NAME
dmail - an original mail like interface for mail
SYNOPSIS
dmail -v -O -f [fromfile] -o [tofile] -l rcfile -L -F field
-F field...
dmail user user user user...
GENERAL
Dmail is a program which hopefully simplifies the reading
and organization of your mail. It was designed to overcome
serveral gripes I have over other mailers. Dmail uses the
/usr/spool format for any folders you create. To simply
matters even more, it was partially modeled on standard Mail
in terms of writing to your 'mbox' and getting items from
your 'spool', at least as default parameters. About the
only other similarity between the two programs is in the
'type', 'quit', and 'exit' commands of dmail. Dmail keeps
multiple messages per file, mail (thus folders are files
rather than directories).
Dmail is not a glorified Mail, however. Though most other
mailers have folders, you are usually required to read your
mail in the order it comes in. For somebody who is on three
high-volume mailing lists, it can be rather difficult. Dmail
provides a mechanism in which you can separate your mail by
any partial string in any Field without having to create a
folder. The select command is usually instantanious, and
with aliases, you can switch between mailing lists, personal
mail, or anything you wish at a keystroke. Whenever you
select on something, you get a reduced list (as if the other
messages didn't exist), and may execute such things as
'delete all' on it without effecting other mail. It serves
to allow you to read each mailing list (or whatever) one at
a time.
Mail-headers are a problem for many people, especially those
logging in over 300 or 1200 baud lines. In many cases, the
header is larger than the message; in any case, they can be
a nuisances. Dmail will not print any fields you do not
want printed. This seems to be a better mechanism than
Mail, which allows you to exclude certain headers. In
dmail, you specify what to include. To see the entire
header, you use the header command from dmail.
Apart from that, dmail gives you set variables, aliases,
folder's, and is generally faster than other mail programs.
OPTIONS
Dmail may be executed with several options, putting it in
one of two modes. Firstly, when executed with a user-name
list, dmail will put you into the editor setting up the To:
field properly and allowing you to enter a letter which
would then be sent off. Secondly, if no user-list is given,
dmail will attempt to read mail from your spool file (or
from file), and put you into command mode. If the mail file
is empty or does not exist, you will be told that you have
no mail, and control will be returned to your shell. The
editor is specified by the enviroment variable VISUAL
(Default vi).
dmail -O -v -f [fromfile] -o [tofile] -l rcfile -L -F
[field] -F [field]...
-O places dmail in interactive mode, even if there is no
mail to read.
-v Places sendmail in verbose mode when you mail, reply,
or forward a message. (sets the verbose variable)
-f Specify where mail should be taken from. The default
is /usr/spool/mail/$USER. This option without a
filename specifies that mail should be taken from
$HOME/mbox. Otherwise, the specified filename becomes
the fromfile. This means that by specifying just the
-f option and not the -o option will cause both the
infile and outfile to be $HOME/mbox
-o Specify where 'read' mail will be written out to. The
default is $HOME/mbox. This option without a filename
specifies that the mail should be placed in $HOME/.mbox
. Otherwise, the specified filename becomes the
outfile. Additionally, if both -f and -o are specified
without filenames, both the fromfile and the outfile
will be set to $HOME/.mbox
-l Specify the RC file (default is $HOME/.dmailrc). The
RC file consists of a list of dmail commands, as if
they were typed in.
-L Disables sourcing of any RC files
-F This option tells dmail to include the given field on
initial mail load. Normally, only the From:, To:, and
Subject: fields are initially loaded. When you specify
other fields, dmail must scan your fromfile again.
When you have large amounts of mail (+50000 bytes),
this can take a couple of seconds. The -F option
allows you to specify a field to be loaded in addition
to the defaults listed above. You may specify multiple
-F field options. This is only a convenience feature,
normally you don't have to worry about it. Some
people, however, have spool files of several hundred
thousand bytes and would use this option to prevent
delays later on.
INTERRUPTS
dmail handles the INTR character. You may use it to break
out of listings, types, or anything else without worry of
destroying something.
COMMAND OVERVIEW
The basic commands for dmail are as follows (There are, of
course, many commands, these are just a few): list type
header delete next select quit exit alias unalias set unset
and mail
You may abbrieviate any command you wish. It is suggested
that you do not abbreviate commands in your rc file (default
.dmailrc), as any new commands added in later versions may
change something. Using full command names in your rc file
will keep things compatible.
For many commands (e.g. delete), you may specify a message
list. You can give numerical ranges (1-4 6-9), number lists
(1 2 3 6), or any of several reserved words, such as 'all'.
See 'help keywords' from dmail for a complete list. All
lists apply only to the currently selected messages.
list displays parts of the headers of messages, one message
per line, for all messages currently selected. You can set
the output format with the setlist command.
type prints the message text of a message. By the way, only
header fields specified by the setlist command will be
printed (default- From: To: Subject:), which is useful.
header prints out the entire header of a message.
delete deletes a message or message list (you can say
'delete all' to delete all messages currently selected).
next goes to the next message and type's or header's it,
depending on what last was done (type or header).
select selects what you want to look at. You can say
'select all', to select all the messages, or selects of the
form:
select Field match match match , Field match match ....
where Field is From:, To:, or any field you wish (you can
abbreviate the fields.... Fro To, etc...). match is a
string which you are attempting to match in the Field. If a
match is found, that message will become selected. Thus,
you can select all your personal mail with:
select Cc myname , To myname
Use the on-line help for more information on the select or
any other command.
quit from dmail please. Any unread messages stay in your
spool (or fromfile), any read messages are placed in your
mail-box, any deleted messages are deleted.
exit from dmail please. Nothing is written or altered, exit
without changing anything. alias is used to alias commands
to other commands, or command sequences. For instance, you
can alias 'me' to select all personal mail:
alias me "select Cc myname , To myname"
you can alias a sequence of commands:
alias q "select all ; pre all ; quit"
The above would unread any read mail and quit (therefore,
any mail not deleted will end up staying in your spool
file). You can also unalias aliases.
set a variable to a string. You can also unset a variable.
Several variables have special meaning, use help set from
dmail for a full explanation.
mail and reply may be used to mail out or reply to messages.
FILES
.dmailrc In your home directory or whatever directory
you specify
dmail.help dmail help file (external version only)
/tmp/dmtXXXX temporary vi file
# copy of message you are current replying to
BUGS
Please send bug reports to:
...!ucbvax!dillon
dillon@ucb-vax.berkeley.edu
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