MAIL(1)

NAME
mail - send or receive mail among users

SYNOPSIS
mail [-epqr] [-f file]
mail [-t] person ...

DESCRIPTION

mail with no argument prints a user's mail, message-by-message, in last-in, first-out order. For each message, it reads a line from the standard input to direct disposition of the message.

newline
    Go on to next message.

d   Delete message and go on to the next.

p   Print message again.

-   Go back to previous message.

s [file] ...
    Save the message in the named files (`mbox' default).

w [file] ...
    Save the message, without a header, in the named files (`mbox' default).

m [person] ...
    Mail the message to the named persons (yourself is default).

EOT (control-D)
    Put unexamined mail back in the mailbox and stop.

q   Same as EOT.

!command
    Escape to the Shell to do command.

*   Print a command summary.

When persons are named, mail takes the standard input up to an end-of-file (or a line with just `.') and adds it to each person's `mail' file. The message is preceded by the sender's name and a postmark. Lines that look like postmarks are prepended with `>'. A person is either a user name recognized by login(1), an internet address (see mailaddr(7), or a recipient on a UUCP remote system, with the login name prefixed by the system name and exclamation mark (see uucp(1C)).

The -e option checks for the existence of mail only and causes mail to exit successfully if mail is present.

The -f option causes the named file, for example, `mbox', to be printed as if it were the mail file.

The -p option causes all messages to be printed without prompting for disposition.

An interrupt normally terminates the mail command; the mail file is unchanged. The -q option tells mail to continue after interrupts.

The -r option displays the mail messages in first-in, first-out order.

The -t option causes a `To:' header field to be created with the names of all recipients.

When a user logs in he is informed of the presence of mail.

FILES

/etc/passwd
    to identify sender and locate persons

/var/mail/*
    incoming mail for user *

mbox
    saved mail

/tmp/ma*
    temp file

/var/mail/*.lock
    lock for mail directory

dead.letter
    unmailable text

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

MAIL
    User's mail file.

SEE ALSO
mailx(1), write(1), uucp(1C), uux(1C), mailaddr(7), sendmail(8)

NOTES
Race conditions sometimes result in a failure to remove a lock file.