append
Type: Boolean, Read-Only
Default: True
Messages saved in mbox are appended to the end rather than prepended.
This is the default and cannot be changed. This variable exists only
for compatibility with other mailx implementations.
appenddeadletter
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
If this variable is True, the contents of canceled letter is
appended to the user's dead.letter file. Otherwise it overwrites
its contents.
askbcc
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
When set to True the user will be prompted to enter Bcc
field before composing the message.
askcc
Type: Boolean.
Default: True.
When set to True the user will be prompted to enter Cc
field before composing the message.
asksub
Type: Boolean.
Default: True in interactive mode, False otherwise.
When set to True the user will be prompted to enter Subject
field before composing the message.
autoinc
Type: Boolean.
Default: True.
Automatically incorporate newly arrived messages.
autoprint
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
Causes the delete command to behave like dp - thus, after deleting a
message, the next one will be typed automatically.
bang
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
When set, every occurrence of ! in arguments to !
command is replaced with the last executed command.
byname
Type: Boolean
Default: Unset
Record outgoing messages in a file named after the first recipient.
The name is the login-name portion of the address found first on the
‘To:’ line in the mail header. This variable overrides the
‘record’ variable.
It is set by the --byname (-F) command line option.
datefield
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
By default the date in a header summary is taken from the SMTP
envelope of the message. Setting this variable tells mail
to use the date from Date: header field, converted to
local time. Notice, that for messages lacking this field mail
will fall back to using SMTP envelope.
See fromfield.
charset
Type: string
Default: ‘auto’
The value of this variable controls the output character set for the
header fields encoding using RFC 2047. If the variable is unset, no
decoding is performed and the fields are printed as they are. If the
variable is set to ‘auto’, mail tries to deduce the
name of the character set from the value of LC_ALL environment
variable. Otherwise, its value is taken as the name of the charset.
cmd
Type: String.
Default: Unset.
Contains default shell command for pipe.
columns
Type: Numeric.
Default: Detected at startup by querying the terminal device. If this
fails, the value of environment variable COLUMNS is used.
This variable contains the number of columns on terminal screen.
crt
Type: Boolean or Numeric
Default: True in interactive mode, False otherwise.
The variable crt determines the minimum number of lines the body
of the message must contain in order to be piped through pager command
specified by environment variable PAGER. If crt is set
to a numeric value, this value is taken as the threshold. Otherwise,
if crt is set without a value, then the height of the terminal
screen is used to compute the threshold. The number of lines on
screen is controlled by screen variable.
debug
Type: String to boolean
Default: Not set
Sets mailutils debug level. If set to string, the value must be a
valid Mailutils debugging specification. See Debug Statement, for
a description.
If unset (i.e. set nodebug), clears and disables all debugging
information. If set to ‘true’ (i.e. set debug), sets
maximum debugging (‘<trace7’) on mailbox and its underlying
objects.
decode-fallback
Type: String.
Default: ‘none’.
This variable controls the way to represent characters that cannot
be rendered using current character set. It can have three values:
- ‘none’
- Such characters are not printed at all. The conversion process stops
at the first character that cannot be rendered.
- ‘copy-pass’
- The characters are displayed ‘as is’. Notice, that depending on
your setup, this may screw-up your terminal settings.
- ‘copy-octal’
- Unprintable characters are represented by their octal codes. Printable
ones are printed ‘as is’.
debug
Type: Boolean
Default: Unset
This variable is not used. It exists for compatibility with other
mailx implementations and for future use.
dot
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
If True, causes mail to interpret a period alone on a line as the
terminator of a message you are sending.
emptystart
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
If the mailbox is empty, mail normally prints ‘No mail for user’ and
exits immediately. If this option is set, mail will start no matter is
the mailbox empty or not.
editheaders
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
When set, mail will include message headers in the text to
be the ~e and ~v escapes, thus allowing you to customize
the headers.
escape
Type: String.
Default: ~
If defined, the first character of this option gives the character to
denoting escapes.
flipr
Type: Boolean
Default: Unset
If set, the variable flipr swaps the meanings of reply
and Reply commands (see Replying).
folder
Type: String.
Default: Unset.
The name of the directory to use for storing folders of messages. If
unset, $HOME is assumed.
fromfield
Type: Boolean.
Default: True.
By default the sender address is taken from the ‘From’ header.
Unsetting this variable tells mail to obtain it from the
SMTP envelope, instead.
See datefield.
header
Type: Boolean.
Default: True, unless started with --nosum (-N) option.
Whether to run headers command automatically after entering
interactive mode.
headline
Type: String
Default: ‘%>%a%4m %18f %16d %3l/%-5o %s’
A format string to use for the header summary. The ‘%’ character
introduces a format specifier. Valid format specifiers are:
| Letter | Meaning
|
|---|
| %a | Message attributes.
|
| %d | The date when the message was received.
|
| %f | The address of the message sender.
|
| %l | The number of lines of the message.
|
| %m | Message number.
|
| %o | The number of octets (bytes) in the message.
|
| %s | Message subject (if any).
|
| %S | Message subject (if any) in double quotes.
|
| %> | A ‘>’ for the current message, otherwise a space.
|
| %< | A ‘<’ for the current message, otherwise a space.
|
| %% | A `%' character.
|
Some additional symbols are allowed between ‘%’ and the specifier
letter. The ‘-’ character immediately following ‘%’
indicates that this field should be left aligned. Similarly, the
‘+’ character indicates right alignment. Default alignment
depends on the type of the specifier: the specifiers that produce
numeric values (‘%l’, ‘%m’, and ‘%o’) are aligned to
the right, whereas the ones producing string values are aligned to the
left.
A number following ‘%’ or the alignment flag, indicates the
field width. Consider, for example, the following specifiers:
- %m
- Print current message number. Take as much screen columns as necessary
to output it.
- %4m
- %+4m
- Print current message number. Occupy 4 screen columns, truncate the
output if it does not fit that width. Align the output to the right.
- %-4m
- Same as above, but align to the left.
hold
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
When set to True, the read or saved messages will be stored in
user's mailbox ($HOME/mbox). Otherwise, they will be held in
system mailbox also. This option is in effect only when operating
upon user's system mailbox.
ignore
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
When set to True, mail will ignore keyboard interrupts
when composing messages. Otherwise an interrupt will be taken as a
signal to abort composing.
ignoreeof
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
Controls whether typing EOF character terminates the letter being
composed.
indentprefix
Type: String.
Default: "\t" (a tab character).
String used by the ~m tilde escape for indenting quoted messages.
inplacealiases
Type: Boolean
Default: False
If set, mail will expand aliases in the address header field
before entering send mode (see Composing Mail). By default, the
address header fields are left intact while composing, the alias
expansion takes place immediately before sending message.
keep
Type: Boolean, Read-Only
Default: True
Truncate the user's system mailbox when it is empty, instead of
removing it. This is the default and cannot be changed. This variable
exists only for compatibility with other mailx implementations.
keepsave
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
Controls whether saved messages should be kept in system mailbox too.
This variable is in effect only when operating upon a user's system
mailbox.
mailx
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
When set, enables mailx compatibility mode. This mode
has the following effects:
- When composing a message mail will ask
for
Cc and Bcc addresses after composing the body.
The default behavior is to ask for these values before composing
the body.
- In send mode, if the composition was interrupted, mail
will exit with zero status. By default it exits with zero status only
if the message was sent successfully.
metamail
Type: Boolean or String.
Default: True.
This variable controls operation of decode command. If
it is unset, decode will not attempt any interpretation
of the content of message parts. Otherwise, if metamail
is set to true, decode will use internal metamail
support to interpret message parts. Finally, if metamail
is assigned a string, this string is treated as command line of
the external metamail command which will be used to
display parts of a multipart message. For example:
# Disable MIME interpretation:
set nometamail
# Enable built-in MIME support:
set metamail
# Use external program to display MIME parts:
set metamail="metamail -m mail -p"
mimenoask
Type: String
Default: Empty
By default mail asks for confirmation before running
interpreter to view a part of the multi-part message. If this variable
is set, its value is treated as a comma-separated list of MIME types
for which no confirmation is needed. Elements of this list may include
shell-style globbing patterns, e.g. setting
set mimenoask=text/*,image/jpeg
will disable prompting before displaying any textual files, no
matter what their subtype is, and before displaying files with
type ‘image/jpeg’.
metoo
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
Usually, when an alias is expanded that contains the sender, the sender
is removed from the expansion. Setting this option causes the sender to
be included in the group.
mode
Type: String, Read-Only
Default: The name of current operation mode.
This variable keeps the name of the current operation mode. Its
possible values are:
- headers
- The program is started with the --headers (-H) command
line option (see Invoking Mail).
- exist
- The program is started with the --exist (-e) command
line option (see Invoking Mail).
- print
- The program is started with the --print (-p) command
line option (see Invoking Mail).
- read
- The progran operates in read mode. This is the default.
- send
- The program operates in send mode. This means it was given one or more
recipient addresses in the command line.
nullbody
Type: Boolean
Default: True
Controls whether mail accepts messages with an empty
body. The default value, true, means such messages are sent,
and a warning (traditionally saying ‘Null message body; hope
that's ok’) is displayed. The text of the warning can be set using
nullbodymsg variable (see below).
If nullbody is unset, mail will silently ignore such
messages. This can be useful in crontab files, to avoid sending
mails when nothing important happens. For example, the crontab
entry below will send mail only if the utility some-prog
outputs something on its standard output or error:
*/5 * * * * some-prog 2>&1 | \
/bin/mail -E'set nonullbody' -s 'Periodic synchronization'
showenvelope
Type: Boolean
Default: Unset
If this variable is set, the print command will include the
STMP envelope in its output.
nullbodymsg
Type: String
Default: Null message body; hope that's ok
Keeps the text of the warning, displayed by mail before
sending an empty message. When available, the translation of
this text, in accordance with the current locale, is displayed.
Unsetting this variable disables the warning.
onehop
Type: Boolean
Default: Unset
This variable is not used. It exists for compatibility with other
mailx implementations and for future use.
outfolder
Type: String.
Default: Unset.
Contains the directory in which files created by save,
write, etc. commands will be stored. When unset, current
directory is assumed.
page
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
If set to True, the pipe command will emit a linefeed
character after printing each message.
prompt
Type: String.
Default: "? "
Contains the command prompt sequence.
quiet
Type: Boolean
Default: Unset
This variable is not used. It exists for compatibility with other
mailx implementations and for future use.
quit
Type: Boolean.
Default: False, unless started with --quit (-q) option.
When set, causes keyboard interrupts to terminate the program.
rc
Type: Boolean.
Default: True, unless started with --norc (-N) option.
When this variable is set, mail will read the system-wide
configuration file upon startup. See Mail Configuration Files.
readonly
Type: Boolean
Default: False
When set, mailboxes are opened in readonly mode. In this mode, any
mail commands that alter the contents of the mailbox are
disabled. These commands include, but are not limited to:
delete, save and mbox.
record
Type: String.
Default: Unset.
When set, any outgoing message will be saved to the named file.
recursivealiases
Type: Boolean
Default: True
When set, mail will expand aliases recursively.
regex
Type: Boolean.
Default: True.
Setting this to True enables use of regular expressions in
‘/.../’ message specifications.
replyprefix
Type: String
Default: ‘Re: ’
Sets the prefix that will be used when constructing the subject line
of a reply message.
replyregex
Type: String
Default: ‘^re: *’
Sets the regular expression used to recognize subjects of reply
messages. If the Subject header of the message matches this
expression, the value of replyprefix will not be prepended to
it before replying. The expression should be a POSIX extended regular
expression. The comparison is case-insensitive.
For example, to recognize usual English, Polish, Norwegian and German
reply subject styles, use:
set replyregex="^(re|odp|aw|ang)(\\[[0-9]+\\])?:[[:blank:]]"
(Notice the quoting of backslash characters).
save
Type: Boolean.
Default: True.
When set, the aborted messages will be stored in the user's
dead.file. See also appenddeadletter.
screen
Type: Numeric.
Default: Detected at startup by querying the terminal device. If this
fails, the value of environment variable LINES is used.
This variable contains the number of lines on terminal screen.
sendmail
Type: String.
Default: sendmail:/usr/lib/sendmail
Contains URL of the mail transport agent.
sendwait
Type: Boolean
Default: Unset
This variable is not used. It exists for compatibility with other
mailx implementations and for future use.
showto
Type: Boolean
Default: False
If the message was sent by the user, print its recipient address in
the header summary.
Sign
Type: String.
Default: Unset.
Contains the filename holding users signature. The contents of this
file is appended to the end of a message being composed by ~A
escape.
sign
Type: String.
Default: Unset.
Contains the user's signature. The contents of this variable is appended
to the end of a message being composed by ~a escape. Use
Sign variable, if your signature occupies more than one line.
showto
Type: Boolean
Default: unset
If this variable is set, mail will show To: addresses
instead of From: for all messages that come from the user that
invoked the program.
subject
Type: String.
Default: Unset.
Contains default subject line. This will be used when asksub is
off.
toplines
Type: Numeric.
Default: 5
Number of lines to be displayed by top and Top commands.
variable-strictvarstrict
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
Setting this variable enables strict control over variable
settings. In this mode, mail refuses to set read-only
variables. Also, if the user is trying to set an unknown variable,
mail prints a warning.
See Setting and Unsetting the Variables.
variable-pretty-printvarpp
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
If this variable is set, the listing ouput by set contains short
descriptions before each variable. See Setting and Unsetting the Variables.
verbose
Type: Boolean.
Default: False.
When set, the actual delivery of messages is displayed on the user's terminal.
xmailer
Type: Boolean.
Default: Set.
Controls whether the header ‘X-Mailer’ should be added to
outgoing messages. The default value of this header is
X-Mailer: mail (GNU Mailutils 2.99.97)