Mail program customization options

Commands and options in the .mailrc and /usr/share/lib/Mail.rc files can be customized to fit your personal mailing needs.

See Mail enabling and disabling options for information about mail options.

Characteristics of a mail session that you can customize include:

• Prompts for the subject of a message. When you enter the mail command, the program asks you to complete a Subject: field. When this prompt is displayed, you can fill in a summary of the subject matter of the message. That summary is included at the start of the message when it is read by the recipient. See Subject: and Carbon Copy (Cc:) field prompts.
• Prompts for users to get a copy of a message. You can customize the .mailrc file so that when you send a message, the mail program prompts you for the names of other users who should receive copies of the message. See Subject: and Carbon Copy (Cc:) field prompts.
• Aliases or distribution lists. If you send mail on a large network or often send the same message to a large number of people, typing long addresses for each receiver can become tedious. To simplify this process, create an alias or a distribution list in your .mailrc file. An alias is a name you define that can be used in place of a single user address. A distribution list is a name you define that can be used in place of a group of user addresses. See Aliases and distribution lists.
• Number of lines displayed when reading messages. You can change the number of lines of message headers or of message text that scroll across the screen. See Changes to the number of message headers or message text lines displayed in the mail program.
• Information listed in messages. You can turn off message headers, such as the machine-set message-id field. See Displaying information in a message.
• Folder directory for storing messages. You can create a special directory for storing messages. You can use the shorthand plus sign (+) subcommand to designate that directory when storing messages or looking at folders. See Creating default folders to store messages.
• Log file for recording outgoing messages. You can instruct the mail program to record all your outgoing messages in a file or a subdirectory in your home directory. See Creating default folders to store messages.
• Editors for typing messages. In addition to the mail editor, you can choose two different editors to edit messages. See Text editors for typing messages.

For more information on customizing the mail program, see the following topics.