xwafemail(1)

NAME

xwafemail - an x-based mail front end with faces

SYNOPSIS

xwafemail [-c colormode] [-3] [-C] [-f name of mail folder] [-F] [-h] [-p print command] [-r] [-s name of signature file] [-u update interval]

DESCRIPTION

xwafemail is an x-based mail front end which tries to display the faces of the originator of an incoming mail. xwafemail is a wafe application (see manual page wafeapp) written in Perl. In short, xwafemail allows a user to read mail, to reply to the author, to forward mail messages to other people, to send mail, to save and to print mail messages.

OPTIONS

In addition to the standard toolkit options such as -display, -name, -geometry, -iconic, -xrm etc. (see manual page X) xwafemail accepts the following options:

-c colormode
    start xwafemail using the given color-mode (for details see manual page wafeapp); color modes are for example mono, blueish or wheat-ish.

-3  do not use 3 dimensional widgets. This option depends of the configuration in the system.waferc file (see manual page wafeapp).

-C  prefer files for the communication between front end and application program. This option can reduce the memory consumption, but increases disk-IO and might lead to locking problems.

-f name of mail folder
    use an alternate mail folder. Per default the mail folder given in the environment variable MAIL, or the file "/usr/spool/mail/$USER" is used. For the naming conventions see section MAIL FOLDERS.

-h  show a short usage message.

-p print command
    specify a non-default print command (for example: 'mp -a | lpr -Pmyps') the quotes are NOT optional.

-r  start in read-only mode. In read -only mode the mailbox cannot be rewritten. However, it is still possible to read or send mail.

-s name of signature file
    use a non-default signature file. In the configuration of the distribution the name of the signature file is $HOME/.elm/signature. The signature file is appended to all outgoing mail messages. A stupid example: -s $HOME/.login.

-u update interval
    used to specify a non-default interval in which the mailbox is checked. if a change is detected, the subject listing is updated. The default update interval is 5 seconds.

LAYOUT and INTERACTION

When xwafemail is started the user will see an X front end with two main sections: these sections are (from top to bottom): the subject section and the message section. The top most line of the application is an information line, where the user is informed about the actions the program takes. The subject section shows the subject lines of the mailbox. Each line summarizes the content of a single mail message (if the mailbox is not empty). The leading number indicates the message number (the highest number is the most recent mail, displayed on the top of the list). If is followed by the date, the originator, the number of lines of the message (between parentheses) and the subject line. If the message is unread the character "N" is displayed between message Number und date, if the mail is deleted, a "D" is displayed. Urgent mails are indicated with an "U". On top of the subject section are search fields for subject grep and body grep available. These fields allow to display matching messages only. In either mode a mail message is read by pressing the left mouse button (Btn1) on a subject line. In turn the message will be displayed in the message section, the from-, subject- and date-fields will be displayed on top of the message section, on the right side a face of the originator will be displayed if available (maximum size 65x65). In default mode cursor up or down in the subject listing may be used to read the next or previous message. The message section displays the current message. The bottom line of the application contains several buttons. the quit button terminates xwafemail AND updates the mailbox file (see also -f option). abort is used to terminate without saving or to abort writing of a mail message. update can be used to write the current mailbox to disk and remove the messages marked with "D" without leaving xwafemail. mail is used to compose a new mail message, reply allows to send mail to the author of the current message, replyAll sends a reply to everybody from the To: and Cc: line. forward is used to forward the current message via mail to another user. Mail, reply and forward may be terminated by the send button or aborted by abort. The header button shows/hides the full header of a mail message, delete, print (save) can be used to delete, print or save the current message. The send button is only sensitive in send mode (after pushing mailPf, reply or forward). Finally, the Config button may be used to change certain settings (such as print command) for a single session.

MAIL FOLDERS

If the save button is pressed (or messages are selected with the middle mouse button and the character "s" is typed in the subject listing), a save window pops up. If cancel is pressed with the left mouse button, nothing is saved and the dialog window pops down. If nothing is typed in the dialog window and the return key is pressed, the selected messages will be saved in the $HOME/Mail directory and appended to a file with the name "incoming". In send mode (if the buttons mail, reply or forward were pressed) the name outgoing is used. If a name is specified in the save pop-up, and it does not start "~", "/" or "|", the mail messages will be saved in the $HOME/Mail/ directory under the given name. If the specified name starts with "~" or "/", the name will be interpreted as a full path name. If the name starts with "|" the name will be interpreted as a pipe. About the same rules apply also to the -f option (the pipe symbol will not make sense). Sent messages are saved in folders named after the user id of the recipient of the message in the Mail directory. Note that these folders may be read using the -f option. "xwafemail -f neumann" will start xwafemail using the mail folder, in which the outgoing messages for neumann are saved.

FACES

If wafe has been compiled with the xpm library, and the perl variable $noXPM has not been set in the setup files (see manual page for wafeapp) xwafemail tries to display a picture of the originator of a mail above the message text. The face has a maximum size of 65x65 pixels. First xwafemail tries to load an xpm file from $WAFEMAIL/faces using the login name of the originator (eg. $WAFEMAIL/faces/neumann.xpm). If this file does not exist, it tries to load a bitmap file from the same place (eg. $WAFEMAIL/faces/neumann.xbm). If neither of these files are found, no picture is displayed.

ALIAS RESOLVING

For resolving the addresses of outgoing mail messages a local alias file may be used. The alias file has the form of the elm aliases and has the form
    neumann = Gustaf Neumann = neumann@wu-wien.ac.at
    nusser = Stefan Nusser = nusser@wu-wien.ac.at
    wafer = wafe development subgroup = neumann,nusser
Per default the file "$HOME/.elm/aliases.text" is used.

KEY BINDINGS

Key bindings in subject listing:

<Btn1>
    read message

<Btn2>
    select messages

<Key>d
    delete message

<Key>s
    save message

Key bindings in message text:

Ctrl<Key>f
    use a fixed spaced font

Meta<Key>q
    reflow text

Ctrl<Key>n
    search for next line starting with dashes (useful for reading mail digests)

Ctrl<Key>v
    use a variable spaced font

Ctrl<Key>w
    set read-only buffer writable (useful in combination with Ctrl<Key>q to reflow text that does not fit in the current line with)

Key bindings on buttons in the bottom button row:

<Btn3>
    clicking <Btn3> on <mail>, <reply> or <forward> sends mail as urgent

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

WAFELIB
    location of the wafe library (typically /usr/lib/X11/wafe)

HOME
    login directory of the current user

HOST
    fully qualified host name (including domain)

USER
    login name of the current user

TMPDIR
    directory for temporary files. If not specified, /tmp is used

PERL VARIABLES

Wafe (Perl-) Variables from $WAFELIB/system.waferc or $HOME/.waferc:

$boldFont
    typically used for bold labels

$normalFont
    typically used for labels or proportional text

$buttonFont
    typically used as font for buttons

$textFont
    fixed spaced text font

$buttonAtts
    attributes used for buttons

$backGround
    back ground color

$highLight
    attributes for emphasized text portions (typically colors)

$roColors
    attributes for non emphasized text (typically colors)

$infoColors
    attributes of the info line (typically colors)

$menueAtts
    attributes of pull down menues (typically colors)

%textResources
    default resources for text widgets

@textActions
    default actions for text widgets

$mailIncludePrefix
    prefix for included text-portions for reply or followups

$signatureFile
    full path leading to the signature file

$printCommand
    command used to print mail messages

$elmAliases
    full path leading to an alias file used to resolve addresses in outgoing mails.

$noXPM
    disable XPM pixmaps, no XPM faces will be displayed (for broken X server of OS/2).

$defaultMailHost
    default mail host, if no alias exists and no host address is given

$defaultMailEncoding
    default encoding for sending mail default is Mime, possible values are (TeX, Swe, Mime, None)

FILES

    $HOME/Mail
    $HOME/.elm/signature
    $HOME/.elm/aliases.text
    $WAFELIB/system.waferc
    $HOME/.waferc

SEE ALSO

wafe(n), wafeapp(n), X(1), xwafemail(n), xwafenews(n), xwafeftp(n), xwafeora(n), xwafetel(n), xdirtree(n), xdirtree(n), xprojektor(n), xbm(n), xwafemc(n), xruptimes(n), xnetstats(n), xiostats(n), xvmstats(n), xwafeping(n), xwafecf(n)

COPYRIGHT

 Copyright (C) 1992 by Gustaf Neumann, Stefan Nusser
         Wirtschaftsuniversitaet Wien,
         Abteilung fuer Wirtschaftsinformatik
         Augasse 2-6,
         A-1090 Vienna, Austria
         neumann@wu-wien.ac.at, nusser@wu-wien.ac.at
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appears in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all supporting documentation. This software is provided "as is" without expressed or implied warranty.

AUTHORS

Gustaf Neumann, Stefan Nusser