1 .\"@ nail.1 - S-nail(1) reference manual.
3 .\" Copyright (c) 2000-2008 Gunnar Ritter, Freiburg i. Br., Germany.
4 .\" Copyright (c) 2012 - 2018 Steffen (Daode) Nurpmeso <steffen@sdaoden.eu>.
6 .\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990, 1993
7 .\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
9 .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
10 .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
12 .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
13 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
14 .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
15 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
16 .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
17 .\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
18 .\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
19 .\" without specific prior written permission.
21 .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
22 .\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
23 .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
24 .\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
25 .\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
26 .\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
27 .\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
28 .\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
29 .\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
30 .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
34 .\"@ S-nail v14.9.9 / 2018-03-06
44 .ds VD \\%~/dead.letter
48 .ds vS /etc/mime.types
56 .ds OU [no v15-compat]
57 .ds ID [v15 behaviour may differ]
58 .ds NQ [Only new quoting rules]
69 .Nd send and receive Internet mail
75 .\" Keep in SYNC: ./nail.1:"SYNOPSIS, main()
84 .Op : Ns Fl a Ar attachment Ns \&:
85 .Op : Ns Fl b Ar bcc-addr Ns \&:
86 .Op : Ns Fl C Ar """custom:\0header""" Ns \&:
87 .Op : Ns Fl c Ar cc-addr Ns \&:
88 .Op Fl M Ar type | Fl m Ar file | Fl q Ar file | Fl t
91 .Fl S Ar var Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value Ns
94 .Op : Ns Fl X Ar cmd Ns \&:
96 .Pf : Ar to-addr Ns \&:
97 .Op Fl Fl \~ Ns : Ns Ar mta-option Ns \&:
105 .Op : Ns Fl C Ar """custom:\0header""" Ns \&:
107 .Op Fl r Ar from-addr
109 .Fl S Ar var Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value Ns
112 .Op : Ns Fl X Ar cmd Ns \&:
113 .Op Fl Fl \~ Ns : Ns Ar mta-option Ns \&:
120 .Op : Ns Fl C Ar """custom:\0header""" Ns \&:
123 .Op Fl r Ar from-addr
125 .Fl S Ar var Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value Ns
127 .Op : Ns Fl X Ar cmd Ns \&:
129 .Op Fl Fl \~ Ns : Ns Ar mta-option Ns \&:
135 .Mx -toc -tree html pdf ps xhtml
138 .\" .Sh DESCRIPTION {{{
141 .Bd -filled -compact -offset indent
142 .Sy Compatibility note:
143 S-nail (\*(UA) will wrap up into \%S-mailx in v15.0 (circa 2020).
144 Backward incompatibility has to be expected \(en
147 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
148 rules, for example, and shell metacharacters will become meaningful.
149 New and old behaviour is flagged \*(IN and \*(OU, and setting
152 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
153 will choose new behaviour when applicable.
154 \*(OB flags what will vanish, and enabling
158 enables obsoletion warnings.
162 \*(UA provides a simple and friendly environment for sending and
164 It is intended to provide the functionality of the POSIX
166 command, but is MIME capable and optionally offers extensions for
167 line editing, S/MIME, SMTP and POP3, among others.
168 \*(UA divides incoming mail into its constituent messages and allows
169 the user to deal with them in any order.
173 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
174 for manipulating messages and sending mail.
175 It provides the user simple editing capabilities to ease the composition
176 of outgoing messages, and increasingly powerful and reliable
177 non-interactive scripting capabilities.
179 .\" .Ss "Options" {{{
182 .Bl -tag -width ".It Fl BaNg"
185 Explicitly control which of the
189 d (loaded): if the letter
191 is (case-insensitively) part of the
195 is sourced, likewise the letter
197 controls sourcing of the user's personal
199 file, whereas the letters
203 explicitly forbid sourcing of any resource files.
204 Scripts should use this option: to avoid environmental noise they should
206 from any configuration and create a script-specific environment, setting
208 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
211 and running configurating commands via
213 This option overrides
220 command for the given user email
222 after program startup is complete (all resource files are loaded, any
224 setting is being established; only
226 commands have not been evaluated yet).
227 Being a special incarnation of
229 macros for the purpose of bundling longer-lived
231 tings, activating such an email account also switches to the accounts
233 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
238 .It Fl a Ar file Ns Op Ar =input-charset Ns Op Ar #output-charset
241 to the message (for compose mode opportunities refer to
245 .Sx "Filename transformations"
248 will be performed, except that shell variables are not expanded.
251 not be accessible but contain a
253 character, then anything before the last
255 will be used as the filename, anything thereafter as a character set
258 If an input character set is specified,
259 .Mx -ix "character set specification"
260 but no output character set, then the given input character set is fixed
261 as-is, and no conversion will be applied;
262 giving the empty string or the special string hyphen-minus
264 will be treated as if
266 has been specified (the default).
268 If an output character set has also been given then the conversion will
269 be performed exactly as specified and on-the-fly, not considering the
270 file's type and content.
271 As an exception, if the output character set is specified as the empty
272 string or hyphen-minus
274 then the default conversion algorithm (see
275 .Sx "Character sets" )
276 is applied (therefore no conversion is performed on-the-fly,
278 will be MIME-classified and its contents will be inspected first) \(em
279 without support for character set conversions
281 does not include the term
283 only this argument is supported.
286 (\*(OB: \*(UA will always use line-buffered output, to gain
287 line-buffered input even in batch mode enable batch mode via
292 Send a blind carbon copy to
299 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
301 The option may be used multiple times.
303 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
306 .It Fl C Ar """field: body"""
307 Create a custom header which persists for an entire session.
308 A custom header consists of the field name followed by a colon
310 and the field content body, e.g.,
311 .Ql -C """Blah: Neminem laede; imo omnes, quantum potes, juva""" .
312 Standard header field names cannot be overwritten by custom headers.
313 Runtime adjustable custom headers are available via the variable
318 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ,
319 is the most flexible and powerful option to manage message headers.
320 This option may be used multiple times.
324 Send carbon copies to the given receiver, if so allowed by
326 May be used multiple times.
330 Almost enable a sandbox mode with the internal variable
332 the same can be achieved via
333 .Ql Fl S Va \&\&debug
335 .Ql Ic set Va \&\&debug .
341 and thus discard messages with an empty message part body.
345 Just check if mail is present (in the system
347 or the one specified via
349 if yes, return an exit status of zero, a non-zero value otherwise.
350 To restrict the set of mails to consider in this evaluation a message
351 specification can be added with the option
356 Save the message to send in a file named after the local part of the
357 first recipient's address (instead of in
362 Read in the contents of the user's
364 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
366 (or the specified file) for processing;
367 when \*(UA is quit, it writes undeleted messages back to this file
373 argument will undergo some special
374 .Sx "Filename transformations"
379 is not an argument to the flag
381 but is instead taken from the command line after option processing has
385 that starts with a hyphen-minus, prefix with a relative path, as in
386 .Ql ./-hyphenbox.mbox .
392 and exit; a configurable summary view is available via the
398 Show a short usage summary.
404 to ignore tty interrupt signals.
410 of all messages that match the given
414 .Sx "Specifying messages"
419 option has been given in addition no header summary is produced,
420 but \*(UA will instead indicate via its exit status whether
426 note that any verbose output is suppressed in this mode and must instead
427 be enabled explicitly (e.g., by using the option
432 Special send mode that will flag standard input with the MIME
436 and use it as the main message body.
437 \*(ID Using this option will bypass processing of
438 .Va message-inject-head
440 .Va message-inject-tail .
446 Special send mode that will MIME classify the specified
448 and use it as the main message body.
449 \*(ID Using this option will bypass processing of
450 .Va message-inject-head
452 .Va message-inject-tail .
458 inhibit the initial display of message headers when reading mail or
463 for the internal variable
468 Standard flag that inhibits reading the system wide
473 allows more control over the startup sequence; also see
474 .Sx "Resource files" .
478 Special send mode that will initialize the message body with the
479 contents of the specified
481 which may be standard input
483 only in non-interactive context.
491 opened will be in read-only mode.
495 .It Fl r Ar from-addr
496 Whereas the source address that appears in the
498 header of a message (or in the
500 header if the former contains multiple addresses) is honoured by the
501 builtin SMTP transport, it is not used by a file-based
503 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) for the RFC 5321 reverse-path used for relaying
504 and delegating a message to its destination(s), for delivery errors
505 etc., but it instead uses the local identity of the initiating user.
508 When this command line option is used the given
510 will be assigned to the internal variable
512 but in addition the command line option
513 .Fl \&\&f Ar from-addr
514 will be passed to a file-based
516 whenever a message is sent.
519 include a user name the address components will be separated and
520 the name part will be passed to a file-based
526 If an empty string is passed as
528 then the content of the variable
530 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
532 will be evaluated and used for this purpose whenever the file-based
541 command line options are used when contacting a file-based MTA, unless
542 this automatic deduction is enforced by
544 ing the internal variable
545 .Va r-option-implicit .
548 Remarks: many default installations and sites disallow overriding the
549 local user identity like this unless either the MTA has been configured
550 accordingly or the user is member of a group with special privileges.
551 Passing an invalid address will cause an error.
555 .It Fl S Ar var Ns Op = Ns value
557 (or, with a prefix string
560 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
563 iable and optionally assign
565 if supported; \*(ID the entire expression is evaluated as if specified
566 within dollar-single-quotes (see
567 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" )
568 if the internal variable
571 If the operation fails the program will exit if any of
576 Settings established via
578 cannot be changed from within
580 or an account switch initiated by
582 They will become mutable again before commands registered via
588 Specify the subject of the message to be sent.
589 Newline (NL) and carriage-return (CR) bytes are invalid and will be
590 normalized to space (SP) characters.
594 The message given (on standard input) is expected to contain, separated
595 from the message body by an empty line, a message header with
600 fields giving its recipients, which will be added to any recipients
601 specified on the command line.
602 If a message subject is specified via
604 then it will be used in favour of one given on the command line.
620 .Ql Mail-Followup-To: ,
621 by default created automatically dependent on message context, will
622 be used if specified (a special address massage will however still occur
624 Any other custom header field (also see
629 is passed through entirely
630 unchanged, and in conjunction with the options
634 it is possible to embed
635 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" .
643 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
646 appropriate privileges presumed; effectively identical to
647 .Ql Fl \&\&f Ns \0%user .
656 will also show the list of
658 .Ql $ \*(uA -Xversion -Xx .
663 ting the internal variable
665 enables display of some informational context messages.
666 Using it twice increases the level of verbosity.
670 Add the given (or multiple for a multiline argument)
672 to the list of commands to be executed,
673 as a last step of program startup, before normal operation starts.
674 This is the only possibility to execute commands in non-interactive mode
675 when reading startup files is actively prohibited.
676 The commands will be evaluated as a unit, just as via
686 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
687 in compose mode even in non-interactive use cases.
688 This can be used to, e.g., automatically format the composed message
689 text before sending the message:
690 .Bd -literal -offset indent
691 $ ( echo 'line one. Word. Word2.';\e
692 echo '~| /usr/bin/fmt -tuw66' ) |\e
693 LC_ALL=C \*(uA -d~:/ -Sttycharset=utf-8 bob@exam.ple
698 Enables batch mode: standard input is made line buffered, the complete
699 set of (interactive) commands is available, processing of
700 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
701 is enabled in compose mode, and diverse
702 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
703 are adjusted for batch necessities, exactly as if done via
719 The following prepares an email message in a batched dry run:
720 .Bd -literal -offset indent
721 $ LC_ALL=C printf 'm bob\en~s ubject\enText\en~.\enx\en' |\e
722 LC_ALL=C \*(uA -d#:/ -X'alias bob bob@exam.ple'
727 This flag forces termination of option processing in order to prevent
730 It also forcefully puts \*(UA into send mode, see
731 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
737 arguments and all receivers established via
741 are subject to the checks established by
744 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" .
747 allows their recognition all
749 arguments given at the end of the command line after a
751 separator will be passed through to a file-based
753 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) and persist for the entire session.
755 constraints do not apply to the content of
759 .\" .Ss "A starter" {{{
762 \*(UA is a direct descendant of
764 Mail, itself a successor of the Research
767 .Dq was there from the start
770 It thus represents the user side of the
772 mail system, whereas the system side (Mail-Transfer-Agent, MTA) was
773 traditionally taken by
775 and most MTAs provide a binary of this name for compatibility purposes.
780 of \*(UA then the system side is not a mandatory precondition for mail
784 Because \*(UA strives for compliance with POSIX
786 it is likely that some configuration settings have to be adjusted before
787 using it is a smooth experience.
788 (Rather complete configuration examples can be found in the section
793 .Sx "Resource files" ,
794 that ships with \*(UA bends those standard imposed settings of the
795 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
796 a bit towards more user friendliness and safety already.
804 in order to suppress the automatic moving of messages to the
806 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
808 that would otherwise occur (see
809 .Sx "Message states" ) ,
812 to not remove empty system MBOX mailbox files in order not to mangle
813 file permissions when files eventually get recreated (all empty (MBOX)
814 mailbox files will be removed unless this variable is set whenever
816 .Pf a.k.a.\0 Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT
817 mode has been enabled).
822 in order to synchronize \*(UA with the exit status report of the used
829 to enter interactive startup even if the initial mailbox is empty,
831 to allow editing of headers as well as
833 to not strip down addresses in compose mode, and
835 to include the message that is being responded to when
837 ing, which is indented by an
839 that also deviates from standard imposed settings.
840 .Va mime-counter-evidence
841 is fully enabled, too.
845 The file mode creation mask can be managed explicitly via the variable
847 Sufficient system support provided symbolic links will not be followed
848 when files are opened for writing.
849 Files and shell pipe output can be
851 d for evaluation, also during startup from within the
852 .Sx "Resource files" .
855 .\" .Ss "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" {{{
856 .Ss "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode"
858 To send a message to one or more people, using a local or built-in
860 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) transport to actually deliver the generated mail
861 message, \*(UA can be invoked with arguments which are the names of
862 people to whom the mail will be sent, and the command line options
866 can be used to add (blind) carbon copy receivers:
868 .Bd -literal -offset indent
870 $ \*(uA -s ubject -a ttach.txt bill@exam.ple
872 # But... try it in an isolated dry-run mode (-d) first
873 $ LC_ALL=C \*(uA -d -:/ -Ssendwait -Sttycharset=utf8 \e
874 -b bcc@exam.ple -c cc@exam.ple \e
876 '(Lovely) Bob <bob@exam.ple>' eric@exam.ple
879 $ LC_ALL=C \*(uA -d -:/ -Sv15-compat -Ssendwait -Sttycharset=utf8 \e
880 -S mta=smtps://mylogin@exam.ple:465 -Ssmtp-auth=none \e
881 -S from=scriptreply@exam.ple \e
887 If standard input is a terminal rather than the message to be sent,
888 the user is expected to type in the message contents.
889 In this compose mode \*(UA treats lines beginning with the character
891 special \(en these are so-called
892 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ,
893 which can be used to read in files, process shell commands, add and edit
894 attachments and more; e.g.,
902 respectively, to revise the message in its current state,
904 allows editing of the most important message headers, with
906 custom headers can be created (more specifically than with
911 \*(OPally gives an overview of most other available command escapes.
914 will leave compose mode and send the message once it is completed.
918 at the beginning of an empty line has the same effect, whereas typing
921 twice will abort the current letter (saving its contents in the file
932 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
933 can be used to alter default behavior.
934 E.g., messages are sent asynchronously, without supervision, unless the
937 is set, therefore send errors will not be recognizable until then.
942 will automatically startup an editor when compose mode is entered,
944 allows editing of headers additionally to plain body content,
948 will cause the user to be prompted actively for (blind) carbon-copy
949 recipients, respectively, and (the default)
951 will request confirmation whether the message shall be sent.
954 The envelope sender address is defined by
956 explicitly defining an originating
958 may be desirable, especially with the builtin SMTP Mail-Transfer-Agent
961 for outgoing message and MIME part content are configurable via
963 whereas input data is assumed to be in
965 Message data will be passed over the wire in a
967 MIME parts a.k.a. attachments need to be assigned a
970 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
971 Saving a copy of sent messages in a
973 mailbox may be desirable \(en as for most mailbox
975 targets the value will undergo
976 .Sx "Filename transformations" .
981 sandbox dry-run tests will prove correctness.
984 Message recipients (as specified on the command line or defined in
989 may not only be email addressees but can also be names of mailboxes and
990 even complete shell command pipe specifications.
993 is not set then only network addresses (see
995 for a description of mail addresses) and plain user names (including MTA
996 aliases) may be used, other types will be filtered out, giving a warning
998 A network address that contains no domain-, but only a valid local user
1000 in angle brackets will be automatically expanded to a valid address when
1002 is set to a non-empty value; setting it to the empty value instructs
1005 will perform the necessary expansion.
1008 can be used to generate standard compliant network addresses.
1010 .\" When changing any of the following adjust any RECIPIENTADDRSPEC;
1011 .\" grep the latter for the complete picture
1015 is set then extended recipient addresses will optionally be accepted:
1016 Any name which starts with a vertical bar
1018 character specifies a command pipe \(en the command string following the
1020 is executed and the message is sent to its standard input;
1021 Likewise, any name that starts with the character solidus
1023 or the character sequence dot solidus
1025 is treated as a file, regardless of the remaining content;
1026 likewise a name that solely consists of a hyphen-minus
1028 Any other name which contains a commercial at
1030 character is treated as a network address;
1031 Any other name which starts with a plus sign
1033 character specifies a mailbox name;
1034 Any other name which contains a solidus
1036 character but no exclamation mark
1040 character before also specifies a mailbox name;
1041 What remains is treated as a network address.
1043 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1044 $ echo bla | \*(uA -Sexpandaddr -s test ./mbox.mbox
1045 $ echo bla | \*(uA -Sexpandaddr -s test '|cat >> ./mbox.mbox'
1046 $ echo safe | LC_ALL=C \e
1047 \*(uA -:/ -Sv15-compat -Ssendwait -Sttycharset=utf8 \e
1048 -Sexpandaddr=fail,-all,+addr,failinvaddr -s test \e
1053 It is possible to create personal distribution lists via the
1055 command, so that, for instance, the user can send mail to
1057 and have it go to a group of people.
1058 These aliases have nothing in common with the system wide aliases that
1059 may be used by the MTA, which are subject to the
1063 and are often tracked in a file
1069 Personal aliases will be expanded by \*(UA before the message is sent,
1070 and are thus a convenient alternative to specifying each addressee by
1071 itself; they correlate with the active set of
1078 .Dl alias cohorts bill jkf mark kridle@ucbcory ~/mail/cohorts.mbox
1081 .Va on-compose-enter , on-compose-leave
1083 .Va on-compose-cleanup
1084 hook variables may be set to
1086 d macros to automatically adjust some settings dependent
1087 on receiver, sender or subject contexts, and via the
1088 .Va on-compose-splice
1090 .Va on-compose-splice-shell
1091 variables, the former also to be set to a
1093 d macro, increasingly powerful mechanisms to perform automated message
1094 adjustments, including signature creation, are available.
1095 (\*(ID These hooks work for commands which newly create messages, namely
1096 .Ic forward , mail , reply
1101 for now provide only the hooks
1104 .Va on-resend-cleanup . )
1107 For the purpose of arranging a complete environment of settings that can
1108 be switched to with a single command or command line option there are
1110 Alternatively it is also possible to use a flat configuration, making use
1111 of so-called variable chains which automatically pick
1115 context-dependent variable variants: for example addressing
1116 .Ql Ic File Ns \& pop3://yaa@exam.ple
1118 .Va \&\&pop3-no-apop-yaa@exam.ple ,
1119 .Va \&\&pop3-no-apop-exam.ple
1124 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup"
1126 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" .
1129 To avoid environmental noise scripts should
1131 \*(UA from any configuration files and create a script-local
1132 environment, ideally with the command line options
1134 to disable any configuration file in conjunction with repetitions of
1136 to specify variables:
1138 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1139 $ env LC_ALL=C \*(uA -:/ \e
1140 -Sv15-compat -Ssendwait -Sttycharset=utf-8 \e
1141 -Sexpandaddr=fail,-all,failinvaddr \e
1142 -S mta=smtps://mylogin@exam.ple:465 -Ssmtp-auth=login \e
1143 -S from=scriptreply@exam.ple \e
1144 -s 'Subject to go' -a attachment_file \e
1146 'Recipient 1 <rec1@exam.ple>' rec2@exam.ple \e
1151 As shown, scripts can
1153 a locale environment, the above specifies the all-compatible 7-bit clean
1156 but will nonetheless take and send UTF-8 in the message text by using
1158 In interactive mode, which is introduced in the next section, messages
1159 can be sent by calling the
1161 command with a list of recipient addresses:
1163 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1164 $ \*(uA -d -Squiet -Semptystart
1165 "/var/spool/mail/user": 0 messages
1166 ? mail "Recipient 1 <rec1@exam.ple>", rec2@exam.ple
1168 ? # Will do the right thing (tm)
1169 ? m rec1@exam.ple rec2@exam.ple
1173 .\" .Ss "On reading mail, and interactive mode" {{{
1174 .Ss "On reading mail, and interactive mode"
1176 When invoked without addressees \*(UA enters interactive mode in which
1178 When used like that the user's system
1180 (for more on mailbox types please see the command
1182 is read in and a one line header of each message therein is displayed if
1186 The visual style of this summary of
1188 can be adjusted through the variable
1190 and the possible sorting criterion via
1196 can be performed with the command
1198 If the initially opened mailbox is empty \*(UA will instead exit
1199 immediately (after displaying a message) unless the variable
1208 will give a listing of all available commands and
1210 will \*(OPally give a summary of some common ones.
1211 If the \*(OPal documentation strings are available (see
1216 and see the actual expansion of
1218 and what its purpose is, i.e., commands can be abbreviated
1219 (note that POSIX defines some abbreviations, so that the alphabetical
1220 order of commands does not necessarily relate to the abbreviations; it is
1221 however possible to define overwrites with
1222 .Ic commandalias ) .
1223 These commands can also produce a more
1228 Messages are given numbers (starting at 1) which uniquely identify
1229 messages; the current message \(en the
1231 \(en will either be the first new message, or the first unread message,
1232 or the first message of the mailbox; the internal variable
1234 will instead cause usage of the last message for this purpose.
1239 ful of header summaries containing the
1243 will display only the summaries of the given messages, defaulting to the
1247 Message content can be displayed with the command
1254 controls whether and when \*(UA will use the configured
1256 for display instead of directly writing to the user terminal
1258 the sole difference to the command
1260 which will always use the
1264 will instead only show the first
1266 of a message (maybe even compressed if
1269 Message display experience may improve by setting and adjusting
1270 .Va mime-counter-evidence ,
1272 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" .
1275 By default the current message
1277 is displayed, but like with many other commands it is possible to give
1278 a fancy message specification (see
1279 .Sx "Specifying messages" ) ,
1282 will display all unread messages,
1287 will type the messages 1 and 5,
1289 will type the messages 1 through 5, and
1293 will display the last and the next message, respectively.
1296 (a more substantial alias for
1298 will display a header summary of the given message specification list
1299 instead of their content, e.g., the following will search for subjects:
1302 .Dl ? from "'@Some subject to search for'"
1305 In the default setup all header fields of a message will be
1307 d, but fields can be white- or blacklisted for a variety of
1308 applications by using the command
1310 e.g., to restrict their display to a very restricted set for
1312 .Ql Ic \:headerpick Cd \:type retain Ar \:from to cc subject .
1313 In order to display all header fields of a message regardless of
1314 currently active ignore or retain lists, use the commands
1319 will show the raw message content.
1320 Note that historically the global
1322 not only adjusts the list of displayed headers, but also sets
1326 Dependent upon the configuration a line editor (see the section
1327 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
1328 aims at making the user experience with the many
1331 When reading the system
1337 specified a mailbox explicitly prefixed with the special
1339 modifier (propagating the mailbox to a
1341 .Sx "primary system mailbox" ) ,
1342 then messages which have been read will be automatically moved to a
1344 .Sx "secondary mailbox" ,
1347 file, when the mailbox is left, either by changing the
1348 active mailbox or by quitting \*(UA (also see
1349 .Sx "Message states" )
1350 \(en this automatic moving from a system or primary to the secondary
1351 mailbox is not performed when the variable
1354 Messages can also be explicitly
1356 d to other mailboxes, whereas
1358 keeps the original message.
1360 can be used to write out data content of specific parts of messages.
1363 After examining a message the user can
1365 to the sender and all recipients (which will also be placed in
1368 .Va recipients-in-cc
1371 exclusively to the sender(s).
1373 ing a message will allow editing the new message: the original message
1374 will be contained in the message body, adjusted according to
1380 messages: the former will add a series of
1382 headers, whereas the latter will not; different to newly created
1383 messages editing is not possible and no copy will be saved even with
1385 unless the additional variable
1388 When sending, replying or forwarding messages comments and full names
1389 will be stripped from recipient addresses unless the internal variable
1392 Of course messages can be
1394 and they can spring into existence again via
1396 or when the \*(UA session is ended via the
1401 To end a mail processing session one may either issue
1403 to cause a full program exit, which possibly includes
1404 automatic moving of read messages to the
1406 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
1408 as well as updating the \*(OPal (see
1414 instead in order to prevent any of these actions.
1417 .\" .Ss "HTML mail and MIME attachments" {{{
1418 .Ss "HTML mail and MIME attachments"
1420 Messages which are HTML-only become more and more common and of course
1421 many messages come bundled with a bouquet of MIME (Multipurpose Internet
1422 Mail Extensions) parts for, e.g., attachments.
1423 To get a notion of MIME types, \*(UA will first read
1424 .Sx "The mime.types files"
1425 (as configured and allowed by
1426 .Va mimetypes-load-control ) ,
1427 and then add onto that types registered directly with
1429 It (normally) has a default set of types built-in, too.
1430 To improve interaction with faulty MIME part declarations which are
1431 often seen in real-life messages, setting
1432 .Va mime-counter-evidence
1433 will allow \*(UA to verify the given assertion and possibly provide
1434 an alternative MIME type.
1437 Whereas \*(UA \*(OPally supports a simple HTML-to-text converter for
1438 HTML messages, it cannot handle MIME types other than plain text itself.
1439 Instead programs need to become registered to deal with specific MIME
1440 types or file extensions.
1441 These programs may either prepare plain text versions of their input in
1442 order to enable \*(UA to integrate their output neatlessly in its own
1443 message visualization (a mode which is called
1444 .Cd copiousoutput ) ,
1445 or display the content themselves, for example in an external graphical
1446 window: such handlers will only be considered by and for the command
1450 To install a handler program for a specific MIME type an according
1451 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE
1452 variable needs to be set; to instead define a handler for a specific
1453 file extension the respective
1455 variable can be used \(en these handlers take precedence.
1456 \*(OPally \*(UA supports mail user agent configuration as defined in
1457 RFC 1524; this mechanism (see
1458 .Sx "The Mailcap files" )
1459 will be queried for display or quote handlers if none of the former two
1460 .\" TODO v15-compat "will be" -> "is"
1461 did; it will be the sole source for handlers of other purpose.
1462 A last source for handlers is the MIME type definition itself, when
1463 a (\*(UA specific) type-marker was registered with the command
1465 (which many built-in MIME types do).
1468 E.g., to display a HTML message inline (that is, converted to a more
1469 fancy plain text representation than the built-in converter is capable to
1470 produce) with either of the text-mode browsers
1474 teach \*(UA about MathML documents and make it display them as plain
1475 text, and to open PDF attachments in an external PDF viewer,
1476 asynchronously and with some other magic attached:
1478 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1479 ? if [ "$features" !% +filter-html-tagsoup ]
1480 ? #set pipe-text/html='@* elinks -force-html -dump 1'
1481 ? set pipe-text/html='@* lynx -stdin -dump -force_html'
1482 ? # Display HTML as plain text instead
1483 ? #set pipe-text/html=@
1485 ? mimetype @ application/mathml+xml mathml
1486 ? wysh set pipe-application/pdf='@&=@ \e
1487 trap "rm -f \e"${MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}\e"" EXIT;\e
1488 trap "trap \e"\e" INT QUIT TERM; exit 1" INT QUIT TERM;\e
1489 mupdf "${MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}"'
1493 .\" .Ss "Mailing lists" {{{
1496 \*(UA offers some support to ease handling of mailing lists.
1499 promotes all given arguments to known mailing lists, and
1501 sets their subscription attribute, creating them first as necessary.
1506 automatically, but only resets the subscription attribute.)
1507 Using the commands without arguments will show (a subset of) all
1508 currently defined mailing lists.
1513 can be used to mark out messages with configured list addresses
1514 in the header display.
1517 If the \*(OPal regular expression support is available a mailing list
1518 specification that contains any of the
1520 regular expression characters
1524 will be interpreted as one, which allows matching of many addresses with
1525 a single expression.
1526 However, all fully qualified list addresses are matched via a fast
1527 dictionary, whereas expressions are placed in (a) list(s) which is
1528 (are) matched sequentially.
1530 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1531 ? set followup-to followup-to-honour=ask-yes \e
1532 reply-to-honour=ask-yes
1533 ? wysh mlist a1@b1.c1 a2@b2.c2 '.*@lists\e.c3$'
1534 ? mlsubscribe a4@b4.c4 exact@lists.c3
1539 .Va followup-to-honour
1541 .Ql Mail-\:Followup-\:To:
1542 header is honoured when the message is being replied to (via
1548 controls whether this header is created when sending mails; it will be
1549 created automatically for a couple of reasons, too, like when the
1551 .Dq mailing list specific
1556 is used to respond to a message with its
1557 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
1561 A difference in between the handling of known and subscribed lists is
1562 that the address of the sender is usually not part of a generated
1563 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
1564 when addressing the latter, whereas it is for the former kind of lists.
1565 Usually because there are exceptions: say, if multiple lists are
1566 addressed and not all of them are subscribed lists.
1568 For convenience \*(UA will, temporarily, automatically add a list
1569 address that is presented in the
1571 header of a message that is being responded to to the list of known
1573 Shall that header have existed \*(UA will instead, dependent on the
1575 .Va reply-to-honour ,
1578 for this purpose in order to accept a list administrators' wish that
1579 is supposed to have been manifested like that (but only if it provides
1580 a single address which resides on the same domain as what is stated in
1584 .\" .Ss "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME" {{{
1585 .Ss "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME"
1587 \*(OP S/MIME provides two central mechanisms:
1588 message signing and message encryption.
1589 A signed message contains some data in addition to the regular text.
1590 The data can be used to verify that the message was sent using a valid
1591 certificate, that the sender's address in the message header matches
1592 that in the certificate, and that the message text has not been altered.
1593 Signing a message does not change its regular text;
1594 it can be read regardless of whether the recipient's software is able to
1596 It is thus usually possible to sign all outgoing messages if so desired.
1599 Encryption, in contrast, makes the message text invisible for all people
1600 except those who have access to the secret decryption key.
1601 To encrypt a message, the specific recipient's public encryption key
1603 It is therefore not possible to send encrypted mail to people unless their
1604 key has been retrieved from either previous communication or public key
1606 A message should always be signed before it is encrypted.
1607 Otherwise, it is still possible that the encrypted message text is
1611 A central concept to S/MIME is that of the certification authority (CA).
1612 A CA is a trusted institution that issues certificates.
1613 For each of these certificates it can be verified that it really
1614 originates from the CA, provided that the CA's own certificate is
1616 A set of CA certificates is usually delivered with OpenSSL and installed
1618 If you trust the source of your OpenSSL software installation,
1619 this offers reasonable security for S/MIME on the Internet.
1621 .Va smime-ca-no-defaults
1622 to avoid using the default certificates and point
1626 to a trusted pool of certificates.
1627 In general, a certificate cannot be more secure than the method its CA
1628 certificate has been retrieved with.
1631 This trusted pool of certificates is used by the command
1633 to ensure that the given S/MIME messages can be trusted.
1634 If so, verified sender certificates that were embedded in signed
1635 messages can be saved locally with the command
1637 and used by \*(UA to encrypt further communication with these senders:
1639 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1641 ? set smime-encrypt-USER@HOST=FILENAME \e
1642 smime-cipher-USER@HOST=AES256
1646 To sign outgoing messages in order to allow receivers to verify the
1647 origin of these messages a personal S/MIME certificate is required.
1648 \*(UA supports password-protected personal certificates (and keys),
1649 for more on this, and its automatization, please see the section
1650 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" .
1652 .Sx "S/MIME step by step"
1653 shows examplarily how such a private certificate can be obtained.
1654 In general, if such a private key plus certificate
1656 is available, all that needs to be done is to set some variables:
1658 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1659 ? set smime-sign-cert=ME@HERE.com.paired \e
1660 smime-sign-message-digest=SHA256 \e
1665 Variables of interest for S/MIME in general are
1668 .Va smime-ca-flags ,
1669 .Va smime-ca-no-defaults ,
1671 .Va smime-crl-file .
1672 For S/MIME signing of interest are
1674 .Va smime-sign-cert ,
1675 .Va smime-sign-include-certs
1677 .Va smime-sign-message-digest .
1678 Additional variables of interest for S/MIME en- and decryption:
1681 .Va smime-encrypt-USER@HOST .
1684 \*(ID Note that neither S/MIME signing nor encryption applies to
1685 message subjects or other header fields yet.
1686 Thus they may not contain sensitive information for encrypted messages,
1687 and cannot be trusted even if the message content has been verified.
1688 When sending signed messages,
1689 it is recommended to repeat any important header information in the
1693 .\" .Ss "On URL syntax and credential lookup" {{{
1694 .Ss "On URL syntax and credential lookup"
1696 \*(IN For accessing protocol-specific resources usage of Uniform
1697 Resource Locators (URL, RFC 1738) has become omnipresent.
1698 \*(UA expects and understands URLs in the following form;
1701 denote optional parts, optional either because there also exist other
1702 ways to define the information in question or because support of the
1703 part is protocol-specific (e.g.,
1705 is used by the local maildir and the IMAP protocol, but not by POP3);
1710 are specified they must be given in URL percent encoded form (RFC 3986;
1716 .Dl PROTOCOL://[USER[:PASSWORD]@]server[:port][/path]
1719 Note that these \*(UA URLs most often do not conform to any real
1720 standard, but instead represent a normalized variant of RFC 1738 \(en
1721 they are not used in data exchange but only meant as a compact,
1722 easy-to-use way of defining and representing information in
1723 a well-known notation.
1726 Many internal variables of \*(UA exist in multiple versions, called
1727 variable chains for the rest of this document: the plain
1732 .Ql variable-USER@HOST .
1739 had been specified in the respective URL, otherwise it refers to the plain
1745 that had been found when doing the user chain lookup as is described
1748 will never be in URL percent encoded form, whether it came from an URL
1749 or not; i.e., variable chain name extensions of
1750 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
1751 must not be URL percent encoded.
1754 For example, whether an hypothetical URL
1755 .Ql smtp://hey%3Ayou@our.house
1756 had been given that includes a user, or whether the URL was
1757 .Ql smtp://our.house
1758 and the user had been found differently, to lookup the variable chain
1759 .Va smtp-use-starttls
1760 \*(UA first looks for whether
1761 .Ql smtp-\:use-\:starttls-\:hey:you@our.house
1762 is defined, then whether
1763 .Ql smtp-\:use-\:starttls-\:our.house
1764 exists before finally ending up looking at the plain variable itself.
1767 \*(UA obeys the following logic scheme when dealing with the
1768 necessary credential information of an account:
1774 has been given in the URL the variables
1778 are looked up; if no such variable(s) can be found then \*(UA will,
1779 when enforced by the \*(OPal variables
1780 .Va netrc-lookup-HOST
1787 specific entry which provides a
1789 name: this lookup will only succeed if unambiguous (one possible matching
1792 It is possible to load encrypted
1797 If there is still no
1799 then \*(UA will fall back to the user who is supposed to run \*(UA,
1800 the identity of which has been fixated during \*(UA startup and is
1801 known to be a valid user on the current host.
1804 Authentication: unless otherwise noted this will lookup the
1805 .Va PROTOCOL-auth-USER@HOST , PROTOCOL-auth-HOST , PROTOCOL-auth
1806 variable chain, falling back to a protocol-specific default should this
1812 has been given in the URL, then if the
1814 has been found through the \*(OPal
1816 that may have already provided the password, too.
1817 Otherwise the variable chain
1818 .Va password-USER@HOST , password-HOST , password
1819 is looked up and used if existent.
1821 Afterwards the complete \*(OPal variable chain
1822 .Va netrc-lookup-USER@HOST , netrc-lookup-HOST , netrc-lookup
1826 cache is searched for a password only (multiple user accounts for
1827 a single machine may exist as well as a fallback entry without user
1828 but with a password).
1830 If at that point there is still no password available, but the
1831 (protocols') chosen authentication type requires a password, then in
1832 interactive mode the user will be prompted on the terminal.
1837 S/MIME verification works relative to the values found in the
1841 header field(s), which means that the values of
1842 .Va smime-sign , smime-sign-cert , smime-sign-include-certs
1844 .Va smime-sign-message-digest
1845 will not be looked up using the
1849 chains from above but instead use the corresponding values from the
1850 message that is being worked on.
1851 In unusual cases multiple and different
1855 combinations may therefore be involved \(en on the other hand those
1856 unusual cases become possible.
1857 The usual case is as short as:
1859 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1860 set mta=smtp://USER:PASS@HOST smtp-use-starttls \e
1861 smime-sign smime-sign-cert=+smime.pair
1867 contains complete example configurations.
1870 .\" .Ss "Encrypted network communication" {{{
1871 .Ss "Encrypted network communication"
1873 SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) a.k.a. its successor TLS (Transport Layer
1874 Security) are protocols which aid in securing communication by providing
1875 a safely initiated and encrypted network connection.
1876 A central concept of SSL/TLS is that of certificates: as part of each
1877 network connection setup a (set of) certificates will be exchanged, and
1878 by using those the identity of the network peer can be cryptographically
1880 SSL/TLS works by using a locally installed pool of trusted certificates,
1881 and verifying the connection peer succeeds if that provides
1882 a certificate which has been issued or is trusted by any certificate in
1883 the trusted local pool.
1886 The local pool of trusted so-called CA (Certification Authority)
1887 certificates is usually delivered with the used SSL/TLS library, and
1888 will be selected automatically, but it is also possible to create and
1889 use an own pool of trusted certificates.
1890 If this is desired, set
1891 .Va ssl-ca-no-defaults
1892 to avoid using the default certificate pool, and point
1896 to a trusted pool of certificates.
1897 A certificate cannot be more secure than the method its CA certificate
1898 has been retrieved with.
1901 It depends on the used protocol whether encrypted communication is
1902 possible, and which configuration steps have to be taken to enable it.
1903 Some protocols, e.g., POP3S, are implicitly encrypted, others, like
1904 POP3, can upgrade a plain text connection if so requested: POP3 offers
1906 which will be used if the variable (chain)
1907 .Va pop3-use-starttls
1910 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1911 shortcut encpop1 pop3s://pop1.exam.ple
1913 shortcut encpop2 pop3://pop2.exam.ple
1914 set pop3-use-starttls-pop2.exam.ple
1916 set mta=smtps://smtp.exam.ple:465
1917 set mta=smtp://smtp.exam.ple smtp-use-starttls
1921 Normally that is all there is to do, given that SSL/TLS libraries try to
1922 provide safe defaults, plenty of knobs however exist to adjust settings.
1923 For example certificate verification settings can be fine-tuned via
1925 and the SSL/TLS configuration basics are accessible via
1926 .Va ssl-config-pairs ,
1927 e.g., to specify the allowed protocols or cipher lists that
1928 a communication channel may use.
1929 In the past hints of how to restrict the set of protocols to highly
1930 secure ones were indicated, as of the time of this writing the allowed
1931 protocols or cipher list may need to become relaxed in order to be able
1932 to connect to some servers; the following example allows connecting to a
1934 that uses OpenSSL 0.9.8za from June 2014 (refer to
1935 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
1936 for more on variable chains):
1938 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1939 wysh set ssl-config-pairs-lion@exam.ple='MinProtocol=TLSv1.1,\e
1940 CipherList=TLSv1.2:!aNULL:!eNULL:\e
1941 ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:\e
1942 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:@STRENGTH'
1948 can be used and should be referred to when creating a custom cipher list.
1949 Variables of interest for SSL/TLS in general are
1953 .Va ssl-ca-no-defaults ,
1954 .Va ssl-config-file ,
1955 .Va ssl-config-module ,
1956 .Va ssl-config-pairs ,
1964 .\" .Ss "Character sets" {{{
1965 .Ss "Character sets"
1967 \*(OP \*(UA detects the character set of the terminal by using
1968 mechanisms that are controlled by the
1970 environment variable
1975 in that order, see there).
1976 The internal variable
1978 will be set to the detected terminal character set accordingly,
1979 and will thus show up in the output of commands like, e.g.,
1985 However, the user may give a value for
1987 during startup, so that it is possible to send mail in a completely
1989 locale environment, an option which can be used to generate and send,
1990 e.g., 8-bit UTF-8 input data in a pure 7-bit US-ASCII
1992 environment (an example of this can be found in the section
1993 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" ) .
1994 Changing the value does not mean much beside that, because several
1995 aspects of the real character set are implied by the locale environment
1996 of the system, which stays unaffected by
2000 Messages and attachments which consist of 7-bit clean data will be
2001 classified as consisting of
2004 This is a problem if the
2006 character set is a multibyte character set that is also 7-bit clean.
2007 For example, the Japanese character set ISO-2022-JP is 7-bit clean but
2008 capable to encode the rich set of Japanese Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana
2009 characters: in order to notify receivers of this character set the mail
2010 message must be MIME encoded so that the character set ISO-2022-JP can
2012 To achieve this, the variable
2014 must be set to ISO-2022-JP.
2015 (Today a better approach regarding email is the usage of UTF-8, which
2016 uses 8-bit bytes for non-US-ASCII data.)
2019 If the \*(OPal character set conversion capabilities are not available
2021 does not include the term
2025 will be the only supported character set,
2026 it is simply assumed that it can be used to exchange 8-bit messages
2027 (over the wire an intermediate, configurable
2030 and the rest of this section does not apply;
2031 it may however still be necessary to explicitly set it if automatic
2032 detection fails, since in that case it defaults to
2033 .\" (Keep in SYNC: ./nail.1:"Character sets", ./config.h:CHARSET_*!)
2034 LATIN1 a.k.a. ISO-8859-1 unless the operating system environment is
2035 known to always and exclusively support UTF-8 locales.
2038 \*(OP When reading messages, their text is converted into
2040 as necessary in order to display them on the users terminal.
2041 Unprintable characters and invalid byte sequences are detected
2042 and replaced by proper substitution characters.
2043 Character set mappings for source character sets can be established with
2046 which may be handy to work around faulty character set catalogues (e.g.,
2047 to add a missing LATIN1 to ISO-8859-1 mapping), or to enforce treatment
2048 of one character set as another one (e.g., to interpret LATIN1 as CP1252).
2050 .Va charset-unknown-8bit
2051 to deal with another hairy aspect of message interpretation.
2054 When sending messages all their parts and attachments are classified.
2055 Whereas no character set conversion is performed on those parts which
2056 appear to be binary data,
2057 the character set being used must be declared within the MIME header of
2058 an outgoing text part if it contains characters that do not conform to
2059 the set of characters that are allowed by the email standards.
2060 Permissible values for character sets used in outgoing messages can be
2065 which defines a catch-all last-resort fallback character set that is
2066 implicitly appended to the list of character sets in
2070 When replying to a message and the variable
2071 .Va reply-in-same-charset
2072 is set, then the character set of the message being replied to
2073 is tried first (still being a subject of
2074 .Ic charsetalias ) .
2075 And it is also possible to make \*(UA work even more closely related to
2076 the current locale setting automatically by using the variable
2077 .Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset ,
2078 please see there for more information.
2081 All the specified character sets are tried in order unless the
2082 conversion of the part or attachment succeeds.
2083 If none of the tried (8-bit) character sets is capable to represent the
2084 content of the part or attachment,
2085 then the message will not be sent and its text will optionally be
2089 In general, if a message saying
2090 .Dq cannot convert from a to b
2091 appears, either some characters are not appropriate for the currently
2092 selected (terminal) character set,
2093 or the needed conversion is not supported by the system.
2094 In the first case, it is necessary to set an appropriate
2096 locale and/or the variable
2100 The best results are usually achieved when \*(UA is run in a UTF-8
2101 locale on an UTF-8 capable terminal, in which case the full Unicode
2102 spectrum of characters is available.
2103 In this setup characters from various countries can be displayed,
2104 while it is still possible to use more simple character sets for sending
2105 to retain maximum compatibility with older mail clients.
2108 On the other hand the POSIX standard defines a locale-independent 7-bit
2109 .Dq portable character set
2110 that should be used when overall portability is an issue, the even more
2111 restricted subset named
2112 .Dq portable filename character set
2113 consists of A-Z, a-z, 0-9, period
2121 .\" .Ss "Message states" {{{
2122 .Ss "Message states"
2124 \*(UA differentiates in between several different message states;
2125 the current state will be reflected in header summary displays if
2127 is configured to do so (via the internal variable
2129 and messages can also be selected and be acted upon depending on their
2131 .Sx "Specifying messages" ) .
2132 When operating on the system
2136 .Sx "primary system mailbox" ,
2137 special actions, like the automatic moving of messages to the
2139 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
2141 may be applied when the mailbox is left (also implicitly via
2142 a successful exit of \*(UA, but not if the special command
2144 is used) \(en however, because this may be irritating to users which
2147 mail-user-agents, the default global
2153 variables in order to suppress this behaviour.
2155 .Bl -hang -width ".It Ql new"
2157 Message has neither been viewed nor moved to any other state.
2158 Such messages are retained even in the
2160 .Sx "primary system mailbox" .
2163 Message has neither been viewed nor moved to any other state, but the
2164 message was present already when the mailbox has been opened last:
2165 Such messages are retained even in the
2167 .Sx "primary system mailbox" .
2170 The message has been processed by one of the following commands:
2189 will always try to automatically
2195 logical message, and may thus mark multiple messages as read, the
2197 command will do so if the internal variable
2202 command is used, messages that are in a
2204 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
2207 state when the mailbox is left will be saved in the
2209 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
2211 unless the internal variable
2216 The message has been processed by one of the following commands:
2222 can be used to access such messages.
2225 The message has been processed by a
2227 command and it will be retained in its current location.
2230 The message has been processed by one of the following commands:
2236 command is used, messages that are in a
2238 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
2241 state when the mailbox is left will be deleted; they will be saved in the
2243 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
2245 when the internal variable
2251 In addition to these message states, flags which otherwise have no
2252 technical meaning in the mail system except allowing special ways of
2253 addressing them when
2254 .Sx "Specifying messages"
2255 can be set on messages.
2256 These flags are saved with messages and are thus persistent, and are
2257 portable between a set of widely used MUAs.
2259 .Bl -hang -width ".It Ic answered"
2261 Mark messages as having been answered.
2263 Mark messages as being a draft.
2265 Mark messages which need special attention.
2269 .\" .Ss "Specifying messages" {{{
2270 .Ss "Specifying messages"
2273 .Sx "Message list arguments" ,
2281 can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply to a number
2282 of messages at once.
2285 deletes messages 1 and 2,
2288 will delete the messages 1 through 5.
2289 In sorted or threaded mode (see the
2293 will delete the messages that are located between (and including)
2294 messages 1 through 5 in the sorted/threaded order, as shown in the
2297 The following special message names exist:
2300 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ar BaNg"
2302 The current message, the so-called
2306 The message that was previously the current message.
2309 The parent message of the current message,
2310 that is the message with the Message-ID given in the
2312 field or the last entry of the
2314 field of the current message.
2317 The next previous undeleted message,
2318 or the next previous deleted message for the
2321 In sorted/threaded mode,
2322 the next previous such message in the sorted/threaded order.
2325 The next undeleted message,
2326 or the next deleted message for the
2329 In sorted/threaded mode,
2330 the next such message in the sorted/threaded order.
2333 The first undeleted message,
2334 or the first deleted message for the
2337 In sorted/threaded mode,
2338 the first such message in the sorted/threaded order.
2342 In sorted/threaded mode,
2343 the last message in the sorted/threaded order.
2347 selects the message addressed with
2351 is any other message specification,
2352 and all messages from the thread that begins at it.
2353 Otherwise it is identical to
2358 the thread beginning with the current message is selected.
2363 All messages that were included in the
2364 .Sx "Message list arguments"
2365 of the previous command.
2368 An inclusive range of message numbers.
2369 Selectors that may also be used as endpoints include any of
2374 .Dq any substring matches
2377 header, which will match addresses (too) even if
2379 is set (and POSIX says
2380 .Dq any address as shown in a header summary shall be matchable in this form ) ;
2383 variable is set, only the local part of the address is evaluated
2384 for the comparison, not ignoring case, and the setting of
2386 is completely ignored.
2387 For finer control and match boundaries use the
2391 .It Ar / Ns Ar string
2392 All messages that contain
2394 in the subject field (case ignored according to locale).
2401 the string from the previous specification of that type is used again.
2404 .It Xo Op Ar @ Ns Ar name-list Ns
2407 All messages that contain the given case-insensitive search
2409 ession; If the \*(OPal regular expression support is available
2411 will be interpreted as (an extended) one if any of the
2413 regular expression characters
2418 .Ar @ Ns Ar name-list
2419 part is missing the search is restricted to the subject field body,
2422 specifies a comma-separated list of header fields to search, e.g.,
2425 .Dl '@to,from,cc@Someone i ought to know'
2428 In order to search for a string that includes a
2430 (commercial at) character the
2432 is effectively non-optional, but may be given as the empty string.
2433 Also, specifying an empty search
2435 ession will effectively test for existence of the given header fields.
2436 Some special header fields may be abbreviated:
2450 respectively and case-insensitively.
2451 \*(OPally, and just like
2454 will be interpreted as (an extended) regular expression if any of the
2456 regular expression characters is seen.
2463 can be used to search in (all of) the header(s) of the message, and the
2472 will perform full text searches \(en whereas the former searches only
2473 the body, the latter also searches the message header (\*(ID this mode
2474 yet brute force searches over the entire decoded content of messages,
2475 including administrativa strings).
2478 This specification performs full text comparison, but even with
2479 regular expression support it is almost impossible to write a search
2480 expression that safely matches only a specific address domain.
2481 To request that the body content of the header is treated as a list of
2482 addresses, and to strip those down to the plain email address which the
2483 search expression is to be matched against, prefix the effective
2489 .Dl @~f@@a\e.safe\e.domain\e.match$
2493 All messages of state or with matching condition
2497 is one or multiple of the following colon modifiers:
2499 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ar :M"
2502 messages (cf. the variable
2503 .Va markanswered ) .
2515 Messages with receivers that match
2519 Messages with receivers that match
2526 Old messages (any not in state
2534 \*(OP Messages with unsure spam classification (see
2535 .Sx "Handling spam" ) .
2537 \*(OP Messages classified as spam.
2549 \*(OP IMAP-style SEARCH expressions may also be used.
2550 This addressing mode is available with all types of mailbox
2552 s; \*(UA will perform the search locally as necessary.
2553 Strings must be enclosed by double quotes
2555 in their entirety if they contain whitespace or parentheses;
2556 within the quotes, only reverse solidus
2558 is recognized as an escape character.
2559 All string searches are case-insensitive.
2560 When the description indicates that the
2562 representation of an address field is used,
2563 this means that the search string is checked against both a list
2566 .Bd -literal -offset indent
2567 (\*qname\*q \*qsource\*q \*qlocal-part\*q \*qdomain-part\*q)
2572 and the addresses without real names from the respective header field.
2573 These search expressions can be nested using parentheses, see below for
2577 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ar _n_u"
2578 .It Ar ( criterion )
2579 All messages that satisfy the given
2581 .It Ar ( criterion1 criterion2 ... criterionN )
2582 All messages that satisfy all of the given criteria.
2584 .It Ar ( or criterion1 criterion2 )
2585 All messages that satisfy either
2590 To connect more than two criteria using
2592 specifications have to be nested using additional parentheses,
2594 .Ql (or a (or b c)) ,
2598 .Ql ((a or b) and c) .
2601 operation of independent criteria on the lowest nesting level,
2602 it is possible to achieve similar effects by using three separate
2606 .It Ar ( not criterion )
2607 All messages that do not satisfy
2609 .It Ar ( bcc \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2610 All messages that contain
2612 in the envelope representation of the
2615 .It Ar ( cc \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2616 All messages that contain
2618 in the envelope representation of the
2621 .It Ar ( from \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2622 All messages that contain
2624 in the envelope representation of the
2627 .It Ar ( subject \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2628 All messages that contain
2633 .It Ar ( to \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2634 All messages that contain
2636 in the envelope representation of the
2639 .It Ar ( header name \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2640 All messages that contain
2645 .It Ar ( body \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2646 All messages that contain
2649 .It Ar ( text \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2650 All messages that contain
2652 in their header or body.
2653 .It Ar ( larger size )
2654 All messages that are larger than
2657 .It Ar ( smaller size )
2658 All messages that are smaller than
2662 .It Ar ( before date )
2663 All messages that were received before
2665 which must be in the form
2669 denotes the day of the month as one or two digits,
2671 is the name of the month \(en one of
2672 .Ql Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec ,
2675 is the year as four digits, e.g.,
2679 All messages that were received on the specified date.
2680 .It Ar ( since date )
2681 All messages that were received since the specified date.
2682 .It Ar ( sentbefore date )
2683 All messages that were sent on the specified date.
2684 .It Ar ( senton date )
2685 All messages that were sent on the specified date.
2686 .It Ar ( sentsince date )
2687 All messages that were sent since the specified date.
2689 The same criterion as for the previous search.
2690 This specification cannot be used as part of another criterion.
2691 If the previous command line contained more than one independent
2692 criterion then the last of those criteria is used.
2696 .\" .Ss "On terminal control and line editor" {{{
2697 .Ss "On terminal control and line editor"
2699 \*(OP Terminal control will be realized through one of the standard
2701 libraries, either the
2703 or, alternatively, the
2705 both of which will be initialized to work with the environment variable
2707 Terminal control will enhance or enable interactive usage aspects, e.g.,
2708 .Sx "Coloured display" ,
2709 and extend behaviour of the Mailx-Line-Editor (MLE), which may learn the
2710 byte-sequences of keys like the cursor and function keys.
2713 The internal variable
2715 can be used to overwrite settings or to learn (correct(ed)) keycodes.
2716 \*(UA may also become a fullscreen application by entering the
2717 so-called ca-mode and switching to an alternative exclusive screen
2718 (content) shall the terminal support it and the internal variable
2720 has been set explicitly.
2721 Actual interaction with the chosen library can be disabled completely by
2722 setting the internal variable
2723 .Va termcap-disable ;
2725 will be queried regardless, which is true even if the \*(OPal library
2726 support has not been enabled at configuration time as long as some other
2727 \*(OP which (may) query terminal control sequences has been enabled.
2730 \*(OP The built-in Mailx-Line-Editor (MLE) should work in all
2731 environments which comply to the ISO C standard
2733 and will support wide glyphs if possible (the necessary functionality
2734 had been removed from ISO C, but was included in
2736 Prevent usage of a line editor in interactive mode by setting the
2738 .Va line-editor-disable .
2739 Especially if the \*(OPal terminal control support is missing setting
2740 entries in the internal variable
2742 will help shall the MLE misbehave, see there for more.
2743 The MLE can support a little bit of
2749 feature is available then input from line editor prompts will be saved
2750 in a history list that can be searched in and be expanded from.
2751 Such saving can be prevented by prefixing input with any amount of
2753 Aspects of history, like allowed content and maximum size, as well as
2754 whether history shall be saved persistently, can be configured with the
2758 .Va history-gabby-persist
2763 The MLE supports a set of editing and control commands.
2764 By default (as) many (as possible) of these will be assigned to a set of
2765 single-letter control codes, which should work on any terminal (and can
2766 be generated by holding the
2768 key while pressing the key of desire, e.g.,
2772 command is available then the MLE commands can also be accessed freely
2773 by assigning the command name, which is shown in parenthesis in the list
2774 below, to any desired key-sequence, and the MLE will instead and also use
2776 to establish its built-in key bindings
2777 (more of them if the \*(OPal terminal control is available),
2778 an action which can then be suppressed completely by setting
2779 .Va line-editor-no-defaults .
2780 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
2781 notation is used in the following;
2782 combinations not mentioned either cause job control signals or do not
2783 generate a (unique) keycode:
2787 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql \eBa"
2789 Go to the start of the line
2791 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-home ) .
2794 Move the cursor backward one character
2796 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-bwd ) .
2799 Forward delete the character under the cursor;
2800 quits \*(UA if used on the empty line unless the internal variable
2804 .Pf ( Cd mle-del-fwd ) .
2807 Go to the end of the line
2809 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-end ) .
2812 Move the cursor forward one character
2814 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-fwd ) .
2817 Cancel current operation, full reset.
2818 If there is an active history search or tabulator expansion then this
2819 command will first reset that, reverting to the former line content;
2820 thus a second reset is needed for a full reset in this case
2822 .Pf ( Cd mle-reset ) .
2825 Backspace: backward delete one character
2827 .Pf ( Cd mle-del-bwd ) .
2831 Horizontal tabulator:
2832 try to expand the word before the cursor, supporting the usual
2833 .Sx "Filename transformations"
2835 .Pf ( Cd mle-complete ;
2837 .Cd mle-quote-rndtrip ) .
2841 commit the current line
2843 .Pf ( Cd mle-commit ) .
2846 Cut all characters from the cursor to the end of the line
2848 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-end ) .
2853 .Pf ( Cd mle-repaint ) .
2856 \*(OP Go to the next history entry
2858 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-fwd ) .
2861 (\*(OPally context-dependent) Invokes the command
2865 \*(OP Go to the previous history entry
2867 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-bwd ) .
2870 Toggle roundtrip mode shell quotes, where produced,
2873 .Pf ( Cd mle-quote-rndtrip ) .
2874 This setting is temporary, and will be forgotten once the command line
2875 is committed; also see
2879 \*(OP Complete the current line from (the remaining) older history entries
2881 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-srch-bwd ) .
2884 \*(OP Complete the current line from (the remaining) newer history entries
2886 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-srch-fwd ) .
2889 Paste the snarf buffer
2891 .Pf ( Cd mle-paste ) .
2899 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-line ) .
2902 Prompts for a Unicode character (hexadecimal number without prefix, see
2906 .Pf ( Cd mle-prompt-char ) .
2907 Note this command needs to be assigned to a single-letter control code
2908 in order to become recognized and executed during input of
2909 a key-sequence (only three single-letter control codes can be used for
2910 that shortcut purpose); this control code is special-treated and cannot
2911 be part of any other sequence, because any occurrence will perform the
2913 function immediately.
2916 Cut the characters from the one preceding the cursor to the preceding
2919 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-word-bwd ) .
2922 Move the cursor forward one word boundary
2924 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-word-fwd ) .
2927 Move the cursor backward one word boundary
2929 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-word-bwd ) .
2932 Escape: reset a possibly used multibyte character input state machine
2933 and \*(OPally a lingering, incomplete key binding
2935 .Pf ( Cd mle-cancel ) .
2936 This command needs to be assigned to a single-letter control code in
2937 order to become recognized and executed during input of a key-sequence
2938 (only three single-letter control codes can be used for that shortcut
2940 This control code may also be part of a multi-byte sequence, but if
2941 a sequence is active and the very control code is currently also an
2942 expected input, then it will first be consumed by the active sequence.
2945 (\*(OPally context-dependent) Invokes the command
2949 (\*(OPally context-dependent) Invokes the command
2953 (\*(OPally context-dependent) Invokes the command
2957 Cut the characters from the one after the cursor to the succeeding word
2960 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-word-fwd ) .
2971 this will immediately reset a possibly active search etc.
2976 ring the audible bell.
2980 .\" .Ss "Coloured display" {{{
2981 .Ss "Coloured display"
2983 \*(OP \*(UA can be configured to support a coloured display and font
2984 attributes by emitting ANSI a.k.a. ISO 6429 SGR (select graphic
2985 rendition) escape sequences.
2986 Usage of colours and font attributes solely depends upon the
2987 capability of the detected terminal type that is defined by the
2988 environment variable
2990 and which can be fine-tuned by the user via the internal variable
2994 On top of what \*(UA knows about the terminal the boolean variable
2996 defines whether the actually applicable colour and font attribute
2997 sequences should also be generated when output is going to be paged
2998 through the external program defined by the environment variable
3003 This is not enabled by default because different pager programs need
3004 different command line switches or other configuration in order to
3005 support those sequences.
3006 \*(UA however knows about some widely used pagers and in a clean
3007 environment it is often enough to simply set
3009 please refer to that variable for more on this topic.
3014 is set then any active usage of colour and font attribute sequences
3015 is suppressed, but without affecting possibly established
3020 To define and control colours and font attributes a single multiplexer
3021 command family exists:
3023 shows or defines colour mappings for the given colour type (e.g.,
3026 can be used to remove mappings of a given colour type.
3027 Since colours are only available in interactive mode, it may make
3028 sense to conditionalize the colour setup by encapsulating it with
3031 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3032 if terminal && [ "$features" =% +colour ]
3033 colour iso view-msginfo ft=bold,fg=green
3034 colour iso view-header ft=bold,fg=red from,subject
3035 colour iso view-header fg=red
3037 uncolour iso view-header from,subject
3038 colour iso view-header ft=bold,fg=magenta,bg=cyan
3039 colour 256 view-header ft=bold,fg=208,bg=230 "subject,from"
3040 colour mono view-header ft=bold
3041 colour mono view-header ft=bold,ft=reverse subject,from
3046 .\" .Ss "Handling spam" {{{
3049 \*(OP \*(UA can make use of several spam interfaces for the purpose of
3050 identification of, and, in general, dealing with spam messages.
3051 A precondition of most commands in order to function is that the
3053 variable is set to one of the supported interfaces.
3054 Once messages have been identified as spam their (volatile)
3056 state can be prompted: the
3060 message specifications will address respective messages and their
3062 entries will be used when displaying the
3064 in the header display.
3069 rates the given messages and sets their
3072 If the spam interface offers spam scores those can also be displayed in
3073 the header display by including the
3083 will interact with the Bayesian filter of the chosen interface and learn
3084 the given messages as
3088 respectively; the last command can be used to cause
3090 of messages; it adheres to their current
3092 state and thus reverts previous teachings.
3097 will simply set and clear, respectively, the mentioned volatile
3099 message flag, without any interface interaction.
3108 requires a running instance of the
3110 server in order to function, started with the option
3112 shall Bayesian filter learning be possible.
3114 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3115 $ spamd -i localhost:2142 -i /tmp/.spamsock -d [-L] [-l]
3116 $ spamd --listen=localhost:2142 --listen=/tmp/.spamsock \e
3117 --daemonize [--local] [--allow-tell]
3121 Thereafter \*(UA can make use of these interfaces:
3123 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3124 $ \*(uA -Sspam-interface=spamc -Sspam-maxsize=500000 \e
3125 -Sspamc-command=/usr/local/bin/spamc \e
3126 -Sspamc-arguments="-U /tmp/.spamsock" -Sspamc-user=
3128 $ \*(uA -Sspam-interface=spamc -Sspam-maxsize=500000 \e
3129 -Sspamc-command=/usr/local/bin/spamc \e
3130 -Sspamc-arguments="-d localhost -p 2142" -Sspamc-user=
3134 Using the generic filter approach allows usage of programs like
3136 Here is an example, requiring it to be accessible via
3139 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3140 $ \*(uA -Sspam-interface=filter -Sspam-maxsize=500000 \e
3141 -Sspamfilter-ham="bogofilter -n" \e
3142 -Sspamfilter-noham="bogofilter -N" \e
3143 -Sspamfilter-nospam="bogofilter -S" \e
3144 -Sspamfilter-rate="bogofilter -TTu 2>/dev/null" \e
3145 -Sspamfilter-spam="bogofilter -s" \e
3146 -Sspamfilter-rate-scanscore="1;^(.+)$"
3150 Because messages must exist on local storage in order to be scored (or
3151 used for Bayesian filter training), it is possibly a good idea to
3152 perform the local spam check last.
3153 Spam can be checked automatically when opening specific folders by
3154 setting a specialized form of the internal variable
3157 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3158 define spamdelhook {
3160 spamset (header x-dcc-brand-metrics "bulk")
3161 # Server-side spamassassin(1)
3162 spamset (header x-spam-flag "YES")
3163 del :s # TODO we HAVE to be able to do `spamrate :u ! :sS'
3169 set folder-hook-SOMEFOLDER=spamdelhook
3173 See also the documentation for the variables
3174 .Va spam-interface , spam-maxsize ,
3175 .Va spamc-command , spamc-arguments , spamc-user ,
3176 .Va spamfilter-ham , spamfilter-noham , spamfilter-nospam , \
3179 .Va spamfilter-rate-scanscore .
3182 .\" }}} (DESCRIPTION)
3185 .\" .Sh COMMANDS {{{
3188 \*(UA reads input in lines.
3189 An unquoted reverse solidus
3191 at the end of a command line
3193 the newline character: it is discarded and the next line of input is
3194 used as a follow-up line, with all leading whitespace removed;
3195 once an entire line is completed, the whitespace characters
3196 .Cm space , tabulator , newline
3197 as well as those defined by the variable
3199 are removed from the beginning and end.
3200 Placing any whitespace characters at the beginning of a line will
3201 prevent a possible addition of the command line to the \*(OPal
3205 The beginning of such input lines is then scanned for the name of
3206 a known command: command names may be abbreviated, in which case the
3207 first command that matches the given prefix will be used.
3208 .Sx "Command modifiers"
3209 may prefix a command in order to modify its behaviour.
3210 A name may also be a
3212 which will become expanded until no more expansion is possible.
3213 Once the command that shall be executed is known, the remains of the
3214 input line will be interpreted according to command-specific rules,
3215 documented in the following.
3218 This behaviour is different to the
3220 ell, which is a programming language with syntactic elements of clearly
3221 defined semantics, and therefore capable to sequentially expand and
3222 evaluate individual elements of a line.
3223 \*(UA will never be able to handle
3224 .Ql ? set one=value two=$one
3225 in a single statement, because the variable assignment is performed by
3233 can be used to show the list of all commands, either alphabetically
3234 sorted or in prefix search order (these do not match, also because the
3235 POSIX standard prescribes a set of abbreviations).
3236 \*(OPally the command
3240 when given an argument, will show a documentation string for the
3241 command matching the expanded argument, as in
3243 which should be a shorthand of
3245 with these documentation strings both commands support a more
3247 listing mode which includes the argument type of the command and other
3248 information which applies; a handy suggestion might thus be:
3250 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3252 # Before v15: need to enable sh(1)ell-style on _entire_ line!
3253 localopts 1;wysh set verbose;ignerr eval "${@}";return ${?}
3255 ? commandalias xv '\ecall __xv'
3259 .\" .Ss "Command modifiers" {{{
3260 .Ss "Command modifiers"
3262 Commands may be prefixed by one or multiple command modifiers.
3263 Some command modifiers can be used with a restricted set of commands
3268 will (\*(OPally) show which modifiers apply.
3272 The modifier reverse solidus
3275 to be placed first, prevents
3277 expansions on the remains of the line, e.g.,
3279 will always evaluate the command
3281 even if an (command)alias of the same name exists.
3283 content may itself contain further command modifiers, including
3284 an initial reverse solidus to prevent further expansions.
3290 indicates that any error generated by the following command should be
3291 ignored by the state machine and not cause a program exit with enabled
3293 or for the standardized exit cases in
3298 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
3299 will be set to the real exit status of the command regardless.
3304 will alter the called command to apply changes only temporarily,
3305 local to block-scope, and can thus only be used inside of a
3310 Specifying it implies the modifier
3312 Block-scope settings will not be inherited by macros deeper in the
3314 chain, and will be garbage collected once the current block is left.
3315 To record and unroll changes in the global scope use the command
3321 does yet not implement any functionality.
3326 does yet not implement any functionality.
3329 Some commands support the
3332 modifier: if used, they expect the name of a variable, which can itself
3333 be a variable, i.e., shell expansion is applied, as their first
3334 argument, and will place their computation result in it instead of the
3335 default location (it is usually written to standard output).
3337 The given name will be tested for being a valid
3339 variable name, and may therefore only consist of upper- and lowercase
3340 characters, digits, and the underscore; the hyphen-minus may be used as
3341 a non-portable extension; digits may not be used as first, hyphen-minus
3342 may not be used as last characters.
3343 In addition the name may either not be one of the known
3344 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
3345 or must otherwise refer to a writable (non-boolean) value variable.
3346 The actual put operation may fail nonetheless, e.g., if the variable
3347 expects a number argument only a number will be accepted.
3348 Any error during these operations causes the command as such to fail,
3349 and the error number
3352 .Va ^ERR Ns -NOTSUP ,
3357 but some commands deviate from the latter, which is documented.
3360 Last, but not least, the modifier
3363 can be used for some old and established commands to choose the new
3364 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
3365 rules over the traditional
3366 .Sx "Old-style argument quoting" .
3370 .\" .Ss "Message list arguments" {{{
3371 .Ss "Message list arguments"
3373 Some commands expect arguments that represent messages (actually
3374 their symbolic message numbers), as has been documented above under
3375 .Sx "Specifying messages"
3377 If no explicit message list has been specified, the next message
3378 forward that satisfies the command's requirements will be used,
3379 and if there are no messages forward of the current message,
3380 the search proceeds backwards;
3381 if there are no good messages at all to be found, an error message is
3382 shown and the command is aborted.
3385 .\" .Ss "Old-style argument quoting" {{{
3386 .Ss "Old-style argument quoting"
3388 \*(ID This section documents the old, traditional style of quoting
3389 non-message-list arguments to commands which expect this type of
3390 arguments: whereas still used by the majority of such commands, the new
3391 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
3392 may be available even for those via
3395 .Sx "Command modifiers" .
3396 Nonetheless care must be taken, because only new commands have been
3397 designed with all the capabilities of the new quoting rules in mind,
3398 which can, e.g., generate control characters.
3401 .Bl -bullet -offset indent
3403 An argument can be enclosed between paired double-quotes
3408 any whitespace, shell word expansion, or reverse solidus characters
3409 (except as described next) within the quotes are treated literally as
3410 part of the argument.
3411 A double-quote will be treated literally within single-quotes and vice
3413 Inside such a quoted string the actually used quote character can be
3414 used nonetheless by escaping it with a reverse solidus
3420 An argument that is not enclosed in quotes, as above, can usually still
3421 contain space characters if those spaces are reverse solidus escaped, as in
3425 A reverse solidus outside of the enclosing quotes is discarded
3426 and the following character is treated literally as part of the argument.
3430 .\" .Ss "Shell-style argument quoting" {{{
3431 .Ss "Shell-style argument quoting"
3433 Commands which don't expect message-list arguments use
3435 ell-style, and therefore POSIX standardized, argument parsing and
3437 \*(ID Most new commands only support these new rules and are flagged
3438 \*(NQ, some elder ones can use them with the command modifier
3440 in the future only this type of argument quoting will remain.
3443 A command line is parsed from left to right and an input token is
3444 completed whenever an unquoted, otherwise ignored, metacharacter is seen.
3445 Metacharacters are vertical bar
3451 as well as all characters from the variable
3454 .Cm space , tabulator , newline .
3455 The additional metacharacters left and right parenthesis
3457 and less-than and greater-than signs
3461 supports are not used, and are treated as ordinary characters: for one
3462 these characters are a vivid part of email addresses, and it seems
3463 highly unlikely that their function will become meaningful to \*(UA.
3465 .Bd -filled -offset indent
3466 .Sy Compatibility note:
3467 \*(ID Please note that even many new-style commands do not yet honour
3469 to parse their arguments: whereas the
3471 ell is a language with syntactic elements of clearly defined semantics,
3472 \*(UA parses entire input lines and decides on a per-command base what
3473 to do with the rest of the line.
3474 This also means that whenever an unknown command is seen all that \*(UA
3475 can do is cancellation of the processing of the remains of the line.
3477 It also often depends on an actual subcommand of a multiplexer command
3478 how the rest of the line should be treated, and until v15 we are not
3479 capable to perform this deep inspection of arguments.
3480 Nonetheless, at least the following commands which work with positional
3481 parameters fully support
3483 for an almost shell-compatible field splitting:
3484 .Ic call , call_if , read , vpospar , xcall .
3488 Any unquoted number sign
3490 at the beginning of a new token starts a comment that extends to the end
3491 of the line, and therefore ends argument processing.
3492 An unquoted dollar sign
3494 will cause variable expansion of the given name, which must be a valid
3496 ell-style variable name (see
3498 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
3501 (shell) variables can be accessed through this mechanism, brace
3502 enclosing the name is supported (i.e., to subdivide a token).
3505 Whereas the metacharacters
3506 .Cm space , tabulator , newline
3507 only complete an input token, vertical bar
3513 also act as control operators and perform control functions.
3514 For now supported is semicolon
3516 which terminates a single command, therefore sequencing the command line
3517 and making the remainder of the line a subject to reevaluation.
3518 With sequencing, multiple command argument types and quoting rules may
3519 therefore apply to a single line, which can become problematic before
3520 v15: e.g., the first of the following will cause surprising results.
3523 .Dl ? echo one; set verbose; echo verbose=$verbose.
3524 .Dl ? echo one; wysh set verbose; echo verbose=$verbose.
3527 Quoting is a mechanism that will remove the special meaning of
3528 metacharacters and reserved words, and will prevent expansion.
3529 There are four quoting mechanisms: the escape character, single-quotes,
3530 double-quotes and dollar-single-quotes:
3533 .Bl -bullet -offset indent
3535 The literal value of any character can be preserved by preceding it
3536 with the escape character reverse solidus
3540 Arguments which are enclosed in
3541 .Ql 'single-\:quotes'
3542 retain their literal value.
3543 A single-quote cannot occur within single-quotes.
3546 The literal value of all characters enclosed in
3547 .Ql \(dqdouble-\:quotes\(dq
3548 is retained, with the exception of dollar sign
3550 which will cause variable expansion, as above, backquote (grave accent)
3552 (which not yet means anything special), reverse solidus
3554 which will escape any of the characters dollar sign
3556 (to prevent variable expansion), backquote (grave accent)
3560 (to prevent ending the quote) and reverse solidus
3562 (to prevent escaping, i.e., to embed a reverse solidus character as-is),
3563 but has no special meaning otherwise.
3566 Arguments enclosed in
3567 .Ql $'dollar-\:single-\:quotes'
3568 extend normal single quotes in that reverse solidus escape sequences are
3569 expanded as follows:
3571 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".Ql \eNNN"
3573 bell control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 BEL).
3575 backspace control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 BS).
3577 escape control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 ESC).
3581 form feed control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 FF).
3583 line feed control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 LF).
3585 carriage return control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 CR).
3587 horizontal tabulator control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 HT).
3589 vertical tabulator control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 VT).
3591 emits a reverse solidus character.
3595 double quote (escaping is optional).
3597 eight-bit byte with the octal value
3599 (one to three octal digits), optionally prefixed by an additional
3601 A 0 byte will suppress further output for the quoted argument.
3603 eight-bit byte with the hexadecimal value
3605 (one or two hexadecimal characters, no prefix, see
3607 A 0 byte will suppress further output for the quoted argument.
3609 the Unicode / ISO-10646 character with the hexadecimal codepoint value
3611 (one to eight hexadecimal characters) \(em note that Unicode defines the
3612 maximum codepoint ever to be supported as
3617 This escape is only supported in locales that support Unicode (see
3618 .Sx "Character sets" ) ,
3619 in other cases the sequence will remain unexpanded unless the given code
3620 point is ASCII compatible or (if the \*(OPal character set conversion is
3621 available) can be represented in the current locale.
3622 The character NUL will suppress further output for the quoted argument.
3626 except it takes only one to four hexadecimal characters.
3628 Emits the non-printable (ASCII and compatible) C0 control codes
3629 0 (NUL) to 31 (US), and 127 (DEL).
3630 Printable representations of ASCII control codes can be created by
3631 mapping them to a different part of the ASCII character set, which is
3632 possible by adding the number 64 for the codes 0 to 31, e.g., 7 (BEL) is
3633 .Ql 7 + 64 = 71 = G .
3634 The real operation is a bitwise logical XOR with 64 (bit 7 set, see
3636 thus also covering code 127 (DEL), which is mapped to 63 (question mark):
3637 .Ql ? vexpr ^ 127 64 .
3639 Whereas historically circumflex notation has often been used for
3640 visualization purposes of control codes, e.g.,
3642 the reverse solidus notation has been standardized:
3644 Some control codes also have standardized (ISO-10646, ISO C) aliases,
3645 as shown above (e.g.,
3649 whenever such an alias exists it will be used for display purposes.
3650 The control code NUL
3652 a non-standard extension) will suppress further output for the remains
3653 of the token (which may extend beyond the current quote), or, depending
3654 on the context, the remains of all arguments for the current command.
3656 Non-standard extension: expand the given variable name, as above.
3657 Brace enclosing the name is supported.
3659 Not yet supported, just to raise awareness: Non-standard extension.
3666 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3667 ? echo 'Quotes '${HOME}' and 'tokens" differ!"# no comment
3668 ? echo Quotes ${HOME} and tokens differ! # comment
3669 ? echo Don"'"t you worry$'\ex21' The sun shines on us. $'\eu263A'
3673 .\" .Ss "Raw data arguments for codec commands" {{{
3674 .Ss "Raw data arguments for codec commands"
3676 A special set of commands, which all have the string
3678 in their name, e.g.,
3682 take raw string data as input, which means that the content of the
3683 command input line is passed completely unexpanded and otherwise
3684 unchanged: like this the effect of the actual codec is visible without
3685 any noise of possible shell quoting rules etc., i.e., the user can input
3686 one-to-one the desired or questionable data.
3687 To gain a level of expansion, the entire command line can be
3691 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3692 ? vput shcodec res encode /usr/Sch\[:o]nes Wetter/heute.txt
3694 $'/usr/Sch\eu00F6nes Wetter/heute.txt'
3696 $'/usr/Sch\eu00F6nes Wetter/heute.txt'
3697 ? eval shcodec d $res
3698 /usr/Sch\[:o]nes Wetter/heute.txt
3702 .\" .Ss "Filename transformations" {{{
3703 .Ss "Filename transformations"
3705 Filenames, where expected, and unless documented otherwise, are
3706 subsequently subject to the following filename transformations, in
3709 .Bl -bullet -offset indent
3711 If the given name is a registered
3713 it will be replaced with the expanded shortcut.
3716 The filename is matched against the following patterns or strings:
3718 .Bl -hang -compact -width ".Ar %user"
3720 (Number sign) is expanded to the previous file.
3722 (Percent sign) is replaced by the invoking
3723 .Mx -ix "primary system mailbox"
3724 user's primary system mailbox, which either is the (itself expandable)
3726 if that is set, the standardized absolute pathname indicated by
3728 if that is set, or a built-in compile-time default otherwise.
3730 Expands to the primary system mailbox of
3732 (and never the value of
3734 regardless of its actual setting).
3736 (Ampersand) is replaced with the invoking users
3737 .Mx -ix "secondary mailbox"
3738 secondary mailbox, the
3745 directory (if that variable is set).
3747 Expands to the same value as
3749 but has special meaning when used with, e.g., the command
3751 the file will be treated as a primary system mailbox by, e.g., the
3755 commands, meaning that messages that have been read in the current
3756 session will be moved to the
3758 mailbox instead of simply being flagged as read.
3762 Meta expansions may be applied to the resulting filename, as allowed by
3763 the operation and applicable to the resulting access protocol (also see
3764 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" ) .
3765 For the file-protocol, a leading tilde
3767 character will be replaced by the expansion of
3769 except when followed by a valid user name, in which case the home
3770 directory of the given user is used instead.
3772 A shell expansion as if specified in double-quotes (see
3773 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" )
3774 may be applied, so that any occurrence of
3778 will be replaced by the expansion of the variable, if possible;
3779 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
3782 (shell) variables can be accessed through this mechanism.
3784 Shell pathname wildcard pattern expansions
3786 may be applied as documented.
3787 If the fully expanded filename results in multiple pathnames and the
3788 command is expecting only one file, an error results.
3790 In interactive context, in order to allow simple value acceptance (via
3792 arguments will usually be displayed in a properly quoted form, e.g., a file
3793 .Ql diet\e is \ecurd.txt
3795 .Ql 'diet\e is \ecurd.txt' .
3799 .\" .Ss "Commands" {{{
3802 The following commands are available:
3804 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ic BaNg"
3811 command which follows, replacing unescaped exclamation marks with the
3812 previously executed command if the internal variable
3815 This command supports
3818 .Sx "Command modifiers" ,
3819 and manages the error number
3821 A 0 or positive exit status
3823 reflects the exit status of the command, negative ones that
3824 an error happened before the command was executed, or that the program
3825 did not exit cleanly, but, e.g., due to a signal: the error number is
3826 .Va ^ERR Ns -CHILD ,
3830 In conjunction with the
3832 modifier the following special cases exist:
3833 a negative exit status occurs if the collected data could not be stored
3834 in the given variable, which is a
3836 error that should otherwise not occur.
3837 .Va ^ERR Ns -CANCELED
3838 indicates that no temporary file could be created to collect the command
3839 output at first glance.
3840 In case of catchable out-of-memory situations
3842 will occur and \*(UA will try to store the empty string, just like with
3843 all other detected error conditions.
3848 The comment-command causes the entire line to be ignored.
3850 this really is a normal command which' purpose is to discard its
3853 indicating special character, which means that, e.g., trailing comments
3854 on a line are not possible.
3858 Goes to the next message in sequence and types it
3864 Display the preceding message, or the n'th previous message if given
3865 a numeric argument n.
3869 Show the current message number (the
3874 \*(OP Show a brief summary of commands.
3875 \*(OP Given an argument a synopsis for the command in question is
3876 shown instead; commands can be abbreviated in general and this command
3877 can be used to see the full expansion of an abbreviation including the
3878 synopsis, try, e.g.,
3883 and see how the output changes.
3884 This mode also supports a more
3886 output, which will provide the information documented for
3897 .It Ic account , unaccount
3898 (ac, una) Creates, selects or lists (an) account(s).
3899 Accounts are special incarnations of
3901 macros and group commands and variable settings which together usually
3902 arrange the environment for the purpose of creating an email account.
3903 Different to normal macros settings which are covered by
3905 \(en here by default enabled! \(en will not be reverted before the
3910 (case-insensitive) always exists, and all but it can be deleted by the
3911 latter command, and in one operation with the special name
3913 Also for all but it a possibly set
3914 .Va on-account-cleanup
3915 hook is called once they are left.
3917 Without arguments a listing of all defined accounts is shown.
3918 With one argument the given account is activated: the system
3920 of that account will be activated (as via
3922 a possibly installed
3924 will be run, and the internal variable
3927 The two argument form is identical to defining a macro as via
3929 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3931 set folder=~/mail inbox=+syste.mbox record=+sent.mbox
3932 set from='(My Name) myname@myisp.example'
3933 set mta=smtp://mylogin@smtp.myisp.example
3940 Perform email address codec transformations on raw-data argument, rather
3941 according to email standards (RFC 5322; \*(ID will furtherly improve).
3945 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) ,
3946 and manages the error number
3948 The first argument must be either
3949 .Ar [+[+[+]]]e[ncode] ,
3954 and specifies the operation to perform on the rest of the line.
3957 Decoding will show how a standard-compliant MUA will display the given
3958 argument, which should be an email address.
3959 Please be aware that most MUAs have difficulties with the address
3960 standards, and vary wildly when (comments) in parenthesis,
3962 strings, or quoted-pairs, as below, become involved.
3963 \*(ID \*(UA currently does not perform decoding when displaying addresses.
3966 Skinning is identical to decoding but only outputs the plain address,
3967 without any string, comment etc. components.
3968 Another difference is that it may fail with the error number
3972 if decoding fails to find a(n) (valid) email address, in which case the
3973 unmodified input will be output again.
3977 first performs a skin operation, and thereafter checks a valid
3978 address for whether it is a registered mailing-list (see
3982 eventually reporting that state in the error number
3985 .Va ^ERR Ns -EXIST .
3986 (This state could later become overwritten by an I/O error, though.)
3989 Encoding supports four different modes, lesser automated versions can be
3990 chosen by prefixing one, two or three plus signs: the standard imposes
3991 a special meaning on some characters, which thus have to be transformed
3992 to so-called quoted-pairs by pairing them with a reverse solidus
3994 in order to remove the special meaning; this might change interpretation
3995 of the entire argument from what has been desired, however!
3996 Specify one plus sign to remark that parenthesis shall be left alone,
3997 two for not turning double quotation marks into quoted-pairs, and three
3998 for also leaving any user-specified reverse solidus alone.
3999 The result will always be valid, if a successful exit status is reported
4000 (\*(ID the current parser fails this assertion for some constructs).
4001 \*(ID Addresses need to be specified in between angle brackets
4004 if the construct becomes more difficult, otherwise the current parser
4005 will fail; it is not smart enough to guess right.
4007 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4008 ? addrc enc "Hey, you",<diet@exam.ple>\e out\e there
4009 "\e"Hey, you\e", \e\e out\e\e there" <diet@exam.ple>
4010 ? addrc d "\e"Hey, you\e", \e\e out\e\e there" <diet@exam.ple>
4011 "Hey, you", \e out\e there <diet@exam.ple>
4012 ? addrc s "\e"Hey, you\e", \e\e out\e\e there" <diet@exam.ple>
4019 .It Ic alias , unalias
4020 (a, una) Aliases are a method of creating personal distribution lists
4021 that map a single alias name to none to multiple real receivers;
4022 these aliases become expanded after message composing is completed.
4023 The latter command removes the given list of aliases, the special name
4025 will discard all existing aliases.
4027 The former command shows all currently defined aliases when used without
4028 arguments, and with one argument the expansion of the given alias.
4029 With more than one argument, creates or appends to the alias name given
4030 as the first argument the remaining arguments.
4031 Alias names adhere to the Postfix MTA
4033 rules and are thus restricted to alphabetic characters, digits, the
4034 underscore, hyphen-minus, the number sign, colon and commercial at,
4035 the last character can also be the dollar sign; the regular expression:
4036 .Ql [[:alnum:]_#:@-]+$? .
4037 .\" ALIASCOLON next sentence
4038 \*(ID Unfortunately the colon is currently not supported, as it
4039 interferes with normal address parsing rules.
4040 As extensions the exclamation mark
4045 .Dq any character that has the high bit set
4047 .\" ALIASCOLON next sentence
4048 \*(ID Such high bit characters will likely cause warnings at the moment
4049 for the same reasons why colon is unsupported.
4053 .It Ic alternates , unalternates
4054 \*(NQ (alt) Manage a list of alternate addresses or names of the active user,
4055 members of which will be removed from recipient lists.
4056 The latter command removes the given list of alternates, the special name
4058 will discard all existing aliases.
4059 The former command manages the error number
4061 and shows the current set of alternates when used without arguments; in
4062 this mode it supports
4065 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
4066 Otherwise the given arguments (after being checked for validity) are
4067 appended to the list of alternate names; in
4069 mode they replace that list instead.
4070 There is a set of implicit alternates which is formed of the values of
4079 .It Ic answered , unanswered
4080 Take a message lists and mark each message as having been answered,
4081 having not been answered, respectively.
4082 Messages will be marked answered when being
4084 to automatically if the
4088 .Sx "Message states" .
4093 .It Ic bind , unbind
4094 \*(OP\*(NQ The bind command extends the MLE (see
4095 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
4096 with freely configurable key bindings.
4097 The latter command removes from the given context the given key binding,
4098 both of which may be specified as a wildcard
4102 will remove all bindings of all contexts.
4103 Due to initialization order unbinding will not work for built-in key
4104 bindings upon program startup, however: please use
4105 .Va line-editor-no-defaults
4106 for this purpose instead.
4109 With one argument the former command shows all key bindings for the
4110 given context, specifying an asterisk
4112 will show the bindings of all contexts; a more verbose listing will be
4113 produced if either of
4118 With two or more arguments a binding is (re)established:
4119 the first argument is the context to which the binding shall apply,
4120 the second argument is a comma-separated list of the
4122 which form the binding, and any remaining arguments form the expansion.
4123 To indicate that a binding shall not be auto-committed, but that the
4124 expansion shall instead be furtherly editable by the user, a commercial at
4126 (that will be removed) can be placed last in the expansion, from which
4127 leading and trailing whitespace will finally be removed.
4128 Reverse solidus cannot be used as the last character of expansion.
4131 Contexts define when a binding applies, i.e., a binding will not be seen
4132 unless the context for which it is defined for is currently active.
4133 This is not true for the shared binding
4135 which is the foundation for all other bindings and as such always
4136 applies, its bindings, however, only apply secondarily.
4137 The available contexts are the shared
4141 context which is used in all not otherwise documented situations, and
4143 which applies to compose mode only.
4147 which form the binding are specified as a comma-separated list of
4148 byte-sequences, where each list entry corresponds to one key(press).
4149 A list entry may, indicated by a leading colon character
4151 also refer to the name of a terminal capability; several dozen names
4152 will be compiled in and may be specified either by their
4154 or, if existing, by their
4156 name, regardless of the actually used \*(OPal terminal control library.
4157 It is possible to use any capability, as long as the name is resolvable
4158 by the \*(OPal control library or was defined via the internal variable
4160 Input sequences are not case-normalized, so that an exact match is
4161 required to update or remove a binding.
4164 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4165 ? bind base $'\eE',d mle-snarf-word-fwd # Esc(ape)
4166 ? bind base $'\eE',$'\ec?' mle-snarf-word-bwd # Esc, Delete
4167 ? bind default $'\ecA',:khome,w 'echo An editable binding@'
4168 ? bind default a,b,c rm -irf / @ # Another editable binding
4169 ? bind default :kf1 File %
4170 ? bind compose :kf1 ~v
4174 Note that the entire comma-separated list is first parsed (over) as a
4175 shell-token with whitespace as the field separator, before being parsed
4176 and expanded for real with comma as the field separator, therefore
4177 whitespace needs to be properly quoted, see
4178 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" .
4179 Using Unicode reverse solidus escape sequences renders a binding
4180 defunctional if the locale does not support Unicode (see
4181 .Sx "Character sets" ) ,
4182 and using terminal capabilities does so if no (corresponding) terminal
4183 control support is (currently) available.
4186 The following terminal capability names are built-in and can be used in
4188 or (if available) the two-letter
4191 See the respective manual for a list of capabilities.
4194 can be used to show all the capabilities of
4196 or the given terminal type;
4199 flag will also show supported (non-standard) extensions.
4202 .Bl -tag -compact -width kcuuf_or_kcuuf
4203 .It Cd kbs Ns \0or Cd kb
4205 .It Cd kdch1 Ns \0or Cd kD
4207 .It Cd kDC Ns \0or Cd *4
4208 \(em shifted variant.
4209 .It Cd kel Ns \0or Cd kE
4210 Clear to end of line.
4211 .It Cd kext Ns \0or Cd @9
4213 .It Cd kich1 Ns \0or Cd kI
4215 .It Cd kIC Ns \0or Cd #3
4216 \(em shifted variant.
4217 .It Cd khome Ns \0or Cd kh
4219 .It Cd kHOM Ns \0or Cd #2
4220 \(em shifted variant.
4221 .It Cd kend Ns \0or Cd @7
4223 .It Cd knp Ns \0or Cd kN
4225 .It Cd kpp Ns \0or Cd kP
4227 .It Cd kcub1 Ns \0or Cd kl
4228 Left cursor (with more modifiers: see below).
4229 .It Cd kLFT Ns \0or Cd #4
4230 \(em shifted variant.
4231 .It Cd kcuf1 Ns \0or Cd kr
4232 Right cursor (ditto).
4233 .It Cd kRIT Ns \0or Cd %i
4234 \(em shifted variant.
4235 .It Cd kcud1 Ns \0or Cd kd
4236 Down cursor (ditto).
4238 \(em shifted variant (only terminfo).
4239 .It Cd kcuu1 Ns \0or Cd ku
4242 \(em shifted variant (only terminfo).
4243 .It Cd kf0 Ns \0or Cd k0
4245 Add one for each function key up to
4250 .It Cd kf10 Ns \0or Cd k;
4252 .It Cd kf11 Ns \0or Cd F1
4254 Add one for each function key up to
4262 Some terminals support key-modifier combination extensions, e.g.,
4264 For example, the delete key,
4266 in its shifted variant, the name is mutated to
4268 then a number is appended for the states
4280 .Ql Shift+Alt+Control
4282 The same for the left cursor key,
4284 .Cd KLFT , KLFT3 , KLFT4 , KLFT5 , KLFT6 , KLFT7 , KLFT8 .
4287 It is advisable to use an initial escape or other control character (e.g.,
4289 for bindings which describe user key combinations (as opposed to purely
4290 terminal capability based ones), in order to avoid ambiguities whether
4291 input belongs to key sequences or not; it also reduces search time.
4294 may help shall keys and sequences be falsely recognized.
4299 \*(NQ Calls the given macro, which must have been created via
4304 Calling macros recursively will at some time excess the stack size
4305 limit, causing a hard program abortion; if recursively calling a macro
4306 is the last command of the current macro, consider to use the command
4308 which will first release all resources of the current macro before
4309 replacing the current macro with the called one.
4310 Numeric and string operations can be performed via
4314 may be helpful to recreate argument lists.
4321 if the given macro has been created via
4323 but doesn't fail nor warn if the macro doesn't exist.
4327 (ch) Change the working directory to
4329 or the given argument.
4335 \*(OP Only applicable to S/MIME signed messages.
4336 Takes a message list and a filename and saves the certificates
4337 contained within the message signatures to the named file in both
4338 human-readable and PEM format.
4339 The certificates can later be used to send encrypted messages to the
4340 respective message senders by setting
4341 .Va smime-encrypt-USER@HOST
4346 .It Ic charsetalias , uncharsetalias
4347 \*(NQ Manage (character set conversion) character set alias mappings,
4348 as documented in the section
4349 .Sx "Character sets" .
4350 Character set aliases are expanded recursively, but no expansion is
4351 performed on values of the user-settable variables, e.g.,
4353 These are effectively no-operations if character set conversion
4354 is not available (i.e., no
4358 Without arguments the list of all currently defined aliases is shown,
4359 with one argument the expansion of the given alias.
4360 Otherwise all given arguments are treated as pairs of character sets and
4361 their desired target alias name, creating new or changing already
4362 existing aliases, as necessary.
4364 The latter deletes all aliases given as arguments, the special argument
4366 will remove all aliases.
4370 (ch) Change the working directory to
4372 or the given argument.
4378 .It Ic collapse , uncollapse
4379 Only applicable to threaded mode.
4380 Takes a message list and makes all replies to these messages invisible
4381 in header summaries, except for
4385 Also when a message with collapsed replies is displayed,
4386 all of these are automatically uncollapsed.
4387 The latter command undoes collapsing.
4392 .It Ic colour , uncolour
4393 \*(OP\*(NQ Manage colour mappings of and for a
4394 .Sx "Coloured display" .
4395 The type of colour is given as the (case-insensitive) first argument,
4396 which must be one of
4398 for 256-colour terminals,
4403 for the standard 8-colour ANSI / ISO 6429 color palette and
4407 for monochrome terminals.
4408 Monochrome terminals cannot deal with colours, but only (some) font
4412 Without further arguments the list of all currently defined mappings
4413 for the given colour type is shown (as a special case giving
4417 will show the mappings of all types).
4418 Otherwise the second argument defines the mappable slot, and the third
4419 argument a (comma-separated list of) colour and font attribute
4420 specification(s), and the optional fourth argument can be used to
4421 specify a precondition: if conditioned mappings exist they are tested in
4422 (creation) order unless a (case-insensitive) match has been found, and
4423 the default mapping (if any has been established) will only be chosen as
4425 The types of precondition available depend on the mappable slot (see
4426 .Sx "Coloured display"
4427 for some examples), the following of which exist:
4430 Mappings prefixed with
4432 are used for the \*(OPal built-in Mailx-Line-Editor (MLE, see
4433 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
4434 and do not support preconditions.
4436 .Bl -tag -compact -width view-partinfo
4438 This mapping is used for the position indicator that is visible when
4439 a line cannot be fully displayed on the screen.
4446 Mappings prefixed with
4448 are used in header summaries, and they all understand the preconditions
4450 (the current message) and
4452 for elder messages (only honoured in conjunction with
4453 .Va datefield-markout-older ) .
4455 .Bl -tag -compact -width view-partinfo
4457 This mapping is used for the
4459 that can be created with the
4463 formats of the variable
4466 For the complete header summary line except the
4468 and the thread structure.
4470 For the thread structure which can be created with the
4472 format of the variable
4477 Mappings prefixed with
4479 are used when displaying messages.
4481 .Bl -tag -compact -width view-partinfo
4483 This mapping is used for so-called
4485 lines, which are MBOX file format specific header lines.
4488 A comma-separated list of headers to which the mapping applies may be
4489 given as a precondition; if the \*(OPal regular expression support is
4490 available then if any of the
4492 (extended) regular expression characters is seen the precondition will
4493 be evaluated as (an extended) one.
4495 For the introductional message info line.
4496 .It Ar view-partinfo
4497 For MIME part info lines.
4501 The following (case-insensitive) colour definitions and font attributes
4502 are understood, multiple of which can be specified in a comma-separated
4512 It is possible (and often applicable) to specify multiple font
4513 attributes for a single mapping.
4516 foreground colour attribute:
4526 To specify a 256-color mode a decimal number colour specification in
4527 the range 0 to 255, inclusive, is supported, and interpreted as follows:
4529 .Bl -tag -compact -width "999 - 999"
4531 the standard ISO 6429 colors, as above.
4533 high intensity variants of the standard colors.
4535 216 colors in tuples of 6.
4537 grayscale from black to white in 24 steps.
4539 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4541 fg() { printf "\e033[38;5;${1}m($1)"; }
4542 bg() { printf "\e033[48;5;${1}m($1)"; }
4544 while [ $i -lt 256 ]; do fg $i; i=$(($i + 1)); done
4545 printf "\e033[0m\en"
4547 while [ $i -lt 256 ]; do bg $i; i=$(($i + 1)); done
4548 printf "\e033[0m\en"
4552 background colour attribute (see
4554 for possible values).
4560 will remove for the given colour type (the special type
4562 selects all) the given mapping; if the optional precondition argument is
4563 given only the exact tuple of mapping and precondition is removed.
4566 will remove all mappings (no precondition allowed), thus
4568 will remove all established mappings.
4573 .It Ic commandalias , uncommandalias
4574 \*(NQ Define or list, and remove, respectively, command aliases.
4575 An (command)alias can be used everywhere a normal command can be used,
4576 but always takes precedence: any arguments that are given to the command
4577 alias are joined onto the alias expansion, and the resulting string
4578 forms the command line that is, in effect, executed.
4579 The latter command removes all given aliases, the special name
4581 will remove all existing aliases.
4582 When used without arguments the former shows a list of all currently
4583 known aliases, with one argument only the expansion of the given one.
4585 With two or more arguments a command alias is defined or updated: the
4586 first argument is the name under which the remaining command line should
4587 be accessible, the content of which can be just about anything.
4588 An alias may itself expand to another alias, but to avoid expansion loops
4589 further expansion will be prevented if an alias refers to itself or if
4590 an expansion depth limit is reached.
4591 Explicit expansion prevention is available via reverse solidus
4594 .Sx "Command modifiers" .
4595 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4597 \*(uA: `commandalias': no such alias: xx
4598 ? commandalias xx echo hello,
4600 commandalias xx 'echo hello,'
4609 (C) Copy messages to files whose names are derived from the author of
4610 the respective message and do not mark them as being saved;
4611 otherwise identical to
4616 (c) Copy messages to the named file and do not mark them as being saved;
4617 otherwise identical to
4622 Show the name of the current working directory, as reported by
4627 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
4628 The return status is tracked via
4633 \*(OP For unencrypted messages this command is identical to
4635 Encrypted messages are first decrypted, if possible, and then copied.
4639 \*(OP For unencrypted messages this command is identical to
4641 Encrypted messages are first decrypted, if possible, and then copied.
4646 .It Ic define , undefine
4647 The latter command deletes the given macro, the special name
4649 will discard all existing macros.
4650 Deletion of (a) macro(s) can be performed from within running (a)
4651 macro(s), including self-deletion.
4652 Without arguments the former command prints the current list of macros,
4653 including their content, otherwise it it defines a macro, replacing an
4654 existing one of the same name as applicable.
4657 A defined macro can be invoked explicitly by using the
4662 commands, or implicitly if a macro hook is triggered, e.g., a
4664 Execution of a macro body can be stopped from within by calling
4668 Temporary macro block-scope variables can be created or deleted with the
4670 command modifier in conjunction with the commands
4675 To enforce unrolling of changes made to (global)
4676 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
4679 can be used instead; its covered scope depends on how (i.e.,
4681 normal macro, folder hook, hook,
4683 switch) the macro is invoked.
4688 ed macro, the given positional parameters are implicitly local
4689 to the macro's scope, and may be accessed via the variables
4695 and any other positive unsigned decimal number less than or equal to
4697 Positional parameters can be
4699 ed, or become completely replaced, removed etc. via
4702 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4712 echo Parameter 1 of ${#} is ${1}, all: ${*} / ${@}
4715 call exmac Hello macro exmac!
4716 echo ${?}/${!}/${^ERRNAME}
4722 .It Ic delete , undelete
4723 (d, u) Marks the given message list as being or not being
4725 respectively; if no argument has been specified then the usual search
4726 for a visible message is performed, as documented for
4727 .Sx "Message list arguments" ,
4728 showing only the next input prompt if the search fails.
4729 Deleted messages will neither be saved in the
4731 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
4733 nor will they be available for most other commands.
4736 variable is set, the new
4738 or the last message restored, respectively, is automatically
4748 Superseded by the multiplexer
4754 Delete the given messages and automatically
4758 if one exists, regardless of the setting of
4765 up or down by one message when given
4769 argument, respectively.
4773 .It Ic draft , undraft
4774 Take message lists and mark each given message as being draft, or not
4775 being draft, respectively, as documented in the section
4776 .Sx "Message states" .
4780 \*(NQ (ec) Echoes arguments to standard output and writes a trailing
4781 newline, whereas the otherwise identical
4784 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
4786 .Sx "Filename transformations"
4787 are applied to the expanded arguments.
4788 This command also supports
4791 .Sx "Command modifiers" ,
4792 and manages the error number
4794 if data is stored in a variable then the return value reflects the
4795 length of the result string in case of success and is
4803 except that is echoes to standard error.
4806 In interactive sessions the \*(OPal message ring queue for
4808 will be used instead, if available and
4816 but does not write or store a trailing newline.
4822 but does not write or store a trailing newline.
4828 at each message from the given list in turn.
4829 Modified contents are discarded unless the
4831 variable is set, and are not used unless the mailbox can be written to
4832 and the editor returns a successful exit status.
4834 can be used instead for a more display oriented editor.
4839 .Ic if Ns \0/\: Ic elif Ns \0/\: Ic else Ns \0/\: Ic endif
4840 conditional \(em if the condition of a preceding
4842 was false, check the following condition and execute the following block
4843 if it evaluates true.
4848 .Ic if Ns \0/\: Ic elif Ns \0/\: Ic else Ns \0/\: Ic endif
4849 conditional \(em if none of the conditions of the preceding
4853 commands was true, the
4859 (en) Marks the end of an
4860 .Ic if Ns \0/\: Ic elif Ns \0/\: Ic else Ns \0/\: Ic endif
4861 conditional execution block.
4866 \*(NQ \*(UA has a strict notion about which variables are
4867 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
4868 and which are managed in the program
4870 Since some of the latter are a vivid part of \*(UAs functioning,
4871 however, they are transparently integrated into the normal handling of
4872 internal variables via
4876 To integrate other environment variables of choice into this
4877 transparent handling, and also to export internal variables into the
4878 process environment where they normally are not, a
4880 needs to become established with this command, as in, e.g.,
4883 .Dl environ link PERL5LIB TZ
4886 Afterwards changing such variables with
4888 will cause automatic updates of the program environment, and therefore
4889 be inherited by newly created child processes.
4890 Sufficient system support provided (it was in BSD as early as 1987, and
4891 is standardized since Y2K) removing such variables with
4893 will remove them also from the program environment, but in any way
4894 the knowledge they ever have been
4897 Note that this implies that
4899 may cause loss of such links.
4904 will remove an existing link, but leaves the variables as such intact.
4905 Additionally the subcommands
4909 are provided, which work exactly the same as the documented commands
4913 but (additionally un)link the variable(s) with the program environment
4914 and thus immediately export them to, or remove them from (if possible),
4915 respectively, the program environment.
4920 \*(OP Since \*(UA uses the console as a user interface it can happen
4921 that messages scroll by too fast to become recognized.
4922 An error message ring queue is available which stores duplicates of any
4923 error message and notifies the user in interactive sessions whenever
4924 a new error has occurred.
4925 The queue is finite: if its maximum size is reached any new message
4926 replaces the eldest.
4929 can be used to manage this message queue: if given
4931 or no argument the queue will be displayed and cleared,
4933 will only clear all messages from the queue.
4937 \*(NQ Construct a command by concatenating the arguments, separated with
4938 a single space character, and then evaluate the result.
4939 This command passes through the exit status
4943 of the evaluated command; also see
4945 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4956 call yyy '\ecall xxx' "b\e$'\et'u ' "
4964 (ex or x) Exit from \*(UA without changing the active mailbox and skip
4965 any saving of messages in the
4967 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
4969 as well as a possibly tracked line editor
4971 The optional status number argument will be passed through to
4973 \*(ID For now it can happen that the given status will be overwritten,
4974 later this will only occur if a later error needs to be reported onto an
4975 otherwise success indicating status.
4981 but open the mailbox read-only.
4986 (fi) The file command switches to a new mailbox.
4987 Without arguments it shows status information of the current mailbox.
4988 If an argument is given, it will write out changes (such as deletions)
4989 the user has made, open a new mailbox, update the internal variables
4990 .Va mailbox-resolved
4992 .Va mailbox-display ,
4993 and optionally display a summary of
5000 .Sx "Filename transformations"
5001 will be applied to the
5005 prefixes are, i.e., URL syntax is understood, e.g.,
5006 .Ql maildir:///tmp/mdirbox :
5007 if a protocol prefix is used the mailbox type is fixated and neither
5008 the auto-detection (read on) nor the
5011 \*(OPally URLs can also be used to access network resources, which may
5012 be accessed securely via
5013 .Sx "Encrypted network communication"
5014 if so supported, and it is possible to proxy all network traffic over
5015 a SOCKS5 server given via
5019 .Dl \*(IN protocol://[user[:password]@]host[:port][/path]
5020 .Dl \*(OU protocol://[user@]host[:port][/path]
5023 \*(OPally supported network protocols are
5027 (POP3 with SSL/TLS encrypted transport),
5033 part is valid only for IMAP; there it defaults to
5035 Network URLs require a special encoding as documented in the section
5036 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" .
5039 If the resulting file protocol (MBOX database)
5041 is located on a local filesystem then the list of all registered
5043 s is traversed in order to see whether a transparent intermediate
5044 conversion step is necessary to handle the given mailbox, in which case
5045 \*(UA will use the found hook to load and save data into and from
5046 a temporary file, respectively.
5047 Changing hooks will not affect already opened mailboxes.
5048 For example, the following creates hooks for the
5050 compression tool and a combined compressed and encrypted format:
5052 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5054 gzip 'gzip -dc' 'gzip -c' \e
5055 zst.pgp 'gpg -d | zstd -dc' 'zstd -19 -zc | gpg -e'
5059 MBOX database files are generally locked during file operations in order
5060 to avoid inconsistencies due to concurrent modifications.
5061 \*(OPal Mailbox files which \*(UA treats as the system
5066 .Sx "primary system mailbox" Ns
5067 es in general will also be protected by so-called dotlock files, the
5068 traditional way of mail spool file locking: for any file
5072 will be created for the duration of the synchronization \(em
5073 as necessary a privilege-separated dotlock child process will be used
5074 to accommodate for necessary privilege adjustments in order to create
5075 the dotlock file in the same directory
5076 and with the same user and group identities as the file of interest.
5077 Possible dotlock creation errors can be catched by setting
5078 .Va dotlock-ignore-error .
5081 \*(UA by default uses tolerant POSIX rules when reading MBOX database
5082 files, but it will detect invalid message boundaries in this mode and
5083 complain (even more with
5085 if any is seen: in this case
5087 can be used to create a valid MBOX database from the invalid input.
5090 If no protocol has been fixated, and
5092 refers to a directory with the subdirectories
5097 then it is treated as a folder in
5100 The maildir format stores each message in its own file, and has been
5101 designed so that file locking is not necessary when reading or writing
5105 \*(ID If no protocol has been fixated and no existing file has
5106 been found, the variable
5108 controls the format of mailboxes yet to be created.
5113 .It Ic filetype , unfiletype
5114 \*(NQ Define or list, and remove, respectively, file handler hooks,
5115 which provide (shell) commands that enable \*(UA to load and save MBOX
5116 files from and to files with the registered file extensions;
5117 it will use an intermediate temporary file to store the plain data.
5118 The latter command removes the hooks for all given extensions,
5120 will remove all existing handlers.
5122 When used without arguments the former shows a list of all currently
5123 defined file hooks, with one argument the expansion of the given alias.
5124 Otherwise three arguments are expected, the first specifying the file
5125 extension for which the hook is meant, and the second and third defining
5126 the load- and save commands, respectively, to deal with the file type,
5127 both of which must read from standard input and write to standard
5129 Changing hooks will not affect already opened mailboxes (\*(ID except below).
5130 \*(ID For now too much work is done, and files are oftened read in twice
5131 where once would be sufficient: this can cause problems if a filetype is
5132 changed while such a file is opened; this was already so with the
5133 built-in support of .gz etc. in Heirloom, and will vanish in v15.
5134 \*(ID For now all handler strings are passed to the
5135 .Ev SHELL for evaluation purposes; in the future a
5137 prefix to load and save commands may mean to bypass this shell instance:
5138 placing a leading space will avoid any possible misinterpretations.
5139 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5140 ? filetype bz2 'bzip2 -dc' 'bzip2 -zc' \e
5141 gz 'gzip -dc' 'gzip -c' xz 'xz -dc' 'xz -zc' \e
5142 zst 'zstd -dc' 'zstd -19 -zc' \e
5143 zst.pgp 'gpg -d | zstd -dc' 'zstd -19 -zc | gpg -e'
5144 ? set record=+sent.zst.pgp
5149 .It Ic flag , unflag
5150 Take message lists and mark the messages as being flagged, or not being
5151 flagged, respectively, for urgent/special attention.
5153 .Sx "Message states" .
5162 With no arguments, list the names of the folders in the folder directory.
5163 With an existing folder as an argument,
5164 lists the names of folders below the named folder.
5170 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
5171 recipient's address (instead of in
5178 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
5179 recipient's address (instead of in
5186 but responds to all recipients regardless of the
5191 .It Ic followupsender
5194 but responds to the sender only regardless of the
5202 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the
5203 recipient's address (instead of in
5208 Takes a message and the address of a recipient
5209 and forwards the message to him.
5210 The text of the original message is included in the new one,
5211 with the value of the
5212 .Va forward-inject-head
5213 variable preceding it.
5214 To filter the included header fields to the desired subset use the
5216 slot of the white- and blacklisting command
5218 Only the first part of a multipart message is included unless
5219 .Va forward-as-attachment ,
5220 and recipient addresses will be stripped from comments, names
5221 etc. unless the internal variable
5225 This may generate the errors
5226 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
5227 if no receiver has been specified,
5229 if some addressees where rejected by
5232 if no applicable messages have been given,
5234 if multiple messages have been specified,
5236 if an I/O error occurs,
5238 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
5244 (f) Takes a list of message specifications and displays a summary of
5245 their message headers, exactly as via
5247 making the first message of the result the new
5249 (the last message if
5252 An alias of this command is
5255 .Sx "Specifying messages" .
5266 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
5270 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
5273 .It Ic ghost , unghost
5276 .Ic uncommandalias .
5280 .It Ic headerpick , unheaderpick
5281 \*(NQ Multiplexer command to manage white- and blacklisting
5282 selections of header fields for a variety of applications.
5283 Without arguments the set of contexts that have settings is displayed.
5284 When given arguments, the first argument is the context to which the
5285 command applies, one of (case-insensitive)
5287 for display purposes (via, e.g.,
5290 for selecting which headers shall be stored persistently when
5296 ing messages (note that MIME related etc. header fields should not be
5297 ignored in order to not destroy usability of the message in this case),
5299 for stripping down messages when
5301 ing message (has no effect if
5302 .Va forward-as-attachment
5305 for defining user-defined set of fields for the command
5308 The current settings of the given context are displayed if it is the
5310 A second argument denotes the type of restriction that is to be chosen,
5311 it may be (a case-insensitive prefix of)
5315 for white- and blacklisting purposes, respectively.
5316 Establishing a whitelist suppresses inspection of the corresponding
5319 If no further argument is given the current settings of the given type
5320 will be displayed, otherwise the remaining arguments specify header
5321 fields, which \*(OPally may be given as regular expressions, to be added
5323 The special wildcard field (asterisk,
5325 will establish a (fast) shorthand setting which covers all fields.
5327 The latter command always takes three or more arguments and can be used
5328 to remove selections, i.e., from the given context, the given type of
5329 list, all the given headers will be removed, the special argument
5331 will remove all headers.
5335 (h) Show the current group of headers, the size of which depends on
5338 and the style of which can be adjusted with the variable
5340 If a message-specification is given the group of headers containing the
5341 first message therein is shown and the message at the top of the screen
5344 the last message is targeted if
5355 \*(OP Without arguments or when given
5357 all history entries are shown (this mode also supports a more
5361 will replace the list of entries with the content of
5365 will dump the current list to said file, replacing former content.
5367 will delete all history entries.
5368 The argument can also be a signed decimal
5370 which will select and evaluate the respective history entry, and move it
5371 to the top of the history; a negative number is used as an offset to the
5372 current command, e.g.,
5374 will select the last command, the history top.
5376 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor"
5377 for more on this topic.
5383 Takes a message list and marks each message therein to be saved in the
5388 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
5390 Does not override the
5393 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command, because a
5395 command issued after
5397 will display the following message, not the current one.
5402 (i) Part of the nestable
5403 .Ic if Ns \0/\: Ic elif Ns \0/\: Ic else Ns \0/\: Ic endif
5404 conditional execution construct \(em if the given condition is true then
5405 the encapsulated block is executed.
5406 The POSIX standards supports the (case-insensitive) conditions
5411 end, all remaining conditions are non-portable extensions.
5412 \*(ID These commands do not yet use
5413 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
5414 and therefore do not know about input tokens, so that syntax
5415 elements have to be surrounded by whitespace; in v15 \*(UA will inspect
5416 all conditions bracket group wise and consider the tokens, representing
5417 values and operators, therein, which also means that variables will
5418 already have been expanded at that time (just like in the shell).
5420 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5429 The (case-insensitive) condition
5431 erminal will evaluate to true if the standard input is a terminal, i.e.,
5432 in interactive sessions.
5433 Another condition can be any boolean value (see the section
5434 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
5435 for textual boolean representations) to mark an enwrapped block as
5438 .Dq always execute .
5439 (It shall be remarked that a faulty condition skips all branches until
5444 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
5445 will be used, and this command will simply interpret expanded tokens.)
5446 It is possible to check
5447 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
5450 variables for existence or compare their expansion against a user given
5451 value or another variable by using the
5453 .Pf ( Dq variable next )
5454 conditional trigger character;
5455 a variable on the right hand side may be signalled using the same
5457 Variable names may be enclosed in a pair of matching braces.
5458 When this mode has been triggered, several operators are available:
5461 Integer operators treat the arguments on the left and right hand side of
5462 the operator as integral numbers and compare them arithmetically.
5463 It is an error if any of the operands is not a valid integer, an empty
5464 argument (which implies it had been quoted) is treated as if it were 0.
5465 Available operators are
5469 (less than or equal to),
5475 (greater than or equal to), and
5480 String data operators compare the left and right hand side according to
5481 their textual content.
5482 Unset variables are treated as the empty string.
5483 The behaviour of string operators can be adjusted by prefixing the
5484 operator with the modifier trigger commercial at
5486 followed by none to multiple modifiers: for now supported is
5488 which turns the comparison into a case-insensitive one: this is
5489 implied if no modifier follows the trigger.
5492 Available string operators are
5496 (less than or equal to),
5502 (greater than or equal to),
5506 (is substring of) and
5508 (is not substring of).
5509 By default these operators work on bytes and (therefore) do not take
5510 into account character set specifics.
5511 If the case-insensitivity modifier has been used, case is ignored
5512 according to the rules of the US-ASCII encoding, i.e., bytes are
5516 When the \*(OPal regular expression support is available, the additional
5522 They treat the right hand side as an extended regular expression that is
5523 matched according to the active locale (see
5524 .Sx "Character sets" ) ,
5525 i.e., character sets should be honoured correctly.
5528 Conditions can be joined via AND-OR lists (where the AND operator is
5530 and the OR operator is
5532 which have equal precedence and will be evaluated with left
5533 associativity, thus using the same syntax that is known for the
5535 It is also possible to form groups of conditions and lists by enclosing
5536 them in pairs of brackets
5537 .Ql [\ \&.\&.\&.\ ] ,
5538 which may be interlocked within each other, and also be joined via
5542 The results of individual conditions and entire groups may be modified
5543 via unary operators: the unary operator
5545 will reverse the result.
5547 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5548 # (This not in v15, there [ -n "$debug"]!)
5552 if [ "$ttycharset" == UTF-8 ] || \e
5553 [ "$ttycharset" @i== UTF8 ]
5554 echo *ttycharset* is UTF-8, the former case-sensitive!
5557 if [ "${t1}" == "${t2}" ]
5558 echo These two variables are equal
5560 if [ "$features" =% +regex ] && \e
5561 [ "$TERM" @i=~ "^xterm\&.*" ]
5562 echo ..in an X terminal
5564 if [ [ true ] && [ [ "${debug}" != '' ] || \e
5565 [ "$verbose" != '' ] ] ]
5568 if true && [ "$debug" != '' ] || [ "${verbose}" != '' ]
5569 echo Left associativity, as is known from the shell
5578 Superseded by the multiplexer
5583 Shows the names of all available commands, alphabetically sorted.
5584 If given any non-whitespace argument the list will be shown in the order
5585 in which command prefixes are searched.
5586 \*(OP In conjunction with a set variable
5588 additional information will be provided for each command: the argument
5589 type will be indicated, the documentation string will be shown,
5590 and the set of command flags will show up:
5592 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql NEEDS_BOX"
5594 command supports the command modifier
5597 command supports the command modifier
5600 the error number is tracked in
5603 commands needs an active mailbox, a
5605 .It Ql "ok: batch/interactive"
5606 command may only be used in interactive or
5609 .It Ql "ok: send mode"
5610 command can be used in send mode.
5611 .It Ql "not ok: compose mode"
5612 command is not available when in compose mode.
5613 .It Ql "not ok: startup"
5614 command cannot be used during program startup, e.g., while loading
5615 .Sx "Resource files" .
5616 .It Ql "ok: subprocess"
5617 command is allowed to be used when running in a subprocess instance,
5618 e.g., from within a macro that is called via
5619 .Va on-compose-splice .
5621 The command produces
5630 This command can be used to localize changes to (linked)
5633 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
5634 meaning that their state will be reverted to the former one once the
5637 Just like the command modifier
5639 which provides block-scope localization for some commands (instead),
5640 it can only be used inside of macro definition blocks introduced by
5644 The covered scope of an
5646 is left once a different account is activated, and some macros, notably
5647 .Va folder-hook Ns s ,
5648 use their own specific notion of covered scope, here it will be extended
5649 until the folder is left again.
5652 This setting stacks up: i.e., if
5654 enables change localization and calls
5656 which explicitly resets localization, then any value changes within
5658 will still be reverted when the scope of
5661 (Caveats: if in this example
5663 changes to a different
5665 which sets some variables that are already covered by localizations,
5666 their scope will be extended, and in fact leaving the
5668 will (thus) restore settings in (likely) global scope which actually
5669 were defined in a local, macro private context!)
5672 This command takes one or two arguments, the optional first one
5673 specifies an attribute that may be one of
5675 which refers to the current scope and is thus the default,
5677 which causes any macro that is being
5679 ed to be started with localization enabled by default, as well as
5681 which (if enabled) disallows any called macro to turn off localization:
5682 like this it can be ensured that once the current scope regains control,
5683 any changes made in deeper levels have been reverted.
5684 The latter two are mutually exclusive, and neither affects
5686 The (second) argument is interpreted as a boolean (string, see
5687 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" )
5688 and states whether the given attribute shall be turned on or off.
5690 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5691 define temporary_settings {
5692 set possibly_global_option1
5694 set localized_option1
5695 set localized_option2
5697 set possibly_global_option2
5704 Reply to messages that come in via known
5707 .Pf ( Ic mlsubscribe )
5708 mailing lists, or pretend to do so (see
5709 .Sx "Mailing lists" ) :
5712 functionality this will actively resort and even remove message
5713 recipients in order to generate a message that is supposed to be sent to
5715 For example it will also implicitly generate a
5716 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
5717 header if that seems useful, regardless of the setting of the variable
5719 For more documentation please refer to
5720 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
5722 This may generate the errors
5723 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
5724 if no receiver has been specified,
5726 if some addressees where rejected by
5729 if no applicable messages have been given,
5731 if an I/O error occurs,
5733 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
5736 Any error stops processing of further messages.
5742 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
5743 recipient's address (instead of in
5748 (m) Takes a (list of) recipient address(es) as (an) argument(s),
5749 or asks on standard input if none were given;
5750 then collects the remaining mail content and sends it out.
5751 Unless the internal variable
5753 is set recipient addresses will be stripped from comments, names etc.
5754 For more documentation please refer to
5755 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
5757 This may generate the errors
5758 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
5759 if no receiver has been specified,
5761 if some addressees where rejected by
5764 if no applicable messages have been given,
5766 if multiple messages have been specified,
5768 if an I/O error occurs,
5770 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
5776 (mb) The given message list is to be sent to the
5778 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
5780 when \*(UA is quit; this is the default action unless the variable
5783 \*(ID This command can only be used in a
5785 .Sx "primary system mailbox" .
5789 .It Ic mimetype , unmimetype
5790 Without arguments the content of the MIME type cache will displayed;
5791 a more verbose listing will be produced if either of
5796 When given arguments they will be joined, interpreted as shown in
5797 .Sx "The mime.types files"
5799 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ) ,
5800 and the resulting entry will be added (prepended) to the cache.
5801 In any event MIME type sources are loaded first as necessary \(en
5802 .Va mimetypes-load-control
5803 can be used to fine-tune which sources are actually loaded.
5805 The latter command deletes all specifications of the given MIME type, thus
5806 .Ql ? unmimetype text/plain
5807 will remove all registered specifications for the MIME type
5811 will discard all existing MIME types, just as will
5813 but which also reenables cache initialization via
5814 .Va mimetypes-load-control .
5818 .It Ic mlist , unmlist
5819 The latter command removes all given mailing-lists, the special name
5821 can be used to remove all registered lists.
5822 The former will list all currently defined mailing lists (and their
5823 attributes, if any) when used without arguments; a more verbose listing
5824 will be produced if either of
5829 Otherwise all given arguments will be added and henceforth be recognized
5831 If the \*(OPal regular expression support is available then any argument
5832 which contains any of the
5834 regular expression characters
5838 will be interpreted as one, which allows matching of many addresses with
5839 a single expression.
5842 pair of commands manages subscription attributes of mailing-lists.
5846 \*(ID Only available in interactive mode, this command allows one to
5847 display MIME parts which require external MIME handler programs to run
5848 which do not integrate in \*(UAs normal
5851 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ) .
5852 (\*(ID No syntax to directly address parts, this restriction may vanish.)
5853 The user will be asked for each non-text part of the given message in
5854 turn whether the registered handler shall be used to display the part.
5858 .It Ic mlsubscribe , unmlsubscribe
5859 The latter command removes the subscription attribute from all given
5860 mailing-lists, the special name
5862 can be used to do so for any registered list.
5863 The former will list all currently defined mailing lists which have
5864 a subscription attribute when used without arguments; a more verbose
5865 listing will be produced if either of
5870 Otherwise this attribute will be set for all given mailing lists,
5871 newly creating them as necessary (as via
5880 but moves the messages to a file named after the local part of the
5881 sender address of the first message (instead of in
5888 but marks the messages for deletion if they were transferred
5895 but also displays header fields which would not pass the
5897 selection, and all MIME parts.
5905 on the given messages, even in non-interactive mode and as long as the
5906 standard output is a terminal.
5912 \*(OP When used without arguments or if
5914 has been given the content of the
5916 cache is shown, loading it first as necessary.
5919 then the cache will only be initialized and
5921 will remove its contents.
5922 Note that \*(UA will try to load the file only once, use
5923 .Ql Ic \&\&netrc Ns \:\0\:clear
5924 to unlock further attempts.
5929 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" ;
5931 .Sx "The .netrc file"
5932 documents the file format in detail.
5936 Checks for new mail in the current folder without committing any changes
5938 If new mail is present, a message is shown.
5942 the headers of each new message are also shown.
5943 This command is not available for all mailbox types.
5951 Goes to the next message in sequence and types it.
5952 With an argument list, types the next matching message.
5966 If the current folder is accessed via a network connection, a
5968 command is sent, otherwise no operation is performed.
5974 but also displays header fields which would not pass the
5976 selection, and all MIME parts.
5984 on the given messages, even in non-interactive mode and as long as the
5985 standard output is a terminal.
5993 but also pipes header fields which would not pass the
5995 selection, and all parts of MIME
5996 .Ql multipart/alternative
6001 (pi) Takes a message list and a shell command
6002 and pipes the messages through the command.
6003 Without an argument the current message is piped through the command
6010 every message is followed by a formfeed character.
6031 (q) Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in
6034 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
6036 preserving all messages marked with
6040 or never referenced in the system
6042 and removing all other messages from the
6044 .Sx "primary system mailbox" .
6045 If new mail has arrived during the session,
6047 .Dq You have new mail
6049 If given while editing a mailbox file with the command line option
6051 then the edit file is rewritten.
6052 A return to the shell is effected,
6053 unless the rewrite of edit file fails,
6054 in which case the user can escape with the exit command.
6055 The optional status number argument will be passed through to
6057 \*(ID For now it can happen that the given status will be overwritten,
6058 later this will only occur if a later error needs to be reported onto an
6059 otherwise success indicating status.
6063 \*(NQ Read a line from standard input, or the channel set active via
6065 and assign the data, which will be split as indicated by
6067 to the given variables.
6068 The variable names are checked by the same rules as documented for
6070 and the same error codes will be seen in
6074 indicates the number of bytes read, it will be
6076 with the error number
6080 in case of I/O errors, or
6083 If there are more fields than variables, assigns successive fields to the
6084 last given variable.
6085 If there are less fields than variables, assigns the empty string to the
6087 .Bd -literal -offset indent
6090 ? echo "<$a> <$b> <$c>"
6092 ? wysh set ifs=:; read a b c;unset ifs
6093 hey2.0,:"'you ",:world!:mars.:
6094 ? echo $?/$^ERRNAME / <$a><$b><$c>
6095 0/NONE / <hey2.0,><"'you ",><world!:mars.:><><>
6100 \*(NQ Read anything from standard input, or the channel set active via
6102 and assign the data to the given variable.
6103 The variable name is checked by the same rules as documented for
6105 and the same error codes will be seen in
6109 indicates the number of bytes read, it will be
6111 with the error number
6115 in case of I/O errors, or
6118 \*(ID The input data length is restricted to 31-bits.
6122 \*(NQ Manages input channels for
6126 to be used to avoid complicated or impracticable code, like calling
6128 from within a macro in non-interactive mode.
6129 Without arguments, or when the first argument is
6131 a listing of all known channels is printed.
6132 Channels can otherwise be
6134 d, and existing channels can be
6138 d by giving the string used for creation.
6140 The channel name is expected to be a file descriptor number, or,
6141 if parsing the numeric fails, an input file name that undergoes
6142 .Sx "Filename transformations" .
6143 E.g. (this example requires a modern shell):
6144 .Bd -literal -offset indent
6145 $ LC_ALL=C printf 'echon "hey, "\enread a\enyou\enecho $a' |\e
6148 $ LC_ALL=C printf 'echon "hey, "\enread a\enecho $a' |\e
6149 LC_ALL=C 6<<< 'you' \*(uA -R#X'readctl create 6'
6163 Removes the named files or directories.
6164 .Sx "Filename transformations"
6165 including shell pathname wildcard pattern expansions
6167 are performed on the arguments.
6168 If a name refer to a mailbox, e.g., a Maildir mailbox, then a mailbox
6169 type specific removal will be performed, deleting the complete mailbox.
6170 The user is asked for confirmation in interactive mode.
6174 Takes the name of an existing folder
6175 and the name for the new folder
6176 and renames the first to the second one.
6177 .Sx "Filename transformations"
6178 including shell pathname wildcard pattern expansions
6180 are performed on both arguments.
6181 Both folders must be of the same type.
6185 (R) Replies to only the sender of each message of the given message
6186 list, by using the first message as the template to quote, for the
6190 will exchange this command with
6192 Unless the internal variable
6194 is set the recipient address will be stripped from comments, names etc.
6196 headers will be inspected if
6200 This may generate the errors
6201 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
6202 if no receiver has been specified,
6204 if some addressees where rejected by
6207 if no applicable messages have been given,
6209 if an I/O error occurs,
6211 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
6217 (r) Take a message and group-responds to it by addressing the sender
6218 and all recipients, subject to
6222 .Va followup-to-honour ,
6225 .Va recipients-in-cc
6226 influence response behaviour.
6227 Unless the internal variable
6229 is set recipient addresses will be stripped from comments, names etc.
6239 offers special support for replying to mailing lists.
6240 For more documentation please refer to
6241 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
6243 This may generate the errors
6244 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
6245 if no receiver has been specified,
6247 if some addressees where rejected by
6250 if no applicable messages have been given,
6252 if an I/O error occurs,
6254 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
6257 Any error stops processing of further messages.
6263 but initiates a group-reply regardless of the value of
6270 but responds to the sender only regardless of the value of
6277 but does not add any header lines.
6278 This is not a way to hide the sender's identity,
6279 but useful for sending a message again to the same recipients.
6283 Takes a list of messages and a user name
6284 and sends each message to the named user.
6286 and related header fields are prepended to the new copy of the message.
6289 is only performed if
6293 This may generate the errors
6294 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
6295 if no receiver has been specified,
6297 if some addressees where rejected by
6300 if no applicable messages have been given,
6302 if an I/O error occurs,
6304 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
6307 Any error stops processing of further messages.
6325 .It Ic respondsender
6331 (ret) Superseded by the multiplexer
6336 Only available inside the scope of a
6340 this will stop evaluation of any further macro content, and return
6341 execution control to the caller.
6342 The two optional parameters must be specified as positive decimal
6343 numbers and default to the value 0:
6344 the first argument specifies the signed 32-bit return value (stored in
6346 \*(ID and later extended to signed 64-bit),
6347 the second the signed 32-bit error number (stored in
6351 a non-0 exit status may cause the program to exit.
6357 but saves the messages in a file named after the local part of the
6358 sender of the first message instead of (in
6360 and) taking a filename argument; the variable
6362 is inspected to decide on the actual storage location.
6366 (s) Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in turn
6367 to the end of the file.
6368 .Sx "Filename transformations"
6369 including shell pathname wildcard pattern expansions
6371 is performed on the filename.
6372 If no filename is given, the
6374 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
6377 The filename in quotes, followed by the generated character count
6378 is echoed on the user's terminal.
6381 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
6382 the messages are marked for deletion.
6383 .Sx "Filename transformations"
6385 To filter the saved header fields to the desired subset use the
6387 slot of the white- and blacklisting command
6391 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
6395 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
6399 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
6404 Takes a message specification (list) and displays a header summary of
6405 all matching messages, as via
6407 This command is an alias of
6410 .Sx "Specifying messages" .
6414 Takes a message list and marks all messages as having been read.
6420 (se, \*(NQ uns) The latter command will delete all given global
6421 variables, or only block-scope local ones if the
6423 command modifier has been used.
6424 The former, when used without arguments, will show all
6425 currently known variables, being more verbose if either of
6430 Remarks: this list mode will not automatically link-in known
6432 variables, but only explicit addressing will, e.g., via
6434 using a variable in an
6436 condition or a string passed to
6440 ting, as well as some program-internal use cases.
6443 Otherwise the given variables (and arguments) are set or adjusted.
6444 Arguments are of the form
6446 (no space before or after
6450 if there is no value, i.e., a boolean variable.
6451 If a name begins with
6455 the effect is the same as invoking the
6457 command with the remaining part of the variable
6458 .Pf ( Ql unset save ) .
6459 \*(ID In conjunction with the
6461 .Pf (or\0 Cm local )
6463 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
6464 can be used to quote arguments as necessary.
6465 \*(ID Otherwise quotation marks may be placed around any part of the
6466 assignment statement to quote blanks or tabs.
6469 When operating in global scope any
6471 that is known to map to an environment variable will automatically cause
6472 updates in the program environment (unsetting a variable in the
6473 environment requires corresponding system support) \(em use the command
6475 for further environmental control.
6476 If the command modifier
6478 has been used to alter the command to work in block-scope all variables
6479 have values (may they be empty), and creation of names which shadow
6480 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
6481 is actively prevented (\*(ID shadowing of linked
6483 variables and free-form versions of variable chains is not yet detected).
6488 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
6492 .Bd -literal -offset indent
6493 ? wysh set indentprefix=' -> '
6494 ? wysh set atab=$'\t' aspace=' ' zero=0
6500 Apply shell quoting rules to the given raw-data arguments.
6504 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
6505 The first argument specifies the operation:
6509 cause shell quoting to be applied to the remains of the line, and
6510 expanded away thereof, respectively.
6511 If the former is prefixed with a plus-sign, the quoted result will not
6512 be roundtrip enabled, and thus can be decoded only in the very same
6513 environment that was used to perform the encode; also see
6514 .Cd mle-quote-rndtrip .
6515 If the coding operation fails the error number
6518 .Va ^ERR Ns -CANCELED ,
6519 and the unmodified input is used as the result; the error number may
6520 change again due to output or result storage errors.
6524 \*(NQ (sh) Invokes an interactive version of the shell,
6525 and returns its exit status.
6529 .It Ic shortcut , unshortcut
6530 Without arguments the list of all currently defined shortcuts is
6531 shown, with one argument the expansion of the given shortcut.
6532 Otherwise all given arguments are treated as pairs of shortcuts and
6533 their expansions, creating new or changing already existing shortcuts,
6535 The latter command will remove all given shortcuts, the special name
6537 will remove all registered shortcuts.
6541 \*(NQ Shift the positional parameter stack (starting at
6543 by the given number (which must be a positive decimal),
6544 or 1 if no argument has been given.
6545 It is an error if the value exceeds the number of positional parameters.
6546 If the given number is 0, no action is performed, successfully.
6547 The stack as such can be managed via
6549 Note this command will fail in
6551 and hook macros unless the positional parameter stack has been
6552 explicitly created in the current context via
6559 but performs neither MIME decoding nor decryption, so that the raw
6560 message text is shown.
6564 (si) Shows the size in characters of each message of the given
6569 \*(NQ Sleep for the specified number of seconds (and optionally
6570 milliseconds), by default interruptably.
6571 If a third argument is given the sleep will be uninterruptible,
6572 otherwise the error number
6576 if the sleep has been interrupted.
6577 The command will fail and the error number will be
6578 .Va ^ERR Ns -OVERFLOW
6579 if the given duration(s) overflow the time datatype, and
6581 if the given durations are no valid integers.
6586 .It Ic sort , unsort
6587 The latter command disables sorted or threaded mode, returns to normal
6588 message order and, if the
6591 displays a header summary.
6592 The former command shows the current sorting criterion when used without
6593 an argument, but creates a sorted representation of the current folder
6594 otherwise, and changes the
6596 command and the addressing modes such that they refer to messages in
6598 Message numbers are the same as in regular mode.
6602 a header summary in the new order is also displayed.
6603 Automatic folder sorting can be enabled by setting the
6605 variable, as in, e.g.,
6606 .Ql set autosort=thread .
6607 Possible sorting criterions are:
6610 .Bl -tag -compact -width "subject"
6612 Sort the messages by their
6614 field, that is by the time they were sent.
6616 Sort messages by the value of their
6618 field, that is by the address of the sender.
6621 variable is set, the sender's real name (if any) is used.
6623 Sort the messages by their size.
6625 \*(OP Sort the message by their spam score, as has been classified by
6628 Sort the messages by their message status.
6630 Sort the messages by their subject.
6632 Create a threaded display.
6634 Sort messages by the value of their
6636 field, that is by the address of the recipient.
6639 variable is set, the recipient's real name (if any) is used.
6645 \*(NQ (so) The source command reads commands from the given file.
6646 .Sx "Filename transformations"
6648 If the given expanded argument ends with a vertical bar
6650 then the argument will instead be interpreted as a shell command and
6651 \*(UA will read the output generated by it.
6652 Dependent on the settings of
6656 and also dependent on whether the command modifier
6658 had been used, encountering errors will stop sourcing of the given input.
6661 cannot be used from within macros that execute as
6662 .Va folder-hook Ns s
6665 i.e., it can only be called from macros that were
6670 \*(NQ The difference to
6672 (beside not supporting pipe syntax aka shell command input) is that
6673 this command will not generate an error nor warn if the given file
6674 argument cannot be opened successfully.
6678 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and clears their
6684 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and causes the
6686 to forget it has ever used them to train its Bayesian filter.
6687 Unless otherwise noted the
6689 flag of the message is inspected to chose whether a message shall be
6697 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and informs the Bayesian filter of the
6701 This also clears the
6703 flag of the messages in question.
6707 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and rates them using the configured
6708 .Va spam-interface ,
6709 without modifying the messages, but setting their
6711 flag as appropriate; because the spam rating headers are lost the rate
6712 will be forgotten once the mailbox is left.
6713 Refer to the manual section
6715 for the complete picture of spam handling in \*(UA.
6719 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and sets their
6725 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and informs the Bayesian filter of the
6731 flag of the messages in question.
6747 slot for white- and blacklisting header fields.
6751 (to) Takes a message list and types out the first
6753 lines of each message on the users' terminal.
6754 Unless a special selection has been established for the
6758 command, the only header fields that are displayed are
6769 It is possible to apply compression to what is displayed by setting
6771 Messages are decrypted and converted to the terminal character set
6776 (tou) Takes a message list and marks the messages for saving in the
6778 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
6780 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command,
6783 command will display the following message instead of the current one.
6789 but also displays header fields which would not pass the
6791 selection, and all visualizable parts of MIME
6792 .Ql multipart/alternative
6797 (t) Takes a message list and types out each message on the users terminal.
6798 The display of message headers is selectable via
6800 For MIME multipart messages, all parts with a content type of
6802 all parts which have a registered MIME type handler (see
6803 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" )
6804 which produces plain text output, and all
6806 parts are shown, others are hidden except for their headers.
6807 Messages are decrypted and converted to the terminal character set
6811 can be used to display parts which are not displayable as plain text.
6854 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
6858 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
6863 Superseded by the multiplexer
6874 .It Ic unmlsubscribe
6885 Takes a message list and marks each message as not having been read.
6889 Superseded by the multiplexer
6893 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
6897 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
6919 Perform URL percent codec operations on the raw-data argument, rather
6920 according to RFC 3986.
6924 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) ,
6925 and manages the error number
6927 This is a character set agnostic and thus locale dependent operation,
6928 and it may decode bytes which are invalid in the current
6930 \*(ID This command does not know about URLs beside that.
6932 The first argument specifies the operation:
6936 perform plain URL percent en- and decoding, respectively.
6940 perform a slightly modified operation which should be better for
6941 pathnames: it does not allow a tilde
6943 and will neither accept hyphen-minus
6947 as an initial character.
6948 The remains of the line form the URL data which is to be converted.
6949 If the coding operation fails the error number
6952 .Va ^ERR Ns -CANCELED ,
6953 and the unmodified input is used as the result; the error number may
6954 change again due to output or result storage errors.
6958 \*(NQ Edit the values of or create the given variable(s) in the
6960 Boolean variables cannot be edited, and variables can also not be
6966 \*(NQ This command produces the same output as the listing mode of
6970 ity adjustments, but only for the given variables.
6974 \*(OP Takes a message list and verifies each message.
6975 If a message is not a S/MIME signed message,
6976 verification will fail for it.
6977 The verification process checks if the message was signed using a valid
6979 if the message sender's email address matches one of those contained
6980 within the certificate,
6981 and if the message content has been altered.
6989 of \*(UA, as well as the build and running system environment.
6993 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
6998 \*(NQ Evaluate arguments according to a given operator.
6999 This is a multiplexer command which can be used to perform signed 64-bit
7000 numeric calculations as well as byte string and string operations.
7001 It uses polish notation, i.e., the operator is the first argument and
7002 defines the number and type, and the meaning of the remaining arguments.
7003 An empty argument is replaced with a 0 if a number is expected.
7007 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
7010 The result that is shown in case of errors is always
7012 for usage errors and numeric operations, and the empty string for byte
7013 string and string operations;
7014 if the latter two fail to provide result data for
7016 errors, e.g., when a search operation failed, they also set the
7019 .Va ^ERR Ns -NODATA .
7020 Except when otherwise noted numeric arguments are parsed as signed 64-bit
7021 numbers, and errors will be reported in the error number
7023 as the numeric error
7024 .Va ^ERR Ns -RANGE .
7027 Numeric operations work on one or two signed 64-bit integers.
7028 Numbers prefixed with
7032 are interpreted as hexadecimal (base 16) numbers, whereas
7034 indicates octal (base 8), and
7038 denote binary (base 2) numbers.
7039 It is possible to use any base in between 2 and 36, inclusive, with the
7041 notation, where the base is given as an unsigned decimal number, e.g.,
7043 is a different way of specifying a hexadecimal number.
7044 Unsigned interpretation of a number can be enforced by prefixing a
7046 (case-insensitively), e.g.,
7048 this is not necessary for power-of-two bases (2, 4, 8, 16 and 32),
7049 which will be interpreted as unsigned by default, but it still makes
7050 a difference regarding overflow detection and overflow constant.
7051 It is possible to enforce signed interpretation by (instead) prefixing a
7053 (case-insensitively).
7056 One integer is expected by assignment (equals sign
7058 which does nothing but parsing the argument, thus detecting validity and
7059 possible overflow conditions, and unary not (tilde
7061 which creates the bitwise complement.
7062 Two integers are used by addition (plus sign
7064 subtraction (hyphen-minus
7066 multiplication (asterisk
7070 and modulo (percent sign
7072 as well as for the bitwise operators logical or (vertical bar
7075 bitwise and (ampersand
7078 bitwise xor (circumflex
7080 the bitwise signed left- and right shifts
7083 as well as for the unsigned right shift
7087 Another numeric operation is
7089 which takes a number base in between 2 and 36, inclusive, and will act
7090 on the second number given just the same as what equals sign
7092 does, but the number result will be formatted in the base given.
7095 All numeric operators can be prefixed with a commercial at
7099 this will turn the operation into a saturated one, which means that
7100 overflow errors and division and modulo by zero are no longer reported
7101 via the exit status, but the result will linger at the minimum or
7102 maximum possible value, instead of overflowing (or trapping).
7103 This is true also for the argument parse step.
7104 For the bitwise shifts, the saturated maximum is 63.
7105 Any caught overflow will be reported via the error number
7108 .Va ^ERR Ns -OVERFLOW .
7109 .Bd -literal -offset indent
7110 ? vexpr @- +1 -9223372036854775808
7111 ? echo $?/$!/$^ERRNAME
7115 Character set agnostic string functions have no notion of locale
7116 settings and character sets.
7118 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm random"
7121 .Sx "Filename transformations"
7124 Generates a random string of the given length, or of
7126 bytes (a constant from
7128 if the value 0 is given; the random string will be base64url encoded
7129 according to RFC 4648, and thus be usable as a (portable) filename.
7133 Byte string operations work on 8-bit bytes and have no notion of locale
7134 settings and character sets, effectively assuming ASCII data.
7137 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm length"
7139 Queries the length of the given argument.
7142 Calculates the Chris Torek hash of the given argument.
7145 Byte-searches in the first for the second argument.
7146 Shows the resulting 0-based offset shall it have been found.
7151 but works case-insensitively according to the rules of the ASCII
7155 Creates a substring of its first argument.
7156 The second argument is the 0-based starting offset, a negative one
7157 counts from the end;
7158 the optional third argument specifies the length of the desired result,
7159 a negative length leaves off the given number of bytes at the end of the
7160 original string, by default the entire string is used;
7161 this operation tries to work around faulty arguments (set
7163 for error logs), but reports them via the error number
7166 .Va ^ERR Ns -OVERFLOW .
7169 Trim away whitespace characters from both ends of the argument.
7172 Trim away whitespace characters from the begin of the argument.
7175 Trim away whitespace characters from the end of the argument.
7180 String operations work, sufficient support provided, according to the
7181 active user's locale encoding and character set (see
7182 .Sx "Character sets" ) .
7185 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm regex"
7187 (One-way) Converts the argument to something safely printable on the
7191 \*(OP A string operation that will try to match the first argument with
7192 the regular expression given as the second argument.
7193 If the optional third argument has been given then instead of showing
7194 the match offset a replacement operation is performed: the third
7195 argument is treated as if specified within dollar-single-quote (see
7196 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" ) ,
7197 and any occurrence of a positional parameter, e.g.,
7199 is replaced by the corresponding match group of the regular expression:
7200 .Bd -literal -offset indent
7201 ? vput vexpr res regex bananarama \e
7202 (.*)NanA(.*) '\e${1}au\e$2'
7203 ? echo $?/$!/$^ERRNAME: $res
7207 On otherwise identical case-insensitive equivalent to
7209 .Bd -literal -offset indent
7210 ? vput vexpr res ire bananarama \e
7211 (.*)NanA(.*) '\e${1}au\e$2'
7212 ? echo $?/$!/$^ERRNAME: $res
7219 \*(NQ Manage the positional parameter stack (see
7223 If the first argument is
7225 then the positional parameter stack of the current context, or the
7226 global one, if there is none, is cleared.
7229 then the remaining arguments will be used to (re)create the stack,
7230 if the parameter stack size limit is excessed an
7231 .Va ^ERR Ns -OVERFLOW
7235 If the first argument is
7237 a round-trip capable representation of the stack contents is created,
7238 with each quoted parameter separated from each other with the first
7241 and followed by the first character of
7243 if that is not empty and not identical to the first.
7244 If that results in no separation at all a
7250 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
7251 I.e., the subcommands
7255 can be used (in conjunction with
7257 to (re)create an argument stack from and to a single variable losslessly.
7259 .Bd -literal -offset indent
7260 ? vpospar set hey, "'you ", world!
7261 ? echo $#: <${1}><${2}><${3}>
7262 ? vput vpospar x quote
7264 ? echo $#: <${1}><${2}><${3}>
7265 ? eval vpospar set ${x}
7266 ? echo $#: <${1}><${2}><${3}>
7272 (v) Takes a message list and invokes the
7274 display editor on each message.
7275 Modified contents are discarded unless the
7277 variable is set, and are not used unless the mailbox can be written to
7278 and the editor returns a successful exit status.
7280 can be used instead for a less display oriented editor.
7284 (w) For conventional messages the body without all headers is written.
7285 The original message is never marked for deletion in the originating
7287 The output is decrypted and converted to its native format as necessary.
7288 If the output file exists, the text is appended.
7289 If a message is in MIME multipart format its first part is written to
7290 the specified file as for conventional messages, handling of the remains
7291 depends on the execution mode.
7292 No special handling of compressed files is performed.
7294 In interactive mode the user is consecutively asked for the filenames of
7295 the processed parts.
7296 For convience saving of each part may be skipped by giving an empty
7297 value, the same result as writing it to
7299 Shell piping the part content by specifying a leading vertical bar
7301 character for the filename is supported.
7302 Other user input undergoes the usual
7303 .Sx "Filename transformations" ,
7304 including shell pathname wildcard pattern expansions
7306 and shell variable expansion for the message as such, not the individual
7307 parts, and contents of the destination file are overwritten if the file
7310 \*(ID In non-interactive mode any part which does not specify a filename
7311 is ignored, and suspicious parts of filenames of the remaining parts are
7312 URL percent encoded (as via
7314 to prevent injection of malicious character sequences, resulting in
7315 a filename that will be written into the current directory.
7316 Existing files will not be overwritten, instead the part number or
7317 a dot are appended after a number sign
7319 to the name until file creation succeeds (or fails due to other
7324 \*(NQ The sole difference to
7326 is that the new macro is executed in place of the current one, which
7327 will not regain control: all resources of the current macro will be
7329 This implies that any setting covered by
7331 will be forgotten and covered variables will become cleaned up.
7332 If this command is not used from within a
7334 ed macro it will silently be (a more expensive variant of)
7344 \*(NQ \*(UA presents message headers in
7346 fuls as described under the
7349 Without arguments this command scrolls to the next window of messages,
7350 likewise if the argument is
7354 scrolls to the last,
7356 scrolls to the first, and
7361 A number argument prefixed by
7365 indicates that the window is calculated in relation to the current
7366 position, and a number without a prefix specifies an absolute position.
7372 but scrolls to the next or previous window that contains at least one
7383 .\" .Sh COMMAND ESCAPES {{{
7384 .Sh "COMMAND ESCAPES"
7386 Here is a summary of the command escapes available in compose mode,
7387 which are used to perform special functions when composing messages.
7388 Command escapes are only recognized at the beginning of lines, and
7389 consist of a trigger (escape) and a command character.
7390 The actual escape character can be set via the internal variable
7392 it defaults to the tilde
7394 Otherwise ignored whitespace characters following the escape character
7395 will prevent a possible addition of the command line to the \*(OPal
7399 Unless otherwise noted all compose mode command escapes ensure proper
7400 updates of the variables which represent the error number
7406 is set they will, unless stated otherwise, error out message compose
7407 mode and cause a progam exit if an operation fails.
7408 It is however possible to place the character hyphen-minus
7410 after (possible whitespace following) the escape character, which has an
7411 effect equivalent to the command modifier
7413 If the \*(OPal key bindings are available it is possible to create
7415 ings specifically for the compose mode.
7418 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ic BaNg"
7421 Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single
7423 (If the escape character has been changed,
7424 that character must be doubled instead.)
7427 .It Ic ~! Ar command
7428 Execute the indicated shell
7430 which follows, replacing unescaped exclamation marks with the previously
7431 executed command if the internal variable
7433 is set, then return to the message.
7437 End compose mode and send the message.
7439 .Va on-compose-splice-shell
7441 .Va on-compose-splice ,
7442 in order, will be called when set, after which
7444 will be checked, a set
7445 .Va on-compose-leave
7446 hook will be called,
7450 will be joined in if set,
7452 will be honoured in interactive mode, finally a given
7453 .Va message-inject-tail
7454 will be incorporated, after which the compose mode is left.
7457 .It Ic ~: Ar \*(UA-command Ns \0or Ic ~_ Ar \*(UA-command
7458 Execute the given \*(UA command.
7459 Not all commands, however, are allowed.
7462 .It Ic ~< Ar filename
7467 .It Ic ~<! Ar command
7469 is executed using the shell.
7470 Its standard output is inserted into the message.
7474 \*(OP Write a summary of command escapes.
7477 .It Ic ~@ Op Ar filename...
7478 Append or edit the list of attachments.
7479 Does not manage the error number
7485 instead if this is a concern).
7488 arguments is expected as shell tokens (see
7489 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" ;
7490 token-separating commas are ignored, too), to be
7491 interpreted as documented for the command line option
7493 with the message number exception as below.
7497 arguments the attachment list is edited, entry by entry;
7498 if a filename is left empty, that attachment is deleted from the list;
7499 once the end of the list is reached either new attachments may be
7500 entered or the session can be quit by committing an empty
7503 In non-interactive mode or in batch mode
7505 the list of attachments is effectively not edited but instead recreated;
7506 again, an empty input ends list creation.
7508 For all modes, if a given filename solely consists of the number sign
7510 followed by a valid message number of the currently active mailbox, then
7511 the given message is attached as a
7514 The number sign must be quoted to avoid misinterpretation with the shell
7518 .It Ic ~| Ar command
7519 Pipe the message through the specified filter command.
7520 If the command gives no output or terminates abnormally,
7521 retain the original text of the message.
7524 is often used as a rejustifying filter.
7528 .It Ic ~^ Ar cmd Op Ar subcmd Op Ar arg3 Op Ar arg4
7529 Low-level command meant for scripted message access, i.e., for
7530 .Va on-compose-splice
7532 .Va on-compose-splice-shell .
7533 The used protocol is likely subject to changes, and therefore the
7534 mentioned hooks receive the used protocol version as an initial line.
7535 In general the first field of a response line represents a status code
7536 which specifies whether a command was successful or not, whether result
7537 data is to be expected, and if, the format of the result data.
7538 Does not manage the error number
7542 because errors are reported via the protocol
7543 (hard errors like I/O failures cannot be handled).
7544 This command has read-only access to several virtual pseudo headers in
7545 the \*(UA private namespace, which may not exist (except for the first):
7549 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Va BaNg"
7550 .It Ql Mailx-Command:
7551 The name of the command that generates the message, one of
7559 .It Ql Mailx-Raw-To:
7560 .It Ql Mailx-Raw-Cc:
7561 .It Ql Mailx-Raw-Bcc:
7562 Represent the frozen initial state of these headers before any
7563 transformation (e.g.,
7566 .Va recipients-in-cc
7569 .It Ql Mailx-Orig-From:
7570 .It Ql Mailx-Orig-To:
7571 .It Ql Mailx-Orig-Cc:
7572 .It Ql Mailx-Orig-Bcc:
7573 The values of said headers of the original message which has been
7575 .Ic reply , forward , resend .
7579 The status codes are:
7583 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql 210"
7585 Status ok; the remains of the line are the result.
7588 Status ok; the rest of the line is optionally used for more status.
7589 What follows are lines of result addresses, terminated by an empty line.
7590 The address lines consist of two fields, the first of which is the
7591 plain address, e.g.,
7593 separated by a single ASCII SP space from the second which contains the
7594 unstripped address, even if that is identical to the first field, e.g.,
7595 .Ql (Lovely) Bob <bob@exam.ple> .
7596 All the input, including the empty line, must be consumed before further
7597 commands can be issued.
7600 Status ok; the rest of the line is optionally used for more status.
7601 What follows are lines of furtherly unspecified string content,
7602 terminated by an empty line.
7603 All the input, including the empty line, must be consumed before further
7604 commands can be issued.
7607 Syntax error; invalid command.
7610 Syntax error in parameters or arguments.
7613 Error: an argument fails verification.
7614 For example an invalid address has been specified, or an attempt was
7615 made to modify anything in \*(UA's own namespace.
7618 Error: an otherwise valid argument is rendered invalid due to context.
7619 For example, a second address is added to a header which may consist of
7620 a single address only.
7625 If a command indicates failure then the message will have remained
7627 Most commands can fail with
7629 if required arguments are missing (false command usage).
7630 The following (case-insensitive) commands are supported:
7633 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm header"
7635 This command allows listing, inspection, and editing of message headers.
7636 Header name case is not normalized, and case-insensitive comparison
7637 should be used when matching names.
7638 The second argument specifies the subcommand to apply, one of:
7640 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm remove"
7642 Without a third argument a list of all yet existing headers is given via
7644 this command is the default command of
7646 if no second argument has been given.
7647 A third argument restricts output to the given header only, which may
7650 if no such field is defined.
7653 Shows the content of the header given as the third argument.
7654 Dependent on the header type this may respond with
7658 any failure results in
7662 This will remove all instances of the header given as the third
7667 if no such header can be found, and
7669 on \*(UA namespace violations.
7672 This will remove from the header given as the third argument the
7673 instance at the list position (counting from one!) given with the fourth
7678 if the list position argument is not a number or on \*(UA namespace
7681 if no such header instance exists.
7684 Create a new or an additional instance of the header given in the third
7685 argument, with the header body content as given in the fourth argument
7686 (the remains of the line).
7689 if the third argument specifies a free-form header field name that is
7690 invalid, or if body content extraction fails to succeed,
7692 if any extracted address does not pass syntax and/or security checks or
7693 on \*(UA namespace violations, and
7695 to indicate prevention of excessing a single-instance header \(em note that
7697 can be appended to (a space separator will be added automatically first).
7700 is returned upon success, followed by the name of the header and the list
7701 position of the newly inserted instance.
7702 The list position is always 1 for single-instance header fields.
7703 All free-form header fields are managed in a single list.
7708 This command allows listing, removal and addition of message attachments.
7709 The second argument specifies the subcommand to apply, one of:
7711 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm remove"
7713 List all attachments via
7717 if no attachments exist.
7718 This command is the default command of
7720 if no second argument has been given.
7723 This will remove the attachment given as the third argument, and report
7727 if no such attachment can be found.
7728 If there exists any path component in the given argument, then an exact
7729 match of the path which has been used to create the attachment is used
7730 directly, but if only the basename of that path matches then all
7731 attachments are traversed to find an exact match first, and the removal
7732 occurs afterwards; if multiple basenames match, a
7735 Message attachments are treated as absolute pathnames.
7737 If no path component exists in the given argument, then all attachments
7738 will be searched for
7740 parameter matches as well as for matches of the basename of the path
7741 which has been used when the attachment has been created; multiple
7746 This will interpret the third argument as a number and remove the
7747 attachment at that list position (counting from one!), reporting
7751 if the argument is not a number or
7753 if no such attachment exists.
7756 Adds the attachment given as the third argument, specified exactly as
7757 documented for the command line option
7759 and supporting the message number extension as documented for
7763 upon success, with the index of the new attachment following,
7765 if the given file cannot be opened,
7767 if an on-the-fly performed character set conversion fails, otherwise
7769 is reported; this is also reported if character set conversion is
7770 requested but not available.
7773 This uses the same search mechanism as described for
7775 and prints any known attributes of the first found attachment via
7779 if no such attachment can be found.
7780 The attributes are written as lines of keyword and value tuples, the
7781 keyword being separated from the rest of the line with an ASCII SP space
7785 This uses the same search mechanism as described for
7787 and is otherwise identical to
7790 .It Cm attribute-set
7791 This uses the same search mechanism as described for
7793 and will assign the attribute given as the fourth argument, which is
7794 expected to be a value tuple of keyword and other data, separated by
7795 a ASCII SP space or TAB tabulator character.
7796 If the value part is empty, then the given attribute is removed, or
7797 reset to a default value if existence of the attribute is crucial.
7801 upon success, with the index of the found attachment following,
7803 for message attachments or if the given keyword is invalid, and
7805 if no such attachment can be found.
7806 The following keywords may be used (case-insensitively):
7808 .Bl -hang -compact -width ".It Ql filename"
7810 Sets the filename of the MIME part, i.e., the name that is used for
7811 display and when (suggesting a name for) saving (purposes).
7812 .It Ql content-description
7813 Associate some descriptive information to the attachment's content, used
7814 in favour of the plain filename by some MUAs.
7816 May be used for uniquely identifying MIME entities in several contexts;
7817 this expects a special reference address format as defined in RFC 2045
7820 upon address content verification failure.
7822 Defines the media type/subtype of the part, which is managed
7823 automatically, but can be overwritten.
7824 .It Ql content-disposition
7825 Automatically set to the string
7829 .It Cm attribute-set-at
7830 This uses the same search mechanism as described for
7832 and is otherwise identical to
7841 .Ql Ic ~i Ns \| Va Sign .
7846 .Ql Ic ~i Ns \| Va sign .
7849 .It Ic ~b Ar name ...
7850 Add the given names to the list of blind carbon copy recipients.
7853 .It Ic ~c Ar name ...
7854 Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients.
7858 Read the file specified by the
7860 variable into the message.
7866 on the message collected so far, then return to compose mode.
7868 can be used for a more display oriented editor.
7871 .It Ic ~F Ar messages
7872 Read the named messages into the message being sent, including all
7873 message headers and MIME parts.
7874 If no messages are specified, read in the current message, the
7878 .It Ic ~f Ar messages
7879 Read the named messages into the message being sent.
7880 If no messages are specified, read in the current message, the
7882 Strips down the list of header fields according to the
7884 white- and blacklist selection of
7886 For MIME multipart messages,
7887 only the first displayable part is included.
7891 Edit the message header fields
7896 by typing each one in turn and allowing the user to edit the field.
7897 The default values for these fields originate from the
7905 Edit the message header fields
7911 by typing each one in turn and allowing the user to edit the field.
7914 .It Ic ~I Ar variable
7915 Insert the value of the specified variable into the message.
7916 The message remains unaltered if the variable is unset or empty.
7917 Any embedded character sequences
7919 horizontal tabulator and
7921 line feed are expanded in
7923 mode; otherwise the expansion should occur at
7925 time by using the command modifier
7929 .It Ic ~i Ar variable
7930 Insert the value of the specified variable followed by a newline
7931 character into the message.
7932 The message remains unaltered if the variable is unset or empty.
7933 Any embedded character sequences
7935 horizontal tabulator and
7937 line feed are expanded in
7939 mode; otherwise the expansion should occur at
7941 time by using the command modifier
7945 .It Ic ~M Ar messages
7946 Read the named messages into the message being sent,
7949 If no messages are specified, read the current message, the
7953 .It Ic ~m Ar messages
7954 Read the named messages into the message being sent,
7957 If no messages are specified, read the current message, the
7959 Strips down the list of header fields according to the
7961 white- and blacklist selection of
7963 For MIME multipart messages,
7964 only the first displayable part is included.
7968 Display the message collected so far,
7969 prefaced by the message header fields
7970 and followed by the attachment list, if any.
7974 Abort the message being sent,
7975 copying it to the file specified by the
7982 .It Ic ~R Ar filename
7985 but indent each line that has been read by
7989 .It Ic ~r Ar filename Op Ar HERE-delimiter
7990 Read the named file, object to the usual
7991 .Sx "Filename transformations" ,
7992 into the message; if (the expanded)
7996 then standard input is used, e.g., for pasting purposes.
7997 Only in this latter mode
7999 may be given: if it is data will be read in until the given
8001 is seen on a line by itself, and encountering EOF is an error; the
8003 is a required argument in non-interactive mode; if it is single-quote
8004 quoted then the pasted content will not be expanded, \*(ID otherwise
8005 a future version of \*(UA may perform shell-style expansion on the content.
8009 Cause the named string to become the current subject field.
8010 Newline (NL) and carriage-return (CR) bytes are invalid and will be
8011 normalized to space (SP) characters.
8014 .It Ic ~t Ar name ...
8015 Add the given name(s) to the direct recipient list.
8018 .It Ic ~U Ar messages
8019 Read in the given / current message(s) excluding all headers, indented by
8023 .It Ic ~u Ar messages
8024 Read in the given / current message(s), excluding all headers.
8030 editor on the message collected so far, then return to compose mode.
8032 can be used for a less display oriented editor.
8035 .It Ic ~w Ar filename
8036 Write the message onto the named file, which is object to the usual
8037 .Sx "Filename transformations" .
8039 the message is appended to it.
8045 except that the message is not saved at all.
8051 .\" .Sh INTERNAL VARIABLES {{{
8052 .Sh "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
8054 Internal \*(UA variables are controlled via the
8058 commands; prefixing a variable name with the string
8062 has the same effect as using
8068 Creation or editing of variables can be performed in the
8073 will give more insight on the given variable(s), and
8075 when called without arguments, will show a listing of all variables.
8076 Both commands support a more
8079 Some well-known variables will also become inherited from the
8082 implicitly, others can be imported explicitly with the command
8084 and henceforth share said properties.
8087 Two different kinds of internal variables exist, and both of which can
8089 There are boolean variables, which can only be in one of the two states
8093 and value variables with a(n optional) string value.
8094 For the latter proper quoting is necessary upon assignment time, the
8095 introduction of the section
8097 documents the supported quoting rules.
8099 .Bd -literal -offset indent
8100 ? wysh set one=val\e 1 two="val 2" \e
8101 three='val "3"' four=$'val \e'4\e''; \e
8102 varshow one two three four; \e
8103 unset one two three four
8107 Dependent upon the actual option string values may become interpreted as
8108 colour names, command specifications, normal text, etc.
8109 They may be treated as numbers, in which case decimal values are
8110 expected if so documented, but otherwise any numeric format and
8111 base that is valid and understood by the
8113 command may be used, too.
8116 There also exists a special kind of string value, the
8117 .Dq boolean string ,
8118 which must either be a decimal integer (in which case
8122 and any other value is true) or any of the (case-insensitive) strings
8128 for a false boolean and
8134 for a true boolean; a special kind of boolean string is the
8136 which is a boolean string that can optionally be prefixed with the
8137 (case-insensitive) term
8141 which causes prompting of the user in interactive mode, with the given
8142 boolean as the default value.
8145 Variable chains extend a plain
8150 .Ql variable-USER@HOST
8158 had been specified in the contextual Uniform Resource Locator URL, see
8159 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" .
8160 Even though this mechanism is based on URLs no URL percent encoding may
8161 be applied to neither of
8165 variable chains need to be specified using raw data;
8166 the mentioned section contains examples.
8167 Variables which support chains are explicitly documented as such, and
8168 \*(UA treats the base name of any such variable special, meaning that
8169 users should not create custom names like
8171 in order to avoid false classifications and treatment of such variables.
8173 .\" .Ss "Initial settings" {{{
8174 .\" (Keep in SYNC: ./nail.h:okeys, ./nail.rc, ./nail.1:"Initial settings")
8175 .Ss "Initial settings"
8177 The standard POSIX 2008/Cor 2-2016 mandates the following initial
8183 .Pf no Va autoprint ,
8197 .Pf no Va ignoreeof ,
8199 .Pf no Va keepsave ,
8201 .Pf no Va outfolder ,
8209 .Pf no Va sendwait ,
8218 Notes: \*(UA does not support the
8220 variable \(en use command line options or
8222 to pass options through to a
8224 And the default global
8226 file, which is loaded unless the
8228 (with according argument) or
8230 command line options have been used, or the
8231 .Ev MAILX_NO_SYSTEM_RC
8232 environment variable is set (see
8233 .Sx "Resource files" )
8234 bends those initial settings a bit, e.g., it sets the variables
8239 to name a few, establishes a default
8241 selection etc., and should thus be taken into account.
8244 .\" .Ss "Variables" {{{
8247 .Bl -tag -width ".It Va BaNg"
8251 \*(RO The exit status of the last command, or the
8256 This status has a meaning in the state machine: in conjunction with
8258 any non-0 exit status will cause a program exit, and in
8260 mode any error while loading (any of the) resource files will have the
8264 .Sx "Command modifiers" ,
8265 can be used to instruct the state machine to ignore errors.
8269 \*(RO The current error number
8270 .Pf ( Xr errno 3 ) ,
8271 which is set after an error occurred; it is also available via
8273 and the error name and documentation string can be queried via
8277 \*(ID This machinery is new and the error number is only really usable
8278 if a command explicitly states that it manages the variable
8280 for others errno will be used in case of errors, or
8282 if that is 0: it thus may or may not reflect the real error.
8283 The error number may be set with the command
8289 \*(RO This is a multiplexer variable which performs dynamic expansion of
8290 the requested state or condition, of which there are:
8293 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Va BaNg"
8297 .It Va ^ERR , ^ERRDOC , ^ERRNAME
8298 The number, documentation, and name of the current
8300 respectively, which is usually set after an error occurred.
8301 The documentation is an \*(OP, the name is used if not available.
8302 \*(ID This machinery is new and is usually reliable only if a command
8303 explicitly states that it manages the variable
8305 which is effectively identical to
8307 Each of those variables can be suffixed with a hyphen minus followed by
8308 a name or number, in which case the expansion refers to the given error.
8309 Note this is a direct mapping of (a subset of) the system error values:
8310 .Bd -literal -offset indent
8312 eval echo \e$1: \e$^ERR-$1:\e
8313 \e$^ERRNAME-$1: \e$^ERRDOC-$1
8314 vput vexpr i + "$1" 1
8326 \*(RO Expands all positional parameters (see
8328 separated by the first character of the value of
8330 \*(ID The special semantics of the equally named special parameter of the
8332 are not yet supported.
8336 \*(RO Expands all positional parameters (see
8338 separated by a space character.
8339 If placed in double quotation marks, each positional parameter is
8340 properly quoted to expand to a single parameter again.
8344 \*(RO Expands to the number of positional parameters, i.e., the size of
8345 the positional parameter stack in decimal.
8349 \*(RO Inside the scope of a
8353 ed macro this expands to the name of the calling macro, or to the empty
8354 string if the macro is running from top-level.
8355 For the \*(OPal regular expression search and replace operator of
8357 this expands to the entire matching expression.
8358 It represents the program name in global context.
8362 \*(RO Access of the positional parameter stack.
8363 All further parameters can be accessed with this syntax, too, e.g.,
8366 etc.; positional parameters can be shifted off the stack by calling
8368 The parameter stack contains, e.g., the arguments of a
8372 d macro, the matching groups of the \*(OPal regular expression search
8373 and replace expression of
8375 and can be explicitly created or overwritten with the command
8380 \*(RO Is set to the active
8384 .It Va add-file-recipients
8385 \*(BO When file or pipe recipients have been specified,
8386 mention them in the corresponding address fields of the message instead
8387 of silently stripping them from their recipient list.
8388 By default such addressees are not mentioned.
8392 \*(BO Causes only the local part to be evaluated
8393 when comparing addresses.
8397 \*(BO Causes messages saved in the
8399 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
8401 to be appended to the end rather than prepended.
8402 This should always be set.
8406 \*(BO Causes the prompts for
8410 lists to appear after the message has been edited.
8414 \*(BO If set, \*(UA asks for files to attach at the end of each message.
8415 An empty line finalizes the list.
8419 \*(BO Causes the user to be prompted for carbon copy recipients
8420 (at the end of each message if
8428 \*(BO Causes the user to be prompted for blind carbon copy
8429 recipients (at the end of each message if
8437 \*(BO Causes the user to be prompted for confirmation to send the
8438 message or reenter compose mode after having been shown an envelope
8440 This is by default enabled.
8444 \*(BO\*(OP Causes the user to be prompted if the message is to be
8445 signed at the end of each message.
8448 variable is ignored when this variable is set.
8452 .\" The alternative *ask* is not documented on purpose
8453 \*(BO Causes \*(UA to prompt for the subject upon entering compose mode
8454 unless a subject already exists.
8458 A sequence of characters to display in the
8462 as shown in the display of
8464 each for one type of messages (see
8465 .Sx "Message states" ) ,
8466 with the default being
8469 .Ql NU\ \ *HMFAT+\-$~
8472 variable is set, in the following order:
8474 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql _"
8496 start of a collapsed thread.
8498 an uncollapsed thread (TODO ignored for now).
8502 classified as possible spam.
8508 Specifies a list of recipients to which a blind carbon copy of each
8509 outgoing message will be sent automatically.
8513 Specifies a list of recipients to which a carbon copy of each outgoing
8514 message will be sent automatically.
8518 \*(BO Causes threads to be collapsed automatically when threaded mode
8525 \*(BO Enable automatic
8527 ing of a(n existing)
8533 commands, e.g., the message that becomes the new
8535 is shown automatically, as via
8542 Causes sorted mode (see the
8544 command) to be entered automatically with the value of this variable as
8545 sorting method when a folder is opened, e.g.,
8546 .Ql set autosort=thread .
8550 \*(BO Enables the substitution of all not (reverse-solidus) escaped
8553 characters by the contents of the last executed command for the
8555 shell escape command and
8557 one of the compose mode
8558 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" .
8559 If this variable is not set no reverse solidus stripping is performed.
8563 \*(OP Terminals generate multi-byte sequences for certain forms of
8564 input, for example for function and other special keys.
8565 Some terminals however do not write these multi-byte sequences as
8566 a whole, but byte-by-byte, and the latter is what \*(UA actually reads.
8567 This variable specifies the timeout in milliseconds that the MLE (see
8568 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
8569 waits for more bytes to arrive unless it considers a sequence
8575 \*(BO Sets some cosmetical features to traditional BSD style;
8576 has the same affect as setting
8578 and all other variables prefixed with
8580 it also changes the behaviour of
8582 (which does not exist in BSD).
8586 \*(BO Changes the letters shown in the first column of a header
8587 summary to traditional BSD style.
8591 \*(BO Changes the display of columns in a header summary to traditional
8596 \*(BO Changes some informational messages to traditional BSD style.
8602 field to appear immediately after the
8604 field in message headers and with the
8606 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" .
8610 .It Va build-os , build-osenv
8611 \*(RO The operating system \*(UA has been build for, usually taken from
8617 respectively, the former being lowercased.
8621 The value that should appear in the
8625 MIME header fields when no character set conversion of the message data
8627 This defaults to US-ASCII, and the chosen character set should be
8628 US-ASCII compatible.
8632 \*(OP The default 8-bit character set that is used as an implicit last
8633 member of the variable
8635 This defaults to UTF-8 if character set conversion capabilities are
8636 available, and to ISO-8859-1 otherwise (unless the operating system
8637 environment is known to always and exclusively support UTF-8 locales),
8638 in which case the only supported character set is
8640 and this variable is effectively ignored.
8641 Refer to the section
8642 .Sx "Character sets"
8643 for the complete picture of character set conversion in \*(UA.
8646 .It Va charset-unknown-8bit
8647 \*(OP RFC 1428 specifies conditions when internet mail gateways shall
8649 the content of a mail message by using a character set with the name
8651 Because of the unclassified nature of this character set \*(UA will not
8652 be capable to convert this character set to any other character set.
8653 If this variable is set any message part which uses the character set
8655 is assumed to really be in the character set given in the value,
8656 otherwise the (final) value of
8658 is used for this purpose.
8660 This variable will also be taken into account if a MIME type (see
8661 .Sx "The mime.types files" )
8662 of a MIME message part that uses the
8664 character set is forcefully treated as text.
8668 The default value for the
8673 .It Va colour-disable
8674 \*(BO\*(OP Forcefully disable usage of colours.
8675 Also see the section
8676 .Sx "Coloured display" .
8680 \*(BO\*(OP Whether colour shall be used for output that is paged through
8682 Note that pagers may need special command line options, e.g.,
8690 in order to support colours.
8691 Often doing manual adjustments is unnecessary since \*(UA may perform
8692 adjustments dependent on the value of the environment variable
8694 (see there for more).
8698 .It Va contact-mail , contact-web
8699 \*(RO Addresses for contact per email and web, respectively, e.g., for
8700 bug reports, suggestions, or help regarding \*(UA.
8701 The former can be used directly:
8702 .Ql ? Ns \| Ic eval Ns \| Ic mail Ns \| $contact-mail .
8706 In a(n interactive) terminal session, then if this valued variable is
8707 set it will be used as a threshold to determine how many lines the given
8708 output has to span before it will be displayed via the configured
8712 can be forced by setting this to the value
8714 setting it without a value will deduce the current height of the
8715 terminal screen to compute the threshold (see
8720 \*(ID At the moment this uses the count of lines of the message in wire
8721 format, which, dependent on the
8723 of the message, is unrelated to the number of display lines.
8724 (The software is old and historically the relation was a given thing.)
8728 Define a set of custom headers to be injected into newly composed or
8730 A custom header consists of the field name followed by a colon
8732 and the field content body.
8733 Standard header field names cannot be overwritten by a custom header.
8734 Different to the command line option
8736 the variable value is interpreted as a comma-separated list of custom
8737 headers: to include commas in header bodies they need to become escaped
8738 with reverse solidus
8740 Headers can be managed more freely in compose mode via
8743 .Dl ? set customhdr='Hdr1: Body1-1\e, Body1-2, Hdr2: Body2'
8747 Controls the appearance of the
8749 date and time format specification of the
8751 variable, that is used, for example, when viewing the summary of
8753 If unset, then the local receiving date is used and displayed
8754 unformatted, otherwise the message sending
8756 It is possible to assign a
8758 format string and control formatting, but embedding newlines via the
8760 format is not supported, and will result in display errors.
8762 .Ql %Y-%m-%d %H:%M ,
8764 .Va datefield-markout-older .
8767 .It Va datefield-markout-older
8768 Only used in conjunction with
8770 Can be used to create a visible distinction of messages dated more than
8771 a day in the future, or older than six months, a concept comparable to the
8773 option of the POSIX utility
8775 If set to the empty string, then the plain month, day and year of the
8777 will be displayed, but a
8779 format string to control formatting can be assigned.
8785 \*(BO Enables debug messages and obsoletion warnings, disables the
8786 actual delivery of messages and also implies
8792 .It Va disposition-notification-send
8794 .Ql Disposition-Notification-To:
8795 header (RFC 3798) with the message.
8799 .\" TODO .It Va disposition-notification-send-HOST
8801 .\".Va disposition-notification-send
8802 .\" for SMTP accounts on a specific host.
8803 .\" TODO .It Va disposition-notification-send-USER@HOST
8805 .\".Va disposition-notification-send
8806 .\"for a specific account.
8810 \*(BO When dot is set, a period
8812 on a line by itself during message input in (interactive or batch
8814 compose mode will be treated as end-of-message (in addition to the
8815 normal end-of-file condition).
8816 This behaviour is implied in
8822 .It Va dotlock-ignore-error
8823 \*(BO\*(OP Synchronization of mailboxes which \*(UA treats as
8825 .Sx "primary system mailbox" Ns
8826 es (see, e.g., the notes on
8827 .Sx "Filename transformations" ,
8828 as well as the documentation of
8830 will be protected with so-called dotlock files\(emthe traditional mail
8831 spool file locking method\(emin addition to system file locking.
8832 Because \*(UA ships with a privilege-separated dotlock creation program
8833 that should always be able to create such a dotlock file there is no
8834 good reason to ignore dotlock file creation errors, and thus these are
8835 fatal unless this variable is set.
8839 If this variable is set then the editor is started automatically when
8840 a message is composed in interactive mode.
8841 If the value starts with the letter
8843 then this acts as if
8847 .Pf (see\0 Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" )
8851 variable is implied for this automatically spawned editor session.
8855 \*(BO When a message is edited while being composed,
8856 its header is included in the editable text.
8860 \*(BO When entering interactive mode \*(UA normally writes
8861 .Dq \&No mail for user
8862 and exits immediately if a mailbox is empty or does not exist.
8863 If this variable is set \*(UA starts even with an empty or non-existent
8864 mailbox (the latter behaviour furtherly depends upon
8870 \*(BO Let each command with a non-0 exit status, including every
8874 s a non-0 status, cause a program exit unless prefixed by
8877 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
8879 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ,
8880 but which use a different modifier for ignoring the error.
8881 Please refer to the variable
8883 for more on this topic.
8887 The first character of this value defines the escape character for
8888 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
8890 The default value is the character tilde
8892 If set to the empty string, command escapes are disabled.
8896 If not set then file and command pipeline targets are not allowed,
8897 and any such address will be filtered out, giving a warning message.
8898 If set without a value then all possible recipient address
8899 specifications will be accepted \(en see the section
8900 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode"
8902 To accept them, but only in interactive mode, or when tilde commands
8903 were enabled explicitly by using one of the command line options
8907 set this to the (case-insensitive) value
8909 (it actually acts like
8910 .Ql restrict,-all,+name,+addr ,
8911 so that care for ordering issues must be taken) .
8913 In fact the value is interpreted as a comma-separated list of values.
8916 then the existence of disallowed specifications is treated as a hard
8917 send error instead of only filtering them out.
8918 The remaining values specify whether a specific type of recipient
8919 address specification is allowed (optionally indicated by a plus sign
8921 prefix) or disallowed (prefixed with a hyphen-minus
8925 addresses all possible address specifications,
8929 command pipeline targets,
8931 plain user names and (MTA) aliases and
8934 These kind of values are interpreted in the given order, so that
8935 .Ql restrict,\:fail,\:+file,\:-all,\:+addr
8936 will cause hard errors for any non-network address recipient address
8937 unless \*(UA is in interactive mode or has been started with the
8941 command line option; in the latter case(s) any address may be used, then.
8943 Historically invalid network addressees are silently stripped off.
8944 To change this so that any encountered invalid email address causes
8945 a hard error it must be ensured that
8947 is an entry in the above list.
8948 Setting this automatically enables network addressees
8949 (it actually acts like
8950 .Ql failinvaddr,+addr ,
8951 so that care for ordering issues must be taken) .
8955 Unless this variable is set additional
8957 (Mail-Transfer-Agent)
8958 arguments from the command line, as can be given after a
8960 separator, results in a program termination with failure status.
8961 The same can be accomplished by using the special (case-insensitive) value
8963 A lesser strict variant is the otherwise identical
8965 which does accept such arguments in interactive mode, or if tilde
8966 commands were enabled explicitly by using one of the command line options
8970 The empty value will allow unconditional usage.
8974 \*(RO String giving a list of optional features.
8975 Features are preceded with a plus sign
8977 if they are available, with a hyphen-minus
8980 The output of the command
8982 will include this information in a more pleasant output.
8986 \*(BO This setting reverses the meanings of a set of reply commands,
8987 turning the lowercase variants, which by default address all recipients
8988 included in the header of a message
8989 .Pf ( Ic reply , respond , followup )
8990 into the uppercase variants, which by default address the sender only
8991 .Pf ( Ic Reply , Respond , Followup )
8994 .Ic replysender , respondsender , followupsender
8996 .Ic replyall , respondall , followupall
8997 are not affected by the current setting of
9002 The default path under which mailboxes are to be saved:
9003 filenames that begin with the plus sign
9005 will have the plus sign replaced with the value of this variable if set,
9006 otherwise the plus sign will remain unchanged when doing
9007 .Sx "Filename transformations" ;
9010 for more on this topic.
9011 The value supports a subset of transformations itself, and if the
9012 non-empty value does not start with a solidus
9016 will be prefixed automatically.
9017 Once the actual value is evaluated first, the internal variable
9019 will be updated for caching purposes.
9022 .It Va folder-hook-FOLDER , Va folder-hook
9025 macro which will be called whenever a
9028 The macro will also be invoked when new mail arrives,
9029 but message lists for commands executed from the macro
9030 only include newly arrived messages then.
9032 are activated by default in a folder hook, causing the covered settings
9033 to be reverted once the folder is left again.
9035 The specialized form will override the generic one if
9037 matches the file that is opened.
9038 Unlike other folder specifications, the fully expanded name of a folder,
9039 without metacharacters, is used to avoid ambiguities.
9040 However, if the mailbox resides under
9044 specification is tried in addition, e.g., if
9048 (and thus relative to the user's home directory) then
9049 .Pa /home/usr1/mail/sent
9051 .Ql folder-hook-/home/usr1/mail/sent
9052 first, but then followed by
9053 .Ql folder-hook-+sent .
9056 .It Va folder-resolved
9057 \*(RO Set to the fully resolved path of
9059 once that evaluation has occurred; rather internal.
9063 \*(BO Controls whether a
9064 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
9065 header is generated when sending messages to known mailing lists.
9067 .Va followup-to-honour
9069 .Ic mlist , mlsubscribe , reply
9074 .It Va followup-to-honour
9076 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
9077 header is honoured when group-replying to a message via
9081 This is a quadoption; if set without a value it defaults to
9091 .It Va forward-as-attachment
9092 \*(BO Original messages are normally sent as inline text with the
9095 and only the first part of a multipart message is included.
9096 With this setting enabled messages are sent as unmodified MIME
9098 attachments with all of their parts included.
9101 .It Va forward-inject-head
9102 The string to put before the text of a message with the
9104 command instead of the default
9105 .Dq -------- Original Message -------- .
9106 No heading is put if it is set to the empty string.
9107 This variable is ignored if the
9108 .Va forward-as-attachment
9114 The address (or a list of addresses) to put into the
9116 field of the message header, quoting RFC 5322:
9117 the author(s) of the message, that is, the mailbox(es) of the person(s)
9118 or system(s) responsible for the writing of the message.
9119 According to that RFC setting the
9121 variable is required if
9123 contains more than one address.
9126 ing to messages these addresses are handled as if they were in the
9131 If a file-based MTA is used, then
9133 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
9135 can nonetheless be enforced to appear as the envelope sender address at
9136 the MTA protocol level (the RFC 5321 reverse-path), either by using the
9138 command line option (with an empty argument; see there for the complete
9139 picture on this topic), or by setting the internal variable
9140 .Va r-option-implicit .
9143 If the machine's hostname is not valid at the Internet (for example at
9144 a dialup machine) then either this variable or
9148 adds even more fine-tuning capabilities with
9149 .Va smtp-hostname ) ,
9150 have to be set; if so the message and MIME part related unique ID fields
9154 will be created (except when disallowed by
9155 .Va message-id-disable
9162 \*(BO Due to historical reasons comments and name parts of email
9163 addresses are removed by default when sending mail, replying to or
9164 forwarding a message.
9165 If this variable is set such stripping is not performed.
9168 \*(OB Predecessor of
9169 .Va forward-inject-head .
9173 \*(BO Causes the header summary to be written at startup and after
9174 commands that affect the number of messages or the order of messages in
9179 mode a header summary will also be displayed on folder changes.
9180 The command line option
9188 A format string to use for the summary of
9190 similar to the ones used for
9193 Format specifiers in the given string start with a percent sign
9195 and may be followed by an optional decimal number indicating the field
9196 width \(em if that is negative, the field is to be left-aligned.
9197 Valid format specifiers are:
9200 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql _%%_"
9202 A plain percent sign.
9205 a space character but for the current message
9207 for which it expands to
9210 .Va headline-plain ) .
9213 a space character but for the current message
9215 for which it expands to
9218 .Va headline-plain ) .
9220 \*(OP The spam score of the message, as has been classified via the
9223 Shows only a replacement character if there is no spam support.
9225 Message attribute character (status flag); the actual content can be
9229 The date found in the
9231 header of the message when
9233 is set (the default), otherwise the date when the message was received.
9234 Formatting can be controlled by assigning a
9239 The indenting level in threaded mode.
9241 The address of the message sender.
9243 The message thread tree structure.
9244 (Note that this format does not support a field width, and honours
9245 .Va headline-plain . )
9247 The number of lines of the message, if available.
9251 The number of octets (bytes) in the message, if available.
9253 Message subject (if any).
9255 Message subject (if any) in double quotes.
9257 Message recipient flags: is the addressee of the message a known or
9258 subscribed mailing list \(en see
9263 The position in threaded/sorted order.
9267 .Ql %>\&%a\&%m\ %-18f\ %16d\ %4l/%\-5o\ %i%-s ,
9269 .Ql %>\&%a\&%m\ %20-f\ \ %16d\ %3l/%\-5o\ %i%-S
9281 .It Va headline-bidi
9282 Bidirectional text requires special treatment when displaying headers,
9283 because numbers (in dates or for file sizes etc.) will not affect the
9284 current text direction, in effect resulting in ugly line layouts when
9285 arabic or other right-to-left text is to be displayed.
9286 On the other hand only a minority of terminals is capable to correctly
9287 handle direction changes, so that user interaction is necessary for
9289 Note that extended host system support is required nonetheless, e.g.,
9290 detection of the terminal character set is one precondition;
9291 and this feature only works in an Unicode (i.e., UTF-8) locale.
9293 In general setting this variable will cause \*(UA to encapsulate text
9294 fields that may occur when displaying
9296 (and some other fields, like dynamic expansions in
9298 with special Unicode control sequences;
9299 it is possible to fine-tune the terminal support level by assigning
9301 no value (or any value other than
9306 will make \*(UA assume that the terminal is capable to properly deal
9307 with Unicode version 6.3, in which case text is embedded in a pair of
9308 U+2068 (FIRST STRONG ISOLATE) and U+2069 (POP DIRECTIONAL ISOLATE)
9310 In addition no space on the line is reserved for these characters.
9312 Weaker support is chosen by using the value
9314 (Unicode 6.3, but reserve the room of two spaces for writing the control
9315 sequences onto the line).
9320 select Unicode 1.1 support (U+200E, LEFT-TO-RIGHT MARK); the latter
9321 again reserves room for two spaces in addition.
9324 .It Va headline-plain
9325 \*(BO On Unicode (UTF-8) aware terminals enhanced graphical symbols are
9326 used by default for certain entries of
9328 If this variable is set only basic US-ASCII symbols will be used.
9332 \*(OP If a line editor is available then this can be set to
9333 name the (expandable) path of the location of a permanent
9339 .It Va history-gabby
9340 \*(BO\*(OP Add more entries to the
9342 as is normally done.
9345 .It Va history-gabby-persist
9346 \*(BO\*(OP \*(UA's own MLE will not save the additional
9348 entries in persistent storage unless this variable is set.
9349 On the other hand it will not loose the knowledge of whether
9350 a persistent entry was gabby or not.
9356 \*(OP Setting this variable imposes a limit on the number of concurrent
9359 If set to the value 0 then no further history entries will be added,
9360 and loading and incorporation of the
9362 upon program startup can also be suppressed by doing this.
9363 Runtime changes will not be reflected, but will affect the number of
9364 entries saved to permanent storage.
9368 \*(BO This setting controls whether messages are held in the system
9370 and it is set by default.
9374 Used instead of the value obtained from
9378 as the hostname when expanding local addresses, e.g., in
9381 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" ) .
9384 or this variable Is set the message and MIME part related unique ID fields
9388 will be created (except when disallowed by
9389 .Va message-id-disable
9392 If the \*(OPal IDNA support is available (see
9394 variable assignment is aborted when a necessary conversion fails.
9396 Setting it to the empty string will cause the normal hostname to be
9397 used, but nonetheless enables creation of said ID fields.
9398 \*(IN in conjunction with the built-in SMTP
9401 also influences the results:
9402 one should produce some test messages with the desired combination of
9411 \*(BO\*(OP Can be used to turn off the automatic conversion of domain
9412 names according to the rules of IDNA (internationalized domain names
9414 Since the IDNA code assumes that domain names are specified with the
9416 character set, an UTF-8 locale charset is required to represent all
9417 possible international domain names (before conversion, that is).
9421 The input field separator that is used (\*(ID by some functions) to
9422 determine where to split input data.
9424 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It MMM"
9426 Unsetting is treated as assigning the default value,
9429 If set to the empty value, no field splitting will be performed.
9431 If set to a non-empty value, all whitespace characters are extracted
9432 and assigned to the variable
9436 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It MMM"
9439 will be ignored at the beginning and end of input.
9440 Diverging from POSIX shells default whitespace is removed in addition,
9441 which is owed to the entirely different line content extraction rules.
9443 Each occurrence of a character of
9445 will cause field-splitting, any adjacent
9447 characters will be skipped.
9452 \*(RO Automatically deduced from the whitespace characters in
9457 \*(BO Ignore interrupt signals from the terminal while entering
9458 messages; instead echo them as
9460 characters and discard the current line.
9464 \*(BO Ignore end-of-file conditions
9465 .Pf ( Ql control-D )
9466 in compose mode on message input and in interactive command input.
9467 If set an interactive command input session can only be left by
9468 explicitly using one of the commands
9472 and message input in compose mode can only be terminated by entering
9475 on a line by itself or by using the
9477 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ;
9478 Setting this implies the behaviour that
9486 If this is set to a non-empty string it will specify the users
9488 .Sx "primary system mailbox" ,
9491 and the system-dependent default, and (thus) be used to replace
9494 .Sx "Filename transformations" ;
9497 for more on this topic.
9498 The value supports a subset of transformations itself.
9506 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
9509 option for indenting messages,
9510 in place of the POSIX mandated default tabulator character
9517 \*(BO If set, an empty
9519 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
9520 file is not removed.
9521 Note that, in conjunction with
9523 mode any empty file will be removed unless this variable is set.
9524 This may improve the interoperability with other mail user agents
9525 when using a common folder directory, and prevents malicious users
9526 from creating fake mailboxes in a world-writable spool directory.
9527 \*(ID Only local regular (MBOX) files are covered, Maildir or other
9528 mailbox types will never be removed, even if empty.
9531 .It Va keep-content-length
9532 \*(BO When (editing messages and) writing MBOX mailbox files \*(UA can
9537 header fields that some MUAs generate by setting this variable.
9538 Since \*(UA does neither use nor update these non-standardized header
9539 fields (which in itself shows one of their conceptual problems),
9540 stripping them should increase interoperability in between MUAs that
9541 work with with same mailbox files.
9542 Note that, if this is not set but
9543 .Va writebackedited ,
9544 as below, is, a possibly performed automatic stripping of these header
9545 fields already marks the message as being modified.
9546 \*(ID At some future time \*(UA will be capable to rewrite and apply an
9548 to modified messages, and then those fields will be stripped silently.
9552 \*(BO When a message is saved it is usually discarded from the
9553 originating folder when \*(UA is quit.
9554 This setting causes all saved message to be retained.
9557 .It Va line-editor-disable
9558 \*(BO Turn off any enhanced line editing capabilities (see
9559 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor"
9563 .It Va line-editor-no-defaults
9564 \*(BO\*(OP Do not establish any default key binding.
9568 Error log message prefix string
9569 .Pf ( Ql "\*(uA: " ) .
9572 .It Va mailbox-display
9573 \*(RO The name of the current mailbox
9575 possibly abbreviated for display purposes.
9578 .It Va mailbox-resolved
9579 \*(RO The fully resolved path of the current mailbox.
9582 .It Va mailx-extra-rc
9583 An additional startup file that is loaded as the last of the
9584 .Sx "Resource files" .
9585 Use this file for commands that are not understood by other POSIX
9587 implementations, i.e., mostly anything which is not covered by
9588 .Sx "Initial settings" .
9592 \*(BO When a message is replied to and this variable is set,
9593 it is marked as having been
9596 .Sx "Message states" .
9600 \*(BO When opening MBOX mailbox databases \*(UA by default uses tolerant
9601 POSIX rules for detecting message boundaries (so-called
9603 lines) due to compatibility reasons, instead of the stricter rules that
9604 have been standardized in RFC 4155.
9605 This behaviour can be switched to the stricter RFC 4155 rules by
9606 setting this variable.
9607 (This is never necessary for any message newly generated by \*(UA,
9608 it only applies to messages generated by buggy or malicious MUAs, or may
9609 occur in old MBOX databases: \*(UA itself will choose a proper
9611 to avoid false interpretation of
9613 content lines in the MBOX database.)
9615 This may temporarily be handy when \*(UA complains about invalid
9617 lines when opening a MBOX: in this case setting this variable and
9618 re-opening the mailbox in question may correct the result.
9619 If so, copying the entire mailbox to some other file, as in
9620 .Ql copy * SOME-FILE ,
9621 will perform proper, all-compatible
9623 quoting for all detected messages, resulting in a valid MBOX mailbox.
9624 Finally the variable can be unset again:
9625 .Bd -literal -offset indent
9627 localopts yes; wysh set mbox-rfc4155;\e
9628 wysh File "${1}"; eval copy * "${2}"
9630 call mboxfix /tmp/bad.mbox /tmp/good.mbox
9635 \*(BO Internal development variable.
9638 .It Va message-id-disable
9639 \*(BO By setting this variable the generation of
9643 message and MIME part headers can be completely suppressed, effectively
9644 leaving this task up to the
9646 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) or the SMTP server.
9647 Note that according to RFC 5321 a SMTP server is not required to add this
9648 field by itself, so it should be ensured that it accepts messages without
9652 .It Va message-inject-head
9653 A string to put at the beginning of each new message, followed by a newline.
9654 \*(OB The escape sequences tabulator
9658 are understood (use the
9662 ting the variable(s) instead).
9665 .It Va message-inject-tail
9666 A string to put at the end of each new message, followed by a newline.
9667 \*(OB The escape sequences tabulator
9671 are understood (use the
9675 ting the variable(s) instead).
9679 \*(BO Usually, when an
9681 expansion contains the sender, the sender is removed from the expansion.
9682 Setting this option suppresses these removals.
9687 option to be passed through to the
9689 (Mail-Transfer-Agent); though most of the modern MTAs no longer document
9690 this flag, no MTA is known which does not support it (for historical
9694 .It Va mime-allow-text-controls
9695 \*(BO When sending messages, each part of the message is MIME-inspected
9696 in order to classify the
9699 .Ql Content-Transfer-Encoding:
9702 that is required to send this part over mail transport, i.e.,
9703 a computation rather similar to what the
9705 command produces when used with the
9709 This classification however treats text files which are encoded in
9710 UTF-16 (seen for HTML files) and similar character sets as binary
9711 octet-streams, forcefully changing any
9716 .Ql application/octet-stream :
9717 If that actually happens a yet unset charset MIME parameter is set to
9719 effectively making it impossible for the receiving MUA to automatically
9720 interpret the contents of the part.
9722 If this variable is set, and the data was unambiguously identified as
9723 text data at first glance (by a
9727 file extension), then the original
9729 will not be overwritten.
9732 .It Va mime-alternative-favour-rich
9733 \*(BO If this variable is set then rich MIME alternative parts (e.g.,
9734 HTML) will be preferred in favour of included plain text versions when
9735 displaying messages, provided that a handler exists which produces
9736 output that can be (re)integrated into \*(UA's normal visual display.
9737 (E.g., at the time of this writing some newsletters ship their full
9738 content only in the rich HTML part, whereas the plain text part only
9739 contains topic subjects.)
9742 .It Va mime-counter-evidence
9745 field is used to decide how to handle MIME parts.
9746 Some MUAs, however, do not use
9747 .Sx "The mime.types files"
9749 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" )
9750 or a similar mechanism to correctly classify content, but specify an
9751 unspecific MIME type
9752 .Pf ( Ql application/octet-stream )
9753 even for plain text attachments.
9754 If this variable is set then \*(UA will try to re-classify such MIME
9755 message parts, if possible, for example via a possibly existing
9756 attachment filename.
9757 A non-empty value may also be given, in which case a number is expected,
9758 actually a carrier of bits, best specified as a binary value, e.g.,
9761 .Bl -bullet -compact
9763 If bit two is set (counting from 1, decimal 2) then the detected
9765 will be carried along with the message and be used for deciding which
9766 MIME handler is to be used, for example;
9767 when displaying such a MIME part the part-info will indicate the
9768 overridden content-type by showing a plus sign
9771 If bit three is set (decimal 4) then the counter-evidence is always
9772 produced and a positive result will be used as the MIME type, even
9773 forcefully overriding the parts given MIME type.
9775 If bit four is set (decimal 8) as a last resort the actual content of
9776 .Ql application/octet-stream
9777 parts will be inspected, so that data which looks like plain text can be
9779 This mode is even more relaxed when data is to be displayed to the user
9780 or used as a message quote (data consumers which mangle data for display
9781 purposes, which includes masking of control characters, for example).
9785 .It Va mime-encoding
9787 .Ql Content-Transfer-Encoding
9788 to use in outgoing text messages and message parts, where applicable.
9789 (7-bit clean text messages are sent as-is, without a transfer encoding.)
9792 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql _%%_"
9795 8-bit transport effectively causes the raw data be passed through
9796 unchanged, but may cause problems when transferring mail messages over
9797 channels that are not ESMTP (RFC 1869) compliant.
9798 Also, several input data constructs are not allowed by the
9799 specifications and may cause a different transfer-encoding to be used.
9800 .It Ql quoted-printable
9802 Quoted-printable encoding is 7-bit clean and has the property that ASCII
9803 characters are passed through unchanged, so that an english message can
9804 be read as-is; it is also acceptable for other single-byte locales that
9805 share many characters with ASCII, like, e.g., ISO-8859-1.
9806 The encoding will cause a large overhead for messages in other character
9807 sets: e.g., it will require up to twelve (12) bytes to encode a single
9808 UTF-8 character of four (4) bytes.
9809 It is the default encoding.
9811 .Pf (Or\0 Ql b64 . )
9812 This encoding is 7-bit clean and will always be used for binary data.
9813 This encoding has a constant input:output ratio of 3:4, regardless of
9814 the character set of the input data it will encode three bytes of input
9815 to four bytes of output.
9816 This transfer-encoding is not human readable without performing
9821 .It Va mimetypes-load-control
9822 Can be used to control which of
9823 .Sx "The mime.types files"
9824 are loaded: if the letter
9826 is part of the option value, then the user's personal
9828 file will be loaded (if it exists); likewise the letter
9830 controls loading of the system wide
9832 directives found in the user file take precedence, letter matching is
9834 If this variable is not set \*(UA will try to load both files.
9835 Incorporation of the \*(UA-built-in MIME types cannot be suppressed,
9836 but they will be matched last (the order can be listed via
9839 More sources can be specified by using a different syntax: if the
9840 value string contains an equals sign
9842 then it is instead parsed as a comma-separated list of the described
9845 pairs; the given filenames will be expanded and loaded, and their
9846 content may use the extended syntax that is described in the section
9847 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
9848 Directives found in such files always take precedence (are prepended to
9849 the MIME type cache).
9854 To choose an alternate Mail-Transfer-Agent, set this option to either
9855 the full pathname of an executable (optionally prefixed with the protocol
9857 or \*(OPally a SMTP a.k.a. SUBMISSION protocol URL, e.g., \*(IN
9859 .Dl smtps?://[user[:password]@]server[:port]
9862 .Ql [smtp://]server[:port] . )
9863 The default has been chosen at compile time.
9864 All supported data transfers are executed in child processes, which
9865 run asynchronously and without supervision unless either the
9870 If such a child receives a TERM signal, it will abort and
9877 For a file-based MTA it may be necessary to set
9879 in in order to choose the right target of a modern
9882 It will be passed command line arguments from several possible sources:
9885 if set, from the command line if given and the variable
9888 Argument processing of the MTA will be terminated with a
9893 The otherwise occurring implicit usage of the following MTA command
9894 line arguments can be disabled by setting the boolean variable
9895 .Va mta-no-default-arguments
9896 (which will also disable passing
9900 (for not treating a line with only a dot
9902 character as the end of input),
9910 variable is set); in conjunction with the
9912 command line option \*(UA will also (not) pass
9918 \*(OPally \*(UA can send mail over SMTP a.k.a. SUBMISSION network
9919 connections to a single defined smart host by setting this variable to
9920 a SMTP or SUBMISSION URL (see
9921 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" ) .
9922 An authentication scheme can be specified via the variable chain
9924 Encrypted network connections are \*(OPally available, the section
9925 .Sx "Encrypted network communication"
9926 should give an overview and provide links to more information on this.
9927 Note that with some mail providers it may be necessary to set the
9929 variable in order to use a specific combination of
9934 \*(UA also supports forwarding of all network traffic over a specified
9936 The following SMTP variants may be used:
9940 The plain SMTP protocol (RFC 5321) that normally lives on the
9941 server port 25 and requires setting the
9942 .Va smtp-use-starttls
9943 variable to enter a SSL/TLS encrypted session state.
9944 Assign a value like \*(IN
9945 .Ql smtp://[user[:password]@]server[:port]
9947 .Ql smtp://server[:port] )
9948 to choose this protocol.
9950 The so-called SMTPS which is supposed to live on server port 465
9951 and is automatically SSL/TLS secured.
9952 Unfortunately it never became a standardized protocol and may thus not
9953 be supported by your hosts network service database
9954 \(en in fact the port number has already been reassigned to other
9957 SMTPS is nonetheless a commonly offered protocol and thus can be
9958 chosen by assigning a value like \*(IN
9959 .Ql smtps://[user[:password]@]server[:port]
9961 .Ql smtps://server[:port] ) ;
9962 due to the mentioned problems it is usually necessary to explicitly
9967 The SUBMISSION protocol (RFC 6409) lives on server port 587 and
9968 is identically to the SMTP protocol from \*(UA's point of view;
9970 .Va smtp-use-starttls
9971 to enter a SSL/TLS secured session state; e.g., \*(IN
9972 .Ql submission://[user[:password]@]server[:port] .
9974 The SUBMISSIONS protocol (RFC 8314) that lives on server port 465 and is
9975 SSL/TLS secured by default.
9976 It can be chosen by assigning a value like \*(IN
9977 .Ql submissions://[user[:password]@]server[:port] .
9978 Due to the problems mentioned for SMTPS above and the fact that
9979 SUBMISSIONS is new and a successor that lives on the same port as the
9980 historical engineering mismanagement named SMTPS, it is usually
9981 necessary to explicitly specify the port as
9987 .It Va mta-arguments
9988 Arguments to pass through to a file-based
9990 can be given via this variable, which is parsed according to
9991 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
9992 into an array of arguments, and which will be joined onto MTA options
9993 from other sources, and then passed individually to the MTA:
9994 .Ql ? wysh set mta-arguments='-t -X \&"/tmp/my log\&"' .
9997 .It Va mta-no-default-arguments
9998 \*(BO Unless this variable is set \*(UA will pass some well known
9999 standard command line options to a file-based
10001 (Mail-Transfer-Agent), see there for more.
10004 .It Va mta-no-receiver-arguments
10005 \*(BO By default a file-based
10007 will be passed all receiver addresses on the command line.
10008 This variable can be set to suppress any such argument.
10012 Many systems use a so-called
10014 environment to ensure compatibility with
10016 This works by inspecting the name that was used to invoke the mail
10018 If this variable is set then the mailwrapper (the program that is
10019 actually executed when calling the file-based
10021 will treat its contents as that name.
10023 .Mx Va netrc-lookup
10024 .It Va netrc-lookup-USER@HOST , netrc-lookup-HOST , netrc-lookup
10025 \*(BO\*(IN\*(OP Used to control usage of the users
10027 file for lookup of account credentials, as documented in the section
10028 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup"
10029 and for the command
10032 .Sx "The .netrc file"
10033 documents the file format.
10045 then \*(UA will read the output of a shell pipe instead of the users
10047 file if this variable is set (to the desired shell command).
10048 This can be used to, e.g., store
10051 .Ql ? set netrc-pipe='gpg -qd ~/.netrc.pgp' .
10055 If this variable has the value
10057 newly created local folders will be in Maildir instead of MBOX format.
10061 Checks for new mail in the current folder each time the prompt is shown.
10062 A Maildir folder must be re-scanned to determine if new mail has arrived.
10063 If this variable is set to the special value
10065 then a Maildir folder will not be rescanned completely, but only
10066 timestamp changes are detected.
10070 \*(BO Causes the filename given in the
10073 and the sender-based filenames for the
10077 commands to be interpreted relative to the directory given in the
10079 variable rather than to the current directory,
10080 unless it is set to an absolute pathname.
10082 .Mx Va on-account-cleanup
10083 .It Va on-account-cleanup-ACCOUNT , Va on-account-cleanup
10084 Macro hook which will be called once an
10086 is left, as the very last step before unrolling per-account
10088 This hook is run even in case of fatal errors, and it is advisable to
10089 perform only absolutely necessary actions, like cleaning up
10092 The specialized form is used in favour of the generic one if found.
10095 .It Va on-compose-cleanup
10096 Macro hook which will be called after the message has been sent (or not,
10097 in case of failures), as the very last step before unrolling compose mode
10099 This hook is run even in case of fatal errors, and it is advisable to
10100 perform only absolutely necessary actions, like cleaning up
10104 For compose mode hooks that may affect the message content please see
10105 .Va on-compose-enter , on-compose-leave , on-compose-splice .
10106 \*(ID This hook exists because
10107 .Ic alias , alternates , commandalias , shortcut ,
10108 to name a few, are not covered by
10110 changes applied in compose mode will continue to be in effect thereafter.
10115 .It Va on-compose-enter , on-compose-leave
10116 Macro hooks which will be called once compose mode is entered,
10117 and after composing has been finished, but before a set
10118 .Va message-inject-tail
10119 has been injected etc., respectively.
10121 are enabled for these hooks, and changes on variables will be forgotten
10122 after the message has been sent.
10123 .Va on-compose-cleanup
10124 can be used to perform other necessary cleanup steps.
10126 The following (read-only) variables will be set temporarily during
10127 execution of the macros to represent respective message headers, to
10128 the empty string otherwise; most of them correspond to according virtual
10129 message headers that can be accessed via
10132 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
10134 .Va on-compose-splice
10138 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Va mailx_subject"
10139 .It Va mailx-command
10140 The command that generates the message.
10141 .It Va mailx-subject
10145 .It Va mailx-sender
10147 .It Va mailx-to , mailx-cc , mailx-bcc
10148 The list of receiver addresses as a space-separated list.
10149 .It Va mailx-raw-to , mailx-raw-cc , mailx-raw-bcc
10150 The list of receiver addresses before any mangling (due to, e.g.,
10153 .Va recipients-in-cc )
10154 as a space-separated list.
10155 .It Va mailx-orig-from
10156 When replying, forwarding or resending, this will be set to the
10158 of the given message.
10159 .It Va mailx-orig-to , mailx-orig-cc , mailx-orig-bcc
10160 When replying, forwarding or resending, this will be set to the
10161 receivers of the given message.
10165 Here is am example that injects a signature via
10166 .Va message-inject-tail ;
10168 .Va on-compose-splice
10169 to simply inject the file of desire via
10173 may be a better approach.
10175 .Bd -literal -offset indent
10177 vput ! i cat ~/.mysig
10179 vput vexpr message-inject-tail trim-end $i
10183 readctl create ~/.mysig
10187 vput vexpr message-inject-tail trim-end $i
10189 readctl remove ~/.mysig
10192 set on-compose-leave=t_ocl
10198 .It Va on-compose-splice , on-compose-splice-shell
10199 These hooks run once the normal compose mode is finished, but before the
10200 .Va on-compose-leave
10201 macro hook is called, the
10202 .Va message-inject-tail
10204 Both hooks will be executed in a subprocess, with their input and output
10205 connected to \*(UA such that they can act as if they would be an
10207 The difference in between them is that the latter is a
10209 command, whereas the former is a normal \*(UA macro, but which is
10210 restricted to a small set of commands (the
10214 will indicate said capability).
10216 are enabled for these hooks (in the parent process), causing any setting
10217 to be forgotten after the message has been sent;
10218 .Va on-compose-cleanup
10219 can be used to perform other cleanup as necessary.
10222 During execution of these hooks \*(UA will temporarily forget whether it
10223 has been started in interactive mode, (a restricted set of)
10224 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
10225 will always be available, and for guaranteed reproducibilities sake
10229 will be set to their defaults.
10230 The compose mode command
10232 has been especially designed for scriptability (via these hooks).
10233 The first line the hook will read on its standard input is the protocol
10234 version of said command escape, currently
10236 backward incompatible protocol changes have to be expected.
10239 Care must be taken to avoid deadlocks and other false control flow:
10240 if both involved processes wait for more input to happen at the
10241 same time, or one does not expect more input but the other is stuck
10242 waiting for consumption of its output, etc.
10243 There is no automatic synchronization of the hook: it will not be
10244 stopped automatically just because it, e.g., emits
10246 The hooks will however receive a termination signal if the parent enters
10247 an error condition.
10248 \*(ID Protection against and interaction with signals is not yet given;
10249 it is likely that in the future these scripts will be placed in an
10250 isolated session, which is signalled in its entirety as necessary.
10252 .Bd -literal -offset indent
10253 define ocs_signature {
10255 echo '~< ~/.mysig' # '~<! fortune pathtofortunefile'
10257 set on-compose-splice=ocs_signature
10259 wysh set on-compose-splice-shell=$'\e
10261 printf "hello $version! Headers: ";\e
10262 echo \e'~^header list\e';\e
10263 read status result;\e
10264 echo "status=$status result=$result";\e
10269 echo Splice protocol version is $version
10270 echo '~^h l'; read hl; vput vexpr es substring "${hl}" 0 1
10272 echoerr 'Cannot read header list'; echo '~x'; xit
10274 if [ "$hl" @i!% ' cc' ]
10275 echo '~^h i cc Diet is your <mirr.or>'; read es;\e
10276 vput vexpr es substring "${es}" 0 1
10278 echoerr 'Cannot insert Cc: header'; echo '~x'
10279 # (no xit, macro finishs anyway)
10283 set on-compose-splice=ocsm
10288 .It Va on-resend-cleanup
10290 .Va on-compose-cleanup ,
10291 but is only triggered by
10295 .It Va on-resend-enter
10297 .Va on-compose-enter ,
10298 but is only triggered by
10303 \*(BO If set, each message feed through the command given for
10305 is followed by a formfeed character
10309 .It Va password-USER@HOST , password-HOST , password
10310 \*(IN Variable chain that sets a password, which is used in case none has
10311 been given in the protocol and account-specific URL;
10312 as a last resort \*(UA will ask for a password on the user's terminal if
10313 the authentication method requires a password.
10314 Specifying passwords in a startup file is generally a security risk;
10315 the file should be readable by the invoking user only.
10317 .It Va password-USER@HOST
10318 \*(OU (see the chain above for \*(IN)
10319 Set the password for
10323 If no such variable is defined for a host,
10324 the user will be asked for a password on standard input.
10325 Specifying passwords in a startup file is generally a security risk;
10326 the file should be readable by the invoking user only.
10330 \*(BO Send messages to the
10332 command without performing MIME and character set conversions.
10336 .It Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE
10337 When a MIME message part of type
10339 (case-insensitive) is displayed or quoted,
10340 its text is filtered through the value of this variable interpreted as
10342 Note that only parts which can be displayed inline as plain text (see
10343 .Cd copiousoutput )
10344 are displayed unless otherwise noted, other MIME parts will only be
10345 considered by and for the command
10349 The special value commercial at
10351 forces interpretation of the message part as plain text, e.g.,
10352 .Ql set pipe-application/xml=@
10353 will henceforth display XML
10355 (The same could also be achieved by adding a MIME type marker with the
10358 And \*(OPally MIME type handlers may be defined via
10359 .Sx "The Mailcap files"
10360 \(em these directives,
10362 has already been used, should be referred to for further documentation.
10367 can in fact be used as a trigger character to adjust usage and behaviour
10368 of a following shell command specification more thoroughly by appending
10369 more special characters which refer to further mailcap directives, e.g.,
10370 the following hypothetical command specification could be used:
10372 .Bd -literal -offset indent
10373 ? set pipe-X/Y='@!++=@vim ${MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}'
10377 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql __"
10379 The command produces plain text to be integrated in \*(UAs output:
10380 .Cd copiousoutput .
10383 If set the handler will not be invoked when a message is to be quoted,
10384 but only when it will be displayed:
10385 .Cd x-mailx-noquote .
10388 Run the command asynchronously, i.e., without blocking \*(UA:
10389 .Cd x-mailx-async .
10392 The command must be run on an interactive terminal, \*(UA will
10393 temporarily release the terminal to it:
10394 .Cd needsterminal .
10397 Request creation of a zero-sized temporary file, the absolute pathname
10398 of which will be made accessible via the environment variable
10399 .Ev MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY :
10400 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile .
10401 If given twice then the file will be unlinked automatically by \*(UA
10402 when the command loop is entered again at latest:
10403 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink .
10406 Normally the MIME part content is passed to the handler via standard
10407 input; if this flag is set then the data will instead be written into
10408 .Ev MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY
10409 .Pf ( Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill ) ,
10410 the creation of which is implied; note however that in order to cause
10411 deletion of the temporary file you still have to use two plus signs
10416 To avoid ambiguities with normal shell command content you can use
10417 another commercial at to forcefully terminate interpretation of
10418 remaining characters.
10419 (Any character not in this list will have the same effect.)
10423 Some information about the MIME part to be displayed is embedded into
10424 the environment of the shell command:
10427 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ev _AIL__ILENAME__ENERATED"
10429 .It Ev MAILX_CONTENT
10430 The MIME content-type of the part, if known, the empty string otherwise.
10433 .It Ev MAILX_CONTENT_EVIDENCE
10435 .Va mime-counter-evidence
10436 includes the carry-around-bit (2), then this will be set to the detected
10437 MIME content-type; not only then identical to
10438 .Ev \&\&MAILX_CONTENT
10442 .It Ev MAILX_EXTERNAL_BODY_URL
10444 .Ql message/external-body access-type=url
10445 will store the access URL in this variable, it is empty otherwise.
10448 .It Ev MAILX_FILENAME
10449 The filename, if any is set, the empty string otherwise.
10452 .It Ev MAILX_FILENAME_GENERATED
10456 .It Ev MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY
10457 If temporary file creation has been requested through the command prefix
10458 this variable will be set and contain the absolute pathname of the
10464 .It Va pipe-EXTENSION
10465 This is identical to
10466 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE
10469 (normalized to lowercase using character mappings of the ASCII charset)
10470 names a file extension, e.g.,
10472 Handlers registered using this method take precedence.
10475 .It Va pop3-auth-USER@HOST , pop3-auth-HOST , pop3-auth
10476 \*(OP\*(IN Variable chain that sets the POP3 authentication method.
10477 The only possible value as of now is
10479 which is thus the default.
10481 .Mx Va pop3-bulk-load
10482 .It Va pop3-bulk-load-USER@HOST , pop3-bulk-load-HOST , pop3-bulk-load
10483 \*(BO\*(OP When accessing a POP3 server \*(UA loads the headers of
10484 the messages, and only requests the message bodies on user request.
10485 For the POP3 protocol this means that the message headers will be
10487 If this variable is set then \*(UA will download only complete messages
10488 from the given POP3 server(s) instead.
10490 .Mx Va pop3-keepalive
10491 .It Va pop3-keepalive-USER@HOST , pop3-keepalive-HOST , pop3-keepalive
10492 \*(OP POP3 servers close the connection after a period of inactivity;
10493 the standard requires this to be at least 10 minutes,
10494 but practical experience may vary.
10495 Setting this variable to a numeric value greater than
10499 command to be sent each value seconds if no other operation is performed.
10501 .Mx Va pop3-no-apop
10502 .It Va pop3-no-apop-USER@HOST , pop3-no-apop-HOST , pop3-no-apop
10503 \*(BO\*(OP Unless this variable is set the
10505 authentication method will be used when connecting to a POP3 server that
10506 advertises support.
10509 is that the password is not sent in clear text over the wire and that
10510 only a single packet is sent for the user/password tuple.
10512 .Va pop3-no-apop-HOST
10515 .Mx Va pop3-use-starttls
10516 .It Va pop3-use-starttls-USER@HOST , pop3-use-starttls-HOST , pop3-use-starttls
10517 \*(BO\*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a
10519 command to make an unencrypted POP3 session SSL/TLS encrypted.
10520 This functionality is not supported by all servers,
10521 and is not used if the session is already encrypted by the POP3S method.
10523 .Va pop3-use-starttls-HOST
10529 \*(BO This flag enables POSIX mode, which changes behaviour of \*(UA
10530 where that deviates from standardized behaviour.
10531 It will be set implicitly before the
10532 .Sx "Resource files"
10533 are loaded if the environment variable
10534 .Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT
10535 is set, and adjusting any of those two will be reflected by the other
10537 The following behaviour is covered and enforced by this mechanism:
10540 .Bl -bullet -compact
10542 In non-interactive mode, any error encountered while loading resource
10543 files during program startup will cause a program exit, whereas in
10544 interactive mode such errors will stop loading of the currently loaded
10545 (stack of) file(s, i.e., recursively).
10546 These exits can be circumvented on a per-command base by using
10549 .Sx "Command modifiers" ,
10550 for each command which shall be allowed to fail.
10554 will replace the list of alternate addresses instead of appending to it.
10557 The variable inserting
10558 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
10564 will expand embedded character sequences
10566 horizontal tabulator and
10569 \*(ID For compatibility reasons this step will always be performed.
10572 Upon changing the active
10576 will be displayed even if
10583 implies the behaviour described by
10589 is extended to cover any empty mailbox, not only empty
10591 .Sx "primary system mailbox" Ns
10592 es: they will be removed when they are left in empty state otherwise.
10597 .It Va print-alternatives
10598 \*(BO When a MIME message part of type
10599 .Ql multipart/alternative
10600 is displayed and it contains a subpart of type
10602 other parts are normally discarded.
10603 Setting this variable causes all subparts to be displayed,
10604 just as if the surrounding part was of type
10605 .Ql multipart/mixed .
10609 The string used as a prompt in interactive mode.
10610 Whenever the variable is evaluated the value is treated as if specified
10611 within dollar-single-quotes (see
10612 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" ) .
10613 This (post-assignment, i.e., second) expansion can be used to embed
10614 status information, for example
10619 .Va mailbox-display .
10621 In order to embed characters which should not be counted when
10622 calculating the visual width of the resulting string, enclose the
10623 characters of interest in a pair of reverse solidus escaped brackets:
10625 a slot for coloured prompts is also available with the \*(OPal command
10627 Prompting may be prevented by setting this to the null string
10629 .Ql set noprompt ) .
10633 This string is used for secondary prompts, but is otherwise identical to
10640 \*(BO Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked.
10644 If set, \*(UA starts a replying message with the original message
10645 prefixed by the value of the variable
10647 Normally, a heading consisting of
10648 .Dq Fromheaderfield wrote:
10649 is put before the quotation.
10654 variable, this heading is omitted.
10657 is assigned, only the headers selected by the
10660 selection are put above the message body,
10663 acts like an automatic
10665 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
10669 is assigned, all headers are put above the message body and all MIME
10670 parts are included, making
10672 act like an automatic
10675 .Va quote-as-attachment .
10678 .It Va quote-as-attachment
10679 \*(BO Add the original message in its entirety as a
10681 MIME attachment when replying to a message.
10682 Note this works regardless of the setting of
10687 Can be set to a string consisting of non-whitespace ASCII characters
10688 which shall be treated as quotation leaders, the default being
10693 \*(OP Can be set in addition to
10695 Setting this turns on a more fancy quotation algorithm in that leading
10696 quotation characters
10697 .Pf ( Va quote-chars )
10698 are compressed and overlong lines are folded.
10700 can be set to either one or two (space separated) numeric values,
10701 which are interpreted as the maximum (goal) and the minimum line length,
10702 respectively, in a spirit rather equal to the
10704 program, but line-, not paragraph-based.
10705 If not set explicitly the minimum will reflect the goal algorithmically.
10706 The goal cannot be smaller than the length of
10708 plus some additional pad.
10709 Necessary adjustments take place silently.
10712 .It Va r-option-implicit
10713 \*(BO Setting this option evaluates the contents of
10715 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
10717 and passes the results onto the used (file-based) MTA as described for the
10719 option (empty argument case).
10722 .It Va recipients-in-cc
10729 are by default merged into the new
10731 If this variable is set, only the original
10735 the rest is merged into
10740 Unless this variable is defined, no copies of outgoing mail will be saved.
10741 If defined it gives the pathname, subject to the usual
10742 .Sx "Filename transformations" ,
10743 of a folder where all new, replied-to or forwarded messages are saved:
10744 when saving to this folder fails the message is not sent, but instead
10748 The standard defines that relative (fully expanded) paths are to be
10749 interpreted relative to the current directory
10751 to force interpretation relative to
10754 needs to be set in addition.
10757 .It Va record-files
10758 \*(BO If this variable is set the meaning of
10760 will be extended to cover messages which target only file and pipe
10763 These address types will not appear in recipient lists unless
10764 .Va add-file-recipients
10768 .It Va record-resent
10769 \*(BO If this variable is set the meaning of
10771 will be extended to also cover the
10778 .It Va reply-in-same-charset
10779 \*(BO If this variable is set \*(UA first tries to use the same
10780 character set of the original message for replies.
10781 If this fails, the mechanism described in
10782 .Sx "Character sets"
10783 is evaluated as usual.
10786 .It Va reply-strings
10787 Can be set to a comma-separated list of (case-insensitive according to
10788 ASCII rules) strings which shall be recognized in addition to the
10789 built-in strings as
10791 reply message indicators \(en built-in are
10793 which is mandated by RFC 5322, as well as the german
10798 which often has been seen in the wild;
10799 I.e., the separating colon has to be specified explicitly.
10803 A list of addresses to put into the
10805 field of the message header.
10806 Members of this list are handled as if they were in the
10815 .It Va reply-to-honour
10818 header is honoured when replying to a message via
10822 This is a quadoption; if set without a value it defaults to
10826 .It Va rfc822-body-from_
10827 \*(BO This variable can be used to force displaying a so-called
10829 line for messages that are embedded into an envelope mail via the
10831 MIME mechanism, for more visual convenience.
10835 \*(BO Enable saving of (partial) messages in
10837 upon interrupt or delivery error.
10841 The number of lines that represents a
10850 line display and scrolling via
10852 If this variable is not set \*(UA falls back to a calculation based upon
10853 the detected terminal window size and the baud rate: the faster the
10854 terminal, the more will be shown.
10855 Overall screen dimensions and pager usage is influenced by the
10856 environment variables
10864 .It Va searchheaders
10865 \*(BO Expand message-list specifiers in the form
10867 to all messages containing the substring
10869 in the header field
10871 The string search is case insensitive.
10874 .It Va sendcharsets
10875 \*(OP A comma-separated list of character set names that can be used in
10876 outgoing internet mail.
10877 The value of the variable
10879 is automatically appended to this list of character sets.
10880 If no character set conversion capabilities are compiled into \*(UA then
10881 the only supported charset is
10884 .Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset
10885 and refer to the section
10886 .Sx "Character sets"
10887 for the complete picture of character set conversion in \*(UA.
10890 .It Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset
10891 \*(BO\*(OP If this variable is set, but
10893 is not, then \*(UA acts as if
10895 had been set to the value of the variable
10897 In effect this combination passes through the message data in the
10898 character set of the current locale encoding:
10899 therefore mail message text will be (assumed to be) in ISO-8859-1
10900 encoding when send from within a ISO-8859-1 locale, and in UTF-8
10901 encoding when send from within an UTF-8 locale.
10905 never comes into play as
10907 is implicitly assumed to be 8-bit and capable to represent all files the
10908 user may specify (as is the case when no character set conversion
10909 support is available in \*(UA and the only supported character set is
10911 .Sx "Character sets" ) .
10912 This might be a problem for scripts which use the suggested
10914 setting, since in this case the character set is US-ASCII by definition,
10915 so that it is better to also override
10921 An address that is put into the
10923 field of outgoing messages, quoting RFC 5322: the mailbox of the agent
10924 responsible for the actual transmission of the message.
10925 This field should normally not be used unless the
10927 field contains more than one address, on which case it is required.
10930 address is handled as if it were in the
10934 .Va r-option-implicit .
10937 \*(OB Predecessor of
10940 .It Va sendmail-arguments
10941 \*(OB Predecessor of
10942 .Va mta-arguments .
10944 .It Va sendmail-no-default-arguments
10945 \*(OB\*(BO Predecessor of
10946 .Va mta-no-default-arguments .
10948 .It Va sendmail-progname
10949 \*(OB Predecessor of
10954 \*(BO When sending a message wait until the
10956 (including the built-in SMTP one) exits before accepting further commands.
10958 with this variable set errors reported by the MTA will be recognizable!
10959 If the MTA returns a non-zero exit status,
10960 the exit status of \*(UA will also be non-zero.
10964 \*(BO This setting causes \*(UA to start at the last message
10965 instead of the first one when opening a mail folder, as well as with
10972 \*(BO Causes \*(UA to use the sender's real name instead of the plain
10973 address in the header field summary and in message specifications.
10977 \*(BO Causes the recipient of the message to be shown in the header
10978 summary if the message was sent by the user.
10985 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" .
10987 .Va message-inject-tail ,
10988 .Va on-compose-leave
10990 .Va on-compose-splice .
10997 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" .
10999 .Va message-inject-tail ,
11000 .Va on-compose-leave
11002 .Va on-compose-splice .
11007 .Va on-compose-splice
11009 .Va on-compose-splice-shell
11011 .Va on-compose-leave
11013 .Va message-inject-tail
11017 .It Va skipemptybody
11018 \*(BO If an outgoing message does not contain any text in its first or
11019 only message part, do not send it but discard it silently (see also the
11020 command line option
11025 .It Va smime-ca-dir , smime-ca-file
11026 \*(OP Specify the location of trusted CA certificates in PEM (Privacy
11027 Enhanced Mail) format as a directory and a file, respectively, for the
11028 purpose of verification of S/MIME signed messages.
11029 It is possible to set both, the file will be loaded immediately, the
11030 directory will be searched whenever no match has yet been found.
11031 The set of CA certificates which are built into the SSL/TLS library can
11032 be explicitly turned off by setting
11033 .Va smime-ca-no-defaults ,
11034 and further fine-tuning is possible via
11035 .Va smime-ca-flags .
11038 .It Va smime-ca-flags
11039 \*(OP Can be used to fine-tune behaviour of the X509 CA certificate
11040 storage, and the certificate verification that is used.
11041 The actual values and their meanings are documented for
11045 .It Va smime-ca-no-defaults
11046 \*(BO\*(OP Do not load the default CA locations that are built into the
11047 used to SSL/TLS library to verify S/MIME signed messages.
11049 .Mx Va smime-cipher
11050 .It Va smime-cipher-USER@HOST , smime-cipher
11051 \*(OP Specifies the cipher to use when generating S/MIME encrypted
11052 messages (for the specified account).
11053 RFC 5751 mandates a default of
11056 Possible values are (case-insensitive and) in decreasing cipher strength:
11064 (DES EDE3 CBC, 168 bits; default if
11066 is not available) and
11068 (DES CBC, 56 bits).
11070 The actually available cipher algorithms depend on the cryptographic
11071 library that \*(UA uses.
11072 \*(OP Support for more cipher algorithms may be available through
11073 dynamic loading via, e.g.,
11074 .Xr EVP_get_cipherbyname 3
11075 (OpenSSL) if \*(UA has been compiled to support this.
11078 .It Va smime-crl-dir
11079 \*(OP Specifies a directory that contains files with CRLs in PEM format
11080 to use when verifying S/MIME messages.
11083 .It Va smime-crl-file
11084 \*(OP Specifies a file that contains a CRL in PEM format to use when
11085 verifying S/MIME messages.
11088 .It Va smime-encrypt-USER@HOST
11089 \*(OP If this variable is set, messages send to the given receiver are
11090 encrypted before sending.
11091 The value of the variable must be set to the name of a file that
11092 contains a certificate in PEM format.
11094 If a message is sent to multiple recipients,
11095 each of them for whom a corresponding variable is set will receive an
11096 individually encrypted message;
11097 other recipients will continue to receive the message in plain text
11099 .Va smime-force-encryption
11101 It is recommended to sign encrypted messages, i.e., to also set the
11106 .It Va smime-force-encryption
11107 \*(BO\*(OP Causes \*(UA to refuse sending unencrypted messages.
11111 \*(BO\*(OP S/MIME sign outgoing messages with the user's private key
11112 and include the user's certificate as a MIME attachment.
11113 Signing a message enables a recipient to verify that the sender used
11114 a valid certificate,
11115 that the email addresses in the certificate match those in the message
11116 header and that the message content has not been altered.
11117 It does not change the message text,
11118 and people will be able to read the message as usual.
11120 .Va smime-sign-cert , smime-sign-include-certs
11122 .Va smime-sign-message-digest .
11124 .Mx Va smime-sign-cert
11125 .It Va smime-sign-cert-USER@HOST , smime-sign-cert
11126 \*(OP Points to a file in PEM format.
11127 For the purpose of signing and decryption this file needs to contain the
11128 user's private key, followed by his certificate.
11130 For message signing
11132 is always derived from the value of
11134 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
11136 For the purpose of encryption the recipient's public encryption key
11137 (certificate) is expected; the command
11139 can be used to save certificates of signed messages (the section
11140 .Sx "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME"
11141 gives some details).
11142 This mode of operation is usually driven by the specialized form.
11144 When decrypting messages the account is derived from the recipient
11149 of the message, which are searched for addresses for which such
11151 \*(UA always uses the first address that matches,
11152 so if the same message is sent to more than one of the user's addresses
11153 using different encryption keys, decryption might fail.
11155 For signing and decryption purposes it is possible to use encrypted
11156 keys, and the pseudo-host(s)
11157 .Ql USER@HOST.smime-cert-key
11158 for the private key
11160 .Ql USER@HOST.smime-cert-cert
11161 for the certificate stored in the same file)
11162 will be used for performing any necessary password lookup,
11163 therefore the lookup can be automated via the mechanisms described in
11164 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" .
11165 For example, the hypothetical address
11167 could be driven with a private key / certificate pair path defined in
11168 .Va \&\&smime-sign-cert-bob@exam.ple ,
11169 and needed passwords would then be looked up via the pseudo hosts
11170 .Ql bob@exam.ple.smime-cert-key
11172 .Ql bob@exam.ple.smime-cert-cert ) .
11173 To include intermediate certificates, use
11174 .Va smime-sign-include-certs .
11176 .Mx Va smime-sign-include-certs
11177 .It Va smime-sign-include-certs-USER@HOST , smime-sign-include-certs
11178 \*(OP If used, this is supposed to a consist of a comma-separated list
11179 of files, each of which containing a single certificate in PEM format to
11180 be included in the S/MIME message in addition to the
11181 .Va smime-sign-cert
11183 This can be used to include intermediate certificates of the certificate
11184 authority, in order to allow the receiver's S/MIME implementation to
11185 perform a verification of the entire certificate chain, starting from
11186 a local root certificate, over the intermediate certificates, down to the
11187 .Va smime-sign-cert .
11188 Even though top level certificates may also be included in the chain,
11189 they won't be used for the verification on the receiver's side.
11191 For the purpose of the mechanisms involved here,
11193 refers to the content of the internal variable
11195 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
11198 .Ql USER@HOST.smime-include-certs
11199 will be used for performing password lookups for these certificates,
11200 shall they have been given one, therefore the lookup can be automated
11201 via the mechanisms described in
11202 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" .
11204 .Mx Va smime-sign-message-digest
11205 .It Va smime-sign-message-digest-USER@HOST , smime-sign-message-digest
11206 \*(OP Specifies the message digest to use when signing S/MIME messages.
11207 RFC 5751 mandates a default of
11209 Possible values are (case-insensitive and) in decreasing cipher strength:
11217 The actually available message digest algorithms depend on the
11218 cryptographic library that \*(UA uses.
11219 \*(OP Support for more message digest algorithms may be available
11220 through dynamic loading via, e.g.,
11221 .Xr EVP_get_digestbyname 3
11222 (OpenSSL) if \*(UA has been compiled to support this.
11223 Remember that for this
11225 refers to the variable
11227 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
11231 \*(OB\*(OP To use the built-in SMTP transport, specify a SMTP URL in
11233 \*(ID For compatibility reasons a set
11235 is used in preference of
11239 .It Va smtp-auth-USER@HOST , smtp-auth-HOST , smtp-auth
11240 \*(OP Variable chain that controls the SMTP
11242 authentication method, possible values are
11248 as well as the \*(OPal methods
11254 method does not need any user credentials,
11256 requires a user name and all other methods require a user name and
11264 .Va smtp-auth-password
11266 .Va smtp-auth-user ) .
11271 .Va smtp-auth-USER@HOST :
11272 may override dependent on sender address in the variable
11275 .It Va smtp-auth-password
11276 \*(OP\*(OU Sets the global fallback password for SMTP authentication.
11277 If the authentication method requires a password, but neither
11278 .Va smtp-auth-password
11280 .Va smtp-auth-password-USER@HOST
11282 \*(UA will ask for a password on the user's terminal.
11284 .It Va smtp-auth-password-USER@HOST
11286 .Va smtp-auth-password
11287 for specific values of sender addresses, dependent upon the variable
11290 .It Va smtp-auth-user
11291 \*(OP\*(OU Sets the global fallback user name for SMTP authentication.
11292 If the authentication method requires a user name, but neither
11295 .Va smtp-auth-user-USER@HOST
11297 \*(UA will ask for a user name on the user's terminal.
11299 .It Va smtp-auth-user-USER@HOST
11302 for specific values of sender addresses, dependent upon the variable
11306 .It Va smtp-hostname
11307 \*(OP\*(IN Normally \*(UA uses the variable
11309 to derive the necessary
11311 information in order to issue a
11318 can be used to use the
11320 from the SMTP account
11327 from the content of this variable (or, if that is the empty string,
11329 or the local hostname as a last resort).
11330 This often allows using an address that is itself valid but hosted by
11331 a provider other than which (in
11333 is about to send the message.
11334 Setting this variable also influences generated
11339 If the \*(OPal IDNA support is available (see
11341 variable assignment is aborted when a necessary conversion fails.
11343 .Mx Va smtp-use-starttls
11344 .It Va smtp-use-starttls-USER@HOST , smtp-use-starttls-HOST , smtp-use-starttls
11345 \*(BO\*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a
11347 command to make an SMTP
11349 session SSL/TLS encrypted, i.e., to enable transport layer security.
11352 .It Va socks-proxy-USER@HOST , socks-proxy-HOST , socks-proxy
11353 \*(OP If this is set to the hostname (SOCKS URL) of a SOCKS5 server then
11354 \*(UA will proxy all of its network activities through it.
11355 This can be used to proxy SMTP, POP3 etc. network traffic through the
11356 Tor anonymizer, for example.
11357 The following would create a local SOCKS proxy on port 10000 that
11358 forwards to the machine
11360 and from which the network traffic is actually instantiated:
11361 .Bd -literal -offset indent
11362 # Create local proxy server in terminal 1 forwarding to HOST
11363 $ ssh -D 10000 USER@HOST
11364 # Then, start a client that uses it in terminal 2
11365 $ \*(uA -Ssocks-proxy-USER@HOST=localhost:10000
11369 .It Va spam-interface
11370 \*(OP In order to use any of the spam-related commands (like, e.g.,
11372 the desired spam interface must be defined by setting this variable.
11373 Please refer to the manual section
11374 .Sx "Handling spam"
11375 for the complete picture of spam handling in \*(UA.
11376 All or none of the following interfaces may be available:
11378 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ql _ilte_"
11384 .Pf ( Lk http://spamassassin.apache.org SpamAssassin )
11386 Different to the generic filter interface \*(UA will automatically add
11387 the correct arguments for a given command and has the necessary
11388 knowledge to parse the program's output.
11389 A default value for
11391 will have been compiled into the \*(UA binary if
11395 during compilation.
11396 Shall it be necessary to define a specific connection type (rather than
11397 using a configuration file for that), the variable
11398 .Va spamc-arguments
11399 can be used as in, e.g.,
11400 .Ql -d server.example.com -p 783 .
11401 It is also possible to specify a per-user configuration via
11403 Note that this interface does not inspect the
11405 flag of a message for the command
11409 generic spam filter support via freely configurable hooks.
11410 This interface is meant for programs like
11412 and requires according behaviour in respect to the hooks' exit
11413 status for at least the command
11416 meaning a message is spam,
11420 for unsure and any other return value indicating a hard error);
11421 since the hooks can include shell code snippets diverting behaviour
11422 can be intercepted as necessary.
11424 .Va spamfilter-ham , spamfilter-noham , spamfilter-nospam , \
11427 .Va spamfilter-spam ;
11429 .Sx "Handling spam"
11430 contains examples for some programs.
11431 The process environment of the hooks will have the variable
11432 .Ev MAILX_FILENAME_GENERATED
11434 Note that spam score support for
11436 is not supported unless the \*(OPtional regular expression support is
11438 .Va spamfilter-rate-scanscore
11444 .It Va spam-maxsize
11445 \*(OP Messages that exceed this size will not be passed through to the
11447 .Va spam-interface .
11448 If unset or 0, the default of 420000 bytes is used.
11451 .It Va spamc-command
11452 \*(OP The path to the
11456 .Va spam-interface .
11457 Note that the path is not expanded, but used
11459 A fallback path will have been compiled into the \*(UA binary if the
11460 executable had been found during compilation.
11463 .It Va spamc-arguments
11464 \*(OP Even though \*(UA deals with most arguments for the
11467 automatically, it may at least sometimes be desirable to specify
11468 connection-related ones via this variable, e.g.,
11469 .Ql -d server.example.com -p 783 .
11473 \*(OP Specify a username for per-user configuration files for the
11475 .Va spam-interface .
11476 If this is set to the empty string then \*(UA will use the name of the
11485 .It Va spamfilter-ham , spamfilter-noham , \
11486 spamfilter-nospam , spamfilter-rate , spamfilter-spam
11487 \*(OP Command and argument hooks for the
11489 .Va spam-interface .
11491 .Sx "Handling spam"
11492 contains examples for some programs.
11495 .It Va spamfilter-rate-scanscore
11496 \*(OP Because of the generic nature of the
11499 spam scores are not supported for it by default, but if the \*(OPnal
11500 regular expression support is available then setting this variable can
11501 be used to overcome this restriction.
11502 It is interpreted as follows: first a number (digits) is parsed that
11503 must be followed by a semicolon
11505 and an extended regular expression.
11506 Then the latter is used to parse the first output line of the
11507 .Va spamfilter-rate
11508 hook, and, in case the evaluation is successful, the group that has been
11509 specified via the number is interpreted as a floating point scan score.
11513 .It Va ssl-ca-dir-USER@HOST , ssl-ca-dir-HOST , ssl-ca-dir ,\
11514 ssl-ca-file-USER@HOST , ssl-ca-file-HOST , ssl-ca-file
11515 \*(OP Specify the location of trusted CA certificates in PEM (Privacy
11516 Enhanced Mail) format as a directory and a file, respectively, for the
11517 purpose of verification of SSL/TLS server certificates.
11518 It is possible to set both, the file will be loaded immediately, the
11519 directory will be searched whenever no match has yet been found.
11520 The set of CA certificates which are built into the SSL/TLS library can
11521 be explicitly turned off by setting
11522 .Va ssl-ca-no-defaults ,
11523 and further fine-tuning is possible via
11526 .Xr SSL_CTX_load_verify_locations 3
11527 for more information.
11528 \*(UA will try to use the TLS/SNI (ServerNameIndication) extension when
11529 establishing TLS connections to servers identified with hostnames.
11532 .Mx Va ssl-ca-flags
11533 .It Va ssl-ca-flags-USER@HOST , ssl-ca-flags-HOST , ssl-ca-flags
11534 \*(OP Can be used to fine-tune behaviour of the X509 CA certificate
11535 storage, and the certificate verification that is used (also see
11537 The value is expected to consist of a comma-separated list of
11538 configuration directives, with any intervening whitespace being ignored.
11539 The directives directly map to flags that can be passed to
11540 .Xr X509_STORE_set_flags 3 ,
11541 which are usually defined in a file
11542 .Pa openssl/x509_vfy.h ,
11543 and the availability of which depends on the used SSL/TLS library
11544 version: a directive without mapping is ignored (error log subject to
11546 Directives currently understood (case-insensitively) include:
11549 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Cd BaNg"
11550 .It Cd no-alt-chains
11551 If the initial chain is not trusted, do not attempt to build an
11553 Setting this flag will make OpenSSL certificate verification match that
11554 of older OpenSSL versions, before automatic building and checking of
11555 alternative chains has been implemented; also see
11556 .Cd trusted-first .
11557 .It Cd no-check-time
11558 Do not check certificate/CRL validity against current time.
11559 .It Cd partial-chain
11560 By default partial, incomplete chains which cannot be verified up to the
11561 chain top, a self-signed root certificate, will not verify.
11562 With this flag set, a chain succeeds to verify if at least one signing
11563 certificate of the chain is in any of the configured trusted stores of
11565 The OpenSSL manual page
11566 .Xr SSL_CTX_load_verify_locations 3
11567 gives some advise how to manage your own trusted store of CA certificates.
11569 Disable workarounds for broken certificates.
11570 .It Cd trusted-first
11571 Try building a chain using issuers in the trusted store first to avoid
11572 problems with server-sent legacy intermediate certificates.
11573 Newer versions of OpenSSL support alternative chain checking and enable
11574 it by default, resulting in the same behaviour; also see
11575 .Cd no-alt-chains .
11579 .Mx Va ssl-ca-no-defaults
11580 .It Va ssl-ca-no-defaults-USER@HOST , ssl-ca-no-defaults-HOST ,\
11582 \*(BO\*(OP Do not load the default CA locations that are built into the
11583 used to SSL/TLS library to verify SSL/TLS server certificates.
11586 .It Va ssl-cert-USER@HOST , ssl-cert-HOST , ssl-cert
11587 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11590 .Va ssl-config-pairs .
11592 .Mx Va ssl-cipher-list
11593 .It Va ssl-cipher-list-USER@HOST , ssl-cipher-list-HOST , ssl-cipher-list
11594 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11597 .Va ssl-config-pairs .
11600 .It Va ssl-config-file
11601 \*(OP If this variable is set
11602 .Xr CONF_modules_load_file 3
11604 .Ql +modules-load-file
11607 is used to allow resource file based configuration of the SSL/TLS library.
11608 This happens once the library is used first, which may also be early
11609 during startup (logged with
11611 If a non-empty value is given then the given file, after performing
11612 .Sx "Filename transformations" ,
11613 will be used instead of the global OpenSSL default, and it is an error
11614 if the file cannot be loaded.
11615 The application name will always be passed as
11617 Some SSL/TLS libraries support application-specific configuration via
11618 resource files loaded like this, please see
11619 .Va ssl-config-module .
11621 .Mx Va ssl-config-module
11622 .It Va ssl-config-module-USER@HOST , ssl-config-module-HOST ,\
11624 \*(OP If file based application-specific configuration via
11625 .Va ssl-config-file
11626 is available, announced as
11630 indicating availability of
11631 .Xr SSL_CTX_config 3 ,
11632 then, it becomes possible to use a central SSL/TLS configuration file
11633 for all programs, including \*(uA, e.g.:
11634 .Bd -literal -offset indent
11635 # Register a configuration section for \*(uA
11636 \*(uA = mailx_master
11637 # The top configuration section creates a relation
11638 # in between dynamic SSL configuration and an actual
11639 # program specific configuration section
11641 ssl_conf = mailx_ssl_config
11642 # Well that actual program specific configuration section
11643 # now can map individual ssl-config-module names to sections,
11644 # e.g., ssl-config-module=account_xy
11646 account_xy = mailx_account_xy
11647 account_yz = mailx_account_yz
11649 MinProtocol = TLSv1.2
11652 CipherString = TLSv1.2:!aNULL:!eNULL:
11653 MinProtocol = TLSv1.1
11658 .Mx Va ssl-config-pairs
11659 .It Va ssl-config-pairs-USER@HOST , ssl-config-pairs-HOST , ssl-config-pairs
11660 \*(OP The value of this variable chain will be interpreted as
11661 a comma-separated list of directive/value pairs.
11662 Different to when placing these pairs in a
11663 .Va ssl-config-module
11665 .Va ssl-config-file
11668 need to be escaped with a reverse solidus
11670 when included in pairs.
11671 Just likewise directives and values need to be separated by equals signs
11673 any whitespace surrounding pair members is removed.
11674 Keys are (usually) case-insensitive.
11675 Unless proper support is announced by
11677 .Pf ( Ql +conf-ctx )
11678 only the keys below are supported, otherwise the pairs will be used
11679 directly as arguments to the function
11680 .Xr SSL_CONF_cmd 3 .
11683 may be preceded with an asterisk
11686 .Sx "Filename transformations"
11687 shall be performed on the value; it is an error if these fail.
11690 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Cd C_rtificate"
11692 Filename of a SSL/TLS client certificate (chain) required by some servers.
11693 Fallback support via
11694 .Xr SSL_CTX_use_certificate_chain_file 3 .
11695 .Sx "Filename transformations"
11697 .\" v15compat: remove the next sentence
11699 if you use this you need to specify the private key via
11705 A list of ciphers for SSL/TLS connections, see
11707 By default no list of ciphers is set, resulting in a
11708 .Cd Protocol Ns - Ns
11709 specific list of ciphers (the protocol standards define lists of
11710 acceptable ciphers; possibly cramped by the used SSL/TLS library).
11711 Fallback support via
11712 .Xr SSL_CTX_set_cipher_list 3 .
11715 A list of supported elliptic curves, if applicable.
11716 By default no curves are set.
11717 Fallback support via
11718 .Xr SSL_CTX_set1_curves_list 3 ,
11721 .It Cd MaxProtocol , MinProtocol
11722 The maximum and minimum supported SSL/TLS versions, respectively.
11723 Optional fallback support via
11724 .Xr SSL_CTX_set_max_proto_version 3
11726 .Xr SSL_CTX_set_min_proto_version 3
11730 .Ql +ctx-set-maxmin-proto ,
11731 otherwise this directive results in an error.
11732 The fallback uses an internal parser which understands the strings
11737 and the special value
11739 which disables the given limit.
11742 Various flags to set.
11744 .Xr SSL_CTX_set_options 3 ,
11745 in which case any other value but (exactly)
11747 results in an error.
11750 Filename of the private key in PEM format of a SSL/TLS client certificate.
11751 If unset, the name of the certificate file is used.
11752 .Sx "Filename transformations"
11755 .Xr SSL_CTX_use_PrivateKey_file 3 .
11756 .\" v15compat: remove the next sentence
11758 if you use this you need to specify the certificate (chain) via
11764 The used SSL/TLS protocol.
11770 .Ql ctx-set-maxmin-proto
11777 .Xr SSL_CTX_set_options 3 ,
11778 driven via an internal parser which understands the strings
11783 and the special value
11785 Multiple protocols may be given as a comma-separated list, any
11786 whitespace is ignored, an optional plus sign
11788 prefix enables, a hyphen-minus
11790 prefix disables a protocol, so that
11792 enables only the TLSv1.2 protocol.
11798 .It Va ssl-crl-dir , ssl-crl-file
11799 \*(OP Specify a directory / a file, respectively that contains a CRL in
11800 PEM format to use when verifying SSL/TLS server certificates.
11803 .It Va ssl-curves-USER@HOST , ssl-curves-HOST , ssl-curves
11804 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11807 .Va ssl-config-pairs .
11810 .It Va ssl-features
11811 \*(OP\*(RO This expands to a comma separated list of the TLS/SSL library
11812 identity and optional TLS/SSL library features.
11813 Currently supported identities are
11817 (OpenSSL v1.1.x series)
11820 (elder OpenSSL series, other clones).
11821 Optional features are preceded with a plus sign
11823 when available, and with a hyphen-minus
11826 .Ql modules-load-file
11827 .Pf ( Va ssl-config-file ) ,
11829 .Pf ( Va ssl-config-pairs ) ,
11831 .Pf ( Va ssl-config-module ) ,
11832 .Ql ctx-set-maxmin-proto
11833 .Pf ( Va ssl-config-pairs )
11836 .Pf ( Va ssl-rand-egd ) .
11839 .It Va ssl-key-USER@HOST , ssl-key-HOST , ssl-key
11840 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11843 .Va ssl-config-pairs .
11845 .It Va ssl-method-USER@HOST , ssl-method-HOST , ssl-method
11846 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11849 .Va ssl-config-pairs .
11851 .Mx Va ssl-protocol
11852 .It Va ssl-protocol-USER@HOST , ssl-protocol-HOST , ssl-protocol
11853 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11856 .Va ssl-config-pairs .
11859 .It Va ssl-rand-egd
11860 \*(OP Gives the pathname to an entropy daemon socket, see
11862 Not all SSL/TLS libraries support this,
11864 announces availability with
11868 .It Va ssl-rand-file
11869 \*(OP Gives the filename to a file with random entropy data, see
11870 .Xr RAND_load_file 3 .
11871 If this variable is not set, or set to the empty string, or if the
11872 .Sx "Filename transformations"
11874 .Xr RAND_file_name 3
11875 will be used to create the filename.
11876 If the SSL PRNG was seeded successfully
11877 The file will be updated
11878 .Pf ( Xr RAND_write_file 3 )
11879 if and only if seeding and buffer stirring succeeds.
11880 This variable is only used if
11882 is not set (or not supported by the SSL/TLS library).
11885 .It Va ssl-verify-USER@HOST , ssl-verify-HOST , ssl-verify
11886 \*(OP Variable chain that sets the action to be performed if an error
11887 occurs during SSL/TLS server certificate validation against the
11888 specified or default trust stores
11891 or the SSL/TLS library built-in defaults (unless usage disallowed via
11892 .Va ssl-ca-no-defaults ) ,
11893 and as fine-tuned via
11895 Valid (case-insensitive) values are
11897 (fail and close connection immediately),
11899 (ask whether to continue on standard input),
11901 (show a warning and continue),
11903 (do not perform validation).
11909 If only set without an assigned value, then this setting inhibits the
11915 header fields that include obvious references to \*(UA.
11916 There are two pitfalls associated with this:
11917 First, the message id of outgoing messages is not known anymore.
11918 Second, an expert may still use the remaining information in the header
11919 to track down the originating mail user agent.
11920 If set to the value
11926 suppression does not occur.
11929 .It Va system-mailrc
11930 \*(RO The compiled in path of the system wide initialization file
11932 .Sx "Resource files" :
11938 (\*(OP) This specifies a comma-separated list of
11943 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" ,
11944 escape commas with reverse solidus) to be used to overwrite or define
11947 this variable will only be queried once at program startup and can
11948 thus only be specified in resource files or on the command line.
11951 String capabilities form
11953 pairs and are expected unless noted otherwise.
11954 Numerics have to be notated as
11956 where the number is expected in normal decimal notation.
11957 Finally, booleans do not have any value but indicate a true or false
11958 state simply by being defined or not; this indeed means that \*(UA
11959 does not support undefining an existing boolean.
11960 String capability values will undergo some expansions before use:
11961 for one notations like
11964 .Ql control-LETTER ,
11965 and for clarification purposes
11967 can be used to specify
11969 (the control notation
11971 could lead to misreadings when a left bracket follows, which it does for
11972 the standard CSI sequence);
11973 finally three letter octal sequences, as in
11976 To specify that a terminal supports 256-colours, and to define sequences
11977 that home the cursor and produce an audible bell, one might write:
11979 .Bd -literal -offset indent
11980 ? set termcap='Co#256,home=\eE[H,bel=^G'
11984 The following terminal capabilities are or may be meaningful for the
11985 operation of the built-in line editor or \*(UA in general:
11988 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Cd yay"
11990 .It Cd colors Ns \0or Cd Co
11992 numeric capability specifying the maximum number of colours.
11993 Note that \*(UA does not actually care about the terminal beside that,
11994 but always emits ANSI / ISO 6429 escape sequences.
11997 .It Cd rmcup Ns \0or Cd te Ns \0/ Cd smcup Ns \0or Cd ti
12000 .Cd enter_ca_mode ,
12001 respectively: exit and enter the alternative screen ca-mode,
12002 effectively turning \*(UA into a fullscreen application.
12003 This must be enabled explicitly by setting
12004 .Va termcap-ca-mode .
12006 .It Cd smkx Ns \0or Cd ks Ns \0/ Cd rmkx Ns \0or Cd ke
12010 respectively: enable and disable the keypad.
12011 This is always enabled if available, because it seems even keyboards
12012 without keypads generate other key codes for, e.g., cursor keys in that
12013 case, and only if enabled we see the codes that we are interested in.
12015 .It Cd ed Ns \0or Cd cd
12019 .It Cd clear Ns \0or Cd cl
12021 clear the screen and home cursor.
12022 (Will be simulated via
12027 .It Cd home Ns \0or Cd ho
12032 .It Cd el Ns \0or Cd ce
12034 clear to the end of line.
12035 (Will be simulated via
12037 plus repetitions of space characters.)
12039 .It Cd hpa Ns \0or Cd ch
12040 .Cd column_address :
12041 move the cursor (to the given column parameter) in the current row.
12042 (Will be simulated via
12048 .Cd carriage_return :
12049 move to the first column in the current row.
12050 The default built-in fallback is
12053 .It Cd cub1 Ns \0or Cd le
12055 move the cursor left one space (non-destructively).
12056 The default built-in fallback is
12059 .It Cd cuf1 Ns \0or Cd nd
12061 move the cursor right one space (non-destructively).
12062 The default built-in fallback is
12064 which is used by most terminals.
12072 Many more capabilities which describe key-sequences are documented for
12077 .It Va termcap-ca-mode
12078 \*(OP Allow usage of the
12082 terminal capabilities, effectively turning \*(UA into a fullscreen
12083 application, as documented for
12086 this variable will only be queried once at program startup and can
12087 thus only be specified in resource files or on the command line.
12090 .It Va termcap-disable
12091 \*(OP Disable any interaction with a terminal control library.
12092 If set only some generic fallback built-ins and possibly the content of
12094 describe the terminal to \*(UA.
12096 this variable will only be queried once at program startup and can
12097 thus only be specified in resource files or on the command line.
12101 If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be displayed
12104 if unset, the first five lines are printed, if set to 0 the variable
12107 If the value is negative then its absolute value will be used for
12108 unsigned right shifting (see
12116 \*(BO If set then the
12118 command series will strip adjacent empty lines and quotations.
12122 The character set of the terminal \*(UA operates on,
12123 and the one and only supported character set that \*(UA can use if no
12124 character set conversion capabilities have been compiled into it,
12125 in which case it defaults to ISO-8859-1.
12126 Otherwise it defaults to UTF-8.
12127 Sufficient locale support provided the default will be preferably
12128 deduced from the locale environment if that is set (e.g.,
12130 see there for more); runtime locale changes will be reflected by
12132 except during the program startup phase and if
12134 had been used to freeze the given value.
12135 Refer to the section
12136 .Sx "Character sets"
12137 for the complete picture about character sets.
12140 .It Va typescript-mode
12141 \*(BO A special multiplex variable that disables all variables and
12142 settings which result in behaviour that interferes with running \*(UA in
12145 .Va colour-disable ,
12146 .Va line-editor-disable
12147 and (before startup completed only)
12148 .Va termcap-disable .
12149 Unsetting it does not restore the former state of the covered settings.
12153 For a safe-by-default policy the process file mode creation mask
12157 on program startup by default.
12158 Child processes inherit the file mode creation mask of their parent, and
12159 by setting this variable to an empty value no change will be applied,
12160 and the inherited value will be used.
12161 Otherwise the given value will be made the new file mode creation mask.
12164 .It Va user-HOST , user
12165 \*(IN Variable chain that sets a global fallback user name, which is
12166 used in case none has been given in the protocol and account-specific
12168 This variable defaults to the name of the user who runs \*(UA.
12172 \*(BO Setting this enables upward compatibility with \*(UA
12173 version 15.0 in respect to which configuration options are available and
12174 how they are handled.
12175 This manual uses \*(IN and \*(OU to refer to the new and the old way of
12176 doing things, respectively.
12180 \*(BO This setting, also controllable via the command line option
12182 causes \*(UA to be more verbose, e.g., it will display obsoletion
12183 warnings and SSL/TLS certificate chains.
12184 Even though marked \*(BO this option may be set twice in order to
12185 increase the level of verbosity even more, in which case even details of
12186 the actual message delivery and protocol conversations are shown.
12189 is sufficient to disable verbosity as such.
12196 .It Va version , version-date , \
12197 version-hexnum , version-major , version-minor , version-update
12198 \*(RO \*(UA version information: the first variable is a string with
12199 the complete version identification, the second the release date in ISO
12200 8601 notation without time.
12201 The third is a 32-bit hexadecimal number with the upper 8 bits storing
12202 the major, followed by the minor and update version numbers which occupy
12204 The latter three variables contain only decimal digits: the major, minor
12205 and update version numbers.
12206 The output of the command
12208 will include this information.
12211 .It Va writebackedited
12212 If this variable is set messages modified using the
12216 commands are written back to the current folder when it is quit;
12217 it is only honoured for writable folders in MBOX format, though.
12218 Note that the editor will be pointed to the raw message content in that
12219 case, i.e., neither MIME decoding nor decryption will have been
12220 performed, and proper RFC 4155
12222 quoting of newly added or edited content is also left as an exercise to
12225 .\" }}} (Variables)
12227 .\" }}} (INTERNAL VARIABLES)
12230 .\" .Sh ENVIRONMENT {{{
12234 .Dq environment variable
12235 should be considered an indication that these variables are either
12236 standardized as vivid parts of process environments, or that they are
12237 commonly found in there.
12238 The process environment is inherited from the
12240 once \*(UA is started, and unless otherwise explicitly noted handling of
12241 the following variables transparently integrates into that of the
12242 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
12243 from \*(UA's point of view.
12244 This means that, e.g., they can be managed via
12248 causing automatic program environment updates (to be inherited by
12249 newly created child processes).
12252 In order to transparently integrate other environment variables equally
12253 they need to be imported (linked) with the command
12255 This command can also be used to set and unset non-integrated
12256 environment variables from scratch, sufficient system support provided.
12257 The following example, applicable to a POSIX shell, sets the
12259 environment variable for \*(UA only, and beforehand exports the
12261 in order to affect any further processing in the running shell:
12263 .Bd -literal -offset indent
12264 $ EDITOR="vim -u ${HOME}/.vimrc"
12266 $ COLUMNS=80 \*(uA -R
12269 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ev BaNg"
12272 The user's preferred width in column positions for the terminal screen
12274 Queried and used once on program startup, actively managed for child
12275 processes and the MLE (see
12276 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
12277 in interactive mode thereafter.
12278 Ignored in non-interactive mode, which always uses 80 columns, unless in
12284 The name of the (mailbox)
12286 to use for saving aborted messages if
12288 is set; this defaults to
12292 is set no output will be generated, otherwise the contents of the file
12297 Pathname of the text editor to use for the
12301 .Pf (see\0 Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ) ;
12303 is used for a more display oriented editor.
12307 The user's home directory.
12308 This variable is only used when it resides in the process environment.
12309 The calling user's home directory will be used instead if this directory
12310 does not exist, is not accessible or cannot be read;
12311 it will always be used for the root user.
12312 (No test for being writable is performed to allow usage by
12313 non-privileged users within read-only jails, but dependent on the
12314 variable settings this directory is a default write target, e.g. for
12322 .It Ev LC_ALL , LC_CTYPE , LANG
12323 \*(OP The (names in lookup order of the)
12327 which indicates the used
12328 .Sx "Character sets" .
12329 Runtime changes trigger automatic updates of the entire locale system,
12330 which includes updating
12332 (except during startup if the variable has been frozen via
12337 The user's preferred number of lines on a page or the vertical screen
12338 or window size in lines.
12339 Queried and used once on program startup, actively managed for child
12340 processes in interactive mode thereafter.
12341 Ignored in non-interactive mode, which always uses 24 lines, unless in
12347 Pathname of the directory lister to use in the
12349 command when operating on local mailboxes.
12352 (path search through
12357 Upon startup \*(UA will actively ensure that this variable refers to the
12358 name of the user who runs \*(UA, in order to be able to pass a verified
12359 name to any newly created child process.
12363 Is used as the users
12365 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
12369 This is assumed to be an absolute pathname.
12373 \*(OP Overrides the default path search for
12374 .Sx "The Mailcap files" ,
12375 which is defined in the standard RFC 1524 as
12376 .Ql ~/.mailcap:\:/etc/mailcap:\:/usr/etc/mailcap:\:/usr/local/etc/mailcap .
12377 .\" TODO we should have a mailcaps-default virtual RDONLY option!
12378 (\*(UA makes it a configuration option, however.)
12379 Note this is not a search path, but a path search.
12383 Is used as a startup file instead of
12386 In order to avoid side-effects from configuration files scripts should
12387 either set this variable to
12391 command line option should be used.
12394 .It Ev MAILX_NO_SYSTEM_RC
12395 If this variable is set then reading of
12398 .Va system-mailrc )
12399 at startup is inhibited, i.e., the same effect is achieved as if \*(UA
12400 had been started up with the option
12402 (and according argument) or
12404 This variable is only used when it resides in the process environment.
12408 The name of the users
12410 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
12412 A logical subset of the special
12413 .Sx "Filename transformations"
12419 Traditionally this MBOX is used as the file to save messages from the
12421 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
12422 that have been read.
12424 .Sx "Message states" .
12428 \*(IN\*(OP This variable overrides the default location of the user's
12434 Pathname of the program to use for backing the command
12438 variable enforces usage of a pager for output.
12439 The default paginator is
12441 (path search through
12444 \*(UA inspects the contents of this variable: if its contains the string
12446 then a non-existing environment variable
12453 will optionally be set to
12460 A colon-separated list of directories that is searched by the shell when
12461 looking for commands, e.g.,
12462 .Ql /bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin .
12465 .It Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT
12466 This variable is automatically looked for upon startup, see
12472 The shell to use for the commands
12477 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
12478 and when starting subprocesses.
12479 A default shell is used if this environment variable is not defined.
12482 .It Ev SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
12483 Specifies a time in seconds since the Unix epoch (1970-01-01) to be
12484 used in place of the current time.
12485 This variable is looked up upon program startup, and its existence will
12486 switch \*(UA to a reproducible mode
12487 .Pf ( Lk https://reproducible-builds.org )
12488 which uses deterministic random numbers, a special fixated pseudo
12491 This operation mode is used for development and by software packagers.
12492 \*(ID Currently an invalid setting is only ignored, rather than causing
12493 a program abortion.
12495 .Dl $ SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=`date +%s` \*(uA
12499 \*(OP The terminal type for which output is to be prepared.
12500 For extended colour and font control please refer to
12501 .Sx "Coloured display" ,
12502 and for terminal management in general to
12503 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" .
12507 Except for the root user this variable defines the directory for
12508 temporary files to be used instead of
12510 (or the given compile-time constant) if set, existent, accessible as
12511 well as read- and writable.
12512 This variable is only used when it resides in the process environment,
12513 but \*(UA will ensure at startup that this environment variable is
12514 updated to contain a usable temporary directory.
12520 (see there), but this variable is not standardized, should therefore not
12521 be used, and is only corrected if already set.
12525 Pathname of the text editor to use for the
12529 .Pf (see\0 Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ) ;
12531 is used for a less display oriented editor.
12541 .Bl -tag -width ".It Pa BaNg"
12543 User-specific file giving initial commands, one of the
12544 .Sx "Resource files" .
12545 The actual value is read from
12549 System wide initialization file, one of the
12550 .Sx "Resource files" .
12551 The actual value is read from
12552 .Va system-mailrc .
12556 \*(OP Personal MIME type handler definition file, see
12557 .Sx "The Mailcap files" .
12558 This location is part of the RFC 1524 standard search path, which is
12559 a configuration option and can be overridden via
12563 .It Pa /etc/mailcap
12564 \*(OP System wide MIME type handler definition file, see
12565 .Sx "The Mailcap files" .
12566 This location is part of the RFC 1524 standard search path, which is
12567 a configuration option and can be overridden via
12571 The default value for
12576 Personal MIME types, see
12577 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
12581 System wide MIME types, see
12582 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
12586 \*(IN\*(OP The default location of the users
12588 file \(en the section
12589 .Sx "The .netrc file"
12590 documents the file format.
12591 The actually used path can be overridden via
12601 .\" .Ss "Resource files" {{{
12602 .Ss "Resource files"
12604 Upon startup \*(UA reads in several resource files, in order:
12606 .Bl -tag -width ".It Pa BaNg"
12609 System wide initialization file
12610 .Pf ( Va system-mailrc ) .
12611 Reading of this file can be suppressed, either by using the
12613 (and according argument) or
12615 command line options, or by setting the
12618 .Ev MAILX_NO_SYSTEM_RC .
12622 File giving initial commands.
12623 A different file can be chosen by setting the
12627 Reading of this file can be suppressed with the
12629 command line option.
12631 .It Va mailx-extra-rc
12632 Defines a startup file to be read after all other resource files.
12633 It can be used to specify settings that are not understood by other
12635 implementations, for example.
12636 This variable is only honoured when defined in a resource file, e.g.,
12638 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" .
12642 The content of these files is interpreted as follows:
12645 .Bl -bullet -compact
12647 The whitespace characters space, tabulator and newline,
12648 as well as those defined by the variable
12650 are removed from the beginning and end of input lines.
12652 Empty lines are ignored.
12654 Any other line is interpreted as a command.
12655 It may be spread over multiple input lines if the newline character is
12657 by placing a reverse solidus character
12659 as the last character of the line; whereas any leading whitespace of
12660 follow lines is ignored, trailing whitespace before a escaped newline
12661 remains in the input.
12663 If the line (content) starts with the number sign
12665 then it is a comment-command and also ignored.
12666 (The comment-command is a real command, which does nothing, and
12667 therefore the usual follow lines mechanism applies!)
12671 Unless \*(UA is about to enter interactive mode syntax errors that occur
12672 while loading these files are treated as errors and cause program exit.
12673 More files with syntactically equal content can be
12675 The following, saved in a file, would be an examplary content:
12677 .Bd -literal -offset indent
12678 # This line is a comment command. And y\e
12679 es, it is really continued here.
12686 .\" .Ss "The mime.types files" {{{
12687 .Ss "The mime.types files"
12690 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments"
12691 \*(UA needs to learn about MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)
12692 media types in order to classify message and attachment content.
12693 One source for them are
12695 files, the loading of which can be controlled by setting the variable
12696 .Va mimetypes-load-control .
12697 Another is the command
12699 which also offers access to \*(UAs MIME type cache.
12701 files have the following syntax:
12703 .Bd -literal -offset indent
12704 type/subtype extension [extension ...]
12705 # E.g., text/html html htm
12711 define the MIME media type, as standardized in RFC 2046:
12713 is used to declare the general type of data, while the
12715 specifies a specific format for that type of data.
12716 One or multiple filename
12718 s, separated by whitespace, can be bound to the media type format.
12719 Comments may be introduced anywhere on a line with a number sign
12721 causing the remaining line to be discarded.
12723 \*(UA also supports an extended, non-portable syntax in especially
12724 crafted files, which can be loaded via the alternative value syntax of
12725 .Va mimetypes-load-control ,
12726 and prepends an optional
12730 .Dl [type-marker ]type/subtype extension [extension ...]
12733 The following type markers are supported:
12736 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ar _n_u"
12738 Treat message parts with this content as plain text.
12743 Treat message parts with this content as HTML tagsoup.
12744 If the \*(OPal HTML-tagsoup-to-text converter is not available treat
12745 the content as plain text instead.
12749 but instead of falling back to plain text require an explicit content
12750 handler to be defined.
12752 If no handler can be found a text message is displayed which says so.
12753 This can be annoying, for example signatures serve a contextual purpose,
12754 their content is of no use by itself.
12755 This marker will avoid displaying the text message.
12760 for sending messages:
12762 .Va mime-allow-text-controls ,
12763 .Va mimetypes-load-control .
12764 For reading etc. messages:
12765 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ,
12766 .Sx "The Mailcap files" ,
12768 .Va mime-counter-evidence ,
12769 .Va mimetypes-load-control ,
12770 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE ,
12771 .Va pipe-EXTENSION .
12774 .\" .Ss "The Mailcap files" {{{
12775 .Ss "The Mailcap files"
12777 .\" TODO MAILCAP DISABLED
12778 .Sy This feature is not available in v14.9.0, sorry!
12780 .Dq User Agent Configuration Mechanism
12781 which \*(UA \*(OPally supports (see
12782 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ) .
12783 It defines a file format to be used to inform mail user agent programs
12784 about the locally-installed facilities for handling various data
12785 formats, i.e., about commands and how they can be used to display, edit
12786 et cetera MIME part contents, as well as a default path search that
12787 includes multiple possible locations of
12791 environment variable that can be used to overwrite that (repeating here
12792 that it is not a search path, but instead a path search specification).
12793 Any existing files will be loaded in sequence, appending any content to
12794 the list of MIME type handler directives.
12798 files consist of a set of newline separated entries.
12799 Comment lines start with a number sign
12801 (in the first column!) and are ignored.
12802 Empty lines are also ignored.
12803 All other lines form individual entries that must adhere to the syntax
12805 To extend a single entry (not comment) its line can be continued on
12806 follow lines if newline characters are
12808 by preceding them with the reverse solidus character
12810 The standard does not specify how leading whitespace of follow lines
12811 is to be treated, therefore \*(UA retains it.
12815 entries consist of a number of semicolon
12817 separated fields, and the reverse solidus
12819 character can be used to escape any following character including
12820 semicolon and itself.
12821 The first two fields are mandatory and must occur in the specified
12822 order, the remaining fields are optional and may appear in any order.
12823 Leading and trailing whitespace of content is ignored (removed).
12826 The first field defines the MIME
12828 the entry is about to handle (case-insensitively, and no reverse solidus
12829 escaping is possible in this field).
12830 If the subtype is specified as an asterisk
12832 the entry is meant to match all subtypes of the named type, e.g.,
12834 would match any audio type.
12835 The second field defines the shell command which shall be used to
12837 MIME parts of the given type; it is implicitly called the
12844 shell commands message (MIME part) data is passed via standard input
12845 unless the given shell command includes one or more instances of the
12848 in which case these instances will be replaced with a temporary filename
12849 and the data will have been stored in the file that is being pointed to.
12852 shell commands data is assumed to be generated on standard output unless
12853 the given command includes (one ore multiple)
12855 In any case any given
12857 format is replaced with a(n already) properly quoted filename.
12858 Note that when a command makes use of a temporary file via
12860 then \*(UA will remove it again, as if the
12861 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile ,
12862 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill
12864 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink
12865 flags had been set; see below for more.
12868 The optional fields either define a shell command or an attribute (flag)
12869 value, the latter being a single word and the former being a keyword
12870 naming the field followed by an equals sign
12872 succeeded by a shell command, and as usual for any
12874 content any whitespace surrounding the equals sign will be removed, too.
12875 Optional fields include the following:
12878 .Bl -tag -width ".It Cd BaNg"
12880 A program that can be used to compose a new body or body part in the
12882 (Currently unused.)
12884 .It Cd composetyped
12887 field, but is to be used when the composing program needs to specify the
12889 header field to be applied to the composed data.
12890 (Currently unused.)
12893 A program that can be used to edit a body or body part in the given
12895 (Currently unused.)
12898 A program that can be used to print a message or body part in the given
12900 (Currently unused.)
12903 Specifies a program to be run to test some condition, e.g., the machine
12904 architecture, or the window system in use, to determine whether or not
12905 this mailcap entry applies.
12906 If the test fails, a subsequent mailcap entry should be sought; also see
12907 .Cd x-mailx-test-once .
12910 .It Cd needsterminal
12911 This flag field indicates that the given shell command must be run on
12912 an interactive terminal.
12913 \*(UA will temporarily release the terminal to the given command in
12914 interactive mode, in non-interactive mode this entry will be entirely
12915 ignored; this flag implies
12916 .Cd x-mailx-noquote .
12919 .It Cd copiousoutput
12920 A flag field which indicates that the output of the
12922 command will be an extended stream of textual output that can be
12923 (re)integrated into \*(UA's normal visual display.
12924 It is mutually exclusive with
12925 .Cd needsterminal .
12927 .It Cd textualnewlines
12928 A flag field which indicates that this type of data is line-oriented and
12929 that, if encoded in
12931 all newlines should be converted to canonical form (CRLF) before
12932 encoding, and will be in that form after decoding.
12933 (Currently unused.)
12935 .It Cd nametemplate
12936 This field gives a filename format, in which
12938 will be replaced by a random string, the joined combination of which
12939 will be used as the filename denoted by
12940 .Ev MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY .
12941 One could specify that a GIF file being passed to an image viewer should
12942 have a name ending in
12945 .Ql nametemplate=%s.gif .
12946 Note that \*(UA ignores the name template unless that solely specifies
12947 a filename suffix that consists of (ASCII) alphabetic and numeric
12948 characters, the underscore and dot only.
12951 Names a file, in X11 bitmap (xbm) format, which points to an appropriate
12952 icon to be used to visually denote the presence of this kind of data.
12953 This field is not used by \*(UA.
12956 A textual description that describes this type of data.
12959 .It Cd x-mailx-even-if-not-interactive
12960 An extension flag test field \(em by default handlers without
12962 are entirely ignored in non-interactive mode, but if this flag is set
12963 then their use will be considered.
12964 It is an error if this flag is set for commands that use the flag
12965 .Cd needsterminal .
12968 .It Cd x-mailx-noquote
12969 An extension flag field that indicates that even a
12972 command shall not be used to generate message quotes
12973 (as it would be by default).
12976 .It Cd x-mailx-async
12977 Extension flag field that denotes that the given
12979 command shall be executed asynchronously, without blocking \*(UA.
12980 Cannot be used in conjunction with
12981 .Cd needsterminal .
12984 .It Cd x-mailx-test-once
12985 Extension flag which denotes whether the given
12987 command shall be evaluated once only and the (boolean) result be cached.
12988 This is handy if some global unchanging condition is to be queried, like
12989 .Dq running under the X Window System .
12992 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile
12993 Extension flag field that requests creation of a zero-sized temporary
12994 file, the name of which is to be placed in the environment variable
12995 .Ev MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY .
12996 It is an error to use this flag with commands that include a
13001 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill
13002 Normally the MIME part content is passed to the handler via standard
13003 input; if this flag is set then the data will instead be written into
13005 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile .
13006 In order to cause deletion of the temporary file you will have to set
13007 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink
13009 It is an error to use this flag with commands that include a
13014 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink
13015 Extension flag field that requests that the temporary file shall be
13016 deleted automatically when the command loop is entered again at latest.
13017 (Do not use this for asynchronous handlers.)
13018 It is an error to use this flag with commands that include a
13020 format, or in conjunction with
13021 .Cd x-mailx-async ,
13022 or without also setting
13023 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile
13025 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill .
13028 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-keep
13031 implies the three tmpfile related flags above, but if you want, e.g.,
13033 and deal with the temporary file yourself, you can add in this flag to
13035 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink .
13040 The standard includes the possibility to define any number of additional
13041 entry fields, prefixed by
13043 Flag fields apply to the entire
13045 entry \(em in some unusual cases, this may not be desirable, but
13046 differentiation can be accomplished via separate entries, taking
13047 advantage of the fact that subsequent entries are searched if an earlier
13048 one does not provide enough information.
13051 command needs to specify the
13055 command shall not, the following will help out the latter (with enabled
13059 level \*(UA will show information about handler evaluation):
13061 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13062 application/postscript; ps-to-terminal %s; needsterminal
13063 application/postscript; ps-to-terminal %s; compose=idraw %s
13067 In fields any occurrence of the format string
13069 will be replaced by the
13072 Named parameters from the
13074 field may be placed in the command execution line using
13076 followed by the parameter name and a closing
13079 The entire parameter should appear as a single command line argument,
13080 regardless of embedded spaces; thus:
13082 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13084 Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary=42
13087 multipart/*; /usr/local/bin/showmulti \e
13088 %t %{boundary} ; composetyped = /usr/local/bin/makemulti
13090 # Executed shell command
13091 /usr/local/bin/showmulti multipart/mixed 42
13095 .\" TODO v15: Mailcap: %n,%F
13096 Note that \*(UA does not support handlers for multipart MIME parts as
13097 shown in this example (as of today).
13098 \*(UA does not support the additional formats
13102 An example file, also showing how to properly deal with the expansion of
13104 which includes any quotes that are necessary to make it a valid shell
13105 argument by itself and thus will cause undesired behaviour when placed
13106 in additional user-provided quotes:
13108 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13110 text/richtext; richtext %s; copiousoutput
13112 text/x-perl; perl -cWT %s
13114 application/pdf; \e
13116 trap "rm -f ${infile}" EXIT\e; \e
13117 trap "exit 75" INT QUIT TERM\e; \e
13119 x-mailx-async; x-mailx-tmpfile-keep
13121 application/*; echo "This is \e"%t\e" but \e
13122 is 50 \e% Greek to me" \e; < %s head -c 1024 | cat -vET; \e
13123 copiousoutput; x-mailx-noquote
13128 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ,
13129 .Sx "The mime.types files" ,
13132 .Va mime-counter-evidence ,
13133 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE ,
13134 .Va pipe-EXTENSION .
13137 .\" .Ss "The .netrc file" {{{
13138 .Ss "The .netrc file"
13142 file contains user credentials for machine accounts.
13143 The default location
13145 may be overridden by the
13147 environment variable.
13148 The file consists of space, tabulator or newline separated tokens.
13149 \*(UA implements a parser that supports a superset of the original BSD
13150 syntax, but users should nonetheless be aware of portability glitches
13151 of that file format, shall their
13153 be usable across multiple programs and platforms:
13156 .Bl -bullet -compact
13158 BSD does not support single, but only double quotation marks, e.g.,
13159 .Ql password="pass with spaces" .
13161 BSD (only?) supports escaping of single characters via a reverse solidus
13162 (e.g., a space can be escaped via
13164 in- as well as outside of a quoted string.
13166 BSD does not require a final quotation mark of the last user input token.
13168 The original BSD (Berknet) parser also supported a format which allowed
13169 tokens to be separated with commas \(en whereas at least Hewlett-Packard
13170 still seems to support this syntax, \*(UA does not!
13172 As a non-portable extension some widely-used programs support
13173 shell-style comments: if an input line starts, after any amount of
13174 whitespace, with a number sign
13176 then the rest of the line is ignored.
13178 Whereas other programs may require that the
13180 file is accessible by only the user if it contains a
13182 token for any other
13186 \*(UA will always require these strict permissions.
13190 Of the following list of supported tokens \*(UA only uses (and caches)
13195 At runtime the command
13197 can be used to control \*(UA's
13201 .Bl -tag -width ".It Cd BaNg"
13202 .It Cd machine Ar name
13203 The hostname of the entries' machine, lowercase-normalized by \*(UA
13205 Any further file content, until either end-of-file or the occurrence
13210 first-class token is bound (only related) to the machine
13213 As an extension that should not be the cause of any worries
13214 \*(UA supports a single wildcard prefix for
13216 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13217 machine *.example.com login USER password PASS
13218 machine pop3.example.com login USER password PASS
13219 machine smtp.example.com login USER password PASS
13225 .Ql pop3.example.com ,
13229 .Ql local.smtp.example.com .
13230 Note that in the example neither
13231 .Ql pop3.example.com
13233 .Ql smtp.example.com
13234 will be matched by the wildcard, since the exact matches take
13235 precedence (it is however faster to specify it the other way around).
13238 This is the same as
13240 except that it is a fallback entry that is used shall none of the
13241 specified machines match; only one default token may be specified,
13242 and it must be the last first-class token.
13244 .It Cd login Ar name
13245 The user name on the remote machine.
13247 .It Cd password Ar string
13248 The user's password on the remote machine.
13250 .It Cd account Ar string
13251 Supply an additional account password.
13252 This is merely for FTP purposes.
13254 .It Cd macdef Ar name
13256 A macro is defined with the specified
13258 it is formed from all lines beginning with the next line and continuing
13259 until a blank line is (consecutive newline characters are) encountered.
13262 entries cannot be utilized by multiple machines, too, but must be
13263 defined following the
13265 they are intended to be used with.)
13268 exists, it is automatically run as the last step of the login process.
13269 This is merely for FTP purposes.
13276 .\" .Sh EXAMPLES {{{
13279 .\" .Ss "An example configuration" {{{
13280 .Ss "An example configuration"
13282 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13283 # This example assumes v15.0 compatibility mode
13286 # Request strict SSL/TLS transport security checks
13287 set ssl-verify=strict
13289 # Where are the up-to-date SSL/TLS certificates?
13290 # (Since we manage up-to-date ones explicitly, do not use any,
13291 # possibly outdated, default certificates shipped with OpenSSL)
13292 #set ssl-ca-dir=/etc/ssl/certs
13293 set ssl-ca-file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
13294 set ssl-ca-no-defaults
13295 #set ssl-ca-flags=partial-chain
13296 wysh set smime-ca-file="${ssl-ca-file}" \e
13297 smime-ca-no-defaults #smime-ca-flags="${ssl-ca-flags}"
13299 # This could be outsourced to a central configuration file via
13300 # ssl-config-file plus ssl-config-module if the used library allows.
13301 # CipherList: explicitly define the list of ciphers, which may
13302 # improve security, especially with protocols older than TLS v1.2.
13303 # See ciphers(1). Possibly best to only use ssl-cipher-list-HOST
13304 # (or -USER@HOST), as necessary, again..
13305 # Curves: especially with TLSv1.3 curves selection may be desired.
13306 # MinProtocol,MaxProtocol: do not use protocols older than TLS v1.2.
13307 # Change this only when the remote server does not support it:
13308 # maybe use chain support via ssl-config-pairs-HOST / -USER@HOST
13309 # to define such explicit exceptions, then, e.g.
13310 # MinProtocol=TLSv1.1
13311 if [ "$ssl-features" =% +ctx-set-maxmin-proto ]
13312 wysh set ssl-config-pairs='\e
13313 CipherList=TLSv1.2:!aNULL:!eNULL:@STRENGTH,\e
13314 Curves=P-521:P-384:P-256,\e
13315 MinProtocol=TLSv1.1'
13317 wysh set ssl-config-pairs='\e
13318 CipherList=TLSv1.2:!aNULL:!eNULL:@STRENGTH,\e
13319 Curves=P-521:P-384:P-256,\e
13320 Protocol=-ALL\e,+TLSv1.1 \e, +TLSv1.2'
13323 # Essential setting: select allowed character sets
13324 set sendcharsets=utf-8,iso-8859-1
13326 # A very kind option: when replying to a message, first try to
13327 # use the same encoding that the original poster used herself!
13328 set reply-in-same-charset
13330 # When replying, do not merge From: and To: of the original message
13331 # into To:. Instead old From: -> new To:, old To: -> merge Cc:.
13332 set recipients-in-cc
13334 # When sending messages, wait until the Mail-Transfer-Agent finishs.
13335 # Only like this you will be able to see errors reported through the
13336 # exit status of the MTA (including the built-in SMTP one)!
13339 # Only use built-in MIME types, no mime.types(5) files
13340 set mimetypes-load-control
13342 # Default directory where we act in (relative to $HOME)
13344 # A leading "+" (often) means: under *folder*
13345 # *record* is used to save copies of sent messages
13346 set MBOX=+mbox.mbox DEAD=+dead.txt \e
13347 record=+sent.mbox record-files record-resent
13349 # Make "file mymbox" and "file myrec" go to..
13350 shortcut mymbox %:+mbox.mbox myrec +sent.mbox
13352 # Not really optional, e.g., for S/MIME
13353 set from='Your Name <address@exam.ple>'
13355 # It may be necessary to set hostname and/or smtp-hostname
13356 # if the "SERVER" of mta and "domain" of from do not match.
13357 # The `urlencode' command can be used to encode USER and PASS
13358 set mta=(smtps?|submission)://[USER[:PASS]@]SERVER[:PORT] \e
13359 smtp-auth=login/plain... \e
13362 # Never refuse to start into interactive mode, and more
13364 colour-pager crt= \e
13365 followup-to followup-to-honour=ask-yes fullnames \e
13366 history-file=+.\*(uAhist history-size=-1 history-gabby \e
13367 mime-counter-evidence=0b1111 \e
13368 prompt='?\e$?!\e$!/\e$^ERRNAME[\e$account#\e$mailbox-display]? ' \e
13369 reply-to-honour=ask-yes \e
13372 # Only include the selected header fields when typing messages
13373 headerpick type retain from_ date from to cc subject \e
13374 message-id mail-followup-to reply-to
13375 # ...when forwarding messages
13376 headerpick forward retain subject date from to cc
13377 # ...when saving message, etc.
13378 #headerpick save ignore ^Original-.*$ ^X-.*$
13380 # Some mailing lists
13381 mlist '@xyz-editor\e.xyz$' '@xyzf\e.xyz$'
13382 mlsubscribe '^xfans@xfans\e.xyz$'
13384 # Handle a few file extensions (to store MBOX databases)
13385 filetype bz2 'bzip2 -dc' 'bzip2 -zc' \e
13386 gz 'gzip -dc' 'gzip -c' xz 'xz -dc' 'xz -zc' \e
13387 zst 'zstd -dc' 'zstd -19 -zc' \e
13388 zst.pgp 'gpg -d | zstd -dc' 'zstd -19 -zc | gpg -e'
13390 # A real life example of a very huge free mail provider
13391 # Instead of directly placing content inside `account',
13392 # we `define' a macro: like that we can switch "accounts"
13393 # from within *on-compose-splice*, for example!
13395 set folder=~/spool/XooglX inbox=+syste.mbox sent=+sent
13396 set from='Your Name <address@examp.ple>'
13398 set pop3-no-apop-pop.gmXil.com
13399 shortcut pop %:pop3s://pop.gmXil.com
13400 shortcut imap %:imaps://imap.gmXil.com
13401 #set record="+[Gmail]/Sent Mail"
13402 # Select: File imaps://imap.gmXil.com/[Gmail]/Sent\e Mail
13404 set mta=smtp://USER:PASS@smtp.gmXil.com smtp-use-starttls
13406 set mta=smtps://USER:PASS@smtp.gmail.com:465
13412 # Here is a pretty large one which does not allow sending mails
13413 # if there is a domain name mismatch on the SMTP protocol level,
13414 # which would bite us if the value of from does not match, e.g.,
13415 # for people who have a sXXXXeforge project and want to speak
13416 # with the mailing list under their project account (in from),
13417 # still sending the message through their normal mail provider
13419 set folder=~/spool/XandeX inbox=+syste.mbox sent=+sent
13420 set from='Your Name <address@exam.ple>'
13422 shortcut pop %:pop3s://pop.yaXXex.com
13423 shortcut imap %:imaps://imap.yaXXex.com
13425 set mta=smtps://USER:PASS@smtp.yaXXex.com:465 \e
13426 hostname=yaXXex.com smtp-hostname=
13432 # Create some new commands so that, e.g., `ls /tmp' will..
13433 commandalias lls '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFlrS'
13434 commandalias llS '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFlS'
13436 set pipe-message/external-body='@* echo $MAILX_EXTERNAL_BODY_URL'
13438 # We do not support gpg(1) directly yet. But simple --clearsign'd
13439 # message parts can be dealt with as follows:
13442 wysh set pipe-text/plain=$'@*#++=@\e
13443 < "${MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}" awk \e
13444 -v TMPFILE="${MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}" \e'\e
13446 /^-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----/,/^$/ {\e
13449 print "--- GPG --verify ---";\e
13450 system("gpg --verify " TMPFILE " 2>&1");\e
13451 print "--- GPG --verify ---";\e
13455 /^-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----/,\e
13456 /^-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----/{\e
13463 commandalias V '\e'call V
13467 When storing passwords in
13469 appropriate permissions should be set on this file with
13470 .Ql $ chmod 0600 \*(ur .
13473 is available user credentials can be stored in the central
13475 file instead; e.g., here is a different version of the example account
13476 that sets up SMTP and POP3:
13478 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13480 set folder=~/spool/XandeX inbox=+syste.mbox sent=+sent
13481 set from='Your Name <address@exam.ple>'
13483 # Load an encrypted ~/.netrc by uncommenting the next line
13484 #set netrc-pipe='gpg -qd ~/.netrc.pgp'
13486 set mta=smtps://smtp.yXXXXx.ru:465 \e
13487 smtp-hostname= hostname=yXXXXx.com
13488 set pop3-keepalive=240 pop3-no-apop-pop.yXXXXx.ru
13489 commandalias xp fi pop3s://pop.yXXXXx.ru
13501 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13502 machine *.yXXXXx.ru login USER password PASS
13506 This configuration should now work just fine:
13509 .Dl $ echo text | \*(uA -dvv -AXandeX -s Subject user@exam.ple
13512 .\" .Ss "S/MIME step by step" {{{
13513 .Ss "S/MIME step by step"
13515 \*(OP The first thing you need for participating in S/MIME message
13516 exchange is your personal certificate, including a private key.
13517 The certificate contains public information, in particular your name and
13518 your email address(es), and the public key that is used by others to
13519 encrypt messages for you,
13520 and to verify signed messages they supposedly received from you.
13521 The certificate is included in each signed message you send.
13522 The private key must be kept secret.
13523 It is used to decrypt messages that were previously encrypted with your
13524 public key, and to sign messages.
13527 For personal use it is recommended that you get a S/MIME certificate
13528 from one of the major CAs on the Internet using your WWW browser.
13529 Many CAs offer such certificates for free.
13531 .Lk https://www.CAcert.org
13532 which issues client and server certificates to members of their
13533 community for free; their root certificate
13534 .Pf ( Lk https://\:www.cacert.org/\:certs/\:root.crt )
13535 is often not in the default set of trusted CA root certificates, though,
13536 which means you will have to download their root certificate separately
13537 and ensure it is part of our S/MIME certificate validation chain by
13540 or as a vivid member of the
13541 .Va smime-ca-file .
13542 But let us take a step-by-step tour on how to setup S/MIME with
13543 a certificate from CAcert.org despite this situation!
13546 First of all you will have to become a member of the CAcert.org
13547 community, simply by registrating yourself via the web interface.
13548 Once you are, create and verify all email addresses you want to be able
13549 to create signed and encrypted messages for/with using the corresponding
13550 entries of the web interface.
13551 Now ready to create S/MIME certificates, so let us create a new
13552 .Dq client certificate ,
13553 ensure to include all email addresses that should be covered by the
13554 certificate in the following web form, and also to use your name as the
13558 Create a private key and a certificate request on your local computer
13559 (please see the manual pages of the used commands for more in-depth
13560 knowledge on what the used arguments etc. do):
13563 .Dl $ openssl req -nodes -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout key.pem -out creq.pem
13566 Afterwards copy-and-paste the content of
13568 into the certificate-request (CSR) field of the web form on the
13569 CAcert.org website (you may need to unfold some
13570 .Dq advanced options
13571 to see the corresponding text field).
13572 This last step will ensure that your private key (which never left your
13573 box) and the certificate belong together (through the public key that
13574 will find its way into the certificate via the certificate-request).
13575 You are now ready and can create your CAcert certified certificate.
13576 Download and store or copy-and-paste it as
13581 In order to use your new S/MIME setup a combined private key/public key
13582 (certificate) file has to be created:
13585 .Dl $ cat key.pem pub.crt > ME@HERE.com.paired
13588 This is the file \*(UA will work with.
13589 If you have created your private key with a passphrase then \*(UA will
13590 ask you for it whenever a message is signed or decrypted.
13591 Set the following variables to henceforth use S/MIME (setting
13593 is of interest for verification only):
13595 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13596 ? set smime-ca-file=ALL-TRUSTED-ROOT-CERTS-HERE \e
13597 smime-sign-cert=ME@HERE.com.paired \e
13598 smime-sign-message-digest=SHA256 \e
13604 .\" .Ss "Using CRLs with S/MIME or SSL/TLS" {{{
13605 .Ss "Using CRLs with S/MIME or SSL/TLS"
13607 \*(OP Certification authorities (CAs) issue certificate revocation
13608 lists (CRLs) on a regular basis.
13609 These lists contain the serial numbers of certificates that have been
13610 declared invalid after they have been issued.
13611 Such usually happens because the private key for the certificate has
13613 because the owner of the certificate has left the organization that is
13614 mentioned in the certificate, etc.
13615 To seriously use S/MIME or SSL/TLS verification,
13616 an up-to-date CRL is required for each trusted CA.
13617 There is otherwise no method to distinguish between valid and
13618 invalidated certificates.
13619 \*(UA currently offers no mechanism to fetch CRLs, nor to access them on
13620 the Internet, so they have to be retrieved by some external mechanism.
13623 \*(UA accepts CRLs in PEM format only;
13624 CRLs in DER format must be converted, like, e.\|g.:
13627 .Dl $ openssl crl \-inform DER \-in crl.der \-out crl.pem
13630 To tell \*(UA about the CRLs, a directory that contains all CRL files
13631 (and no other files) must be created.
13636 variables, respectively, must then be set to point to that directory.
13637 After that, \*(UA requires a CRL to be present for each CA that is used
13638 to verify a certificate.
13647 In general it is a good idea to turn on
13653 twice) if something does not work well.
13654 Very often a diagnostic message can be produced that leads to the
13655 problems' solution.
13657 .\" .Ss "\*(UA shortly hangs on startup" {{{
13658 .Ss "\*(UA shortly hangs on startup"
13660 This can have two reasons, one is the necessity to wait for a file lock
13661 and cannot be helped, the other being that \*(UA calls the function
13663 in order to query the nodename of the box (sometimes the real one is
13664 needed instead of the one represented by the internal variable
13666 One may have varying success by ensuring that the real hostname and
13670 or, more generally, that the name service is properly setup \(en
13673 return the expected value?
13674 Does this local hostname have a domain suffix?
13675 RFC 6762 standardized the link-local top-level domain
13677 try again after adding an (additional) entry with this extension.
13680 .\" .Ss "I cannot login to Google mail aka GMail" {{{
13681 .Ss "I cannot login to Google mail aka GMail"
13683 Since 2014 some free service providers classify programs as
13685 unless they use a special authentication method (OAuth 2.0) which
13686 was not standardized for non-HTTP protocol authentication token query
13687 until August 2015 (RFC 7628).
13690 Different to Kerberos / GSSAPI, which is developed since the mid of the
13691 1980s, where a user can easily create a local authentication ticket for
13692 her- and himself with the locally installed
13694 program, that protocol has no such local part but instead requires
13695 a world-wide-web query to create or fetch a token; since there is no
13696 local cache this query would have to be performed whenever \*(UA is
13697 invoked (in interactive sessions situation may differ).
13700 \*(UA does not support OAuth.
13701 Because of this it is necessary to declare \*(UA a
13702 .Dq less secure app
13703 (on the providers account web page) in order to read and send mail.
13704 However, it also seems possible to take the following steps instead:
13709 give the provider the number of a mobile phone,
13712 .Dq 2-Step Verification ,
13714 create an application specific password (16 characters), and
13716 use that special password instead of the real Google account password in
13717 \*(UA (for more on that see the section
13718 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" ) .
13722 .\" .Ss "Not \(dqdefunctional\(dq, but the editor key does not work" {{{
13723 .Ss "Not \(dqdefunctional\(dq, but the editor key does not work"
13725 It can happen that the terminal library (see
13726 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor",
13729 reports different codes than the terminal really sends, in which case
13730 \*(UA will tell that a key binding is functional, but will not be able to
13731 recognize it because the received data does not match anything expected.
13732 Especially without the \*(OPal terminal capability library support one
13733 reason for this may be that the (possibly even non-existing) keypad
13734 is not turned on and the resulting layout reports the keypad control
13735 codes for the normal keyboard keys.
13740 ings will show the byte sequences that are expected.
13743 To overcome the situation, use, e.g., the program
13745 in conjunction with the command line option
13747 if available, to see the byte sequences which are actually produced
13748 by keypresses, and use the variable
13750 to make \*(UA aware of them.
13751 E.g., the terminal this is typed on produces some false sequences, here
13752 an example showing the shifted home key:
13754 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13757 # 1B 5B=[ 31=1 3B=; 32=2 48=H
13762 ? \*(uA -v -Stermcap='kHOM=\eE[H'
13769 .\" .Ss "Can \*(UA git-send-email?" {{{
13770 .Ss "Can \*(UA git-send-email?"
13773 Put (at least parts of) the following in your
13776 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13778 smtpserver = /usr/bin/s-mailx
13779 smtpserveroption = -t
13780 #smtpserveroption = -Sexpandaddr
13781 smtpserveroption = -Athe-account-you-need
13784 suppressfrom = false
13785 assume8bitEncoding = UTF-8
13788 chainreplyto = true
13799 .\" .Sh "IMAP CLIENT" {{{
13802 \*(OPally there is IMAP client support available.
13803 This part of the program is obsolete and will vanish in v15 with the
13804 large MIME and I/O layer rewrite, because it uses old-style blocking I/O
13805 and makes excessive use of signal based long code jumps.
13806 Support can hopefully be readded later based on a new-style I/O, with
13807 SysV signal handling.
13808 In fact the IMAP support had already been removed from the codebase, but
13809 was reinstantiated on user demand: in effect the IMAP code is at the
13810 level of \*(UA v14.8.16 (with
13812 being the sole exception), and should be treated with some care.
13819 protocol prefixes, and an IMAP-based
13822 IMAP URLs (paths) undergo inspections and possible transformations
13823 before use (and the command
13825 can be used to manually apply them to any given argument).
13826 Hierarchy delimiters are normalized, a step which is configurable via the
13828 variable chain, but defaults to the first seen delimiter otherwise.
13829 \*(UA supports internationalised IMAP names, and en- and decodes the
13830 names from and to the
13832 as necessary and possible.
13833 If a mailbox name is expanded (see
13834 .Sx "Filename transformations" )
13835 to an IMAP mailbox, all names that begin with `+' then refer to IMAP
13836 mailboxes below the
13838 target box, while folder names prefixed by `@' refer to folders below
13839 the hierarchy base, e.g., the following lists all folders below the
13840 current one when in an IMAP mailbox:
13844 Note: some IMAP servers do not accept the creation of mailboxes in
13845 the hierarchy base, but require that they are created as subfolders of
13846 `INBOX' \(en with such servers a folder name of the form
13848 .Dl imaps://mylogin@imap.myisp.example/INBOX.
13850 should be used (the last character is the server's hierarchy
13852 The following IMAP-specific commands exist:
13855 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ic BaNg"
13858 Only applicable to cached IMAP mailboxes;
13859 takes a message list and reads the specified messages into the IMAP
13864 If operating in disconnected mode on an IMAP mailbox,
13865 switch to online mode and connect to the mail server while retaining
13866 the mailbox status.
13867 See the description of the
13869 variable for more information.
13873 If operating in online mode on an IMAP mailbox,
13874 switch to disconnected mode while retaining the mailbox status.
13875 See the description of the
13878 A list of messages may optionally be given as argument;
13879 the respective messages are then read into the cache before the
13880 connection is closed, thus
13882 makes the entire mailbox available for disconnected use.
13886 Sends command strings directly to the current IMAP server.
13887 \*(UA operates always in IMAP `selected state' on the current mailbox;
13888 commands that change this will produce undesirable results and should be
13890 Useful IMAP commands are:
13891 .Bl -tag -offset indent -width ".Ic getquotearoot"
13893 Takes the name of an IMAP mailbox as an argument and creates it.
13895 (RFC 2087) Takes the name of an IMAP mailbox as an argument
13896 and prints the quotas that apply to the mailbox.
13897 Not all IMAP servers support this command.
13899 (RFC 2342) Takes no arguments and prints the Personal Namespaces,
13900 the Other User's Namespaces and the Shared Namespaces.
13901 Each namespace type is printed in parentheses;
13902 if there are multiple namespaces of the same type,
13903 inner parentheses separate them.
13904 For each namespace a prefix and a hierarchy separator is listed.
13905 Not all IMAP servers support this command.
13910 Perform IMAP path transformations.
13914 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) ,
13915 and manages the error number
13917 The first argument specifies the operation:
13919 normalizes hierarchy delimiters (see
13921 and converts the strings from the locale
13923 to the internationalized variant used by IMAP,
13925 performs the reverse operation.
13930 The following IMAP-specific internal variables exist:
13933 .Bl -tag -width ".It Va BaNg"
13935 .It Va disconnected
13936 \*(BO When an IMAP mailbox is selected and this variable is set,
13937 no connection to the server is initiated.
13938 Instead, data is obtained from the local cache (see
13941 Mailboxes that are not present in the cache
13942 and messages that have not yet entirely been fetched from the server
13944 to fetch all messages in a mailbox at once,
13946 .No ` Ns Li copy * /dev/null Ns '
13947 can be used while still in connected mode.
13948 Changes that are made to IMAP mailboxes in disconnected mode are queued
13949 and committed later when a connection to that server is made.
13950 This procedure is not completely reliable since it cannot be guaranteed
13951 that the IMAP unique identifiers (UIDs) on the server still match the
13952 ones in the cache at that time.
13955 when this problem occurs.
13957 .It Va disconnected-USER@HOST
13958 The specified account is handled as described for the
13961 but other accounts are not affected.
13964 .It Va imap-auth-USER@HOST , imap-auth
13965 Sets the IMAP authentication method.
13966 Valid values are `login' for the usual password-based authentication
13968 `cram-md5', which is a password-based authentication that does not send
13969 the password over the network in clear text,
13970 and `gssapi' for GSS-API based authentication.
13974 Enables caching of IMAP mailboxes.
13975 The value of this variable must point to a directory that is either
13976 existent or can be created by \*(UA.
13977 All contents of the cache can be deleted by \*(UA at any time;
13978 it is not safe to make assumptions about them.
13981 .It Va imap-delim-USER@HOST , imap-delim-HOST , imap-delim
13982 The hierarchy separator used by the IMAP server.
13983 Whenever an IMAP path is specified it will undergo normalization.
13984 One of the normalization steps is the squeezing and adjustment of
13985 hierarchy separators.
13986 If this variable is set, any occurrence of any character of the given
13987 value that exists in the path will be replaced by the first member of
13988 the value; an empty value will cause the default to be used, it is
13990 If not set, we will reuse the first hierarchy separator character that
13991 is discovered in a user-given mailbox name.
13993 .Mx Va imap-keepalive
13994 .It Va imap-keepalive-USER@HOST , imap-keepalive-HOST , imap-keepalive
13995 IMAP servers may close the connection after a period of
13996 inactivity; the standard requires this to be at least 30 minutes,
13997 but practical experience may vary.
13998 Setting this variable to a numeric `value' greater than 0 causes
13999 a `NOOP' command to be sent each `value' seconds if no other operation
14003 .It Va imap-list-depth
14004 When retrieving the list of folders on an IMAP server, the
14006 command stops after it has reached a certain depth to avoid possible
14008 The value of this variable sets the maximum depth allowed.
14010 If the folder separator on the current IMAP server is a slash `/',
14011 this variable has no effect and the
14013 command does not descend to subfolders.
14015 .Mx Va imap-use-starttls
14016 .It Va imap-use-starttls-USER@HOST , imap-use-starttls-HOST , imap-use-starttls
14017 Causes \*(UA to issue a `STARTTLS' command to make an unencrypted
14018 IMAP session SSL/TLS encrypted.
14019 This functionality is not supported by all servers,
14020 and is not used if the session is already encrypted by the IMAPS method.
14026 .\" .Sh "SEE ALSO" {{{
14036 .Xr spamassassin 1 ,
14045 .Xr mailwrapper 8 ,
14051 .\" .Sh HISTORY {{{
14054 M. Douglas McIlroy writes in his article
14055 .Dq A Research UNIX Reader: Annotated Excerpts \
14056 from the Programmer's Manual, 1971-1986
14059 command already appeared in First Edition
14063 .Bd -ragged -offset indent
14064 Electronic mail was there from the start.
14065 Never satisfied with its exact behavior, everybody touched it at one
14066 time or another: to assure the safety of simultaneous access, to improve
14067 privacy, to survive crashes, to exploit uucp, to screen out foreign
14068 freeloaders, or whatever.
14069 Not until v7 did the interface change (Thompson).
14070 Later, as mail became global in its reach, Dave Presotto took charge and
14071 brought order to communications with a grab-bag of external networks
14077 Mail was written in 1978 by Kurt Shoens and developed as part of the
14080 distribution until 1995.
14081 Mail has then seen further development in open source
14083 variants, noticeably by Christos Zoulas in
14085 Based upon this Nail, later Heirloom Mailx, was developed by Gunnar
14086 Ritter in the years 2000 until 2008.
14087 Since 2012 S-nail is maintained by Steffen (Daode) Nurpmeso.
14088 This man page is derived from
14089 .Dq The Mail Reference Manual
14090 that was originally written by Kurt Shoens.
14098 .An "Kurt Shoens" ,
14099 .An "Edward Wang" ,
14100 .An "Keith Bostic" ,
14101 .An "Christos Zoulas" ,
14102 .An "Gunnar Ritter" .
14103 \*(UA is developed by
14104 .An "Steffen Nurpmeso" Aq steffen@sdaoden.eu .
14107 .\" .Sh CAVEATS {{{
14110 \*(ID Interrupting an operation via
14114 from anywhere else but a command prompt is very problematic and likely
14115 to leave the program in an undefined state: many library functions
14116 cannot deal with the
14118 that this software (still) performs; even though efforts have been taken
14119 to address this, no sooner but in v15 it will have been worked out:
14120 interruptions have not been disabled in order to allow forceful breakage
14121 of hanging network connections, for example (all this is unrelated to
14125 The SMTP and POP3 protocol support of \*(UA is very basic.
14126 Also, if it fails to contact its upstream SMTP server, it will not make
14127 further attempts to transfer the message at a later time (setting
14132 If this is a concern, it might be better to set up a local SMTP server
14133 that is capable of message queuing.
14140 After deleting some message of a POP3 mailbox the header summary falsely
14141 claims that there are no messages to display, one needs to perform
14142 a scroll or dot movement to restore proper state.
14144 In threaded display a power user may encounter crashes very
14145 occasionally (this is may and very).
14149 in the source repository lists future directions.
14152 Please report bugs to the
14154 address, e.g., from within \*(uA:
14155 .\" v15-compat: drop eval as `mail' will expand variable?
14156 .Ql ? Ns \| Ic eval Ns \| Ic mail Ns \| $contact-mail .
14157 Including the output of the command
14159 may be helpful, e.g.,
14161 .Bd -literal -offset indent
14162 ? vput version xy; wysh set escape=!; eval mail $contact-mail
14169 Information on the web at
14170 .Ql $ \*(uA -X 'echo Ns \| $ Ns Va contact-web Ns ' -Xx .