MAILX(1) User Commands MAILX(1)

NAME

mailx - interactive message processing system

SYNOPSIS

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 ...

DESCRIPTION

The mail utilities listed above provide a comfortable, flexible
environment for sending and receiving mail messages electronically.


When reading mail, the mail utilities provide commands to facilitate
saving, deleting, and responding to messages. When sending mail, the
mail utilities allow 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 the mail utilities are 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 VARIABLES 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. 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.

OPTIONS

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 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 Internal
Variables.


-N
Do not print initial header summary.


-n
Do not initialize from the system default mailx.rc
or Mail.rc file. 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(8).


-~
Interpret tilde escapes in the input even if not
reading from a tty.

OPERANDS

The following operands are supported:

recipient
Addressee of message.

USAGE

Starting Mail

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 internal variables. These variables
are flags and valued parameters which are set and cleared using the
set and unset commands. See 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, the mail utilities execute
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, the mail utilities do not
execute the system startup file.


Many system administrators include the commands

set appenddeadletter
unset replyall
unset pipeignore


in the system startup files (to be compatible with past Solaris
behavior), but this does not meet standards requirements for mailx.
To get standard behavior for mailx, users should use the -n option or
include the following commands in a personal startup file:

unset appenddeadletter
set replyall
set pipeignore


When reading mail, the mail utilities are in command mode. A header
summary of the first several messages is displayed, followed by a
prompt indicating the mail utilities can accept regular commands (see
Commands below). When sending mail, the mail utilities are 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, the mail utilities read the message and
store 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.

Reading Mail

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

Notice 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.

Sending Mail

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 expandaddr option is not set (the default), then the
following rules do not apply and the name of the recipient must be a
local mailbox or network address. 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.

Forwarding Mail

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.

Commands

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 VARIABLES.


# 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 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 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 VARIABLES). Default editor is ed(1).


expandaddr

Causes recipient addresses to be expanded based on the discussion
in the section Sending Mail. Note that enabling this option
allows for addresses that can cause arbitrary command execution
by starting with the | character.


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 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. See also the followup, Save,
and Copy commands and outfolder in Internal Variables, and the
Starting Mail section in USAGE above.


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. See also the Followup, Save,
and Copy commands and outfolder in Internal Variables, and the
Starting Mail section in USAGE above.


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
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 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
VARIABLES 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 VARIABLES. 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 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 VARIABLES. 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. The replysender
command is not affected by the replyall variable, but sends each
reply only to the sender of each message. See the Starting Mail
section in USAGE above.


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. The
replyall command is not affected by the replyall variable, but
always sends the reply to all recipients of the message. See the
Starting Mail section in USAGE above.


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 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 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 Internal Variables for a description
of all predefined mail variables.


shell

Invoke an interactive shell. See also SHELL in ENVIRONMENT
VARIABLES.


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 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 VARIABLES.


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 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 VARIABLES).
Notice 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 Internal Variables).

Tilde Escapes

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 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 Internal Variables).


~a
Insert the autograph string sign into the
message (see 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 VARIABLES for a description of
this file.


~e
Invoke the editor on the partial message. See
also EDITOR in ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES.


~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 VARIABLES 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
VARIABLES.


~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.

Internal Variables

The following variables are internal 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.

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 and
fuzzymatch variables.


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 system 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 frequently set in the
system startup file. See Starting Mail in
USAGE above.


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
RFC822 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(8) 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 system startup file (which can be
suppressed with the -n command line
option).


fcc
By default, mailx will treat any address
containing a slash ("/") character as a
local "send to file" address. By unsetting
this option, this behavior is disabled.
Enabled by default.


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.


from
Extract the author listed in the header
summary from the From: header instead of
the UNIX From line. Enabled by default.


fuzzymatch
The from command searches for messages from
the indicated sender. By default, the full
sender address must be specified. By
setting this option, only a sub-string of
the sender address need be specified.
Disabled by default.


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 frequently set in the system
startup file. See Starting Mail in USAGE
above.


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(5) 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
frequently unset in the system startup
file. See flipr and Starting Mail in USAGE
above.


returnaddr=string
The default sender address is that of the
current user. This variable can be used to
set the sender address to any arbitrary
value. Set with caution.


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(8) 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:

o the postmark for the sender (see
the postmark variable)

o 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.

o 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.

Large File Behavior

See largefile(7) for the description of the behavior of mailx when
encountering files greater than or equal to 2 Gbyte ( 2^31 bytes).

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

See environ(7) 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 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).

EXIT STATUS

When the -e option is specified, the following exit values are
returned:

0
Mail was found.


>0
Mail was not found or an error occurred.


Otherwise, the following exit values are returned:

0
Successful completion. Notice 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

FILES

$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 system 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

ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:


+--------------------+-----------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Interface Stability | Standard |
+--------------------+-----------------+

SEE ALSO

echo(1), ed(1), ex(1), fmt(1), lp(1), ls(1), mail(1), mailcompat(1),
more(1), pg(1), sh(1), vacation(1), vi(1), biff(1B), mail(1B),
uucp(1C), aliases(5), passwd(5), attributes(7), environ(7),
largefile(7), standards(7), newaliases(8), sendmail(8)

NOTES

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 Solaris 1.x when your mail
server is running Solaris 2.x, first execute the mailcompat(1)
program.

December 18, 2014 MAILX(1)