man(1) Manual page archive


     MAIL(1)                                                   MAIL(1)

     NAME
          mail  -  send or receive mail among users

     SYNOPSIS
          mail person ...
          mail [ -r ] [ -q ] [ -p ] [ -f file ]

     DESCRIPTION
          Mail with no argument prints a user's mail, message-by-
          message, in last-in, first-out order; the optional argument
          -r causes first-in, first-out order.  If the -p flag is
          given, the mail is printed with no questions asked; other-
          wise, for each message, mail reads a line from the standard
          input to direct disposition of the message.

          newline
               Go on to next message.

          d    Delete message and go on to the next.

          p    Print message again.

          -    Go back to previous message.

          s [ file ] ...
               Save the message in the named files (`mbox' default).

          w [ file ] ...
               Save the message, without a header, in the named files
               (`mbox' default).

          m [ person ] ...
               Mail the message to the named persons (yourself is
               default).

          EOT (control-D)
               Put unexamined mail back in the mailbox and stop.

          q    Same as EOT.

          x    Exit, without changing the mailbox file.

          !command
               Escape to the Shell to do command.

          ?    Print a command summary.

          An interrupt stops the printing of the current letter.  The
          optional argument -q causes mail to exit after interrupts
          without changing the mailbox.

     MAIL(1)                                                   MAIL(1)

          When persons are named, mail takes the standard input up to
          an end-of-file (or a line with just `.')  and adds it to
          each person's `mail' file.  The message is preceded by the
          sender's name and a postmark.  Lines that look like post-
          marks are prepended with `>'.  A person is usually a user
          name recognized by login(1). To denote a recipient on a
          remote system, prefix person by the system name and exclama-
          tion mark (see uucp(1)).

          The -f option causes the named file, e.g. `mbox', to be
          printed as if it were the mail file.

          Each user owns his own mailbox, which is by default gener-
          ally readable but not writable.  The command does not delete
          an empty mailbox nor change its mode, so a user may make it
          unreadable if desired.

          When a user logs in he is informed of the presence of mail.

     FILES
          /usr/spool/mail/*   mailboxes
          /etc/passwd    to identify sender and locate persons
          mbox      saved mail
          /tmp/ma*  temp file
          dead.letter    unmailable text
          uux(1)

     SEE ALSO
          xsend(1), write(1), uucp(1)

     BUGS
          There is a locking mechanism intended to prevent two senders
          from accessing the same mailbox, but it is not perfect and
          races are possible.