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elm(1) General Commands Manual elm(1)

NAME
elm - process electronic mail through a screen-oriented interface

SYNOPSIS
folder]

subject] address-list

[alias-list]

DESCRIPTION
The program is a screen-oriented electronic mail processing system. It supports the industry-wide MIME standard for nontext mail, a spe-
cial forms message and forms reply mechanism, and an easy-to-use alias system for individuals and groups. operates in three principal
modes:

o Interactive mode, running as an interactive mail interface program. (First syntax.)

o Message mode, sending a single interactive message to a list of mail addresses from a shell command line. (Second syntax.)

o File mode, sending a file or command output to a list of mail addresses via a command-line pipe or redirection. (Second syntax.)

In all three cases, honors the values that are set in your initialization file, in your alias database, and in the system alias database.

The modes are described below in inverse order (shortest description to longest).

Options
The following options are recognized:

Set Use the arrow instead of the inverse bar to mark the current item in the various indexes. This overrides the setting
of the boolean variable (see the section).

Check alias. Check the aliases in alias-list against your personal alias database and the system alias database. The results are
written to standard output. Errors are reported first, in the form:

alias

Successes are reported in a header-entry format, with group aliases replaced by their members, in the form:

If there is no fullname, the "" portion is omitted.

Folder file. Read mail from the folder file rather than from the incoming mailbox. A folder file is in the standard mail file
format, as created by the mail system or saved by itself.

Help. Display an annotated list of command-line options.

Set Disable the use of softkeys (HP 2622 function keys). This overrides the setting of the boolean variable (see the
section).

Set and Disable the use of softkeys and arrow cursor keys. If your terminal does not have the HP 2622 function key pro-
tocols, this option is required. This overrides the settings of the and boolean variables (see the section).

Set Do not display the command menus on several Interactive Mode screens. This overrides the setting of the boolean
variable (see the section).

Subject. Specify the subject for a File Mode or Message Mode message.

Set Do not use the and cursor-positioning entries. This overrides the setting of the boolean variable (see the section).

Verbose transmission.
Pass outbound messages to the mail transport agent using the option (see sendmail(1M)).

Version. Print out the version information. This displays the version number and the compilation features that were specified
or omitted.

Zero. Do not enter if there is no mail in the incoming mailbox.

Operands
The following operands are recognized:

address-list A blank-separated list of one or more mail addresses, your user aliases, or system aliases.

alias-list A blank-separated list of one or more of your user aliases or system aliases.

Terminology
The following terms are used throughout this manpage.

A space or a tab character,
sometimes known as linear white space.

The body of a message.
See

See

A boolean, numeric, or string variable
that defines default behavior in the mail system. See the section.

The source file,
for the system alias database.

The source file ,
for a user's own alias database.

A file, where a user can specify special header entries that are included in all outbound messages.

A file, that defines the initial values for configuration variables.

A global variable set in the shell that called
See the section.

A file that contains mail messages in the format created by
or

The first and last name of a user, as extracted from an alias text file
or from the file.

The header of a message.
See

An entry in the header portion of a message, sometimes called a header field.

The mailbox where you receive your mail, usually

The directory, defined by the
string variable, where a user normally stores mail messages in folders.

The program that sends and receives mail messages to and from other systems.
On HP-UX systems, the MTA is (see sendmail(1M)).

A file that contains information on how to compose and display
mail messages that are not just seven- and eight-bit ASCII characters.

A system program that processes nontext mail messages.

In a folder, a sequence of text lines comprised of a message delimiter,
a header, and a body. The message delimiter is a line in the form:

The starts after the message delimiter and ends with the first null line. The begins at the null line and ends at the next mes-
sage delimiter. A body can have subsections, called or which have are comprised of a boundary delimiter, a header, and a body.
This process can be recursive. See the section for more details.

See

The alias database,
that is used by the MTA to direct local mail.

A file that is appended to your outbound messages,
usually containing information about yourself. You can have two signature files, one for messages to your local machine and one
for other messages. See the and string variables.

See

Usually the login or mailbox name of someone you send mail to.

See and

FILE MODE
If standard input is connected to a pipe or to a file, and an address-list is specified, operates in File Mode.

The output of the previous command in the pipe, or the content of the file, is mailed to the members of the address-list. The address-list
is expanded, based on your alias database and the system alias database, and placed in the header entry.

If is omitted or subject is null, subject defaults to:

The expressed or default value of subject is placed in the header entry.

See the section.

MESSAGE MODE
If standard input is connected to your terminal, and an address-list is specified, operates in Message Mode.

The address-list is expanded, based on your alias database and the system alias database, and placed in the header entry. The header entry
is displayed, in the same form as for the Message Menu (mail) command in Interactive Mode.

The value of subject, if nonnull, or a null string, is placed in the header entry and the line is displayed for modification.

If is in your file, you are prompted for

Then the editor defined by the string variable (if a signature file is not added) or the string variable (if a signature file is added) is
started so that you can write your message.

When you leave your editor, you enter the Send Menu, as described for Interactive Mode.

If you choose the Send Menu (send) command, the message is sent and the program terminates. If you select the Send Menu (forget) command,
the message is stored in and the program terminates. If you select other commands, the appropriate action occurs.

See the section.

INTERACTIVE MODE
If standard input is connected to your terminal, and there is no address-list, operates in a screen-oriented Interactive Mode.

If you do not have a directory, or if you do not have a mail directory, defined by the string variable, you are asked in turn if they
should be created. You can answer for yes, for no, or for quit. For or the directories are created or not, as appropriate, and the pro-
gram continues. For the program terminates.

Overview
When invoked, reads customized variables from file (if it exists) to initialize parameters. This file can be saved from within and some of
these variables can also be modified with the Message Menu (option) command.

first displays the Main or Message Menu, which shows index entries for the messages in your incoming mailbox or selected mail folder.
Among other options, you can read, print, reply to, and forward these messages, as well as initiate new mail messages to other users.

You can also move to the Alias Menu, where you can create, modify, and delete your personal aliases. From the Alias Menu, you can select
one or more of your aliases and send a message to the corresponding users.

When you send a message, you can include attachments in a number of formats, such as PostScript, images, audio, and video, as well as plain
text. The attachments are managed separately, which can be convenient both for you and your correspondents.

Sending Messages
When you send a message, you use the editor defined by the or string variable. If is your editor, a set of commands described in the sub-
section is available while composing your message

If the file exists (see the section), all nonblank lines in the file are copied to the headers of all outbound mail. This is useful for
adding special information headers such as and so forth.

MIME Support
supports the MIME protocols for headers and messages (RFC 1521 and RFC 1522) enabling it to view and send mail containing other than normal
ASCII text. For example, the mail contents can be audio, video, images, etc., or a combination of these.

This also enables conformance with SMTP (RFC 821), which allows only 7-bit characters in the message, by using MIME-encoding and to convert
8-bit data to 7-bit.

also provides a facility to view multipart MIME messages. If receives a message whose type is not it invokes which invokes the appropriate
utility (for example, an audio editor, to display the different mail parts according to the content type (for example,

Aliases
has its own alias system that supports both personal and system-wide aliases. Personal aliases are specific to a single user; system
aliases are available to everyone on the system where the system aliases reside (see newalias(1)). You can access the Alias Menu by exe-
cuting the Message Menu (alias) command. You can then create and save an alias for the current message, create and check other aliases,
and send messages to one or more aliases.

Aliases are limited to 2500 bytes. If you wish to create a group alias that is longer than 2500 bytes, please ask your system administra-
tor to create it for you in the system alias file, (see sendmail(1M)).

INTERACTIVE MODE MENUS AND COMMANDS
This section begins with the Message Menu, which is the main screen for Interactive Mode. The rest of the menus are presented alphabeti-
cally.

Message Menu
The Message Index is displayed on the Message Menu. You can use the following commands to manipulate and send messages. Some commands use
a series of prompts to complete their action. You can use to cancel their operations.

The commands are:

Shell Escape. Send command to the shell defined by the string variable without leaving

Display all known information about the current message.

Resynchronize the messages without leaving
If there are any messages marked for deletion, you are asked if you want to delete them. If any messages are deleted
or any status flags have changed, the messages are written back to the mailbox file. All tags are removed.

Display the computed return address of the current message.

Set the current message pointer to the last message.

Display the next message index page, when applicable.

Display the previous message index page, when applicable.

Pattern match. Search for pattern in the from and subject fields of the current message index. The search starts at the current
message and wraps around to the beginning of the index. The current message pointer is set to the first message that
matches. Uppercase and lowercase are treated as equivalent.

Pattern match. Search for pattern through all the lines of the current folder. The search starts at the current message and wraps
around to the beginning of the folder. The current message pointer is set to the first message that matches. Upper-
case and lowercase are treated as equivalent.

Calendar. Scan message for calendar entries and add them to your calendar file. A calendar entry is defined as a line whose
first nonblank characters are as in:

The delimiter and surrounding blanks are removed before the entry is added to the calendar file. Resultant blank
lines are ignored. You can define the calendar file name in your file or with the Options Menu.

Set the current message pointer to the first message.

Save in folder.
Same as the Message Menu (save) command.

Help on key. Display a one-line description of what each key does. displays a summary listing for each command available. A
period returns you to the Message Menu.

Display a summary of the messages indexed on the current screen.

Pipe the current message or the set of tagged messages
through other filters as desired. Use the shell defined by the string variable.

n New current message. Change the current message pointer to the one indexed as n. If the message is not on the cur-
rent page of headers, the appropriate page displayed.

Read current message.
The screen is cleared and the current message is displayed by the pager defined by the string variable.

Alias. Switch to the Alias Menu.

Bounce mail. This is similar to forwarding a message, except that you do not edit the message and the return address is set to the
original sender's address, rather than to your address.

Change folder. This command is used to change the file whose messages are displayed on the Message Menu. You are asked for a file
name. The file must be in message format; otherwise, aborts. You can use the customary wildcards for your shell, as
well as the following special names:

Your incoming mail folder.

Your received folder, defined by the
string variable.

Your sent folder, defined by the
string variable.

The previously used folder.

The default folder for the login name associated with the
alias alias.

A file in the directory defined by the
string variable.

Copy message. Save the current message or the set of tagged messages to a folder. You are prompted for a file name with a default
value. The default value is a file in the directory with the user name of the sender of the first message in the set
being saved. Any tags are cleared. Unlike the and commands, the messages are not marked for deletion and the cur-
rent message pointer is not moved.

Delete. Mark the current message for deletion. See also and

Delete. Mark all messages for deletion that contain a specified pattern in the and header entries. See also and

Edit. Allows you to physically edit the current mail folder using the editor defined by the string variable. When you exit
from your editor, resynchronizes your mail folder (see the command).

Forward the current message.
You are asked if you want to edit the outbound message. If you answer the characters defined by the string variable
are prefixed to each line of the message and the editor defined by the string variable will be invoked to allow you
to edit the message. If you answer the characters are not prefixed and the editor will not be invoked. In either
case, you are prompted for recipients, allowed to edit the header entry, and, if the boolean variable is you are
prompted for recipients.

If the numeric variable is (intermediate) or (expert), and there was a previous sent or forgotten message in this
session, you are asked if you would like to

If you answer the previous message is returned to the send buffer. If you answer the current message is copied into
the send buffer and your signature file (if any) is appended.

Then the editor is invoked if you chose to edit the outbound message (above). When you leave the editor, or if it
was not invoked, the Send Menu is displayed.

Group reply. The reply is automatically sent the sender of the message, with to all the original and recipients. Otherwise, the
action is the same as for the command.

Same as except that the message is displayed with all headers.

Move down. Move the current message pointer down to the next message.

Move down. Move the current message pointer down to the next undeleted message.

Move up. Move the current message pointer up to the previous message.

Move up. Move the current message pointer up to the previous undeleted message.

Limit the displayed messages to those that contain certain string values.
You are prompted with To set, add to, or clear the limiting criteria, type one of:

Clear all the criteria and restore the normal display.

Restrict to entries that contain string in the header.

You can add limiting criteria by repeating the command.

Redraw the screen.

Mail. Send mail to one or more addresses. You are prompted for recipients, a and, if the boolean variable is recipients.

If the numeric variable is (intermediate) or (expert), and there was a previous sent or forgotten message in this
session, you are asked if you would like to

If you answer the previous message is returned to the send buffer. If you answer the signature file (if any) is
copied into the send buffer.

Then, the editor defined by the string variable is invoked. After you exit from your editor, the Send Menu is dis-
played.

Next message. Advances the current message pointer to the next message, and displays that message as for the command.

Options. Invokes the Options Menu, permitting you to change certain configuration options. The changeable options are defined
by the string variable.

Print. Print the current message or the set of tagged messages using the command defined by the string variable. The cur-
rent message pointer does not move. Tagged messages remain tagged.

Quit. Gracefully terminate, performing message cleanup according to defined personal preferences. You can choose to actu-
ally delete messages marked for deletion. For your incoming mailbox, you can choose to keep undeleted mail in the
mailbox or move it to the received folder defined by the string variable.

If the boolean variable is you may be asked the following questions. The actions described are all performed after
you have answered all the relevant questions.

This question is asked
if you have messages marked for deletion. The default answer is provided by the boolean variable means (yes)
and means (no)).

If you answer all messages marked for deletion will be deleted.

If you answer all messages marked for deletion will be restored to their former read, unread, or new state.

This question is asked
if you are reading your incoming mailbox and if you have messages that have been read. The default answer is
provided by the boolean variable means (yes) and means (no)).

If you answer undeleted messages that have been read will be moved to the folder defined by the string vari-
able and the next question will also be asked.

If you answer all undeleted messages are returned to your incoming mailbox and the next question is not asked.

This question is asked
if you are reading your incoming mailbox, if you answered to the question (or it was not asked), and if you
have messages that have not been read. The default answer is provided by the boolean variable means (yes) and
means (no)).

If you answer all undeleted unread (new and old) messages are returned to your incoming mailbox.

If you answer all undeleted unread messages will be moved to the folder defined by the string variable.

If the boolean variable is the answers to the questions (which are not displayed) are taken automatically from the
values of the and boolean variables, respectively.

Quick quit. This is equivalent to executing the command with the boolean variable set to

Reply to the sender of the current message.
If the boolean variable is you are asked if the source message should be copied into the edit buffer. If it is the
message is copied automatically. If copied in, all lines from the message are preceded by the prefix string defined
by the string variable. The header is set to the sender of the message (or the address in the header, if one was
set), the is set to the subject of the message, preceded by and presented for you to edit. If the boolean variable
is you are prompted for recipients. Then, the editor defined by the string variable is invoked. After you exit from
your editor, the Send Menu is displayed.

Save in folder (same as
Save the current message or the set of tagged messages to a folder. You are prompted for a file name with a default
value. The default value is a file in the directory with the login name of the sender of the first message in the
set being saved. Any tags are cleared and the messages are marked for deletion. The current message pointer is
moved to the first undeleted message after the last saved message.

Tag toggle. Tag the current message for a later operation and move the current message pointer to the next undeleted message.
The operation can be one of and

Or, remove the tag from a tagged message. See also the command.

Tag toggle. Tag the current message for a later operation and remain at the current message. The operation can be one of and

Or, remove the tag from a tagged message. See also the command.

Tag all messages containing the specified pattern.
Or remove the tags from all tagged messages.

If any messages are currently tagged, you are asked if the tags should be removed. Answer to remove the old tags;
answer to keep them. In either case, you are prompted for a string to match in either the or line of each message.
All messages that match the criterion are tagged. If you enter a null string (carriage-return alone), no more mes-
sages are tagged.

Undelete. Remove the deletion mark from the current message. See also and

Undelete. Remove any deletion mark from all messages that contain a specified pattern in the and header entries. See also and

View attachments.
Invoke the Attachment View Menu for the current message.

Exit. Exit without changing the mailbox. If changes are pending, such as deletions, you are asked if they can be aban-
doned. If you answer the changes are abandoned and the program terminates. If you answer the exit is abandoned and
you return to the Message Menu command prompt.

Exit immediately without changing the mailbox.
All pending changes are abandoned.

Message Index
The messages in the current folder are indexed on the Message Menu, one per line, in the format:

defined as:

sss A three-character status field, described in the subsection.

num The ordinal message index number.

mmm The month from the last header entry, or from the message header.

d The day from the last header entry, or from the message header.

from Either the sender name from the last header entry or from the message header.

lines The number of lines in the message.

subject The subject description from the first header entry, truncated to fit your screen.

The current message index entry is either highlighted in inverse video or marked in the left margin with an arrow See the option in the
subsection and the string variable in the section.

Message Status
The first three characters of each message index entry describe the message status. Each can be blank or one of the values described below
in descending order of precedence.

When a message has more than one status flag of a particular type set, the highest-precedence indicator is displayed on the index line.
For example, if a forms message is also marked as company confidential the rather than the status character is displayed.

Deleted.
The message is marked for deletion.

Expired.
The date specified in the header entry is older than today. accepts the following date formats:

(format produced by
in the Header Menu)
(ISO X.400 format: YYMMDDhhmmzzz)

New. The message was received after your last session or during the current session. The message has not been read.

Old. The message was received before or during your last session. It was marked in your last session and it was not read.

Blank. The message has been read.

Confidential.
The header entry is present. The message is considered company confidential, as specified by the ISO X.400 standard. You
can set this value for outbound mail with the user-defined option of the Header Menu.

Urgent.
The message contains a header entry.

Private.
The header entry is present. The message is considered private, as specified by the ISO X.400 standard. You can set this
value for outbound mail with the user-defined option of the Header Menu.

Action.
The message contains an header entry.

Forms. The message is an forms message. The message contains a header entry.

MIME. The message or its attachments is in a MIME format that can be displayed using

MIME. The message or its attachments is in a MIME format whose version is not supported.

Blank. Normal status.

Tagged.
Tagged messages are handled as a group by some commands. See and other commands in the subsection.

Blank. The message is not tagged.

Built-In Editor
When you are composing an outbound message with the built-in editor, it prompts you for text lines with an empty line. Enter a period to
end the message and continue with the Send Menu.

Built-in editor commands are lines that begin with an escape character, defined by the string variable. The default escape character is
tilde

Note: Some remote login programs use tilde as their default escape character when it is the first character on a line. (You can tell,
because the tilde does not print.) Usually, the tilde is transmitted when you enter a second character that is not recognized by the pro-
gram or when you enter a second tilde. See the program documentation for further information.

The built-in editor commands are:

Execute the shell command, if one is given (as in or start an interactive shell, using the shell defined by the string variable.

Execute the shell command and place the output of the command into the editor buffer. For example, "" inserts the output of the
command in your message.

Print a brief help menu.

Start a line with a single tilde
character.

Prompt for changes to the Blind-Carbon-Copy
list.

Prompt for changes to the Carbon-Copy
list.

Invoke the editor defined for the
string variable on the message, if possible.

Add the specified list of messages or the current message.
This uses which means that all options are available (see readmail(1)).

Prompt for changes to all the available headers
and

Same as but each line is prefixed with the current prefix. See the string variable.

Prompt for the name of an editor to use on the message.

Print out the message as typed in so far.

Include (read in) the contents of the specified file.

Prompt for changes to the
line.

Prompt for changes to the
list.

Invoke the editor defined for the
string variable on the message, if possible.

Alias Menu
The Alias Menu is invoked with the Message Menu command. The source text for your alias file is stored in the file You can edit this file
directly or with the following commands.

The aliases currently compiled into your database and the system database are displayed in an indexed list similar to the Message Menu.
The entry format is described in the subsection. The index is sorted in the order defined by the string variable.

The commands are:

Resynchronize your alias text file
and your alias database by rebuilding the database from the text file by running Aliases marked for deletion are
removed, tagged aliases are untagged, and new and changed aliases are recognized. The alias screen is updated to
reflect these changes.

Display the next alias index page, when applicable.

Display the previous alias index page, when applicable.

Pattern match. Search for pattern in the alias and user name fields of the alias list. The search starts at the current alias and
wraps around to the beginning of the alias list. The current alias pointer is set to the first alias that matches.
Uppercase and lowercase are treated as equivalent.

Pattern match. Search for pattern through all the fields of the alias list (alias, user name, comment, and address). The search
starts at the current alias and wraps around to the beginning of the alias list. The current alias pointer is set to
the first alias that matches. Uppercase and lowercase are treated as equivalent. Pattern match. This command
allows you to search through all the alias and username entries in the alias list, starting at the current alias and
continuing through the end. If the first character of the pattern is a then the comment and the fully expanded
address fields are also included in the search. The search is case-insensitive. This allows you to find a specific
alias in a situation where there are a large number of aliases.

Help on key. Display a one-line description of what each key does. displays a summary listing for each command available. A
period returns you to the Alias Menu.

Alias current message.
This allows you to create an alias that has the return address of the current message as the address field of the
alias. It prompts for a unique alias name and allows you to edit the comment and address fields.

Change the current user alias.
The old values of the alias fields are used as the defaults in the prompts for the new values. You cannot change the
alias name. If the alias name is one of a multiple-alias record, it is removed from that record and stored as a sep-
arate record. The old alias is marked Changes are effective after the next alias resynchronization.

Mark the current user alias for deletion.
The deletions are made when you exit from the Alias Menu with an or command or you resynchronize your alias database
with the command. (You cannot delete a system alias in this way.)

Delete user aliases with a specified search pattern.

Edit your file, using the editor defined in the string variable. Your aliases are resynchronized when you finish editing (see
the command).

Display a fully expanded alias.
The currently selected alias is fully expanded and displayed.

See the Alias Menu
and commands.

Move down. Move the current alias pointer down to the next alias.

Move down. Move the current alias pointer down to the next undeleted alias.

Move up. Move the current alias pointer up to the previous alias.

Move up. Move the current alias pointer up to the previous undeleted alias.

Limit the displayed aliases to certain types
or those that contain certain string values. You are prompted with To set, add to, or clear the limiting criteria,
type one of:

Clear all the criteria and restore the normal display.

Restrict to alias names containing
string.

Restrict to full names (first name and last name) containing
string.

Restrict to group aliases (can include system and user aliases).

Restrict to person aliases (can include system and user aliases).

Restrict to system aliases (can include group and person aliases).

You can add limiting criteria by repeating the command.

Redraw the screen.

Mail to the current alias or to the set of tagged aliases.
The corresponding expanded addresses are placed in the header entry, and processing continues as for the Message Menu
(mail) command. The tags are cleared.

Make a user alias.
prompts for a unique alias name, then for an address. The information provided is added to your individual
alias_text file then added to the database.

Exit. Return to the Message Menu. If aliases are marked for deletion, you are asked if you want to delete them. The alias
index pointer is retained. If the alias text file was changed, the database is resynchronized.

Exit. Return to the Message Menu. If aliases are marked for deletion, the mark is retained and the alias is not deleted.
The alias index pointer is retained. If the alias text file was changed, the database is resynchronized.

See the Alias Menu
and commands.

Tag the current alias for a later operation
and move the current alias pointer to the next undeleted alias. The operation can be one of or

Or, remove the tag from a tagged alias. See also the command.

Tag. Tag the current alias for a later operation and remain at the current alias. The operation can be one of or

Or, remove the tag from a tagged alias. See also the command.

Tag all aliases containing a specified pattern for a later operation.
The operation can be one of or Or remove the tags from all tagged aliases.

If any aliases are currently tagged, you are asked if the tags should be removed. Answer to remove the old tags;
answer to keep them. In either case, you are prompted for a string to match in either the alias name or user name
fields of each alias. All aliases that match the criterion are tagged. If you enter a null string (carriage-return
alone) no more aliases are tagged.

Undelete. Remove the deletion mark from the current alias. See also and

Undelete. Remove any deletion mark from all messages that contain a specified pattern in the and header entries. See also and

View. Display the address-list for the current alias.

Exit from the alias menu without processing any deletions.
Aliases marked for deletion are unmarked and is not run, even if alias additions have been made.

Alias Index
The aliases in the current database are indexed on the Alias Menu, one per line. The database values are defined in newalias(1).

ssnum fullname[ comment] type [] alias

defined as:

ss A two-character status field. The first character can be:

Delete.
The alias is marked for deletion.

New. The alias is new or changed in the alias text file but is not included in the current database. Resynchronization
is needed.

Blank. The alias is in the current database.

The second character can be:

Tag. The alias is tagged.

Blank. The alias is not tagged.

num The index number of the alias.

fullname The full name for the alias, as it will be used in an expanded address. It has the form:

firstname lastname

firstname The first name, from the alias database.

lastname The last name, from the alias database.

comment Comment, from the alias database.

type Type of alias. This is for an alias with a single address or for an alias with two or more addresses.

If present, the entry is from the
system alias database. If absent, the entry is from your personal alias database.

alias The alias name. If the record has multiple alias names, there is one index entry per name.

Attachment Configuration Menu
The Attachment Configuration Menu is invoked with the Attachment Send Menu (add) or (modify) command. The menu displays the default or
current specification for an attachment. If it is called with the command, it automatically prompts for a file name. The commands are:

Description.
The value is placed in a body-part header entry. The default is the file name.

Content-Transfer-Encoding.
This is the method by which the file is encoded to allow it to pass through various Mail Transport Agents. The choices are:

Unencoded, normal
text. This is the default encoding parameter.

Unencoded 8-bit characters with the high-order bit set.

Text with control characters and high-order-bit characters
converted to a string in the form where hh is the hexadecimal representation of the character. An at the end of a
line indicates that the source line was broken into two lines.

Any file type with bits encoded in 6-bit groups
and rendered in numeric order as the characters and The last line may be padded to a multiple of 4 characters with
characters.

Unencoded binary data.

The value is placed in a body-part header entry. The default is

File name.
The name of the file to be attached. examines the file and sets the values of Content-Transfer-Encoding, Content-Disposi-
tion, and Content-Type accordingly.

Content-Disposition.
The value is placed in a body-part header entry. The default is

Content-Type.
The type of the file and supporting parameters, in the form:

The type can be one of or as defined in RFC 1521. Although is also a valid type, you cannot specify it directly; provides it
as necessary and handles messages that contain it. The value is placed in a body-part header entry. The default is:

Some common entries are described below. See the section for additional information.

This is relatively readable text that may be formatted with embedded
text characters, as for possible subtypes or The default subtype is (unformatted in any way). The default charset is

This is a catch-all for files such as program binary,
or files that contain control characters or characters with high-order bits set.

The file can be displayed with a PostScript-equipped printer or viewer.

This specifies that the file is in message format,
as described in the subsection.

These are picture formats that require a display program.

This is an audio format that requires a reproduction program.

This is an audio/video format that requires a reproduction program.

Attachment Send Menu
The Attachment Send Menu is invoked with the Send Menu command. This menu displays a list of the attachments that will be sent in a mes-
sage, one per line, as described in the subsection.

The commands are:

Add attachments.
Call the Attachment Configuration Menu and prompt for a file name.

Delete an attachment.

Edit an attachment.
Call the editor associated with the attachment if it is editable.

Move the current attachment pointer down to the next attachment.

Move the current attachment pointer up to the previous attachment.

Redraw the screen.

Modify the attributes of an attachment.
Call the Attachment Configuration Menu.

Print an attachment.
See the Message Menu (print) command.

Quit. Return to the Send Menu.

Save an attachment.
See the Message Menu (copy) command.

Attachment View Menu
The Attachment View Menu is invoked with the Send Menu command. This menu displays a list of the attachments in a folder message, one per
line, as described in the subsection.

The commands are:

Display the current attachment.

Move the current attachment pointer down to the next attachment.

Move the current attachment pointer up to the previous attachment.

Redraw the screen.

Print the attachment.
See the Message Menu (print) command.

Quit. Return to the previous attachment level or the Message Menu.

Save the attachment.
The attachment is saved in the form it was received, as with the Message Menu (save) command.

View the subattachment list, if any.

Attachment Index
Attachments are listed on the Attachment Send Menu and the Attachment View Menu in the following format:

defined as:

num The index number of the attachment.

filename The name of the attached file.

size The size of the attachment in bytes, computed from the file or the message.

The type and subtype of the attachment.
This value is placed or found in a header.

encoding The encoding type. This value is placed or found in a header.

File Attachment
still supports the old method where you have one or more key lines of the form:

A file which needs to be attached with the mail is included in the body of the message and it becomes a part of the message. The text lines
before, between and after the lines go into different attachments.

The encoding parameter is optional. Refer to RFC 1341 for information on valid contenttype/subtype and encoding parameter values.

Example: To include a file, into your message and you want to use base-64 encoding, use the following line:

Or if you want to include a text file , which contains plain ASCII, use the following line:

Message Encryption
For enhanced security and privacy, you can encrypt a message with the key lines: and

Consider the following outgoing message:

Hi Tom,
How are you doing?
This is a private message!!
Keep in touch.
- Jerry

The line signifies the end of encryption for the block from to

The above message is readable while being typed into the editor and as soon as the message is confirmed as wanting to be sent, the mailer
prompts you with the following:

It accepts a key (a series of 8 or less characters) without echoing them to the screen. You will need to re-enter the key. If you have the
copy option enabled, the program will save your copy of the message in encrypted form. This helps you ensure privacy and security of your
mail archive.

If you are not prompted by the mailer to enter the encryption key, you do not have entered as the first 8 characters of the line. Simi-
larly, should also be entered as the first 7 characters of the line to indicate the end of encryption.

On the other end, the recipients of this mail (should be users of the program) will be prompted with the following message to enter the
decryption key:

If the decryption key is correct, the program will then decrypt the mail and display each line in readable format. The same message will be
displayed in an encrypted form if the decryption key is incorrect.

Note: Currently decryption is not supported to or encrypted mails.

Mail Archive
This feature is the ability to specify the message content that needs to be archived (assuming copy is enabled).

To indicate the last line of the message to be archived, you need to have either the or key line in the body of your message.

The saved mail will not contain the message following the or key line. However, the outgoing mail will contain all the messages except the
key line.

Header Menu
The Header Menu is invoked with the Send Menu command. It allows you to add, change, and delete a set of common header entries in your
message. In general, if an item is empty, it is not included in the message.

The commands are:

Return to Send Menu.

Shell. Execute command with the shell defined by the string variable.

header. Enter any string. If this entry is present in a received message, displays an in the Permanent Status column of the
Message Index.

header. Enter a list of aliases and actual addresses. Aliases are expanded and shown as addresses and user names.

Domainize. Convert non-Internet addresses to Internet format. The UUCP format () becomes the Internet format (). If is omit-
ted, it defaults to

header. Enter any numeric value from 1 to 56 (8 weeks). If this entry is present in a received message, displays an in the
Variable Status column of the Message Index when the computed date has passed.

header. Enter a string.

header. Enter a precedence name. If the string variable is set and nonnull, the name must be one defined by the variable.
If the name is associated with a priority, and the header is null, the priority value is inserted in the header. If
is null or not set, you can enter any value.

If the precedence name matches one defined in the configuration file the transmission priority is modified accord-
ingly. If there is no match, the priority is not changed.

header. Enter a string. If this entry is present in a received message, displays a in the Permanent Status column of the
Message Index

header. Enter a personal alias or a single address. If it is present, and other mailers use this header instead of the
header when choosing the address for a reply (Message Menu (reply) command).

header. Enter a string.

header. Enter a list of aliases and actual addresses. Aliases are expanded and shown as addresses and user names.

User-defined header.
Define your own header entry in the form:

must not contain blanks. You can use this command to create a header entry, as described in the subsection, or a
different header, but only one. See the section for another way to include user-defined header entries.

Options Menu
The Options Menu is invoked with the Message Menu command. It displays a list of the options, defined by the string variable, that you can
modify while is running. Enter the appropriate letter (in upper- or lowercase) that is followed with a right parenthesis and follow the
directions on the screen. The full set of option prompts and the corresponding variables is listed below. The default options are marked
with an *.

The string variable. *
The string variable.
The string variable. *
The string variable. *
The string variable. *
The string variable. *
The boolean variable.
The string variable.
The boolean variable.
The string variable.
The boolean variable. *
The boolean variable. *
The string variable. *
The string variable. *
The boolean variable.
The string variable. *
The string variable.
The numeric variable. *
The string variable. *
The boolean variable.
The string variable. *
The boolean variable.

Note: The menu displays the first lines from the defined set. screen-height is the number of text lines on the screen. If an option is
not displayed, it cannot be modified.

When you are done, enter one of the following values:

Save the current configuration values in your configuration file,
If the file does not exist, it is created. This is a convenient way to make an configuration file that you can edit
directly, as well as with the Options Menu.

Return to the Message Menu.

Exit immediately from
without changing the mailbox. All pending changes are abandoned.

Send Menu
The Send Menu is invoked when your outbound message has been prepared to be mailed after a Message Menu or command or the Alias Menu com-
mand.

The commands are:

Shell. Execute a shell command. See the Message Menu (shell) command.

Attachments. Invoke the Attachments Send Menu.

Copy. Copy to a file. See the Message Menu (copy) command.

Edit. Invoke your editor, as defined by the string variable, to revise the message.

Forget. Do not send the message. At user levels and the message may be returned to the send buffer when you execute a subse-
quent Message Menu or command or the Alias Menu command.

Edit the header entries.
Invoke the Header Menu.

Make form. Convert the message to the forms message format. See the section. This command is only available if the boolean
variable is and the numeric variable is either or

Send. Send the message.

FORMS MESSAGES
A feature that is unique to is the ability to compose and reply to forms messages.

Creating a Forms Message
o In your file, set

o Set your numeric variable to (moderately experienced) or (expert). You can do this in your file or on the default Options Menu.

o As you compose the message, define the fields to be filled in by the recipient with a colon followed by either the number of spaces
allowed for the field value, or a newline to indicate that the field may fill the remainder of the line.

A colon on a line by itself indicates that the recipient will be prompted for multiline input. There can be no blanks before the
colon.

Every line containing a colon is a prompt line. During the response process, all text starting at the first nonblank character after
the last colon on each line is deleted and the line is evaluated for response fields.

o After you have created the message, enter the Send Menu (make form) command to set up the special format. Then enter the Send Menu
(send) command to send the message.

Here is an example of a simple forms message:

Replying to a Forms Message
When you receive a forms message, the message index entry is flagged with an status letter. You can view it in the normal way with the or
commands.

To reply, use the Message Menu (reply) command (you cannot use the Message Menu (group reply) command). prompts you for each field, with
any text present between the fields displayed as appropriate. The example above is presented line-by-line; user input is in italic type:

The received message would look like this:

HEADER FILE
The file provides you with a way to specify special information headers such as and so forth. The nonblank lines from this file are added
to the headers of all outbound mail.

Entries in the file should have the following format:

must not contain blanks. header-string can be continued over several lines by preceding each continuation line with blanks, as indicated
by the output below.

Within the file, you can use backquotes (left apostrophes) to execute shell commands when the file is read, so that an entry of the form:

would produce a header entry like:

According to RFC 822, user-defined header names should begin with or Otherwise, they risk having their usage overridden if the name is
later standardized with some other meaning.

Defined Headers
The following header names are defined for the message header in RFC 822 and RFC 1521.
Bcc:(822) Cc:(822)
Comments:(822) Content-Description:(1521)
Content-ID:(1521) Content-Transfer-Encoding:(1521)
Content-Type:(1521) Date:(822)
Encrypted:(822) From:(822)
In-Reply-To:(822) Keywords:(822)
MIME-Version:(1521) Message-ID:(822)
Received:(822) References:(822)
Reply-To:(822) Resent-Bcc:(822)
Resent-Cc:(822) Resent-Date:(822)
Resent-From:(822) Resent-Message-ID:(822)
Resent-Reply-To:(822) Resent-Sender:(822)
Resent-To:(822) Return-Path:(822)
Sender:(822) Subject:(822)
To:(822) X-user-defined:(822)

Other commonly used headers:
Action: Apparently-To:
Content-Disposition: Content-Length:
Expires: Mailer:
Newsgroups: Precedence:
Priority: Sensitivity:
Status: X-Mailer:

ELM CONFIGURATION
supports user configuration by means of the configuration file. You can create the configuration file with the Options Menu command. It
can contain any combination of the string, numeric, and boolean variables described below.

String Variables
String variables have the form

The following string variables are defined.

The sort order for the alias index in the Alias Menu.
The recognized values are:

Sort by alias name.
Sort by the full name of the alias,
last name first.
Sort by the order of the aliases in the alias text file.

Prefix the value with to reverse the sort order. The default is

The name of the editor to use for messages that have initial text
(a copied message in a reply, a signature in any outbound message, etc.). when the string variable is set
to or The default is the value of the environment variable, if set and nonnull, or otherwise. See also the
string variable.

A list of other machine and user name combinations
that you receive forwarded mail from. uses this information when a group reply is being processed to
ensure that a reply message is not sent to a user and/or machine address that would simply forward the
reply message back to you. The default is none.

Attribution string for replies.
When you reply to a message and include the message in the reply, this string is placed at the top of the
message. The characters are replaced by the full name of the author of the original message. The default
is none. For example:

The name of your calendar file.
This is used in conjunction with the Message Menu (calendar) command, which scans messages for calendar
entries. The default is

The name of the character set used with the MIME
header for the type. It can be any Internet-defined character set name that is a superset of The default
is For example,

A list of Internet-defined character sets
that are supersets of US-ASCII, so that messages with can be displayed without the help of The default is a
string containing the following values:

A string of options that can be configured on the Options Menu.
Specify the options as a single letter each, in the order they should be displayed. The default is "".
The defaults are marked below with an *.

The option characters include:

The menu title.
A blank line.
The string variable. *
The string variable.
The string variable. *
The string variable. *
The string variable. *
The string variable. *
The boolean variable.
The string variable.
The boolean variable.
The string variable.
The boolean variable. *
The boolean variable. *
The string variable. *
The string variable. *
The boolean variable.
The string variable. *
The string variable.
The numeric variable. *
The string variable. *
The boolean variable.
The string variable. *
The boolean variable.

The name of the character set supported by the display.
This is independent of the string variable. This is also copied to the environment variable when is
called. The default is

The name of the editor for the
command of the built-in editor. See also the string variable. The default is none.

The name of the editor to use when creating new mail.
The default is the value of the environment variable, if set and nonnull, or otherwise.

You can use or to specify the built-in editor. The built-in editor is available for all outbound mail that
does not already have text in the send buffer (no forwarded message, no copied message in a reply, no sig-
nature in any outbound message, etc.). If there is text in the send buffer and is specified, the editor
defined by the variable is used instead.

See also the and string variables.

The escape character used in the built-in editor.
The default is tilde

The permissions of the mail folders or the
file (created by the user using can be configured by setting the value of in the file. takes 0640 as the
default permission, if no value or an invalid value is set by the user. mandates read-write permissions
for the owner. Hence, if the value of in file does not grant read-write permissions to the owner, the
default value is taken for setting the permissions.

The name the mailer will use when sending mail from you.
The default is the full name portion (everything up to the first comma) of the field from your entry in the
file. This field can be set with the command (see chfn(1), finger(1), and passwd(4)).

A signature file that is automatically appended
to outbound mail to the local host before the editor is invoked. This usually contains personal data about
the sender. See also the string variable. The default is none.

All the addresses in the header must be apparently for the local host. Local addresses are those that,
after any alias conversion, do not contain a domain name. That is, they have only a user name (for exam-
ple, or a user name and the local host name (for example,

is considered to be a remote address, even if it points to the local host. A user name that is readdressed
by the system alias list is treated as local if it matches the preceding criteria.

Your mail directory, where you usually
store your folders for received and outbound mail. The default is

In you can use the metacharacter to specify this directory. For example, if you save a message to file the
is expanded to the current value of (The slash is optional.)

When you start if the directory specified by does not exist, you are asked if you want to create it. If
you answer (yes), the directory is created, with access permissions set to

The program to display each message.
The default is the value of the environment variable, if set and nonnull, or the built-in pager, otherwise.

The built-in pager, also allows you to execute some Message Menu commands while you are viewing the message
and it has some simple forward and backward scrolling commands. While it is active, enter for a list of
commands. An alternative is the utility.

A list of precedence values that you can place in a
header entry in outbound mail, using the Header Menu. Each precedence value can be optionally paired with
a priority value that is automatically placed in a header entry, causing the received message to be marked
as urgent. The default is none.

The HP-UX mail transport agent, recognizes this header. If the precedence value is defined by a control
line in the configuration file, the transmission priority of the message is adjusted accordingly. See
sendmail(1M).

The format of the entry is

precedence is a precedence name. The default list defined in is:

Transmission priority 0, the default
Transmission priority 100
Transmission priority -30
Transmission priority -60
Transmission priority -100

priority is an arbitrary string that is placed in a header entry.

The prefix for an included line in an outbound message.
When you reply to a message or forward a message to another person, you can optionally include the original
message. This prefix marks the included line. The default is (the is interpreted as a space character).

The command to run when the
(print) command is executed from various menus. There are two possible formats for this string: If the
string contains the special variable the variable is replaced by the name of a temporary file that contains
the messages, and the command is executed by the shell defined by the string variable. If the string does
not contain the temporary file name is appended to it, and the command is executed. The default is

The file where the received messages will be saved.
The default is the file in the directory defined by

A signature file that is automatically appended
to all outbound mail to remote hosts before the editor is invoked. This usually contains personal data
about the sender. See also the string variable. The default is none.

If any of the addresses in the header entry are not local, as described for the string variable, the remote
signature file is attached.

The character set to be used to save a message in a folder.
Possible values are and If a value is not specified, the message will be saved according to your locale
(given by the and/or environmental variables). This option is applicable only for the Japanese locale.
The default is none. See also the boolean variable.

The file where copies of outbound mail can be saved.
One possibility is your incoming mailbox, The default is the file in the directory defined by

See the boolean variable for further details.

The shell to use for escapes and other such operations. The default is the value of the environment variable, if set and non-
null, or otherwise.

The way to sort the index of the current folder.
The choices are:

The name of the sender.

The date the message was sent.

The date the message was received.

The subject of the message.
A leading (and some others) is ignored, so replies sort with original messages.

The number of lines in the message.

The read status: blank,
and

You can prefix these values with to reverse the order of the sort. The value can be modified on the
Options Menu. The default is

Type of encoding to put into the MIME
header entry. The choices are or The default is

Where to create temporary files.
The default is the value of the environment variable, if set and nonnull, or to otherwise.

Name of the editor to use for the
command of the built-in editor. The default is the value of the environment variable, if set and nonnull,
or otherwise.

A list of header-entry initial strings
that you don't want to see when you are reading mail. This list is made effective by setting the boolean
variable to

The list can continue for as many lines as desired, as long as the continued lines all have leading blanks.
To include blanks in a string, enclose it in quotation marks (). The strings you specify are normally
appended to the default list, which is:

There are two special values:

Clear the default list.
The default headers are removed from the list, allowing you to completely define your own list.

Mark the end of the
list, in case any following lines could be mistaken for headers in the list.

The default value of is

The underscore character can be used to specify a space.

Note that weeds out both and If, for example, you want to weed out but not specify followed by and any
other headers that you don't want to see.

Numeric Variables
Numeric variables have the form

The following numeric variables are defined.

Threshold for returning copies of remote UUCP messages.
If the destination host is greater than the specified number of hops (gateways) from your local host, the
destination host sends you a copy of the message when it is received. If the value is this feature is dis-
abled. The default is

Determines if the built-in pager should be used on some messages,
even if you usually use an external pager, defined in the string variable. There are two ways of defining
whether the built-in pager should be used.

o If you want to use the built-in pager on any message that is shorter than n lines, set the value to n.

o If you want to use the built-in pager on any message that is m lines shorter than the number of lines on
your screen, set the value to

If you set the value to the message will always be sent through the external pager. The default is

This enables you to send raw 8-bit or binary data
when the mail transfer agent doesn't support the and the options. The default is

The possible values are:

Always convert 8-bit and binary
messages to 7-bit before sending them.

Convert 8-bit messages to 7-bit,
but depend on to handle binary messages.

Depend on
to handle both 8-bit and binary messages.

The value by which the counter is incremented while reading a new folder. If you set this value to a number larger than one, it
will speed up the time it takes to read a large folder when you are using a slow terminal. The default is

The time in seconds that will wait after displaying a diagnostic message before erasing it. The value can be or a positive integer.
The default is

The interval, in seconds, after which
rechecks the incoming mailbox for new mail. The default is (10 minutes).

The relative level of your user sophistication.
Acceptable values are:

Novice user (the default).
Command menus are a small verbose subset of the available commands.

Moderately experienced user.
Command menus are a larger terse subset of the available commands. Outbound message commands allow
you to recover previously unsent messages as the text of the current outbound message.

Expert.
The features are the same as for

Level or is required if you want to send a forms message.

Boolean Variables
Boolean variables have the forms

The following boolean variables are defined.

If the default answer of the Message Menu (quit) prompt

is set to (yes). If the default answer is set to (no). The default is See the Message Menu command.

If the default answer of the Message Menu (quit) prompt

is set to (yes). If the default answer is set to (no). The default is See the Message Menu command.

If the default answer of the Message Menu (quit) prompt

is set to (yes). If the default answer is set to (no). The default is See the Message Menu command.

If use an arrow to mark the current item in a menu index. If use an inverse bar. If the program is invoked
with the command line option, is set to The default is

If you are asked the questions

(as appropriate) each time you leave the program with the Message Menu (quit) command. See that command
for details of the process. If or if you use the Message Menu command, uses the values defined by the and
boolean variables, respectively, without prompting. The default is

If prompts you for "carbon copies" with the prompt each time you send, forward, or reply to a message. If the
prompt is omitted. In either case, you can still explicitly include addresses with the command in the
built-in editor, or with the Header Menu commands. The default is

If automatically copies the text of the message you are replying to into the edit buffer. If prompts you with
The default is

If you are asked to confirm before messages are appended to an existing file, whether it is a file in your
mail directory or a file in another directory. If see below. The default is

If you are asked to confirm before a new file is created. whether it is a file in your mail directory or a
file in another directory. If see below. The default is

If you are asked to confirm before messages are appended to an existing file that is not in your mail direc-
tory. This does not affect files in your mail directory. If see below. The default is

If you are asked to confirm before a new file is created in your mail directory. This does not affect files
in other directories. If see below. The default is

Confirm before creating a file in your mail directory.
Confirm before creating a file another directory.

Confirm before creating a file in your mail directory.
Do not confirm before creating a file another directory.

Do not confirm before creating a file in your mail directory.
Do not confirm before creating a file another directory.

Confirm before appending to a file in your mail directory.
Confirm before appending to a file in another directory.

Confirm before appending to a file in your mail directory.
Do not confirm before appending to a file in another directory.

Do not confirm before appending to a file in your mail directory.
Do not confirm before appending to a file in another directory.

If save silent copies of all outbound mail on the outbound step. If do not save copies. The default is

If and the boolean variable is first tries to save it to a file named as defined by If the file exists, the
message is saved. If the file does not exist, but the boolean variable is the file is created and the mes-
sage is saved. If the message is saved to the file defined by the string variable. If the message is
saved to the file defined by the string variable.

If create the folder when saving outbound messages by the login name of the recipient, even if the folder
doesn't already exist. If do not create the folder. The default is

See the boolean variable for further details.

If and the numeric variable is or you can create a forms message. The Send Menu (make form) command converts
your message into a forms message. If you cannot. The default is

If convert outbound mail to JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) before sending it. If do not convert it. This
option is applicable only to the Japanese locales, and The default is string variable.

If keep folders from which all the messages are deleted. If delete empty folders. The default is

If enable the HP 2622 terminal cursor keys. If disable the cursor keys. If the program is invoked with the
command line option, is set to See also the boolean variable. The default is

If this inhibits the menu display on all program screen displays. If the menus are displayed. If the program
is invoked with the command line option, is set to The default is

If you are sent a copy of the message that you send to an alias that includes your name also. If the copy is
not sent. The default is

If a forwarded message is sent as an attachment. If a forwarded message is sent as part of the main message.
The default is

If commands that move through the mailbox by pages (the and commands) also move the current index pointer to
the top of the new page of messages. If moving through the pages does not alter the current message
pointer location. The default is

If show only the user names when expanding the aliases for an outbound message. If OFF , show the entire
expanded addresses. The default is

If don't do RFC 1522 encoding for header values that contain 8-bit or multibyte characters. If do the encod-
ing. The default is

If do not include the headers of messages when copying a message into a file buffer for replying to or for-
warding. If copy all headers. The default is

If do not include headers when copying a message into a file buffer for forwarding. If copy all headers. For
forwarding, this option overrides the setting of The default is

If use the value of the variable to display MIME multipart messages with unknown subparts or with unknown
subtypes. If call to view multipart messages. The default is

If automatically point to the first new message in your message index at start-up. If point to the first mes-
sage. In either case, if the start-up folder is not your incoming mailbox, or if there are no new mes-
sages, point to the first message. The default is

If prompt for a command after the external pager exits. If return to the calling menu. The default is

If move the pointer to the next message in the index, after deleting, undeleting, saving, or forwarding a mes-
sage. If keep the pointer at the current message. The default is

If and you are saving a message, constructs a suggested file name in your directory from the user name of the
person who sent the message, in the form If no file name is suggested.

If and you are sending a message that will be saved, constructs a file name based on the user name of the
first entry in the list, in the same form as above. If no file name is constructed. See the boolean vari-
able for further details.

The default is

If insert two dashes above the signature text, included from a local or remote signature file. This is a com-
mon convention. If omit the dashes. The default is

If enable the HP 2622 terminal function-key protocol. If disable the function-key protocol. If the program
is invoked with the or command line option, is set to See also the boolean variable. The default is

If title a displayed message with a line in the form:

sendername, date, and time are extracted from the message headers in the manner described in Message Index.
This is useful if you have suppressed the relevant header entries with the list. If the message is not
titled. The default is

If use the and cursor-positioning entries (see terminfo(4)). If do not use those entries. If the program is
invoked with the command line option, is set to The default is

If do not display the headers defined by variable when displaying a message for reading. If display all head-
ers. The default is

METAMAIL CONFIGURATION
MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) encoding classifies the message and its attachments according to a Content-Transfer-Encoding,
which is the encoding, if any, that is used to make the message mailable, and a Content-Type, which is the type and form of the message
part after it has been decoded. The encoding and types are described in more detail in the subsection and in RFC 1521.

provides built-in support for the following Content-Types:

The text is all in the displayable character set
charset which defaults to

The message is composed of a number of individual "body parts",
separated by each having optional headers defining Content-Type and Content-Transfer-Encoding. The default Content-Type is

This is similar to
except that the default Content-Type is

The message consists of another message in standard message format.

is a system program that is invoked by to manage the display of messages and attachments that are not displayable in ordinary ASCII text.

provides external support for other Content-Types, as defined in one or more files. The system file is You can define your own default
file in You can also specify your own list of files by setting the environment variable. The files are searched in order until an entry is
found that matches the Content-Type and any qualifications.

A minimum entry consists of a line in the form:

The command is the command that you would type to view a file of the indicated Content-Type, with the string replaced by a file name. For
example, to view body part that was HTML source text and had the Content-Type you could have the entry

Similarly, for a GIF image file, you could have the entry

RFC 1521 defines a number of Content-Types that leaves for to handle:

Check the system file for entries that handle many of them.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
Environment Variables
Your home (login) directory.

If set and nonnull, provides a default value for the
and string variables.

If set and nonnull, determines the language in which messages are displayed.
The default is See environ(5).

If set, defines the search path for
files used by The default is

If set and nonnull, provides a default value for the
string variable.

International Code Set Support
Single- and multibyte character code sets are supported.

EXAMPLES
Message Mode Example
To send a message without loading the main mail-processing program, use the simple command form consisting of the name of the program fol-
lowed by the recipient's login name and optional address. prompts for subject and copies, then starts an editor so you can compose the
message (user responses are in italic type):

...invokes editor, you compose message, then...

If you "forget" the message, it is saved in

File Mode with Redirection
To send a file by use of command-line redirection, use a command like:

which reads file and sends it with the default subject.

File Mode with a Pipe
To mail the output of a command and include a subject line:

WARNINGS
Using two separate mail programs to access the same mail file simultaneously (usually inadvertently from two separate windows) can cause
unpredictable results.

The length of the subject string (used with the command line option) and filenames (used with the and command line options) is limited to
255 characters. If the length exceeds this limit, the strings will be truncated to 255 characters.

AUTHOR
was developed by Hewlett-Packard Company.

FILES
Directory for the user's alias, configuration, header, and other files
User alias database data table
User alias database directory table
User alias database hash table
User alias source text
User-defined additional headers
User configuration file
Canceled message in noninteractive use.
Temporary file for deleting alias
Editor buffer for forms message
Temporary mailbox for user logname
Temporary file for printing message
Outgoing mail message edit buffer
Outgoing mail header edit buffer
Location of the message catalog
Comment file for file
Directory for incoming mail;
it must have mode and group ID
Directory for mailer system aliases
System alias database data table
System alias database directory table
System alias database hash table
System alias source text
Incoming mailbox for user;
it must have mode and group ID
Lock for mail directory

SEE ALSO
answer(1), chfn(1), elmalias(1), fastmail(1), finger(1), mailfrom(1), newalias(1), newmail(1), readmail(1), vi(1), sendmail(1M), passwd(4),
terminfo(4), environ(5).

RFC 821 "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)"

RFC 822 "Standard for the Format of Internet Text Messages"

RFC 1341 "MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions): Mechanisms for Specifying and Describing the Format of Internet Message Bodies"

RFC 1521 "MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Mechanisms for Specifying and Describing the Format of Internet Message
Bodies"

RFC 1522 "MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Two: Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text"

elm(1)

hpux man page for elm