except for the lack of
12198 formfeed character at the end of the print job.
12200 _Attached-to-wyse_ and _attached-to-wyse-no-formfeed_ are very similar
12201 to "attached-to-ansi". The only difference is in the control characters
12202 sent to turn the printer on and off. The Wyse version uses Ctrl-R for
12203 on, and Ctrl-T for off.
12205 The second selection is the standard UNIX print command. The default is
12206 _lpr_, but it can be changed on a system basis to anything so desired
12207 in /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.
12209 The third selection is the user's personal choice for a UNIX print
12210 command. The text to be printed is piped into the command. _Enscript_
12211 or _lpr_ with options are popular choices. The actual command is
12212 retained even if one of the other print selections is used for a while.
12214 Both the second and third sections are actually lists of possible
12215 commands rather than single commands.
12217 If you have a PostScript printer attached to a PC or Macintosh, then
12218 you will need to use a utility called _ansiprt_ to get printouts on
12219 your printer. _Ansiprt_ source code and details can be found in the
12220 ./contrib directory of the _Alpine_ distribution.
12221 __________________________________________________________________
12223 Save and Export
12225 _Alpine_ users get two options for moving messages in _Alpine_: _Save_
12226 and _Export_. _Save_ is used when the message should remain ``in the
12227 _Alpine_ realm.'' Saved messages include the complete header (including
12228 header lines normally hidden by _Alpine_), are placed in a _Alpine_
12229 folder collection and accumulate in a standard folder format which
12230 _Alpine_ can read. In contrast, the _Export_ command is used to write
12231 the contents of a message to a file for use outside of _Alpine_.
12232 Messages which have been exported are placed in the user's home
12233 directory (unless the feature use-current-dir is turned on), not in a
12234 _Alpine_ folder collection. Unless FullHeaderMode is toggled on, all
12235 delivery-oriented headers are stripped from the message. Even with
12236 _Export_, _Alpine_ retains message separators so that multiple messages
12237 can accumulate in a single file and subsequently be accessed as a
12238 folder. On UNIX systems, the _Export_ command pays attention to the
12239 standard _umask_ for the setting of the file permissions.
12240 __________________________________________________________________
12242 Sent Mail
12244 _Alpine_'s default behavior is to keep a copy of each outgoing message
12245 in a special "sent mail" folder. This folder is also called the fcc for
12246 "file carbon copy". The existence, location and name of the sent mail
12247 folder are all configurable. Sent mail archiving can be turned off by
12248 setting the configuration variable default-fcc="". The sent mail folder
12249 is assumed to be in the default collection for _Save_s, which is the
12250 first collection named in folder-collections. The name of the folder
12251 can be chosen by entering a name in _default-fcc_. With _PC-Alpine_,
12252 this can be a bit complicated. If the default collection for _Save_s is
12253 local (DOS), then the _default-fcc_ needs to be SENTMAIL, which is
12254 syntax for a DOS file. However, if the default collection for _Save_s
12255 is remote, then the _default-fcc_ needs to be sent-mail to match the
12256 UNIX syntax.
12258 The configuration variable fcc-name-rule also plays a role in selecting
12259 the folder to save sent mail in.
12261 A danger here is that the sent mail could grow without bound. For this
12262 reason, we thought it useful to encourage the users to periodically
12263 prune their sent mail folder. The first time _Alpine_ is used each
12264 month it will offer to archive all messages sent from the month before.
12265 _Alpine_ also offers to delete all the sent mail archive folders which
12266 are more than 1 month old. If the user or system has disabled sent mail
12267 archiving (by setting the configuration variable _default-fcc=""_)
12268 there will be no pruning question.
12269 __________________________________________________________________
12271 Spell Checker
12273 Both UNIX _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_ depend on the system for their spell
12274 checking and dictionary. _Pico_, the text editor, uses the same spell
12275 checking scheme as _Alpine_.
12277 Lines beginning with ">" (usually messages included in replies) are not
12278 checked. The message text to be checked is on the standard input and
12279 the incorrect words are expected on the standard output.
12281 The default spell checker is UNIX _spell_. You can replace this by
12282 setting the speller configuration variable. A common choice for a
12283 superior replacement is _ispell_.
12285 _PC-Alpine_ relies on the aspell library being installed. Aspell is
12286 independent of Alpine. The Windows version has traditionally been
12287 available at http://aspell.net/win32/. You'll need to download and
12288 install both Aspell and a precompiled dictionary. Aspell is provided in
12289 an installer package. Dictionaries, to be installed after Aspell, are
12290 in '.exe' files to download and run.
12291 __________________________________________________________________
12293 Terminal Emulation and Key Mapping
12295 UNIX _Alpine_ has been designed to require as little as possible from
12296 the terminal. At the minimum, _Alpine_ requires cursor positioning,
12297 clear to end of line, and inverse video. Unfortunately, there are
12298 terminals that are missing some of these such as a vt52. _Alpine_ makes
12299 no assumptions as to whether the terminal wraps or doesn't wrap. If the
12300 terminal has other capabilities it may use some of them. _Alpine_ won't
12301 run well on older terminals that require a space on the screen to
12302 change video attributes, such as the Televideo 925. One can get around
12303 this on some terminals by using "protected field" mode. The terminal
12304 can be made to go into protected mode for reverse video, and then
12305 reverse video is assigned to protected mode.
12307 _Alpine_ handles screens of most any size and resizing on the fly. It
12308 catches SIGWINCH and does the appropriate thing.
12310 On the input side of things, _Alpine_ uses all the standard keys, most
12311 of the control keys and (in function-key mode) the function keys.
12312 _Alpine_ avoids certain control keys, specifically ^S, ^Q, ^H, and _^\_
12313 because they have other meanings outside of _Alpine_ (they control data
12314 flow, etc.) _^H_ is treated the same as the _delete_ key, so the
12315 _backspace_ or _delete_ keys always work regardless of any
12316 configuration. There is a feature _compose-maps-delete-key-to-ctrl-d_
12317 which makes the delete key behave like ^D rather than ^H (deletes
12318 current character instead of previous character).
12320 Sometimes a communications program or communications server in between
12321 you and the other end will eat certain control characters. There is a
12322 work-around when you need it. If you type two escape characters
12323 followed by a character that will be interpreted as the character with
12324 the control key depressed. For example, _ESC ESC T_ is equivalent to
12325 _^T_.
12327 When a function key is pressed and _Alpine_ is in regular (non-function
12328 key) mode, _Alpine_ traps escape sequences for a number of common
12329 function keys so users don't get an error message or have an unexpected
12330 command executed for each character in the function key's escape
12331 sequence. _Alpine_ expects the following escape sequences from
12332 terminals defined as VT100:
12334 ANSI/VT100
12335 F1: <ESC>OP
12336 F2: <ESC>OQ
12337 F3: <ESC>OR
12338 F4: <ESC>OS
12339 F5: <ESC>Op
12340 F6: <ESC>Oq
12341 F7: <ESC>Or
12342 F8: <ESC>Os
12343 F9: <ESC>Ot
12344 F10: <ESC>Ou
12345 F11: <ESC>Ov
12347 Arrow keys are a special case. _Alpine_ has the escape sequences for a
12348 number of conventions for arrow keys hard coded and does not use
12349 _termcap_ to discover them. This is because _termcap_ is sometimes
12350 incorrect, and because many users have PC's running terminal emulators
12351 that don't conform exactly to what they claim to emulate. There is a
12352 feature called termdef-takes-precedence which can be set to cause the
12353 _termcap_ or _terminfo_ definitions to be used instead of the built in
12354 definitions. Some arrow keys on old terminals send single control
12355 characters like _^K_ (one even sends _^\_). These arrow keys will not
12356 work with _Alpine_. The most popular escape sequences for arrow keys
12357 are:
12359 Up: <ESC>[A <ESC>?x <ESC>A <ESC>OA
12360 Down: <ESC>[B <ESC>?r <ESC>B <ESC>OB
12361 Right: <ESC>[C <ESC>?v <ESC>C <ESC>OC
12362 Left: <ESC>[D <ESC>?t <ESC>D <ESC>OD