1 .\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990, 1993
2 .\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
4 .\" Gunnar Ritter. All rights reserved.
5 .\" Copyright (c) 2012 - 2014 Steffen "Daode" Nurpmeso <sdaoden@users.sf.net>.
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41 .ds UV \\%S-nail dirty
45 .\" If not ~/.mailrc, it breaks POSIX compatibility. And adjust main.c.
55 .Nd send and receive Internet mail
63 .Op Fl a Ar attachment
66 .Op Fl O Ar mta-option
67 .Op Fl q Ar quote-file
69 .Op Fl S Ar variable Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value
77 .Op Fl S Ar variable Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value
84 .Op Fl S Ar variable Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value
90 \*(UA is a mail processing system with a command syntax reminiscent of
92 with lines replaced by messages.
93 It is intended to provide the functionality of the POSIX
95 command and offers (mostly optional) extensions for line editing, IDNA,
96 MIME, S/MIME, SMTP, POP3 and IMAP.
97 It is usable as a mail batch language.
99 In the following list of supported command line options,
107 are implemented by means of setting the respective option, as via
110 .Bl -tag -width ".Fl A Ar account"
114 command (see below) for
116 after the startup files have been read.
118 Attach the given file to the message.
119 The same filename conventions as described in the section
123 Make standard input and standard output line-buffered.
125 Send blind carbon copies to the given list of addresses.
127 below goes into more detail on that.
129 Send carbon copies to the given list of addresses.
137 variable, which enables debug messages and disables message delivery.
138 Note that this is not a real `sandbox' mode.
142 variable and thus discard messages with an empty message part body.
143 This is useful for sending messages from scripts.
145 Just check if mail is present in the system mailbox.
146 If yes, return an exit status of zero, a non-zero value otherwise.
148 Save the message to send in a file named after the local part of the
149 first recipient's address.
151 Read in the contents of the user's mbox (or the specified file)
153 when \*(UA is quit, it writes undeleted messages back to this file.
156 is interpreted as described for the
161 is not a direct argument to the flag
163 but is instead taken from the command line after option processing has
166 Print header summaries for all messages and exit.
170 variable to ignore tty interrupt signals.
174 variable and thus inhibits the initial display of message headers when
175 reading mail or editing a mail folder.
177 Inhibits reading \*(UR upon startup.
178 This option should be activated for \*(UA scripts that are invoked on
179 more than one machine, because the contents of that file may differ
181 (The same behaviour can be achieved by setting the
182 .Ev NAIL_NO_SYSTEM_RC
183 environment variable.)
184 .It Fl O Ar mta-option
185 Pass the given option through to the mail-transfer-agent (MTA).
186 This option has no effect when mail is send via SMTP.
188 .Ns ` Ns Li "-O-h -Onumber" Ns '
189 to specify the hop count for an old
191 Options set like that persist for an entire (interactive) session.
193 Start the message with the contents of the specified file.
194 May be given in send mode only.
196 Opens any folders read-only.
198 Sets the envelope sender address by passing an
200 option to the MTA when a message is send.
203 argument is given it'll be checked for validity and then fixated to
204 the given value, but otherwise the content of the variable
206 will be used for that purpose \(en i.e., it'll be passed through to
209 option whenever a message is send.
210 A valid non-empty value will also be set as if an additional
211 .Ns ` Ns Li "-Sfrom=VALUE" Ns '
212 option had been used and therefore affect sending of messages via SMTP
213 (as a consideration for `From:').
214 .It Fl S Ar variable Ns Op = Ns value
215 Sets the internal option
217 and, in case of a value option, assigns
220 Even though options set via
222 may be overwritten from within resource files,
223 the command line setting will be reestablished after all resources have
226 Specify the subject on the command line
227 (be careful to quote subjects containing spaces).
229 The message to be sent is expected to contain a message header with
230 `To:', `Cc:', or `Bcc:' fields giving its recipients and `Subject:'
231 giving the subject of the message.
232 Recipients and subject specified on the command line are ignored.
234 Read the system mailbox of
236 (appropriate privileges presumed), and `assume to be'
238 in some aspects, e.g. in respect to expansions of `%' etc.
242 Print \*(UA's version and exit.
246 option, which enables more verbose messages.
248 Enable tilde escapes even if not in interactive mode.
250 This sets multiple options to prepare \*(UA for working in batch mode
251 (most likely in non-interactive mode):
261 it also enables processing of tilde escapes.
262 E.g., the following should send an email message to `alias'.
264 .Dl printf 'm alias\en~s Subject\enBody\en.\enx\en' | \
265 MAILRC=/dev/null s-nail -n -#
270 To send a message to one or more people,
271 \*(UA can be invoked with arguments which are the names of people to
272 whom the mail will be sent.
275 es, plain addresses or full address specifications including user names
277 in which case care for proper quoting may be necessary.
278 If this manual refers to a \fIlist of addresses\fR,
279 then \*(UA expects a comma-separated list of such names.
281 .Sx "Recipient address specifications"
282 below explains the interpretation of names in more detail.
283 The user is then expected to type in his message, followed by a
285 at the beginning of a line.
287 .Sx "Replying to or originating mail"
288 describes some features of \*(UA available to help when composing
293 In normal usage \*(UA is given no arguments and checks the user's mail
294 out of the post office,
295 then prints out a one line header of each message found.
296 The current message is initially the first message (numbered 1) and can
299 command, which can be abbreviated `p'.
300 The commands `p+' and `p\-' move forward to the next and backward to the
301 previous message, respectively, and messages can be addressed directly
302 by specifying their message number, as in `p 1'.
305 .Ss "Disposing of mail"
306 After examining a message the user can
311 Deletion causes the \*(UA program to forget about the message.
312 This is not irreversible;
315 (`u') the message by giving its number,
316 or the \*(UA session can be ended by giving the
319 Deleted messages will, however, usually disappear never to be seen
323 .Ss "Specifying messages"
324 Commands such as print and delete can be given a list of message numbers
325 as arguments to apply to a number of messages at once.
327 .Ns ` Ns Li "delete 1 2" Ns '
328 deletes messages 1 and 2,
330 .Ns ` Ns Li "delete 1-5" Ns '
331 will delete the messages 1 through 5.
332 In sorted or threaded mode (see the
337 .Ns ` Ns Li "delete 1-5" Ns '
338 will delete the messages that are located between (and including)
339 messages 1 through 5 in the sorted/threaded order, as shown in the
341 The following special message names exist:
343 .Bl -tag -width ".It .Ar :n:u"
347 All old messages (any not in state read or new).
351 All deleted messages (for the
357 All `flagged' messages.
359 All answered messages
364 All messages marked as draft.
366 \*(OP All messages classified as spam.
370 The message that was previously the current message.
372 The parent message of the current message,
373 that is the message with the Message-ID given in the `In-Reply-To:' field
374 or the last entry of the `References:' field of the current message.
376 The next previous undeleted message,
377 or the next previous deleted message for the
380 In sorted/threaded mode,
381 the next previous such message in the sorted/threaded order.
383 The next undeleted message,
384 or the next deleted message for the
387 In sorted/threaded mode,
388 the next such message in the sorted/threaded order.
390 The first undeleted message,
391 or the first deleted message for the
394 In sorted/threaded mode,
395 the first such message in the sorted/threaded order.
398 In sorted/threaded mode,
399 the last message in the sorted/threaded order.
402 selects the message addressed with
406 is any other message specification,
407 and all messages from the thread that begins at it.
408 Otherwise it is identical to
413 the thread beginning with the current message is selected.
417 All messages that were included in the message list for the previous
419 .It Ar / Ns Ar string
420 All messages that contain
422 in the subject field (case ignored).
429 the string from the previous specification of that type is used again.
433 By default, this is a case-sensitive search for the complete email
438 only the local part of the addresses is evaluated for the comparison.
442 a case-sensitive search for the complete real name of a sender is
445 .Ns ` Ns Li "(from address)" Ns '
446 expression can be used instead if substring matches are desired.
448 All messages that satisfy the given IMAP-style SEARCH
450 This addressing mode is available with all types of folders;
451 for folders not located on IMAP servers,
452 or for servers unable to execute the SEARCH command,
453 \*(UA will perform the search locally.
454 Strings must be enclosed by double quotes `"' in their entirety
455 if they contain white space or parentheses;
457 only backslash `\e' is recognized as an escape character.
458 All string searches are case-insensitive.
459 When the description indicates that the `envelope' representation of an
460 address field is used,
461 this means that the search string is checked against both a list
464 .Dl ( \*q Ns name Ns \*q \*q Ns source Ns \*q \*q Ns \
465 local-part Ns \*q \*q Ns domain-part Ns \*q )
468 and the addresses without real names from the respective header field.
469 Criteria can be nested using parentheses.
470 .It Ar ( criterion1 criterion2 ... criterionN )
471 All messages that satisfy all of the given criteria.
472 .It Ar ( or criterion1 criterion2 )
473 All messages that satisfy either
478 To connect more than two criteria using `or',
479 (or) specifications have to be nested using additional parentheses,
481 .Ns ` Ns Li "(or a (or b c))" Ns ',
483 .Ns ` Ns Li "(or a b c)" Ns '
485 .Ns ` Ns Li "((a or b) and c)" Ns '.
486 For a simple `or' operation of independent criteria on the lowest
488 it is possible to achieve similar effects by using three separate
490 .Ns ` Ns Li "(a) (b) (c)" Ns '.
491 .It Ar ( not criterion )
492 All messages that do not satisfy
494 .It Ar ( bcc \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
495 All messages that contain
497 in the `envelope' representation of the `Bcc:' field.
498 .It Ar ( cc \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
499 All messages that contain
501 in the `envelope' representation of the `Cc:' field.
502 .It Ar ( from \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
503 All messages that contain
505 in the `envelope' representation of the `From:' field.
506 .It Ar ( subject \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
507 All messages that contain
509 in the `Subject:' field.
510 .It Ar ( to \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
511 All messages that contain
513 in the `envelope' representation of the `To:' field.
514 .It Ar ( header name \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
515 All messages that contain
520 .It Ar ( body \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
521 All messages that contain
524 .It Ar ( text \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
525 All messages that contain
527 in their header or body.
528 .It Ar ( larger size )
529 All messages that are larger than
532 .It Ar ( smaller size )
533 All messages that are smaller than
536 .It Ar ( before date )
537 All messages that were received before
539 which must be in the form
540 .Li "d[d]-mon-yyyy" ,
541 where `d' denotes the day of the month as one or two digits,
542 `mon' is the name of the month \(en one of
543 `Jan', `Feb', `Mar', `Apr', `May', `Jun',
544 `Jul', `Aug', `Sep', `Oct', `Nov', or `Dec',
545 and `yyyy' is the year as four digits, e.g., "28-Dec-2012".
547 All messages that were received on the specified date.
548 .It Ar ( since date )
549 All messages that were received since the specified date.
550 .It Ar ( sentbefore date )
551 All messages that were sent on the specified date.
552 .It Ar ( senton date )
553 All messages that were sent on the specified date.
554 .It Ar ( sentsince date )
555 All messages that were sent since the specified date.
557 The same criterion as for the previous search.
558 This specification cannot be used as part of another criterion.
559 If the previous command line contained more than one independent
560 criterion then the last of those criteria is used.
563 \*(OP An IMAP-style search can be turned into a case-insensitive regular
564 expression search (see
566 ) in its entirety by using a slash `/' as the first character after the
567 opening parenthesis, as in
568 .Bd -literal -offset indent
569 ? f (/or subject ^\\[S-nail (subject ^\\[nail-devel))
572 On the lowest nesting level each expression is treated by itself:
573 .Bd -literal -offset indent
574 ? f (/subject ^\\[S-nail) (/subject ^\\[nail-devel)
577 Of course, now that we have regular expression support those should be
578 written much more efficiently as
579 .Bd -literal -offset indent
580 ? f (/subject "^\\\\[(S-nail|nail-devel)")
583 Note that regular expression searches are always performed on local
584 storage, messages will be downloaded first as necessary.
587 .Ss "Replying to or originating mail"
590 can be used to set up a response to a message,
591 sending it back to the person who it was from.
592 Text the user types in, up to an end-of-file,
593 defines the contents of the message.
594 While the user is composing a message \*(UA treats lines beginning with
595 the character `~' specially.
596 For instance, typing `~m' (alone on a line) will place a copy of the
597 current message into the response right shifting it by a tabstop
601 Other escapes will set up subject fields,
602 add and delete recipients to the message,
604 and allow the user to escape to an editor to revise the message
605 or to a shell to run some commands.
606 (These options are given in the summary below.)
609 .Ss "Ending a mail processing session"
610 The user can end a \*(UA session by issuing the
613 Messages which have been examined go to the user's mbox file unless they
615 in which case they are discarded.
616 Unexamined messages go back to the post office.
620 When command line history is tracked, an updated history file is
622 None of these actions is performed when the command
624 (`x') is used instead of
629 .Ss "Personal and systemwide distribution lists"
630 It is possible to create personal distribution lists so that,
631 for instance, the user can send mail to `cohorts'
632 and have it go to a group of people.
633 Such lists can be defined via the
635 command by, e.g., placing lines like
637 .Dl alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory
639 in the file \*(ur in the user's home directory.
642 without arguments lists all the currently known aliases.
644 Please note that this mechanism has nothing in common with the system
645 wide aliases that may be used by the local MTA (mail-transfer-agent)
646 and are often tracked in a file
653 Personal aliases will be expanded by \*(UA before the message is sent.
654 They are a convenient alternative to specifying each addressee by
658 .Ss "Recipient address specifications"
659 When an address is used to name a recipient (in `To:', `Cc:', or `Bcc:'),
660 names of local mail folders and pipes to external commands may also be
661 specified \(en the message text is then written to them.
662 The rules are: Any name which starts with a `|' (vertical bar) character
663 specifies a pipe \(en the command string following the `|' is executed
664 and the message is sent to its standard input;
665 any other name which contains a `@' (at sign) character is treated as
667 any other name which starts with a `+' (plus sign) character specifies
669 any other name which contains a `/' (slash) character but no `!'
670 (exclamation mark) or `%' (percent sign) character before also specifies
672 what remains is treated as a mail address.
673 Compressed folders are handled as described for the
678 .Ss "Network mail (Internet / ARPA, UUCP, Berknet)"
681 for a description of network addresses.
682 If support for IDNA (internationalized domain names for applications)
683 has been compiled into \*(UA,
684 then the domain name part of network addresses will be converted via
685 IDNA mechanisms as necessary, effectively treating it as a name in the
689 for the complete picture about character sets.
691 \*(UA has a number of options which can be set in the \*(ur file
692 to alter its behavior; e.g.,
697 .Ic "set idna-disable"
698 will disable the mentioned IDNA conversion even if support is available.
699 (These options are summarized below.)
703 For any outgoing attachment \*(UA tries to determine the content type.
704 It does this by reading MIME type files whose lines have the following
707 .Dl type/subtype extension [extension ...]
709 where `type/subtype' are strings describing the file contents,
710 and `extension' is the part of a filename starting after the last dot.
711 Any line not immediately beginning with an ASCII alphabetical character
714 .Va mimetypes-load-control
715 can be used to control the sources of MIME types, and the
717 command can be used to show the list of mime types known to \*(UA.
718 If there is a match with the `extension' of the file to attach,
719 the given `type/subtype' pair is used.
720 Otherwise, or if the filename has no extension,
721 the content types `text/plain' or `application/octet-stream' are used,
722 dependent upon file content inspection.
724 .Va mime-allow-text-controls .
728 \*(UA normally detects the character set of the terminal by using
729 mechanisms that are controlled by the `LC_CTYPE' locale setting,
730 if such are supported; the variable
732 will be set to the detected terminal character set and will thus
733 show up in the output of the command
738 value is not overwritten by this detection mechanism;
739 this feature must be used if the detection doesn't work properly,
740 and it may be used to adjust the name of the locale character set.
741 E.g., on BSD systems one may use a locale with the character set
742 `ISO8859-1', which is not a valid name for this character set;
743 to be on the safe side, one may set
745 to the correct name, `ISO-8859-1'.
747 Note that changing the value doesn't mean much beside that,
748 since several aspects of the real character set are implied by the
749 locale environment of the system,
750 and that stays unaffected by the content of an overwritten
753 (This is mostly an issue when interactively using \*(UA, though.
754 It is actually possible to send mail in a completely "faked" locale
757 If no character set conversion capabilities have been compiled into
760 library has been found), then
762 will be the only supported character set,
763 and it is simply assumed that it can be used to exchange 8 bit messages,
764 and the rest of this section does not apply;
765 it may however still be necessary to explicitly set it if automatic
766 detection fails, since in that case it defaults to `ISO-8859-1'.
768 When reading messages, their text is converted into
770 as necessary in order to display them on the users terminal.
771 Unprintable characters and illegal byte sequences are detected
772 and replaced by proper substitution characters
775 was set once \*(UA was started).
777 When sending messages all their parts and attachments are classified.
778 Whereas no character set conversion is performed on those parts which
779 appear to be binary data,
780 the character set being used must be declared within the MIME header of
781 an outgoing text part if it contains characters that do not conform to
782 the set of characters that are allowed by the email standards.
783 Permissible values for character sets can be declared using the
785 variable, which is expected to contain a (comma-separated list of)
786 character set (names), and the
788 variable, which is used as a catch-all last-resort fallback.
790 All the specified character sets are tried in order unless the
791 conversion of the part or attachment succeeds.
792 If none of the tried (8 bit) character sets is capable to represent the
793 content of the part or attachment,
794 then the message will not be sent and its text will be saved to
796 Note that some character set conversions will never fail, even if the
797 result is incorrect; e.g., `ISO-8859-1' is capable to represent any
800 In general, if the message `Cannot convert from a to b' appears, either
801 some characters are not appropriate for the currently selected
802 (terminal) character set,
803 or the needed conversion is not supported by the system.
804 In the first case, it is necessary to set an appropriate `LC_CTYPE'
805 locale and/or the variable
808 The best results are usually achieved when \*(UA is run in a UTF-8
809 locale on a UTF-8 capable terminal,
810 in which case the full Unicode spectrum of characters is available.
811 In this setup characters from various countries can be displayed,
812 while it is still possible to use more simple character sets for sending
813 to retain maximum compatibility with older mail clients.
816 .Ss "Command line editor"
817 \*(OP \*(UA can be configured to support a command line editor and
818 command history lists which are saved in between sessions.
819 One may link against fully-fledged external libraries
820 .Ns ( Ns Xr readline 3 ,
822 ) or use the \*(UA command line editor instead, which should work in all
823 environments which comply to ISO C (ISO/IEC 9899:1990/Amendment 1:1995).
824 When an external library is used, interactive behaviour of \*(UA relies
825 on that library and may not correspond one-to-one to what is described
828 Regardless of the actually used command line editor history entries
829 will be created for lines entered in command mode only, and creation of
830 such an entry can be forcefully suppressed by starting the line with
832 Note that history handling is by itself an optional feature and may
833 therefore not be available.
834 For more information see the documentation of the options
836 .Va line-editor-disable ,
841 The builtin \*(UA command line editor supports the following operations;
842 the notation `^-character' stands for the combination of the `control'
843 key plus the mentioned character, e.g., `^A' means "hold control key
844 while adding an A key on top of it":
845 .Bl -tag -width "^M^"
847 Go to the start of the line.
849 Move the cursor backward one character.
851 Forward delete the character under the cursor;
852 quits \*(UA if used on the empty line, unless the
856 Go to the end of the line.
858 Move the cursor forward one character.
860 Cancel current operation, full reset.
861 If there is an active history search or tabulator expansion then this
862 command will first reset that, reverting to the former line content;
863 thus a second reset is needed for a full reset in this case.
864 In all cases \*(UA will reset a possibly used multibyte character input
867 The same as `backspace': backward delete one character.
869 \*(OP The same as `horizontal tabulator': try to expand the "word"
871 Here "expansion" refers to the \*(UA expansion, as documented for
873 and thus includes shell word expansion (as a last step).
874 I.e., this is \*(UA "expansion", not what one usually expects from
877 The same as `RETURN': complete this line of input.
879 Delete all characters from the cursor to the end of the line.
883 \*(OP Go to the next history entry.
885 \*(OP Go to the previous history entry.
887 \*(OP Complete the current line from (the remaining older) history entries.
889 The same as `^A' followed by `^K'.
891 Delete the characters from the one preceding the cursor to the preceding
894 Move the cursor forward one word boundary.
896 Move the cursor backward one word boundary.
899 If problems with commands that are based upon rightwise movement are
900 encountered, adjustments of the option
901 .Va line-editor-cursor-right
902 may solve the problem, as documented for it.
905 .Ss "Coloured message display"
906 \*(OP \*(UA can be configured to support coloured message display.
907 Colours are used only when the
909 environment variable is set and the terminal type can be found in
911 Beyond that, if a command requires to output through the
917 must be mentioned in the variable
919 otherwise no colours will be used regardless of the actual terminal type.
921 "Coloured message display" can be configured through font attributes
922 (`ft=' \(en `bold', `invers' and `underline'), foreground (`fg=') and
923 background (`bg=') colours (`black', `blue', `green', `red', `brown',
924 `magenta', `cyan' and `white').
925 Multiple specifications can be joined in a comma separated list, as in
927 .Dl set colour-msginfo="ft=bold,fg=magenta,bg=cyan"
929 Options to be set are
931 .Va colour-partinfo ,
937 .Va colour-user-headers ,
938 which is a list of headers to be colourized via
940 instead of the default
942 To forcefully disable colours, set
947 Each command is typed on a line by itself,
948 and may take arguments following the command word.
949 The command need not be typed in its entirety \(en
950 the first command which matches the typed prefix is used.
953 prints a sorted list of available commands, and the command
955 when given an argument, will show a documentation string for the
957 .Ns ` Ns Ic ? Ns Ar unc Ns ' ;
958 documentation strings are however \*(OP.)
960 For commands which take message lists as arguments,
961 if no message list is given,
962 then the next message forward which satisfies the command's requirements
964 If there are no messages forward of the current message,
965 the search proceeds backwards,
966 and if there are no good messages at all,
967 \*(UA types `no applicable messages' and aborts the command.
968 If the command begins with a `#' (number sign) character,
971 The arguments to commands can be quoted, using the following methods:
972 .Bl -bullet -offset indent
974 An argument can be enclosed between paired double-quotes `"argument"' or
975 single-quotes `'argument'';
976 any white space, shell word expansion, or backslash characters (except
977 as described next) within the quotes are treated literally as part of
979 A double-quote will be treated literally within single-quotes and vice
981 Inside such a quoted string the actually used quote character can be
982 used nonetheless by escaping it with a backslash `\\', as in
985 An argument that is not enclosed in quotes, as above, can usually still
986 contain space characters if those spaces are backslash-escaped.
988 A backslash outside of the enclosing quotes is discarded
989 and the following character is treated literally as part of the argument.
991 An unquoted backslash at the end of a command line is discarded and the
992 next line continues the command.
995 Filenames, where expected, are subsequently subjected to the following
996 transformations, in sequence:
997 .Bl -bullet -offset indent
999 If the filename begins with an unquoted plus sign, and the
1001 variable is defined,
1002 the plus sign will be replaced by the value of the
1004 variable followed by a slash.
1007 variable is unset or is set to null, the filename will be unchanged.
1009 Shell word expansions are applied to the filename.
1010 If more than a single pathname results from this expansion and the
1011 command is expecting one file, an error results.
1015 The following commands are provided:
1016 .Bl -tag -width ".Ic account"
1018 Interprets the remainder of the word as a macro name and passes it
1022 .Ns ` Ns Ic ~ Ns Ar mymacro Ns '
1023 is a shorter synonym for
1024 .Ns ` Ns Ic call Ar mymacro Ns ' .
1026 Print out the preceding message.
1027 If given a numeric argument n,
1028 goes to the n'th previous message and prints it.
1030 Prints a brief summary of commands.
1031 \*(OP Given an argument a synopsis for the command in question is
1034 Executes the shell (see
1038 ) command which follows.
1044 (ac) Creates, selects or lists an email account.
1045 An account is formed by a group of commands,
1046 primarily of those to set variables.
1048 of which the second is a `{',
1049 the first argument gives an account name,
1050 and the following lines create a group of commands for that account
1051 until a line containing a single `}' appears.
1052 With one argument the previously created group of commands for the
1053 account name is executed, and a
1055 command is executed for the system mailbox or inbox of that account.
1056 Without arguments the list of accounts and their contents are printed.
1058 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1060 set folder=imaps://mylogin@imap.myisp.example
1062 set from="myname@myisp.example (My Name)"
1063 set smtp=smtp.myisp.example
1067 creates an account named `myisp' which can later be selected by
1068 specifying `account myisp'.
1069 The special account `null' (case-insensitive) always exists.
1071 (a) With no arguments, prints out all currently-defined aliases.
1072 With one argument, prints out that alias.
1073 With more than one argument,
1074 creates a new alias or changes an old one.
1076 (alt) The alternates command is useful if the user has accounts on
1078 It can be used to inform \*(UA that the listed addresses all belong to
1080 When replying to messages \*(UA will not send a copy of the message
1081 to any of the addresses listed on the alternates list.
1082 If the alternates command is given with no argument,
1083 the current set of alternate names is displayed.
1085 (ans) Takes a message list and marks each message as having been
1087 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
1088 it just causes messages to be marked in the header summary,
1089 and makes them specially addressable.
1091 \*(OP Only applicable to cached IMAP mailboxes;
1092 takes a message list and reads the specified messages into the IMAP
1095 Calls a macro (see the
1102 \*(OP Only applicable to S/MIME signed messages.
1103 Takes a message list and a file name and saves the certificates
1104 contained within the message signatures to the named file in both
1105 human-readable and PEM format.
1106 The certificates can later be used to send encrypted messages to the
1107 respective message senders by setting
1108 .Va smime-encrypt-user@host
1111 (ch) Changes the user's working directory to the specified one,
1112 or to the user's login directory, if none was given.
1115 Only applicable to threaded mode.
1116 Takes a message list and makes all replies to these messages invisible
1117 in header summaries,
1118 unless they are in state `new'.
1120 \*(OP (conn) If operating in disconnected mode on an IMAP mailbox,
1121 switch to online mode and connect to the mail server while retaining the
1123 See the description of the
1125 variable for more information.
1127 (c) The copy command does the same thing that
1129 does except that it does not mark the given messages for deletion when
1131 Compressed files and IMAP mailboxes are handled as described for the
1137 but saves the messages in a file named after the local part of the
1138 sender address of the first message.
1140 Print the current working directory.
1142 \*(OP (dec) For unencrypted messages,
1143 this command is identical to
1145 Encrypted messages are first decrypted, if possible, and then copied.
1147 \*OP (Dec) Similar to
1149 but saves the messages in a file named after the local part of the
1150 sender address of the first message.
1152 (def) Defines a macro.
1153 A macro definition is a sequence of commands in the following form:
1154 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1163 A defined macro can be explicitly invoked using
1167 or it can be implicitly invoked by setting the
1170 .Va folder-hook-fullname
1173 Prints the currently defined macros including their contents.
1175 (d) Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted.
1176 Deleted messages will not be saved in `mbox',
1177 nor will they be available for most other commands.
1182 \*(OP (disco) If operating in online mode on an IMAP mailbox,
1183 switch to disconnected mode while retaining the mailbox status.
1184 See the description of the
1187 A list of messages may optionally be given as argument;
1188 the respective messages are then read into the cache before the
1189 connection is closed.
1190 Thus `disco *' makes the entire mailbox available for disconnected use.
1191 .It Ic dp Ns \ or Ic dt
1192 Deletes the current message and prints the next message.
1193 If there is no next message, \*(UA says `at EOF'.
1195 Takes a message list and marks each given message as a draft.
1196 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
1197 it just causes messages to be marked in the header summary,
1198 and makes them specially addressable.
1200 Echoes its arguments,
1201 resolving special names as documented for the command
1203 The escape sequences `\ea', `\eb', `\ec', `\ef', `\en', `\er', `\et',
1204 `\ev', `\e\e', and `\e0octal-num\fR' are interpreted just as they are by
1206 (proper quoting provided).
1208 (e) Point the text editor at each message from the given list in turn.
1209 Modified contents are discarded unless the
1213 Marks the end of the then-part of an if statement and the beginning of
1214 the part to take effect if the condition of the if statement is false.
1216 Marks the end of an if statement.
1218 (ex or x) Effects an immediate return to the Shell without modifying the
1219 user's system mailbox, his `mbox' file, or his edit file in
1221 as well as a possibly tracked command line editor history file.
1223 Print the list of features that have been compiled into \*(UA.
1228 (fl) Takes a message list and marks the messages as `flagged' for
1229 urgent/special attention.
1230 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
1231 it just causes messages to be highlighted in the header summary,
1232 and makes them specially addressable.
1234 With no arguments, list the names of the folders in the folder directory.
1235 With an existing folder as an argument,
1236 lists the names of folders below the named folder;
1237 e.\|g. the command `folders @' lists the folders on the base level of
1238 the current IMAP server.
1239 See also the variable
1240 .Va imap-list-depth .
1242 (fold) The folder command switches to a new mail file or folder.
1243 With no arguments, it tells the user which file he is currently reading.
1244 If an argument is given, it will write out changes (such as deletions)
1245 the user has made in the current file and read in the new file.
1246 Some special conventions are recognized for the
1249 .Bl -tag -offset indent -width ".Ar %:filespec"
1251 (number sign) means the previous file,
1253 (percent sign) means the invoking user's system mailbox
1258 means the system mailbox of `user'
1259 (and never the value of
1261 regardless of its actual setting),
1263 (ampersand) means the invoking user's `mbox' file (see
1267 means a `file' in the
1271 expands to the same value as `filespec',
1272 but the file is handled as a system mailbox by, e.g., the
1279 If the name matches one of the strings defined with the command
1281 it is replaced by its long form and expanded.
1282 If the name ends with `.gz' or `.bz2' it is treated as being compressed
1288 Likewise, if `name' does not exist,
1289 but either `name.gz' or `name.bz2' does,
1290 then the compressed file is used.
1291 If `name' refers to a directory with the subdirectories `tmp', `new',
1292 and `cur', then it is treated as a folder in `maildir' format.
1295 .Dl protocol://[user@]host[:port][/file]
1297 is taken as an Internet mailbox specification.
1298 The (optionally) supported protocols are `imap' (IMAP v4r1), `imaps'
1299 (IMAP with SSL/TLS encrypted transport), `pop3' (POP3) and `pop3s' (POP3
1300 with SSL/TLS encrypted transport).
1301 If `user' contains special characters, in particular `/' or `%',
1302 they must be escaped in URL notation, as `%2F' or `%25'.
1303 The optional `file' part applies to IMAP only;
1304 if it is omitted, the default `INBOX' is used.
1306 If \*(UA is connected to an IMAP server,
1307 a name of the form `@mailbox' refers to the `mailbox' on that server,
1308 but otherwise a `@' prefix has no special meaning.
1312 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
1313 recipient's address.
1317 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
1318 recipient's address.
1322 but responds to all recipients regardless of the
1327 .It Ic followupsender
1330 but responds to the sender only regardless of the
1336 (fwd) Takes a message and the address of a recipient
1337 and forwards the message to him.
1338 The text of the original message is included in the new one,
1339 with the value of the
1341 variable printed before.
1346 commands specify which header fields are included in the new message.
1347 Only the first part of a multipart message is included unless the
1348 .Va forward-as-attachment
1353 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the
1354 recipient's address.
1356 (f) Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers,
1357 piped through the pager if the output does not fit on the screen.
1359 Specifies which header fields are to be ignored with the command
1361 This command has no effect when the
1362 .Va forward-as-attachment
1365 Specifies which header fields are to be retained with the command
1370 This command has no effect when the
1371 .Va forward-as-attachment
1374 Without arguments it lists all currently defined command aliases,
1376 With two arguments it defines a new command alias: the first argument is
1377 the name under which the second should be accessible.
1378 The content of the second argument can be just about anything.
1379 A ghost can be used everywhere a normal command can be used, but always
1380 takes precedence; any arguments that are given to the command alias are
1381 joined onto the alias content, and the resulting string forms the
1382 command line that is, in effect, executed.
1386 .Dl ? ghost ls '!ls -latro'
1389 (h) Lists the current range of headers, which is an 18-message group.
1390 If a `+' argument is given the next 18-message group is printed,
1391 likewise the previous is printed if the argument was `-'.
1400 command line editor history.
1402 (ho, also preserve) Takes a message list and marks each message therein
1403 to be saved in the user's system mailbox instead of in `mbox'.
1404 Does not override the
1407 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command,
1410 command issued after
1412 will display the following message, not the current one.
1414 Commands in \*(UA's startup files can be executed conditionally by
1415 testing conditions via the command `if', as in:
1416 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1424 Note that the only allowed conditions are `[Rr]eceive', `[Ss]end',
1425 `[Tt]erm' (execute if standard input is a tty), as well as `0' (never
1426 execute) and `1' (always execute).
1427 In addition it is possible to condionalize upon wether an option is set,
1428 or set to a specific value, by using the `$' conditional trigger, e.g.:
1429 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1433 if $encoding == "UTF-8"
1436 if $encoding != "UTF-8"
1441 The first form simply checks wether an option is set, the other two also
1442 perform value content comparison (equality and non-equality,
1443 respectively); an unset value is treated as the empty string, then.
1445 Add the list of header fields named to the ignored list.
1446 Header fields in the ignore list are not printed on the terminal when
1447 a message is printed.
1448 This command is very handy for suppression of certain machine-generated
1454 commands can be used to print a message in its entirety, including
1456 It lists the current set of ignored fields if no arguments were given.
1458 \*(OP Sends command strings directly to the current IMAP server.
1459 \*(UA operates always in IMAP `selected state' on the current mailbox;
1460 commands that change this will produce undesirable results and should be
1462 Useful IMAP commands are:
1463 .Bl -tag -offset indent -width ".Ic getquotearoot"
1465 Takes the name of an IMAP mailbox as an argument and creates it.
1467 (RFC 2087) Takes the name of an IMAP mailbox as an argument
1468 and prints the quotas that apply to the mailbox.
1469 Not all IMAP servers support this command.
1471 (RFC 2342) Takes no arguments and prints the Personal Namespaces,
1472 the Other User's Namespaces and the Shared Namespaces.
1473 Each namespace type is printed in parentheses;
1474 if there are multiple namespaces of the same type,
1475 inner parentheses separate them.
1476 For each namespace a prefix and a hierarchy separator is listed.
1477 Not all IMAP servers support this command.
1483 Prints the names of all available commands, alphabetically sorted.
1485 Can only be used inside of a macro definition block introduced by
1489 and is interpreted as a boolean (value `0' means false, everything
1491 Any option that had been set while `localopts' was in effect will be
1492 reverted to its former value once the block is left / the `account'
1494 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1495 define temporary_settings {
1505 Note that these options stack upon each other, i.e., if macro1 sets
1506 `localopts' and calls macro2, which explicitly resets `localopts', then
1507 any values set within macro2 will still be cleaned up by macro1.
1511 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
1512 recipient's address.
1514 (m) Takes a (list of) recipient address(es) as (an) argument(s),
1515 or asks on standard input if none were given;
1516 then collects the remaining mail content and sends it out.
1518 The given message list is to be sent to `mbox' when \*(UA is quit.
1519 This is the default action unless the
1522 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command,
1525 command issued after
1527 will display the following message, not the current one.
1536 In the former case all sources are loaded first as necessary.
1538 .Va mimetypes-load-control
1539 option can be used to fine-tune loading of the sources.
1543 but marks the messages for deletion if they were transferred
1546 Takes a message list and invokes the
1548 on that list, printing a form-feed (`\\f') in between messages.
1552 but also prints ignored header fields and all MIME parts.
1556 but moves the messages to a file named after the local part of the
1557 sender address of the first message.
1559 Checks for new mail in the current folder without committing any changes
1561 If new mail is present, a message is printed.
1565 the headers of each new message are also printed.
1567 (n) (like `+' or `ENTER') Goes to the next message in sequence
1569 With an argument list, types the next matching message.
1580 If the current folder is located on an IMAP or POP3 server,
1581 a `NOOP' command is sent.
1582 Otherwise, no operation is performed.
1586 but also pipes ignored header fields and all parts of MIME
1587 `multipart/alternative' messages.
1589 (pi) Takes a message list and a shell command
1590 and pipes the messages through the command.
1591 Without an argument the current message is piped through the command
1598 every message is followed by a formfeed character.
1605 but also prints out ignored header fields and all parts of MIME
1606 `multipart/alternative' messages.
1613 (p) Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's
1615 If the message is a MIME multipart message,
1616 all parts with a content type of `text' or `message' are shown,
1617 the other are hidden except for their headers.
1618 Messages are decrypted and converted to the terminal character set
1621 (q) Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in
1622 the current `mbox', preserving all messages marked with
1626 or never referenced in his system mailbox,
1627 and removing all other messages from his system mailbox.
1628 If new mail has arrived during the session,
1629 the message `You have new mail' is given.
1630 If given while editing a mailbox file with the command line flag
1632 then the edit file is rewritten.
1633 A return to the shell is effected,
1634 unless the rewrite of edit file fails,
1635 in which case the user can escape with the exit command.
1643 (rem) Removes the named folders.
1644 The user is asked for confirmation in interactive mode.
1646 (ren) Takes the name of an existing folder
1647 and the name for the new folder
1648 and renames the first to the second one.
1649 Both folders must be of the same type
1650 and must be located on the current server for IMAP.
1652 (R) Reply to originator.
1653 Does not reply to other recipients of the original message.
1655 (r) Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all recipients
1656 of the specified messages.
1657 The default message must not be deleted.
1661 but responds to all recipients regardless of the
1669 but responds to the sender only regardless of the
1677 but does not add any header lines.
1678 This is not a way to hide the sender's identity,
1679 but useful for sending a message again to the same recipients.
1681 Takes a list of messages and a user name
1682 and sends each message to the named user.
1683 `Resent-From:' and related header fields are prepended to the new copy
1694 .It Ic respondsender
1698 Add the list of header fields named to the retained list.
1699 Only the header fields in the retain list are shown on the terminal when
1700 a message is printed, all other header fields are suppressed.
1705 commands can be used to print a message in its entirety.
1706 The current set of retained fields is shown if
1708 is used without arguments.
1712 but saves the messages in a file named after the local part of the
1713 sender of the first message instead of taking a filename argument.
1715 (s) Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in turn
1716 to the end of the file.
1717 If no filename is given, the `mbox' file is used.
1718 The filename in quotes, followed by the line count and character count
1719 is echoed on the user's terminal.
1720 If editing a system mailbox the messages are marked for deletion.
1721 Compressed files and IMAP mailboxes are handled as described for the
1723 command line option above.
1736 Header fields thus marked are filtered out when saving a message by
1738 or when automatically saving to `mbox'.
1739 This command should only be applied to header fields that do not contain
1740 information needed to decode the message,
1741 as MIME content fields do.
1742 If saving messages on an IMAP account ignoring fields makes it
1743 impossible to copy the data directly on the server,
1744 thus operation usually becomes much slower.
1754 Header fields thus marked are the only ones saved with a message when
1757 or when automatically saving to `mbox'.
1761 The use of this command is strongly discouraged since it may strip
1762 header fields that are needed to decode the message correctly.
1764 (se) With no arguments, prints all variable values.
1765 Otherwise, sets an option.
1766 Arguments are of the form `option=value' (no space before or after `='),
1767 or plain `option' if there is no value.
1768 Quotation marks may be placed around any part of the assignment
1769 statement to quote blanks or tabs, e.g.,
1771 .Dl set indentprefix="->"
1773 If an argument begins with `no', as in `set nosave',
1774 the effect is the same as invoking the
1776 command with the remaining part of the variable (`unset save').
1778 Takes a message list and marks all messages as having been read.
1780 (sh) Invokes an interactive version of the shell.
1782 Defines a shortcut name and its string for expansion,
1783 as described for the
1786 If used without arguments the currently defined shortcuts are printed.
1790 but performs neither MIME decoding nor decryption so that the raw
1791 message text is shown.
1793 Print the size in characters of each message of the given message-list.
1795 Create a sorted representation of the current folder,
1798 command and the addressing modes such that they refer to messages in the
1800 Message numbers are the same as in regular mode.
1804 a header summary in the new order is also printed.
1805 Possible sorting criteria are:
1806 .Bl -tag -offset indent -width "subject"
1808 Sort the messages by their `Date:' field,
1809 that is by the time they were sent.
1811 Sort messages by the value of their `From:' field,
1812 that is by the address of the sender.
1816 the sender's real name (if any) is used.
1818 Sort the messages by their size.
1820 \*(OP Sort the message by their spam score, as has been classified via
1824 Sort the messages by their message status (new, read, old, etc.).
1826 Sort the messages by their subject.
1828 Create a threaded order,
1832 Sort messages by the value of their `To:' field,
1833 that is by the address of the recipient.
1837 the recipient's real name (if any) is used.
1840 If no argument is given,
1841 the current sorting criterion is printed.
1843 The source command reads commands from a file.
1845 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and clears their `is-spam' flag.
1847 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and forces the spam detector to forget it
1848 has ever used them to train its Bayesian filter, wether as `ham' or
1851 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and teaches them to the spam detector as
1853 This also clears the `is-spam' flag of the messages in question.
1855 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and rates them using the configured spam
1856 detector, setting their `is-spam' flag as appropriate.
1857 Note that the messages are not modified, and due to that the rating will
1858 get lost once the mailbox is left.
1859 Refer to the manual section
1861 for the complete picture of spam handling in \*(UA.
1863 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and sets their `is-spam' flag.
1865 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and teaches them to the spam detector as
1867 This also sets the `is-spam' flag of the messages in question.
1869 (th) Create a threaded representation of the current folder,
1870 i.\|e. indent messages that are replies to other messages in the header
1871 display and change the
1873 command and the addressing modes such that they refer to messages in the
1875 Message numbers are the same as in unthreaded mode.
1879 a header summary in threaded order is also printed.
1881 Takes a message list and prints the top few lines of each.
1882 The number of lines printed is controlled by the variable
1884 and defaults to five.
1886 Takes a message list and marks the messages for saving in `mbox'.
1887 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command,
1890 command issued after `mbox' will display the following message instead
1893 (T) Identical to the
1900 Takes a list of names defined by alias commands
1901 and discards the remembered groups of users.
1903 Takes a message list and marks each message as not having been answered.
1905 (unc) Only applicable to threaded mode.
1906 Takes a message list and makes the message and all replies to it visible
1907 in header summaries again.
1908 When a message becomes the current message,
1909 it is automatically made visible.
1910 Also when a message with collapsed replies is printed,
1911 all of these are automatically uncollapsed.
1913 Undefines each of the named macros.
1914 It is not an error to use a name that does not belong to
1915 one of the currently defined macros.
1917 (u) Takes a message list and marks each message as not being deleted.
1919 Takes a message list and
1920 .Ns un Ns Ic draft Ns
1923 Takes a message list and marks each message as not being
1926 Removes the header field names from the list of ignored fields for the
1930 Removes the header field names from the list of retained fields for the
1934 Remove an existing command
1937 Removes the header field names from the list of ignored fields.
1942 (U) Takes a message list and marks each message as not having been read.
1944 Removes the header field names from the list of retained fields.
1946 Removes the header field names from the list of ignored fields for
1949 Removes the header field names from the list of retained fields for
1952 Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered values;
1956 Deletes the shortcut names given as arguments.
1958 Disable sorted or threaded mode
1964 return to normal message order and,
1968 print a header summary.
1973 Show information about all given options.
1975 \*(OP (verif) Takes a message list and verifies each message.
1976 If a message is not an S/MIME signed message,
1977 verification will fail for it.
1978 The verification process checks if the message was signed using a valid
1980 if the message sender's email address matches one of those contained
1981 within the certificate,
1982 and if the message content has been altered.
1984 (v) Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message.
1985 Modified contents are discarded unless the
1989 (w) For conventional messages the body without all headers is written.
1990 The output is decrypted and converted to its native format as necessary.
1991 If the output file exists, the text is appended.
1992 If a message is in MIME multipart format its first part is written to
1993 the specified file as for conventional messages,
1994 and the user is asked for a filename to save each other part.
1995 For convience saving of each part may be skipped by giving an empty value;
1996 the same result can also be achieved by writing it to
1998 For the second and subsequent parts a leading `|' character causes the
1999 part to be piped to the remainder of the user input interpreted as
2001 otherwise the user input is expanded as usually for folders,
2002 e.g., tilde expansion is performed.
2003 In non-interactive mode, only the parts of the multipart message
2004 that have a filename given in the part header are written,
2005 the others are discarded.
2006 The original message is never marked for deletion in the originating
2009 the contents of the destination file are overwritten if the file
2011 No special handling of compressed files is performed.
2016 \*(UA presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the
2019 This command scrolls to the next window of messages.
2020 If an argument is given,
2021 it specifies the window to use.
2022 A number prefixed by `+' or `\-' indicates
2023 that the window is calculated in relation to the current position.
2024 A number without a prefix specifies an absolute window number,
2025 and a `$' lets \*(UA scroll to the last window of messages.
2029 but scrolls to the next or previous window that contains at least one
2030 new or `flagged' message.
2035 Here is a summary of the tilde escapes,
2036 which are used to perform special functions when composing messages.
2037 Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning of lines.
2038 The name `tilde escape' is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual
2039 escape character can be set by the option
2041 .Bl -tag -width ".Ic ~< filename"
2043 Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single `~'.
2044 (If the escape character has been changed,
2045 that character must be doubled
2046 in order to send it at the beginning of a line.)
2047 .It Ic ~! Ar command
2048 Execute the indicated shell
2050 then return to the message.
2052 Same effect as typing the end-of-file character.
2053 .It Ic ~: Ar \*(UA-command Ns \ or Ic ~_ Ar \*(UA-command
2054 Execute the given \*(UA command.
2055 Not all commands, however, are allowed.
2057 Write a summary of command escapes.
2058 .It Ic ~< Ar filename
2061 .It Ic ~<! Ar command
2063 is executed using the shell.
2064 Its standard output is inserted into the message.
2065 .It Ic ~@ Op Ar filename...
2066 With no arguments, edit the attachment list interactively.
2067 If an attachment's file name is left empty,
2068 that attachment is deleted from the list.
2069 When the end of the attachment list is reached,
2070 \*(UA will ask for further attachments until an empty name is given.
2071 If a given file name solely consists of the number sign `#' followed
2072 by a valid message number of the currently active mailbox, the given
2073 message is attached as a MIME `message/rfc822' and the rest of this
2074 section does not apply.
2076 If character set conversion has been compiled into \*(UA, then this mode
2077 gives the user the option to specify input and output character sets,
2078 unless the file extension indicates binary content, in which case \*(UA
2079 asks wether this step shall be skipped for the attachment in question.
2080 If not skipped, then the charset that succeeds to represent the
2081 attachment data will be used in the `charset=' MIME parameter of the
2085 If input and output character sets are specified, then the conversion is
2086 performed on the fly.
2087 The user will be asked repeatedly until the desired conversion succeeds.
2089 If only an output character set is specified, then the input is assumed
2092 charset and will be converted to the given output charset on the fly.
2093 The user will be asked repeatedly until the desired conversion succeeds.
2095 If no character sets are specified at all then the algorithm that is
2096 documented in the section
2097 .Sx "Character sets"
2098 is applied, but directly and on the fly.
2099 The user will be asked repeatedly until the desired conversion succeeds.
2101 Finally, if an input-, but no output character set is specified, then no
2102 conversion is ever performed, but the `charset=' MIME parameter will
2103 still be set to the user input.
2106 Without character set conversion support, \*(UA will ask for the input
2107 character set only, and it'll set the `charset=' MIME parameter to the
2108 given input, if any;
2109 if no user input is seen then the
2111 character set will be used for the `charset=' parameter instead.
2112 Note that the file extension check isn't performed in this mode, since
2113 no conversion will take place anyway.
2115 Note that in non-interactive mode, for reproduceabilities sake, there
2116 will always be two questions for each attachment, regardless of wether
2117 character set conversion is available and what the file extension is.
2118 The first asks for the filename, and the second asks for the input
2119 character set to be passed through to the `charset=' MIME parameter;
2120 no conversion will be tried if there is input to the latter question,
2121 otherwise the usual conversion algorithm, as above, is applied.
2122 For message attachments, the answer to the second question is completely
2127 arguments are specified,
2128 they are treated as a comma separated list of files,
2129 which are all expanded and appended to the end of the attachment list.
2130 (Filenames with commas, or with leading or trailing whitespace can only
2131 be added via the command line or the first method.
2132 Message attachments can only be added via the first method;
2133 filenames which clash with message numbers can only be added via the
2134 command line or the second method.)
2135 In this mode the (text) attachments are assumed to be in
2137 encoding, and will be evaluated as documented in the section
2138 .Sx "Character sets" .
2140 Inserts the string contained in the
2142 variable (same as `~i Sign').
2143 The escape sequences `\et' (tabulator) and `\en' (newline) are understood.
2145 Inserts the string contained in the
2147 variable (same as `~i sign').
2148 The escape sequences `\et' (tabulator) and `\en' (newline) are understood.
2149 .It Ic ~b Ar name ...
2150 Add the given names to the list of blind carbon copy recipients.
2151 .It Ic ~c Ar name ...
2152 Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients.
2154 Read the file specified by the
2156 variable into the message.
2158 Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far.
2159 After the editing session is finished,
2160 the user may continue appending text to the message.
2161 .It Ic ~f Ar messages
2162 Read the named messages into the message being sent.
2163 If no messages are specified,
2164 read in the current message.
2165 Message headers currently being ignored (by the
2169 command) are not included.
2170 For MIME multipart messages,
2171 only the first printable part is included.
2172 .It Ic ~F Ar messages
2173 Identical to `~f', except that all message headers and MIME parts are
2176 Edit the message header fields `To:', `Cc:', `Bcc:', and `Subject:' by
2177 typing each one in turn and allowing the user to edit the field.
2179 Edit the message header fields `From:', `Reply-To:', `Sender:' and
2180 `Organization:' in the same manner as described for
2182 The default values for these fields originate from the
2189 .It Ic ~i Ar variable
2190 Insert the value of the specified variable into the message,
2191 adding a newline character at the end.
2192 The message remains unaltered if the variable is unset or empty.
2193 The escape sequences `\et' (tabulator) and `\en' (newline) are understood.
2194 .It Ic ~m Ar messages
2195 Read the named messages into the message being sent,
2196 indented by a tab or by the value of
2198 If no messages are specified,
2199 read the current message.
2200 Message headers currently being ignored (by the
2204 commands) are not included.
2205 For MIME multipart messages,
2206 only the first printable part is included.
2207 .It Ic ~M Ar messages
2208 Identical to `~m', except that all message headers and MIME parts are
2211 Print out the message collected so far,
2212 prefaced by the message header fields
2213 and followed by the attachment list, if any.
2215 Abort the message being sent,
2216 copying it to the file specified by the
2221 .It Ic ~r Ar filename
2222 Read the named file into the message.
2224 Cause the named string to become the current subject field.
2225 .It Ic ~t Ar name ...
2226 Add the given name(s) to the direct recipient list.
2228 Invoke an alternate editor (defined by the
2230 option) on the message collected so far.
2231 Usually, the alternate editor will be a screen editor.
2232 After the editor is quit,
2233 the user may resume appending text to the end of the message.
2234 .It Ic ~w Ar filename
2235 Write the message onto the named file.
2237 the message is appended to it.
2239 Same as `~q', except that the message is not saved at all.
2240 .It Ic ~| Ar command
2241 Pipe the message through the specified filter command.
2242 If the command gives no output or terminates abnormally,
2243 retain the original text of the message.
2246 is often used as a rejustifying filter.
2250 .Ss "Variable options"
2251 Options are controlled via
2255 commands, see the corresponding entries for a syntax description.
2256 An option is also set if it is passed to \*(UA as part of the program
2257 environment (this is not restricted to specific variables as in the
2259 A value given in a startup file overrides a value imported from the
2261 Options may be either binary, in which case it is only significant to
2262 see whether they are set or not;
2263 or string, in which case the actual value is of interest.
2266 .Ss "Binary options"
2267 The binary options include the following:
2268 .Bl -tag -width ".Va autoprint"
2269 .It Va add-file-recipients
2270 When file or pipe recipients have been specified,
2271 mention them in the corresponding address fields of the message instead
2272 of silently stripping them from their recipient list.
2273 By default such addressees are not mentioned.
2275 Causes only the local part to be evaluated
2276 when comparing addresses.
2278 Causes messages saved in mbox to be appended to the end rather than
2280 This should always be set.
2281 .It Va ask Ns \ or Va asksub
2282 Causes \*(UA to prompt for the subject of each message sent.
2283 If the user responds with simply a newline,
2284 no subject field will be sent.
2286 Causes the prompts for `Cc:' and `Bcc:' lists to appear after the
2287 message has been edited.
2289 If set, \*(UA asks for files to attach at the end of each message.
2290 An empty line finalizes the list.
2292 Causes the user to be prompted for additional carbon copy recipients (at
2293 the end of each message if
2298 An empty line finalizes the list.
2300 Causes the user to be prompted for additional blind carbon copy
2301 recipients (at the end of each message if
2306 An empty line finalizes the list.
2308 \*(OP Causes the user to be prompted if the message is to be signed at
2309 the end of each message.
2312 variable is ignored when this variable is set.
2314 Causes threads to be collapsed automatically when threaded mode is
2319 Causes the delete command to behave like `dp -';
2320 thus, after deleting a message the next one will be typed automatically.
2322 Causes threaded mode (see the
2324 command) to be entered automatically when a folder is opened.
2326 Enables the substitution of `!' by the contents of the last command line
2328 .It Va batch-exit-on-error
2329 If the batch mode has been enabled via the
2331 command line option, then this variable will be consulted whenever \*(UA
2332 completes one operation (returns to the command prompt); if it is set
2333 then \*(UA will terminate if the last operation generated an error.
2335 Causes automatic display of a header summary after executing a
2339 Sets some cosmetical features to traditional BSD style;
2340 has the same affect as setting
2342 and all other variables prefixed with `bsd';
2343 it also changes the meaning of the \*(UA specific `\\&'
2347 Changes the letters printed in the first column of a header summary
2348 to traditional BSD style.
2350 Changes the display of columns in a header summary to traditional BSD
2353 Changes some informational messages to traditional BSD style.
2355 Causes the `Subject:' field to appear immediately after the `To:' field
2356 in message headers and with the `~h' tilde command.
2358 Changes the output format of the
2360 command to traditional BSD style.
2361 .It Va colour-disable
2362 \*(OP Forcefully disable usage of colours.
2363 Also see the section
2364 .Sx "Coloured message display" .
2366 Prints debugging messages and disables the actual delivery of messages.
2369 this option is intended for \*(UA development only.
2371 \*(OP When an IMAP mailbox is selected and this variable is set,
2372 no connection to the server is initiated.
2373 Instead, data is obtained from the local cache (see
2376 Mailboxes that are not present in the cache
2377 and messages that have not yet entirely been fetched from the server
2379 to fetch all messages in a mailbox at once,
2381 .Ns ` Ns Li copy * /dev/null Ns '
2382 can be used while still in
2385 Changes that are made to IMAP mailboxes in disconnected mode are queued
2386 and committed later when a connection to that server is opened in online
2388 This procedure is not completely reliable since it cannot be guaranteed
2389 that the IMAP unique identifiers (UIDs) on the server still match the
2390 ones in the cache at that time.
2393 when this problem occurs.
2394 .It Va disconnected-user@host
2395 The specified account is handled as described for the
2398 but other accounts are not affected.
2400 The binary option dot causes \*(UA to interpret a period alone on a line
2401 as the terminator of a message the user is sending.
2403 If this variable is set then the editor is started automatically when
2404 composing a message in an interactive mode,
2405 as if the `~e' tilde command had been specified.
2408 variable is implied for this automatically spawned editor session.
2410 When a message is edited while being composed,
2411 its header is included in the editable text.
2412 The `To:', `Cc:', `Bcc:', `Subject:', `From:', `Reply-To:', `Sender:',
2413 and 'Organization:' fields are accepted within the header,
2414 other fields are ignored.
2416 If set, an empty mailbox file is not removed.
2417 This may improve the interoperability with other mail user agents
2418 when using a common folder directory.
2420 If the mailbox is empty \*(UA normally prints `No mail for user' and
2422 If this option is set \*(UA starts even with an empty mailbox.
2428 commands and vice-versa.
2429 .It Va forward-as-attachment
2430 Original messages are normally sent as inline text with the
2433 and only the first part of a multipart message is included.
2434 With this option messages are sent as MIME `message/rfc822' attachments
2435 with all of their parts included.
2440 options are ignored when the
2441 .Va forward-as-attachment
2444 When replying to a message \*(UA normally removes the comment parts of
2446 which by convention contain the full names of the recipients.
2447 If this variable is set such stripping is not performed,
2448 and comments are retained.
2450 Causes the header summary to be written at startup and after commands
2451 that affect the number of messages or the order of messages in the
2452 current folder; enabled by default.
2454 This option is used to hold messages in the system mailbox by default.
2456 \*(OP Can be used to turn off the automatic conversion of domain names
2457 according to the rules of IDNA (internationalized domain names for
2459 Since the IDNA code assumes domain names are specified with the
2461 character set, an UTF-8 locale charset is required to represent
2462 all possible international domain names (before conversion, that is).
2464 Causes interrupt signals from the terminal to be ignored
2467 An option related to
2471 which makes \*(UA refuse to accept a `control-D' as the end of a message.
2472 This option also applies to \*(UA command mode.
2473 .It Va imap-use-starttls
2474 \*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a `STARTTLS' command to make an unencrypted
2475 IMAP session SSL/TLS encrypted.
2476 This functionality is not supported by all servers,
2477 and is not used if the session is already encrypted by the IMAPS method.
2478 .It Va imap-use-starttls-user@host
2480 .Va imap-use-starttls
2481 for a specific account.
2483 This option causes \*(UA to truncate the user's system mailbox instead
2484 of deleting it when it is empty.
2485 This should always be set since it prevents malicious users from
2486 creating fake mail folders in a world-writable spool directory.
2488 When a message is saved it is usually discarded from the originating
2489 folder when \*(UA is quit.
2490 Setting this option causes all saved message to be retained.
2491 .It Va line-editor-disable
2492 Turn off any enhanced command line editing capabilities (see
2493 .Sx "Command line editor"
2496 When a message is replied to and this variable is set,
2497 it is marked as having been answered.
2498 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
2499 it just causes messages to be marked in the header summary,
2500 and makes them specially addressable.
2501 .It Va message-id-disable
2502 By setting this option the generation of `Message-ID:' can be completely
2503 suppressed, effectively leaving this task up to the mail-transfer-agent
2504 (MTA) or the SMTP server.
2505 (According to RFC 5321 your SMTP server is not required to add this
2506 field by itself, so you should ensure that it accepts messages without
2509 Usually, when a group is expanded that contains the sender,
2510 the sender is removed from the expansion.
2511 Setting this option causes the sender to be included in the group.
2512 .It Va mime-allow-text-controls
2513 When sending messages, each part of the message is MIME-inspected in
2514 order to classify the `Content-Type:' and `Content-Transfer-Encoding:'
2515 that is required to send this part over mail transport, i.e.,
2516 a computation rather similar to what the
2518 command produces when used with the
2522 This classification however treats text files which are encoded in
2523 UTF-16 (often found for HTML files) and similar character sets as binary
2524 octet-streams, forcefully changing any `text/plain' or `text/html'
2525 specification to `application/octet-stream';
2526 if that actually happens, then a yet unset charset MIME parameter is set
2527 to `binary', effectively making it impossible for the receiving MUA to
2528 automatically interpret the contents of the part.
2530 If this option is set, and the data was unambiguously identified as text
2531 data at first glance (by a `.txt' or `.html' file extension), then the
2532 original `Content-Type:' will not be overwritten.
2533 .It Va mime-counter-evidence
2534 Normally the `Content-Type:' field is used to decide how to treat
2535 a messages MIME part.
2536 Some MUAs however don't use
2538 or a similar mechanism to correctly classify content,
2539 but simply specify `application/octet-stream',
2540 even for plain text attachments like `text/diff'.
2541 If this variable is set then \*(UA will use the file extension of
2542 attachments to classify such MIME message parts, if possible.
2544 Setting this option is the same as using the command line option
2547 Causes the filename given in the
2550 and the sender-based filenames for the
2554 commands to be interpreted relative to the directory given in the
2556 variable rather than to the current directory,
2557 unless it is set to an absolute pathname.
2559 If set, each message the
2561 command prints out is followed by a formfeed character.
2563 Send messages to the
2565 command without performing MIME and character set conversions.
2566 .It Va pop3-bulk-load
2567 \*(OP When accessing a POP3 server \*(UA loads the headers of the
2568 messages, and only requests the message bodies on user request.
2569 For the POP3 protocol this means that the message headers will be
2571 If this option is set then \*(UA will download only complete messages
2572 from POP3 servers instead.
2575 a macro that temporarily sets this option, then accesses a POP3 account
2576 that is known to only get small text messages, and then unsets this
2579 \*(OP Unless this variable is set the `APOP' authentication method
2580 will be used when connecting to a POP3 server that advertises support.
2581 The advantage of APOP over `USER/PASS' authentication is that the
2582 password is not sent in clear text over the wire and that only a single
2583 packet is sent for the user/password tuple.
2584 .It Va pop3-no-apop-user@host
2585 Disables usage of the `APOP' authentication method (see
2587 for a specific account.
2588 .It Va pop3-use-starttls
2589 \*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a `STLS' command to make an unencrypted POP3
2590 session SSL/TLS encrypted.
2591 This functionality is not supported by all servers,
2592 and is not used if the session is already encrypted by the POP3S method.
2593 .It Va pop3-use-starttls-user@host
2595 .Va pop3-use-starttls
2596 for a specific account.
2597 .It Va print-all-chars
2598 This option causes all characters to be considered printable.
2599 It is only effective if given in a startup file.
2600 With this option set some character sequences in messages may put the
2601 user's terminal in an undefined state when printed;
2602 it should only be used as a last resort if no working system locale can
2604 .It Va print-alternatives
2605 When a MIME message part of type `multipart/alternative' is displayed
2606 and it contains a subpart of type `text/plain',
2607 other parts are normally discarded.
2608 Setting this variable causes all subparts to be displayed,
2609 just as if the surrounding part was of type `multipart/mixed'.
2611 Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked.
2612 .It Va quote-as-attachment
2613 If this is set, then the original message is added in its entirety
2614 as a `message/rfc822' MIME attachment when replying to a message.
2615 Note this works regardless of the setting of
2617 .It Va recipients-in-cc
2618 On group replies, specify only the sender of the original mail in `To:'
2619 and mention it's other recipients in the secondary `Cc:'.
2620 .It Va record-resent
2621 If both this variable and the
2628 commands save messages to the
2630 folder as it is normally only done for newly composed messages.
2631 .It Va reply-in-same-charset
2632 If this variable is set \*(UA first tries to use the same character set
2633 of the original message for replies.
2634 If this fails, the mechanism described in
2635 .Sx "Character sets"
2636 is evaluated as usual.
2638 Reverses the sense of
2643 .It Va rfc822-body-from_
2644 This variable can be used to force the display of a so-called `From_'
2645 line for messages that are embedded into an envelope mail via the
2646 `message/rfc822' MIME mechanism.
2648 When the user aborts a message with two `RUBOUT' (interrupt) characters,
2649 \*(UA will copy the partial letter to the file
2651 This option is set by default.
2652 .It Va searchheaders
2653 Expand message-list specifiers in the form `/x:y' to all messages
2654 containing the substring `y' in the header field `x'.
2655 The string search is case insensitive.
2656 .It Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset
2657 \*(OP If this variable is set, but
2659 is not, then \*(UA acts as if
2661 had been set to the value of the variable
2663 In effect this combination passes through the message data in the
2664 character set of the current locale (given that
2666 hasn't been set manually), i.e., without converting it to the
2668 fallback character set.
2669 Thus, mail message text will be in `ISO-8859-1' encoding when send from
2670 within a `ISO-8859-1' locale, and in `UTF-8' encoding when send from
2671 within an `UTF-8' locale.
2673 When sending a message wait until the MTA exits before accepting further
2675 If the MTA returns a non-zero exit status,
2676 the exit status of \*(ua will also be non-zero.
2678 Setting this option causes \*(UA to start at the last message instead of
2679 the first one when opening a mail folder.
2681 Causes \*(UA to use the sender's real name instead of the plain address
2682 in the header field summary and in message specifications.
2684 Causes the recipient of the message to be shown in the header summary
2685 if the message was sent by the user.
2686 .It Va skipemptybody
2687 If an outgoing message does not contain any text in its first or only
2689 do not send it but discard it silently (see also the command line option
2692 .It Va smime-force-encryption
2693 \*(OP Causes \*(UA to refuse sending unencrypted messages.
2695 \*(OP S/MIME sign outgoing messages with the user's private key.
2696 Signing a message enables a recipient to verify that the sender used
2697 a valid certificate,
2698 that the email addresses in the certificate match those in the message
2699 header and that the message content has not been altered.
2700 It does not change the message text,
2701 and people will be able to read the message as usual.
2702 .It Va smime-no-default-ca
2703 \*(OP Don't load default CA locations when verifying S/MIME signed
2705 .It Va smtp-use-starttls
2706 \*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a `STARTTLS' command to make an SMTP session
2708 Not all servers support this command \(en because of common
2709 implementation defects it can't be automatically determined whether
2710 a server supports it or not.
2711 .It Va ssl-no-default-ca
2712 \*(OP Don't load default CA locations to verify SSL/TLS server
2715 \*(OP Accept SSLv2 connections.
2716 These are normally not allowed because this protocol version is insecure.
2717 .It Va keep-content-length
2718 When (editing messages and) writing MBOX mailbox files \*(UA can be told
2719 to keep the `Content-Length:' and `Lines:' header fields that some MUAs
2720 generate by setting this variable.
2721 Since \*(UA does neither use nor update these non-standardized header
2722 fields (which in itself shows one of their conceptual problems),
2723 stripping them should increase interoperability in between MUAs that
2724 work with with same mailbox files.
2725 Note that, if this is not set but
2726 .Va writebackedited ,
2727 as below, is, a possibly performed automatic stripping of these header
2728 fields already marks the message as being modified.
2730 Setting the option verbose is the same as using the command line option
2732 When \*(UA runs in verbose mode details of the actual message delivery
2733 and protocol conversations for IMAP, POP3, and SMTP,
2734 as well as of other internal processes,
2735 are displayed on the user's terminal.
2736 This is sometimes useful to debug problems.
2737 \*(UA prints all data that is sent to remote servers in clear texts,
2738 including passwords,
2739 so care should be taken that no unauthorized option can view the screen
2740 if this option is enabled.
2741 .It Va writebackedited
2742 If this variable is set messages modified using the
2746 commands are written back to the current folder when it is quit;
2747 it is only honoured for writable folders in `mbox' format, though.
2748 Note that the editor will be pointed to the raw message content in that
2749 case, i.e., neither MIME decoding nor decryption will have been
2751 and proper RFC 4155 `From ' quoting of newly added or edited content is
2752 also left as an excercise to the user.
2757 The value options include the following:
2758 .Bl -tag -width ".Va autoprint"
2760 A sequence of characters to print in the `attribute' column of a header
2762 each for one type of messages in the following order:
2763 new (N), unread but old (U), new but read (R), read and old (O), saved
2764 (S), preserved (P), mboxed (M), flagged (F), answered (A), draft (T),
2765 start of a collapsed thread (+), collapsed (\-), classified as spam ($).
2766 The default is `NUROSPMFAT+\-$',
2767 or `NU\ \ *HMFAT+\-$' if
2771 environment variable are set.
2773 Specifies a list of recipients to which a blind carbon copy of each
2774 outgoing message will be sent automatically.
2776 Specifies a list of recipients to which a carbon copy of each outgoing
2777 message will be sent automatically.
2782 Causes sorted mode (see the
2784 command) to be entered automatically with the value of this option as
2785 sorting method when a folder is opened.
2787 The value that should appear in the `charset=' parameter of
2788 `Content-Type:' MIME header fields when no character set conversion of
2789 the message data was performed.
2790 This defaults to `US-ASCII', and the chosen character set should be
2791 `US-ASCII' compatible.
2793 \*(OP The default 8 bit character set that is used if
2795 is not set or no character set therein was capable to represent the
2796 content of a message.
2797 Defaults to `UTF-8'.
2798 If no character set conversion capabilities are available in \*(UA then
2799 the only supported character set is
2801 Refer to the section
2802 .Sx "Character sets"
2803 for the complete picture of character set conversion in \*(UA.
2805 The default value for the
2809 \*(OP The colour specification for so-called `From_' lines.
2811 .Sx "Coloured message display"
2812 for the format of the value.
2813 .It Va colour-header
2814 \*(OP The colour specification for header lines.
2816 .Sx "Coloured message display"
2817 for the format of the value.
2818 .It Va colour-msginfo
2819 \*(OP The colour specification for the introductional message info line.
2821 .Sx "Coloured message display"
2822 for the format of the value.
2823 .It Va colour-pagers
2824 \*(OP A comma-separated list of
2826 s for which coloured message display can be used.
2827 Note that only a substring comparison is performed, meaning that the
2828 string `lesser' will match the string `less'.
2830 .Sx "Coloured message display"
2832 The default is set to the sole string `less'.
2833 .It Va colour-partinfo
2834 \*(OP The colour specification for MIME part info lines.
2836 .Sx "Coloured message display"
2837 for the format of the value.
2839 \*(OP A comma-separated list of
2841 inals for which coloured message display can be used.
2844 .Dl cons25,linux,rxvt,rxvt-unicode,\:sun,\:vt100,\:vt220,\:\
2845 wsvt25,\:xterm,\:xterm-color
2846 .It Va colour-uheader
2847 \*(OP The colour specification for those header lines that have been
2849 .Va colour-user-headers
2852 .Sx "Coloured message display"
2853 for the format of the value.
2854 .It Va colour-user-headers
2855 A comma separated list of (case-insensitive) header names which should
2856 be colourized with the alternative
2859 The default value is `from,subject'.
2861 The valued option crt is used as a threshold to determine how long
2862 a message must be before
2867 is set without a value then the height of the terminal screen stored in
2868 the system is used to compute the threshold (see
2874 The name of the file to use for saving aborted messages.
2875 This defaults to `dead.letter' in the user's home directory.
2877 The date in a header summary is normally the date of the mailbox `From\ '
2878 line of the message.
2879 If this variable is set, then the date as given in the `Date:' field is
2880 used, converted to local time.
2881 It is possible to control the display of the date by assigning a value,
2884 function will be used to format the date accordingly.
2885 Please read your system manual for the available formats.
2886 Note that the `%n' format should not be used, because \*(UA doesn't
2887 take embedded newlines into account when calculating how many lines fit
2889 .It Va datefield-markout-older
2890 This option, when set in addition to
2892 modifies the display of messages that are not really current in a way
2893 that is rather comparable to the
2898 The interpretation of the value is identical to what has been described
2902 Pathname of the text editor to use in the
2907 A default editor is used if this value is not defined.
2909 The default MIME encoding to use in outgoing text messages and message
2911 Valid values are the default `quoted-printable', `8bit' and `base64'.
2912 `8bit' may cause problems with mail transfers that are not ESMTP
2914 If there is no need to encode a message,
2915 `7bit' transfer mode is always used regardless of this variable.
2916 Binary data is always encoded as `base64'.
2918 If defined, the first character of this option
2919 gives the character to use in place of `~' to denote tilde escapes.
2921 The name of the directory to use for storing folders of messages.
2922 All folder names that begin with `+' refer to files below it.
2923 The same special conventions as documented for the
2925 command may be used when specifying a new value for
2927 but be aware that the expansion is fully performed immediately.
2928 E.g., if the expanded name refers to an IMAP account, all names that
2929 begin with `+' refer to IMAP mailboxes below the
2933 Note: some IMAP servers do not accept the creation of mailboxes in
2934 the hierarchy base, but require that they are created as subfolders of
2935 `INBOX' \(en with such servers a folder name of the form
2937 .Dl imaps://mylogin@imap.myisp.example/INBOX.
2939 should be used (the last character is the server's hierarchy delimiter).
2940 Folder names prefixed by `+' will then refer to folders below `INBOX',
2941 while folder names prefixed by `@' refer to folders below the hierarchy
2945 namespace command for a method to detect the appropriate prefix and
2948 When a folder is opened and this variable is set,
2949 the macro corresponding to the value of this variable is executed.
2950 The macro is also invoked when new mail arrives,
2951 but message lists for commands executed from the macro
2952 only include newly arrived messages then.
2953 .It Va folder-hook-fullname
2954 When a folder named `fullname' is opened,
2955 the macro corresponding to the value of this variable is executed.
2956 Unlike other folder specifications,
2957 the fully expanded name of a folder, without metacharacters,
2958 is used to avoid ambiguities.
2959 The macro specified with
2961 is not executed if this variable is effective for a folder
2964 ed from within the actually executed macro).
2966 The address (or a list of addresses) to put into the `From:' field of
2968 If replying to messages these addresses are handled as if they were in
2972 If the machine's hostname is not valid at the Internet (for example at
2973 a dialup machine), then either this variable or
2978 contains more than one address,
2981 variable must also be set.
2983 The string to print before the text of a message with the
2987 .Va forward-as-attachment
2989 Defaults to `-------- Original Message --------' if unset.
2990 No heading is printed if it is set to the empty string.
2992 A format string to use for the header summary,
2996 A `%' character introduces a format specifier.
2997 It may be followed by a number indicating the field width.
2998 If the (possibly implicitly implied) field width is negative, the field
2999 is to be left-aligned.
3000 Valid format specifiers are:
3001 .Bl -tag -offset indent -width "%%"
3005 The date when the message was received.
3007 The indenting level in threaded mode.
3009 The address of the message sender.
3011 The message thread structure.
3012 (Note that this format doesn't support a field width.)
3014 The number of lines of the message.
3018 The number of octets (bytes) in the message.
3020 Message subject (if any).
3022 Message subject (if any) in double quotes.
3024 The position in threaded/sorted order.
3026 A `>' for the current message, otherwise ` '.
3028 A `<' for the current message, otherwise ` '.
3030 The spam score of the message, as has been classified via the command
3036 The default is `%>\&%a\&%m\ %-18f\ %16d\ %4l/%\-5o\ %i%-s',
3037 or `%>\&%a\&%m\ %20-f\ \ %16d\ %3l/%\-5o\ %i%-S' if
3041 Use this string as hostname when expanding local addresses instead of
3042 the value obtained from
3046 i.e., in `Message-ID:' and `From:' fields.
3049 transport is not used then it is normally the responsibility of the MTA
3050 to create these fields; you should produce some test messages with the
3051 desired combination of
3058 \*(OP Sets the IMAP authentication method.
3059 Valid values are `login' for the usual password-based authentication
3061 `cram-md5', which is a password-based authentication that does not send
3062 the password over the network in clear text,
3063 and `gssapi' for GSSAPI-based authentication.
3064 .It Va imap-auth-user@host
3065 Sets the IMAP authentication method for a specific account.
3067 \*(OP Enables caching of IMAP mailboxes.
3068 The value of this variable must point to a directory that is either
3069 existent or can be created by \*(UA.
3070 All contents of the cache can be deleted by \*(UA at any time;
3071 it is not safe to make assumptions about them.
3072 .It Va imap-keepalive
3073 \*(OP IMAP servers may close the connection after a period of
3074 inactivity; the standard requires this to be at least 30 minutes,
3075 but practical experience may vary.
3076 Setting this variable to a numeric `value' greater than 0 causes
3077 a `NOOP' command to be sent each `value' seconds if no other operation
3079 .It Va imap-list-depth
3080 \*(OP When retrieving the list of folders on an IMAP server, the
3082 command stops after it has reached a certain depth to avoid possible
3084 The value of this variable sets the maximum depth allowed.
3086 If the folder separator on the current IMAP server is a slash `/',
3087 this variable has no effect and the
3089 command does not descend to subfolders.
3091 String used by the `~m' and `~M' tilde escapes and by the
3093 option for indenting messages,
3094 in place of the normal tab character (`^I').
3095 Be sure to quote the value if it contains spaces or tabs.
3097 Pathname of the directory lister to use in the
3099 command when operating on local mailboxes.
3102 .It Va line-editor-cursor-right
3103 \*(OP If the builtin command line editor is used, actions which are
3104 based on rightwise movement may not work on some terminals.
3105 If you encounter such problems, set this variable to the terminal
3106 control sequence that is necessary to move the cursor one column to the
3108 The default is `\\033[C', which should work for most terminals.
3109 Less often occur `\\033OC' and `\\014'.
3110 Note that `ESCAPE' and other control character have to be written as
3111 shell-style escape sequences, e.g., `\\033' for `ESCAPE'.
3113 Is used as the user's mailbox, if set.
3114 Otherwise, a system-dependent default is used.
3115 Supports a logical subset of the special conventions that are documented
3122 The name of the mbox file.
3123 Supports a logical subset of the special conventions that are documented
3129 The fallback default is `mbox' in the user's home directory.
3130 .It Va mimetypes-load-control
3131 This option can be used to control which of the
3133 MIME type databases are loaded by \*(UA.
3134 If the letter `u' (or `U') is part of this options value, then the
3137 file will be loaded (if it exists);
3138 likewise the letter `s' (or `S') controls loading of the system wide
3139 .Pa /etc/mime.types .
3140 If this option is not set \*(UA will try to load both files instead.
3141 Incorporation of the MIME types that are compiled into \*(UA cannot be
3143 .It Va NAIL_EXTRA_RC
3144 The name of an optional startup file to be read after \*(ur.
3145 This variable is ignored if it is imported from the environment;
3146 it has an effect only if it is set in \*(UR or \*(ur to allow bypassing
3147 the configuration with, e.g., `MAILRC=/dev/null'.
3148 Use this file for commands that are not understood by other \*(UA
3151 A string to put at the beginning of each new message.
3152 The escape sequences `\et' (tabulator) and `\en' (newline) are understood.
3153 .It Va NAIL_HISTFILE
3154 \*(OP If a command line editor is available then this can be set to
3155 name the (expandable) path of the location of a permanent history file.
3156 .It Va NAIL_HISTSIZE
3157 \*(OP If a command line editor is available this value restricts the
3158 amount of history entries that are saved into a set and valid
3160 A value of less than 0 disables this feature;
3161 note that loading and incorporation of
3163 upon program startup can also be suppressed by doing this.
3164 An unset or invalid value, or 0, causes a default value to be used.
3165 Dependent on the available command line editor this will also define the
3166 number of history entries in memory;
3167 it is also editor-specific wether runtime updates of this value will be
3170 A string to put at the end of each new message.
3171 The escape sequences `\et' (tabulator) and `\en' (newline) are understood.
3173 If this variable has the value `maildir',
3174 newly created local folders will be in `maildir' format.
3176 Checks for new mail in the current folder each time the prompt is
3178 For IMAP mailboxes the server is then polled for new mail,
3179 which may result in delayed operation if the connection to the server is
3181 A `maildir' folder must be re-scanned to determine if new mail has
3184 If this variable is set to the special value `nopoll' an IMAP server is
3185 not actively asked for new mail,
3186 but new mail may still be detected and announced with any other IMAP
3187 command that is sent to the server.
3188 A `maildir' folder is not scanned, then.
3190 In either case the IMAP server may send notifications about messages
3191 that have been deleted on the server by another process or client.
3192 In this case, `Expunged X messages' is printed regardless of this
3194 and message numbers may have changed.
3196 The value to put into the `Organization:' field of the message header.
3198 Pathname of the program to use in the more command or when the
3201 The default paginator is
3203 .It Va password-user@host
3204 Set the password for `user' when connecting to `host'.
3205 If no such variable is defined for a host,
3206 the user will be asked for a password on standard input.
3207 Specifying passwords in a startup file is generally a security risk;
3208 the file should be readable by the invoking user only.
3209 .It Va pipe-content/subcontent
3210 When a MIME message part of `content/subcontent' type is displayed or
3212 its text is filtered through the value of this variable interpreted as
3215 The special value `@' can be used to force interpretation of the message
3216 part as plain text, e.g., `set pipe-application/pgp-signature=@' will
3217 henceforth treat signatures as plain text and display them "as is".
3219 Also, if a normal shell command is prefixed with `@', then the command
3220 will only be used to prepare the MIME message part if the message is
3221 displayed by itself, but not when multiple messages are displayed at
3224 Finally, if a normal shell command is prefixed with `@&', then, in
3225 addition to what has been described for the plain `@' shell command
3226 prefix, the command will be run asynchronously, i.e., without blocking
3227 \*(UA, which may be a handy way to display a, e.g., PDF file while also
3228 continuing to read the mail message.
3230 Special care must be taken when using such commands as mail viruses may
3231 be distributed by this method;
3232 if messages of type `application/x-sh' were filtered through the shell,
3234 a message sender could easily execute arbitrary code on the system \*(UA
3236 .It Va pop3-keepalive
3237 \*(OP POP3 servers close the connection after a period of inactivity;
3238 the standard requires this to be at least 10 minutes,
3239 but practical experience may vary.
3240 Setting this variable to a numeric `value' greater than 0 causes
3241 a `NOOP' command to be sent each `value' seconds if no other operation
3244 The string printed when a command is accepted.
3245 Prompting may be prevented by either setting this to the null string
3248 The same XSI escape sequences that are understood by the
3250 command may be used within
3253 In addition, the following \*(UA specific additional sequences are
3255 `\\&', which expands to `?' unless
3257 is set, in which case it expands to `&';
3258 note that "\\& " is the default value for
3260 `\\?', which will expand to `1' if the last command failed, and to `0'
3262 `\\$', which will expand to the name of the currently active
3264 if any, and to the empty string otherwise,
3265 and `\\@', which will expand to the name of the currently active mailbox.
3266 (Note that the prompt buffer is size-limited, excess is cut off.)
3268 When a newer version of the
3270 .Sx "Command line editor"
3271 is used, any escape sequence must itself be encapsulated with another
3272 escape character for usage with the
3274 mechanism: \*(UA configures the control character `\\01' for this.
3276 If set, \*(UA starts a replying message with the original message
3277 prefixed by the value of the variable
3279 Normally, a heading consisting of `Fromheaderfield wrote:' is printed
3280 before the quotation.
3281 If the string `noheading' is assigned to the
3283 variable, this heading is omitted.
3284 If the string `headers' is assigned, the headers selected by the
3285 .Ic ignore Ns / Ns Ic retain
3286 commands are printed above the message body,
3289 acts like an automatic `~m' tilde escape command, then.
3290 If the string `allheaders' is assigned, all headers are printed above
3291 the message body and all MIME parts are included,
3294 act like an automatic `~M' command.
3296 .Va quote-as-attachment .
3298 \*(OP Can be set in addition to
3300 Setting this turns on a more fancy quotation algorithm in that leading
3301 quotation characters are compressed and overlong lines are folded.
3303 can be set to either one or two (space separated) numeric values,
3304 which are interpreted as the maximum (goal) and the minimum line length,
3305 respectively, in a spirit rather equal to the
3307 program, but line-, not paragraph-based.
3308 If not set explicitly the minimum will reflect the goal algorithmically.
3309 The goal can't be smaller than the length of
3311 plus some additional pad.
3312 Necessary adjustments take place silently.
3314 If defined, gives the pathname of the folder used to record all outgoing
3316 If not defined, then outgoing mail is not saved.
3317 When saving to this folder fails the message is not sent,
3318 but instead saved to
3321 A list of addresses to put into the `Reply-To:' field of the message
3323 Members of this list are handled as if they were in the
3327 When \*(UA initially prints the message headers it determines the number
3328 to print by looking at the speed of the terminal.
3329 The faster the terminal, the more it prints.
3330 This option overrides this calculation and specifies how many message
3331 headers are printed.
3332 This number is also used for scrolling with the
3336 \*(OP A comma-separated list of character set names that can be used in
3337 outgoing Internet mail.
3338 If no character set conversion capabilities are compiled into \*(UA then
3339 the only supported charset is
3342 .Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset
3343 and refer to the section
3344 .Sx "Character sets"
3345 for the complete picture of character set conversion in \*(UA.
3347 An address that is put into the `Sender:' field of outgoing messages.
3348 This field needs not normally be present.
3349 It is, however, required if the `From:' field contains more than one
3351 It can also be used to indicate that a message was sent on behalf of
3352 someone else \(en in this case, `From:' should contain the address
3353 of the person that took responsibility for the message,
3354 and `Sender:' should contain the address of the person that actually
3358 address is handled as if it were in the
3362 To use an alternate mail delivery system,
3363 set this option to the full pathname of the program to use.
3364 It may be necessary to set
3365 .Va sendmail-progname
3367 .It Va sendmail-progname
3368 Many systems use a so-called
3370 environment to ensure compatibility with
3372 This works by inspecting the name that was used to invoke the mail
3374 If this variable is set then the mailwrapper (the program that is
3375 actually executed when calling `sendmail') will treat its contents as
3377 The default is `sendmail'.
3379 Pathname of the shell to use in the
3381 command and the `~!' tilde escape.
3382 A default shell is used if this option is not defined.
3384 A string for use with the `~A' tilde escape.
3386 A string for use with the `~a' tilde escape.
3388 Must correspond to the name of a readable file if set.
3389 The file's content is then appended to each singlepart message
3390 and to the first part of each multipart message.
3391 Be warned that there is no possibility to edit the signature for an
3394 \*(OP Specifies a directory with CA certificates in PEM (Privacy
3395 Enhanced Mail) format for verification of S/MIME signed messages.
3396 .It Va smime-ca-file
3397 \*(OP Specifies a file with CA certificates in PEM format for
3398 verification of S/MIME signed messages.
3399 .It Va smime-cipher-user@host
3400 \*(OP Specifies a cipher to use when generating S/MIME encrypted
3401 messages for `user@host'.
3402 Valid ciphers are `rc2-40' (RC2 with 40 bits), `rc2-64' (RC2 with 64
3403 bits), `des' (DES, 56 bits) and `des-ede3' (3DES, 112/168 bits).
3404 The default is 3DES.
3405 It is not recommended to use the other ciphers unless a recipient's
3406 client is actually unable to handle 3DES since they are comparatively
3408 .It Va smime-crl-file
3409 \*(OP Specifies a file that contains a CRL in PEM format to use when
3410 verifying S/MIME messages.
3411 .It Va smime-crl-dir
3412 \*(OP Specifies a directory that contains files with CRLs in PEM format
3413 to use when verifying S/MIME messages.
3414 .It Va smime-encrypt-user@host
3415 \*(OP If this variable is set, messages to `user@host' are encrypted
3417 The value of the variable must be set to the name of a file that
3418 contains a certificate in PEM format.
3420 If a message is sent to multiple recipients,
3421 each of them for whom a corresponding variable is set will receive an
3422 individually encrypted message;
3423 other recipients will continue to receive the message in plain text
3425 .Va smime-force-encryption
3427 It is recommended to sign encrypted messages, i.e., to also set the
3430 .It Va smime-sign-cert
3431 \*(OP Points to a file in PEM format that contains the user's private
3432 key as well as his certificate.
3433 Both are used with S/MIME for signing and decrypting messages.
3434 .It Va smime-sign-cert-user@host
3437 for the specific addresses.
3438 When signing messages and the value of the
3440 variable is set to `user@host', the specific file is used.
3441 When decrypting messages,
3442 their recipient fields (`To:' and `Cc:') are searched for addresses
3443 for which such a variable is set.
3444 \*(UA always uses the first address that matches,
3445 so if the same message is sent to more than one of the user's addresses
3446 using different encryption keys, decryption might fail.
3447 .It Va smime-sign-include-certs
3448 \*(OP If used, this must be set to a comma-separated list of files,
3449 each of which containing a single certificate in PEM format to be
3450 included in the S/MIME message in addition to the
3453 This is most useful for long certificate chains if it is desired to aid
3454 the receiving party's verification process.
3455 .It Va smime-sign-include-certs-user@host
3457 .Va smime-sign-include-certs
3458 for the specific addresses.
3459 Refer to the discussion of
3460 .Va smime-sign-cert-user@host
3461 for more on this topic.
3463 \*(OP Normally \*(UA invokes
3465 directly to transfer messages.
3468 variable is set, a SMTP connection to the server specified by the value
3469 of this variable is used instead.
3470 If the SMTP server does not use the standard port, a value of
3471 `server:port' can be given, with `port' as a name or as a number.
3473 There are two possible methods to get SSL/TLS encrypted SMTP sessions:
3474 First, the `STARTTLS' command can be used to encrypt a session after it
3476 but before any user-related data has been sent; see
3477 .Va smtp-use-starttls
3479 Second, some servers accept sessions that are encrypted from begin on.
3480 This mode is configured by assigning `smtps://server[:port]' to the
3484 The SMTP transfer is executed in a child process, which runs
3485 asynchronously unless either the
3490 If it receives a TERM signal, it will abort and save the message to
3493 \*(OP Sets the SMTP authentication method.
3494 If set to `login', or if unset and
3496 is set, `AUTH LOGIN' is used.
3497 If set to `cram-md5', `AUTH CRAM-MD5' is used;
3498 if set to `plain', `AUTH PLAIN' is used.
3499 Otherwise, no SMTP authentication is performed.
3500 .It Va smtp-auth-user@host
3503 for specific values of sender addresses, dependend upon the variable
3505 .It Va smtp-auth-password
3506 \*(OP Sets the global password for `SMTP AUTH'.
3507 Both user and password have to be given for `AUTH LOGIN' and
3509 .It Va smtp-auth-password-user@host
3511 .Va smtp-auth-password
3512 for specific values of sender addresses, dependent upon the variable
3514 .It Va smtp-auth-user
3515 \*(OP Sets the global user name for `SMTP AUTH'.
3516 Both user and password have to be given for `AUTH LOGIN' and
3518 If this variable is set but neither
3519 .Va smtp-auth-password
3521 .Va smtp-auth-password-user@host
3523 \*(UA will ask for a password on the user's terminal.
3524 .It Va smtp-auth-user-user@host
3527 for specific values of sender addresses, dependent upon the variable
3530 \*(OP The path to the spam detector.
3531 Note that the path is not expanded, but used "as is".
3532 A fallback path will have been compiled into the \*(UA binary if the
3534 executable had been found during compilation.
3536 \*(OP Can be used to specify the host on which
3538 listens for connections; if not set, defaults to `localhost'.
3540 \*(OP Spam detectors like
3542 decline to work with messages which exceed a specific size;
3543 if this variable is set then \*(UA won't even try to pass messages which
3544 exceed the given limit.
3545 The default is 420000 bytes.
3547 \*(OP Can be used to explicitly specify the port on which
3549 listens for connections.
3551 \*(OP If the spam detector listens on a path-based UNIX domain socket,
3552 then setting this variable to the fully qualified path will force its
3553 usage for communication.
3555 \*(OP This can be used to support multiple, per-used configuration files
3556 of the spam detector.
3557 Note that \*(UA doesn't automatically set this to reflect a possibly set
3561 \*(OP Specifies a directory with CA certificates in PEM (Pricacy
3562 Enhanced Mail) for verification of of SSL/TLS server certificates.
3564 .Xr SSL_CTX_load_verify_locations 3
3565 for more information.
3567 \*(OP Specifies a file with CA certificates in PEM format for
3568 verification of SSL/TLS server certificates.
3570 .Xr SSL_CTX_load_verify_locations 3
3571 for more information.
3573 \*(OP Sets the file name for a SSL/TLS client certificate required by
3575 .It Va ssl-cert-user@host
3576 Sets an account-specific file name for a SSL/TLS client certificate
3577 required by some servers.
3580 for the specified account.
3581 .It Va ssl-cipher-list
3582 \*(OP Specifies a list of ciphers for SSL/TLS connections.
3585 for more information.
3587 \*(OP Specifies a file that contains a CRL in PEM format to use when
3588 verifying SSL/TLS server certificates.
3590 \*(OP Specifies a directory that contains files with CRLs in PEM format
3591 to use when verifying SSL/TLS server certificates.
3593 \*(OP Sets the file name for the private key of a SSL/TLS client
3595 If unset, the name of the certificate file is used.
3596 The file is expected to be in PEM format.
3597 .It Va ssl-key-user@host
3598 Sets an account-specific file name for the private key of a SSL/TLS
3602 for the specified account.
3604 \*(OP Selects a SSL/TLS protocol version;
3605 \*(UA accepts the values `ssl2', `ssl3', `tls1', `tls1.1' and `tls1.2',
3606 though it depends on the OpenSSL library that is found on the system
3607 what is truly supported.
3608 If unset, the method is selected automatically, if possible
3609 (this process usually tries to use the most secure method possible).
3610 This approach is also taken if the chosen value is not supported by the
3611 OpenSSL library, in which case an error message will be printed first.
3612 .It Va ssl-method-user@host
3615 for a specific account.
3617 \*(OP Gives the pathname to an entropy daemon socket, see
3619 .It Va ssl-rand-file
3620 \*(OP Gives the pathname to a file with entropy data, see
3621 .Xr RAND_load_file 3 .
3622 If the file is a regular file writable by the invoking user,
3623 new data is written to it after it has been loaded.
3625 \*(OP Sets the action to be performed if an error occurs during SSL/TLS
3626 server certificate validation.
3628 `strict' (fail and close connection immediately),
3629 `ask' (ask whether to continue on standard input),
3630 `warn' (print a warning and continue),
3631 `ignore' (do not perform validation).
3632 The default is `ask'.
3633 .It Va ssl-verify-user@host
3636 for a specific account.
3638 If only set without an assigned value, then this option inhibits the
3639 generation of the `Message-Id:' and `User-Agent:' header fields that
3640 include obvious references to \*(UA.
3641 There are two pitfalls associated with this:
3642 First, the message id of outgoing messages is not known anymore.
3643 Second, an expert may still use the remaining information in the header
3644 to track down the originating mail user agent.
3645 If set to the value `noagent', then the mentioned `Message-Id:'
3646 suppression doesn't occur.
3648 If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be printed out
3649 with the top command;
3650 normally, the first five lines are printed.
3652 The character set of the terminal \*(UA operates on,
3653 and the one and only supported character set that \*(UA can use if no
3654 character set conversion capabilities have been compiled into it,
3655 in which case it defaults to `ISO-8859-1' unless it can deduce a value
3656 from the `LC_CTYPE' locale environment.
3657 Refer to the section
3658 .Sx "Character sets"
3659 for the complete picture about character sets.
3661 Pathname of the text editor to use in the
3663 command and `~v' tilde escape.
3669 Besides the variables described above,
3670 \*(UA uses the following environment variables:
3671 .Bl -tag -width ".It Va MAILRC"
3673 The user's preferred width in column positions for the terminal screen
3674 or window (only used during startup).
3676 The user's home directory.
3677 .It Va LANG , Va LC_ALL , Va LC_COLLATE , Va LC_CTYPE , Va LC_MESSAGES
3681 \*(OP When a pager is started, this variable is set to the string
3682 `FRXi' unless it already exists in the environment, in which case it is
3685 The user's preferred number of lines on a page or the vertical screen or
3686 window size in lines (only used during startup).
3688 Is used as a startup file instead of \*(ur if set.
3689 When \*(UA scripts are invoked on behalf of other users,
3690 this variable should be set to
3692 to avoid side-effects from reading their configuration files.
3694 If this variable is set and
3696 is not, it is treated as a startup configuration file and read.
3697 .It Va NAIL_NO_SYSTEM_RC
3698 If this variable is set then reading of \*(UR at startup is inhibited,
3699 i.e., the same effect is achieved as if \*(UA had been started up with
3703 Changes the letters printed in the first column of a header summary.
3705 \*(OP The terminal type for which output is to be prepared.
3707 Used as directory for temporary files instead of
3711 Can be used to force identification as
3713 i.e., identical to the
3715 command line option.
3721 .Bl -tag -width ".It Pa /etc/mime.types"
3723 File giving initial commands.
3725 System wide initialization file.
3726 .It Pa ~/.mime.types
3727 Personal MIME types.
3728 .It Pa /etc/mime.types
3729 System wide MIME types.
3737 .Ss "Getting started"
3738 The \*(UA command has two distinct usages, according to whether one
3739 wants to send or receive mail.
3740 Sending mail is simple: to send a message to a user whose email address
3741 is, say, `<bill@host.example>', use the shell command:
3743 .Dl $ \*(ua bill@host.example
3745 then type your message.
3746 \*(UA will prompt you for a message `Subject:' first;
3747 after that, lines typed by you form the body of the message.
3748 When you reach the end of the message,
3749 type an EOT (`control\-D') at the beginning of a line,
3750 which will cause \*(UA to echo `EOT' and return you to the shell.
3752 If, while you are composing the message you decide that you do not wish
3753 to send it after all, you can abort the letter by typing two `RUBOUT'
3754 (interrupt) characters.
3755 Typing a single `RUBOUT' causes \*(UA to print
3756 .Ns ` Ns Li (Interrupt -- one more to kill letter) Ns '.
3757 Typing a second `RUBOUT' causes \*(UA to save your partial letter on the
3760 and abort the letter.
3761 Once you have sent mail to someone, there is no way to undo the act, so
3764 If you want to send the same message to several other people,
3765 you can list their email addresses on the command line.
3766 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3767 $ \*(ua sam@workstation.example bob@server.example
3769 Tuition fees are due next Friday. Don't forget!
3775 will sendout to `<sam@workstation.example>' and `<bob@server.example>'.
3776 To read your mail, simply type
3780 \*(UA will respond by typing its version number and date and then
3781 listing the messages you have waiting.
3782 Then it will type a prompt and await your command.
3783 The messages are assigned numbers starting with 1 \(en you refer to the
3784 messages with these numbers.
3785 \*(UA keeps track of which messages are `new' (have been sent since you
3786 last read your mail) and `read' (have been read by you).
3787 New messages have an `N' next to them in the header listing and old,
3788 but unread messages have a `U' next to them.
3789 \*(UA keeps track of new/old and read/unread messages by putting a
3790 header field called `Status' into your messages.
3792 To look at a specific message, use the
3794 command, which may be abbreviated to simply `t'.
3795 For example, if you had the following messages:
3796 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3797 O 1 drfoo@myhost.example Wed Sep 1 19:52 5/421 "Fees"
3798 O 2 sam@friends.example Thu Sep 2 00:08 30/895
3801 you could examine the first message by giving the command:
3805 which might cause \*(UA to respond with, for example:
3806 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3807 [-- Message 1 -- 5 lines, 421 bytes --]:
3808 From drfoo@myhost.example Wed Sep 1 19:52:25 2004
3812 Tuition fees are due next Wednesday. Don't forget!
3815 Many \*(UA commands that operate on messages take a message number as an
3816 argument, just as the shown
3819 For these commands, there is a notion of a current message.
3820 When you enter the \*(UA program,
3821 the current message is initially the first (or the first recent) one.
3822 Thus, you can often omit the message number and use, for example, `t` to
3823 type the current message.
3824 As a further shorthand, you can type a message by simply giving its
3825 message number \(en hence `1` would type the first message.
3827 Frequently, it is useful to read the messages in your mailbox in order,
3829 You can read the next message in \*(UA by simply typing a newline.
3830 As a special case, you can type a newline as your first command to
3831 \*(UA to type the first message.
3833 If, after typing a message, you wish to immediately send a reply,
3834 you can do so with the command
3838 takes a message number as an argument.
3839 \*(UA then begins a message addressed to the user who sent you the
3840 message and let you type in your letter in reply, followed by
3841 a `<control-D>' at the beginning of a line, as before.
3843 Note that \*(UA copies the subject header from the original message.
3844 This is useful in that correspondence about a particular matter will
3845 tend to retain the same subject heading, making it easy to recognize.
3846 If there are other header fields in the message, like `Cc:',
3847 the information found will also be used.
3849 Sometimes you will receive a message that has been sent to several
3850 people and wish to reply only to the person who sent it.
3852 (with a capital `R') replies to a message, but sends a copy to the
3855 If you wish, while reading your mail, to send a message to someone,
3856 but not as a reply to one of your messages, you can send the message
3859 command, which takes as arguments the names of the recipients you wish
3861 For example, to send a message to `<frank@machine.example>':
3863 .Dl mail frank@machine.example
3865 To delete a message from the mail folder, you can use the command
3867 In addition to not saving deleted messages,
3868 \*(UA will not let you type them, either.
3869 The effect is to make the message disappear altogether, along with its
3872 Many features of \*(UA can be tailored to your liking with the
3874 command; it has two forms, depending on whether you are setting
3875 a `binary' or a `valued' option.
3876 Binary options are either on or off \(en for example, the
3878 option informs \*(UA that each time you send a message, you want it to
3879 prompt you for a `Cc:' header to be included in the message.
3882 option, you would type
3886 Valued options are values which \*(UA uses to adapt to your tastes.
3889 option tells \*(UA where to save messages sent by you,
3890 and is specified by, e.g.,
3894 Note that no spaces are allowed in `set record=Sent'.
3896 \*(UA includes a simple facility for maintaining groups of messages
3897 together in folders.
3898 To use the folder facility, you must tell \*(UA where you wish to keep
3900 Each folder of messages will be a single file.
3901 For convenience, all of your folders are kept in a single directory of
3903 To tell \*(UA where your folder directory is, put a line of the form
3905 .Dl set folder=letters
3908 If, as in the example above, your folder directory does not begin with
3909 a `/', \*(UA will assume that your folder directory is to be found
3910 starting from your home directory.
3912 Anywhere a file name is expected, you can use a folder name, preceded
3914 For example, to put a message into a folder with the
3916 command, you can use:
3920 to save the current message in the `classwork' folder.
3921 If the `classwork' folder does not yet exist, it will be created.
3922 Note that messages which are saved with the
3924 command are automatically removed from your system mailbox.
3926 In order to make a copy of a message in a folder without causing
3927 that message to be removed from your system mailbox, use the
3929 command, which is identical in all other respects to the
3936 can be used to direct \*(UA to the contents of a different folder.
3939 .Dl folder +classwork
3941 directs \*(UA to read the contents of the `classwork' folder.
3942 All of the commands that you can use on your system mailbox are also
3943 applicable to folders, including
3948 To inquire which folder you are currently editing, use `folder' without
3950 And to list your current set of folders, use the
3956 command is available to print out a brief summary of the most important
3959 While typing in a message to be sent to others it is often useful to be
3960 able to invoke the text editor on the partial message, print the
3961 message, execute a shell command, or do some other auxiliary function.
3962 \*(UA provides these capabilities through `tilde escapes',
3963 which consist of a tilde (`~') at the beginning of a line, followed by
3964 a single character which indicates the function to be performed.
3965 For example, to print the text of the message so far, use:
3969 which will print a line of dashes, the recipients of your message, and
3970 the text of the message so far.
3971 A list of the most important tilde escapes is available with `~?'.
3974 .Ss "IMAP or POP3 client setup"
3975 \*(OP First you need the following data from your ISP:
3976 the host name of the IMAP or POP3 server,
3977 user name and password for this server,
3978 and a notice whether the server uses SSL/TLS encryption.
3979 Assuming the SSL/TLS secured host name of your IMAP account is
3980 `server.myisp.example' and your user name for that server is `mylogin',
3981 you could refer to this account using the
3985 command line option with
3987 .Dl imaps://mylogin@server.myisp.example
3989 (This string is not necessarily the same as your Internet mail address.)
3990 Even if the server does not accept IMAPS or POP3S connections,
3991 it is possible that it supports the `STARTTLS' method of upgrading
3992 already connected, but not yet authenticated sessions to use SSL/TLS
3994 The only reliable method to see if this works is to try it; enter one of
3996 .Dl set imap-use-starttls
3997 .Dl set pop3-use-starttls
3999 before you initiate the connection, dependent on the actual protocol.
4001 As you probably want messages to be deleted from this account
4002 after saving them, prefix it with `%:'.
4005 command can be used to avoid typing that many characters every time you
4008 .Dl shortcut myisp %:imaps://mylogin@server.myisp.example
4010 You might want to put this string into a startup file.
4012 is one of those commands that are specific to \*(UA and will thus
4013 confuse other implementations of POSIX
4015 so it should possibly not be placed in \*(ur.
4018 .Dl set NAIL_EXTRA_RC=.\*(uarc
4020 in \*(ur and create a file
4022 containing all the commands that are specific to \*(UA.
4023 You can then access your remote mailbox by invoking
4027 on the command line, or by executing
4032 If you want to use more than one IMAP mailbox on a server,
4033 or if you want to use the IMAP server for mail storage too, the
4035 command (which is also \*(UA-specific) is possibly more appropriate.
4036 You can put the following in
4038 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4040 set folder=imaps://mylogin@server.myisp.example
4041 set record=+Sent MBOX=+mbox outfolder
4045 and can then access incoming mail for this account by invoking
4046 `\*(ua \-A myisp' on the command line or by executing `ac myisp' within
4048 After that, a command like `copy 1 +otherfolder' will refer to
4049 `otherfolder' on the IMAP server.
4050 In particular, `fi &' will change to the `mbox' folder,
4051 and `fi +Sent' will show your recorded sent mail,
4052 with both folders located on the IMAP server.
4054 \*(UA will ask you for a password string each time you connect to
4056 If you can reasonably trust the security of your workstation,
4057 you can give this password in the startup file as
4059 .Dl set password-mylogin@server.myisp.example="SECRET"
4061 You should change the permissions of this file to 0600, see
4064 \*(UA supports different authentication methods for both IMAP and POP3.
4065 If Kerberos is used at your location,
4066 you can try to activate (the optional) GSSAPI-based authentication via
4068 .Dl set imap-auth=gssapi
4070 The advantage of this method is that \*(UA doesn't need to know your
4071 password at all, nor does it have to send sensitive data over the network.
4072 If that isn't possible, try to use authentication methods that at least
4073 avoid sending the password in clear over the wire, which is especially
4074 important if SSL/TLS cannot be used, e.g.,
4076 .Dl set imap-auth=cram-md5
4078 For POP3 \*(UA will try to use the `APOP' mechanism automatically unless
4079 explicitly disabled.
4080 If the server does not offer any such authentication methods,
4081 conventional user/password based authentication must be used.
4082 It is sometimes helpful, especially when setting up an account or when
4083 there are authentification problems, to enable verbosity by setting the
4085 option \(en \*(UA will display all data sent to the server in clear text
4086 on the screen when this option is set.
4087 (Because this may also include passwords you should take care that no
4088 unauthorized person can look at your terminal when this option is set.)
4090 If you regularly use the same workstation to access IMAP accounts,
4091 you can greatly enhance performance by enabling local caching of IMAP
4093 For any message that has been fully or partially fetched from the server,
4094 a local copy is made and is used when the message is accessed again,
4095 so most data is transferred over the network once only.
4096 To enable the IMAP cache, select a local directory name and put
4098 .Dl set imap-cache=~/localdirectory
4100 in the (\*(UA-specific) startup file.
4101 All files within that directory can be overwritten or deleted by \*(UA
4103 so you should not use the directory to store other information.
4105 Once the cache contains some messages,
4106 it is not strictly necessary anymore to open a connection to the IMAP
4107 server to access them.
4108 When \*(UA is invoked with the option
4113 only cached data is used for any folder you open.
4114 Messages that have not yet been completely cached are not available
4115 then, but all other messages can be handled as usual.
4116 Changes made to IMAP mailboxes in
4118 mode are committed to the IMAP server next time it is used in
4121 Synchronizing the local status with the status on the server is thus
4122 partially within your responsibility;
4123 if you forget to initiate a connection to the server again before you
4124 leave your location,
4125 changes made on one workstation are not available on others.
4126 Also if you alter IMAP mailboxes from a workstation while uncommitted
4127 changes are still pending on another,
4128 the latter data may become invalid.
4129 The same might also happen because of internal server status changes.
4130 You should thus carefully evaluate this feature in your environment
4131 before you rely on it.
4133 Many servers will close the connection after a short period of
4134 inactivity \(en use one of
4136 .Dl set pop3-keepalive=30
4137 .Dl set imap-keepalive=240
4139 to send a keepalive message each 30 seconds for POP3,
4140 or each 4 minutes for IMAP.
4142 If you encounter problems connecting to a SSL/TLS server,
4147 variables (see the OpenSSL FAQ for more information) or specify the
4148 protocol version with
4150 Contact your ISP if you need a client certificate or if verification of
4151 the server certificate fails.
4152 If the failed certificate is indeed valid,
4153 fetch its CA certificate by executing the shell command
4155 .Dl $ </dev/null openssl s_client \-showcerts \-connect \e
4156 .Dl \ \ \ \ \ \ server.myisp.example:imaps 2>&1 | tee log.txt
4160 ) and put it into the file specified with
4162 The data you need is located at the end of the certificate chain
4163 within (and including) the `BEGIN CERTIFICATE'
4164 and `END CERTIFICATE' lines.
4165 Note that the example above is \fBinsecure\fR!
4166 One should use the `-verify' and `-CAfile' options of
4168 to be "on the safe side" regarding the fetched certificates.
4171 .Ss "Reading HTML mail"
4176 utility or another command-line web browser that can write plain text to
4179 .Dl set pipe-text/html="elinks -force-html -dump 1"
4180 .Dl set pipe-text/html="lynx -stdin -dump -force_html"
4182 will cause HTML message parts to be converted into a more friendly form.
4185 .Ss "Viewing PDF attachments"
4186 Most PDF viewers do not accept input directly from a pipe.
4187 It is thus necessary to store the attachment in a temporary file first:
4189 .Dl set pipe-application/pdf="@&cat >/tmp/\*(ua$$.pdf; \e
4190 .Dl \ \ \ \ \ \ acroread /tmp/\*(ua$$.pdf; rm /tmp/\*(ua$$.pdf"
4192 Note that security defects are discovered in PDF viewers from time to
4194 Automatical command execution like this can compromise your system
4196 in particular if you stay not always informed about such issues.
4199 .Ss "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME"
4200 \*(OP S/MIME provides two central mechanisms:
4201 message signing and message encryption.
4202 A signed message contains some data in addition to the regular text.
4203 The data can be used to verify that the message was sent using a valid
4204 certificate, that the sender's address in the message header matches
4205 that in the certificate, and that the message text has not been altered.
4206 Signing a message does not change its regular text;
4207 it can be read regardless of whether the recipient's software is able to
4209 It is thus usually possible to sign all outgoing messages if so desired.
4210 Encryption, in contrast, makes the message text invisible for all people
4211 except those who have access to the secret decryption key.
4212 To encrypt a message, the specific recipient's public encryption key
4214 It is thus not possible to send encrypted mail to people unless their
4215 key has been retrieved from either previous communication or public key
4217 A message should always be signed before it is encrypted.
4218 Otherwise, it is still possible that the encrypted message text is
4221 A central concept to S/MIME is that of the certification authority (CA).
4222 A CA is a trusted institution that issues certificates.
4223 For each of these certificates it can be verified that it really
4224 originates from the CA, provided that the CA's own certificate is
4226 A set of CA certificates is usually delivered with OpenSSL and installed
4228 If you trust the source of your OpenSSL software installation,
4229 this offers reasonable security for S/MIME on the Internet.
4230 In general, a certificate cannot be more secure than the method its CA
4231 certificate has been retrieved with, though.
4232 Thus if you download a CA certificate from the Internet,
4233 you can only trust the messages you verify using that certificate as
4234 much as you trust the download process.
4236 The first thing you need for participating in S/MIME message exchange is
4237 your personal certificate, including a private key.
4238 The certificate contains public information, in particular your name and
4239 your email address, and the public key that is used by others to encrypt
4241 and to verify signed messages they supposedly received from you.
4242 The certificate is included in each signed message you send.
4243 The private key must be kept secret.
4244 It is used to decrypt messages that were previously encrypted with your
4245 public key, and to sign messages.
4247 For personal use it is recommended that you get a S/MIME certificate
4248 from one of the major CAs on the Internet using your WWW browser.
4249 (Many CAs offer such certificates for free.)
4250 You will usually receive a combined certificate and private key in
4251 PKCS#12 format which \*(UA does not directly accept.
4252 To convert it to PEM format, use the following shell command:
4254 .Dl $ openssl pkcs12 \-in cert.p12 \-out cert.pem \-clcerts \-nodes
4256 If you omit the `\-nodes' parameter, you can specifiy an additional `PEM
4257 pass phrase' for protecting the private key.
4258 \*(UA will then ask you for that pass phrase each time it signs or
4262 .Dl set smime-sign-cert-myname@myisp.example=cert.pem
4264 to make this private key and certificate known to \*(UA.
4265 You can now sign outgoing messages.
4271 From each signed message you send,
4272 the recipient can fetch your certificate and use it to send encrypted
4274 Accordingly if somebody sends you a signed message, you can do the same.
4277 command to check the validity of the certificate.
4278 After that, retrieve the certificate and tell \*(UA that it should use
4281 .Dl certsave filename
4282 .Dl set smime-encrypt-user@host=filename
4284 You should carefully consider if you prefer to store encrypted messages
4286 If you do, anybody who has access to your mail folders can read them,
4287 but if you do not, you might be unable to read them yourself later if
4288 you happen to lose your private key.
4291 command saves messages in decrypted form, while the
4296 commands leave them encrypted.
4298 Note that neither S/MIME signing nor encryption applies to message
4299 subjects or other header fields.
4300 Thus they may not contain sensitive information for encrypted messages,
4301 and cannot be trusted even if the message content has been verified.
4302 When sending signed messages,
4303 it is recommended to repeat any important header information in the
4307 .Ss "Using CRLs with S/MIME or SSL/TLS"
4308 \*(OP Certification authorities (CAs) issue certificate revocation
4309 lists (CRLs) on a regular basis.
4310 These lists contain the serial numbers of certificates that have been
4311 declared invalid after they have been issued.
4312 Such usually happens because the private key for the certificate has
4314 because the owner of the certificate has left the organization that is
4315 mentioned in the certificate, etc.
4316 To seriously use S/MIME or SSL/TLS verification,
4317 an up-to-date CRL is required for each trusted CA.
4318 There is otherwise no method to distinguish between valid and
4319 invalidated certificates.
4320 \*(UA currently offers no mechanism to fetch CRLs, nor to access them on
4321 the Internet, so you have to retrieve them by some external mechanism.
4323 \*(UA accepts CRLs in PEM format only;
4324 CRLs in DER format must be converted, like, e.\|g.:
4326 .Dl $ openssl crl \-inform DER \-in crl.der \-out crl.pem
4328 To tell \*(UA about the CRLs, a directory that contains all CRL files
4329 (and no other files) must be created.
4334 variables, respectively, must then be set to point to that directory.
4335 After that, \*(UA requires a CRL to be present for each CA that is used
4336 to verify a certificate.
4340 \*(OP \*(UA can make use of spam detection and learning facilities \(en
4341 more precisely, SpamAssassin (\%<http://spamassassin.apache.org>).
4342 A very comprehensive documentation of
4344 can be found at the O'Reilly Commons
4345 (\%<http://commons.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/SpamAssassin>).
4347 Currently \*(UA supports interaction with
4349 only via its daemonized
4352 server / client pair, which means that, in order to detect and work
4353 with spam through \*(UA, an instance of the
4355 daemon must be running (the examples are equivalent):
4356 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4357 $ spamd -i localhost:2142 -i /tmp/.spamsock -d [-L] [-l]
4358 $ spamd --listen=localhost:2142 --listen=/tmp/.spamsock \\
4359 --daemonize [--local] [--allow-tell]
4364 should only listen on a local, path-based UNIX domain socket instead of
4365 offering its service over the network, it maybe necessary to use
4368 option instead of the shown
4370 In order to support training of the Bayesian classifier through \*(UA,
4372 must have been started with the
4378 is running \*(UA can classify messages by using the client side program,
4381 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4382 $ \*(ua -Sspam-command=/usr/local/bin/spamc \\
4383 -Sspam-socket=/tmp/.spamsock -Sspam-maxsize=500000
4386 The commands offered are
4390 which simply set an `is-spam' flag that can be used for, e.g., message
4393 which passes messages through to the spam detector in order to gain
4394 a spam score and conditionally set the `is-spam' flag accordingly,
4395 as well as the Bayesian filter related
4401 Because messages must exist on local storage in order to be scored (or
4402 used for Bayesian filter training), it is possibly a good idea to
4403 perform the local spam check last:
4404 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4405 define spamdelhook {
4407 spamset (header x-dcc-brand-metrics "bulk")
4408 # Server-side spamassassin(1)
4409 spamset (header x-spam-flag "YES")
4410 del :s # TODO we HAVE to be able to do `spamrate :u ! :s'
4411 # And finally the local spamc(1)
4415 set folder-hook-FOLDER=spamdelhook
4418 See also the documentation for the variables
4428 .Ss "Sending mail from scripts"
4429 If you want to send mail from scripts, you must be aware that \*(UA
4430 reads the user's configuration files by default.
4431 So unless your script is only intended for your own personal use
4432 (as, e.g., a cron job), you need to circumvent this:
4434 .Dl MAILRC=/dev/null \*(ua \-n
4436 You then need to create a script-local configuration for \*(UA.
4437 This can be done by either pointing the
4439 variable to a custom configuration file,
4440 by passing the configuration in environment variables,
4443 command line option to specify options.
4444 Since many configuration options are not valid shell variables, the
4446 command is useful if the approach via environment variables is used:
4447 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4448 env MAILRC=/dev/null from=scriptreply@domain smtp=host \e
4449 smtp-auth-user=login smtp-auth-password=secret \e
4450 smtp-auth=login \*(ua \-n \-s "subject" \e
4451 \-a attachment_file recipient@domain < content_file
4466 .Xr spamassassin 1 ,
4483 .Sh "IMPLEMENTATION NOTES"
4484 The character set conversion uses and relies upon the
4487 Its functionality differs widely between the various system environments
4490 Limitations with IMAP mailboxes are:
4491 It is not possible to edit messages, but it is possible to append them.
4492 Thus to edit a message, create a local copy of it, edit it, append it,
4493 and delete the original.
4494 The line count for the header display is only appropriate if the entire
4495 message has been downloaded from the server.
4496 The marking of messages as `new' is performed by the IMAP server;
4501 will not cause it to be reset, and if the
4502 .Va autoinc Ns / Ns Va newmail
4503 variables are unset, messages that arrived during a session will not be
4504 in state `new' anymore when the folder is opened again.
4505 Also if commands queued in disconnected mode are committed,
4506 the IMAP server will delete the `new' flag for all messages in the
4508 and new messages will appear as unread when it is selected for viewing
4510 The `flagged', `answered', and `draft' attributes are usually permanent,
4511 but some IMAP servers are known to drop them without notification.
4512 Message numbers may change with IMAP every time before the prompt is
4513 printed if \*(UA is notified by the server that messages have been
4514 deleted by some other client or process.
4515 In this case, `Expunged n messages' is printed, and message numbers may
4518 Limitations with POP3 mailboxes are:
4519 It is not possible to edit messages, they can only be copied and deleted.
4520 The line count for the header display is only appropriate if the entire
4521 message has been downloaded from the server.
4522 The status field of a message is maintained by the server between
4523 connections; some servers do not update it at all, and with a server
4524 that does, the `exit' command will not cause the message status to be
4526 The `newmail' command and the `newmail' variable have no effect.
4527 It is not possible to rename or to remove POP3 mailboxes.
4529 If a `RUBOUT' (interrupt) is typed while an IMAP or POP3 operation is in
4530 progress, \*(UA will wait until the operation can be safely aborted, and
4531 will then return to the command loop and print the prompt again.
4532 When a second `RUBOUT' is typed while \*(UA is waiting for the operation
4533 to complete, the operation itself will be cancelled.
4534 In this case, data that has not been fetched yet will have to be fetched
4535 before the next command can be performed.
4536 If the cancelled operation was using an SSL/TLS encrypted channel,
4537 an error in the SSL transport will very likely result and render the
4538 connection unusable.
4540 As \*(UA is a mail user agent, it provides only basic SMTP services.
4541 If it fails to contact its upstream SMTP server, it will not make
4542 further attempts to transfer the message at a later time,
4543 and it does not leave other information about this condition than an
4544 error message on the terminal and an entry in
4546 This is usually not a problem if the SMTP server is located in the same
4547 local network as the computer on which \*(UA is run.
4548 However, care should be taken when using a remote server of an ISP;
4549 it might be better to set up a local SMTP server then which just acts as
4552 \*(UA immediately contacts the SMTP server (or
4554 ) even when operating in
4557 It would not make much sense for \*(UA to defer outgoing mail since SMTP
4558 servers usually provide much more elaborated delay handling than \*(UA
4559 could perform as a client.
4560 Thus the recommended setup for sending mail in
4562 mode is to configure a local SMTP server such that it sends outgoing
4563 mail as soon as an external network connection is available again,
4564 i.e., to advise it to do that from a network startup script.
4569 A \fImail\fR command appeared in Version 1 AT&T Unix.
4570 Berkeley Mail was written in 1978 by Kurt Shoens.
4571 This man page is derived from from The Mail Reference Manual originally
4572 written by Kurt Shoens.
4573 "Heirloom Mailx" enhancements are maintained and documented by Gunnar
4575 "S-nail" is maintained and documented by Steffen "Daode" Nurpmeso.
4577 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
4578 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
4579 \(en Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
4580 Specifications Issue 6, Copyright \(co 2001-2003 by the Institute of
4581 Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.
4582 In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original
4583 IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group
4584 Standard is the referee document.
4585 The original Standard can be obtained online at
4586 \%<http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html>.
4587 Redistribution of this material is permitted so long as this notice
4594 .An "Christos Zoulas" ,
4595 .An "Gunnar Ritter" ,
4596 .An Steffen Qo Daode Qc Nurpmeso Aq s-nail-users@lists.sourceforge.net
4601 Variables in the environment passed to \*(UA cannot be unset.