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Name

dtmail -- the desktop mailer

Synopsis

dtmail [-h] [-c] [-fmailfile] [-a file1 | ...fileN ]

Description

The Dtmail program is a mailer for use on the desktop. It provides an easy-to-use interface for viewing, filing, composing and sending electronic mail containers and mail messages.

The Mailer provides a GUI-based interface for manipulating electronic mail messages that can have attachments. Use the interface to compose a message, view a message or a container holding messages, load new mail, copy or move messages from one container to another, delete messages, reply to messages, add and delete attachments to a message when composing, and view contents of attachments in a message. The Mailer also provides a mail-pervasive desktop environment by providing a public Tooltalk API. Other clients can use the Tooltalk API to compose and send messages.

Options

-a file1 ... fileN
Bring up a Compose window with !file1! through !fileN! as attachments.
-c
Bring up an empty Compose window
-f filename
This specifies the mail file to be loaded in at start up time. Ordinarily, the mailfile pointed to by the environment variable MAIL is read in as the user’s inbox. Use of this option overrides the use of the MAIL variable.
-h
Display help for command line options

Resources

The Mailer provides the following resources:

Dtmail*Message_List*doubleClickInterval
The double click time out (in milliseconds) for the scrolling message header list. Default is 400 milliseconds.
Dtmail*Message_List*background
Color to use for the scrolling message header list background. Default is system dependent.
Dtmail*Message_List*foreground
Color to use for the scrolling message header list foreground. Default is system dependent.
Dtmail*Message_List*fontList
The list of fonts to use in the scrolling message header list. The list must contain two fonts. The first must be tagged "plain" and is the font used to render the header text. The second must be tagged "attach" and is used to render the attachment indicator. Default is to use system dependent fixed width fonts.
Dtmail*Work_Area*Text*background
Color to use for the View and Compose window text background. Default is system dependent.
Dtmail*Work_Area*Text*foreground
Color to use for the View and Compose window text foreground. Default is system dependent.
Dtmail*Work_Area*Text*fontList
The list of fonts to use in the View and Compose windows. Font tag "plain". Default is to use a system dependent variable width font.

Mail Variables

In addition to the variables recognized by mailx(1) , dtmail recognizes those listed below. They can be set by editing your .mailrc file; however, since most of the variables are accessible through the Mailer Options menu, we strongly recommend that you modify them there to reduce the chance of error. Unless otherwise noted, the default for the following variables is off.

additionalfields
A list of header fields to access via the Format menu. This variable can be accessed through the Custom Fields:, Header Field:, and Default Value: portions of the Compose Window category in the Mail Options dialog.
bell
The number of times to ring the bell when new mail arrives. This variable can be accessed through the Signal New Mail portion in the Message Header List category of the Mail Options dialog. The default is 0.
composeinterval
The interval in seconds for checkpointing to dead.letter. Default is every 600 seconds (10 minutes).
dontlogmessages
This variable controls whether or not the Log Message item is selected in the File Menu in the Compose window. The default is to log messages. This variable can be accessed through the Log all sent messages item in the Message Filing category of the Mail Options dialog.
expert
Set expert mode in which minimal confirmations are requested. This variable can be accessed through the Show confirmation notices check box in the Advanced category of the Mail Options dialog.
filemenu2
A list of files from which to initialize the Move, and Copy To menus. These can be absolute pathnames or pathnames relative to the directory specified in the folder variable. This variable can be accessed through the Move Menu and Copy To Menu: scrolling list in the Message Filing category of the Mail Options dialog.
filemenusize
Specifies the maximum number of entries in the Move, and Copy To menus. The default is 10.
flash
The number of times to flash the window or icon when new mail arrives. This variable can be accessed through the Signal New Mail portion of the Message Header List category of the Mail Options Dialog. The default is 0.
folder
The directory for saving mail files. This variable can be accessed through the Start Looking In item in the Mail Filing category of the Mail Options Dialog.
headerlines
The number of lines to display at a time in the scrolling header list. This variable can be accessed through the Display item in the Message View category of the Mail Options dialog. The default is 15.
hideattachments
Hide the attachments pane in the Compose Message window by default. This variable can be accessed through the Show Attachment List item in the Compose Window category of the Mail Options dialog. The default is to show the attachment pane.
indentprefix
When indentprefix is set, the string that it is set to is used to mark indented lines from included messages. The default indentprefix is "> ". This variable can be accessed through the Indent String item in the Compose Window category of the Mail Options dialog.
keepdeleted
Don’t purge the mailbox of deleted messages when closing (exiting) dtmail. Default is to ask the user if they would like to purge the mailbox on exit. This variable can be set in the Destroy Deleted Messages portion in the Message Header List category of the Mail Options dialog. See quietdelete
quietdelete
Don’t ask for confirmation when purging the mailbox of deleted messages when exiting dtmail. This variable can be set in the Destroy Deleted Messages portion in the Message Header List category of the Mail Options dialog. See keepdeleted
record
The mail file in which to record outgoing messages. You can control recording of outgoing mail on a per message basis by the Log Message item in the Compose window’s File menu. The dontlogmessages variable controls whether or not this item is selected by default. The record variable may be set through the Mailbox for Sent Messages: item in the Message Filing category of the Mail Options Dialog. If record is not set and the user chooses to log a message then the message will be saved in ~/sent.mail.
retrieveinterval
The interval in seconds to check for new mail. This variable can be accessed through the Check for New Mail Every: item in the Message Header List category of the Mail Options Dialog. The default is 300 seconds.
saveinterval
The interval (in seconds) at which to checkpoint the state of the mail box to disk. Default is 1800 seconds (30 minutes). This variable can be set using the Update Mailbox State item in the Advanced category of the Mail Options dialog.
showmsgnum
Show message numbers in the scrolling list of message headers. This variable can be set using the Display message numbers item in the Message Header List category of the Mail Options dialog. Default is to not show message numbers. showto Show the "To" field of mail messages in the Header Window if the mail is from the same user that is reading mail (eg. you). This variable is accessed using the Show To: recipient when mail is item in the Message Header List category of the Mail Options dialog.
strictmime
Use strict MIME character encoding for outgoing mail. In this case all lines longer than 72 characters are broken with a newline (and a trailing "=" is appended to the line), and all trailing spaces are encoded (appearing as "=20"). Any time character encoding takes place all "=" must be protected and are therefore are encoded as "=3d". Note that 8 bit characters are always encoded, even if strictmime is not specified. If you typically send mail to users of non MIME compliant readers you may want to consider not specifying strictmime. This variable can be set by selecting the Use strict MIME character encoding item in the Advanced category of the Mail Options dialog. The default is to use more relaxed character encoding (ie don’t break long lines and don’t protect trailing spaces).
templates
A list of name:path pairs to access via the Templates item in the Format menu of the Compose window. name appears in the menu; path is the file included when name is selected. This variable can be accessed in the Template category of the Mail Options dialog.
toolcols
Default width of the primary windows (in columns). This variable can be accessed through the item in the Message View category of the Mail Options dialog.

Mail Commands

In addition to the commands recognized by mailx(1) in the .mailrc file, dtmail also recognizes the following commands.

ignore [header-field...]
Suppress displaying of the specified header fields. Examples of header fields to ignore are Status and Received. The fields are also ignored when the message is printed. This variable can be accessed through the Abbreviated Header item in the Message View category of the Mail Options dialog.

Printing

You can print messages using command invocation by selecting the message or messages to be printed and then activating the Print... command in the Message pulldown menu in the dtmail menu bar or the Print... command in the Mailer - Messages popup menu that is displayed on BMenu Down events in the message list.

In addition, you can use the Print command button located at the bottom of the message headers list to print the currently selected messages. In this case, the print job is started using the print setup context from the last print command without displaying any of the print setup dialogs.

Alternatively, you can print messages using Drag and Drop invocation.

Messages containing attachments are printed with summary lines in place of the attachment. You must print attachments individually in separate print job invocations.

You can choose to print multiple messages either as a single print job or as separate print jobs. If you print multiple messages in a single print job, you can choose to separate the messages using a blank line or a page break.

To print a mailboxes, use CDE Drag and Drop to drag the icon for the mailbox from the File Manager to the printer icon in the desktop.

When you invoke printing, whether by command invocation or by drag and drop, dtmail displays a Print Setup window that allows you to set a number of generic and printer-specific printing options. For example, you can send the output to a file or a printer. In the case of printed output, you can specify how many copies you want. You can also access another window to set options specific to the printer/spooler you are using. For example, you can select paper size, orientation, a banner page title, one- or two-sided printing, and email notification on completion of the print job.

Environment Variables

The following are environment variables taken from the execution environment and are not alterable within dtmail.

HOME= directory
The user’s home directory.
MAIL= filename
The name of the initial mailbox file to read (in lieu of the standard system mailbox). The default is system dependent. See FILE section.
MAILRC= filename
The name of the start-up file. Default is $HOME/.mailrc.

Files

/var/mail/* (Sun)
/var/spool/mail/* (IBM)
/usr/mail* (HP)
System mailboxes
/etc/mail/mailx.rc
System setup file that is read in before ~/.mailrc.
~/.mailrc
Start-up file for mail and dtmail.
/usr/dt/bin/dtmail
Executable for the desktop Mailer.
/usr/dt/app-defaults/<LANG>/Dtmail
Application defaults for the desktop Mailer.

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