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2 Alpine Technical Notes
4 Version 2.26, June 2022
6 Table of Contents
8 Introduction
10 * Design Goals
11 * Alpine Components
13 Background Details
15 * Domain Names
16 * RFC 2822 Compliance
17 * SMTP and Sendmail
18 * Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
19 * Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)
20 * Folder Collections
22 Building and Installation
24 * Compile-time Options
25 * Including LDAP Functionality
26 * Including Kerberos 5 Functionality
27 * Other Alpine Compile-time Options
28 * IMAPd Compile-time Options
29 * Building the Alpine Programs
30 * Installing Alpine and Pico on UNIX Platforms
31 * Installing PC-Alpine
32 * Installing IMAPd
33 * Support Files and Environment Variables: UNIX Alpine
34 * Support Files, Environment Variables, and Registry Values:
35 PC-Alpine
37 Command Line Arguments
39 * Alpine
40 * Pico
41 * Pilot
43 Configuration and Preferences
45 * Alpine Configuration
46 * General Configuration Variables
47 * Configuration Features
48 * Hidden Config Variables and Features
49 * Retired Variables
50 * Tokens for Index and Replying
51 * Conditional Inclusion of Text for Reply-Leadin, Signatures, and
52 Templates
53 * Per Server Directory Configuration
54 * Color Configuration
55 * Index Line Color Configuration
56 * Role Configuration
57 * Filtering Configuration
58 * Scoring Configuration
59 * Other Rules Configuration
60 * Search Rules Configuration
61 * Patterns
62 * Configuring News
63 Configuration Notes
64 + Alpine in Function Key Mode
65 + Domain Settings
66 + Syntax for Collections
67 + Syntax for Folder Names
68 + Server Name Syntax
69 + Folder Namespaces
70 + What is a Mail Drop?
71 + Sorting a Folder
72 + Alternate Editor
73 + Signatures and Signature Placement
74 + Feature List Variable
75 + Configuration Inheritance
76 + Using Environment Variables
77 + SMTP Servers
78 + MIME.Types file
79 + Color Details
80 + S/MIME Overview
81 + Additional Notes on PC-Alpine
83 Behind the Scenes
85 * Address Books
86 * Remote Configuration
87 * Checkpointing
88 * Debug Files
89 * INBOX and Special Folders
90 * Internal Help Files
91 * International Character Sets
92 * Interrupted and Postponed Messages
93 * Message Status
94 * MIME: Reading a Message
95 * MIME: Sending a Message
96 * New Mail Notification
97 * NFS
98 * Printers and Printing
99 * Save and Export
100 * Sent Mail
101 * Spell Checker
102 * Terminal Emulation and Key Mapping
104 Introduction
106 Design Goals
108 Throughout _Alpine_ development, we have had to strike a balance
109 between the need to include features which advanced users require and
110 the need to keep things simple for beginning users. To strike this
111 balance, we have tried to adhere to these design principles:
113 - The model presented to the user has to be simple and clear.
114 Underlying system operation is hidden as much as possible.
115 - It's better to have a few easily understood commands that can
116 be repeated than to have some more sophisticated command that
117 will do the job all at once.
118 - Whenever the user has to select a command, file name, address,
119 etc., the user should be given (or can get) a menu from which to
120 make the selection. Menus need to be complete, small, organized
121 and well thought out.
122 - _Alpine_ must provide immediate feedback for the user with
123 each operation.
124 - _Alpine_ must be very tolerant of user errors. Any time a user
125 is about to perform an irreversible act (send a message, expunge
126 messages from a folder), _Alpine_ should ask for confirmation.
127 - Users should be able to learn by exploration without fear of
128 doing anything wrong. This is an important feature so the user
129 can get started quickly without reading any manuals and so fewer
130 manuals are required.
131 - The core set of _Alpine_ functions should be kept to a minimum
132 so new users don't feel "lost" in seemingly extraneous commands
133 and concepts.
135 Just as there were goals relating to the look and feel of _Alpine_,
136 there were equally important goals having to do with _Alpine_'s
137 structure-the things that users never see but still rely on every time
138 they use _Alpine_. While _Alpine_ can be used as a stand-alone mail
139 user agent, one of its strongest assets is its use of the Internet
140 Message Access Protocol (IMAP) for accessing remote email folders. In
141 addition, _Pine_ (the predecessor of _Alpine_) was one of the first
142 programs to support the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)
143 specification. With MIME, _Alpine_ users can reliably send any binary
144 file to any other person on the Internet who uses a MIME compliant
145 email program.
147 The decision to use IMAP and MIME reflects the importance of
148 interoperability, standardization and robustness in _Alpine_. As you
149 work with _Alpine_ more, you will see other features which reflect the
150 same values. For example, _Alpine_ enforces strict compliance with RFC
151 2822, implements a strong mail folder locking mechanism and verifies a
152 process before overwriting any files (e.g. addressbook, expunging
153 messages).
155 Alpine Components
157 If you have picked up the _Alpine_ distribution, then you already know
158 that _Alpine_ comes in a few different pieces. They are:
160 _Alpine_
161 The main code from which the _Alpine_ program is compiled.
162 _Pico_
163 _Pico_ is the name for the _Alpine_ composer. The _Pico_ code is
164 used in two ways: (1) it is compiled on its own to be a
165 stand-alone editor and, (2) it is compiled as a library for
166 _Alpine_ to support composition of messages within _Alpine_.
167 _Pico_ is _Alpine_'s internal editor invoked when users need to
168 fill in header lines or type the text of an email message.
169 _Imap_
170 An API for IMAP. Includes the C-Client library, which is
171 compiled into _Alpine_, and the IMAP server _IMAPd_. C-Client
172 implements the IMAP protocol and also negotiates all access
173 between _Alpine_ and the mail folders it operates on, even if
174 the folders are local. The C-Client routines are used for email
175 folder parsing and interpreting MIME messages. _IMAPd_ is a
176 separate server that handles IMAP connections from any
177 IMAP-compliant email program. When _Alpine_ accesses a remote
178 mailbox, the _Alpine_ program is the IMAP client and the _IMAPd_
179 program is the IMAP server. Of course, _Alpine_ can use any
180 IMAP-compliant IMAP server, not just _IMAPd_.
182 Background Details
184 Domain Names
186 Domain names are used to uniquely name each host on the Internet. A
187 domain name has a number of parts separated by periods. Each label
188 represents a level in the hierarchy. An example of a name is:
190 olive.cac.washington.edu
192 In this domain name the top-level label is _edu_, indicating it is at
193 an educational institution, the second-level label is _washington_,
194 indicating the University of Washington. _cac_ is a specific department
195 within the University of Washington, and _olive_ is the host name. The
196 top-level names are assigned by Internet organizations, and other names
197 are assigned at the appropriate level. The Domain Name Service, DNS, is
198 the distributed database used to look up these names.
200 _Alpine_ relies on domain names in multiple places. A domain name is
201 embedded into the message-id line generated for each piece of email. A
202 domain name is needed to contact an IMAP server to get access to remote
203 INBOXes and folders. Most importantly, domain names are needed to
204 construct the From: line of your outgoing messages so that people on
205 the Internet will be able to get email back to you.
207 On UNIX systems, you can set the domain via the user-domain variable in
208 the _Alpine_ configuration file, or rely on the file /etc/hosts which
209 usually sets the name of the local host. While _Alpine_ can often
210 deliver email without the domain name being properly configured, it is
211 best to have this set correctly. Problems can usually be solved by
212 adjusting the system's entry in the /etc/hosts file. The
213 fully-qualified name should be listed before any abbreviations. For
214 example,
216 128.95.112.99 olive.cac.washington.edu olive
218 is preferred over
220 128.95.112.99 olive olive.cac.washington.edu
222 On PCs, the task of configuring the domain name is a bit different.
223 Often times PCs do not have domain names-they have _IP addresses_. IP
224 addresses are the numbers which uniquely identify a computer on the
225 network. The way you configure your IP address depends on the
226 networking software which you use on the PC. You can refer to the
227 documentation which came with your networking software or see the PC
228 specific installation notes for help configuring the IP address with
229 your network software.
231 With PCs, it is vital that users set the variable user-domain in the
232 _Alpine_ configuration file (PINERC).
234 Details on configuring _Alpine_ with correct domain names can be found
235 in the Domain Settings section of this document.
236 __________________________________________________________________
238 RFC 2822 Compliance
240 _Alpine_ tries to adhere to RFC 2822 fairly strictly.
242 As far as outgoing email is concerned, _Alpine_ fully-qualifies
243 addresses whenever possible. They are even displayed in fully-qualified
244 form on the terminal as the user composes a message. This makes
245 addresses more clear and gives a hint to the user that the network
246 extends beyond the local organization. _Alpine_ implements
247 fully-qualified domain names by tacking on the local domain to all
248 unqualified addresses which a user types in. Any address which does not
249 contain an "@" is considered unqualified.
251 The format for addresses allows for spaces and special characters in
252 the full name of an address. For this reason, commas are required to
253 separate addresses. If any special characters as defined in RFC 2822
254 appear in the full name, quotes are required around the address.
255 _Alpine_ will insert the quotes automatically if needed. The common
256 cases where this happens are with periods after initials and
257 parentheses.
259 _Alpine_ expects dates to be in the standard RFC 822 format which is
260 something like:
261 [www, ] dd mmm yy hh:mm[:ss] [timezone]
263 It will attempt to parse dates that are not in this format. When an
264 unparsable date is encountered it is shown as question marks in the
265 FOLDER INDEX screen.
266 __________________________________________________________________
268 SMTP and Sendmail
270 _Alpine_ is a _user agent_ not a _message transfer agent_ (MTA). In
271 plain English, that means _Alpine_ does not know how to interact with
272 other computers on the Internet to deliver or receive email. What
273 _Alpine_ does know how to do is help users read, organize and create
274 email. The "dirty work" of delivering and accepting email is handled by
275 other programs.
277 All outgoing email is delivered to an SMTP server or to a mail transfer
278 agent. A common mail transfer agent is sendmail. The usual method of
279 delivery used by _Alpine_ is to use either a local or a remote SMTP
280 server.
282 The selection of which MTA to use depends on the settings of
283 smtp-server, sendmail-path, and compile-time options. The first MTA
284 specified in the following list is used:
285 1. _sendmail-path_ in /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed
286 2. _smtp-server_ in /usr/local/pine.conf.fixed
287 3. _sendmail-path_ specified on the command line.
288 4. _smtp-server_ specified in a role being used.
289 5. _smtp-server_ specified on the command line.
290 6. _sendmail-path_ in the user's .pinerc file.
291 7. _smtp-server_ in the user's .pinerc file.
292 8. _sendmail-path_ in /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
293 9. _smtp-server_ in /usr/local/pine.conf
294 10. DF_SENDMAIL_PATH defined at compile time.
295 11. SENDMAIL and SENDMAILFLAGS defined at compile time.
297 If the _sendmail-path_ form is used, a child process is forked, and the
298 specified command is executed with the message passed on standard
299 input. Standard output is then passed back and displayed for the user.
300 _NOTE: The program MUST read the message to be posted on standard input,
301 AND operate in the style of sendmail's "-t" option. This method is not
302 recommended unless there are special reasons you want to do this._
304 If an _smtp-server_ is specified, _Alpine_ operates as an SMTP client.
305 SMTP stands for _Simple Mail Transfer Protocol_; it specifies the rules
306 by which computers on the Internet pass email to one another. In this
307 case, _Alpine_ passes outgoing email messages to a designated SMTP
308 server instead of to a mail transfer program on the local machine. A
309 program on the server then takes care of delivering the message. To
310 make _Alpine_ operate as an SMTP client, the smtp-server variable must
311 be set to the IP address or host name of the SMTP server within your
312 organization. This variable accepts a comma separated list of servers,
313 so you can specify multiple alternate SMTP servers. _PC-Alpine_ only
314 runs as an SMTP client so the _smtp-server_ option is mandatory.
316 For UNIX _Alpine_, if neither _smtp-server_ or _sendmail-path_ is set,
317 the default sendmail program is invoked with the "-bs -odb -oem" flags,
318 and the message is sent using the SMTP protocol.
319 __________________________________________________________________
321 Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
323 IMAP is a remote access protocol for message stores. _Alpine_ uses IMAP
324 to get at messages and folders which reside on remote machines. With
325 IMAP, messages are kept on the server. An IMAP client (such as
326 _Alpine_) can request specific messages, headers, message structures,
327 message parts, etc. The client can also issue commands which delete
328 messages from folders on the server. IMAP's closest kin is POP, the
329 Post Office Protocol, which works by transferring an entire mailbox to
330 the client where all the mail is kept. For a comparison of IMAP and
331 POP, see the paper "Comparing Two Approaches to Remote Mailbox Access:
332 IMAP vs. POP" by Terry Gray. A more detailed exploration of message
333 access may be found in the paper " Message Access Paradigms and
334 Protocols."
336 IMAP Features:
337 * Allows access to mail folders from more than one client computer.
338 * Works well over low-bandwidth lines because information is sent in
339 small pieces as needed by the user. For example, only header
340 information is sent to build index lists, and if someone sends a
341 large audio file via MIME, you can choose when (or if) you want to
342 get that part of the message.
343 * Email can be delivered and stored on a well-maintained and reliable
344 server which is "always-up".
345 * Folders can be accessed and manipulated from anywhere on the
346 Internet.
347 * Users can get to messages stored in different folders within the
348 same _Alpine_ session.
349 * Allows use of IMAP server for searching and parsing.
350 * The latest revision of IMAP (IMAP4) also provides for disconnected
351 operation, including resynchronization of message state between
352 mail servers and message caches on clients. _Alpine_ does not
353 support this capability, however.
355 IMAP4rev1 is described in RFC 3501. Further information about IMAP may
356 be obtained from the University of Washington's IMAP Information
357 Center.
359 _Alpine_ is an IMAP4rev1 client.
360 __________________________________________________________________
362 Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)
364 MIME is a way of encoding a multipart message structure into a standard
365 Internet email message. The parts may be nested and may be of seven
366 different types: Text, Audio, Image, Video, Message, Application and
367 Multipart (nested). The MIME specification allows email programs such
368 as _Alpine_ to reliably and simply exchange binary data (images,
369 spreadsheets, etc.). MIME includes support for international character
370 sets, tagging each part of a message with the character set it is
371 written in, and providing 7-bit encoding of 8-bit character sets.
373 The MIME standard was officially published in June of 1992 as RFC 1341
374 and subsequently revised in RFC 2045 when it became a full Internet
375 Standard. _Pine_ 3.0 was one of the first email programs to Implement
376 MIME. Now, there are dozens of commercial and freely available
377 MIME-capable email programs. In addition, MIME is being added to
378 newsreaders so MIME messages can be posted and read in USENET
379 newsgroups.
381 The MIME standard also includes support for non-ASCII text in message
382 headers through the extensions described in RFC 1342 and subsequently
383 revised in RFC 2047.
385 An actual MIME message looks something like this:
386 Date: Tue, 12 Mar 1996 15:39:35 -0800 (PST)
387 From: David L Miller <dlm@cac.washington.edu>
388 To: David L Miller <dlm@cac.washington.edu>
389 Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Test_MIME_message_with_RFC-1522_headers_=28=E1?= =?is
390 o-8859-1?Q?=E2=E3=29?=
391 Message-Id: <Pine.ULT.3.92.960312150851.21583I-101000@shiva2.cac.washington.edu>
392 Mime-Version: 1.0
393 Content-Type: MULTIPART/MIXED; BOUNDARY="0-1737669234-826673975=:21583"
394 Content-Id: <Pine.ULT.3.92.960312153928.21583O@shiva2.cac.washington.edu>
396 This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text,
397 while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools.
398 Send mail to mime@docserver.cac.washington.edu for more info.
400 --0-1737669234-826673975=:21583
401 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
402 Content-ID: <Pine.ULT.3.92.960312153104.21583L@shiva2.cac.washington.edu>
404 The text of the message would go here. It is readable if
405 one doesn't mind wading around a little bit of the MIME
406 formatting. After this is a binary file in base 64
407 encoding.
409 |\ | |\/| David L. Miller dlm@cac.washington.edu (206) 685-6240
410 |/ |_ | | Software Engineer, Pine Development Team (206) 685-4045 (FAX)
411 University of Washington, Networks & Distributed Computing, JE-20
412 4545 15th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98105, USA
414 --0-1737669234-826673975=:21583
415 Content-Type: APPLICATION/ZIP; NAME="test.zip"
416 Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64
417 Content-ID: <Pine.ULT.3.92.960312153638.21583N@shiva2.cac.washington.edu>
418 Content-Description: Test Attachment
420 UEsDBBQAAAAIAGh8bCBbZKT4ygIAAHgFAAAEAAAAdGVzdIVUX2vbMBB/16c4
421 9rSBNyjsYX1UHSUROLInycv2qNhKI5ZYxlLa5dvvpDRLw6CFgJF09/t3Rxo3
422 WDBDD43rPJjJQpxMbw9m+h3AbyHuLLSDe7JTcPGUbtYm7NzwGP3wBYQnnT8c
423 7NQ5s4djsC8t4QbmYE6wsfjpLTy7uPPHCOPk/ATPk4vRDmS008GF4PzwPich
424 zY3m4LfxOQlPNy4GcEO3P/a2h2j/xGyp9ONpco+7CHf33+4/393ff4XNibzL
425 c1UVfXJXQIdIBRx877b4TYy9C3Fym2NEyzsX/pNDet8dD3aIJiagLbo2wwnG
426 4zT6cK66ZLK1NhH9J4tcZQEy7OxkNyd4nMwQbV9glP7JZb87E3O32fgnm7We
427 XQ8+us4SM47WTCkgMPt9enc2ZAW5c+Pj7o32l0IXXk/r8pSRE3A4jqOfIqqF
428 G+PFlSdRDOaQduXNESTwtDcYfJ8191gWXUjYmOJ43Oxdh11JTzRuSPcY37+B
429 vNqmf0O5RB1G27mt64rLCp4X8pW1L6BvxunCeYHNk3F7s9lb+GAwyvAhOyNE
430 Lxm0gv9gUnH9C+o5rKlacrHQtYAZV2VF+UoBrSp8kJIKzZkqgP1sJFMKagl8
431 1VSczQqy5noJki2onIGuQS+5AlXPNfaxArgoq3aGwJDq6lZDxVdcU82RKMG/
432 4JArTVKzYrJc4pE+8CoJpGIGc65FIp8jO4WGSs3LtqISmlY2tUKyVMUFETWw
433 H0xoUMvE8KbXB4aC6EPFzrDiF6iGlZxWBeFixiUrdXJb1kKx7y2C4hPM6Iou
434 WI4hdVyO6yXVqkZqiXmottLJ9lzWK1LVKttqk8oZ1TS1NrJGS5jqeslQI0aK
435 ieCvzNlgNZJqiccCc5WafLxmKdii4gsmSvYpISkteamzkRwXJiG5SoUpcERK
436 8xIE8QQ7o+eh5WAUy1qYRP8rioip/maI+OfyF1BLAQIUAxQAAAAIAGh8bCBb
437 ZKT4ygIAAHgFAAAEAAAAAAAAAAEAAACkgQAAAAB0ZXN0UEsFBgAAAAABAAEA
438 MgAAAOwCAAAAAA==
439 --0-1737669234-826673975=:21583--
442 For details about _Alpine_'s implementation of MIME, see the two MIME
443 sections "MIME: Reading a Message" and "MIME: Sending a Message" later
444 in this document.
445 __________________________________________________________________
447 Folder Collections
449 Folder Collections are _Alpine_'s way of dealing with more than a
450 single group of folders.
452 For a more complete description of Folder Collections, see the section
453 on "Syntax for Collections."
455 The _Alpine_ distribution is designed to require as little
456 configuration and effort at compile time as possible. Still, there are
457 some _Alpine_ behaviors which are set at the time you compile _Alpine_.
458 For each of these, there is a reasonable (our opinion) default built
459 into the code, so most systems administrators will have no need for
460 these steps.
462 Building and Installation
464 Compile-time Options
466 _Alpine_'s UNIX build environment is based on Autotools (the GNU Build
467 System). Once you've unpacked the source distribution find the file
468 configure in the top-level directory. You may look at the many options
469 available by typing
471 ./configure --help
473 or you could just try building with the command
475 ./configure
477 followed by
479 make
481 Note, while the UW IMAP Toolkit (whose c-client library _Alpine_ uses
482 for mailbox access) build is not based on Autotools, _Alpine_'s
483 configure script should set an appropriate make target and compilation
484 options for most systems.
486 Some of the following can only be set when you build. Others, however,
487 can be overridden by command-line flags to _Alpine_ or settings in
488 _Alpine_'s user or system configuration files. Some of the options which
489 can be set when building:
491 Including LDAP Functionality
493 By default, the configure script will attempt to find the LDAP library
494 support for you. If you are having trouble with LDAP take a look at the
495 configure options
496 --with-ldap-dir=DIR
497 Specify the root of the LDAP lib/include path.
498 --with-ldap-include-dir=DIR
499 Specify the LDAP include path.
500 --with-ldap-lib-dir=DIR
501 Specify the LDAP library path.
502 --without-ldap
503 Disable LDAP support.
505 _Alpine_ uses LDAPv3 protocol. When using the LDAPv3 protocol, the
506 results are assumed to be in the UTF-8 character set, which _Alpine_
507 handles well. If the LDAP server returns non-ascii data which is not
508 encoded as UTF-8 you will probably run into problems.
510 Including Kerberos 5 Functionality
512 This works analogously to the LDAP build. By default, the configure
513 script will attempt to find the Kerberos library support for you. If
514 you are having trouble with Kerberos take a look at the configure
515 options
516 --with-krb5-dir=DIR
517 Specify the root of the Kerberos lib/include path.
518 --with-krb5-include-dir=DIR
519 Specify the Kerberos include path.
520 --with-krb5-lib-dir=DIR
521 Specify the Kerberos library path.
522 --without-krb5
523 Disable Kerberos support.
525 Other Alpine Compile-time Options
527 --disable-nls
528 Do not use Native Language Support. NLS refers to the use of GNU
529 gettext utilities to localize a program, in the sense that
530 English is translated to some other language. At the time this
531 was written the low-level support for NSL is included in _Alpine_
532 but no translations have been done. If there is no translation
533 available, that means that disabling NLS will make no
534 difference. If you have trouble building which is due to gettext
535 or libintl you could try this option, or one of the following.
536 --with-libintl-prefix[=DIR]
537 --without-libintl-prefix
538 --with-ssl-dir=DIR
539 Specify the root of the SSL lib/include path (OpenSSL).
540 --with-ssl-include-dir=DIR
541 Specify the SSL include path.
542 --with-ssl-lib-dir=DIR
543 Specify the SSL library path.
544 --with-ssl-certs-dir=DIR
545 Specify the path to the SSL certificates directory.
546 --without-ssl
547 Disable SSL support.
548 --without-pthread
549 Do not test for nor build with POSIX thread support, which is
550 used only for the Busy-Cue in the status line at this time.
551 --without-smime
552 Disable S/MIME support.
553 --disable-debug
554 Never create debug files.
555 --with-smtp-msa=PATH
556 Local Mail Submission Agent (sendmail, by default).
557 --with-smtp-msa-flags=FLAGS
558 MSA flags for SMTP on stdin/stdout (-bs -odb -oem).
560 There are many more options which you can see using the
562 ./configure --help
564 command.
566 IMAPd Compile-time Options
568 There are no options or settings required for the version of _IMAPd_
569 distributed with _Alpine_. If you need to be doing more complex
570 modifications to IMAP, then you should pick up the IMAP development
571 package and work with that code. The developer's version of IMAP is
572 available for anonymous ftp from ftp.cac.washington.edu in the
573 directory mail. The file is called imap.tar.Z. Unless it has changed
574 since _Alpine_ was released, the directory imap in the _Alpine_
575 distribution is the IMAP development package.
577 The c-client library has not been converted to use the GNU Build
578 System's autotools. The _Alpine_ configure script will try to correctly
579 guess the arguments needed for the c-client make command and will build
580 the library, but if you need to change anything you should take a look
581 at imap/docs/BUILD for more detailed instructions.
582 __________________________________________________________________
584 Building the Alpine Programs
586 You may have already compiled _Alpine_ and tried it out. If so, great!
587 If not, you should be able to do it without too much trouble by
588 following these step-by-step instructions:
590 1. Make sure you're in the root of the _Alpine_ source. When you type
591 ls you should see the following files and directories (or something
592 close to it):
593 aclocal.m4 config.sub imap Makefile.am packages web
594 alpine configure include Makefile.in pico
595 build.bat configure.ac install-sh mapi pith
596 build.cmd contrib LICENSE missing po
597 config.guess depcomp ltmain.sh mkinstalldirs README
598 config.rpath doc m4 NOTICE VERSION
600 2. Give the command ./configure Configure should grind away for a few
601 minutes.
602 3. When configure is complete, give the command make. If make stops
603 and asks
605 Do you want to build with IPv6 anyway? Type y or n please:
606 you should answer with a 'y'. The compiler should grind away for a
607 few minutes. The _Alpine_ binary will end up in .../alpine/alpine
608 and the Pico and Pilot binaries in .../pico/pico and
609 .../pico/pilot. Other binaries you may be interested in are
610 .../alpine/rpdump and .../alpine/rpload and c-client binaries in
611 the directories .../imap/imapd, .../imap/ipopd, .../imap/mailutil,
612 and so on.
613 4. If you need to try again, make sure you're getting a clean start by
614 giving the command make clean.
615 __________________________________________________________________
617 Installing Alpine and Pico on UNIX Platforms
619 Installing _Alpine_ and _Pico_ is simple. You take the program files
620 which you have just transferred or built and you move them to the
621 correct directory on your system. Most often the binaries go in
622 /usr/local/bin though sometimes they are placed in /usr/bin. All the
623 help text is compiled into _Alpine_ so there are no _required_
624 auxiliary files. Instead of copying the binaries manually, you may use
625 make install to install them.
627 There are three optional auxiliary files: /usr/local/lib/pine.info,
628 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf, and /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed. The file
629 pine.info contains text on how to get further help on the local system.
630 It is part of the help text for the main menu and should probably refer
631 to the local help desk or the system administrator. If this file
632 doesn't exist a generic version which suggests ``talking to the
633 computer support staff at your site'' is shown. The file pine.conf is
634 used to set system-wide default configurations for _Alpine_. The file
635 pine.conf.fixed is also used to set system-wide default configurations
636 for _Alpine_. The difference between these two files is that
637 configuration variables set in the pine.conf.fixed file may not
638 normally be over-ridden by a user. See the section on Alpine
639 Configuration later in this document for details about the pine.conf
640 and pine.conf.fixed files.
641 __________________________________________________________________
643 Installing PC-Alpine
645 The PC-Alpine distribution comes as a .zip file. To install, unzip the
646 files to a directory where you would like the program to reside. Modern
647 Windows versions come with the capability of unzipping .zip files.
648 Failing that, you can use one of the many .zip file extractors out
649 there. Following current Windows conventions, a common directory into
650 which the files could be extracted would be C:\Program
651 Files\PC-Alpine\.
653 Having extracted PC-Alpine's .zip file to the directory of choice, you
654 can now run that directory's alpine.exe, which is the actual PC-Alpine
655 program. For convenience, you could place shortcuts to it on the task
656 bar, start menu, etc.
658 Upon first running PC-Alpine, you may be asked where you would like to
659 access your Configuration file (called the _pinerc_). This is useful in
660 accessing already existing configuration files, and it does not matter
661 where this file gets created. If you are connecting to an IMAP server
662 to access your email, it is also possible to store this Configuration
663 data on that server, which facilitates accessing the same configuration
664 from multiple machines (in fact, your configuration may have already
665 been set up this way for use with other _Alpine_ programs).
667 After having established the location of the configuration file, it may
668 be necessary to specify a few configuration settings before reading or
669 sending mail. You may be prompted for the following (which may also be
670 edited from the (S)etup (C)onfig screen from the Main Menu):
672 Folder to open as inbox (or _inbox-path_) - This can be an inbox
673 residing on an IMAP or POP3 server, or one residing locally. An example
674 of an INBOX for an IMAP server is: {server.example.com}INBOX.
676 User-id, Personal name, and host/domain, which are to be used as your
677 email address.
679 SMTP server to forward message - You must enter your SMTP server
680 before you can send any messages.
682 At this point, you will be able to read and send email messages. There
683 are, however, many more preferences that you can set in the
684 Configuration screen.
685 __________________________________________________________________
687 Installing IMAPd
689 When the _Alpine_ distribution is built on a UNIX system, the IMAP
690 server binary, imapd, is compiled. Installing imapd requires placing
691 the binary in the appropriate directory, usually /usr/etc, and adding
692 entries to /etc/services and /etc/inetd.conf or their counterparts.
694 Instead of including installation instructions here we'll just include
695 a pointer to detailed instructions in the c-client distribution. Please
696 take a look at the file imap/docs/BUILD in the source tree.
697 __________________________________________________________________
699 Support Files and Environment Variables: UNIX Alpine
701 This section lists the various files which _Alpine_ uses which are not
702 email folders. All of these are the default names of files, they may
703 vary based on _Alpine_'s configuration.
704 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
705 Pine's global configuration file.
706 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed
707 Non-overridable global configuration file.
708 /usr/local/lib/pine.info
709 Local pointer to system administrator.
710 ~/.pinerc
711 Personal configuration file for each user.
712 ~/.pinercex
713 Personal exceptions configuration file for each user.
714 ~/.addressbook
715 Personal addressbook
716 ~/.newsrc
717 Personal USENET subscription list. This is shared with other
718 newsreading programs.
719 ~/.pine-debugX
720 The files created for debugging _Alpine_ problems. By default,
721 there are 4 .pine-debug files kept at any time.
722 ~/.signature
723 A signature file which will be included in all outgoing email
724 messages.
725 ~/.pine-interrupted-mail
726 The text of a message which was interrupted by some unexpected
727 error which _Alpine_ detected.
728 ~/mail/postponed-msgs
729 A folder of messages which the user chose to postpone.
730 /etc/mailcap
731 System-wide mail capabilities file. Only used if $MAILCAPS not
732 set.
733 ~/.mailcap
734 Personal mail capabilities file. Combines with system-wide
735 mailcap. Only used if $MAILCAPS not set.
737 The location of the following support files may be controlled by
738 variables in the personal or global _Alpine_ configuration file:
739 signature, addressbook and its index file, postponed messages, and
740 newsrc.
742 Unix _Alpine_ uses the following environment variables:
743 TERM
744 Tells _Alpine_ what kind of terminal is being used.
745 DISPLAY
746 Determines if _Alpine_ will try to display IMAGE attachments.
747 TMPDIR, TMP, or TEMP
748 Specifies location of temporary storage area, first one set wins
749 SHELL
750 If not set, default is /bin/sh
751 MAILCAPS
752 A semicolon delimited list of path names to mailcap files.
753 __________________________________________________________________
755 Support Files, Environment Variables, and Registry Settings: PC-Alpine
757 This section lists the various files which _PC-Alpine_ uses which are
758 not normal mail folders. All of these are the default names of files,
759 they may vary based on _Alpine_'s configuration.
761 $PINERC or <PineRC registry value> or $HOME\PINE\PINERC or <PINE.EXE
762 dir>\PINERC
763 Path to (required) personal configuration file.
764 $PINERCEX or $HOME\PINE\PINERCEX or <PINE.EXE dir>\PINERCEX
765 Path to personal exceptions configuration file.
766 $PINECONF
767 Path of optional global configuration file.
768 <PINERC directory>\ADDRBOOK
769 Personal addressbook
770 <PINERC directory>\PINEDEBG.TXT
771 Location of _Alpine_ debug file.
772 <PINERC directory>\MAILCAP and/or <PINE.EXE dir>\MAILCAP
773 These paths are only used if $MAILCAPS not set.
774 $HOME\NEWSRC or <PINERC directory>\NEWSRC
775 Personal USENET subscription list. This may be shared with other
776 newsreading programs.
777 $HOME\MAIL\INTRUPTD
778 The text of a message which was interrupted by some unexpected
779 error which _Alpine_ detected.
780 $HOME\MAIL\POSTPOND
781 A folder of messages which the user chose to postpone.
783 Registry Values:
784 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\University of Washington\Alpine\1.0
785 _Pinedir_: The directory that contains the _Alpine_ executable.
786 _PineEXE_: The name of the _Alpine_ executable (most commonly
787 "alpine.exe").
788 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\University of Washington\Alpine\1.0
789 _PineRC_: The path that points to the default pinerc to use.
790 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Clients\Mail\Alpine
791 _DLLPath_: The path that points to _Alpine_'s pmapi32.dll.
792 HKLM\Software\Clients\Mail\Alpine\shell\open\command
793 _(Default)_: When set as the default mailer, this is the command
794 that is run by external programs.
795 HKLM\Software\Clients\Mail\Alpine\Protocols\Mailto\DefaultIcon
796 _(Default)_: This points to the icon to display in relation to
797 _Alpine_'s mailto URL rendering.
798 HKLM\Software\Clients\Mail\Alpine\Protocols\Mailto\shell\open\command
799 _(Default)_: This value is the command that gets run by external
800 programs when a mailto URL is run with _PC-Alpine_ set as the
801 default mailer.
802 HKLM\Software\Clients\News\Alpine\shell\open\command
803 _(Default)_: When set as the default newsreader, this is the
804 command that is run by external programs.
805 HKLM\Software\Clients\News\Alpine\Protocols\news\DefaultIcon
806 _(Default)_: This points to the icon to display in relation to
807 _Alpine_'s news URL rendering.
808 HKLM\Software\Clients\News\Alpine\Protocols\news\shell\open\command
809 _(Default)_: This value is the command that gets run by external
810 programs when a news URL is run with _Alpine_ set as the default
811 newsreader.
812 HKLM\Software\Clients\News\Alpine\Protocols\nntp\DefaultIcon
813 _(Default)_: This points to the icon to display in relation to
814 _Alpine_'s nntp URL rendering.
815 HKLM\Software\Clients\News\Alpine\Protocols\nntp\shell\open\command
816 _(Default)_: This value is the command that gets run by external
817 programs when a nntp URL is run with _Alpine_ set as the default
818 newsreader.
820 _Alpine_'s personal configuration file may be in the same directory as
821 the executable, or if that is inconvenient because the executable is on
822 a shared or read-only drive, then it can be in a file named by the
823 $PINERC environment variable, or in $HOME\ALPINE\PINERC, where if not
824 set, $HOME defaults to the root of the current working drive.
826 Most of the other support files key off of the location of the PINERC
827 file. However, in the case of the NEWSRC file, the path $HOME\NEWSRC is
828 checked first. Also, the postponed messages and interrupted message
829 folders are placed in the default folder collection, normally in the
830 directory $HOME\MAIL.
832 The location of the following support files may be controlled by
833 variables in the personal or global _Alpine_ configuration file:
834 signature, addressbook (and its index file), postponed messages, and
835 newsrc.
837 _PC-Alpine_ uses the following environment variables:
838 PINERC
839 Overrides default path to pinerc file.
840 PINERCEX
841 Overrides default path to personal exceptions configuration
842 file.
843 PINECONF
844 Optional path to global _Alpine_ config file.
845 HOME
846 If not set, _Alpine_ uses the root of the current drive, e.g. C:
847 TMPDIR, TMP, or TEMP
848 Specifies location of temporary storage area, first one set wins
849 COMSPEC
850 Specifies shell for external commands.
851 MAILCAPS
852 A semicolon delimited list of path names to mailcap files.
854 Command Line Arguments
856 Alpine
858 _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_ can accept quite a few command-line arguments.
859 Many of these arguments overlap with variables in the _Alpine_
860 configuration file. If there is a difference, then a flag set in the
861 command line takes precedence. Both _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_ expect
862 command line arguments (other than addresses) to be preceded by the "-"
863 (dash) as normally used by UNIX programs.
865 _[addresses]_
866 Send-to: If you give _Alpine_ an argument or arguments which do
867 not begin with a dash, _Alpine_ treats them as email addresses.
868 _Alpine_ will startup in the composer with a message started to
869 the addresses specified. Once the message is sent, the _Alpine_
870 session closes. Standard input redirection is allowed. Separate
871 multiple addresses with a space between them. Addresses are
872 placed in the "To" field only.
873 < _file_
874 _Alpine_ will startup in the composer with _file_ read into the
875 body of the message. Once the message is sent, the _Alpine_
876 session closes.
877 -attach _file_
878 Go directly into composer with given file attached.
879 -attachlist _file-list_
880 Go directly into composer with given files attached. This must
881 be the last option on the command line.
882 -attach_and_delete _file_
883 Go directly into composer with given file attached, delete when
884 finished.
885 -aux _local_directory_
886 _PC-Alpine_ only. This tells _PC-Alpine_ the local directory to
887 use for storing auxiliary files, like debug files, address
888 books, and signature files. The pinerc may be local or remote.
889 -nosplash
890 _PC-Alpine_ only. This tells _PC-Alpine_ to not display the
891 splash screen upon startup. This may be helpful for certain
892 troubleshooting or terminal server scenarios.
893 -bail
894 If the personal configuration file doesn't already exist, exit.
895 This might be useful if the configuration file is accessed using
896 some remote filesystem protocol. If the remote mount is missing
897 this will cause _Alpine_ to quit instead of creating a new
898 pinerc.
899 -c _n_
900 When used with the -f option, apply the _n_th context. This is
901 used when there are multiple folder collections (contexts) and
902 you want to open a folder not in the primary collection.
903 -conf
904 Configuration: Prints a sample system configuration file to the
905 screen or standard output. To generate an initial system
906 configuration file, execute
907 alpine -conf > /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
909 To generate a system configuration file using settings from an
910 old system configuration file, execute
911 alpine -P old-pine.conf -conf > /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
913 A system configuration file is not required.
914 -convert_sigs _-p pinerc_
915 Convert signatures contained in signature files into literal
916 signatures.
917 -copy_abook _<local_abook_file> <remote_abook_folder>_
918 Copy an address book file to a remote address book folder. If
919 the remote folder doesn't exist, it will be created. If it
920 exists but the first message in the folder isn't a remote
921 address book header message, the copy will be aborted. This flag
922 will not usually be used by a user. Instead, the user will
923 create a remote address book from within _Alpine_ and copy
924 entries from the local address book by using aggregate Save in
925 the address book screen.
926 -copy_pinerc _<local_pinerc_file> <remote_pinerc_folder>_
927 Copy a pinerc configuration file to a remote pinerc folder. If
928 the remote folder doesn't exist, it will be created. If it
929 exists but the first message in the folder isn't a remote pinerc
930 header message, the copy will be aborted. This flag may be
931 useful to users who already have a local pinerc file and would
932 like to convert it to a remote pinerc folder and use that
933 instead. This gives a way to bootstrap that conversion without
934 having to manually reset all of the variables in the remote
935 pinerc folder.
936 -d _debug-level_
937 Debug Level: Sets the level of debugging information written by
938 _Alpine_. _Debug-level_ can be set to any integer 0-9. A debug
939 level of 0 turns off debugging for the session. (Actually there
940 are some levels higher than 9, but you probably don't want to
941 see them. Sensitive authentication information is hidden at
942 levels less than 10.)
943 -d _keywords_
944 You may use a more detailed version of the debugging flag to set
945 the debug level in separate parts of _Alpine_. The possibilities
946 are flush, timestamp, imap=0..4, tcp, numfiles=0..31, and
947 verbose=0..9. _Flush_ causes debugging information to be flushed
948 immediately to the debug file as it is written. _Verbose_ is the
949 general debugging verbosity level. _Timestamp_ causes timestamps
950 to be added to the debug file, which is useful when you are
951 trying to figure out what is responsible for delays. _Numfiles_
952 sets the number of debug files saved. _Imap_ sets the debug
953 level for the debugging statements related to the conversation
954 with the IMAP server, and more generally, for the debugging
955 related to _Alpine_'s interaction with the C-Client library. If
956 _imap_ is set higher than 4, sensitive authentication information
957 will be included in the debug file. _Tcp_ adds more TCP/IP
958 debugging information.
959 -f _folder_
960 Startup folder: _Alpine_ will open this folder in place of the
961 standard INBOX.
962 -F _file_
963 Open named text file for viewing and forwarding.
964 -h
965 Help: Prints the list of available command-line arguments to the
966 screen.
967 -i
968 _Alpine_ will start up in the FOLDER INDEX screen instead of the
969 MAIN MENU.
970 Configuration equivalent: _initial-keystroke-list=i_.
971 -I _a,b,c,..._
972 Initial Keystrokes: _Alpine_ will execute this comma-separated
973 sequence of commands upon startup. This allows users to get
974 _Alpine_ to start in any of its menus/screens. You cannot include
975 any input to the composer in the initial keystrokes. The key
976 <Return> is represented by a ``CR'' in the keystroke list; the
977 spacebar is designated by the letters ``SPACE''. Control keys
978 are two character sequences beginning with ``^'', such as
979 ``^I''. A tab character is ``TAB''. Function keys are ``F1'' -
980 ``F12'' and the arrow keys are ``UP'', ``DOWN'', ``LEFT'', and
981 ``RIGHT''. A restriction is that you can't mix function keys and
982 character keys in this list even though you can, in some cases,
983 mix them when running _Alpine_. A user can always use only
984 _character_ keys in the startup list even if he or she is using
985 _function_ keys normally, or vice versa. If an element in this
986 list is a string of characters surrounded by double quotes (")
987 then it will be expanded into the individual characters in the
988 string, excluding the double quotes.
989 Configuration equivalent: _initial-keystroke-list_
990 -install
991 For _PC-Alpine_ only, this option prompts for some basic setup
992 information, then exits.
993 -k
994 Function-Key Mode: When invoked in this way, _Alpine_ expects
995 the input of commands to be function-keys. Otherwise, commands
996 are linked to the regular character keys.
997 Configuration equivalent: _use-function-keys_ included in
998 _feature-list_.
999 -n _n_
1000 Message-Number: When specified, _Alpine_ starts up in the FOLDER
1001 INDEX screen with the current message being the specified
1002 message number.
1003 -nowrite_password_cache
1004 This tells _Alpine_ to use the local password cache if there is
1005 one, but to never offer writing new passwords to the cache.
1006 -o _folder_
1007 Opens the INBOX (or a folder specified via the -f argument)
1008 ReadOnly.
1009 -p _pinerc_
1010 Uses the named file as the personal configuration file instead
1011 of _~/.pinerc_ or the default PINERC search sequence _PC-Alpine_
1012 uses. Pinerc may be either a local file or a remote
1013 configuration folder.
1014 -P _pinerc_
1015 Uses the named file as the system wide configuration file
1016 instead of _/usr/local/lib/pine.conf_ on UNIX, or nothing on
1017 _PC-Alpine_. Pinerc may be either a local file or a remote
1018 configuration folder.
1019 -passfile _passfile_
1020 This tells _Alpine_ what file should be used as the password
1021 file. This should be a fully-qualified filename.
1022 -pinerc _file_
1023 Output fresh pinerc configuration to _file_, preserving the
1024 settings of variables that the user has made. Use _file_ set to
1025 ``-'' to make output go to standard out.
1026 -r
1027 Restricted Mode: For UNIX _Alpine_ only. _Alpine_ in restricted
1028 mode can only send email to itself. Save and export are limited.
1029 -registry _cmd_
1030 For _PC-Alpine_ only, this option affects the values of
1031 _Alpine_'s registry entries. Possible values for _cmd_ are set,
1032 noset, clear, clearsilent, and dump. _Set_ will always reset
1033 _Alpine_'s registry entries according to its current settings.
1034 _NoSet_ will never set any values in the registry, but it will
1035 still use the values already set in the registry. _Clear_ will
1036 clear the registry values. _Clearsilent_ will silently clear the
1037 registry values. _Dump_ will display the values of current
1038 registry settings. Note that the dump command is currently
1039 disabled. Without the -registry option, _PC-Alpine_ will write
1040 values into the registry only if there currently aren't any
1041 values set.
1042 -sort _key_
1043 Sort-Key: Specifies the order messages will be displayed in for
1044 the FOLDER INDEX screen. _Key_ can have the following values:
1045 arrival, date, subject, orderedsubj, thread, from, size, score,
1046 to, cc, arrival/reverse, date/reverse, subject/reverse,
1047 orderedsubj/reverse, thread/reverse, from/reverse, size/reverse,
1048 score/reverse, to/reverse, and cc/reverse. The default value is
1049 "arrival". The _key_ value reverse is equivalent to
1050 arrival/reverse.
1051 Configuration equivalent: _sort-key_.
1052 -supported
1053 Some options may or may not be supported depending on how
1054 _Alpine_ was compiled. This is a way to determine which options
1055 are supported in the particular copy of _Alpine_ you are using.
1056 -install
1057 For _PC-Alpine_ only, this option removes references to Alpine
1058 in Windows settings. The registry settings are removed and the
1059 password cache is cleared.
1060 -url _url_
1061 Open the given URL.
1062 -v
1063 Version: Print version information to the screen.
1064 -version
1065 Version: Print version information to the screen.
1066 -x _exceptions_config_
1067 Configuration settings in the exceptions config override your
1068 normal default settings. _Exceptions_config_ may be either a
1069 local file or a remote pinerc folder.
1070 -z
1071 Enable Suspend: When run with this flag, the key sequence ctrl-z
1072 will suspend the _Alpine_ session.
1073 Configuration equivalent: _enable-suspend_ included in
1074 _feature-list_.
1075 -_option_=_value_
1076 Assign _value_ to the config option _option_. For example,
1077 _-signature-file=sig1_ or _-feature-list=signature-at-bottom_.
1078 (Note: feature-list values are additive and features may be
1079 preceded with no- to turn them off).
1081 Pico
1083 The following command line options are supported in _Pico_:
1085 +_n_
1086 Causes _Pico_ to be started with the cursor located _n_ lines
1087 into the file. (Note: no space between "+" sign and number)
1089 -a
1090 Display all files and directories, including those beginning
1091 with a period (.).
1093 -b
1094 Enable the option to Replace text matches found using the "Where
1095 is" command. This now does nothing. Instead, the option is
1096 always turned on (as if the -b flag had been specified).
1098 -d
1099 Rebind the "delete" key so the character the cursor is on is
1100 rubbed out rather than the character to its left.
1102 -e
1103 Enable file name completion.
1105 -f
1106 Use function keys for commands. _This option supported only in
1107 conjunction with UW Enhanced NCSA telnet._
1109 -g
1110 Enable "Show Cursor" mode in file browser. Cause cursor to be
1111 positioned before the current selection rather than placed at
1112 the lower left of the display.
1114 -k
1115 Causes "Cut Text" command to remove characters from the cursor
1116 position to the end of the line rather than remove the entire
1117 line.
1119 -m
1120 Enable mouse functionality. This only works when _Pico_ is run
1121 from within an X Window System "xterm" window.
1123 -n_n_
1124 The -n_n_ option enables new mail notification. The _n_ argument
1125 is optional, and specifies how often, in seconds, your mailbox
1126 is checked for new mail. For example, -n60 causes _Pico_ to
1127 check for new mail once every minute. The default interval is
1128 180 seconds, while the minimum allowed is 30. (Note: no space
1129 between "n" and the number)
1131 -o _dir_
1132 Sets operating directory. Only files within this directory are
1133 accessible. Likewise, the file browser is limited to the
1134 specified directory subtree.
1136 -p
1137 Preserve the "start" and "stop" characters, typically Ctrl-Q and
1138 Ctrl-S, which are sometimes used in communications paths to
1139 control data flow between devices that operate at different
1140 speeds.
1142 -q
1143 TermdefWins. Termcap or terminfo escape sequences are used in
1144 preference to default escape sequences.
1146 -Q _quotestr_
1147 Set the quote string. Especially useful when composing email,
1148 setting this allows the quote string to be checked for when
1149 Justifying paragraphs. A common quote string is "> ".
1151 -r_n_
1152 Sets column used to limit the "Justify" command's right margin.
1154 -t
1155 Enable "tool" mode. Intended for when _Pico_ is used as the
1156 editor within other tools (e.g., Elm, Pnews). _Pico_ will not
1157 prompt for save on exit, and will not rename the buffer during
1158 the "Write Out" command.
1160 -v
1161 View the file only, disallowing any editing.
1163 -version
1164 Print version information.
1166 -w
1167 Disable word wrap (thus allow editing of long lines).
1169 _Note: Pico will break any lines over 255 characters when
1170 reading a file, regardless of word wrapping._
1172 -x
1173 Disable keymenu at the bottom of the screen.
1175 -z
1176 Enable ^Z suspension of _Pico_.
1178 Pilot
1180 The following command line options are supported in _Pilot_:
1182 -a
1183 Display all files including those beginning with a period (.).
1185 -f
1186 Use function keys for commands. _This option supported only in
1187 conjunction with UW Enhanced NCSA telnet._
1189 -g
1190 Enable "Show Cursor" mode. Cause cursor to be positioned before
1191 the current selection rather than placed at the lower left of
1192 the display.
1194 -m
1195 Enable mouse functionality. This only works when _Pilot_ is run
1196 from within an X Window System "xterm" window.
1198 -n_n_
1199 The -n_n_ option enables new mail notification. The _n_ argument
1200 is optional, and specifies how often, in seconds, your mailbox
1201 is checked for new mail. For example, -n60 causes _Pilot_ to
1202 check for new mail once every minute. The default interval is
1203 180 seconds, while the minimum allowed is 30. (Note: no space
1204 between "n" and the number)
1206 -o _dir_
1207 Sets operating directory. Only files within the specified
1208 directory are accessible and browsing is limited to the
1209 specified directory subtree.
1211 -v
1212 Enable single vertical column display.
1214 -x
1215 Disable keymenu at the bottom of the screen.
1217 -z
1218 Enable ^Z suspension of _Pilot_.
1220 Configuration and Preferences
1222 Alpine Configuration
1224 There is very little in _Alpine_ which _requires_ compile-time
1225 configuration. In most cases, the compiled-in preferences will suit
1226 users and administrators just fine. When running _Alpine_ on a UNIX
1227 system, the default built-in configuration can be changed by setting
1228 variables in the system configuration files, /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
1229 or /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed. (Actually, these files can be
1230 changed using the configure arguments --with-system-pinerc=VALUE or
1231 --with-system-fixed-pinerc=VALUE.) The location of the pine.conf file
1232 can be changed with the -P command line argument. Both _Alpine_ and
1233 _PC-Alpine_ also use personal (user-based) configuration files. On UNIX
1234 machines, the personal configuration file is the file ~/.pinerc. For
1235 _PC-Alpine_ systems, the personal configuration file is in $PINERC or
1236 <PineRC registry value> or ${HOME}\ALPINE\PINERC or <ALPINE.EXE
1237 dir>\PINERC. Or the personal configuration file can be specified with
1238 the -p command line argument.
1240 All of these configuration files, other than the fixed system config
1241 pine.conf.fixed on UNIX systems, may optionally be remote configuration
1242 files instead of local files. This is discussed further in the
1243 following section and in Remote Configuration.
1245 After the personal configuration, _Alpine_ may optionally use a
1246 personal exceptions configuration file which is specified with the
1247 command line option "-x exceptions_config". "Exceptions_config" may
1248 also be either a local file or a remote configuration folder. For Unix
1249 _Alpine_, if you don't have a "-x" command line option, _Alpine_ will
1250 look for the file ".pinercex" in the same local directory that the
1251 regular config file is located in. If the regular config file is remote
1252 then Unix _Alpine_ looks in the home directory for ".pinercex".
1254 For _PC-Alpine_, if you don't have a "-x" command line option,
1255 _PC-Alpine_ will use the value of the environment variable $PINERCEX. If
1256 that is not set, _PC-Alpine_ will look for the local file "PINERCEX" in
1257 the same local directory that the regular config file is located in. If
1258 the regular config file is remote then _PC-Alpine_ looks in the local
1259 directory specified by the "-aux local_directory" command line
1260 argument, or the directory ${HOME}\ALPINE, or in <ALPINE.EXE
1261 directory>.
1263 The syntax of a non-list configuration variable is this:
1265 <variable> = <value>
1267 If the value is absent then the variable is unset. To set a variable to
1268 the empty value two double quotes (""). This is equivalent to an absent
1269 value except that it overrides any system-wide default value that may
1270 be set. Quotes may be used around any value. All values are strings and
1271 end at the end of the line or the closing quote. Leading and trailing
1272 space is ignored unless it is included in the quotes. There is one
1273 variable, _use-only-domain-name_, for which the only appropriate values
1274 are _yes_ and _no_. That's because it is a variable from the early days
1275 of _Alpine_ before features existed.
1277 There is also a second type of variable, lists. A list is a
1278 comma-separated list of values. The syntax for a list is:
1280 <variable> = <value> [, <value> , ... ]
1282 A list can be continued on subsequent lines by beginning the line with
1283 white-space. Both the per-user and global configuration files may
1284 contain comments which are lines beginning with a #.
1286 For UNIX _Alpine_, there are five ways in which each variable can be
1287 set. In decreasing order of precedence they are:
1288 1. the system-wide _fixed_ configuration file
1289 2. a command line argument
1290 3. the personal exceptions file
1291 4. the personal configuration file
1292 5. the system-wide configuration file.
1294 If the variable is not set in any of those places, there is a default
1295 setting in the source code.
1297 So, system-wide fixed settings always take precedence over command line
1298 flags, which take precedence over per-user exception settings, which
1299 take precedence over per-user settings, which take precedence over
1300 system-wide configuration settings. _PC-Alpine_ has the same list,
1301 except that it does not use a system-wide _fixed_ configuration file.
1302 This can be modified slightly by using inheritance, which is covered
1303 below.
1305 You may get a sample/fresh copy of the system configuration file by
1306 running _alpine -conf_. The result will be printed on the standard
1307 output with very short comments describing each variable. (The online
1308 help in the Setup screens provides much longer comments.) If you need
1309 to fix some of the configuration variables, you would use the same
1310 template for the fixed configuration file as for the regular
1311 system-wide configuration file. (If it isn't clear, the purpose of the
1312 fixed configuration file is to allow system administrators to restrict
1313 the configurability of _Alpine_. It is by no means a bullet-proof
1314 method.) _Alpine_ will automatically create the personal configuration
1315 file the first time it is run, so there is no need to generate a
1316 sample. _Alpine_ reads and writes the personal configuration file
1317 occasionally during normal operation. Users will not normally look at
1318 their personal configuration file, but will use the Setup screens from
1319 within _Alpine_ to set the values in this file. If a user does add
1320 additional comments to the personal configuration file they will be
1321 retained.
1323 References to environment variables may be included in the _Alpine_
1324 configuration files. The format is $variable or ${variable}. The
1325 character ~ will be expanded to the $HOME environment variable. For a
1326 more complete explanation of how environment variables work, see the
1327 section Using Environment Variables.
1329 When environment variables are used for _Alpine_ settings which take
1330 lists, you must have an environment variable set for each member of the
1331 list. That is, _Alpine_ won't properly recognize an environment
1332 variable which is set equal to a comma-delimited list. It is OK to
1333 reference unset environment variables in the _Alpine_ configuration
1334 file, which will expand to nothing.
1336 Remote and Local Configuration
1338 There are two types of storage for configuration information. _Local_
1339 configuration files are used by default. These are just regular files
1340 on the UNIX system or on the PC. _Remote_ configuration folders are
1341 stored on an IMAP server. The advantage of using a remote configuration
1342 is that the same information may be accessed from multiple platforms.
1343 For example, if you use one computer at work and another at home, the
1344 same configuration could be used from both places. A configuration
1345 change from one place would be seen in both places. Technical
1346 information about remote configuration is in Remote Configuration.
1348 Generic and Exceptional Configuration
1350 If you use _Alpine_ from more than one platform it may be convenient to
1351 split your configuration information into two pieces, a generic piece
1352 and exceptions which apply to a particular platform. For example,
1353 suppose you use _Alpine_ from home and from work. Most of your
1354 configuration settings are probably the same in both locations, so
1355 those settings belong in the generic settings configuration. However,
1356 you may use a different SMTP server and INBOX from home than you do
1357 from work. The "smtp-server" and "inbox-path" variables could be part
1358 of your exceptional configuration so that they could be different in
1359 the two places.
1361 You can use the command line option "-x config" to split your
1362 configuration into generic and exceptional pieces. Config may be either
1363 local or remote.
1365 For most people, splitting the configuration information into two
1366 pieces is only going to be useful if the generic information is
1367 accessed remotely. If you already have a local pinerc file with
1368 settings you like you may find that the command Setup/RemoteConfigSetup
1369 will be useful in helping you convert to a remote configuration. The
1370 command line flag copy_pinerc may also be useful.
1372 Configuration Inheritance
1374 Configuration inheritance is a power user feature. It is confusing and
1375 not completely supported by the configuration user interface.
1377 For configuration variables which are lists, like "smtp-server" or
1378 "incoming-folders", the inheritance mechanism makes it possible to
1379 _combine_ the values of options from different configuration locations
1380 instead of _replacing_ the value. Configuration Inheritance has more
1381 information about how inheritance is used.
1382 __________________________________________________________________
1384 General Configuration Variables
1386 The following is a list of all _Alpine_ configuration variables, in
1387 alphabetical order. Note that not all variables apply to all versions
1388 of _Alpine_ and that some variables are only applicable in a system
1389 configuration file and some are only applicable in a personal
1390 configuration file. These are configuration _variables_. Configuration
1391 Features are in a separate section.
1393 _addrbook-sort-rule_
1394 This variable sets up the default address book sorting.
1395 Currently, _Alpine_ will accept the values _dont-sort_,
1396 _fullname-with-lists-last_, _fullname_,
1397 _nickname-with-lists-last_, and _nickname_. The default is to sort
1398 by fullname with lists last. If you use an address book from
1399 more than one computer and those computers sort the address book
1400 differently then the sort order will be the order where the last
1401 change to the address book was made. There are two reasons the
1402 sorting might be different on different systems. First, the
1403 addrbook-sort-rule may be set differently in the two places.
1404 Second, the collation rules on the two computers may be
1405 different. For example, one system might ignore special
1406 characters while the other doesn't or one may sort upper and
1407 lower case letters together while the other doesn't. In any
1408 case, the order you see is the order on the system where the
1409 last change was made, for example by an address book edit or a
1410 Take Address command.
1411 This option is displayed as "Addressbook Sort Rule".
1412 _address-book_
1413 A list of personal address books. Each entry in the list is an
1414 optional nickname followed by a pathname or file name relative
1415 to the home directory. The nickname is separated from the rest
1416 of the line with whitespace. Instead of a local pathname or file
1417 name, a remote folder name can be given. This causes the address
1418 book to be a Remote address book. Remote folder syntax is
1419 discussed in Syntax for Remote Folders. This list of address
1420 books will be combined with the global-address-book list to
1421 arrive at the complete set of address books.
1422 _addressbook-formats_
1423 This option specifies the format that address books are
1424 displayed in. By default, address books are displayed with the
1425 nicknames in the first column, the fullnames in the second
1426 column, and addresses in the third column. The system figures
1427 out reasonable defaults for the widths of the columns. An
1428 address book may be given a different format by listing special
1429 tokens in the order you want them to display. The possible
1430 tokens are NICKNAME, FULLNAME, ADDRESS, FCC, and COMMENT. More
1431 details are included in the online help for this variable.
1432 _alt-addresses_
1433 This option provides a place for you to list alternate email
1434 addresses you may have. Each address in the list should be the
1435 actual email address part of an address, without the full name
1436 field or the angle brackets. For example:
1438 user@example.com
1439 The matching is case-insensitive, so this would match any of
1440 User@example.com, user@Example.Com, or USER@EXAMPLE.COM as well.
1441 If set, the option affects the behavior of the Reply command and
1442 the "+" symbol in the MESSAGE INDEX, which denotes that a
1443 message has been addressed specifically to you.
1444 In the default INDEX display the personal name (or email
1445 address) of the person listed in the message's "From:" header
1446 field is usually displayed except when that address is yours or
1447 one of your alternate addresses. In that case you will usually
1448 see the name of the first person specified in the message's
1449 "To:" header field with the prefix "To: " prepended.
1450 With respect to Reply, the reply-to-all option will exclude
1451 addresses listed here.
1452 The feature copy-to-address-to-from-if-it-is-us is somewhat
1453 related to this option.
1454 In addition to a list of actual addresses, you may use regular
1455 expressions (as used with grep -E with the ignore case flag) to
1456 describe the addresses you want to match. _Alpine_ will somewhat
1457 arbitrarily interpret your entry as a regular expression if it
1458 contains any of the characters *, |, +, ?, {, [, ^, $, or \.
1459 Otherwise, it will be treated literally. The feature
1460 disable-regular-expression-matching-for-alternate-addresses may
1461 be used to turn off regular expression processing regardless of
1462 whether or not special characters appear in the entry.
1463 A description of how regular expressions work is beyond the
1464 scope of this help text, but some examples follow.
1465 The entry
1467 .*@example.com
1468 in the alt-addresses list would mean that any address with a
1469 domain name of example.com (such as fred@example.com or
1470 wilma@example.com) will be considered one of your alternate
1471 addresses. Strictly speaking, the dot in example.com ought to be
1472 escaped with a backslash, as in example\.com, and a dollar sign
1473 anchor ought to come at the end of the expression to prevent a
1474 match of example.com.org. Complicating things further, the
1475 dollar sign is special in the _Alpine_ configuration (it
1476 signifies environment variable expansion) so the dollar sign
1477 should be doubled or backslash escaped for _Alpine_'s sake.
1478 Quotes around the whole expression will not escape the dollar
1479 sign successfully. So this example should look like
1481 .*@example\.com$$
1482 The entry
1484 ^fred[0-9]*@example.com$$
1485 would match fred3@example.com or fred17@example.com as well as
1486 fred@example.com.
1487 You could match all addresses that look like
1488 fred+stuff@example.com for any value of stuff with the entry
1490 ^fred\+.*@example.com$$
1491 Notice that you have to escape the plus sign with a backslash
1492 because plus is a special character in regular expressions. If
1493 you wanted to match plain fred as well as fred+stuff the
1494 expression
1496 ^fred(()|\+.*)@example.com$$
1497 would do it, but it would be easier to just add fred@example.com
1498 as a separate entry.
1499 One more example, a match of all first-level subdomains, is
1500 given by
1502 ^fred@[[:alnum:]_-]*\.example\.com$$
1503 Because the regular expression matching is based on an old
1504 library (hs_regex) the regular expressions might not work
1505 exactly as you expect, but they should be close.
1506 This option is displayed as "Alternate Addresses".
1507 _bugs-additional-data_
1508 System-wide configuration files only. Program/Script used by
1509 _Report Bug_ command. Output from the program/script is captured
1510 and attached to the bug report.
1511 _bugs-fullname_, _bugs-address_, _local-fullname_, _local-address_,
1512 _suggest-fullname_, and _suggest-address_
1513 System-wide configuration files only. These are used by the bug
1514 report commands which can be accessed from some of the Help
1515 screens.
1516 _busy-cue-rate_
1517 When _Alpine_ is delayed for some reason it usually shows that
1518 something is happening with a small animated display in the
1519 status message line near the bottom of the screen. This option
1520 sets how frequently the characters (for example, a spinning bar)
1521 in the active status message lines are updated. At most, it can
1522 be set to be updated 20 times per second.
1523 Setting this value to zero will prevent display of the
1524 animations altogether.
1525 The option busy-cue-spinner-only can be used to remove the
1526 randomness from this animated display.
1527 _character-set_
1528 This is now obsolete, replaced by three separate variables:
1529 _display-character-set_, _keyboard-character-set_, and
1530 _posting-character-set_. See the section on International
1531 Character Sets for more details.
1532 _color-style_
1533 UNIX _Alpine_ only (color is automatically on with _PC-Alpine_).
1534 If the terminal or terminal emulator you are using is capable of
1535 displaying colors, this variable controls whether or not color
1536 will be used in _Alpine_. If you turn color on and things are
1537 set up correctly, you should see color appear on the screen
1538 immediately. Modern terminal emulators are usually capable of
1539 displaying colors.
1540 This variable may be set to any of the following values:
1542 no-color
1543 Don't use color.
1545 use-termdef
1546 In order to decide if your terminal is capable of color,
1547 _Alpine_ looks in the terminal capabilities database,
1548 TERMINFO or TERMCAP, depending on how _Alpine_ was
1549 compiled. This is a good option to choose if you switch
1550 between a color and a non-color terminal with the same
1551 _Alpine_ configuration. _Alpine_ will know to use color on
1552 the color terminal because it is described in the termcap
1553 entry, and _Alpine_ will know to use black and white on
1554 the non-color terminal. Color Details has more information
1555 about configuring a termcap entry for color. This is
1556 usually something a system administrator does.
1558 force-ansi-8color
1559 Because setting up a termcap entry is confusing and
1560 because the terminal capabilities database is often not
1561 correctly configured for color, this choice and the next
1562 may be easier for you to use. If your terminal emulator
1563 responds to ANSI color escape sequences, which many do,
1564 this option will cause _Alpine_ to believe your terminal
1565 will respond to the escape sequences which produce eight
1566 different foreground and background colors. The escape
1567 sequences used to set the foreground colors are
1569 ESC [ 3 <color_number> m
1571 where the color_number is an ASCII digit between 0 and 7.
1572 The numbers 0 through 7 should correspond to the colors
1573 black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, and white.
1574 Some terminal emulators use a pre-ANSI scheme which swaps
1575 the colors blue and red and the colors yellow and cyan.
1576 This will cause the default colors to be different, but
1577 other than that things should work fine. There is also a
1578 9th color available, the last one shown, which is the
1579 default color from the terminal emulator. When used as a
1580 background color some people refer to this color as
1581 "transparent", which is why the letters "TRAN" are shown
1582 in the color swatch of the SETUP COLOR screen. The
1583 foreground transparent color is shown as the color of the
1584 "TRAN" text. (The transparent color will not work
1585 correctly in a PC-Alpine configuration.) The escape
1586 sequences used to set the background colors are the same
1587 as for the foreground colors except a "4" replaces the
1588 "3".
1590 Note: With the Tera Term terminal emulator this setting
1591 works well. You should also have the Tera Term "Full
1592 color" option turned OFF. You may find the "Full color"
1593 option in Tera Term's "Setup" menu, in the "Window"
1594 submenu.
1596 force-ansi-16color
1597 Many terminal emulators know about the same eight colors
1598 above plus eight more. This option attempts to use all 16
1599 colors. The same escape sequences as for the eight-color
1600 terminal are used for the first eight colors. The escape
1601 sequences used to set foreground colors 8-15 are the same
1602 as for 0-7 except the "3" is replaced with a "9". The
1603 background color sequences for colors 8-15 are the same as
1604 for 0-7 except the "4" is replaced with "10". You can tell
1605 if the 16 colors are working by turning on this option and
1606 then going into one of the color configuration screens,
1607 for example, the configuration screen for Normal Color. If
1608 you see 16 different colors to select from (plus a 17th
1609 for the transparent color), it's working.
1611 force-xterm-256color
1612 Some versions of xterm (and some other terminal emulators)
1613 have support for 256 colors. The escape sequences used to
1614 set the foreground colors are
1616 ESC [ 38 ; 5 ; <color_number> m
1618 where the color_number is an ASCII digit between 0 and
1619 255. Background colors are the same with the 38 replaced
1620 with a 48. The numbers 0 through 15 are probably similar
1621 to the 16 color version above, then comes a 6x6x6 color
1622 cube, followed by 24 colors of gray. The terminal default
1623 (transparent) color is the 257th color at the bottom. Some
1624 terminal emulators will misinterpret these escape
1625 sequences causing the terminal to blink or overstrike
1626 characters or to do something else undesirable.
1628 The PuTTY terminal emulator has an option called "Allow
1629 terminal to use xterm 256-colour mode" which allows PuTTY
1630 to work well with this 256-color setting.
1632 There are two other possible color values which may be useful in
1633 some situations. In the color configuration screens there will
1634 sometimes be a color which has the label "NORM" inside its color
1635 swatch. If this is selected the corresponding foreground or
1636 background Normal Color will be used. Another similar color is
1637 the one that has the label "NONE" inside its color swatch. The
1638 meaning of this setting is that no color changing will be done.
1639 This NONE color is only useful in contexts where _Alpine_ is
1640 already coloring the text some color other than the Normal
1641 Color. For example, if the Reverse Color is set then the current
1642 line in the MESSAGE INDEX will be colored. If one of the index
1643 symbols (for example, the Index-to-me Symbol) has the NONE color
1644 as its background then the symbol's foreground color will be
1645 used to draw the actual text but the background color will be
1646 the same as whatever the background color already was. The color
1647 values which end up in the configuration file for these special
1648 values are the 11-character words "norm-padded", "none-padded",
1649 and "transparent".
1650 The normal default is "no-color".
1651 Once you've turned on color you may set the colors of many
1652 objects on the screen individually. The Color Configuration
1653 section has more information, or you may just try it by running
1654 the "Setup" command and typing "K" for Kolor to enter the color
1655 configuration screen (Kolor instead of Color because C means
1656 Config). Most categories of color which _Alpine_ supports are
1657 configurable there. Index line color is configured separately.
1658 _composer-word-separators_
1659 This option affects how a "word" is defined in the composer. The
1660 definition of a word is used when using the Forward Word and
1661 Backward Word commands in the composer, as well as when using
1662 the spell checker. Whitespace is always considered a word
1663 separator. Punctuation (like question marks, periods, commas,
1664 and so on) is always a word separator if it comes at the end of
1665 a word. By default, a punctuation character which is in the
1666 middle of a word does not break up that word as long as the
1667 character before and the character after it are both
1668 alphanumeric. If you add a character to this option it will be
1669 considered a word separator even when it occurs in the middle of
1670 an alphanumeric word. For example, if you want to skip through
1671 each part of an address instead of skipping the whole address at
1672 once you might want to include"@" and "." in this list. If you
1673 want the word-skipper to stop on each part of a UNIX filename
1674 you could add "/" to the list. The equal sign and dash are other
1675 possibilities you might find helpful.
1676 _composer-wrap-column_
1677 This option specifies an aspect of _Alpine_'s Composer. This
1678 gives the maximum width that auto-wrapped lines will have. It's
1679 also the maximum width of lines justified using the ^J Justify
1680 command. The normal default is _74_. The largest allowed setting
1681 is normally _80_ in order to prevent very long lines from being
1682 sent in outgoing mail. When the mail is actually sent, trailing
1683 spaces will be stripped off of each line.
1684 _current-indexline-style_
1685 current-indexline-style.
1686 _customized-hdrs_
1687 You may add your own custom headers to outgoing messages. Each
1688 header you specify here must include the header tag (Reply-To:,
1689 Approved:, etc.) and may optionally include a value for that
1690 header. If you want to see these custom headers each time you
1691 compose a message, you must add them to your
1692 default-composer-hdrs list, otherwise they become part of the
1693 rich header set which you only see when you press the rich
1694 header command. (If you are looking for a way to change which
1695 headers are _displayed_ when you view a message, take a look at
1696 the viewer-hdrs option instead.) Here's an example which shows
1697 how you might set your From address
1699 From: Full Name <user@example.com>
1700 and another showing how you might set a Reply-To address
1702 Reply-To: user@example.com
1703 You may also set non-standard header values here. For example,
1704 you could add
1706 Organization: My Organization Name
1707 or even
1709 X-Favorite-Colors: Purple and Gold
1710 If you include a value after the colon then that header will be
1711 included in your outgoing messages unless you delete it before
1712 sending. If a header in the Customized-Headers list has only a
1713 tag but no value, then it will not be included in outgoing
1714 messages unless you edit a value in manually. For example, if
1716 Reply-To:
1717 is in the list, then the Reply-To header will be available for
1718 editing but won't be included unless a value is added while in
1719 the composer.
1720 It's actually a little more complicated than that. The values of
1721 headers that you set with the Customized-Headers option are
1722 defaults. If the message you are about to compose already has a
1723 value for a header, that value is used instead of a value from
1724 your Customized-Headers. For example, if you are Replying to a
1725 message the Subject field will already be filled in. In that
1726 case, if the Customized-Headers list contains a Subject line,
1727 the custom subject will _NOT_ be used. The subject derived from
1728 the subject of the message you are Replying to will be used
1729 instead.
1730 It is also possible to make header setting even more complicated
1731 and more automatic by using Roles, but if all you want to do is
1732 set a default value for a header, you don't need to think about
1733 Roles.
1734 If you change your From address you may also find it useful to
1735 add the changed From address to the alt-addresses configuration
1736 option.
1737 Limitation: Because commas are used to separate the list of
1738 Customized-Headers, it is not possible to have the value of a
1739 header contain a comma. Nor is there currently an "escape"
1740 mechanism provided to make this work.
1741 This option is displayed as "Customized Headers".
1742 _dead-letter-files_
1743 This option affects _Alpine_'s behavior when you cancel a
1744 message being composed. _Alpine_'s usual behavior is to write
1745 the canceled message to a file named "dead.letter" in your home
1746 directory, or "DEADLETR" when using _PC-Alpine_, overwriting any
1747 previous message.
1748 If you set this option to a value higher than one, then that
1749 many copies of dead letter files will be saved. For example, if
1750 you set this option to "3" then you may have files named
1751 "DEADLETR", "DEADLETR2", and "DEADLETR3"; or "dead.letter",
1752 "dead.letter2", and "dead.letter3". In this example, the most
1753 recently cancelled message will be in "dead.letter", and the
1754 third most recently cancelled message will be in "dead.letter3".
1755 The fourth most recently cancelled message will no longer be
1756 saved.
1757 If you set this option to zero, then NO record of canceled
1758 messages is maintained.
1759 If the feature Quell-Dead-Letter-On-Cancel is set, that
1760 overrides whatever you set for this option. If this option had
1761 existed at the time, then the Quell feature would not have been
1762 added, but it is still there for backwards compatibility. So, in
1763 order for this option to have the desired effect, make sure the
1764 Quell feature is turned off.
1765 _default-composer-hdrs_
1766 You can control which headers you want visible when composing
1767 outgoing email using this option. You can specify any of the
1768 regular set, any Rich Header, or any Customized-Hdrs which you
1769 have already defined. If you use this setting at all, you must
1770 specify all the headers you want to see, you can't just add to
1771 the regular header set. The default set is To:, Cc:, Attchmnt:,
1772 and Subject:.
1773 Note that the "Newsgroups:" header will be abbreviated in the
1774 Composer display, but should be spelled out in full here.
1775 This option is displayed as "Default Composer Headers".
1776 _default-fcc_
1777 The name of the folder to which all outgoing mail goes is set
1778 here. The compiled-in default is _sent-mail_ (UNIX) or _sentmail_
1779 (PC). It can be set to "" (two double quotes with nothing
1780 between them) to turn off saving copies of outgoing mail. If
1781 _default-fcc_ is a relative file name, then it is relative to
1782 your default collection for saves (see folder-collections).
1783 This option is displayed as "Default Fcc (File carbon copy)".
1784 _default-saved-msg-folder_
1785 This option determines the default folder name for _Saves_... If
1786 this is not a path name, it will be in the default collection
1787 for saves. Any valid folder specification, local or IMAP, is
1788 allowed. This default folder only applies when the
1789 saved-msg-name-rule doesn't override it. Unix _Alpine_ default
1790 is normally _saved-messages_ in the default folder collection.
1791 _PC-Alpine_ default is _SAVEMAIL_ (normally stored as
1792 _SAVEMAIL.MTX_).
1793 This option is displayed as "Default Saved Message Folder".
1794 _disable-these-authenticators_
1795 This variable is a list of SASL (Simple Authentication and
1796 Security Layer) authenticators which will be disabled. SASL is a
1797 mechanism for authenticating to IMAP, POP3, SMTP, and other
1798 network servers.
1799 _Alpine_ matches its list of supported authenticators with the
1800 server to determine the most secure authenticator that is
1801 supported by both. If no matching authenticators are found,
1802 _Alpine_ will revert to plaintext login (or, in the case of SMTP,
1803 will be unable to authenticate at all).
1804 The candidates for disabling are listed below. There may be more
1805 if you compile _Alpine_ with additional authenticators and/or a
1806 newer version of the c-client library.
1807 + GSSAPI
1808 + CRAM-MD5
1809 + PLAIN
1810 + LOGIN
1811 Normally, you will not disable any authenticators. There are two
1812 exceptions:
1813 1. You use a broken server that advertises an authenticator, but
1814 does not actually implement it.
1815 2. You have a Kerberos-capable version of _Alpine_ and the server
1816 is also Kerberos-capable, but you can not obtain Kerberos
1817 credentials on the server machine, thus you desire to disable
1818 GSSAPI (which in turn disables _Alpine_'s Kerberos support).
1819 It is never necessary to disable authenticators, since _Alpine_
1820 will try other authenticators before giving up. However,
1821 disabling the relevant authenticator avoids annoying error
1822 messages.
1823 _disable-these-drivers_
1824 This variable is a list of mail drivers which will be disabled.
1825 The candidates for disabling are listed below. There may be more
1826 in the future if you compile _Alpine_ with a newer version of
1827 the c-client library.
1828 + mbox
1829 + mbx
1830 + mh
1831 + mix
1832 + mmdf
1833 + mtx
1834 + mx
1835 + news
1836 + phile
1837 + tenex
1838 + unix
1839 The _mbox_ driver enables the following behavior: if there is a
1840 file called mbox in your home directory, and if that file is
1841 either empty or in Unix mailbox format, then every time you open
1842 _INBOX_ the _mbox_ driver will automatically transfer mail from
1843 the system mail spool directory into the mbox file and delete it
1844 from the spool directory. If you disable the _mbox_ driver, this
1845 will not happen.
1846 It is not recommended to disable the driver which supports the
1847 system default mailbox format. On most non-SCO systems, that
1848 driver is the _unix_ driver. On most SCO systems, it is the
1849 _mmdf_ driver. The system default driver may be configured to
1850 something else on your system; check with your system manager
1851 for additional information.
1852 It is most likely not very useful for you to disable any of the
1853 drivers other than possibly _mbox_. You could disable some of
1854 the others if you know for certain that you don't need them but
1855 the performance gain in doing so is very modest.
1856 _display-character-set_
1857 See the discussion in International Character Sets for details.
1858 _display-filters_
1859 This option defines a list of text-filtering commands (programs
1860 or scripts) that may be used to filter text portions of received
1861 messages prior to their use (e.g., presentation in the "Message
1862 Text" display screen). For security reasons, the full path name
1863 of the filter command must be specified.
1864 Display filters do not work with _PC-Alpine_.
1865 The command is executed and the message is piped into its
1866 standard input. The standard output of the command is read back
1867 by _Alpine_. The __TMPFILE__ token (see below) overrides this
1868 default behavior.
1869 The filter's use is based on the configured _trigger_ string.
1870 The format of a filter definition is:
1872 <trigger> <command> <arguments>
1873 You can specify as many filters as you wish, separating them
1874 with a comma. Each filter can have only one trigger and command.
1875 Thus, two trigger strings which invoke the same command require
1876 separate filter specifications.
1877 The _trigger_ is simply text that, if found in the message, will
1878 invoke the associated command. If the trigger contains any space
1879 characters, it must be placed within quotes. Likewise, should
1880 you wish a filter to be invoked unconditionally, define the
1881 trigger as the null string, "" (two consecutive double-quote
1882 characters). If the trigger string is found anywhere in the text
1883 of the message the filter is invoked. Placing the trigger text
1884 within the tokens defined below changes where within the text
1885 the trigger must be before considering it a match.
1886 Trigger Modifying Tokens:
1888 __CHARSET(string)__
1889 This token tells _Alpine_ to invoke the supplied command
1890 if the text is in a character set matching string (e.g.,
1891 ISO-8859-2 or ISO-2022-JP).
1893 __LEADING(string)__
1894 This token tells _Alpine_ to invoke the supplied command
1895 if the enclosed string is found to be the first
1896 non-whitespace text.
1897 NOTE: Quotes are necessary if string contains the space
1898 character.
1900 __BEGINNING(string)__
1901 This token tells _Alpine_ to invoke the supplied command
1902 if the enclosed string is found at the beginning of any
1903 line in the text.
1904 NOTE: Quotes are necessary if string contains the space
1905 character.
1907 The "command" and "arguments" portion is simply the command line
1908 to be invoked if the trigger string is found. Below are tokens
1909 that _Alpine_ will recognize and replace with special values
1910 when the command is actually invoked.
1911 Command Modifying Tokens:
1913 __TMPFILE__
1914 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
1915 the path and name of the temporary file containing the
1916 text to be filtered. _Alpine_ expects the filter to
1917 replace this data with the filter's result. NOTE: Use of
1918 this token implies that the text to be filtered is not
1919 piped into standard input of the executed command and its
1920 standard output is ignored. _Alpine_ restores the tty
1921 modes before invoking the filter in case the filter
1922 interacts with the user via its own standard input and
1923 output.
1925 __RESULTFILE__
1926 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
1927 the path and name of a temporary file intended to contain
1928 a status message from the filter. _Alpine_ displays this
1929 in the message status field.
1931 __DATAFILE__
1932 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
1933 the path and name of a temporary file that _Alpine_
1934 creates once per session and deletes upon exit. The file
1935 is intended to be used by the filter to store state
1936 information between instances of the filter.
1938 __PREPENDKEY__
1939 When the command is executed, this token indicates that a
1940 random number will be passed down the input stream before
1941 the message text. This number could be used as a session
1942 key. It does not appear as a command-line argument. It is
1943 sent in this way to improve security. The number is unique
1944 to the current _Alpine_ session and is only generated once
1945 per session.
1947 The feature disable-terminal-reset-for-display-filters is
1948 related.
1949 Performance caveat/considerations:
1950 Testing for the trigger and invoking the filter doesn't come for
1951 free. There is overhead associated with searching for the
1952 trigger string, testing for the filter's existence and actually
1953 piping the text through the filter. The impact can be reduced if
1954 the Trigger Modifying Tokens above are employed.
1955 Limitation:
1956 If Header Colors are being used, the sequences of bytes which
1957 indicate color changes will be contained in the text which is
1958 passed to the display-filter. If this causes problems you'll
1959 need to turn off Header Colors. The thirteen bytes which
1960 indicate a color change are the character \377 followed by \010
1961 for a foreground color or \011 for a background color. Then
1962 comes eleven characters of RGB data which looks something like
1963 255, 0,255, depending on the particular color, of course.
1964 _download-command_
1965 This option affects the behavior of the _Export_ command. It
1966 specifies a Unix program name, and any necessary command line
1967 arguments, that _Alpine_ can use to transfer the exported
1968 message to your personal computer's disk.
1969 _download-command-prefix_
1970 This option is used in conjunction with the _download-command_
1971 option. It defines text to be written to the terminal emulator
1972 (via standard output) immediately prior to starting the download
1973 command. This is useful for integrated serial line file transfer
1974 agents that permit command passing (e.g., Kermit's APC method).
1975 _editor_
1976 UNIX _Alpine_ only. Sets the name of the alternate editor for
1977 composing mail (message text only, not headers). It will be
1978 invoked with the "^_" command or it will be invoked
1979 automatically if the enable-alternate-editor-implicitly feature
1980 is set.
1981 _empty-header-message_
1982 When sending, if both the To and Cc fields are empty and you are
1983 sending the message to a Bcc, _Alpine_ will put a special
1984 address in the To line. The default value is
1985 "undisclosed-recipients: ;". The reason for this is to avoid
1986 embarrassment caused by some Internet mail transfer software
1987 that interprets a "missing" To: header as an error and replaces
1988 it with an Apparently-to: header that may contain the addresses
1989 you entered on the Bcc: line, defeating the purpose of the Bcc.
1990 You may change the part of this message that comes before the ":
1991 ;" by setting the _empty-header-message_ variable to something
1992 else.
1993 _fcc-name-rule_
1994 Determines default folder name for fcc when composing.
1995 Currently, _Alpine_ will accept the values _default-fcc_,
1996 _by-recipient_, or _last-fcc-used_. If set to _default-fcc_, then
1997 _Alpine_ will use the value defined in the default-fcc variable
1998 (which itself has a default) for the Fcc header field. If set to
1999 _by-recipient_, then _Alpine_ will use the name of the recipient
2000 as a folder name for the fcc. The relevant recipient is the
2001 first address in the To field. If set to "last-fcc-used", then
2002 _Alpine_ will offer to Fcc to whatever folder you used
2003 previously. In all cases, the field can still be edited after it
2004 is initially assigned. If the fcc field in the address book is
2005 set for the first To address, that value over-rides any value
2006 derived from this rule.
2007 _feature-list_
2008 This is a list of the many features (options) which may be
2009 turned on or off. There is a separate section titled
2010 Configuration Features which explains each of the features.
2011 There is some additional explanation about the _feature-list_
2012 variable itself in Feature List Variable.
2013 _file-directory_
2014 _PC-Alpine_ only. This value affects the Composer's "^J Attach"
2015 command, the Attachment Index Screen's "S Save" command, and the
2016 Message Index's "E Export" command.
2017 Normally, when a filename is supplied that lacks a leading
2018 "path" component, _Alpine_ assumes the file exists in the user's
2019 home directory. Under Windows operating systems, this definition
2020 isn't always clear. This feature allows you to explicitly set
2021 where _Alpine_ should look for files without a leading path.
2022 NOTE: this feature's value is ignored if either use-current-dir
2023 feature is set or the PINERC has a value for the operating-dir
2024 variable.
2025 _folder-collections_
2026 This is a list of one or more collections where saved mail is
2027 stored. See the sections describing folder collections and
2028 collection syntax for more information. The first collection in
2029 this list is the default collection for _Save_s, including
2030 default-fcc's.
2031 _folder-extension_
2032 _PC-Alpine_ only. File extension used for local folder names.
2033 This is .MTX by default.
2034 _folder-reopen-rule_
2035 _Alpine_ normally checks for new mail in the currently open
2036 folder and in the INBOX every few minutes.
2037 There are some situations where automatic new-mail checking does
2038 not work. For example, if a mail folder is opened using the POP
2039 protocol or a newsgroup is being read using the NNTP protocol,
2040 then new-mail checking is disabled.
2041 It may be possible to check for new mail in these cases by
2042 reopening the folder. _Alpine_ does not do this for you
2043 automatically, but you may do the commands manually to cause
2044 this to happen. You reopen by going back to the folder list
2045 screen from the message index screen with the "<" command, and
2046 then going back into the message index screen with the ">"
2047 command. (Actually, any method you would normally use to open a
2048 folder will work the same as the "<" followed by ">" method. For
2049 example, the GoTo Folder command will work, or you may use L to
2050 go to the Folder List screen and Carriage Return to reopen the
2051 folder.)
2052 There are some cases where _Alpine_ knows that reopening the
2053 folder should be useful as a way to discover new mail. At the
2054 time of this writing, connections made using the POP protocol,
2055 news reading using the NNTP protocol, local news reading, and
2056 local ReadOnly folders which are in the traditional UNIX or the
2057 MMDF format all fall into this category. There are other cases
2058 where it _may_ be a way to discover new mail, but _Alpine_ has
2059 no way of knowing, so it might also just be an exercise in
2060 futility. All remote, ReadOnly folders other than those listed
2061 just above fall into this category. The setting of this option
2062 together with the type of folder controls how _Alpine_ will
2063 react to the apparent attempt to reopen a folder.
2064 If you don't reopen, then you will just be back in the message
2065 index with no change. You left the index and came back, but the
2066 folder remained "open" the whole time. However, if you do reopen
2067 the folder, the folder is closed and then reopened. In this
2068 case, the current state of the open folder is lost. The New
2069 status, Important and Answered flags, selected state, Zoom
2070 state, collapsed or expanded state of threads, current message
2071 number, and any other temporary state is all lost when the
2072 reopen happens. For POP folders (but not NNTP newsgroups) the
2073 Deleted flags are also lost.
2074 In the possibilities listed below, the text says "POP/NNTP" in
2075 several places. That really implies the case where _Alpine_
2076 knows it is a good way to discover new mail, which is more than
2077 just POP and NNTP, but POP and NNTP are the cases of most
2078 interest. This option probably has more possible values than it
2079 deserves. They are:
2081 Always reopen
2082 _Alpine_ will not ask whether you want to reopen but will
2083 just do the reopen whenever you type a command that
2084 implies a reopen, regardless of the access method. In
2085 other words, it is assumed you would always answer Yes if
2086 asked about reopening.
2088 Yes for POP/NNTP, Ask about other remote [Yes]
2089 _Alpine_ will assume a Yes answer if the access method is
2090 POP or NNTP, but will ask you whether to reopen other
2091 remote folders, with a default answer of Yes.
2093 Yes for POP/NNTP, Ask about other remote [No]
2094 _Alpine_ will assume a Yes answer if the access method is
2095 POP or NNTP, but will ask you whether to reopen other
2096 remote folders, with a default answer of No.
2098 Yes for POP/NNTP, No for other remote
2099 _Alpine_ will assume a Yes answer if the access method is
2100 POP or NNTP, and will assume a No answer for all other
2101 remote folders.
2103 Always ask [Yes]
2104 _Alpine_ will not differentiate based on access method. It
2105 will always ask for all remote folders, with a default
2106 answer of Yes.
2108 Always ask [No]
2109 _Alpine_ will not differentiate based on access method. It
2110 will always ask for all remote folders, with a default
2111 answer of No.
2113 Ask about POP/NNTP [Yes], No for other remote
2114 _Alpine_ will ask if the access method is POP or NNTP,
2115 with a default answer of Yes. It will never attempt to
2116 reopen other remote folders.
2118 Ask about POP/NNTP [No], No for other remote
2119 This is the default. _Alpine_ will ask if the access
2120 method is POP or NNTP, with a default answer of No. It
2121 will never attempt to reopen other remote folders.
2123 Never reopen
2124 _Alpine_ will never attempt to reopen already open
2125 folders.
2127 Remember, wherever it says POP or NNTP above it really means POP
2128 or NNTP or any of the other situations where it is likely that
2129 reopening is a good way to discover new mail.
2130 There is an alternative that may be of useful in some
2131 situations. Instead of manually checking for new mail you can
2132 set up a Mail Drop and automatically check for new mail.
2133 _folder-sort-rule_
2134 This option controls the order in which folder list entries will
2135 be presented in the FOLDER LIST screen. Choose one of the
2136 following:
2138 _Alphabetical_
2139 sort by alphabetical name independent of type
2141 _Alpha-with-dirs-last_
2142 sort by alphabetical name grouping directory entries to
2143 the end of the list
2145 _Alpha-with-dirs-first_
2146 sort by alphabetical name grouping directory entries to
2147 the start of the list
2149 The normal default is _Alphabetical_.
2150 _font-name_
2151 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
2152 _font-size_
2153 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
2154 _font-style_
2155 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
2156 _forced-abook-entry_
2157 System-wide _Alpine_ configuration files only. Force these
2158 address book entries into all writable personal address books.
2159 This is a list variable. Each item in the list has the form:
2161 Nickname | Fullname | Address
2162 with optional whitespace in all the obvious places.
2163 _form-letter-folder_
2164 A Form Letter Folder is a mail folder that is intended to
2165 contain messages that you have composed and that are intended to
2166 be sent in their original form repeatedly.
2167 Setting this variable will alter _Alpine_'s usual behavior when
2168 you execute the Compose command. Normally, _Alpine_ offers a
2169 chance to continue a postponed or interrupted message should one
2170 or the other exist. When this variable is set to a folder name
2171 that exists, _Alpine_ will also offer the chance to select a
2172 message from the folder to insert into the composer, much like
2173 when continuing a postponed message. The difference, however, is
2174 that _Alpine_ will not automatically delete the selected message
2175 from the Form Letter Folder.
2176 Setting this variable will also affect _Alpine_'s behavior when
2177 you Postpone a message from the composer. Normally, _Alpine_
2178 simply stashes the message away in your Postponed-Folder.
2179 Regardless of the specified folder's existence, _Alpine_ will
2180 ask which folder you intend the message to be stored in. Choose
2181 the "F" option to store the message in your Form Letter Folder.
2182 This is the most common way to add a message to the folder.
2183 Another method of adding messages to the folder is via the
2184 _Alpine_ composer's Fcc: field. If you are sending a message that
2185 you expect to send in the same form again, you can enter the
2186 Form Letter Folder's name in this field. _Alpine_, as usual,
2187 will copy the message as it's sent. Note, when you later select
2188 this message from your Form Letter Folder, it will have the same
2189 recipients as the original message.
2190 To delete a message from the Form Letter Folder, you can either
2191 select the folder from a suitable FOLDER LIST screen, or use the
2192 Delete command in the MESSAGE INDEX offered when selecting from
2193 the folder as part of the Compose command. You can delete a Form
2194 Letter Folder just as any other folder from a suitable FOLDER
2195 LIST screen.
2196 You may find that the Roles facility can be used to replace the
2197 Form Letter Folder.
2198 _global-address-book_
2199 A list of shared address books. Each entry in the list is an
2200 optional nickname followed by a pathname or file name relative
2201 to the home directory. A SPACE character separates the nickname
2202 from the rest of the line. Instead of a local pathname or file
2203 name, a remote folder name can be given. This causes the address
2204 book to be a Remote address book. Remote folder syntax is
2205 discussed in Syntax for Remote Folders. This list will be added
2206 to the address-book list to arrive at the complete set of
2207 address books. Global address books are defined to be ReadOnly.
2208 _goto-default-rule_
2209 This value affects _Alpine_'s behavior when using the _Goto_
2210 command. There are five possible values for this option:
2212 _folder-in-first-collection_
2213 _Alpine_ will offer the most recently visited folder in
2214 the default collection found in the "Collection List"
2215 screen as the default.
2217 _inbox-or-folder-in-first-collection_
2218 If the current folder is _INBOX_, _Alpine_ will offer the
2219 most recently visited folder in the default collection
2220 found in the "Collection List" screen. If the current
2221 folder is other than _INBOX_, _INBOX_ is offered as the
2222 default.
2224 _inbox-or-folder-in-recent-collection_
2225 This is _Alpine_'s default behavior. If the current folder
2226 is _INBOX_, _Alpine_ will offer the last open folder as
2227 the default. If the current folder is other than _INBOX_,
2228 _INBOX_ is offered as the default.
2230 _first-collection-with-inbox-default_
2231 Instead of offering the most recently visited folder in
2232 the default collection, the default collection is offered
2233 but with _INBOX_ as the default folder. If you type in a
2234 folder name it will be in the default collection. If you
2235 simply accept the default, however, your _INBOX_ will be
2236 opened.
2238 _most-recent-folder_
2239 The last accepted value simply causes the most recently
2240 opened folder to be offered as the default regardless of
2241 the currently opened folder.
2243 NOTE: The default while a newsgroup is open remains the same;
2244 the last open newsgroup.
2245 _header-general-background-color_
2246 _header-general-foreground-color_
2247 Header Colors.
2248 _image-viewer_
2249 This variable names the program to call for displaying parts of
2250 a MIME message that are of type IMAGE. If your system supports
2251 the _mailcap_ system, you don't need to set this variable.
2252 _inbox-path_
2253 This specifies the name of the folder to use for the _INBOX_. By
2254 default this is unset and the system's default is used. The most
2255 common reason for setting this is to open an IMAP mailbox for
2256 the _INBOX_. For example, _{imap5.u.example.edu}inbox_ will open
2257 the user's standard _INBOX_ on the mail server, _imap5_.
2258 _incoming-archive-folders_
2259 This is like read-message-folder, only more general. This is a
2260 list of folder pairs, with the first separated from the second
2261 in the pair by a space. The first folder in a pair is the folder
2262 you want to archive, and the second folder is the folder that
2263 read messages from the first should be moved to. Depending on
2264 how you define the auto-move-read-msgs feature, you may or may
2265 not be asked when you leave the first folder if you want read
2266 messages to be moved to the second folder. In either case,
2267 moving the messages means they will be deleted from the first
2268 folder.
2269 If these are not path names, they will be in the default
2270 collection for _Save_s. Any valid folder specification, local or
2271 remote (via IMAP), is allowed. There is no default.
2272 _incoming-check-interval_
2273 This option has no effect unless the feature
2274 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
2275 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
2276 This option specifies, in seconds, how often _Alpine_ will check
2277 for new mail and state changes in Incoming Folders when Incoming
2278 Folders Checking is turned on. The default is 3 minutes (180).
2279 This value applies only to folders that are local to the system
2280 that _Alpine_ is running on or that are accessed using the IMAP
2281 protocol. The similar option incoming-check-interval-secondary
2282 applies to all other monitored folders.
2283 _incoming-check-interval-secondary_
2284 This option has no effect unless the feature
2285 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
2286 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
2287 This option together with the option incoming-check-interval
2288 specifies, in seconds, how often _Alpine_ will check for new
2289 mail and state changes in Incoming Folders when Incoming Folders
2290 Checking is turned on. The default for this option is 3 minutes
2291 (180). For folders that are local to this system or that are
2292 accessed using the IMAP protocol the value of the option
2293 incoming-check-interval is used. For all other monitored
2294 folders, the value of this option is used.
2295 The reason there are two separate options is because it is
2296 usually less expensive to check local and IMAP folders than it
2297 is to check other types, like POP or NNTP folders. You may want
2298 to set this secondary value to a higher number than the primary
2299 check interval.
2300 _incoming-check-list_
2301 This option has no effect unless the feature
2302 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
2303 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
2304 When monitoring the Incoming Message Folders for Unseen messages
2305 Alpine will normally monitor all Incoming Folders. You may use
2306 this option to restrict the list of monitored folders to a
2307 subset of all Incoming Folders.
2308 _incoming-check-timeout_
2309 This option has no effect unless the feature
2310 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
2311 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
2312 Sets the time in seconds that Alpine will attempt to open a
2313 network connection used for monitoring for Unseen messages in
2314 Incoming Folders. The default is 5. If a connection has not
2315 completed within this many seconds Alpine will give up and
2316 consider it a failed connection.
2317 _incoming-folders_
2318 This is a list of one or more folders other than _INBOX_ that
2319 may receive new messages. This list is slightly special in that
2320 it is always expanded in the folder lister. In the future, it
2321 may become more special. For example, it would be nice if
2322 _Alpine_ would monitor the folders in this list for new mail.
2323 _incoming-startup-rule_
2324 This rule affects _Alpine_'s behavior when opening the _INBOX_
2325 or another folder from the "INCOMING MESSAGE FOLDERS". This rule
2326 tells _Alpine_ which message to make the current message when an
2327 incoming folder is opened. There are seven possible values for
2328 this option:
2330 _first-unseen_
2331 The current message will be the first unseen message which
2332 has not been marked deleted, or the last message if all of
2333 the messages have been seen. This is the default setting.
2335 _first-recent_
2336 This is similar to _first-unseen_. Instead of first unseen
2337 it is the first recent message. A message is considered to
2338 be recent if it arrived since the last time the folder was
2339 open (by any mail client, not just the current one). So
2340 this option causes the current message to be set to the
2341 first undeleted-recent message, or the last message if
2342 none is both undeleted and recent.
2344 _first-important_
2345 This will result in the current message being set to the
2346 first message marked Important (but not Deleted). If no
2347 messages are marked Important, then it will be the last
2348 message.
2350 _first-important-or-unseen_
2351 This selects the minimum of the first unseen and the first
2352 important messages.
2354 _first-important-or-recent_
2355 This selects the first of the first recent and the first
2356 important messages.
2358 _first_
2359 Set the current message to the first undeleted message
2360 unless all are deleted. In that case set it to the last
2361 message.
2363 _last_
2364 Set the current message to the last undeleted message
2365 unless all are deleted. In that case set it to the last
2366 message.
2368 _incoming-unseen-background-color_
2369 _incoming-unseen-foreground-color_
2370 Incoming Unseen Color.
2371 _index-answered-background-color_
2372 _index-answered-foreground-color_
2373 _index-arrow-background-color_
2374 _index-arrow-foreground-color_
2375 _index-deleted-background-color_
2376 _index-deleted-foreground-color_
2377 _index-from-background-color_
2378 _index-from-foreground-color_
2379 _index-highpriority-background-color_
2380 _index-highpriority-foreground-color_
2381 _index-important-background-color_
2382 _index-important-foreground-color_
2383 _index-lowpriority-background-color_
2384 _index-lowpriority-foreground-color_
2385 _index-new-background-color_
2386 _index-new-foreground-color_
2387 _index-opening-background-color_
2388 _index-opening-foreground-color_
2389 _index-recent-background-color_
2390 _index-recent-foreground-color_
2391 _index-subject-background-color_
2392 _index-subject-foreground-color_
2393 _index-to-me-background-color_
2394 _index-to-me-foreground-color_
2395 _index-unseen-background-color_
2396 _index-unseen-foreground-color_
2397 Index Colors.
2398 _index-format_
2399 This option is used to customize the content of lines in the
2400 MESSAGE INDEX screen. Each line is intended to convey some
2401 amount of immediately relevant information about each message in
2402 the current folder.
2403 _Alpine_ provides a pre-defined set of informational fields with
2404 reasonable column widths automatically computed. You can,
2405 however, replace this default set by listing special tokens in
2406 the order you want them displayed.
2407 The list of available tokens is here.
2408 Spaces are used to separate listed tokens. Additionally, you can
2409 specify how much of the screen's width the taken's associated
2410 data should occupy on the index line by appending the token with
2411 a pair of parentheses enclosing either a number or percentage.
2412 For example, "SUBJECT(13)" means to allocate 13 characters of
2413 space to the subject column, and "SUBJECT(20%)" means to
2414 allocate 20% of the available space to the subjects column,
2415 while plain "SUBJECT" means the system will attempt to figure
2416 out a reasonable amount of space.
2417 There is always one space between every pair of columns, so if
2418 you use fixed column widths (like 13) you should remember to
2419 take that into account. Several of the fields are virtually
2420 fixed-width, so it doesn't make much sense to specify the width
2421 for them. The fields STATUS, FULLSTATUS, IMAPSTATUS, MSGNO, the
2422 DATE fields, SIZE, and DESCRIPSIZE all fall into that category.
2423 You _may_ specify widths for those if you wish, but you're
2424 probably better off letting the system pick those widths.
2425 The default is equivalent to:
2427 index-format=STATUS MSGNO SMARTDATETIME24 FROMORTO(33%) SIZENARROW SUBJ
2428 KEY(67%)
2429 This means that the four fields without percentages will be
2430 allocated first, and then 33% and 67% of the _remaining_ space
2431 will go to the from and subject fields. If one of those two
2432 fields is specified as a percentage and the other is left for
2433 the system to choose, then the percentage is taken as an
2434 absolute percentage of the screen, not of the space remaining
2435 after allocating the first four columns. It doesn't usually make
2436 sense to do it that way. If you leave off all the widths, then
2437 the subject and from fields (if both are present) are allocated
2438 space in a 2 to 1 ratio, which is almost exactly the same as the
2439 default.
2440 What you are most likely to do with this configuration option is
2441 to specify which fields appear at all, which order they appear
2442 in, and the percentage of screen that is used for the from and
2443 subject fields if you don't like the 2 to 1 default.
2444 If you want to retain the default format that _Pine_ 4.64 had,
2445 use
2447 Index-Format=STATUS MSGNO DATE FROMORTO(33%) SIZE SUBJKEY(67%)
2448 _and_ set the feature Disable-Index-Locale-Dates.
2449 _initial-keystroke-list_
2450 This is a comma-separated list of keystrokes which _Alpine_
2451 executes on startup. Items in the list are usually just
2452 characters, but there are some special values. _SPACE,_ _TAB,_
2453 and _CR_ mean a space character, tab character, and a carriage
2454 return, respectively. _F1_ through _F12_ stand for the twelve
2455 function keys. _UP, DOWN, LEFT, _and_ RIGHT _stand for the arrow
2456 keys. Control characters are represented with _^<char>_. A
2457 restriction is that you can't mix function keys and character
2458 keys in this list even though you can, in some cases, mix them
2459 when running _Alpine_. A user can always use only _character_
2460 keys in the startup list even if he or she is using _function_
2461 keys normally, or vice versa. If an element in this list is a
2462 string surrounded by double quotes (") then it will be expanded
2463 into the individual characters in the string, excluding the
2464 double quotes.
2465 _kblock-passwd-count_
2466 System-wide _Alpine_ configuration files only. Number of times a
2467 user will have to enter a password when they run the keyboard
2468 lock command in the main menu.
2469 _keyboard-character-set_
2470 See the discussion in International Character Sets for details.
2471 _keylabel-background-color_
2472 _keylabel-foreground-color_
2473 KeyLabel Color.
2474 _keyname-background-color_
2475 _keyname-foreground-color_
2476 KeyName Color.
2477 _keywords_
2478 You may define your own set of keywords and optionally set them
2479 on a message by message basis. These are similar to the
2480 "Important" flag which the user may set using the Flag command.
2481 The difference is that the Important flag is always present for
2482 each folder. User-defined keywords are chosen by the user. You
2483 may set up the list of possible keywords here, or you may add
2484 keywords from the Flag Details screen that you can get to after
2485 typing the Flag (*) command. After the keywords have been
2486 defined, then you use the Flag command to set or clear the
2487 keywords in each message. The behavior of the flag command may
2488 be modified by using the Enable-Flag-Screen-Implicitly option or
2489 the Enable-Flag-Screen-Keyword-Shortcut option.
2490 Keywords may be used when Selecting messages (Select Keyword).
2491 Keywords may also be used in the Patterns of Rules (Filters,
2492 Indexcolors, etc). Filter rules may be used to set keywords
2493 automatically. Keywords may be displayed as part of the Subject
2494 of a message by using the SUBJKEY or SUBJKEYINIT tokens in the
2495 Index-Format option. The Keyword-Surrounding-Chars option may be
2496 used to modify the display of keywords using SUBJKEY and
2497 SUBJKEYINIT slightly. Keywords may also be displayed in a column
2498 of their own in the MESSAGE INDEX screen by using the KEY or
2499 KEYINIT tokens. It is also possible to color keywords in the
2500 index using the Setup/Kolor screen (Keyword Colors). Keywords
2501 are not supported by all mail servers.
2502 You may give keywords nicknames if you wish. If the keyword
2503 definition you type in contains a SPACE character, then the
2504 actual value of the keyword is everything after the last SPACE
2505 and the nickname for that keyword is everything before the last
2506 SPACE. For example, suppose you are trying to interoperate with
2507 another email program which uses a particular keyword with an
2508 unpleasant name. Maybe it uses a keyword called
2510 VendorName.SoftwareName.08
2511 but for you that keyword means that the message is work-related.
2512 You could define a keyword to have the value
2514 Work VendorName.SoftwareName.08
2515 and then you would use the name "Work" when dealing with that
2516 keyword in _Alpine_. If you defined it as
2518 My Work VendorName.SoftwareName.08
2519 the nickname would be everything before the last SPACE, that is
2520 the nickname would be "My Work".
2521 Some commonly used keywords begin with dollar signs. This
2522 presents a slight complication, because the dollar sign is
2523 normally used to signify environment variable expansion in the
2524 _Alpine_ configuration. In order to specify a keyword which
2525 begins with a dollar sign you must precede the dollar sign with
2526 a second dollar sign to escape its special meaning. For example,
2527 if you want to include the keyword
2529 $Label1
2530 as one of your possible keywords, you must enter the text
2532 $$Label1
2533 instead.
2534 _keyword-surrounding-chars_
2535 This option controls a minor aspect of _Alpine_'s MESSAGE INDEX
2536 and MESSAGE TEXT screens. If you have modified the Index-Format
2537 option so that either the "SUBJKEY" or "SUBJKEYINIT" tokens are
2538 used to display keywords or their initials along with the
2539 Subject; then this option may be used to modify the resulting
2540 display slightly. By default, the keywords or initials displayed
2541 for these tokens will be surrounded with curly braces ({ and })
2542 and a trailing space. For example, if keywords "Work" and "Now"
2543 are set for a message, the "SUBJKEY" token will normally look
2544 like
2546 {Work Now} actual subject
2547 and the SUBJKEYINIT token would look like
2549 {WN} actual subject
2550 The default character before the keywords is the left brace ({)
2551 and the default after the keywords is the right brace followed
2552 by a space (} ).
2553 This option allows you to change that. You should set it to two
2554 values separated by a space. The values may be quoted if they
2555 include space characters. So, for example, the default value
2556 could be specified explicitly by setting this option to
2558 Keyword-Surrounding-Chars="{" "} "
2559 The first part wouldn't need to be quoted (but it doesn't hurt).
2560 The second part does need the quotes because it includes a space
2561 character. If you wanted to change the braces to brackets you
2562 could use
2564 Keyword-Surrounding-Chars="[" "] "
2565 Inside the quotes you can use backslash quote to mean quote, so
2567 Keyword-Surrounding-Chars="\"" "\" "
2568 would produce
2570 "Work Now" actual subject
2571 It is also possible to color keywords in the index using the
2572 Setup/Kolor screen (Keyword Colors).
2573 It is not possible to change the fact that a space character is
2574 used to separate the keywords if more than one keyword is set
2575 for a message. It is also not possible to change the fact that
2576 there are no separators between the keyword initials if more
2577 than one keyword is set.
2578 This option is displayed as "Keyword Surrounding Characters".
2579 _last-time-prune-questioned_
2580 Personal configuration file only. This variable records the
2581 month the user was last asked if his or her _sent-mail_ folders
2582 should be pruned. The format is _yy.mm_. This is automatically
2583 updated by _Alpine_ when the the pruning is done or declined. If
2584 a user wanted to make _Alpine_ stop asking this question he or
2585 she could set this time to something far in the future. This may
2586 not be set in the system-wide configuration files. Note: The _yy_
2587 year is actually the number of years since 1900, so it will be
2588 equal to 101 in the year 2001.
2589 _last-version-used_
2590 Personal configuration file only. This is set automatically by
2591 _Alpine_. It is used to keep track of the last version of _Alpine_
2592 that was run by the user. Whenever the version number increases,
2593 a new version message is printed out. This may not be set in the
2594 system-wide configuration files.
2595 _ldap-servers_
2596 This is only available if _Alpine_ was linked with an LDAP
2597 library when it was compiled. This variable is normally managed
2598 by _Alpine_ though it can be set in the system-wide
2599 configuration files as well as the personal configuration. It is
2600 a list variable. Each item in the list contains quite a bit of
2601 extra information besides just the server name. To put this into
2602 a system-wide config file the easiest thing to do is to
2603 configure a personal _Alpine_ for the LDAP server then copy the
2604 configuration line into the system-wide config file. Each item
2605 in the list looks like:
2607 server_name[:port] "quoted stuff"
2608 The server_name is just a hostname and it is followed by an
2609 optional colon and port number. The default port is 389.
2610 Following the server name is a single SPACE character followed
2611 by a bunch of characters inside double quotes. The part inside
2612 the quotes is a set of _tag_ = _value_ pairs. Each tag is
2613 preceded by a slash (/) and followed by an equal sign. The value
2614 for that tag is the text up to the next slash. An example of
2615 some quoted stuff is:
2617 "/base=o=University of Washington, c=US/impl=0/.../nick=My Server"
2618 This would set the search base for this server to o=University
2619 of Washington, c=US, set the implicit bit to zero, and set the
2620 nickname for the server to My Server. All of the tags correspond
2621 directly to items in the Setup/Directory screen so experiment
2622 with that if you want to see what the possible tags and values
2623 are.
2624 _literal-signature_
2625 With this option your actual signature, as opposed to the name
2626 of a file containing your signature, is stored in the _Alpine_
2627 configuration file. If this is defined it takes precedence over
2628 the _signature-file_ option.
2629 This is simply a different way to store the signature data. The
2630 signature is stored inside your _Alpine_ configuration file
2631 instead of in a separate signature file. Tokens contained in the
2632 signature work the same way they do with the regular
2633 signature-file.
2634 The Setup/Signature command in _Alpine_'s Main Menu will edit
2635 the _literal-signature_ by default. However, if no
2636 _literal-signature_ is defined and the file named in the
2637 _signature-file_ option exists, then the latter will be used
2638 instead. Compose (Reply, Forward, ...) will default to using the
2639 _literal-signature_ if defined, otherwise it will use the
2640 contents of the file named in _signature-file_.
2641 The _Alpine_ composer is used to edit the literal-signature. The
2642 result of that edit is first converted to a C-style string
2643 before it is stored in the configuration file. In particular,
2644 the two character sequence \n (backslash followed by the
2645 character "n") will be used to signify a line-break in the
2646 signature. You don't have to enter the \n, but it will be
2647 visible in the SETUP CONFIGURATION window after you are done
2648 editing the signature.
2649 _mail-check-interval_
2650 This option specifies, in seconds, how often _Alpine_ will check
2651 for new mail. If set to zero, new-mail checking is disabled.
2652 (You can always manually force a new-mail check by typing ^L
2653 (Ctrl-L), which is also the command to refresh the screen, or by
2654 typing the Next command when the current message is the last
2655 message of the folder.) There is a minimum value for this
2656 option, normally 15 seconds. The default value is normally 150
2657 seconds. The higher you set this option, the easier it is on the
2658 server.
2659 There are some situations where automatic new-mail checking does
2660 not work. See the discussion about new-mail checking in
2661 folder-reopen-rule.
2662 The new-mail checking will not happen exactly at the frequency
2663 that you specify. For example, _Alpine_ may elect to defer a
2664 non-INBOX mail check if you are busy typing. Or, it may check
2665 more frequently than you have specified if that is thought to be
2666 necessary to keep the server from closing the connection to the
2667 folder due to inactivity. If _Alpine_ checks for new mail as a
2668 side effect of another command, it will reset the timer, so that
2669 new-mail checking may seem to happen irregularly instead of
2670 every X seconds like clockwork.
2671 If you are anxious to know about new mail as soon as possible,
2672 set the check interval low, and you'll know about the new mail
2673 by approximately that amount of time after it arrives. If you
2674 aren't so worried about knowing right away, set this option to a
2675 higher value. That will save the server some processing time and
2676 may save you some of the time you spend waiting for new-mail
2677 checks to happen if you are dealing with a slow server or slow
2678 network connection.
2679 If you suspect that new-mail checking is causing slow downs for
2680 you, you may want to look into the options
2681 Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Except-Inbox,
2682 Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Inbox and
2683 Mail-Check-Interval-Noncurrent, which refine when mail checking
2684 is done.
2685 If the mailbox being check uses a Mail Drop then there is a
2686 minimum time (maildrop-check-minimum) between new-mail checks.
2687 Because of this minimum you may notice that new mail does not
2688 appear promptly when you expect it. The reason for this is to
2689 protect the server from over-zealous opening and closing of the
2690 Mail Drop folder, since that is a costly operation.
2691 A side effect of disabling mail checking is that there will be
2692 situations in which the user's IMAP connection will be broken
2693 due to inactivity timers on the server. Another side effect is
2694 that the user-input-timeout option won't work.
2695 _mail-check-interval-noncurrent_
2696 This option is closely related to the Mail-Check-Interval
2697 option, as well as the Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Except-Inbox
2698 and Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Inbox options. If the
2699 "Mail-Check-Interval" option is set to zero, then automatic
2700 new-mail checking is disabled and this option will have no
2701 effect.
2702 Normally this option is set to zero, which means that the value
2703 used will be the same as the value for the
2704 "Mail-Check-Interval". If you set this option to a value
2705 different from zero (usually larger than the value for
2706 "Mail-Check-Interval") then that is the check interval that will
2707 be used for folders which are not the currently open folder or
2708 the INBOX. You may not even have any folders that are noncurrent
2709 and not the INBOX. If you do, it is likely that they are due to
2710 Stay-Open-Folders you have configured. This option also affects
2711 the rate of mail checking done on cached connections to folders
2712 you previously had open but are no longer actively using. You
2713 aren't expected to understand that last sentence, but if you are
2714 interested take a look at Max-Remote-Connections, and the
2715 related options.
2716 _mail-directory_
2717 This variable was more important in previous versions of
2718 _Alpine_. Now it is used only as the default for storing personal
2719 folders (and only if there are no folder-collections defined).
2720 The default value is _~/mail_ on UNIX and _${HOME}\MAIL_ on a
2721 PC.
2722 _mailcap-search-path_
2723 This variable is used to replace _Alpine_'s default mailcap file
2724 search path. It takes one or more file names (full paths must be
2725 specified) in which to look for mail capability data.
2726 _maildrop-check-minimum_
2727 New-mail checking for a Mail Drop is a little different from new
2728 mail checking for a regular folder. One of the differences is
2729 that the connection to the Mail Drop is not kept open and so the
2730 cost of checking (delay for you and additional load for the
2731 server) may be significant. Because of this additional cost we
2732 set a minimum time that must pass between checks. This minimum
2733 only applies to the automatic checking done by _Alpine_. If you
2734 force a check by typing ^L (Ctrl-L) or by typing the Next
2735 command when you are at the end of a folder index, then the
2736 check is done right away.
2737 This option specifies, in seconds, the _minimum_ time between
2738 Mail Drop new-mail checks. You may want to set this minimum high
2739 in order to avoid experiencing some of the delays associated
2740 with the checks. Note that the time between checks is still
2741 controlled by the regular Mail-Check-Interval option. When
2742 _Alpine_ is about to do an automatic check for new mail (because
2743 the Mail-Check-Interval has expired) then if the time since the
2744 last new-mail check of any open Mail Drops has been greater than
2745 the MailDrop-Check-Minimum, the Mail Drop is checked for new
2746 mail as well. Therefore, it is only useful to set this option to
2747 a value that is higher than the Mail-Check-Interval.
2748 If this option is set to zero, automatic Mail Drop new-mail
2749 checking is disabled. There is a minimum value, normally 60
2750 seconds. The default value is normally 60 seconds as well. This
2751 applies to the INBOX and to the currently open folder if that is
2752 different from the INBOX.
2753 _max-remote-connections_
2754 This option affects low-level behavior of _Alpine_. The default
2755 value for this option is _2_. If your INBOX is accessed using
2756 the IMAP protocol from an IMAP server, that connection is kept
2757 open throughout the duration of your _Alpine_ session,
2758 independent of the value of this option. The same is true of any
2759 Stay-Open-Folders you have defined. This option controls
2760 _Alpine_'s behavior when connecting to remote IMAP folders other
2761 than your INBOX or your Stay-Open-Folders. It specifies the
2762 maximum number of remote IMAP connections (other than those
2763 mentioned above) that _Alpine_ will use for accessing the rest
2764 of your folders. If you set this option to zero, you will turn
2765 off most remote connection re-use. It's difficult to understand
2766 exactly what this option does, and it is usually fine to leave
2767 it set to its default value. It is probably more likely that you
2768 will be interested in setting the Stay-Open-Folders option
2769 instead of changing the value of this option. A slightly longer
2770 explanation of what is going on with this option is given in the
2771 next paragraphs.
2772 There are some time costs involved in opening and closing remote
2773 IMAP folders, the main costs being the time you have to wait for
2774 the connection to the server and the time for the folder to
2775 open. Opening a folder may involve not only the time the server
2776 takes to do its processing but time that _Alpine_ uses to do
2777 filtering. These times can vary widely. They depend on how
2778 loaded the server is, how large the folder being opened is, and
2779 how you set up filtering, among other things. Once _Alpine_ has
2780 opened a connection to a particular folder, it will attempt to
2781 keep that connection open in case you use it again. In order to
2782 do this, _Alpine_ will attempt to use the Max-Remote-Connections
2783 (the value of this option) IMAP connections you have allotted
2784 for this purpose.
2785 For example, suppose the value of this option is set to "2". If
2786 your INBOX is accessed on a remote server using the IMAP
2787 protocol, that doesn't count as one of the remote connections
2788 but it is always kept open. If you then open another IMAP
2789 folder, that would be your first remote connection counted as
2790 one of the Max-Remote-Connections connections. If you open a
2791 third folder the second will be left open, in case you return to
2792 it. You won't be able to tell it has been left open. It will
2793 appear to be closed when you leave the folder but the connection
2794 will remain in the background. Now suppose you go back to the
2795 second folder (the first folder after the INBOX). A connection
2796 to that folder is still open so you won't have to wait for the
2797 startup time to open it. Meanwhile, the connection to the third
2798 folder will be left behind. Now, if you open a fourth folder,
2799 you will bump into the Max-Remote-Connections limit, because
2800 this will be the third folder other than INBOX and you have the
2801 option set to "2". The connection that is being used for the
2802 third folder will be re-used for this new fourth folder. If you
2803 go back to the third folder after this, it is no longer already
2804 connected when you get there. You'll still save some time since
2805 _Alpine_ will re-use the connection to the fourth folder and you
2806 have already logged in on that connection, but the folder will
2807 have to be re-opened from scratch.
2808 If a folder is large and the startup cost is dominated by the
2809 time it takes to open that folder or to run filters on it, then
2810 it will pay to make the value of this option large enough to
2811 keep it open. On the other hand, if you only revisit a handful
2812 of folders or if the folders are small, then it might make more
2813 sense to keep this number small so that the reconnect time (the
2814 time to start up a new connection and authenticate) is
2815 eliminated instead.
2816 You may also need to consider the impact on the server. On the
2817 surface, a larger number here may cause a larger impact on the
2818 server, since you will have more connections open to the server.
2819 On the other hand, not only will _you_ be avoiding the startup
2820 costs associated with reopening a folder, but the _server_ will
2821 be avoiding those costs as well.
2822 When twenty five minutes pass without any active use of an IMAP
2823 connection being saved for possible re-use, that connection will
2824 be shut down,
2825 This option is displayed as "Maximum Remote Connections".
2826 _meta-message-background-color_
2827 _meta-message-foreground-color_
2828 Meta-message Color.
2829 _mimetype-search-path_
2830 This variable is used to replace _Alpine_'s default mime.types
2831 file search path. It takes one or more file names (full paths
2832 must be specified) in which to look for file-name-extension to
2833 MIME type mapping data. See the Config Notes for details on
2834 _Alpine_'s usage of the MIME.Types File.
2835 _new-version-threshold_
2836 When a new version of _Alpine_ is run for the first time it
2837 offers a special explanatory screen to the user upon startup.
2838 This option helps control when and if that special screen
2839 appears for users that have previously run _Alpine_. It takes as
2840 its value a _Alpine_ version number. _Alpine_ versions less than
2841 the specified value will suppress this special screen while
2842 versions equal to or greater than that specified will behave
2843 normally.
2844 _newmail-fifo-path_
2845 This option is only available in UNIX _Alpine_. However, there
2846 is a very similar feature built in to _PC-Alpine_. In
2847 _PC-Alpine_'s Config menu at the top of the screen is an option
2848 called "New Mail Window".
2849 You may have _Alpine_ create a FIFO special file (also called a
2850 named pipe, see mkfifo(3) and fifo(4)) where it will send a
2851 one-line message each time a new message is received in the
2852 current folder, the INBOX, or any open Stay-Open-Folders. To
2853 protect against two different _Alpine_s both writing to the same
2854 FIFO, _Alpine_ will only create the FIFO and write to it if it
2855 doesn't already exist.
2856 A possible way to use this option would be to have a separate
2857 window on your screen running the command
2859 cat filename
2860 where "filename" is the name of the file given for this option.
2861 Because the file won't exist until after you start _Alpine_, you
2862 must _first_ start _Alpine_ and _then_ run the "cat" command.
2863 You may be tempted to use "tail -f filename" to view the new
2864 mail log. However, the common implementations of the tail
2865 command will not do what you are hoping.
2866 The width of the messages produced for the FIFO may be altered
2867 with the NewMail-Window-Width option.
2868 On some systems, fifos may only be created in a local
2869 filesystem. In other words, they may not be in NFS filesystems.
2870 This requirement is not universal. If the system you are using
2871 supports it, it should work. (It is often the case that your
2872 home directory is in an NFS filesystem. If that is the case, you
2873 might try using a file in the "/tmp" filesystem, which is
2874 usually a local filesystem.) Even when it is possible to use an
2875 NFS-mounted filesystem as a place to name the fifo (for example,
2876 your home directory), it will still be the case that the reader
2877 (probably the "cat" command) and the writer (_Alpine_) of the
2878 fifo must be running on the same system.
2879 _newmail-window-width_
2880 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
2881 This option is only useful if you have turned on the
2882 NewMail-FIFO-Path option. That option causes new mail messages
2883 to be sent to a fifo file. Those messages will be 80 characters
2884 wide by default. You can change the width of the messages by
2885 changing this option. For example, if you are reading those
2886 messages in another window you might want to set this width to
2887 the width of that other window.
2888 For UNIX _Alpine_, this option is only useful if you have turned
2889 on the NewMail-FIFO-Path option. That option causes new mail
2890 messages to be sent to a fifo file. Those messages will be 80
2891 characters wide by default. You can change the width of those
2892 messages by changing this option. For example, if you are
2893 reading those messages in another window you might want to set
2894 this width to the width of that other window.
2895 If you are using _PC-Alpine_, it has an option in the Config
2896 menu to turn on the "New Mail Window". The present option also
2897 controls the width of that window.
2898 _news-active-file-path_
2899 This option tells _Alpine_ where to look for the "active file"
2900 for newsgroups when accessing news locally, rather than via
2901 NNTP. The default path is usually /usr/lib/news/active.
2902 _news-collections_
2903 This is a list of collections where news folders are located.
2904 See the section describing collections for more information.
2905 _news-spool-directory_
2906 This option tells _Alpine_ where to look for the "news spool"
2907 for newsgroups when accessing news locally, rather than via
2908 NNTP. The default path is usually /usr/spool/news.
2909 _newsrc-path_
2910 This option overrides the default name _Alpine_ uses for your
2911 "newsrc" news status and subscription file. If set, _Alpine_
2912 will take this value as the full pathname for the desired newsrc
2913 file.
2914 _nntp-range_
2915 This option applies only to newsgroups accessed using the NNTP
2916 protocol. It does not, for example, apply to newsgroups accessed
2917 using an IMAP-to-NNTP proxy.
2918 When you open a connection to a News server using the NNTP
2919 protocol, you normally have access to all of the articles in
2920 each newsgroup. If a server keeps a large backlog of messages it
2921 may speed performance some to restrict attention to only the
2922 newer messages in a group. This option allows you to set how
2923 many article numbers should be checked when opening a newsgroup.
2924 You can think of "nntp-range" as specifying the maximum number
2925 of messages you ever want to see. For example, if you only ever
2926 wanted to look at the last 500 messages in each newsgroup you
2927 could set this option to 500. In actuality, it isn't quite that.
2928 Instead, for performance reasons, it specifies the range of
2929 article numbers to be checked, beginning with the highest
2930 numbered article and going backwards from there. If there are
2931 messages that have been canceled or deleted their article
2932 numbers are still counted as part of the range.
2933 So, more precisely, setting the "nntp-range" will cause article
2934 numbers
2936 last_article_number - nntp-range + 1 through last_article_number
2937 to be considered when reading a newsgroup. The number of
2938 messages that show up in your index will be less than or equal
2939 to the value of "nntp-range".
2940 The purpose of this option is simply to speed up access when
2941 reading news. The speedup comes because _Alpine_ can ignore all
2942 but the last nntp-range article numbers, and can avoid
2943 downloading any information about the ignored articles. There is
2944 a cost you pay for this speedup. That cost is that there is no
2945 way for you to see those ignored articles. The articles that
2946 come before the range you specify are invisible to you and to
2947 _Alpine_, as if they did not exist at all. There is no way to see
2948 those messages using, for example, an unexclude command or
2949 something similar. The only way to see those articles is to set
2950 this option high enough (or set it to zero) and then to reopen
2951 the newsgroup.
2952 If this option is set to 0 (which is also the default), then the
2953 range is unlimited. This option applies globally to all NNTP
2954 servers and to all newsgroups on those servers. There is no way
2955 to set different values for different newsgroups or servers.
2956 _nntp-server_
2957 One or more NNTP servers (host name or IP address) which _Alpine_
2958 will use for reading and posting news. If you read and post news
2959 to and from a single NNTP server, you can get away with only
2960 setting the _nntp-server_ variable and leaving the
2961 _news-collections_ variable unset.
2962 When you define an NNTP server, _Alpine_ implicitly defines a
2963 news collection for you, assuming that server as the news server
2964 and assuming that you will use the NNTP protocol and a local
2965 newsrc configuration file for reading news. See also Configuring
2966 News.
2967 Your NNTP server may offer NNTP "AUTHINFO SASL" or "AUTHINFO
2968 USER" authentication. It may even require it. If your NNTP
2969 server does offer such authentication you may specify a user
2970 name parameter to cause _Alpine_ to attempt to authenticate. The
2971 same is true for the server name in a folder collection which
2972 uses NNTP. This parameter requires an associated value, the
2973 username identifier with which to establish the server
2974 connection. An example might be:
2976 nntpserver.example.com/user=katie
2977 If authentication is offered by the server, this will cause
2978 _Alpine_ to attempt to use it. If authentication is not offered
2979 by the server, this will cause _Alpine_ to fail with an error
2980 similar to:
2982 Error: NNTP authentication not available
2983 For more details about the server name possibilities see Server
2984 Name Syntax.
2985 _normal-background-color_
2986 _normal-foreground-color_
2987 Normal Color.
2988 _opening-text-separator-chars_
2989 This option controls a minor aspect of _Alpine_'s MESSAGE INDEX
2990 screen. With some setups the text of the subject is followed by
2991 the opening text of the message if there is any room available
2992 in the index line. If you have configured your Index-Format
2993 option to include one of the Subject tokens which causes this
2994 behavior (SUBJECTTEXT, SUBJKEYTEXT, or SUBJKEYINITTEXT), then
2995 this option may be used to modify what is displayed slightly. By
2996 default, the Subject is separated from the opening text of the
2997 message by the three characters space dash space;
2999 " - "
3000 Use this option to set it to something different. The value must
3001 be quoted if it includes any space characters. For example, the
3002 default value could be specified explicitly by setting this
3003 option to
3005 Opening-Text-Separator-Chars=" - "
3006 This option is displayed as "Opening Text Separator Characters".
3007 _operating-dir_
3008 System-wide _Alpine_ configuration files only. This names the
3009 root of the tree to which the user is restricted when reading
3010 and writing folders and files. It is usually used in the _fixed_
3011 configuration file.
3012 _patterns-filters2_
3013 Matching patterns and their corresponding actions are stored in
3014 this variable. These patterns are used with Filtering. This
3015 variable is normally maintained through the Setup/Rules/Filters
3016 configuration screen. It is a list variable. Each member of the
3017 list is a single pattern/action pair, or it can be a file which
3018 contains zero or more lines of pattern/action pairs. The only
3019 way to create a filters file is to use the InsertFile command in
3020 the Setup/Rules/Filters screen with a filename which doesn't yet
3021 exist. Then use the Shuffle command to move existing filter
3022 patterns into the file. This isn't very convenient but it isn't
3023 thought that many users will need this functionality. The
3024 purpose of filter files is for sharing filters.
3025 This option is displayed as "Patterns Filters".
3026 _patterns-indexcolors_
3027 Matching patterns and their corresponding actions are stored in
3028 this variable. These patterns are used for Index Line Colors.
3029 This variable is normally maintained through the
3030 Setup/Rules/Indexcolor configuration screen. It is a list
3031 variable. Each member of the list is a single pattern/action
3032 pair, or it can be a file which contains zero or more lines of
3033 pattern/action pairs. The only way to create a indexcolor file
3034 is to use the InsertFile command in the Setup/Rules/Indexcolor
3035 screen with a filename which doesn't yet exist. Then use the
3036 Shuffle command to move existing patterns into the file. This
3037 isn't very convenient but it isn't thought that many users will
3038 need this functionality. The purpose of indexcolor files is for
3039 sharing indexcolors.
3040 _patterns-other_
3041 Matching patterns and their corresponding actions are stored in
3042 this variable. These patterns are used with Miscellaneous Rules
3043 configuration. This variable is normally maintained through the
3044 Setup/Rules/Other configuration screen. It is a list variable.
3045 Each member of the list is a single pattern/action pair, or it
3046 can be a file which contains zero or more lines of
3047 pattern/action pairs. The only way to create a rules file is to
3048 use the InsertFile command in the Setup/Rules/Other screen with
3049 a filename which doesn't yet exist. Then use the Shuffle command
3050 to move existing rules into the file. This isn't very convenient
3051 but it isn't thought that many users will need this
3052 functionality.
3053 _patterns-roles_
3054 Matching patterns and their corresponding actions are stored in
3055 this variable. These patterns are used with Roles. This variable
3056 is normally maintained through the Setup/Rules/Roles
3057 configuration screen. It is a list variable. Each member of the
3058 list is a single pattern/action pair, or it can be a file which
3059 contains zero or more lines of pattern/action pairs. The only
3060 way to create a roles file is to use the InsertFile command in
3061 the Setup/Rules/Roles screen with a filename which doesn't yet
3062 exist. Then use the Shuffle command to move existing roles into
3063 the file. This isn't very convenient but it isn't thought that
3064 many users will need this functionality. The purpose of role
3065 files is for sharing roles.
3066 _patterns-scores2_
3067 Matching patterns and their corresponding actions are stored in
3068 this variable. These patterns are used with Scoring. This
3069 variable is normally maintained through the
3070 Setup/Rules/SetScores configuration screen. It is a list
3071 variable. Each member of the list is a single pattern/action
3072 pair, or it can be a file which contains zero or more lines of
3073 pattern/action pairs. The only way to create a scores file is to
3074 use the InsertFile command in the Setup/Rules/SetScores screen
3075 with a filename which doesn't yet exist. Then use the Shuffle
3076 command to move existing scoring patterns into the file. This
3077 isn't very convenient but it isn't thought that many users will
3078 need this functionality. The purpose of scoring files is for
3079 sharing scoring rules.
3080 This option is displayed as "Patterns Scores".
3081 _patterns-search_
3082 Matching patterns for use with the Select command are stored in
3083 this variable. These patterns are used with Search Rules
3084 configuration. This variable is normally maintained through the
3085 Setup/Rules/searCh configuration screen. It is a list variable.
3086 Each member of the list is a single pattern, or it can be a file
3087 which contains zero or more lines of patterns. The only way to
3088 create a rules file is to use the InsertFile command in the
3089 Setup/Rules/searCh screen with a filename which doesn't yet
3090 exist. Then use the Shuffle command to move existing rules into
3091 the file. This isn't very convenient but it isn't thought that
3092 many users will need this functionality.
3093 _personal-name_
3094 Personal configuration file only. User's full personal name. On
3095 UNIX systems, the default is taken from the accounts data base
3096 (/etc/passwd). The easiest way to change the full From address
3097 is with the customized-hdrs variable.
3098 _personal-print-category_
3099 Personal configuration file only. This is the category that the
3100 default print command belongs to. There are three categories.
3101 Category 1 is an attached printer which uses the ANSI escape
3102 sequence, category 2 is the standard system print command, and
3103 category 3 is the set of custom printer commands defined by the
3104 user. This just helps _Alpine_ figure out where to put the
3105 cursor when the user runs the _Setup/Printer_ command. This is
3106 not used by _PC-Alpine_.
3107 _personal-print-command_
3108 Personal configuration file only. This corresponds to the third
3109 category in the printer menu, the personally selected print
3110 commands. This variable contains the list of custom commands
3111 that the user has entered in the _Setup/Printer_ screen. This is
3112 not used by _PC-Alpine_.
3113 _posting-character-set_
3114 See the discussion in International Character Sets for details.
3115 _postponed-folder_
3116 The folder where postponed messages are stored. The default is
3117 _postponed-msgs_ (Unix) or _POSTPOND_ (PC).
3118 _print-font-name_
3119 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
3120 _print-font-size_
3121 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
3122 _print-font-style_
3123 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only.
3124 _printer_
3125 Personal configuration file only. This is the current setting
3126 for a user's printer. This variable is set from _Alpine_'s
3127 _Setup/Printer_ screen.
3128 _prompt-background-color_
3129 _prompt-foreground-color_
3130 Prompt Color.
3131 _pruned-folders_
3132 This variable allows you to define a list of one or more folders
3133 that _Alpine_ will offer to prune for you in the same way it
3134 automatically offers to prune your "sent-mail" folder each
3135 month. Each folder in this list must be a folder in your default
3136 folder collection (the first folder collection if you have more
3137 than one), and it is just the relative name of the folder in the
3138 collection, not the fully-qualified name. It is similar to
3139 sent-mail. Instead of something like
3141 pruned-folders={servername}mail/folder
3142 the correct value to use would be
3144 folder
3145 There is an assumption here that your first collection is the
3146 folders in
3148 {servername}mail
3149 Once a month, for each folder listed, _Alpine_ will offer to
3150 move the contents of the folder to a new folder of the same name
3151 but with the previous month's date appended. _Alpine_ will then
3152 look for any such date-appended folder names created for a
3153 previous month, and offer each one it finds for deletion.
3154 If you decline the first offer, no mail is moved and no new
3155 folder is created.
3156 The new folders will be created in your default folder
3157 collection.
3158 _pruning-rule_
3159 By default, _Alpine_ will ask at the beginning of each month
3160 whether or not you want to rename your sent-mail folder to a
3161 name like sent-mail-month-year. (See the feature
3162 prune-uses-yyyy-mm to change the format of the folder to
3163 sent-mail-yyyy-mm.) It will also ask whether you would like to
3164 delete old sent-mail folders. If you have defined
3165 read-message-folder or pruned-folders _Alpine_ will also ask
3166 about pruning those folders. With this option you may provide an
3167 automatic answer to the rename questions and you may tell
3168 _Alpine_ to not ask about deleting old folders.
3169 _quote1-background-color_
3170 _quote1-foreground-color_
3171 _quote2-background-color_
3172 _quote2-foreground-color_
3173 _quote3-background-color_
3174 _quote3-foreground-color_
3175 Quote Colors.
3176 _quote-replace-string_
3177 This option specifies what string to use as a quote when
3178 _viewing_ a message. The standard way of quoting messages when
3179 replying is the string "> " (quote space). With this variable
3180 set, viewing a message will replace occurrences of "> " with the
3181 replacement string. This setting works best when
3182 Reply-Indent-String or the equivalent setting in your
3183 correspondents' mail programs is set to the default "> ", but it
3184 will also work fine with the Reply-Indent-String set to ">".
3185 Enable the feature Quote-Replace-Nonflowed to also have
3186 quote-replacement performed on non-flowed messages.
3187 Setting this option will replace ">" and "> " with the new
3188 setting. This string may include trailing spaces. To preserve
3189 those spaces enclose the full string in double quotes.
3190 No padding to separate the text of the message from the quote
3191 string is added. This means that if you do not add trailing
3192 spaces to the value of this variable, text will be displayed
3193 right next to the quote string, which may be undesirable. This
3194 can be avoided by adding a new string separated by a space from
3195 your selection of quote string replacement. This last string
3196 will be used for padding. For example, setting this variable to
3197 ">" " " has the effect of setting ">" as the
3198 quote-replace-string, with the text padded by a space from the
3199 last quote string to make it more readable.
3200 One possible setting for this variable could be " " (four
3201 spaces wrapped in quotes), which would have the effect of
3202 indenting each level of quoting four spaces and removing the
3203 ">"'s. Different levels of quoting could be made more
3204 discernible by setting colors for quoted text.
3205 Replying to or forwarding the viewed message will preserve the
3206 original formatting of the message, so quote-replacement will
3207 not be performed on messages that are being composed.
3208 _quote-suppression-threshold_
3209 This option should be used with care. It will cause some of the
3210 quoted text to be eliminated from the display when viewing a
3211 message in the MESSAGE TEXT screen. For example, if you set the
3212 Quote-Suppression-Threshold to the value "5", this will cause
3213 quoted text that is longer than five lines to be truncated.
3214 Quoted text of five or fewer consecutive lines will be displayed
3215 in its entirety. Quoted text of more than six lines will have
3216 the first five lines displayed followed by a line that looks
3217 something like
3219 [ 12 lines of quoted text hidden from view ]
3220 As a special case, if exactly one line of quoted text would be
3221 hidden, the entire quote will be shown instead. So for the above
3222 example, quoted text which is exactly six lines long will will
3223 be shown in its entirety. (In other words, instead of hiding a
3224 single line and adding a line that announces that one line was
3225 hidden, the line is just shown.)
3226 If the sender of a message has carefully chosen the quotes that
3227 he or she includes, hiding those quotes may change the meaning
3228 of the message. For that reason, _Alpine_ requires that when you
3229 want to set the value of this variable to something less than
3230 four lines, you actually have to set it to the negative of that
3231 number. So if you want to set this option to "3", you actually
3232 have to set it to "-3". The only purpose of this is to get you
3233 to think about whether or not you really want to do this! If you
3234 want to delete all quoted text you set the value of this option
3235 to the special value "-10".
3236 The legal values for this option are
3238 0 Default, don't hide anything
3239 -1,-2,-3 Suppress quote lines past 1, 2, or 3 lines
3240 4,5,6,... Suppress if more than that many lines
3241 -10 Suppress all quoted lines
3242 If you set this option to a non-default value you may sometimes
3243 wish to view the quoted text that is not shown. When this is the
3244 case, the HdrMode (Header Mode) command may be used to show the
3245 hidden text. Typing the "H" command once will show the hidden
3246 text. Typing a second "H" will also turn on Full Header mode.
3247 The presence or absence of the HdrMode command is determined by
3248 the "Enable-Full-Header-Cmd" Feature-List option in your _Alpine_
3249 configuration, so you will want to be sure that is turned on if
3250 you use quote suppression.
3251 For the purposes of this option, a quote is a line that begins
3252 with the character ">".
3253 Quotes are only suppressed when displaying a message on the
3254 screen. The entire quote will be left intact when printing or
3255 forwarding or something similar.
3256 _read-message-folder_
3257 If set, mail in the _INBOX_ that has been read but not deleted
3258 is moved here, or rather, the user is asked whether or not he or
3259 she wants to move it here upon quitting _Alpine_.
3260 _remote-abook-history_
3261 Sets how many extra copies of remote address book data will be
3262 kept in each remote address book folder. The default is three.
3263 These extra copies are simply old versions of the data. Each
3264 time a change is made a new copy of the address book data is
3265 appended to the folder. Old copies are trimmed, if possible,
3266 when _Alpine_ exits. An old copy can be put back into use by
3267 deleting and expunging newer versions of the data from the
3268 folder. Don't delete the first message from the folder. It is a
3269 special header message for the remote address book and it must
3270 be there. This is to prevent regular folders from being used as
3271 remote address book folders and having their data destroyed.
3272 _remote-abook-metafile_
3273 Personal configuration file only. This is usually set by _Alpine_
3274 and is the name of a file that contains data about remote
3275 address books and remote configuration files.
3276 _remote-abook-validity_
3277 Sets the minimum number of minutes that a remote address book
3278 will be considered up to date. Whenever an entry contained in a
3279 remote address book is used, if more than this many minutes have
3280 passed since the last check the remote server will be queried to
3281 see if the address book has changed. If it has changed, the
3282 local copy is updated. The default value is five minutes. The
3283 special value of -1 means never check. The special value of zero
3284 means only check when the address book is first opened.
3285 No matter what the value, the validity check is always done when
3286 the address book is about to be changed by the user. The check
3287 can be initiated manually by typing _^L_ (Ctrl-L) while in the
3288 address book maintenance screen for the remote address book.
3289 _reply-indent-string_
3290 This variable specifies an aspect of _Alpine_'s _Reply_ command.
3291 When a message is replied to and the text of the message is
3292 included, the included text usually has the string "> "
3293 prepended to each line indicating it is quoted text.
3294 This option specifies a different value for that string. If you
3295 wish to use a string which begins or ends with a space, enclose
3296 the string in double quotes.
3297 Besides simple text, the prepended string can be based on the
3298 message being replied to. The following tokens are substituted
3299 for the message's corresponding value:
3301 _FROM_
3302 This token gets replaced with the message sender's
3303 "username". At most six characters are used.
3305 _NICK_
3306 This token gets replaced with the nickname of the message
3307 sender's address as found in your addressbook. If no
3308 addressbook entry is found, Pine replaces the characters
3309 "_NICK_" with nothing. At most six characters are used.
3311 _INIT_
3312 This token gets replaced with the initials of the sender
3313 of the message.
3315 When the enable-reply-indent-string-editing feature is enabled,
3316 you are given the opportunity to edit the string, whether it is
3317 the default or one automatically generated using the above
3318 tokens.
3319 _reply-leadin_
3320 This option is used to customize the content of the introduction
3321 line that is included when replying to a message and including
3322 the original message in the reply. The normal default (what you
3323 will get if you delete this variable) looks something like:
3325 On Sat, 24 Oct 1998, Fred Flintstone wrote:
3326 where the day of the week is only included if it is available in
3327 the original message. You can replace this default with text of
3328 your own. The text may contain tokens that are replaced with
3329 text that depends on the message you are replying to. For
3330 example, the default is equivalent to:
3332 On _DAYDATE_, _FROM_ wrote:
3333 Since this variable includes regular text mixed with special
3334 tokens the tokens have to be surrounded by underscore
3335 characters. For example, to use the token "PREFDATE" you would
3336 need to use "_PREFDATE_", not "PREFDATE".
3337 The list of available tokens is here.
3338 By default, the text is all on a single line and is followed by
3339 a blank line. If your _Reply-Leadin_ turns out to be longer than
3340 80 characters when replying to a particular message, it is
3341 shortened. However, if you use the token
3343 _NEWLINE_
3344 anywhere in the value, no end of line or blank line is appended,
3345 and no shortening is done. The _NEWLINE_ token may be used to
3346 get rid of the blank line following the text, to add more blank
3347 lines, or to form a multi-line _Reply-Leadin_. To clarify how
3348 _NEWLINE_ works recall that the default value is:
3350 On _DAYDATE_, _FROM_ wrote:
3351 That is equivalent to
3353 On _DAYDATE_, _FROM_ wrote:_NEWLINE__NEWLINE_
3354 In the former case, two newlines are added automatically because
3355 no _NEWLINE_ token appears in the value of the option (for
3356 backwards compatibility). In the latter case, the newlines are
3357 explicit. If you want to remove the blank line that follows the
3358 _Reply-Leadin_ text use a single _NEWLINE_ token like
3360 On _DAYDATE_, _FROM_ wrote:_NEWLINE_
3361 Because of the backwards compatibility problem, it is not
3362 possible to remove all of the ends of lines, because then there
3363 will be no _NEWLINE_ tokens and that will cause the automatic
3364 adding of two newlines! If you want, you may embed newlines in
3365 the middle of the text, as well, producing a multi-line
3366 _Reply-Leadin_.
3367 By default, no attempt is made to localize the date. If you
3368 prefer a localized form you may find that one of the tokens
3369 _PREFDATE_ or _PREFDATETIME_ is a satisfactory substitute. If
3370 you want more control one of the many other date tokens, such as
3371 _DATEISO_, might be better.
3372 For the adventurous, there is a way to conditionally include
3373 text based on whether or not a token would result in specific
3374 replacement text. For example, you could include some text based
3375 on whether or not the _NEWS_ token would result in any
3376 newsgroups if it was used. It's explained in detail here.
3377 In the very unlikely event that you want to include a literal
3378 token in the introduction line you must precede it with a
3379 backslash character. For example,
3381 \_DAYDATE_ = _DAYDATE_
3382 would produce something like
3384 _DAYDATE_ = Sat, 24 Oct 1998
3385 It is not possible to have a literal backslash followed by an
3386 expanded token.
3387 _reverse-background-color_
3388 _reverse-foreground-color_
3389 Reverse Color.
3390 _rsh-command_
3391 Sets the format of the command used to open a UNIX remote shell
3392 connection. The default is "%s %s -l %s exec /etc/r%sd". All
3393 four "%s" entries MUST exist in the provided command. The first
3394 is for the command's pathname, the second is for the host to
3395 connect to, the third is for the user to connect as, and the
3396 fourth is for the connection method (typically imap).
3397 _rsh-open-timeout_
3398 Sets the time in seconds that _Alpine_ will attempt to open a
3399 UNIX remote shell connection. The default is 15, the minimum
3400 non-zero value is 5, and the maximum is unlimited. If this is
3401 set to zero rsh connections will be completely disabled.
3402 _rsh-path_
3403 Sets the name of the command used to open a UNIX remote shell
3404 connection. The default is typically /usr/ucb/rsh.
3405 _saved-msg-name-rule_
3406 Determines default folder name when _Sav_ing. If set to
3407 _default-folder_ (which is the default setting), then _Alpine_
3408 will offer the folder "saved-messages" (UNIX) or "SAVEMAIL" (PC)
3409 for _Sav_ing messages. The default folder offered in this way
3410 may be changed by using the configuration variable
3411 default-saved-msg-folder.
3412 If this rule is set to _last-folder-used_, _Alpine_ offers to
3413 _Save_ to the folder you last successfully _Saved_ a message to
3414 (this session). The first time you _Save_ a message in a
3415 session, _Alpine_ offers to _Save_ the message to the default
3416 folder.
3417 Choosing any of the _by-_ options causes _Alpine_ to attempt to
3418 get the chosen option's value for the message being _Saved_ (or
3419 for the first message being Saved if using an aggregate Save).
3420 For example, if _by-from_ is chosen, _Alpine_ attempts to get
3421 the value of who the message came from (i.e. the from address).
3422 _Alpine_ then attempts to _Save_ the message to a folder matching
3423 that value. If _by-from_ is chosen and no value is obtained,
3424 _Alpine_ uses _by-sender_. The opposite is also true. If
3425 _by-recipient_ was chosen and the message was posted to a
3426 newsgroup, _Alpine_ will use the newsgroup name. If _by-replyto_
3427 is chosen and no value is obtained, _Alpine_ uses _by-from_.
3428 If any of the "by-realname" options are chosen, _Alpine_ will
3429 attempt to use the personal name part of the address instead of
3430 the mailbox part. If any of the "by-nick" options are chosen,
3431 the address is looked up in your address book and if found, the
3432 nickname for that entry is used. Only simple address book
3433 entries are checked, not distribution lists. Similarly, if any
3434 of the "by-fcc" options are chosen, the fcc from the
3435 corresponding address book entry is used. If by-realname, or the
3436 by-nick or by-fcc lookups result in no value, then if the chosen
3437 option ends with the "then-from", "then-sender", "then-replyto",
3438 or "then-recip" suffix, _Alpine_ reverts to the same behavior as
3439 "by-from", "by-sender", "by-replyto", or "by-recip" depending on
3440 which option was specified. If the chosen option doesn't end
3441 with one of the "then-" suffixes, then _Alpine_ reverts to the
3442 default folder when no match is found in the address book.
3443 Here is an example to make some of the options clearer. If the
3444 message is From
3446 Fred Flintstone <flint@bedrock.org>
3447 and this rule is set to "by-from", then the default folder
3448 offered in the save dialog would be "flint".
3449 If this rule is set to "by-realname-of-from" then the default
3450 would be "Fred Flintstone".
3451 If this rule is set to "by-nick-of-from" then _Alpine_ will
3452 search for the address "flint@bedrock.org" in your address book.
3453 If an entry is found and it has a nickname associated with it,
3454 that nickname will be offered as the default folder. If not, the
3455 default saved message folder will be offered as the default.
3456 If this rule is set to "by-fcc-of-from" then _Alpine_ will
3457 search for the address "flint@bedrock.org" in your address book.
3458 If an entry is found and it has an Fcc associated with it, that
3459 Fcc will be offered as the default folder. If not, the default
3460 saved message folder will be offered as the default.
3461 If this rule is set to "by-nick-of-from-then-from" then _Alpine_
3462 will search for the address "flint@bedrock.org" in your address
3463 book. If an entry is found and it has a nickname associated with
3464 it, that nickname will be offered as the default folder. If it
3465 is not found (or has no nickname) then the default offered will
3466 be the same as it would be for the "by-from" rule. That is, it
3467 would be "flint"
3468 This option is displayed as "Saved Message Name Rule".
3469 _scroll-margin_
3470 This option controls when _Alpine_'s line-by-line scrolling
3471 occurs. Typically, when a selected item is at the top or bottom
3472 screen edge and the UP or DOWN (and Ctrl-P or Ctrl-N) keys are
3473 pressed, the displayed items are scrolled down or up by a single
3474 line.
3475 This option allows you to tell _Alpine_ the number of lines from
3476 the top and bottom screen edge that line-by-line scrolling
3477 should occur. For example, setting this value to one (1) will
3478 cause _Alpine_ to scroll the display when you move to select an
3479 item on the display's top or bottom edge (instead of moving when
3480 you move off the edge of the screen).
3481 By default, this variable is zero (0), indicating that scrolling
3482 happens when you move up or down to select an item immediately
3483 off the display's top or bottom edge.
3484 _selectable-item-background-color_
3485 _selectable-item-foreground-color_
3486 Selectable-item Color.
3487 _sending-filters_
3488 This option defines a list of text-filtering commands (programs
3489 and scripts) that may be selectively invoked to process a
3490 message just before it is sent. If set, the Composer's _^X Send_
3491 command will allow you to select which filter (or none) to apply
3492 to the message before it is sent. For security reasons, the full
3493 path of the filter program must be specified.
3494 Sending filters do not work with _PC-Alpine_ and sending filters
3495 are not used if the feature send-without-confirm is set.
3496 Command Modifying Tokens:
3498 __RECIPIENTS__
3499 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
3500 the space delimited list of recipients of the message
3501 being sent.
3503 __TMPFILE__
3504 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
3505 the path and name of the temporary file containing the
3506 text to be filtered. _Alpine_ expects the filter to
3507 replace this data with the filter's result. NOTE: Use of
3508 this token implies that the text to be filtered is not
3509 piped into standard input of the executed command and its
3510 standard output is ignored. _Alpine_ restores the tty
3511 modes before invoking the filter in case the filter
3512 interacts with the user via its own standard input and
3513 output.
3515 __RESULTFILE__
3516 When the command is executed, this token is replaced with
3517 the path and name of a temporary file intended to contain
3518 a status message from the filter. _Alpine_ displays this
3519 in the message status field.
3521 __DATAFILE__
3522 When the command is executed, this token is replaced in
3523 the command line with the path and name of a temporary
3524 file that _Alpine_ creates once per session and deletes
3525 upon exit. The file is intended to be used by the filter
3526 to store state information between instances of the
3527 filter.
3529 __PREPENDKEY__
3530 When the command is executed, this token indicates that a
3531 random number will be passed down the input stream before
3532 the message text. It is not included as a command-line
3533 argument. This number could be used as a session key. It
3534 is sent in this way to improve security. The number is
3535 unique to the current _Alpine_ session and is only
3536 generated once per session.
3538 __INCLUDEALLHDRS__
3539 When the command is executed, this token indicates that
3540 the headers of the message will be passed down the input
3541 stream before the message text. It is not included as a
3542 command-line argument. The filter should, of course,
3543 remove the headers before returning control to _Alpine_.
3545 __MIMETYPE__
3546 When the command is executed, this token is replaced in
3547 the command name with a temporary file name used to accept
3548 any new MIME Content-Type information necessitated by the
3549 output of the filter. Upon the filter's exit, if the file
3550 contains new MIME type information, _Alpine_ verifies its
3551 format and replaces the outgoing message's MIME type
3552 information with that contained in the file. This is
3553 basically a cheap way of sending something other than
3554 Text/Plain.
3556 _sendmail-path_
3557 This names the path to an alternative program, and any necessary
3558 arguments, to be used in posting mail messages. See the section
3559 on SMTP and Sendmail for more details.
3560 _signature-file_
3561 This is the name of a file which will be automatically inserted
3562 into outgoing messages. It typically contains information such
3563 as your name, email address and organizational affiliation.
3564 _Alpine_ adds the signature into the message as soon as you enter
3565 the composer so you can choose to remove it or edit it on a
3566 message by message basis. Signature file placement in message
3567 replies is controlled by the signature-at-bottom setting in the
3568 feature list.
3569 This defaults to ~/.signature on UNIX and <PINERC
3570 directory>\PINE.SIG on a PC.
3571 To create or edit your signature file choose Setup from the Main
3572 Menu and then select S for Signature (Main/Setup/Signature).
3573 This puts you into the Signature Editor where you can enter a
3574 _few_ lines of text containing your identity and affiliation.
3575 If the filename is followed by a vertical bar (|) then instead
3576 of reading the contents of the file the file is assumed to be a
3577 program which will produce the text to be used on its standard
3578 output. The program can't have any arguments and doesn't receive
3579 any input from _Alpine_, but the rest of the processing works as
3580 if the contents came from a file.
3581 Instead of storing the data in a local file, the signature data
3582 may be stored remotely in an IMAP folder. In order to do this,
3583 you must use a remote name for the file. A remote signature-file
3584 name might look like:
3586 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/signature
3587 or, if you have an SSL-capable version of _Alpine_, you might
3588 try
3590 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us/user=loginname/ssl}mail/signature
3591 The syntax used here is the same as the syntax used for remote
3592 configuration files from the command line. Note that you may not
3593 access an existing signature file remotely, you have to create a
3594 new _folder_ which contains the signature data. If the name you
3595 use here for the signature file is a remote name, then when you
3596 edit the file from the Setup/Signature command the data will be
3597 stored remotely in the folder. You aren't required to do
3598 anything special to create the folder, it gets created
3599 automatically if you use a remote name.
3600 Besides regular text, the signature file may also contain (or a
3601 signature program may produce) tokens which are replaced with
3602 text which usually depends on the message you are replying to or
3603 forwarding. For example, if the signature file contains the
3604 token
3606 _DATE_
3607 anywhere in the text, then that token is replaced by the date
3608 the message you are replying to or forwarding was sent. If it
3609 contains
3611 _CURDATE_
3612 that is replaced with the current date. The first is an example
3613 of a token which depends on the message you are replying to (or
3614 forwarding) and the second is an example which doesn't depend on
3615 anything other than the current date. You have to be a little
3616 careful with this facility since tokens which depend on the
3617 message you are replying to or forwarding will be replaced by
3618 nothing in the case where you are composing a new message from
3619 scratch. The use of roles may help you in this respect. It
3620 allows you to use different signature files in different cases.
3621 The list of tokens available for use in the signature file is
3622 here.
3623 Instead of, or along with the use of _roles_ to give you
3624 different signature files in different situations, there is also
3625 a way to conditionally include text based on whether or not a
3626 token would result in specific replacement text. For example,
3627 you could include some text based on whether or not the _NEWS_
3628 token would result in any newsgroups if it was used. This is
3629 explained in detail here. This isn't for the faint of heart.
3630 In the very unlikely event that you want to include a literal
3631 token in the signature you must precede it with a backslash
3632 character. For example,
3634 \_DAYDATE_ = _DAYDATE_
3635 would produce something like
3637 _DAYDATE_ = Sat, 24 Oct 1998
3638 It is not possible to have a literal backslash followed by an
3639 expanded token.
3640 _signature-background-color_
3641 _signature-foreground-color_
3642 Signature Color.
3643 _smime-public-cert-directory_
3644 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3645 If the option smime-public-cert-container is set then this
3646 option will have no effect.
3647 Normally, Public Certificates for use with S/MIME will be stored
3648 in the directory which is the value of this option. Those
3649 certificates will be stored in PEM format, one certificate per
3650 file. The name of the file for the certificate corresponding to
3652 emailaddress
3653 should be
3655 emailaddress.crt
3656 For example, a file for user@example.com would be in the file
3658 user@example.com.crt
3659 in this directory.
3660 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3661 Typically, the public certificates that you have will come from
3662 S/MIME signed messages that are sent to you. _Alpine_ will
3663 extract the public certificate from the signed message and store
3664 it in the certificates directory. These PEM format public
3665 certificates look something like:
3666 -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
3667 MIIFvTCCBKWgAwIBAgIQD4fYFHVI8T20yN4nus097DANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADCB
3668 rjELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxCzAJBgNVBAgTAlVUMRcwFQYDVQQHEw5TYWx0IExha2Ug
3669 Q2l0eTEeMBwGA1UEChMVVGhlIFVTRVJUUlVTVCBOZXR3b3JrMSEwHwYDVQQLExho
3670 ...
3671 2b9KGqDyMWW/rjNnmpjzjT2ObGM7lRA8lke4FLOLajhrz4ogO3b4DFfAAM1VSZH8
3672 D6sOwOLJZkLY8FRsfk63K+2EMzA2+qAzMKupgeTLqXIf
3673 -----END CERTIFICATE-----
3675 + General S/MIME Overview
3676 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Public Cert Directory".
3677 _smime-public-cert-container_
3678 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3679 If this option is set it will be used instead of
3680 smime-public-cert-directory
3681 This option gives you a way to store certificates remotely on an
3682 IMAP server instead of storing the certificates one per file
3683 locally. In order to do that you just give this option a remote
3684 folder name for a folder which does not yet exist. The name is
3685 similar to the name you might use for a remote configuration
3686 file. A remote folder name might look something like:
3688 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/publiccerts
3689 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3690 + General S/MIME Overview
3691 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Public Cert Container".
3692 _smime-private-key-directory_
3693 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3694 In order to sign outgoing S/MIME messages you will need a
3695 personal digital ID certificate. You will usually get such a
3696 certificate from a certificate authority such as Thawte or
3697 CAcert. (In order to encrypt outgoing messages you don't need a
3698 personal digital ID, you need the public certificate of the
3699 recipient instead.) If the option smime-private-key-container is
3700 set then this option will have no effect.
3701 Normally, Private Keys for use with S/MIME will be stored in the
3702 directory which is the value of this option. Those certificates
3703 will be stored in PEM format, one certificate per file. The name
3704 of the file for the certificate corresponding to your
3706 emailaddress
3707 should be
3709 emailaddress.key
3710 For example, if your address is user@example.com the name of the
3711 file would be
3713 user@example.com.key
3714 in this directory.
3715 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3716 Typically, the private key that you have will come from a
3717 Certificate Authority. The private key should be stored in a PEM
3718 format file that looks something like:
3719 -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
3720 Proc-Type: 4,ENCRYPTED
3721 DEK-Info: DES-EDE3-CBC,2CBD328FD84CF5C6
3723 YBEXYLgLU9NJoc1V+vJ6UvcF08RX54S6jXsmgL0b5HGkudG6fhnmHkH7+UCvM5NI
3724 SXO/F8iuZDfs1VGG0NyitkFZ0Zn2vfaGovBvm15gx24b2xnZDLRB7/bNZkurnK5k
3725 VjAjZ2xXn2hFp2GJwqRdmxYNqsKGu52B99oti5HUWuZ2GFRaWjn5hYOqeApZE2uA
3726 ...
3727 oSRqfI51UdSRt0tmGhHeTvybUVrHm9eKft8TTGf+qSBqzSc55CsmoVbRzw4Nfhix
3728 m+4TJybNGNfAgOctSkEyY/OCb49fRRQTCBZVIhzLGGmpYmkO55HbIA==
3729 -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
3731 + General S/MIME Overview
3732 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Private Key Directory".
3733 _smime-private-key-container_
3734 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3735 If this option is set it will be used instead of
3736 smime-private-key-directory.
3737 This option gives you a way to store keys remotely on an IMAP
3738 server instead of storing the keys one per file locally. In
3739 order to do that you just give this option a remote folder name
3740 for a folder which does not yet exist. The name is similar to
3741 the name you might use for a remote configuration file. A remote
3742 folder name might look something like:
3744 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/privatekeys
3745 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3746 + General S/MIME Overview
3747 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Private Key Container".
3748 _smime-cacert-directory_
3749 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3750 If the option smime-cacert-container is set then this option
3751 will have no effect.
3752 CACert is a shorthand name for certification authority
3753 certificate. Normally _Alpine_ will use the CACerts that are
3754 located in the standard system location for CACerts. It may be
3755 the case that one of your correspondents has a Digital ID which
3756 has been signed by a certificate authority that is not in the
3757 regular set of system certificate authorities. You may
3758 supplement the system list by adding further certificates of
3759 your own. These should be stored in the directory which is the
3760 value of this option. The certificates will be stored in PEM
3761 format, one certificate per file. The names of the files can be
3762 anything ending in ".crt".
3763 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3764 These PEM format CA certificates look very similar to your
3765 public certificates for particular email addresses
3766 (smime-public-cert-directory).
3767 + General S/MIME Overview
3768 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Cert Authority Directory".
3769 _smime-cacert-container_
3770 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3771 If this option is set it will be used instead of
3772 smime-cacert-directory.
3773 This option gives you a way to store certificates remotely on an
3774 IMAP server instead of storing the certificates one per file
3775 locally. In order to do that you just give this option a remote
3776 folder name for a folder which does not yet exist. The name is
3777 similar to the name you might use for a remote configuration
3778 file. A remote folder name might look something like:
3780 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/cacerts
3781 Use the Setup/SMIME screen to modify this variable.
3782 + General S/MIME Overview
3783 This option is displayed as "S/MIME - Cert Authority Container".
3784 _smtp-server_
3785 One or more SMTP servers (host name or IP address) which _Alpine_
3786 will use for outgoing mail. If not set, _Alpine_ passes outgoing
3787 email to the _sendmail_ program on the local machine. _PC-Alpine_
3788 users must have this variable set in order to send mail as they
3789 have no _sendmail_ program.
3790 Your SMTP server may offer SMTP AUTH authentication. It may even
3791 require it. If your SMTP server offers SMTP AUTH authentication
3792 you may specify a "user" name parameter to cause _Alpine_ to
3793 attempt to authenticate. This parameter requires an associated
3794 value, the username identifier with which to establish the
3795 server connection. An example might be:
3797 smtpserver.example.com/user=katie
3798 If AUTH authentication is offered by the server, this will cause
3799 _Alpine_ to attempt to use it. If AUTH authentication is not
3800 offered by the server, this will cause _Alpine_ to fail sending
3801 with an error similar to:
3803 Error: SMTP authentication not available
3804 Another type of authentication that is used by some ISPs is
3805 called "POP before SMTP" or "IMAP before SMTP", which means that
3806 you have to authenticate yourself to the POP or IMAP server by
3807 opening a mailbox before you can send mail. To do this, you
3808 usually only have to open your INBOX.
3809 You may tell _Alpine_ to use the Message Submission port (587)
3810 instead of the SMTP port (25) by including the "submit"
3811 parameter in this option. At this time "/submit" is simply
3812 equivalent to specifying port 587, though it may imply more than
3813 that at some point in the future. Some ISPs are blocking port 25
3814 in order to reduce the amount of spam being sent to their users.
3815 You may find that the submit option allows you to get around
3816 such a block.
3818 smtpserver.example.com/submit
3819 To specify any non-standard port number on the SMTP server you
3820 may follow the hostname with a colon followed by the portnumber.
3822 smtpserver.example.com:12345
3823 Normally, when a connection is made to the Smtp-Server _Alpine_
3824 will attempt to negotiate a secure (encrypted) session using
3825 Transport Layer Security (TLS). If that fails then a
3826 non-encrypted connection will be attempted instead. You may
3827 specify that a TLS connection is required if you wish. If you
3828 append "/tls" to the name then the connection will fail instead
3829 of falling back to a non-secure connection.
3831 smtpserver.example.com/tls
3832 See the SMTP Servers section or the Server Name Syntax section
3833 for some more details.
3834 This option is displayed as "SMTP Server (for sending)".
3835 _sort-key_
3836 This variable sets up the default Message Index sorting. The
3837 default is to sort by arrival order (the order the messages
3838 arrived in the folder). It has the same functionality as the
3839 _-sort_ command line argument and the _$_ command in the "Folder
3840 Index". If a _sort-key_ is set, then all folders open during the
3841 session will have that as the default sort order.
3842 _speller_
3843 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
3844 For _PC-Alpine_, you must install the aspell library code that
3845 you may get from http://aspell.net/win32/.
3846 This option affects the behavior of the _^T_ (spell check)
3847 command in the Composer. It specifies the program invoked by _^T_
3848 in the Composer. By default, _Alpine_ uses the system's "spell"
3849 command. _Alpine_ will use the command defined by this option
3850 (if any) instead. When invoking the spell-checking program,
3851 _Alpine_ appends a tempfile name (where the message is passed) to
3852 the command line. _Alpine_ expects the speller to correct the
3853 spelling in that file. When you exit from the speller program
3854 _Alpine_ will read the tmpfile back into the composer.
3855 For Unix _Alpine_ the program _ispell_ works well as an
3856 alternate spell checker. If your Unix system has _ispell_ it is
3857 probably reasonable to make it the default speller by
3858 configuring it as the default in the system configuration file,
3859 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.
3860 If this option is not set, then the system's _spell_ command is
3861 used. The spell command does not work the same as the alternate
3862 speller. It produces a list of misspelled words on its standard
3863 output, instead, and doesn't take a tempfile as an argument.
3864 Don't set this speller option to the standard Unix spell
3865 command. That won't work. If you want to use the standard Unix
3866 spell command, set the speller option to nothing.
3867 _ssh-command_
3868 Sets the format of the command used to open a UNIX secure shell
3869 connection. The default is "%s %s -l %s exec /etc/r%sd". All
3870 four "%s" entries MUST exist in the provided command. The first
3871 is for the command's pathname, the second is for the host to
3872 connect to, the third is for the user to connect as, and the
3873 fourth is for the connection method (typically imap).
3874 _ssh-open-timeout_
3875 Sets the time in seconds that _Alpine_ will attempt to open a
3876 UNIX secure shell connection. The default is 15, the minimum
3877 non-zero value is 5, and the maximum is unlimited. If this is
3878 set to zero ssh connections will be completely disabled.
3879 _ssh-path_
3880 Sets the name of the command used to open a UNIX secure shell
3881 connection. The default is typically /usr/bin/ssh.
3882 _standard-printer_
3883 System-wide configuration file only. Specifies a list of
3884 commands for category 2 of the _Setup/Printer_ screen, the
3885 standard print command section. This is not used by _PC-Alpine_.
3886 _status-background-color_
3887 _status-foreground-color_
3888 Status Color.
3889 _status-message-delay_
3890 This option has evolved over time, causing the possible values
3891 to be counter-intuitive. Read carefully before you set this
3892 option. First we explain what the option does, then there is a
3893 longer discussion following that.
3894 If this is set to zero, the default value, it has _no_ effect.
3895 Positive and negative values serve two similar, but different
3896 purposes.
3897 If it is set to a positive number, it causes the cursor to move
3898 to the status line whenever a status message is printed and
3899 pause there for this many seconds. It will probably only be
3900 useful if the show-cursor feature is also turned on. Setting
3901 this option to a positive number can only be used to _increase_
3902 the status message delay. This may be useful for Braille
3903 displays, or other non-traditional displays.
3904 If it is set to a negative number the interpretation is a bit
3905 complicated. Negative numbers are used to _decrease_ the amount
3906 of delay _Alpine_ uses to allow you to read important status
3907 messages. Of course, this may cause you to miss some important
3908 messages. If you see a message flash by but miss what it says
3909 you can use the Journal command from the Main menu to read it.
3910 If you set this option to a negative value, the delay will be no
3911 more than one second less than the absolute value of the value
3912 you set. So if you set it to -1, the delay will be no more than
3913 zero seconds, no delay at all. If you set it to -2, the delay
3914 will be no more than 1 second. And so on, -3 is 2 seconds, -4 is
3915 3 seconds, ... If the delay that _Alpine_ would have used by
3916 default is less than this delay, then the smaller delay set by
3917 _Alpine_ will be used. Setting this option to a negative value
3918 can only reduce the amount of delay, never increase it.
3919 Here is a more detailed explanation. Status messages are the
3920 messages which show up spontaneously in the status message line,
3921 the third line from the bottom of the screen. By default,
3922 _Alpine_ assigns each status message it produces a minimum
3923 display time. Some status messages have a minimum display time
3924 of zero. You can see an example of such a message by paging up
3925 in this help text until you reach the top of the screen. If you
3926 try to page past the top you will see the message
3928 [Already at start of help text]
3929 in the status line. If there is another more important use of
3930 the status message line this message might be replaced quickly,
3931 or it even might not be shown at all. However, if there is no
3932 reason to get rid of the message, it might stay there for
3933 several seconds while you read the help. An example where it is
3934 replaced immediately happens when you page up in the help text
3935 past the top of the screen, but then type the "WhereIs" command
3936 right after paging up. The message will disappear immediately
3937 without causing a delay (unless you have set this option to a
3938 positive value) to allow you to type input for the "WhereIs"
3939 command. Since it isn't a very important message, _Alpine_ has
3940 set its minimum display time to zero seconds.
3941 Other messages have minimum display times of three or more
3942 seconds. These are usually error messages that _Alpine_ thinks
3943 you ought to see. For example, it might be a message about a
3944 failed Save or a failed folder open. It is often the case that
3945 this minimum display time won't delay you in any way because the
3946 status message line is not needed for another reason. However,
3947 there are times when _Alpine_ has to delay what it is doing in
3948 order to display a status message for the minimum display time.
3949 This happens when a message is being displayed and _Alpine_
3950 wants to ask for input from the keyboard. For example, when you
3951 Save a message you use the status message line. You get a prompt
3952 there asking for the name of the folder to save to. If there is
3953 a status message being displayed that has not yet displayed for
3954 its minimum time _Alpine_ will display that status message
3955 surrounded with the characters > and < to show you that it is
3956 delaying. That might happen, for example, if you tried to save
3957 to a folder that caused an error, then followed that immediately
3958 with another Save command. You might find yourself waiting for a
3959 status message like
3961 [>Can't get write access to mailbox, access is readonly<]
3962 to finish displaying for three seconds. If that is something you
3963 find happening to you frequently, you may use negative values of
3964 this option to decrease or eliminate that delay, at the risk of
3965 missing the message.
3966 _stay-open-folders_
3967 This option affects low-level behavior of _Alpine_. There is no
3968 default value for this option. It is related to the options
3969 Preopen-Stayopen-Folders, Max-Remote-Connections, and
3970 offer-expunge-of-Stayopen-Folders.
3971 Note: changes made to this list take effect the next time you
3972 open a folder in the list.
3973 This is a list of folders that will be permanently kept open
3974 once they are first opened. The names in this list may be either
3975 the nickname of an Incoming folder or the full technical
3976 specification of a folder. The folders in this list need not be
3977 remote IMAP folders, they could usefully be local folders, as
3978 well. If a folder in the list is a newsgroup or is not accessed
3979 either locally or via IMAP, then the entry will be ignored. For
3980 example, folders accessed via NNTP or POP3 will not be kept
3981 open, since the way that new mail is found with those protocols
3982 involves closing and reopening the connection.
3983 Once a Stay Open folder has been opened, new-mail checking will
3984 continue to happen on that folder for the rest of the _Alpine_
3985 session. Your INBOX is always implicitly included in this
3986 Stay-Open list and doesn't need to be added explicitly.
3987 Another difference that you may notice between a Stay Open
3988 folder and a non-Stay Open folder is which message is selected
3989 as the current message when you enter the folder index.
3990 Normally, the starting position for an incoming folder (which
3991 most Stay Open folders will likely be) is controlled by the
3992 Incoming-Startup-Rule. However, if a folder is a Stay Open
3993 folder, when you re-enter the folder after the first time the
3994 current message will be the same as it was when you left the
3995 folder. An exception is made if you use the TAB command to get
3996 to the folder. In that case, the message number will be
3997 incremented by one from what it was when you left the folder.
3998 The above special behavior is thought to be useful. However, it
3999 is special and different from what you might at first expect.
4000 The feature Use-Regular-Startup-Rule-for-Stayopen-Folders may be
4001 used to turn off this special treatment.
4002 If the message that was current when you left the folder no
4003 longer exists, then the regular startup rule will be used
4004 instead.
4005 This option is displayed as "Stayopen Folders".
4006 _tcp-open-timeout_
4007 Sets the time in seconds that _Alpine_ will attempt to open a
4008 network connection. The default is 30, the minimum is 5, and the
4009 maximum is system defined (typically 75). If a connection has
4010 not completed within this many seconds _Alpine_ will give up and
4011 consider it a failed connection.
4012 _tcp-query-timeout_
4013 When _Alpine_ times out a network read or write it will normally
4014 just display a message saying "Still waiting". However, if
4015 enough time has elapsed since it started waiting it will offer
4016 to let you break the connection. That amount of time is set by
4017 this option, which defaults to 60 seconds, has a minimum of 5
4018 seconds, and a maximum of 1000 seconds.
4019 _tcp-read-warning-timeout_
4020 Sets the time in seconds that _Alpine_ will wait for a network
4021 read before warning you that things are moving slowly and
4022 possibly giving you the option to break the connection. The
4023 default is 15 seconds. The minimum is 5 seconds and the maximumn
4024 is 1000 seconds.
4025 _tcp-write-warning-timeout_
4026 Sets the time in seconds that _Alpine_ will wait for a network
4027 write before warning you that things are moving slowly and
4028 possibly giving you the option to break the connection. The
4029 default is 0 which means it is unset. If set to a non-zero
4030 value, the minimum is 5 and the maximum is 1000.
4031 _threading-display-style_
4032 When a folder is sorted by Threads or OrderedSubject, this
4033 option will affect the MESSAGE INDEX display. By default,
4034 _Alpine_ will display the MESSAGE INDEX in the
4035 "show-thread-structure" style if a folder is sorted by Threads
4036 or OrderedSubject. The possible values are:
4038 _none_
4039 Regular index display. The same index line as would be
4040 displayed without threading is used. The only difference
4041 will be in the order of the messages.
4043 _show-thread-structure_
4044 Threaded Subjects will be indented and vertical bars and
4045 horizontal lines will be added to make it easier to see
4046 the relationships among the messages in a thread (a
4047 conversation).
4049 _mutt-like_
4050 This is the same as the option above except that the
4051 Subject is suppressed (is blank) if it matches the
4052 previous Subject in the thread. The name comes from the
4053 email client Mutt. Here is an example of what a mutt-like
4054 index might look like. In this example, the first column
4055 represents the message number, the threading-index-style
4056 is set to "regular-index-with-expanded-threads", and the
4057 Threading-Lastreply-Character is set to a backslash:
4059 1 Some topic
4060 2 . Subject original message in thread
4061 3 |-> reply to 2
4062 4 . |-> another reply to 2
4063 5 . | \-> reply to 4
4064 6 . | \-> reply to 5
4065 7 | \-> reply to 6
4066 8 |-> another reply to 2
4067 9 . |->New subject another reply to 2 but with a New subject
4068 10 | |-> reply to 9
4069 11 | \-> another reply to 9
4070 12 | \-> reply to 11
4071 13 \-> final reply to 2
4072 14 Next topic
4074 _indent-subject-1_
4075 Threaded Subjects will be indented one space per level of
4076 the conversation. The bars and lines that show up in the
4077 show-thread-structure display will not be there with this
4078 style.
4080 _indent-subject-2_
4081 Same as above but indent two spaces per level instead of
4082 one space.
4084 _indent-from-1_
4085 Similar to indent-subject-1, except that instead of
4086 indenting the Subject field one space the From field of a
4087 thread will be indented one space per level of the
4088 conversation.
4090 _indent-from-2_
4091 Same as above but indent two spaces per level instead of
4092 one space.
4094 _show-structure-in-from_
4095 The structure of the thread is illustrated with indenting,
4096 vertical bars, and horizontal lines just like with the
4097 show-thread-structure option, but the From field is used
4098 to show the relationships instead of the Subject field.
4100 _threading-expanded-character_
4101 The Threading-Expanded-Character option has a small effect on
4102 the MESSAGE INDEX display when using a threading-display-style
4103 other than _none_. The value of this option is a single
4104 character. This character is used to indicate that part of a
4105 thread has been expanded and could be collapsed if desired with
4106 the "/" Collapse/Expand command. By default, the value of this
4107 option is a dot (.).
4108 If this option is set to the Empty Value, then the column (and
4109 the following blank column) will be deleted from the display.
4110 This option is closely related to the
4111 threading-indicator-character option. Another similar option
4112 which affects the thread display is the
4113 threading-lastreply-character option.
4114 _threading-index-style_
4115 When a folder is sorted by Threads or OrderedSubject, this
4116 option will affect the INDEX displays. The possible values are:
4118 _regular-index-with-expanded-threads_
4119 This is the default display. If the configuration option
4120 threading-display-style is set to something other than
4121 "none", then this setting will cause _Alpine_ to start off
4122 with a MESSAGE INDEX with all of the threads expanded.
4123 That is, each message will have a line in the MESSAGE
4124 INDEX display. The Collapse/Expand command (/) may be used
4125 to manually collapse or expand a thread or subthread (see
4126 also slash-collapses-entire-thread).
4128 This setting affects the display when the folder is first
4129 threaded. The collapsed state may also be re-initialized
4130 by re-sorting the folder manually using the SortIndex
4131 command ($). After re-sorting the threads will once again
4132 all be expanded, even if you have previously collapsed
4133 some of them.
4135 If "threading-display-style" is set to "none", then the
4136 display will be the regular default _Alpine_ MESSAGE
4137 INDEX, but sorted in a different order.
4139 _regular-index-with-collapsed-threads_
4140 If the configuration option threading-display-style is set
4141 to something other than "none", then this setting will
4142 cause _Alpine_ to start out with all of the threads
4143 collapsed instead of starting out with all of the threads
4144 expanded. The Collapse/Expand command (/) may be used to
4145 manually collapse or expand a thread or subthread (see
4146 also slash-collapses-entire-thread).
4148 This setting affects the display when the folder is first
4149 threaded. The collapsed state may also be re-initialized
4150 by re-sorting the folder manually using the SortIndex
4151 command ($). After re-sorting the threads will once again
4152 all be collapsed, even if you have previously expanded
4153 some of them.
4155 _separate-index-screen-always_
4156 With this setting and the next, you will see an index of
4157 threads instead of an index of messages, provided you have
4158 sorted by Threads or OrderedSubject.
4160 The THREAD INDEX contains a '*' in the first column if any
4161 message in the thread is marked Important. If not, it
4162 contains a '+' if any message in the thread is to you. The
4163 second column is blank. The third column contains a 'D' if
4164 all of the messages in the thread are deleted. Otherwise,
4165 it contains an 'N' if any of the messages in the thread
4166 are New.
4168 When you view a particular thread from the THREAD INDEX
4169 you will be in the MESSAGE INDEX display but the index
4170 will only contain messages from the thread you are
4171 viewing.
4173 _separate-index-screen-except-for-single-messages_
4174 This is very similar to the option above. When you are in
4175 the THREAD INDEX, one of the available commands is
4176 "ViewThd". With the setting "separate-index-screen-always"
4177 (the option above) when you view a particular thread you
4178 will be in the MESSAGE INDEX display and the index will
4179 only contain messages from the thread you are viewing. If
4180 the thread you are viewing consists of a single message,
4181 the MESSAGE INDEX will be an index with only one message
4182 in it. If you use this
4183 "separate-index-screen-except-for-single-messages" setting
4184 instead, then that index which contains a single message
4185 will be skipped and you will go directly from the THREAD
4186 INDEX into the MESSAGE TEXT screen.
4188 _threading-indicator-character_
4189 The Threading-Indicator-Character option has a small effect on
4190 the MESSAGE INDEX display when using a threading-display-style
4191 other than _none_ and sorting by Threads or OrderedSubject. The
4192 value of this option is a single character. This character is
4193 used to indicate that part of a thread (a conversation) is
4194 hidden beneath a message. The message could be expanded if
4195 desired with the "/" Collapse/Expand command. By default, the
4196 value of this option is the greater than sign (>).
4197 If this option is set to the Empty Value, then the column (and
4198 the following blank column) will be deleted from the display.
4199 This option is closely related to the
4200 threading-expanded-character option. Another similar option
4201 which affects the thread display is the
4202 threading-lastreply-character option.
4203 _threading-lastreply-character_
4204 The Threading-Lastreply-Character option has a small effect on
4205 the MESSAGE INDEX display when using a threading-display-style
4206 of _show-thread-structure_, _mutt-like_, or
4207 _show-structure-in-from_; and sorting by Threads or
4208 OrderedSubject. The value of this option is a single character.
4209 This character is used instead of the vertical line character
4210 when there are no more replies directly to the parent of the
4211 current message. It can be used to "round-off" the bottom of the
4212 vertical line by setting it to a character such as a backslash
4213 (\) or a backquote (`). The default value of this option is the
4214 backslash character (\). This option may not be set to the Empty
4215 Value. In that case, the default will be used instead.
4216 This option is displayed as "Threading Last Reply Character".
4217 _title-background-color_
4218 _title-foreground-color_
4219 Title Color.
4220 _title-closed-background-color_
4221 _title-closed-foreground-color_
4222 Title-closed Color.
4223 _titlebar-color-style_
4224 titlebar-color-style.
4225 _unknown-character-set_
4226 A text message should either be made up of all US-ASCII
4227 characters or it should contain a charset label which tells the
4228 software which character set encoding to use to interpret the
4229 message. Sometimes a malformed message may be unlabeled but
4230 contain non-ascii text. This message is outside of the standards
4231 so any attempt to read it could fail. When _Alpine_ attempts to
4232 read such a message it will try to interpret the text in the
4233 character set you specify here. For example, if you have
4234 correspondents who send you unlabeled messages that are usually
4235 made up of characters from the WINDOWS-1251 character set,
4236 setting this unknown-character-set to WINDOWS-1251 will allow
4237 you to read those messages. Of course, if the unlabeled message
4238 is actually in some other character set, then you may see
4239 garbage on your screen.
4240 In the Setup/Config screen you may choose from a list of all the
4241 character sets _Alpine_ knows about by using the "T" ToCharsets
4242 command.
4243 _upload-command_
4244 This option affects the behavior of the Composer's _^R_ (Read
4245 File) and _^J_ (Attach File, in the header) commands. It
4246 specifies a Unix program name, and any necessary command line
4247 arguments, that _Alpine_ can use to transfer files from your
4248 personal computer into messages that you are composing.
4249 _upload-command-prefix_
4250 This option is used in conjunction with the _upload-command_
4251 option. It defines text to be written to the terminal emulator
4252 (via standard output) immediately prior to starting the upload
4253 command. This is useful for integrated serial line file transfer
4254 agents that permit command passing (e.g., Kermit's APC method).
4255 _url-viewers_
4256 List of programs to use to open Internet URLs. This value
4257 affects _Alpine_'s handling of URLs that are found in the text
4258 of messages you read. Normally, only URLs _Alpine_ can handle
4259 directly are automatically offered for selection in the "Message
4260 Text" screen. When one or more comma delimited Web browsers
4261 capable of deciphering URLs on their command line are added
4262 here, _Alpine_ will choose the first available browser to
4263 display URLs it doesn't recognize.
4264 Additionally, to support various connection methods and
4265 browsers, each entry in this list can begin with the special
4266 token _TEST(test-string)_. The test-string is a shell command
4267 that _Alpine_ will run and which must exit with a status of zero
4268 for _Alpine_ to consider that browser for use (the other
4269 criteria is that the browser must exist as a full path or a path
4270 relative to your home directory).
4271 Now for an example:
4273 url-viewers=_TEST("test -n '${DISPLAY}'")_ /usr/local/bin/netscape,
4274 /usr/local/bin/lynx, C:\BIN\NETSCAPE.BAT
4275 This example shows that for the first browser in the list to be
4276 used the environment variable DISPLAY must be defined. If it is,
4277 then the file /usr/local/bin/netscape must exist. If either
4278 condition is not met, then the file /usr/local/bin/lynx must
4279 exist. If it doesn't, then the final path and file must exist.
4280 Note that the last entry is a DOS/Windows path. This is one way
4281 to support _Alpine_ running on more than one architecture with
4282 the same configuration file.
4283 _use-only-domain-name_
4284 Can be set to _yes_ or _no._ Anything but _yes_ means _no._ If
4285 set to _yes_ the first label in the host name will be lopped off
4286 to get the domain name and the domain name will be used for
4287 outgoing mail and such. That is, if the host name is
4288 _carson.u.example.edu_ and this variable is set to _yes,_ then
4289 _u.example.edu_ will be used on outgoing mail. Only meaningful if
4290 user-domain is NOT set.
4291 _user-domain_
4292 Sets the domain or host name for the user, overriding the system
4293 host or domain name. See the domain name section. The easiest
4294 way to change the full From address is with the customized-hdrs
4295 variable.
4296 _user-id_
4297 _PC-Alpine_ only and personal configuration file only. Sets the
4298 username that is placed on all outgoing messages. The username
4299 is the part of the address that comes before the "@". The
4300 easiest way to change the full From address is with the
4301 customized-hdrs variable.
4302 _user-input-timeout_
4303 If this is set to an integer greater than zero, then this is the
4304 number of _hours_ to wait for user input before _Alpine_ times
4305 out. If _Alpine_ is in the midst of composing a message or is
4306 waiting for user response to a question, then it will not
4307 timeout. However, if _Alpine_ is sitting idle waiting for the
4308 user to tell it what to do next and the user does not give any
4309 input for this many hours, _Alpine_ will exit. No expunging or
4310 moving of read messages will take place. It will exit similarly
4311 to the way it would exit if it received a hangup signal. This
4312 may be useful for cleaning up unused _Alpine_ sessions which
4313 have been forgotten by their owners. The _Alpine_ developers
4314 envision system administrators setting this to a value of
4315 several hours (24?) so that it won't surprise a user who didn't
4316 want to be disconnected.
4317 _viewer-hdr-colors_
4318 This variable holds the optional Header Colors and patterns
4319 which have been defined by the user. This is usually modified by
4320 using the Header Colors section of the Setup Color screen.
4321 _viewer-hdrs_
4322 You may change the default list of headers that are viewed by
4323 listing the headers you want to view here. If the headers in
4324 your _viewer-hdrs_ list are present in the message, then they
4325 will be shown. The order of the headers you list will also be
4326 honored. If the special value _all-except_ is included as the
4327 first header in the _viewer-hdrs_ list, then all headers in the
4328 message except those in the list will be shown. The values are
4329 all case insensitive.
4330 This option is displayed as "Viewer Headers".
4331 _viewer-margin-left_
4332 This variable controls the left-hand vertical margin's width in
4333 _Alpine_'s Message Viewing screen. Its value is the number of
4334 space characters preceding each displayed line. For consistency
4335 with Viewer-Margin-Right, you may specify the column number to
4336 start in (column numbering begins with number 1) instead of the
4337 width of the margin by appending a lower case letter "c" to the
4338 number. For example, a value of "2c" means to start the text in
4339 column two, which is entirely equivalent to a value of "1",
4340 which means to leave a margin of 1 space.
4341 The default is a left margin of 0 (zero). Misconfigurations (for
4342 example, negative values or values with starting left columns
4343 greater than the ending right column) are silently ignored. If
4344 the number of columns for text between the Viewer-Margin-Left
4345 and the Viewer-Margin-Right is fewer than 8, then margins of
4346 zero will be used instead.
4347 _viewer-margin-right_
4348 This variable controls the right-hand vertical margin's width in
4349 _Alpine_'s Message Viewing screen. Its value is the number of
4350 space characters following each displayed line. You may specify
4351 the column number to end the text in (column numbering begins
4352 with number 1) instead of the width of the margin by appending a
4353 lower case letter "c" to the number. For example, a value of
4354 "76c" means to end the text in column 76. If the screen is 80
4355 characters wide, this is equivalent to a value of "4", which
4356 means to leave a margin of 4 spaces. However, if you use
4357 different size screens at different times, then these two values
4358 are not equivalent.
4359 The default right margin is 4. Misconfigurations (for example,
4360 negative values or values with starting left columns greater
4361 than the ending right column) are silently ignored. If the
4362 number of columns for text between the Viewer-Margin-Left and
4363 the Viewer-Margin-Right is fewer than 8, then margins of zero
4364 will be used instead.
4365 _viewer-overlap_
4366 This option specifies an aspect of _Alpine_'s Message Viewing
4367 screen. When the space bar is used to page forward in a message,
4368 the number of lines specified by the _viewer-overlap_ variable
4369 will be repeated from the bottom of the screen. That is, if this
4370 was set to two lines, then the bottom two lines of the screen
4371 would be repeated on the top of the next screen. The normal
4372 default value is "2".
4373 _window-position_
4374 Winsock version of _PC-Alpine_ only. Window position in the
4375 format: CxR+X+Yn Where C and R are the window size in characters
4376 and X and Y are the screen position of the top left corner of
4377 the window.
4378 __________________________________________________________________
4380 Configuration Features
4382 There are several features (options) which may be turned off or on. The
4383 configuration variable feature-list is a list of all the features that
4384 are turned on or off. If the name of a feature is in the list it will
4385 be turned on. If the name of a feature with the characters no-
4386 prepended is in the list, it will turn the feature off. This is useful
4387 for overriding system-wide defaults. This is because, unlike all the
4388 other configuration variables, the _feature-list_ is additive. That is,
4389 first the system-wide _feature-list_ is read and then the user's
4390 _feature-list_ is read. This makes it possible for the system manager to
4391 turn some of the features on by default while still allowing the user
4392 to cancel that default. For example, if the system manager has turned
4393 on the _allow-talk_ feature by default then a user may turn it back off
4394 by including the feature _no-allow-talk_ in his or her personal
4395 configuration file. Of course, these details are usually handled by
4396 _Alpine_ when the user turns an option on or off from inside the
4397 _Setup/Config_ screen.
4399 System managers should take some care when turning on features by
4400 default. Some of the documentation assumes that all of the features are
4401 off by default, so it could be confusing for a user if some are on by
4402 default instead. Feature names are case-independent.
4404 Here is an alphabetical list of possible features.
4405 _allow-changing-from_
4406 Prior to _Pine_ 4.00 there was a _compile_-time option called
4407 ALLOW_CHANGING_FROM. That has been replaced by a _runtime_
4408 feature. If this feature is turned on then the From line can be
4409 changed just like all the other header fields that can be
4410 changed. See the configuration variables customized-hdrs and
4411 default-composer-hdrs for more information on editing headers.
4412 The default value for this feature is ON, so that editing of
4413 From headers is allowed by default.
4414 _allow-talk_
4415 Unix _Alpine_ only. By default, permission for others to _talk_
4416 to your terminal is turned off when you are running _Alpine_.
4417 When this feature is set, permission is instead turned on.
4418 Note: The _talk_ program has nothing to do with _Alpine_ or
4419 email. The _talk_ daemon on your system will attempt to print a
4420 message on your screen when someone else is trying to contact
4421 you. If you wish to see these messages while you are running
4422 _Alpine_, you should enable this feature.
4423 If you do enable this feature and see a _talk_ message, you must
4424 suspend or quit _Alpine_ before you can respond.
4425 _alternate-compose-menu_
4426 This feature controls the menu that is displayed when Compose is
4427 selected. If set, a list of options will be presented, with each
4428 option representing the type of composition that could be used.
4429 This feature is most useful for users who want to avoid being
4430 prompted with each option separately, or who want to avoid the
4431 checking of remote postponed or form letter folders. The
4432 possible types of composition are:
4433 New, for starting a new composition. Note that if New is
4434 selected and roles are set, roles are checked for matches and
4435 applied according to the setting of the matching role.
4436 Interrupted, for continuing an interrupted composition. This
4437 option is only offered if an interrupted message folder is
4438 detected.
4439 Postponed, for continuing postponed compositions. This option is
4440 offered if a postponed-folder is set in the config _REGARDLESS
4441 OF_ whether or not the postponed folder actually exists. This
4442 option is especially handy for avoiding having to check for the
4443 existence of a remote postponed folder.
4444 Form, for using form letters. This option is offered if the
4445 form-letter-folder is set in the config, and is not checked for
4446 existence for reasons similar to those explained by the
4447 postponed option.
4448 setRole, for selecting a role to apply to a composition.
4449 _alternate-role-menu_
4450 Normally the Role Command allows you to choose a role and
4451 compose a new message using that role. When this feature is set,
4452 the role command will first ask whether you want to Compose a
4453 new message, Forward the current message, Reply to the current
4454 message, or Bounce the current message. If you are not in the
4455 MESSAGE INDEX and are not viewing a message, then there is no
4456 current message and the question will be skipped. After you have
4457 chosen to Compose, Forward, Reply or Bounce you will then choose
4458 the role to be used.
4459 When Bouncing the "Set From" address is used for the Resent-From
4460 header, the "Set Fcc" value is used for the Fcc provided that
4461 the option "Fcc-On-Bounce" is turned on, and the "Use SMTP
4462 Server" value is used for the SMTP server, if set. Other actions
4463 of the role are ignored when Bouncing.
4464 This feature is displayed as "Alternate Role (#) Menu".
4465 _assume-slow-link_
4466 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
4467 This feature affects _Alpine_'s display routines. If set, the
4468 normal inverse-video cursor (used to highlight the current item
4469 in a list) will be replaced by an _arrow_ cursor and other
4470 screen update optimizations for low-speed links (e.g. 2400 bps
4471 dialup connections) will be activated. One of the optimizations
4472 is that colored index lines (set up with Indexcolor Rules) will
4473 not be colored. This might be useful if _you_ know you have a
4474 slow speed link but for some reason _Alpine_ doesn't know.
4475 _auto-move-read-msgs_
4476 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s behavior upon
4477 quitting. If set, and the read-message-folder variable is also
4478 set, then _Alpine_ will automatically transfer all read messages
4479 from the _INBOX_ to the designated folder and mark them as
4480 deleted in the _INBOX_. Messages in the _INBOX_ marked with an
4481 _N_ (meaning New, or unseen) are not affected.
4482 This feature is displayed as "Auto Move Read Messages".
4483 _auto-open-next-unread_
4484 This feature controls the behavior of the TAB key when
4485 traversing folders in the optional incoming-folders collection
4486 or in optional news-collections.
4487 When the TAB (Next New) key is pressed, and there are no more
4488 unseen messages in the current (incoming message or news)
4489 folder, _Alpine_ will search the list of folders in the current
4490 collection for one containing New or Recent (new since the last
4491 time the folder was opened) messages. This behavior may be
4492 modified slightly with the Tab-Uses-Unseen-For-Next-Folder
4493 feature which causes _Alpine_ to look for Unseen messages
4494 instead of Recent messages. By default, when such a folder is
4495 found, _Alpine_ will ask whether you wish to open the folder. If
4496 this feature is set, _Alpine_ will automatically open the folder
4497 without prompting.
4498 _auto-unselect-after-apply_
4499 This feature affects the behavior of the Apply command. If set,
4500 the Apply command will do the operation you specify, but then
4501 will implicitly do an "UnSelect All", so that you will
4502 automatically be back in the normal Index view after the Apply.
4503 _auto-unzoom-after-apply_
4504 If set, and if you are currently looking at a Zoomed Index view
4505 of selected messages, the _Apply_ command will do the operation
4506 you specify, but then will implicitly do an _UnZoom_, so that
4507 you will automatically be back in the normal Index view after
4508 the _Apply_. This feature is set by default.
4509 _auto-zoom-after-select_
4510 If set, the _; select_ command will automatically perform a
4511 _Zoom_ after the _select_ is complete. This feature is set by
4512 default.
4513 _busy-cue-spinner-only_
4514 When _Alpine_ is delayed for some reason it usually shows that
4515 something is happening with a small animated display in the
4516 status message line near the bottom of the screen. Setting this
4517 feature will cause that animation to be the same each time
4518 instead of having _Alpine_ choose a random animation. You may
4519 turn the animation off altogether by setting the busy-cue-rate
4520 option to zero.
4521 _check-newmail-when-quitting_
4522 If set, _Alpine_ will check for new mail after you give the Quit
4523 command. If new mail has arrived since the previous check, you
4524 will be notified and given the choice of quitting or not
4525 quitting.
4526 _combined-addrbook-display_
4527 This feature affects the address book display screens. Normally,
4528 expanding an address book from the ADDRESS BOOK LIST screen will
4529 cause the remaining address books and directory servers to
4530 disappear from the screen, leaving only the entries of the
4531 expanded address book. If this feature is set, then the other
4532 address books will remain on the screen, so that all of the
4533 address books can be present at once.
4534 The way that commands work won't be changed. For example, the
4535 Select All command will select all of the entries in the current
4536 address book, not all of the entries in all of the address
4537 books. The WhereIs command will change a little. It will search
4538 through all of the text on the screen plus all of the entries
4539 from expanded address books.
4540 When this feature is set, the setting of the feature
4541 expanded-view-of-addressbooks has an effect.
4542 This feature is displayed as "Combined Addressbook Display".
4543 _combined-folder-display_
4544 This feature affects the folder list display screens. Normally,
4545 each folder list is viewed within its collection only. This
4546 command allows folder lists to be viewed within a single screen
4547 that combines the contents of all collections.
4548 The way that commands work won't be changed. For example, the
4549 Select All command will select all of the folders in the current
4550 collection, not all of the entries in all of the collections.
4551 The WhereIs command will change a little. It will search through
4552 all of the folders in the current collection as well as all the
4553 folder in any other expanded collection.
4554 When this feature is set, the setting of the feature
4555 expanded-view-of-folders has an effect.
4556 _combined-subdirectory-display_
4557 This feature affects the Folder List screen when the
4558 combined-folder-display feature is enabled. Normally, selecting
4559 a directory from the Folder List takes you into a new screen
4560 displaying only the contents of that directory.
4561 Enabling this feature will cause the contents of the selected
4562 directory to be displayed within the boundaries of the
4563 Collection it is a part of. All previously displayed collections
4564 will remain in the screen.
4565 The way that commands work won't be changed. For example, the
4566 Select All command will select all of the folders in the
4567 directory, as opposed to all of the entries in all of the
4568 collections. The WhereIs command will change a little. It will
4569 search through all of the folders in the current collection as
4570 well as all the folder in any other expanded collection.
4571 _compose-cancel-confirm-uses-yes_
4572 This feature affects what happens when you type ^C to cancel a
4573 composition. By default, if you attempt to cancel a composition
4574 by typing ^C, you will be asked to confirm the cancellation by
4575 typing a "C" for _C_onfirm. It logically ought to be a "Y" for
4576 _Y_es, but that is risky because the "^C Y" needed to cancel a
4577 message is close (on the keyboard) to the "^X Y" needed to send
4578 a message.
4579 If this feature is set the confirmation asked for will be a
4580 "_Y_es" instead of a "_C_onfirm" response.
4581 _compose-cut-from-cursor_
4582 If set, the _^K_ command in the composer will cut from the
4583 current cursor position to the end of the line, rather than
4584 cutting the entire line.
4585 This feature is displayed as "Ctrl-K Cuts From Cursor".
4586 _compose-maps-delete-key-to-ctrl-d_
4587 If set, Delete will be equivalent to ^D, and delete the current
4588 character. Normally _Alpine_ defines the Delete key to be
4589 equivalent to ^H, which deletes the _previous_ character.
4590 This feature is displayed as "Delete Key Maps to Ctrl-D".
4591 _compose-rejects-unqualified-addrs_
4592 If set, unqualified names entered as addresses will be treated
4593 as errors unless they match an addressbook nickname or are
4594 looked up successfully on an LDAP server. _Alpine_ will not
4595 attempt to turn them into complete addresses by adding your
4596 local domain (which _Alpine_ normally does by default).
4597 A complete (fully-qualified) address is one containing a
4598 username followed by an _@_ symbol, followed by a host or domain
4599 name (e.g. _jsmith@example.com_). An unqualified name is one
4600 without the _@_ symbol and host or domain name (e.g. _jsmith_).
4601 This feature is displayed as "Compose Rejects Unqualified
4602 Addresses".
4603 _compose-send-offers-first-filter_
4604 If you have sending-filters configured, setting this feature
4605 will cause the first filter in the _sending-filters_ list to be
4606 offered as the default instead of _unfiltered_, the usual
4607 default.
4608 _compose-sets-newsgroup-without-confirm_
4609 If you enter the composer while reading a newsgroup, you will
4610 normally be prompted to determine whether you intend the new
4611 message to be posted to the current newsgroup or not. If this
4612 feature is set, _Alpine_ will not prompt you in this situation,
4613 and will assume that you do indeed wish to post to the newsgroup
4614 you are reading.
4615 This feature is displayed as "Compose Sets Newsgroup Without
4616 Confirming".
4617 _confirm-role-even-for-default_
4618 If you have roles, when you Reply to or Forward a message, or
4619 Compose a new message, _Alpine_ will search through your roles
4620 for one which matches. Normally, if no matches are found you
4621 will be placed into the composer with no opportunity to select a
4622 role. If this feature is set, then you will be asked to confirm
4623 that you don't want a role. This will give you the opportunity
4624 to select a role (with the ^T command). If you confirm no role
4625 with a Return, you will be placed in the composer with no role.
4626 You may also confirm with either an "N" or a "Y". These behave
4627 the same as if you pressed the Return. (The "N" and "Y" answers
4628 are available because they match what you might type if there
4629 was a role match.)
4630 If you are using the alternate form of the Compose command
4631 called "Role", then all of your roles will be available to you,
4632 independent of the value of this feature and of the values set
4633 for all of Reply Use, Forward Use, and Compose Use.
4634 _continue-tab-without-confirm_
4635 Normally, when you use the TAB NextNew command and there is a
4636 problem checking a folder, you are asked whether you want to
4637 continue with the search in the following folder or not. This
4638 gives you a chance to stop the NextNew processing.
4639 If this feature is set you will not be asked. It will be assumed
4640 that you want to continue.
4641 This feature is displayed as "Continue NextNew Without
4642 Confirming".
4643 _convert-dates-to-localtime_
4644 Normally, the message dates that you see in the MESSAGE INDEX
4645 and MESSAGE VIEW are displayed in the timezone they were sent
4646 from. For example, if a message was sent to you from a few
4647 timezones to the east it might appear that it was sent from the
4648 future; or if it was sent from somewhere to the west it might
4649 appear as if it is from yesterday even though it was sent only a
4650 few minutes ago. If this feature is set an attempt will be made
4651 to convert the dates to your local timezone to be displayed.
4652 Note that this does not affect the results of Select by Date or
4653 of anything else other than these displayed dates. When viewing
4654 the message you may look at the original unconverted value of
4655 the Date header by using the HdrMode Command.
4656 _copy-to-address-to-from-if-it-is-us_
4657 This feature affects the From address used when Replying to a
4658 message. It is probably only useful if you have some
4659 alt-addresses defined. When enabled, it checks to see if any of
4660 the addresses in the To or Cc fields of the message you are
4661 replying to is one of your addresses. If it is, and there is
4662 only one of them, then that address is used as the From address
4663 in the message you are composing. In other words, you will be
4664 using a From address that is the same as the To address that was
4665 used to get the mail to you in the first place.
4666 If a role is being used and it has a From address defined, that
4667 From address will be used rather than the one derived from this
4668 feature.
4669 _delete-skips-deleted_
4670 If set, this feature will cause the _Delete_ command to advance
4671 past other messages that are marked deleted. In other words,
4672 pressing _D_ will both mark the current message deleted and
4673 advance to the next message that is not marked deleted. This
4674 feature is set by default.
4675 _disable-config-cmd_
4676 If set, the configuration screen _Setup/Config_ will not be
4677 available at all.
4678 _disable-save-input-history_
4679 Many of the prompts that ask for input in the status line near
4680 the bottom of the screen will respond to Up Arrow and Down Arrow
4681 with the history of previous entries. For example, in the
4682 MESSAGE INDEX screen when you use the WhereIs command the text
4683 you entered will be remembered and can be recalled by using the
4684 Up Arrow key. Another example, when saving a message the folders
4685 saved to will be remembered and can be recalled using the arrow
4686 keys.
4687 In the Save prompt, some users prefer that the Up and Down arrow
4688 keys be used for the Previous Collection and Next Collection
4689 commands instead of for a history of previous saves. If this
4690 option is set the Up and Down arrow keys will become synonyms
4691 for the Previous Collection and Next Collection (^P and ^N)
4692 commands in the prompt for the name of a folder to Save to or in
4693 the prompt for the name of a folder to GoTo. When this feature
4694 is not set (the default), ^P and ^N will change the collection
4695 and the arrow keys will show the history.
4696 _disable-keyboard-lock-cmd_
4697 In the Main _Alpine_ menu there is a Keyboard locking command
4698 (_KBLock_). If this feature is set, that command won't be
4699 available to the user.
4700 _disable-keymenu_
4701 If set, the command key menu that normally appears on the bottom
4702 two lines of the screen will not usually be there. Asking for
4703 help with _^G_ or _?_ will cause the key menu to appear instead
4704 of causing the help message to come up. If you want to actually
4705 see the help text, another _^G_ or _?_ will show it to you.
4706 After the key menu has popped up with the help key it will
4707 remain there for an _O Other_ command but will disappear if any
4708 other command is typed.
4709 _disable-password-caching_
4710 Normally, loginname/password combinations are cached in _Alpine_
4711 so that the user does not have to enter the same password more
4712 than once in a session. A disadvantage to this approach is that
4713 the password must be stored in the memory image of the running
4714 _Alpine_ in order that it can be reused. In the event that
4715 _Alpine_ crashes and produces a core dump, and that core dump is
4716 readable by others, the loginname and password could possibly be
4717 read from the core dump.
4718 If this feature is set, then the passwords will not be cached
4719 and the user will have to retype the password whenever _Alpine_
4720 needs it. Even with this feature set there is still some chance
4721 that the core file will contain a password, so care should be
4722 taken to make the core files unreadable.
4723 NOTE: If PASSFILE caching is enabled, this does not disable it.
4724 That is a separate and independent feature.
4725 _disable-password-cmd_
4726 If set the _Newpassword_ command usually available under the
4727 _Setup_ command will not be available.
4728 _disable-pipes-in-sigs_
4729 If set it will be an error to append a vertical bar (|) to the
4730 name of a signature file. Appending a vertical bar normally
4731 causes the signature file to be executed to produce the
4732 signature.
4733 _disable-pipes-in-templates_
4734 If set it will be an error to append a vertical bar (|) to the
4735 name of a template file. Appending a vertical bar normally
4736 causes the signature file to be executed to produce the
4737 signature.
4738 _disable-regular-expression-matching-for-alternate-addresses_
4739 Normally, the alt-addresses option is interpreted as a regular
4740 expression. One type of address that might cause trouble is an
4741 address that contains a plus sign. If you want to have an
4742 address with a plus as one of your alternate addresses and you
4743 don't want to use regular expressions, then setting this feature
4744 will cause _Alpine_ to treat the addresses you list literally
4745 instead.
4746 _disable-roles-setup-cmd_
4747 If set the _Roles_ command usually available under the _Setup_
4748 command will not be available.
4749 _disable-roles-sig-edit_
4750 If set the roles editor in the _Setup/Roles_ command will not
4751 allow editing of signature files with the F subcommand.
4752 _disable-roles-template-edit_
4753 If set the roles editor in the _Setup/Roles_ command will not
4754 allow editing of template files with the F subcommand.
4755 _disable-sender_
4756 If set, _Alpine_ will not generate a "Sender:" or "X-X-Sender"
4757 header. This may be desirable on a system which is virtually
4758 hosting many domains, and the sysadmin has other methods
4759 available for tracking a message to its originator.
4760 This feature is displayed as "Do Not Generate Sender Header".
4761 _disable-setlocale-collate_
4762 This is a hard to understand feature that should only be used in
4763 rare cases. Normally, the C function call
4765 setlocale(LC_COLLATE, "")
4766 is used by _Alpine_. If you want to try turning it off, setting
4767 this feature will turn it off. This part of the locale has to do
4768 with the sort order of characters in your locale.
4769 _disable-shared-namespaces_
4770 If this hidden feature is set the automatic search for
4771 namespaces "ftp", "imapshared", and "imappublic" by the
4772 underlying library will be disabled. The reason this feature
4773 exists is because there are some implementations of system
4774 password lookup routines which are very slow when presented with
4775 a long loginname which does not exist. This feature could be set
4776 to prevent the delay at startup time when the names above are
4777 searched for in the password file.
4778 _disable-signature-edit-cmd_
4779 If set the _Signature_ editing command usually available under
4780 the _Setup_ command will not be available.
4781 _disable-take-fullname-in-addresses_
4782 Normally, when TakeAddr is used to copy an address or addresses
4783 from a message into an address book entry, _Alpine_ will try to
4784 preserve the full name associated with each address in the list
4785 of addresses. The reason for this is so that if the entry is a
4786 list or later becomes a list, then information about the
4787 individual addresses in the list is preserved. If you would
4788 rather just have the simple addresses in the list of addresses,
4789 set this feature. For example, with the default setting you
4790 might see something like this in the ADDRESS BOOK editor after
4791 you type TakeAddr
4792 Nickname : nick
4793 Fullname : Bedrock Elders
4794 Fcc :
4795 Comment :
4796 Addresses : Fred Flintstone <flint@bedrock.org>,
4797 Barney Rubble <rubble@bedrock.org>
4799 but with this feature set it would look like
4800 Nickname : nick
4801 Fullname : Bedrock Elders
4802 Fcc :
4803 Comment :
4804 Addresses : flint@bedrock.org,
4805 rubble@bedrock.org
4807 instead. Note the difference in the Addresses field.
4808 _disable-take-last-comma-first_
4809 Normally, when _TakeAddr_ is used to copy an address from a
4810 message into an address book, _Alpine_ will attempt to rewrite
4811 the full name of the address in the form:
4813 Last, First
4814 instead of
4816 First Last
4817 It does this because many people find it useful to sort by Last
4818 name instead of First name. If this feature is set, then the
4819 _TakeAddr_ command will not attempt to reverse the name in this
4820 manner.
4821 _disable-terminal-reset-for-display-filters_
4822 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
4823 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when using
4824 Display-Filters. Normally, before the display filter is run, the
4825 terminal mode is reset to what it was before you started
4826 _Alpine_. This may be necessary if the filter requires the use of
4827 the terminal. For example, it may need to interact with you. If
4828 you set this feature, then the terminal mode will not be reset.
4829 One thing that turning on this feature should fix is the
4830 coloring of quoted text in the message view, which breaks
4831 because the terminal reset resets the color state of the
4832 terminal (Color Configuration).
4833 _downgrade-multipart-to-text_
4834 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when sending mail.
4835 Internet standards require _Alpine_ to translate all non-ASCII
4836 characters in messages that it sends using MIME encoding. This
4837 encoding can be ostensibly broken for recipients if any agent
4838 between _Alpine_ and the recipient, such as an email list
4839 expander, appends text to the message, such as list information
4840 or advertising. When sending such messages _Alpine_ attempts to
4841 protect such encoding by placing extra MIME boundaries around
4842 the message text.
4843 These extra boundaries are invisible to recipients that use
4844 MIME-aware email programs (the vast majority). However, if you
4845 correspond with users of email programs that are not MIME-aware,
4846 or do not handle the extra boundaries gracefully, you can use
4847 this feature to prevent _Alpine_ from including the extra MIME
4848 information. Of course, it will increase the likelihood that
4849 non-ASCII text you send may appear corrupt to the recipient.
4850 _enable-8bit-esmtp-negotiation_
4851 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when sending mail. By
4852 default, this feature is set. Internet standards require that
4853 all electronic mail messages traversing the global Internet
4854 consist of 7bit ASCII characters unless a pair of cooperating
4855 mail transfer agents explicitly agree to allow 8bit messages. In
4856 general, then, exchanging messages in non-ASCII characters
4857 requires MIME encoding.
4858 However, there are now Internet standards that allow for
4859 unencoded 8bit exchange of messages between cooperating systems.
4860 When this feature is set _Alpine_ will try to negotiate
4861 unencoded 8bit transmission during the sending process. Should
4862 the negotiation fail, _Alpine_ will fall back to its ordinary
4863 encoding rules.
4864 Note, this feature relies on your system's mail transport agent
4865 or configured smtp-server having the negotiation mechanism
4866 introduced in "Extended SMTP" (ESMTP) and the specific extension
4867 called _8BITMIME_.
4868 _enable-8bit-nntp-posting_
4869 The Internet standard for exchanging USENET news messages
4870 (RFC-1036) specifies that USENET messages should conform to
4871 Internet mail standards and contain only 7bit characters, but
4872 much of the news transport software in use today is capable of
4873 successfully sending messages containing 8bit characters. Hence,
4874 many people believe that it is appropriate to send 8bit news
4875 messages without any MIME encoding.
4876 Moreover, there is no Internet standard for explicitly
4877 negotiating 8bit transfer, as there is for Internet email.
4878 Therefore, _Alpine_ provides the option of posting unencoded
4879 8bit news messages, though not as the default. Setting this
4880 feature will turn OFF _Alpine_'s MIME encoding of newsgroup
4881 postings that contain 8bit characters.
4882 Note, articles may cross a path or pass through news transport
4883 software that is unsafe or even hostile to 8bit characters. At
4884 best this will only cause the posting to become garbled. The
4885 safest way to transmit 8bit characters is to leave _Alpine_'s
4886 MIME encoding turned on, but recipients who lack MIME-aware
4887 tools are often annoyed when they receive MIME-encoded messages.
4888 _enable-aggregate-command-set_
4889 When this feature is set you may use the commands and
4890 subcommands that relate to performing operations on more than
4891 one message at a time. We call these "aggregate operations". In
4892 particular, the _; Select_, _A Apply_, and _Z Zoom_ commands are
4893 enabled by this feature. _Select_ is used to _tag_ one or more
4894 messages meeting the specified criteria. _Apply_ can then be
4895 used to apply any message command to all of the selected/tagged
4896 messages. Further, the _Zoom_ command allows you to toggle the
4897 "Folder Index" view between just those Selected and all messages
4898 in the folder.
4899 This feature also enables the _^X_ subcommand in the "Folder
4900 Index" _WhereIs_ command which causes all messages matching the
4901 _WhereIs_ argument to become selected.
4902 You may also use aggregate operations in the address book
4903 screens where you are operating on address book entries instead
4904 of on messages.
4905 _enable-alternate-editor-cmd_
4906 If this feature is set (the default), and the editor variable is
4907 not set, entering the _^__ (Control-underscore) key while
4908 composing a message will prompt you for the name of the editor
4909 you would like to use.
4910 If the environment variable $EDITOR is set, this value will be
4911 offered as a default. If the _editor_ variable is set, the _^__
4912 key will activate the specified editor without prompting, in
4913 which case it is not necessary to set the
4914 _enable-alternate-editor-cmd_ feature. This feature is not
4915 available in _PC-Alpine_.
4916 This feature is displayed as "Enable Alternate Editor Command".
4917 _enable-alternate-editor-implicitly_
4918 If this feature and the editor variable are both set, _Alpine_
4919 will automatically activate the specified editor when the cursor
4920 is moved from the header of the message being composed into the
4921 message text. For replies, the alternate editor will be
4922 activated immediately. If this feature is set but the _editor_
4923 variable is not set, then _Alpine_ will automatically ask for
4924 the name of an alternate editor when the cursor is moved out of
4925 the headers, or if a reply is being done. This feature is not
4926 available in _PC-Alpine_.
4927 _enable-arrow-navigation_
4928 This feature controls the behavior of the left and right arrow
4929 keys. If set, the left and right arrow keys will operate like
4930 the usual navigation keys _<_ and _>_. This feature is set by
4931 default.
4932 If you set this feature, and do not like the changed behavior of
4933 the up/down arrow keys when navigating through the FOLDER LIST
4934 screen -- _first_ from column to column, if more than one folder
4935 is displayed per row, and _then_ from row to row -- you may
4936 either also wish to set the feature
4937 enable-arrow-navigation-relaxed, single-column-folder-list, or
4938 use the ^P/^N (instead of up/down arrow) keys to move up/down
4939 the list of folders in each column.
4940 _enable-arrow-navigation-relaxed_
4941 This feature controls the behavior of the left and right arrow
4942 keys in the FOLDER LIST screen when the enable-arrow-navigation
4943 feature is set. This feature is set by default.
4944 When this feature is set, the left and right arrow keys in the
4945 FOLDER LIST screen move the highlight bar to the left or right,
4946 and the up and down arrows move it up or down.
4947 When the "Enable-Arrow-Navigation" feature is set and this
4948 feature is not set; the left and right arrow keys in the Folder
4949 List screen strictly track the commands bound to the '<' and '>'
4950 keys, and the up and down arrow keys move the highlight bar to
4951 the previous and next folder or directory name.
4952 _enable-background-sending_
4953 If set, this feature enables a subcommand in the composer's
4954 _Send?_ confirmation prompt. The subcommand allows you to tell
4955 _Alpine_ to handle the actual posting in the background. While
4956 this feature usually allows posting to appear to happen very
4957 fast, it has no affect on the actual delivery time it takes a
4958 message to arrive at its destination.
4959 This feature isn't supported on all systems. All DOS and
4960 Windows, as well as several Unix ports, do not recognize this
4961 feature. It is not possible to use background sending if the
4962 feature send-without-confirm is set.
4963 Error handling is significantly different when this feature is
4964 enabled. Any message posting failure results in the message
4965 being appended to your _Interrupted_ mail folder. When you type
4966 the _Compose_ command, _Alpine_ will notice this folder and
4967 offer to extract any messages contained. Upon continuing a
4968 failed message, _Alpine_ will display the nature of the failure
4969 in the status message line.
4970 Under extreme conditions, it is possible for message data to get
4971 lost. Do not enable this feature if you typically run close to
4972 any sort of disk-space limits or quotas.
4973 _enable-bounce-cmd_
4974 Setting this feature enables the _B Bounce_ command, which will
4975 prompt for an address and _remail_ the message to the new
4976 recipient. This command is used to re-direct messages that you
4977 have received in error, or need to be redirected for some other
4978 reason (e.g. list moderation). The final recipient will see a
4979 header indicating that you have Resent the msg, but the
4980 message's From: header will show the original author of the
4981 message, and replies to it will go back to that author, and not
4982 to you.
4983 This feature is displayed as "Enable Bounce Command".
4984 _enable-cruise-mode_
4985 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when you hit the "Space
4986 Bar" at the end of a displayed message. Typically, _Alpine_
4987 complains that the end of the text has already been reached.
4988 Setting this feature causes such keystrokes to be interpreted as
4989 if the _Tab_ key had been hit, thus taking you to the next
4990 _interesting_ message, or scanning ahead to the next incoming
4991 folder with _interesting_ messages.
4992 _enable-cruise-mode-delete_
4993 This feature modifies the behavior of _Alpine_'s
4994 _enable-cruise-mode_ feature. Setting this feature causes _Alpine_
4995 to implicitly delete read messages when it moves on to display
4996 the next _interesting_ message.
4997 NOTE: Beware when enabling this feature _and_ the
4998 expunge-without-confirm feature.
4999 This feature is displayed as "Enable Cruise Mode With Deleting".
5000 _enable-delivery-status-notification_
5001 If set, this feature enables a subcommand in the composer's
5002 "Send?" confirmation prompt. The subcommand allows you to tell
5003 _Alpine_ to request the type of Delivery Status Notification
5004 (DSN) which you would like. Most users will be happy with the
5005 default, and need not enable this feature. See the online help
5006 for more details.
5007 It is not possible to use delivery status notifications if the
5008 feature send-without-confirm is set.
5009 Note that this is not a method to request _READ_ receipts, which
5010 tells the sender when the receiver has read the message. In this
5011 case we're talking about notification of delivery to the
5012 mailbox, not notification that the message has been seen.
5013 _enable-dot-files_
5014 If set, files beginning with dot (".") will be visible in the
5015 file browser. For example, you'll be able to select them when
5016 using the browser to add an attachment to a message.
5017 _enable-dot-folders_
5018 If set, folders beginning with dot (".") may be added and
5019 viewed. This feature is displayed as "Enable Hidden Folders".
5020 _enable-exit-via-lessthan-command_
5021 If set, then on screens where there is an _Exit_ command but no
5022 _<_ command, the _<_ key will perform the same function as the
5023 _Exit_ command. This feature is set by default.
5024 _enable-fast-recent-test_
5025 This feature controls the behavior of the TAB key when
5026 traversing folders in the optional Incoming-Folders collection
5027 or in optional News-Collections.
5028 When the TAB (NextNew) key is pressed, the default behavior is
5029 to explicitly examine the status of the folder for the number of
5030 recent messages (messages delivered since the last time it was
5031 viewed). Depending on the size and number of messages in the
5032 folder, this test can be time consuming.
5033 Enabling this feature will cause _Alpine_ to only test for the
5034 existence of any recent messages rather than to obtain the
5035 count. This is much faster in many cases. The downside is that
5036 you're not given the number of recent messages when prompted to
5037 view the next folder. If the feature
5038 Tab-Uses-Unseen-For-Next-Folder is turned on, then the present
5039 feature will have no effect.
5040 _enable-flag-cmd_
5041 Setting this feature enables the _* Flag_ command, which allows
5042 you to manipulate the status flags associated with a message. By
5043 default, _Flag_ will set the _Important_ flag, which results in
5044 an asterisk being displayed in column one of the "Folder Index"
5045 for such messages.
5046 This feature is displayed as "Enable Flag Command".
5047 _enable-flag-screen-implicitly_
5048 This feature modifies the behavior of the _* Flag_ command
5049 (provided it too is enabled). By default, when the _* Flag_
5050 command is selected, _Alpine_ offers a prompt to set one of
5051 several flags and also offers the option of entering the
5052 detailed flag manipulation screen via the _^T_ key. Enabling
5053 this feature causes _Alpine_ to immediately enter the detailed
5054 flag screen rather than first offer the simple prompt. The
5055 Enable-Flag-Screen-Keyword-Shortcut option offers a slightly
5056 different way of setting keywords.
5057 _enable-flag-screen-keyword-shortcut_
5058 This feature modifies the behavior of the Flag command and the
5059 Select command. By default, when the "* Flag" command is
5060 selected, _Alpine_ offers a prompt to set one of several flags
5061 and also offers the option of entering the detailed flag
5062 manipulation screen via the "^T" key. If you have keywords
5063 defined, then enabling this feature adds a shortcut way to set
5064 or unset keywords. You use "*" followed by the first letter of a
5065 keyword (or the nickname of a keyword if you've given it a
5066 nickname) and that will set the keyword.
5067 An example is easier to understand than the explanation. The
5068 flag command can always be used to set the system flags. For
5069 example, to set the Answered flag you would type
5071 * A
5072 Now suppose you have defined a keyword "Work" using the Keywords
5073 option in the Config screen. By default, to set a keyword like
5074 "Work" you would usually have to go to the Flag Details screen
5075 using the "^T To Flag Details" command. Instead, if you have
5076 enabled this feature, you may type
5078 * W
5079 to set the Work flag, or
5081 * ! W
5082 to unset it. Just like for the other flag setting commands, the
5083 case of the letter does not matter, so "w" or "W" both set the
5084 "Work" keyword.
5085 Notice that you can only use this trick for one keyword that
5086 begins with "W". If you happen to have a "Work" keyword and
5087 another keyword that is "WIFI" the "* W" command will set the
5088 first one in your list of keywords. Also, there are five letters
5089 which are reserved for system flags and the NOT command. If you
5090 type "* A" it will always set the Answered flag, not your
5091 "Aardvark" keyword. In order to set the "Aardvark" keyword
5092 you'll still have to use the Flag Details screen.
5093 Because enabling the Enable-Flag-Screen-Implicitly option causes
5094 _Alpine_ to skip directly to the Flag Details screen when the
5095 Flag command is used, setting it will cause this feature to have
5096 no effect at all.
5097 Similarly, when Selecting by Keyword, setting this option will
5098 allow you to use Keyword initials instead of full keywords.
5099 _enable-full-header-cmd_
5100 This feature enables the _H Full Headers_ command which toggles
5101 between the display of all headers in the message and the normal
5102 edited view of headers. The _Full Header_ command also controls
5103 which headers are included for _Export_, _Pipe_, _Print_,
5104 _Forward_, and _Reply_ functions. (For _Reply_, the _Full Header_
5105 mode will respect the _include-headers-in-reply_ feature
5106 setting.)
5107 If Full Header mode is turned on and you Forward a message, you
5108 will be asked if you'd like to forward the message as an
5109 attachment, as opposed to including the text of the message in
5110 the body of your new message.
5111 If you have also turned on the "Quote Suppression" option then
5112 the Full Headers command actually rotates through three states
5113 instead of just two. The first is the normal view with long
5114 quotes suppressed. The second is the normal view but with the
5115 long quotes included. The last enables the display of all
5116 headers in the message. When using Export, Pipe, Print, Forward,
5117 or Reply the quotes are never suppressed, so the first two
5118 states are identical.
5119 Normally, the Header Mode will reset to the default behavior
5120 when moving to a new message. The mode can be made to persist
5121 from message to message by setting the feature
5122 Quell-Full-Header-Auto-Reset.
5123 This feature is displayed as "Enable Full Header Command".
5124 _enable-full-header-and-text_
5125 This feature affects how the _H Full Headers_ command displays
5126 message text. If set, the raw message text will be displayed.
5127 This especially affects MIME formatted email, where the entire
5128 MIME format will be displayed. This feature similarly affects
5129 how messages are included for the _Export_, _Pipe_, _Print_,
5130 _Forward_, and _Reply_ functions.
5131 _enable-goto-in-file-browser_
5132 Setting this causes _Alpine_ to offer the _G Goto_ command in
5133 the file browser. The Goto command allows you to explicitly type
5134 in the desired directory. That is the default.
5135 _enable-incoming-folders_
5136 If set, this feature defines a pseudo-folder collection called
5137 _INCOMING MESSAGE FOLDERS_. Initially, the only folder included
5138 in this collection will be your _INBOX_, which will no longer
5139 show up in your default saved-message folder collection.
5140 This feature is displayed as "Enable Incoming Folders
5141 Collection".
5142 _enable-incoming-folders-checking_
5143 This feature is only operational if you have enabled the
5144 optional incoming-folders If you do have Incoming Message
5145 Folders and you also set this feature, then the number of Unseen
5146 messages in each folder will be displayed in the FOLDER LIST
5147 screen for the Incoming Message Folders. The number of Unseen
5148 messages in a folder will be displayed in parentheses to the
5149 right of the name of each folder. If there are no Unseen
5150 messages in a folder then only the name is displayed, not a set
5151 of parentheses with zero inside them. A redraw command, Ctrl-L,
5152 can be used in the FOLDER LIST screen for the Incoming Message
5153 Folders to cause an immediate update.
5154 If a check for Unseen messages fails for a particular folder
5155 then Alpine will no longer attempt to check that folder for the
5156 duration of the session and this will be indicated by a question
5157 mark inside the parentheses.
5158 The features incoming-checking-includes-total,
5159 incoming-checking-uses-recent, incoming-check-list,
5160 incoming-check-interval, incoming-check-interval-secondary, and
5161 incoming-check-timeout all affect how this feature behaves.
5162 _Disable-Index-Locale-Dates_
5163 This feature affects the display of dates in the MESSAGE INDEX.
5164 Normally an attempt is made to localize the dates used in the
5165 MESSAGE INDEX display to your locale. This is controlled with
5166 the LC_TIME locale setting on a UNIX system. On Windows the
5167 Regional Options control panel may be used to set the date
5168 format. At the programming level, _Alpine_ is using the strftime
5169 routine to print the parts of a date.
5170 If this feature is set, dates are displayed in English and with
5171 the conventions of the United States.
5172 _enable-jump-shortcut_
5173 When this feature is set you may enter a number (followed by
5174 RETURN) and jump to that message number, when in the MESSAGE
5175 INDEX or MESSAGE TEXT screens. In other words, it obviates the
5176 need for typing the _J_ for the _Jump_ command.
5177 _enable-lame-list-mode_
5178 This feature modifies the method _Alpine_ uses to ask your IMAP
5179 server for folder names to display in the the FOLDER LIST
5180 screen. It is intended to compensate for a small set of IMAP
5181 servers that are programmed to ignore a part of the request, and
5182 thus respond to _Alpine_'s query with nonsensical results.
5183 If you find that _Alpine_ is erroneously displaying blank folder
5184 lists, try enabling this feature.
5185 NOTE: Enabling this feature has consequences for the Goto and
5186 Save commands. Many servers allow access to folders outside the
5187 area reserved for your personal folders via some reserved
5188 character, typically '#' (sharp), '~' (tilde) or '/' (slash).
5189 This mechanism allows, at the Goto and Save prompts, quick
5190 access to folders outside your personal folder collection
5191 without requiring a specific collection definition. This
5192 behavior will generally not be available when this feature is
5193 enabled.
5194 This feature is displayed as "Compensate for Deficient IMAP
5195 servers".
5196 _enable-mail-check-cue_
5197 If set, this will cause an asterisk to appear in the upper
5198 left-hand corner of the screen whenever _Alpine_ checks for new
5199 mail, and two asterisks whenever _Alpine_ saves (checkpoints)
5200 the state of the current mailbox to disk.
5201 _enable-mailcap-param-substitution_
5202 If set, this will allow mailcap named parameter substitution to
5203 occur in mailcap entries. By default, this is turned off to
5204 prevent security problems which may occur with some incorrect
5205 mailcap configurations. For more information, RFC1524 and look
5206 for "named parameters" in the text of the RFC.
5207 This feature is displayed as "Enable Mailcap Parameter
5208 Substitution".
5209 _enable-mouse-in-xterm_
5210 This feature controls whether or not an X terminal mouse can be
5211 used with _Alpine_. If set, and the $DISPLAY variable indicates
5212 that an X terminal is being used, the left mouse button on the
5213 mouse can be used to select text or commands. Clicking on a
5214 command at the bottom of the screen will behave as if you had
5215 typed that command. Clicking on an index line will move the
5216 current message highlight to that line. Double-clicking on an
5217 index line will view the message. Double-clicking on a link will
5218 view the link.
5219 This type of mouse support will also work in some terminal
5220 emulators which are not actually X terminals, but which have
5221 extra code to support the xterm style mouse. For those emulators
5222 you not only need to turn this feature on but you also have to
5223 set the $DISPLAY environment variable even though it isn't
5224 needed for your terminal. That will cause _Alpine_ to think that
5225 it is an xterm and to properly interpret the escape sequences
5226 sent by the mouse.
5227 Note: if this feature is set, the behavior of X terminal
5228 cut-and-paste is also modified. It is sometimes possible to hold
5229 the shift key down while clicking left or middle mouse buttons
5230 for the normal xterm cut/paste operations. There is also an
5231 _Alpine_ command to toggle this mode on or off. The command is
5232 Ctrl-\ (Control-backslash).
5233 _enable-msg-view-addresses_
5234 This feature modifies the behavior of _Alpine_'s "Message Text"
5235 screen. Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to select possible
5236 email addresses from the displayed text and display them in
5237 boldface for selection.
5238 The first available email address is displayed in inverse. This
5239 is the "selected" address. Pressing _RETURN_ will cause _Alpine_
5240 to enter the message composition screen with the To field filled
5241 in with the selected address.
5242 Use the up and down arrow keys to change which of the addresses
5243 displayed in boldface is the current selection.
5244 This feature is displayed as "Enable Message View Address
5245 Links".
5246 _enable-msg-view-attachments_
5247 This feature modifies the behavior of _Alpine_'s "Message Text"
5248 screen. Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to present
5249 attachments in boldface. The first available attachment is
5250 displayed in inverse. This is the "selected" attachment.
5251 Pressing _RETURN_ will cause _Alpine_ to display the selected
5252 attachment. Use the up and down arrow keys to change which of
5253 the attachments displayed in boldface is the current selection.
5254 Speaking of arrow keys, the Up and Down Arrows will select the
5255 next and previous attachments if one is available on the screen
5256 for selection. Otherwise, they will simply adjust the viewed
5257 text one line up or down.
5258 Similarly, when selectable items are present in a message, the
5259 Ctrl-F key can be used to select the next item in the message
5260 independent of which portion of the viewed message is currently
5261 displayed. The Ctrl-B key can be used to select the previous
5262 item in the same way.
5263 This feature is displayed as "Enable Message View Attachment
5264 Links".
5265 _enable-msg-view-forced-arrows_
5266 This feature modifies Up and Down arrow key behavior in
5267 _Alpine_'s "Message Text" screen when selectable Attachments,
5268 URL's, or web-hostnames are presented. _Alpine_'s usual behavior
5269 is to move to the next or previous selectable item if currently
5270 displayed or simply to adjust the screen view by one line if the
5271 next selectable line is off the screen.
5272 Setting this feature causes the Up and Down arrow keys to behave
5273 as if no selectable items were present in the message.
5274 Note, the _Ctrl-F_ (next selectable item) and _Ctrl-B_ (previous
5275 selectable item) functionality is unchanged.
5276 This feature is displayed as "Enable Message View Forced
5277 Arrows".
5278 _enable-msg-view-urls_
5279 This feature modifies the behavior of _Alpine_'s "Message Text"
5280 screen. When this feature is set (the default) _Alpine_ will
5281 select possible URLs from the displayed text and display them in
5282 boldface for selection.
5283 The first available URL is displayed in inverse. This is the
5284 "selected" URL. Pressing _RETURN_ will cause _Alpine_ to display
5285 the selected URL via either built-in means as with mailto:,
5286 imap:, news:, and nntp:, or via an external application as
5287 defined by the url-viewers variable.
5288 Use the up and down arrow keys to change which of the URLs
5289 displayed in boldface is the current selection.
5290 This feature is displayed as "Enable Message View URL Links".
5291 _enable-msg-view-web-hostnames_
5292 This feature modifies the behavior of _Alpine_'s "Message Text"
5293 screen. When this feature is set (the default) _Alpine_ will
5294 select possible web hostnames from the displayed text and
5295 display them in boldface for selection.
5296 The first available hostname is displayed in inverse. This is
5297 the "selected" hostname. Pressing _RETURN_ will cause _Alpine_
5298 to display the selected hostname via an external application as
5299 defined by the url-viewers variable.
5300 Use the up and down arrow keys to change which of the hostnames
5301 displayed in boldface is the current selection.
5302 This feature is displayed as "Enable Message View Web Hostname
5303 Links".
5304 _enable-multiple-newsrcs_
5305 This feature makes it so _Alpine_ can use multiple newsrcs based
5306 on the news server being connected to, which allows for separate
5307 lists of subscribed-to newsgroups. When this feature is not set,
5308 there is only one list of newsgroups.
5309 Under this feature, the name of a newsrc is based on the news
5310 server. For example, if your newsrc-path is set to ".newsrc",
5311 and the news server you are connecting to is news.example.com,
5312 then the newsrc to be used is .newsrc-news.example.com. Setting
5313 this feature for the first time will allow for the option of
5314 using your old newsrc the next time you read news.
5315 If this feature is set, then the feature
5316 Mult-Newsrc-Hostnames-As-Typed also may affect the name of the
5317 newsrc file that is used.
5318 _enable-newmail-in-xterm-icon_
5319 This feature controls whether or not _Alpine_ will attempt to
5320 announce new mail arrival when it is running in an X terminal
5321 window and that window is iconified. If set, and the $DISPLAY
5322 variable indicates that an X terminal is being used, _Alpine_
5323 will send appropriate escape sequences to the X terminal to
5324 modify the label on _Alpine_'s icon to indicate that new mail
5325 has arrived. _Alpine_ will also modify the _Alpine_ window's
5326 title to indicate new mail. See also
5327 Enable-Newmail-Short-Text-in-Icon.
5328 _enable-newmail-short-text-in-icon_
5329 This feature controls the text to be displayed in an icon in the
5330 event of a new message arrival. Normally, the message will be
5331 the one that is displayed on the screen. This feature shortens
5332 the message to a count of the number of new messages in
5333 brackets. This may be more useful for those who use the window's
5334 title bar in the task bar as a new mail indicator. This feature
5335 is only useful if the Enable-Newmail-in-Xterm-Icon is also set.
5336 Like the Enable-Newmail-in-Xterm-Icon feature, this feature is
5337 only relevant when run in an xterm environment.
5338 _enable-partial-match-lists_
5339 This feature affects the subcommands available when _Sav_ing or
5340 Opening a new folder. If set, the subcommand _^X ListMatches_
5341 will be available. This command allows you to type in a
5342 substring of the folder you are looking for and when you type
5343 _^X_ it will display all folders which contain that substring in
5344 their names. This feature is set by default.
5345 _enable-print-via-y-command_
5346 By default, _Alpine_'s print command is available by pressing
5347 the _%_ key. In older versions of _Pine_, the print command was
5348 accessed by pressing the _Y_ key.
5349 Enabling this feature will cause _Alpine_ to recognize both the
5350 old command, _Y_, and the new _%_ method for invoking printing.
5351 Note, key menu labels are not changed as a result of enabling
5352 this feature.
5353 _enable-reply-indent-string-editing_
5354 This feature affects the Reply command's "Include original
5355 message in Reply?" prompt. When enabled, it causes the "Edit
5356 Indent String" sub-command to appear which allows you to edit
5357 the string _Alpine_ would otherwise use to denote included text
5358 from the message being replied to.
5359 Thus, you can change _Alpine_'s default message quote character
5360 (usually an angle bracket) on a per message basis. So you could
5361 change your quoted message to look, for example, like this:
5362 On Tues, 26 Jan 1999, John Q. Smith wrote:
5364 John: I just wanted to say hello and to congratulate you
5365 John: on a job well done!
5366 The configuration option "reply-indent-string" may be used to
5367 change what appears as the default string to be edited.
5368 NOTE: Edited reply-indent-strings only apply to the message
5369 currently being replied to.
5370 _enable-rules-under-take_
5371 Normally, the Take command takes addresses from a message and
5372 helps you put them into your Address Book. If you use Rules for
5373 Indexcolors, Roles, Filtering, or Scoring; you may find it
5374 useful to be able to Take information from a message's headers
5375 and put it into a new Rule. When this feature is set, you will
5376 be given an extra prompt which gives you the choice to Take into
5377 the Address Book or Take into a rule.
5378 This feature is displayed as "Enable Take Rules".
5379 _enable-search-and-replace_
5380 If set _Alpine_'s composer offers the _R Replace_ command option
5381 inside the _W WhereIs_ command.
5382 _enable-sigdashes_
5383 If set and a _signature-file_ exists, the line consisting of the
5384 three characters "-- " (dash dash space) is included before the
5385 signature. This only happens if the signature doesn't already
5386 contain such a line.
5387 In addition, when you Reply or Followup to a message containing
5388 one of these special lines and choose to include its text,
5389 _Alpine_ will observe the convention of not including text beyond
5390 the special line in your reply.
5391 _enable-suspend_
5392 Setting this feature will allow you to type _^Z_ and temporarily
5393 suspend _Alpine_. Not available on _PC-Alpine_.
5394 _enable-tab-completion_
5395 This feature enables the _TAB_ key when at a prompt for a
5396 filename. In this case, _TAB_ will cause the partial name
5397 already entered to be automatically completed, provided the
5398 partial name is unambiguous. This feature is set by default.
5399 Similarly, this feature also enables TAB completion of address
5400 book nicknames when at a prompt for a nickname, or when typing
5401 in an address field in the composer.
5402 _enable-take-export_
5403 Normally, the Take command takes addresses from a message and
5404 helps you put them into your Address Book. When this feature is
5405 set, you will be given an extra prompt which gives you the
5406 choice to Take addresses into a file instead of your Address
5407 Book. Only the user@domain_name part of the address is put in
5408 the file.
5409 _enable-tray-icon_
5410 _PC-Alpine_ only. This option restores a behavior of previous
5411 versions of PC-Alpine. These versions, when started, installed a
5412 PC-Alpine icon in the notification tray of Window's Taskbar. The
5413 primary use of this icon was to indicate new mail arrival by
5414 turning red (while the Taskbar icon remained green).
5415 Additionally, the icon now changes to yellow to signify that a
5416 mail folder has been closed unexpectedly.
5417 Rather than add another icon to the Taskbar, this version of
5418 PC-Alpine will color its Taskbar entry's icon red (as well as
5419 the icon in the Window Title). This feature is only provided for
5420 backwards compatibility.
5421 _enable-unix-pipe-cmd_
5422 This feature enables the _| Pipe_ command that sends the current
5423 message to the specified Unix command for external processing.
5424 This feature is displayed as "Enable Unix Pipe Command".
5425 _enable-verbose-smtp-posting_
5426 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s message sending.
5427 When enabled, _Alpine_ will send a VERB (i.e., VERBose) command
5428 early in the posting process intended to cause the server SMTP
5429 to provide a more detailed account of the transaction. This
5430 feature is typically only useful to system administrators and
5431 other support personnel as an aid in troubleshooting problems.
5432 Note, this feature relies on a specific capability of the
5433 system's mail transport agent or configured smtp-server.
5434 _expanded-view-of-addressbooks_
5435 If multiple address books (either personal or global) are
5436 defined, and you wish to have them all expanded implicitly upon
5437 entering the ADDRESS BOOK screen, then set this feature. This
5438 feature will have no effect unless the feature
5439 combined-addrbook-display is also set.
5440 _expanded-view-of-distribution-lists_
5441 If this feature is set, then distribution lists in the address
5442 book screen will always be expanded automatically.
5443 _expanded-view-of-folders_
5444 If multiple folder collections are defined, and you wish to have
5445 them all expanded implicitly upon entering the FOLDER LIST
5446 screen, then set this feature. This feature will have no effect
5447 unless the feature combined-folder-display is also set.
5448 _expose-hidden-config_
5449 The purpose of this feature is to allow you to change
5450 configuration features and variables which are normally hidden.
5451 This is particularly useful if you are using a remote
5452 configuration file, where it is difficult to edit the file
5453 manually, but it may also be used on a local pinerc
5454 configuration file.
5455 If set, most configuration variables and features which are
5456 normally hidden from view will show up in the
5457 Setup/Configuration screen. They will be at the bottom of the
5458 configuration screen. You can find them by searching for the
5459 word "hidden".
5460 Note that this is an advanced feature which should be used with
5461 care. The reason that this part of the configuration is normally
5462 hidden is because there is a significant potential for causing
5463 problems if you change these variables. If something breaks
5464 after a change try changing it back to see if that is what is
5465 causing the problem. There are also some variables which are
5466 normally hidden because they are manipulated through _Alpine_ in
5467 other ways. For example, the "address-book" variable is normally
5468 set using the Setup/AddressBooks screen, so there is little
5469 reason to edit it directly. The "incoming-folders" variable is
5470 normally changed by using the Add, Delete, and Rename commands
5471 in the FOLDER LIST screen, and the "last-time-prune-questioned"
5472 variable is normally used internally by _Alpine_ and not set
5473 directly by the user.
5474 _expunge-only-manually_
5475 Normally, when you close a folder which contains deleted
5476 messages you are asked if you want to expunge those messages
5477 from the folder permanently. If this feature is set, you won't
5478 be asked and the deleted messages will remain in the folder. If
5479 you choose to set this feature you will have to expunge the
5480 messages manually using the eXpunge command, which you can use
5481 while in the MESSAGE INDEX screen. If you do not expunge deleted
5482 messages the size of your folder will continue to increase until
5483 you are out of disk space.
5484 _expunge-without-confirm_
5485 If set, you will not be prompted to confirm your intent before
5486 the expunge takes place. Actually, you will still be prompted
5487 for confirmation if the folder is not the _INBOX_ folder or
5488 another folder in the Incoming Folders collection. See the
5489 _expunge-without-confirm-everywhere_ feature which follows.
5490 This feature is displayed as "Expunge Without Confirming".
5491 _expunge-without-confirm-everywhere_
5492 The regular _expunge-without-confirm_ feature actually only
5493 works for the _INBOX_ folder and for other folders in the
5494 "Incoming Folders" collection. If this feature is set then you
5495 also won't be prompted to confirm expunges for all other
5496 folders.
5497 This feature is displayed as "Expunge Without Confirming
5498 Everywhere".
5499 _fcc-on-bounce_
5500 If set, normal Fcc (File Carbon Copy) processing will be done
5501 for bounced messages, just as if you had composed a message to
5502 the address you are bouncing to. If not set, no Fcc of the
5503 message will be saved.
5504 This feature is displayed as "Include Fcc When Bouncing
5505 Messages".
5506 _fcc-only-without-confirm_
5507 This features controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s composer. The
5508 only time this feature will be used is if you attempt to send
5509 mail which has no recipients but does have an Fcc. Normally,
5510 _Alpine_ will ask if you really mean to copy the message only to
5511 the Fcc. That is, it asks if you really meant to have no
5512 recipients. If this feature is set, you will _not_ be prompted
5513 to confirm your intent to make only a copy of a message with no
5514 recipients.
5515 This feature is closely related to
5516 warn-if-blank-to-and-cc-and-newsgroups. The difference between
5517 this feature and that feature is that this feature considers a
5518 Bcc to be a recipient while that feature will ask for
5519 confirmation even if there is a Bcc when there is no To, Cc, or
5520 Newsgroup. The default values also differ. This feature defaults
5521 to asking the question and you have to turn it off. The
5522 warn-if-blank-to-and-cc-and-newsgroups feature defaults to not
5523 asking unless you turn it on.
5524 This feature is displayed as "Send to Fcc Only Without
5525 Confirming".
5526 _fcc-without-attachments_
5527 This features controls the way FCC's (File Carbon Copies) are
5528 made of the messages you send.
5529 Normally, _Alpine_ saves an exact copy of your message as it was
5530 sent. When this feature is enabled, the "body" of the message
5531 you send (the text you type in the composer) is preserved in the
5532 copy as before, however all attachments are replaced with text
5533 explaining what had been sent rather than the attachments
5534 themselves.
5535 This feature also affects _Alpine_'s "Send ?" confirmation
5536 prompt in that a new "^F Fcc Attchmnts" option becomes available
5537 which allows you to interactively set whether or not attachments
5538 are saved to the Fcc'd copy.
5539 This feature is displayed as "Fcc Does Not Include Attachments".
5540 _force-arrow-cursor_
5541 This feature affects _Alpine_'s MESSAGE INDEX display routine.
5542 If set, the normal inverse-video cursor will be replaced by a
5543 simple "arrow" cursor, which normally occupies the second column
5544 of the index display.
5545 This is the same index cursor you get if you turn on
5546 Assume-Slow-Link, but the index line coloring will still be
5547 present if this feature is turned on and Assume-Slow-Link is
5548 off.
5549 An alternative version of the Arrow cursor is available by
5550 including the ARROW token in the Index-Format option.
5551 It ought to be the case that this feature also affects the
5552 ATTACHMENT INDEX, but that is not implemented.
5553 _hide-nntp-path_
5554 Normally the Path header that _Alpine_ generates when posting to
5555 a newsgroup contains the name of the computer from which the
5556 message is being sent and the user name. Some believe that this
5557 information is used by spammers. If this feature is set, that
5558 information will be replaced with the text
5560 not-for-mail
5561 instead.
5562 It should be noted that many servers being connected to will
5563 still reveal the information that this feature attempts to
5564 protect.
5565 _include-attachments-in-reply_
5566 If set, any MIME attachments that were part of the original
5567 message will automatically be included in a _Reply_.
5568 _include-header-in-reply_
5569 If set, and a message being replied to is included in the
5570 _Reply_, then headers from that message will also be part of the
5571 reply.
5572 _include-text-in-reply_
5573 Normally, _Alpine_ will ask whether you wish to include the
5574 original message in your _Reply_. If this feature is set and the
5575 feature enable-reply-indent-string-editing is _not_ set, then
5576 the original message will be included in the reply
5577 automatically, without prompting.
5578 _incoming-checking-includes-total_
5579 This option has no effect unless the feature
5580 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
5581 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
5582 When incoming folder checking is turned on the default is to
5583 display the number of unseen messages in each folder. More
5584 precisely, it is the number of undeleted unseen messages. Using
5585 this option you may also display the total number of messages in
5586 each folder. Instead of a single number representing the number
5587 of unseen messages you will get two numbers separated by a slash
5588 character. The first is the number of unseen messages and the
5589 second is the total number of messages.
5590 You may also use the recent message count instead of the unseen
5591 message count by turning on the feature
5592 incoming-checking-uses-recent.
5593 _incoming-checking-uses-recent_
5594 This option has no effect unless the feature
5595 enable-incoming-folders-checking is set, which in turn has no
5596 effect unless incoming-folders is set.
5597 When incoming folder checking is turned on the default is to
5598 display the number of unseen messages in each folder. More
5599 precisely, it is the number of undeleted unseen messages. Using
5600 this option you may display the number of recent messages
5601 instead of the number of unseen messages. A message is only
5602 counted as recent if this is the first session to see it, so the
5603 recent count might be less than the unseen count. The difference
5604 between the two would be accounted for by the unseen messages in
5605 the folder which were there previously but have not been looked
5606 at yet.
5607 If you simultaneously run more than one email client at a time
5608 (for example, you run more than one _Alpine_ in parallel) then
5609 turning this feature on can cause some confusion. The confusion
5610 stems from the fact that each message is only considered to be
5611 recent in one session. That means that the counts of new
5612 messages may be different in the two _Alpine_s running side by
5613 side, because each incoming message will only be counted as
5614 recent in one of the two sessions.
5615 You may also display the total number of messages in each folder
5616 by using the incoming-checking-includes-total option.
5617 _ldap-result-to-addrbook-add_
5618 This is only available if _Alpine_ was linked with an LDAP
5619 library when it was compiled. If both the per-directory-server
5620 option use-implicitly-from-composer and this feature are set,
5621 then when an implicit directory lookup is done from the composer
5622 you will automatically be prompted to add the result of the
5623 directory lookup to your address book.
5624 This feature is displayed as "LDAP Result to Addressbook Add".
5625 _maildrops-preserve-state_
5626 This feature affects the way Mail Drops work. Normally, when
5627 mail is moved from a Mail Drop folder to a destination folder,
5628 the state changes that have taken place since the mail was
5629 originally delivered are lost. Any Seen/New, Answered,
5630 Important/Flagged state that has changed will be ignored. All of
5631 the mail will be considered unSeen, unAnswered, and unImportant
5632 after it is moved.
5633 If this feature is set, then the state changes will not be lost.
5634 In any case, messages which are already marked Deleted when the
5635 mail is to be copied from the Mail Drop will be ignored.
5636 _mark-fcc-seen_
5637 This features controls the way FCCs (File Carbon Copies) are
5638 made of the messages you send. Normally, when _Alpine_ saves a
5639 copy of a message you sent as an Fcc, that copy will be marked
5640 as Unseen. When you look at the folder it was saved in the
5641 message will appear to be a New message until you read it. When
5642 this feature is enabled, the message will be marked as having
5643 been Seen.
5644 _mark-for-cc_
5645 This feature affects _Alpine_'s MESSAGE INDEX display. By
5646 default, a '+' is displayed in the first column if the message
5647 is addressed directly to you. When this feature is set and the
5648 message is not addressed to you, then a '-' character is
5649 displayed if the message is instead Cc'd directly to you.
5650 _mult-newsrc-hostnames-as-typed_
5651 This feature will be of little use to most users. It has no
5652 effect unless the feature Enable-Multiple-Newsrcs is set. When
5653 the Enable-Multiple-Newsrcs feature is set then the setting of
5654 this feature may have an effect on the names of the newsrc files
5655 used. Normally, the name of the news server will be
5656 canonicalized before it is used in the newsrc file name. For
5657 example, if you type the news server name
5659 servername
5660 it is likely that the canonical name will be something like
5662 servername.example.com
5663 Or it may be the case that
5665 servername.example.com
5666 is really an alias (a DNS CNAME) for
5668 othername.example.com
5669 If this feature is not set, then the canonicalized names will be
5670 used. If this feature is set, then the name you typed in (or put
5671 in your configuration) will be used.
5672 This feature is displayed as "Multiple Newsrc Hostnames as
5673 Typed".
5674 _news-approximates-new-status_
5675 This feature causes certain messages to be marked as _New_ in
5676 the MESSAGE INDEX of newsgroups. This feature is set by default.
5677 When opening a newsgroup, _Alpine_ will consult your _newsrc_
5678 file and determine the last message you have previously disposed
5679 of via the _D_ key. If this feature is set, any subsequent
5680 messages will be shown in the Index with an _N_, and the first
5681 of these messages will be highlighted. Although this is only an
5682 approximation of true _New_ or _Unseen_ status, it provides a
5683 useful cue to distinguish more-or-less recent messages from
5684 those you have seen previously, but are not yet ready to mark
5685 deleted.
5686 Background: your _newsrc_ file (used to store message status
5687 information for newsgroups) is only capable of storing a single
5688 flag, and _Alpine_ uses this to record whether or not you are
5689 "done with" a message, as indicated by marking the message as
5690 _Deleted_. Unfortunately, this means that _Alpine_ has no way to
5691 record exactly which messages you have previously seen, so it
5692 normally does not show the _N_ status flag for any messages in a
5693 newsgroup. This feature enables a starting _approximation_ of
5694 seen/unseen status that may be useful.
5695 _news-deletes-across-groups_
5696 This feature controls what _Alpine_ does when you delete a
5697 message in a newsgroup that appears in more than one newsgroup.
5698 Such a message is sometimes termed a "crossposting" in that it
5699 was posted across several newsgroups.
5700 _Alpine_'s default behavior when you delete such a message is to
5701 remove only the copy in the current newsgroup from view when you
5702 use the "Exclude" command or the next time you visit the
5703 newsgroup.
5704 Enabling this feature causes _Alpine_ to remove every occurrence
5705 of the message from all newsgroups it appears in and to which
5706 you are subscribed.
5707 NOTE: As currently implemented, enabling this feature may
5708 increase the time it takes the Expunge command and newsgroup
5709 closing to complete.
5710 _news-offers-catchup-on-close_
5711 This feature controls what _Alpine_ does as it closes a
5712 newsgroup. When set, _Alpine_ will offer to delete all messages
5713 from the newsgroup as you are quitting _Alpine_ or opening a new
5714 folder.
5715 This feature is useful if you typically read all the interesting
5716 messages in a newsgroup each time you open it. This feature
5717 saves you from having to delete each message in a newsgroup as
5718 you read it or from selecting all the messages and doing an
5719 aggregate delete before you move on to the next folder or
5720 newsgroup.
5721 _news-post-without-validation_
5722 This feature controls whether the NNTP server is queried as
5723 newsgroups are entered for posting. Validation over slow links
5724 (e.g. dialup using SLIP or PPP) can cause delays. Set this
5725 feature to eliminate such delays.
5726 _news-read-in-newsrc-order_
5727 This feature controls the order that newsgroups will be
5728 presented. If set, they will be presented in the same order as
5729 they occur in your _newsrc_ file. If not set, the newsgroups
5730 will be presented in alphabetical order.
5731 _next-thread-without-confirm_
5732 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s Next and Prev
5733 commands in the case where you are using one of the
5734 "separate-index-screen" styles for the configuration option
5735 threading-index-style and currently have the folder sorted by a
5736 Threaded or OrderedSubject sort. When you are Viewing a
5737 particular thread you have a MESSAGE INDEX of only the messages
5738 in that thread. If you press the Next command with the last
5739 message in the thread highlighted you will normally be asked if
5740 you want to "View next thread?", assuming there is a next thread
5741 to view. If this feature is set it will be assumed that you
5742 always want to view the next thread and you won't be asked to
5743 confirm that. Similarly, if the first message of the thread is
5744 highlighted and you press the Prev command, this feature will
5745 prevent the question "View previous thread".
5746 This feature only has an effect in the MESSAGE INDEX screen. If
5747 you then view a particular message from that screen and press
5748 the Next command, you will be sent to the next thread without
5749 being asked, independent of the setting of this feature.
5750 The feature auto-open-next-unread, also has some similar
5751 effects.
5752 This feature is displayed as "Read Next Thread Without
5753 Confirming".
5754 _offer-expunge-of-inbox_
5755 The INBOX is normally treated differently from regular folders
5756 in several ways. One of the differences is that the normal
5757 "close" sequence of events is deferred until _Alpine_ is exited,
5758 instead of happening when you leave the INBOX to view another
5759 folder. The "close" sequence normally includes the Expunging of
5760 deleted messages (either automatically or after a prompt,
5761 controlled by the features Expunge-Without-Confirm,
5762 Expunge-Without-Confirm-Everywhere, and Expunge-Only-Manually),
5763 and the handling of the Read-Message-Folder.
5764 If this feature is set the "close" sequence handling will take
5765 place every time you leave the INBOX. The INBOX will still be
5766 kept open, but the offer to Expunge and the archiving to the
5767 Read-Message-Folder will take place each time you leave the
5768 INBOX instead of only once at the end of the session.
5769 _offer-expunge-of-stayopen-folders_
5770 This feature is related to the option Stay-Open-Folders. Stay
5771 Open folders are treated differently from regular folders in
5772 several ways. One of the differences is that the normal "close"
5773 sequence of events is deferred until _Alpine_ is exited, instead
5774 of happening when you leave the folder to view another folder.
5775 The "close" sequence normally includes the Expunging of deleted
5776 messages (either automatically or after a prompt, controlled by
5777 the features Expunge-Without-Confirm,
5778 Expunge-Without-Confirm-Everywhere, and Expunge-Only-Manually),
5779 and the handling of Incoming-Archive-Folders.
5780 If this feature is set the "close" sequence handling will take
5781 place when you leave the Stay Open folder. The folder will still
5782 be kept open, but the offer to Expunge and the archiving will
5783 take place each time you leave the folder instead of only once
5784 at the end of the session. This feature does not affect the
5785 INBOX, which will still only be processed when you exit
5786 _Alpine_.
5787 _pass-c1-control-characters-as-is_
5788 It is probably not useful to set this option. This is a legacy
5789 option left behind "just in case". Multi-byte characters which
5790 have an octet which has the same value as a control character
5791 are permitted through whether or not this option is turned on.
5792 If the feature pass-control-characters-as-is is set, then this
5793 feature has no effect. However, if you wish to filter out
5794 regular control characters but pass the so-called C1 control
5795 characters (0x80 <= char < 0xA0) through unchanged, then you may
5796 leave pass-control-characters-as-is unset and set this feature.
5797 _pass-control-characters-as-is_
5798 It is probably not useful to set this option. This is a legacy
5799 option left behind "just in case". Multi-byte characters which
5800 have an octet which has the same value as a control character
5801 are permitted through whether or not this option is turned on.
5802 If set, all characters in a message will be sent to the screen.
5803 Normally, control characters are automatically suppressed in
5804 order to avoid inadvertently changing terminal setup parameters.
5805 Control characters are usually displayed as two character
5806 sequences like
5808 ^C
5809 for Control-C,
5811 ^[
5812 for ESCAPE,
5814 ^?
5815 for DELETE, and
5817 ~E
5818 for the character with value 133 (0x85). (The DEL character is
5819 displayed as ^?, regular control characters are displayed as the
5820 character ^ followed by the character obtained by adding the
5821 five low-order bits of the character to 0x40, and the C1 control
5822 characters 0x80 - 0x9F are displayed as the character ~ followed
5823 by the character obtained by adding the five low-order bits of
5824 the character to 0x40.) Sometimes, in cases where changing a
5825 single control character into a two-character sequence would
5826 confuse _Alpine_'s display routines, a question mark is
5827 substituted for the control character.
5828 If you wish to filter out regular control characters but pass
5829 the so-called C1 control characters (0x80 <= char < 0xA0)
5830 through unchanged, then you may leave this feature unset and set
5831 the feature pass-c1-control-characters-as-is instead.
5832 _predict-nntp-server_
5833 This feature allows _Alpine_ to assume that the open NNTP server
5834 at the time of composition is the NNTP server to which the
5835 message should be posted. This is especially recommended when
5836 there are multiple News collections. If this feature is not set,
5837 _Alpine_ will try to post to the first server in the nntp-server
5838 variable. Setting this feature also negates the need to add News
5839 collection servers to the nntp-server variable.
5840 This feature can be especially handy when used in conjunction
5841 with enable-multiple-newsrcs.
5842 This option is displayed as "NNTP Server (for news)".
5843 _prefer-plain-text_
5844 A message being viewed may contain alternate versions of the
5845 same content. Those alternate versions are ordered by the
5846 sending software such that the first alternative is the least
5847 preferred and the last alternative is the most preferred.
5848 _Alpine_ will normally display the most-preferred version that it
5849 knows how to display. This is most often encountered where the
5850 two alternate versions are a plain text version and an HTML
5851 version, with the HTML version listed last as the most
5852 preferred.
5853 If this option is set, then any plain text version will be
5854 preferred to all other versions.
5855 _preopen-stayopen-folders_
5856 This feature is related to the option Stay-Open-Folders.
5857 Normally, Stay Open folders are only opened on demand, when the
5858 user asks to open them. From then on they are kept open for the
5859 duration of the session. However, if this feature is set, then
5860 the Stay Open folders will all be opened at startup, at the same
5861 time that the INBOX is opened.
5862 _preserve-start-stop-characters_
5863 This feature controls how special control key characters,
5864 typically _^S_ and _^Q_, are interpreted when input to _Alpine_.
5865 These characters are known as the "start" and "stop" characters
5866 and are sometimes used in communications paths to control data
5867 flow between devices that operate at different speeds.
5868 By default, _Alpine_ turns the system's handling of these
5869 special characters off except during printing. However, if you
5870 see _Alpine_ reporting input errors such as:
5872 [ Command "^Q" not defined for this screen. ]
5873 and, at the same time, see your display become garbled, then it
5874 is likely that setting this option will solve the problem. Be
5875 aware, though, that enabling this feature will also cause
5876 _Alpine_ to ostensibly "hang" whenever the _Ctrl-S_ key
5877 combination is entered as the system is now interpreting such
5878 input as a "stop output" command. To "start output" again,
5879 simply type _Ctrl-Q_.
5880 This feature is displayed as "Preserve Start/Stop Characters".
5881 _print-formfeed-between-messages_
5882 Setting this feature causes a formfeed to be printed between
5883 messages when printing multiple messages with the _Apply Print_
5884 command.
5885 _print-includes-from-line_
5886 If this feature is set, then the Unix mail style From line is
5887 included at the start of each message that is printed. This line
5888 looks something like the following, with the address replaced by
5889 the address from the From line of the message being printed:
5891 From user@domain.somewhere.com Mon May 13 14:11:06 1996
5892 _print-index-enabled_
5893 This feature controls the behavior of the _Print_ command when
5894 in the "Folder Index" screen. If set, the _Print_ command will
5895 give you a prompt asking if you wish to print the message index,
5896 or the currently highlighted message. If not set, the message
5897 will be printed.
5898 _print-offers-custom-cmd-prompt_
5899 When this feature is set, the _Print_ command will have an
5900 additional subcommand called _C CustomPrint_. If selected, you
5901 will have the opportunity to enter any system print command,
5902 instead of being restricted to using those that have been
5903 previously configured in the _Setup/Printer_ screen.
5904 This feature is displayed as "Print Offers Custom Command
5905 Prompt".
5906 _prune-uses-yyyy-mm_
5907 By default, _Alpine_ asks monthly whether or not you would like
5908 to rename some folders to a new name containing the date. It
5909 also asks whether or not you would like to delete some old
5910 folders. See the pruning-rule option for an explanation.
5911 By default, the name used when renaming a folder looks like
5913 <foldername>-<month>-<year>
5914 For example, the first time you run _Alpine_ in May of 2004, the
5915 folder "sent-mail" might be renamed to
5917 sent-mail-apr-2004
5918 If this feature is set, the name used will be of the form
5920 <foldername>-<yyyy>-<mm>
5921 where "yyyy" is the year and "mm" is the two-digit month (01,
5922 02, ..., 12). For the April, 2004 example above, it would
5923 instead be
5925 sent-mail-2004-04
5926 because April is the 4th month of the year. A reason you might
5927 want to set this feature is so that the folders will sort in
5928 chronological order.
5929 _publiccerts-in-keychain_
5930 Mac OS X _Alpine_ only.
5931 If this feature is set the Mac OS X default keychain will be
5932 used as the place to store public certificates instead of a
5933 smime-public-cert-directory or a smime-public-cert-container.
5934 This feature is displayed as "S/MIME -- Public Certs in MacOS
5935 Keychain".
5936 _quell-attachment-extension-warn_
5937 This feature suppresses the extra warning you can get when
5938 trying to view an attachment for which there is no mime-type
5939 match. Turning on this feature will just run the program
5940 according to extension instead of first warning the user that it
5941 will run according to the file's extension.
5942 This feature can be used along side
5943 quell-attachment-extra-prompt to preserve the behavior exhibited
5944 in _Pine_ versions prior to _Pine_ 4.50.
5945 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Attachment Extension
5946 Warning".
5947 _quell-attachment-extra-prompt_
5948 By default, when you attempt to view an attachment externally
5949 from the "Attachment View" screen, you are asked if you really
5950 want to view the selected attachment.
5951 If this feature is set, you will _not_ be prompted to confirm
5952 your selection. Prior to _Pine_ 4.50, the default behavior was
5953 to not prompt. This feature was added for those wanting to
5954 preserve that behavior.
5955 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Attachment Extra Prompt".
5956 _quell-berkeley-format-timezone_
5957 POSIX mandates a timezone in UNIX mailbox format folder
5958 delimiters (the line which begins with From ). Some versions of
5959 Berkeley mail have trouble with this, and don't recognize the
5960 line as a message delimiter. If this feature is set, the
5961 timezone will be left off the delimiter line.
5962 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Berkeley Format
5963 Timezone".
5964 _quell-charset-warning_
5965 By default, if the message you are viewing contains characters
5966 that are not representable in your display-character-set then
5967 _Alpine_ will add a warning to the start of the displayed text.
5968 If this option is set, then that editorial message will be
5969 suppressed.
5970 Setting this feature also suppresses the comment about the
5971 character set in header lines. For example, when viewing a
5972 message you might see
5974 From: "[ISO-8859-2] Name" <address>
5975 in the From header if your Character-Set is something other than
5976 ISO-8859-2. If you set this feature, the comment about the
5977 character set will no longer be there.
5978 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Character Set Warning".
5979 _quell-content-id_
5980 This feature changes the behavior of _Alpine_ when sending
5981 messages. It is intended to work around a bug in Microsoft's
5982 Outlook XP mail user agent. As of this writing, Microsoft has
5983 acknowledged the bug but has not added it to the Knowledge Base.
5984 We have been told that there will be a post-SP1 hotfix for
5985 Outlook XP. This particular bug has bug fix number
5986 OfficeQFE:4781. The nature of the bug is that messages with
5987 attachments which contain a Content-ID header (which standard
5988 _Alpine_ attachments do) do not show the attachment indicator (a
5989 paperclip) when viewed with Outlook XP. So the user has no
5990 indication that the message contains an attachment.
5991 If this feature is set then _Alpine_ will remove most Content-ID
5992 headers before sending a message. If an attachment is of type
5993 MESSAGE, then the existing Content-ID headers inside the message
5994 will be left intact. This would only happen with _Alpine_ if a
5995 message was forwarded as an attachment or if a message with a
5996 message attached was forwarded. Similarly if an attachment of
5997 type MULTIPART/ALTERNATIVE is forwarded, the Content-ID headers
5998 of the alternative parts will not be removed.
5999 Because the Content-ID header is a standard part of MIME it is
6000 possible that setting this feature will break something. For
6001 example, if an attachment has a Content-ID header which is
6002 necessary for the correct functioning of that attachment, it is
6003 possible that _Alpine_ may remove that header when the
6004 attachment is forwarded. However, it seems fairly safe at this
6005 time.
6006 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Content-ID".
6007 _quell-dead-letter-on-cancel_
6008 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when you cancel a
6009 message being composed. _Alpine_'s usual behavior is to write
6010 the canceled message to a file named dead.letter in your home
6011 directory (under UNIX; DEADLETR under WINDOWS/DOS) overwriting
6012 any previous message. Under some conditions (some routine), this
6013 can introduce a noticeable delay.
6014 Setting this feature will cause _Alpine_ NOT to write canceled
6015 compositions into the file called dead.letter.
6016 This feature affects the newer option Dead-Letter-Files, which
6017 specifies the number of dead letter files to keep around. If
6018 this feature is set, then the Dead-Letter-Files option has no
6019 effect.
6020 This feature is displayed as "Do Not Save to Deadletter on
6021 Cancel".
6022 _quell-empty-directories_
6023 This feature causes _Alpine_ to remove from the display any
6024 directories that do not contain at least one file or directory.
6025 This can be useful to prevent overly cluttered folder lists when
6026 a collection is stored on a server that treats all names as both
6027 a folder and a directory.
6028 Note, enabling this feature can cause surprising behavior! For
6029 example, you can still use Add to create a directory, but unless
6030 you immediately enter that directory and create a folder, that
6031 newly created directory may not be displayed next time you enter
6032 the folder list.
6033 This feature is displayed as "Hide Empty Directories".
6034 _quell-extra-post-prompt_
6035 This feature causes _Alpine_ to skip the extra question about
6036 posting a message which may go to thousands of readers when you
6037 are about to post to a newsgroup.
6038 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Extra Posting Prompt".
6039 _quell-filtering-done-message_
6040 This feature causes _Alpine_ to suppress the "filtering done"
6041 message.
6042 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Filtering Done Message".
6043 _quell-filtering-messages_
6044 This feature causes _Alpine_ to suppress the messages about
6045 moving filtered messages and setting flags in messages, due to
6046 Filter Rules.
6047 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Filtering Messages".
6048 _quell-flowed-text_
6049 _Alpine_ generates flowed text where possible. The method for
6050 generating flowed text is defined by RFC 3676, the benefit of
6051 doing so is to send message text that can properly be viewed
6052 both on normal width displays and on displays with smaller or
6053 larger than normal screen widths. With flowed text, a space at
6054 the end of a line tells the receiving mail client that the
6055 following line belongs to the same paragraph. Quoted text will
6056 also be affected, with only the innermost level of ">" quoting
6057 being followed by a space. However, if you have changed the
6058 "Reply-Indent-String" so that it is not equal to the default
6059 value of "> ", then quoted text will not be flowed. For this
6060 reason, we recommend that you leave your "Reply-Indent-String"
6061 set to the default.
6062 This feature turns off the generation of flowed text, as it
6063 might be desired to more tightly control how a message is
6064 displayed on the receiving end.
6065 If this feature is _not_ set, you can control on a message by
6066 message basis whether or not flowed text is generated. You do
6067 this by typing ^V at the Send confirmation prompt that you get
6068 after typing ^X to send a message. ^V is a toggle which turns
6069 flowing off and back on if typed again. If for some reason
6070 flowing cannot be done on a particular message, then the ^V
6071 command will not be available. This would be the case, for
6072 example, if this feature was set, or if your
6073 "Reply-Indent-String" was set to a non-default value. If the
6074 feature Send-Without-Confirm is set, then the opportunity to
6075 control on a message by message basis whether or not flowed text
6076 is generated is lost.
6077 When this feature is not set and you have typed ^V to turn off
6078 flowing, the Send confirmation prompt will change to look like
6080 Send message (not flowed)?
6081 Strip-Whitespace-Before-Send will also turn off the sending of
6082 flowed text messages, but it differs in that it also trims all
6083 trailing white space from a message before sending it.
6084 If alternate editors are used extensively, be aware that a
6085 message will still be sent flowed if this feature is unset. In
6086 most cases this will be fine, but if the editor has a "flowed
6087 text" mode, it would be best to use that.
6088 This feature is displayed as "Do Not Send Flowed Text".
6089 _quell-folder-internal-msg_
6090 This feature determines whether or not _Alpine_ will create
6091 "pseudo messages" in folders that are in standard Unix or MMDF
6092 format.
6093 _Alpine_ will normally create these pseudo messages when they
6094 are not already present in a standard Unix or MMDF folder. Their
6095 purpose is to record certain mailbox state data needed for
6096 correct IMAP and POP server operation, and also for _Alpine_ to
6097 be able to mark messages as Answered when the Reply has been
6098 postponed.
6099 Sites which do not use IMAP/POP for remote mail access, and
6100 which need to support mail tools that are adversely affected by
6101 the presence of the pseudo-messages (e.g. some mail notification
6102 tools) may enable this feature to tell _Alpine_ not to create
6103 them. Note that _Alpine_'s "Answered" flag capability will be
6104 adversely affected if this is done.
6105 Note too that, even if this feature is enabled, _Alpine_ will
6106 not remove pseudo-messages when it encounters them (e.g. those
6107 created by UW's imapd or ipopd servers.) This feature has no
6108 effect on folders that are not in standard Unix or MMDF format,
6109 as pseudo-messages are not needed in the other formats to record
6110 mailbox state information.
6111 This feature is displayed as "Prevent Folder Internal Message".
6112 _quell-full-header-auto-reset_
6113 The HdrMode Command normally resets to the default state when
6114 switching to a new message. For example, if you've used the "H"
6115 command to turn on Full Headers for a message you are viewing,
6116 and then you type the Next command to look at the next message,
6117 the full headers will no longer be shown. Setting this feature
6118 disables that reset. Instead, the Header Mode remains the same
6119 from message to message.
6120 The presence or absence of the HdrMode command is determined by
6121 the "Enable-Full-Header-Cmd" Feature-List option.
6122 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Full Header Auto Reset".
6123 _quell-imap-envelope-update_
6124 In the MESSAGE INDEX screen, if the open folder is being
6125 accessed using IMAP, _Alpine_ normally tries to paint the index
6126 lines on the screen as soon as the information arrives from the
6127 IMAP server. This means that the index information makes it onto
6128 the screen more quickly than it otherwise would. This sometimes
6129 results in behavior that bothers some users. For example, when
6130 paging to a new page of the index, it may be possible for the
6131 lines to be painted on the screen in a random order, rather than
6132 from top to bottom.
6133 Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to wait for all of the
6134 information to be gathered before it paints the index screen.
6135 Once it collects all of the information, the screen will be
6136 painted quickly from top to bottom.
6137 This feature is displayed as "Suppress IMAP Envelope Update".
6138 _quell-lock-failure-warnings_
6139 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when it encounters a
6140 problem acquiring a mail folder lock. Typically, a secondary
6141 file associated with the mail folder being opened is created as
6142 part of the locking process. On some systems, such file creation
6143 has been administratively precluded by the system configuration.
6144 _Alpine_ issues a warning when such failures occur, which can
6145 become bothersome if the system is configured to disallow such
6146 actions. Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to remain silent
6147 when this part of lock creation fails.
6148 WARNING: systems that have been configured in a way that
6149 precludes locking introduce some risk of mail folder corruption
6150 when more than one program attempts to modify the mail folder.
6151 This is most likely to occur to one's _INBOX_ or other "Incoming
6152 Message Folder".
6153 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Lock Failure Warnings".
6154 _Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Except-Inbox_
6155 This option is closely related to the Mail-Check-Interval
6156 option, the Mail-Check-Interval-Noncurrent option, and
6157 Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Inbox.
6158 If this option is set, then the normal new-mail checking which
6159 happens while you are composing will not happen for folders
6160 other than your INBOX (which depends on the setting of
6161 "Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Inbox").
6162 You might want to set this option if you are experiencing delays
6163 while composing which you think might be related to the speed of
6164 the new-mail checks.
6165 Even with this option turned on, an occasional new-mail check
6166 may be done in order to keep the server from killing the
6167 connection to the folder. For example, IMAP servers may remove a
6168 connection to a folder if there has been no activity on the
6169 connection for 30 minutes or more. Instead of letting that
6170 happen, _Alpine_ will check for new mail before the 30 minutes
6171 is up even though you have turned on this feature to quell those
6172 checks.
6173 Besides new-mail checks, checkpoint operations on the folders
6174 will also be quelled when you set this option. The purpose of
6175 checkpointing is to write the changes to a folder out to disk
6176 periodically in order to avoid losing those changes when system
6177 or software problems occur. New-mail checking and checkpointing
6178 while you are not composing are not affected by this option.
6179 This feature is displayed as "Prevent Mailchecks While Composing
6180 Except for INBOX".
6181 _Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Inbox_
6182 This option is closely related to the Mail-Check-Interval
6183 option, the Mail-Check-Interval-Noncurrent option, and
6184 Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Except-Inbox.
6185 If this option is set, then the normal new-mail checking which
6186 happens while you are composing will not happen for your INBOX.
6187 Checking of other folders is controlled in a similar way with
6188 the "Quell-Mailchecks-Composing-Except-Inbox" option.
6189 You might want to set this option if you are experiencing delays
6190 while composing which you think might be related to the speed of
6191 the new-mail checks.
6192 Even with this option turned on, an occasional new-mail check
6193 may be done in order to keep the server from killing the
6194 connection to the folder. For example, IMAP servers may remove a
6195 connection to a folder if there has been no activity on the
6196 connection for 30 minutes or more. Instead of letting that
6197 happen, _Alpine_ will check for new mail before the 30 minutes
6198 is up even though you have turned on this feature to quell those
6199 checks.
6200 Besides new-mail checks, checkpoint operations on the INBOX will
6201 also be quelled when you set this option. The purpose of
6202 checkpointing is to write the changes to a folder out to disk
6203 periodically in order to avoid losing those changes when system
6204 or software problems occur. New-mail checking and checkpointing
6205 while you are not composing are not affected by this option.
6206 This feature is displayed as "Prevent Mailchecks While Composing
6207 for INBOX".
6208 _quell-maildomain-warning_
6209 When your configuration is set up so that your domain name
6210 contains no dots, it is usually a configuration error. By
6211 default, _Alpine_ will warn you about this when you start it up.
6212 You will see a warning message that looks like
6214 Incomplete maildomain "<domain>".
6215 If this feature is set, the warning is turned off. This feature
6216 is displayed as "Suppress Maildomain Warning".
6217 _quell-news-envelope-update_
6218 In the MESSAGE INDEX screen, if the open folder is being
6219 accessed using NNTP (News), _Alpine_ normally tries to paint the
6220 index lines on the screen as soon as the information arrives
6221 from the NNTP server. This means that the index information
6222 makes it onto the screen more quickly than it otherwise would.
6223 This sometimes results in behavior that bothers some users. For
6224 example, when paging to a new page of the index, it may be
6225 possible for the lines to be painted on the screen in a random
6226 order, rather than from top to bottom.
6227 Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to wait for all of the
6228 information to be gathered before it paints the index screen.
6229 Once it collects all of the information, the screen will be
6230 painted quickly from top to bottom.
6231 This feature is displayed as "Suppress News Envelope Update".
6232 _quell-partial-fetching_
6233 Partial fetching is a feature of the IMAP protocol. By default,
6234 _Alpine_ will use partial fetching when copying the contents of a
6235 message or attachment from the IMAP server to _Alpine_. This
6236 means that the fetch will be done in many small chunks instead
6237 of one big chunk. The main benefit of this approach is that the
6238 fetch becomes interruptible. That is, the user can type _^C_ to
6239 stop the fetch early. In some cases partial fetching may cause a
6240 performance problem so that the fetching of data takes
6241 significantly longer when partial fetching is used. Turning on
6242 this feature will turn off partial fetching.
6243 This feature is displayed as "Prevent Partial Fetching".
6244 _quell-personal-name-prompt_
6245 _PC-Alpine_ only. This feature quells the prompting for a
6246 personal-name. This prompt normally happens before composing a
6247 message, and only happens when there is no personal name already
6248 set.
6249 _quell-server-after-link-in-html_
6250 By default, links in HTML text are displayed with the host the
6251 link references appended, within square brackets, to the link
6252 text. _Alpine_ does this to help indicate where a link will take
6253 you, particularly when the link text might suggest a different
6254 destination.
6255 Setting this feature will prevent the server name from being
6256 appended to the displayed text.
6257 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Server After Link in
6258 HTML".
6259 _quell-ssl-largeblocks_
6260 This feature (_PC-Alpine_ only) changes the behavior of fetching
6261 messages and attachments so that the message data is fetched in
6262 chunks no larger than 12K bytes. This works around a bug in
6263 Microsoft's SSL/TLS support. Some versions of Microsoft SSL are
6264 not able to read full-sized (16K) SSL/TLS packets. Some servers
6265 will send such packets and this will cause _PC-Alpine_ to crash
6266 with the error
6268 incomplete SecBuffer exceeds maximum buffer size
6269 Microsoft is aware of the problem and has developed a hotfix for
6270 it, but as of this writing the hotfix has not yet been added to
6271 the Knowledge Base.
6272 This feature is displayed as "Prevent SSL Largeblocks".
6273 _quell-status-message-beeping_
6274 If set status messages will never emit a beep.
6275 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Status Message Beeping".
6276 _quell-timezone-comment-when-sending_
6277 Normally, when _Alpine_ generates a Date header for outgoing
6278 mail, it will try to include the symbolic timezone at the end of
6279 the header inside parentheses. The symbolic timezone is often
6280 three characters long, but on some operating systems, it may be
6281 longer. Apparently there are some SMTP servers in the world
6282 which will reject an incoming message if it has a Date header
6283 longer than about 80 characters. If this feature is set, the
6284 symbolic timezone normally generated by _Alpine_ will not be
6285 included. You probably don't need to worry about this feature
6286 unless you run into the problem described above.
6287 This feature is displayed as "Suppress Timezone Comment When
6288 Sending".
6289 _quell-user-id-prompt_
6290 _PC-Alpine_ only. This feature quells the prompting for a
6291 user-id if the information can be obtained from the login name
6292 used to open the INBOX. Normally, this prompt happens before
6293 composing a message, and only happens when there is no user-id
6294 already set in the configuration.
6295 With this feature set, composing a message is only possible
6296 after establishing a connection to the INBOX.
6297 _quell-user-lookup-in-passwd-file_
6298 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s Composer, and if
6299 needed, will usually be set by the system manager in _Alpine_'s
6300 system-wide configuration file. Specifically, if this feature is
6301 set, _Alpine_ will not attempt to look in the system password
6302 file to find a Full Name for the entered address.
6303 Normally, names you enter into address fields (e.g. To: or Cc:)
6304 are checked against your address book(s) to see if they match an
6305 address book nickname. Failing that, (in Unix _Alpine_) the name
6306 is then checked against the Unix password file. If the entered
6307 name matches a username in the system password file, _Alpine_
6308 extracts the corresponding Full Name information for that
6309 individual, and adds that to the address being entered.
6310 However, password file matching can have surprising (incorrect)
6311 results if other users of the system do not receive mail at the
6312 domain you are using. That is, if either the user-domain or
6313 use-only-domain-name option is set such that the administrative
6314 domain of other users on the system isn't accurately reflected,
6315 _Alpine_ should be told that a password file match is
6316 coincidental, and Full Name info will be incorrect. For example,
6317 a personal name from the password file could get falsely paired
6318 with the entered name as it is turned into an address in the
6319 configured domain.
6320 If you are seeing this behavior, enabling this feature will
6321 prevent Unix _Alpine_ from looking up names in the password file
6322 to find the Full Name for incomplete addresses you enter.
6323 This feature is displayed as "Prevent User Lookup in Password
6324 File".
6325 _quit-without-confirm_
6326 This feature controls whether or not _Alpine_ will ask for
6327 confirmation when a _Quit_ command is received.
6328 This feature is displayed as "Quit Without Confirming".
6329 _quote-replace-nonflowed_
6330 This feature, which is only active when Quote-Replace-String is
6331 also set, enables quote-replacement on non-flowed messages. It
6332 is off by default because a non-flowed message is more dependent
6333 on its format, and thus quote-replacement may cause
6334 less-than-pleasing results. Setting this feature will cause
6335 quote-replacement similar to that of flowed messages, but with
6336 the added possibility of long lines being wrapped into new lines
6337 if the Quote-Replacement-String is longer than the string it is
6338 replacing, which is "> ".
6339 _reply-always-uses-reply-to_
6340 If set, _Alpine_ will not prompt when a message being replied to
6341 contains a _Reply-To:_ header value, but will simply use its
6342 value (as opposed to using the _From:_ field's value).
6343 _return-to-inbox-without-confirm_
6344 Normally, when you use the TAB command and there are no more
6345 folders or newsgroups to visit, you are asked if you want to
6346 return to the INBOX. If this feature is set you will not be
6347 asked. It will be assumed that you do want to return to the
6348 INBOX.
6349 This feature is displayed as "Return to INBOX Without
6350 Confirming".
6351 _save-aggregates-copy-sequence_
6352 This feature will optimize an aggregate copy operation, if
6353 possible, by issuing a single IMAP _COPY_ command with a list of
6354 the messages to be copied. This feature is set by default. This
6355 may reduce network traffic and elapsed time for the Save.
6356 _However, many IMAP servers (including the UW IMAP server) do not
6357 preserve the order of messages when this optimization is
6358 applied._ If this feature is not set, _Alpine_ will copy each
6359 message individually and the order of the messages will be
6360 preserved.
6361 This feature is displayed as "Save Combines Copies (may be out
6362 of order)".
6363 _save-partial-msg-without-confirm_
6364 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s Save command. By
6365 default, when you Save a message that has some deleted parts,
6366 you will be asked to confirm that you want to Save with a prompt
6367 that looks like:
6369 Saved copy will NOT include entire message! Continue?
6370 If this feature is set, you will not be asked.
6371 This feature is displayed as "Save Partial Message Without
6372 Confirming".
6373 _save-will-advance_
6374 If set, _Save_ will (in addition to copying the current message
6375 to the designated folder) also advance to the next message.
6376 _save-will-not-delete_
6377 If set, _Save_ will not mark the message Deleted (its default
6378 behavior) after it has been copied to the designated folder.
6379 _save-will-quote-leading-froms_
6380 This feature controls an aspect of the _Save_ command (and also
6381 the way outgoing messages are saved to an FCC folder). If set,
6382 _Alpine_ will add a leading > character in front of message lines
6383 beginning with "From" when they are saved to another folder,
6384 including lines syntactically distinguishable from the type of
6385 message separator line commonly used on Unix systems.
6386 The default behavior is that a > will be prepended only to lines
6387 beginning with "From " that might otherwise be confused with a
6388 message separator line on Unix systems. If _Alpine_ is the only
6389 mail program you use, this default is reasonable. If another
6390 program you use has trouble displaying a message with an
6391 unquoted From saved by _Alpine_, you should enable this feature.
6392 This feature only applies to the common Unix mailbox format that
6393 uses message separator lines beginning with "From ". If _Alpine_
6394 has been configured to use a different mailbox format (possibly
6395 incompatible with other mail programs), then this issue does not
6396 arise, and the feature is irrelevant.
6397 _scramble-message-id_
6398 Normally the Message-ID header that _Alpine_ generates when
6399 sending a message contains the name of the computer from which
6400 the message is being sent. Some believe that this hostname could
6401 be used by spammers or could be used by others for nefarious
6402 purposes. If this feature is set, that name will be transformed
6403 with a simple Rot13 transformation. The result will still have
6404 the correct syntax for a Message-ID but the part of the
6405 MessageID that is often a domain name will not be an actual
6406 domain name because the letters will be scrambled.
6407 It is possible (but unlikely?) that some spam detection software
6408 will use that as a reason to reject the mail as spam. It has
6409 also been reported that some spam detection software uses the
6410 fact that there are no dots after the "@" as a reason to reject
6411 messages. If your _PC-Alpine_ Message-ID is using a name without
6412 a dot that is because that is what Windows thinks is your "Full
6413 computer name". The method used to set this varies from one type
6414 of Windows to another but check under Settings -> Control Panel
6415 -> System and look for Network Identification or Computer Name
6416 or something similar. How to set it is beyond the scope of
6417 _Alpine_.
6418 This feature is displayed as "Scramble the Message-ID When
6419 Sending".
6420 _select-without-confirm_
6421 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s _Save_, _Export_,
6422 and _Goto_ commands. These commands all take text input to
6423 specify the name of the folder or file to be used, but allow you
6424 to press _^T_ for a list of possible names. If set, the selected
6425 name will be used immediately, without further opportunity to
6426 confirm or edit the name.
6427 This feature is displayed as "Select Ctrl-T Foldername Without
6428 Confirming".
6429 _send-without-confirm_
6430 By default, when you send or post a message you will be asked to
6431 confirm with a question that looks something like:
6433 Send message?
6434 If this feature is set, you will _not_ be prompted to confirm
6435 your intent to send and your message will be sent.
6436 If this feature is set it disables some possibilities and
6437 renders some other features meaningless. You will not be able to
6438 use Sending Filters, Verbose sending mode, Background Sending,
6439 Delivery Status Notifications, or ^V to turn off the generation
6440 of flowed text for this message. These options are normally
6441 available as suboptions in the Send prompt, but with no Send
6442 prompt the options are gone.
6443 A somewhat related feature is quell-extra-post-prompt. which may
6444 be used to eliminate the extra confirmation question when
6445 posting to a newsgroup.
6446 This feature is displayed as "Send Without Confirming".
6447 _separate-folder-and-directory-display_
6448 This feature affects folder collections wherein a folder and
6449 directory can have the same name. By default, _Alpine_ displays
6450 them only once, denoting that it is both a folder and directory
6451 by appending the folder name with the hierarchy character
6452 enclosed in square brackets.
6453 Enabling this feature will cause _Alpine_ to display such names
6454 separately marking the name representing a directory with a
6455 trailing hierarchy delimiter (typically the slash, "/",
6456 character).
6457 The feature also alters the command set slightly. By default,
6458 the right-arrow descends into the directory, while hitting the
6459 Return key will cause the folder by that name to be opened.
6460 With this feature set, the Return key will open the highlighted
6461 folder, or enter the highlighted directory.
6462 _show-cursor_
6463 If set, the system cursor will move to convenient locations in
6464 the displays. For example, to the beginning of the status field
6465 of the highlighted index line, or to the highlighted word after
6466 a successful _WhereIs_ command. It is intended to draw your
6467 attention to the _interesting_ spot on the screen.
6468 _show-plain-text-internally_
6469 This feature modifies the method _Alpine_ uses to display
6470 Text/Plain MIME attachments from the Attachment Index screen.
6471 Normally, the "View" command searches for any externally defined
6472 (usually via the Mailcap file) viewer, and displays the selected
6473 text within that viewer.
6474 Enabling this feature causes _Alpine_ to ignore any external
6475 viewer settings and always display text with _Alpine_'s internal
6476 viewer.
6477 _show-selected-in-boldface_
6478 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s aggregate
6479 operation commands; in particular, the _Select_ and _WhereIs_
6480 commands. _Select_ and _WhereIs_ (with the _^X_ subcommand) will
6481 search the current folder for messages meeting a specified
6482 criteria, and _tag_ the resulting messages with an _X_ in the
6483 first column of the applicable lines in the "Folder Index". If
6484 this feature is set, instead of using the _X_ to denote a
6485 selected message, _Alpine_ will attempt to display those index
6486 lines in boldface. Whether this is preferable to the _X_ will
6487 depend on personal taste and the type of terminal being used.
6488 _show-sort_
6489 If this feature is set and there is sufficient space on the
6490 screen, a short indication of the current sort order will be
6491 added in the titlebar (the top line on the screen), before the
6492 name of the folder. For example, with the default Arrival sort
6493 in effect, the display would have the characters
6495 [A]
6496 added between the title of the screen and the folder name. The
6497 letters are the same as the letters you may type to manually
6498 sort a folder with the SortIndex command ($). The letters in the
6499 table below are the ones that may show up in the titlebar line.
6501 A _A_rrival
6502 S _S_ubject
6503 F _F_rom
6504 T _T_o
6505 C _C_c
6506 D _D_ate
6507 Z si_Z_e
6508 O _O_rderedsubject
6509 E scor_E_
6510 H t_H_read
6511 If the sort order is Reversed, the letter above will be preceded
6512 by the letter "R", for example
6514 [RS]
6515 means that a Reverse Subject sort is in effect. For the case
6516 where the sort is in Reverse Arrival order, the "A" is left out,
6517 and just an "R" is shown.
6519 [R]
6520 This feature is displayed as "Show Sort in Titlebar".
6521 _signature-at-bottom_
6522 If this feature is set, and a message being _Repl_ied to is
6523 being included in the reply, then the contents of the signature
6524 file (if any) will be inserted after the included message. This
6525 feature does not affect the results of a _Forward_ command.
6526 _single-column-folder-list_
6527 If set, the "Folder List" screen will list one folder per line
6528 instead of several per line.
6529 _slash-collapses-entire-thread_
6530 Normally, the Collapse/Expand Thread command Collapses or
6531 Expands the subthread which starts at the currently highlighted
6532 message, if any. If this feature is set, then the slash command
6533 Collapses or Expands the _entire_ current thread instead of just
6534 the subthread.
6535 _smime-dont-do-smime_
6536 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
6537 Setting this feature turns off all of _Alpine_'s S/MIME support.
6538 You might want to set this if you are having trouble due to the
6539 S/MIME support.
6540 + General S/MIME Overview
6541 This feature is displayed as "S/MIME -- Turn off S/MIME".
6542 _smime-encrypt-by-default_
6543 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
6544 This feature only has an effect if your version of _Alpine_
6545 includes support for S/MIME. It affects _Alpine_'s behavior when
6546 you send a message. If this option is set, the "Encrypt" option
6547 will default to ON when sending messages.
6548 Only the default value is affected. In any case, you may still
6549 toggle the Encrypt option on or off before sending with the "E
6550 Encrypt" command (provided you have a the public digital ID for
6551 the recipient).
6552 + General S/MIME Overview
6553 This feature is displayed as "S/MIME -- Encrypt by Default".
6554 _smime-remember-passphrase_
6555 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
6556 This feature only has an effect if your version of _Alpine_
6557 includes support for S/MIME. If this option is set, you will
6558 only have to enter your passphrase for your private key once
6559 during an _Alpine_ session.
6560 + General S/MIME Overview
6561 This feature is displayed as "S/MIME -- Remember S/MIME
6562 Passphrase".
6563 _smime-sign-by-default_
6564 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
6565 This feature only has an effect if your version of _Alpine_
6566 includes support for S/MIME. It affects _Alpine_'s behavior when
6567 you send a message. If this option is set, the "Sign" option
6568 will default to ON when sending messages.
6569 Only the default value is affected. In any case, you may still
6570 toggle the Signing option on or off before sending with the "G
6571 Sign" command (provided you have a personal digital ID
6572 certificate).
6573 + General S/MIME Overview
6574 This feature is displayed as "S/MIME -- Sign by Default".
6575 _sort-default-fcc-alpha_
6576 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s FOLDER LIST
6577 screen. If set, the default FCC folder will be sorted
6578 alphabetically with the other folders instead of appearing right
6579 after the INBOX.
6580 This feature is displayed as "Sort Default Fcc Folder
6581 Alphabetically".
6582 _sort-default-save-alpha_
6583 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s FOLDER LIST
6584 screen. If set, the default save folder will be sorted
6585 alphabetically with the other folders instead of appearing right
6586 after the INBOX (and default FCC folder).
6587 This feature is displayed as "Sort Default Save Folder
6588 Alphabetically".
6589 _spell-check-before-sending_
6590 When this feature is set, every composed message will be
6591 spell-checked before being sent.
6592 _store-window-position-in-config_
6593 Normally, _PC-Alpine_ will store its window size and position in
6594 the Windows Registry. This is convenient if you want to use the
6595 same remote configuration from more than one PC. If you use
6596 multiple configuration files to start _PC-Alpine_, you may want
6597 to store the window size and position in the configuration file
6598 instead of in the Registry. Setting this feature causes that to
6599 happen.
6600 _strip-from-sigdashes-on-reply_
6601 This feature doesn't do anything if the feature enable-sigdashes
6602 is turned on. However, if the _enable-sigdashes_ feature is not
6603 turned on, then turning on this feature enables support for the
6604 convention of not including text beyond the sigdashes line when
6605 Replying or Following up to a message and including the text of
6606 that message.
6607 In other words, this is a way to turn on the signature stripping
6608 behavior without also turning on the dashes-adding behavior.
6609 _strip-whitespace-before=send_
6610 Trailing whitespace is not stripped from a message before
6611 sending. Trailing whitespace should have no effect on an email
6612 message, and in flowed text can aid in delimiting paragraphs.
6613 However, the old behavior of stripping trailing whitespace was
6614 in place to better deal with older clients that couldn't handle
6615 certain types of text encodings. This feature restores the old
6616 behavior
6617 Trailing whitespace is of aid to flowed-text-formatted messages,
6618 which are generated by default but can be turned off via the
6619 quell-flowed-text feature. strip-whitespace-before-send also has
6620 the effect of turning off sending of flowed text.
6621 This feature is displayed as "Strip Whitespace Before Sending".
6622 _suppress-asterisks-in-password-prompt_
6623 When you are running _Alpine_ you will sometimes be asked for a
6624 password in a prompt on the third line from the bottom of the
6625 screen. Normally each password character you type will cause an
6626 asterisk to echo on the screen. That gives you some feedback to
6627 know that your typing is being recognized. There is a very
6628 slight security risk in doing it this way because someone
6629 watching over your shoulder might be able to see how many
6630 characters there are in your password. If you'd like to suppress
6631 the echoing of the asterisks set this feature.
6632 _suppress-user-agent-when-sending_
6633 If this feature is set then _Alpine_ will not generate a
6634 User-Agent header in outgoing messages.
6635 _tab-checks-recent_
6636 In a FOLDER LIST screen, the TAB key usually just changes which
6637 folder is highlighted. If this feature is set, then the TAB key
6638 will cause the number of recent messages and the total number of
6639 messages in the highlighted folder to be displayed instead.
6640 This feature is displayed as "Tab Checks for Recent Messages".
6641 _tab-uses-unseen-for-next-folder_
6642 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when using the TAB
6643 NextNew Command to move from one folder to the next. _Alpine_'s
6644 usual behavior is to search for folders with _Recent_ messages
6645 in them. Recent messages are messages which have arrived since
6646 the last time the folder was opened.
6647 Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to search for _Unseen_
6648 messages instead of Recent messages. Unseen messages remain
6649 Unseen until you view them (or flag then as Seen with the Flag
6650 Command). Setting this feature allows you to locate messages you
6651 have not read instead of only recently received messages. When
6652 this feature is set, the feature Enable-Fast-Recent-Test will
6653 have no effect, so the checking may be slower.
6654 Another reason why you might want to use this feature is that
6655 _Alpine_ sometimes opens folders implicitly behind the scenes,
6656 and this clears the Recent status of all messages in the folder.
6657 One example where this happens is when Saving or filtering a
6658 message to another folder. If that message has some keywords
6659 set, then because of some shortcomings in the IMAP
6660 specification, the best way to ensure that those keywords are
6661 still set in the saved copy of the message is to open the folder
6662 and set the keywords explicitly. Because this clears the Recent
6663 status of all messages in that folder the folder will not be
6664 found by the NextNew command unless this feature is set.
6665 _tab-visits-next-new-message-only_
6666 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when using the _TAB_
6667 key to move from one message to the next. _Alpine_'s usual
6668 behavior is to select the next _Unread_ message or message
6669 flagged as _Important_.
6670 Setting this feature causes _Alpine_ to skip the messages
6671 flagged as _Important_, and select _Unread_ messages
6672 exclusively. Tab behavior when there are no new messages left to
6673 select remains unchanged.
6674 _termdef-takes-precedence_
6675 This feature may affect _Alpine_'s low-level input routines.
6676 Termcap (or terminfo, depending on how your copy of _Alpine_ was
6677 compiled and linked) is the name of the database which describes
6678 terminal capabilities. In particular, it describes the sequences
6679 of characters that various keys will emit.
6680 An example would be the Up Arrow key on the keyboard. Up Arrow
6681 is not a distinct character on most Unix systems. When you press
6682 the Up Arrow key a short sequence of characters are produced.
6683 This sequence is supposed to be described in the termcap
6684 database by the "ku" capability (or by the "kcuu1" capability if
6685 you are using terminfo instead of termcap).
6686 By default, _Alpine_ defines some terminal escape sequences that
6687 are commonly used. For example, the sequence "ESC O A" is
6688 recognized as an Up Arrow key. The sequence "ESC [ A" is also
6689 recognized as an Up Arrow key. These are chosen because common
6690 terminals like VT100's or ANSI standard terminals produce these
6691 sequences when you press the Up Arrow key.
6692 If your system's termcap (terminfo) database assigns some other
6693 function to the sequence "ESC O A" it is usually ignored by
6694 _Alpine_. Also, if your termcap (terminfo) database assigns a
6695 sequence which doesn't begin with an escape character (ESC) it
6696 is usually ignored by _Alpine_. This usually works fine because
6697 most terminals emit the escape sequences that _Alpine_ has
6698 defined by default. We have also found that it is usually better
6699 to have these defaults take precedence over the definitions
6700 contained in the database because the defaults are more likely
6701 to be correct than the database.
6702 There are some terminals where this breaks down. If you want
6703 _Alpine_ to believe the definitions given in your termcap
6704 (terminfo) database in preference to the defaults the _Alpine_
6705 itself sets up, then you may turn this feature on. Then,
6706 sequences of characters which are defined in both termcap
6707 (terminfo) and in _Alpine_'s set of defaults will be interpreted
6708 the way that termcap (terminfo) says they should be interpreted.
6709 Also, if your terminal capabilities database assigns a sequence
6710 which doesn't begin with escape, it will not be ignored.
6711 _thread-index-shows-important-color_
6712 This option affects only the THREAD INDEX screen. Whether or not
6713 you ever see a THREAD INDEX screen depends on the setting of the
6714 configuration option threading-index-style and on the sort order
6715 of the index. If a message within a thread is flagged as
6716 Important and this option is set, then the entire line in the
6717 THREAD INDEX will be colored the color of the Index-important
6718 Symbol, which can be set using the Setup Kolor screen.
6719 _try-alternative-authentication-driver-first_
6720 This feature affects how _Alpine_ connects to IMAP servers. It's
6721 utility has largely been overtaken by events, but it may still
6722 be useful in some circumstances. If you only connect to modern
6723 IMAP servers that support "TLS" you can ignore this feature.
6724 Details:
6725 By default, _Alpine_ will attempt to connect to an IMAP server
6726 on the normal IMAP service port (143), and if the server offers
6727 "Transport Layer Security" (TLS) and _Alpine_ has been compiled
6728 with encryption capability, then a secure (encrypted) session
6729 will be negotiated.
6730 With this feature enabled, before connecting on the normal IMAP
6731 port, _Alpine_ will first attempt to connect to an alternate
6732 IMAP service port (993) used specifically for encrypted IMAP
6733 sessions via the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) method. If the SSL
6734 attempt fails, _Alpine_ will then try the default behavior
6735 described in the previous paragraph.
6736 TLS negotiation on the normal port is preferred, and supersedes
6737 the use of SSL on port 993, but older servers may not provide
6738 TLS support. This feature may be convenient when accessing IMAP
6739 servers that do not support TLS, but do support SSL connections
6740 on port 993. However, it is important to understand that with
6741 this feature enabled, _Alpine_ will _attempt_ to make a secure
6742 connection if that is possible, but it will proceed to make an
6743 insecure connection if that is the only option offered by the
6744 server, or if the _Alpine_ in question has been built without
6745 encryption capability.
6746 Note that this feature specifies a per-user (or system-wide)
6747 default behavior, but host/folder specification flags may be
6748 used to control the behavior of any specific connection. This
6749 feature interacts with some of the possible host/folder path
6750 specification flags as follows:
6751 The /tls host flag, for example,
6753 {foo.example.com/tls}INBOX
6754 will over-ride this feature for the specified host by bypassing
6755 the SSL connection attempt. Moreover, with /tls specified, the
6756 connection attempt will fail if the service on port 143 does not
6757 offer TLS support.
6758 The /ssl host flag, for example,
6760 {foo.example.com/ssl}INBOX
6761 will insist on an SSL connection for the specified host, and
6762 will fail if the SSL service on port 993 is not available.
6763 _Alpine_ will not subsequently retry a connection on port 143 if
6764 /ssl is specified.
6765 _unselect-will-not-advance_
6766 Normally, when the Unselect current message command (:) is typed
6767 when the current message is selected, the message will be
6768 unselected and the next message will become the current message.
6769 If this feature is set, the cursor will not advance to the next
6770 message. Instead, the current message will remain the current
6771 message after unselecting.
6772 _use-current-dir_
6773 This feature controls an aspect of several commands. If set,
6774 your "current working directory" will be used instead of your
6775 home directory for all of the following operations:
6776 + _Export_ in the "Folder Index" and "Message Text" screens
6777 + Attachment _Save_ in the "Message Text" and "Attachment Text"
6778 screens
6779 + _^R_ file inclusion in the Composer
6780 + _^J_ file attachment in the Composer
6781 This feature is displayed as "Use Current Directory".
6782 _use-function-keys_
6783 This feature specifies that _Alpine_ will respond to function
6784 keys instead of the normal single-letter commands. In this mode,
6785 the key menus at the bottom of each screen will show function
6786 key designations instead of the normal mnemonic key.
6787 _use-regular-startup-rule-for-stayopen-folders_
6788 This feature affects which message is selected as the current
6789 message when you enter a Stay Open folder.
6790 Normally, the starting position for an incoming folder (which
6791 most Stay Open folders will likely be) is controlled by the
6792 Incoming-Startup-Rule. However, if a folder is a Stay Open
6793 folder, when you re-enter the folder after the first time the
6794 current message will be the same as it was when you left the
6795 folder. An exception is made if you use the TAB command to get
6796 to the folder. In that case, the message number will be
6797 incremented by one from what it was when you left the folder.
6798 The above special behavior is thought to be useful. However, it
6799 is special and different from what you might at first expect. If
6800 this feature is set, then Stay Open folders will not be treated
6801 specially as far as the startup rule is concerned.
6802 _use-resent-to-in-rules_
6803 This feature is turned off by default because turning it on
6804 causes problems with some deficient IMAP servers. In _Alpine_
6805 Filters and other types of Rules, if the Pattern contains a To
6806 header pattern and this feature is turned on, then a check is
6807 made in the message to see if a Resent-To header is present, and
6808 that is used instead of the To header. If this feature is not
6809 turned on, then the regular To header will always be used.
6810 _use-sender-not-x-sender_
6811 Normally _Alpine_ on Unix adds a header line labeled
6812 _X-X-Sender_, if the sender is different from the _From:_ line.
6813 The standard specifies that this header line should be labeled
6814 _Sender_, not _X-X-Sender_. Setting this feature causes _Sender_
6815 to be used instead of _X-X-Sender_. The standard also states
6816 that the data associated with this header field should not be
6817 used as a Reply address. Unfortunately, certain implementations
6818 of mail list management servers will use the Sender address for
6819 such purposes. These implementations often even recognize the
6820 _X-Sender_ fields as being equivalent to the _Sender_ field, and
6821 use it if present. This is why _Alpine_ defaults to
6822 _X-X-Sender_.
6823 Note, _PC-Alpine_ always adds either an _X-X-Sender_ line if
6824 there is an open, remote mailbox, or an _X-Warning:
6825 UNAuthenticated User_ otherwise
6826 This feature is displayed as "Use Sender Instead of X-X-Sender".
6827 _use-subshell-for-suspend_
6828 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when process suspension
6829 is enabled and then activated via the _^Z_ key. _Alpine_
6830 suspension allows one to temporarily interact with the operating
6831 system command "shell" without quitting _Alpine_, and then
6832 subsequently resume the still-active _Alpine_ session.
6833 When the _enable-suspend_ feature is set and subsequently the
6834 _^Z_ key is pressed, _Alpine_ will normally suspend itself and
6835 return temporary control to _Alpine_'s parent shell process.
6836 However, if this feature is set, _Alpine_ will instead create an
6837 inferior subshell process. This is useful when the parent
6838 process is not intended to be used interactively. Examples
6839 include invoking _Alpine_ via the -e argument of the Unix _xterm_
6840 program, or via a menu system.
6841 Note that one typically resumes a suspended _Alpine_ by entering
6842 the Unix _fg_ command, but if this feature is set, it will be
6843 necessary to enter the _exit_ command instead.
6844 _use-system-translation_
6845 UNIX _Alpine_ only. _Alpine_ normally uses its own internal
6846 software to convert between the multi-byte representation of
6847 characters and the Unicode representation of those same
6848 characters ( see the section on International Character Sets).
6849 It converts from the multi-byte characters your keyboard
6850 produces to Unicode, and from Unicode to the multi-byte
6851 characters your display expects. Alpine also uses its own
6852 internal software to decide how much space on the screen a
6853 particular Unicode character will occupy.
6854 Setting this feature tells _Alpine_ to use the system-supplied
6855 routines to perform these tasks instead. In particular there are
6856 three tasks and three system routines that will be used for
6857 these tasks.
6858 To convert from multi-byte to Unicode the routine
6860 mbstowcs
6861 is used. To convert from Unicode to multi-byte the routine
6863 wcrtomb
6864 is used. And to find the screen width a particular Unicode
6865 character will occupy the routine used is
6867 wcwidth
6868 This feature has been only lightly tested. The internal routines
6869 should normally be used unless you run into a problem that you
6870 think may be solved by using the system routines. Note that your
6871 environment needs to be set up for these routines to work
6872 correctly. In particular, the LANG or LC_CTYPE variable in your
6873 environment will need to be set.
6874 _vertical-folder-list_
6875 This feature controls an aspect of _Alpine_'s FOLDER LIST
6876 screen. If set, the folders will be listed alphabetically down
6877 the columns rather than across the columns as is the default.
6878 This feature is displayed as "Use Vertical Folder List".
6879 _warn-if-blank-subject_
6880 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when you send a message
6881 being composed. If this option is set, _Alpine_ will check to
6882 see if the message about to be sent has a subject or not. If
6883 not, you will be asked if you want to send the message anyway.
6884 _warn-if-blank-to-and-cc-and-newsgroups_
6885 This feature affects _Alpine_'s behavior when you send a message
6886 being composed. If this option is set, _Alpine_ will check to
6887 see if the message about to be sent has either a To address, a
6888 Cc address, or a Newsgroup. If none of these is set, you will be
6889 asked if you want to send the message anyway.
6890 This feature is closely related to fcc-only-without-confirm.
6891 _Alpine_ will normally ask if you want to copy a message only to
6892 the Fcc. This feature also applies to cases where there is a Bcc
6893 but still no To, Cc, or Newsgroup. If the
6894 Fcc-Only-Without-Confirm feature is set and you are sending a
6895 message with only an Fcc, then you won't be asked about sending
6896 with a blank To and Cc and Newsgroups header even if this
6897 feature is set. Similarly, if you have already been asked if you
6898 want to send to the Fcc only and you have answered Yes, then you
6899 won't be asked again about sending with blank To, Cc, and
6900 Newsgroups headers even if this feature is set.
6902 Hidden Config Variables and Features
6904 There are several configuration variables and features which are
6905 normally hidden from the user. That is, they don't appear on any of the
6906 configuration screens. Some of these are suppressed because they are
6907 intended to be used by system administrators, and in fact may only be
6908 set in system-wide configuration files. Others are available to users
6909 but are thought to be of such little value to most users that their
6910 presence on the Config screens would cause more confusion than help.
6911 Others are hidden in the Setup/Config screen because they are normally
6912 configured in one of the other configuration screens. For example, all
6913 of the colors are hidden because the normal way to configure colors is
6914 through Setup/Colors not Setup/Config. You may set the feature
6915 expose-hidden-config to cause most of these hidden variables and
6916 features to show up at the bottom of the Setup/Config screen.
6918 Hidden Variables Not Settable by Users
6920 These variables are settable only in system-wide configuration files.
6921 * bugs-additional-data
6922 * bugs-address
6923 * bugs-fullname
6924 * forced-abook-entry
6925 * kblock-passwd-count
6926 * local-address
6927 * local-fullname
6928 * mail-directory
6929 * standard-printer
6930 * suggest-address
6931 * suggest-fullname
6933 Hidden Variables Which are Settable by Users
6935 These variables are not shown to users but are settable by means of
6936 hand editing the personal configuration file. This first group is
6937 usually maintained by _Alpine_ and there will usually be no reason to
6938 edit them by hand.
6939 * last-version-used
6940 * patterns-filters2
6941 * patterns-indexcolors
6942 * patterns-roles
6943 * patterns-scores2
6944 * remote-abook-metafile
6946 This group is usually correct but may be changed by system managers or
6947 users in special cases.
6948 * disable-these-authenticators
6949 * disable-these-drivers
6950 * last-time-prune-questioned
6951 * new-version-threshold
6952 * remote-abook-history
6953 * remote-abook-validity
6954 * rsh-command
6955 * rsh-open-timeout
6956 * rsh-path
6957 * sendmail-path
6958 * ssh-command
6959 * ssh-open-timeout
6960 * ssh-path
6961 * tcp-open-timeout
6962 * tcp-query-timeout
6963 * tcp-read-warning-timeout
6964 * tcp-write-warning-timeout
6965 * use-function-keys
6967 System managers are usually interested in setting these in the
6968 system-wide configuration files, though users may set them if they
6969 wish.
6970 * operating-dir
6971 * user-input-timeout
6973 Hidden Features Which are Settable by Users
6975 These are _features_ (as opposed to variables) which users or system
6976 administrators may set. Some of them only make sense for
6977 administrators. To turn these on manually, the configuration file
6978 should be edited and the feature added to the _feature-list_ variable.
6979 You may set the feature expose-hidden-config to cause these hidden
6980 features to show up in the Setup/Config screen. They will be at the
6981 bottom of the screen.
6982 * disable-config-cmd
6983 * disable-keyboard-lock-cmd
6984 * disable-password-cmd
6985 * disable-pipes-in-sigs
6986 * disable-pipes-in-templates
6987 * disable-roles-setup-cmd
6988 * disable-roles-sig-edit
6989 * disable-roles-template-edit
6990 * disable-setlocale-collate
6991 * disable-shared-namespaces
6992 * disable-signature-edit-cmd
6994 Retired Variables and Features
6996 Variables and features that are no longer used by the current _Alpine_
6997 version. When an obsolete variable is encountered, its value is applied
6998 to any new corresponding setting. The replaced values include:
7000 _character-set_
7001 Replaced by three separate variables: _display-character-set_,
7002 _keyboard-character-set_, and _posting-character-set_.
7003 _compose-mime_
7004 _elm-style-save_
7005 Replaced by _saved-msg-name-rule_
7006 _feature-level_
7007 Replaced by _feature-list._
7008 _header-in-reply_
7009 Replaced by _include-header-in-reply_ in the _feature-list._
7010 _old-style-reply_
7011 Replaced by _signature-at-bottom_ in the _feature-list._
7012 _use-old-unix-format-write_
7013 No replacement.
7014 _patterns_
7015 Replaced by four separate patterns variables: _patterns-roles_,
7016 _patterns-filters_, _patterns-scores_, and
7017 _patterns-indexcolors_. Since then, _patterns-filters_ has also
7018 become obsolete and is replaced by _patterns-filters2_;
7019 _patterns-scores_ is replaced by _patterns-scores2_.
7020 _save-by-sender_
7021 Replaced by _saved-msg-name-rule._
7022 _show-all-characters_
7023 No replacement, it always works this way now.
7025 Tokens for Index and Replying
7027 This set of special tokens may be used in the index-format option, in
7028 the reply-leadin option, in signature files, in template files used in
7029 roles, and in the folder name that is the target of a Filter Rule. Some
7030 of them aren't available in all situations.
7032 The tokens are used as they appear below for the _Index-Format_ option,
7033 but they must be surrounded by underscores for the _Reply-Leadin_
7034 option, in signature and template files, and in the target of Filter
7035 Rules.
7037 _Tokens Available for all Cases (except Filter Rules)_
7039 SUBJECT
7040 This token represents the Subject the sender gave the message.
7041 Alternatives for use in the index screen are SUBJKEY,
7042 SUBJKEYINIT, SUBJECTTEXT, SUBJKEYTEXT, and SUBJKEYINITTEXT. You
7043 may color the subject text in the MESSAGE INDEX screen
7044 differently by using the Index Subject Color and the Index
7045 Opening Color. options available from the Setup Kolor screen.
7047 FROM
7048 This token represents the personal name (or email address if the
7049 name is unavailable) of the person specified in the message's
7050 "From:" header field. You may color the from text in the MESSAGE
7051 INDEX screen differently by using the Index From Color option
7052 available from the Setup Kolor screen.
7054 ADDRESS
7055 This is similar to the "FROM" token, only it is always the email
7056 address, never the personal name. For example, "mailbox@domain".
7058 MAILBOX
7059 This is the same as the "ADDRESS" except that the domain part of
7060 the address is left off. For example, "mailbox".
7062 SENDER
7063 This token represents the personal name (or email address) of
7064 the person listed in the message's "Sender:" header field.
7066 TO
7067 This token represents the personal names (or email addresses if
7068 the names are unavailable) of the persons specified in the
7069 message's "To:" header field.
7071 NEWSANDTO
7072 This token represents the newsgroups from the message's
7073 "Newsgroups:" header field _and_ the personal names (or email
7074 addresses if the names are unavailable) of the persons specified
7075 in the message's "To:" header field.
7077 TOANDNEWS
7078 Same as "NEWSANDTO" except in the opposite order.
7080 NEWS
7081 This token represents the newsgroups from the message's
7082 "Newsgroups:" header field.
7084 CC
7085 This token represents the personal names (or email addresses if
7086 the names are unavailable) of the persons specified in the
7087 message's "Cc:" header field.
7089 RECIPS
7090 This token represents the personal names (or email addresses if
7091 the names are unavailable) of the persons specified in both the
7092 message's "To:" header field and the message's "Cc:" header
7093 field.
7095 NEWSANDRECIPS
7096 This token represents the newsgroups from the message's
7097 "Newsgroups:" header field _and_ the personal names (or email
7098 addresses if the names are unavailable) of the persons specified
7099 in the message's "To:" and "Cc:" header fields.
7101 RECIPSANDNEWS
7102 Same as "NEWSANDRECIPS" except in the opposite order.
7104 INIT
7105 This token represents the initials from the personal name of the
7106 person specified in the message's "From:" header field. If there
7107 is no personal name, it is blank.
7109 DATE
7110 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7111 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format MMM DD.
7112 For example, "Oct 23". The feature convert-dates-to-localtime,
7113 which adjusts for the timezone the message was sent from, may
7114 have an affect on the value of this token as well as the values
7115 of all of the other DATE or TIME tokens. Some of the DATE and
7116 TIME tokens are displayed in a locale-specific way unless the
7117 option Disable-Index-Locale-Dates is set.
7119 SMARTDATE
7120 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7121 according to the "Date" header field. It is "Today" if the
7122 message was sent today, "Yesterday" for yesterday, "Wednesday"
7123 if it was last Wednesday, and so on. If the message is from last
7124 year and is more than six months old it includes the year, as
7125 well. There is no adjustment made for different time zones, so
7126 you'll get the day the message was sent according to the time
7127 zone the sender was in. See the SMARTDATE alternatives below, as
7128 well.
7130 SMARTTIME
7131 This token represents the most relevant elements of the date on
7132 which the message was sent (according to the "Date" header
7133 field), in a compact form. If the message was sent today, only
7134 the time is used (e.g. "9:22am", "10:07pm"); if it was sent
7135 during the past week, the day of the week and the hour are used
7136 (e.g. "Wed09am", "Thu10pm"); other dates are given as date,
7137 month, and year (e.g. "23Aug00", "9Apr98"). There is no
7138 adjustment made for different time zones, so you'll get the
7139 day/time the message was sent according to the time zone the
7140 sender was in.
7142 SMARTDATETIME
7143 This is a combination of SMARTDATE and SMARTTIME. It is
7144 SMARTDATE unless the SMARTDATE value is "Today", in which case
7145 it is SMARTTIME. See the SMARTDATETIME alternatives below, as
7146 well.
7148 DATEISO
7149 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7150 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7151 YYYY-MM-DD. For example, "1998-10-23".
7153 SHORTDATEISO
7154 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7155 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7156 YY-MM-DD. For example, "98-10-23".
7158 SHORTDATE1
7159 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7160 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7161 MM/DD/YY. For example, "10/23/98".
7163 SHORTDATE2
7164 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7165 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7166 DD/MM/YY. For example, "23/10/98".
7168 SHORTDATE3
7169 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7170 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7171 DD.MM.YY. For example, "23.10.98".
7173 SHORTDATE4
7174 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7175 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format
7176 YY.MM.DD. For example, "98.10.23".
7178 LONGDATE
7179 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7180 according to the "Date" header field. It has the format MMM DD,
7181 YYYY. For example, "Oct 23, 1998".
7183 SMARTDATE alternatives
7184 There are several versions of SMARTDATE which are all the same
7185 except for the way they format dates far in the past. SMARTDATE
7186 formats the date using the information from your locale settings
7187 to format the date string. It may end up formatting dates so
7188 that they look like DATEISO tokens, or SHORTDATE2 tokens, or
7189 something else entirely. The feature convert-dates-to-localtime
7190 may have an affect on the values of these tokens. If you want
7191 more control you may use one of the following.
7193 SMARTDATE
7194 If the option Disable-Index-Locale-Dates is not set then
7195 this will be locale specific. Control this with the
7196 LC_TIME locale setting on a UNIX system. On Windows the
7197 Regional Options control panel may be used to set the
7198 Short date format. At the programming level, the strftime
7199 routine is what _Alpine_ uses to print the date. If the
7200 Disable-Index-Locale-Dates option is set then this is
7201 equivalent to SMARTDATES1.
7203 SMARTDATEISO
7204 DATEISO format. See text above.
7206 SMARTDATESHORTISO
7207 SHORTDATEISO format.
7209 SMARTDATES1
7210 SHORTDATE1 format.
7212 SMARTDATES2
7213 SHORTDATE2 format.
7215 SMARTDATES3
7216 SHORTDATE3 format.
7218 SMARTDATES4
7219 SHORTDATE4 format.
7221 SMARTDATETIME alternatives
7222 There are several versions of SMARTDATETIME which are all very
7223 similar. The ones which end in 24 use a 24-hour clock for
7224 Today's messages instead of a 12-hour clock. The other variation
7225 is for the way they format dates far in the past. SMARTDATETIME
7226 and SMARTDATETIME24 format the date using the information from
7227 your locale settings to format the date string. It may end up
7228 formatting dates so that they look like DATEISO tokens, or
7229 SHORTDATE2 tokens, or something else entirely. The feature
7230 convert-dates-to-localtime may have an affect on the values of
7231 these tokens. The possible choices are:
7233 SMARTDATETIME
7234 Locale specific. Control this with the LC_TIME locale
7235 setting on a UNIX system. On Windows the Regional Options
7236 control panel may be used to set the Short date format. At
7237 the programming level, the strftime routine is what
7238 _Alpine_ uses to print the date.
7240 SMARTDATETIME
7241 If the option Disable-Index-Locale-Dates is not set then
7242 this will be locale specific. Control this with the
7243 LC_TIME locale setting on a UNIX system. On Windows the
7244 Regional Options control panel may be used to set the
7245 Short date format. At the programming level, the strftime
7246 routine is what _Alpine_ uses to print the date. If the
7247 Disable-Index-Locale-Dates option is set then this is
7248 equivalent to SMARTDATETIMES1.
7250 SMARTDATETIME24
7251 Use TIME24 for Today
7253 SMARTDATETIMEISO
7254 DATEISO format. See text above.
7256 SMARTDATETIMEISO24
7257 Use TIME24 for Today
7259 SMARTDATETIMESHORTISO
7260 SHORTDATEISO format.
7262 SMARTDATETIMESHORTISO24
7263 Use TIME24 for Today
7265 SMARTDATETIMES1
7266 SHORTDATE1 format.
7268 SMARTDATETIMES124
7269 Use TIME24 for Today
7271 SMARTDATETIMES2
7272 SHORTDATE2 format.
7274 SMARTDATETIMES224
7275 Use TIME24 for Today
7277 SMARTDATETIMES3
7278 SHORTDATE3 format.
7280 SMARTDATETIMES324
7281 Use TIME24 for Today
7283 SMARTDATETIMES4
7284 SHORTDATE4 format.
7286 SMARTDATETIMES424
7287 Use TIME24 for Today
7289 DAYDATE
7290 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7291 according to the "Date" header field. It looks like "Sat, 23 Oct
7292 1998". This token is never converted in any locale-specific way.
7294 PREFDATE
7295 This token represents the date on which the message was sent,
7296 according to the "Date" header field. It is your operating
7297 system's idea of the preferred date representation for the
7298 current locale. Internally it uses the %x version of the date
7299 from the strftime routine.
7301 PREFTIME
7302 This token represents the time at which the message was sent,
7303 according to the "Date" header field. It is the preferred time
7304 representation for the current locale. Internally it uses the %X
7305 version of the time from the strftime routine.
7307 PREFDATETIME
7308 This token represents the date and time at which the message was
7309 sent, according to the "Date" header field. It is the preferred
7310 date and time representation for the current locale. Internally
7311 it uses the %c version of the time from the strftime routine.
7313 DAY
7314 This token represents the day of the month on which the message
7315 was sent, according to the "Date" header field. For example,
7316 "23" or "9".
7318 DAY2DIGIT
7319 This token represents the day of the month on which the message
7320 was sent, according to the "Date" header field. For example,
7321 "23" or "09". It is always 2 digits.
7323 DAYORDINAL
7324 This token represents the ordinal number which is the day of the
7325 month on which the message was sent, according to the "Date"
7326 header field. For example, "23rd" or "9th".
7328 DAYOFWEEK
7329 This token represents the day of the week on which the message
7330 was sent, according to the "Date" header field. For example,
7331 "Sunday" or "Wednesday".
7333 DAYOFWEEKABBREV
7334 This token represents the day of the week on which the message
7335 was sent, according to the "Date" header field. For example,
7336 "Sun" or "Wed".
7338 MONTHABBREV
7339 This token represents the month the message was sent, according
7340 to the "Date" header field. For example, "Oct".
7342 MONTHLONG
7343 This token represents the month in which the message was sent,
7344 according to the "Date" header field. For example, "October".
7346 MONTH
7347 This token represents the month in which the message was sent,
7348 according to the "Date" header field. For example, "10" or "9".
7350 MONTH2DIGIT
7351 This token represents the month in which the message was sent,
7352 according to the "Date" header field. For example, "10" or "09".
7353 It is always 2 digits.
7355 YEAR
7356 This token represents the year the message was sent, according
7357 to the "Date" header field. For example, "1998" or "2001".
7359 YEAR2DIGIT
7360 This token represents the year the message was sent, according
7361 to the "Date" header field. For example, "98" or "01". It is
7362 always 2 digits.
7364 TIME24
7365 This token represents the time at which the message was sent,
7366 according to the "Date" header field. There is no adjustment
7367 made for different time zones, so you'll get the time the
7368 message was sent according to the time zone the sender was in.
7369 It has the format HH:MM. For example, "17:28".
7371 TIME12
7372 This token represents the time at which the message was sent,
7373 according to the "Date" header field. This time is for a 12 hour
7374 clock. It has the format HH:MMpm. For example, "5:28pm" or
7375 "11:13am".
7377 TIMEZONE
7378 This token represents the numeric timezone from the "Date"
7379 header field. It has the format [+-]HHMM. For example, "-0800".
7381 _Tokens Available Only for Index-Format_
7383 MSGNO
7384 This token represents the message's current position in the
7385 folder which, of course, may change as the folder is sorted or
7386 new mail arrives.
7388 STATUS
7389 This token represents a three character wide field displaying
7390 various aspects of the message's state. The first character is
7391 either blank, a '*' for message marked Important, or a '+'
7392 indicating a message addressed directly to you (as opposed to
7393 your having received it via a mailing list, for example). When
7394 the feature mark-for-cc is set, if the first character would
7395 have been blank then it will instead be a '-' if the message is
7396 cc'd to you. The second character is typically blank, though the
7397 arrow cursor may occupy it if either the assume-slow-link or the
7398 force-arrow-cursor feature is set (or you actually are on a slow
7399 link). The third character is either D (Deleted), A (Answered),
7400 N (New), or blank.
7402 If you are using a threaded view of the index and this message
7403 is at the top of a collapsed portion of a thread, then this
7404 token refers to all of the messages in the collapsed portion of
7405 the thread instead of just the top message. The first character
7406 will be a '*' if _any_ of the messages in the thread are marked
7407 Important, else a '+' if any of the messages are addressed to
7408 you, else a '-' if any of the messages are cc'd to you. The
7409 third character will be a 'D' if _all_ of the messages in the
7410 collapsed thread are marked deleted, an 'A' if _all_ of the
7411 messages in the collapsed thread are marked answered, it will be
7412 an 'N' if any of the messages are undeleted and unseen, and it
7413 will be blank otherwise.
7415 FULLSTATUS
7416 This token represents a less abbreviated alternative to the
7417 "STATUS" token. It is six characters wide. The first character
7418 is '+', '-', or blank, the second blank, the third either '*' or
7419 blank, the fourth N or blank, the fifth A or blank, and the
7420 sixth character is either D or blank.
7422 If you are using a threaded view of the index and this message
7423 is at the top of a collapsed portion of a thread, then this
7424 token refers to all of the messages in the collapsed portion of
7425 the thread instead of just the top message. The first character
7426 is '+', '-', or blank depending on whether _any_ of the messages
7427 in the collapsed thread are addressed to you or cc'd to you. The
7428 third character will be '*' if any of the messages are marked
7429 Important. The fourth character will be 'N' if all of the
7430 messages in the thread are New, else 'n' if some of the messages
7431 in the thread are New, else blank. The fifth character will be
7432 'A' or 'a' or blank, and the sixth character will be 'D' or 'd'
7433 or blank.
7435 IMAPSTATUS
7436 This token represents an even less abbreviated alternative to
7437 the "STATUS" token. It differs from "FULLSTATUS" in only the
7438 fourth character which is an 'N' if the message is new to this
7439 folder since the last time it was opened _and_ it has not been
7440 viewed, an 'R' (Recent) if the message is new to the folder and
7441 has been viewed, a 'U' (Unseen) if the message is not new to the
7442 folder since it was last opened _but_ has not been viewed, or a
7443 blank if the message has been in the folder since it was last
7444 opened and has been viewed.
7446 If you are using a threaded view of the index and this message
7447 is at the top of a collapsed portion of a thread, then the
7448 fourth character will be 'N' if all of the messages in the
7449 thread are unseen and recent; else 'n' if some of the messages
7450 in the thread are unseen and recent; else 'U' if all of the
7451 messages in the thread are unseen and not recent; else 'u' if
7452 some of the messages in the thread are unseen and not recent;
7453 else 'R' if all of the messages in the thread are seen and
7454 recent; else 'r' if some of the messages in the thread are seen
7455 and recent; else blank.
7457 SHORTIMAPSTATUS
7458 This is the same as the last four of the six characters of
7459 IMAPSTATUS, so the '+' To Me information will be missing.
7461 SIZE
7462 This token represents the total size, in bytes, of the message.
7463 If a "K" (Kilobyte) follows the number, the size is
7464 approximately 1,000 times that many bytes (rounded to the
7465 nearest 1,000). If an "M" (Megabyte) follows the number, the
7466 size is approximately 1,000,000 times that many bytes. Commas
7467 are not used in this field. This field is seven characters wide,
7468 including the enclosing parentheses. Sizes are rounded when "K"
7469 or "M" is present. The progression of sizes used looks like:
7471 0 1 ... 9999 10K ... 999K 1.0M ... 99.9M 100M ... 2000M
7473 SIZECOMMA
7474 This token represents the total size, in bytes, of the message.
7475 If a "K" (Kilobyte) follows the number, the size is
7476 approximately 1,000 times that many bytes (rounded to the
7477 nearest 1,000). If an "M" (Megabyte) follows the number, the
7478 size is approximately 1,000,000 times that many bytes. Commas
7479 are used if the number shown is 1,000 or greater. The SIZECOMMA
7480 field is one character wider than the SIZE field. Sizes are
7481 rounded when "K" or "M" is present. The progression of sizes
7482 used looks like:
7484 0 1 ... 99,999 100K ... 9,999K 10.0M ... 999.9M 1,000M ... 2,000M
7486 KSIZE
7487 This token represents the total size of the message, expressed
7488 in kilobytes or megabytes, as most appropriate. These are 1,024
7489 byte kilobytes and 1,024 x 1,024 byte megabytes. The progression
7490 of sizes used looks like:
7492 0K 1K ... 1023K 1.0M ... 99.9M 100M ... 2047M
7494 SIZENARROW
7495 This token represents the total size, in bytes, of the message.
7496 If a "K" (Kilobyte) follows the number, the size is
7497 approximately 1,000 times that many bytes. If an "M" (Megabyte)
7498 follows the number, the size is approximately 1,000,000 times
7499 that many bytes. If a "G" (Gigabyte) follows the number, the
7500 size is approximately 1,000,000,000 times that many bytes. This
7501 field uses only five characters of screen width, including the
7502 enclosing parentheses. The progression of sizes used looks like:
7504 0 1 ... 999 1K ... 99K .1M ... .9M 1M ... 99M .1G ... .9G 1G 2G
7506 DESCRIPSIZE
7507 This token is intended to represent a more useful description of
7508 the message than just its size, but it isn't very useful at this
7509 point. The plus sign in this view means there are attachments.
7510 Note that including this token in the "Index-Format" could slow
7511 down the display a little while _Alpine_ collects the necessary
7512 information.
7514 SUBJKEY
7515 This token is the same as the SUBJECT token unless keywords are
7516 set for the message. In that case, a list of keywords enclosed
7517 in braces will be prepended to the subject of the message. Only
7518 those keywords that you have defined in your Keywords option in
7519 Setup/Config are considered in the list. In other words,
7520 keywords that have been set by some other means, perhaps by
7521 another email program, won't show up unless included in
7522 Keywords. Having this set in the Index-Format will also cause
7523 the keywords to be prepended to the subject in the MESSAGE TEXT
7524 screen. If you have given a keyword a nickname (keywords), that
7525 nickname is displayed instead of the actual keyword. The
7526 keyword-surrounding-chars option may be used to modify this
7527 token slightly. It is also possible to color keywords in the
7528 index using the Setup/Kolor screen.
7530 SUBJKEYINIT
7531 This token is the same as the SUBJKEY token except that instead
7532 of prepending a list of keywords to the subject, a list of first
7533 initials of keywords will be prepended instead. For example, if
7534 a message has the keywords _Work_ and _Now_ set (or Work and Now
7535 are the _Alpine_ nicknames of keywords which are set) then the
7536 SUBJKEY token would cause a result like
7538 {Work Now} actual subject
7540 whereas the SUBJKEYINIT token would give
7542 {WN} actual subject
7544 Only those keywords that you have defined in your Keywords
7545 option in Setup/Config are considered in the list. In other
7546 words, keywords that have been set by some other means, perhaps
7547 by another email program, won't show up unless included in
7548 Keywords. The keyword-surrounding-chars option may be used to
7549 modify this token slightly. It is also possible to color
7550 keywords in the index using the Setup/Kolor screen.
7552 SUBJECTTEXT
7553 Same as SUBJECT but if there is room in the Subject field for
7554 more text, the opening part of the text of the message is
7555 displayed after the subject. The time needed to fetch the text
7556 may cause a performance problem which can, of course, be avoided
7557 by using the SUBJECT version of the Subject instead. You may
7558 color this opening text differently by using the Index Opening
7559 Color option available from the Setup Kolor screen. You may
7560 adjust the characters that are displayed between the Subject and
7561 the opening text with the option Opening-Text-Separator-Chars.
7563 SUBJKEYTEXT
7564 Same as SUBJKEY but with the opening message text.
7566 SUBJKEYINITTEXT
7567 Same as SUBJKEYINIT but with the opening message text.
7569 OPENINGTEXT
7570 This is similar to SUBJECTTEXT. Instead of combining the Subject
7571 and the opening text in a single field in the index screen this
7572 token allows you to allocate a separate column just for the
7573 opening text of the message. The time needed to fetch this text
7574 may cause a performance problem. You may color this opening text
7575 differently by using the Index Opening Color option available
7576 from the Setup Kolor screen.
7578 OPENINGTEXTNQ
7579 This is very similar to OPENINGTEXT. The NQ stands for No
7580 Quotes. The only difference is that quoted text (lines beginning
7581 with >) is deleted. For some messages this may be confusing. For
7582 example, a message might have a line preceding some quoted text
7583 that reads something like "On May 8th person A said." That no
7584 longer makes sense after the quoted text is deleted and it will
7585 appear that person A said whatever the text after the quote is,
7586 even though that is really person B talking.
7588 KEY
7589 This is a space-delimited list of keywords that are set for the
7590 message. Only those keywords that you have defined in your
7591 Keywords option in Setup/Config are considered in the list. In
7592 other words, keywords that have been set by some other means,
7593 perhaps by another email program, won't show up unless included
7594 in Keywords. If you have given a keyword a nickname that
7595 nickname is displayed instead of the actual keyword. It is also
7596 possible to color keywords in the index using the Setup/Kolor
7597 screen. This token defaults to an arbitrary width of 5. You
7598 should set it to whatever width suits you using something like
7599 KEY(17) in the Index-Format.
7601 KEYINIT
7602 This is a list of keyword initials that are set for the message.
7603 If you have given a keyword a nickname the initial of that
7604 nickname is displayed instead of the initial of the actual
7605 keyword. It is also possible to color keyword initials in the
7606 index using the Setup/Kolor screen. This token defaults to an
7607 arbitrary width of 2. You should set it to whatever width suits
7608 you using something like KEYINIT(3) in the Index-Format.
7610 PRIORITY
7611 The X-Priority header is a non-standard header that is used in a
7612 somewhat standard way by many mail programs. _Alpine_ expects
7613 the value of this header to be a digit with a value from 1 to 5,
7614 with 1 being the highest priority and 5 the lowest priority.
7615 Since this priority is something that the sender sets it is only
7616 an indication of the priority that the sender attaches to the
7617 mail and it is therefore almost totally unreliable for use as a
7618 filtering criterion. This token will display the numeric value
7619 of the priority if it is between 1 and 5. It will be suppressed
7620 (blank) if the value is 3, which is normal priority. It is also
7621 possible to set the color of the PRIORITY field. By default the
7622 token is colored the same as the index line it is part of. You
7623 may set it to be another color with the Index Priority Colors
7624 options available from the Setup Kolor screen.
7626 PRIORITYALPHA
7627 This is a more verbose interpretation of the X-Priority field.
7628 Once again nothing is displayed unless the value of the field is
7629 1, 2, 4, or 5. The values displayed for those values are:
7631 1 Highest
7632 2 High
7633 4 Low
7634 5 Lowest
7636 You may color this token with the Index Priority Colors options.
7638 PRIORITY!
7639 This is a one character, non-numeric version of the X-Priority
7640 field. If the value of the X-Priority header is 1 or 2 an
7641 exclamation point is displayed. If the value is 4 or 5 a "v"
7642 (think down arrow) is displayed. You may color this token with
7643 the Index Priority Colors options.
7645 ATT
7646 This is a one column wide field which represents the number of
7647 attachments a message has. It will be blank if there are no
7648 attachments, a single digit for one to nine attachments, or an
7649 asterisk for more than nine. Note that including this token in
7650 the "Index-Format" could slow down the display a little while
7651 _Alpine_ collects the necessary information.
7653 FROMORTO
7654 This token represents _either_ the personal name (or email
7655 address) of the person listed in the message's "From:" header
7656 field, _or_, if that address is yours or one of your alternate
7657 addresses, the first person specified in the message's "To:"
7658 header field with the prefix "To: " prepended. If the from
7659 address is yours and there is also no "To" address, _Alpine_
7660 will use the address on the "Cc" line. If there is no address
7661 there, either, _Alpine_ will look for a newsgroup name from the
7662 "Newsgroups" header field and put that after the "To: " prefix.
7664 FROMORTONOTNEWS
7665 This is almost the same as _FROMORTO_. The difference is that
7666 newsgroups aren't considered. When a message is from you,
7667 doesn't have a To or Cc, and does have a Newsgroups header; this
7668 token will be your name instead of the name of the newsgroup
7669 (like it would be with FROMORTO).
7671 TEXT
7672 This is a different sort of token. It allows you to display a
7673 label within each index line. It will be the same fixed text for
7674 each line. It is different from all the other tokens in that
7675 there is no space column displayed after this token. Instead, it
7676 is butted up against the following field. It also has a
7677 different syntax. The text to display is given following a colon
7678 after the word "TEXT". For example,
7680 TEXT:abc=
7682 would insert the literal text "abc=" (without the quotes) into
7683 the index display line. You must quote the text if it includes
7684 space characters, like
7686 TEXT:"abc = "
7688 HEADER
7689 This allows you to display the text from a particular header
7690 line in the message. The syntax for this token is substantially
7691 different from all the others in order that you might be able to
7692 display a portion of the text following a particular header. The
7693 header name you are interested in is given following a colon
7694 after the word "HEADER". For example,
7696 HEADER:X-Spam
7698 would display the text of the X-Spam header, if any. Like for
7699 other index tokens a width field may (and probably should)
7700 follow this.
7702 HEADER:X-Spam(10)
7704 displays the first ten characters of the X-Spam header. Unlike
7705 other index tokens, the syntax for HEADER is more flexible. An
7706 optional second argument comes after a comma inside the
7707 parentheses. It specifies the "field" number. By default, the
7708 field separator is a space character. No extra space characters
7709 are allowed in the argument list.
7711 HEADER:X-Spam(10,2)
7713 would display the second field, left-justified, in a 10
7714 character wide field. The second field would consist of all the
7715 text after the first space up to the next space or the end of
7716 the header. The default field number is zero, which stands for
7717 the entire line. There is also an optional third argument which
7718 is a list of field separators. It defaults to a space character.
7719 The example
7721 HEADER:X-Spam(10,2,:% )
7723 would cause the field separators to be any of colon, percent, or
7724 space (there is a space character between the percent and the
7725 right parenthesis). The first field runs from the start of the
7726 header value up to the first colon, percent, or space; the
7727 second goes from there to the next; and so on. In order to use a
7728 comma character as a field separator you must escape it by
7729 preceding it with a backslash (\). The same is true of the
7730 backslash character itself. There is one further optional
7731 argument. It is an R or an L to specify right or left adjustment
7732 of the text within the field. The default is to left justify,
7733 however if you are displaying numbers you might prefer to right
7734 justify.
7736 Here's an example of a SpamAssassin header. The exact look of
7737 the header will vary, but if your incoming mail contains headers
7738 that look like the following
7740 X-Spam-Status: Yes, hits=10.6 tagged_above=-999.0 required=7.0
7741 tests=BAYE...
7743 you might want to display the hits value. The first field starts
7744 with the Y in Yes. To get what you're interested in you might
7745 use "=" and space as the field separators and display the third
7746 field, like
7748 HEADER:X-Spam-Status(4,3,= )
7750 or maybe you would break at the dot instead
7752 HEADER:X-Spam-Status(2,2,=.,R)
7754 Another example we've seen has headers that look like
7756 X-Spam: Gauge=IIIIIII, Probability=7%, Report=...
7758 Because there are two equals and a comma before the 7% and a
7759 comma after it, the token
7761 HEADER:X-Spam-Status(3,4,=\,,R)
7763 should display the probability (for example 7% or 83%) right
7764 justified in a 3-wide field.
7766 ARROW
7767 This gives an alternative way to display the current message in
7768 the MESSAGE INDEX screen. Usually the current message is
7769 indicated by the line being shown in reverse video. Instead, if
7770 the ARROW token is included in your Index-Format, the current
7771 line will include an "arrow" that looks like
7773 ->
7775 in the ARROW token's field. For all of the non-current messages,
7776 the ARROW field will be filled with blanks. If you use the
7777 fixed-field width feature the length of the "arrow" may be
7778 adjusted. The arrow will be drawn as width-1 dashes followed by
7779 a greater than sign. For example, if you use ARROW(3) you will
7780 get
7782 -->
7784 and ARROW(1) will give you just
7786 >
7788 It is also possible to set the color of the ARROW field. By
7789 default (and for non-current messages) the arrow is colored the
7790 same as the index line it is part of. You may set it to be
7791 another color with the Index Arrow Color option available from
7792 the Setup Kolor screen.
7794 SCORE
7795 This gives the score of each message. This will be six columns
7796 wide to accommodate the widest possible score. You will probably
7797 want to use the Index-Format fixed-field width feature to limit
7798 the width of the field to the widest score that you use (e.g.
7799 SCORE(3) if your scores are always between 0 and 999). If you
7800 have not defined any score rules the scores will all be zero. If
7801 any of your score rules contain AllText or BodyText patterns
7802 then including SCORE in the Index-Format may slow down the
7803 display of the MESSAGE INDEX screen.
7805 _Tokens Available for all but Index-Format_
7807 CURNEWS
7808 This token represents the current newsgroup if there is one. For
7809 example, "comp.mail.pine".
7811 MSGID
7812 This token represents the message ID of the message. This token
7813 does not work with Filter Rule folder names.
7815 CURDATE
7816 This token represents the current date. It has the format MMM
7817 DD. For example, "Oct 23".
7819 CURDATEISO
7820 This token represents the current date. It has the format
7821 YYYY-MM-DD. For example, "1998-10-23".
7823 CURDATEISOS
7824 This token represents the current date. It has the format
7825 YY-MM-DD. For example, "98-10-23".
7827 CURPREFDATE
7828 This token represents the current date. It is your operating
7829 system's idea of the preferred date representation for the
7830 current locale. Internally it uses the %x version of the date
7831 from the strftime routine.
7833 CURPREFTIME
7834 This token represents the current time. It is the preferred time
7835 representation for the current locale. Internally it uses the %X
7836 version of the time from the strftime routine.
7838 CURPREFDATETIME
7839 This token represents the current date and time. It is the
7840 preferred date and time representation for the current locale.
7841 Internally it uses the %c version of the time from the strftime
7842 routine.
7844 CURTIME24
7845 This token represents the current time. It has the format HH:MM.
7846 For example, "17:28".
7848 CURTIME12
7849 This token represents the current time. This time is for a 12
7850 hour clock. It has the format HH:MMpm. For example, "5:28pm" or
7851 "11:13am".
7853 CURDAY
7854 This token represents the current day of the month. For example,
7855 "23" or "9".
7857 CURDAY2DIGIT
7858 This token represents the current day of the month. For example,
7859 "23" or "09". It is always 2 digits.
7861 CURDAYOFWEEK
7862 This token represents the current day of the week. For example,
7863 "Sunday" or "Wednesday".
7865 CURDAYOFWEEKABBREV
7866 This token represents the current day of the week. For example,
7867 "Sun" or "Wed".
7869 CURMONTH
7870 This token represents the current month. For example, "10" or
7871 "9".
7873 CURMONTH2DIGIT
7874 This token represents the current month. For example, "10" or
7875 "09". It is always 2 digits.
7877 CURMONTHLONG
7878 This token represents the current month. For example, "October".
7880 CURMONTHABBREV
7881 This token represents the current month. For example, "Oct".
7883 CURYEAR
7884 This token represents the current year. For example, "1998" or
7885 "2001".
7887 CURYEAR2DIGIT
7888 This token represents the current year. For example, "98" or
7889 "01". It is always 2 digits.
7891 LASTMONTH
7892 This token represents last month. For example, if this is
7893 November (the 11th month), it is equal to "10" or if this is
7894 October (the 10th month), it is "9". It is possible that this
7895 and the other tokens beginning with LASTMONTH below could be
7896 useful when used with a Filtering Rule that has the "Beginning
7897 of Month" option set.
7899 LASTMONTH2DIGIT
7900 This token represents last month. For example, if this is
7901 November (the 11th month), it is equal to "10" or if this is
7902 October (the 10th month), it is "09". It is always 2 digits.
7904 LASTMONTHLONG
7905 This token represents last month. For example, if this is
7906 November the value is "October".
7908 LASTMONTHABBREV
7909 This token represents last month. For example, if this is
7910 November the value is "Oct".
7912 LASTMONTHYEAR
7913 This token represents what the year was a month ago. For
7914 example, if this is October, 1998, it is "1998". If this is
7915 January, 1998, it is "1997".
7917 LASTMONTHYEAR2DIGIT
7918 This token represents what the year was a month ago. For
7919 example, if this is October, 1998, it is "98". If this is
7920 January, 1998, it is "97".
7922 LASTYEAR
7923 This token represents last year. For example, if this is 1998,
7924 it equals "1997". It is possible that this could be useful when
7925 used with a Filtering Rule that has the "Beginning of Year"
7926 option set.
7928 LASTYEAR2DIGIT
7929 This token represents last year. For example, if this is 1998,
7930 it equals "97". It is always 2 digits.
7932 ROLENICK
7933 This token represents the nickname of the role currently being
7934 used. If no role is being used, then no text will be printed for
7935 this token. This token does not work with Filter Rule folder
7936 names.
7938 _Token Available Only for Reply-Leadin_
7940 See the help for the Reply-Leadin option, to see why you might want to
7941 use this. Since the _Reply-Leadin_ contains free text this token must
7942 be surrounded by underscores when used.
7944 NEWLINE
7945 This is an end of line marker.
7947 _Token Available Only for Templates and Signatures_
7949 CURSORPOS
7950 This token is different from the others. When it is replaced it
7951 is replaced with nothing, but it sets a _Alpine_ internal
7952 variable which tells the composer to start with the cursor
7953 positioned at the position where this token was. If both the
7954 template file and the signature file contain a "CURSORPOS"
7955 token, then the position in the template file is used. If there
7956 is a template file and neither it nor the signature file
7957 contains a "CURSORPOS" token, then the cursor is positioned
7958 after the end of the contents of the template file when the
7959 composer starts up.
7961 Conditional Inclusion of Text for Reply-Leadin, Signatures, and Templates
7963 Conditional text inclusion may be used with the Reply-Leadin option, in
7964 signature files, and in template files used in roles. It may _not_ be
7965 used with the _Index-Format_ option.
7967 There is a limited if-else capability for including text. The if-else
7968 condition is based on whether or not a given token would result in
7969 replacement text you specify. The syntax of this conditional inclusion
7970 is
7972 _token_(match_this, if_matched [ , if_not_matched ] )
7974 The left parenthesis must follow the underscore immediately, with no
7975 intervening space. It means the token is expanded and the results of
7976 that expansion are compared against the "match_this" argument. If there
7977 is an exact match, then the "if_matched" text is used as the
7978 replacement text. Otherwise, the "if_not_matched" text is used. One of
7979 the most useful values for the "match_this" argument is the empty
7980 string, "". In that case the expansion is compared against the empty
7981 string.
7983 Here's an example to make it clearer. This text could be included in
7984 one of your template files:
7986 _NEWS_("", "I'm replying to email","I'm replying to news")
7988 If that is included in a template file which you are using while
7989 replying to a message (because you chose to use the role it was part
7990 of), and that message has a newsgroup header and a newsgroup in that
7991 header, then the text
7993 I'm replying to news
7995 will be included in the message you are about to compose. On the other
7996 hand, if the message you are replying to does not have a newsgroup,
7997 then the text
7999 I'm replying to email
8001 would be included instead. This would also work in signature files and
8002 in the "Reply-Leadin" option. If the "match_this", "if_matched", or
8003 "if_not_matched" arguments contain spaces, parentheses, or commas; they
8004 have to be quoted with double quotation marks (like in the example
8005 above). If you want to include a literal quote in the text you must
8006 escape the quote by preceding it with a backslash character. If you
8007 want to include a literal backslash character you must escape it by
8008 preceding it with another backslash.
8010 The comma followed by "if_not_matched" is optional. If there is no
8011 "if_not_matched" present then no text is included if the not_matched
8012 case is true. Here's another example:
8014 _NEWS_("", "", "This msg was seen in group: _NEWS_.")
8016 Here you can see that tokens may appear in the arguments. The same is
8017 true for tokens with the conditional parentheses. They may appear in
8018 arguments, though you do have to be careful to get the quoting and
8019 escaping of nested double quotes correct. If this was in the signature
8020 file being used and you were replying to a message sent to
8021 comp.mail.pine the resulting text would be:
8023 This msg was seen in group: comp.mail.pine.
8025 If you were replying to a message which wasn't sent to any newsgroup
8026 the resulting text would be a single blank line. The reason you'd get a
8027 blank line is because the end of the line is outside of the
8028 conditional, so is always included. If you wanted to get rid of that
8029 blank line you could do so by moving the end of line inside the
8030 conditional. In other words, it's ok to have multi-line "if_matched" or
8031 "if_not_matched" arguments. The text just continues until the next
8032 double quotation, even if it's not on the same line.
8034 Here's one more (contrived) example illustrating a matching argument
8035 which is not the empty string.
8037 _SMARTDATE_("Today", _SMARTDATE_, "On _DATE_") _FROM_ wrote:
8039 If this was the value of your "Reply-Leadin" option and you were
8040 replying to a message which was sent today, then the value of the
8041 "Reply-Leadin" would be
8043 Today Fred Flintstone wrote:
8045 But if you were replying to a message sent on Oct. 27 (and that wasn't
8046 today) you would get
8048 On Oct 27 Fred Flintstone wrote:
8050 Per Server Directory Configuration
8052 This is only available if _Alpine_ was built with LDAP support. If
8053 that's the case, there will be a Directory option underneath the Setup
8054 command on the Main Menu. Each server that is defined there has several
8055 configuration variables which control the behavior when using it.
8056 _ldap-server_
8057 This is the name of the host where an LDAP server is running.
8058 To find out whether your organization has its own LDAP server,
8059 contact its computing support staff.
8060 _search-base_
8061 This is the search base to be used on this server. It functions
8062 as a filter by restricting your searches in the LDAP server
8063 database to the specified contents of the specified fields.
8064 Without it, searches submitted to this directory server may
8065 fail. It might be something like:
8066 O = <Your Organization Name>, C = US
8068 or it might be blank. (Some LDAP servers actually ignore
8069 anything specified here.)
8070 If in doubt what parameters you should specify here, contact the
8071 maintainers of the LDAP server.
8072 _port_
8073 This is the TCP port number to be used with this LDAP server. If
8074 you leave this blank port 389 will be used.
8075 _nickname_
8076 This is a nickname to be used in displays. If you don't supply a
8077 nickname the server name from "ldap-server" will be used
8078 instead. This option is strictly for your convenience.
8079 _use-implicitly-from-composer_
8080 Set this feature to have lookups done to this server implicitly
8081 from the composer. If an address doesn't look like a
8082 fully-qualified address, it will be looked up in your address
8083 books, and if it doesn't match a nickname there, then it will be
8084 looked up on the LDAP servers which have this feature set. The
8085 lookups will also be done when using the address completion
8086 feature (TAB command) in the composer if any of the serves have
8087 this feature set. Also see the LDAP feature
8088 lookup-addrbook-contents and the Setup/Config feature
8089 ldap-result-to-addrbook-add.
8090 _lookup-addrbook-contents_
8091 Normally implicit LDAP lookups from the composer are done only
8092 for the strings you type in from the composer screen. In other
8093 words, you type in something in the To or CC field and press
8094 return, then the string is looked up. First that string is
8095 looked up in your address books. If a match is found there, then
8096 the results of that match are looked up again. If you place a
8097 string in your address book that you want to have looked up on
8098 the LDAP directory server, you need to turn on this feature. If
8099 you set this feature for a server, you almost always will also
8100 want to set the use-implicitly-from-composer feature. An example
8101 might serve to best illustrate this feature.
8102 If an LDAP lookup of "William Clinton" normally returns an entry
8103 with an address of pres@whitehouse.gov, then you might put an
8104 entry in your address book that looks like:
8105 Nickname Address
8106 bill "William Clinton"
8108 Now, when you type "bill" into an address field in the composer
8109 _Alpine_ will find the "bill" entry in your address book. It will
8110 replace "bill" with "William Clinton". It will then search for
8111 an entry with that nickname in your address book and not find
8112 one. If this feature is set, _Alpine_ will then attempt to
8113 lookup "William Clinton" on the LDAP server and find the entry
8114 with address pres@whitehouse.gov.
8115 A better way to accomplish the same thing is probably to use the
8116 feature save-search-criteria-not-result.
8117 _save-search-criteria-not-result_
8118 Normally when you save the results of an LDAP directory lookup
8119 to your address book the _results_ of the lookup are saved. If
8120 this feature is set and the entry being saved was found on this
8121 directory server, then the search _criteria_ is saved instead of
8122 the _results_ of the search. When this address book entry is
8123 used in the future, instead of copying the results from the
8124 address book the directory lookup will be done again. This could
8125 be useful if the copied result might become stale because the
8126 data on the directory server changes (for example, the entry's
8127 email address changes). You probably don't want to set this
8128 feature if the server is at all slow or unreliable.
8129 The way this actually works is that instead of saving the email
8130 address in your address book, _Alpine_ saves enough information
8131 to look up the same directory entry again. In particular, it
8132 saves the server name and the distinguished name of the entry.
8133 It's possible that the server administrators might change the
8134 format of distinguished names on the server, or that the entry
8135 might be removed from the server. If _Alpine_ notices this, you
8136 will be warned and a backup copy of the email address will be
8137 used. You may want to create a new entry in this case, since you
8138 will get the annoying warning every time you use the old entry.
8139 You may do that by Saving the entry to a new nickname in the
8140 same address book. You will be asked whether or not you want to
8141 use the backup email address.
8142 A related feature in the Setup/Config screen is
8143 ldap-result-to-addrbook-add.
8144 _disable-ad-hoc-space-substitution_
8145 Spaces in your input are normally handled specially. Each space
8146 character is replaced by
8147 * <SPACE>
8149 in the search query (but not by "* <SPACE> *"). The reason this
8150 is done is so the input string
8151 Greg Donald
8153 (which is converted to "Greg* Donald") will match the names
8154 "Greg Donald", "Gregory Donald", "Greg F. Donald", and "Gregory
8155 F Donald"; but it won't match "Greg McDonald". If the
8156 "Search-Rule" you were using was "begins-with", then it would
8157 also match the name "Greg Donaldson".
8158 Turning on this feature will disable this substitution.
8159 _search-type_
8160 This affects the way that LDAP searches are done. In particular,
8161 this tells the server where to look for the string to be
8162 matched. If set to "name" then the string that is being searched
8163 for will be compared with the string in the "Name" field on the
8164 server (technically, it is the "commonname" field on the
8165 server). "Surname" means we're looking for a match in the
8166 "Surname" field on the server (actually the "sn" field).
8167 "Givenname" really is "givenname" and "email" is the electronic
8168 mail address (this is actually the field called "mail" or
8169 "electronicmail" on the server). The other three types are
8170 combinations of the types listed so far. "Name-or-email" means
8171 the string should appear in either the "name" field OR the
8172 "email" field. Likewise, "surname-or-givenname" means "surname"
8173 OR "givenname" and "sur-or-given-or-name-or-email" means the
8174 obvious thing.
8175 This search _type_ is combined with the search rule to form the
8176 actual search query.
8177 The usual default value for this option is
8178 "sur-or-given-or-name-or-email". This type of search may be slow
8179 on some servers. Try "name-or-email", which is often faster, or
8180 just "name" if the performance seems to be a problem.
8181 Some servers have been configured with different attribute names
8182 for these four fields. In other words, instead of using the
8183 attribute name "mail" for the email address field, the server
8184 might be configured to use something else, for example,
8185 "rfc822mail" or "internetemailaddress". _Alpine_ can be
8186 configured to use these different attribute names by using the
8187 four per-server configuration options:
8188 + email-attribute
8189 + name-attribute
8190 + surname-attribute
8191 + givenname-attribute
8192 _search-rule_
8193 This affects the way that LDAP searches are done. If set to
8194 "equals" then only exact matches count. "Contains" means that
8195 the string you type in is a substring of what you are matching
8196 against. "Begins-with" and "ends-with" mean that the string
8197 starts or ends with the string you type in.
8198 Spaces in your input are normally handled specially, but you can
8199 turn that special handling off with the
8200 disable-ad-hoc-space-substitution feature.
8201 The usual default value for this option is _begins-with_.
8202 _email-attribute_
8203 This is the name of the attribute which is searched for when
8204 looking for an email address. The default value for this option
8205 is "mail" or "electronicmail". If the server you are using uses
8206 a different attribute name for the email address, put that
8207 attribute name here.
8208 This will affect the search filter used if your Search-Type is
8209 one that contains a search for "email". It will also cause the
8210 attribute value matching this attribute name to be used as the
8211 email address when you look up an entry from the composer.
8212 _name-attribute_
8213 This is the name of the attribute which is searched for when
8214 looking for the name of the entry. The default value for this
8215 option is "cn", which stands for common name. If the server you
8216 are using uses a different attribute name for the name, put that
8217 attribute name here. This will affect the search filter used if
8218 your Search-Type is one that contains a search for "name".
8219 _surname-attribute_
8220 This is the name of the attribute which is searched for when
8221 looking for the surname of the entry. The default value for this
8222 option is "sn". If the server you are using uses a different
8223 attribute name for the surname, put that attribute name here.
8224 This will affect the search filter used if your Search-Type is
8225 one that contains a search for "surname".
8226 _givenname-attribute_
8227 This is the name of the attribute which is searched for when
8228 looking for the given name of the entry. The default value for
8229 this option is "givenname". If the server you are using uses a
8230 different attribute name for the given name, put that attribute
8231 name here. This will affect the search filter used if your
8232 Search-Type is one that contains a search for "givenname".
8233 _timelimit_
8234 This places a limit on the number of seconds the LDAP search
8235 will continue. The default is 30 seconds. A value of 0 means no
8236 limit. Note that some servers may place limits of their own on
8237 searches.
8238 _sizelimit_
8239 This places a limit on the number of entries returned by the
8240 LDAP server. A value of 0 means no limit. The default is 0. Note
8241 that some servers may place limits of their own on searches.
8242 _custom-search-filter_
8243 This one is for advanced users only! If you define this, then
8244 the search-type and search-rule defined are both ignored.
8245 However, the feature disable-ad-hoc-space-substitution is still
8246 in effect. That is, the space substitution will take place even
8247 in a custom filter unless you disable it.
8248 If your LDAP service stops working and you suspect it might be
8249 because of your custom filter, just delete this filter and try
8250 using the _search-type_ and _search-rule_ instead. Another
8251 option that sometimes causes trouble is the search-base option.
8252 This variable may be set to the string representation of an LDAP
8253 search filter (see RFC1960). In the places where you want the
8254 address string to be substituted in, put a '%s' in this filter
8255 string. Here are some examples:
8256 A "Search-Type" of "name" with "Search-Rule" of "begins-with" is
8257 equivalent to the "custom-search-filter"
8258 (cn=%s*)
8260 When you try to match against the string "string" the program
8261 replaces the "%s" with "string" (without the quotes). You may
8262 have multiple "%s"'s and they will all be replaced with the
8263 string. There is a limit of 10 "%s"'s.
8264 A "Search-Type" of "name-or-email" with "Search-Rule" of
8265 "contains" is equivalent to
8266 (|(cn=*%s*)(mail=*%s*))
8268 If your server uses a different attribute _name_ than _Alpine_
8269 uses by default, (for example, it uses "rfc822mail" instead of
8270 "mail"), then you may be able to use one or more of the four
8271 attribute configuration options instead of defining a custom
8272 filter:
8273 + email-attribute
8274 + name-attribute
8275 + surname-attribute
8276 + givenname-attribute
8278 Color Configuration
8280 If the terminal or terminal emulator you are using is capable of using
8281 color (see color-style option), or if you are using _PC-Alpine_, then
8282 it is possible to set up _Alpine_ so that various parts of the display
8283 will be shown in colors you configure. This is done using the Setup
8284 Color screen. The Setup Color screen is divided into five broad
8285 sections: Options, General Colors, Index Colors, Header Colors, and
8286 Keyword Colors. In addition to these five categories you may also color
8287 lines in the MESSAGE INDEX screen by configuring the Index Line Color.
8289 Each color is defined as a foreground color (the color of the actual
8290 text) and a background color (the color of the area behind the text).
8292 Color Options
8294 _current-indexline-style_
8295 This option affects the colors used to display the current line
8296 in the MESSAGE INDEX screen. If you do not have Index Line
8297 Colors defined, then this option will have no effect in the
8298 index. Those Rules may be defined by going to the
8299 Setup/Rules/Indexcolor screen.
8301 If the option enable-incoming-folders-checking is turned on and
8302 the Incoming Unseen Color is set to something other than the
8303 default, then this option also affects the color used to display
8304 the current folder in the Incoming FOLDER LIST screen.
8306 The available options include:
8308 flip-colors
8309 This is the default. If an index line is colored because
8310 it matches one of your Index Color Rules, then its colors
8311 will be reversed when it is the currently highlighted
8312 line. For example, if the line is normally red text on a
8313 blue background, then when it is the current line it will
8314 be drawn as blue text on a red background.
8316 The rest of the option values all revert to this
8317 flip-colors behavior if there is no Reverse Color defined.
8319 reverse
8320 With this option the Reverse color is always used to
8321 highlight the current line.
8323 reverse-fg
8324 The foreground part of the Reverse Color is used to
8325 highlight the current line. If this would cause the text
8326 to be unreadable (because the foreground and background
8327 colors are the same) or if it would cause no change in the
8328 color of the index line, then the colors are flipped
8329 instead.
8331 Some people think this works particularly well if you use
8332 different background colors to emphasize "interesting"
8333 lines, but always with the same Normal foreground color,
8334 and you use a different foreground color for the Reverse
8335 Color.
8337 reverse-fg-no-ambiguity
8338 With the "reverse-fg" rule above, it is possible that the
8339 resulting color will be exactly the same as the regular
8340 Reverse Color. That can lead to some possible confusion
8341 because an "interesting" line which is the current line
8342 will be displayed exactly the same as a non-interesting
8343 line which is current. You can't tell whether the line is
8344 just a regular current line or if it is an "interesting"
8345 current line by looking at the color. Setting the option
8346 to this value removes that ambiguity. It is the same as
8347 the "reverse-fg" setting unless the resulting interesting
8348 current line would look just like a non-interesting
8349 current line. In that case, the interesting line's colors
8350 are simply flipped (like in the default behavior).
8352 As an alternative way to preserve the line's
8353 interestingness in this case, you may find that using both
8354 a different foreground and a different background color
8355 for the interesting line will help.
8357 reverse-bg
8358 The background part of the Reverse Color is used to
8359 highlight the current line. If this would cause the text
8360 to be unreadable (because the foreground and background
8361 colors are the same) or if it would cause no change in the
8362 color of the index line, then the colors are flipped
8363 instead.
8365 Some people think this works particularly well if you use
8366 different foreground colors to emphasize "interesting"
8367 lines, but always with the same Normal background color,
8368 and you use a different background color for the Reverse
8369 Color.
8371 reverse-bg-no-ambiguity
8372 As with the "reverse-fg" case, the "reverse-bg" rule may
8373 also result in a color which is exactly the same as the
8374 regular Reverse Color. Setting the option to this value
8375 removes that ambiguity. It is the same as the "reverse-bg"
8376 setting unless the resulting current line has the same
8377 color as the Reverse Color. In that case, the interesting
8378 line's colors are simply flipped (like in the default
8379 behavior).
8381 _titlebar-color-style_
8382 This option affects the colors used to display the titlebar (the
8383 top line on the screen) when viewing a message.
8385 The available options include:
8387 default
8388 The color of the titlebar will be the color you set for
8389 the Title Color. The Title Color may be set by using the
8391 indexline
8392 The color of the titlebar will be the same as the color of
8393 the index line corresponding to the message being viewed.
8394 The rules which determine what color the index line will
8395 be may be set up by going to the Setup/Rules/Indexcolor
8396 screen. If the index line for a message is not colored
8397 explicitly by the Indexcolor rules, then the titlebar will
8398 be colored the same as for the "default" option above
8399 (which is not the same color that the index line itself
8400 will have).
8402 reverse-indexline
8403 This is similar to the "indexline" option except the
8404 foreground and background colors from the corresponding
8405 index line will be reversed. For example, if the index
8406 line color is red letters on a white background, then the
8407 titlebar will be white letters on a red background. If the
8408 index line for a message is not colored explicitly by the
8409 Indexcolor rules, then the titlebar will be colored the
8410 same as for the "default" option above (which is not the
8411 same color that the index line itself will have).
8413 General Colors
8415 _Normal Color_
8416 This is the color which most of the screen is painted in. By
8417 default this color is black characters on a white background.
8418 _Reverse Color_
8419 The color _Alpine_ uses for reverse video characters. Actually,
8420 the name is misleading. This used to be reverse video and so the
8421 name remains. It is still used to highlight certain parts of the
8422 screen but the color may be set to whatever you'd like.
8423 _Title Color_
8424 The color _Alpine_ uses for the titlebar (the top line on the
8425 screen). By default, the Title Color is black characters on a
8426 yellow background. The actual titlebar color may be different
8427 from the Title Color if the option titlebar-color-style is set
8428 to some value other than the default. It may also be different
8429 if the current folder is closed and the Title Closed Color is
8430 set to something different from the Title Color.
8431 _Title-closed Color_
8432 The color _Alpine_ uses for the titlebar (the top line on the
8433 screen) when the current folder is closed. By default, the Title
8434 Color Closed Color is white characters on a red background.
8435 _Status Color_
8436 The color _Alpine_ uses for messages written to the status
8437 message line near the bottom of the screen. By default, the
8438 Status Color is the same as the Reverse Color.
8439 _KeyLabel Color_
8440 The color _Alpine_ uses for the labels of the commands in the
8441 two-line menu at the bottom of the screen. The label is the long
8442 name, for example, "PrevMsg". By default, the KeyLabel Color is
8443 the same as the Normal Color.
8444 WARNING: Some terminal emulators have the property that the
8445 screen will scroll down one line whenever a character is written
8446 to the character cell in the lower right corner of the screen.
8447 _Alpine_ can usually avoid writing a character in that corner of
8448 the screen. However, if you have defined a KeyLabel Color then
8449 _Alpine_ does have to write a character in that cell in order to
8450 color the cell correctly. If you find that your display
8451 sometimes scrolls up a line this could be the problem. The most
8452 obvious symptom is probably that the titlebar at the top of the
8453 screen scrolls off the screen. Try setting KeyLabel Color to
8454 Default to see if that fixes the problem.
8455 _KeyName Color_
8456 The color _Alpine_ uses for the names of the commands in the
8457 two-line menu at the bottom of the screen. The KeyName is the
8458 shorter name in the menu. For example, the "W" before the
8459 "WhereIs". By default, the KeyName Color is the same as the
8460 Normal Color.
8461 _Selectable-item Color_
8462 The color _Alpine_ uses for displaying selectable items, such as
8463 URLs. By default, the Selectable-item Color is the same as the
8464 Normal Color, except it is also Bold.
8465 _Meta-message Color_
8466 The color _Alpine_ uses in the MESSAGE TEXT screen for messages
8467 to you that aren't part of the message itself. By default, the
8468 Meta-Message Color is black characters on a yellow background.
8469 _Quote Colors_
8470 The colors _Alpine_ uses for coloring quoted text in the MESSAGE
8471 TEXT screen. If a line begins with a > character (or space
8472 followed by >) it is considered a quote. That line will be given
8473 the Quote1 Color (first level quote). If there is a second level
8474 of quoting then the Quote2 Color will be used. _Alpine_
8475 considers there to be a second level of quoting if that first >
8476 is followed by another > (or space followed by >). If there are
8477 characters other than whitespace and > signs, then it isn't
8478 considered another level of quoting. Similarly, if there is a
8479 third level of quoting the Quote3 Color will be used. If there
8480 are more levels after that the Quote Colors are reused. If you
8481 define all three colors then it would repeat like Color1,
8482 Color2, Color3, Color1, Color2, Color3, ... If you only define
8483 the first two it would be Color1, Color2, Color1, Color2, ... If
8484 you define only the Quote1 Color, then the entire quote would be
8485 that color regardless of the quoting levels. By default, the
8486 Quote1 Color is black characters on a greenish-blue background;
8487 the Quote2 Color is black characters on a dull yellow
8488 background; and the Quote3 Color is black characters on a green
8489 background.
8490 _Incoming Unseen Color_
8491 If the option enable-incoming-folders-checking is turned on it
8492 is possible to highlight the folders that contain unseen
8493 messages by coloring them with this color. By default, this is
8494 the same as the Normal Color and no highlighting is done.
8495 Usually the "current" folder (the folder the cursor is on) is
8496 highlighted using reverse video. If the current folder is
8497 colored because it contains unseen messages then the color used
8498 to show that it is also the current folder is controlled by the
8499 current-indexline-style feature at the top of the SETUP COLOR
8500 screen.
8501 _Signature Color_
8502 The color _Alpine_ uses for coloring the signature in the
8503 MESSAGE TEXT screen. According to USENET conventions, the
8504 signature is defined as the paragraph following the "sigdashes",
8505 that is, the special line consisting of the three characters
8506 "-- " (i.e., dash, dash, and space). _Alpine_ allows for one
8507 empty line right after the sigdashes to be considered as part of
8508 the signature. By default, the Signature Color is blue
8509 characters on a white background.
8510 _Prompt Color_
8511 The color _Alpine_ uses for confirmation prompts and questions
8512 which appear in the status message line near the bottom of the
8513 screen. By default, the Prompt Color is the same as the Reverse
8514 Color.
8516 Index Colors
8518 You may add color to the single character symbols which give the status
8519 of each message in the MESSAGE INDEX. By default the characters "+",
8520 "*", "D", "A", and "N" show up near the left hand side of the screen,
8521 depending on whether the message is addressed to you, and whether the
8522 message is marked Important, is Deleted, is Answered, or is New. You
8523 may set the color of those symbols. By default, all of these symbols
8524 are drawn with the same color as the rest of the index line they are a
8525 part of.
8527 Besides coloring the message status symbols, you may also color the
8528 entire index line. This is done by using the Index Line Color
8529 configuration screen. It is also possible to color (keywords in the
8530 index using the Setup/Kolor screen (Keyword Colors); the ARROW cursor;
8531 the Subject using Index Subject Color; the From using Index From Color;
8532 and the Index Opening text.
8534 _Index-to-me Symbol Color_
8535 The color used for drawing the "+" symbol which signifies a
8536 message is addressed directly to you.
8537 _Index-important Symbol Color_
8538 The color used for drawing the "*" symbol which signifies a
8539 message has been flagged Important.
8540 _Index-deleted Symbol Color_
8541 The color used for drawing the "D" symbol which signifies a
8542 message has been marked Deleted.
8543 _Index-answered Symbol Color_
8544 The color used for drawing the "A" symbol which signifies a
8545 message has been answered.
8546 _Index-new Symbol Color_
8547 The color used for drawing the "N" symbol which signifies a
8548 message is New.
8549 _Index-recent Symbol Color_
8550 The color used for drawing the "R" symbol which signifies a
8551 message is Recent (only visible if the "IMAPSTATUS" or
8552 "SHORTIMAPSTATUS" token is part of the index-format option).
8553 _Index-unseen Symbol Color_
8554 The color used for drawing the "U" symbol which signifies a
8555 message is Unseen (only visible if the "IMAPSTATUS" or
8556 "SHORTIMAPSTATUS" token is part of the Index-Format option).
8557 _Index-priority Symbol Colors_
8558 The colors used for drawing the tokens "PRIORITY",
8559 "PRIORITYALPHA", and "PRIORITY!" when these are configured as
8560 part of the Index-Format option. You may set the color used to
8561 draw these tokens by use of the colors Index High Priority
8562 Symbol Color and Index Low Priority Symbol Color. This coloring
8563 takes place for all but the current index line, and the Priority
8564 Color appears to be in front of any color from an Index Color
8565 Rule. If the priority has a value of 1 or 2 the High Priority
8566 color will be used, and if the value is 4 or 5 the Low Priority
8567 color will be used.
8568 If you don't set these colors the index line will be colored in
8569 the same color as the bulk of the index line.
8570 _Index-arrow Symbol Color_
8571 The color used for drawing the "ARROW" token when it is
8572 configured as part of the Index-Format option.
8573 _Index-subject Symbol Color_
8574 You may set the color used to draw the Subject part of the index
8575 line. This coloring takes place for all but the current index
8576 line, and the Subject Color appears to be in front of any color
8577 from an Index Color Rule.
8578 If you don't set this color it will be colored in the same color
8579 as the bulk of the index line.
8580 _Index-from Symbol Color_
8581 You may set the color used to draw the From part of the index
8582 line. This coloring takes place for all but the current index
8583 line, and the From Color appears to be in front of any color
8584 from an Index Color Rule.
8585 If you don't set this color it will be colored in the same color
8586 as the bulk of the index line.
8587 _Index-opening Symbol Color_
8588 It is possible to configure the Index-Format option so that it
8589 includes the subject followed by the "opening" text of the
8590 message if there is enough space. This is done by using one of
8591 the tokens SUBJECTTEXT, SUBJKEYTEXT, or SUBJKEYINITTEXT. The
8592 color used for drawing this opening text is given by this
8593 option. The coloring happens for all but the current index line,
8594 and this opening color appears to be in front of any color from
8595 an Index Color Rule.
8596 By default the Index Opening Color is gray characters on a white
8597 background.
8599 The default colors for these symbols are:
8601 Index-to-me black on cyan
8602 Index-important white on bright red
8603 Index-deleted same as Normal Color
8604 Index-answered bright red on yellow
8605 Index-new white on magenta
8606 Index-recent same as Normal Color
8607 Index-unseen same as Normal Color
8609 Header Colors
8611 You may add color to the header fields in the MESSAGE TEXT screen. The
8613 _Header-general Color_
8614 may be used to color all of the headers of the message.
8616 It is also possible to set the colors for specific header fields, for
8617 example for the Subject or From fields, using the viewer-hdr-colors
8618 option.
8620 For Header Colors, there is an additional line on the configuration
8621 screen labeled "Pattern to match". If you leave that blank, then the
8622 whole field for that header will always be colored. However, if you
8623 give a pattern to match, the coloring will only take place if there is
8624 a match for that pattern in the value of the field. For example, if you
8625 are working on a color for the Subject header and you fill in a pattern
8626 of "important", then only Subjects which contain the word "important"
8627 will be colored. For address fields like From or To, a pattern match
8628 will cause only the addresses which match the pattern to be colored.
8630 If the pattern you enter is a comma-separated list of patterns, then
8631 coloring happens if any of those patterns matches.
8633 Keyword Colors
8635 Sets the colors _Alpine_ uses for Keyword fields in the MESSAGE INDEX
8636 screen. Keywords may be displayed as part of the Subject of a message
8637 by using the "SUBJKEY" or "SUBJKEYINIT" tokens in the Index-Format
8638 option. Keywords may also be displayed in a column of their own in the
8639 MESSAGE INDEX screen by using the "KEY" or "KEYINIT" tokens.
8641 For example, you might have set up a Keyword "Work" using the Keywords
8642 option in the Setup/Config screen. You could cause that Keyword to show
8643 up as a special color by setting up the Keyword Color using this
8644 option, and then including it in the MESSAGE INDEX screen using one of
8645 the tokens listed above in the Index-Format.
8647 Index Line Colors
8649 You may color whole index lines by using roles. This isn't configured
8650 in the Setup Colors screen, but is configured in the Setup Rules
8651 IndexColor screen.
8653 Index Line Color Configuration
8655 Index Line Color causes lines in the MESSAGE INDEX screen to be
8656 colored. This action is only available if your terminal is capable of
8657 displaying color and color display has been enabled with the
8658 Color-Style option. (In PC-Alpine, color is always enabled so there is
8659 no option to turn on.)
8661 Each rule has a "Pattern", which is used to decide which of the rules
8662 is used; and the color which is used if the Pattern matches a
8663 particular message.
8665 Rule Patterns
8667 In order to determine whether or not a message matches a rule the
8668 message is compared with the rule's Pattern. These Patterns are the
8669 same for use with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other
8670 Rules, and Search Rules, so are described in only one place, "here".
8672 Index Line Color
8674 This is the color that index lines are colored when there is a matching
8675 Pattern. This colors the whole index line, except possibly the status
8676 letters which may be colored separately using the Setup Kolor screen.
8678 Role Configuration
8680 You may play different roles depending on who you are replying to. For
8681 example, if you are replying to a message addressed to _help-desk_ you
8682 may be acting as a Help Desk Worker. That role may require that you use
8683 a different return address and/or a different signature.
8685 Roles are optional. If you set up roles they work like this: Each role
8686 has a set of "Uses", which indicate whether or not a role is eligible
8687 to be considered for a particular use; a "Pattern", which is used to
8688 decide which of the eligible roles is used; and a set of "Actions",
8689 which are taken when that role is used. When you reply to a message,
8690 the message you are replying to is compared with the Patterns of the
8691 roles marked as eligible for use when replying. The comparisons start
8692 with the first eligible role and keep going until there is a match. If
8693 a match is found, the matching role's Actions are taken.
8695 It is also possible to set a default role and to change that role
8696 during your _Alpine_ session. When you start _Alpine_ no default role
8697 will be set. You may set or change the current default role by using
8698 the "D" command in the role selection screen. You'll see that screen
8699 while composing a message and being asked to select a role. An easy way
8700 to get to that screen is to use the Role Command to compose a message.
8701 You may find a default role useful if you normally perform the duties
8702 of one of your roles for a while, then you switch to another role and
8703 stay in the new role for another period of time. It may be easier than
8704 using the Role Command to select the role each time you compose a
8705 message.
8707 Role Uses
8709 There are three types of use to be configured; one for Replying, one
8710 for Forwarding, and one for Composing. These indicate whether or not
8711 you want a role to be considered when you type the Reply, Forward, or
8712 Compose commands. (The Role command is an alternate form of the Compose
8713 command, and it is not affected by these settings.) Each of these Use
8714 types has three possible values. The value "Never" means that the role
8715 will never be considered as a candidate for use with the corresponding
8716 command. For example, if you set a role's Reply Use to Never, then when
8717 you Reply to a message, the role won't even be considered. (That isn't
8718 quite true. If the message you are replying to matches some other role
8719 which requires confirmation, then there will be a ^T command available
8720 which allows you to select a role from all of your roles, not just the
8721 reply-eligible roles.)
8723 The options "With confirmation" and "Without confirmation" both mean
8724 that you do want to consider this role when using the corresponding
8725 command. For either of these settings the role's Pattern will be
8726 checked to see if it matches the message. For Reply Use, the message
8727 used to compare the Patterns with is the message being replied to. For
8728 Forward Use, the message used to compare the Pattern with is the
8729 message being forwarded. For Compose Use, there is no message, so the
8730 parts of the Pattern which depend on a message (everything other than
8731 Current Folder Type) are ignored. In all cases, the Current Folder is
8732 checked if defined. If there is a match then this role will either be
8733 used without confirmation or will be the default when confirmation is
8734 asked for, depending on which of the two options is selected. If
8735 confirmation is requested, you will have a chance to choose No Role
8736 instead of the offered role, or to change the role to any one of your
8737 other roles (with the ^T command).
8739 Role Patterns
8741 In order to determine whether or not a message matches a role the
8742 message is compared with the Role Pattern. These Patterns are the same
8743 for use with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other Rules,
8744 and Search Rules, so are described in only one place, "here".
8746 Since header patterns, AllText patterns, and BodyText patterns which
8747 are unset are ignored, a role which has all header patterns unset, the
8748 AllText pattern unset, the BodyText pattern unset, the Score Interval
8749 unset, and the Current Folder Type set to "Any" may be used as a
8750 default role. It should be put last in the list of roles since the
8751 matching starts at the beginning and proceeds until one of the roles is
8752 a match. If no roles at all match, then _Alpine_ will use its regular
8753 methods of defining the role. If you wanted to, you could define a
8754 different "default" role for Replying, Forwarding, and Composing by
8755 setting the "Use" fields appropriately.
8757 Role Actions
8759 Once a role match is found, the role's Actions are taken. For each role
8760 there are several possible actions that may be defined. They are
8761 actions to set the From address, the Reply-To address, the Fcc, the
8762 Signature file, and the Template file.
8764 Initialize Settings Using Role
8766 This is a power user feature. You will usually want to leave this field
8767 empty. The value of this field is the nickname of another one of your
8768 roles. The Action values from that other role are used as the initial
8769 values of the Action items for this role. If you put something in any
8770 of the action fields for this role, that will override whatever was in
8771 the corresponding field of the initializer role.
8773 You might use this field if the "Action" part of one of your roles is
8774 something you want to use in more than one role. Instead of filling in
8775 those action values again for each role, you may give the nickname of
8776 the role where the values are filled in. It's just a shortcut way to
8777 define Role Actions.
8779 Here's an example to help explain how this works. Suppose you have a
8780 role with nickname "role1" and role1 has (among other things)
8782 Set Reply-To = The Pres <president@example.com>
8784 set. If in "role2" you set "Initialize settings using role" to "role1",
8785 then role2 will inherit the Set Reply-To value from role1 by default
8786 (and any of the other inheritable action values that are set). So if
8787 role2 had
8789 Set Reply-To = <No Value Set>
8791 defined, the Reply-To used with role2 would be "The Pres
8792 <president@example.com>" However, if role2 had
8794 Set Reply-To = VP <vicepresident@example.com>
8796 defined, then the Reply-To used with role2 would be "VP
8797 <vicepresident@example.com>" instead.
8799 If you wish, you may choose a nickname from your list of roles by using
8800 the "T" command. If the role you are using to initialize also has a
8801 role it initializes from, then that initialization happens first. That
8802 is, inheritance works as expected with the grandparent and
8803 great-grandparent (and so on) roles having the expected effect.
8805 Set From
8807 This field consists of a single address which will be used as the From
8808 address on the message you are sending. This should be a
8809 fully-qualified address like
8811 Full Name <user@domain>
8813 or just
8815 user@domain
8817 If this is left blank, then the normal From address will be used.
8819 Set Reply-To
8821 The Reply-To address is the address used on the Reply-To line of the
8822 message you are sending. You don't need a Reply-To address unless it is
8823 different from the From address. This should be a fully-qualified
8824 address like
8826 Full Name <user@domain>
8828 or just
8830 user@domain
8832 If this is left blank, then there won't be a Reply-To address unless
8833 you have configured one specially with the customized-hdrs
8834 configuration option.
8836 Set Other-Hdrs
8838 This field gives you a way to set values for headers besides "From" and
8839 "Reply-To". If you want to set either of those, use the specific "Set
8840 From" and "Set Reply-To" settings.
8842 This field is similar to the customized-hdrs option. Each header you
8843 specify here must include the header tag ("To:", "Approved:", etc.) and
8844 may optionally include a value for that header. In order to see these
8845 headers when you compose using this role you must use the rich header
8846 command. Here's an example which shows how you might set the To
8847 address.
8849 Set Other Hdrs = To: Full Name <user@domain>
8851 Headers set in this way are different from headers set with the
8852 customized-hdrs option in that the value you give for a header here
8853 will replace any value that already exists. For example, if you are
8854 Replying to a message there will already be at least one address in the
8855 To header (the address you are Replying to). However, if you Reply
8856 using a role which sets the To header, that role's To header value will
8857 be used instead. The customized-hdrs headers are defaults.
8859 Limitation: Because commas are used to separate the list of Other
8860 Headers, it is not possible to have the value of a header contain a
8861 comma; nor is there currently an "escape" mechanism provided to make
8862 this work.
8864 Set Fcc
8866 This field consists of a single folder name which will be used in the
8867 Fcc field of the message you are sending. You may put anything here
8868 that you would normally type into the Fcc field from the composer.
8870 In addition, an fcc of "" (two double quotation marks) means no Fcc.
8872 A blank field here means that _Alpine_ will use its normal rules for
8873 deciding the default value of the Fcc field. For many roles, perhaps
8874 most, it may make more sense for you to use the other _Alpine_
8875 facilities for setting the Fcc. In particular, if you want the Fcc to
8876 depend on who you are sending the message to then the fcc-name-rule is
8877 probably more useful. In that case, you would want to leave the Fcc
8878 field here blank. However, if you have a role that depends on who the
8879 message you are replying to was From, or what address that message was
8880 sent to; then it might make sense to set the Fcc for that role here.
8882 Set LiteralSig
8884 This field contains the actual text for your signature, as opposed to
8885 the name of a file containing your signature. If this is defined it
8886 takes precedence over any value set in the _Set Signature_ field.
8888 This is simply a different way to store the signature. The signature is
8889 stored inside your Alpine configuration file instead of in a separate
8890 signature file. Tokens work the same way they do with _Set Signature_.
8892 The two character sequence \n (backslash followed by the character n)
8893 will be used to signify a line-break in your signature. You don't have
8894 to enter the \n, but it will be visible in the CHANGE THIS ROLE RULE
8895 window after you are done editing the signature.
8897 Set Signature
8899 The Signature is the name of a file to be used as the signature file
8900 when this role is being used. If the filename is followed by a vertical
8901 bar (|) then instead of reading the contents of the file the file is
8902 assumed to be a program which will produce the text to be used on its
8903 standard output. The program can't have any arguments and doesn't
8904 receive any input from _Alpine_, but the rest of the processing works
8905 as if the contents came from a file.
8907 Signature files may be stored remotely on an IMAP server. In order to
8908 do that you just give the file a remote name. This works just like the
8909 regular signature-file option which is configured from the
8910 Setup/Configuration screen. A remote signature file name might look
8911 like:
8913 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/sig3
8915 or, if you have an SSL-capable version of _Alpine_, you might try
8917 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us/user=loginname/ssl}mail/sig3
8919 Once you have named the remote signature file you create its contents
8920 by using the "F" "editFile" command when the cursor is on the "Set
8921 Signature" line of the role editor.
8923 Besides containing regular text, a signature file may also contain (or
8924 a signature program may produce) tokens which are replaced with text
8925 which depends on the message you are replying to or forwarding. The
8926 tokens all look like _word_ (a word surrounded by underscores). For
8927 example, if the token
8929 _DATE_
8931 is included in the text of the signature file, then when you reply to
8932 or forward a message, the token will be replaced with the actual date
8933 the message you are replying to or forwarding was sent.
8935 If you use a role which has a signature file for a plain composition
8936 (that is, not a reply or forward) then there is no original message, so
8937 any tokens which depend on the message will be replaced with nothing.
8938 So if you want a signature file to be useful for new compositions it
8939 shouldn't include any of the tokens which depend on the message being
8940 replied to or forwarded.
8942 The list of available tokens is here.
8944 Actually, for the adventurous, there is a way to conditionally include
8945 text based on whether or not a token would result in specific
8946 replacement text. For example, you could include some text based on
8947 whether or not the _NEWS_ token would result in any newsgroups if it
8948 was used. It's explained in detail here.
8950 In the very unlikely event that you want to include a literal token in
8951 a signature file, you must precede it with a backslash character. For
8952 example, to include the literal text _DATE_ you must actually use
8953 \_DATE_. It is not possible to have a literal backslash followed by an
8954 expanded token.
8956 A blank field here means that _Alpine_ will use its normal rules for
8957 deciding which file (if any) to use for the signature file.
8959 Set Template
8961 A Template is the name of a file to be included in the message when
8962 this role is being used. The template file is a file which is included
8963 at the top of the message you are composing.
8965 If the filename is followed by a vertical bar (|) then instead of
8966 reading the contents of the file the file is assumed to be a program
8967 which will produce the text to be used on its standard output. The
8968 program can't have any arguments and doesn't receive any input from
8969 _Alpine_, but the rest of the processing works as if the contents came
8970 from a file.
8972 Template files may be stored remotely on an IMAP server. In order to do
8973 that you just give the file a remote name. This works just like the
8974 regular signature-file option which is configured from the
8975 Setup/Configuration screen. A remote template file name might look
8976 like:
8978 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us}mail/templ3
8980 or, if you have an SSL-capable version of _Alpine_, you might try
8982 {myimaphost.myschool.k12.wa.us/user=loginname/ssl}mail/templ3
8984 Once you have named the remote template file you create its contents by
8985 using the "F" "editFile" command when the cursor is on the "Set
8986 Template" line of the role editor.
8988 Besides containing regular text, a template file may also contain (or a
8989 template file program may produce) tokens which are replaced with text
8990 which depends on the message you are replying to or forwarding. The
8991 tokens all look like _word_ (a word surrounded by underscores). For
8992 example, if the token
8994 _DATE_
8996 is included in the text of the template file, then when you reply to or
8997 forward a message, the token will be replaced with the actual date the
8998 message you are replying to or forwarding was sent.
9000 If you use a role which has a template file for a plain composition
9001 (that is, not a reply or forward) then there is no original message, so
9002 any tokens which depend on the message will be replaced with nothing.
9003 So if you want a template file to be useful for new compositions it
9004 shouldn't include any of the tokens which depend on the message being
9005 replied to or forwarded.
9007 The list of available tokens is here.
9009 Actually, for the adventurous, there is a way to conditionally include
9010 text based on whether or not a token would result in specific
9011 replacement text. For example, you could include some text based on
9012 whether or not the _NEWS_ token would result in any newsgroups if it
9013 was used. It's explained in detail here.
9015 In the very unlikely event that you want to include a literal token in
9016 a template file, you must precede it with a backslash character. For
9017 example, to include the literal text _DATE_ you must actually use
9018 \_DATE_. It is not possible to have a literal backslash followed by an
9019 expanded token.
9021 A blank field here means that _Alpine_ will not use a template file
9022 when this role is being used.
9024 Use SMTP Server
9026 If this field has a value, then it will be used as the SMTP server to
9027 send mail when this role is being used (unless the SMTP server variable
9028 is set in the system-wide fixed configuration file). It has the same
9029 semantics as the smtp-server variable in the Setup/Config screen. When
9030 you postpone the composition this SMTP server list will be saved with
9031 the postponed composition and it cannot be changed later. Because of
9032 that, you may want to make this a list of SMTP servers with the
9033 preferred server at the front of the list and alternate servers later
9034 in the list.
9036 If any of the actions are left unset, then the action depends on what
9037 is present in the "Initialize settings using role" field. If you've
9038 listed the nickname of another one of your roles there, then the
9039 corresponding action from that role will be used here. If that action
9040 is also blank, or if there is no nickname specified, then _Alpine_ will
9041 do whatever it normally does to set these actions. This depends on
9042 other configuration options and features you've set.
9044 Filtering Configuration
9046 The software which actually delivers mail (the stuff that happens
9047 before _Alpine_ is involved) for you is in a better position to do mail
9048 filtering than _Alpine_ itself. If possible, you may want to look into
9049 using that sort of mail filtering to deliver mail to different folders,
9050 delete it, or forward it. However, if you'd like _Alpine_ to help with
9051 this, _Alpine_'s filtering is for you.
9053 Filtering is a way to automatically move certain messages from one
9054 folder to another or to delete messages. It can also be used to set
9055 message status bits (Important, Deleted, New, Answered). _Alpine_
9056 doesn't have the ability to forward mail to another address.
9058 Each filtering rule has a "Pattern" and a "Filter Action". When a
9059 folder is opened, when new mail arrives in an open folder, or when mail
9060 is Expunged from a folder; each message is compared with the Patterns
9061 of your filtering rules. The comparisons start with the first rule and
9062 keep going until there is a match. If a match is found, the message may
9063 be deleted or moved, depending on the setting of the Filter Action. If
9064 the message is not deleted, it may have its status altered.
9066 For efficiency, each message is usually only checked once. When new
9067 mail arrives, the new messages are checked but not the old. There are
9068 some exceptions to this rule. The expunge command will cause all
9069 messages to be rechecked, as will editing of the filtering rules.
9071 _NOTE:_ When setting up a Pattern used to delete messages, it is
9072 recommended that you test the Pattern first with a "Move" folder
9073 specified in case unintended matches occur. Messages that are deleted
9074 will be removed from the folder and _unrecoverable_ from within _Alpine_
9075 after the next Expunge command or once the folder being filtered has
9076 been closed.
9078 Filter Patterns
9080 In order to determine whether or not a message matches a filter the
9081 message is compared with the Filter's Pattern. These Patterns are the
9082 same for use with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other
9083 Rules, and Search Rules, so are described in only one place, "here".
9085 Since filtering is a potentially destructive action, if you have a
9086 filtering Pattern with nothing other than Current Folder Type set, that
9087 filtering rule is ignored.
9089 Filter Actions
9091 Once a filter match is found for a particular message, there are some
9092 actions which may be taken. First, the message may have its status
9093 changed. This is the same message status that you can manipulate
9094 manually using the Flag Command. There are four elements of message
9095 status that you can control. You can set or clear the Important status,
9096 the New status, the Deleted status, and the Answered status. Of course,
9097 if the filter is going to delete the message, then there is no point in
9098 setting message status. You may also set or clear user-defined keywords
9099 for a message.
9101 Second, the filter may delete or move the message. Deleting the message
9102 marks it Deleted and removes it from view. It is effectively gone
9103 forever (though it technically is still there until the next expunge
9104 command, which may happen implicitly). Moving the message moves it from
9105 the open folder into the folder listed on the "Folder List" line of the
9106 filter configuration. If you list more than one folder name (separated
9107 by commas) then the message will be copied to each of those folders. In
9108 any case, if "Delete" or "Move" is set then the message is removed from
9109 the current folder. If you just want to set the messages status without
9110 deleting it from the folder, then set the filter action to "Just Set
9111 Message Status".
9113 (There is no way to do a Copy instead of a Move, due to the
9114 difficulties involved in keeping track of whether or not a message has
9115 already been copied by a previous _Alpine_ session.)
9117 Move-only-if-not-deleted option
9119 If you have specified a Move to Folder to filter messages into, then
9120 this option has an effect. If this option is set then messages will
9121 only be moved into the specified folder if they aren't already marked
9122 deleted. This might be useful if you have more than one _Alpine_
9123 session running simultaneously and you don't want messages to be
9124 filtered into a folder more than once. This method is not foolproof.
9125 There may be cases where a message gets marked deleted and so it is
9126 never filtered into the folder. For example, if you deleted it in
9127 another _Alpine_ or another mail program that didn't know about the
9128 filtering rule.
9130 This option has no effect if the Filter Action is not set to Move.
9132 Dont-quit-even-if-rule-matches option
9134 If this option is set then this is a non-terminating rule. Usually, for
9135 each message, _Alpine_ searches through the filter rules until a match
9136 is found and then it performs the action associated with that rule.
9137 Rules following the match are not considered. If this option is set
9138 then the search for matches will continue at the next rule.
9140 If a non-terminating rule matches then the actions associated with that
9141 rule, except for any implied deletion of the message, are performed
9142 before the match for the next rule is checked. For example, if the
9143 non-terminating rule sets the Important status, then that status will
9144 be set when the next rule is considered. However, if the
9145 non-terminating rule Moves the message, the message will actually be
9146 copied instead of copied and deleted so that it is still there for the
9147 next rule. A moved message is deleted after all the relevant rules have
9148 been checked. The name of the "Move" action is confusing in this case
9149 because a single message can be moved to more than one folder. It turns
9150 the Move into a Copy instead, but it is still followed by a deletion at
9151 the end.
9153 This option may be useful if you want to have a single message filtered
9154 to two different folders because it matches two different Patterns. For
9155 example, suppose you normally filter messages to a particular mailing
9156 list into one folder, and messages addressed directly to you into a
9157 second folder. If a message is sent to both you and the list (and you
9158 can tell that by looking at the headers of the message) this option may
9159 give you a convenient way to capture a copy to each folder. (It may
9160 also cause you to capture two copies to each folder, depending on
9161 whether your mail system delivers one or two copies of the message to
9162 you and on how the list works.)
9164 Scoring Configuration
9166 Most people will not use scores at all, but if you do use them, here's
9167 how they work in Alpine. Using this screen, you may define Scoring
9168 rules. The score for a message is calculated by looking at every Score
9169 rule defined and adding up the Score Values for the ones which match
9170 the message. If there are no matches for a message, it has a score of
9171 zero. Message scores may be used a couple of ways in Alpine.
9173 Sorting by Score
9175 One of the methods you may use to sort message indexes is to sort by
9176 score. The scores of all the messages in a folder will be calculated
9177 and then the index will be ordered by placing the messages in order of
9178 ascending or descending score.
9180 Scores for use in Patterns
9182 The Patterns used for Roles, Index Line Coloring, and Filtering have a
9183 category labeled "Score Interval". When a message is being compared
9184 with a Pattern to check for a match, if the Score Interval is set only
9185 messages which have a score somewhere in the interval are a match.
9187 Scoring Rule Patterns
9189 In order to determine whether or not a message matches a scoring rule
9190 the message is compared with the rule's Pattern. These Patterns are the
9191 same for use with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other
9192 Rules, and Search Rules, so are described in only one place, "here".
9194 Actually, Scoring rule Patterns are slightly different from the other
9195 types of Patterns because Scoring rule Patterns don't contain a Score
9196 Interval. In other words, when calculating the score for a message,
9197 which is done by looking at the Scoring rule Patterns, scores aren't
9198 used.
9200 Score Value
9202 This is the value that will be added to the score for a message if the
9203 rule's Pattern is a match. Each individual Score Value is an integer
9204 between -100 and 100, and the values from matching rules are added
9205 together to get a message's score. There is also a way to extract the
9206 value from a particular header of each message. See the help text for
9207 Score Value for further information.
9209 Other Rules Configuration
9211 Using this screen, you may define configuration Rules which don't fit
9212 nicely into the other Rules categories.
9214 Other Rule Patterns
9216 Other Rules are a little different from the rest of the Rules because
9217 they depend only on the current folder, and not on a particular
9218 message. In order to determine whether or not a rule's actions should
9219 be applied the current folder is compared with the rule's Pattern,
9220 which consists of only the Current Folder Type. Current Folder Type
9221 works the same for Other Rules as it does for Roles, Filtering, Index
9222 Coloring, and Scoring. Keep in mind that the only part of the Pattern
9223 which applies to Other Rules is the Current Folder Type when looking at
9224 the description of Patterns given "here".
9226 Other Rule Actions
9228 Once a pattern match is found, the rule's Actions are taken. Neither of
9229 the following two rule's depends on a message for its match. That means
9230 that all the parts of the Pattern which depend on matching an attribute
9231 of a message are ignored. So the only part of the Pattern that matters
9232 for these Actions is the Current Folder Type.
9234 Set Sort Order
9236 When you enter a new folder, these rules will be checked to see if you
9237 have set a sort order which is different from your default sort order.
9238 The default is set in the Setup/Config screen with the Sort-Key option.
9239 If the Sort Order action is set, then the folder will be displayed
9240 sorted in that sort order instead of in the default order.
9242 A possible point of confusion arises when you change the configuration
9243 of the Sort Order for the currently open folder. The folder will
9244 normally be re-sorted when you go back to viewing the index. However,
9245 if you have manually sorted the folder with the Sort command, it will
9246 not be re-sorted.
9248 Set Index Format
9250 When you enter a new folder, these rules will be checked to see if you
9251 have set an Index Format which is different from your default Index
9252 Format, which is set with the Index-Format option. If so, the index
9253 will be displayed with this format instead of the default.
9255 Set Startup Rule
9257 When you enter a new folder, these rules will be checked to see if you
9258 have set a startup rule which is different from the default startup
9259 rule. The default for incoming folders is set in the Setup/Config
9260 screen with the "incoming-startup-rule" option. The default for folders
9261 other than INBOX that are not part of your incoming collection (see
9262 enable-incoming-folders feature) is to start with the last message in
9263 the folder. If the Startup Rule is set to something other than
9264 "default", then the rule will determine which message will be the
9265 current message when the folder is first opened.
9267 The various startup rule possibilities work the same here as they do in
9268 the incoming collection, except that the folder can be any specific
9269 folder or any folder type.
9271 Search Rules Configuration
9273 One of the commands that becomes available when that feature is turned
9274 on is the "; Select" command, which is used in the MESSAGE INDEX screen
9275 to select a set of messages. One way of selecting messages is to use a
9276 Rule. All of the messages which match (or don't match if you wish) a
9277 Rule's Pattern will be selected.
9279 Any of your Rules may be used for this purpose. You might already have
9280 Rules set up for filtering, index line color, scores, or roles; and you
9281 may use any of those Rules with the Select command. However, you might
9282 find it more convenient to set up a separate set of Rules just for this
9283 purpose without having to worry about what other effects they may
9284 cause. That is the purpose of these Select Rules.
9286 Rule Patterns
9288 In order to determine whether or not a message is selected by a rule
9289 the message is compared with the rule's Pattern. These Patterns are the
9290 same for use with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other
9291 Rules, and Search Rules, so are described in only one place, "here".
9293 There is no action associated with these Search Rules. Only their
9294 Patterns are used.
9296 Patterns
9298 Patterns are used with Roles, Filtering, Index Coloring, Scoring, Other
9299 Rules, and Search Rules. Patterns are compared with a message to see if
9300 there is a match. For Filtering, the messages being checked are all the
9301 messages in the folder, one at a time. For Index Line Coloring, each
9302 message that is visible on the screen is checked for matches with the
9303 Index Coloring Patterns. Roles are used with the Reply, Forward, and
9304 Compose commands. For Reply, the message used to compare the Pattern
9305 with is the message being replied to; for Forward, the message used to
9306 compare the Pattern with is the message being forwarded; and for
9307 Compose, there is no message, so the parts of the Pattern which depend
9308 on a message (everything other than Current Folder Type and the
9309 Beginning of Month and Year) are not used. Only the Current Folder Type
9310 matters for Compose (plus the Beginning of Month or Year, which you
9311 wouldn't usually use for a Role). For Scoring, the message being scored
9312 is compared with all of the Score Patterns, and the Score Values from
9313 the ones that match are added together to get the message's score. For
9314 Other Rules, there is no message. Only the Current Folder Type is
9315 checked for Other Rules.
9317 Each Pattern has several possible parts, all of which are optional. In
9318 order for there to be a match, _ALL_ of the _defined_ parts of the
9319 Pattern must match the message. If a part is not defined it is
9320 considered a match. For example, if the To pattern is not defined it
9321 will be displayed as
9323 To pattern = <No Value Set>
9325 That is considered a match because it is not defined. This means that
9326 the Pattern with nothing defined is a match if the Current Folder Type
9327 matches, but there is an exception. Because filtering is a potentially
9328 destructive action, filtering Patterns with nothing other than Current
9329 Folder Type defined are ignored. If you really want a filtering Pattern
9330 to match all messages (subject to Current Folder Type) the best way to
9331 do it is to define a Score interval which includes all possible scores.
9332 This would be the score interval (-INF,INF). This can be used even if
9333 you haven't defined any rules to Set Scores.
9335 There are six predefined header patterns called the To, From, Sender,
9336 Cc, News, and Subject patterns. Besides those six predefined header
9337 patterns, you may add additional header patterns with header fieldnames
9338 of your choosing. You add an extra header pattern by placing the cursor
9339 on one of the patterns while in the role editor and using the
9340 "eXtraHdr" command. The Recip pattern is a header pattern which stands
9341 for Recipient (To OR Cc) and the Partic pattern is a header pattern
9342 which stands for Participant (From OR To OR Cc). (Defining the Recip
9343 pattern does not have the same effect as defining both the To and Cc
9344 patterns. Recip is To _OR_ Cc, not To _AND_ Cc.) Similar to the header
9345 patterns are the AllText pattern and the BodyText pattern. Instead of
9346 comparing this pattern's text against only the contents of a particular
9347 header field, the text for the AllText pattern is compared with text
9348 anywhere in the message's header or body, and the text for the BodyText
9349 pattern is compared with text anywhere in the message's body.
9351 Any of the header patterns, the AllText pattern, or the BodyText
9352 pattern may be negated with the "!" "toggle NOT" command. You can tell
9353 that _NOT_ has been turned on by looking for the character "!" at the
9354 beginning of the pattern line. When the "!" is present, it reverses the
9355 meaning of the match. That is, if the pattern matches then it is
9356 considered to NOT be a match, and if it does not match it is considered
9357 to be a match.
9359 Don't make the mistake of putting the "!" in the data field for a
9360 pattern. For example, if you type the characters "!urgent" into the
9361 Subject pattern, the pattern will look like:
9363 Subject pattern = !urgent
9365 This means you want to match the 7 character sequence "!urgent". In
9366 order to match messages which do not have "urgent" in their Subject
9367 field, first type the characters "urgent" followed by carriage return
9368 for the value of the Subject pattern, then negate it by typing the "!"
9369 command. It should look like
9371 ! Subject pattern = urgent
9373 The contents of each of these header patterns (or the AllText or
9374 BodyText patterns) may be a complete email address, part of an address,
9375 or a random set of characters to match against. It may also be a list
9376 of such patterns, which means you are looking for a match against the
9377 first pattern in the list _OR_ the second pattern _OR_ the third and so
9378 on. For example, a Subject pattern equal to
9380 Subject pattern = urgent
9381 emergency
9382 alert
9384 would match all messages with a subject which contained at least one of
9385 those words. It would also match subjects containing the words "alerts"
9386 or "Urgently".
9388 The same example with "NOT" turned on would be
9390 ! Subject pattern = urgent
9391 emergency
9392 alert
9394 which would match all messages with a subject which did NOT contain any
9395 of those words. You can use the "Add Value" command to add new words to
9396 the list, or you can enter them as a comma-separated list.
9398 (It is not possible to specify two patterns which must _BOTH_ be
9399 present for a match. It is only possible to specify that _EITHER_
9400 pattern1 _OR_ pattern2 must be present, and that is exactly what using
9401 a list does.)
9403 The "Current Folder Type" and the "Score Interval" are also part of the
9404 Pattern, although the "Score Interval" is not used when checking for
9405 matches for Scoring. There are five similar settings which relate to
9406 the status of the message. These settings rely on the message being New
9407 or not, Deleted or not, Answered or not, Important or not, and Recent
9408 or not. There are also some other miscellaneous settings. The first is
9409 the Age of the message in days. Another is the Size of the message in
9410 bytes. The third is a setting which detects whether or not the Subject
9411 of a message contains raw 8-bit characters (unencoded characters with
9412 the most significant bit set). There is a setting which detects whether
9413 or not this is the first time _Alpine_ has been run this month (doesn't
9414 depend on individual messages), and another which detects whether or
9415 not this is the first time _Alpine_ has been run this year. Other parts
9416 of the Pattern detect whether or not the From address of a message
9417 appears in your address book, whether or not certain keywords are set
9418 for a message, and whether or not certain character sets are used in a
9419 message.
9421 Parts of a Pattern
9423 Header patterns
9425 A header pattern is simply text which is searched for in the
9426 corresponding header field. For example, if a Pattern has a From header
9427 pattern with the value "@company.com", then only messages which have a
9428 From header which contains the text "@company.com" will be possible
9429 matches. Matches don't have to be exact. For example, if the relevant
9430 field of a message contains the text "mailbox@domain" somewhere in it,
9431 then header patterns of "box", or "x@d", or "mailbox@domain" are all
9432 matches.
9434 All parts of the Pattern must match so, for example, if a message
9435 matches a defined From pattern, it still must be checked against the
9436 other parts of the Pattern which have been defined. The To header
9437 pattern is a slightly special case. If the message being checked has a
9438 Resent-To header and the feature Use-Resent-To-in-Rules is turned on,
9439 the addresses there are used in place of the addresses in the To
9440 header. This is only true for the To header. Resent-cc and Resent-From
9441 headers are never used unless you add them with the eXtraHdrs command.
9443 The meaning of a header pattern may be negated with the "!" "toggle
9444 NOT" command. You can tell that _NOT_ has been turned on by looking for
9445 the character "!" at the beginning of the pattern line. It would look
9446 something like
9448 ! From pattern = susan@example.com
9450 When the "!" is present, it reverses the meaning of the match.
9452 If you want to check for the presence of a header field but don't care
9453 about its value, then the empty pattern which you get by entering a
9454 pair of double quotes ("") should match any message which has the
9455 corresponding header field.
9457 AllText patterns
9459 AllText patterns are just like header patterns except that the text is
9460 searched for anywhere in the message's headers or body, not just in the
9461 contents of a particular header field.
9463 BodyText patterns
9465 BodyText patterns are just like header patterns except that the text is
9466 searched for anywhere in the message's body, not just in the contents
9467 of a particular header field.
9469 If there is more than one header pattern or AllText pattern or BodyText
9470 pattern for which you want to take the same action there is a shorthand
9471 notation which may be used. Any of these patterns may be a list of
9472 patterns instead of just a single pattern. If any one of the patterns
9473 in the list matches the message then it is considered a match. For
9474 example, if "company1" and "company2" both required you to use the same
9475 role when replying to messages, you might have a To pattern which looks
9476 like
9478 To pattern = company1.com
9479 company2.com
9481 This means that if the mail you are replying to was addressed to either
9482 "anything@company1.com" or "anything@company2.com", then this Pattern
9483 is a match and the same actions will be taken.
9485 The meaning of an AllText or BodyText pattern may be negated with the
9486 "!" "toggle NOT" command. You can tell that _NOT_ has been turned on by
9487 looking for the character "!" at the beginning of the pattern line.
9488 When the "!" is present, it reverses the meaning of the match.
9490 A technicality: Since comma is the character used to separate multiple
9491 values in any of the fields which may have multiple values (such as
9492 header patterns, AllText patterns, BodyText patterns, keywords, folder
9493 lists, and so on), you must escape comma with a backslash (\) if you
9494 want to include a literal comma in one of those fields. In other words,
9495 if you type a backslash followed by a comma it will be interpreted as a
9496 comma by _Alpine_, instead of as a separator between pattern values.
9497 All other backslashes (those not followed by a comma) are literal
9498 backslashes and should not be escaped. It's unlikely you'll ever need
9499 to enter a literal comma or backslash in any of the patterns.
9501 Current Folder Type
9503 The "Current Folder Type" may be set to one of four different values:
9504 "Any", "News", "Email", or "Specific". If the value is set to "News",
9505 then the Pattern will only match if the currently open folder is a
9506 newsgroup. The value "Email" only matches if the current folder is not
9507 news and the value "Any" causes any folder to match. If the value of
9508 "Current Folder Type" is set to "Specific", then you must fill in a
9509 value for "Folder", which is on the line below the "Specific" line. In
9510 this case you will only get a match if the currently open folder is the
9511 specific folder you list. You may give a list of folders instead of
9512 just a single folder name, in which case the Pattern will match if the
9513 open folder is any one of the folders in the list. The name of each
9514 folder in the list may be either "INBOX", the technical specification
9515 of the folder (like what appears in your configuration file) or, if the
9516 folder is one of your incoming folders, it may be the nickname you've
9517 given the folder. Here are some samples of specific folder names:
9519 {monet.art.example.com}mail/art-class
9521 {news.example.com/nntp}#news.comp.mail.pine
9523 mail/local-folder
9525 The easiest way to fill in the "Folder" field is to use the "T" command
9526 which is available when the "Folder" line is highlighted, or to use the
9527 "Take" command with the configuration feature "enable-rules-under-take"
9528 turned on.
9530 When reading a newsgroup, there may be a performance penalty incurred
9531 when collecting the information necessary to check whether or not a
9532 Pattern matches a message. For this reason, the default Current Folder
9533 Type is set to "Email". If you have Patterns with a Current Folder Type
9534 of either "Any" or "News" and those Patterns are used for Index Line
9535 Coloring or Scoring, you may experience slower screen redrawing in the
9536 MESSAGE INDEX screen when in a newsgroup.
9538 Age Interval
9540 The "Age Interval" may be set to an interval of message ages which
9541 should be considered a match. Like the other parts of the Pattern, if
9542 it is unset it will be ignored. The Age Interval looks like
9544 (min_age,max_age)
9546 where "min_age" and "max_age" are integers greater than or equal to
9547 zero. The special value "INF" may be used for the max value. It
9548 represents infinity.
9550 Actually, this option may be defined as a list of intervals instead of
9551 just a single interval. The list is separated by commas. It can look
9552 like
9554 (min_age1,max_age1),(min_age2,max_age2),...
9556 When there is an Age Interval defined, it is a match if the age, in
9557 days, of the message is contained in any of the intervals. The
9558 intervals include both endpoints.
9560 Even though this option is called Age, it isn't actually the _age_ of
9561 the message. Instead, it is how many days ago the message arrived in
9562 one of your folders. If the current time is a little past midnight,
9563 then a message that arrived just before midnight arrived yesterday,
9564 even though the message is only a few minutes old. By default, the date
9565 being used is not the date in the Date header of the message. It is the
9566 date that the message arrived in one of your folders. When you Save a
9567 message from one folder to another that arrival date is preserved. If
9568 you would like to use the date in the Date header that is possible.
9569 Turn on the option _use-date-header-for-age_ near the bottom of the
9570 rule definition.
9572 A value of 0 is today, 1 is yesterday, 2 is the day before yesterday,
9573 and so on.
9575 Size Interval
9577 The "Size Interval" may be set to an interval of message sizes which
9578 should be considered a match. Like the other parts of the Pattern, if
9579 it is unset it will be ignored. The Size Interval looks like
9581 (min_size,max_size)
9583 where "min_size" and "max_size" are integers greater than or equal to
9584 zero. The special value "INF" may be used for the max value. It
9585 represents infinity.
9587 Actually, this option may be defined as a list of intervals instead of
9588 just a single interval. The list is separated by commas. It can look
9589 like
9591 (min_size1,max_size1),(min_size2,max_size2),...
9593 When there is a Size Interval defined, it is a match if the size, in
9594 bytes, of the message is contained in any of the intervals. The
9595 intervals include both endpoints.
9597 Score Interval
9599 The "Score Interval" may be set to an interval of message scores which
9600 should be considered a match. Like the other parts of the Pattern, if
9601 it is unset it will be ignored. The Score Interval looks like
9603 (min_score,max_score)
9605 where "min_score" and "max_score" are integers between -32000 and
9606 32000. The special values "-INF" and "INF" may be used for the min and
9607 max values to represent negative and positive infinity.
9609 Actually, a list of intervals may be used if you wish. A list would
9610 look like
9612 (min_score1,max_score1),(min_score2,max_score2),...
9614 When there is a Score Interval defined, it is a match if the score for
9615 the message is contained in any of the intervals in the list. The
9616 intervals include the endpoints. The score for a message is calculated
9617 by looking at every Score rule defined and adding up the Score Values
9618 for the ones which match the message. When deciding whether or not a
9619 Pattern matches a message for purposes of calculating the score, the
9620 Score Interval is ignored.
9622 Message Status
9624 There are five separate message status settings. By default, all five
9625 are set to the value "Don't care", which will match any message. The
9626 value "Yes" means that the particular status must be true for a match,
9627 and the value "No" means that the particular status must not be true
9628 for a match. For example, one of the five Message Status settings is
9629 whether a message is marked Important or not. A "Yes" means that the
9630 message must be Important to be considered a match and "No" means that
9631 the message must not be Important to be considered a match. The same is
9632 true of the other four message status settings which depend on whether
9633 or not the message is New; whether the message has been Answered or
9634 not; whether the message has been Deleted or not, and whether the
9635 message is Recent or not.
9637 The nomenclature for New and Recent is a bit confusing:
9639 New means that the message is Unseen. It could have been in your
9640 mailbox for a long time but if you haven't looked at it, it is still
9641 considered New. That matches the default _Alpine_ index display that
9642 shows an N for such a message.
9644 Recent means that the message was added to this folder since the last
9645 time you opened the folder. _Alpine_ also shows an N by default for
9646 these types of messages. If you were to run two copies of _Alpine_ that
9647 opened a folder one right after the other, a message would only show up
9648 as Recent in (at most) the first _Alpine_ session.
9650 Message Keywords
9652 Keywords are similar to Message Status, but they are chosen by the
9653 user. Provided the mail server allows for it, you may add a set of
9654 possible keywords to a folder and then you may set those keywords or
9655 not for each message in the folder. The syntax of this part of the
9656 Pattern is similar to the header patterns. It is a list of keywords.
9657 The Keyword part of the Pattern is a match if the message has any of
9658 the keywords in the list set. Like other parts of the Pattern, if this
9659 is unset it will be ignored.
9661 Message Character Set
9663 A message may use one or more character sets. This part of the Pattern
9664 matches messages which make use of one or more of the character sets
9665 specified in the pattern. It will be considered a match if a message
9666 uses any of the character sets in the list you give here. The syntax of
9667 this part of the Pattern is similar to the header patterns and the
9668 Message Keywords pattern. It is a list of character sets.
9670 Besides actual character set names (for example, ISO-8859-7, KOI8-R, or
9671 GB2312) you may also use some shorthand names that _Alpine_ provides.
9672 These names are more understandable shorthand names for sets of
9673 character set names. Two examples are "Cyrillic" and "Greek". Selecting
9674 one of these shorthand names is equivalent to selecting all of the
9675 character sets that make up the set. You can see all of these shorthand
9676 names and the lists of character sets they stand for by typing the "T"
9677 command with the Character Set pattern highlighted. The Character Set
9678 part of the Pattern is a match if the message uses any of the character
9679 sets in the list. Like other parts of the Pattern, if this is unset it
9680 will be ignored.
9682 Raw 8-bit in Subject
9684 It seems that lots of unwanted email contains unencoded 8-bit
9685 characters in the Subject. Normally, characters with the 8th bit set
9686 are not allowed in the Subject header unless they are MIME-encoded.
9687 This option gives you a way to match messages which have Subjects which
9688 contain unencoded 8-bit characters. Setting this option will affect
9689 performance in large folders because the subject of each message in the
9690 folder has to be checked.
9692 Beginning of Month
9694 This option gives you a way to take some action once per month. The
9695 value "Yes" means that this must be the first time _Alpine_ has been
9696 run this month in order to count as a match,
9698 Beginning of Year
9700 This option gives you a way to take some action once per year. The
9701 value "Yes" means that this must be the first time _Alpine_ has been
9702 run this year in order to count as a match,
9704 From or Reply-To address in Address Books
9706 This option gives you a way to match messages which have a From or a
9707 Reply-To address which is in one of your address books. Only the simple
9708 entries in your address books are searched. Address book distribution
9709 lists are ignored! Setting this option will affect performance in large
9710 folders because the From and Reply-To of each message in the folder
9711 have to be checked.
9713 Categorizer Command
9715 This is a command that is run with its standard input set to the
9716 message being checked and its standard output discarded. The full
9717 directory path should be specified. The command will be run and then
9718 its exit status will be checked against the Exit Status Interval, which
9719 defaults to just the value zero. If the exit status of the command
9720 falls in the interval, it is considered a match, otherwise it is not a
9721 match.
9723 This option may actually be a list of commands. The first one that
9724 exists and is executable is used. That makes it possible to use the
9725 same configuration with Unix _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_.
9727 If none of the commands in the list exists and is executable then the
9728 rule is _not_ a match. If it is possible that the command may not
9729 exist, you should be careful to structure your rules so that nothing
9730 destructive happens when the command does not exist. For example, you
9731 might have a filter that filters away spam when there is a match but
9732 does nothing when there is not a match. That would continue to work
9733 correctly if the command didn't exist. However, if you have a filter
9734 which filters away spam when there is not a match and keeps it when
9735 there is a match, that would filter everything if the categorizer
9736 command didn't exist.
9738 Help Configuring Pattern Fields
9740 _Nickname_
9741 This is a nickname to help you. You should have a different
9742 nickname for each role you define. The nickname will be used in
9743 the SETUP ROLE RULES screen to allow you to pick a role to edit.
9744 It will also be used when you send a message to let you know you
9745 are sending with a different role than you use by default, and
9746 it will be useful for choosing a role when composing with the
9747 Role command or when composing with one of the Role Uses set to
9748 With Confirmation. This field is not used in the outgoing
9749 message.
9750 _Comment_
9751 This is a comment to help you. This comment does not play any
9752 functional role, it is simply an optional comment to help you
9753 remember what the rule is for.
9754 _To pattern_
9755 If this pattern is non-blank, then for this role to be
9756 considered a match, at least one of the recipients from the To
9757 line of the message being replied to or forwarded must match
9758 this pattern. In the case of the Compose command, this pattern
9759 and the other header patterns are ignored. If this pattern is a
9760 list of patterns, then at least one of the recipients must match
9761 at least one of the patterns. (Any other non-blank parts of the
9762 Pattern must match, too.) If the message being replied to or
9763 forwarded has a Resent-To header line, then that is used in
9764 place of the To line. (Note that this special Resent rule only
9765 applies to the To header. The Resent-From, Resent-Subject, and
9766 so on are not consulted.)
9767 It is possible to add a _NOT_ to the To Pattern meaning with the
9768 "!" "toggle NOT" command. This changes the meaning of the To
9769 pattern so that it has the opposite meaning. It will be
9770 considered a match if there are no matches between the addresses
9771 in the To: line and the list of To patterns.
9772 Don't make the mistake of putting the "!" in the data field for
9773 the pattern. For example, if you type the characters "!frizzle"
9774 into the To pattern, the pattern will look like:
9775 To pattern = !frizzle
9777 This means you want to match the 8 character sequence
9778 "!frizzle". In order to match messages which do not have
9779 "frizzle" in their To field, first type the characters "frizzle"
9780 followed by carriage return for the value of the To pattern,
9781 then negate it by typing the "!" command. It should end up
9782 looking like
9783 ! To pattern = frizzle
9785 _From pattern_
9786 This is just like the To pattern except that it is compared with
9787 the address from the From header of the message being replied to
9788 or forwarded instead of the addresses from the To header.
9789 _Sender pattern_
9790 This is just like the To pattern except that it is compared with
9791 the address from the Sender header of the message being replied
9792 to or forwarded instead of the addresses from the To header. If
9793 there is no Sender header, then the From header is used instead.
9794 _Cc pattern_
9795 This is just like the To pattern except that it is compared with
9796 the address from the CC header of the message being replied to
9797 or forwarded instead of the addresses from the To header.
9798 _News pattern_
9799 If this pattern is non-blank, then for this role to be
9800 considered a match, at least one of the newsgroups from the
9801 Newsgroups line of the message must match this pattern. If this
9802 pattern is a list of patterns, then at least one of the
9803 newsgroups must match at least one of the patterns. (Any other
9804 non-blank parts of the Pattern must match, too.)
9805 _Subject pattern_
9806 This is similar to the other header patterns. It is compared
9807 with the contents from the Subject of the message being replied
9808 to or forwarded.
9809 If you enter non-ascii characters in this field then the search
9810 will be done using the character set you have defined with the
9811 Character-Set configuration variable. (The truly sophisticated
9812 may use an alternate character set for a search by entering the
9813 MIME encoding of the header string here.)
9814 _Extra header patterns_
9815 There isn't actually a field called Extra header patterns, but
9816 you may add extra header patterns by moving the cursor to one of
9817 the header patterns and using the "eXtraHdr" command to add a
9818 new header pattern. You would do this if the six predefined
9819 header patterns don't cover the header you want to use for
9820 pattern matching. Once you've added an extra header pattern, you
9821 use it just like the Subject pattern. Of course, it is compared
9822 with the contents from the particular header field of the
9823 message being replied to or forwarded rather than the contents
9824 from the subject field. To remove an extra header pattern from a
9825 role, use the "RemoveHdr" command on the highlighted extra
9826 header.
9827 If you enter non-ascii characters in this field then the search
9828 will be done using the character set you have defined with the
9829 Character-Set configuration variable. (The truly sophisticated
9830 may use an alternate character set for a search by entering the
9831 MIME encoding of the header string here.)
9832 _Recipient pattern_
9833 This is just like the To pattern except that it is compared with
9834 the addresses from both the To header and the Cc header instead
9835 of just the addresses from the To header. It's equivalent to
9836 having two different rules; one with a To pattern and the other
9837 with the same Cc pattern.
9838 _Participant pattern_
9839 This is just like the To pattern except that it is compared with
9840 the addresses from the To header, the Cc header, and the From
9841 header instead of just the addresses from the To header. It's
9842 equivalent to having three different rules; one with a To
9843 pattern, another with the same Cc pattern, and another with the
9844 same From pattern.
9845 _AllText pattern_
9846 This is similar to the header patterns. Instead of comparing
9847 with text in a particular header field it is compared with all
9848 of the text in the message header and body.
9849 If you enter non-ascii characters in this field then the search
9850 will be done using the character set you have defined with the
9851 Character-Set configuration variable. (The truly sophisticated
9852 may use an alternate character set for a search by entering the
9853 MIME encoding of the header string here.)
9854 _BodyText pattern_
9855 Just like AllText, except it is compared only with the body of
9856 the message, not the body and header.
9857 If you enter non-ascii characters in this field then the search
9858 will be done using the character set you have defined with the
9859 Character-Set configuration variable. (The truly sophisticated
9860 may use an alternate character set for a search by entering the
9861 MIME encoding of the header string here.)
9862 _Age Interval_
9863 The Age Interval, if defined, is part of the Pattern. If you use
9864 this, it should be set to something like:
9866 (min_age,max_age)
9867 where "min_age" and "max_age" are non-negative integers. The
9868 special value "INF" may be used for the max value. It represents
9869 infinity.
9870 In rare cases it may be useful to use the more general form of
9871 the value, which is a comma-separated list of intervals. It
9872 would look something like:
9874 (min_age1,max_age1),(min_age2,max_age2),...
9875 When there is an Age Interval defined, it is a match if the age,
9876 in days, of the message is contained in the interval. The
9877 interval includes both endpoints. If the option is set to a list
9878 of intervals then it is a match if the age of the message is
9879 contained in any of the intervals.
9880 Even though this option is called Age, it isn't actually the
9881 _age_ of the message. Instead, it is how many days ago the
9882 message arrived in one of your folders. If the current time is a
9883 little past midnight, then a message that arrived just before
9884 midnight arrived yesterday, even though the message is only a
9885 few minutes old. By default, the date being used is not the date
9886 in the Date header of the message. It is the date that the
9887 message arrived in one of your folders. When you Save a message
9888 from one folder to another that arrival date is preserved. If
9889 you would like to use the date in the Date header that is
9890 possible. Turn on the option _use-date-header-for-age_ near the
9891 bottom of the rule definition.
9892 A value of 0 is today, 1 is yesterday, 2 is the day before
9893 yesterday, and so on. The age interval
9895 (2,2)
9896 matches all messages that arrived on the day before yesterday.
9897 The interval
9899 (180,INF)
9900 matches all messages that arrived at least 180 days before
9901 today. The interval
9903 (0,1)
9904 matches all messages that arrived today or yesterday.
9905 _Score Interval_
9906 The Score Interval, if defined, is part of the Pattern. If you
9907 use this, it should be set to something like:
9909 (min_score,max_score)
9910 where "min_score" and "max_score" are integers between -32000
9911 and 32000. The special values "-INF" and "INF" can be used for
9912 the min and max values. These represent negative and positive
9913 infinity.
9914 Actually, the value may be a list of intervals rather than just
9915 a single interval if that is useful. The elements of the list
9916 are separated by commas like:
9918 (min_score1,max_score1),(min_score2,max_score2),...
9919 When there is a Score Interval defined, it is a match if the
9920 score for the message is contained in any of the intervals. The
9921 intervals include both endpoints. The score for a message is
9922 calculated by looking at every scoring rule defined and adding
9923 up the Score Values for the rules which match the message.
9924 _Keyword pattern_
9925 A folder may have user-defined keywords. These are similar to
9926 the Important flag which the user may set using the Flag
9927 command. The difference is that the Important flag is always
9928 present for each folder. User-defined keywords are picked by the
9929 user. You may add new keywords by defining them in the Keywords
9930 option in the Setup/Config screen. After you have added a
9931 potential keyword with the Keywords option, the Flag command may
9932 be used to set or clear the keyword on individual messages. If
9933 you have given a keyword a nickname when configuring it, that
9934 nickname may be used instead of the actual keyword.
9935 When filling in a value for this field, it may be easiest to use
9936 the "T" command, which presents you with a list of the keywords
9937 you have defined to choose from.
9938 This part of the Pattern matches messages with certain keywords
9939 set. It will be considered a match if a message has any of the
9940 keywords in the list set.
9941 It is possible to add a _NOT_ to the Keyword Pattern meaning
9942 with the "!" "toggle NOT" command. This changes the meaning of
9943 the Keyword pattern so that it has the opposite meaning. It will
9944 be considered a match if none of the keywords in the list are
9945 set for a message.
9946 Don't make the mistake of putting the "!" in the data field for
9947 the pattern. For example, if you type the characters "!frizzle"
9948 into the Keyword pattern, the pattern will look like:
9949 Keyword pattern = !frizzle
9951 This means you want to match the 8 character sequence
9952 "!frizzle". In order to match messages which do not have the
9953 keyword "frizzle" set, first type the characters "frizzle"
9954 followed by carriage return for the value of the Keyword
9955 pattern, then negate it by typing the "!" command. It should end
9956 up looking like
9957 ! Keyword pattern = frizzle
9959 _Character Set pattern_
9960 A message may use one or more character sets. This part of the
9961 Pattern matches messages which make use of certain specified
9962 character sets. It will be considered a match if a message uses
9963 any of the character sets in the list you give here.
9964 When filling in a value for this field, you may use the "T"
9965 command, which presents you with a large list of possible
9966 character sets to choose from. You may also just type in the
9967 name of a character set, and it need not be one that Alpine
9968 knows about.
9969 Besides actual character set names (for example, ISO-8859-7,
9970 KOI8-R, or GB2312) you may also use some shorthand names that
9971 Alpine provides. These names are more understandable shorthand
9972 names for sets of character set names. Two examples are
9973 "Cyrillic" and "Greek". Selecting one of these shorthand names
9974 is equivalent to selecting all of the character sets that make
9975 up the set. You can see all of these shorthand names and the
9976 lists of character sets they stand for by typing the "T"
9977 command.
9978 For the purposes of this Pattern, _Alpine_ will search through a
9979 message for all of the text parts and collect the character sets
9980 declared for each part. It will also look in the Subject line
9981 for a character set used there. _Alpine_ does not actually look
9982 at the text of the message or the text of the Subject to
9983 determine if a declared character set is actually used, it looks
9984 only at the declarations themselves in the MIME part headers and
9985 in the Subject.
9986 It is possible to add a _NOT_ to the Character Set Pattern
9987 meaning with the "!" "toggle NOT" command. This changes the
9988 meaning of the Character Set pattern so that it has the opposite
9989 meaning. It will be considered a match if none of the character
9990 sets in the list are used in a message.
9991 Don't make the mistake of putting the "!" in the data field for
9992 the pattern. For example, if you type the characters "!GB2312"
9993 into the Character Set pattern, the pattern will look like:
9994 Charset pattern = !GB2312
9996 This means you want to match the 7 character sequence "!GB2312".
9997 In order to match messages which do not have the character set
9998 "GB2312" set, first type the characters "GB2312" followed by
9999 carriage return for the value of the Character Set pattern, then
10000 negate it by typing the "!" command. It should end up looking
10001 like
10002 ! Charset pattern = GB2312
10004 A technicality: Since comma is the character used to separate
10005 multiple values in a pattern field, you have to escape comma
10006 with a backslash (\) if you want to include a literal comma in
10007 the field. In other words, if you type a backslash followed by a
10008 comma it will be interpreted as a comma by _Alpine_, instead of
10009 as a separator between pattern values. All other backslashes are
10010 literal backslashes and should not be escaped.
10011 _Current Folder Type_
10012 The Current Folder Type is part of the Pattern. It refers to the
10013 type of the currently open folder, which is the folder you were
10014 last looking at from the MESSAGE INDEX or MESSAGE TEXT screen.
10015 In order for a pattern to be considered a match, the current
10016 folder must be of the type you set here. The three types "Any",
10017 "News", and "Email" are all what you might think.
10018 If the Current Folder Type for a Pattern is set to "News", for
10019 example, then that will only be a match if the current folder is
10020 a newsgroup and the rest of the Pattern matches. The value
10021 "Specific" may be used when you want to limit the match to a
10022 specific folder (not just a specific type of folder), or to a
10023 list of specific folders. In order to match a specific folder
10024 you must Select the "Specific" button _AND_ you must fill in the
10025 name (or list of names) of the folder in the "Folder" field. If
10026 the current folder is any of the folders in the list, that is
10027 considered a match. The name of each folder in the list may be
10028 either "INBOX", the technical specification of the folder (like
10029 what appears in your configuration file) or, if the folder is
10030 one of your incoming folders, it may be the nickname you've
10031 given the folder. Here are a couple samples of specific folder
10032 names:
10034 {monet.art.example.com}mail/art-class
10036 {news.example.com/nntp}#news.comp.mail.pine
10037 The easiest way to fill in the "Folder" field is to use the T
10038 command which is available when the "Folder" line is
10039 highlighted. Note that you won't be able to edit the "Folder"
10040 line unless the Current Folder Type is set to "Specific", and
10041 any value that "Folder" has is ignored unless the type is set to
10042 "Specific".
10043 When reading a newsgroup, there may be a performance penalty
10044 incurred when collecting the information necessary to check a
10045 Pattern. For this reason, the default Current Folder Type is set
10046 to "Email". For example, a role with a non-Normal Index Line
10047 Color and a Current Folder Type of "Any" or "News" may cause the
10048 MESSAGE INDEX screen to draw more slowly when in a newsgroup.
10049 _Message Status Important_
10050 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10051 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10052 The other two values are "Yes", which means the message must be
10053 flagged "Important" in order to be a match; or "No", which means
10054 the message must _not_ be flagged "Important" in order to be
10055 considered a match.
10056 _Message Status New_
10057 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10058 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10059 The other two values are "Yes", which means the message must be
10060 "New" in order to be a match; or "No", which means the message
10061 must _not_ be "New" in order to be a match. "New" is the same as
10062 _Unseen_ and not "New" is the same as _Seen_.
10063 The nomenclature for New and Recent is a bit confusing:
10064 New means that the message is Unseen. It could have been in your
10065 mailbox for a long time but if you haven't looked at it, it is
10066 still considered New. That matches the default _Alpine_ index
10067 display that shows an N for such a message.
10068 Recent means that the message was added to this folder since the
10069 last time you opened the folder. _Alpine_ also shows an N by
10070 default for these types of messages. If you were to run two
10071 copies of _Alpine_ that opened a folder one right after the
10072 other, a message would only show up as Recent in (at most) the
10073 first _Alpine_ session.
10074 _Message Status Recent_
10075 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10076 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10077 The other two values are "Yes", which means the message must be
10078 "Recent" in order to be a match; or "No", which means the
10079 message must _not_ be "Recent" in order to be a match. "Recent"
10080 means that the message was added to the folder since the last
10081 time the folder was opened. If more than one mail client has the
10082 folder opened, the message will appear to be "Recent" to only
10083 one of the clients.
10084 The nomenclature for New and Recent is a bit confusing:
10085 New means that the message is Unseen. It could have been in your
10086 mailbox for a long time but if you haven't looked at it, it is
10087 still considered New. That matches the default _Alpine_ index
10088 display that shows an N for such a message.
10089 Recent means that the message was added to this folder since the
10090 last time you opened the folder. _Alpine_ also shows an N by
10091 default for these types of messages. If you were to run two
10092 copies of _Alpine_ that opened a folder one right after the
10093 other, a message would only show up as Recent in (at most) the
10094 first _Alpine_ session.
10095 _Message Status Deleted_
10096 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10097 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10098 The other two values are "Yes", which means the message must be
10099 marked "Deleted" in order to be a match; or "No", which means
10100 the message must _not_ be marked "Deleted" in order to be a
10101 match.
10102 If you are thinking of using this part of the Pattern as a way
10103 to prevent messages from being filtered more than once in a
10104 Filter Pattern, take a look at the Filter Option
10105 "move-only-if-not-deleted" instead. It should work better than
10106 using this field since it will hide the filtered messages even
10107 if they are already Deleted.
10108 _Message Status Answered_
10109 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10110 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10111 The other two values are "Yes", which means the message must be
10112 marked "Answered" in order to be a match; or "No", which means
10113 the message must _not_ be marked "Answered" in order to be a
10114 match.
10115 _Subject Contains Raw 8-bit_
10116 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10117 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10118 The other two values are "Yes", which means the Subject of the
10119 message must contain unencoded 8-bit characters (characters with
10120 the most significant bit set) in order to be a match; or "No",
10121 which means the Subject must _not_ contain unencoded 8-bit
10122 characters in order to be a match.
10123 _Beginning of Month_
10124 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10125 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10126 The other two values are "Yes", which means this is the first
10127 time _Alpine_ has been run this month; or "No", which means this
10128 is _not_ the first time _Alpine_ has been run this month. The
10129 way that _Alpine_ decides if it is the beginning of the month or
10130 not is to compare today's date with the date stored in the
10131 Last-Time-Prune-Questioned variable in the config file. If the
10132 month of today's date is later than the month stored in the
10133 variable, then this is considered to be the first time you have
10134 run Alpine this month, and that turns the Beginning of the Month
10135 option on.
10136 _Beginning of Year_
10137 This part of the Pattern may have one of three possible values.
10138 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10139 The other two values are "Yes", which means this is the first
10140 time _Alpine_ has been run this year; or "No", which means this
10141 is _not_ the first time _Alpine_ has been run this year. The way
10142 that _Alpine_ decides if it is the beginning of the year or not
10143 is to compare today's date with the date stored in the
10144 Last-Time-Prune-Questioned variable in the config file. If the
10145 year of today's date is later than the year stored in the
10146 variable, then this is considered to be the first time you have
10147 run Alpine this year, and that turns the Beginning of the Year
10148 option on.
10149 _From or Reply-To in Address Book_
10150 This part of the Pattern may have one of five possible values.
10151 The default value is "Don't care", which matches any message.
10152 The value "Yes, in any address book" means either the From
10153 address or the Reply-To address of the message must be in at
10154 least one of your address books in order to be a match. The
10155 value "No, not in any address book" means neither the From nor
10156 the Reply-To addresses may be in any of your address books in
10157 order to be a match.
10158 The values "Yes, in specific address books" and "No, not in any
10159 of specific address books" are similar but instead of depending
10160 on all address books you are allowed to give a list of address
10161 books to look in. Usually this would be a single address book
10162 but it may be a list of address books as well. For each of these
10163 "specific" address book options you Select which of the Specific
10164 options you want (Yes or No) _AND_ fill in the name (or list of
10165 names) of the address book in the "Abook List" field. The names
10166 to be used are those that appear in the ADDRESS BOOK LIST
10167 screen. The easiest way to fill in the Abook List field it to
10168 use the "T" command which is available when the "Abook List"
10169 line is highlighted. Note that you won't be able to edit the
10170 "Abook List" line unless the option is set to one of the two
10171 "Specific", values.
10172 _Categorizer Command_
10173 This is a command that is run with its standard input set to the
10174 message being checked and its standard output discarded. The
10175 full directory path should be specified. The command will be run
10176 and then its exit status will be checked against the _Exit
10177 Status Interval_, which defaults to just the value zero. If the
10178 exit status of the command falls in the interval, it is
10179 considered a match, otherwise it is not a match.
10180 This option may actually be a list of commands. The first one
10181 that exists and is executable is used. That makes it possible to
10182 use the same configuration with Unix _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_.
10183 If none of the commands in the list exists and is executable
10184 then the rule is _not_ a match. If it is possible that the
10185 command may not exist, you should be careful to structure your
10186 rules so that nothing destructive happens when the command does
10187 not exist. For example, you might have a filter that filters
10188 away spam when there is a match but does nothing when there is
10189 not a match. That would continue to work correctly if the
10190 command didn't exist. However, if you have a filter which
10191 filters away spam when there is not a match and keeps it when
10192 there is a match, that would filter everything if the
10193 categorizer command didn't exist.
10194 The categorizer command is run and the result is the exit status
10195 of that command. If that exit status falls in the _Exit Status
10196 Interval_ then it is considered a match, otherwise it is not a
10197 match. Of course for the entire rule to match, it must also be
10198 checked against the other defined parts of the Pattern.
10199 The _Exit Status Interval_ defaults to the single value 0
10200 (zero). If you define it, it should be set to something like:
10202 (min_exit_value,max_exit_value)
10203 where "min_exit_value" and "max_exit_value" are integers. The
10204 special values "INF" and "-INF" may be used for large positive
10205 and negative integers.
10206 Actually, a list of intervals may be used if you wish. A list
10207 would look like
10209 (min_exit_value1,max_exit_value1),(min_exit_value2,max_exit_value2),...
10210 When there is an _Exit Status Interval_ defined, it is a match
10211 if the exit status of the categorizer command is contained in
10212 any of the intervals. The intervals include both endpoints.
10213 The default interval is
10215 (0,0)
10216 and it matches only if the command exits with exit status equal
10217 to zero.
10218 It is also possible to set a _Character Limit_ for the
10219 categorizer command. Setting this option makes it possible to
10220 limit how much of the message is made available to the
10221 categorizer command as input. The default value (-1) means that
10222 the entire message is fed to the command. A value of 0 (zero)
10223 means that only the headers of the message are made available. A
10224 positive integer means that the headers plus that many
10225 characters from the body of the message are passed to the
10226 categorizer.
10228 Configuring News
10230 _Alpine_ can access news folders in any one of three different ways:
10232 REMOTE NNTP
10233 Using the Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP) to access news
10234 on a remote news server. In this case the newsrc file is stored
10235 on the machine where _Alpine_ is running.
10237 To specify a remote news-collection accessed via NNTP use the
10238 SETUP/collectionList screen's "Add" command. Set the Server:
10239 value to the NNTP server's hostname appended with the
10240 communication method "/service=NNTP", and set the Path: value to
10241 the "#news." namespace (without the quotes).
10243 Instead of specifying a news-collection, you may simply set the
10244 nntp-server option, which will cause _Alpine_ to create a
10245 default news-collection for you. Another NNTP option which may
10246 be of interest is nntp-range.
10248 REMOTE IMAP
10249 Using the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) to access news
10250 on a remote news server. In this case, your newsrc file is
10251 stored on the news server, in your home directory, so you must
10252 have an account on the news server, but you would be running
10253 _Alpine_ on a different machine. The news server must be running
10254 an IMAPd server process.
10256 To specify a remote news-collection accessed via IMAP use the
10257 SETUP/collectionList screen's "Add" command. Set the Server:
10258 value to the IMAP server's hostname, and set the Path: value to
10259 the "#news." namespace (without the quotes).
10261 LOCAL
10262 Using local file access to the news database. In this case, your
10263 newsrc file is stored on the news server, in your home
10264 directory, so you must have an account on the news server, and
10265 you would be running _Alpine_ on the same machine.
10267 To specify a local news-collection use the SETUP/collectionList
10268 screen's "Add" command. Leave the Server: value blank, and set
10269 the Path: value to the "#news." namespace (without the quotes).
10271 NOTE: Should no news-collection be defined as above, _Alpine_ will
10272 automatically create one using the Setup/Config screen's "nntp-server"
10273 variable's value if defined. The collection will be created as a
10274 "Remote NNTP" as described above.
10276 If you are a _PC-Alpine_ user, either option 1 (NNTP) or option 2
10277 (IMAP) is possible. If you don't have an account on the news server, or
10278 if the news server is not running an IMAP daemon, then you must use
10279 NNTP. (If you are not sure, ask your service provider, university, or
10280 company for help.) In this case, your Unix .newsrc file can be
10281 transferred to your PC. A good place to put it would be in the same
10282 directory as your PINERC file, under the name NEWSRC, but you can
10283 specify a different location.
10285 Other configuration features related to news are
10286 Enable-8bit-Nntp-Posting. Compose-Sets-Newsgroup-Without-Confirm,
10287 News-Approximates-New-Status, News-Deletes-Across-Groups,
10288 News-Offers-Catchup-On-Close, News-Post-Without-Validation,
10289 News-Read-in-Newsrc-Order, and Quell-Extra-Post-Prompt.
10290 __________________________________________________________________
10292 Notes on Configuration and Preferences
10294 Alpine in Function Key Mode
10296 The standard _Alpine_ uses alphabetic keys for most commands, and
10297 control keys in the composer. Despite possible appearances, the current
10298 bindings are the result of much discussion and thought. All the
10299 commands in the composer are single control characters. This keeps
10300 things very neat and simple for users. Two character commands in the
10301 composer are a possibility, but we're trying to avoid them because of
10302 the added complexity for the user.
10304 _Alpine_ can also operate in a function-key mode. To go into this mode
10305 invoke _alpine -k_ or (on some UNIX systems) _alpinef._ On a UNIX
10306 system, you can link or copy the _Alpine_ executable to _alpinef_ to
10307 install _alpinef._ Alternatively, users and systems administrators can
10308 set the _use-function-keys_ feature in the personal or system-wide
10309 _Alpine_ configuration file. The command menus at the bottom of the
10310 screen will show _F1-F12 _instead of the alphabetic commands. In
10311 addition, the help screens will be written in terms of function keys
10312 and not alphabetic keys.
10314 One of the results of using _Alpine_ in function-key mode is that users
10315 can only choose from twelve commands at any given time. In
10316 alphabetic-key mode, a user can press a key for a command (say, q to
10317 quit) and that command can be fulfilled. In function-key mode, the
10318 command must be visible on the bottom key-menu in order to be used.
10319 There are some screens where four screens of commands are operational;
10320 function-key users can get to all of them, just not all at once.
10321 __________________________________________________________________
10323 Domain Settings
10325 _Alpine_ uses the default domain for a few different tasks. First, it
10326 is tacked onto the user-id for outgoing email. Second, it is tacked
10327 onto all "local" (unqualified) addresses in the "To:" or "Cc:" fields
10328 of messages being composed (unless they are found in the address book
10329 or on an LDAP server). The domain name is also used to generate
10330 message-id lines for each outgoing message and to allow _Alpine_ to
10331 check if an address is that of the current _Alpine_ user.
10333 _Alpine_ determines the domain name according to whichever of these it
10334 finds. The list here is in decreasing order of precedence.
10335 1. Value of the variable user-domain in the system fixed configuration
10336 file
10337 2. Value of the variable _user-domain_ in the personal configuration
10338 file
10339 3. Value of the variable _user-domain_ in the system-wide
10340 configuration file
10341 4. Value from an external database (DNS, /etc/hosts, NIS) as modified
10342 by a system fixed configuration file if use-only-domain-name set to
10343 _yes_
10344 5. Value from an external database (DNS, /etc/hosts, NIS) as modified
10345 by a personal configuration file if _use-only-domain-name_ set to
10346 _yes_
10347 6. Value from an external database (DNS, /etc/hosts, NIS) as modified
10348 by a system configuration file if _use-only-domain-name_ set to
10349 _yes_
10350 7. Unmodified value (host name) from an external database
10352 The easiest way for this system to work is for _PC-Alpine_ users and
10353 UNIX _Alpine_ system administrators to set the _user-domain_ variable.
10354 The variable _use-only-domain-name_ is helpful if your site
10355 supports/requires hostless addressing, but for some reason you don't
10356 want to use the _user-domain_ variable.
10357 __________________________________________________________________
10359 Syntax for Collections
10361 In many environments, it is quite common to have collections of
10362 archived mail on various hosts around the network. Using the folder
10363 collections facility in _Alpine_, access to these archives is just as
10364 simple as access to folders on _Alpine_'s local disk.
10366 "Collection" is the word we use in _Alpine_ to describe a set of
10367 folders. A collection corresponds loosely to a "directory" containing
10368 mail folders. Folders within a defined collection can be manipulated
10369 (opened, saved-to, etc) using just their simple name. Any number of
10370 folder collections can be defined, and _Alpine_ will adjust its menus
10371 and prompts to help navigate them.
10373 The way collections are defined in _Alpine_ is with the
10374 folder-collections variable in the _Alpine_ configuration file.
10375 _Folder-collections_ takes a list of one or more collections, each
10376 (optionally) preceded by a user-defined logical name (label). Once
10377 collections are defined, _Alpine_ adjusts its menus and behavior to
10378 allow choosing files by their simple name within the collection.
10380 Consider the following:
10381 folder-collections= Local-Mail C:\MAIL\[],
10382 Remote-Mail {imap.u.example.edu}mail/[]
10384 The example shows two collections defined (a comma separated list;
10385 newlines in the list are OK if there's one or more spaces before the
10386 next entry), one local and one remote. Each collection is a
10387 space-delimited pair of elements-first an optional logical-name and
10388 second the collection specifier. The logical-name can have spaces if it
10389 has quotes around it (but keeping the logical name short and
10390 descriptive works best). _Alpine_ will use the logical-name (if
10391 provided) to reference all folders in the collection, so the user never
10392 has to see the ugliness of the collection specifier.
10394 The collection specifier can be thought of as an extended IMAP format
10395 (see the Remote Folders section for a description of IMAP format
10396 names). Basically, a pair of square-brackets are placed in the fully
10397 qualified IMAP path where the simple folder name (the part without the
10398 host name and path) would appear. Like IMAP, the path can be either
10399 fully qualified (i.e., with a leading '/') or relative to your home
10400 directory.
10402 An advanced feature of this notation is that a pattern within the
10403 square brackets allows the user to define a collection to be a subset
10404 of a directory. For example, a collection defined with the specifier:
10405 M-Mail C:MAIL/[m*]
10408 will provide a view in the folder lister of all folders in the PC's
10409 "C:MAIL" directory that start with the letter 'm' (case insensitive
10410 under DOS, of course). Further, the wildcard matching will honor
10411 characters trailing the '*' in the pattern.
10413 From within _Alpine_, the "Folder List" display will be adjusted to
10414 allow browsing of the folders in any defined collection. Even more,
10415 you'll notice in the _Goto_ and _Save_ commands a pair of sub-commands
10416 to rotate through the list of logical collection names, so only a
10417 simple name need be input in order to operate on a folder in any
10418 collection.
10420 The first collection specified in the _folder-collections_ has special
10421 significance. That folder is the "default collection for saves". By
10422 default, in cases where the user does not specify which collection
10423 should be used to _Save_ a message, the default collection for saves
10424 will be used. Also, if the default-fcc is a relative file name, then it
10425 is relative to the default collection for saves. (See also
10426 saved-msg-name-rule.
10428 The notion of collections encompasses both email folders and news
10429 reading. The variable news-collections uses nearly the same format as
10430 _folder-collections_. Newsgroups can be defined for convenient access
10431 via either IMAP or NNTP. There are advantages and disadvantages to both
10432 access methods. In the IMAP case, your news environment state is
10433 maintained on the server and, thus, will be seen by any client. The
10434 downside is that, at the moment, you must have an account on the
10435 server. In the NNTP case, server access is mostly anonymous and no
10436 state/accounting need be maintained on it. The downside is that each
10437 client, for now, must individually maintain news environment state.
10439 An example pinerc entry might be:
10440 news-collections= Remote-State {news.u.example.edu}#news.[],
10441 Local-State {news.u.example.edu/nntp}#news.[]
10443 Only newsgroups to which you are subscribed are included in the
10444 collection.
10446 The pattern matching facility can be applied so as to define a news
10447 collection which is a subset of all the newsgroups you subscribe to.
10448 For example, this could be a valid collection:
10449 Newsfeed-News {news.u.example.edu/nntp}#news.[clari.*]
10451 Collection handling is a tough problem to solve in a general way, and
10452 the explanation of the syntax is a bit ugly. The upside is, hopefully,
10453 that for a little complexity in the _Alpine_ configuration file you get
10454 simple management of multiple folders in diverse locations.
10456 Collection setup is handled by the _Setup/collectionList_ screen.
10457 __________________________________________________________________
10459 Syntax for Folder Names
10461 Remote folders are distinguished from local folders by a leading host
10462 name bracketed by '{' and '}'. The path and folder name immediately
10463 following the closing bracket, '}', is interpreted by the remote server
10464 and is in a form compatible with that server (i.e., path delimiters and
10465 naming syntax relative to that server).
10467 The full syntax for a _Alpine_ folder name looks like
10469 [{<remote-specification>}][#<namespace>]<namespace-specific-part>
10471 The square brackets ([]) mean that the part is optional.
10473 If there is no remote-specification, then the folder name is
10474 interpreted locally on the computer running _Alpine_. Local folder
10475 names depend on the operating system used by the computer running
10476 _Alpine_, as well as the configuration of that system. For example,
10477 "C:\ALPINE\FOLDERS\OCT-94" might exist on a PC, and
10478 "~/mail/september-1994" might be a reasonable folder name on a system
10479 running Unix.
10481 _Alpine_ users have the option of using folders which are stored on
10482 some other computer. _Alpine_ accesses remote folders via IMAP (the
10483 Internet Message Access Protocol), or in the case of news, via NNTP
10484 (the Network News Transport Protocol). To be able to access remote
10485 folders in _Alpine_, the remote host must be running the appropriate
10486 server software (imapd or nntpd) and you must correctly specify the
10487 name of the folder to _Alpine_, including the domain name of the remote
10488 machine. For example,
10490 {monet.art.example.com}INBOX
10492 could be a remote folder specification, and so could
10494 {unixhost.art.example.com}~/mail/september-1994
10496 and
10498 {winhost.art.example.com}\mymail\SEP-94
10500 Note that in the case of remote folders, the directory/file path in the
10501 specification is determined by the operating system of the remote
10502 computer, _not_ by the operating system of the computer on which you
10503 are running _Alpine_.
10505 As you can tell, the name of the computer is in {} brackets followed
10506 immediately by the name of the folder. (In each of these cases the
10507 optional namespace is missing.) If, as in these examples, there is no
10508 remote access protocol specified, then IMAP is assumed. Check Server
10509 Name Syntax for a more detailed look at what options can be placed
10510 between the brackets. If there are no brackets at all, then the folder
10511 name is interpreted locally on the computer on which you are running
10512 _Alpine_.
10514 To the right of the brackets when a server name is present, or at the
10515 start of the foldername if no server is present, the sharp sign, "#",
10516 holds special meaning. It indicates a folder name outside the area
10517 reserved for your personal folders. In fact, it's used to indicate both
10518 the name of the folder, and a special phrase telling _Alpine_ how to
10519 interpret the name that follows.
10521 So, for example, _Alpine_ can be used to access a newsgroup that might
10522 be available on your computer using:
10524 #news.comp.mail.pine
10526 The sharp sign indicates the folder name is outside your personal
10527 folder area. The "news." phrase after it tells _Alpine_ to interpret
10528 the remainder of the name as a newsgroup.
10530 Similarly, to access a newsgroup on your IMAP server, you might use
10531 something like:
10533 {wharhol.art.example.com}#news.comp.mail.misc
10535 There are a number of such special phrases (or "namespaces") available.
10536 For a more detailed explanation read about Namespaces.
10538 Note that "INBOX" has special meaning in both local and remote folder
10539 names. The name INBOX refers to your "principal incoming message
10540 folder" and will be mapped to the actual file name used for your INBOX
10541 on any given host. Therefore, a name like "{xxx.art.example.com}INBOX"
10542 refers to whatever file is used to store incoming mail for you on that
10543 particular host.
10544 __________________________________________________________________
10546 Server Name Syntax
10548 This section describes the syntax which may be used for server names
10549 which may be associated with remote folders or SMTP servers.
10551 A server name is the hostname of the server. It's a good idea to use
10552 the host's fully-qualified network name.
10554 foo.example.com
10556 However, IP addresses are allowed if surrounded with square-brackets.
10558 [127.0.0.1]
10560 An optional network port number may be supplied by appending a colon
10561 (:) followed by the port number to the server name. By default, the
10562 IMAP port number, 143, is used.
10564 foo.example.com:port
10566 Besides server name and optional port number, various other optional
10567 parameters may be supplied that alter _Alpine_'s interaction with the
10568 server. A parameter is supplied by appending a slash (/) character
10569 followed by the parameter's name and, depending on the particular
10570 parameter, the value assigned to that name, to the server name (and
10571 optional port number). Parameter names are _not_ case sensitive.
10572 Currently supported parameters include:
10574 User
10575 This parameter requires an associated value, and is intended to
10576 provide the username identifier with which to establish the
10577 server connection. If your SMTP server offers SMTP AUTH
10578 authentication, adding this parameter to the SMTP-Server option
10579 will cause _Alpine_ to attempt to authenticate to the server
10580 using the supplied username. Similarly, if your NNTP server
10581 offers NNTP "AUTHINFO SASL" or "AUTHINFO USER" authentication,
10582 adding this parameter to the NNTP-Server option (or to the
10583 server name for any folder collection using NNTP) will cause
10584 _Alpine_ to attempt to authenticate to the server using the
10585 supplied username. An example might be:
10587 /user=katie
10589 TLS
10590 Normally, when a new connection is made an attempt is made to
10591 negotiate a secure (encrypted) session using Transport Layer
10592 Security (TLS). If that fails then a non-encrypted connection
10593 will be attempted instead. This is a unary parameter indicating
10594 communication with the server must take place over a TLS
10595 connection. If the attempt to use TLS fails then this parameter
10596 will cause the connection to fail instead of falling back to an
10597 unsecure connection.
10599 /tls
10601 SSL
10602 This is a unary parameter indicating communication with the
10603 server should take place over a Secure Socket Layer connection.
10604 The server must support this method, and be prepared to accept
10605 connections on the appropriate port (993 by default). _Alpine_
10606 must be linked with an SSL library for this option to be
10607 operational.
10609 /ssl
10611 NoValidate-Cert
10612 Do not validate certificates (for TLS or SSL connections) from
10613 the server. This is needed if the server uses self-signed
10614 certificates or if _Alpine_ cannot validate the certificate for
10615 some other known reason.
10617 Anonymous
10618 This is a unary parameter (that means it does not have a value)
10619 indicating that the connection be logged in as "anonymous"
10620 rather than a specific user. Not all servers offer anonymous
10621 access; those which do generally only offer read-only access to
10622 certain "public" folders.
10624 /anonymous
10626 Secure
10627 This is a unary parameter indicating that the connection use the
10628 most secure authentication method mutually supported by _Alpine_
10629 and the server. _Alpine_ is capable of authenticating
10630 connections to the server using several methods. By default,
10631 _Alpine_ will attempt each method until either a connection is
10632 established or the list of methods is exhausted. This parameter
10633 causes _Alpine_ to instead fail the connection if the first
10634 (generally most "secure") method fails.
10636 /secure
10638 Submit
10639 This is a unary parameter for use with the "SMTP-Server" option.
10640 It indicates that the connection should be made to the Submit
10641 server (RFC 3676) (port 587) instead of the SMTP port (25). At
10642 the time this help was written the submit option was equivalent
10643 to specifying port 587.
10645 /submit
10647 or
10649 host:587
10651 Debug
10652 This is a unary parameter indicating that the connection be
10653 established in a verbose mode. Basically, it causes _Alpine_ to
10654 log the communication with the server in _Alpine_'s debug file.
10655 Normally, the alpine -d command-line flag would be used instead.
10657 NoRsh
10658 By default, _Alpine_ attempts to login using "rsh", the UNIX
10659 remote shell program. Including "NoRsh" will cause connections
10660 to this server to skip the "rsh" attempt. This might be useful
10661 to avoid long timeouts caused by rsh firewalls, for example.
10663 Service
10664 This parameter requires an associated value. The default value
10665 is "IMAP" which indicates communication with the server based on
10666 the IMAP4rev1 protocol (defined in RFC 3501 -- see
10667 http://www.imap.org/docs/rfc3501.html). Other service values
10668 include:
10670 NNTP
10671 This value indicates communication with the server takes
10672 place via the Network News Transfer Protocol. Use this to
10673 define a collection of newsgroups on a remote news server.
10674 So
10676 /service=NNTP
10678 or just
10680 /NNTP
10682 is the way to specify NNTP access.
10684 POP3
10685 This value indicates communication with the server takes
10686 place via the Post Office Protocol 3 protocol.
10688 /service=POP3
10690 or just
10692 /POP3
10694 Note that there are several important issues to consider
10695 when selecting this option:
10697 1. POP3 provides access to only your INBOX. In other words,
10698 secondary folders such as your "saved-messages" are
10699 inaccessible.
10700 2. _Alpine_'s implementation of POP3 does not follow the
10701 traditional POP model and will leave your mail on the
10702 server. Refer to the Mail Drop functionality for a
10703 possible way around this problem.
10704 3. See the discussion about new-mail checking in
10705 Folder-Reopen-Rule.
10707 Note that it is possible to include more than one parameter in a server
10708 specification by concatenating the parameters. For example:
10710 foo.example.com:port/user=katie/novalidate-cert/debug
10711 __________________________________________________________________
10713 Folder Namespaces
10715 A _Alpine_ folder name looks like
10717 [{<remote-specification>}][#<namespace>][<namespace-specific-part>]
10719 The local part of a folder name has an optional "Namespace" which tells
10720 _Alpine_ how to interpret the rest of the name.
10722 By default the folder name is interpreted as defining a section of your
10723 personal folder area. This area and how you specify it are defined by
10724 the server, if one is specified, or, typically, the home directory, if
10725 no server is defined.
10727 If a namespace is specified, it begins with the sharp, "#", character
10728 followed by the name of the namespace and then the namespace's
10729 path-element-delimiter. Aside from the path's format, namespaces can
10730 also imply access rights, content policy, audience, location, and,
10731 occasionally, access methods.
10733 Each server exports its own set (possibly of size one) of namespaces.
10734 Hence, it's likely communication with your server's administrator will
10735 be required for specific configurations. Some of the more common
10736 namespaces, however, include:
10738 #news.
10739 This specifies a set of folders in the newsgroup namespace.
10740 Newsgroup names are hierarchically defined with each level
10741 delimited by a period.
10743 #news.comp.mail.pine
10745 #public/
10746 This specifies a folder area that the server may export to the
10747 general public.
10749 #shared/
10750 This specifies a folder area that the folder may export to
10751 groups of users.
10753 #ftp/
10754 This specifies a folder area that is the same as that it may
10755 have exported via the "File Transfer Protocol".
10757 #mh/
10758 This specifies the personal folder area associated with folders
10759 and directories that were created using the MH message handling
10760 system.
10762 #move/
10763 This namespace is interpreted locally by _Alpine_. It has an
10764 unusual interpretation and format.
10766 #move<DELIM><MailDropFolder><DELIM><DestinationFolder>
10768 The #move namespace is followed by two folder names separated by
10769 a delimiter character. The delimiter character may be any
10770 character which does not appear in the MailDropFolder name. The
10771 meaning of #move is that mail will be copied from the
10772 MailDropFolder to the DestinationFolder and then deleted (if
10773 possible) from the MailDropFolder. Periodic checks at frequency
10774 Mail-Check-Interval, but with a minimum time between checks set
10775 by MailDrop-Check-Minimum, are made for new mail arriving in the
10776 MailDropFolder. An example which copies mail from a POP inbox to
10777 a local folder follows
10779 #move+{popserver.example.com/pop3/ssl}inbox+local folder
10781 To you it appears that mail is being delivered to the local
10782 folder when it is copied from the MailDropFolder, and you read
10783 mail from the local folder.
10785 Note that if the DestinationFolder does not exist then the
10786 messages are not copied from the MailDropFolder. A #move folder
10787 may only be used as an Incoming folder or an Inbox. When you are
10788 in the FOLDER LIST of Incoming Message Folders (after turning on
10789 the enable-incoming-folders option) the Add command has a
10790 subcommand "Use Mail Drop" which may be helpful for defining the
10791 folder in your _Alpine_ configuration. The same is true when you
10792 edit the Inbox-Path option in Setup/Config. Each of these
10793 configuration methods will also create the DestinationFolder if
10794 it doesn't already exist. If you are having problems, make sure
10795 the DestinationFolder exists.
10797 In addition, the server may support access to other user's folders,
10798 provided you have suitable permissions. Common methods use a prefix of
10799 either "~user/", or "/user/" to indicate the root of the other user's
10800 folder area.
10801 __________________________________________________________________
10803 What is a Mail Drop?
10805 In some situaions it may make sense to have your mail delivered to one
10806 folder (the Mail Drop) and then when you want to read mail that has
10807 been delivered to the Mail Drop folder _Alpine_ will move it to another
10808 destination folder. Often the Mail Drop will be a remote folder and
10809 messages will be moved from there to a local destination folder.
10811 One example where this might make sense is if the Mail Drop folder is
10812 accessible only with the POP protocol. You could designate your POP
10813 inbox as the Mail Drop folder and have _Alpine_ move mail from there to
10814 a local (on the same machine _Alpine_ is running on) destination
10815 folder, where you'll read it.
10817 A Mail Drop may only be used as your Inbox or as an Incoming folder.
10819 There is no attempt to synchronize the contents of the destination
10820 folder with the contents of the Mail Drop folder. All that happens is
10821 that all of the messages in the Mail Drop folder are copied to the
10822 destination folder and then they are deleted and expunged (if possible)
10823 from the Mail Drop folder. The next time a check for new mail is made,
10824 any messages in the Mail Drop folder are once again copied to the
10825 destination folder and deleted and expunged from the Mail Drop folder.
10826 (If the Mail Drop folder is a news group, then the messages can't be
10827 expunged from the newsgroup. Instead, only Recent messages are copied
10828 from the newsgroup to the destination folder.)
10830 Configuration of a Mail Drop is a little different from configuration
10831 of a folder which does not use a Mail Drop because you have to specify
10832 two folder names instead of one. The two folders may be any types of
10833 folders that _Alpine_ can normally use. They don't have to be a remote
10834 folder and a local folder, that is simply the most common usage. When
10835 you use a Mail Drop folder _Alpine_ will periodically re-open the Mail
10836 Drop to check for new mail. The new-mail checks will happen at the
10837 frequency set with the Mail-Check-Interval option, but with a minimum
10838 time (MailDrop-Check-Minimum) between checks. Because of this minimum
10839 you may notice that new mail does not appear promptly when you expect
10840 it. The reason for this is to protect the server from over-zealous
10841 opening and closing of the Mail Drop folder. If the user initiates the
10842 check by typing ^L (Ctrl-L) or the Next command when at the end of the
10843 folder index, then the check will happen, regardless of how long it has
10844 been since the previous check.
10846 If there is new mail, that mail will be copied to the destination
10847 folder and then will be deleted from the Mail Drop. Note that using a
10848 Mail Drop with a local destination folder does not make sense if you
10849 read mail from more than one machine, because the mail is downloaded to
10850 the destination folder (which is accessible from only one machine) and
10851 deleted from the Mail Drop.
10853 The feature Maildrops-Preserve-State modifies the operation of Mail
10854 Drops.
10856 The actual syntax used by _Alpine_ for a folder that uses a Mail Drop
10857 is:
10859 #move<DELIM><MailDropFolder><DELIM><DestinationFolder>
10861 The brackets are not literal.
10863 <DELIM>
10865 is a single character which does not appear in the MailDropFolder name.
10866 If the name doesn't contain spaces then it can be a space character.
10867 The two folder names are full technical folder names as used by
10868 _Alpine_. Here are a couple examples to give you an idea what is being
10869 talked about:
10871 #move {popserver.example.com/pop3}inbox localfolder
10873 #move+{nntpserver.example.com/nntp}#news.comp.mail.pine+local folder
10875 A #move folder may only be used as an Incoming folder or an Inbox. When
10876 you are in the FOLDER LIST of Incoming Message Folders (after turning
10877 on the Enable-Incoming-Folders option) the Add command has a subcommand
10878 "Use Mail Drop" which may be helpful for defining the folder in your
10879 _Alpine_ configuration. The same is true when you edit the Inbox-Path
10880 option in Setup/Config.
10881 if it doesn't already exist. If you are having problems, make sure the
10882 DestinationFolder exists.
10883 __________________________________________________________________
10885 Sorting a Folder
10887 The mail index may be sorted by arrival, date, subject, from, size,
10888 score, to, or cc order. Each sort order can also be reversed. The _$_
10889 command will prompt the user for the sort order. The sort order can
10890 also be specified on the command line with the _-sort_ flag or
10891 (equivalently) with the sort-key variable in the _pinerc_ file. When a
10892 user changes folders, the sort order will go back to the original sort
10893 order. The command line (_-sort_) or configuration file sort
10894 specification (_sort-key_) changes the original sort order.
10896 When a folder is sorted and new mail arrives in the folder it will be
10897 inserted in its properly sorted place. This can be a little odd when
10898 the folder is sorted by something like the subject. It can also be a
10899 little slow if you are viewing a large, sorted _INBOX_, since the
10900 _INBOX_ will have to be re-sorted whenever new mail arrives.
10902 The sorts are all independent of case and ignore leading or trailing
10903 white space. There are actually two forms of subject sort. One called
10904 _Subject_ and the other called _OrderedSubj_. They both ignore "Re:" at
10905 the beginning and "(fwd)" at the end of the subjects. _Subject_ sorts
10906 all the subjects alphabetically. _OrderedSubj_ sorts by subjects
10907 alphabetically, groups messages with the same subject (pseudo-threads),
10908 then sorts the groups by the date of the first message of the group.
10909 Sorting by _Thread_ was added after _OrderedSubj_ and is usually a
10910 better method. Thread sorting uses information in the message headers
10911 References, Message-ID, and Subject. It is possible the sort will be
10912 slightly slower with a Thread sort than with an OrderedSubj sort. The
10913 sort by sender sorts by the user-id (part before the "@"), not the full
10914 name. The arrival sort is no sort at all and the date sort depends on
10915 the format of the date. Some dates are in strange formats and are
10916 unparsable. The time zone is also taken into account.
10918 Sorting large mail folders can be very slow since it requires fetching
10919 all the headers of the mail messages. With UNIX _Alpine_, only the
10920 first sort is slow since _Alpine_ keeps a copy of all the headers. One
10921 exception is sorting in reverse arrival order. This is fast because no
10922 headers have to be examined. _Alpine_ will show progress as it is
10923 sorting.
10924 __________________________________________________________________
10926 Alternate Editor
10928 In the _Alpine_ composer you can use any text editor, such as _vi_ or
10929 _emacs,_ for composing the message text. The addresses and subject still
10930 must be edited using the standard _Alpine_ composer. If you include the
10931 feature enable-alternate-editor-cmd in your _pinerc_ you can type _^__
10932 while in the body of the message in the composer and be prompted for
10933 the editor. If you also set the editor variable in your _pinerc_ then
10934 _^__ will invoke the configured editor when you type it.
10936 Turning on the feature enable-alternate-editor-implicitly will
10937 automatically invoke the editor you have defined with the _editor_
10938 variable whenever you enter the body of a message you are composing.
10939 For example, when you move out of the last header line and into the
10940 body of the message, the alternate editor will be automatically
10941 invoked.
10943 We know that many people would like to use the alternate editor to edit
10944 the mail header as well. We considered several designs for this and
10945 didn't come up with one that we liked and that was easy to implement.
10946 One of the main problems is that you lose access to the address book.
10947 __________________________________________________________________
10949 Signatures and Signature Placement
10951 If the file _~/.signature_ (UNIX) or _<PINERC_directory>\PINE.SIG (PC)
10952 exists, it will be included in all outgoing messages. It is included
10953 before composition starts so that the user has a chance to edit it out
10954 if he or she likes. The file name for the signature can be changed by
10955 setting the signature-file variable in the _pinerc_. If the feature
10956 enable-sigdashes is turned on then the line consisting of the three
10957 characters "-- " is prepended to the signature file. When Replying or
10958 Forwarding a message different signatures my be automatically included
10959 by configuring them in the Roles setup screen. It's easy to include
10960 different signatures by hand, by having multiple signature files
10961 (_.sig1, .sig2, .sig3, etc_) and choosing to include (^R in the
10962 composer) the correct one for the message being sent.
10964 _Alpine_'s default behavior encourages a user to put his or her
10965 contribution before the inclusion of the original text of the message
10966 being forwarded or replied to, This is contrary to some conventions,
10967 but makes the conversation more readable when a long original message
10968 is included in a reply for context. The reader doesn't have to scroll
10969 through the original text that he or she has probably already seen to
10970 find the new text. If the reader wishes to see the old message(s), the
10971 reader can scroll further into the message. Users who prefer to add
10972 their input at the end of a message should set the signature-at-bottom
10973 feature. The signature will then be appended to the end of the message
10974 after any included text. This feature applies when _Reply_ing, not when
10975 _Forward_ing.
10976 __________________________________________________________________
10978 Feature List Variable
10980 _Alpine_ used to have _feature levels_ for users with different amounts
10981 of experience. We found that this was too restrictive. _Alpine_ now has
10982 a feature-list instead. Each user may pick and choose which features
10983 they would like enabled (simple to do in the _Setup/Config_ screen).
10984 There is a short description of each in Configuration Features. There
10985 is also a short on-line help explaining the effect of each of the
10986 features in the _Setup/Config_ screen. When the cursor is highlighting
10987 a feature, the _?_ command will show the help text for that feature.
10988 Features don't have values, they are just turned on or off. They are
10989 all off by default.
10991 The _feature-list_ variable is different from all other configuration
10992 variables in that its value is additive. That is, the system-wide
10993 configuration file can have some features turned on by default. The
10994 user can select other features in their personal configuration file and
10995 those features will be _added_ to the set of features turned on in the
10996 system-wide configuration file. (With all other configuration
10997 variables, the user's values _replace_ the system-wide values.)
10998 Likewise, additional features may be set on the command-line with the
10999 argument "-feature-list=". These will be added to the others.
11001 The treatment of _feature-list_ in the system-wide _fixed_
11002 configuration file is also different from other variables. The system
11003 management can fix the value of individual features by placing them in
11004 the fixed configuration file. Users will not be able to alter those
11005 features, but will still be able to set the other non-restricted
11006 features the way they like.
11008 Because _feature-list_ is additive, there is a way to turn features off
11009 as well as on. Prepending the prefix "no-" to any feature sets it to
11010 off. This is useful for over-riding the system-wide default in the
11011 personal configuration file or for over-riding the system-wide default
11012 or the personal configuration value on the command line. For example,
11013 if the system-wide default configuration has the _quit-without-confirm_
11014 feature set, the user can over-ride that (and turn it off) by including
11015 _no-quit-without-confirm_ in the personal configuration file or by
11016 giving the command line argument
11017 _-feature-list=no-quit-without-confirm._ More features (options) will no
11018 doubt continue to be added.
11019 __________________________________________________________________
11021 Configuration Inheritance
11023 We start with an explanation of how configuration works in hopes of
11024 making it easier to describe how inheritance works.
11026 _Alpine_ uses a hierarchy of configuration values from different
11027 locations. There are five ways in which each configuration option
11028 (configuration variable) can be set. In increasing order of precedence
11029 they are:
11031 1. the system-wide configuration file.
11032 2. the personal configuration file
11033 3. the personal exceptions file
11034 4. a command line argument
11035 5. the system-wide _fixed_ configuration file (Unix _Alpine_ only)
11037 The fixed configuration file is normally
11038 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed.
11040 The system-wide configuration file is normally /usr/local/lib/pine.conf
11041 for Unix _Alpine_ and is normally not set for _PC-Alpine_. For
11042 _PC-Alpine_, if the environment variable _$PINECONF_ is set, that is
11043 used for the system-wide configuration. This location can be set or
11044 changed on the command line with the -P flag. The system-wide
11045 configuration file can be either a local file or a remote configuration
11046 folder.
11048 For Unix _Alpine_, the personal configuration file is normally the file
11049 .pinerc in the user's home directory. This can be changed with the -p
11050 command line flag. For _PC-Alpine_, the personal configuration file is
11051 in $PINERC or <PineRC registry value> or ${HOME}\ALPINE\PINERC or
11052 <ALPINE.EXE dir>\PINERC. This can be changed with the -p command line
11053 flag. If -p or $PINERC is used, the configuration data may be in a
11054 local file or a remote config folder.
11056 For Unix _Alpine_, the personal exceptions configuration file is
11057 specified with the "-x exceptions_config" command line argument.
11058 "Exceptions_config" may be either a local file or a remote
11059 configuration folder. If there is no "-x" command line option, _Alpine_
11060 will look for the file ".pinercex" in the same local directory that the
11061 regular config file is located in. If the regular config file is remote
11062 then Unix _Alpine_ looks in the home directory for ".pinercex".
11064 For _PC-Alpine_, the personal exceptions configuration file is
11065 specified with the "-x exceptions_config" command line argument. If
11066 there is no "-x" command line argument the environment variable
11067 $PINERCEX may be set to the name of the "exceptions_config" instead.
11068 "Exceptions_config" may be either a local file or a remote
11069 configuration folder. If there is no "-x" command line option and
11070 $PINERCEX is not set, _PC-Alpine_ will look for the file "PINERCEX" in
11071 the same local directory that the regular config file is located in. If
11072 the regular config file is remote then _PC-Alpine_ looks in the local
11073 directory specified by the "-aux local_directory" command line
11074 argument, or the directory ${HOME}\ALPINE, or in <ALPINE.EXE directory>
11075 for a file named "PINERCEX".
11077 To reiterate, the value of a configuration option is taken from the
11078 last location in the list above in which it is set. Or, thinking about
11079 it slightly differently, a default value for an option is established
11080 in the system-wide configuration file (or in the source code if there
11081 is no value in the system-wide file). That default remains in effect
11082 until and unless it is overridden by a value in a location further down
11083 the list, in which case a new "default" value is established. As we
11084 continue down the list of locations we either retain the value at each
11085 step or establish a new value. The value that is still set after going
11086 through the whole list of configuration locations is the one that is
11087 used.
11089 So, for example, if an option is set in the system-wide configuration
11090 file and in the personal configuration file, but is not set in the
11091 exceptions, on the command line, or in the fixed file; then the value
11092 from the personal configuration file is the one that is used. Or, if it
11093 is set in the system-wide config, in the personal config, not in the
11094 exceptions, but is set on the command line; then the value on the
11095 command line is used.
11097 Finally we get to inheritance. For configuration options which are
11098 lists, like "smtp-server" or "incoming-folders", the inheritance
11099 mechanism makes it possible to _combine_ the values from different
11100 locations instead of _replacing_ the value. This is true of all
11101 configuration lists other than the "feature-list", for which you may
11102 already set whatever you want at any configuration location (by using
11103 the "no-" prefix if necessary).
11105 To use inheritance, set the first item in a configuration list to the
11106 token "INHERIT". If the first item is "INHERIT", then instead of
11107 replacing the default value established so far, the rest of the list is
11108 appended to the default value established so far and that is the new
11109 value.
11111 Here is an example which may make it clearer. Suppose we have:
11113 System-wide config : smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com
11114 Personal config : smtp-server = INHERIT, mysmtp.home
11115 Exceptions config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11116 Command line : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11117 Fixed config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11119 This would result in an effective smtp-server option of
11121 smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com, mysmtp.home
11123 The "INHERIT" token can be used in any of the configuration files and
11124 the effect cascades. For example, if we change the above example to:
11126 System-wide config : smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com
11127 Personal config : smtp-server = INHERIT, mysmtp.home
11128 Exceptions config : smtp-server = INHERIT, yoursmtp.org
11129 Command line : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11130 Fixed config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11132 This would result in:
11134 smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com, mysmtp.home, yoursmtp.org
11136 Unset variables are skipped over (the default value is carried forward)
11137 so that, for example:
11139 System-wide config : smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com
11140 Personal config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11141 Exceptions config : smtp-server = INHERIT, yoursmtp.org
11142 Command line : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11143 Fixed config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11145 produces:
11147 smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com, yoursmtp.org
11149 If any later configuration location has a value set (for a particular
11150 list option) which does _not_ begin with "INHERIT", then that value
11151 replaces whatever value has been defined up to that point. In other
11152 words, that cancels out any previous inheritance.
11154 System-wide config : smtp-server = smtp1.corp.com, smtp2.corp.com
11155 Personal config : smtp-server = INHERIT, mysmtp.org
11156 Exceptions config : smtp-server = yoursmtp.org
11157 Command line : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11158 Fixed config : smtp-server = <No Value Set>
11160 results in:
11162 smtp-server = yoursmtp.org
11164 For some configuration options, like "viewer-hdr-colors" or
11165 "patterns-roles", it is difficult to insert the value "INHERIT" into
11166 the list of values for the option using the normal Setup tools. In
11167 other words, the color setting screen (for example) does not provide a
11168 way to input the text "INHERIT" as the first item in the
11169 viewer-hdr-colors option. The way to do this is to either edit the
11170 pinerc file directly and manually insert it, or turn on the
11171 "expose-hidden-config" feature and insert it using the Setup/Config
11172 screen.
11173 __________________________________________________________________
11175 Using Environment Variables
11177 The values of _Alpine_ configuration options may include environment
11178 variables which are replaced by the value of the variable at the time
11179 _Alpine_ is run (and also at the time the config option is changed). The
11180 syntax to use environment variables is a subset of the common Unix
11181 shell dollar-syntax. For example, if
11183 $VAR
11185 appears in the value of a _Alpine_ configuration option it is looked up
11186 in the environment (using getenv("VAR")) and its looked-up value
11187 replaces the $VAR part of the option value. To include a literal dollar
11188 sign you may precede the dollar sign with another dollar sign. In other
11189 words, if the text
11191 $$text
11193 is the value of a configuration option, it will be expanded to
11195 $text
11197 and no environment lookup will be done. For Unix _Alpine_ it will also
11198 work to use a backslash character to escape the special meaning of the
11199 dollar sign, but $$ is preferable since it works for both _PC-Alpine_
11200 and Unix _Alpine_, allowing the configuration option to be in a shared
11201 configuration file.
11203 This all sounds more complicated than it actually is. An example may
11204 make it clearer. Unfortunately, the way in which environment variables
11205 are set is OS-dependent and command shell-dependent. In some Unix
11206 command shells you may use
11208 PERSNAME="Fred Flintstone"
11210 export PERSNAME
11212 Now, if you use _Alpine_'s Setup/Config screen to set
11214 personal-name=$PERSNAME
11216 the $PERSNAME would be replaced by Fred Flintstone so that this would
11217 be equivalent to
11219 personal-name=Fred Flintstone
11221 Note, environment variable substitution happens after configuration
11222 options which are lists are split into the separate elements of the
11223 list, so a single environment variable can't contain a list of values.
11225 The environment variable doesn't have to be the only thing after the
11226 equal sign. However, if the name of the variable is not at the end of
11227 the line or followed by a space (so that you can tell where the
11228 variable name ends), it must be enclosed in curly braces like
11230 ${VAR}
11232 It is always ok to use the braces even if you don't need to.
11234 It is also possible to set a default value for an environment variable.
11235 This default value will be used if the environment variable is not set
11236 (that is, if getenv("VAR") returns NULL). The syntax used to set a
11237 default value is
11239 ${VAR:-default value}
11241 If the config file contains
11243 personal-name=${VAR:-Fred Flintstone}
11245 then when _Alpine_ is run VAR will be looked up in the environment. If
11246 VAR is found then personal-name will have the value that VAR was set
11247 to, otherwise, personal-name will be set to Fred Flintstone, the
11248 default value.
11250 An example where an environment variable might be useful is the
11251 variable inbox-path in the global configuration file. Suppose most
11252 users used the server
11254 imapserver.example.com
11256 but that there were some exceptions who used
11258 altimapserver.example.com
11260 In this case, the system manager might include the following line in
11261 the systemwide default _Alpine_ configuration file
11263 inbox-path=${IMAPSERVER:-imapserver.example.com}
11265 For the exceptional users adding
11267 IMAPSERVER=altimapserver.example.com
11269 to their environment should work.
11271 Another example might be the case where a user has to use a different
11272 SMTP server from work and from home. The setup might be something as
11273 simple as
11275 smtp-server=$SMTP
11277 or perhaps a default value could be given. Note that, as mentioned
11278 above, the variable SMTP cannot contain a list of SMTP servers.
11279 __________________________________________________________________
11281 SMTP Servers
11283 It is sometimes desirable to set smtp-server=localhost instead of
11284 setting sendmail-path to overcome the inability to negotiate ESMTP
11285 options when _sendmail_ is invoked with the _-t_ option. Sendmail can
11286 also be subject to unacceptable delays due to slow DNS lookups and
11287 other problems.
11289 It is sometimes desirable to configure an SMTP server on a port other
11290 than the default port 25. This may be used to provide an alternate
11291 service that is optimized for a particular environment or provides
11292 different features from the port 25 server. An example would be a
11293 program that negotiates ESMTP options and queues a message, but does
11294 not attempt to deliver messages. This would avoid delays frequently
11295 encountered when invoking _sendmail_ directly.
11297 A typical configuration would consist of
11298 * A program that implements the SMTP or ESMTP protocol via stdio.
11299 * An entry in /etc/services for the alternate service.
11300 * An entry in /etc/inetd.conf for the alternate service.
11301 * An entry in /usr/local/lib/pine.conf,
11302 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed or ~/.pinerc.
11303 __________________________________________________________________
11305 MIME.Types file
11307 _Alpine_'s MIME-TYPE support is based on code contributed by Hans
11308 Drexler <drexler@mpi.nl>. _Alpine_ assigns MIME Content-Types
11309 according to file name extensions found in the system-wide files
11310 /usr/local/lib/mime.types and /etc/mime.types, and a user specific
11311 ~/.mime.types file.
11313 In Windows, _Alpine_ looks in the same directory as the PINERC file and
11314 the same dir as ALPINE.EXE. This is similar to the UNIX situation with
11315 personal config info coming before potentially shared config data. An
11316 alternate search path can be specified by setting the
11317 mimetype-search-path variable in the user or system-wide configuration
11318 or by setting the MIMETYPES environment variable.
11320 These files specify file extensions that will be connected to a mime
11321 type. Lines beginning with a '#' character are treated as comments and
11322 ignored. All other lines are treated as a mime type definition. The
11323 first word is a _type/subtype_ specification. All following words are
11324 file _extensions_ belonging to that type/subtype. Words are separated
11325 by whitespace characters. If a file extension occurs more than once,
11326 then the first definition determines the file type and subtype. A
11327 couple sample lines from a mime.types file follow:
11329 image/gif gif
11330 text/html html htm
11331 video/mpeg mpeg mpg mpe
11333 __________________________________________________________________
11335 Color Details
11337 UNIX _Alpine_ may display color if the terminal or terminal emulator
11338 you are using is capable of displaying colors. If the terminal supports
11339 ANSI color escape sequences you will be able to turn color on using the
11340 color-style option and setting it to the value _force-ansi-8color_ or
11341 _force-ansi-16color_. If instead you'd like _Alpine_ to automatically
11342 detect whether or not you are on a color terminal, set _color-style_ to
11343 _use-termdef_ _and_ configure the termcap entry to describe your
11344 terminal's color capabilities.
11346 If the _color-style_ option is set to _use-termdef_, _Alpine_ looks in
11347 the terminal capabilities database, TERMINFO or TERMCAP, depending on
11348 how _Alpine_ was compiled, to decide whether or not your terminal is
11349 capable of color. For TERMINFO compiled _Alpine_s, the capabilities
11350 that are used for color are "colors", "setaf", "setab", "op", and
11351 "bce". If you have a terminal with color capabilities described by the
11352 "scp" capability, _Alpine_ does not support it. The capabilities "setf"
11353 and "setb" may be used instead of "setaf" and "setab". The capability
11354 "bce" is optional and is used as an optimization, the other
11355 capabilities are required. For TERMCAP compiled _Alpine_s, the
11356 capabilities that are used for color are "Co", "AF", "AB", "op", and
11357 "ut". The capabilities "Sf" and "Sb" may be used instead of "AF" and
11358 "AB", though this isn't a useful feature.
11360 Here are some short descriptions of the capabilities listed above. The
11361 TERMINFO name is listed, followed by the TERMCAP name in parentheses.
11362 _colors_ (_Co_)
11363 The number of different colors.
11364 _setaf_ (_AF_)
11365 Set ANSI foreground color.
11366 _setab_ (_AB_)
11367 Set ANSI background color.
11368 _setf_ (_Sf_)
11369 Set foreground color. Alternate form of _setaf_.
11370 _setb_ (_Sb_)
11371 Set background color. Alternate form of _setab_.
11372 _op_ (_op_)
11373 Set default pair to its original value.
11374 _bce_ (_ut_)
11375 Screen is erased with current background color instead of
11376 default background.
11378 A standard ANSI terminal which supports color will have a TERMINFO
11379 entry which contains:
11380 colors#8
11381 setaf=\E[3%p1%dm
11382 setab=\E[4%p1%dm
11383 op=\E[39;49m
11384 bce
11386 or the TERMCAP equivalent:
11387 Co#8
11388 AF=\E[3%dm
11389 AB=\E[4%dm
11390 op=\E[39;49m
11391 ut
11393 If there are eight colors, the program uses colors 0, 1, ..., 7. For an
11394 ANSI terminal, the foreground color is set by sending the escape
11395 sequence "Escape LeftBracket 3 color_number m" to the terminal. The
11396 background color is set by sending the sequence "Escape LeftBracket 4
11397 color_number m". ANSI colors zero through seven are defined to be
11398 "black", "red", "green", "yellow", "blue", "magenta", "cyan", and
11399 "white". Some terminal emulators will swap blue and red and swap yellow
11400 and cyan. The capabilities "setf" and "setb" are usually designed for
11401 those terminals so that they will flip the color numbers 1 and 4 and
11402 the numbers 3 and 6 to compensate for this. _Alpine_ will use the ANSI
11403 versions of the capabilities if they exist, and will use the non-ANSI
11404 versions (setf and setb) if the ANSI versions don't exist. Here's a
11405 version which does the flipping. This can only be used with TERMINFO
11406 _Alpine_s, because of the arithmetic, which is not supported by TERMCAP.
11407 colors#8
11408 setf=\E[3%?%p1%{1}%=%t4%e%p1%{3}%=%t6%e%p1%{4}%=%t1%e%p1%{6}%=%t3%e%p1%d%;m
11409 setb=\E[4%?%p1%{1}%=%t4%e%p1%{3}%=%t6%e%p1%{4}%=%t1%e%p1%{6}%=%t3%e%p1%d%;m
11410 op=\E[39;49m
11411 bce
11413 Some terminal emulators are capable of displaying eight more colors
11414 when the foreground colors 30-37 are replaced with 90-97 and the
11415 background colors 40-47 are replaced with 100-107. These terminals
11416 require a fancy termcap entry which can take foreground colors 0, 1,
11417 ..., 15 and map that into 30, 31, ..., 37, 90, 91, ..., 97, and
11418 similarly for the background colors. Here is a terminfo entry which
11419 will do just that:
11420 colors#16
11421 setaf=%p1%{8}%/%{6}%*%{3}%+\E[%d%p1%{8}%m%dm
11422 setab=%p1%{8}%/%{6}%*%{4}%+\E[%d%p1%{8}%m%dm
11423 op=\E[39;49m
11424 bce
11426 and here is the termcap equivalent:
11427 Co#16
11428 AF=\E[%i%i%>\001\034%>\045\064%dm
11429 AB=\E[%i%i%>\001\046%>\057\064%dm
11430 op=\E[39;49m
11431 ut
11433 This is a terminfo entry for 16 colors that also does the color
11434 flipping:
11435 colors#16
11436 setf=%p1%{8}%/%{6}%*%{3}%+\E[%d%p1%{8}%m%Pa%?%ga%{1}%=%t4%e%ga%{3}%=%t6%e%ga%{
11437 4}%=%t1%e%ga%{6}%=%t3%e%ga%d%;m
11438 setb=%p1%{8}%/%{6}%*%{4}%+\E[%d%p1%{8}%m%Pa%?%ga%{1}%=%t4%e%ga%{3}%=%t6%e%ga%{
11439 4}%=%t1%e%ga%{6}%=%t3%e%ga%d%;m
11440 op=\E[39;49m
11441 bce
11443 If you are always using the same display it probably won't matter to
11444 you if the color pairs red/blue and cyan/yellow are flipped, since
11445 you'll always be seeing them flipped. You will get different defaults
11446 than on a display with them not flipped, but that's about all. If you
11447 are trying to use the same pinerc file from displays with different
11448 color characteristics, or from _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_, you will have
11449 to be more careful. The colors numbered 0 through 7 may be used
11450 portably between different systems if you are careful to make them
11451 correspond to the ANSI order mentioned above. You can check this by
11452 looking at a color configuration screen for one of the colors. The
11453 first eight colors should be in the order above. If they aren't, you
11454 could fix that by modifying your termcap entry on the UNIX system. This
11455 is not possible if your system uses TERMCAP instead of TERMINFO.
11456 __________________________________________________________________
11458 S/MIME Overview
11460 UNIX _Alpine_ only.
11462 S/MIME is a standard for the public key encryption and signing of
11463 email. UNIX _Alpine_ contains a basic implementation of S/MIME based on
11464 the OpenSSL libraries.
11466 Some limitations:
11467 * There is no _PC-Alpine_ implementation.
11468 * There is no provision for checking for CRLs (Certificate Revocation
11469 Lists) in _Alpine_.
11470 * This built-in S/MIME implementation is not compatible with and does
11471 not help with PGP.
11472 * There is no mechanism available for feeding either an entire
11473 incoming or an entire outgoing message to an external filter and
11474 using that external filter to do S/MIME or PGP processing.
11475 * Because the implementation currently uses OpenSSL, there is only a
11476 very limited integration with the Mac OS Keychain (the storing and
11477 access of public certificates).
11478 * There is no way to view or manipulate the lists of certificates
11479 from within _Alpine_.
11481 The S/MIME configuration screen is reached by going to the Main Menu
11482 and typing the "S Setup" command followed by "M S/MIME".
11484 S/MIME BASICS
11486 In order to digitally sign messages you send you must have a
11487 public/private key-pair. This may be obtained from a public Certificate
11488 Authority (CA) such as Thawte, Verisign, Comodo, or GoDaddy; or from a
11489 smaller CA such as a university which provides certificates for its
11490 users or a company which provides certificates for its workers. These
11491 certificates are bound to an email address, so the identity being
11492 verified is the email address not a person's name.
11494 Mail is signed by using the sender's private key, which only the owner
11495 of the private key has access to. The signature is verified using the
11496 signer's public key, which anyone can have access to. With _Alpine_,
11497 the first time you receive a signed message the public key of the
11498 sender will be stored for future use.
11500 Mail is encrypted using the recipient's public key and decrypted by the
11501 recipient with their private key.
11503 You need a key of your own in order to sign outgoing messages and to
11504 have others encrypt messages sent to you. You do not need a key of your
11505 own to verify signed messages sent by others or to encrypt messages
11506 sent to others.
11508 ALPINE S/MIME CERTIFICATE STORAGE
11510 By default UNIX _Alpine_ stores the certificates it uses in a directory
11511 in your home directory. The directory name is
11513 .alpine-smime
11515 Within that directory are three subdirectories. Each of the three
11516 subdirectories contains files with PEM-encoded contents, the default
11517 format for OpenSSL. The "public" directory contains public
11518 certificates. The files within that directory have names that are email
11519 addresses with the suffix ".crt" appended. An example filename is
11521 user@example.com.crt
11523 The "private" directory contains private keys, probably just one for
11524 your private key. These are also email addresses but with the suffix
11525 ".key" instead. The third directory is "ca" and it contains
11526 certificates for any Certificate Authorities that you want to trust but
11527 that aren't contained in the set of system CAs. Those files may have
11528 arbitrary names as long as they end with the suffix ".crt".
11530 HOW TO SIGN AND ENCRYPT
11532 If you have a certificate you may sign outgoing messages. After typing
11533 the Ctrl-X command to send a message you will see the prompt
11535 Send message?
11537 Available subcommands include "G Sign" and "E Encrypt". Typing the "G"
11538 command will change the prompt to
11540 Send message (Signed)?
11542 Typing the "E" command will change the prompt to
11544 Send message (Encrypted)?
11546 You may even type both to get
11548 Send message (Encrypted, Signed)?
11550 HOW TO READ SIGNED OR ENCRYPTED MESSAGES
11552 The reading of a signed message should not require any special action
11553 on your part. There should be an editorial addition at the start of the
11554 message which says either
11556 This message was cryptographically signed.
11558 or
11560 This message was cryptographically signed but the signature could not
11561 be verified.
11563 If an encrypted message is sent to you the encrypted text will not be
11564 shown. You will have to type the "Ctrl-D Decrypt" command (from the
11565 screen where you are viewing the message) and supply your passphrase
11566 when asked.
11568 For a signed or encrypted message there is also a "Ctrl-E Security"
11569 command which gives you some information about the certificate used to
11570 sign or encrypt the message.
11572 MISCELLANEOUS
11574 You may have access to a private certificate in the PKCS12 format,
11575 which would sometimes be in a file with a ".p12" suffix. The UNIX shell
11576 command
11578 openssl pkcs12 -in file.p12 -out file.pem
11580 may work to convert that from the PKCS12 format to the PEM format. Then
11581 that file could be placed in the "private" directory with a filename of
11582 your email address followed by the suffix ".key".
11583 __________________________________________________________________
11585 Additional Notes on PC-Alpine
11587 Below are a few odds and ends worth mentioning about _PC-Alpine_. They
11588 have to do with DOS-specific behavior that is either necessary or
11589 useful (and sometimes both!).
11591 As _PC-Alpine_ runs in an environment with limited access control,
11592 accounting or auditing, an additional line is automatically inserted
11593 into the header of mail messages generated by _PC-Alpine_:
11594 X-Sender: <userid>@<imap.host>
11597 By popular demand of system administrators, _PC-Alpine_ has been
11598 modified to prevent sending messages until the user has successfully
11599 logged into a remote mail server. Even though _PC-Alpine_ cannot
11600 prevent users from changing the apparent identity of the sender of a
11601 message, the IMAP server login name and host name included in the
11602 _X-Sender_ line provide some level of traceability by the recipient.
11603 However, this should not be considered a rigorous form of
11604 authentication. It is extremely lightweight, and is not a replacement
11605 for true authentication.
11607 Hand in hand with authentication and accounting is user information.
11608 Since _PC-Alpine_ has no user database to consult for _user-id_,
11609 _personal-name_, etc., necessary information must be provided by the
11610 user/installer before _PC-Alpine_ can properly construct the "From"
11611 address required for outbound messages. _PC-Alpine_ will, by default,
11612 prompt for the requisite pieces as they are needed. This information
11613 corresponds to the _PINERC_ variables user-id, personal-name,
11614 user-domain, and smtp-server.
11616 The user is then asked whether or not this information should
11617 automatically be saved to the _PINERC_. This is useful behavior in
11618 general, but can lead to problems in a lab or other shared environment.
11619 Hence, these prompts and automatic saving of configuration can be
11620 turned off on an entry by entry basis by setting any of the above
11621 values in the _PINERC_ to the null string (i.e., a pair of double
11622 quotes). This means that the user will be prompted for the information
11623 once during each _Alpine_ session, and no opportunity to save them in
11624 the _PINERC_ will be offered.
11626 Another feature of DOS is the lack of standard scratch area for
11627 temporary files. During the course of a session, _PC-Alpine_ may
11628 require numerous temporary files (large message texts, various caches,
11629 etc.). Where to create them can be a problem, particularly when running
11630 under certain network operating systems. _PC-Alpine_ observes the
11631 _TMPDIR_, _TMP_, and _TEMP_ environment variables, and creates temporary
11632 files in the directory specified by either. In their absence,
11633 _PC-Alpine_ creates these files in the root of the current working
11634 drive. Some temporary files have to be created in the same directory as
11635 the file they are a temporary copy of. For example, a pinerc file or a
11636 address book file.
11638 Behind the Scenes
11640 Many people ask how certain _Alpine_ features are implemented. This
11641 section outlines some of the details.
11643 Address Books
11645 There are two types of address book storage. There are _local_ address
11646 books, which are the address books that are stored in a local file; and
11647 there are _remote_ address books, which are stored on an IMAP server.
11649 Information About Remote Address Books
11651 NOTE: The remote address book capability does not allow you to
11652 access an existing local address book from a remote system! That is,
11653 you can't set the remote address book to something like
11654 {remote.host}.addressbook and expect to access the existing
11655 .addressbook _file_ on remote.host. Instead, you need to create a
11656 new remote address book in a new, previously unused remote mail
11657 _folder_. Then you can use the _Select_ and _Apply Save_ commands in
11658 the address book screen to _Save_ all of the entries from an
11659 existing local address book to the new remote address book.
11661 A remote address book is stored in a mail folder on an IMAP server. An
11662 _Alpine_ remote address book is just like an _Alpine_ local address book
11663 in that it is not interoperable with other email clients. The folder is
11664 a regular folder containing mail messages but those messages are
11665 special. The first message must be an alpine remote address book header
11666 message which contains the header _x-pine-addrbook_. The last message
11667 in the folder contains the address book data. In between the first and
11668 the last message are old versions of the address book data. The address
11669 book data is simply stored in the message as it would be on disk, with
11670 no MIME encoding. When it is used the data from the last message in the
11671 folder is copied to a local file and then that file is used exactly
11672 like a local address book file is used. When a change is made the
11673 modified local file is appended to the remote folder in a new message.
11674 In other words, the local file is just a cache copy of the data in the
11675 remote folder. Each client which uses the remote address book will have
11676 its own cache copy of the data. Whenever a copy is done the entire
11677 address book is copied, not just the entries which have changed.
11679 _Alpine_ can tell that the remote data has changed by one of several
11680 methods. If the date contained in the Date header of the last message
11681 has changed then it knows it has changed. If the UID of the last
11682 message has changed, or the number of messages in the folder has
11683 changed, it knows that it has changed. When _Alpine_ discovers the
11684 folder has changed it gets a new copy and puts it in the local cache
11685 file.
11687 There is a configuration file variable for remote address books called
11688 remote-abook-metafile. The variable is the name of a file in which
11689 information about remote address books is stored. There is one line in
11690 the metafile for each remote address book. The information stored there
11691 is the name of the cache file and information to help figure out when
11692 the remote folder was last changed. If the metafile or any of the cache
11693 files is deleted then _Alpine_ will rebuild them the next time it runs.
11695 Remote address books have names that look just like regular remote mail
11696 folder names. For example:
11698 {host.domain}foldername
11700 _Alpine_ decides whether or not an address book is remote simply by
11701 looking at the first character of the address book name and comparing
11702 it to '{'.
11704 Information About All Address Books
11706 The address book is named, by default, .addressbook in the user's Unix
11707 home directory, or in the case of _PC-Alpine_, ADDRBOOK, in the same
11708 directory as the PINERC file. There may be more than one address book,
11709 and the default name can be overridden via an entry in any of the
11710 _Alpine_ configuration files. The two configuration variables
11711 address-book and global-address-book are used to specify the names of
11712 the address books. Each of these variables is a list variable. The
11713 total set of address books for a user is the combination of all the
11714 address books specified in these two lists. Each entry in the list is
11715 an optional nickname followed by an address book name. The nickname is
11716 everything up to the last space before the file name. The
11717 _global-address-book_ list will typically be configured in the
11718 system-wide configuration file, though a user may override it like most
11719 other variables. Address books which are listed in the
11720 _global-address-book_ variable are forced read-only, and are typically
11721 shared among multiple users.
11723 Local address books (or local cache files for remote address books) are
11724 simple text files with lines in the format:
11726 <nickname>TAB<fullname>TAB<address>TAB<fcc>TAB<comments>
11728 The last two fields are optional. A "line" may be made up of multiple
11729 actual lines in the file by using continuation lines, which are lines
11730 beginning with SPACE characters. The line breaks may be after TABs or
11731 in between addresses in a distribution list. Each _actual_ line in the
11732 file must be less than 1000 characters in length.
11734 Nicknames (the first field) are short names that the user types instead
11735 of typing in the full address. There are several characters which
11736 aren't allowed in nicknames in order to avoid ambiguity when parsing
11737 the address (SPACE, COMMA, @, ", ;, :, (, ), [, ], <, >, \). Nicknames
11738 aren't required. In fact, none of the fields is required.
11740 The _fullname_ field is usually stored as Last_name, First_name, in
11741 order that a sort on the fullname field comes out sorted by Last_name.
11742 If there is an unquoted comma in the fullname, _Alpine_ will flip the
11743 first and last name around and get rid of the comma when using the
11744 entry in a composition. It isn't required that there be a comma, that's
11745 only useful if the user wants the entries to sort on last names.
11747 The _address_ field takes one of two forms, depending on whether the
11748 entry is a single (simple) address or a distribution list. For a simple
11749 entry, the address field is an RFC 2822 address. This could be either
11750 the email-address part of the address, i.e., the part that goes inside
11751 the brackets (<>), or it could be a full RFC 2822 address. The phrase
11752 part of the address (the fullname) is used unless there is a fullname
11753 present in the fullname field of the address book entry. In that case,
11754 the fullname of the address book entry replaces the fullname of the
11755 address. For a distribution list, the <address> is in the format:
11757 "(" <address>, <address>, <address>, ... ")"
11759 The only purpose for the parentheses around the list of addresses is to
11760 make it easier for the parsing routines to tell that it is a simple
11761 entry instead of a list. The two are displayed differently and treated
11762 slightly differently in some cases, though most of the distinction has
11763 disappeared. Each of the addresses in a list can be a full RFC 2822
11764 address with fullname included, or it may be just the simple
11765 email-address part of the address. This allows the user to have a list
11766 which includes the fullnames of all the list members. In both the
11767 simple and list cases, addresses may also be other nicknames which
11768 appear in this address book or in one of the other address books.
11769 (Those nicknames are searched for by looking through the address books
11770 in the order they appear in the address book screen, with the first
11771 match winning.) Lists may be nested. If addresses refer to each other
11772 in a loop (for example, list A includes list B which includes list A
11773 again) this is detected and flagged. In that case, the address will be
11774 changed to "**** address loop ****".
11776 The optional _fcc_ field is a folder name, just like the fcc field in
11777 the composer headers. If the first address in the To field of a
11778 composition comes from an address book entry with an fcc field, then
11779 that fcc is placed in the fcc header in the composer.
11781 The _comments_ field is just a free text field for storing comments
11782 about an entry. By default, neither the fcc nor the comments field is
11783 shown on the screen in the address book screen. You may make those
11784 fields visible by configuring the variable addressbook-formats. They
11785 are also searched when you use the _WhereIs_ command in the address
11786 book screen and are visible when you _View_ or _Update_ an entry.
11788 The address book is displayed in the order that it is stored. When the
11789 user chooses a different sorting criterion, the data is actually sorted
11790 and stored, as opposed to showing a sorted view of the data.
11792 When the address book is written out, it is first written to a
11793 temporary file and if that write is successful it is renamed. This
11794 guards against errors writing the file that might destroy the whole
11795 address book. The address book is re-written after each change. If the
11796 address book is a remote address book, the file is then appended to the
11797 remote mail folder using IMAP.
11799 The end-of-line character(s) in the address book file are those native
11800 to the system writing it. So it is <LF> on Unix and <CR><LF> on PC's.
11801 However, both Unix and PC versions of _Alpine_ can read either format,
11802 so it should be possible to share a read-only address book among the
11803 two populations (using NFS, for example).
11804 __________________________________________________________________
11806 Address Book Lookup File
11808 _Pine_ used an additional file for each address book, called the LookUp
11809 file. It had the same name as the address book file with the suffix
11810 ".lu" appended. _Alpine_ no longer uses a lookup file.
11812 Validity Checking of Address Books
11814 There is no file locking done on _Alpine_ address books, however, there
11815 is considerable validity checking done to make sure that the address
11816 book hasn't changed unexpectedly. Whenever the address book is about to
11817 be changed, a check is made to see if the file is newer than when we
11818 read it or the remote address book folder has changed since we last
11819 copied it. If either of these is true, the change is aborted.
11821 There is an automatic, behind-the-scene check that happens every so
11822 often, also. For example, if someone else changes one of the address
11823 books that you have configured, your _Alpine_'s copy of the address
11824 book will usually be updated automatically without you noticing. This
11825 checking happens at the same time as new mail checking takes place,
11826 unless you are actively using the address book, in which case it
11827 happens more frequently.
11828 __________________________________________________________________
11830 Remote Configuration
11832 Configuration information may be stored remotely. Remote configuration
11833 information is stored in a folder on an IMAP server. This should be a
11834 folder which is used only for storing the configuration information. In
11835 other words, it should be a folder which didn't exist before.
11837 Remote configuration folders are very similar to remote address book
11838 folders. They both consist of a header message, which serves to
11839 identify the type of folder; the last message, which contains the data;
11840 and intermediate messages, which contain old versions of the data. The
11841 first message must contain the header _x-pine-pinerc_.
11843 When a remote configuration is being used, the folder is checked to
11844 make sure it is a remote configuration folder, then the data contained
11845 in the last message is copied to a temporary file. That file is treated
11846 just like any regular local configuration file from that point on.
11847 Whenever a configuration change is made, the entire file is copied back
11848 to the IMAP server and is appended to the folder as a new message.
11850 Because remote configuration folders are so similar to remote address
11851 books, the configuration variable remote-abook-metafile is used by
11852 both.
11854 Remote configuration folders have names that look just like regular
11855 remote mail folder names. For example:
11857 {host.domain}mypinerc
11859 _Alpine_ decides whether or not a configuration file is remote simply
11860 by looking at the first character of the name and comparing it to '{'.
11861 __________________________________________________________________
11863 Checkpointing
11865 Periodically _Alpine_ will save the whole mail folder to disk to
11866 prevent loss of any mail or mail status in the case that it gets
11867 interrupted, disconnected, or crashes. The period of time _Alpine_
11868 waits to do the checkpoint is calculated to be minimally intrusive. The
11869 timing can be changed (but usually isn't) at compile time. Folder
11870 checkpointing happens for both local folders and those being accessed
11871 with IMAP. The delays are divided into three categories:
11873 The exact algorithm given below is no longer correct. It has gotten
11874 more complicated over time. However, this gives the general idea
11875 _Alpine_ uses when deciding whether or not to do a checkpoint.
11877 Good Time:
11878 This occurs when _Alpine_ has been idle for more than 30
11879 seconds. In this case _Alpine_ will checkpoint if 12 changes to
11880 the file have been made or at least one change has been made and
11881 a checkpoint hasn't been done for five minutes.
11882 Bad Time:
11883 This occurs just after _Alpine_ has executed some command.
11884 _Alpine_ will checkpoint if there are 36 outstanding changes to
11885 the mail file or at least one change and no checkpoint for ten
11886 minutes.
11887 Very Bad Time:
11888 Done when composing a message. In this case, _Alpine_ will only
11889 checkpoint if at least 48 changes have been made or at least one
11890 change has been made in the last twenty minutes with no
11891 checkpoint.
11892 __________________________________________________________________
11894 Debug Files
11896 If UNIX _Alpine_ is compiled with the compiler _DEBUG_ option on (the
11897 default), then _Alpine_ will produce debugging output to a file. This
11898 can be disabled at compile-time with the --disable-debug configure
11899 option, or at run-time with the command line flag -d0. The file is
11900 normally .pine-debugX in the user's home directory where _X_ goes from
11901 1 to 4. Number 1 is always the most recent session and 4 the oldest.
11902 Four are saved because often the user has gone in and out of _Alpine_ a
11903 few times after a problem has occurred before the expert actually gets
11904 to look at it. The amount of output in the debug files varies with the
11905 debug level set when _Alpine_ is compiled and/or as a command line
11906 flag. The default is level 2. This shows very general things and
11907 records errors. Level 9 produces copious amounts of output for each
11908 keystroke.
11910 Similarly, _PC-Alpine_ creates debug files named pinedebg.txtX in the
11911 same directory as the PINERC file.
11912 __________________________________________________________________
11914 INBOX and Special Folders
11916 The _INBOX_ folder is treated specially. It is normally kept open
11917 constantly so that the arrival of new mail can be detected. The name
11918 _INBOX_ refers to wherever new mail is retrieved on the system. If the
11919 inbox-path variable is set, then _INBOX_ refers to that. IMAP servers
11920 understand the concept of _INBOX_, so specifying the folder
11921 _{imap.u.example.edu}INBOX_ is meaningful. The case of the word _INBOX_
11922 is not important, but _Alpine_ tends to display it in all capital
11923 letters.
11925 The folders for sent mail and saved messages folders are also somewhat
11926 special. They are automatically created if they are absent and
11927 recreated if they are deleted.
11928 __________________________________________________________________
11930 Internal Help Files
11932 The file pine.hlp in the alpine subdirectory of the distribution
11933 contains all the help text for _Alpine_. It is compiled right into the
11934 _Alpine_ binary as strings. This is done to simplify installation and
11935 configuration. The pine.hlp file is in a special format that is
11936 documented at the beginning of the file. It is divided into sections,
11937 each with a name that winds up being referenced as a global variable.
11938 This file is processed during the build process and turned into a C
11939 file that is compiled into _Alpine_.
11940 __________________________________________________________________
11942 International Character Sets
11944 _Alpine_ uses Unicode characters internally and it is a goal for
11945 _Alpine_ to handle email in many different languages. _Alpine_ will
11946 properly display only left-to-right character sets in a fixed-width
11947 font. Specifically, _Alpine_ assumes that a fixed-width font is in use,
11948 in the sense that characters are assumed to take up zero, one, or two
11949 character cell widths from left to right on the screen. This is true
11950 even in _PC-Alpine_.
11952 _Alpine_ recognizes some local character sets which are right-to-left
11953 (Arabic, Hebrew, and Thai) or not representable in a fixed-width font
11954 (Arabic) and properly converts texts in these character sets to/from
11955 Unicode; however, there are known display bugs with these character
11956 sets.
11958 There are three possible configuration character settings and some
11959 environment variable settings which can affect how _Alpine_ handles
11960 international characters. The first two of these are only available in
11961 UNIX _Alpine_. The three configuration options are
11962 _display-character-set_, _keyboard-character-set_, and
11963 _posting-character-set_. The _keyboard-character-set_ defaults to being
11964 the same value as the _display-character-set_, and that is usually
11965 correct, because the keyboard almost always produces characters in the
11966 same character set as the display displays. The _display-character-set_
11967 is the character set that _Alpine_ will attempt to use when sending
11968 characters to the display.
11970 Besides those variables there is also use-system-translation which can
11971 be used instead of these. That usage is only lightly tested and is not
11972 recommended.
11974 By default, the _display-character-set_ variable is not set and UNIX
11975 _Alpine_ will attempt to get this information from the environment. In
11976 particular, the nl_langinfo(CODESET) call is used. This usually depends
11977 on the setting of the environment variables LANG or LC_CTYPE. An
11978 explicit configuration setting for _display-character-set_ will, of
11979 course, override any default setting.
11981 For _PC-Alpine_ the _display-character-set_ and the
11982 _keyboard-character-set_ are always equivalent to UTF-8 and this is not
11983 settable.
11985 It is probably best to use UNIX _Alpine_ in a terminal emulator capable
11986 of displaying UTF-8 characters, since that will allow you to view just
11987 about any received text that is correctly formatted (note, however, the
11988 above comments about known index display bugs with certain character
11989 sets). You'll need to have an emulator which uses a UTF-8 font and
11990 you'll need to set up your environment to use a UTF-8 charmap. For
11991 example, on a Linux system you might include
11993 setenv LANG en_US.UTF-8
11995 or something similar in your UNIX startup files. You'd also have to
11996 select a UTF-8 font in your terminal emulator.
11998 The types of values that the character set variables may be set to are
11999 UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, or EUC-JP. The ISO-2022 character sets are not
12000 supported for input or for display, but as a special case, ISO-2022-JP
12001 is supported for use only as a _posting-character-set_. In the
12002 Setup/Config screen you may choose from a list of all the character
12003 sets _Alpine_ knows about by using the "T" ToCharsets command. Here is
12004 a list of many of the possible character sets:
12006 UTF-8 Unicode
12007 US-ASCII 7 bit American English characters
12008 ISO-8859-1 8 bit European "Latin 1" character set
12009 ISO-8859-2 8 bit European "Latin 2" character set
12010 ISO-8859-3 8 bit European "Latin 3" character set
12011 ISO-8859-4 8 bit European "Latin 4" character set
12012 ISO-8859-5 8 bit Latin and Cyrillic
12013 ISO-8859-6 8 bit Latin and Arabic
12014 ISO-8859-7 8 bit Latin and Greek
12015 ISO-8859-8 8 bit Latin and Hebrew
12016 ISO-8859-9 8 bit European "Latin 5" character set
12017 ISO-8859-10 8 bit European "Latin 6" character set
12018 ISO-8859-11 Latin and Thai
12019 ISO-8859-12 Reserved
12020 ISO-8859-13 8 bit European "Latin 7" character set
12021 ISO-8859-14 8 bit European "Latin 8" character set
12022 ISO-8859-15 8 bit European "Latin 9" character set
12023 ISO-8859-16 8 bit European "Latin 10" character set
12024 KOI8-R 8 bit Latin and Russian
12025 KOI8-U 8 bit Latin and Ukrainian
12026 WINDOWS-1251 8 bit Latin and Russian
12027 TIS-620 8 bit Latin and Thai
12028 VISCII 8 bit Latin and Vietnamese
12029 GBK Latin and Chinese Simplified
12030 GB2312 Latin and Chinese Simplified
12031 CN-GB Latin and Chinese Simplified
12032 BIG5 Latin and Chinese Traditional
12033 BIG-5 Latin and Chinese Traditional
12034 EUC-JP Latin and Japanese
12035 SHIFT-JIS Latin and Japanese
12036 EUC-KR Latin and Korean
12037 KSC5601 Latin and Korean
12039 When reading incoming email, _Alpine_ understands many different
12040 character sets and is able to convert the incoming mail into Unicode.
12041 The Unicode will be converted to the _display-character-set_ for
12042 display on your terminal. Characters typed at the keyboard will be
12043 converted from the _keyboard-character-set_ to Unicode for _Alpine_'s
12044 internal use. You may find that you can read some malformed messages
12045 that do not contain a character set label by setting the option
12046 unknown-character-set.
12048 The _posting-character-set_ is used when sending messages. The default
12049 behavior obtained by leaving this variable unset is usually what is
12050 wanted. In that default case, _Alpine_ will attempt to label the
12051 message with the most specific character set from the rather arbitrary
12052 set
12054 US-ASCII, ISO-8859-15, ISO-8859-1, ISO-8859-2, VISCII, KOI8-R, KOI8-U,
12055 ISO-8859-7, ISO-8859-6, ISO-8859-8, TIS-620, ISO-2022-JP, GB2312, BIG5,
12056 EUC-KR, and UTF-8.
12058 For example, if the message is made up of only US-ASCII characters, it
12059 will be labeled US-ASCII. Otherwise, if it is all ISO-8859-15
12060 characters, that will be the label. If that doesn't work the same is
12061 tried for the remaining members of the list.
12063 It might make sense to set _posting-character-set_ to an explicit value
12064 instead. For example, if you usually send messages in Greek, setting
12065 this option to ISO-8859-7 will result in messages being labeled as
12066 US-ASCII if there are no non-ascii characters, ISO-8859-7 if there are
12067 only Greek characters, or UTF-8 if there are some characters which
12068 aren't representable in ISO-8859-7. Another possibility is to set this
12069 option explicitly to UTF-8. In that case _Alpine_ labels only ascii
12070 messages as US-ASCII and all other messages as UTF-8.
12071 __________________________________________________________________
12073 Interrupted and Postponed Messages
12075 If the user is composing mail and is interrupted by being disconnected
12076 (SIGHUP, SIGTERM or end of file on the standard input), _Alpine_ will
12077 save the interrupted composition and allow the user to continue it when
12078 he or she resumes _Alpine_. As the next _Alpine_ session starts, a
12079 message will be given that an interrupted message can be continued. To
12080 continue the interrupted message, simply go into the composer. To get
12081 rid of the interrupted message, go into the composer and then cancel
12082 the message with _^C._
12084 Composition of half-done messages may be postponed to a later time by
12085 giving the _^O_ command. Other messages can be composed while postponed
12086 messages wait. All of the postponed messages are kept in a single
12087 folder. Postponing is a good way to quickly reference other messages
12088 while composing.
12089 __________________________________________________________________
12091 Message Status
12093 The c-client library allows for several flags or status marks to be set
12094 for each message. _Alpine_ uses four of these flags: UNSEEN, DELETED,
12095 ANSWERED, and FLAGGED. The N in _Alpine_'s FOLDER INDEX means that a
12096 message is unseen-it has not been read from this folder yet. The D
12097 means that a message is marked for deletion. Messages marked with D are
12098 removed when the user _Expunges_ the folder (which usually happens when
12099 the folder is closed or the user quits _Alpine_). The A in _Alpine_'s
12100 FOLDER INDEX means that the message has been replied-to. The * in
12101 _Alpine_'s FOLDER INDEX means that the message has been ``flagged'' as
12102 important. That is, the user used the _Flag_ command to turn the
12103 FLAGGED flag on. This flag can mean whatever the user wants it to mean.
12104 It is just a way to mark some messages as being different from others.
12105 It will usually probably be used to mark a message as somehow being
12106 ``important''. For Berkeley format folders, the message status is
12107 written into the email folder itself on the header lines marked Status:
12108 and X-Status.
12110 It is also possible for a user to define their own flags in addition to
12111 the standard system flags above. In _Alpine_ these user defined flags
12112 are called Keywords.
12113 __________________________________________________________________
12115 MIME: Reading a Message
12117 _Alpine_ should be able to handle just about any MIME message. When a
12118 MIME message is received, _Alpine_ will display a list of all the
12119 parts, their types and sizes. It will display the attachments when
12120 possible and appropriate and allow users to _Save_ all other
12121 attachments.
12123 _Alpine_ honors the "mailcap" configuration system for specifying
12124 external programs for handling attachments. The mailcap file maps MIME
12125 attachment types to the external programs loaded on your system which
12126 can display and/or print the file. A sample mailcap file comes bundled
12127 with the _Alpine_ distribution. It includes comments which explain the
12128 syntax you need to use for mailcap. With the mailcap file, any program
12129 (mail readers, newsreaders, WWW clients) can use the same configuration
12130 for handling MIME-encoded data.
12132 If a MAILCAPS environment variable is defined, _Alpine_ will use that
12133 to look for one or more mailcap files, which are combined. In the
12134 absence of MAILCAPS, Unix _Alpine_ will look for a personal mailcap
12135 file in ~/.mailcap and combine that with a system-wide file in
12136 /etc/mailcap. _PC-Alpine_ will look for a file named MAILCAP in the
12137 same directory as the PINERC file, and/or the directory containing the
12138 ALPINE.EXE executable.
12140 Messages which include _rich text_ or _enriched text_ in the main body
12141 will be displayed in a very limited way (it will show bold and
12142 underlining).
12144 If _Alpine_ sees a MIME message part tagged as type IMAGE, and
12145 _Alpine_'s image-viewer configuration variable is set, _Alpine_ will
12146 attempt to send that attachment to the named image viewing program. In
12147 the case of UNIX _Alpine_, the DISPLAY environment variable is checked
12148 to see if an X-terminal is being used (which can handle the images). If
12149 the _image-viewer_ variable is not set, _Alpine_ uses the _mailcap_
12150 system to determine what to do with IMAGE types, just as it does for
12151 any other non-TEXT type, e.g. type APPLICATION. For MIME's generic
12152 "catch all" type, APPLICATION/OCTET-STREAM, the _mailcap_ file will
12153 probably not specify any action, but _Alpine_ users may always _Save_
12154 any MIME attachment to a file.
12156 MIME type "text/plain" is handled a little bit differently than the
12157 other types. If you are viewing the main body part in the MESSAGE TEXT
12158 viewing screen, then _Alpine_ will use its internal viewer to display
12159 it. This happens even if there is a mailcap description which matches
12160 this particular type. However, if you view a part of type "text/plain"
12161 from the ATTACHMENT INDEX screen, then _Alpine_ will check the mailcap
12162 database for a matching entry and use it in preference to its internal
12163 viewer.
12165 Some text attachments, specifically those which are just other email
12166 messages forwarded as MIME messages, are displayed as part of the main
12167 body of the message. This distinction allows easy display when possible
12168 (the forward as MIME case) and use of an attachment viewer when that is
12169 desirable (the plain text file attachment case).
12171 If the parts of a multipart message are alternate versions of the same
12172 thing _Alpine_ will select and display the one best suited. For parts
12173 of type "message/external-body", the parameters showing the retrieval
12174 method will be displayed, and the retrieval process is automated.
12175 Messages of type "message/partial" are not supported.
12176 __________________________________________________________________
12178 MIME: Sending a Message
12180 There are two important factors when trying to include an attachment in
12181 a message: encoding and labeling. _Alpine_ has rules for both of these
12182 which try to assure that the message goes out in a form that is robust
12183 and can be handled by other MIME mail readers.
12185 MIME has two ways of encoding data-Quoted-Printable and Base64.
12186 Quoted-Printable leaves the ASCII text alone and only changes 8-bit
12187 characters to "=" followed by the hex digits. For example, "=09" is a
12188 tab. It has the advantage that it is mostly readable and that it allows
12189 for end of line conversions between unlike systems. Base64 encoding is
12190 similar to _uuencode_ or _btoa_ and just encodes a raw bit stream. This
12191 encoding is designed to get text and binary files through even the most
12192 improperly implemented and configured gateways intact, even those that
12193 distort uuencoded data.
12195 _All_ attachments are encoded using Base64 encoding. This is so that
12196 the attachment will arrive at the other end looking exactly like it did
12197 when it was sent. Since Base64 is completely unreadable except by
12198 MIME-capable mailers or programs, there is an obvious tradeoff being
12199 made here. We chose to ensure absolutely reliable transport of
12200 attachments at the cost of requiring a MIME-capable mailer to read
12201 them. If the user doesn't want absolute integrity he or she may always
12202 _include_ text (with the _^R_ command) in the body of a message instead
12203 of attaching it. With this policy, the only time quoted-printable
12204 encoding is used is when the main body of a message includes special
12205 foreign language characters.
12207 When an attachment is to be sent, _Alpine_ sniffs through it to try to
12208 set the right label (content-type and subtype). An attachment with any
12209 lines longer than 500 characters in it or more than 10% of the
12210 characters are 8-bit it will be considered binary data. _Alpine_ will
12211 recognize (and correctly label) a few special types including GIF,
12212 JPEG, PostScript, and some audio formats. Another method which can be
12213 more robust and flexible for determining the content-type and subtype
12214 is to base it on the file extension. This method uses a MIME.Types
12215 File.
12217 If it is not binary data (has only a small proportion of 8-bit
12218 characters in it,) the attachment is considered 8-bit text. 8-bit text
12219 attachments are labeled "text/plain" with charset set to the value of
12220 the user's _keyboard-character-set_ variable. If an attachment is ASCII
12221 (no 8-bit characters) and contains no control characters then it is
12222 considered plain ASCII text. Such attachments are given the MIME label
12223 "text/plain; charset=US-ASCII", regardless of the setting of the user's
12224 _keyboard-character-set_ variable.
12226 All other attachments are unrecognized and therefore given the generic
12227 MIME label "application/octet-stream".
12228 __________________________________________________________________
12230 New Mail Notification
12232 _Alpine_ checks for new mail in the _INBOX_ and in the currently open
12233 folder every two and a half minutes by default. This default can be
12234 changed in the system-wide configuration file or at compile-time with
12235 the --with-mailcheck-interval=VALUE configuration option. A user can
12236 change it by changing the option mail-check-interval. A new mail check
12237 can be manually forced by redrawing the screen with a _^L_.
12239 When there is new mail, the message(s) will appear in the index, the
12240 screen will beep, and a notice showing the sender and subject will be
12241 displayed. If there has been more than one new message since you last
12242 issued a command to _Alpine_, the notice will show the count of new
12243 messages and the sender of the most recent one.
12244 __________________________________________________________________
12246 NFS
12248 It is possible to access mail folders on _NFS_ mounted volumes with
12249 _Alpine_, but there are some drawbacks to doing this, especially in the
12250 case of incoming-message folders that may be concurrently updated by
12251 _Alpine_ and the system's mail delivery agent. One concern is that
12252 _Alpine_'s user-contention locks don't work because _/tmp_ is usually
12253 not shared, and even if it was, _flock()_ doesn't work across _NFS._
12255 The implementation of the standard UNIX ".lock" file locking has been
12256 modified to work with _NFS_ as follows. Standard hitching post locking
12257 is used so first a uniquely named file is created, usually something
12258 like _xxxx.host.time.pid._ Then a link to it is created named
12259 _xxxx.lock_ where the folder being locked is _xxxx._ This file
12260 constitutes the lock. This is a standard UNIX locking scheme. After the
12261 link returns, a _stat(2)_ is done on the file. If the file has two
12262 links, it is concluded that the lock succeeded and it is safe to
12263 proceed.
12265 In order to minimize the risks of locking failures via _NFS_, we
12266 strongly recommend using IMAP rather than _NFS_ to access remote
12267 incoming message folders, e.g. your _INBOX_. However, it is generally
12268 safe to access personal saved-message folders via _NFS_ since it is
12269 unlikely that more than one process will be updating those folders at
12270 any given time. Still, some problems may occur when two _Alpine_
12271 sessions try to access the same mail folder from different hosts
12272 without using IMAP. Imagine the scenario: _Alpine_-A performs a write
12273 that changes the folder. _Alpine_-B then attempts to perform a write on
12274 the same folder. _Alpine_-B will get upset that the file has been
12275 changed from underneath it and abort operations on the folder.
12276 _Alpine_-B will continue to display mail from the folder that it has in
12277 its internal cache, but it will not read or write any further data. The
12278 only thing that will be lost out of the _Alpine_-B session when this
12279 happens is the last few status changes.
12281 If other mail readers besides _Alpine_ are involved, all bets are off.
12282 Typically, mailers don't take any precautions against a user opening a
12283 mailbox more than once and no special precautions are taken to prevent
12284 _NFS_ problems.
12285 __________________________________________________________________
12287 Printers and Printing
12289 UNIX _Alpine_ can print to the standard UNIX line printers or to
12290 generic printers attached to ANSI terminals using the escape sequences
12291 to turn the printer on and off. The user has a choice of three printers
12292 in the configuration.
12294 The first setting, _attached-to-ansi_, makes use of escape sequences on
12295 ANSI/VT100 terminals. It uses "<ESC>[5i" to begin directing all output
12296 sent to the terminal to the printer and then "<ESC>[4i" to return to
12297 normal. _Alpine_ will send these escape sequences if the printer is set
12298 to _attached-to-ansi._ This works with most ANSI/VT100 emulators on
12299 Macs and PCs such as kermit, NCSA telnet, VersaTerm Pro, and WinQVT.
12300 Various terminal emulators implement the print feature differently.
12301 There is also a closely related method called
12302 _attached-to-ansi-no-formfeed_ which is the same except for the lack of
12303 formfeed character at the end of the print job.
12305 _Attached-to-wyse_ and _attached-to-wyse-no-formfeed_ are very similar
12306 to "attached-to-ansi". The only difference is in the control characters
12307 sent to turn the printer on and off. The Wyse version uses Ctrl-R for
12308 on, and Ctrl-T for off.
12310 The second selection is the standard UNIX print command. The default is
12311 _lpr_, but it can be changed on a system basis to anything so desired
12312 in /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.
12314 The third selection is the user's personal choice for a UNIX print
12315 command. The text to be printed is piped into the command. _Enscript_
12316 or _lpr_ with options are popular choices. The actual command is
12317 retained even if one of the other print selections is used for a while.
12319 Both the second and third sections are actually lists of possible
12320 commands rather than single commands.
12322 If you have a PostScript printer attached to a PC or Macintosh, then
12323 you will need to use a utility called _ansiprt_ to get printouts on
12324 your printer. _Ansiprt_ source code and details can be found in the
12325 ./contrib directory of the _Alpine_ distribution.
12326 __________________________________________________________________
12328 Save and Export
12330 _Alpine_ users get two options for moving messages in _Alpine_: _Save_
12331 and _Export_. _Save_ is used when the message should remain ``in the
12332 _Alpine_ realm.'' Saved messages include the complete header (including
12333 header lines normally hidden by _Alpine_), are placed in a _Alpine_
12334 folder collection and accumulate in a standard folder format which
12335 _Alpine_ can read. In contrast, the _Export_ command is used to write
12336 the contents of a message to a file for use outside of _Alpine_.
12337 Messages which have been exported are placed in the user's home
12338 directory (unless the feature use-current-dir is turned on), not in a
12339 _Alpine_ folder collection. Unless FullHeaderMode is toggled on, all
12340 delivery-oriented headers are stripped from the message. Even with
12341 _Export_, _Alpine_ retains message separators so that multiple messages
12342 can accumulate in a single file and subsequently be accessed as a
12343 folder. On UNIX systems, the _Export_ command pays attention to the
12344 standard _umask_ for the setting of the file permissions.
12345 __________________________________________________________________
12347 Sent Mail
12349 _Alpine_'s default behavior is to keep a copy of each outgoing message
12350 in a special "sent mail" folder. This folder is also called the fcc for
12351 "file carbon copy". The existence, location and name of the sent mail
12352 folder are all configurable. Sent mail archiving can be turned off by
12353 setting the configuration variable default-fcc="". The sent mail folder
12354 is assumed to be in the default collection for _Save_s, which is the
12355 first collection named in folder-collections. The name of the folder
12356 can be chosen by entering a name in _default-fcc_. With _PC-Alpine_,
12357 this can be a bit complicated. If the default collection for _Save_s is
12358 local (DOS), then the _default-fcc_ needs to be SENTMAIL, which is
12359 syntax for a DOS file. However, if the default collection for _Save_s
12360 is remote, then the _default-fcc_ needs to be sent-mail to match the
12361 UNIX syntax.
12363 The configuration variable fcc-name-rule also plays a role in selecting
12364 the folder to save sent mail in.
12366 A danger here is that the sent mail could grow without bound. For this
12367 reason, we thought it useful to encourage the users to periodically
12368 prune their sent mail folder. The first time _Alpine_ is used each
12369 month it will offer to archive all messages sent from the month before.
12370 _Alpine_ also offers to delete all the sent mail archive folders which
12371 are more than 1 month old. If the user or system has disabled sent mail
12372 archiving (by setting the configuration variable _default-fcc=""_)
12373 there will be no pruning question.
12374 __________________________________________________________________
12376 Spell Checker
12378 Both UNIX _Alpine_ and _PC-Alpine_ depend on the system for their spell
12379 checking and dictionary. _Pico_, the text editor, uses the same spell
12380 checking scheme as _Alpine_.
12382 Lines beginning with ">" (usually messages included in replies) are not
12383 checked. The message text to be checked is on the standard input and
12384 the incorrect words are expected on the standard output.
12386 The default spell checker is UNIX _spell_. You can replace this by
12387 setting the speller configuration variable. A common choice for a
12388 superior replacement is _ispell_.
12390 _PC-Alpine_ relies on the aspell library being installed. Aspell is
12391 independent of Alpine. The Windows version has traditionally been
12392 available at http://aspell.net/win32/. You'll need to download and
12393 install both Aspell and a precompiled dictionary. Aspell is provided in
12394 an installer package. Dictionaries, to be installed after Aspell, are
12395 in '.exe' files to download and run.
12396 __________________________________________________________________
12398 Terminal Emulation and Key Mapping
12400 UNIX _Alpine_ has been designed to require as little as possible from
12401 the terminal. At the minimum, _Alpine_ requires cursor positioning,
12402 clear to end of line, and inverse video. Unfortunately, there are
12403 terminals that are missing some of these such as a vt52. _Alpine_ makes
12404 no assumptions as to whether the terminal wraps or doesn't wrap. If the
12405 terminal has other capabilities it may use some of them. _Alpine_ won't
12406 run well on older terminals that require a space on the screen to
12407 change video attributes, such as the Televideo 925. One can get around
12408 this on some terminals by using "protected field" mode. The terminal
12409 can be made to go into protected mode for reverse video, and then
12410 reverse video is assigned to protected mode.
12412 _Alpine_ handles screens of most any size and resizing on the fly. It
12413 catches SIGWINCH and does the appropriate thing.
12415 On the input side of things, _Alpine_ uses all the standard keys, most
12416 of the control keys and (in function-key mode) the function keys.
12417 _Alpine_ avoids certain control keys, specifically ^S, ^Q, ^H, and _^\_
12418 because they have other meanings outside of _Alpine_ (they control data
12419 flow, etc.) _^H_ is treated the same as the _delete_ key, so the
12420 _backspace_ or _delete_ keys always work regardless of any
12421 configuration. There is a feature _compose-maps-delete-key-to-ctrl-d_
12422 which makes the delete key behave like ^D rather than ^H (deletes
12423 current character instead of previous character).
12425 Sometimes a communications program or communications server in between
12426 you and the other end will eat certain control characters. There is a
12427 work-around when you need it. If you type two escape characters
12428 followed by a character that will be interpreted as the character with
12429 the control key depressed. For example, _ESC ESC T_ is equivalent to
12430 _^T_.
12432 When a function key is pressed and _Alpine_ is in regular (non-function
12433 key) mode, _Alpine_ traps escape sequences for a number of common
12434 function keys so users don't get an error message or have an unexpected
12435 command executed for each character in the function key's escape
12436 sequence. _Alpine_ expects the following escape sequences from
12437 terminals defined as VT100:
12439 ANSI/VT100
12440 F1: <ESC>OP
12441 F2: <ESC>OQ
12442 F3: <ESC>OR
12443 F4: <ESC>OS
12444 F5: <ESC>Op
12445 F6: <ESC>Oq
12446 F7: <ESC>Or
12447 F8: <ESC>Os
12448 F9: <ESC>Ot
12449 F10: <ESC>Ou
12450 F11: <ESC>Ov
12452 Arrow keys are a special case. _Alpine_ has the escape sequences for a
12453 number of conventions for arrow keys hard coded and does not use
12454 _termcap_ to discover them. This is because _termcap_ is sometimes
12455 incorrect, and because many users have PC's running terminal emulators
12456 that don't conform exactly to what they claim to emulate. There is a
12457 feature called termdef-takes-precedence which can be set to cause the
12458 _termcap_ or _terminfo_ definitions to be used instead of the built in
12459 definitions. Some arrow keys on old terminals send single control
12460 characters like _^K_ (one even sends _^\_). These arrow keys will not
12461 work with _Alpine_. The most popular escape sequences for arrow keys
12462 are:
12464 Up: <ESC>[A <ESC>?x <ESC>A <ESC>OA
12465 Down: <ESC>[B <ESC>?r <ESC>B <ESC>OB
12466 Right: <ESC>[C <ESC>?v <ESC>C <ESC>OC
12467 Left: <ESC>[D <ESC>?t <ESC>D <ESC>OD