The Elm Reference Guide

The Elm Mail System (Version 2.4)

Copyright 1986,1987 by Dave Taylor
Copyright 1988-1992 by The USENET Community Trust

The Elm Reference Guide

(The Elm Mail System, Version 2.4) October 1, 1992

Derived from

The Elm Mail System, Version 2.0 by

Dave Taylor

Intuitive Systems
Mountain View, California

email: taylor@intuitive.com or limbo!taylor

1. Introduction

To be more explicit, this document covers: a discussion of the .elm/elmrc file, command line options of Elm, outgoing mail processing, responses of various commands, mail archive folders, the Alias system, system aliases etc, more on the Elm utilities, and a section for expert mail users.

Without any further ado, then, let's get this show on the road!!

2. The .elm/elmrc File

The format for each line of the .elm/elmrc file is:

variable = value

String Variables

aliassortby*

You can have your alias display sorted by any of the following ways:

alias

Sorts according to aliasname for each address.

name

Sorts according to username for each address.

text

Presents the aliases in the order found in the aliases.text file.

Each of these fields can also optionally be prepended with the sequence "reverse-" to reverse the order of the sort. This doesn't imply anything about the order of the message in the aliases.text file itself and affects only their order on the display screen. The default is name order.

alteditor+

The editor to use when mailing to a message that already includes text, as the builtin editor cannot handle that situation. Messages that already include text are forwarded messages and replies where the original message is included in the reply. This value is not needed if the editor variable is not set to "builtin".

alternatives

This is a list of other machine/username combinations that you receive mail from (forwarded). This is used when the group reply feature is invoked to ensure that you don't send yourself a copy of the outbound message. The default is a list of no alternatives.

attribution

When you forward a message or reply to it, you can optionally attribute the quoted text to its original author. Defining the attribution string here allows you to indicate the form that the attribution should take. The sequence '%s' in the attribution is replaced by the name of the original author. Examples are:

	 attribution = According to %s:
         attribution = %s writes: 

calendar*

This is used in conjunction with the '<' scan message for calendar entries command, as the file to append any found calendar entries to. The default is calendar in your home directory.

charset

This is the character set used for messages with a Content-Type: text/plain header. The default depends on your site's installation, but is usually US-ASCII. charseti is only recognized if MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) support is configured. You could set charset to your preferred national character set, but be aware that there is currently no way to change it online. Also you must be aware that Elm probably needs metamail to display messages with charset=US- ASCII if you change charset. Elm tries to know which character set could display US-ASCII too, but its list of compatible character sets is probably not complete.

displaycharset

This is the character set which is supported by your terminal. The default depends on your site's installation but is usually US-ASCII. For sites with support, ISO-8859-1 is a reasonable default.

compatcharsets

This is the list of character sets which are more or less a superset of US-ASCII. This enables Elm to display messages with charset=US-ASCII with the builtin pager, or your preferred pager, instead of calling metamail. compatcharsets is only recognized if MIME support is configured. The ISO-8859-X character sets are defaulted.

configoptions

This is a list of letters that indicate which of the run-time configurable options you desire placed on the options screen (see section 7, Commands, for the options command). There are 22 run-time configurable options, but only room for 15 on a 24-line screen. The default list is ^_cdefsopyv_am_un. Two additional characters can be specified for formatting. Those are _, which adds a blank line, and ^, which places the title message on that line instead of the bottom of the screen. The letters 'i', 'q', and 'x' are reserved for "return to index", "quit", and "exit", respectively, and are not listed as part of the configoptions list. The options controlled by each letter are:

a

A)rrow cursor (arrow)

b

B)order on copy (prefix)

c

C)alendar file (calendar)

d

D)isplay mail using (pager)

e

E)ditor (primary) (editor)

f

F)older directory (maildir)

h

H)old sent message (copy)

j

J) reply editor (alteditor)

k

K) pause after pager (promptafter)

l

A(l)ias Sorting (aliassortby)

m

M)enu display (menu)

n

N)ames only (names)

o

O)utbound mail saved (sentmail)

p

P)rint mail using (print)

r

R)eply copies msg (autocopy)

s

S)orting criteria (sortby)

t

T)ext editor (~e) (easyeditor)

u

U)ser level (userlevel)

v

V)isual Editor (~v) (visualeditor)

w

W)ant Cc: prompt (askcc)

y

Y)our full name (fullname)

z

Z) signature dashes (sigdashes)

easyeditor+

The editor to be used by the ~e escape within the "builtin" editor. The default value is the value of the configuration variable emacs_editor (see The Elm Configuration Guide).

editor*

The editor to use when typing in new mail. If you select "none" or "builtin" you'll get a Berkeley Mail style interface for all mail that doesn't already have text in the buffer (e.g. a reply, mail with a "signature", etc.) There are two possible formats for it, either a command that can have a filename appended to it before being executed, or a string that contains the metasequence '%s' which is replaced by the name of the file before being executed. Examples of each are:

editor = emacs -nw
editor = emacs -nw %s -f text-mode -f turn-on-auto-fill 

The default is to use the value of $EDITOR in your current environment, and if not set, an editor selected by the person who configured elm for your system.

escape

The character used with the builtin editor (see editor above) to escape from text entry to input a command. When a line begins with this character, the builtin editor interprets it as a command rather than as text to add. The default is "~" (tilde).

fullname*

This is the name the mailer uses in messages you send. It is highly recommended that you use your full name and nothing strange or unusual, as that can appear extremely rude to people receiving your mail. The default is to use the "gcos" field from the /etc/passwd file on systems that use this field to store full names, and to use the contents of the .fullname file in your home directory on other systems.

hostdomain

This is the domain name of your system. This variable is only valid in the system-wide elm.rc file. It is only necessary if the value returned by the getdomainname system call is incorrect for your mail use or if that system call is unavailable on your system. If this variable is specified, then the hostfullname variable must also be specified.

hostfullname

This is the full "Fully Qualified Domain Name" of your system. This variable is only valid in the system-wide elm.rc file. It is only necessary if the value returned by the getdomainname and gethostname system calls are incorrect for your mail use or if those system calls are unavailable on your system. It is required if either the hostdomain or the hostname variables are used within the system-wide elm.rc file.

hostname

This is the local node-name of your system. This variable is only valid in the system wide elm.rc file. It is only necessary if the value returned by the gethostname system call is incorrect for your mail use or if that system call is unavailable on your system. If this variable is specified, then the hostfullname variable must also be specified.

localsignature

See signature.

maildir*

This is your folder directory. When you specify a folder name beginning with the = metacharacter,1 it stands for this directory name. That is, if you save a message to folder =stuff the '=' is expanded to the current value of maildir. The default is the directory Mail in your home directory.

pager*

This is the program to be used to display messages. You can specify "builtin" or the name of any standard pager. If you use "builtin+", each screenfull of displayed message is "paged" from the top of your screen with a title line, while "builtin" simply "scrolls" up subsequent screenfulls once it has "paged" the first screen- full. The default is to use the value of $PAGER in your current environment, and if not set, a pager selected by the person who configured elm for your system, quite likely "builtin+".

precedences

Some mail transports look at a "Precedence" header in outbound mail messages to determine how to deliver the message. The Elm header editing menu allows you to place a precedence on your mail messages. By default, Elm allows any value to be specified as the message precedence. This option may be used to restrict the allowed precedences to a particular list. For example, you might say:

precedences = special-delivery air-mail first-class bulk junk

Exactly what precedences your mail transport supports and what they do (if anything at all!) will vary from site to site.

The distinction between the "Precedence" and "Priority" headers is subtle: the precedence tells the mail system how to handle the message and the priority tells the recipient how important the message is. Although these are quite different things, they are often related. This option will also allow you to associate message priorities with precedences. For example, you might say:

precedences = special-delivery:urgent air-mail:urgent first-class bulk junk 

In this example, if you select an "air-mail" precedence then the message priority defaults to "urgent". If you select a "first-class" precedence then no special priority is implied. The priorities given in this field are used only if you have not already assigned a priority to your message, and even if one is assigned via precedences you can always go back and change it.

prefix+

When you reply to a message or forward a message to another person, you can optionally include the original message. Defining the prefix value here allows you to indicate what the prefix of each included line should be. The default is "> " (specified as >_ - underscore is interpreted as space) and is standard in the UNIX community.

print*

This is the command used for printing mail messages. There are two possible formats for the command, depending on whether or not the command contains the sequence '%s'. In the first form the mail message(s) to be printed are piped to the specified command. An example of this form is:

print = print -formfeed 

In the second form the mail message(s) to be printed are dumped into a temporary file, and a '%s' in the command string is replaced with the name of the temporary file. An example of this form is:

print = pr %s | lpr

Another significant difference between the two forms is that in the second form all output from the command is discarded, but in the first form all output is displayed on the terminal. For example, if you wish to use the "pass-through" feature to print on the aux port of a terminal, you must use the first form. The second form is provided for backward compatibility with old versions of Elm. It is depreciated and might be removed in a future release. The default is set by the person who configured elm for your system.

receivedmail

This is the folder to which incoming mail is saved after you've read it. When you answer no to "Keep unread messages in your incoming mailbox?" prompt or yes to "Store read messages in your 'received' folder?", this is where the messages go. The default is "=received", that is, a folder called received in your maildir directory.

remotesignature

See signature.

sentmail*

This is the folder to which a copy of outgoing mail is automatically saved. This is only done if the copy boolean variable is set ON. Also note that if the savename boolean variable is enabled then this folder may be ignored since the program may save to a folder that has the same name as the login of the person you're sending to. Whether or not a copy is saved, and to what folder, can be changed just prior to sending a message (see the copy command of the mail command submenu in section 7, Commands). The default is "=sent", that is, a folder called sent in your maildir directory.

shell

This defines the shell to use when doing "!" escapes and such. The default is to use the value of $SHELL in your current environment, and if not set, a shell selected by the person who configured elm for your system. Note that the "!" escape is optional and may not be enabled in your version of Elm.

signature

This defines the file that is automatically appended to all outbound mail before the editor is invoked. Furthermore, if you'd like a different signature file for local mail and remote mail (remote being via other hosts), you can alternatively define two variables, localsignature and remotesignature, to have the same functionality. The default is to not have signatures appended to your messages.

sortby*

You can have your folder sorted in any of the following ways:

from

Sorts according to whom each message is from.

lines

Sorts shortest to longest by message.

mailbox

Leaves the messages in the order found in the folder.

received

Sorts least recently received to most recently received.

sent

Sorts least recently sent to most recently sent.

status

Sorts by priority, action, new, tagged, then deleted.

subject

Sorts according to the subject of each message.

Each of these fields can optionally be prepended with the sequence "reverse-" to reverse the order of the sort. This doesn't imply anything about the order of the messages in the folder itself and affects only their order on the index screen. The default is mailbox order.

tmpdir

Use this if you want to define your own directory for the temporary file Elm creates while running. This is only necessary if using the system temporary directory could cause problems, such as when not all NFS clients mount the common temporary directory, or when the temporary directory is prone to being cleared periodically. The default entry of the system temporary directory is normally OK.

visualeditor+

The editor to be used by the ~v escape within the builtin editor. The default value is the value of the configuration variable vi_editor (see The Elm Configuration Guide).

weedout

When specifying this option, you can list headers that you don't want to see when you are displaying a message. This list can continue for as many lines as desired, as long as the continued lines all have leading indentation. All headers in this entry append to the default weedout list. There are two special header flags. The first, *clear-weed-list*, clears the default list. The second, *end-of-user-headers*, terminates the entry, in case the following lines look like they might be more headers for the list. The default weedout list includes the following header strings:

>From:
Apparently-To:
Content-Length: 
Content-Transfer-Encoding:
Content-Type:
From:
In-Reply-To:
MIME-Version:
Message-Id:
Newsgroups:
Received:
References:
Status:
X-Mailer:

Numeric Variables

bounceback

This is a hop count threshold value and allows you to set up the mailer so that when you send mail more than n machines away, it'll automatically include a "Cc:" to you through the remote machine. In practice this should be very rarely used. Note that this refuses to bounce mail off an Internet address. The default is to have it set to zero, which disables the function.

builtinlines

This is used to determine if the builtin pager should be used on some messages even if you would usually use an external pager program. There are two ways of determining whether the builtin pager should be used. If you want any message that is shorter than "n" lines to use the internal pager, set this variable to "n". If you want the builtin pager to be used if the message is "m" lines shorter than the number of lines on your screen, set this variable to "-m". Setting this variable to zero will result in the message always being sent through your external pager. This variable is used only if the pager is not set to the builtin pager. The default is -3.

readmsginc

This variable modifies the display of the message Reading in foldername, message: #, which is displayed when reading a new folder. The message count is normally updated as each message in the folder is read. If you are on a slow terminal and are reading a folder with a large number of messages, the time it takes to redraw the message count can significantly exceed the time it takes to simply read the folder.

The readmsginc variable controls the frequency with which the message count is updated. If this parameter is set to 50, the message count will be updated after every 50 messages (i.e., at 50, 100, 150, and so forth). The default value for this parameter is 1. If a value of less than 1 is specified for this parameter, the value is ignored, and the default value is used instead.

sleepmsg

This variable modifies the time Elm waits after displaying a transient message before erasing it and continuing. It can be set to zero to suppress the wait entirely. It is in units of whole seconds.

timeout

On more advanced systems, it's nice to start up the mailer in a window and let it sit in background until new mail arrives (see wnewmail for another window based program), at which point it can be brought up to the forefront of the system and read. In this case, it would be quite convenient to have the mailer internally resynchronize every so often. This option specifies the number of seconds that this occurs.

This is also useful for non-windowing terminals. For example, you can leave Elm running at night (I usually do) and when you come in in the morning it'll be all ready to read your mail!

The default is a 300 second (5 minute) timeout period.

userlevel*

This is what the program uses to determine the relative level of sophistication of the user. The values are 0 for a new user (the default), 1 for someone familiar with elm, and 2 for experts. Some advanced features are hidden from novice users, while experts get less verbose prompt messages. The default is 0.

Boolean Variables

alwaysdelete

Set ON to set the default answer to the Delete messages? prompt to yes (see the quit command in section 7, Commands, and the ask variable below). This default answer also applies to deletions from the alias system. The default for alwaysdelete is OFF.

alwayskeep

Set ON to set the default answer to the Keep unread mail in incoming mailbox? prompt to yes. However, if you set alwaysstore OFF or answer no to the Store read mail in received folder? prompt, it is presumed that you also want to keep your unread mail in the incoming mailbox, so the value of alwayskeep is ignored in those cases. See the quit command in section 7, Commands, and the ask and alwaysstore variables below for more details. The default for alwayskeep is ON.

alwaysstore

Set ON to set the default answer to the Store read mail in received folder? prompt to yes (see the quit command in section 7, Commands, and the ask variable below). The default for alwaysstore is OFF.

arrow*

Sometimes you are forced to use a slow or dumb terminal. Set ON to make the current message pointer the -> sequence rather than the inverse bar. Note that this is overridden by the -a command line option (see section 3, Command Line Options). The default is OFF.

ask

Set OFF to tell Elm that you'd rather not be asked Delete messages? and such each time you quit, resynchronize, change folders, or return from the alias system, but that it should just use the values of alwaysdelete, alwaysstore, and alwayskeep without prompting. Note that when you quit Elm, if you use Q instead of q, you will never be questioned, regardless of how you have ask set. See the quit commands in section 7, Commands, and the alwaysdelete, alwayskeep, and alwaysstore variables above for more details. The default for ask is ON.

askcc+

Set OFF to allow sending mail without being presented the Copies to: prompt for each message. This still allows you to explicitly include addresses in the Cc: list via either the header editor or ~c in the builtin editor (see section 8, Using Elm with editor = none). The default is ON.

autocopy+

Set ON for Elm to automatically copy the text of each message replied to into the edit buffer. Otherwise you will be prompted as to whether you want the message included in your reply. See the prefix variable under String Variables in section 2 for how copied text is marked. The default for autocopy is OFF.

confirmappend

Set ON to make Elm ask for permission to append messages to the end of any file that already exists. Whether the file is a mail folder in the user's mail directory or an ordinary file makes no difference. The default is OFF.

confirmcreate

Set ON to make Elm ask for permission before it creates a new file to store messages in. It makes no difference whether the new file would be a mail folder in the user's mail directory or an ordinary file. The default is OFF.

confirmfiles

This allows you to have some last resort control over Elm when a message would be appended (by copy, save, or auto-cc) to an existing file which is not a folder in your mail directory (see the maildir variable under String Variables in section 2). Set ON to make Elm ask for permission to append a message to the end of an ordinary file, otherwise it silently adds the message to the end of the specified file whether it is a folder or not. The default is OFF.

confirmfolders

Set ON to make Elm ask before creating new mail folders in your mail directory (see the maildir variable under String Variables in section 2), otherwise it silently creates new mail folders whenever a copy of a message is going to be stored in a folder that does not already exist. See the copy, savename, and forcename variables below for additional information about copying messages. The default for confirmfolders is OFF.

copy+

Set ON to have silent copies made of all outgoing mail. Where the copy of the message is saved is determined by the maildir and sentmail string variables and the savename and forcename boolean variables. Whether a copy is saved and to which folder can also be set prior to sending a message - see the copy command of the mail command sub-menu in section 7, Commands, for details. The default for copy is OFF.

forcename

Set ON to force creation of folders for copies of outbound mail by the recipient name. For complete details of how to enable automatic copying of outbound messages, see the copy and savename boolean variables. The default is OFF.

forms

Set ON to enable the generation of forms type messages. See the Elm Forms Mode Guide for further information about mail forms.

keepempty

The mail system has a habit of deleting folders when you've removed everything from them. Set ON to preserve empty folders as zero-length files. Note that this option does not apply to your incoming mailbox. The default is OFF.

keypad

Set ON to indicate that you have an HP terminal and want the <NEXT>, <PREV>, <HOME> and <SHIFT-HOME> keys enabled. The default is OFF.

menu*

Set OFF to inhibit the menu display on all screen displays within Elm. Note that this is overridden by the -m command line option (see section 3, Command Line Options). The default is ON.

metoo

Set ON to get a copy of mail you send to a mailing list you are on, otherwise you do not get a copy of such messages. The default is OFF.

names*

Set OFF to display the primary recipients' addresses on your screen with their full names when you send a message. Set ON to display only the full names. The default is ON.

movepage

Set ON to enable commands that move through the folder by pages (see the +, -, <right>, and <left> keys in section 7, Commands) to move the current message pointer to the top of that page of messages. Set OFF to not alter the current message pointer location when moving through pages. The default is OFF.

noheader

Set ON to not include the headers of messages when copying a message into the edit buffer for replying or forwarding (see the autocopy variable above). The default is ON.

pointnew

Set ON to cause the current message pointer to point to the first new message in your incoming mailbox when started, instead of at message #1 of the index. This has no effect for other folders since they are not expected to have new mail. The default is ON.

promptafter+

Set ON to display a command prompt rather than the index screen when exiting from an external pager. This variable has no effect on the builtin pager. See the pager variable under String Variables in section 2 to specify which pager to use to read messages.

If your external pager immediately exits when it reaches the end of the message, you should set promptafter ON so that the last screen of the displayed message is not immediately replaced by the index screen. If your external pager doesn't exit until you command it to, you have a choice. If you usually want to see the index screen before issuing a command, setting this variable OFF eliminates the extra keystroke needed to return to the index screen. If you usually don't need to see the index screen before issuing the next command, setting it ON allows you to enter your next command without waiting for the index screen to be redrawn. The default is ON.

resolve

Set ON to move the current message pointer to the next message on the index when a mail message is dealt with through deleting, undeleting, saving, forwarding, etc. or set OFF to leave the current message pointer unchanged. The default is ON.

savename

One of the problems with electronic mail systems is that one tends to get very large, one-dimensional (flat) files that contain lots of completely unrelated mail. Elm can use a more intelligent algorithm: for incoming mail, when you save or copy it (see section 7, Commands), the default folder is the login name of the person who sent you the message (changed by pressing anything other than <return> of course). Similarly, when sending mail, instead of just blindly saving it to the sentmail folder, elm can save it to a folder that is the login name of the recipient of the mail2. Set savename ON to enable this algorithm.

If forcename is OFF (see above), the copy is saved to that folder only if the folder already exists. In practice, this means that important people that you communicate with (those that you tend to save mail from) have folders that are actually a recorded log of the discussion in both directions and others (random mailings) are all stuffed in the sentmail folder for easy perusal and removal (see the sentmail variable under String Variables in section 2). If you always want to save copies of outgoing messages in separate folders by recipient login name, you'll want to set forcename ON.

The default for savename is ON.

sigdashes+

Set ON to tell Elm that you wish to follow the convention of prefixing your signature with newline dash dash blank newline. This is placed in your message before your signature file (see the signature, localsignature, and remotesignature variables under String Variables in section 2). If OFF, the signature file, if any, is placed at the end of the message without any prefix. The default is ON.

softkeys

Set ON to tell Elm that you have an HP terminal with the HP 2622 function key protocol and that you'd like to have the function keys available while in the program. The default is OFF.

titles

Set ON to have the first line of a message titled with:

Message N/M from username           date at time 

where all the information is extracted from the message. This is especially useful if you weed out all the headers of each message with a large weedout list (see the weedout variable under String Variables in section 2). The default is ON.

usetite

Set ON to enable use of the termcap/terminfo ti/te capabilities. Many terminal emulators require it (not the least of which is the OpenLook cmdtool). Some terminal emulators clear the screen on te (some xterms). Set OFF to disable use of ti/te. Note that this is overridden by the -t command line option (see section 3, Command Line Options). The default is ON.

weed

Set ON to have Elm weed out certain headers from displayed messages, that is, not display them. The weedout variable under String Variables in section 2 allows you to custom define the set of headers you would like to not have displayed while reading mes- sages. The default for the weed variable is ON.

#
# .elm/elmrc - options file for the ELM mail system
#
# Saved automatically by ELM 2.4 for Dave Taylor
# 

# For yes/no settings with ?, ON means yes, OFF means no 

# where to save calendar entries
calendar = ~/.Agenda 

# what editor to use ("none" means simulate Berkeley Mail)
editor = none 

# the character to use in the builtin editor for entering commands
escape = ~ 

# the full user name for outbound mail
fullname = Dave Taylor 

# where to save received messages to, default file is "=received"
receivedmail = $HOME/Mail/received

# where to save my mail to, default directory is "Mail"
maildir = /users/taylor/Mail

# program to use for displaying messages ('builtin' is recommended)
pager = builtin

# prefix sequence for indenting included message text in outgoing messages...
prefix = >_ 

# how to print a message ('%s' is the filename)
print = lpr -Plw2 %s 

# where to save copies of outgoing mail to, default file is "=sent"
sentmail = /users/taylor/Mail/mail.sent 

# the shell to use for shell escapes
shell = /bin/csh 

# local ".signature" file to append to appropriate messages...
localsignature = localsig

# remote ".signature" file to append to appropriate messages...
remotesignature =  remotesig

# do we want dashes above signatures? (News 2.11 compatibility and convention)
sigdashes = ON

# how to sort folders, "Mailbox" by default
sortby = Reverse-Received

# how to sort the alias list, "Name" by default
aliassortby = Name

# should the default be to delete messages we've marked for deletion?
alwaysdelete = ON 

# should the default be to store read messages to the "received" folder?
alwaysstore = ON 

# should the default be to keep unread messages in the incoming mailbox?
alwayskeep = ON 

# should we use the "->" rather than the inverse video bar?
arrow = OFF 

# should the message disposition questions be displayed (ON) or
# auto-answered (OFF) with the default answers when we resync or change folders?
ask = ON

# would you like to be asked for Carbon-Copies information each msg?
askcc = ON 

# automatically copy message being replied to into buffer?
autocopy = OFF

# threshold for bouncing copies of remote uucp messages...
# zero = disable function.
bounceback = 0

# save a copy of all outbound messages?
copy = ON

# do we want to be able to mail out AT&T Mail Forms?
forms = OFF

# should we keep folders from which all messages are deleted?
keepempty = OFF

# we're running on an HP terminal and want HOME, PREV, NEXT, etc...
keypad = OFF

# should we display the three-line 'mini' menu?
menu = ON

# would you like a copy of a message you send to an alias you are on???
metoo = OFF

# when using the page commands (+ - <NEXT> <PREV>) change the current
# message pointer...? 
movepage = ON 

# just show the names when expanding aliases?
names = ON

# when messages are copied into the outbound buffer, don't include headers?
noheader = ON

# start up by pointing to the first new message received, if possible?
pointnew = ON

# prompt for a command after the external pager exits?
promptafter = ON

# emulate the mailx message increment mode (only increment after something
# has been 'done' to a message, either saved or deleted, as opposed to
# simply each time something is touched)?
resolve = ON

# save messages, incoming and outbound, by login name of sender/recipient?
savename = ON

# save outbound messages by login name of sender/recipient even if the
# associated folder doesn't already exist?
forcename = OFF 

# are we running on an HP terminal and want HOME, PREV, NEXT, etc...?
# (this implies "keypad=ON" too)
softkeys = OFF

# set the main prompt timeout for resynching...
timeout = 60

# display message title when displaying pages of message?
titles = ON

# are we good at it?  0=beginner, 1=intermediate, 2+ = expert!
userlevel = 2 

# enable the weedout list to be read?
weed = ON 

# what headers I DON'T want to see, ever.
            weedout = "Path:" "Via:" "Sent:" "Date" "Status:" "Original" "Phase"
                      "Subject:" "Fruit" "Sun" "Lat" "Buzzword" "Return" "Posted"
                      "Telephone" "Postal-Address" "Origin" "X-Sent-By-Nmail-V" "Resent"
                      "X-Location" "Source" "Mood" "Neuron" "Libido" "To:" "X-Mailer:"
                      "Full-Name:" "X-HPMAIL" "Cc:" "cc:" "Mmdf" "Network-" "Really-"
                      "Sender:" "Post" "Message-" "Relay-" "Article-" "Lines:"
                      "Approved:" "Xref:" "Organization:" "*end-of-user-headers*" 

# alternative addresses that I could receive mail from (usually a
# forwarding mailbox) and don't want to have listed...
alternatives = hplabs!taylor  hpldat!taylor  taylor@hplabs  taylor%hpldat 

3. Command Line Options

The options are:

-a

This allows you to have the -> arrow pointer rather than the inverse bar. This can also be set in the .elm/elmrc file with the boolean variable arrow.

-c

Check only. This is useful for expanding aliases without sending any mail. The invocation is similar to invoking Elm in send-only mode:

elm -c  list-of-aliases

-d n

Set debug level to n. Useful for debugging the Elm program, this option will create a file in your home directory called ELM:debug.info containing a running log of what is going on with the program. Level n can be 1 through 11, where the higher numbers generate more output. This option might be disabled by the the person who configured elm for your system.

-f folder

Read the specified folder rather than the default incoming mailbox. Note that you can use the same metacharacters (e.g. '=') as when you change folders from within the program. You can also use the same abbreviatory symbols ('!', '>' and '<'), but remember to "single quote" them in case they have special meaning in the shell you use.

-h or -?

Help message. Gives a short list of all these options and exits.

-i file

Include a prepared file in the edit buffer before sending. This facilitates using Elm with other programs that interface with mail (like news readers, for example). There is an example of how to set up the rn news reading program to use elm in The Elm Users Guide. The file specified is copied into the temporary file just before the signature file.

-k

Keypad enable. This option lets the Elm program know that you're on an HP terminal, and it can then interpret the <PREV>, <NEXT> and <HOME>/<SHIFT>-<HOME> keys accordingly. If you are not on an HP terminal, it is recommended that you do NOT use this option. See also the keypad variable, described under Boolean Variables in section 2.

-K

Keypad + softkeys enable. The Elm mailer can use the HP softkeys as an alternative form of input. If you specify this option be sure that you're on an HP terminal that can accept the standard 2622 terminal escape sequences! See also the softkeys variable, described under Boolean Variables in section 2.

-m

Inhibit display of the 3-line menu when using the mailer. This, of course, gives you three more message headers per page instead. See also the menu variable, described under Boolean Variables in section 2.

-s subject

In send-only and batch mode, this is how to indicate the subject of the resulting message. Please see the section on Non-Interactive Uses of Elm in The Elm Users Guide for more information.

-t

Disable use of the termcap/terminfo ti/te capabilities. Many terminal emulators require it (not the least of which is the OpenLook cmdtool). Some terminal emulators clear the screen on te (some xterms). See also the usetite variable, described under Boolean Variables in section 2.

-z

This causes Elm not to start if you don't have any mail, but instead to display the message You have no mail. This emulates the behavior of programs like Berkeley Mail.

4. Multi-Media Capabilities of Elm

If the support is compiled into Elm, on the receiving side Elm accesses Metamail from Nathaniel Borenstein of Bellcore. If you receive a MIME compliant message, Elm calls Metamail automatically to display the message. Metamail asks you if you want to display each part of the message and uses the display programs available at your site. This is controlled through the mailcap file.

On the sending side, there is a simple mechanism integrated in Elm to compose MIME compliant messages. If you have one or more key lines of the form [include file contenttype/subtype encoding] in the message body, at each of these key lines, a file is included, and becomes a part of the message. The text lines before, between and after the include lines go into extra message parts of type text.

As an example, say you want to include the file foo.gif into your message, which is a GIF image, and you want to use base64 encoding, use the following line:

[include foo.gif image/gif base64]

Or you want to include a text file which contains plain ASCII:

[include foo.txt text/plain]

The encoding parameter is optional and the default is 7bit.

Refer to RFC1341 for valid contenttype/subtype and encoding parameter values.

5. Special Outgoing Mail Processing

The first, and probably the most exciting feature3, is the ability to send encrypted mail! To do this is extremely simple: you need merely to have two key lines[encode] and [clear] in the message body.

Consider the following outgoing message:

Joe,
Remember that talk we had about Amy?  Well, I talked to my manager
about it and he said...
uhh...better encrypt this...the usual `key'...
[encode]
He said that Amy was having family problems and that it had been
affecting her work.
Given this, I went and talked to her, and told her I was sorry for
getting angry.  She said that she understood.
We're friends again!!
[clear]
Exciting stuff, eh?
                                    Mike

Enter encryption key: @ 

If you have the copy option enabled, the program will save your copy of the message encrypted too. (This is to ensure the privacy and security of your mail archive, too.)

If the mailer doesn't ask for the encryption key, it's because you don't have the [encode] entered as the first 8 characters of the line. It MUST be so for this to work!!

On the other end, a person receiving this mail (they must also be using Elm to receive it, since this mailer has a unique encryption program) will be reading the message and then suddenly be prompted:

Enter decryption key: @

and will again be asked to re-enter it to confirm. The program will then on-the-fly decrypt the mail and display each line as it is decoded. The [clear] line signifies that the block to encrypt is done.

Note that it is not possible currently to pipe or print encrypted mail.

The other feature on outgoing mail is the ability to specify what section of the message you want to have archived (assuming copy is enabled) and what section you don't. This is most useful for sending out source file listings and so on.

To indicate the end of the section that should be saved in the archive, you need merely to have the key line

	[nosave]
or
	[no save] 

6. Customized header lines

Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
Phone: (415)-555-1234
Operating-System: `uname -srv`

7. Commands

?

Help. This command used once puts you in the help mode, where any key you press results in a one-line description of the key. Pressing ? again at this point produces a summary listing each command available. Pressing . (period) leaves the help mode and returns you to the command level.

<space>

Display the current message. <space> is useful for reading through a mail folder. When issued from the index screen, it displays the first screen of the current message. When issued while in the builtin pager, it pages through the message to the end. When issued at the end of a message (with either the builtin pager or an external pager), it displays the first screen of the next message not marked for deletion.

<return>

Display the current message. <return> behaves somewhat differently from <space>. When issued while in the builtin pager, it scrolls the current message forward one line, and then when issued at the end of a message (with either the builtin pager or an external pager), it redisplays the first screen of the current message. The latter is useful in case you have issued a non-pager command while in the builtin pager and want to restart the display of the current message.

!

Shell. This allows you to send a command to the shell without leaving the program. Note that it is possible that the person who installed Elm on your system disabled this feature.

|

Pipe. This command allows you to pipe the current message or the set of tagged messages through other filters as you desire. The shell used for the entire command is either the one specified in your .elm/elmrc file, or the default shell (see the shell variable under String Variables in section 2).

/

Pattern match. This command, at the command level, allows the user to search through all the from and subject lines of the current folder starting at the current message and continuing through the end. If the first character of the pattern is a '/', then Elm tries to match the specified pattern against any line in the folder. Again, this works from the current message through the end. Both searches are case insensitive.

- or <left>

Display the previous page of the message index.

+ or <right>

Display the next page of the message index.

<number><return>

Specify new current message. When you type in any digit, elm prompts "Set current to : n", where 'n' is the digit entered. Continue entering the full number and terminate with <return>. Note that changing the current message to a message not on the current page of headers results in a new page being displayed.

<

Scan message for calendar entries. A rather novel feature of the elm mailer is the ability to automatically incorporate calendar/agenda information from a mail message into the user's calendar file. This is done quite simply; any line that has the pattern

-> calendar entry 

is automatically added to the user's calendar file when the < command is used (see the calendar variable under String Variables in section 2).

For example, let's say we had a message with the text:

Regardless of  that  meeting,  here's  the  seminar stuff:
-> 8/03 3:00pm: AI Seminar with Ira Goldstein of HP Labs

then using the < command would add the line:

8/03 3:00pm: AI Seminar with Ira  Goldstein  of  HP Labs

to the user's calendar file.

a

Alias. The alias system is a way by which more complex mail addresses can be shortened for the mail user. For example:

joe, bleu   =  Joe Bleu  =   joe@hpfcla.SSO.HP.COM 

which allows mail to joe or bleu with the system expanding the address properly. Obviously, this saves having to remember complex addresses. A more detailed discussion can be found in either the section entitled The Alias System in this document or The Elm Alias System Users Guide.

b

Bounce mail. This remails mail to someone else in such a way as to make the return address the original sender rather than you. The forward command is similar, but it makes the return address you rather than the original sender.

C

Copy to folder. This command copies the current message or set of tagged messages to a folder. If there is anything in the folder currently the message is appended to the end, otherwise the folder is created containing only the newly copied messages. The prompt for this command is Copy to folder: . A response of <return> cancels the command and returns the user to the command prompt. The usual filename metacharacters are available, too. That is, this command expands filenames with '~' (tilde) to your home directory and '=' to your maildir directory, if defined. This command also allows you to use '>' for your receivedmail folder, '<' for your sentmail folder, and @alias for the default folder for 'alias'. If you use a shell wildcard in the file or folder name, you are given a list of all files or folders which match the wildcard. Elm uses your shell to find the names, so whatever wildcards you are used to will work. Finally, you can also enter '?' at the prompt to get detailed help.

c

Change folder. Specifying this command allows the user to change the folder that is currently being read. This is intended for perusal and reply to previously archived messages. The prompt is Name of new folder: and entering <return> cancels the operation, while entering a filename causes the program to read that file as the new folder, if possible. This command expands filenames with ~ (tilde) to your home directory and = to your maildir directory, if defined. This command also allows you to use ! as an abbreviation for you incoming mailbox, > for your receivedmail folder, < for your sentmail folder, and @alias for the default folder for 'alias'. If you use a shell wildcard in the file or folder name, you are given a list of all files or folders which match the wildcard. Elm uses your shell to find the names, so whatever wildcards you are used to will work. Finally, you can also enter ? at the prompt to get detailed help.

d, u

Delete and undelete. Neither of these two commands have any prompts and indicate their action by either adding a D to the current message index entry (indicating deletion pending) or removing the D (indicating that the message isn't set for deletion).

<control>-D

This command allows you to easily mark for deletion all messages that have a specific pattern. After <control>-D is pressed, Elm prompts for the string to match in either the from or subject lines of the messages.

<control>-U

This is the direct opposite command to the <control>-D command - all messages that match the specified pattern have any mark for deletion removed by this command.

e

Edit mailbox. This allows you to modify the current mail file at a single keystroke. This is mostly useful for editing messages before saving them. Modifying headers should be done with extreme caution, as they contain routing information and other vital stuff for full functionality. This command may be disabled by whoever configured your Elm installation.

f

Forward. Allows the user to forward the current message to another user. This copies the message into the edit buffer and allows the user to add their own message too. The prompt is Forward to: and will expand an alias if entered. See also bounce, above.

Elm will ask you if you want to edit the message before sending it. If you answer yes, Elm will prepend your prefix string to each line of the message, and let you edit the result. If you do not want the prefix string on each line, answer no; you will have another chance to edit the message when you get to the send menu. See the prefix variable under String Variables in section 2.

g

Group reply. Identical to reply below, except that the response is mailed to all recipients of the original message except yourself. See the alternatives variable under String Variables in section 2.

h

Display the current message with all headers intact. When you display a message with other commands, certain header lines are formatted and others discarded according to the weedlist variable, described under String Variables in section 2.

i

Return to the index screen, when issued in the builtin pager or at the end of a message with either the builtin pager or an external pager.

j or <down>, k or <up>

These four keys work similarly to what they would do in vi or any of the other (precious few) screen oriented programs. The j and <down> keys move the current message pointer down to the next message skipping over any marked deleted (going to the next page if necessary) and the k and <up> keys move the current message pointer back to the previous message skipping over any marked deleted (also changing pages if necessary).

J, K

These two keys work similarly to their lower case counterparts, i except that they don't skip over deleted messages.

l

Limit. This feature allows you to specify a subset of the existing messages to be dealt with. For example, let's say we had a folder with four hundred messages in it, with only four or five different subjects. We could then limit what we're dealing with by using the limit command. Pressing l would result in the prompt:

Criteria: 

to which we could answer subject string, from string or to string. In our example, we could use subject programming as a criterion for selection. Once we've limited our selections, the screen is rewritten with just the selected messages and the top line changes to have a message like:

Folder is "=elm" with 92 shown out of 124 [Elm 2.4] 

We can further limit selections by using the limit option repeatedly to enter further criteria. To clear all the criteria and get back to the regular display, simply enter all as the limiting criteria. It should be noted that the selection based on to isn't fully implemented for this version, so it is recommended that users stay with subject and from as the basis for their criteria.

m

Mail. Send mail to a specified user. The prompt associated with this command is Send mail to: . Entering an alias name results in the full address being rewritten in parenthesis immediately. This prompt is followed by Subject: which allows the user to title their note. The final prompt is Copies to: , which allows other people specified to receive carbon copies of the message, but see the askcc variable under Boolean Variables in section 2. Upon entering all three items the editor is invoked and the message can be composed.

n

Next message that is not marked for deletion. Useful for displaying successive messages in a folder. When issued from the index screen, it displays the current message, and when issued while in the builtin pager or at the end of a message (with either the builtin pager or an external pager), it displays the first screen of the next message not marked for deletion.

o

Options. This full-screen display allows you to alter the settings of a number of parameters, including the current sorting method, the method of printing files, the calendar file, the save file, and so on. It's self-documenting (where have you heard that before?) so isn't explained in too much detail here. See the configoptions variable under String Variables in section 2.

p

Print. This allows you to print out the current message or the tagged messages to a previously defined printer. See the print variable under String Variables in section 2.

q

Quit. If you in the pager, you are returned to the index screen. If you are at the index screen, Elm quits altogether. However, if you have the ask variable set ON, Elm first prompts you for the disposition of the messages in the current folder. If any messages are marked for deletion, it asks if you want them deleted. If the current folder is your incoming mailbox, you are also asked if read messages should be stored in your receivedmail folder, and if unread messages should be kept in the incoming mailbox. The default answers to these questions are set by the .elm/elmrc variables alwaysdelete, alwaysstore, and alwayskeep (see Boolean Variables in section 2). However, if you elect to not store your read messages (i.e. keep them) it is presumed you want to keep your unread messages, too.

Q

Quick quit. This behaves similar to the quit command except that you are never prompted for answers to the message disposition questions. Elm disposes of messages according to the values you have set for alwaysdelete, alwaysstore, and alwayskeep in your .elm/elmrc file (see Boolean Variables in section 2).

r

Reply. Reply to the sender of the current message. If the autocopy variable is set to OFF in your .elm/elmrc file, Elm prompts Copy message? (y/n), to which you can specify whether or not a copy of the source message is to be copied into the edit buffer. If copied in, all lines from the message are prepended with the prefix character sequence specified in your .elm/elmrc file (see String Variables in section 2).

s

Save to folder. This command is like the copy command, except that the saved messages are marked for deletion and, if you are saving just the current message, the current message pointer is incremented afterwards (see the resolve variable under Boolean Variables in section 2). This command expands folder names with ~ (tilde) to your home directory and = to your maildir directory, if defined. This command also allows you to use > for your receivedmail folder, < for your sentmail folder (see String Variables in section 2), and @alias for the default folder for alias.

t

Tag. Tag the current message for a later operation.4

T

Tag and move to next undeleted message. This command is like the `Tag' command but also increments the current message pointer to the next undeleted message.

<control>-T

Tag all messages containing the specified pattern. Since tagging messages can occur on screens other than the one being viewed, Elm first checks to see if any messages are currently tagged and ask you if you'd like to remove those tags. After that, it will, similar to the <control>-D command, prompt for a pattern to match and then mark all messages that contain the (case insensitive) pattern in either the from or subject lines.

x

Exit. This leaves Elm and discards any changes to the mailbox. If changes are pending (such as messages marked for deletion) you are asked to confirm discarding the changes. If confirmed, no messages are deleted and the status of all messages is unchanged. That is, any messages that were new will remain new instead of being noted as old, and any messages that were read for the first time will be again noted as unread.

X

Exit immediately. This leaves Elm in the quickest possible manner without even prompting about discarding the changes to the mailbox. No messages are deleted and the status of all messages is unchanged. That is, any messages that were new will remain new instead of being noted as old, and any messages that were read for the first time will be again noted as unread.

c

Specify the folder for saving a copy of the message. This allows you to override the copy, forcename and savename variables from your .elm/elmrc file (see Boolean Variables in section 2). It prompts you for the name of the folder where a copy of the outgoing message is to be saved. The default displayed is taken from those three .elm/elmrc options and can be changed. This command also allows you to use > for your receivedmail folder and < for your sentmail folder (see String Variables in section 2), and =? to mean conditionally save by name and = to mean unconditionally save by name. Since you could next enter the edit headers command and change the recipients of your message, the name of the folder under the two save by name options is not established until you enter the send command. If you use a shell wildcard in the file or folder name, you are given a list of all files or folders which match the wildcard. Elm uses your shell to find the names, so whatever wildcards you are used to will work. You can also enter ? at the prompt to get help about saving.

e

Edit message (or form). Entering this command allows you to edit the text of your message or form.

f

Forget. This gets you out of sending a message you started. If you are in send-only mode, the message is saved to the file Canceled.mail in your home directory. Otherwise it can be restored at the next forward, mail, or reply command during the current session of Elm After issuing one of those commands you will be prompted with Recall last kept message?

h

Edit headers. This puts you into the header editing mode, whereby you can edit any of the various headers of your message. Like the options screen, it's selfdocumenting, so it isn't explained in too much detail here.

i

Run ispell (or some other configured spelling correction program). The outgoing message is run through an interactive spelling correction program if one is available. The default spelling program is the GNU ispell program unless changed by the person who installed Elm on your system.

m

Make form. This converts the message you have edited into a form. See the forms variable under Boolean Variables in section 2 and The Elm Forms Mode Guide for more details.

s

Send. This sends the message as is without any further ado.

8. Using Elm with editor = none

To access it, you need merely to specify editor=none in your .elm/elmrc file. With that, any messages to be composed that don't already have text in the buffer (e.g. no reply with the text included, etc.), will use this editor.

From the builtin editor, the following options are available for use. Each command here is prefixed with a ~ (tilde). You can specify a different escape character in your .elm/elmrc file, if you desire (see the escape variable under String Variables in section 2).

~?

Print a brief help menu.

~b

Change the Blind-Carbon-Copy list.

~c

Change the Carbon-Copy list.

~e

Invoke the easyeditor editor on the message, if possible (see the easyeditor variable under String Variables in section 2).

~f

Add the specified message or current message.

~h

Change all the available headers (To, Cc, Bcc, and Subject).

~m

Same as ~f, but with the current prefix (see the prefix variable under String Variables in section 2).

~o

Invoke a user specified editor on the message.

~p

Print out, on the screen, the message as typed in so far.

~r

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

~s

Change the Subject line.

~t

Change the To list.

~v

Invoke the vi visual editor on the message.

~<

Execute the specified UNIX command, entering the output of the command into the editor buffer upon completion. For example, ~< who includes the output of the who command in your message.

~!

Execute a UNIX command if one is given (as in ~!ls) or give the user a shell, either from the shell variable setting in the .elm/elmrc file or the default (see the shell variable under String Variables in section 2).

~~

Add a line prefixed by a single ~ character.

~m -n Joe 

To learn more about how they work, try 'em!

9. The Alias System

host1!host2! ... !hostN!user

the user merely has to remember a single word.

Two alias tables are available for a each user within Elm, namely the system alias file and the user's alias file. The system alias file is created and maintained (by the system administrator) by editing the file name defined for SYSTEM_ALIASES in the 'sysdefs.h' file (see The Elm Configuration Guide) and as described in the documentation with the newalias command, then running the newalias program.

An individual user can also have an alias file which works in conjunction with the system aliases. To do this, one merely needs to enter the alias menu system and create aliases with the a (alias current message) or n (make new alias) commands. Alternatively, the user can peruse the documentation for the newalias command and create a file as indicated therein. After executing the program, the aliases are available for use from within elm.

Please refer to The Elm Alias Users Guide for complete details.

Within elm, however, the alias system acts as an entirely different program, with its own display, own commands, and own mini-menu. The aliases are presented in a list similar to the index screen with the following menu:

	Alias commands:  ?=help, <n>=set current to n, /=search pattern
 a)lias current message, c)hange, d)elete, e)dit aliases.text, f)ully expand,
   l)imit display, m)ail, n)ew alias, r)eturn, t)ag, u)ndelete, or e(x)it

Alias: @ 

?

Help. This command used once puts you in the help mode, where any key you press will result in a one-line description of the key. Pressing ? again at this point produces a summary listing each command available. Pressing . (period) leaves the help mode and returns you to the alias command prompt.

<space> or <return> or v

Display the current alias address. The alias address is displayed below the alias menu. This command allows you to verify the address for a person or the contents of a group alias.

$

Resynchronize the alias text file ($HOME/.elm/aliases.text) and alias database by rebuilding the database from the text file by running newalias. 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.

/

Pattern match. This command allows the user 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 Elm also includes the comment and the fully expanded address fields in the search. The search is case insensitive. This allows the user to find a specific alias in the situation where there are a large number of aliases.

a

Alias current message. This allows the user 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. If the alias name is not unique, you will be asked if you wish to replace the existing alias. For further information, please see The Elm Alias System Users Guide.

c

Change current alias. This will prompt for changes to the current names and address. If other aliases are tagged you will be asked if you want to create a group alias from the tagged aliases. The original alias is replaced with the new information in your individual alias file ($HOME/.elm/aliases.text) and then added to the database (at the next alias resync). Aliases that have been changed are marked with an N (for new) until the database is updated.

d,u

Delete or undelete an alias. This allows the user to mark an alias for deletion in the same fashion as on the index screen. The deletions are not actually made until the user returns to the main menu with the r, q, or i commands or resyncs the display with the $ command. Deletions on system aliases are not allowed. These commands (plus the <control>-D and <control>-U versions) behave identically to their index screen counterparts (see section 7, Commands).

e

Edit the .elm/aliases.text file. The user alias file is edited using the editor defined in the editor variable in your .elm/elmrc file (see String Variables in section 2). newalias is run after the edit.

f

Display fully expanded alias. The currently selected alias is fully expanded and displayed to the user. This is most useful when working with group aliases.

l

Limit the display. You can limit the display by alias type (person/group or user/system) or by search pattern on name or alias. Otherwise, this works exactly like the limit command on the index screen.

m

Send mail to the current alias. The user is prompted to compose a new mail message to be sent to the person or group specified by the selected alias. If aliases are tagged the message is mailed to the person(s) and/or group(s) specified by the tagged aliases. Tags are cleared after mailing the message.

n

Make a new user alias. This prompts for a unique alias name and then for an address. If the alias name is not unique, you are asked if you wish to replace the existing alias. If aliases are tagged you are asked if you want to create a group alias from the tagged aliases. The information provided is added to your individual alias file ($HOME/.elm/aliases.text) and then added to the database at the next alias resync.

r or q or i

Return. Return to the index screen of the Elm program. Any pending deletions are processed and newalias is run to update the database. New additions are handled at this time as well.

R or Q or I

Quick return. This behaves like the r command except that you are never prompted for answers to alias disposition questions. Elm disposes of aliases according to the value set for the alwaysdelete variable in your .elm/elmrc file (see Boolean Variables in section 2).

t

Tag. Tag the current alias for a later operation.5 This command (plus the <control>-T version) behaves identically to its index screen counterpart (see section 7, Commands).

ix

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

10. Elm and Signals

In particular, Elm watches for the following signals and takes these actions:

ALRM

This is the alarm clock signal or time warning. Elm uses this to wake itself up periodically and check for new mail.

HUP

This is the hangup notice. It means that the terminal/modem/whatever which you have been using with elm has become detached from the system where Elm was running. When Elm gets this signal, it aborts all the pending operations and exits, leaving your mailbox unchanged.

USR1

This is the first user-defined signal. When elm gets this signal, it receives any pending mail, performs all the pending operations (deletes), and exits leaving all unread mail marked as new. This is the same as giving both the $ and X commands.

USR2

This is the second user-defined signal. When Elm gets this signal, it receives any pending mail, performs all the pending operations (deletes), and exits, leaving all unread mail marked as old. This is the same as giving both the $ and Q commands.

What you really want is one of the scenarios given in the description of HUP, USR1 or USR2. Use your local ps command to find out what the process number of your elm session is. Then give the command

kill -XXX process_number 

11. Expert Mail Users and Debugging the Mailer

The h (display with headers) command at the command prompt displays the current message ignoring the current setting of the weed variable (see Boolean Variables in section 2). This is most useful for answering questions of the form I wonder what this guy put in his header? and such. This command does not show up on the mini-menu because it is somewhat esoteric, but it does appear on the help screen.

The @ command at the command prompt outputs a screen of debugging information, including the number of lines and offsets of each of the messages in the current mailbox.

The # command at the command prompt displays the entire stored record structure for the current message.

The % command displays the full computed return address of the current message.

Starting up Elm with the -d (debug) option (see section 3, Command Line Options) creates a file called ELM:debug.info in your home directory which contains a wealth of useful information (to me, at least!) to aid in tracking down what errors are occurring and why.

If there are any problems with Elm, please try to recreate the error with the debug option enabled and set to the highest level (11) before sending defect reports my way.

One final note: all error names reported by the program are documented in the AT&T System V Interface Definition Reference Manual in errno(2).

Notes

2. When sending to a group, it's saved to the login name of the first person in the list only.

3. Unfortunately, at many non-US sites, it's quite probable that you won't be able to use this feature since you won't have the crypt() library available due to licensing restrictions.

4. Currently only copy, pipe, print, and save support this.

5. Currently only mail, change, and n3w alias support this.