Tutorial: Mail - elm - Unix Electronic Mail
Dr.
Thomas E. Hicks
Computer Science
Department
Trinity University
ELM is an electronic mail system available on almost all UNIX systems. It uses the vi editor.
Suppose your UserName is student
elm student <-- to use elm (electronic mailer) to send a mail message to yourself. Try it!
elm thicks@trinity.edu
<--
to use elm (electronic mailer) to send a mail message
to Dr. Hicks main mail account
elm thicks@janus01.cs.trinity.edu
<--
to use elm (electronic mailer) to send a mail message
to Dr. Hicks computer
science mail account [may also use janus02.cs.trinity.edu, janus01.cs.trinity.edu,
...
janus15.cs.trinity.edu for the cs accounts]. All Trinity computer science
students
have a main mail account and a CS mail account. It is possible to forward
your mail
from one mail system to another.
This is my first attempt at electronic mail <-- Enter Line 1
I am not sure that it is going to work <-- Enter Line 2
Doc <-- Enter Line 3
<ESC> <-- Hit ESC key
:wq <-- To Save & Quit
s
<-- To Send the Mail
Try it. Send yourself this piece of mail.
elm
<--
to start the electronic mail system. The elm system opens to a mailer
index (see below)
When the mailer gets so full that it will not display
on a single page, you can use the arrow keys to move from one page to the
next. The first ten pieces of mail might look something like the following:
At the top of the mailer index will find
that a number is associated with each piece of mail. The most recent mail
will appear at the top. The index will specify who each piece of mail is
from and the subject. You should have two pieces of mail at the top of
your index. The highlighted piece of mail is "active piece of mail".
3 <Return> <-- To make #3 the active mail record (will be highlighted)
14 <Return> <-- To make #14 the active mail record (will be highlighted)
<UpArrow>
<-- To adjust the active mail record up one (will be highlighted)
k
<-- To adjust the active mail record up one; note the hint at the bottom
of the page!
<DownArrow>
<-- To adjust the active mail record down one(will be highlighted)
j <-- To adjust the active mail record down one; note the hint at the
bottom of the page!
What does it look like when we hit the return key to read active mail record number 14?
<Space Bar> <-- to read next screen of current piece of mail; note the hint at the bottom of the page!
Suppose active mail record 14 can not be read in one screen; how do I quit this message and return to the mailer index?
q <-- to quit reading the current piece of mail; note the hint at the bottom of the page!
qi
<-- to quit reading the current piece of mail and return to the active
mailer index
q
<-- to quit elm from the mailer index; note the hint at the bottom of
the page!
d
<-- to tag the active mail record for deletion; note the hint at the
bottom of the page!
Note that a D appears to the far left to indicate that
a message is tagged for deletion. Mail space is at a premium; mail is periodically
erased by UNIX systems people. Delete old mail. Save valuable
mail!
u
<-- to remove the deletion tag from the active mail record; note the
hint at the bottom of the page!
s
<-- to save a copy of the active mail record in my UNIX disk space;
The list of software prices from Larry Gindler, mail record
14, is automatically tagged for deletion in the mailer and written to my
disk space on the UNIX system. It is not written to my micro-computer.
Mail space is at a premium; mail is periodically erased
by UNIX systems people. Delete old mail. Save valuable mail!
SoftwarePrices is saved in the current directory
note the hint at the bottom of the page!
FileName : SoftwarePrices
<-- select file names that reflect the contents of the mail!
m
<-- to create a new mail message from within the mailer index; note
the hint at the bottom of
the page! Suppose we wish to send Dr. Hicks a message at Trinity. His E-Mail
address is
thicks@trinity.edu
Send To :
thicks
<-- to send a mail message to Dr. Hicks from the same
mail system
Send To :
thicks@trinity.edu
<--
to send a mail message to Dr. Hicks from any mail system in the world!
Subject :
Favorite
Things
i <-- Enter input mode in vi editor
golf
<-- Enter Line 1
basketball
<-- Enter Line 2
bridge
<-- Enter Line 3
computers
<-- Enter Line 4
reading
<-- Enter Line 5
StudentName <-- Enter your Full Name
<ESC> <-- Hit ESC key to exit input mode and return to command mode
:wq <-- To Save & Quit the vi editor
s
<-- To Send the Mail
What happens when I use a wrong electronic address? Try the following:
elm johndoe@dumb.track.edu
Subject : Test Invalid Address
There is no such school as dumb.track.edu <-- Enter Line 1
??????? <-- Enter your Full Name
<ESC> <-- Hit ESC key
:wq <-- To Save & Quit
s
<-- To Send the Mail
Wait 2-3 minutes. Start the electronic mailer. You will
see that the mail was returned to you because it could not be delivered
to the address specified. At this point you can either forward the letter
to the correct address or delete it!
? <-- to display additonal options and get help; note the hint at the bottom of the page!
ELM is an extremely powerful Mail System!
Launch the Netscape Browser on either the IBM or the Macintosh.
Let us suppose that the user name is
thicks
and that the user files are stored in directory
/users/thicks
and
that the computer is janus03.cs.trinity.edu
Select the Netscape <Open Button>
Let us suppose that the user name is
thicks
and that the user files are stored in directory
/home/student3
and
that the computer is runner.utsa.edu
Select the Netscape <Open Button>
Enter Password --> xxxxxxxx
Select Desired File To Print With Mouse <-- Loads
the file into the Web Browser
Select the Netscape <Print Button>
Enter Password --> xxxxxxxx
Select Desired File To Print With Mouse <-- Loads
the file into the Web Browser
Select the Netscape <Print Button>
I. Let us suppose that the user name is thicks and that the user files are stored in directory /users/thicks and that the computer is janus03.cs.trinity.edu
Select the Netscape <Open Button>
Open Location --> ftp://thicks@runner.utsa.edu/home/student3/thicks
Enter Password --> xxxxxxxx
Select Desired File To Print With Mouse <-- Loads
the file into the Web Browser
File->Save As
<-- Pull Down Menu
Select Desired Disk (Floppy)
Enter Desired File Name (if
you wish to change it)
Push Save Button