MAIL(1)							  MAIL(1)

NAME
       mail  -	send or receive mail among users

SYNOPSIS
       mail person ...
       mail [ -r ] [ -q ] [ -p ] [ -f file ]

DESCRIPTION
       Mail  with  no  argument prints a user's mail, message-by-
       message, in last-in, first-out order; the  optional  argu-
       ment  -r causes first-in, first-out order.  If the -p flag
       is given, the mail is printed  with  no	questions  asked;
       otherwise,  for	each  message, mail 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.

       x      Exit, without changing the mailbox file.

       !command
	      Escape to the Shell to do command.

       ?      Print a command summary.

       An  interrupt  stops  the  printing of the current letter.
       The optional argument -q causes mail to exit after  inter-
       rupts without changing the mailbox.

       When  persons  are named, mail takes the standard input up

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MAIL(1)							  MAIL(1)

       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 usually a
       user name recognized by login(1).  To denote  a	recipient
       on  a  remote system, prefix person by the system name and
       exclamation mark (see uucp(1)).

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

       Each user owns his own mailbox, which is by default gener-
       ally readable but not  writable.	  The  command	does  not
       delete an empty mailbox nor change its mode, so a user may
       make it unreadable if desired.

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

FILES
       /usr/spool/mail/*   mailboxes
       /etc/passwd    to identify sender and locate persons
       mbox	 saved mail
       /tmp/ma*	 temp file
       dead.letter    unmailable text
       uux(1)

SEE ALSO
       xsend(1), write(1), uucp(1)

BUGS
       There  is  a  locking  mechanism	 intended  to prevent two
       senders from accessing the same mailbox,	 but  it  is  not
       perfect and races are possible.

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