DTMAIL(1X) MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES DTMAIL(1X)NAMEdtmail - the desktop mailtool
SYNOPSISdtmail [ -hc ] [ -l ] [ -f mailfile ] [ -a file1 ... fileN ]
[ generic-tool-argments ]
DESCRIPTION
The Dtmail program is a mailer for use on the desktop. It
provides an easy-to-use interface for viewing, filing, com-
posing and sending electronic mail containers and mail mes-
sages. The Mailer provides a GUI-based interface for mani-
pulating 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 mes-
sages 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 environ-
ment 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
-l Start the compose window on a dead letter file.
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 mil-
liseconds.
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Dtmail*Message_List*background
Color to use for the scrolling message header list
background. Default is sytem dependent.
Dtmail*Message_List*foreground
Color to use for the scrolling message header list
foreground. Default is sytem 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 indica-
tor. Default is to use system dependent fixed width
fonts.
Dtmail*Work_Area*Text*background
Color to use for the View and Compose window text back-
ground. Default is system dependent.
Dtmail*Work_Area*Text*foreground
Color to use for the View and Compose window text fore-
ground. Default is system dependent.
Dtmail*Work_Area*Text*fontList
The list of fonts to use in the View and Compose win-
dows. Font tag "plain". Default is to use a system
dependent variable width font.
MAIL VARIABLES
In addition to the variables recognized by mailx(1), mail-
tool recognizes those listed below. They can be set by
editing your .mailrc file; however, since most of the vari-
ables 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.
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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 Mes-
sage item is selected in the File Menu in the Com-
pose 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 path-
names 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 vari-
able 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
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Compose Window category of the Mail Options dia-
log. 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 mail-
box of deleted messages when exiting dtmail. This
variable can be set in the Destroy Deleted Mes-
sages portion in the Message Header List category
of the Mail Options dialog. See keepdeleted
record The mail file in which to record outgoing mes-
sages. 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 dontlogmes-
sages 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.
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showmsgnum
Show message numbers in the scrolling list of mes-
sage 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 char-
acters 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 typi-
cally 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 Tem-
plates item in the Format menu of the Compose win-
dow. 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 dia-
log.
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
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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.
ENVIRONMENT
The following are environment variables taken from the exe-
cution 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 mailtool.
/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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