[OpenVMS documentation]
[Site home] [Send comments] [Help with this site] [How to order documentation] [OpenVMS site] [Compaq site]
Updated: 11 December 1998

OpenVMS User's Manual


Previous Contents Index

6.11.2 Security Measures

Mail files are within your own directory, so you have the option of applying the file protection techniques for sensitive files described in Chapter 19. In addition:

6.12 Using Text Editors in Mail

The following sections describe how to use text editors in the Mail environment.

6.12.1 Using EVE

You can use a text editor to write a message before you send it. To do so, specify the /EDIT qualifier with the SEND command. After you respond to the To: and Subj: prompts, Mail invokes the text editor. Unless you have selected a different editor, Mail invokes the DECTPU-based EVE editor.

The [End of file] marker moves down as you enter text. For more information about the EVE editor, see Chapter 8. To send the message, press the Do key and enter the EXIT command. To cancel the send operation, press the Do key and enter the QUIT command.

In the following example, EVE is used to create a mail message:


MAIL> SEND/EDIT [Return]


[End of file] 
 
 
 
Buffer:  MAIN                     |  Write  | Insert | Forward   

Note

Do not edit a .DDIF mail file because you will no longer be able to use the file as a .DDIF file. If you edit a .DDIF mail file, you can access only the text of the file.

6.12.2 Using /EDIT Qualifier Keywords

By specifying the /EDIT qualifier when you invoke Mail, you can use the editor for sending, replying, and forwarding during the ensuing mail session. You can also use keywords with the /EDIT qualifier to set the default for Mail.

To invoke the editor only when you are replying to a message, use the REPLY keyword with the MAIL/EDIT command. To invoke the editor and display the message to which you are replying, use the REPLY keyword with the =EXTRACT option. If you do not specify a keyword with /EDIT, the default is /EDIT=(SEND,REPLY).

To send or reply to a message, EXIT from the editor. To cancel a SEND or REPLY command, enter the QUIT command to exit from the editor.

Examples

6.12.3 Selecting an Editor

By default, Mail invokes the DECTPU-based EVE editor when you specify the Mail command SEND/EDIT. If you are not running an ANSI-compliant CRT (hardcopy) terminal, you will not be able to invoke DECTPU-based editors (such as EVE and LSE). If you attempt to invoke a DECTPU-based editor, you will receive the error message :


%TPU-E-NONANSICRT, SYS$INPUT must be supported CRT 

By entering the Mail command SET EDITOR, you can specify that a different editor be invoked instead of EVE. For example, to select the EDT editor, issue the Mail command SET EDITOR EDT. The EDT editor remains your default Mail editor (even if you log out of the system and log back in) until you enter another SET EDITOR command.

6.12.4 Displaying the Selected Editor

To display the name of the selected Mail editor, enter the Mail command SHOW EDITOR.

In the following example, the EDT editor is selected and then used to create a message:


MAIL> SET EDITOR EDT [Return]
MAIL> SHOW EDITOR [Return]
Your editor is EDT.


MAIL> SEND/EDIT [Return]
To:   STONE::THOMPSON [Return]
Subj: Budget Meeting [Return]
[EOB] 
* 

6.12.5 Using EDT

When EDT is used to edit messages, you will see an asterisk (*) after you enter the subject line and press Return. Enter the CHANGE command and press Return to switch to the screen editor. For more information on using EDT, see Chapter 9. Enter the text of your message using EDT commands to move around in the buffer. A buffer is a temporary storage area that exists only during an editing session. To send the message, press Ctrl/Z. To cancel and not send the message, press Ctrl/C.

6.12.6 Using a Command File to Edit Mail

You can define the logical name MAIL$EDIT to be a command file before entering Mail. Then, when you issue any Mail command that invokes an editor, the command file will be called to perform the edit. In the command file, you can also invoke other utilities such as the spell-checker and you can specify any function that can be done in a command file. Refer to Appendix C for an annotated example of a MAILEDIT.COM command procedure and refer to Chapter 15 and Chapter 16 for more information on command files.

6.12.7 Overriding Your Selected Editor

If you wish to temporarily override your selected editor, you can define MAIL$EDIT to be the string "CALLABLE_" with the desired editor name appended. For example, to use callable EDT rather than callable EVE, you can type the following command:


$ DEFINE MAIL$EDIT CALLABLE_EDT 

If you issue the SET EDITOR command during a session that was invoked with MAIL$EDIT defined, you override both your permanent selected editor and the current editor setting. In order to use the command file defined by MAIL$EDIT again, you must exit from Mail and restart it.

6.13 Customizing Your Mail Environment

When you receive a message, Mail interprets the specified address as follows:

However, you can customize your Mail environment to force the system to choose a specific protocol. This option is helpful in cases where a mail address can be interpreted as valid for either the Internet or DECnet protocol.

To specify protocols, you can define the MAIL$INTERNET_MODE logical name as follows:

To modify your Mail environment in any of these ways, Compaq recommends that you define the MAIL$INTERNET_MODE and MAIL$INTERNET_TRANSPORT logicals in your LOGIN.COM file. (See Chapter 13 for complete information about using and defining logical names.)

For example, if your system is set up to use the default (HYBRID), the Mail address smith@pluto is interpreted as a DECnet address because there are no periods in that address. However, if you want Mail to use SMTP instead of DECnet, you can add the following line to your LOGIN.COM file:


$ DEFINE MAIL$INTERNET_MODE SMTP 

When you then specify smith@pluto, Mail interprets this address as an Internet address and uses the SMTP protocol (for example, SMTP%"smith@pluto.xyz.dec.com").

6.13.1 Using the Mail Keypad

You can use the numeric keypad on your keyboard to execute commands in Mail. Most keypad keys can execute two commands.

Figure 6-2 shows the Mail keypad. To enter the top command for each key shown, press the appropriate key. To enter the bottom command shown, press the PF1 key first, and then the desired function key.

Figure 6-2 Mail Utility Keypad


To execute the Mail command SEND, press KP7. To execute the Mail command SEND/EDIT, press the PF1 key first and then press KP7.

6.13.1.1 Redefining Keypad Keys

You can redefine the keypad keys to execute Mail commands when you are in Mail. Note that the previous definition of the key is superseded when you redefine a key.

Defining keypad keys in Mail is similar to defining keypad keys to execute DCL commands.

In the following example, the key KP2 is defined as the Mail command PRINT/PARAM=PAGE_ORIENT=LANDSCAPE. After KP2 is defined, you can press it to display the PRINT/PARAM=PAGE_ORIENT=LANDSCAPE command:


MAIL> DEFINE/KEY KP2 "PRINT/PARAM=PAGE_ORIENT=LANDSCAPE" [Return]

6.13.1.2 Assigning Additional Key Definitions

To increase the number of key definitions available on your terminal, use the /STATE qualifier. You can assign many definitions to the same key as long as each definition is associated with a different state. State names can be any alphanumeric string. By specifying states, you can press a key once to enter a command and a second time to enter a qualifier.

In the following example, PF1 (pressed twice) is defined as DIRECTORY/FOLDER:


MAIL> DEFINE/KEY PF1 "DIRECTORY"/SET_STATE=FOLDER /NOTERMINATE  [Return]
MAIL> DEFINE/KEY PF1 "/FOLDER" /IF_STATE=FOLDER /TERMINATE  [Return]

Press PF1 twice to enter the command DIRECTORY/FOLDER. The /TERMINATE qualifier ends the command line so you do not need to press the Return key.

6.13.1.3 Creating Permanent Key Definitions

Any keypad keys that you define during a Mail session are lost when you exit from Mail. To retain keypad key definitions from one Mail session to another, create a file containing key definitions (for example, MAIL$KEYDEF.INI) in your top-level directory. For example, the following MAIL$KEYDEF.INI file contains six key definitions:


DEFINE/KEY PF1 "DIRECTORY "     /NOTERMINATE    /SET_STATE=folder 
DEFINE/KEY PF1 "/FOLDER"        /TERMINATE      /IF_STATE=folder 
DEFINE/KEY PF2 "SELECT "        /NOTERMINATE    /SET_STATE=mail 
DEFINE/KEY PF2 "MAIL"           /TERMINATE      /IF_STATE=mail 
DEFINE/KEY PERIOD "READ "       /NOTERMINATE    /SET_STATE=new 
DEFINE/KEY PERIOD "/NEW"        /TERMINATE      /IF_STATE=new 

To execute these commands each time you invoke Mail, enter the following command line in your login command file (LOGIN.COM):


$ DEFINE MAIL$INIT SYS$LOGIN:MAIL$KEYDEF.INI 

6.14 Summary of Mail Commands

This section contains a summary of all Mail utility commands. For complete information on qualifiers used with these commands, refer to online help.

See also Section 6.15 for information about using the MIME utility to read and compose MIME-encoded messages.

6.14.1 Reading Messages

Use the following commands to read messages:

6.14.2 Exchanging Messages

Use the following commands to exchange messages:

6.14.3 Removing Messages

Use the following commands to remove messages:

6.14.4 Printing Messages

Use the following commands to print messages:

6.14.5 Organizing Messages

Use the following commands to organize messages:

6.14.6 Marking Messages

The following commands are used for marking messages:

6.14.7 Customizing the Mail Environment

The following commands are used for customizing the mail environment:


Previous Next Contents Index

[Site home] [Send comments] [Help with this site] [How to order documentation] [OpenVMS site] [Compaq site]
[OpenVMS documentation]

Copyright © Compaq Computer Corporation 1998. All rights reserved.

Legal
6489PRO_012.HTML