mailx — Send or receive electronic mail

The command line:

mailx [options] user user user …

sends a mail message to the given users. If you do not specify any users on the command line, mailx lets you read incoming mail interactively. For more information, see sendmail.

This description of mailx is divided into several sections:

• Options
• General overview
• Command-mode subcommands
• Input-mode subcommands
• Startup files
• Examples
• Environment variables
• Files
• Exit values
• Portability
• Related information

You can use the following options when reading messages:

–e

Checks to see if you have any messages waiting to be read. With this option, nothing is displayed. If you have waiting messages, mailx exits with a successful status return; otherwise, mailx exits with a failure return.

–f filename

Looks for messages in the specified file instead of in your current mailbox. If you do not specify filename, mailx reads messages from $HOME/mbox.

–H

Displays only the header summary of a message.

–N

Does not display the header summary of messages.

–u user

Looks for messages in the system mailbox of the specified user. This works only if you have read permission on the user's system mailbox.

You can use the following options only when sending messages:

–F

Records your message in a file with the same name as the first user specified on the command line. This option overrides the record variable, if it has been set.

–h number

Indicates how many “hops” a message has already made from one machine to another (in a network of machines). This option is not intended for most users; network mail software uses the option to prevent infinite loops (the same message cycling through a sequence of machines without ever getting to its intended destination).

–r address

Passes the given address to network mail software. If this option is present, it disables all input mode commands. Again, this option is not intended for most users.

–s subject

Uses the given subject string in the Subject heading line of the message. If the subject contains spaces or tab characters, the string should be enclosed in double quotation marks or single quotation marks. If you specify this option on the command line, mailx does not prompt you to enter a subject line when you type in the text of the message. The subject accepts at most LINE_MAX-10(2038) bytes. Any subjects longer than that will be truncated at 2038.

–U

Converts the address from UNIX-to-UNIX Copy Program (UUCP) style to Internet Protocol standards. This option overrides the effect of the conv variable.

This option is not supported.

You can use these options for both sending and reading messages:

–i

Ignores interrupts (for example, from pressing <Break> or <Ctrl-c>).

–n

Does not initialize your mailx session from the system's /etc/mailx.rc file.

The simplest command to send a message is:

mailx address address address …

where each address names someone who is to receive the message. The simplest kind of address is the login name of someone else who uses your shell.

You can also send messages as input to commands. To do this, use an address that consists of a pipe symbol (|) followed by a command line that invokes the appropriate command; enclose this whole address in single quotation marks. For example:

mailx ROBIN '|cat >save'

mails a message to ROBIN and also copies the message into a file called save.

A message consists of a sequence of header lines, followed by the body of the message. The header lines tell who sent the message, the time and date that the message was sent, the subject of the message, and so on. mailx automatically creates header lines. Some of the common header lines are:

Cc: name name …

Stands for “carbon copies”. This indicates that copies of this message are to be sent to the specified recipients. The names of these recipients appear in the header lines of everyone receiving the message.

Bcc: name name …

Stands for “blind carbon copies”. This is similar to Cc:, but the names of people receiving carbon copies do not appear in the header lines of the message. Recipients do not know that these people received a copy of the message.

Subject: text

Gives the subject of the message.

To: name name …

Gives the names of people who were sent the message directly.

All messages are in one of the following states:

deleted

You used a delete, dp, or dt command to delete the message. When mailx quits, messages in this state are deleted.

new

The message is in the system mailbox and you have not yet read it or otherwise changed its state. When mailx quits, messages in this state are kept in your system mailbox.

preserved

You used a preserve command on the message. When mailx quits, messages in this state are kept in their current locations.

read

You used one of the following commands on the message:

 ~F            copy          Print       type
 ~f            mbox          print       undelete
 ~M            next          top
 ~m            pipe          Type

or you used delete , dp, or dt on the preceding message and the autoprint variable was set. When mailx quits and you are in your system mailbox, read messages are kept in your personal mailbox—unless the hold variable is set, in which case, read messages are kept in your system mailbox. If you are in your personal or a secondary mailbox when mailx quits, read messages are kept in their current location.

saved

You used a save or write command on the message. If the current mailbox is the system mailbox and the variable keepsave was set, messages in the state saved are saved to the mbox. If the current mailbox is the system mailbox and you used a quit or file command to exit the current mailbox, messages in the state saved are deleted from the current mailbox.

unread

You have run more than one mailx session with the message in the system mailbox and you have not read it or otherwise changed its state. When mailx quits, messages in this state are kept in your system mailbox.

The standard format of a command-mode subcommand is:

[subcommand][refs][arguments]

If no subcommand is specified, the default subcommand depends on the setting of the _UNIX03 variable:

• If the variable _UNIX03=YES is set, then n[ext] is assumed.
• If the variable _UNIX03 is unset or is not set to YES, then p[rint] is assumed.

The refs argument indicates the messages to which you want to apply the subcommand. mailx numbers incoming messages sequentially as they are received. The easiest way to refer to a message is to give its number. For example, the subcommand:

p 3

displays message number 3. At any point in a mailx session, there is one message that is considered the current message. This is the message you most recently did something with (for example, the one you most recently read). If you omit the refs argument in a subcommand that uses refs, the subcommand works with the current message.

You can also use special notations as the refs value:

refs

Meaning

n

Message number n

n-m

Messages n through m

.

The current message

^

The first undeleted message (or first deleted message for undelete)

$

The last message

+

Next message

-

Previous message

*

All messages

user

All messages from the given user

/string

All messages with string in the subject line (the case of characters in string is ignored)

:d

All deleted messages

:n

All new messages

:o

All old messages

:r

All messages that have already been read

:u

All unread messages

Several refs arguments may be specified for the same subcommand, separated by spaces. For example:

p alice lewis

displays all messages from alice plus all messages from lewis.

File names, where expected, are subjected to the following transformation, in sequence:

• If the file name begins with an unquoted plus sign, and the folder variable is defined, the plus sign will be replaced by the value of the folder variable followed by a slash. If the folder variable is unset or set to null, the file name will be unchanged.
• Shell word expansions will be applied to the file name. If more than one path name results from this expansion and the command is expecting one file, the multiple path names will be combined into one argument.

The following list shows the subcommands recognized in command mode. In every subcommand name, some characters are enclosed in square brackets. These characters are optional. For example, the p[rint] command may be given as p, pr, pri, prin or print.

a[lias] [alias [name …]]

Sets up an address alias. If you enter a subcommand to send mail to the given alias, the messages are sent to the given list of names. For example, you might enter the subcommand:

alias joe JSMITH

From this point onward, you can address messages to joe and they are sent to jsmith. You may also set up an alias for several people, as in:

alias choir SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS

After you have done this, you can send messages to choir and they are sent to the names that follow choir in the command.

Alias substitution only takes place when alias is used as the whole mail address. Alias substitution doesn't take place when replying to a message that has an alias match in the addresses.

If you use only one argument, alias lists the value of that alias. For example, alias joe would display jsmith. Entering the alias subcommand without any arguments displays a list of the currently defined aliases.

Note: Aliases entered interactively remain in effect only until the end of the current interactive session. To make an alias permanent, include the alias subcommand in your startup file (see Startup files). See also group.

alt[ernates] name

Lists a set of alternate names for your own login name. This is useful for people who login under several different names. When you reply to a message, mailx typically sends your reply to the author of the message and all the recipients as well; however, it does not send the message to any of your alternate login names. You don't have to worry about sending mail to yourself.

Specifying alternates without names displays your list of currently defined alternate names.

cd directory

Makes directory your new working directory. If no directory is specified, cd goes to your HOME directory.

ch[dir] directory

Is the same as cd.

c[opy] [refs] [filename]

Copies the messages referred to by refs into the given file. The filename must be specified. If the file does not already exist, it is created.

If no refs are specified, the current message is saved. If no filename is specified, your mbox is saved.

This operation does not mark the message as saved; if it was previously unread, it is still regarded as an unread message. Thus, the original message remains in your system mailbox. See also save.

C[opy] [refs]

Is similar to the copy command, except that the messages referred to are saved in a file the name of which is derived from the author of the first message referred to. The name of the file is the author's name, stripped of any network addressing. If the folder variable is set, the file is saved to the specified directory. The copied messages are not marked as “saved”. If refs is not specified, the current message is copied.

d[elete] [refs]

Deletes the specified messages from your system mailbox. If refs is not specified, the current message is deleted. After a delete operation, the current message is set to the message after the last message deleted. Deleted messages are not thrown away until you end your session with the current mailbox (see quit and file). Until then, they can be undeleted (see undelete).

di[scard] [header…]

Does not display the given header fields when displaying a message. For example:

discard References

tells mailx not to display the References line at the beginning of any mail message. These header lines are retained when the message is saved; they are just not shown when the message is displayed. See also ignore and retain.

dp [refs]

Deletes the specified messages and then displays the message after the last message deleted. If there is no subsequent message, mailx displays its command prompt.

dt [refs]

Is the same as the dp subcommand.

ec[ho] string …

Echoes the given strings (like the echo subcommand).

e[dit] [refs]

Lets you edit the messages specified by refs. The messages are stored in a temporary file and an editor is invoked to let you edit the file. The default editor is ed, but you can change this using the EDITOR environment variable.

ex[it]

Quits mailx without changing the system mailbox. Contrast this with quit, which ordinarily removes from the system mailbox those messages you've read, saved, or deleted.

fi[le] [filename]

Quits the system mailbox (as if a q[uit] subcommand were run) and then reads in the specified file as the new mailbox to examine. If no file name is specified, the default is your current mailbox.

Several special strings can be used in place of filename:

%

Your system mailbox.

%user

The system mailbox for user

#

The previous file

&

Your mbox (personal mailbox)

+file

The named file in the folder directory

fold[er] [filename]

Is the same as the file subcommand.

folders

Displays the names of the files in the directory given by the folder variable. See Environment variables.

F[ollowup] [refs]

Replies to the first message given in refs; mailx sends this reply to the authors of every message given in refs. The Subject line is taken from the first message in refs. Your reply is automatically saved in a file which derives its name from the author of the message to which you are replying.

• If the variable _UNIX03=YES is set, then the command overrides the record variable if record is set.
• If the variable _UNIX03 is unset or is not set to YES, then the command does not override the record variable.

To create your reply, mailx puts you into input mode, where you can use all of the input mode commands.

fo[llowup] [ref]

Replies to the specified message; if no message ref is given, you reply to the current message. Your reply is automatically saved in a file which derives its name from the author of the message to which you are replying. This overrides the record environment variable if record is set.

To create your reply, mailx puts you into input mode, where you can use all of the input mode commands.

f[rom] [refs]

Displays the header summary for the specified messages. If refs is not given, the current message is used.

g[roup] [alias [name …]]

Is the same as the alias command.

h[eaders] [ref]

Displays the headers of a screenful of messages surrounding the message given by ref. The number of lines in a screen is given by the screen variable. If no ref is specified, the current message doesn't change; otherwise the current message is changed to the message specified by ref.

hel[p]

Displays a summary of the command-mode subcommands.

ho[ld] [refs]

Retains the specified messages in your system mailbox. For example, you might decide to hold a message if you read it, but decide not to act upon it immediately. If refs is not specified, the current message is held. If any of the specified messages have been marked as deleted, the hold subcommand overrides that and still retains the messages. Subsequent delete, dp, and dt commands during the same mailx session can delete files marked for retention. See also preserve and the variables hold and keepsave.

i[f] code mailx subcommands | [el[se] mailx subcommands] | [en[dif]]

Is primarily intended for use in startup files. The code must be the character r or s. If it is r, the first set of mailx subcommands are executed if mailx is in receive mode, and the second set if mailx is in send mode. If code is s, the opposite is true. The else part is optional. See Startup files.

ig[nore] [header …]

Is the same as the discard subcommand.

l[ist]

Displays the names of all command-mode subcommands.

m[ail] address …

Sends a message to the specified recipients. mailx goes into input mode to let you enter the text of the message.

mb[ox] [refs]

Indicates that the given messages are to be saved in your mbox (personal mailbox) when mailx quits normally (that is, through the quit command as opposed to exit).

n[ext] [refs]

Goes to the next message in the mailbox that appears in the list of refs. For example:

n user

goes to the next message from the specified user.

pi[pe] [[refs] command]

Pipes the messages given by refs through the specified shell command. These messages are considered read. If refs is not specified, the current message is used. If no command is specified, mailx uses the command specified by the cmd variable. See Environment variables. If the page variable has a value, a form feed character is sent into the pipe after every message.

The subcommand | [refs] [command] is equivalent to pipe.

pre[serve] [refs]

Is the same as the hold subcommand.

P[rint] [refs]

Displays the specified messages on the screen. If refs is not specified, the current message is displayed. All header fields are displayed; the discard, ignore and retain subcommands do not affect Print. If the crt variable is set to an integer, messages with more lines than that integer are "paginated" using the command specified by the PAGER variable.

p[rint] [refs]

Displays the specified messages on the screen. If refs is not specified, the current message is displayed. Header fields specified by discard, ignore and retain subcommands affect print. If the crt variable is set to an integer, messages with more lines than that integer are “paginated” using the command specified by the PAGER variable. For more information, see Environment variables.

q[uit]

Ends a mailx session. This is the usual method to leave mailx. Messages that have been read but not saved or deleted are stored in your mbox (personal mailbox). Messages that are still unread are retained in your system mailbox. Messages that have been deleted or explicitly saved in other files are discarded. Typing the end-of-file character has the same effect.

R[eply] [refs]

Sends a reply to the authors of each of the messages specified by refs. If refs is not specified, the current message is used. The Subject line of the reply message is taken from the first message in refs. If the record environment variable is set to a file name, your reply message is appended to the end of that file.

Normally, you use Reply if you just want to send your reply to the author of a message, and reply if you want to send your reply to the author and all recipients. If set, the flipr environment variable reverses the meanings of the R and r commands. See Environment variables.

r[eply] [ref]

Sends a reply to the author of a specific message, and all other recipients of the message. If ref is not specified, mailx replies to the current message. If the record environment variable is set to a file name, your reply message is appended to the end of that file.

R[espond] [refs]

Is the same as the Reply subcommand.

r[espond] [ref]

Is the same as the reply subcommand.

ret[ain] [header …]

Is the opposite of the discard subcommand. It tells mailx to display the given header fields when displaying a message. The comparison of header fields is not case sensitive. You can use retain to override existing discard and ignore commands. If you do not specify any header fields, retain displays a list of currently retained header fields.

S[ave] [refs]

Saves the specified messages in a file the name of which is taken from the author of the first message (the file name is the author's name, without any attached network addressing). If the folder variable is set, the file is saved to the specified directory.

s[ave] [refs][filename]

Saves the specified messages in the given file. If refs is not given, the current message is added to the mbox. (The value of the append variable determines whether the message is added to the beginning or the end of the mbox). The file is created if it does not already exist. If you do not specify filename, mailx saves the messages in mbox (your personal mailbox). A message that has been saved with save is normally deleted from mailbox when mailx ends (see quit); but see the variables hold and keepsave.

se[t] name

Defines a variable with the given name and assigns it a null value. If you omit name, set displays a list of all defined variables and their values.

se[t] name=value

Defines a variable with the given name and assigns it the given value, which may be a string or a number.

se[t] noname

Is the same as the unset name subcommand.

sh[ell]

Invokes the shell given by the SHELL environment variable.

si[ze] [refs]

Displays the size in bytes of each of the specified messages. If no refs are specified, the current message is used.

so[urce] file

Reads the specified text file, executes its contents as command-mode subcommands, and then returns to read more commands from the original source.

to[p] [refs]

Displays the first few lines of each of the specified messages. If refs is not specified, the current message is used. If the toplines variable has a numeric value, that many lines are displayed from each message; otherwise, five lines are displayed from each message.

tou[ch] [refs]

“Touches” the specified messages, making them appear to have been read. This means that when you quit mailx, the messages are saved in your mbox (personal mailbox) if they are not deleted or explicitly saved in another file. If refs is not specified, the current message is touched.

T[ype] [refs]

Is the same as the Print subcommand.

t[ype] [refs]

Is the same as the print command.

una[lias] [alias[name …]]

Deletes specified alias names.

u[ndelete] [refs]

Restores previously deleted messages. When messages are deleted, they are not discarded immediately; they are just marked for deletion and are deleted when mailx ends. Until mailx ends, you can use undelete to restore the specified messages. You cannot undelete messages deleted in previous sessions. If you do not specify refs, this command restores the first deleted (but not yet undeleted) message following the current message; if no such message exists, it restores the last deleted (but not yet undeleted) message preceding the current message. If the autoprint variable is set, the last restored message is displayed. This is the only subcommand that lets you give a ref to a message that has been deleted.

U[nread] [refs]

Marks the specified messages as unread.

uns[et] name …

Discards the specified variables.

ve[rsion]

Displays version information about mailx.

v[isual] [refs]

Edits the specified messages with a screen editor. If refs is not specified, the current message is edited. The messages are saved in a temporary file and the screen editor is invoked to edit that file. The editor used is given by the VISUAL variable. See Environment variables.

w[rite] [refs] filename

Writes the specified messages into the given file. If refs is not specified, the current message is written. write is the same as save, except that it does not write out the header lines and the blank line at the end of the message.

x[it]

Is the same as the exit command.

z[+|-]

Scrolls the header display forward (if z or z+ is specified) or backward (if z- is specified) one screenful.

! command

Executes the given shell command. For example:

!lc

lists all files in the current directory. The shell that will be used to run the command is given by the SHELL environment variable. See Environment variables.

#comment

Specifies that mailx should ignore everything from the # to the end of the line. This is useful for putting comments into startup files.

?

Is the same as the help command (it displays a summary of the command-mode subcommands).

=

Displays the current message number.

You can use input-mode subcommands when entering the text of a message. You must type mode subcommands at the beginning of an input line; you cannot type them in the middle of a line. By default, each input-mode subcommand begins with the tilde (~) character, called the escape character. You can use the escape variable to change the escape character, but in the documentation that follows, we always use tilde.

~.

Marks the end of input in a mail message.

~?

Displays a summary of the input-mode subcommands.

~A

Inserts the autograph string at this point in the message. This autograph string is given by the Sign variable.

~a

Is similar to ~A, except that it uses the variable sign.

~b name …

Adds the specified names to the blind carbon copy list.

~c name …

Adds the specified names to the carbon copy list.

~d

Reads in the dead.letter file.

~e

Invokes an editor on the message that you have composed. The editor variable determines the editor that is invoked.

~F [refs]

Forwards the given messages. The text of the messages is inserted at this point in the message you are composing. The message headers are also inserted with all header fields regardless of the discard, ignore, and retain subcommands. This is valid only when you entered mailx in command mode and then went into input mode to compose a message.

~f [refs]

Is similar to ~F except that the header fields included are determined by the discard, ignore, and retain subcommands.

~h

Prompts you to enter the following header lines:

Subject   Cc   Bcc   To

For some of these, mailx displays an initial value for the header. You can edit this initial value as if you had just typed it in yourself, using backspaces and line deletes.

~i name

Inserts the value of the named variable followed by a newline at this point in the message.

~M [refs]

Inserts the text of the specified messages at this point in the message. If refs is not specified, the current message is used. Messages inserted in this way have each line prefixed with the value of the indentprefix variable. The message headers are also inserted with all header fields included regardless of the discard, ignore, and retain subcommands. This is valid only when you entered mailx in command mode and then went into input mode to reply to a message.

~m [refs]

Is similar to ~M, except that the header fields are determined by the discard, ignore, and retain subcommands.

~p

Displays the message being composed.

~q

Quits input mode as if you had interrupted the message. If you have already composed part of a message, the partial message is saved in the dead.letter file; the description of the dead environment variable has more information..

~r filename

Reads in the contents of the specified file and adds that text at this point in the message.

~s text

Sets the Subject line to the given text.

~t address address …

Adds the given addresses to the To: list (people who will receive the message).

~v

Invokes a screen (visual) editor on the message that you have composed. The VISUAL variable determines the editor that is invoked.

~w file

Writes the current text of your message to the specified file. The header lines for the message are not written.

~x

Quits in the same way as ~q, except that the message is not saved in the dead.letter file.

~< filename

Is the same as the ~r command.

~< !command

Runs the given shell command and adds the standard output of that command at this point in the message. For example, your message might contain:

 My program is giving me this odd output:
 ~< !prog
 What do you think is causing it?

~: mail_command

Runs the given command-mode mail_command. This is valid only when you entered mailx in command mode and then went into input mode to compose a message.

~_ mail_command

Is the same as the ~: command.

~! command

Runs the given shell command. For example, you can use:

>~! ls

to get a list of files in the working directory. The shell that is invoked to run the command is given by the SHELL environment variable. If the bang variable is set, mailx replaces each unescaped exclamation mark (!) in command with the command run by the previous command or ~! command escape.

~ command

Pipes the current message through the specified shell command. If the command ends with a successful exit status, the output of the command replaces the text of the current message. For example:

 ~|fmt

fills and justifies the lines of your message and replaces the message with the formatted message. ~| uses the shell given by the SHELL environment variable to run command.

When you run mailx in command mode, mailx does the following:

• Sets all variables to their default values. mailx processes command-line options, using them to override any corresponding default values.
• Imports appropriate external environment variables, using them to override any corresponding default values.
• Reads commands from the system startup file, /etc/mailx.rc. This sets up variable values and definitions that should be common to all users. If you do not want mailx to read the system startup file, use the –n option on the mailx command line.
• After reading and processing the system startup file, mailx does the same with a personal startup file, which is MAILRC by default. This is a file in your HOME directory. The name of the file is .mailrc.

Startup files typically set up display options and define aliases. However, any command is valid in a startup file except for the following:

• Copy
• edit
• followup
• Followup
• hold
• mail
• preserve
• reply
• Reply
• respond
• Respond
• shell
• visual
• !

The following variables always come from the external environment; they can be changed inside a mailx session, except where marked.

DEAD

Gives the name of a file that can be used as the dead.letter file. Partial messages are saved in this file if an interrupt or error occurs during creation of the message or delivery. By default, the name of this file is $HOME/dead.letter.

EDITOR

Gives a command, possibly with options, that is run when using the command mode edit or the input mode ~e. The default is ed (see ed — Use the ed line-oriented text editor for more information about ed).

HOME

Gives the name of your home directory. This cannot be changed inside mailx .

LISTER

Gives a command, possibly with options, that mailx invokes when displaying the content of the folder directory for the folders subcommand. If this variable is null or unset, mailx uses ls. By default, this variable is unset.

LOGNAME

Gives your login name.

MAIL

Gives the path name of the user's mailbox file for purposes of incoming mail notification.

MAILDIR

Gives the name of the directory where system mailboxes are stored. If this is not set, the default is /usr/mail. The actual name of a user's system mailbox is derived in a system-dependent way by combining MAILDIR and the user's login name. For mailx to work properly, the MAILDIR directory must exist.

MAILRC

Gives the name of your startup file. This cannot be changed inside mailx. By default, MAILRC has the value $HOME/.mailrc. For more information about startup files, see Startup files.

MBOX

Gives the name of your mbox (personal mailbox) file. Messages that have been read but not saved elsewhere are saved here when you run quit (but not when you run exit). The default is $HOME/mbox.

PAGER

Gives a command, possibly including options. mailx sends display output through this command if the output is longer than the screen length given by crt. The default value is more (see more — Display files on a page-by-page basis for more information about more).

SHELL

Gives a command, possibly with options. mailx assumes that this command is a command interpreter. mailx invokes this command interpreter whenever it is asked to run a system command (for example, through the ! command-mode command). The default is sh (see sh — Invoke a shell for more information about sh).

TERM

Contains the name of the terminal type. This cannot be changed inside mailx.

TZ

This variable may determine the time zone used to calculate date and time strings written in mailx. This cannot be changed inside mailx .

_UNIX03

For more information about the effect of _UNIX03 on this command, see Shell commands changed for UNIX03.

VISUAL

Gives a command, possibly with options, that mailx invokes when using the command-mode visual subcommand or the input mode ~v subcommand. The default is vi (see vi — Use the display-oriented interactive text editor for more information about vi).

The HOME and LOGNAME variables must be set before you enter mailx. Otherwise, mailx will not work properly. The TZ variables can only be set before you enter mailx. If not set or set to null, a default time zone ("UTC0") will be used. These variables are typically set during shell login. (You can login with theOMVS TSO/E command, telnet, rlogin, or ssh.) If you do not log in, you must set the variables in some other way, using the commands:

export LOGNAME=name
export HOME=directory

Many of the following variables represent on-off options. If you set the variable itself (to any value), the option is turned on. To turn the option off, you can unset the variable, or set a variable consisting of no followed by the name of the original variable. For example, setting autoprint turns the autoprint option on, and setting noautoprint turns it off.

allnet

Assumes that network addresses with the same login component refer to the same person. Network addresses typically consist of several components, giving information that lets a mail server identify a machine on the network, a route to that machine, and the login name of a user on that machine. mailx assumes that the login name is the last component. For example:

print name

displays all messages that originated from the same login name, regardless of the rest of the network address. The default is noallnet, where different addresses are assumed to be different users, even if the login name components are the same.

append

Appends messages to the end of the mbox file (your personal mailbox) after termination. The default is noappend; messages are placed at the beginning of the mbox file instead of the end.

ask

Prompts you for a Subject: line when composing a message (if you have not already specified one with the –s option). This option is on by default; to turn it off, set noask. ask is the same as asksub. noask is the same as noasksub.

askbcc

Prompts you for a Bcc: list when composing a message. The default is noaskbcc; you are not prompted.

askcc

Prompts you for a Cc: list when composing a message. The default is noaskcc; you are not prompted.

asksub

Prompts you for a Subject: line when composing a message (if you have not already specified one with the –s option). This option is turned on by default; to turn it off, set noasksub. asksub is the same as ask. noasksub is the same as noask.

autoprint

Automatically displays the last message deleted with the delete subcommand or the last message undeleted with undelete. The default is noautoprint; you are not shown messages that you delete or undelete.

bang

Records shell commands run inside the mailx session (for example, through the ~! input-mode command). Then, if you issue a shell command and the shell command contains a ! character, mailx replaces that character with the command line for the previous shell command. The default is nobang, in which case a ! in a shell command line is not treated specially.

cmd

Contains a command, possibly with options. This specifies a default command line to be used for the command-mode pipe subcommand. For example:

set cmd="cat"

pipes messages through cat when the pipe subcommand is invoked. The default is nocmd.

crt

Contains an integer number. If a message has more than this number of lines, the message is piped through the command given by the PAGER variable, whenever the message is displayed. crt is not set; the default is nocrt.

debug

Enables verbose diagnostics for debugging. Messages are not delivered. The default is nodebug.

dot

Accepts a line consisting only of a dot (.) to indicate the end of a message in input mode. Thus . is equivalent to ~.. The default is nodot. If ignoreeof is set, mailx ignores a setting of nodot; the period is the only way to end input mode.

escape

Gives the character used to begin input-mode subcommands. The default is the tilde (~). If this variable is unset, tilde is used as the escaping character. If this variable is set to null, mailx disables command escaping.

flipr

Reverses the meanings of the R and r subcommands. The default is noflipr. See also Replyall.

folder

Contains the name of a directory in which mailx saves mail files, if you use a plus sign + in front of the filename. This lets you specify a standard directory for saving mail files. Whenever you specify a filename for a mailx command, putting a plus sign (+) in front of the name specifies that the file is to be accessed or stored in the folder directory.

If the value of folder begins with a slash, it is taken as an absolute path name; otherwise, mailx assumes that the directory is directly under your HOME directory. The default is nofolder. If you want to use + in file names that appear on the mailx command line itself (as opposed to commands in a mailx session), you must make folder an exported shell environment variable.

header

Displays a summary of message headers at the beginning of a mailx command-mode session. This is the default.

hold

Keeps all messages in your system mailbox instead of saving them in your personal mbox. The default is nohold.

ignore

Ignores interrupts received while composing a message. The default is noignore.

ignoreeof

Ignores end-of-file markers found while entering a message. The message can be ended by “.” or ~. on a line by itself. The default is noignoreeof.

indent

Contains a string that mailx uses as a prefix to each line in messages that ~m and ~M insert. The default is one tab character.

indentprefix

As with indent, contains a string that mailx uses as a prefix to each line in messages that ~m and ~M insert. The default is one tab character. If both indent and indentprefix are set, indentprefix takes precedence.

keep

Does not remove your system mailbox if the mailbox contains no messages. The mailbox is truncated to zero length—that is, it is merely emptied, although it still exists. If the default nokeep is in effect, empty mailboxes are removed.

keepsave

Keeps messages in your system mailbox even if they have been saved in other files. The default, nokeepsave, deletes messages from the system mailbox if they have been saved elsewhere.

mailserv

Identifies the mail server being used for remote mail.

metoo

When replying to a message with your login name in the recipient list, sends a reply to all other recipients, the author, and you. If nometoo is set, you are not to be sent the reply. The default is nometoo.

onehop

Attempts to send replies directly to the recipients instead of going through the original author's machine. When you reply to a message, your reply is sent to the author and to all recipients of the message. On a network, mailx normally specifies the recipient addresses so that all the replies go to the original author's machine first, and then on to the other recipients. The default is noonehop.

outfolder

Causes files used to record outgoing messages (see the description of record) to be located in the directory given by folder unless folder contains an absolute path name.

The default is nooutfolder.

page

Tells the pipe subcommand to insert a form-feed character after each message that it sends through the pipe. The default is nopage.

prompt

Contains a string that mailx displays to prompt for output in command mode. The default is a question mark followed by a space (? ).

quiet

Does not display the opening message and version number when mailx begins a session. The default is noquiet.

record

Contains a file name where every message you send is to be recorded. If record is not an absolute path name and the outfolder variable has not been set, the file is located in the current directory. If the outfolder variable is set, the file is located in your folder directory. The default is norecord.

replyall

Reverses the senses of the reply and Reply subcommands (so that reply replies only to the author of a message, and Reply replies to the author and all other recipients). See also flipr.

save

Saves messages in your dead.letter file if they are interrupted while being composed. The name of your dead.letter file is given by the dead variable. Setting nosave disables this automatic save feature. The default is save.

screen

Gives the number of headers that are to be displayed by the headers and z subcommands. If screen is not specified, the current window size shall be used to determine the number of headers displayed.

sendmail

Contains a command, possibly with options, that mailx invokes to send mail. The default is /usr/lib/tsmail. It can be any command that takes addresses on the command line and message contents on standard input.

sendwait

When sending a message through a network, mailx waits for the mail server to finish before returning to your session. Normally, it just submits the message to the server and then returns immediately. The default is nosendwait.

showto

When displaying a header summary, displays the recipient's name instead of the author's for messages where you are the author. The default is noshowto.

sign

Contains a string that is inserted into a message when you use the input mode ~a subcommand. mailx interprets \n and \t in this string as the newline and tab characters, respectively. The default is nosign.

Sign

Contains a string that is inserted into a message when you use the input mode ~A subcommand. The default is noSign.

toplines

Gives the number of header lines that the top subcommand is to display. The default is 5.

mailx uses the following files:

/etc/mailx.rc

System-wide startup file.

$MAILRC

Personal startup file. By default, MAILRC has the value $HOME/.mailrc.

$HOME/mbox

Default location to save read messages. You can choose a different file by assigning the file name to the environment variable MBOX.

$MAILDIR

Directory containing system mailboxes. By default, this is /usr/mail. The system programmer must create the MAILDIR directory if it does not already exist. See z/OS UNIX System Services Planning for information about electronic mail.

If you use a system mailbox directory other than /usr/mail, identify it in the $MAIL environment variable in /etc/profile. See the section on customizing /etc/profile in z/OS UNIX System Services Planning.

$HOME/dead.letter

Default location to save partial letters.

mailx uses the following localization environment variables:

• LANG
• LC_ALL
• LC_CTYPE
• LC_MESSAGES
• LC_TIME
• LC_SYNTAX
• NLSPATH