Mail Utility: PINE

Use: To compose, sort and organize mail files

When you type pine at the prompt you will see a screen containing the following menu and information:

 

PINE 3.95 MAIN MENU Folder:inbox 0 Messages

? HELP - Get help using Pine

C COMPOSE MESSAGE - Compose and send/post a message

I FOLDER INDEX - View messages in current folder

L FOLDER LIST - Select a folder or newsgroup to view

A ADDRESS BOOK - Update address book

S SETUP - Configure or update Pine

Q QUIT - Exit the Pine program

Copyright 1989-1996. PINE is a trademark of the University of Washington.

? Help P PrevCmd R RelNotes

O OTHER CMDS L [ListFldrs] N NextCmd

Each screen in pine has a menu at the bottom of the screen to help you read and dispose of your mail. From the list given on the first screen in pine, you type the letter of your choice or highlight using the arrow keys and press enter. For example, you would type I to see a listing of your current mail messages.

If you choose I to view your current mail messages, you will see a screen with a numbered list of your current mail messages. At the bottom of the screen you will see commands you may use while reading your mail. These commands are:

 COMMAND TYPE MEANING
 Help ? To see a listing of the Folder Index Commands
Main Menu M Go back to the first pine screen, the Main Menu
PrevMsg P To move to the previous message
PrevPage - To move to the previous page in a message or listing
Delete D Marks the selected message for deletion
 Other Commands O Gives a listing of other available commands
ViewMsg V Allows you to view the highlighted message, enter also works
 NextMsg N To move to the next message
NextPage Spc To move to the next page in a message or listing
 Undelete U Undeletes the selected message
 Reply R Allows you to reply to the selected message
Forward F Allows you to "forward" a selected message to someone else
Quit Q Allows you to quit pine, you will be asked if you want to expunge your deleted messages
 Compose C Allows you to compose a new message
ListFldrs L Takes you to your list of pine folders
GotoFldr G Allows you to open a pine folder of your choice
Index I Lists your current mail messages
WhereIs W Allows you to search for a word
prYnt y Sends your mail message to be printed
TakeAddr T Allows you to access your address book
Save S Saves the selected mail message in a pine folder inside pine, you will be asked to type the name of the folder
Export E Saves the selected mail message as a file outside pine, you will be asked to name the file
 Jump J Allows you to jump to a numbered mail message, you must specify the number
 NextNew Tab Allows you to move to the next new mail message

If you are reading or composing a mail message, in addition to the above commands, you will be able to do one of the following:

 COMMAND TYPE MEANING
 ViewAttch V Allows you to view the list of attachments in a mail message you are reading, you may then select the attachment you want to view and/or save
 Get Help ^G Help
Cancel ^C Allows you to cancel the message you are composing
 Send ^X  Allows you to send the message you are composing
Rich Header ^R Allows you to have a fuller header, allowing you to send mail to a newsgroup and blind carbon copies
Attach ^J Allows you to attach a file, this can also be done by typing the name of the file in the attachment line in the header
PrvPg/Top ^Y Takes you to the top of the message you are composing
NxtPg/End  ^V Takes you to the end of the message you are composing
Cut Line ^K Deletes the line your cursor is on
 UnDel Line ^U Undeletes all the lines you cut
Postpone ^O Allows you to postpone your message, you may resume it by typing C for compose and answering yes.
To ... ^T Allows you to go to your files, address book, or newsgroup, depending on the line your cursor is on

Once you activate pine, you may compose a mail message, read your mail, or read news.

Compose

To compose a mail message, simply type C, a blank buffer will open for you to complete. Type the name of the recipient of the message, be sure to type the complete address if required.

Read

To read your mail, type I for index, a listing of your current mail messages will appear. You may move around in the list by using jump, tab, or the arrow keys. After you read a mail message, you must decide what to do with the message. The four options are replying, forwarding, deleting, and saving. You should not leave the message in your index.

Read News

To read news choose Folders from the Main Menu, then arrow down to News and select
"Select Here to See Expanded List". A list of news groups you have chosen will appear.

Setting up and Using an Address Book

Pine's address book helps you keep a list of addresses you send maiil to so you do not have to remember addresses that are often comples. It also allows you to compose a list of addresses for groups you might wish to receive the same mail message. Each entry in the address book has 3 elements:

  1. Nickname - a short, easy-to-remember label to identify the entry. This is what you type when you compose a mail message to this person. For example, if you type "bill" in the To field of the composer, and you have an entry in your address book that matches "bill" to Bill Jones with address jonesb@aspire.cs.uah.edu, your mail message will look like this:

To: Bill Jones <jonesb@aspire.cs.uah.edu>

  1. Full Name - A longer field where you can put the full name of the person or organizaion. What you put here will appear on the message when it is finally delivered.
  2. Address - Actual email address.

You can also use your address book for setting up distribution lists, this means a single nickname pointing to an entire list of people. Each distribution list has a nickname, a full name, and a list of addresses.

Sending Attachments in a Mail Message

An attachment is where you specify the name of a file or files you wish to include in your mail message. In order to include the file, it must reside on the machine running Pine. If it is not on the machine running Pine, you must use a file transfer protocol to move it to the UNIX machine. When you type the name of the file on the attachment line, be sure to give the complete path name of the file.

Tips for using Pine:

  1. Remember to dispose of the mail in your index. You should not keep more than 1K of mail in your index at any time. If your mail exceeds this amount daily, you may want to remove your name from some of the mailing lists to which you are subscribed. If you want to keep a mail message, save it to a folder. Remember to give the folder a meaningful name;
  2. There is a difference between saving a mail message in a mail folder and saving it as a file, if you want to edit it you should save it as a file (use export instead of save);
  3. If you and the person to whom you wish to compose a mail message are on the same server, it is unnecessary to type the full extension. If you are not on the same server, you must type the complete address. If you do not type the full address, it is the same as sending a US mail message to someone and just putting their name, the post office will be unable to deliver it;
  4. You may also use Netscape to send mail;
  5. Subscribing to a mailing list means you MAY get excessive mail messages each day, read your mail regularly!
  6. When you subscribe to a mailing list you will likely receive a mail message acknowledging your subscription and giving instructions on how to send mail to the mailing list or unsubscribe from it. You should keep these for future reference, perhaps in a folder named mailinglists;
  7. You may want to create your own signature file to appear at the end of each of your email messages.
  8. Your printer must be selected in pine setup in order to print mail messages;
  9. Always enter a subject in the subject line;