mailx(1) manual page
Table of Contents
mailx, mail, Mail - interactive message processing system
mailx
[ -BdeHiInNURvV~ ] [ -f [ file|+folder ]] [ -T file ] [ -u user ]
mailx [ -BdFintUv~ ] [ -b bcc ] [ -c cc ] [ -h number ] [ -r address ] [ -s
subject ] recipient...
/usr/ucb/mail ...
/usr/ucb/Mail ...
SUNWcsu
The mail utilities listed above provide a comfortable, flexible environment
for sending and receiving mail messages electronically. The OPTIONS and
USAGE documented below for mailx also apply to /usr/ucb/mail and /usr/ucb/Mail,
except where noted.
When reading mail, mailx provides commands to facilitate
saving, deleting, and responding to messages. When sending mail, mailx allows
editing, reviewing and other modification of the message as it is entered.
Incoming mail is stored in a standard file for each user, called the mailbox
for that user. When mailx is called to read messages, the mailbox is the
default place to find them. As messages are read, they are marked to be
moved to a secondary file for storage, unless specific action is taken,
so that the messages need not be seen again. This secondary file is called
the mbox and is normally located in the user’s HOME
directory (see MBOX
in ENVIRONMENT for a description of this file). Messages can be saved in
other secondary files named by the user. Messages remain in a secondary
file until forcibly removed.
The user can access a secondary file by using
the -f option of the mailx command. Messages in the secondary file can then
be read or otherwise processed using the same Commands as in the primary
mailbox. This gives rise within these pages to the notion of a current mailbox.
mailx conforms to the XPG4 specification (see xpg4(5)
). Incompatibilities
exist between the Solaris and XPG4 behavior with respect to the command
pairs reply/Reply and followup/Followup and the default values for a number
of internal variables. See the Commands and Internal Variables subsections
below.
To obtain XPG4 behavior, specify the -n option on the command line.
See OPTIONS and USAGE below.
On the command line options start with
a dash (-). Any other arguments are taken to be destinations (recipients).
If no recipients are specified, mailx attempts to read messages from the
mailbox.
- -B
- Do not buffer standard input or standard output.
- -b bcc
- Set the
blind carbon copy list to bcc. bcc should be enclosed in quotes if it contains
more than one name.
- -c cc
- Set the carbon copy list to cc. cc should be enclosed
in quotes if it contains more than one name.
- -d
- Turn on debugging output.
(Neither particularly interesting nor recommended.)
- -e
- Test for the presence
of mail. mailx prints nothing and exits with a successful return code if
there is mail to read.
- -F
- Record the message in a file named after the first
recipient. Overrides the record variable, if set (see mailx Internal Variables).
- -f [file]
- Read messages from file instead of mailbox. If no file is specified,
the mbox is used.
- -f [ +folder]
- Use the file folder in the folder directory
(same as the folder command). The name of this directory is listed in the
folder variable.
- -H
- Print header summary only.
- -h number
- The number of network
‘hops’ made so far. This is provided for network software to avoid infinite
delivery loops. This option and its argument are passed to the delivery
program.
- -I
- Include the newsgroup and article-id header lines when printing
mail messages. This option requires the -f option to be specified.
- -i
- Ignore
interrupts. See also ignore in mailx Internal Variables.
- -N
- Do not print initial
header summary.
- -n
- Do not initialize from the system default mailx.rc or Mail.rc
file. When this is specified, XPG4 behavior results. See USAGE.
- -r address
- Use address as the return address when invoking the delivery program. All
tilde commands are disabled. This option and its argument is passed to the
delivery program.
- -s subject
- Set the Subject header field to subject. subject
should be enclosed in quotes if it contains embedded white space.
- -T file
- Message-id and article-id header lines are recorded in file after the message
is read. This option also sets the -I option.
- -t
- Scan the input for To:, Cc:,
and Bcc: fields. Any recipients on the command line will be ignored.
- -U
- Convert
UUCP
-style addresses to internet standards. Overrides the conv environment
variable.
- -u user
- Read user’s mailbox. This is only effective if user’s mailbox
is not read protected.
- -V
- Print the mailx version number and exit.
- -v
- Pass
the -v flag to sendmail(1M)
.
- -~
- Interpret tilde escapes in the input even
if not reading from a tty.
The following operands are supported:
- recipient
- Addressee of message.
At startup time, mailx executes the system startup file
/etc/mail/mailx.rc. If invoked as mail or Mail, the system startup file /etc/mail/Mail.rc
is used instead.
The system startup file sets up initial display options
and alias lists and assigns values to some mailx internal variables. These
variables are flags and valued parameters which are set and cleared using
the set and unset commands. See mailx Internal Variables.
With the following
exceptions, regular commands are legal inside startup files: !, Copy, edit,
followup, Followup, hold, mail, preserve, reply, Reply, shell, and visual.
An error in the startup file causes the remaining lines in the file to
be ignored.
After executing the system startup file, mailx executes the
optional personal startup file $HOME
/.mailrc, wherein the user can override
the values of the internal variables as set by the system startup file.
If the -n option is specified, however, mailx does not execute the system
startup file, and the command behavior is XPG4-compliant.
To execute the
system startup file and still retain XPG4-compliant behavior, add the following
commands to the private startup file and execute mailx without specifying
the -n option:
unset appenddeadletter
set replyall
set pipeignore
When reading mail, mailx is in command mode. A header summary of the first
several messages is displayed, followed by a prompt indicating mailx can
accept regular commands (see Commands below). When sending mail, mailx is
in input mode. If no subject is specified on the command line, and the asksub
variable is set, a prompt for the subject is printed.
As the message is typed, mailx reads the message and stores it in a temporary
file. Commands may be entered by beginning a line with the tilde (~) escape
character followed by a single command letter and optional arguments. See
Tilde Escapes for a summary of these commands.
Each message
is assigned a sequential number, and there is at any time the notion of
a current message, marked by a right angle bracket (>) in the header summary.
Many commands take an optional list of messages (message-list) to operate
on. In most cases, the current message is set to the highest-numbered message
in the list after the command is finished executing.
The default for message-list is the current message. A message-list is a
list of message identifiers separated by spaces, which may include:
- n
- Message number n. .
- The current message.
- ^
- The first undeleted message.
- $
- The
last message.
- *
- All messages.
- +
- The next undeleted message.
- -
- The previous
undeleted message.
- n-m
- An inclusive range of message numbers.
- user
- All messages
from user.
- /string
- All messages with string in the Subject line (case ignored).
- :c
- All messages of type c, where c is one of:
- d
- deleted messages
- n
- new
messages
- o
- old messages
- r
- read messages
- u
- unread messages
Note that the
context of the command determines whether this type of message specification
makes sense.
Other arguments are usually arbitrary strings whose usage depends
on the command involved. Filenames, where expected, are expanded using the
normal shell conventions (see sh(1)
). Special characters are recognized
by certain commands and are documented with the commands below.
Recipients listed on the command line may be of three types: login
names, shell commands, or alias groups. Login names may be any network address,
including mixed network addressing. If mail is found to be undeliverable,
an attempt is made to return it to the sender’s mailbox. If the recipient
name begins with a pipe symbol ( | ), the rest of the name is taken to be
a shell command to pipe the message through. This provides an automatic
interface with any program that reads the standard input, such as lp(1)
for recording outgoing mail on paper. Alias groups are set by the alias
command (see Commands below) or in a system startup file (for example,
$HOME
/.mailrc). Aliases are lists of recipients of any type.
To
forward a specific message, include it in a message to the desired recipients
with the ~f or ~m tilde escapes. See Tilde Escapes below. To forward mail
automatically, add a comma-separated list of addresses for additional recipients
to the .forward file in your home directory. This is different from the
format of the alias command, which takes a space-separated list instead.
Note: forwarding addresses must be valid, or the messages will ‘bounce.’
You cannot, for instance, reroute your mail to a new host by forwarding
it to your new address if it is not yet listed in the NIS
aliases domain.
Regular commands are of the form
[ command ] [ message-list ] [
arguments ]
In input mode, commands are recognized by the escape character,
tilde(~), and lines not treated as commands are taken as input for the
message.
If no command is specified in command mode, next is assumed.
The
following is a complete list of mailx commands:
- !shell-command
- Escape to
the shell. See SHELL
in ENVIRONMENT.
- # comment
- NULL
command (comment).
Useful in mailrc files.
- =
- Print the current message number.
- ?
- Prints a
summary of commands.
- alias alias name ...
- group alias name ...
- Declare an
alias for the given names. The names are substituted when alias is used
as a recipient. Useful in the mailrc file. With no arguments, the command
displays the list of defined aliases.
- alternates name ...
- Declare a list of
alternate names for your login. When responding to a message, these names
are removed from the list of recipients for the response. With no arguments,
print the current list of alternate names. See also allnet in mailx Internal
Variables.
- cd [directory]
- chdir [directory]
- Change directory. If directory is
not specified, $HOME
is used.
- copy [file]
- copy [message-list] file
- Copy
messages to the file without marking the messages as saved. Otherwise equivalent
to the save command.
- Copy [message-list]
- Save the specified messages in a file whose name is
derived from the author of the message to be saved, without marking the
messages as saved. Otherwise equivalent to the Save command.
- delete [message-list]
- Delete messages from the mailbox. If autoprint is set, the next message
after the last one deleted is printed (see mailx Internal Variables).
- discard [header-field...]
- ignore [header-field...]
- Suppress printing of the specified
header fields when displaying messages on the screen. Examples of header
fields to ignore are Status and Received. The fields are included when the
message is saved, unless the alwaysignore variable is set. The More, Page,
Print, and Type commands override this command. If no header is specified,
the current list of header fields being ignored is printed. See also the
undiscard and unignore commands.
- dp [message-list]
- dt [message-list]
- Delete
the specified messages from the mailbox and print the next message after
the last one deleted. Roughly equivalent to a delete command followed by
a print command.
- echo string ...
- Echo the given strings (like echo(1)
).
- edit [message-list]
- Edit the given messages. Each message is placed in
a temporary file and the program named by the EDITOR
variable is invoked
to edit it. (see ENVIRONMENT). Default editor is ed(1)
.
- exit
- xit
- Exit from
mailx, without changing the mailbox. No messages are saved in the mbox (see
also quit).
- field [message-list] header-file
- Display the value of the header
field in the specified message.
- file [file]
- folder [file]
- Quit from
the current file of messages and read in the specified file. Several special
characters are recognized when used as file names:
- %
- the current mailbox.
- %user
- the mailbox for user.
- #
- the previous mail file.
- &
- the current mbox.
- +file
- The named file in the folder directory (listed in the folder variable).
- With no arguments,
- print the name of the current mail file, and the number
of messages and characters it contains.
- folders
- Print the names of the files in the directory set by the folder
variable (see mailx Internal Variables).
- Followup [message]
- Respond to
a message, recording the response in a file whose name is derived from
the author of the message. Overrides the record variable, if set. If the
replyall variable is set, the actions of Followup and followup are reversed.
(XPG4 specifies that the followup and Followup actions are reversed by
default, and that the flipr variable is the XPG4 equivalent of the Solaris
replyall variable.) See also the followup, Save, and Copy commands and outfolder
in mailx Internal Variables.
- followup [message-list]
- Respond to the first message in the message-list,
sending the message to the author of each message in the message-list. The
subject line is taken from the first message and the response is recorded
in a file whose name is derived from the author of the first message. If
the replyall variable is set, the actions of followup and Followup are
reversed. (XPG4 specifies that the followup and Followup actions are reversed
by default, and that the flipr variable is the XPG4 equivalent of the
Solaris replyall variable.) See also the Followup, Save, and Copy commands
and outfolder in mailx Internal Variables.
- from [message-list]
- Print the
header summary for the specified messages. If no messages are specified,
print the header summary for the current message.
- group alias name ...
- alias
alias name ...
- Declare an alias for the given names. The names are substituted
when alias is used as a recipient. Useful in the mailrc file.
- headers [message]
- Print the page of headers which includes the message specified. The screen
variable sets the number of headers per page (see mailx Internal Variables).
See also the z command.
- help
- Print a summary of commands.
- hold [message-list]
-
- preserve [message-list]
- Hold the specified messages in the mailbox.
- if s | r | t
- mail-commands
-
- else
- mail-commands
-
- endif
- Conditional execution,
where s executes following mail-commands, up to an else or endif, if the
program is in send mode, r causes the mail-commands to be executed only
in receive mode, and t causes the mail-commands to be executed only if mailx
is being run from a terminal. Useful in the mailrc file.
- inc
- Incorporate
messages that arrive while you are reading the system mailbox. The new messages
are added to the message list in the current mail session. This command
does not commit changes made during the session, and prior messages are
not renumbered.
- ignore [header-field ...]
- discard [header-field ...]
- Suppress printing of the
specified header fields when displaying messages on the screen. Examples
of header fields to ignore are Status and Cc. All fields are included when
the message is saved. The More, Page, Print and Type commands override this
command. If no header is specified, the current list of header fields being
ignored is printed. See also the undiscard and unignore commands.
- list
- Print
all commands available. No explanation is given.
- load
- [message] file
The specified message is replaced by the message in the named file. file
should contain a single mail message including mail headers (as saved by
the save command).
- mail recipient ...
- Mail a message to the specified recipients.
- Mail recipient
- Mail a message to the specified recipients, and record it
in a file whose name is derived from the author of the message. Overrides
the record variable, if set. See also the Save and Copy commands and outfolder
in mailx Internal Variables.
- mbox [message-list]
- Arrange for the given messages
to end up in the standard mbox save file when mailx terminates normally.
See MBOX
in ENVIRONMENT for a description of this file. See also the exit
and quit commands.
- more [message-list]
- page [message-list]
- Print the specified
messages. If crt is set, the messages longer than the number of lines specified
by the crt variable are paged through the command specified by the PAGER
variable. The default command is pg(1)
or if the bsdcompat variable is
set, the default is more(1)
. See ENVIRONMENT. Same as the print and type
commands.
- More [message-list]
- Page [message-list]
- Print the specified
messages on the screen, including all header fields. Overrides suppression
of fields by the ignore command. Same as the Print and Type commands.
- new
- [message-list]
- New
- [message-list]
- unread
- [message-list]
- Unread
- [message-list]
Take a message list and mark each message as not having been read.
- next [message]
- Go to the next message matching message. If message is
not supplied, this command finds the next message that was not deleted
or saved. A message-list may be specified, but in this case the first valid
message in the list is the only one used. This is useful for jumping to
the next message from a specific user, since the name would be taken as
a command in the absence of a real command. See the discussion of message-list
above for a description of possible message specifications.
- pipe [message-list] [shell-command]
-
- | [message-list] [shell-command]
- Pipe
the message through the given shell-command. The message is treated as if
it were read. If no arguments are given, the current message is piped through
the command specified by the value of the cmd variable. If the page variable
is set, a form feed character is inserted after each message (see mailx
Internal Variables).
- preserve [message-list]
-
- hold [message-list]
- Preserve
the specified messages in the mailbox.
- print [message-list]
- type [message-list]
- Print the specified messages.
If crt is set, the messages longer than the number of lines specified by
the crt variable are paged through the command specified by the PAGER
variable. The default command is pg(1)
or if the bsdcompat variable is set,
the default is more(1)
. See ENVIRONMENT. Same as the more and page commands.
- Print [message-list]
- Type [message-list]
- Print the specified messages
on the screen, including all header fields. Overrides suppression of fields
by the ignore command. Same as the More and Page commands.
- put [file]
- put [message-list] file
- Save the specified message in the given file. Use
the same conventions as the print command for which header fields are ignored.
- Put [file]
- Put [message-list] file
- Save the specified message in the
given file. Overrides suppression of fields by the ignore command.
- quit
- Exit from mailx, storing messages that were read in mbox and unread messages
in the mailbox. Messages that have been explicitly saved in a file are deleted
unless the keepsave variable is set.
- reply
- [message-list]
- respond
- [message-list]
- replysender
- [message-list]
Send a response to the author of each message in the message-list. The subject
line is taken from the first message. If record is set to a file, a copy
of the reply is added to that file. If the replyall variable is set, the
actions of Reply/Respond and reply/respond are reversed. (XPG4 specifies
that the actions of Reply/Respond and reply/respond are reversed by default,
and that the flipr variable is the XPG4 equivalent of the Solaris replyall
variable.) The replysender command is not affected by the replyall variable,
but sends each reply only to the sender of each message.
- Reply
- [message]
- Respond
- [message]
- replyall [message]
- Reply to the specified message, including all other
recipients of that message. If the variable record is set to a file, a
copy of the reply added to that file. If the replyall variable is set, the
actions of Reply/Respond and reply/respond are reversed. (XPG4 specifies
that the actions of Reply/Respond and reply/respond are reversed by default,
and that the flipr variable is the XPG4 equivalent of the Solaris replyall
variable.) The replyall command is not affected by the replyall variable,
but always sends the reply to all recipients of the message.
- retain
- Add
the list of header fields named to the retained list. Only the header fields
in the retain list are shown on your terminal when you print a message.
All other header fields are suppressed. The set of retained fields specified
by the retain command overrides any list of ignored fields specified by
the ignore command. The Type and Print commands can be used to print a message
in its entirety. If retain is executed with no arguments, it lists the current
set of retained fields.
- Save [message-list]
- Save the specified messages
in a file whose name is derived from the author of the first message. The
name of the file is taken to be the author’s name with all network addressing
stripped off. See also the Copy, followup, and Followup commands and outfolder
in mailx Internal Variables.
- save [file]
- save [message-list] file
- Save the specified messages in
the given file. The file is created if it does not exist. The file defaults
to mbox. The message is deleted from the mailbox when mailx terminates unless
keepsave is set (see also mailx Internal Variables and the exit and quit
commands).
- set
- set variable
- set variable=string
- set variable=number
- Define
a variable. To assign a value to variable, separate the variable name from
the value by an ‘=’ (there must be no space before or after the ‘=’). A variable
may be given a null, string, or numeric value. To embed SPACE
characters
within a value enclose it in quotes.
- With no arguments,
- set displays all defined variables and any values they
might have. See mailx Internal Variables for a description of all predefined
mail variables.
- shell
- Invoke an interactive shell. See also SHELL
in ENVIRONMENT.
- size [message-list]
- Print the size in characters of the specified messages.
- source file
- Read commands from the given file and return to command mode.
- top [message-list]
- Print the top few lines of the specified messages. If
the toplines variable is set, it is taken as the number of lines to print
(see mailx Internal Variables). The default is 5.
- touch [message-list]
- Touch
the specified messages. If any message in message-list is not specifically
saved in a file, it is placed in the mbox, or the file specified in the
MBOX
environment variable, upon normal termination. See exit and quit.
- Type [message-list]
- Print [message-list]
- Print the specified messages
on the screen, including all header fields. Overrides suppression of fields
by the ignore command.
- type [message-list]
- print [message-list]
- Print
the specified messages. If crt is set, the messages longer than the number
of lines specified by the crt variable are paged through the command specified
by the PAGER
variable. The default command is pg(1)
. See ENVIRONMENT.
-
unalias [alias] ...
- ungroup [alias] ...
- Remove the definitions of the specified
aliases.
- undelete [message-list]
- Restore the specified deleted messages.
Will only restore messages deleted in the current mail session. If autoprint
is set, the last message of those restored is printed (see mailx Internal
Variables).
- undiscard [header-field...]
- unignore [header-field...]
- Remove the specified
header fields from the list being ignored. If no header fields are specified,
all header fields are removed from the list being ignored.
- unretain [header-field...]
- Remove the specified header fields from the list being retained. If no header
fields are specified, all header fields are removed from the list being
retained.
- unread
- [message-list]
- Unread
- [message-list]
Same as the new command.
- unset variable...
- Erase the specified variables.
If the variable was imported from the environment (that is, an environment
variable or exported shell variable), it cannot be unset from within mailx.
- version
- Print the current version and release date of the mailx utility.
- visual [message-list]
- Edit the given messages with a screen editor. Each
messages is placed in a temporary file and the program named by the VISUAL
variable is invoked to edit it (see ENVIRONMENT). Note that the default
visual editor is vi.
- write [message-list] file
- Write the given messages on the specified file,
minus the header and trailing blank line. Otherwise equivalent to the save
command.
- xit
- exit
- Exit from mailx, without changing the mailbox. No messages
are saved in the mbox (see also quit).
- z[+|-]
- Scroll the header display forward
or backward one screen-full. The number of headers displayed is set by the
screen variable (see mailx Internal Variables).
The following
tilde escape commands can be used when composing mail to send. These may
be entered only from input mode, by beginning a line with the tilde escape
character (~). See escape in mailx Internal Variables for changing this
special character. The escape character can be entered as text by typing
it twice.
- ~!shell-command
- Escape to the shell. If present, run shell-command.
- ~.
- Simulate
end of file (terminate message input).
- ~:mail-command
-
- ~_mail-command
- Perform
the command-level request. Valid only when sending a message while reading
mail.
- ~?
- Print a summary of tilde escapes.
- ~A
- Insert the autograph string
Sign into the message (see mailx Internal Variables).
- ~a
- Insert the autograph
string sign into the message (see mailx Internal Variables).
- ~b name ...
- Add
the names to the blind carbon copy (Bcc) list. This is like the carbon copy
(Cc) list, except that the names in the Bcc list are not shown in the header
of the mail message.
- ~c name ...
- Add the names to the carbon copy (Cc) list.
- ~d
- Read in the dead-letter
file. See DEAD
in ENVIRONMENT for a description of this file.
- ~e
- Invoke
the editor on the partial message. See also EDITOR
in ENVIRONMENT.
- ~f [message-list]
- Forward the specified message, or the current message being read. Valid
only when sending a message while reading mail. The messages are inserted
into the message without alteration (as opposed to the ~m escape).
- ~F [message-list]
- Forward the specified message, or the current message
being read, including all header fields. Overrides the suppression of fields
by the ignore command.
- ~h
- Prompt for Subject line and To, Cc, and Bcc lists.
If the field is displayed with an initial value, it may be edited as if
you had just typed it.
- ~i variable
- Insert the value of the named variable
into the text of the message. For example, ~A is equivalent to ‘~i Sign.’ Environment
variables set and exported in the shell are also accessible by ~i.
- ~m [message-list]
- Insert the listed messages, or the current message being read into the
letter. Valid only when sending a message while reading mail. The text of
the message is shifted to the right, and the string contained in the indentprefix
variable is inserted as the leftmost characters of each line. If indentprefix
is not set, a TAB
character is inserted into each line.
- ~M [message-list]
- Insert the listed messages, or the current message being read, including
the header fields, into the letter. Valid only when sending a message while
reading mail. The text of the message is shifted to the right, and the string
contained in the indentprefix variable is inserted as the leftmost characters
of each line. If indentprefix is not set, a TAB
character is inserted into
each line. Overrides the suppression of fields by the ignore command.
- ~p
- Print the message being entered.
- ~q
- Quit from input mode by simulating an
interrupt. If the body of the message is not null, the partial message is
saved in dead-letter. See DEAD
in ENVIRONMENT for a description of this
file.
- ~R
- Mark message for return receipt.
- ~r file
- ~< file
- ~< ! shell-command
- Read
in the specified file. If the argument begins with an exclamation point
(!), the rest of the string is taken as an arbitrary shell command and
is executed, with the standard output inserted into the message.
- ~s string
...
- Set the subject line to string.
- ~t name ...
- Add the given names to the To
list.
- ~v
- Invoke a preferred screen editor on the partial message. The default
visual editor is vi(1)
. See also VISUAL
in ENVIRONMENT.
- ~w file
- Write the
message into the given file, without the header.
- ~x
- Exit as with ~q except
the message is not saved in dead-letter.
- ~| shell-command
- Pipe the body of
the message through the given shell-command. If the shell-command returns
a successful exit status, the output of the command replaces the message.
The following variables are internal mailx variables.
They may be imported from the execution environment or set using the set
command at any time. The unset command may be used to erase variables. The
default values correspond to the Solaris values. Where they differ, the
XPG4 default values will be noted.
- allnet
- All network names whose last component
(login name) match are treated as identical. This causes the message-list
message specifications to behave similarly. Disabled by default. See also
the alternates command and the metoo variable.
- alwaysignore
- Ignore header
fields with ignore everywhere, not just during print or type. Affects the
save, Save, copy, Copy, top, pipe, and write commands, and the ~m and ~f
tilde escapes. Enabled by default.
- append
- Upon termination, append messages to the end of the mbox file instead
of prepending them. Although disabled by default, append is set in the global
startup file (which can be suppressed with the -n command line option).
- appenddeadletter
- Append to the deadletter file rather than overwrite it. Although disabled
by default, appenddeadletter is set in the global startup file (which
can be suppressed with the -n command line option).
- askbcc
- Prompt for the
Bcc list after the Subject is entered if it is not specified on the command
line with the -b option. Disabled by default.
- askcc
- Prompt for the Cc list
after the Subject is entered if it is not specified on the command line
with the -c option. Disabled by default.
- asksub
- Prompt for subject if it is
not specified on the command line with the -s option. Enabled by default.
- autoinc
- Automatically incorporate new messages into the current session
as they arrive. This has an affect similar to issuing the inc command every
time the command prompt is displayed. Disabled by default, but autoinc is
set in the default system startup file for mailx; it is not set for /usr/ucb/mail
or /usr/ucb/Mail.
- autoprint
- Enable automatic printing of messages after
delete and undelete commands. Disabled by default.
- bang
- Enable the special-casing
of exclamation points (!) in shell escape command lines as in vi(1)
. Disabled
by default.
- bsdcompat
- Set automatically if mailx is invoked as mail or Mail.
Causes mailx to use /etc/mail/Mail.rc as the system startup file. Changes
the default pager to more(1)
.
- cmd=shell-command
- Set the default command for
the pipe command. No default value.
- conv=conversion
- Convert uucp addresses to the specified address style,
which can be either:
- internet
- This requires a mail delivery program conforming
to the RFC
822 standard for electronic mail addressing.
- optimize
- Remove loops
in uucp(1C)
address paths (typically generated by the reply command). No
rerouting is performed; mail has no knowledge of UUCP
routes or connections.
- Conversion is disabled by default.
- See also sendmail(1M)
and the -U command-line
option.
- crt[=number]
- Pipe messages having more than number lines through
the command specified by the value of the PAGER
variable (pg(1)
or more(1)
by default). If number is not specified, the current window size is used.
Disabled by default.
- debug
- Enable verbose diagnostics for debugging. Messages
are not delivered. Disabled by default.
- dot
- Take a period on a line by itself,
or EOF
during input from a terminal as end-of-file. Disabled by default, but
dot is set in the global startup file (which can be suppressed with the
-n command line option).
- flipr
- Reverse the effect of the followup/Followup and reply/Reply command
pairs. If both flipr and replyall are set, the effect is as if neither
was set.
- escape=c
- Substitute c for the ~ escape character. Takes effect with
next message sent.
- folder=directory
- The directory for saving standard mail
files. User-specified file names beginning with a plus (+) are expanded by
preceding the file name with this directory name to obtain the real file
name. If directory does not start with a slash (/), $HOME
is prepended
to it. There is no default for the folder variable. See also outfolder below.
- header
- Enable printing of the header summary when entering mailx. Enabled
by default.
- hold
- Preserve all messages that are read in the mailbox instead
of putting them in the standard mbox save file. Disabled by default.
- ignore
- Ignore interrupts while entering messages. Handy for noisy dial-up lines.
Disabled by default.
- ignoreeof
- Ignore end-of-file during message input. Input
must be terminated by a period (.) on a line by itself or by the ~. command.
See also dot above. Disabled by default.
- indentprefix=string
- When indentprefix is set, string is used to mark indented
lines from messages included with ~m. The default is a TAB
character.
- keep
- When the mailbox is empty, truncate it to zero length instead of removing
it. Disabled by default.
- iprompt=string
- The specified prompt string is displayed
before each line on input is requested when sending a message.
- keepsave
- Keep messages that have been saved in other files in the mailbox instead
of deleting them. Disabled by default.
- makeremote
- When replying to all recipients
of a message, if an address does not include a machine name, it is assumed
to be relative to the sender of the message. Normally not needed when dealing
with hosts that support RFC822.
- metoo
- If your login appears as a recipient,
do not delete it from the list. Disabled by default.
- mustbang
- Force all mail
addresses to be in bang format.
- onehop
- When responding to a message that
was originally sent to several recipients, the other recipient addresses
are normally forced to be relative to the originating author’s machine for
the response. This flag disables alteration of the recipients’ addresses,
improving efficiency in a network where all machines can send directly
to all other machines (that is, one hop away). Disabled by default.
- outfolder
- Locate the files used to record outgoing messages in the directory
specified by the folder variable unless the path name is absolute. Disabled
by default. See folder above and the Save, Copy, followup, and Followup
commands.
- page
- Used with the pipe command to insert a form feed after each
message sent through the pipe. Disabled by default.
- pipeignore
- Omit ignored
header when outputting to the pipe command. Although disabled by default,
pipeignore is set in the global startup file, which can be suppressed
with the -n command line option, unset. The XPG4 default is set.
- postmark
- Your "real name" to be included in the From line of messages you send.
By default this is derived from the comment field in your passwd(4)
file
entry.
- prompt=string
- Set the command mode prompt to string. Default is ‘? ’,
unless the bsdcompat variable is set, then the default is ‘&’.
- quiet
- Refrain
from printing the opening message and version when entering mailx. Disabled
by default.
- record=file
- Record all outgoing mail in file. Disabled by default.
See also outfolder above.
- replyall
- Reverse the effect of the reply and Reply
and followup and Followup commands. Although set by default, replayall
is unset in the global startup file (which can be suppressed with the
-n command line option). See flipr.
- save
- Enable saving of messages in dead-letter
on interrupt or delivery error. See DEAD
for a description of this file.
Enabled by default.
- screen=number
- Sets the number of lines in a screen-full
of headers for the headers command. number must be a positive number.
- The
default is set according to baud rate or window size.
- With a baud rate less
than 1200, number defaults to 5, if baud rate is exactly 1200, it defaults
to 10. If you are in a window, number defaults to the default window size
minus 4. Otherwise, the default is 20.
- sendmail=shell-command
- Alternate command for delivering messages. Note:
in addition to the expected list of recipients, mail also passes the -i
and -m, flags to the command. Since these flags are not appropriate to other
commands, you may have to use a shell script that strips them from the
arguments list before invoking the desired command. Default is /usr/bin/rmail.
- sendwait
- Wait for background mailer to finish before returning. Disabled
by default.
- showname
- Causes the message header display to show the sender’s
real name (if known) rather than their mail address. Disabled by default,
but showname is set in the /etc/mail/mailx.rc system startup file for mailx.
- showto
- When displaying the header summary and the message is from you,
print the recipient’s name instead of the author’s name.
- sign=string
- The variable
inserted into the text of a message when the ~a (autograph) command is
given. No default (see also ~i in Tilde Escapes).
- Sign=string
- The variable
inserted into the text of a message when the ~A command is given. No default
(see also ~i in Tilde Escapes).
- toplines=number
- The number of lines of header
to print with the top command. Default is 5.
- verbose
- Invoke sendmail(1M)
with the -v flag.
- translate
- The name of a program to translate mail addresses. The program
receives mail addresses as arguments. The program produces, on the standard
output, lines containing the following data, in this order:
- the postmark
for the sender (see the postmark variable)
- translated mail addresses, one
per line, corresponding to the program’s arguments. Each translated address
will replace the corresponding address in the mail message being sent.
- a line containing only "y" or "n". if the line contains "y" the user will
be asked to confirm that the message should be sent.
- The translate program
will be invoked for each mail message to
- be sent. If the program exits with
a non-zero exit status, or fails to produce enough output, the message is
not sent.
See environ(5)
for descriptions of the following environment
variables that affect the execution of mailx: HOME
, LANG
, LC_CTYPE
, LC_TIME
,
LC_MESSAGES
, NLSPATH
, and TERM
.
- DEAD
- The name of the file in which to save
partial letters in case of untimely interrupt. Default is $HOME
/dead.letter.
- EDITOR
- The command to run when the edit or ~e command is used. Default
is ed(1)
.
- LISTER
- The command (and options) to use when listing the contents
of the folder directory. The default is ls(1)
.
- MAIL
- The name of the initial
mailbox file to read (in lieu of the standard system mailbox). The default
is /var/mail/username.
- MAILRC
- The name of the startup file. Default is
$HOME
/.mailrc.
- MAILX_HEAD
- The specified string is included at the beginning
of the body of each message that is sent.
- MAILX_TAIL
- The specified string
is included at the end of the body of each message that is sent.
- MBOX
- The
name of the file to save messages which have been read. The exit command
overrides this function, as does saving the message explicitly in another
file. Default is $HOME
/mbox.
- PAGER
- The command to use as a filter for paginating
output. This can also be used to specify the options to be used. Default
is pg(1)
, or if the bsdcompat variable is set, the default is more(1)
. See
mailx Internal Variables.
- SHELL
- The name of a preferred command interpreter.
Default is sh(1)
.
- VISUAL
- The name of a preferred screen editor. Default
is vi(1)
.
When the -e option is specified, the following exit
values are returned:
- Mail was found.
- >0
- Mail was not found or an error occurred.
Otherwise, the following exit values are returned:
- successful completion;
note that this status implies that all messages were sent, but it gives
no assurances that any of them were actually delivered
- >0
- an error occurred
- $HOME/.mailrc
- personal startup file
- $HOME/mbox
- secondary storage file
- $HOME/.Maillock
- lock file to prevent multiple writers of system mailbox
- /etc/mail/mailx.rc
- optional global startup file for mailx only
- /etc/mail/Mail.rc
- BSD compatibility system-wide startup file for /usr/ucb/mail and /usr/ucb/Mail
- /tmp/R[emqsx]*
- temporary files
- /usr/share/lib/mailx/mailx.help*
- help message
files
- /var/mail/*
- post office directory
biff(1B)
, echo(1)
, ed(1)
,
ex(1)
, fmt(1)
, lp(1)
, ls(1)
, mail(1)
, mailcompat(1)
, more(1)
, newaliases(1)
,
pg(1)
, sh(1)
, uucp(1C)
, vacation(1)
, vi(1)
, sendmail(1M)
, aliases(4)
, passwd(4)
,
environ(5)
, xpg4(5)
Where shell-command is shown as valid, arguments
are not always allowed. Experimentation is recommended.
Internal variables
imported from the execution environment cannot be unset.
The full internet
addressing is not fully supported by mailx. The new standards need some
time to settle down.
Replies do not always generate correct return addresses.
Try resending the errant reply with onehop set.
mailx does not lock your
record file. So, if you use a record file and send two or more messages
simultaneously, lines from the messages may be interleaved in the record
file.
The format for the alias command is a space-separated list of recipients,
while the format for an alias in either the .forward or /etc/aliases is
a comma-separated list.
To read mail on a workstation running SunOS 4.x when
your mail server is running Solaris, first execute the mailcompat(1)
program.
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