z/OS V1R9.0 UNIX System Services Command ... - Christian Grothoff

Description
Options
Reading Mail
Note: The mail utility is fully supported for compatibility with older UNIX systems.
However, it is recommended that the mailx utility be used instead because it
may provide greater functionality and is considered the standard for portable
UNIX applications as defined by POSIX.2 IEEE standard 1003.2-1992.
mail lets you read mail sent to you and sends mail to other users. It has two modes
of operation, one for reading mail and one for sending mail. If you start mail without
any arguments, it checks for mail to be read and then presents the messages in
read mode. If you start it with an argument or arguments, it assumes you are
sending a message to the address named as the argument and enters send mode.
The text of the message is taken from standard input until mail encounters either
EOF or a line consisting of only a single dot (.).
For example, to read mail, enter:
mail
To send a mail message to the users Chris and Lee, enter:
mail chris lee
The –t option is used only when sending mail; the others only when reading mail.
–e Tests for the existence of mail and exits. If there is mail in the system
mailbox, the return status is successful.
–f Reads mail from file instead of the system mailbox. This option is often
used to read mail saved in other files.
–p Prints all mail to standard output without querying.
–q Quits the mail session after an interrupt signal; normally, an interrupt ends
only the message being written.
–r Saves messages in first-in, first-out order, the reverse of the default.
Normally, the most recently received message is written first.
–t Lists the recipients at the beginning of the message (default).
When you start mail without arguments, mail checks your system mailbox for mail.
If there is no mail, mail exits with a return code of 1; if there is waiting mail, mail
displays the first message. (If you specify –p on the command line, it displays all
messages.)
Commands within mail control how messages are handled. The following
commands are available:
d Deletes the current message.
m[name...]
Sends the current message to the specified user. If a user is not specified,
the mail is sent to you.
p Prints the message on the screen again.
q Quits mail, storing any undeleted messages in the file $HOME/mbox.
mail
s[file] Saves the message in the specified file. If a file is not specified, mail saves
the message in mbox in your home directory.
Chapter 2. Shell command descriptions 369